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+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Ralph the Heir, by Anthony Trollope,
+Illustrated by F. A. Fraser
+
+
+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: Ralph the Heir
+
+
+Author: Anthony Trollope
+
+
+
+Release Date: May 23, 2008  [eBook #25579]
+Most recently updated: June 26, 2012
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RALPH THE HEIR***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Joseph E. Loewenstein, M.D.
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
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+
+
+
+
+
+RALPH THE HEIR
+
+by
+
+ANTHONY TROLLOPE
+
+With Illustrations by F. A. Fraser
+
+First published serially in _Saint Paul's Magazine_ in 1870-1 and in
+book form in 1871
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: He drank his sherry and soda-water, and lit his pipe,
+and lay there on the lawn, as though he were quite at home . . .
+(Chapter III.)]
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+         I. SIR THOMAS.
+        II. POPHAM VILLA.
+       III. WHAT HAPPENED ON THE LAWN AT POPHAM VILLA.
+        IV. MARY BONNER.
+         V. MR. NEEFIT AND HIS FAMILY.
+        VI. MRS. NEEFIT'S LITTLE DINNER.
+       VII. YOU ARE ONE OF US NOW.
+      VIII. RALPH NEWTON'S TROUBLES.
+        IX. ONTARIO MOGGS.
+         X. SIR THOMAS IN HIS CHAMBERS.
+        XI. NEWTON PRIORY.
+       XII. MRS. BROWNLOW.
+      XIII. MR. NEEFIT IS DISTURBED.
+       XIV. THE REV. GREGORY NEWTON.
+        XV. CLARISSA WAITS.
+       XVI. THE CHESHIRE CHEESE.
+      XVII. RALPH NEWTON'S DOUBTS.
+     XVIII. WE WON'T SELL BROWNRIGGS.
+       XIX. POLLY'S ANSWER.
+        XX. THE CONSERVATIVES OF PERCYCROSS.
+       XXI. THE LIBERALS OF PERCYCROSS.
+      XXII. RALPH NEWTON'S DECISION.
+     XXIII. "I'LL BE A HYPOCRITE IF YOU CHOOSE."
+      XXIV. "I FIND I MUST."
+       XXV. "MR. GRIFFENBOTTOM."
+      XXVI. MOGGS, PURITY, AND THE RIGHTS OF LABOUR.
+     XXVII. THE MOONBEAM.
+    XXVIII. THE NEW HEIR COUNTS HIS CHICKENS.
+      XXIX. THE ELECTION.
+       XXX. "MISS MARY IS IN LUCK."
+      XXXI. IT IS ALL SETTLED.
+     XXXII. SIR THOMAS AT HOME.
+    XXXIII. "TELL ME AND I'LL TELL YOU."
+     XXXIV. ALONE IN THE HOUSE.
+      XXXV. "SHE'LL ACCEPT YOU, OF COURSE."
+     XXXVI. NEEFIT MEANS TO STICK TO IT.
+    XXXVII. "HE MUST MARRY HER."
+   XXXVIII. FOR TWO REASONS.
+     XXXIX. HORSELEECHES.
+        XL. WHAT SIR THOMAS THOUGHT ABOUT IT.
+       XLI. A BROKEN HEART.
+      XLII. NOT BROKEN-HEARTED.
+     XLIII. ONCE MORE.
+      XLIV. THE PETITION.
+       XLV. "NEVER GIVE A THING UP."
+      XLVI. MR. NEEFIT AGAIN.
+     XLVII. THE WAY WHICH SHOWS THAT THEY MEAN IT.
+    XLVIII. MR. MOGGS WALKS TOWARDS EDGEWARE.
+      XLIX. AMONG THE PICTURES.
+         L. ANOTHER FAILURE.
+        LI. MUSIC HAS CHARMS.
+       LII. GUS EARDHAM.
+      LIII. THE END OF POLLY NEEFIT.
+       LIV. MY MARY.
+        LV. COOKHAM.
+       LVI. RALPH NEWTON IS BOWLED AWAY.
+     LVIII. CLARISSA'S FATE.
+     LVIII. CONCLUSION.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+SIR THOMAS.
+
+
+There are men who cannot communicate themselves to others, as there
+are also men who not only can do so, but cannot do otherwise. And
+it is hard to say which is the better man of the two. We do not
+specially respect him who wears his heart upon his sleeve for daws to
+peck at, who carries a crystal window to his bosom so that all can
+see the work that is going on within it, who cannot keep any affair
+of his own private, who gushes out in love and friendship to every
+chance acquaintance; but then, again, there is but little love given
+to him who is always wary, always silent as to his own belongings,
+who buttons himself in a suit of close reserve which he never
+loosens. Respect such a one may gain, but hardly love. It is natural
+to us to like to know the affairs of our friends; and natural also,
+I think, to like to talk of our own to those whom we trust. Perhaps,
+after all that may be said of the weakness of the gushing and
+indiscreet babbler, it is pleasanter to live with such a one than
+with the self-constrained reticent man of iron, whose conversation
+among his most intimate friends is solely of politics, of science, of
+literature, or of some other subject equally outside the privacies of
+our inner life.
+
+Sir Thomas Underwood, whom I, and I hope my readers also, will have
+to know very intimately, was one of those who are not able to make
+themselves known intimately to any. I am speaking now of a man of
+sixty, and I am speaking also of one who had never yet made a close
+friend,--who had never by unconscious and slow degrees of affection
+fallen into that kind of intimacy with another man which justifies
+and renders necessary mutual freedom of intercourse in all the
+affairs of life. And yet he was possessed of warm affections, was by
+no means misanthropic in his nature, and would, in truth, have given
+much to be able to be free and jocund as are other men. He lacked
+the power that way, rather than the will. To himself it seemed to be
+a weakness in him rather than a strength that he should always be
+silent, always guarded, always secret and dark. He had lamented it
+as an acknowledged infirmity;--as a man grieves that he should be
+short-sighted, or dull of hearing; but at the age of sixty he had
+taken no efficient steps towards curing himself of the evil, and had
+now abandoned all idea of any such cure.
+
+Whether he had been, upon the whole, fortunate or unfortunate in life
+shall be left to the reader's judgment. But he certainly had not been
+happy. He had suffered cruel disappointments; and a disappointment
+will crush the spirit worse than a realised calamity. There is no
+actual misfortune in not being Lord Mayor of London;--but when a man
+has set his heart upon the place, has worked himself into a position
+within a few feet of the Mansion House, has become alderman with
+the mayoralty before him in immediate rotation, he will suffer more
+at being passed over by the liverymen than if he had lost half his
+fortune. Now Sir Thomas Underwood had become Solicitor-General in his
+profession, but had never risen to the higher rank or more assured
+emoluments of other legal offices.
+
+We will not quite trace our Meleager back to his egg, but we will
+explain that he was the only son of a barrister of moderate means,
+who put him to the Bar, and who died leaving little or nothing behind
+him. The young barrister had an only sister, who married an officer
+in the army, and who had passed all her latter life in distant
+countries to which her husband had been called by the necessity of
+living on the income which his profession gave him. As a Chancery
+barrister, Mr. Underwood,--our Sir Thomas,--had done well, living on
+the income he made, marrying at thirty-five, going into Parliament
+at forty-five, becoming Solicitor-General at fifty,--and ceasing
+to hold that much-desired office four months after his appointment.
+Such cessation, however, arising from political causes, is no
+disappointment to a man. It will doubtless be the case that a man so
+placed will regret the weakness of his party, which has been unable
+to keep the good things of Government in its hands; but he will
+recognise without remorse or sorrow the fact that the Ministry to
+which he has attached himself must cease to be a Ministry;--and there
+will be nothing in his displacement to gall his pride, or to create
+that inner feeling of almost insupportable mortification which comes
+from the conviction of personal failure. Sir Thomas Underwood had
+been Solicitor-General for a few months under a Conservative Prime
+Minister; and when the Conservative Minister went out of office, Sir
+Thomas Underwood followed him with no feeling of regret that caused
+him unhappiness. But when afterwards the same party came back to
+power, and he, having lost his election at the borough which he had
+represented, was passed over without a word of sympathy or even of
+assumed regret from the Minister, then he was wounded. It was true,
+he knew, that a man, to be Solicitor-General, should have a seat
+in Parliament. The highest legal offices in the country are not to
+be attained by any amount of professional excellence, unless the
+candidate shall have added to such excellence the power of supporting
+a Ministry and a party in the House of Commons. Sir Thomas Underwood
+thoroughly understood this;--but he knew also that there are various
+ways in which a lame dog may be helped over a stile,--if only the
+lame dog be popular among dogs. For another ex-Solicitor-General
+a seat would have been found,--or some delay would have been
+granted,--or at least there would have been a consultation, with a
+suggestion that something should be tried. But in this case a man
+four years his junior in age, whom he despised, and who, as he was
+informed, had obtained his place in Parliament by gross bribery, was
+put into the office without a word of apology to him. Then he was
+unhappy, and acknowledged to himself that his spirit was crushed.
+
+But he acknowledged to himself at the same time that he was one
+doomed by his nature to such crushing of the spirit if he came out of
+the hole of his solitude, and endeavoured to carry on the open fight
+of life among his fellow-men. He knew that he was one doomed to
+that disappointment, the bitterest of all, which comes from failure
+when the prize has been all but reached. It is much to have become
+Solicitor-General, and that he had achieved;--but it is worse than
+nothing to have been Solicitor-General for four months, and then
+to find that all the world around one regards one as having failed,
+and as being, therefore, fit for the shelf. Such were Sir Thomas
+Underwood's feelings as he sat alone in his chambers during those
+days in which the new administration was formed,--in which days he
+was neither consulted nor visited, nor communicated with either by
+message or by letter. But all this,--this formation of a Ministry,
+in which the late Solicitor-General was not invited to take a
+part,--occurred seven years before the commencement of our story.
+
+During those years in which our lawyer sat in Parliament as Mr.
+Underwood,--at which time he was working hard also as a Chancery
+barrister, and was, perhaps, nearer to his fellow-men than he had
+ever been before, or was ever destined to be afterwards,--he resided,
+as regarded himself almost nominally, at a small but pretty villa,
+which he had taken for his wife's sake at Fulham. It was close upon
+the river, and had well-arranged, though not extensive, shrubbery
+walks, and a little lawn, and a tiny conservatory, and a charming
+opening down to the Thames. Mrs. Underwood had found herself unable
+to live in Half-moon Street; and Mr. Underwood, not unwillingly,
+had removed his household gods to this retreat. At that time his
+household gods consisted of a wife and two daughters;--but the wife
+had died before the time came at which she could have taken on
+herself the name of Lady Underwood. The villa at Fulham was still
+kept, and there lived the two girls, and there also Sir Thomas, had
+he been interrogated on the subject, would have declared that he also
+was domiciled. But if a man lives at the place in which he most often
+sleeps, Sir Thomas in truth lived at his chambers at Southampton
+Buildings. When he moved those household gods of his to the villa, it
+was necessary, because of his duties in Parliament, that he should
+have some place in town wherein he might lay his head, and therefore,
+I fear not unwillingly, he took to laying his head very frequently in
+the little bedroom which was attached to his chambers.
+
+It is not necessary that we should go back to any feelings which
+might have operated upon him during his wife's lifetime, or during
+the period of his parliamentary career. His wife was now dead, and
+he no longer held a seat in Parliament. He had, indeed, all but
+abandoned his practice at the Bar, never putting himself forward for
+the ordinary business of a Chancery barrister. But, nevertheless,
+he spent the largest half of his life in his chambers, breakfasting
+there, reading there, writing there, and sleeping there. He did not
+altogether desert the lodge at Fulham, and the two girls who lived
+there. He would not even admit to them, or allow them to assert that
+he had not his home with them. Sometimes for two nights together,
+and sometimes for three, he would be at the villa,--never remaining
+there, however, during the day. But on Sundays it may almost be said
+that he was never at home. And hence arose the feeling that of all,
+this went the nearest to create discord between the father and the
+daughters. Sir Thomas was always in Southampton Buildings on Sundays.
+Did Sir Thomas go to church? The Miss Underwoods did go to church
+very regularly, and thought much of the propriety and necessity of
+such Sunday exercises. They could remember that in their younger days
+their father always had been there with them. They could remember,
+indeed, that he, with something of sternness, would require from them
+punctuality and exactness in this duty. Now and again,--perhaps four
+times in the year,--he would go to the Rolls Chapel. So much they
+could learn, But they believed that beyond that his Sundays were kept
+holy by no attendance at divine service. And it may be said at once
+that they believed aright.
+
+Sir Thomas's chambers in Southampton Buildings, though they were dull
+and dingy of aspect from the outside, and were reached by a staircase
+which may be designated as lugubrious,--so much did its dark and
+dismantled condition tend to melancholy,--were in themselves large
+and commodious. His bedroom was small, but he had two spacious
+sitting-rooms, one of which was fitted up as a library, and the
+other as a dining-room. Over and beyond these there was a clerk's
+room;--for Sir Thomas, though he had given up the greater part of
+his business, had not given up his clerk; and here the old man, the
+clerk, passed his entire time, from half-past eight in the morning
+till ten at night, waiting upon his employer in various capacities
+with a sedulous personal attention to which he had probably not
+intended to devote himself when he first took upon himself the duties
+of clerk to a practising Chancery barrister. But Joseph Stemm and Sir
+Thomas were not unlike in character, and had grown old together with
+too equal a step to admit of separation and of new alliance. Stemm
+had but one friend in the world, and Sir Thomas was that friend. I
+have already said that Sir Thomas had no friend;--but perhaps he felt
+more of that true intimacy, which friendship produces, with Stemm
+than with any other human being.
+
+Sir Thomas was a tall thin man, who stooped considerably,--though not
+from any effect of years, with a face which would perhaps have been
+almost mean had it not been rescued from that evil condition by the
+assurance of intelligence and strength which is always conveyed by
+a certain class of ugliness. He had a nose something like the great
+Lord Brougham's,--thin, long, and projecting at the point. He had
+quick grey eyes, and a good forehead;--but the component parts of his
+countenance were irregular and roughly put together. His chin was
+long, as was also his upper lip;--so that it may be taken as a fact
+that he was an ugly man. He was hale, however, and strong, and was
+still so good a walker that he thought nothing of making his way down
+to the villa on foot of an evening, after dining at his club.
+
+It was his custom to dine at his club,--that highly respectable and
+most comfortable club situated at the corner of Suffolk Street, Pall
+Mall;--the senior of the two which are devoted to the well-being of
+scions of our great Universities. There Sir Thomas dined, perhaps
+four nights in the week, for ten months in the year. And it was said
+of him in the club that he had never been known to dine in company
+with another member of the club. His very manner as he sat at his
+solitary meal,--always with a pint of port on the table,--was as
+well known as the figure of the old king on horseback outside in
+the street, and was as unlike the ordinary manner of men as is that
+unlike the ordinary figures of kings. He had always a book in his
+hand,--not a club book, nor a novel from Mudie's, nor a magazine, but
+some ancient and hard-bound volume from his own library, which he had
+brought in his pocket, and to which his undivided attention would be
+given. The eating of his dinner, which always consisted of the joint
+of the day and of nothing else, did not take him more than five
+minutes;--but he would sip his port wine slowly, would have a cup of
+tea which he would also drink very slowly,--and would then pocket
+his book, pay his bill, and would go. It was rarely the case that
+he spoke to any one in the club. He would bow to a man here and
+there,--and if addressed would answer; but of conversation at his
+club he knew nothing, and hardly ever went into any room but that in
+which his dinner was served to him.
+
+In conversing about him men would express a wonder how such a one had
+ever risen to high office,--how, indeed, he could have thriven at his
+profession. But in such matters we are, all of us, too apt to form
+confident opinions on apparent causes which are near the surface, but
+which, as guides to character, are fallacious. Perhaps in all London
+there was no better lawyer, in his branch of law, than Sir Thomas
+Underwood. He had worked with great diligence; and though he was shy
+to a degree quite unintelligible to men in general in the ordinary
+intercourse of life, he had no feeling of diffidence when upon his
+legs in Court or in the House of Commons. With the Lord Chancellor's
+wife or daughters he could not exchange five words with comfort to
+himself,--nor with his lordship himself in a drawing-room; but in
+Court the Lord Chancellor was no more to him than another lawyer whom
+he believed to be not so good a lawyer as himself. No man had ever
+succeeded in browbeating him when panoplied in his wig and gown;
+nor had words ever been wanting to him when so arrayed. It had been
+suggested to him by an attorney who knew him in that way in which
+attorneys ought to know barristers, that he should stand for a
+certain borough;--and he had stood and had been returned. Thrice
+he had been returned for the same town; but at last, when it was
+discovered that he would never dine with the leading townsmen,
+or call on their wives in London, or assist them in their little
+private views, the strength of his extreme respectability was broken
+down,--and he was rejected. In the meantime he was found to be
+of value by the party to which he had attached himself. It was
+discovered that he was not only a sound lawyer, but a man of great
+erudition, who had studied the experience of history as well
+as the wants of the present age. He was one who would disgrace
+no Government,--and he was invited to accept the office of
+Solicitor-General by a Minister who had never seen him out of the
+House of Commons. "He is as good a lawyer as there is in England,"
+said the Lord Chancellor. "He always speaks with uncommon clearness,"
+said the Chancellor of the Exchequer. "I never saw him talking with
+a human being," said the Secretary to the Treasury, deprecating
+the appointment. "He will soon get over that complaint with your
+assistance," said the Minister, laughing. So Mr. Underwood became
+Solicitor-General and Sir Thomas;--and he so did his work that no
+doubt he would have returned to his office had he been in Parliament
+when his party returned to power. But he had made no friend, he had
+not learned to talk even to the Secretary of the Treasury;--and when
+the party came back to power he was passed over without remorse, and
+almost without a regret.
+
+He never resumed the active bustle of his profession after that
+disappointment. His wife was then dead, and for nearly a twelvemonth
+he went about, declaring to attorneys and others that his
+professional life was done. He did take again to a certain class of
+work when he came back to the old chambers in Southampton Buildings;
+but he was seen in Court only rarely, and it was understood that he
+wished it to be supposed that he had retired. He had ever been a
+moderate man in his mode of living, and had put together a sum of
+money sufficient for moderate wants. He possessed some twelve or
+fourteen hundred a year independent of anything that he might now
+earn; and, as he had never been a man greedy of money, so was he now
+more indifferent to it than in his earlier days. It is a mistake,
+I think, to suppose that men become greedy as they grow old. The
+avaricious man will show his avarice as he gets into years, because
+avarice is a passion compatible with old age,--and will become more
+avaricious as his other passions fall off from him. And so will it
+be with the man that is open-handed. Mr. Underwood, when struggling
+at the Bar, had fought as hard as any of his compeers for comfort
+and independence;--but money, as money, had never been dear to
+him;--and now he was so trained a philosopher that he disregarded
+it altogether, except so far as it enabled him to maintain his
+independence.
+
+On a certain Friday evening in June, as he sat at dinner at his club,
+instead of applying himself to his book, which according to his
+custom he had taken from his pocket, he there read a letter, which
+as soon as read he would restore to the envelope, and would take it
+out again after a few moments of thought. At last, when the cup of
+tea was done and the bill was paid, he put away letter and book
+together and walked to the door of his club. When there he stood and
+considered what next should he do that evening. It was now past eight
+o'clock, and how should he use the four, five, or perhaps six hours
+which remained to him before he should go to bed? The temptation
+to which he was liable prompted him to return to his solitude in
+Southampton Buildings. Should he do so, he would sleep till ten
+in his chair,--then he would read, and drink more tea, or perhaps
+write, till one; and after that he would prowl about the purlieus of
+Chancery Lane, the Temple, and Lincoln's Inn, till two or even three
+o'clock in the morning;--looking up at the old dingy windows, and
+holding, by aid of those powers which imagination gave him, long
+intercourse with men among whom a certain weakness in his physical
+organisation did not enable him to live in the flesh. Well the
+policemen knew him as he roamed about, and much they speculated as to
+his roamings. But in these night wanderings he addressed no word to
+any one; nor did any one ever address a word to him. Yet the world,
+perhaps, was more alive to him then than at any other period in the
+twenty-four hours.
+
+But on the present occasion the temptation was resisted. He had not
+been at home during the whole week, and knew well that he ought to
+give his daughters the countenance of his presence. Whether that
+feeling alone would have been sufficient to withdraw him from the
+charms of Chancery Lane and send him down to the villa may be
+doubted; but there was that in the letter which he had perused so
+carefully which he knew must be communicated to his girls. His niece,
+Mary Bonner, was now an orphan, and would arrive in England from
+Jamaica in about a fortnight. Her mother had been Sir Thomas's
+sister, and had been at this time dead about three years. General
+Bonner, the father, had now died, and the girl was left an orphan,
+almost penniless, and with no near friend unless the Underwoods would
+befriend her. News of the General's death had reached Sir Thomas
+before;--and he had already made inquiry as to the fate of his niece
+through her late father's agents. Of the General's means he had known
+absolutely nothing,--believing, however, that they were confined to
+his pay as an officer. Now he was told that the girl would be at
+Southampton in a fortnight, and that she was utterly destitute. He
+declared to himself as he stood on the steps of the club that he
+would go home and consult his daughters;--but his mind was in fact
+made up as to his niece's fate long before he got home,--before he
+turned out of Pall Mall into St. James's Park. He would sometimes
+talk to himself of consulting his daughters; but in truth he very
+rarely consulted any human being as to what he would do or leave
+undone. If he went straight, he went straight without other human
+light than such as was given to him by his own intellect, his own
+heart, and his own conscience. It took him about an hour and a half
+to reach his home, but of that time four-fifths were occupied, not in
+resolving what he would do in this emergency, but in deep grumblings
+and regrets that there should be such a thing to be done at all. All
+new cares were grievous to him. Nay;--old cares were grievous, but
+new cares were terrible. Though he was bold in deciding, he was very
+timid in looking forward as to the results of that decision. Of
+course the orphan girl must be taken into his house;--and of course
+he must take upon himself the duty of a father in regard to her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+POPHAM VILLA.
+
+
+Popham Villa was the name of the house at Fulham,--as was to be seen
+by all men passing by, for it was painted up conspicuously on the
+pillars through which the gate led into the garden. Mr. Underwood,
+when he had first taken the place, had wished to expunge the name,
+feeling it to be cockneyfied, pretentious, and unalluring. But Mrs.
+Underwood had rather liked it, and it remained. It was a subject of
+ridicule with the two girls; but they had never ventured to urge
+its withdrawal, and after his wife's death Sir Thomas never alluded
+to the subject. Popham Villa it was, therefore, and there the
+words remained. The house was unpretentious, containing only two
+sitting-rooms besides a small side closet,--for it could hardly be
+called more,--which the girls even in their mother's lifetime had
+claimed as their own. But the drawing-room was as pretty as room
+could be, opening on to the lawn with folding windows, and giving a
+near view of the bright river as it flowed by, with just a glimpse
+of the bridge. That and the dining-room and the little closet were
+all on the ground floor, and above were at any rate as many chambers
+as the family required. The girls desired no better house,--if only
+their father could be with them. But he would urge that his books
+were all in London; and that, even were he willing to move them,
+there was no room for them in Popham Villa.
+
+It was sad enough for the two girls,--this kind of life. The worst
+of it, perhaps, was this; that they never knew when to expect him. A
+word had been said once as to the impracticability of having dinner
+ready for a gentleman, when the gentleman would never say whether
+he would want a dinner. It had been an unfortunate remark, for Sir
+Thomas had taken advantage of it by saying that when he came he
+would come after dinner, unless he had certified to the contrary
+beforehand. Then, after dinner, would come on him the temptation of
+returning to his chambers, and so it would go on with him from day to
+day.
+
+On this Friday evening the girls almost expected him, as he rarely
+let a week pass without visiting them, and still more rarely came to
+them on a Saturday. He found them out upon the lawn, or rather on the
+brink of the river, and with them was standing a young man whom he
+knew well. He kissed each of the girls, and then gave his hand to the
+young man. "I am glad to see you, Ralph," he said. "Have you been
+here long?"
+
+"As much as an hour or two, I fear. Patience will tell you. I meant
+to have got back by the 9.15 from Putney; but I have been smoking,
+and dreaming, and talking, till now it is nearly ten."
+
+"There is a train at 10.30," said the eldest Miss Underwood.
+
+"And another at 11.15," said the young man.
+
+Sir Thomas was especially anxious to be alone with his daughters, but
+he could not tell the guest to go. Nor was he justified in feeling
+any anger at his presence there,--though he did experience some prick
+of conscience in the matter. If it was wrong that his daughters
+should be visited by a young man in his absence, the fault lay in his
+absence, rather than with the young man for coming, or with the girls
+for receiving him. The young man had been a ward of his own, and for
+a year or two in former times had been so intimate in his house as to
+live with his daughters almost as an elder brother might have done.
+But young Ralph Newton had early in life taken rooms for himself
+in London, had then ceased to be a ward, and had latterly,--so Sir
+Thomas understood,--lived such a life as to make him unfit to be the
+trusted companion of his two girls. And yet there had been nothing in
+his mode of living to make it necessary that he should be absolutely
+banished from the villa. He had spent more money than was fitting,
+and had got into debt, and Sir Thomas had had trouble about his
+affairs. He too was an orphan,--and the nephew and the heir of an old
+country squire whom he never saw. What money he had received from his
+father he had nearly spent, and it was rumoured of him that he had
+raised funds by post-obits on his uncle's life. Of all these things
+more will be told hereafter;--but Sir Thomas,--though he had given no
+instruction on the subject, and was averse even to allude to it,--did
+not like to think that Ralph Newton was at the villa with the girls
+in his absence. His girls were as good as gold. He was sure of that.
+He told himself over and over again that were it not so, he would
+not have left them so constantly without his own care. Patience, the
+elder, was a marvel among young women for prudence, conduct, and
+proper feeling; and Clarissa, whom he had certainly ever loved the
+better of the two, was as far as he knew faultless;--a little more
+passionate, a little warmer, somewhat more fond of pleasure than her
+sister; but on that account only the more to be loved. Nothing that
+he could do would make them safer than they would be by their own
+virtue. But still he was not pleased to think that Ralph Newton was
+often at the villa. When a man such as Sir Thomas has been entrusted
+with the charge of a young man with great expectations, he hardly
+wishes his daughter to fall in love with his ward, whether his ward
+be prudent or imprudent in his manner of life.
+
+Sir Thomas was hot and tired after his walk, and there was some
+little fuss in getting him soda-water and tea. And as it was plain to
+see that things were not quite comfortable, Ralph Newton at last took
+his departure, so as to catch the earlier of the two trains which had
+been mentioned. It was, nevertheless, past ten when he went;--and
+then Sir Thomas, sitting at the open window of the drawing-room,
+again took out the letter. "Patience," he said, addressing his elder
+daughter as he withdrew the enclosure from the envelope, "Mary Bonner
+will be in England in a fortnight. What shall we do for her?" As he
+spoke he held the letter in a manner which justified the girl in
+taking it from his hand. He allowed it to go to her, and she read it
+before she answered him.
+
+It was a very sad letter, cold in its language, but still full
+of pathos. Her friends in the West Indies,--such friends as she
+had,--had advised her to proceed to England. She was given to
+understand that when her father's affairs should be settled there
+would be left to her not more than a few hundred pounds. Would her
+uncle provide for her some humble home for the present, and assist
+her in her future endeavours to obtain employment as a governess? She
+could, she thought, teach music and French, and would endeavour to
+fit herself for the work of tuition in other respects. "I know," she
+said, "how very slight is my claim upon one who has never seen me,
+and who is connected with me only by my poor mother;--but perhaps you
+will allow me to trouble you so far in my great distress."
+
+"She must come here, of course, papa," said Patience, as she handed
+the letter to Clarissa.
+
+"Yes, she must come here," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"But I mean, to stay,--for always."
+
+"Yes,--to stay for always. I cannot say that the arrangement is one
+to which I look forward with satisfaction. A man does not undertake
+new duties without fears;--and especially not such a duty as this, to
+which I can see no end, and which I may probably be quite unable to
+perform."
+
+"Papa, I am sure she will be nice," said Clarissa.
+
+"But why are you sure, my dear? We will not argue that, however. She
+must come; and we will hope that she will prove to be what Clarissa
+calls nice. I cannot allow my sister's child to go out into the world
+as a governess while I have a home to offer her. She must come here
+as one of our household. I only hope she will not interfere with your
+happiness."
+
+"I am sure she will not," said Clarissa.
+
+"We will determine that she shall add to it, and will do our best to
+make her happy," said Patience.
+
+"It is a great risk, but we must run it," said Sir Thomas; and so the
+matter was settled. Then he explained to them that he intended to
+go himself to Southampton to receive his niece, and that he would
+bring her direct from that port to her new home. Patience offered to
+accompany him on the journey, but this he declined as unnecessary.
+Everything was decided between them by eleven o'clock,--even to the
+room which Mary Bonner should occupy, and then the girls left their
+father, knowing well that he would not go to bed for the next four
+hours. He would sleep in his chair for the next two hours, and would
+then wander about, or read, or perhaps sit and think of this added
+care till the night would be half over. Nor did the two sisters go
+to bed at once. This new arrangement, so important to their father,
+was certainly of more importance to them. He, no doubt, would still
+occupy his chambers, would still live practically alone in London,
+though he was in theory the presiding genius of the household at
+Fulham; but they must take to themselves a new sister; and they both
+knew, in spite of Clarissa's enthusiasm, that it might be that the
+new sister would be one whom they could not love. "I don't remember
+that I ever heard a word about her," said Clarissa.
+
+"I have been told that she is pretty. I do remember that," said
+Patience.
+
+"How old is she? Younger than we, I suppose?" Now Clarissa Underwood
+at this time was one-and-twenty, and Patience was nearly two years
+her senior.
+
+"Oh, yes;--about nineteen, I should say. I think I have been told
+that there were four or five older than Mary, who all died. Is it not
+strange and terrible,--to be left alone, the last of a large family,
+with not a relation whom one has ever seen?"
+
+"Poor dear girl!"
+
+"If she wrote the letter herself," continued Patience, "I think she
+must be clever."
+
+"I am sure I could not have written a letter at all in such a
+position," said Clarissa. And so they sat, almost as late as their
+father, discussing the probable character and appearance of this
+new relation, and the chance of their being able to love her with
+all their hearts. There was the necessity for an immediate small
+sacrifice, but as to that there was no difficulty. Hitherto the two
+sisters had occupied separate bedrooms, but now, as one chamber must
+be given up to the stranger, it would be necessary that they should
+be together. But there are sacrifices which entail so little pain
+that the pleasant feeling of sacrificial devotion much more than
+atones for the consequences.
+
+Patience Underwood, the elder and the taller of the two girls, was
+certainly not pretty. Her figure was good, her hands and feet were
+small, and she was in all respects like a lady; but she possessed
+neither the feminine loveliness which comes so often simply from
+youth, nor that other, rarer beauty, which belongs to the face
+itself, and is produced by its own lines and its own expression. Her
+countenance was thin, and might perhaps have been called dry and
+hard. She was very like her father,--without, however, her father's
+nose, and the redeeming feature of her face was to be found in that
+sense of intelligence which was conveyed by her bright grey eyes.
+There was the long chin, and there was the long upper lip, which,
+exaggerated in her father's countenance, made him so notoriously
+plain a man. And then her hair, though plentiful and long, did not
+possess that shining lustre which we love to see in girls, and which
+we all recognise as one of the sweetest graces of girlhood. Such,
+outwardly, was Patience Underwood; and of all those who knew her well
+there was not one so perfectly satisfied that she did want personal
+attraction as was Patience Underwood herself. But she never spoke
+on the subject,--even to her sister. She did not complain; neither,
+as is much more common, did she boast that she was no beauty. Her
+sister's loveliness was very dear to her, and of that she would
+sometimes break out into enthusiastic words. But of herself,
+externally, she said nothing. Her gifts, if she had any, were of
+another sort; and she was by no means willing to think of herself
+as one unendowed with gifts. She was clever, and knew herself to be
+clever. She could read, and understood what she read. She saw the
+difference between right and wrong, and believed that she saw it
+clearly. She was not diffident of herself, and certainly was not
+unhappy. She had a strong religious faith, and knew how to supplement
+the sometimes failing happiness of this world, by trusting in the
+happiness of the next. Were it not for her extreme anxiety in
+reference to her father, Patience Underwood would have been a happy
+woman.
+
+Clarissa, the younger, was a beauty. The fact that she was a beauty
+was acknowledged by all who knew her, and was well known to herself.
+It was a fact as to which there had never been a doubt since she was
+turned fifteen. She was somewhat shorter than her sister, and less
+slender. She was darker in complexion, and her hair, which was rich
+in colour as brown hair can be, was lustrous, silky, and luxuriant.
+She wore it now, indeed, according to the fashion of the day, with a
+chignon on her head; but beneath that there were curls which escaped,
+and over her forehead it was clipped short, and was wavy, and
+impertinent,--as is also the fashion of the day. Such as it was, she
+so wore it that a man could hardly wish it to be otherwise. Her eyes,
+unlike those of her father and sister, were blue; and in the whole
+contour of her features there was nothing resembling theirs. The
+upper lip was short, and the chin was short and dimpled. There was
+a dimple on one cheek too, a charm so much more maddening than when
+it is to be seen on both sides alike. Her nose was perfect;--not
+Grecian, nor Roman, nor Egyptian,--but simply English, only just not
+retroussé. There were those who said her mouth was a thought too
+wide, and her teeth too perfect,--but they were of that class of
+critics to whom it is a necessity to cavil rather than to kiss. Added
+to all this there was a childishness of manner about her of which,
+though she herself was somewhat ashamed, all others were enamoured.
+It was not the childishness of very youthful years,--for she had
+already reached the mature age of twenty-one; but the half-doubting,
+half-pouting, half-yielding, half-obstinate, soft, loving, lovable
+childishness, which gives and exacts caresses, and which, when it
+is genuine, may exist to an age much beyond that which Clarissa
+Underwood had reached.
+
+But with all her charms, Clarissa was not so happy a girl as her
+sister. And for this lack of inward satisfaction there were at this
+time two causes. She believed herself to be a fool, and was in that
+respect jealous of her sister;--and she believed herself to be in
+love, and in love almost without hope. As to her foolishness, it
+seemed to her to be a fact admitted by every one but by Patience
+herself. Not a human being came near her who did not seem to imply
+that any question as to wisdom or judgment or erudition between
+her and her sister would be a farce. Patience could talk Italian,
+could read German, knew, at least by name, every poet that had ever
+written, and was always able to say exactly what ought to be done.
+She could make the servants love her and yet obey her, and could
+always dress on her allowance without owing a shilling. Whereas
+Clarissa was obeyed by no one, was in debt to her bootmaker and
+milliner, and, let her struggles in the cause be as gallant as they
+might, could not understand a word of Dante, and was aware that she
+read the "Faery Queen" exactly as a child performs a lesson. As to
+her love,--there was a sharper sorrow. Need the reader be told that
+Ralph Newton was the hero to whom its late owner believed that her
+heart had been given? This was a sore subject, which had never as yet
+been mentioned frankly even between the two sisters. In truth, though
+Patience thought that there was a fancy, she did not think that there
+was much more than fancy. And, as far as she could see, there was
+not even fancy on the young man's part. No word had been spoken
+that could be accepted as an expression of avowed love. So at least
+Patience believed. And she would have been very unhappy had it been
+otherwise, for Ralph Newton was not,--in her opinion,--a man to whose
+love her sister could be trusted with confidence. And yet, beyond her
+father and sister, there was no one whom Patience loved as she did
+Ralph Newton.
+
+There had, however, been a little episode in the life of Clarissa
+Underwood, which had tended to make her sister uneasy, and which
+the reader may as well hear at once. There was a second Newton,
+a younger brother,--but, though younger, not only in orders but
+in the possession of a living, Gregory Newton,--the Rev. Gregory
+Newton,--who in the space of a few weeks' acquaintance had fallen
+into a fury of love for Clarissa, and in the course of three months
+had made her as many offers, and had been as often refused. This had
+happened in the winter and spring previous to the opening of our
+story,--and both Patience and Sir Thomas had been well disposed
+towards the young man's suit. He had not been committed to Sir
+Thomas's charge, as had Ralph, having been brought up under the care
+of the uncle whose heir Ralph was through the obligation of legal
+settlements. This uncle, having quarrelled with his own brother,
+since dead, and with his heir, had nevertheless taken his other
+nephew by the hand, and had bestowed upon the young clergyman the
+living of Newton. Gregory Newton had been brought to the villa by his
+brother, and had at once fallen on his knees before the beauty. But
+the beauty would have none of him, and he had gone back to his living
+in Hampshire a broken-hearted priest and swain. Now, Patience, though
+she had never been directly so informed, feared that some partiality
+for the unworthy Ralph had induced her sister to refuse offers from
+the brother, who certainly was worthy. To the thinking of Patience
+Underwood, no lot in life could be happier for a woman than to be
+the wife of a zealous and praiseworthy parson of an English country
+parish;--no lot in life, at least, could be happier for any woman who
+intended to become a wife.
+
+Such were the two girls at Popham Villa who were told on that evening
+that a new sister was to be brought home to them. When the next
+morning came they were of course still full of the subject. Sir
+Thomas was to go into London after breakfast, and he intended to walk
+over the bridge and catch an early train. He was as intent on being
+punctual to time as though he were bound to be all day in Court: and,
+fond as he might be of his daughters, had already enjoyed enough
+of the comforts of home to satisfy his taste. He did love his
+daughters;--but even with them he was not at his ease. The only
+society he could enjoy was that of his books or of his own thoughts,
+and the only human being whom he could endure to have long near him
+with equanimity was Joseph Stemm. He had risen at nine, as was his
+custom, and before ten he was bustling about with his hat and gloves.
+"Papa," said Clarissa, "when shall you be home again?"
+
+"I can't name a day, my dear."
+
+"Papa, do come soon."
+
+"No doubt I shall come soon." There was a slight tone of anger in his
+voice as he answered the last entreaty, and he was evidently in a
+hurry with his hat and gloves.
+
+"Papa," said Patience, "of course we shall see you again before you
+go to Southampton." The voice of the elder was quite different from
+that of the younger daughter; and Sir Thomas, though the tone and
+manner of the latter question was injurious to him, hardly dared to
+resent it. Yet they were not, as he thought, justified. It now wanted
+twelve days to the date of his intended journey, and not more than
+three or four times in his life had he been absent from home for
+twelve consecutive days.
+
+"Yes, my dear," he said, "I shall be home before that."
+
+"Because, papa, there are things to be thought of."
+
+"What things?"
+
+"Clarissa and I had better have a second bed in our room,--unless you
+object."
+
+"You know I don't object. Have I ever objected to anything of the
+kind?" He now stood impatient, with his hat in his hand.
+
+"I hardly like to order things without telling you, papa. And there
+are a few other articles of furniture needed."
+
+"You can get what you want. Run up to town and go to Barlow's. You
+can do that as well as I can."
+
+"But I should have liked to have settled something about our future
+way of living before Mary comes," said Patience in a very low voice.
+
+Sir Thomas frowned, and then he answered her very slowly. "There
+can be nothing new settled at all. Things will go on as they are at
+present. And I hope, Patience, you will do your best to make your
+cousin understand and receive favourably the future home which she
+will have to inhabit."
+
+"You may be sure, papa, I shall do my best," said Patience;--and then
+Sir Thomas went.
+
+He did return to the villa before his journey to Southampton, but
+it was only on the eve of that journey. During the interval the two
+girls together had twice sought him at his chambers,--a liberty on
+their part which, as they well knew, he did not at all approve. "Sir
+Thomas is very busy," old Stemm would say, shaking his head, even to
+his master's daughters, "and if you wouldn't mind--" Then he would
+make a feint as though to close the door, and would go through
+various manoeuvres of defence before he would allow the fort to be
+stormed. But Clarissa would ridicule old Stemm to his face, and
+Patience would not allow herself to be beaten by him. On their second
+visit they did make their way into their father's sanctum,--and
+they never knew whether in truth he had been there when they called
+before. "Old Stemm doesn't in the least mind what lies he tells,"
+Clarissa had said. To this Patience made no reply, feeling that the
+responsibility for those figments might not perhaps lie exclusively
+on old Stemm's shoulders.
+
+"My dears, this is such an out-of-the-way place for you," Sir Thomas
+said, as soon as the girls had made good their entrance. But the
+girls had so often gone through all this before, that they now
+regarded but little what ejaculations of that nature were made to
+them.
+
+"I have come to show you this list, papa," said Patience. Sir Thomas
+took the list, and found that it contained various articles for
+bedroom and kitchen use,--towels, sheets, pots and pans, knives and
+forks, and even a set of curtains and a carpet.
+
+"I shouldn't have thought that a girl of eighteen would have wanted
+all these things,--a new corkscrew, for instance,--but if she does,
+as I told you before, you must get them."
+
+"Of course they are not all for Mary," said Patience.
+
+"The fact is, papa," said Clarissa, "you never do look to see how
+things are getting worn out."
+
+"Clarissa!" exclaimed the angry father.
+
+"Indeed, papa, if you were more at home and saw these things," began
+Patience--
+
+"I have no doubt it is all right. Get what you want. Go to Barlow's
+and to Green's, and to Block and Blowhard. Don't let there be any
+bills, that's all. I will give you cheques when you get the accounts.
+And now, my dears,--I am in the middle of work which will not
+bear interruption." Then they left him, and when he did come to
+the villa on the evening before his journey, most of the new
+articles,--including the corkscrew,--were already in the house.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+WHAT HAPPENED ON THE LAWN AT POPHAM VILLA.
+
+
+Sir Thomas started for Southampton on a Friday, having understood
+that the steamer from St. Thomas would reach the harbour on Saturday
+morning. He would then immediately bring Mary Bonner up to London
+and down to Fulham;--and there certainly had come to be a tacit
+understanding that he would stay at home on the following Sunday. On
+the Friday evening the girls were alone at the villa; but there was
+nothing in this, as it was the life to which they were accustomed.
+They habitually dined at two, calling the meal lunch,--then had a
+five or six o'clock tea,--and omitted altogether the ceremony of
+dinner. They had local acquaintances, with whom occasionally they
+would spend their evenings; and now and then an old maid or two,--now
+and then also a young maid or two would drop in on them. But it was
+their habit to be alone. During these days of which we are speaking
+Clarissa would take her "Faery Queen," and would work hard perhaps
+for half an hour. Then the "Faery Queen" would be changed for a
+novel, and she would look up from her book to see whether Patience
+had turned upon her any glance of reprobation. Patience, in the
+meantime, would sit with unsullied conscience at her work. And so
+the evenings would glide by; and in these soft summer days the girls
+would sit out upon the lawn, and would watch the boats of London
+watermen as they passed up and down below the bridge. On this very
+evening, the last on which they were to be together before the
+arrival of their cousin,--Patience came out upon the lawn with her
+hat and gloves. "I am going across to Miss Spooner's," she said;
+"will you come?" But Clarissa was idle, and making some little joke,
+not very much to the honour of Miss Spooner, declared that she was
+hot and tired, and had a headache, and would stay at home. "Don't be
+long, Patty," she said; "it is such a bore to be alone." Patience
+promised a speedy return, and, making her way to the gate, crossed
+the road to Miss Spooner's abode. She was hardly out of sight when
+the nose of a wager boat was driven up against the bank, and there
+was Ralph Newton, sitting in a blue Jersey shirt, with a straw hat
+and the perspiration running from his handsome brow. Clarissa did not
+see him till he whistled to her, and then she started, and laughed,
+and ran down to the boat, and hardly remembered that she was quite
+alone till she had taken his hand. "I don't think I'll come out, but
+you must get me some soda-water and brandy," said Ralph. "Where's
+Patience?"
+
+"Patience has gone out to see an old maid; and we haven't got any
+brandy."
+
+"I am so hot," said Ralph, carefully extricating himself from the
+boat. "You have got sherry?"
+
+"Yes, we've got sherry, and port wine, and Gladstone;" and away she
+went to get him such refreshment as the villa possessed.
+
+He drank his sherry and soda-water, and lit his pipe, and lay there
+on the lawn, as though he were quite at home; and Clarissa ministered
+to him,--unconscious of any evil. He had been brought up with them on
+terms of such close intimacy that she was entitled to regard him as
+a brother,--almost as a brother,--if only she were able so to regard
+him. It was her practice to call him Ralph, and her own name was as
+common to him as though she were in truth his sister. "And what do
+you think of this new cousin?" he asked.
+
+
+[Illustration: He drank his sherry and soda-water, and lit his pipe,
+and lay there on the lawn, as though he were quite at home . . .]
+
+
+"I can think nothing as yet;--but I mean to like her."
+
+"I mean to hate her furiously," said Ralph.
+
+"That is nonsense. She will be nothing to you. You needn't even see
+her unless you please. But, Ralph, do put your jacket on. I'm sure
+you'll catch cold." And she went down, and hooked his jacket for him
+out of the boat, and put it over his shoulders. "I won't have you
+throw it off," she said; "if you come here you must do as you're
+told."
+
+"You needn't have knocked the pipe out of my mouth all the same. What
+is she like, I wonder?"
+
+"Very,--very beautiful, I'm told."
+
+"A kind of tropical Venus,--all eyes, and dark skin, and black hair,
+and strong passions, and apt to murder people;--but at the same
+time so lazy that she is never to do anything either for herself or
+anybody else;--wouldn't fetch a fellow's jacket for him, let him be
+catching cold ever so fast."
+
+"She wouldn't fetch yours, I dare say."
+
+"And why shouldn't she?"
+
+"Because she doesn't know you."
+
+"They soon get to know one,--girls of that sort. I'm told that in
+the West Indies you become as thick as thieves in half a morning's
+flirtation, and are expected to propose at the second meeting."
+
+"That is not to be your way with our cousin, I can assure you."
+
+"But these proposals out there never mean much. You may be engaged to
+half a dozen girls at the same time, and be sure that each of them
+will be engaged to half-a-dozen men. There's some comfort in that,
+you know."
+
+"Oh, Ralph!"
+
+"That's what they tell me. I haven't been there. I shall come and
+look at her, you know."
+
+"Of course you will."
+
+"And if she is very lovely--"
+
+"What then?"
+
+"I do like pretty girls, you know."
+
+"I don't know anything about it."
+
+"I wonder what uncle Gregory would say if I were to marry a West
+Indian! He wouldn't say much to me, because we never speak, but he'd
+lead poor Greg a horrid life. He'd be sure to think she was a nigger,
+or at least a Creole. But I shan't do that."
+
+"You might do worse, Ralph."
+
+"But I might do much better." As he said this, he looked up into her
+face, with all the power of his eyes, and poor Clarissa could only
+blush. She knew what he meant, and knew that she was showing him that
+she was conscious. She would have given much not to blush, and not to
+have been so manifestly conscious, but she had no power to control
+herself. "I might do much better," he said. "Don't you think so?"
+
+As far as she could judge of her own feelings at this moment, in the
+absolute absence of any previous accurate thought on the subject, she
+fancied that a real, undoubted, undoubting, trustworthy engagement
+with Ralph Newton would make her the happiest girl in England. She
+had never told herself that she was in love with him; she had never
+flattered herself that he was in love with her;--she had never
+balanced the matter in her mind as a contingency likely to occur; but
+now, at this moment, as he lay there smoking his pipe and looking
+full into her blushing face, she did think that to have him for her
+own lover would be joy enough for her whole life. She knew that he
+was idle, extravagant, fond of pleasure, and,--unsteady, as she in
+her vocabulary would be disposed to describe the character which she
+believed to be his. But in her heart of hearts she liked unsteadiness
+in men, if it were not carried too far. Ralph's brother, the parson,
+as to whom she was informed that he possessed every virtue incident
+to humanity, and who was quite as good-looking as his brother, had
+utterly failed to touch her heart. A black coat and a white cravat
+were antipathetic to her. Ralph, as he lay on the green sward, hot,
+with linen trousers and a coloured flannel shirt, with a small straw
+hat stuck on the edge of his head, with nothing round his throat, and
+his jacket over his shoulder, with a pipe in his mouth and an empty
+glass beside him, was to her, in externals, the beau-ideal of a
+young man. And then, though he was unsteady, extravagant, and idle,
+his sins were not so deep as to exclude him from her father's and
+her sister's favour. He was there, on the villa lawn, not as an
+interloper, but by implied permission. Though she made for herself
+no argument on the matter,--not having much time just now for
+arguing,--she felt that it was her undoubted privilege to be
+made love to by Ralph Newton, if he and she pleased so to amuse
+themselves. She had never been told not to be made love to by him. Of
+course she would not engage herself without her father's permission.
+Of course she would tell Patience if Ralph should say anything very
+special to her. But she had a right to be made love to if she liked
+it;--and in this case she would like it. But when Ralph looked at
+her, and asked her whether he might not do better than marry her West
+Indian cousin, she had not a word with which to answer him. He smoked
+on for some seconds in silence still looking at her, while she stood
+over him blushing. Then he spoke again. "I think I might do a great
+deal better." But still she had not a word for him.
+
+"Ah;--I suppose I must be off," he said, jumping up on his legs, and
+flinging his jacket over his arm. "Patience will be in soon."
+
+"I expect her every minute."
+
+"If I were to say,--something uncivil about Patience, I suppose you
+wouldn't like it?"
+
+"Certainly, I shouldn't like it."
+
+"Only just to wish she were at,--Jericho?"
+
+"Nonsense, Ralph."
+
+"Yes; that would be nonsense. And the chances are, you know, that
+you would be at Jericho with her. Dear, dear Clary,--you know I love
+you." Then he put his right arm round her waist, pipe and all, and
+kissed her.
+
+She certainly had expected no such assault,--had not only not thought
+of it, but had not known it to be among the possibilities that might
+occur to her. She had never been so treated before. One other lover
+she had had,--as we know; but by him she had been treated with the
+deference due by an inferior to a superior being. It would have been
+very nice if Ralph would have told her that he loved her,--but this
+was not nice. That had been done which she would not dare to tell to
+Patience,--which she could not have endured that Patience should have
+seen. She was bound to resent it;--but how? She stood silent for a
+moment, and then burst into tears. "You are not angry with me,
+Clary?" he said.
+
+"I am angry;--very angry. Go away. I will never speak to you again."
+
+"You know how dearly I love you."
+
+"I don't love you at all. You have insulted me, and I will never
+forgive you. Go away." At this moment the step of Patience coming up
+from the gate was heard upon the gravel. Clarissa's first thought
+when she heard it was to hide her tears. Though the man had injured
+her,--insulted her,--her very last resource would be to complain to
+others of the injury or the insult. It must be hidden in her own
+breast,--but remembered always. Forgotten it could not be,--nor, as
+she thought at the moment, forgiven. But, above all, it must not
+be repeated. As to any show of anger against the sinner, that was
+impossible to her,--because it was so necessary that the sin should
+be hidden.
+
+"What;--Ralph? Have you been here long?" asked Patience, looking with
+somewhat suspicious eyes at Clarissa's back, which was turned to her.
+
+"About half an hour,--waiting for you, and smoking and drinking
+soda-water. I have a boat here, and I must be off now."
+
+"You'll have the tide with you," said Clarissa, with an effort.
+
+"There is a tide in the affairs of men," said Ralph, with a forced
+laugh. "My affairs shall at once take advantage of this tide. I'll
+come again very soon to see the new cousin. Good-bye, girls." Then
+he inserted himself into his boat, and took himself off, without
+bestowing even anything of a special glance upon Clarissa.
+
+"Is there anything the matter?" Patience asked.
+
+"No;--only why did you stay all the evening with that stupid old
+woman, when you promised me that you would be back in ten minutes?"
+
+"I said nothing about ten minutes, Clary; and, after all, I haven't
+been an hour gone. Miss Spooner is in trouble about her tenant, who
+won't pay the rent, and she had to tell me all about it."
+
+"Stupid old woman!"
+
+"Have you and Ralph been quarrelling, Clary?"
+
+"No;--why should we quarrel?"
+
+"There seems to have been something wrong."
+
+"It's so stupid being found all alone here. It makes one feel that
+one is so desolate. I do wish papa would live with us like other
+girls' fathers. As he won't, it would be much better not to let
+people come at all."
+
+Patience was sure that something had happened,--and that that
+something must have reference to the guise of lover either assumed or
+not assumed by Ralph Newton. She accused her sister of no hypocrisy,
+but she was aware that Clarissa's words were wild, not expressing the
+girl's thoughts, and spoken almost at random. Something must be said,
+and therefore these complaints had been made. "Clary, dear; don't you
+like Ralph?" she asked.
+
+"No. That is;--oh yes, I like him, of course. My head aches and I'll
+go to bed."
+
+"Wait a few minutes, Clary. Something has disturbed you. Has it not?"
+
+"Everything disturbs me."
+
+"But if there is anything special, won't you tell me?" There had
+been something very special, which Clarissa certainly would not tell.
+"What has he said to you? I don't think he would be simply cross to
+you."
+
+"He has not been cross at all."
+
+"What is it then? Well;--if you won't tell me, I think that you are
+afraid of me. We never yet have been afraid of each other." Then
+there was a pause. "Clary, has he said that,--he loves you?" There
+was another pause. Clarissa thought it all over, and for a moment was
+not quite certain whether any such sweet assurance had or had not
+been given to her. Then she remembered his words;--"You know how
+dearly I love you." But ought they to be sweet to her now? Had he
+not so offended her that there could never be forgiveness? And if
+no forgiveness, how then could his love be sweet to her? Patience
+waited, and then repeated her question. "Tell me, Clary; what has he
+said to you?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"Do you love him, Clary?"
+
+"No. I hate him."
+
+"Hate him, Clary? You did not use to hate him. You did not hate him
+yesterday? You would not hate him without a cause. My darling, tell
+me what it means! If you and I do not trust each other what will
+the world be to us? There is no one else to whom we can tell our
+troubles." Nevertheless Clarissa would not tell this trouble. "Why do
+you say that you hate him?"
+
+"I don't know why. Oh, dear Patty, why do you go on so? Yes; he did
+say that he loved me;--there."
+
+"And did that make you unhappy? It need not make you unhappy, though
+you should refuse him. When his brother asked you to marry him, that
+did not make you unhappy."
+
+"Yes it did;--very."
+
+"And is this the same?"
+
+"No;--it is quite different."
+
+"I am afraid, Clary, that Ralph Newton would not make a good husband.
+He is extravagant and in debt, and papa would not like it."
+
+"Then papa should not let him come here just as he pleases and
+whenever he likes. It is papa's fault;--that is to say it would be if
+there were anything in it."
+
+"Is there nothing in it, Clary? What answer did you make when he told
+you that he loved you?"
+
+"You came, and I made no answer. I do so wish that you had come
+before." She wanted to tell her sister everything but the one thing,
+but was unable to do so because the one thing affected the other
+things so vitally. As it was, Patience, finding that she could press
+her questions no further, was altogether in the dark. That Ralph had
+made a declaration of love to her sister she did know; but in what
+manner Clarissa had received it she could not guess. She had hitherto
+feared that Clary was too fond of the young man, but Clary would now
+only say that she hated him. But the matter would soon be set at
+rest. Ralph Newton would now, no doubt, go to their father. If Sir
+Thomas would permit it, this new-fangled hatred of Clary's would,
+Patience thought, soon be overcome. If, however,--as was more
+probable,--Sir Thomas should violently disapprove, then there would
+be no more visits from Ralph Newton to the villa. As there had been a
+declaration of love, of course their father would be informed of it
+at once. Patience, having so resolved, allowed her sister to go to
+her bed without further questioning.
+
+In Clarissa's own bosom the great offence had been forgiven,--or
+rather condoned before the morning. Her lover had been very cruel to
+her, very wicked, and most unkind;--especially unkind in this, that
+he had turned to absolute pain a moment of life which might have been
+of all moments the fullest of joy; and especially cruel in this, that
+he had so treated her that she could not look forward to future joy
+without alloy. She could forgive him;--yes. But she could not endure
+that he should think that she would forgive him. She was willing
+to blot out the offence, as a thing by itself, in an island of her
+life,--of which no one should ever think again. Was she to lose her
+lover for ever because she did not forgive him! If they could only
+come to some agreement that the offence should be acknowledged to
+be heinous, unpardonable, but committed in temporary madness, and
+that henceforward it should be buried in oblivion! Such agreement,
+however, was impossible. There could be no speech about the matter.
+Was she or was she not to lose her lover for ever because he had done
+this wicked thing? During the night she made up her mind that she
+could not afford to pay such a price for the sake of avenging virtue.
+For the future she would be on her guard! Wicked and heartless man,
+who had robbed her of so much! And yet how charming he had been to
+her as he looked into her eyes, and told her that he could do very
+much better than fall in love with her West Indian cousin. Then she
+thought of the offence again. Ah, if only a time might come in which
+they should be engaged together as man and wife with the consent of
+everybody! Then there would be no more offences.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+MARY BONNER.
+
+
+While Clarissa Underwood was being kissed on the lawn at Popham
+Villa, Sir Thomas was sitting, very disconsolate, in a private
+room at the Dolphin, in Southampton. It had required no great
+consideration to induce him to resolve that a home should be given
+by him to his niece. Though he was a man so weak that he could
+allow himself to shun from day to day his daily duty,--and to do
+this so constantly as to make up out of various omissions, small in
+themselves, a vast aggregate of misconduct,--still he was one who
+would certainly do what his conscience prompted him to be right in
+any great matter as to which the right and the wrong appeared to him
+to be clearly defined. Though he loved his daughters dearly, he could
+leave them from day to day almost without protection,--because each
+day's fault in so doing was of itself but small. This new niece of
+his he certainly did not love at all. He had never seen her. He was
+almost morbidly fearful of new responsibilities. He expected nothing
+but trouble in thus annexing a new unknown member to his family. And
+yet he had decided upon doing it, because the duty to be done was
+great enough to be clearly marked,--demanding an immediate resolve,
+and capable of no postponement. But, as he thought of it, sitting
+alone on the eve of the girl's coming, he was very uneasy. What was
+he to do with her if he found her to be one difficult to manage,
+self-willed, vexatious, or,--worse again,--ill-conditioned as to
+conduct, and hurtful to his own children? Should it even become
+imperative upon him to be rid of her, how should riddance be
+effected? And then what would she think of him and his habits of
+life?
+
+And this brought him to other reflections. Might it not be possible
+utterly to break up that establishment of his in Southampton
+Buildings, so that he would be forced by the necessity of things to
+live at his home,--at some home which he would share with the girls?
+He knew himself well enough to be sure that while those chambers
+remained in his possession, as long as that bedroom and bed were at
+his command, he could not extricate himself from the dilemma. Day
+after day the temptation was too great for him. And he hated the
+villa. There was nothing there that he could do. He had no books at
+the villa; and,--so he averred,--there was something in the air of
+Fulham which prevented him from reading books when he brought them
+there. No! He must break altogether fresh ground, and set up a new
+establishment. One thing was clear; he could not now do this before
+Mary Bonner's arrival, and therefore there was nothing to create any
+special urgency. He had hoped that his girls would marry, so that
+he might be left to live alone in his chambers,--waited upon by old
+Stemm,--without sin on his part; but he was beginning to discover
+that girls do not always get married out of the way in their first
+bloom. And now he was taking to himself another girl! He must, he
+knew, give over all hope of escape in that direction. He was very
+uneasy; and when quite late at night,--or rather, early in the
+morning,--he took himself to bed, his slumbers were not refreshing.
+The truth was that no air suited him for sleeping except the air of
+Southampton Buildings.
+
+The packet from St. Thomas was to be in the harbour at eight o'clock
+the next morning,--telegrams from Cape Clear, The Lizard, Eddystone
+Lighthouse, and where not, having made all that as certain as
+sun-rising. At eight o'clock he was down on the quay, and there was
+the travelling city of the Royal Atlantic Steam Mail Packet Company
+at that moment being warped into the harbour. The ship as he walked
+along the jetty was so near to him that he could plainly see the
+faces of the passengers on deck,--men and women, girls and children,
+all dressed up to meet their friends on shore, crowding the sides of
+the vessel in their eagerness to be among the first to get on shore.
+He anxiously scanned the faces of the ladies that he might guess
+which was to be the lady that was to be to him almost the same as a
+daughter. He saw not one as to whom he could say that he had a hope.
+Some there were in the crowd, some three or four, as to whom he
+acknowledged that he had a fear. At last he remembered that his girl
+would necessarily be in deep mourning. He saw two young women in
+black;--but there was nothing to prepossess him about either of them.
+One of them was insignificant and very plain. The other was fat and
+untidy. They neither of them looked like ladies. What if fate should
+have sent to him as a daughter,--as a companion for his girls,--that
+fat, untidy, ill-bred looking young woman! As it happened, the
+ill-bred looking young woman whom he feared, was a cook who had
+married a ship-steward, had gone out among the islands with her
+husband, had found that the speculation did not answer, and was now
+returning in the hope of earning her bread in her old vocation. Of
+this woman Sir Thomas Underwood was in great dread.
+
+But at last he was on board, and whispered his question to the
+purser. Miss Bonner! Oh, yes; Miss Bonner was on board. Was he Sir
+Thomas Underwood, Miss Bonner's uncle? The purser evidently knew all
+about it, and there was something in his tone which seemed to assure
+Sir Thomas that the fat, untidy woman and his niece could not be
+one and the same person. The purser had just raised his cap to Sir
+Thomas, and had turned towards the cabin-stairs to go in search of
+the lady herself; but he was stopped immediately by Miss Bonner
+herself. The purser did his task very well,--said some slightest word
+to introduce the uncle and the niece together, and then vanished. Sir
+Thomas blushed, shuffled with his feet, and put out both his hands.
+He was shy, astonished, and frightened,--and did not know what to
+say. The girl came up to him, took his hand in hers, holding it
+for a moment, and then kissed it. "I did not think you would come
+yourself," she said.
+
+"Of course I have come myself. My girls are at home, and will receive
+you to-night." She said nothing further then, but again raised his
+hand and kissed it.
+
+It is hardly too much to say that Sir Thomas Underwood was in a
+tremble as he gazed upon his niece. Had she been on the deck as
+he walked along the quay, and had he noted her, he would not have
+dared to think that such a girl as that was coming to his house. He
+declared to himself at once that she was the most lovely young woman
+he had ever seen. She was tall and somewhat large, with fair hair, of
+which now but very little could be seen, with dark eyes, and perfect
+eyebrows, and a face which, either for colour or lines of beauty,
+might have been taken as a model for any female saint or martyr.
+There was a perfection of symmetry about it,--and an assertion of
+intelligence combined with the loveliness which almost frightened her
+uncle. For there was something there, also, beyond intelligence and
+loveliness. We have heard of "an eye to threaten and command." Sir
+Thomas did not at this moment tell himself that Mary Bonner had such
+an eye, but he did involuntarily and unconsciously acknowledge to
+himself that over such a young lady as this whom he now saw before
+him, it would be very difficult for him to exercise parental control.
+He had heard that she was nineteen, but it certainly seemed to him
+that she was older than his own daughters. As to Clary, there could
+be no question between the two girls as to which of them would
+exercise authority over the other,--not by force of age,--but by dint
+of character, will, and fitness. And this Mary Bonner, who now shone
+before him as a goddess almost, a young woman to whom no ordinary
+man would speak without that kind of trepidation which goddesses do
+inflict on ordinary men, had proposed to herself,--to go out as a
+governess! Indeed, at this very moment such, probably, was her own
+idea. As yet she had received no reply to the letter she had written
+other than that which was now conveyed by her uncle's presence.
+
+A few questions were asked as to the voyage. No;--she had not been
+at all ill. "I have almost feared," she said, "to reach England,
+thinking I should be so desolate." "We will not let you be desolate,"
+said Sir Thomas, brightening up a little under the graciousness of
+the goddess's demeanour. "My girls are looking forward to your coming
+with the greatest delight." Then she asked some question as to her
+cousins, and Sir Thomas thought that there was majesty even in her
+voice. It was low, soft, and musical; but yet, even in that as in her
+eye, there was something that indicated a power of command.
+
+He had no servant with him to assist in looking after her luggage.
+Old Stemm was the only man in his employment, and he could hardly
+have brought Stemm down to Southampton on such an errand. But he
+soon found that everybody about the ship was ready to wait upon Miss
+Bonner. Even the captain came to take a special farewell of her, and
+the second officer seemed to have nothing to do but to look after
+her. The doctor was at her elbow to the last;--and all her boxes and
+trunks seemed to extricate themselves from the general mass with a
+readiness which is certainly not experienced by ordinary passengers.
+There are certain favours in life which are very charming,--but very
+unjust to others, and which we may perhaps lump under the name of
+priority of service. Money will hardly buy it. When money does buy
+it, there is no injustice. When priority of service is had, like a
+coach-and-four, by the man who can afford to pay for it, industry,
+which is the source of wealth, receives its fitting reward. Rank
+will often procure it; most unjustly,--as we, who have no rank, feel
+sometimes with great soreness. Position other than that of rank,
+official position or commercial position, will secure it in certain
+cases. A railway train is stopped at a wrong place for a railway
+director, or a post-office manager gets his letters taken after time.
+These, too, are grievances. But priority of service is perhaps more
+readily accorded to feminine beauty, and especially to unprotected
+feminine beauty, than to any other form of claim. Whether or no this
+is ever felt as a grievance, ladies who are not beautiful may perhaps
+be able to say. There flits across our memory at the present moment
+some reminiscence of angry glances at the too speedy attendance
+given by custom-house officers to pretty women. But this priority of
+service is, we think, if not deserved, at least so natural, as to
+take it out of the catalogue of evils of which complaint should be
+made. One might complain with as much avail that men will fall in
+love with pretty girls instead of with those who are ugly! On the
+present occasion Sir Thomas was well contented. He was out of the
+ship, and through the Custom House, and at the railway station, and
+back at the inn before the struggling mass of passengers had found
+out whether their longed-for boxes had or had not come with them
+in the ship. And then Miss Bonner took it all,--not arrogantly, as
+though it were her due; but just as the grass takes rain or the
+flowers sunshine. These good things came to her from heaven, and
+no doubt she was thankful. But they came to her so customarily, as
+does a man's dinner to him, or his bed, that she could not manifest
+surprise at what was done for her.
+
+
+[Illustration: Even the captain came to take a special farewell of
+her . . .]
+
+
+Sir Thomas hardly spoke to her except about her journey and her
+luggage till they were down together in the sitting-room at the inn.
+Then he communicated to her his proposal as to her future life. It
+was right, he thought, that she should know at once what he intended.
+Two hours ago, before he had seen her, he had thought of telling her
+simply where she was to live, and of saying that he would find a home
+for her. Now he found it expedient to place the matter in a different
+light. He would offer her the shelter of his roof as though she were
+a queen who might choose among her various palaces. "Mary," he said,
+"we hope that you will stay with us altogether."
+
+"To live with you,--do you mean?"
+
+"Certainly to live with us."
+
+"I have no right to expect such an offer as that."
+
+"But every right to accept it, my dear, when it is made. That is if
+it suits you."
+
+"I had not dreamed of that. I thought that perhaps you would let me
+come to you for a few weeks,--till I should know what to do."
+
+"You shall come and be one of us altogether, my dear, if you think
+that you will like it. My girls have no nearer relative than you. And
+we are not so barbarous as to turn our backs on a new-found cousin."
+She again kissed his hand, and then turned away from him and wept.
+"You feel it all strange now," he said, "but I hope we shall be able
+to make you comfortable."
+
+"I have been so lonely," she sobbed out amidst her tears.
+
+He had not dared to say a word to her about her father, whose
+death had taken place not yet three months since. Of his late
+brother-in-law he had known little or nothing, except that the
+General had been a man who always found it difficult to make
+both ends meet, and who had troubled him frequently, not exactly
+for loans, but in regard to money arrangements which had been
+disagreeable to him. Whether General Bonner had or had not been an
+affectionate father he had never heard. There are men who, in Sir
+Thomas's position, would have known all about such a niece after a
+few hours' acquaintance; but our lawyer was not such a man. Though
+the girl seemed to him to be everything that was charming, he did not
+dare to question her; and when they arrived at the station in London,
+no word had as yet been said about the General.
+
+As they were having the luggage piled on the top of a cab, the fat
+cook passed along the platform. "I hope you are more comfortable now,
+Mrs. Woods," said Mary Bonner, with a smile as sweet as May, while
+she gave her hand to the woman.
+
+"Thank'ee, Miss; I'm better; but it's only a moil of trouble, one
+thing as well as t'other." Mrs. Woods was evidently very melancholy
+at the contemplation of her prospects.
+
+"I hope you'll find yourself comfortable now." Then she whispered to
+Sir Thomas;--"She is a poor young woman whose husband has ill used
+her, and she lost her only child, and has now come here to earn her
+bread. She isn't nice looking, but she is so good!" Sir Thomas did
+not dare to tell Mary Bonner that he had already noticed Mrs. Wood,
+and that he had conceived the idea that Mrs. Wood was the niece of
+whom he had come in search.
+
+They made the journey at once to Fulham in the cab, and Sir Thomas
+found it to be very long. He was proud of his new niece, but he did
+not know what to say to her. And he felt that she, though he was sure
+that she was clever, gave him no encouragement to speak. It was all
+very well while, with her beautiful eyes full of tears, she had gone
+through the ceremony of kissing his hand in token of her respect and
+gratitude;--but that had been done often enough, and could not very
+well be repeated in the cab. So they sat silent, and he was rejoiced
+when he saw those offensive words, Popham Villa, on the posts of his
+gateway. "We have only a humble little house, my dear," he said, as
+they turned in. She looked at him and smiled. "I believe you West
+Indians generally are lodged very sumptuously."
+
+"Papa had a large straggling place up in the hills, but it was
+anything but sumptuous. I do love the idea of an English home, where
+things are neat and nice. Oh, dear;--how lovely! That is the River
+Thames;--isn't it? How very beautiful!" Then the two girls were at
+the door of the cab, and the newcomer was enveloped in the embraces
+of her cousins.
+
+Sir Thomas, as he walked along the banks of the river while the young
+ladies prepared each other for dinner, reflected that he had never in
+his life done such a day's work before as he had just accomplished.
+When he had married a wife, that indeed had been a great piece of
+business; but it had been done slowly,--for he had been engaged four
+years,--and he had of course been much younger at that period. Now he
+had brought into his family a new inmate who would force him in his
+old age to change all his habits of life. He did not think that he
+would dare to neglect Mary Bonner, and to stay in London while she
+lived at the villa. He was almost sorry that he had ever heard of
+Mary Bonner, in spite of her beauty, and although he had as yet been
+able to find in her no cause of complaint. She was ladylike and
+quiet;--but yet he was afraid of her. When she came down into the
+drawing-room with her hand clasped in that of Clarissa, he was still
+more afraid of her. She was dressed all in black, with the utmost
+simplicity,--with nothing on her by way of ornament beyond a few
+large black beads; but yet she seemed to him to be splendid. There
+was a grace of motion about her that was almost majestic. Clary was
+very pretty,--very pretty, indeed; but Clary was just the girl that
+an old gentleman likes to fetch him his slippers and give him his
+tea. Sir Thomas felt that, old as he was, it would certainly be his
+business to give Mary Bonner her tea.
+
+The two girls contrived to say a few words to their father that night
+before they joined Mary amidst her trunks in her bedroom. "Papa,
+isn't she lovely?" said Clarissa.
+
+"She certainly is a very handsome young woman."
+
+"And not a bit like what I expected," continued Clary. "Of course
+I knew she was good-looking. I had always heard that. But I thought
+that she would have been a sort of West Indian girl, dark, and lazy,
+and selfish. Ralph was saying that is what they are out there."
+
+"I don't suppose that Ralph knows anything about it," said Sir
+Thomas. "And what do you say of your new cousin, Patience?"
+
+"I think I shall love her dearly. She is so gentle and sweet."
+
+"But she is not at all what you expected?" demanded Clarissa.
+
+"I hardly know what I expected," replied the prudent Patience. "But
+certainly I did not expect anything so lovely as she is. Of course,
+we can't know her yet; but as far as one can judge, I think I shall
+like her."
+
+"But she is so magnificently beautiful!" said the energetic Clarissa.
+
+"I think she is," said Sir Thomas. "And I quite admit that it is a
+kind of beauty to surprise one. It did surprise me. Had not one of
+you better go up-stairs to her?" Then both the girls bounded off to
+assist their cousin in her chamber.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+MR. NEEFIT AND HIS FAMILY.
+
+
+Mr. Neefit was a breeches-maker in Conduit Street, of such
+repute that no hunting man could be said to go decently into the
+hunting field unless decorated by a garment made in Mr. Neefit's
+establishment. His manipulation of leather was something marvellous;
+and in latter years he had added to his original art,--an art which
+had at first been perfect rather than comprehensive,--an exquisite
+skill in cords, buckskins, and such like materials. When his trade
+was becoming prosperous he had thought of degenerating into a tailor,
+adding largely to his premises, and of compensating his pride by the
+prospects of great increase to his fortune; but an angel of glory had
+whispered to him to let well alone, and he was still able to boast
+that all his measurements had been confined to the legs of sportsmen.
+Instead of extending his business he had simply extended his price,
+and had boldly clapped on an extra half-guinea to every pair that he
+supplied. The experiment was altogether successful, and when it was
+heard by the riding men of the City that Mr. Neefit's prices were
+undoubtedly higher than those of any other breeches-maker in London,
+and that he had refused to supply breeches for the grooms of a
+Marquis because the Marquis was not a hunting man, the riding men
+of the City flocked to him in such numbers, that it became quite a
+common thing for them to give their orders in June and July, so that
+they might not be disappointed when November came round. Mr. Neefit
+was a prosperous man, but he had his troubles. Now, it was a great
+trouble to him that some sporting men would be so very slow in paying
+for the breeches in which they took pride!
+
+Mr. Neefit's fortune had not been rapid in early life. He had begun
+with a small capital and a small establishment, and even now his
+place of business was very limited in size. He had been clever enough
+to make profit even out of its smallness,--and had contrived that
+it should be understood that the little back room in which men were
+measured was so diminutive because it did not suit his special
+business to welcome a crowd. It was his pride, he said, to wait upon
+hunting men,--but with the garments of the world at large he wished
+to have no concern whatever. In the outer shop, looking into Conduit
+Street, there was a long counter on which goods were unrolled for
+inspection; and on which an artist, the solemnity of whose brow and
+whose rigid silence betokened the nature of his great employment,
+was always cutting out leather. This grave man was a German, and
+there was a rumour among young sportsmen that old Neefit paid
+this highly-skilled operator £600 a year for his services! Nobody
+knew as he did how each morsel of leather would behave itself
+under the needle, or could come within two hairbreadths of him
+in accuracy across the kneepan. As for measuring, Mr. Neefit did
+that himself,--almost always. To be measured by Mr. Neefit was as
+essential to perfection as to be cut out for by the German. There
+were rumours, indeed, that from certain classes of customers Mr.
+Neefit and the great foreigner kept themselves personally aloof. It
+was believed that Mr. Neefit would not condescend to measure a retail
+tradesman. Latterly, indeed, there had arisen a doubt whether he
+would lay his august hand on a stockbroker's leg; though little
+Wallop, one of the young glories of Capel Court, swears that he is
+handled by him every year. "Confound 'is impudence," says Wallop;
+"I'd like to see him sending a foreman to me. And as for cutting,
+d'you think I don't know Bawwah's 'and!" The name of the foreign
+artist is not exactly known; but it is pronounced as we have written
+it, and spelt in that fashion by sporting gentlemen when writing to
+each other.
+
+Our readers may be told in confidence that up to a very late date
+Mr. Neefit lived in the rooms over his shop. This is certainly not
+the thing for a prosperous tradesman to do. Indeed, if a tradesman
+be known not to have a private residence, he will hardly become
+prosperous. But Neefit had been a cautious man, and till two years
+before the commencement of our story, he had actually lived in
+Conduit Street,--working hard, however, to keep his residence a deep
+secret from his customers at large. Now he was the proud possessor of
+a villa residence at Hendon, two miles out in the country beyond the
+Swiss Cottage; and all his customers knew that he was never to be
+found before 9.30 A.M., or after 5.15 P.M.
+
+As we have said, Mr. Neefit had his troubles, and one of his great
+troubles was our young friend, Ralph Newton. Ralph Newton was a
+hunting man, with a stud of horses,--never less than four, and
+sometimes running up to seven and eight,--always standing at the
+Moonbeam, at Barnfield. All men know that Barnfield is in the middle
+of the B. B. Hunt,--the two initials standing for those two sporting
+counties, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. Now, Mr. Neefit had a very
+large connexion in the B. B., and, though he never was on horseback
+in his life, subscribed twenty-five pounds a year to the pack. Mr.
+Ralph Newton had long favoured him with his custom; but, we are sorry
+to say, Mr. Ralph Newton had become a thorn in the flesh to many a
+tradesman in these days. It was not that he never paid. He did pay
+something; but as he ordered more than he paid, the sum-total against
+him was always an increasing figure. But then he was a most engaging,
+civil-spoken young man, whose order it was almost impossible to
+decline. It was known, moreover, that his prospects were so good!
+Nevertheless, it is not pleasant for a breeches-maker to see the
+second hundred pound accumulating on his books for leather breeches
+for one gentleman. "What does he do with 'em?" old Neefit would
+say to himself; but he didn't dare to ask any such question of
+Mr. Newton. It isn't for a tradesman to complain that a gentleman
+consumes too many of his articles. Things, however, went so far that
+Mr. Neefit found it to be incumbent on him to make special inquiry
+about those prospects. Things had gone very far indeed,--for Ralph
+Newton appeared one summer evening at the villa at Hendon, and
+absolutely asked the breeches-maker to lend him a hundred pounds!
+Before he left he had taken tea with Mr. and Mrs. and Miss Neefit
+on the lawn, and had received almost a promise that the loan should
+be forthcoming if he would call in Conduit Street on the following
+morning. That had been early in May, and Ralph Newton had called,
+and, though there had been difficulties, he had received the money
+before three days had passed.
+
+Mr. Neefit was a stout little man, with a bald head and somewhat
+protrusive eyes, whose manners to his customers contained a
+combination of dictatorial assurance and subservience, which he had
+found to be efficacious in his peculiar business. On general subjects
+he would rub his hands, and bow his head, and agree most humbly with
+every word that was uttered. In the same day he would be a Radical
+and a Conservative, devoted to the Church and a scoffer at parsons,
+animated on behalf of staghounds and a loud censurer of aught in the
+way of hunting other than the orthodox fox. On all trivial outside
+subjects he considered it to be his duty as a tradesman simply to
+ingratiate himself; but in a matter of breeches he gave way to no
+man, let his custom be what it might. He knew his business, and was
+not going to be told by any man whether the garments which he made
+did or did not fit. It was the duty of a gentleman to come and
+allow him to see them on while still in a half-embryo condition. If
+gentlemen did their duty, he was sure that he could do his. He would
+take back anything that was not approved without a murmur;--but after
+that he must decline further transactions. It was, moreover, quite
+understood that to complain of his materials was so to insult him
+that he would condescend to make no civil reply. An elderly gentleman
+from Essex once told him that his buttons were given to breaking.
+"If you have your breeches,--washed,--by an old woman,--in the
+country,"--said Mr. Neefit, very slowly, looking into the elderly
+gentleman's face, "and then run through the mangle,--the buttons will
+break." The elderly gentleman never dared even to enter the shop
+again.
+
+Mr. Neefit was perhaps somewhat over-imperious in matters relating to
+his own business; but, in excuse for him, it must be stated that he
+was, in truth, an honest tradesman;--he was honest at least so far,
+that he did make his breeches as well as he knew how. He had made up
+his mind that the best way to make his fortune was to send out good
+articles,--and he did his best. Whether or no he was honest in adding
+on that additional half guinea to the price because he found that
+the men with whom he dealt were fools enough to be attracted by a
+high price, shall be left to advanced moralists to decide. In that
+universal agreement with diverse opinions there must, we fear, have
+been something of dishonesty. But he made the best of breeches, put
+no shoddy or cheap stitching into them, and was, upon the whole, an
+honest tradesman.
+
+From 9.30 to 5.15 were Mr. Neefit's hours; but it had come to be
+understood by those who knew the establishment well, that from
+half-past twelve to half-past one the master was always absent. The
+young man who sat at the high desk, and seemed to spend all his time
+in contemplating the bad debts in the ledger, would tell gentlemen
+who called up to one that Mr. Neefit was in the City. After one it
+was always said that Mr. Neefit was lunching at the Restaurong. The
+truth was that Mr. Neefit always dined in the middle of the day at a
+public-house round the corner, having a chop and a "follow chop," a
+pint of beer, a penny newspaper and a pipe. When the villa at Hendon
+had been first taken Mrs. Neefit had started late dinners; but that
+vigilant and intelligent lady had soon perceived that this simply
+meant, in regard to her husband, two dinners a day,--and apoplexy.
+She had, therefore, returned to the old ways,--an early dinner for
+herself and daughter, and a little bit of supper at night. Now,
+one day in June,--that very Saturday on which Sir Thomas Underwood
+brought his niece home to Fulham, the day after that wicked kiss on
+the lawn at Fulham, Ralph Newton walked into Neefit's shop during the
+hour of Mr. Neefit's absence, and ordered,--three pair of breeches.
+Herr "Bawwah," the cutter, who never left his board during the day
+for more than five minutes at a time, remained, as was his custom,
+mute and apparently inattentive; but the foreman came down from his
+perch and took the order. Mr. Neefit was out, unfortunately;--in the
+City. Ralph Newton remarked that his measure was not in the least
+altered, gave his order, and went out.
+
+"Three pair?--leather?" asked Mr. Neefit, when he returned, raising
+his eyebrows, and clearly showing that the moment was not one of
+unmixed delight.
+
+"Two leather;--one cord," said the foreman. "He had four pair last
+year," said Mr. Neefit, in a tone so piteous that it might almost
+have been thought that he was going to weep.
+
+"One hundred and eighty-nine pounds, fourteen shillings, and nine
+pence was the Christmas figure," said the foreman, turning back to a
+leaf in the book, which he found without any difficulty. Mr. Neefit
+took himself to the examination of certain completed articles which
+adorned his shop, as though he were anxious to banish from his
+mind so painful a subject. "Is he to 'ave 'em, Mr. Neefit?" asked
+the foreman. The master was still silent, and still fingered the
+materials which his very soul loved. "He must 'ave a matter of twenty
+pair by him,--unless he sells 'em," said the suspicious foreman.
+
+"He don't sell 'em," said Mr. Neefit. "He ain't one of that sort. You
+can put 'em in hand, Waddle."
+
+"Very well, Mr. Neefit. I only thought I'd mention it. It looked
+queer like, his coming just when you was out."
+
+"I don't see anything queer in it. He ain't one of that sort. Do
+you go on." Mr. Waddle knew nothing of the hundred pounds, nor did
+he know that Ralph Newton had,--twice drank tea at Hendon. On both
+occasions Mrs. Neefit had declared that if ever she saw a gentleman,
+Mr. Newton was a gentleman; and Miss Neefit, though her words had
+been very few, had evidently approved of Mr. Newton's manners. Now
+Miss Neefit was a beauty and an heiress.
+
+Mr. Waddle had hardly been silenced, and had just retired with
+melancholy diligence amidst the records of unsatisfactory commercial
+transactions, before Ralph Newton again entered the shop. He shook
+hands with Mr. Neefit,--as was the practice with many favourite
+customers,--and immediately went to work in regard to his new order,
+as though every Christmas and every Midsummer saw an account closed
+on his behalf in Mr. Neefit's books. "I did say just now, when I
+found you were out, that last year's lines would do; but it may be,
+you know, that I'm running a little to flesh."
+
+"We can't be too particular, Mr. Newton," said the master.
+
+"It's all for your sake that I come," said the young sportsman,
+walking into the little room, while Mr. Neefit followed with his
+scraps of paper and tapes, and Waddle followed him to write down the
+figures. "I don't care much how they look myself."
+
+"Oh, Mr. Newton!"
+
+"I shouldn't like 'em to wrinkle inside the knee, you know."
+
+"That isn't likely with us, I hope, Mr. Newton."
+
+"And I own I do like to be able to get into them."
+
+"We don't give much trouble in that way, Mr. Newton."
+
+"But the fact is I have such trust in you and the silent gentleman
+out there, that I believe you would fit me for the next twenty years,
+though you were never to see me."
+
+"Oh, thank you, Mr. Newton,--2, 4, and 1/8th, Waddle. I think Mr.
+Newton is a little stouter. But, perhaps, you may work that off
+before November, Mr. Newton. Thank you, Mr. Newton;--I think that'll
+do. You'll find we shan't be far wrong. Three pair, Mr. Newton?"
+
+"Yes;--I think three pair will see me through next season. I don't
+suppose I shall hunt above four days, and I have some by me."
+
+Some by him! There must be drawers full of them,--presses full of
+them, chests full of them! Waddle, the melancholy and suspicious
+Waddle, was sure that their customer was playing them false,--raising
+money on the garments as soon as they were sent to him; but he did
+not dare to say anything of this after the snubbing which he had
+already received. If old Neefit chose to be done by a dishonest young
+man it was nothing to him. But in truth Waddle did not understand men
+as well as did his master;--and then he knew nothing of his master's
+ambitious hopes.
+
+"The bishops came out very strong last night;--didn't they?" said
+Ralph, in the outer shop.
+
+"Very strong, indeed, Mr. Newton;--very strong."
+
+"But, after all, they're nothing but a pack of old women."
+
+"That's about what they are, Mr. Newton."
+
+"Not but what we must have a Church, I suppose."
+
+"We should do very badly without a Church, Mr. Newton. At least that
+is my opinion." Then Ralph left the shop, and the breeches-maker
+bowed him out of the door.
+
+"Fifty thousand pounds!" said Ralph Newton to himself, as he walked
+into Bond Street and down to his club. When a man is really rich
+rumour always increases his money,--and rumour had doubled the
+fortune which Mr. Neefit had already amassed. "That means two
+thousand a year; and the girl herself is so pretty, that upon my
+honour I don't know which is the prettier,--she or Clary. But fancy
+old Neefit for one's father-in-law! Everybody is doing it now; but I
+don't think I'd do it for ten times the money. The fact is, one has
+got to get used to these things, and I am not used to it yet. I soon
+shall be,--or to something worse." Such was the nature of Ralph's
+thoughts as he walked away from Mr. Neefit's house to his club.
+
+Mr. Neefit, as he went home, had his speculations also. In making
+breeches he was perfect, and in putting together money he had proved
+himself to be an adept. But as to the use of his money, he was quite
+as much at a loss as he would have been had he tried to wear the
+garments for which he measured his customers so successfully. He
+had almost realised the truth that from that money he himself could
+extract, for himself, but little delight beyond that which arose
+simply from the possession. Holidays destroyed him. Even a day
+at home at Hendon, other than Sunday, was almost more than he
+could endure. The fruition of life to him was in the completing of
+breeches, and its charm in a mutton-chop and a pipe of tobacco. He
+had tried idleness, and was wise enough to know almost at the first
+trial that idleness would not suit him. He had made one mistake in
+life which was irreparable. He had migrated from Conduit Street to a
+cold, comfortless box of a house at a place in which, in order that
+his respectability might be maintained, he was not allowed to show
+his face in a public-house. This was very bad, but he would not make
+bad worse by giving up so much of Conduit Street as was still left to
+him. He would stick to the shop. But what would he do with his money?
+He had but one daughter. Thinking of this, day after day, month after
+month, year after year, he came slowly to the conclusion that it was
+his duty to make his daughter a lady. He must find some gentleman
+who would marry her, and then would give that gentleman all his
+money,--knowing as he did so that the gentleman would probably never
+speak to him again. And to this conclusion he came with no bitterness
+of feeling, with no sense of disappointment that to such an end must
+come the exertions of his laborious and successful life. There was
+nothing else for him to do. He could not be a gentleman himself. It
+seemed to be no more within his reach than it is for the gentleman to
+be an angel. He did not desire it. He would not have enjoyed it. He
+had that sort of sense which makes a man know so thoroughly his own
+limits that he has no regret at not passing them. But yet in his eyes
+a gentleman was so grand a thing,--a being so infinitely superior to
+himself,--that, loving his daughter above anything else, he did think
+that he could die happy if he could see her married into a station
+so exalted. There was a humility in this as regarded himself and an
+affection for his child which were admirable.
+
+The reader will think that he might at any rate have done better than
+to pitch upon such a one as Ralph Newton; but then the reader hardly
+knows Ralph Newton as yet, and cannot at all realise the difficulty
+which poor Mr. Neefit experienced in coming across any gentleman
+in such a fashion as to be able to commence his operations. It is
+hardly open to a tradesman to ask a young man home to his house
+when measuring him from the hip to the knee. Neefit had heard of
+many cases in which gentlemen of money had married the daughters of
+commercial men, and he knew that the thing was to be done. Money,
+which spent in other directions seemed to be nearly useless to him,
+might be used beneficially in this way. But how was he to set about
+it? Polly Neefit was as pretty a girl as you shall wish to see,
+and he knew that she was pretty. But, if he didn't take care, the
+good-looking young gasfitter, next door to him down at Hendon, would
+have his Polly before he knew where he was. Or, worse still, as
+he thought, there was that mad son of his old friend Moggs, the
+bootmaker, Ontario Moggs as he had been christened by a Canadian
+godfather, with whom Polly had condescended already to hold something
+of a flirtation. He could not advertise for a genteel lover. What
+could he do?
+
+Then Ralph Newton made his way down to the Hendon villa,--asking for
+money. What should have induced Mr. Newton to come to him for money
+he could not guess;--but he did know that, of all the young men who
+came into his back shop to be measured, there was no one whose looks
+and manners and cheery voice had created so strong a feeling of
+pleasantness as had those of Mr. Ralph Newton. Mr. Neefit could not
+analyse it, but there was a kind of sunshine about the young man
+which would have made him very unwilling to press hard for payment,
+or to stop the supply of breeches. He had taken a liking to Ralph,
+and found himself thinking about the young man in his journeys
+between Hendon and Conduit Street. Was not this the sort of gentleman
+that would suit his daughter? Neefit wanted no one to tell him that
+Ralph Newton was a gentleman,--what he meant by a gentleman,--and
+that Wallop the stockbroker was not. Wallop the stockbroker spoke
+of himself as though he was a very fine fellow indeed; but to the
+thinking of Mr. Neefit, Ontario Moggs was more like a gentleman than
+Mr. Wallop. He had feared much as to his daughter, both in reference
+to the handsome gasfitter and to Ontario Moggs, but since that second
+tea-drinking he had hoped that his daughter's eyes were opened.
+
+He had made inquiry about Ralph Newton, and had found that the young
+man was undoubtedly heir to a handsome estate in Hampshire,--a place
+called Newton Priory, with a parish of Newton Peele, and lodges, and
+a gamekeeper, and a park. He knew from of old that Ralph's uncle
+would have nothing to do with his nephew's debts; but he learned now
+as a certainty that the uncle could not disinherit his nephew. And
+the debts did not seem to be very high;--and Ralph had come into some
+property from his father. Upon the whole, though of course there must
+be a sacrifice of money at first, Neefit thought that he saw his way.
+Mr. Newton, too, had been very civil to his girl,--not simply making
+to her foolish flattering little speeches, but treating her,--so
+thought Neefit,--exactly as a high-bred gentleman would treat the
+lady of his thoughts. It was a high ambition; but Neefit thought that
+there might possibly be a way to success.
+
+Mrs. Neefit had been a good helpmate to her husband,--having worked
+hard for him when hard work on her part was needed,--but was not
+altogether so happy in her disposition as her lord. He desired to
+shine only in his daughter,--and as a tradesman. She was troubled
+by the more difficult ambition of desiring to shine in her own
+person. It was she who had insisted on migrating to Hendon, and
+who had demanded also the establishment of a one-horse carriage.
+The one-horse carriage was no delight to Neefit, and hardly gave
+satisfaction to his wife after the first three months. To be driven
+along the same roads, day after day, at the rate of six miles an
+hour, though it may afford fresh air, is not an exciting amusement.
+Mrs. Neefit was not given to reading, and was debarred by a sense of
+propriety from making those beef-steak puddings for which, within her
+own small household, she had once been so famous. Hendon she found
+dull; and, though Hendon had been her own choice, she could not keep
+herself from complaining of its dulness to her husband. But she
+always told him that the fault lay with him. He ought to content
+himself with going to town four times a week, and take a six weeks'
+holiday in the autumn. That was the recognised mode of life with
+gentlemen who had made their fortunes in trade. Then she tried to
+make him believe that constant seclusion in Conduit Street was bad
+for his liver. But above all things he ought to give up measuring his
+own customers with his own hands. None of their genteel neighbours
+would call upon his wife and daughter as long as he did that. But
+Mr. Neefit was a man within whose bosom gallantry had its limits.
+He had given his wife a house at Hendon, and was contented to take
+that odious journey backwards and forwards six days a week to oblige
+her. But when she told him not to measure his own customers, "he cut
+up rough" as Polly called it. "You be blowed," he said to the wife
+of his bosom. He had said it before, and she bore it with majestic
+equanimity.
+
+Polly Neefit was, as we have said, as pretty a girl as you shall wish
+to see, in spite of a nose that was almost a pug nose, and a mouth
+that was a little large. I think, however, that she was perhaps
+prettier at seventeen, when she would run up and down Conduit Street
+on messages for her father,--who was not as yet aware that she had
+ceased to be a child,--than she became afterwards at Hendon, when she
+was twenty. In those early days her glossy black hair hung down her
+face in curls. Now, she had a thing on the back of her head, and her
+hair was manoeuvred after the usual fashion. But her laughing dark
+eyes were full of good-humour, and looked as though they could be
+filled also with feeling. Her complexion was perfect,--perfect at
+twenty, though from its nature it would be apt to be fixed, and
+perhaps rough and coarse at thirty. But at twenty it was perfect. It
+was as is the colour of a half-blown rose, in which the variations
+from white to pink, and almost to red, are so gradual and soft as
+to have no limits. And then with her there was a charm beyond that
+of the rose, for the hues would ever be changing. As she spoke or
+laughed, or became serious or sat thoughtless, or pored over her
+novel, the tint of her cheek and neck would change as this or that
+emotion, be it ever so slight, played upon the current of her
+blood. She was tall, and well made,--perhaps almost robust. She was
+good-humoured, somewhat given to frank coquetry, and certainly fond
+of young men. She had sense enough not to despise her father, and was
+good enough to endeavour to make life bearable to her mother. She was
+clever, too, in her way, and could say sprightly things. She read
+novels, and loved a love story. She meant herself to have a grand
+passion some day, but did not quite sympathise with her father's
+views about gentlemen. Not that these views were discussed between
+them, but each was gradually learning the mind of the other. It
+was very pleasant to Polly Neefit to waltz with the good-looking
+gasfitter;--and indeed to waltz with any man was a pleasure to Polly,
+for dancing was her Paradise upon earth. And she liked talking to
+Ontario Moggs, who was a clever man and had a great deal to say about
+many things. She believed that Ontario Moggs was dying for her love,
+but she had by no means made up her mind that Ontario was to be the
+hero of the great passion. The great passion was quite a necessity
+for her. She must have her romance. But Polly was aware that a great
+passion ought to be made to lead to a snug house, half a dozen
+children, and a proper, church-going, roast-mutton, duty-doing manner
+of life. Now Ontario Moggs had very wild ideas. As for the gasfitter
+he danced well and was good-looking, but he had very little to say
+for himself. When Polly saw Ralph Newton,--especially when he sat out
+on the lawn with them and smoked cigars on his second coming,--she
+thought him very nice. She had no idea of being patronised by any
+one, and she was afraid of persons whom she called "stuck-up" ladies
+and gentlemen. But Mr. Newton had not patronised her, and she had
+acknowledged that he was--very nice. Such as she was, she was the
+idol of her father's heart and the apple of his eye. If she had asked
+him to give up measuring, he might have yielded. But then his Polly
+was too wise for that.
+
+We must say a word more of Mrs. Neefit, and then we shall hope that
+our readers will know the family. She had been the daughter of a
+breeches-maker, to whom Neefit had originally been apprenticed,--and
+therefore regarded herself as the maker of the family. But in truth
+the business, such as it was now in its glory, had been constructed
+by her husband, and her own fortune had been very small. She was a
+stout, round-faced, healthy, meaningless woman, in whom ill-humour
+would not have developed itself unless idleness,--that root of all
+evil,--had fallen in her way. As it was, in the present condition of
+their lives, she did inflict much discomfort on poor Mr. Neefit. Had
+he been ill, she would have nursed him with all her care. Had he
+died, she would have mourned for him as the best of husbands. Had he
+been three parts ruined in trade, she would have gone back to Conduit
+Street and made beef-steak puddings almost without a murmur. She was
+very anxious for his Sunday dinner,--and would have considered it to
+be a sin to be without a bit of something nice for his supper. She
+took care that he always wore flannel, and would never let him stay
+away from church,--lest worse should befall him. But she couldn't let
+him be quiet. What else was there left for her to do but to nag him?
+Polly, who was with her during the long hours of the day, would not
+be nagged. "Now, mamma!" she'd say with a tone of authority that
+almost overcame mamma. And if mamma was very cross, Polly would
+escape. But during the long hours of the night the breeches-maker
+could not escape;--and in minor matters the authority lay with her.
+It was only when great matters were touched that Mr. Neefit would
+rise in his wrath and desire his wife "to be blowed."
+
+No doubt Mrs. Neefit was an unhappy woman,--more unfortunate as a
+woman than was her husband as a man. The villa at Hendon had been
+heavy upon him, but it had been doubly heavy upon her. He could
+employ himself. The legs of his customers, to him, were a blessed
+resource. But she had no resource. The indefinite idea which she had
+formed of what life would be in a pretty villa residence had been
+proved to be utterly fallacious,--though she had never acknowledged
+the fallacy either to husband or daughter. That one-horse carriage
+in which she was dragged about, was almost as odious to her as her
+own drawing-room. That had become so horrible that it was rarely
+used;--but even the dining-room was very bad. What would she do
+there, poor woman? What was there left for her to do at all in this
+world,--except to nag at her husband?
+
+Nevertheless all who knew anything about the Neefits said that they
+were very respectable people, and had done very well in the world.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+MRS. NEEFIT'S LITTLE DINNER.
+
+
+On the Sunday morning following that remarkable Saturday on which
+Miss Bonner had been taken to her new home and Ralph Newton had
+ordered three pair of breeches, Mr. Neefit made a very ambitious
+proposition. "My dear, I think I'll ask that young man to come
+and have a bit of dinner here next Sunday." This was said after
+breakfast, as Mr. Neefit was being made smart in his church-going
+coat and his Sunday hat, which were kept together in Mrs. Neefit's
+big press.
+
+"Which young man?" Now Mrs. Neefit when she asked the question knew
+very well that Mr. Newton was the young man to whom hospitality was
+to be offered. Ontario Moggs was her favourite; but Mr. Neefit would
+not have dreamed of asking Ontario Moggs to dinner.
+
+"Mr. Newton, my dear," said Mr. Neefit, with his head stuck sharply
+up, while his wife tied a bow in his Sunday neckhandkerchief.
+
+"Why should us ask him? He won't think nothing of his vittels when he
+gets 'em. He'd only turn up his nose; and as for Polly, what's the
+use of making her more saucy than she is? I don't want such as him
+here, Neefit;--that I don't. Stuck-up young men like him had better
+stay away from Alexandrina Cottage,"--that was the name of the happy
+home at Hendon. "I'm sure our Polly won't be the better for having
+the likes of him here."
+
+Nothing more was said on the subject till after the return of the
+family from church; but, during the sermon Mr. Neefit had had an
+opportunity of thinking the subject over, and had resolved that this
+was a matter in which it behoved him to be master. How was this
+marriage to be brought about if the young people were not allowed to
+see each other? Of course he might fail. He knew that. Very probably
+Mr. Newton might not accept the invitation,--might never show himself
+again at Alexandrina Cottage; but unless an effort was made there
+could not be success. "I don't see why he shouldn't eat a bit of
+dinner here," said Mr. Neefit, as soon as his pipe was lighted after
+their early dinner. "It ain't anything out of the way, as I know of."
+
+"You're thinking of Polly, Neefit?"
+
+"Why shouldn't I be thinking of her? There ain't no more of 'em.
+What's the use of working for her, if one don't think of her?"
+
+"It won't do no good, Neefit. If we had things here as we might have
+'em, indeed--!"
+
+"What's amiss?"
+
+"With nothing to drink out of, only common wine-glasses; and it's my
+belief Jemima 'd never cook a dinner as he'd look at. I know what
+they are,--them sort of young men. They're worse than a dozen ladies
+when you come to vittels."
+
+Nevertheless Mr. Neefit resolved upon having his own way, and it was
+settled that Ralph Newton should be asked to come and eat a bit of
+dinner on next Sunday. Then there arose a difficulty as to the mode
+of asking him. Neefit himself felt that it would be altogether out of
+his line to indite an invitation. In days gone by, before he kept a
+clerk for the purpose, he had written very many letters to gentlemen,
+using various strains of pressure as he called their attention to the
+little outstanding accounts which stood on his books and were thorns
+in his flesh. But of the writing of such letters as this now intended
+to be written he had no experience. As for Mrs. Neefit, her skill in
+this respect was less even than that of her husband. She could write,
+no doubt. On very rare occasions she would make some expression of
+her thoughts with pen and ink to Polly, when she and Polly were
+apart. But no one else ever saw how slight was her proficiency in
+this direction. But Polly was always writing. Polly's pothooks, as
+her father called them, were pictures in her father's eyes. She
+could dash off straight lines of writing,--line after line,--with
+sharp-pointed angles and long-tailed letters, in a manner which made
+her father proud of the money which he had spent on her education.
+So Polly was told to write the letter, and after many expressions of
+surprise, Polly wrote the letter that evening. "Mr. and Mrs. Neefit's
+compliments to Mr. Newton, and hope he will do them the honour to
+dine with them on Sunday next at five o'clock. Alexandrina Cottage,
+Sunday."
+
+"Say five sharp," said the breeches-maker.
+
+"No, father, I won't,--say anything about sharp."
+
+"Why not, Polly?"
+
+"It wouldn't look pretty. I don't suppose he'll come, and I'm sure I
+don't know why you should ask him. Dear me, I'm certain he'll know
+that I wrote it. What will he think?"
+
+"He'll think it comes from as pretty a young woman as he ever clapped
+his eyes on," said Mr. Neefit, who was not at all reticent in the
+matter of compliments to his daughter.
+
+"Laws, Neefit, how you do spoil the girl!" said his wife.
+
+"He has about finished spoiling me now, mamma; so it don't much
+signify. You always did spoil me;--didn't you, father?" Then Polly
+kissed Mr. Neefit's bald head; and Mr. Neefit, as he sat in the
+centre of his lawn, with his girdle loose around him, a glass of gin
+and water by his side, and a pipe in his mouth, felt that in truth
+there was something left in the world worth living for. But a thought
+came across his mind,--"If that chap comes I shan't be as comfortable
+next Sunday." And then there was another thought,--"If he takes my
+Polly away from me, I don't know as I shall ever be comfortable
+again." But still he did not hesitate or repent. Of course his Polly
+must have a husband.
+
+Then a dreadful proposition was made by Mrs. Neefit. "Why not have
+Moggs too?"
+
+"Oh, mamma!"
+
+"Are you going to turn your nose up at Ontario Moggs, Miss Pride?"
+
+"I don't turn my nose up at him. I'm very fond of Mr. Moggs. I think
+he's the best fun going. But I am sure that if Mr. Newton does come,
+he'd rather not have Mr. Moggs here too."
+
+"It wouldn't do at all," said Mr. Neefit. "Ontario is all very well,
+but Mr. Newton and he wouldn't suit."
+
+Mrs. Neefit was snubbed, and went to sleep on the sofa for the rest
+of the afternoon,--intending, no doubt, to let Mr. Neefit have the
+benefit of her feelings as soon as they two should be alone together.
+
+Our friend Ralph received the note, and accepted the invitation. He
+told himself that it was a lark. As the reader knows, he had already
+decided that he would not sell himself even to so pretty a girl as
+Polly Neefit for any amount of money; but not the less might it be
+agreeable to him to pass a Sunday afternoon in her company.
+
+Ralph Newton at this time occupied very comfortable bachelor's rooms
+in a small street close to St. James's Palace. He had now held these
+for the last two years, and had contrived to make his friends about
+town know that here was his home. He had declined to go into the army
+himself when he was quite young,--or rather had agreed not to go into
+the army, on condition that he should not be pressed as to any other
+profession. He lived, however, very much with military friends, many
+of whom found it convenient occasionally to breakfast with him, or
+to smoke a pipe in his chambers. He never did any work, and lived
+a useless, butterfly life,--only with this difference from other
+butterflies, that he was expected to pay for his wings.
+
+In that matter of payment was the great difficulty of Ralph Newton's
+life. He had been started at nineteen with an allowance of £250 per
+annum. When he was twenty-one he inherited a fortune from his father
+of more than double that amount; and as he was the undoubted heir to
+a property of £7,000 a year, it may be said of him that he was born
+with a golden spoon. But he had got into debt before he was twenty,
+and had never got out of it. The quarrel with his uncle was an old
+affair, arranged for him by his father before he knew how to quarrel
+on his own score, and therefore we need say no more about that at
+present. But his uncle would not pay a shilling for him, and would
+have quarrelled also with his other nephew, the clergyman, had he
+known that the younger brother assisted the elder. But up to the
+moment of which we are writing, the iron of debt had not as yet
+absolutely entered into the soul of this young man. He had, in
+his need, just borrowed £100 from his breeches-maker; and this
+perhaps was not the first time that he had gone to a tradesman for
+assistance. But hitherto money had been forthcoming, creditors had
+been indulgent, and at this moment he possessed four horses which
+were eating their heads off at the Moonbeam, at Barnfield.
+
+At five o'clock, with sufficient sharpness, Ralph Newton got out
+of a Hansom cab at the door of Alexandrina Cottage. "He's cum in a
+'Ansom," said Mrs. Neefit, looking over the blind of the drawing-room
+window. "That's three-and-six," said Neefit, with a sigh. "You
+didn't think he was going to walk, father?" said Polly. "There's the
+Underground within two miles, if the Midland didn't suit," said Mr.
+Neefit. "Nonsense, father. Of course he'd come in a cab!" said Polly.
+Mrs. Neefit was not able to add the stinging remark with which her
+tongue was laden, as Ralph Newton was already in the house. She
+smoothed her apron, crossed her hands, and uttered a deep sigh. There
+could be no more going down into the kitchen now to see whether
+the salmon was boiled, or to provide for the proper dishing of the
+lamb. "This is quite condescending of you, Mr. Newton," said the
+breeches-maker, hardly daring to shake hands with his guest,--though
+in his shop he was always free enough with his customers in this
+matter. Polly looked as though she thought there was no condescension
+whatever, held up her head, and laughed and joked, and asked some
+questions about the German at the shop, whom she declared she was
+never allowed to see now, and whose voice she swore she had never
+heard. "Is he dumb, Mr. Newton? Father never will tell me anything
+about him. You must know."
+
+"Laws, Polly, what does it matter?" said Mrs. Neefit. And they were
+the only words she had spoken. Polly, from the first, had resolved
+that she would own to the shop. If Mr. Newton came to see her, he
+should come to see a girl who was not ashamed to speak of herself as
+the daughter of a breeches-maker.
+
+"He don't talk much, does he, Mr. Newton?" said Mr. Neefit, laughing
+merrily.
+
+"Do tell me one thing," said Ralph. "I know it's a secret, but I'll
+promise not to tell it. What is his real name?"
+
+"This isn't fair," said Mr. Neefit, greatly delighted. "All trades
+have their secrets. Come, come, Mr. Newton!"
+
+"I know his name," said Polly.
+
+"Do tell me," said Ralph, coming close to her, as though he might
+hear it in a whisper.
+
+"Mr. Neefit, I wish you wouldn't talk about such things here," said
+the offended matron. "But now here's dinner." She was going to take
+her guest's arm, but Mr. Neefit arranged it otherwise.
+
+"The old uns and the young uns;--that's the way to pair them," said
+Mr. Neefit,--understanding nature better than he did precedence; and
+so they walked into the next room. Mrs. Neefit was not quite sure
+whether her husband had or had not done something improper. She had
+her doubts, and they made her uncomfortable.
+
+The dinner went off very well. Neefit told how he had gone himself to
+the fishmonger's for that bit of salmon, how troubled his wife had
+been in mind about the lamb, and how Polly had made the salad. "And
+I'll tell you what I did, Mr. Newton; I brought down that bottle of
+champagne in my pocket myself;--gave six bob for it at Palmer's, in
+Bond Street. My wife says we ain't got glasses fit to drink it out
+of."
+
+"You needn't tell Mr. Newton all that."
+
+"Mr. Newton, what I am I ain't ashamed on, nor yet what I does. Let
+me have the honour of drinking a glass of wine with you, Mr. Newton.
+You see us just as we are. I wish it was better, but it couldn't be
+welcomer. Your health, Mr. Newton."
+
+There are many men,--and men, too, not of a bad sort,--who in
+such circumstances cannot make themselves pleasant. Grant the
+circumstances, with all the desire to make the best of them,--and
+these men cannot be otherwise than stiff, disagreeable, and uneasy.
+But then, again, there are men who in almost any position can carry
+themselves as though they were to the manner born. Ralph Newton was
+one of the latter. He was not accustomed to dine with the tradesmen
+who supplied him with goods, and had probably never before
+encountered such a host as Mr. Neefit;--but he went through the
+dinner with perfect ease and satisfaction, and before the pies and
+jellies had been consumed, had won the heart of even Mrs. Neefit.
+"Laws, Mr. Newton," she said, "what can you know about custards?"
+Then Ralph Newton offered to come and make custards against her in
+her own kitchen,--providing he might have Polly to help him. "But
+you'd want the back kitchen to yourselves, I'm thinking," said Mr.
+Neefit, in high good-humour.
+
+Mr. Neefit certainly was not a delicate man. As soon as dinner was
+over, and the two ladies had eaten their strawberries and cream, he
+suggested that the port wine should be taken out into the garden. In
+the farther corner of Mr. Neefit's grounds, at a distance of about
+twenty yards from the house, was a little recess called "the arbour,"
+admonitory of earwigs, and without much pretension to comfort.
+It might hold three persons, but on this occasion Mr. Neefit was
+minded that two only should enjoy the retreat. Polly carried out the
+decanter and glasses, but did not presume to stay there for a moment.
+She followed her mother into the gorgeous drawing-room, where Mrs.
+Neefit at once went to sleep, while her daughter consoled herself
+with a novel. Mr. Neefit, as we have said, was not a delicate man.
+"That girl 'll have twenty thousand pound, down on the nail, the day
+she marries the man as I approves of. Fill your glass, Mr. Newton.
+She will;--and there's no mistake about it. There'll be more money
+too, when I'm dead,--and the old woman."
+
+It might be owned that such a speech from the father of a
+marriageable daughter to a young man who had hardly as yet shown
+himself to be enamoured, was not delicate. But it may be a question
+whether it was not sensible. He had made up his mind, and therefore
+went at once at his object. And unless he did the business in this
+way, what chance was there that it would be done at all? Mr. Newton
+could not come down to Alexandrina Cottage every other day, or meet
+the girl elsewhere, as he might do young ladies of fashion. And,
+moreover, the father knew well enough that were his girl once to tell
+him that she had set her heart upon the gasfitter, or upon Ontario
+Moggs, he would not have the power to contradict her. He desired that
+she should become a gentleman's wife; and thinking that this was the
+readiest way to accomplish his wish, he saw no reason why he should
+not follow it. When he had spoken, he chucked off his glass of wine,
+and looked into his young friend's face for an answer.
+
+"He'll be a lucky fellow that gets her," said Ralph, beginning
+unconsciously to feel that it might perhaps have been as well for him
+had he remained in his lodgings on this Sunday.
+
+"He will be a lucky fellow, Mr. Newton. She's as good as gold. And a
+well bred 'un too, though I say it as shouldn't. There's not a dirty
+drop in her. And she's that clever, she can do a'most anything. As
+for her looks, I'll say nothing about them. You've got eyes in your
+head. There ain't no mistake there, Mr. Newton; no paint; no Madame
+Rachel; no made beautiful for ever! It's human nature what you see
+there, Mr. Newton."
+
+"I'm quite sure of that."
+
+"And she has the heart of an angel." By this time Mr. Neefit
+was alternately wiping the tears from his eyes, and taking half
+glasses of port wine. "I know all about you, Mr. Newton. You are a
+gentleman;--that's what you are."
+
+"I hope so."
+
+"And if you don't get the wrong side of the post, you'll come out
+right at last. You'll have a nice property some of these days, but
+you're just a little short of cash at present."
+
+"That's about true, Mr. Neefit."
+
+"I want nobody to tell me;--I know," continued Neefit. "Now if you
+make up to her, there she is,--with twenty thousand pounds down. You
+are a gentleman, and I want that girl to be a lady. You can make her
+a lady. You can't make her no better than she is. The best man in
+England can't do that. But you can make her a lady. I don't know what
+she'll say, mind; but you can ask her,--if you please. I like you,
+and you can ask her,--if you please. What answer she'll make, that's
+her look out. But you can ask her,--if you please. Perhaps I'm a
+little too forrard; but I call that honest. I don't know what you
+call it. But this I do know;--there ain't so sweet a girl as that
+within twenty miles round London." Then Mr. Neefit, in his energy,
+dashed his hand down among the glasses on the little rustic table in
+the arbour.
+
+The reader may imagine that Ralph Newton was hardly ready with his
+answer. There are men, no doubt, who in such an emergency would have
+been able to damn the breeches-maker's impudence, and to have walked
+at once out of the house. But our young friend felt no inclination to
+punish his host in such fashion as this. He simply remarked that he
+would think of it, the matter being too grave for immediate decision,
+and that he would join the ladies.
+
+"Do, Mr. Newton," said Mr. Neefit; "go and join Polly. You'll find
+she's all I tell you. I'll sit here and have a pipe."
+
+Ralph did join the ladies; and, finding Mrs. Neefit asleep, he
+induced Polly to take a walk with him amidst the lanes of Hendon.
+When he left Alexandrina Cottage in the evening, Mr. Neefit whispered
+a word into his ear at the gate. "You know my mind. Strike while the
+iron's hot. There she is,--just what you see her."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+YOU ARE ONE OF US NOW.
+
+
+The first week after Mary Bonner's arrival at Popham Villa went by
+without much to make it remarkable, except the strangeness arising
+from the coming of a stranger. Sir Thomas did stay at home on that
+Sunday, but when the time came for going to morning church, shuffled
+out of that disagreeable duty in a manner that was satisfactory
+neither to himself nor his daughters. "Oh, papa; I thought you would
+have gone with us!" said Patience at the last moment.
+
+"I think not to-day, my dear," he said, with that sort of smile which
+betokens inward uneasiness. Patience reproached him with a look, and
+then the three girls went off together. Even Patience herself had
+offered to excuse Mary, on the score of fatigue, seasickness, and the
+like; but Mary altogether declined to be excused. She was neither
+fatigued, she said, nor sick; and of course she would go to church.
+Sir Thomas stayed at home, and thought about himself. How could he
+go to church when he knew that he could neither listen to the sermon
+nor join in the prayers? "I suppose people do," he said to himself;
+"but I can't. I'd go to church all day long, if I found that it would
+serve me."
+
+He went up to London on the Monday, and returned to the villa to
+dinner. He did the same on the Tuesday. On the Wednesday he remained
+in London. On the Thursday he came home, but dined in town. After
+that he found himself to be on sufficiently familiar terms with his
+niece to fall back into his old habits of life.
+
+Patience was very slow in speaking to their cousin of her father's
+peculiarities; but Clarissa soon told the tale. "You'll get to know
+papa soon," she said.
+
+"He has been so kind to me."
+
+"He is very good; but you must know, dear, that we are the most
+deserted and disconsolate ladies that ever lived out of a poem. Papa
+has been home now four days together; but that is for your beaux
+yeux. We are here for weeks together without seeing him;--very often
+for more than a week."
+
+"Where does he go?"
+
+"He has a place in London;--such a place! You shall go and see it
+some day, though he won't thank us a bit for taking you there. He has
+the queerest old man to wait upon him, and he never sees anybody from
+day to day."
+
+"But what does he do?"
+
+"He is writing a book. That is the great secret. He never speaks
+about it, and does not like to be asked questions. But the truth is,
+he is the most solitude-loving person in the world. He does find its
+charms, though Alexander Selkirk never could."
+
+"And does nobody come here to you?"
+
+"In the way of taking care of us? Nobody! We have to take care of
+ourselves. Of course it is dull. People do come and see us sometimes.
+Miss Spooner, for instance."
+
+"Why should you laugh at poor Miss Spooner?" asked Patience.
+
+"I don't laugh at her. We have other friends, you know; but not
+enough to make the house pleasant to you." After that, when Patience
+was not with them, she told something of Ralph Newton and his visits,
+though she said nothing to her cousin of her own cherished hopes. "I
+wonder what you'll think of Ralph Newton?" she said. Ralph Newton's
+name had been mentioned before in Mary's hearing more than once.
+
+"Why should I think anything particular of Ralph Newton?"
+
+"You'll have to think something particular about him as he is a sort
+of child of the house. Papa was his guardian, and he comes here just
+when he pleases."
+
+"Who is he, and what is he, and where is he, and why is he?"
+
+"He's a gentleman at large who does nothing. That's who he is."
+
+"He thinks ever so much of himself, then?"
+
+"No;--he doesn't. And he is nephew to an old squire down in
+Hampshire, who won't give him a penny. He oughtn't to want it,
+however, because when he came of age he had ever so much money of his
+own. But he does want it,--sometimes. He must have the property when
+his uncle dies."
+
+"Dear me;--how interesting!"
+
+"As for the where he is, and why he is,--he comes here just when it
+suits him, and because we were almost brought up together. He doesn't
+dine here, and all that kind of thing, because papa is never at home.
+Nobody ever does dine here."
+
+Then there was a short pause. "This Mr. Newton isn't a lover then?"
+asked Miss Bonner.
+
+There was another pause before Clarissa could answer the question.
+"No," she said; "no; he isn't a lover. We don't have any lovers at
+Popham Villa." "Only that's not quite true," she said, after a pause.
+"And as you are to live with us just like a sister, I'll tell you
+about Gregory Newton, Ralph's brother." Then she did tell the story
+of the clergyman's love and the clergyman's discomfiture; but she
+said not a word of Ralph's declaration and Ralph's great sin on that
+fatal evening. And the way in which she told her story about the one
+brother altogether disarmed Mary Bonner's suspicion as to the other.
+
+In truth Clarissa did not know whether it was or was not her
+privilege to regard Ralph Newton as her lover. He had not been to the
+cottage since that evening; and though the words he had spoken were
+still sweet in her ears,--so sweet that she could not endure the
+thought of abandoning their sweetness,--still she had a misgiving
+that they were in some sort rendered nugatory by his great fault. She
+had forgiven the fault;--looking back at it now over the distance
+of eight or ten days, had forgiven it with all her heart; but still
+there remained with her an undefined and unpleasant feeling that the
+spoken words, accompanied by a deed so wicked, were absorbed, and,
+as it were, drowned in the wickedness of the deed. What if the words
+as first spoken were only a prelude to the deed,--for, as she well
+remembered, they had been spoken twice,--and if the subsequent words
+were only an excuse for it! There was a painful idea in her mind that
+such might possibly be the case, and that if so, the man could never
+be forgiven, or at least ought never to be spoken to again. Acting
+on this suggestion from within, she absolutely refused to tell her
+father what had happened when Patience urged her to do so. "He'll
+come and see papa himself,--if he means anything," said Clary.
+Patience only shook her head. She thought that Sir Thomas should be
+told at once; but she could not take upon herself to divulge her
+sister's secret, which had been imparted to her in trust.
+
+Clarissa was obstinate. She would not tell her father, nor would
+she say what would be her own answer if her father were to give his
+permission for the match. As to this Patience had not much doubt. She
+saw that her sister's heart was set upon this lover. She had feared
+it before this late occurrence, and now she could hardly have a
+doubt. But if Ralph really meant it he would hardly have told her
+that he loved her, and then not waited for an answer,--not have come
+back for an answer,--not have gone to their father for an answer.
+And then, Patience thought, Sir Thomas would never consent to this
+marriage. Ralph was in debt, and a scapegrace, and quite unfit to
+undertake the management of a wife. Such was the elder sister's
+belief as to her father's mind. But she could not force upon Clary
+the necessity of taking any action in the matter. She was not strong
+enough in her position as elder to demand obedience. Clarissa's
+communication had been made in confidence; and Patience, though she
+was unhappy, would not break the trust.
+
+At last this young Lothario appeared among them again; but, as it
+happened, he came in company with Sir Thomas. Such a thing had not
+happened before since the day on which Sir Thomas had given up all
+charge of his ward's property. But it did so happen now. The two men
+had met in London, and Sir Thomas had suggested that Ralph should
+come and be introduced to the new cousin.
+
+"What are you doing now?" Sir Thomas had asked.
+
+"Nothing particular just at present."
+
+"You can get away this evening?"
+
+"Yes,--I think I can get away." It had been his intention to dine
+at his club with Captain Cox; but as he had dined at the club with
+Captain Cox on the previous day, the engagement was not felt to be
+altogether binding. "I can get away for dinner that is, but I've got
+to go out in the evening. It's a bore, but I promised to be at Lady
+McMarshal's to-night. But if I show there at twelve it will do." Thus
+it happened that Sir Thomas and Ralph Newton went down to Popham
+Villa in a cab together.
+
+It was clear, both to Patience and Clarissa, that he was much struck
+with the new cousin; but then it was quite out of the question
+that any man should not be struck with her. Her beauty was of that
+kind,--like the beauty of a picture,--which must strike even if
+it fails to charm. And Mary had a way of exciting attention with
+strangers, even by her silence. It was hardly intentional, and there
+certainly was no coquetry in it; but it was the case that she carried
+herself after a fashion which made it impossible for any stranger to
+regard her place in the room as being merely a chair with a young
+lady in it. She would speak hardly a word; but her very lack of
+speech was eloquent. At the present time she was of course in deep
+mourning, and the contrast between the brilliance of her complexion
+and the dark dress which covered her throat;--between the black
+scarf and the profusion of bright hair which fell upon it, was so
+remarkable as of itself to excite attention. Clarissa, watching
+everything, though, with feminine instinct, seeming to watch nothing,
+could see that he was amazed. But then she had known that he would be
+amazed. And of what matter would be his amazement, if he were true?
+If, indeed, he were not true,--then, then,--then nothing mattered!
+Such was the light in which Clary viewed the circumstances around her
+at the present moment.
+
+The evening did not pass very pleasantly. Ralph was introduced to the
+cousin, and asked some questions about the West Indies. Then there
+was tea. Ralph was dressed, with a black coat and white cravat, and
+Clary could not keep herself from thinking how very much nicer he was
+with a pipe in his mouth, and his neck bare, drinking soda-water and
+sherry out on the lawn. Ah,--in spite of all that had then happened,
+that was the sweetest moment in her existence, when he jumped up from
+the ground and told her that he might do a great deal better than
+marry the West Indian cousin. She thought now of his very words, and
+suggested to herself that perhaps he would never say them again.
+Nay;--might it not be possible that he would say the very reverse,
+that he would declare his wish to marry the West Indian cousin. Clary
+could not conceive but that he might have her should he so wish.
+Young ladies, when they are in love, are prone to regard their lovers
+as being prizes so valuable as to be coveted by all female comers.
+
+Before Ralph had taken his leave Sir Thomas took Mary apart to make
+some communication to her as to her own affairs. Everything was now
+settled, and Sir Thomas had purchased stock for her with her little
+fortune. "You have £20 2_s._ 4_d._ a year, quite your own," he said,
+laughing;--as he might have done to one of his own girls, had an
+unexpected legacy been left to her.
+
+"That means that I must be altogether dependent on your charity," she
+said, looking into his face through her tears.
+
+"It means nothing of the kind," he said, with almost the impetuosity
+of anger. "There shall be no such cold word as charity between you
+and me. You are one of us now, and of my cup and of my loaf it is
+your right to partake, as it is the right of those girls there. I
+shall never think of it, or speak of it again."
+
+"But I must think of it, uncle."
+
+"The less the better;--but never use that odious word again between
+you and me. It is a word for strangers. What is given as I give to
+you should be taken without even an acknowledgment. My payment is to
+be your love."
+
+"You shall be paid in full," she said as she kissed him. This was
+all very well, but still on his part there was some misgiving,--some
+misgiving, though no doubt. If he were to die what would become of
+her? He must make a new will,--which in itself was to him a terrible
+trouble; and he must take something from his own girls in order that
+he might provide for this new daughter. That question of adopting is
+very difficult. If a man have no children of his own,--none others
+that are dependent on him,--he can give all, and there is an end
+of his trouble. But a man feels that he owes his property to his
+children; and, so feeling, may he take it from them and give it to
+others? Had she been in truth his daughter, he would have felt that
+there was enough for three; but she was not his daughter, and yet he
+was telling her that she should be to him the same as a child of his
+house!
+
+In the meantime Ralph was out on the lawn with the two sisters, and
+was as awkward as men always are in such circumstances. When he spoke
+those words to Clarissa he had in truth no settled purpose in his
+mind. He had always liked her,--loved her after a fashion,--felt
+for her an affection different to that which he entertained for her
+sister. Nevertheless, most assuredly he had not come down to Fulham
+on that evening prepared to make her an offer. He had been there by
+chance, and it had been quite by chance that he found Clarissa alone.
+He knew that the words had been spoken, and he knew also that he
+had drawn down her wrath upon his head by his caress. He was man
+enough also to feel that he had no right to believe himself to have
+been forgiven, because now, in the presence of others, she did not
+receive him with a special coldness which would have demanded special
+explanation. As it was, the three were all cold. Patience half felt
+inclined to go and leave them together. She would have given a finger
+off her hand to make Clary happy;--but would it be right to make
+Clary happy in such fashion as this? She had thought at first when
+she saw her father and Ralph together, that Ralph had spoken of his
+love to Sir Thomas, and that Sir Thomas had allowed him to come; but
+she soon perceived that this was not the case: and so they walked
+about together, each knowing that their intercourse was not as it
+always had been, and each feeling powerless to resume an appearance
+of composure.
+
+"I have got to go and be at Lady McMarshal's," he said, after having
+suffered in this way for a quarter of an hour. "If I did not show
+myself there her ladyship would think that I had given over all ideas
+of propriety, and that I was a lost sheep past redemption."
+
+"Don't let us keep you if you ought to go," said Clary, with dismal
+propriety.
+
+"I think I'll be off. Good-bye, Patience. The new cousin is radiant
+in beauty. No one can doubt that. But I don't know whether she is
+exactly the sort of girl I admire most. By-the-bye, what do you mean
+to do with her?"
+
+"Do with her?" said Patience. "She will live here, of course."
+
+"Just settle down as one of the family? Then, no doubt, I shall see
+her again. Good-night, Patience. Good-bye, Clary. I'll just step in
+and make my adieux to Sir Thomas and the beauty." This he did;--but
+as he went he pressed Clary's hand in a manner that she could but
+understand. She did not return the pressure, but she did not resent
+it.
+
+"Clarissa," said Patience, when they were together that night, "dear
+Clarissa!"
+
+Clary knew that when she was called Clarissa by her sister something
+special was meant. "What is it?" she asked. "What are you going to
+say now?"
+
+"You know that I am thinking only of your happiness. My darling, he
+doesn't mean it."
+
+"How do you know? What right have you to say so? Why am I to be
+thought such a fool as not to know what I ought to do?"
+
+"Nobody thinks that you are a fool, Clary. I know how clever you
+are,--and how good. But I cannot bear that you should be unhappy.
+If he had meant it, he would have spoken to papa. If you will only
+tell me that you are not thinking of him, that he is not making you
+unhappy, I will not say a word further."
+
+"I am thinking of him, and he is making me unhappy," said Clarissa,
+bursting into tears. "But I don't know why you should say that he is
+a liar, and dishonest, and everything that is bad."
+
+"I have neither said that, nor thought it, Clary."
+
+"That is what you mean. He did say that he loved me."
+
+"And you,--you did not answer him?"
+
+"No;--I said nothing. I can't explain it, and I don't want to explain
+it. I did not say a word to him. You came; and then he went away. If
+I am to be unhappy, I can't help it. He did say that he loved me, and
+I do love him."
+
+"Will you tell papa?"
+
+"No;--I will not. It would be out of the question. He would go to
+Ralph, and there would be a row, and I would not have it for worlds."
+Then she tried to smile. "Other girls are unhappy, and I don't see
+why I'm to be better off than the rest. I know I am a fool. You'll
+never be unhappy, because you are not a fool. But, Patience, I have
+told you everything, and if you are not true to me I will never
+forgive you." Patience promised that she would be true; and then they
+embraced and were friends.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+RALPH NEWTON'S TROUBLES.
+
+
+July had come, the second week in July, and Ralph Newton had not
+as yet given any reply to that very definite proposition which had
+been made to him after the little dinner by Mr. Neefit. Now the
+proposition was one which certainly required an answer;--and all the
+effect which it had hitherto had upon our friend was to induce him
+not to include Conduit Street in any of his daily walks. It has
+already been said that before the offer was made to him, when he
+believed that Polly's fortune would be more than Mr. Neefit had been
+able to promise, he had determined that nothing should induce him
+to marry the daughter of a breeches-maker; and therefore the answer
+might have been easy. Nevertheless he made no answer, but kept out
+of Conduit Street, and allowed the three pair of breeches to be sent
+home to him without trying them on. This was very wrong; for Mr.
+Neefit, though perhaps indelicate, had at least been generous and
+trusting;--and a definite answer should have been given before the
+middle of July.
+
+Troubles were coming thick upon Ralph Newton. He had borrowed a
+hundred pounds from Mr. Neefit, but this he had done under pressure
+of a letter from his brother the parson. He owed the parson,--we
+will not say how much. He would get fifty pounds or a hundred from
+the parson every now and again, giving an assurance that it should
+be repaid in a month or six weeks. Sometimes the promise would be
+kept,--and sometimes not. The parson, as a bachelor, was undoubtedly
+a rich man. He had a living of £400 a year, and some fortune of his
+own; but he had tastes of his own, and was repairing the Church at
+Peele Newton, his parish in Hampshire. It would therefore sometimes
+happen that he was driven to ask his brother for money. The hundred
+pounds which had been borrowed from Mr. Neefit had been sent down
+to Peele Newton with a mere deduction of £25 for current expenses.
+Twenty-five pounds do not go far in current expenses in London with a
+man who is given to be expensive, and Ralph Newton was again in want
+of funds.
+
+And there were other troubles, all coming from want of money. Mr.
+Horsball, of the Moonbeam, who was generally known in the sporting
+world as a man who never did ask for his money, had remarked that
+as Mr. Newton's bill was now above a thousand, he should like a
+little cash. Mr. Newton's bill at two months for £500 would be quite
+satisfactory. "Would Mr. Newton accept the enclosed document?" Mr.
+Newton did accept the document, but he didn't like it. How was he to
+pay £500 in the beginning of September, unless indeed he got it from
+Mr. Neefit? He might raise money, no doubt, on his own interest in
+the Newton Priory estate. But that estate would never be his were he
+to die before his uncle, and he knew that assistance from the Jews on
+such security would ruin him altogether. Of his own property there
+was still a remnant left. He owned houses in London from which he
+still got some income. But they were mortgaged, and the title-deeds
+not in his possession, and his own attorney made difficulties about
+obtaining for him a further advance.
+
+He was sitting one bright July morning in his own room in St. James's
+Street, over a very late breakfast, with his two friends, Captain
+Fooks and Lieutenant Cox, when a little annoyance of a similar kind
+fell upon him;--a worse annoyance, indeed, than that which had come
+from Mr. Horsball, for Mr. Horsball had not been spiteful enough to
+call upon him. There came a knock at his door, and young Mr. Moggs
+was ushered into the room. Now Mr. Moggs was the son of Booby and
+Moggs, the well-known bootmakers of Old Bond Street; and the boots
+they had made for Ralph Newton had been infinite in number, as they
+had also, no doubt, been excellent in make and leather. But Booby and
+Moggs had of late wanted money, had written many letters, and for
+four months had not seen the face of their customer. When a gentleman
+is driven by his indebtedness to go to another tradesman, it is, so
+to say, "all up with him" in the way of credit. There is nothing the
+tradesman dislikes so much as this, as he fears that the rival is
+going to get the ready money after he has given the credit. And yet
+what is a gentleman to do when his demand for further goods at the
+old shop is met by a request for a little ready money? We know what
+Ralph Newton did at the establishment in Conduit Street. But then Mr.
+Neefit was a very peculiar man.
+
+Cox had just lighted his cigar, and Fooks was filling his pipe when
+Ontario Moggs entered the room. This rival in the regards of Polly
+Neefit was not at that time personally known to Ralph Newton; but
+the name, as mentioned by his servant, was painfully familiar to him.
+"Oh, Mr. Moggs,--ah;--it's your father, I suppose, that I know. Sit
+down, Mr. Moggs;--will you have a cup of tea;--or perhaps a glass of
+brandy? Take a cigar, Mr. Moggs." But Moggs declined all refreshment
+for the body. He was a tall, thin, young man, with long straggling
+hair, a fierce eye, very thick lips, and a flat nose,--a nose which
+seemed to be all nostril;--and then, below his mouth was a tuft of
+beard, which he called an imperial. It was the glory of Ontario
+Moggs to be a politician;--it was his ambition to be a poet;--it was
+his nature to be a lover;--it was his disgrace to be a bootmaker.
+Dependent on a stern father, and aware that it behoved him to earn
+his bread, he could not but obey; but he groaned under this servitude
+to trade, and was only happy when speaking at his debating club,
+held at the Cheshire Cheese, or when basking in the beauty of Polly
+Neefit. He was great upon Strikes,--in reference to which perilous
+subject he was altogether at variance with his father, who worshipped
+capital and hated unions. Ontario held horrible ideas about
+co-operative associations, the rights of labour, and the welfare of
+the masses. Thrice he had quarrelled with his father;--but the old
+man loved his son, and though he was stern, strove to bring the young
+man into the ways of money-making. How was he to think of marrying
+Polly Neefit,--as to the expediency of which arrangement Mr. Moggs
+senior quite agreed with Mr. Moggs junior,--unless he would show
+himself to be a man of business? Did he think that old Neefit would
+give his money to be wasted upon strikes? Ontario, who was as honest
+a fool as ever lived, told his father that he didn't care a straw for
+Neefit's money. Then Moggs the father had made a plunge against the
+counter with his sharp-pointed shoemaker's knife, which he always
+held in his hand, that had almost been fatal to himself; for the
+knife broke at the thrust, and the fragment cut his wrist. At this
+time there was no real Booby, and the firm was in truth Moggs, and
+Moggs only. The great question was whether it should become Moggs and
+Son. But what tradesman would take a partner into his firm who began
+by declaring that strikes were the safeguards of trade, and that
+he,--the proposed partner,--did not personally care for money?
+Nevertheless old Moggs persevered; and Ontario, alive to the fact
+that it was his duty to be a bootmaker, was now attempting to carry
+on his business in the manner laid down for him by his father.
+
+A worse dun,--a dun with less power of dunning,--than Ontario Moggs
+could not be conceived. His only strength lay in his helplessness.
+When he found that Mr. Newton had two friends with him, his lips were
+sealed. To ask for money at all was very painful to him, but to ask
+for it before three men was beyond his power. Ralph Newton, seeing
+something of this, felt that generosity demanded of him that he
+should sacrifice himself. "I'm afraid you've come about your bill,
+Mr. Moggs," he said. Ontario Moggs, who on the subject of Trades'
+Unions at the Cheshire Cheese could pour forth a flood of eloquence
+that would hold the room in rapt admiration, and then bring down a
+tumult of applause, now stammered out a half-expressed assent. "As
+Mr. Newton was engaged perhaps he had better call again."
+
+"Well;--thankee, yes. It would be as well. But what's the total, Mr.
+Moggs?" Ontario could not bring himself to mention the figures, but
+handed a paper to our friend. "Bless my soul! that's very bad," said
+our friend. "Over two hundred pounds for boots! How long can your
+father give me?"
+
+"He's a little pressed just at present," whispered Moggs.
+
+"Yes;--and he has my bill, which he was forced to take up at
+Christmas. It's quite true." Moggs said not a word, though he had
+been especially commissioned to instruct the debtor that his father
+would be forced to apply through his solicitor, unless he should
+receive at least half the amount due before the end of the next week.
+"Tell your father that I will certainly call within the next three
+days and tell him what I can do;--or, at least, what I can't do.
+You are sure you won't take a cigar?" Moggs was quite sure that he
+wouldn't take a cigar, and retired, thanking Ralph as though some
+excellent arrangement had been made which would altogether prevent
+further difficulties.
+
+"That's the softest chap I ever saw," said Lieutenant Cox.
+
+"I wish my fellows would treat me like that," said Captain Fooks.
+"But I never knew a fellow have the luck that Newton has. I don't
+suppose I owe a tenth of what you do."
+
+"That's your idea of luck?" said Ralph.
+
+"Well;--yes. I owe next to nothing, but I'll be hanged if I can get
+anything done for me without being dunned up to my very eyes. You
+know that chap of Neefit's? I'm blessed if he didn't ask me whether
+I meant to settle last year's bill, before he should send me home a
+couple of cords I ordered! Now I don't owe Neefit twenty pounds if
+all was told."
+
+"What did you do?" asked Lieutenant Cox.
+
+"I just walked out of the shop. Now I shall see whether they're sent
+or not. They tell me there's a fellow down at Rugby makes just as
+well as Neefit, and never bothers you at all. What do you owe Neefit,
+Newton?"
+
+"Untold sums."
+
+"But how much really?"
+
+"Don't you hear me say the sums are untold?"
+
+"Oh; d----n it; I don't understand that. I'm never dark about
+anything of that kind. I'll go bail it's more than five times what I
+do."
+
+"Very likely. If you had given your orders generously, as I have
+done, you would have been treated nobly. What good has a man in
+looking at twenty pounds on his books? Of course he must get in the
+small sums."
+
+"I suppose there's something in that," said the captain thoughtfully.
+At this moment the conversation was interrupted by the entrance of
+another emissary,--an emissary from that very establishment to which
+they were alluding. It was Ralph Newton's orders that no one should
+ever be denied to him when he was really in his rooms. He had fought
+the battle long enough to know that such denials create unnecessary
+animosity. And then, as he said, they were simply the resources of
+a coward. It was the duty of a brave man to meet his enemy face to
+face. Fortune could never give him the opportunity of doing that
+pleasantly, in the field, as might happen any day to his happy
+friends, Captain Fooks and Lieutenant Cox; but he was determined
+that he would accustom himself to stand fire;--and that, therefore,
+he would never run away from a dun. Now there slipped very slowly
+into the room, that most mysterious person who was commonly called
+Herr Bawwah,--much to the astonishment of the three young gentlemen,
+as the celebrated cutter of leather had never previously been seen
+by either of them elsewhere than standing silent at his board in
+Neefit's shop, with his knife in his hands. They looked at one
+another, and the two military gentlemen thought that Mr. Neefit was
+very much in earnest when he sent Bawwah to look for his money. Mr.
+Neefit was very much in earnest; but on this occasion his emissary
+had not come for money. "What, Herr Bawwah;--is that you?" said
+Ralph, making the best he could of the name. "Is there anything wrong
+at the shop?" The German looked slowly round the room, and then
+handed to the owner of it a little note without a word.
+
+Ralph read the note,--to himself. It was written on one of the shop
+bills, and ran as follows:--"Have you thought of what I was saying?
+If so, I should be happy to see Mr. Newton either in Conduit Street
+or at Alexandrina Cottage." There was neither signature nor date.
+Ralph knew what he was called upon to do, as well as though four
+pages of an elaborate epistle had been indited to him. And he knew,
+too, that he was bound to give an answer. He asked the "Herr" to sit
+down, and prepared to write an answer at once. He offered the Herr a
+glass of brandy, which the Herr swallowed at a gulp. He handed the
+Herr a cigar, which the Herr pocketed;--and in gratitude for the
+latter favour some inarticulate grunt of thanks was uttered. Ralph at
+once wrote his reply, while the two friends smoked, looked on, and
+wondered. "Dear Mr. Neefit,--I will be with you at eleven to-morrow
+morning. Yours most truly, RALPH NEWTON." This he handed, with
+another glass of brandy, to the Herr. The Herr swallowed the second
+glass,--as he would have done a third had it been offered to
+him,--and then took his departure.
+
+"That was another dun;--eh, Newton?" asked the lieutenant.
+
+"What a conjuror you are?" said Ralph.
+
+"I never heard of his sending Bawwah out before," said the captain.
+
+"He never does under two hundred and fifty pounds," said Ralph. "It's
+a mark of the greatest respect. If I wore nothing but brown cords,
+like you, I never should have seen the Herr here."
+
+"I never had a pair of brown cords in my life!" said the offended
+captain. After this the conversation fell away, and the two warriors
+went off to their military occupations at the Horse Guards, where, no
+doubt, the Commander-in-chief was waiting for them with impatience.
+
+Ralph Newton had much to think of, and much that required thinking of
+at once. Did he mean to make an offer to Clary Underwood? Did he mean
+to take Polly Neefit and her £20,000? Did he mean to marry at all?
+Did he mean to go to the dogs? Had he ever in his life seen anybody
+half so beautiful as Mary Bonner? What was he to say to Mr. Moggs?
+How was he to manage about that £500 which Horsball would demand of
+him in September? In what terms could he speak to Neefit of the money
+due both for breeches and the loan, in the event of his declining
+Polly? And then, generally, how was he to carry on the war? He was
+thoroughly disgusted with himself as he thought of all the evil that
+he had done, and of the good which he had omitted to do. While he was
+yet at college Sir Thomas had been anxious that he should be called
+to the Bar, and had again and again begged of him to consent to this
+as a commencement of his life in London. But Ralph had replied,--and
+had at last replied with so much decision that Sir Thomas had
+abandoned the subject,--that as it was out of the question that he
+should ever make money at the Bar, the fact of his being called would
+be useless to him. He argued that he need not waste his life because
+he was not a lawyer. It was not his intention to waste his life. He
+had a sufficient property of his own at once, and must inherit a much
+larger property later in life. He would not be called to the Bar, nor
+would he go into the army, nor would he go abroad for any lengthened
+course of travelling. He was fond of hunting, but he would keep his
+hunting within measure. Surely an English private gentleman might
+live to some profit in his own country! He would go out in honours,
+and take a degree, and then make himself happy among his books. Such
+had been his own plan for himself at twenty-one. At twenty-two he had
+quarrelled with the tutor at his college, and taken his name off the
+books without any degree. About this, too, he had argued with Sir
+Thomas, expressing a strong opinion that a university degree was in
+England, of all pretences, the most vain and hollow. At twenty-three
+he began his career at the Moonbeam with two horses,--and from that
+day to this hunting had been the chief aim of his life. During the
+last winter he had hunted six days a week,--assuring Sir Thomas,
+however, that at the end of that season his wild oats would have
+been sown as regarded that amusement, and that henceforth he should
+confine himself to two days a week. Since that he had justified the
+four horses which still remained at the Moonbeam by the alleged fact
+that horses were drugs in April, but would be pearls of price in
+November. Sir Thomas could only expostulate, and when he did so, his
+late ward and present friend, though he was always courteous, would
+always argue. Then he fell, as was natural, into intimacies with such
+men as Cox and Fooks. There was no special harm either in Cox or
+Fooks; but no one knew better than did Ralph Newton himself that they
+were not such friends as he had promised himself when he was younger.
+
+Fathers, guardians, and the race of old friends generally, hardly
+ever give sufficient credit to the remorse which young men themselves
+feel when they gradually go astray. They see the better as plainly
+as do their elders, though they so often follow the worse,--as not
+unfrequently do the elders also. Ralph Newton passed hardly a day
+of his life without a certain amount of remorse in that he had not
+managed himself better than he had done, and was now doing. He knew
+that Fortune had been very good to him, and that he had hitherto
+wasted all her gifts. And now there came the question whether it
+was as yet too late to retrieve the injury which he had done. He
+did believe,--not even as yet doubting his power to do well,--that
+everything might be made right, only that his money difficulties
+pressed him so hardly. He took pen and paper, and made out a list of
+his debts, heading the catalogue with Mr. Horsball of the Moonbeam.
+The amount, when added together, came to something over four thousand
+pounds, including a debt of three hundred to his brother the parson.
+Then he endeavoured to value his property, and calculated that if he
+sold all that was remaining to him he might pay what he owed, and
+have something about fifty pounds per annum left to live upon till he
+should inherit his uncle's property. But he doubted the accuracy even
+of this, knowing that new and unexpected debts will always crop up
+when the day of settlement arrives. Of course he could not live upon
+fifty pounds a year. It would have seemed to him to be almost equally
+impossible to live upon four times fifty pounds. He had given Sir
+Thomas a promise that he would not raise money on post-obits on his
+uncle's life, and hitherto he had kept that promise. He thought that
+he would be guilty of no breach of promise were he so to obtain
+funds, telling Sir Thomas of his purpose, and asking the lawyer's
+assistance; but he knew that if he did this all his chance of future
+high prosperity would be at an end. His uncle might live these twenty
+years, and in that time he, Ralph, might quite as readily die. Money
+might no doubt be raised, but this could only be done at a cost
+which would be utterly ruinous to him. There was one way out of his
+difficulty. He might marry a girl with money. A girl with money had
+been offered to him, and a girl, too, who was very pretty and very
+pleasant. But then, to marry the daughter of a breeches-maker!
+
+And why not? He had been teaching himself all his life to despise
+conventionalities. He had ridiculed degrees. He had laughed at
+the rank and standing of a barrister. "The rank is but the guinea
+stamp--the man's the gowd for a' that." How often had he declared to
+himself and others that that should be his motto through life. And
+might not he be as much a man, and would not his metal be as pure,
+with Polly Neefit for his wife as though he were to marry a duchess?
+As for love, he thought he could love Polly dearly. He knew that he
+had done some wrong in regard to poor Clary; but he by no means knew
+how much wrong he had done. A single word of love,--which had been
+so very much to her in her innocence,--had been so little to him who
+was not innocent. If he could allow himself to choose out of all the
+women he had ever seen, he would, he thought, instigated rather by
+the ambition of having the loveliest woman in the world for his wife
+than by any love, have endeavoured to win Mary Bonner as his own. But
+that was out of the question. Mary Bonner was as poor as himself;
+and, much as he admired her, he certainly could not tell himself
+that he loved her. Polly Neefit would pull him through all his
+difficulties. Nevertheless, he could not make up his mind to ask
+Polly Neefit to be his wife.
+
+But he must make up his mind either that he would or that he would
+not. He must see Mr. Neefit on the morrow;--and within the next few
+days he must call on Mr. Moggs, unless he broke his word. And in two
+months' time he must have £500 for Mr. Horsball. Suppose he were to
+go to Sir Thomas, tell his whole story without reserve, and ask his
+old friend's advice! Everything without reserve he could not tell.
+He could say nothing to the father of that scene on the lawn with
+Clarissa. But of his own pecuniary difficulties, and of Mr. Neefit's
+generous offer, he was sure that he could tell the entire truth.
+He did go to Southampton Buildings, and after some harsh language
+between himself and Mr. Stemm,--Sir Thomas being away at the
+time,--he managed to make an appointment for nine o'clock that
+evening at his late guardian's chambers. At nine o'clock precisely
+he found himself seated with Sir Thomas, all among the books in
+Southampton Buildings. "Perhaps you'll have a cup of tea," said Sir
+Thomas. "Stemm, give us some tea." Ralph waited till the tea was
+handed to him and Stemm was gone. Then he told his story.
+
+He told it very fairly as against himself. He brought out his little
+account and explained to the lawyer how it was that he made himself
+out to be worth fifty pounds a year, and no more. "Oh, heavens, what
+a mess you have made of it!" said the lawyer, holding up both his
+hands. "No doubt I have," said Ralph,--"a terrible mess! But as I now
+come to you for advice hear me out to the end. You can say nothing as
+to my folly which I do not know already." "Go on," said Sir Thomas.
+"Go on,--I'll hear you." It may, however, be remarked, by the way,
+that when an old gentleman in Sir Thomas's position is asked his
+advice under such circumstances, he ought to be allowed to remark
+that he had prophesied all these things beforehand. "I told you so,"
+is such a comfortable thing to say! And when an old gentleman has
+taken much fruitless trouble about a young gentleman, he ought
+at least not to be interrupted in his remarks as to that young
+gentleman's folly. But Ralph was energetic, and, knowing that he had
+a point before him, would go on with his story. "And now," he said,
+"I am coming to a way of putting these things right which has been
+suggested to me. You won't like it, I know. But it would put me on my
+legs."
+
+"Raising money on your expectations?" said Sir Thomas.
+
+"No;--that is what I must come to if this plan don't answer."
+
+"Anything will be better than that," said Sir Thomas.
+
+Then Ralph dashed at the suggestion of marriage without further
+delay. "You have heard of Mr. Neefit, the breeches-maker!" It so
+happened that Sir Thomas never had heard of Mr. Neefit. "Well;--he is
+a tradesman in Conduit Street. He has a daughter, and he will give
+her twenty thousand pounds."
+
+"You don't mean to run away with the breeches-maker's daughter?"
+ejaculated Sir Thomas.
+
+"Certainly not. I shouldn't get the twenty thousand pounds if I did."
+Then he explained it all;--how Neefit had asked him to the house, and
+offered him the girl; how the girl herself was as pretty and nice as
+a girl could be; and how he thought,--though as to that he expressed
+himself with some humility,--that, were he to propose to her, the
+girl might perhaps take him.
+
+"I dare say she would," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"Well;--now you know it all. In her way, she has been educated.
+Neefit père is utterly illiterate and ignorant. He is an honest man,
+as vulgar as he can be,--or rather as unlike you and me, which is
+what men mean when they talk of vulgarity,--and he makes the best
+of breeches. Neefit mère is worse than the father,--being cross and
+ill-conditioned, as far as I can see. Polly is as good as gold; and
+if I put a house over my head with her money, of course her father
+and her mother will be made welcome there. Your daughters would not
+like to meet them, but I think they could put up with Polly. Now you
+know about all that I can tell you."
+
+Ralph had been so rapid, so energetic, and withal so reasonable, that
+Sir Thomas, at this period of the interview, was unable to refer to
+any of his prophecies. What advice was he to give? Should he adjure
+this young man not to marry the breeches-maker's daughter because of
+the blood of the Newtons and the expected estate, or were he to do so
+even on the score of education and general unfitness, he must suggest
+some other mode or means of living. But how could he advise the
+future Newton of Newton Priory to marry Polly Neefit? The Newtons had
+been at Newton Priory for centuries, and the men Newtons had always
+married ladies, as the women Newtons had always either married
+gentlemen or remained unmarried. Sir Thomas, too, was of his nature,
+and by all his convictions, opposed to such matches. "You have hardly
+realised," said he, "what it would be to have such a father-in-law
+and such a mother-in-law;--or probably such a wife."
+
+"Yes, I have. I have realised all that."
+
+"Of course, if you have made up your mind--"
+
+"But I have not made up my mind, Sir Thomas. I must make it up
+before eleven o'clock to-morrow morning, because I must then be with
+Neefit,--by appointment. At this moment I am so much in doubt that I
+am almost inclined to toss up."
+
+"I would sooner cut my throat!" said Sir Thomas, forgetting his
+wisdom amidst the perplexities of his position.
+
+"Not quite that, Sir Thomas. I suppose you mean to say that anything
+would be better than such a marriage?"
+
+"I don't suppose you care for the girl," said Sir Thomas, crossly.
+
+"I do not feel uneasy on that score. If I did not like her, and
+think that I could love her, I would have nothing to do with it. She
+herself is charming,--though I should lie if I were to say that she
+were a lady."
+
+"And the father offered her to you?"
+
+"Most distinctly,--and named the fortune."
+
+"Knowing your own condition as to money?"
+
+"Almost exactly;--so much so that I do not doubt he will go on with
+it when he knows everything. He had heard about my uncle's property,
+and complimented me by saying that I am a,--gentleman."
+
+"He does not deserve to have a daughter," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I don't know about that. According to his lights, he means to do the
+best he can for her. And, indeed, I think myself that he might do
+worse. She will probably become Mrs. Newton of Newton Priory if she
+marries me; and the investment of Neefit's twenty thousand pounds
+won't be so bad."
+
+"Nothing on earth can make her a lady."
+
+"I'm not so sure of that," said Ralph. "Nothing on earth can make her
+mother a lady; but of Polly I should have hopes. You, however, are
+against it?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"Then what ought I to do?" Sir Thomas rubbed the calf of his leg and
+was silent. "The only advice you have given me hitherto was to cut my
+throat," said Ralph.
+
+"No, I didn't. I don't know what you're to do. You've ruined
+yourself;--that's all."
+
+"But there is a way out of the ruin. In all emergencies there is a
+better and a worse course. What, now, is the better course?"
+
+"You don't know how to earn a shilling," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"No; I don't," said Ralph Newton.
+
+Sir Thomas rubbed his face and scratched his head; but did not know
+how to give advice. "You have made your bed, and you must lie upon
+it," he said.
+
+"Exactly;--but which way am I to get into it, and which way shall I
+get out?" Sir Thomas could only rub his face and scratch his head. "I
+thought it best to come and tell you everything," said Ralph. That
+was all very well, but Sir Thomas would not advise him to marry the
+breeches-maker's daughter.
+
+"It is a matter," Sir Thomas said at last, "in which you must be
+guided by your own feelings. I wish it were otherwise. I can say no
+more." Then Ralph took his leave, and wandered all round St. James's
+Park and the purlieus of Westminster till midnight, endeavouring to
+make up his mind, and building castles in the air, as to what he
+would do with himself, and how he would act, if he had not brought
+himself into so hopeless a mess of troubles.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+ONTARIO MOGGS.
+
+
+On the following morning Ralph Newton was in Conduit Street exactly
+at the hour named. He had not even then made up his mind;--but he
+thought that he might get an extension of the time allowed him for
+decision. After all, it was hardly a month yet since the proposition
+was made to him. He found Mr. Neefit in the back shop, measuring a
+customer. "I'll be with you in two minutes," said Mr. Neefit, just
+putting his head through the open door, and then going back to his
+work; "3--1--1/8, Waddle; Sir George isn't quite as stout as he was
+last year. Oh, no, Sir George; we won't tie you in too tight. Leave
+it to us, Sir George. The last pair too tight? Oh, no; I think not,
+Sir George. Perhaps your man isn't as careful in cleaning as he ought
+to be. Gentlemen's servants do get so careless, it quite sickens
+one!" So Mr. Neefit went on, and as Sir George was very copious in
+the instructions which he had to give,--all of which, by-the-bye,
+were absolutely thrown away,--Ralph Newton became tired of waiting.
+He remembered too that he was not there as a customer, but almost
+as a member of the family, and the idea sickened him. He bethought
+himself that on his first visit to Conduit Street he had seen his
+Polly in the shop, cutting up strips wherewith her father would
+measure gentlemen's legs. She must then have been nearly fifteen, and
+the occupation, as he felt, was not one fitting for the girl who was
+to be his wife. "Now, Mr. Newton," said Mr. Neefit, as Sir George at
+last left the little room. The day was hot, and Mr. Neefit had been
+at work in his shirt sleeves. Nor did he now put on his coat. He
+wiped his brow, put his cotton handkerchief inside his braces, and
+shook hands with our hero. "Well, Mr. Newton," he said, "what do you
+think of it? I couldn't learn much about it, but it seemed to me that
+you and Polly got on famous that night. I thought we'd have seen you
+out there again before this."
+
+"I couldn't come, Mr. Neefit, as long as there was a doubt."
+
+"Oh, as to doubts,--doubts be bothered. Of course you must run your
+chance with Polly like any other man."
+
+"Just so."
+
+"But the way to get a girl like that isn't not to come and see her
+for a month. There are others after our Polly, I can tell you;--and
+men who would take her with nothing but her smock on."
+
+"I'm quite sure of that. No one can see her without admiring her."
+
+"Then what's the good of talking of doubts? I like you because you
+are a gentleman;--and I can put you on your legs, which, from all I
+hear, is a kind of putting you want bad enough just at present. Say
+the word, and come down to tea this evening."
+
+"The fact is, Mr. Neefit, this is a very serious matter."
+
+"Serious! Twenty thousand pounds is serious. There ain't a doubt
+about that. If you mean to say you don't like the bargain,"--and
+as he said this there came a black cloud upon Mr. Neefit's
+brow,--"you've only got to say the word. Our Polly is not to be
+pressed upon any man. But don't let's have any shilly-shallying."
+
+"Tell me one thing, Mr. Neefit."
+
+"Well;--what's that?"
+
+"Have you spoken to your daughter about this?"
+
+Mr. Neefit was silent for a moment, "Well, no; I haven't," he said.
+"But, I spoke to her mother, and women is always talking. Mind,
+I don't know what our Polly would say to you, but I do think she
+expects something. There's a chap lives nigh to us who used always to
+be sneaking round; but she has snubbed him terribly this month past.
+So my wife tells me. You come and try, Mr. Newton, and then you'll
+know all about it."
+
+Ralph was aware that he had not as yet begun to explain his
+difficulty to the anxious father. "You see, Mr. Neefit," he
+said,--and then he paused. It had been much easier for him to talk to
+Sir Thomas than to the breaches-maker.
+
+"If you don't like it,--say so," said Mr. Neefit;--"and don't let us
+have no shilly-shallying."
+
+"I do like it."
+
+"Then give us your hand, and come out this evening and have a bit
+of some'at to eat and a drop of some'at hot, and pop the question.
+That's about the way to do it."
+
+"Undoubtedly;--but marriage is such a serious thing!"
+
+"So it is serious,--uncommon serious to owe a fellow a lot of money
+you can't pay him. I call that very serious."
+
+"Mr. Neefit, I owe you nothing but what I can pay you."
+
+"You're very slow about it, Mr. Newton; that's all I can say. But I
+wasn't just talking of myself. After what's passed between you and me
+I ain't going to be hard upon you."
+
+"I'll tell you what, Mr. Neefit," said Ralph at last,--"of course you
+can understand that a man may have difficulties with his family."
+
+"Because of my being a breeches-maker?" said Neefit contemptuously.
+
+"I won't say that; but there may be difficulties."
+
+"Twenty thousand pounds does away with a deal of them things."
+
+"Just so;--but as I was saying, you can understand that there may be
+family difficulties. I only say that because I ought perhaps to have
+given you an answer sooner. I won't go down with you this evening."
+
+"You won't?"
+
+"Not to-night;--but I'll be with you on Saturday evening, if that
+will suit you."
+
+"Come and have a bit of dinner again on Sunday," said Neefit. Ralph
+accepted the invitation, shook hands with Neefit, and escaped from
+the shop.
+
+When he thought of it all as he went to his rooms, he told himself
+that he had now as good as engaged himself to Polly;--as good or as
+bad. Of course, after what had passed, he could not go to the house
+again without asking her to be his wife. Were he to do so Neefit
+would be justified in insulting him. And yet when he undertook to
+make this fourth visit to the cottage, he had done so with the
+intention of allowing himself a little more time for judgment. He saw
+plainly enough that he was going to allow himself to drift into this
+marriage without any real decision of his own. He prided himself on
+being strong, and how could any man be more despicably weak than
+this? It was, indeed, true that in all the arguments he had used with
+Sir Thomas he had defended the Neefit marriage as though it was the
+best course he could adopt;--and even Sir Thomas had not ultimately
+ventured to oppose it. Would it not be as well for him to consider
+that he had absolutely made up his mind to marry Polly?
+
+On the Friday he called at Mr. Moggs's house; Mr. Moggs senior was
+there, and Mr. Moggs junior, and also a shopman. "I was sorry," said
+he, "that when your son called, I had friends with me, and could
+hardly explain circumstances."
+
+"It didn't signify at all," said Moggs junior.
+
+"But it does signify, Mr. Newton," said Moggs senior, who on this
+morning was not in a good humour with his ledger. "Two hundred and
+seventeen pounds, three shillings and four-pence is a good deal of
+money for boots, Mr. Newton, You must allow that."
+
+"Indeed it is, Mr. Moggs."
+
+"There hasn't been what you may call a settlement for years.
+Twenty-five pounds paid in the last two years!" and Mr. Moggs as he
+spoke had his finger on the fatal page. "That won't do, you know,
+Mr. Newton;--that won't do at all!" Mr. Moggs, as he looked into his
+customer's face, worked himself up into a passion. "But I suppose you
+have come to settle it now, Mr. Newton?"
+
+"Not exactly at this moment, Mr. Moggs."
+
+"It must be settled very soon, Mr. Newton;--it must indeed. My son
+can't be calling on you day after day, and all for nothing. We can't
+stand that you know, Mr. Newton. Perhaps you'll oblige me by saying
+when it will be settled." Then Ralph explained that he had called
+for that purpose, that he was making arrangements for paying all his
+creditors, and that he hoped that Mr. Moggs would have his money
+within three months at the farthest. Mr. Moggs then proposed that he
+should have his customer's bill at three months, and the interview
+ended by the due manufacture of a document to that effect. Ralph,
+when he entered the shop, had not intended to give a bill; but the
+pressure had been too great upon him, and he had yielded. It would
+matter little, however, if he married Polly Neefit. And had he not
+now accepted it as his destiny that he must marry Polly Neefit?
+
+The Saturday he passed in much trouble of spirit, and with many
+doubts; but the upshot of it all was that he would keep his
+engagement for the Sunday. His last chance of escape would have been
+to call in Conduit Street on the Saturday and tell Mr. Neefit, with
+such apologies as he might be able to make, that the marriage would
+not be suitable. While sitting at breakfast he had almost resolved to
+do this;--but when five o'clock came, after which, as he well knew,
+the breeches-maker would not be found, no such step had been taken.
+He dined that evening and went to the theatre with Lieutenant Cox.
+At twelve they were joined by Fooks and another gay spirit, and they
+eat chops and drank stout and listened to songs at Evans's till near
+two. Cox and Fooks said that they had never been so jolly in their
+lives;--but Ralph,--though he eat and drank as much and talked more
+than the others,--was far from happy. There came upon him a feeling
+that after to-morrow he would never again be able to call himself
+a gentleman. Who would associate with him after he had married
+the breeches-maker's daughter? He laid in bed late on Sunday, and
+certainly went to no place of worship. Would it not be well even yet
+to send a letter down to Neefit, telling him that the thing could not
+be? The man would be very angry with him, and would have great cause
+to be angry. But it would at least be better to do this now than
+hereafter. But when four o'clock came no letter had been sent.
+
+Punctually at five the cab set him down at Alexandrina Cottage. How
+well he seemed to know the place;--almost as well as though he were
+already one of the family. He was shown into the drawing-room, and
+whom should he see there, seated with Mr. and Mrs. and Miss Neefit,
+but Ontario Moggs. It was clear enough that each of the party was ill
+at ease. Neefit welcomed him with almost boisterous hospitality. Mrs.
+Neefit merely curtseyed and bobbed at him. Polly smiled, and shook
+hands with him, and told him that he was welcome;--but even Polly was
+a little beside herself. Ontario Moggs stood bolt upright and made
+him a low bow, but did not attempt to speak.
+
+"I hope your father is well," said Ralph, addressing himself to Moggs
+junior.
+
+"Pretty well, I thank you," said Mr. Moggs, getting up from his chair
+and bowing a second time.
+
+Mr. Neefit waited for a moment or two during which no one except
+Ralph spoke a word, and then invited his intended son-in-law to
+follow him into the garden. "The fact is," said Neefit winking, "this
+is Mrs. N.'s doing. It don't make any difference, you know."
+
+"I don't quite understand," said Ralph.
+
+"You see we've known Onty Moggs all our lives, and no doubt he has
+been sweet upon Polly. But Polly don't care for him, mind you. You
+ask her. And Mrs. N. has got it into her head that she don't want you
+for Polly. But I do, Mr. Newton;--and I'm master."
+
+"I wouldn't for the world make a family quarrel."
+
+"There won't be no quarrelling. It's I as has the purse, and it's the
+purse as makes the master, Mr. Newton. Don't you mind Moggs. Moggs is
+very well in his way, but he ain't going to have our Polly. Well;--he
+come down here to-day, just by chance;--and what did Mrs. N. do
+but ask him to stop and eat a bit of dinner! It don't make any
+difference, you know. You come in now, and just go on as though Moggs
+weren't there. You and Polly shall have it all to yourselves this
+evening."
+
+Here was a new feature added to the pleasures of his courtship! He
+had a rival,--and such a rival;--his own bootmaker, whom he could
+not pay, and whose father had insulted him a day or two since.
+Moggs junior would of course know why his customer was dining at
+Alexandrina Cottage, and would have his own feelings, too, upon the
+occasion.
+
+"Don't you mind him,--no more than nothing," said Neefit, leading the
+way back into the drawing-room, and passing at the top of the kitchen
+stairs the young woman with the bit of salmon.
+
+The dinner was not gay. In the first place, Neefit and Mrs. Neefit
+gave very explicit and very opposite directions as to the manner in
+which their guests were to walk in to dinner, the result of which
+was that Ralph was obliged to give his arm to the elder lady, while
+Ontario carried off the prize. Mrs. Neefit also gave directions as
+to the places, which were obeyed in spite of an attempt of Neefit's
+to contravene them. Ontario and Polly sat on one side of the table,
+while Ralph sat opposite to them. Neefit, when he saw that the
+arrangement was made and could not be altered, lost his temper and
+scolded his wife. "Law, papa, what does it matter?" said Polly.
+Polly's position certainly was unpleasant enough; but she made head
+against her difficulties gallantly. Ontario, who had begun to guess
+the truth, said not a word. He was not, however, long in making up
+his mind that a personal encounter with Mr. Ralph Newton might be
+good for his system. Mrs. Neefit nagged at her husband, and told
+him when he complained about the meat, that if he would look after
+the drinkables that would be quite enough for him to do. Ralph
+himself found it to be impossible even to look as though things
+were going right. Never in his life had he been in a position so
+uncomfortable,--or, as he thought, so disreputable. It was not to
+be endured that Moggs, his bootmaker, should see him sitting at the
+table of Neefit, his breeches-maker.
+
+The dinner was at last over, and the port-wine was carried out into
+the arbour;--not, on this occasion, by Polly, but by the maid. Polly
+and Mrs. Neefit went off together, while Ralph crowded into the
+little summer-house with Moggs and Neefit. In this way half an hour
+was passed,--a half hour of terrible punishment. But there was worse
+coming. "Mr. Newton," said Neefit, "I think I heard something about
+your taking a walk with our Polly. If you like to make a start of it,
+don't let us keep you. Moggs and I will have a pipe together."
+
+"I also intend to walk with Miss Neefit," said Ontario, standing up
+bravely.
+
+
+[Illustration: "I also intend to walk with Miss Neefit," said
+Ontario, standing up bravely.]
+
+
+"Two's company and three's none," said Neefit.
+
+"No doubt," said Ontario; "no doubt. I feel that myself. Mr. Newton,
+I've been attached to Miss Neefit these two years. I don't mind
+saying it out straight before her father. I love Miss Neefit! I don't
+know, sir, what your ideas are; but I love Miss Neefit! Perhaps, sir,
+your ideas may be money;--my ideas are a pure affection for that
+young lady. Now, Mr. Newton, you know what my ideas are." Mr. Moggs
+junior was standing up when he made this speech, and, when he had
+completed it, he looked round, first upon her father and then upon
+his rival.
+
+"She's never given you no encouragement," said Neefit. "How dare you
+speak in that way about my Polly?"
+
+"I do dare," said Ontario. "There!"
+
+"Will you tell Mr. Newton that she ever gave you any encouragement?"
+
+Ontario thought about it for a moment, before he replied. "No;--I
+will not," said he. "To say that of any young woman wouldn't be in
+accord with my ideas."
+
+"Because you can't. It's all gammon. She don't mean to have him, Mr.
+Newton. You may take my word for that. You go in and ask her if she
+do. A pretty thing indeed! I can't invite my friend, Mr. Newton, to
+eat a bit of dinner, and let him walk out with my Polly, but you must
+interfere. If you had her to-morrow you wouldn't have a shilling with
+her."
+
+"I don't want a shilling with her!" said Ontario, still standing upon
+his legs. "I love her. Will Mr. Newton say as fair as that?"
+
+Mr. Newton found it very difficult to say anything. Even had he been
+thoroughly intent on the design of making Polly his wife, he could
+not have brought himself to declare his love aloud, as had just
+been done by Mr. Moggs. "This is a sort of matter that shouldn't be
+discussed in public," he said at last.
+
+"Public or private, I love her!" said Ontario Moggs with his hand on
+his heart.
+
+Polly herself was certainly badly treated among them. She got no walk
+that evening, and received no assurance of undying affection either
+from one suitor or the other. It became manifest even to Neefit
+himself that the game could not be played out on this evening. He
+could not turn Moggs off the premises, because his wife would have
+interfered. Nor, had he done so, would it have been possible, after
+such an affair to induce Polly to stir from the house. She certainly
+had been badly used among them; and so she took occasion to tell her
+father when the visitors were both gone. They left the house together
+at about eight, and Polly at that time had not reappeared. Moggs went
+to the nearest station of the Midland Railway, and Ralph walked to
+the Swiss Cottage. Certainly Mr. Neefit's little dinner had been
+unsuccessful; but Ralph Newton, as he went back to London, was almost
+disposed to think that Providence had interposed to save him.
+
+"I'll tell you what it is, father," said Polly to her papa, as soon
+as the two visitors had left the house, "if that's the way you are
+going to go on, I'll never marry anybody as long as I live."
+
+"My dear, it was all your mother," said Mr. Neefit. "Now wasn't it
+all your mother? I wish she'd been blowed fust!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+SIR THOMAS IN HIS CHAMBERS.
+
+
+It will be remembered that Sir Thomas Underwood had declined to
+give his late ward any advice at that interview which took place in
+Southampton Buildings;--or rather that the only advice which he had
+given to the young man was to cut his throat. The idle word had left
+no impression on Ralph Newton;--but still it had been spoken, and
+was remembered by Sir Thomas. When he was left alone after the young
+man's departure he was very unhappy. It was not only that he had
+spoken a word so idle when he ought to have been grave and wise, but
+that he felt that he had been altogether remiss in his duty as guide,
+philosopher, and friend. There were old sorrows, too, on this score.
+In the main Sir Thomas had discharged well a most troublesome,
+thankless, and profitless duty towards the son of a man who had not
+been related to him, and with whom an accidental intimacy had been
+ripened into friendship by letter rather than by social intercourse.
+Ralph Newton's father had been the younger brother of the present
+Gregory Newton, of Newton Priory, and had been the parson of the
+parish of Peele Newton,--as was now Ralph's younger brother, Gregory.
+The present squire of Newton had been never married, and the
+property, as has before been said, had been settled on Ralph, as the
+male heir,--provided, of course, that his uncle left no legitimate
+son of his own. It had come to pass that the two brothers, Gregory
+and Ralph, had quarrelled about matters of property, and had not
+spoken for years before the death of the younger. Ralph at this time
+had been just old enough to be brought into the quarrel. There had
+been questions of cutting timber and of leases, as to which the
+parson, acting on his son's behalf, had opposed the Squire with much
+unnecessary bitterness and suspicion. And it was doubtless the case
+that the Squire resented bitterly an act done by his own father
+with the view of perpetuating the property in the true line of the
+Newtons. For when the settlement was made on the marriage of the
+younger brother, the elder was already the father of a child, whom
+he loved none the less because that child's mother had not become
+his wife. So the quarrel had been fostered, and at the time of the
+parson's death had extended itself to the young man who was his son,
+and the heir to the estate. When on his death-bed, the parson had
+asked Mr. Underwood, who had just then entered the House of Commons,
+to undertake this guardianship; and the lawyer, with many doubts,
+had consented. He had striven, but striven in vain, to reconcile the
+uncle and nephew. And, indeed, he was ill-fitted to accomplish such
+task. He could only write letters on the subject, which were very
+sensible but very cold;--in all of which he would be careful to
+explain that the steps which had been taken in regard to the property
+were in strict conformity with the law. The old Squire would have
+nothing to do with his heir,--in which resolution he was strengthened
+by the tidings which reached him of his heir's manner of living. He
+was taught to believe that everything was going to the dogs with
+the young man, and was wont to say that Newton Priory, with all its
+acres, would be found to have gone to the dogs too when his day was
+done;--unless, indeed, Ralph should fortunately kill himself by drink
+or evil living, in which case the property would go to the younger
+Gregory, the present parson. Now the present parson of Newton was his
+uncle's friend. Whether that friendship would have been continued had
+Ralph died and the young clergyman become the heir, may be matter of
+doubt.
+
+This disagreeable duty of guardianship Sir Thomas had performed with
+many scruples of conscience, and a determination to do his best;--and
+he had nearly done it well. But he was a man who could not do it
+altogether well, let his scruples of conscience be what they might.
+He had failed in obtaining a father's control over the young man;
+and even in regard to the property which had passed through his
+hands,--though he had been careful with it,--he had not been adroit.
+Even at this moment things had not been settled which should have
+been settled; and Sir Thomas had felt, when Ralph had spoken of
+selling all that remained to him and of paying his debts, that there
+would be fresh trouble, and that he might be forced to own that he
+had been himself deficient.
+
+And then he told himself,--and did so as soon as Ralph had left
+him,--that he should have given some counsel to the young man when he
+came to ask for it. "You had better cut your throat!" In his troubled
+spirit he had said that, and now his spirit was troubled the more
+because he had so spoken. He sat for hours thinking of it all. Ralph
+Newton was the undoubted heir to a very large property. He was now
+embarrassed,--but all his present debts did not amount to much
+more than half one year's income of that property which would be
+his,--probably in about ten years. The Squire might live for twenty
+years, or might die to-morrow; but his life-interest in the estate,
+according to the usual calculations, was not worth more than ten
+years' purchase. Could he, Sir Thomas, have been right to tell a
+young man, whose prospects were so good, and whose debts, after all,
+were so light, that he ought to go and cut his throat, as the only
+way of avoiding a disreputable marriage which would otherwise be
+forced upon him by the burden of his circumstances? Would not a
+guardian, with any true idea of his duty, would not a friend, whose
+friendship was in any degree real, have found a way out of such
+difficulties as these?
+
+And then as to the marriage itself,--the proposed marriage with the
+breeches-maker's daughter,--the more Sir Thomas thought of it the
+more distasteful did it become to him. He knew that Ralph was unaware
+of all the evil that would follow such a marriage;--relatives whose
+every thought and action and word would be distasteful to him;
+children whose mother would not be a lady, and whose blood would
+be polluted by an admixture so base;--and, worse still, a life's
+companion who would be deficient in all those attributes which such a
+man as Ralph Newton should look for in a wife. Sir Thomas was a man
+to magnify rather than lessen these evils. And now he allowed his
+friend,--a man for whose behalf he had bound himself to use all the
+exercise of friendship,--to go from him with an idea that nothing
+but suicide could prevent this marriage, simply because there was an
+amount of debt, which, when compared with the man's prospects, should
+hardly have been regarded as a burden! As he thought of all this Sir
+Thomas was very unhappy.
+
+Ralph had left him at about ten o'clock, and he then sat brooding
+over his misery for about an hour. It was his custom when he remained
+in his chambers to tell his clerk, Stemm, between nine and ten that
+nothing more would be wanted. Then Stemm would go, and Sir Thomas
+would sleep for a while in his chair. But the old clerk never stirred
+till thus dismissed. It was now eleven, and Sir Thomas knew very well
+that Stemm would be in his closet. He opened the door and called,
+and Stemm, aroused from his slumbers, slowly crept into the room.
+"Joseph," said his master, "I want Mr. Ralph's papers."
+
+"To-night, Sir Thomas?"
+
+"Well;--yes, to-night. I ought to have told you when he went away,
+but I was thinking of things."
+
+"So I was thinking of things," said Stemm, as he very slowly made his
+way into the other room, and, climbing up a set of steps which stood
+there, pulled down from an upper shelf a tin box,--and with it a
+world of dust. "If you'd have said before that they'd be wanted, Sir
+Thomas, there wouldn't be such a deal of dry muck," said Stemm, as he
+put down the box on a chair opposite Sir Thomas's knees.
+
+"And now where is the key?" said Sir Thomas. Stemm shook his head
+very slowly. "You know, Stemm;--where is it?"
+
+"How am I to know, Sir Thomas? I don't know, Sir Thomas. It's like
+enough in one of those drawers." Then Stemm pointed to a certain
+table, and after a while slowly followed his own finger. The drawer
+was unlocked, and under various loose papers there lay four or five
+loose keys. "Like enough it's one of these," said Stemm.
+
+"Of course you knew where it was," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I didn't know nothing at all about it," said Stemm, bobbing his head
+at his master, and making at the same time a gesture with his lips,
+whereby he intended to signify that his master was making a fool of
+himself. Stemm was hardly more than five feet high, and was a wizened
+dry old man, with a very old yellow wig. He delighted in scolding all
+the world, and his special delight was in scolding his master. But
+against all the world he would take his master's part, and had no
+care in the world except his master's comfort. When Sir Thomas passed
+an evening at Fulham, Stemm could do as he pleased with himself; but
+they were blank evenings with Stemm when Sir Thomas was away. While
+Sir Thomas was in the next room, he always felt that he was in
+company, but when Sir Thomas was away, all London, which was open to
+him, offered him no occupation. "That's the key," said Stemm, picking
+out one; "but it wasn't I as put it there; and you didn't tell me
+as it was there, and I didn't know it was there. I guessed,--just
+because you do chuck things in there, Sir Thomas."
+
+"What does it matter, Joseph?" said Sir Thomas.
+
+"It does matter when you say I knowed. I didn't know,--nor I couldn't
+know. There's the key anyhow."
+
+"You can go now, Joseph," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"Good night, Sir Thomas," said Stemm, retiring slowly, "but I didn't
+know, Sir Thomas,--nor I couldn't know." Then Sir Thomas unlocked the
+box, and gradually surrounded himself with the papers which he took
+from it. It was past one o'clock before he again began to think what
+he had better do to put Ralph Newton on his legs, and to save him
+from marrying the breeches-maker's daughter. He sat meditating on
+that and other things as they came into his mind for over an hour,
+and then he wrote the following letter to old Mr. Newton. Very many
+years had passed since he had seen Mr. Newton,--so many that the two
+men would not have known each other had they met; but there had been
+an occasional correspondence between them, and they were presumed to
+be on amicable terms with each other.
+
+
+   Southampton Buildings, 14th July, 186--.
+
+   DEAR SIR,--
+
+   I wish to consult you about the affairs of your heir and
+   my late ward, Ralph Newton. Of course I am aware of the
+   unfortunate misunderstanding which has hitherto separated
+   you from him, as to which I believe you will be willing to
+   allow that he, at least, has not been in fault. Though his
+   life has by no means been what his friends could have
+   wished it, he is a fine young fellow; and perhaps his
+   errors have arisen as much from his unfortunate position
+   as from any natural tendency to evil on his own part. He
+   has been brought up to great expectations, with the
+   immediate possession of a small fortune. These together
+   have taught him to think that a profession was unnecessary
+   for him, and he has been debarred from those occupations
+   which generally fall in the way of the heir to a large
+   landed property by the unfortunate fact of his entire
+   separation from the estate which will one day be his. Had
+   he been your son instead of your nephew, I think that his
+   life would have been prosperous and useful.
+
+   As it is, he has got into debt, and I fear that the
+   remains of his own property will not more than suffice to
+   free him from his liabilities. Of course he could raise
+   money on his interest in the Newton estate. Hitherto he
+   has not done so; and I am most anxious to save him from a
+   course so ruinous;--as you will be also, I am sure. He has
+   come to me for advice, and I grieve to say, has formed a
+   project of placing himself right again as regards money by
+   offering marriage to the daughter of a retail tradesman. I
+   have reason to believe that hitherto he has not committed
+   himself; but I think that the young woman's father would
+   accept the offer, if made. The money, I do not doubt,
+   would be forthcoming; but the result could not be
+   fortunate. He would then have allied himself with people
+   who are not fit to be his associates, and he would have
+   tied himself to a wife who, whatever may be her merits as
+   a woman, cannot be fit to be the mistress of Newton
+   Priory. But I have not known what advice to give him. I
+   have pointed out to him the miseries of such a match; and
+   I have also told him how surely his prospects for the
+   future would be ruined, were he to attempt to live on
+   money borrowed on the uncertain security of his future
+   inheritance. I have said so much as plainly as I know how
+   to say it;--but I have been unable to point out a third
+   course. I have not ventured to recommend him to make any
+   application to you.
+
+   It seems, however, to me, that I should be remiss in my
+   duty both to him and to you were I not to make you
+   acquainted with his circumstances,--so that you may
+   interfere, should you please to do so, either on his
+   behalf or on behalf of the property. Whatever offence
+   there may have been, I think there can have been none
+   personally from him to yourself. I beg you to believe that
+   I am far from being desirous to dictate to you, or to
+   point out to you this or that as your duty; but I venture
+   to think that you will be obliged to me for giving you
+   information which may lead to the protection of interests
+   which cannot but be dear to you. In conclusion, I will
+   only again say that Ralph himself is clever,
+   well-conditioned, and, as I most truly believe, a thorough
+   gentleman. Were the intercourse between you that of a
+   father and son, I think you would feel proud of the
+   relationship.
+
+   I remain, dear sir,
+   Very faithfully yours,
+
+   THOMAS UNDERWOOD.
+
+   Gregory Newton, Esq., Newton Priory.
+
+
+This was written on Friday night, and was posted on the Saturday
+morning by the faithful hand of Joseph Stemm;--who, however, did not
+hesitate to declare to himself, as he read the address, that his
+master was a fool for his pains. Stemm had never been favourable to
+the cause of young Newton, and had considered from the first that Sir
+Thomas should have declined the trust that had been imposed upon him.
+What good was to be expected from such a guardianship? And as things
+had gone on, proving Stemm's prophecies as to young Newton's career
+to be true, that trusty clerk had not failed to remind his master of
+his own misgivings. "I told you so," had been repeated by Stemm over
+and over again, in more phrases than one, until the repetition had
+made Sir Thomas very angry. Sir Thomas, when he gave the letter to
+Stemm for posting, said not a word of the contents; but Stemm knew
+something of old Mr. Gregory Newton and the Newton Priory estate.
+Stemm, moreover, could put two and two together. "He's a fool for his
+pains;--that's all," said Stemm, as he poked the letter into the box.
+
+During the whole of the next day the matter troubled Sir Thomas. What
+if Ralph should go at once to the breeches-maker's daughter,--the
+thought of whom made Sir Thomas very sick,--and commit himself before
+an answer should be received from Mr. Newton? It was only on Sunday
+that an idea struck him that he might still do something further to
+avoid the evil;--and with this object he despatched a note to Ralph,
+imploring him to wait for a few days before he would take any steps
+towards the desperate remedy of matrimony. Then he begged Ralph to
+call upon him again on the Wednesday morning. This note Ralph did not
+get till he went home on the Sunday evening;--at which time, as the
+reader knows, he had not as yet committed himself to the desperate
+remedy.
+
+On the following Tuesday Sir Thomas received the following letter
+from Mr. Newton:--
+
+
+   Newton Priory, 17th July, 186--.
+
+   DEAR SIR,--
+
+   I have received your letter respecting Mr. Ralph Newton's
+   affairs, in regard to which, as far as they concern
+   himself, I am free to say that I do not feel much
+   interest. But you are quite right in your suggestion that
+   my solicitude in respect of the family property is very
+   great. I need not trouble you by pointing out the nature
+   of my solicitude, but may as well at once make an offer to
+   you, which you, as Mr. Ralph Newton's friend, and as an
+   experienced lawyer, can consider,--and communicate to him,
+   if you think right to do so.
+
+   It seems that he will be driven to raise money on his
+   interest in this property. I have always felt that he
+   would do so, and that from the habits of his life the
+   property would be squandered before it came into his
+   possession. Why should he not sell his reversion, and why
+   should I not buy it? I write in ignorance, but I presume
+   such an arrangement would be legal and honourable on my
+   part. The sum to be given would be named without
+   difficulty by an actuary. I am now fifty-five, and, I
+   believe, in good health. You yourself will probably know
+   within a few thousand pounds what would be the value of
+   the reversion. A proper person would, however, be of
+   course employed.
+
+   I have saved money, but by no means enough for such an
+   outlay as this. I would, however, mortgage the property or
+   sell one half of it, if by doing so I could redeem the
+   other half from Mr. Ralph Newton.
+
+   You no doubt will understand exactly the nature of my
+   offer, and will let me have an answer. I do not know that
+   I can in any other way expedite Mr. Ralph Newton's course
+   in life.
+
+   I am, dear sir,
+   Faithfully yours,
+
+   GREGORY NEWTON, Senior.
+
+
+When Sir Thomas read this he was almost in greater doubt and
+difficulty than before. The measure proposed by the elder Newton was
+no doubt legal and honourable, but it could hardly be so carried
+out as to be efficacious. Ralph could only sell his share of the
+inheritance;--or rather his chance of inheriting the estate. Were he
+to die without a son before his uncle, then his brother would be the
+heir. The arrangement, however, if practicable, would at once make
+all things comfortable for Ralph, and would give him, probably, a
+large unembarrassed revenue,--so large, that the owner of it need
+certainly have recourse to no discreditable marriage as the means of
+extricating himself from present calamity. But then Sir Thomas had
+very strong ideas about a family property. Were Ralph's affairs,
+indeed, in such disorder as to make it necessary for him to abandon
+the great prospect of being Newton of Newton? If the breeches-maker's
+twenty thousand would suffice, surely the thing could be done on
+cheaper terms than those suggested by the old Squire,--and done
+without the intervention of Polly Neefit!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+NEWTON PRIORY.
+
+
+Newton Priory was at this time inhabited by two gentlemen,--old
+Gregory Newton, who for miles round was known as the Squire; and his
+son, Ralph Newton,--his son, but not his heir; a son, however, whom
+he loved as well as though he had been born with an undoubted right
+to inherit all those dearly-valued acres. A few lines will tell all
+that need be told of the Squire's early life,--and indeed of his life
+down to the present period. In very early days, immediately upon his
+leaving college, he had travelled abroad and had formed an attachment
+with a German lady, who by him became the mother of a child. He
+intended to marry her, hoping to reconcile his father to the match;
+but before either marriage or reconciliation could take place the
+young mother, whose babe's life could then only be counted by months,
+was dead. In the hope that the old man might yield in all things,
+the infant had been christened Ralph; for the old Squire's name was
+Ralph, and there had been a Ralph among the Newtons since Newton
+Priory had existed. But the old Squire had a Ralph of his own,--the
+father of our Ralph and of the present parson,--who in his time was
+rector of Peele Newton; and when the tidings of this foreign baby and
+of the proposed foreign marriage reached the old Squire,--then he
+urged his second son to marry, and made the settlement of the estate
+of which the reader has heard. The settlement was natural enough. It
+simply entailed the property on the male heir of the family in the
+second generation. It deprived the eldest son of nothing that would
+be his in accordance with the usual tenure of English primogeniture.
+Had he married and become the father of a family, his eldest son
+would have been the heir. But heretofore there had been no such
+entails in the Newton family; or, at least, he was pleased to
+think that there had been none such. And when he himself inherited
+the property early in life,--before he had reached his thirtieth
+year,--he thought that his father had injured him. His boy was as
+dear to him, as though the mother had been his honest wife. Then
+he endeavoured to come to some terms with his brother. He would do
+anything in order that his child might be Newton of Newton after
+him. But the parson would come to no terms at all, and was powerless
+to make any such terms as those which the elder brother required.
+The parson was honest, self-denying, and proud on behalf of his own
+children; but he was intrusive in regard to the property, and apt to
+claim privileges of interference beyond his right as the guardian of
+his own or of his children's future interests. And so the brothers
+had quarrelled;--and so the story of Newton Priory is told up to the
+period at which our story begins.
+
+Gregory Newton and his son Ralph had lived together at the Priory for
+the last six-and-twenty years, and the young man had grown up as a
+Newton within the knowledge of all the gentry around them. The story
+of his birth was public, and it was of course understood that he was
+not the heir. His father had been too wise on the son's behalf to
+encourage any concealment. The son was very popular, and deserved to
+be so; but it was known to all the young men round, and also to all
+the maidens, that he would not be Newton of Newton. There had been
+no ill-contrived secret, sufficient to make a difficulty, but not
+sufficient to save the lad from the pains of his position. Everybody
+knew it; and yet it can hardly be said that he was treated otherwise
+than he would have been treated had he been the heir. In the
+hunting-field there was no more popular man. A point had been
+stretched in his favour, and he was a magistrate. Mothers were kind
+to him, for it was known that his father loved him well, and that
+his father had been a prudent man. In all respects he was treated
+as though he were the heir. He managed the shooting, and was the
+trusted friend of all the tenants. Doubtless his father was the more
+indulgent to him because of the injury that had been done to him.
+After all, his life promised well as to material prosperity; for,
+though the Squire, in writing to Sir Thomas, had spoken of selling
+half the property with the view of keeping the other half for his
+son, he was already possessed of means that would enable him to
+make the proposed arrangement without such sacrifice as that. For
+twenty-four years he had felt that he was bound to make a fortune for
+his son out of his own income. And he had made a fortune, and mothers
+knew it, and everybody in the county was very civil to Ralph,--to
+that Ralph who was not the heir.
+
+But the Squire had never yet quite abandoned the hope that Ralph who
+was not the heir might yet possess the place; and when he heard of
+his nephew's doings, heard falsehood as well as truth, from day to
+day he built up new hopes. He had not expected any such overture as
+that which had come from Sir Thomas; but if, as he did expect, Ralph
+the heir should go to the Jews, why should not the Squire purchase
+the Jews' interest in his own estate? Or, if Ralph the heir should,
+more wisely, deal with some great money-lending office, why should
+not he redeem the property through the same? Ralph the heir would
+surely throw what interest he had into the market, and if so, that
+interest might be bought by the person to whom it must be of more
+value than to any other. He had said little about it even to his
+son;--but he had hoped; and now had come this letter from Sir Thomas.
+The reader knows the letter and the Squire's answer.
+
+The Squire himself was a very handsome man, tall, broad-shouldered,
+square-faced, with hair and whiskers almost snow-white already, but
+which nevertheless gave to him but little sign of age. He was very
+strong, and could sit in the saddle all day without fatigue. He was
+given much to farming, and thoroughly understood the duties of a
+country gentleman. He was hospitable, too; for, though money had been
+saved, the Priory had ever been kept as one of the pleasantest houses
+in the county. There had been no wife, no child but the one, and no
+house in London. The stables, however, had been full of hunters: and
+it was generally said that no men in Hampshire were better mounted
+than Gregory the father and Ralph the son. Of the father we will
+only further say that he was a generous, passionate, persistent,
+vindictive, and unforgiving man, a bitter enemy and a staunch friend;
+a thorough-going Tory, who, much as he loved England and Hampshire
+and Newton Priory, feared that they were all going to the dogs
+because of Mr. Disraeli and household suffrage; but who felt, in
+spite of those fears, that to make his son master of Newton Priory
+after him would be the greatest glory of his life. He had sworn to
+the young mother on her death-bed that the boy should be to him
+as though he had been born in wedlock. He had been as good as his
+word;--and we may say that he was one who had at least that virtue,
+that he was always as good as his word.
+
+The son was very like the father in face and gait and bearing,--so
+like that the parentage was marked to the glance of any observer. He
+was tall, as was his father, and broad across the chest, and strong
+and active, as his father had ever been. But his face was of a nobler
+stamp, bearing a surer impress of intellect, and in that respect
+telling certainly the truth. This Ralph Newton had been educated
+abroad, his father, with a morbid feeling which he had since done
+much to conquer, having feared to send him among other young men,
+the sons of squires and noblemen, who would have known that their
+comrade was debarred by the disgrace of his birth from inheriting
+the property of his father. But it may be doubted whether he had not
+gained as much as he had lost. German and French were the same to
+him as his native tongue; and he returned to the life of an English
+country gentleman young enough to learn to ride to hounds, and to
+live as he found others living around him.
+
+Very little was said, or indeed ever had been said, between the
+father and son as to their relative position in reference to the
+property. Ralph,--the illegitimate Ralph,--knew well enough and had
+always known, that the estate was not to be his. He had known this
+so long that he did not remember the day when he had not known it.
+Occasionally the Squire would observe with a curse that this or
+that could not be done with the property,--such a house pulled down,
+or such another built, this copse grupped up, or those trees cut
+down,--because of that reprobate up in London. As to pulling down,
+there was no probability of interference now, though there had been
+much of such interference in the life of the old rector. "Ralph,"
+he had once said to his brother the rector, "I'll marry and have a
+family yet if there is another word about the timber." "I have not
+the slightest right or even wish to object to your doing so," said
+the rector; "but as long as things are on their present footing, I
+shall continue to do my duty." Soon after that it had come to pass
+that the brothers so quarrelled that all intercourse between them was
+at an end. Such revenge, such absolute punishment as that which the
+Squire had threatened, would have been very pleasant to him;--but not
+even for such pleasure as that would he ruin the boy whom he loved.
+He did not marry, but saved money, and dreamed of buying up the
+reversion of his nephew's interest.
+
+His son was just two years older than our Ralph up in London, and
+his father was desirous that he should marry. "Your wife would be
+mistress of the house,--as long as I live, at least," he had once
+said. "There are difficulties about it," said the son. Of course
+there were difficulties. "I do not know whether it is not better that
+I should remain unmarried," he said, a few minutes later. "There are
+men whom marriage does not seem to suit,--I mean as regards their
+position." The father turned away, and groaned aloud when he was
+alone. On the evening of that day, as they were sitting together over
+their wine, the son alluded, not exactly to the same subject, but to
+the thoughts which had arisen from it within his own mind. "Father,"
+he said, "I don't know whether it wouldn't be better for you to make
+it up with my cousin, and have him down here."
+
+"What cousin?" said the Squire, turning sharply round.
+
+"With Gregory's eldest brother." The reader will perhaps remember
+that the Gregory of that day was the parson. "I believe he is a good
+fellow, and he has done you no harm."
+
+"He has done me all harm."
+
+"No; father; no. We cannot help ourselves, you know. Were he to die,
+Gregory would be in the same position. It would be better that the
+family should be kept together."
+
+"I would sooner have the devil here. No consideration on earth shall
+induce me to allow him to put his foot upon this place. No;--not
+whilst I live." The son said nothing further, and they sat together
+in silence for some quarter of an hour,--after which the elder of the
+two rose from his chair, and, coming round the table, put his hand
+on the son's shoulder, and kissed his son's brow. "Father," said
+the young man, "you think that I am troubled by things which hardly
+touch me at all." "By God, they touch me close enough!" said the
+elder. This had taken place some month or two before the date of Sir
+Thomas's letter;--but any reference to the matter of which they were
+both no doubt always thinking was very rare between them.
+
+Newton Priory was a place which a father might well wish to leave
+unimpaired to his son. It lay in the north of Hampshire, where that
+county is joined to Berkshire; and perhaps in England there is no
+prettier district, no country in which moorland and woodland and
+pasture are more daintily thrown together to please the eye, in which
+there is a sweeter air, or a more thorough seeming of English wealth
+and English beauty and English comfort. Those who know Eversley and
+Bramshill and Heckfield and Strathfieldsaye will acknowledge that
+it is so. But then how few are the Englishmen who travel to see the
+beauties of their own country! Newton Priory, or Newton Peele as the
+parish was called, lay somewhat west of these places, but was as
+charming as any of them. The entire parish belonged to Mr. Newton, as
+did portions of three or four parishes adjoining. The house itself
+was neither large nor remarkable for its architecture;--but it was
+comfortable. The rooms indeed were low, for it had been built in the
+ungainly days of Queen Anne, with additions in the equally ungainly
+time of George II., and the passages were long and narrow, and the
+bedrooms were up and down stairs, as though pains had been taken
+that no two should be on a level; and the windows were of ugly shape,
+and the whole mass was uncouth and formless,--partaking neither of
+the Gothic beauty of the Stuart architecture, nor of the palatial
+grandeur which has sprung up in our days; and it stood low, giving
+but little view from the windows. But, nevertheless, there was a
+family comfort and a warm solidity about the house, which endeared it
+to those who knew it well. There had been a time in which the present
+Squire had thought of building for himself an entirely new house, on
+another site,--on the rising brow of a hill, some quarter of a mile
+away from his present residence;--but he had remembered that as
+he could not leave his estate to his son, it behoved him to spend
+nothing on the property which duty did not demand from him.
+
+The house stood in a park of some two hundred acres, in which the
+ground was poor, indeed, but beautifully diversified by rising knolls
+and little ravines, which seemed to make the space almost unlimited.
+And then the pines which waved in the Newton woods sighed and moaned
+with a melody which, in the ears of their owner, was equalled by
+that of no other fir trees in the world. And the broom was yellower
+at Newton than elsewhere, and more plentiful; and the heather was
+sweeter;--and wild thyme on the grass more fragrant. So at least Mr.
+Newton was always ready to swear. And all this he could not leave
+behind him to his son;--but must die with the knowledge, that as soon
+as the breath was out of his body, it would become the property of
+a young man whom he hated! He might not cut down the pine woods, nor
+disturb those venerable single trees which were the glory of his
+park;--but there were moments in which he thought that he could take
+a delight in ploughing up the furze, and in stripping the hill-sides
+of the heather. Why should his estate be so beautiful for one who was
+nothing to him? Would it not be well that he should sell everything
+that was saleable in order that his own son might be the richer?
+
+On the day after he had written his reply to Sir Thomas he was
+rambling in the evening with his son through the woods. Nothing could
+be more beautiful than the park was now;--and Ralph had been speaking
+of the glory of the place. But something had occurred to make his
+father revert to the condition of a certain tenant, whose holding on
+the property was by no means satisfactory either to himself or to his
+landlord. "You know, sir," said the son, "I told you last year that
+Darvell would have to go."
+
+"Where's he to go to?"
+
+"He'll go to the workhouse if he stays here. It will be much better
+for him to be bought out while there is still something left for him
+to sell. Nothing can be worse than a man sticking on to land without
+a shilling of capital."
+
+"Of course it's bad. His father did very well there."
+
+"His father did very well there till he took to drink and died of it.
+You know where the road parts Darvell's farm and Brownriggs? Just
+look at the difference of the crops. There's a place with wheat on
+each side of you. I was looking at them before dinner."
+
+"Brownriggs is in a different parish. Brownriggs is in Bostock."
+
+"But the land is of the same quality. Of course Walker is a different
+sort of man from Darvell. I believe there are nearly four hundred
+acres in Brownriggs."
+
+"All that," said the father.
+
+"And Darvell has about seventy;--but the land should be made to bear
+the same produce per acre."
+
+The Squire paused a moment, and then asked a question. "What should
+you say if I proposed to sell Brownriggs?" Now there were two or
+three matters which made the proposition to sell Brownriggs a very
+wonderful proposition to come from the Squire. In the first place he
+couldn't sell an acre of the property at all,--of which fact his son
+was very well aware; and then, of all the farms on the estate it was,
+perhaps, the best and most prosperous. Mr. Walker, the tenant, was a
+man in very good circumstances, who hunted, and was popular, and was
+just the man of whose tenancy no landlord would be ashamed.
+
+
+[Illustration: "What should you say if I proposed to sell
+Brownriggs?"]
+
+
+"Sell Brownriggs!" said the young man. "Well, yes; I should be
+surprised. Could you sell it?"
+
+"Not at present," said the Squire.
+
+"How could it be sold at all?" They were now standing at a gate
+leading out of the park into a field held by the Squire in his own
+hands, and were both leaning on it. "Father," said the son, "I wish
+you would not trouble yourself about the estate, but let things come
+and go just as they have been arranged."
+
+"I prefer to arrange them for myself,--if I can. It comes to this,
+that it may be possible to buy the reversion of the property. I could
+not buy it all;--or if I did, must sell a portion of it to raise the
+money. I have been thinking it over and making calculations. If we
+let Walker's farm go, and Ingram's, I think I could manage the rest.
+Of course it would depend on the value of my own life."
+
+There was a long pause, during which they both were still leaning on
+the gate. "It is a phantom, sir!" the young man said at last.
+
+"What do you mean by a phantom? I don't see any phantom. A reversion
+can be bought and sold as well as any other property. And if it be
+sold in this case, I am as free to buy it as any other man."
+
+"Who says it is to be sold, sir?"
+
+"I say so. That prig of a barrister, Sir Thomas Underwood, has
+already made overtures to me to do something for that young scoundrel
+in London. He is a scoundrel, for he is spending money that is not
+his own. And he is now about to make a marriage that will disgrace
+his family." The Squire probably did not at the moment think of the
+disgrace which he had brought upon the family by not marrying. "The
+fact is, that he will have to sell all that he can sell. Why should I
+not buy it!"
+
+"If he were to die?" suggested the son.
+
+"I wish he would," said the father.
+
+"Don't say that, sir. But if he were to die, Gregory here, who is as
+good a fellow as ever lived, would come into his shoes. Ralph could
+sell no more than his own chance."
+
+"We could get Gregory to join us," said the energetic Squire. "He,
+also, could sell his right."
+
+"You had better leave it as it is, sir," said the son, after another
+pause. "I feel sure that you will only get yourself into trouble. The
+place is yours as long as you live, and you should enjoy it."
+
+"And know that it is going to the Jews after me! Not if I can help
+it. You won't marry, as things are; but you'd marry quick enough if
+you knew you would remain here after my death;--if you were sure that
+a child of yours could inherit the estate. I mean to try it on, and
+it is best that you should know. Whatever he can make over to the
+Jews he can make over to me;--and as that is what he is about, I
+shall keep my eyes open. I shall go up to London about it and see
+Carey next week. A man can do a deal if he sets himself thoroughly to
+work."
+
+"I'd leave it alone if I were you," said the young man.
+
+"I shall not leave it alone. I mayn't be able to get it all, but I'll
+do my best to secure a part of it. If any is to go, it had better
+be the land in Bostock and Twining. I think we could manage to keep
+Newton entire."
+
+His mind was always on the subject, though it was not often that he
+said a word about it to the son in whose behalf he was so anxious.
+His thoughts were always dwelling on it, so that the whole peace and
+comfort of his life were disturbed. A life-interest in a property
+is, perhaps, as much as a man desires to have when he for whose
+protection he is debarred from further privileges of ownership is
+a well-loved son;--but an entail that limits an owner's rights on
+behalf of an heir who is not loved, who is looked upon as an enemy,
+is very grievous. And in this case the man who was so limited,
+so cramped, so hedged in, and robbed of the true pleasures of
+ownership, had a son with whom he would have been willing to share
+everything,--whom it would have been his delight to consult as to
+every roof to be built, every tree to be cut, every lease to be
+granted or denied. He would dream of telling his son, with a certain
+luxury of self-abnegation, that this or that question as to the
+estate should be settled in the interest, not of the setting, but of
+the rising sun. "It is your affair rather than mine, my boy;--do as
+you like." He could picture to himself in his imagination a pleasant,
+half-mock melancholy in saying such things, and in sharing the reins
+of government between his own hands and those of his heir. As the
+sun is falling in the heavens and the evening lights come on, this
+world's wealth and prosperity afford no pleasure equal to this. It
+is this delight that enables a man to feel, up to the last moment,
+that the goods of the world are good. But of all this he was to be
+robbed,--in spite of all his prudence. It might perhaps sometimes
+occur to him that he by his own vice had brought this scourge upon
+his back;--but not the less on that account did it cause him to rebel
+against the rod. Then there would come upon him the idea that he
+might cure this evil were his energy sufficient;--and all that he
+heard of that nephew and heir, whom he hated, tended to make him
+think that the cure was within his reach. There had been moments
+in which he had planned a scheme of leading on that reprobate into
+quicker and deeper destruction, of a pretended friendship with the
+spendthrift, in order that money for speedier ruin might be lent on
+that security which the uncle himself was so anxious to possess as
+his very own. But the scheme of this iniquity, though it had been
+planned and mapped out in his brain, had never been entertained as
+a thing really to be done. There are few of us who have not allowed
+our thoughts to work on this or that villany, arranging the method of
+its performance, though the performance itself is far enough from our
+purpose. The amusement is not without its danger,--and to the Squire
+of Newton had so far been injurious that it had tended to foster his
+hatred. He would, however, do nothing that was dishonest,--nothing
+that the world would condemn,--nothing that would not bear the light.
+The argument to which he mainly trusted was this,--that if Ralph
+Newton, the heir, had anything to sell and was pleased to sell it,
+it was as open to him to buy it as to any other. If the reversion of
+the estate of Newton Priory was in the market, why should he not buy
+it?--the reversion or any part of the reversion? If such were the
+case he certainly would buy it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+MRS. BROWNLOW.
+
+
+There was a certain old Mrs. Brownlow, who inhabited a large
+old-fashioned house on the Fulham Road, just beyond the fashionable
+confines of Brompton, but nearer to town than the decidedly rural
+district of Walham Green and Parson's Green. She was deeply
+interested in the welfare of the Underwood girls, having been a first
+cousin of their paternal grandmother, and was very unhappy because
+their father would not go home and take care of them. She was an
+excellent old woman, affectionate, charitable, and religious; but
+she was rather behindhand in general matters, and did not clearly
+understand much about anything in these latter days. She had heard
+that Sir Thomas was accustomed to live away from his daughters, and
+thought it very shocking;--but she knew that Sir Thomas either was
+or had been in Parliament, and that he was a great lawyer and a
+very clever man, and therefore she made excuses. She did not quite
+understand it all, but she thought it expedient to befriend the young
+ladies. She had heard, too, that Ralph Newton, who had been entrusted
+to the care of Sir Thomas, was heir to an enormous property; and she
+thought that the young man ought to marry one of the young ladies.
+Consequently, whenever she would ask her cousins to tea, she would
+also ask Mr. Ralph Newton. Sometimes he would come. More frequently
+he would express his deep regret that a previous engagement prevented
+him from having the pleasure of accepting Mrs. Brownlow's kind
+invitation. On all these occasions Mrs. Brownlow invited Sir
+Thomas;--but Sir Thomas never came. It could hardly have been
+expected of him that he should do so. Bolsover House was the
+old-fashioned name of Mrs. Brownlow's residence; and an invitation
+for tea had been sent for a certain Tuesday in July,--Tuesday, July
+the 18th. Mrs. Brownlow had of course been informed of the arrival
+of Mary Bonner,--who was in truth as nearly related to her as the
+Underwood girls,--and the invitation was given with the express
+intention of doing honour to Mary. By the young ladies from Popham
+Villa the invitation was accepted as a matter of course.
+
+"Will he be there?" Clary said to her sister.
+
+"I hope not, Clarissa."
+
+"Why do you hope not? We are not to quarrel; are we, Patty?"
+
+"No;--we need not quarrel. But I am afraid of him. He is not good
+enough, Clary, for you to be unhappy about him. And I fear,--I fear,
+he is--"
+
+"Is what, Patty? Do speak it out. There is nothing I hate so much as
+a mystery."
+
+"I fear he is not genuine;--what people call honest. He would say
+things without quite meaning what he says."
+
+"I don't think it. I am sure he is not like that. I may have been a
+fool--" Then she stopped herself, remembering the whole scene on the
+lawn. Alas;--there had been no misunderstanding him. The crime had
+been forgiven; but the crime had been a great fact. Since that she
+had seen him only once, and then he had been so cold! But yet as he
+left her he had not been quite cold. Surely that pressure of her hand
+had meant something;--had meant something after that great crime! But
+why did he not come to her; or why,--which would have been so far,
+far better,--did he not go to her papa and tell everything to him?
+Now, however, there was the chance that she would see him at Bolsover
+House. That Mrs. Brownlow would ask him was quite a matter of course.
+
+The great event of the evening was to be the introduction of Mrs.
+Brownlow to the new cousin. They were to drink tea out in the
+old-fashioned garden behind the house, from which Mrs. Brownlow could
+retreat into her own room at the first touch of a breath of air. The
+day was one of which the world at large would declare that there was
+no breath of air, morning, noon, or night. There was to be quite a
+party. That was evident from the first to our young ladies, who knew
+the ways of the house, and who saw that the maids were very smart,
+and that an extra young woman had been brought in; but they were the
+first to come,--as was proper.
+
+"My dear Mary," said the old woman to her new guest, "I am glad to
+see you. I knew your mother and loved her well. I hope you will be
+happy, my dear." Mrs. Brownlow was a very little old woman, very
+pretty, very grey, very nicely dressed, and just a little deaf. Mary
+Bonner kissed her, and murmured some word of thanks. The old woman
+stood for a few seconds, looking at the beauty,--astounded like the
+rest of the world. "Somebody told me she was good-looking," Mrs.
+Brownlow said to Patience;--"but I did not expect to see her like
+that."
+
+"Is she not lovely?"
+
+"She is a miracle, my dear! I hope she won't steal all the nice
+young men away from you and your sister, eh? Yes;--yes. What does Mr.
+Newton say to her?" Patience, however, knew that she need not answer
+all the questions which Mrs. Brownlow asked, and she left this
+question unanswered.
+
+Two or three elderly ladies came in, and four or five young ladies,
+and an old gentleman who sat close to Mrs. Brownlow and squeezed her
+hand very often, and a middle-aged gentleman who was exceedingly
+funny, and two young gentlemen who carried the tea and cakes about,
+but did not talk much. Such were the guests, and the young ladies,
+who no doubt were accustomed to Mrs. Brownlow's parties, took it all
+as it was intended, and were not discontented. There was one young
+lady, however, who longed to ask a question, but durst not. Had Ralph
+Newton promised that he would come? Clary was sitting between the
+old gentleman who seemed to be so fond of Mrs. Brownlow's hand and
+her cousin Mary. She said not a word,--nor, indeed, was there much
+talking among the guests in general. The merry, middle-aged gentleman
+did the talking, combining with it a good deal of exhilarating
+laughter at his own wit. The ladies sat round, and sipped their tea
+and smiled. That middle-aged gentleman certainly earned his mild
+refreshment;--for the party without him must have been very dull.
+Then there came a breath of air,--or, as Mrs. Brownlow called it, a
+keen north wind; and the old lady retreated into the house. "Don't
+let me take anybody else in,--only I can't stand a wind like that."
+The old gentleman accompanied her, and then the elderly ladies. The
+young ladies came next, and the man of wit, with the silent young
+gentlemen, followed, laden with scarfs, parasols, fans, and stray
+teacups. "I don't think we used to have such cold winds in July,"
+said Mrs. Brownlow. The old gentleman pressed her hand once more, and
+whispered into her ear that there had certainly been a great change.
+
+Suddenly Ralph Newton was among them. Clarissa had not heard him
+announced, and to her it seemed as though he had come down from
+the heavens,--as would have befitted his godship. He was a great
+favourite with Mrs. Brownlow, who, having heard that he was heir
+to a very large property, thought that his extravagance became him.
+According to her views it was his duty to spend a good deal of money,
+and his duty also to marry Clarissa Underwood. As he was as yet
+unmarried to any one else, she hardly doubted that he would do his
+duty. She was a sanguine old lady, who always believed that things
+would go right. She bustled and fussed on the present occasion
+with the very evident intention of getting a seat for him next to
+Clarissa; but Clarissa was as active in avoiding such an arrangement,
+and Ralph soon found himself placed between Mary Bonner and a very
+deaf old lady, who was always present at Mrs. Brownlow's tea-parties.
+"I suppose this has all been got up in your honour," he said to Mary.
+She smiled, and shook her head. "Oh, but it has. I know the dear old
+lady's ways so well! She would never allow a new Underwood to be at
+the villa for a month without having a tea-party to consecrate the
+event."
+
+"Isn't she charming, Mr. Newton;--and so pretty?"
+
+"No end of charming, and awfully pretty. Why are we all in here
+instead of out in the garden?"
+
+"Mrs. Brownlow thought that it was cold."
+
+"With the thermometer at 80°! What do you think, who ought to know
+what hot weather means? Are you chilly?"
+
+"Not in the least. We West Indians never find this climate cold
+the first year. Next year I don't doubt that I shall be full of
+rheumatism all over, and begging to be taken back to the islands."
+
+Clarissa watched them from over the way as though every word spoken
+between them had been a treason to herself. And yet she had almost
+been rude to old Mrs. Brownlow in the manner in which she had placed
+herself on one side of the circle when the old lady had begged her to
+sit on the other. Certainly, had she heard all that was said between
+her lover and her cousin, there was nothing in the words to offend
+her. She did not hear them; but she could see that Ralph looked into
+Mary's beautiful face, and that Mary smiled in a demure, silent,
+self-assured way which was already becoming odious to Clarissa.
+Clarissa herself, when Ralph looked into her face, would blush and
+turn away, and feel herself unable to bear the gaze of the god.
+
+In a few minutes there came to be a sudden move, and all the young
+people trooped back into the garden. It was Ralph Newton who did
+it, and nobody quite understood how it was done. "Certainly, my
+dears; certainly," said the old lady. "I dare say the moon is very
+beautiful. Yes; I see Mr. Ralph. You are not going to take me out,
+I can tell you. The moon is all very well, but I like to see it
+through the window. Don't mind me. Mr. Truepeny will stay with me."
+Mr. Truepeny, who was turned eighty, put out his hand and patted Mrs.
+Brownlow's arm, and assured her that he wanted nothing better than
+to stay with her for ever. The witty gentleman did not like the move,
+because it had been brought about by a newcomer, who had, as it were,
+taken the wind out of his sails. He lingered awhile, hoping to have
+weight enough to control the multitude;--in which he failed, and at
+last made one of the followers. And Clarissa lingered also, because
+Ralph had been the first to stir. Ralph had gone out with Mary
+Bonner, and therefore Clarissa had held back. So it came to pass
+that she found herself walking round the garden with the witty,
+exhilarating, middle-aged gentleman,--whom, for the present at least,
+she most cordially hated. "I am not quite sure that our dear old
+friend isn't right," said the witty man, whose name was Poojean;--"a
+chair to sit down upon, and a wall or two around one, and a few
+little knick-nacks about,--carpets and tables and those sort of
+things,--are comfortable at times."
+
+"I wonder you should leave them then," said Clarissa.
+
+"Can there be a wonder that I leave them with such temptation as
+this," said the gallant Poojean. Clarissa hated him worse than ever,
+and would not look at him, or even make the faintest sign that she
+heard him. The voice of Ralph Newton through the trees struck her
+ears; and yet the voice wasn't loud,--as it would not be if it were
+addressed with tenderness to Mary. And there was she bound by some
+indissoluble knot to,--Mr. Poojean. "That Mr. Newton is a friend of
+yours?" asked Mr. Poojean.
+
+"Yes;--a friend of ours," said Clarissa.
+
+"Then I will express my intense admiration for his wit, general
+character, and personal appearance. Had he been a stranger to you, I
+should, of course, have insinuated an opinion that he was a fool, a
+coxcomb, and the very plainest young man I had ever seen. That is the
+way of the world,--isn't it, Miss Underwood?"
+
+"I don't know," said Clarissa.
+
+"Oh, yes,--you do. That's the way we all go on. As he is your friend,
+I can't dare to begin to abuse him till after the third time round
+the garden."
+
+"I beg, then, that there may be only two turns," said Clarissa.
+But she did not know how to stop, or to get rid of her abominable
+companion.
+
+"If I mustn't abuse him after three turns, he must be a favourite,"
+said the persevering Poojean. "I suppose he is a favourite.
+By-the-bye, what a lovely girl that is with whom your favourite
+was,--shall I say flirting?"
+
+"That lady is my cousin, Mr. Poojean."
+
+"I didn't say that she was flirting, mind. I wouldn't hint such a
+thing of any young lady, let her be anybody's cousin. Young ladies
+never flirt. But young men do sometimes;--don't they? After all, it
+is the best fun going;--isn't it?"
+
+"I don't know," said Clarissa. By this time they had got round to the
+steps leading from the garden to the house. "I think I'll go in, Mr.
+Poojean." She did go in, and Mr. Poojean was left looking at the moon
+all alone, as though he had separated himself from all mirth and
+society for that melancholy but pleasing occupation. He stood there
+gazing upwards with his thumbs beneath his waistcoat. "Grand,--is it
+not?" he said to the first couple that passed him.
+
+"Awfully grand, and beautifully soft, and all the rest of it," said
+Ralph, as he went on with Mary Bonner by his side.
+
+"That fellow has got no touch of poetry in him!" said Poojean to
+himself. In the meantime Clarissa, pausing a moment as she entered
+through the open window, heard Ralph's cheery voice. How well she
+knew its tones! And she still paused, with ears erect, striving to
+catch some word from her cousin's mouth. But Mary's words, if they
+were words spoken by her, were too low and soft to be caught.
+"Oh,--if she should turn out to be sly!" Clarissa said to herself.
+Was it true that Ralph had been flirting with her,--as that odious
+man had said? And why, why, why had Ralph not come to her, if he
+really loved her, as he had twice told her that he did? Of course
+she had not thrown herself into his arms when old Mrs. Brownlow made
+that foolish fuss. But still he might have come to her. He might
+have waited for her in the garden. He might have saved her from the
+"odious vulgarity" of that "abominable old wretch." For in such
+language did Clarissa describe to herself the exertions to amuse her
+which had been made by her late companion. But had the Sydney Smith
+of the day been talking to her, he would have been dull, or the Count
+D'Orsay of the day, he would have been vulgar, while the sound of
+Ralph Newton's voice, as he walked with another girl, was reaching
+her ears. And then, before she had seated herself in Mrs. Brownlow's
+drawing-room, another idea had struck her. Could it be that Ralph did
+not come to her because she had told him that she would never forgive
+him for that crime? Was it possible that his own shame was so great
+that he was afraid of her? If so, could she not let him know that he
+was,--well, forgiven? Poor Clarissa! In the meantime the voices still
+came to her from the garden, and she still thought that she could
+distinguish Ralph's low murmurings.
+
+It may be feared that Ralph had no such deep sense of his fault as
+that suggested. He did remember well enough,--had reflected more
+than once or twice,--on those words which he had spoken to Clary.
+Having spoken them he had felt his crime to be their not unnatural
+accompaniment. At that moment, when he was on the lawn at Fulham, he
+had thought that it would be very sweet to devote himself to dear
+Clary,--that Clary was the best and prettiest girl he knew, that, in
+short, it might be well for him to love her and cherish her and make
+her his wife. Had not Patience come upon the scene, and disturbed
+them, he would probably then and there have offered to her his hand
+and heart. But Patience had come upon the scene, and the offer had
+not been, as he thought, made. Since all that, which had passed ages
+ago,--weeks and weeks ago,--there had fallen upon him the prosaic
+romance of Polly Neefit. He had actually gone down to Hendon to offer
+himself as a husband to the breeches-maker's daughter. It is true he
+had hitherto escaped in that quarter also,--or, at any rate, had not
+as yet committed himself. But the train of incidents and thoughts
+which had induced him to think seriously of marrying Polly, had
+made him aware that he could not propose marriage to Sir Thomas
+Underwood's daughter. From such delight as that he found, on calm
+reflection, that he had debarred himself by the folly of his past
+life. It was well that Patience had come upon the scene.
+
+Such being the state of affairs with him, that little episode with
+Clary being at an end,--or rather, as he thought, never having quite
+come to a beginning,--and his little arrangement as to Polly Neefit
+being in abeyance, he was free to amuse himself with this newcomer.
+Miss Bonner was certainly the most lovely girl he had ever seen. He
+could imagine no beauty to exceed hers. He knew well enough that her
+loveliness could be nothing to him;--but a woman's beauty is in one
+sense as free as the air in all Christian countries. It is a light
+shed for the delight, not of one, but of many. There could be no
+reason why he should not be among the admirers of Miss Bonner.
+"I expect, you know, to be admitted quite on the terms of an old
+friend," he said. "I shall call you Mary, and all that kind of
+thing."
+
+"I don't see your claim," said Miss Bonner.
+
+"Oh yes, you do,--and must allow it. I was almost a sort of son of
+Sir Thomas's,--till he turned me off when I came of age. And Patience
+and Clarissa are just the same as sisters to me."
+
+"You are not even a cousin, Mr. Newton."
+
+"No;--I'm not a cousin. It's more like a foster-brother, you know. Of
+course I shan't call you Mary if you tell me not. How is it to be?"
+
+"Just for the present I'll be Miss Bonner."
+
+"For a week or so?"
+
+"Say for a couple of years, and then we'll see how it is."
+
+"You'll be some lucky's fellow's wife long before that. Do you like
+living at Fulham?"
+
+"Very much. How should I not like it? They are so kind to me. And you
+know, when I first resolved to come home, I thought I should have
+to go out as a governess,--or, perhaps, as a nursery-maid, if they
+didn't think me clever enough to teach. I did not expect my uncle to
+be so good to me. I had never seen him, you know. Is it not odd that
+my uncle is so little at home?"
+
+"It is odd. He is writing a book, you see, and he finds that the air
+of Fulham doesn't suit his brains."
+
+"Oh, Mr. Newton!"
+
+"And he likes to be quite alone. There isn't a better fellow going
+than your uncle. I am sure I ought to say so. But he isn't just what
+I should call,--sociable."
+
+"I think him almost perfection;--but I do wish he was more at home
+for their sakes. We'll go in now, Mr. Newton. Patience has gone in,
+and I haven't seen Clarissa for ever so long."
+
+Soon after this the guests began to go away. Mr. Truepeny gave Mrs.
+Brownlow's hand the last squeeze, and Mr. Poojean remarked that
+all terrestrial joys must have an end. "Not but that such hours as
+these," said he, "have about them a dash of the celestial which
+almost gives them a claim to eternity." "Horrible fool!" said
+Clarissa to her sister, who was standing close to her.
+
+"Mrs. Brownlow would, perhaps, prefer going to bed," said Ralph.
+Then every one was gone except the Underwoods and Ralph Newton. The
+girls had on their hats and shawls, and all was prepared for their
+departure;--but there was some difficulty about the fly. The Fulham
+fly which had brought them, and which always took them everywhere,
+had hitherto omitted to return for them. It was ordered for half-past
+ten, and now it was eleven. "Are you sure he was told?" said Clary.
+Patience had told him herself,--twice. "Then he must be tipsy again,"
+said Clary. Mrs. Brownlow bade them to sit still and wait; but when
+the fly did not arrive by half-past eleven, it was necessary that
+something should be done. There were omnibuses on the road, but they
+might probably be full. "It is only two miles,--let us walk," said
+Clary; and so it was decided.
+
+Ralph insisted on walking with them till he should meet an omnibus or
+a cab to take him back to London. Patience did her best to save him
+from such labour, protesting that they would want no such escort. But
+he would not be gainsayed, and would go with them at least a part
+of the way. Of course he did not leave them till they had reached
+the gate of Popham Villa. But when they were starting there arose a
+difficulty as to the order in which they would marshal themselves;--a
+difficulty as to which not a word could be spoken, but which was not
+the less a difficulty. Clarissa hung back. Ralph had spoken hardly a
+word to her all the evening. It had better continue so. She was sure
+that he could not care for her. But she thought that she would be
+better contented that he should walk with Patience than with Mary
+Bonner. But Mary took the matter into her own hands, and started off
+boldly with Patience. Patience hardly approved, but there would be
+nothing so bad as seeming to disapprove. Clary's heart was in her
+mouth as she found her arm within his. He had contrived that it
+should be so, and she could not refuse. Her mind was changed again
+now, and once more she wished that she could let him know that the
+crime was forgiven.
+
+"I am so glad to have a word with you at last," he said. "How do you
+get on with the new cousin?"
+
+"Very well;--and how have you got on with her?"
+
+"You must ask her that. She is very beautiful,--what I call
+wonderfully beautiful."
+
+"Indeed she is," said Clary, withdrawing almost altogether the weight
+of her hand from his arm.
+
+"And clever, too,--very clever; but--"
+
+"But what?" asked Clary, and the softest, gentlest half-ounce of
+pressure was restored.
+
+"Well;--nothing. I like her uncommonly;--but is she not
+quite,--quite,--quite--"
+
+"She is quite everything that she ought to be, Ralph."
+
+"I'm sure of that;--an angel, you know, and all the rest of it. But
+angels are cold, you know. I don't know that I ever admired a girl
+so much in my life." The pressure was again lessened,--all but
+annihilated. "But, somehow, I should never dream of falling in love
+with your cousin."
+
+"Perhaps you may do so without dreaming," said Clary, as
+unconsciously she gave back the weight to her hand.
+
+"No;--I know very well the sort of girl that makes me spoony." This
+was not very encouraging to poor Clary, but still she presumed that
+he meant to imply that she herself was a girl of the sort that so
+acted upon him. And the conversation went on in this way throughout
+the walk. There was not much encouragement to her, and certainly she
+did not say a word to him that could make him feel that she wanted
+encouragement. But still he had been with her, and she had been
+happy; and when they parted at the gate, and he again pressed her
+hand, she thought that things had gone well. "He must know that I
+have forgiven him now!" she said to herself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+MR. NEEFIT IS DISTURBED.
+
+
+On the morning following Mrs. Brownlow's little tea-party Ralph
+Newton was bound by appointment to call upon Sir Thomas. But before
+he started on that duty a certain friend of his called upon him.
+This friend was Mr. Neefit. But before the necessary account of Mr.
+Neefit's mission is given, the reader must be made acquainted with a
+few circumstances as they had occurred at Hendon.
+
+It will be remembered perhaps that on the Sunday evening the two
+rivals left the cottage at the same moment, one taking the road to
+the right, and the other that to the left,--so that bloodshed, for
+that occasion at least, was prevented. "Neefit," said his wife to
+him when they were alone together, "you'll be getting yourself into
+trouble." "You be blowed," said Neefit. He was very angry with his
+wife, and was considering what steps he would take to maintain his
+proper marital and parental authority. He was not going to give way
+to the weaker vessel in a matter of such paramount importance, as to
+be made a fool of in his own family. He was quite sure of this, while
+the strength of the port wine still stood to him; and though he was
+somewhat more troubled in spirit when his wife began to bully him
+on the next morning, he still had valour enough to say that Ontario
+Moggs also might be--blowed.
+
+On the Monday, when he returned home and asked for Polly, he found
+that Polly was out walking. Mrs. Neefit did not at once tell him
+that Moggs was walking with her, but such was the fact. Just at five
+o'clock Moggs had presented himself at the cottage,--knowing very
+well, sly dog that he was, the breeches-maker's hour of return, which
+took place always precisely at four minutes past six,--and boldly
+demanded an interview with Polly. "I should like to hear what she's
+got to say to me," said he, looking boldly, almost savagely, into
+Mrs. Neefit's face. According to that matron's ideas this was the
+proper way in which maidens should be wooed and won; and, though
+Polly had at first declared that she had nothing at all to say to
+Mr. Moggs, she allowed herself at last to be led forth. Till they
+had passed the railway station on the road leading away from
+London, Ontario said not a word of his purpose. Polly, feeling that
+silence was awkward, and finding that she was being hurried along
+at a tremendous pace, spoke of the weather and of the heat, and
+expostulated. "It is hot, very hot," said Ontario, taking off his hat
+and wiping his brow,--"but there are moments in a man's life when he
+can't go slow."
+
+"Then there are moments in his life when he must go on by himself,"
+said Polly. But her pluck was too good for her to desert him at such
+a moment, and, although he hardly moderated his pace till he had
+passed the railway station, she kept by his side. As things had gone
+so far it might be quite as well now that she should hear what he had
+to say. A dim, hazy idea had crossed the mind of Moggs that it would
+be as well that he should get out into the country before he began
+his task, and that the line of the railway which passed beneath the
+road about a quarter of a mile beyond Mr. Neefit's cottage, might be
+considered as the boundary which divided the town from pastoral joys.
+He waited, therefore, till the bridge was behind them, till they
+had passed the station, which was close to the bridge;--and then he
+began. "Polly," said he, "you know what brings me here."
+
+Polly did know very well, but she was not bound to confess such
+knowledge. "You've brought me here, Mr. Moggs, and that's all I
+know," she said.
+
+"Yes;--I've brought you here. Polly, what took place last night made
+me very unhappy,--very unhappy indeed."
+
+"I can't help that, Mr. Moggs."
+
+"Not that I mean to blame you."
+
+"Blame me! I should think not. Blame me, indeed! Why are you to blame
+anybody because father chooses to ask whom he pleases to dinner? A
+pretty thing indeed, if father isn't to have whom he likes in his own
+house."
+
+"Polly, you know what I mean."
+
+"I know you made a great goose of yourself last night, and I didn't
+feel a bit obliged to you."
+
+"No, I didn't. I wasn't a goose at all. I don't say but what I'm as
+big a fool as most men. I don't mean to stick up for myself. I know
+well enough that I am foolish often. But I wasn't foolish last night.
+What was he there for?"
+
+"What business have you to ask, Mr. Moggs?"
+
+"All the business in life. Love;--real love. That's why I have
+business. That young man, who is, I suppose, what you call a swell."
+
+"Don't put words into my mouth, Mr. Moggs. I don't call him anything
+of the kind."
+
+"He's a gentleman."
+
+"Yes;--he is a gentleman,--I suppose."
+
+"And I'm a tradesman,--a bootmaker."
+
+"So is father a tradesman, and if you mean to tell me that I turn
+up my nose at people the same as father is, you may just go back to
+London and think what you like about me. I won't put up with it from
+you or anybody. A tradesman to me is as good as anybody,--if he is as
+good. There."
+
+"Oh, Polly, you do look so beautiful!"
+
+"Bother!"
+
+"When you say that, and speak in that way, I think you as good as you
+are beautiful."
+
+"Remember,--I don't say a word against what you call--gentlemen. I
+take 'em just as they come. Mr. Newton is a very nice young man."
+
+"Are you going to take him, Polly?"
+
+"How can I take him when he has never asked me? You are not my
+father, Mr. Moggs, not yet my uncle. What right have you to question
+me? If I was going to take him, I shouldn't want your leave."
+
+"Polly, you ought to be honest."
+
+"I am honest."
+
+"Will you hear me, Polly?"
+
+"No, I won't."
+
+"You won't! Is that answer to go for always?"
+
+"Yes, it is. You come and tease and say uncivil things, and I don't
+choose to be bullied. What right have you to talk to me about Mr.
+Newton? Did I ever give you any right? Honest indeed! What right have
+you to talk to me about being honest?"
+
+"It's all true, dear."
+
+"Very well, then. Hold your tongue, and don't say such things. Honest
+indeed! If I were to take the young man to-morrow, that would not
+make me dishonest."
+
+"It's all true, dear, and I beg your pardon. If I have offended you,
+I will beg your pardon."
+
+"Never mind about that;--only don't say foolish things."
+
+"Is it foolish, Polly, to say that I love you? And if I love you, can
+I like to see a young fellow like Mr. Newton hanging about after you?
+He doesn't love you. He can't love you,--as I do. Your father brings
+him here because he is a gentleman."
+
+"I don't think anything of his being a gentleman."
+
+"But think of me. Of course I was unhappy, wretched,--miserable. I
+knew why he was there. You can understand, Polly, that when a man
+really loves he must be the miserablest or the happiest of human
+beings."
+
+"I don't understand anything about it."
+
+"I wish you would let me teach you."
+
+"I don't want to learn, and I doubt whether you'd make a good master.
+I really must go back now, Mr. Moggs. I came out because mother said
+I'd better. I don't know that it could do any good if we were to walk
+on to Edgeware." And so saying, Polly turned back.
+
+He walked beside her half the way home in silence, thinking that if
+he could only choose the proper words and the proper tone he might
+yet prevail; but feeling that the proper words and the proper tone
+were altogether out of his reach. On those favourite subjects, the
+ballot, or the power of strikes, he could always find the proper
+words and the proper tone when he rose upon his legs at the Cheshire
+Cheese;--and yet, much as he loved the ballot, he loved Polly Neefit
+infinitely more dearly. When at the Cheshire Cheese he was a man;
+but now, walking with the girl of his heart, he felt himself to be a
+bootmaker, and the smell of the leather depressed him. It was evident
+that she would walk the whole way home in silence, if he would permit
+it. The railway station was already again in sight, when he stopped
+her on the pathway, and made one more attempt. "You believe me, when
+I say that I love you?"
+
+"I don't know, Mr. Moggs."
+
+"Oh, Polly, you don't know!"
+
+"But it doesn't signify,--not the least. I ain't bound to take a man
+because he loves me."
+
+"You won't take Mr. Newton;--will you?"
+
+"I don't know. I won't say anything about it. Mr. Newton is nothing
+to you." Then there was a pause. "If you think, Mr. Moggs, that you
+can recommend yourself to a young woman by such tantrums as there
+were going on last night, you are very much mistaken. That's not the
+way to win me."
+
+"I wish I knew which was the way."
+
+"Mr. Newton never said a word."
+
+"Your father told him to take you out a-walking before my very eyes!
+Was I to bear that? Think of it, Polly. You mayn't care for me, and
+I don't suppose you do; but you may understand what my feelings were.
+What would you have thought of me if I'd stayed there, smoking, and
+borne it quiet,--and you going about with that young man? I'll tell
+you what it is, Polly, I couldn't bear it, and I won't. There;--and
+now you know what I mean." At this point in his speech he took off
+his hat and waved it in the air. "I won't bear it. There are things
+a man can't bear,--can't bear,--can't bear. Oh, Polly! if you could
+only be brought to understand what it is that I feel!"
+
+After all, he didn't do it so very badly. There was just a tear in
+the corner of Polly's eye, though Polly was very careful that he
+shouldn't see it. And Polly did know well enough that he was in
+earnest,--that he was, in fact, true. But then he was gawky and
+ungainly. It was not that he was a shoemaker. Could he have had his
+own wits, and danced like the gasfitter, he might have won her still,
+against Ralph Newton, with all his blood and white hands. But poor
+Ontario was, as regarded externals, so ill a subject for a great
+passion!
+
+"And where have you been, Polly?" said her father, as soon as she
+entered the house.
+
+"I have been walking with Ontario Moggs," said Polly boldly.
+
+"What have you been saying to him? I won't have you walk with Ontario
+Moggs. I and your mother 'll have to fall out if this kind of thing
+goes on."
+
+"Don't be silly, father."
+
+"What do you mean by that, miss?"
+
+"It is silly. Why shouldn't I walk with him? Haven't I known him all
+my life, and walked with him scores of times? Isn't it silly, father?
+Don't I know that if I told you I loved Ontario Moggs, you'd let me
+marry him to-morrow?"
+
+"He'd have to take you in what you stand up in."
+
+"He wouldn't desire anything better. I'll say that for him. He's true
+and honest. I'd love him if I could,--only, somehow I don't."
+
+"You've told him you didn't,--once and for all?"
+
+"I don't know about that, father. He'll come again, you may be
+sure. He's one of that sort that isn't easily said nay to. If you
+mean,--have I said yes?--I haven't. I'll never say yes to any man
+unless I love him. When I do say it I shall mean it,--whether it's
+Onty Moggs or anybody else. I'm not going to be given away, you know,
+like a birthday present, out of a shop. There's nobody can give me
+away, father,--only myself." To all which utterances of a rebellious
+spirit the breeches-maker made no answer. He knew that Polly would,
+at least, be true to him; and, as she was as yet free, the field was
+still open to his candidate. He believed thoroughly that had not his
+wife interfered, and asked the bootmaker to join that unfortunate
+dinner party, his daughter and Ralph Newton would now have been
+engaged together. And probably it might have been so. When first it
+had been whispered to Polly that that handsome and very agreeable
+young gentleman, Mr. Ralph Newton, might become a suitor for her
+hand, she had chucked up her head and declared to her mother that she
+didn't intend to take a husband of her father's choosing; but as she
+came to know Ralph a little, she did find that he was good-looking
+and agreeable,--and her heart did flutter at the idea of becoming
+the wife of a real, undoubted gentleman. She meant to have her grand
+passion, and she must be quite sure that Mr. Newton loved her. But
+she didn't see any reason why Mr. Newton shouldn't love her, and,
+upon the whole, she was inclined to obey her father rather than to
+disobey him. And it might still be that he should win her;--for he
+had done nothing to disgrace himself in her sight. But there did lurk
+within her bosom some dim idea that he should have bestirred himself
+more thoroughly on that Sunday evening, and not have allowed himself
+to be driven out of the field by Ontario Moggs. She wronged him
+there, as indeed he had had no alternative, unless he had followed
+her up to her bedroom.
+
+Mr. Neefit, when he found that no harm had as yet been done, resolved
+that he would return to the charge. It has been before observed that
+he lacked something in delicacy, but what he did so lack he made up
+in persistency. He had been unable to impute any blame to Ralph as to
+that evening. He felt that he rather owed an apology to his favourite
+candidate. He would make the apology, and inform the favourite
+candidate, at the same time, that the course was still open to him.
+With these views he left Conduit Street early on the Wednesday
+morning, and called on Ralph at his rooms. "Mr. Newton," he said,
+hastening at once upon the grand subject, "I hope you didn't think as
+I was to blame in having Moggs at our little dinner on Sunday." Ralph
+declared that he had never thought of imputing blame to any one. "But
+it was,--as awk'ard as awk'ard could be. It was my wife's doing. Of
+course you can see how it all is. That chap has been hankering after
+Polly ever since she was in her teens. But, Lord love you, Captain,
+he ain't a chance with her. He was there again o' Monday, but the
+girl wouldn't have a word to say to him." Ralph sat silent, and very
+grave. He was taken now somewhat by surprise, having felt, up to
+this moment, that he would at least have the advantage of a further
+interview with Sir Thomas, before he need say another word to Mr.
+Neefit. "What I want you to do, Captain, is just to pop it, straight
+off, to my girl. I know she'd take you, because of her way of
+looking. Not, mind, that she ever said so. Oh, no. But the way to
+find out is just to ask the question."
+
+"You see, Mr. Neefit, it wasn't very easy to ask it last Sunday,"
+said Ralph, attempting to laugh.
+
+"Moggs has been at her again," said Neefit. This argument was
+good. Had Ralph been as anxious as Moggs, he would have made his
+opportunity.
+
+"And, to tell you the truth, Mr. Neefit--"
+
+"Well, sir?"
+
+"There is nothing so disagreeable as interfering in families. I
+admire your daughter amazingly."
+
+"She's a trump, Mr. Newton."
+
+"She is indeed;--and I thoroughly appreciate the great generosity of
+your offer."
+
+"I'll be as good as my word, Mr. Newton. The money shall be all
+there,--down on the nail."
+
+"But, you see, your wife is against me."
+
+"Blow my wife. You don't think Polly 'd do what her mother tells her?
+Who's got the money-bag? That's the question. You go down and pop it
+straight. You ain't afraid of an old woman, I suppose;--nor yet of a
+young un. Don't mind waiting for more dinners, or anything of that
+kind. They likes a man to be hot about it;--that's what they likes.
+You're sure to find her any time before dinner;--that's at one, you
+know. May be she mayn't be figged out fine, but you won't mind that.
+I'll go bail you'll find the flesh and blood all right. Just you make
+your way in, and say what you've got to say. I'll make it straight
+with the old woman afterwards."
+
+Ralph Newton had hitherto rather prided himself on his happy
+management of young ladies. He was not ordinarily much afflicted by
+shyness, and conceived himself able to declare a passion, perhaps
+whether felt or feigned, as well as another. And now he was being
+taught how to go a-wooing by his breeches-maker! He did not
+altogether like it, and, as at this moment his mind was rather set
+against the Hendon matrimonial speculation, he was disposed to resent
+it. "I think you're making a little mistake, Mr. Neefit," he said.
+
+"What mistake? I don't know as I'm making any mistake. You'll be
+making a mistake, and so you'll find when the plum's gone."
+
+"It's just this, you know. When you suggested this thing to me--"
+
+"Well;--yes; I did suggest it, and I ain't ashamed of it."
+
+"I was awfully grateful. I had met your daughter once or twice, and I
+told you I admired her ever so much."
+
+"That's true;--but you didn't admire her a bit more than what she's
+entitled to."
+
+"I'm sure of that. But then I thought I ought,--just to,--know her a
+little better, you see. And then how could I presume to think she'd
+take me till she knew me a little better?"
+
+"Presume to think! Is that all you know about young women? Pop the
+question right out, and give her a buss. That's the way."
+
+Newton paused a moment before he spoke, and looked very grave. "I
+think you're driving me a little too fast, Mr. Neefit," he said at
+last.
+
+"The deuce I am! Driving you too fast. What does that mean?"
+
+"There must be a little management and deliberation in these things.
+If I were to do as you propose, I should not recommend myself to your
+daughter; and I should myself feel that, at the most important crisis
+of my life, I was allowing myself to be hurried beyond my judgment."
+These words were spoken with a slow solemnity of demeanour, and a
+tone of voice so serious that for a moment they perfectly awed the
+breeches-maker. Ralph was almost successful in reducing his proposed
+father-in-law to a state of absolute subjection. Mr. Neefit was all
+but induced to forget that he stood there with twenty thousand pounds
+in his pocket. There came a drop or two of perspiration on his brow,
+and his large saucer eyes almost quailed before those of his debtor.
+But at last he rallied himself,--though not entirely. He could not
+quite assume that self-assertion which he knew that his position
+would have warranted; but he did keep his flag up after a fashion.
+"I dare say you know your own business best, Mr. Newton;--only them's
+not my ideas; that's all. I come to you fair and honest, and I
+repeats the same. Good morning, Mr. Newton." So he went, and nothing
+had been settled.
+
+To say that Ralph had even yet made up his mind would be to give him
+praise which was not his due. He was still doubting, though in his
+doubts the idea of marrying Polly Neefit became more indistinct, and
+less alluring than ever. By this time he almost hated Mr. Neefit,
+and most unjustly regarded that man as a persecutor, who was taking
+advantage of his pecuniary ascendancy to trample on him. "He
+thinks I must take his daughter because I owe him two or three
+hundred pounds." Such were Ralph Newton's thoughts about the
+breeches-maker,--which thoughts were very unjust. Neefit was
+certainly vulgar, illiterate, and indelicate; but he was a man who
+could do a generous action, and having offered his daughter to this
+young aristocrat would have scorned to trouble him afterwards about
+his "little bill." Ralph sat trying to think for about an hour, and
+then walked to Southampton Buildings. He had not much hope as he
+went. Indeed hope hardly entered into his feelings. Sir Thomas
+would of course say unpleasant words to him, and of course he
+would be unable to answer them. There was no ground for hoping
+anything,--unless indeed he could make himself happy in a snug little
+box in a hunting country, with Polly Neefit for his wife, living on
+the interest of the breeches-maker's money. He was quite alive to the
+fact that in this position he would in truth be the most miserable
+dog in existence,--that it would be infinitely better for him to turn
+his prospects into cash, and buy sheep in Australia, or cattle in
+South America, or to grow corn in Canada. Any life would be better
+than one supported in comfortable idleness on Mr. Neefit's savings.
+Nevertheless he felt that that would most probably be his doom. The
+sheep or the cattle or the corn required an amount of energy which he
+no longer possessed. There were the four horses at the Moonbeam;--and
+he could ride them to hounds as well as any man. So much he could do,
+and would seem in doing it to be full of life. But as for selling
+the four horses, and changing altogether the mode of his life,--that
+was more than he had vitality left to perform. Such was the measure
+which he took of himself, and in taking it he despised himself
+thoroughly,--knowing well how poor a creature he was.
+
+Sir Thomas told him readily what he had done, giving him to read a
+copy of his letter to Mr. Newton and Mr. Newton's reply. "I can do
+nothing more," said Sir Thomas. "I hope you have given up the sad
+notion of marrying that young woman." Ralph sat still and listened.
+"No good, I think, can come of that," continued Sir Thomas. "If you
+are in truth compelled to part with your reversion to the Newton
+estate,--which is in itself a property of great value,--I do not
+doubt but your uncle will purchase it at its worth. It is a thousand
+pities that prospects so noble should have been dissipated by early
+imprudence."
+
+"That's quite true, Sir Thomas," said Ralph, in a loud ringing tone,
+which seemed to imply that let things be as bad as they might he
+did not mean to make a poor mouth of them. It was his mask for the
+occasion, and it sufficed to hide his misery from Sir Thomas.
+
+"If you think of selling what you have to sell," continued Sir
+Thomas, "you had better take Mr. Newton's letter and put it into the
+hands of your own attorney. It will be ten times better than going
+to the money-lending companies for advances. If I had the means of
+helping you myself, I would do it."
+
+"Oh, Sir Thomas!"
+
+"But I have not. I should be robbing my own girls, which I am sure
+you would not wish."
+
+"That is quite out of the question, Sir Thomas."
+
+"If you do resolve on selling the estate, you had better come to me
+as the thing goes on. I can't do much, but I may perhaps be able to
+see that nothing improper is proposed for you to do. Goodbye, Ralph.
+Anything will be better than marrying that what-d'ye-callem's
+daughter."
+
+Ralph, as he walked westwards towards the club, was by no means sure
+that Sir Thomas had been right in this. By marrying Polly he would,
+after all, keep the property.
+
+Just by the lions in Trafalgar Square he met Ontario Moggs. Ontario
+Moggs scowled at him, and cut him dead.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE REV. GREGORY NEWTON.
+
+
+It was quite at the end of July, in the very hottest days of a very
+hot summer, that Squire Newton left Newton Priory for London, intent
+upon law business, and filled with ambition to purchase the right
+of leaving his own estate to any heir whom he might himself select.
+He left his son alone at the Priory; but his son and the parson
+were sure to be together on such an occasion. Ralph,--the country
+Ralph,--dined at the Rectory on the day that his father started; and
+on every succeeding day, Gregory, the parson, dined up at the large
+house. It was a thing altogether understood at the Priory that the
+present parson Gregory was altogether exempted from the anathema
+which had been pronounced against the heir and against the memory
+of the heir's father. Gregory simply filled the place which might
+have been his had there been no crushing entail, and was, moreover,
+so sweet and gentle-hearted a fellow that it was impossible not
+to love him. He was a tall, slender man, somewhat narrow-chested,
+bright-eyed, with a kind-looking sweet mouth, a small well-cut nose,
+dark but not black hair, and a dimple on his chin. He always went
+with his hands in his pockets, walking quick, but shuffling sometimes
+in step as though with hesitation, stooping somewhat, absent
+occasionally, going about with his chin stuck out before him, as
+though he were seeking something,--he knew not what. A more generous
+fellow, who delighted more in giving, hesitated more in asking, more
+averse to begging though a friend of beggars, less self-arrogant, or
+self-seeking, or more devoted to his profession, never lived. He was
+a man with prejudices,--kindly, gentlemanlike, amiable prejudices. He
+thought that a clergyman should be a graduate from one of the three
+universities,--including Trinity, Dublin; and he thought, also,
+that a clergyman should be a gentleman. He thought that Dissenters
+were,--a great mistake. He thought that Convocation should be
+potential. He thought that the Church had certain powers and
+privileges which Parliament could not take away except by spoliation.
+He thought that a parson should always be well-dressed,--according to
+his order. He thought that the bishop of his diocese was the purest,
+best, and noblest peer in England. He thought that Newton Churchyard
+was, of all spots on earth, the most lovely. He thought very little
+of himself. And he thought that of all the delights given by God for
+the delectation of his creatures, the love of Clarissa Underwood
+would be the most delightful. In all these thinkings he was astray,
+carried away by prejudices which he was not strong enough to
+withstand. But the joint effect of so many faults in judgment was not
+disagreeable; and, as one result of that effect, Gregory Newton was
+loved and respected and believed in by all men and women, poor and
+rich, who lived within knowledge of his name. His uncle Gregory, who
+was wont to be severe in his judgment on men, would declare that the
+Rev. Gregory,--as he was called,--was perfect. But then the Squire
+was a man who was himself very much subject to prejudices.
+
+There was now, and ever had been, great freedom of discussion between
+Ralph Newton of the Priory and his cousin Gregory,--if under the
+circumstances the two young men may be called cousins,--respecting
+the affairs of the property. There was naturally much to check or to
+prevent such freedom. Their own interests in regard to the property
+were, as far as they went, adverse. The young parson might possibly
+inherit the whole of the estate, whereas he was aware that the
+present Squire would move heaven and earth to leave it, or a portion
+of it, to his own son. Gregory had always taken his brother's part
+before the Squire; and the Squire, much as he liked the parson, was
+never slow in abusing the parson's brother. It would have been no
+more than natural had the question of the property been, by tacit
+agreement, always kept out of sight between the two young men. But
+they had grown up from boyhood together as firm friends, and there
+was no reticence between them on this all-important subject. The
+Squire's son had never known his mother; and could therefore speak
+of his own position as would hardly have been possible to him had
+any memory of her form or person remained with him. And then, though
+their interests were opposite, nothing that either could say would
+much affect those interests.
+
+The two men were sitting on the lawn at the Priory after dinner,
+smoking cigars, and Ralph,--this other Ralph,--had just told the
+parson of his intention of joining his father in London. "I don't see
+that I can do any good," said Ralph, "but he wishes it, and of course
+I shall go."
+
+"You won't see my brother, I suppose?"
+
+"I should think not. You know what my father's feelings are, and
+I certainly shall not go out of my way to offend them. I have no
+animosity against Ralph; but I could do no good by opposing my
+father."
+
+"No," said the parson, "not but what I wish it were otherwise. It is
+a trouble to me that I cannot have Ralph here;--though perhaps he
+would not care to come."
+
+"I feel it hard too, that he should not be allowed to see a place
+which, in a measure, belongs to him. I wish with all my heart that
+my father did not think so much about the estate. Much as I love the
+old place, I can hardly think about it without bitterness. Had my
+father and your brother been on good terms together, there would
+have been none of that. Nothing that he could do,--no success in his
+efforts,--can make me be as I should have been had I been born his
+heir. It is a misfortune, and of course one feels it; but I think I
+should feel it less were he not so fixed in his purpose to undo what
+can never be undone."
+
+"He will never succeed," said Gregory.
+
+"Probably not;--though, for that matter, I suppose Ralph will be
+driven to raise money on his inheritance."
+
+"He will never sell the property."
+
+"It seems that he does spend money faster than he can get it."
+
+"He may have done so."
+
+"Is he not always in debt to you yourself? Is he not now thinking
+of marrying some tradesman's daughter to relieve him of his
+embarrassments? We have to own, I suppose, that Master Ralph has made
+a mess of his money matters?" The parson, who couldn't deny the fact,
+hardly knew what to say on his brother's behalf. "I protest to you,
+Greg, that if my father were to tell me that he had changed his mind,
+and paid your brother's debts out of sheer kindness and uncleship,
+and the rest of it, I should be well pleased. But he won't do that,
+and it does seem to me probable that the estate will get into the
+hands of Jews, financiers, and professional money-dealers, unless my
+father can save it. You wouldn't be glad to see some shopkeeper's
+daughter calling herself Mrs. Newton of Newton."
+
+"A shopkeeper's daughter need not necessarily be a--a--a bad sort of
+woman," said Gregory.
+
+"The chances are that a shopkeeper's daughter will not be an educated
+lady. Come, Greg;--you cannot say that it is the kind of way out of
+the mess you would approve."
+
+"I am so sorry that there should be any mess at all!"
+
+"Just so. It is a pity that there should be any mess;--is not it?
+Come, old fellow, drink your coffee, and let us take a turn across
+the park. I want to see what Larkin is doing about those sheep. I
+often feel that my coming into the world was a mess altogether;
+though, now that I am here, I must make the best of it. If I hadn't
+come, my father would have married, and had a score of children, and
+Master Ralph would have been none the better for it."
+
+"You'll go and see the Underwoods," said the parson, as they were
+walking across the park.
+
+
+[Illustration: "You'll go and see the Underwoods," said the parson,
+as they were walking across the park.]
+
+
+"If you wish it, I will."
+
+"I do wish it. They know all the history as a matter of course. It
+cannot be otherwise. And they have so often heard me talk of you. The
+girls are simply perfect. I shall write to Miss Underwood, and tell
+her that you will call. I hope, too, that you will see Sir Thomas. It
+would be so much better that he should know you."
+
+That same night Gregory Newton wrote the two following letters before
+he went to bed;--the first written was to Miss Underwood, and the
+second to his brother; but we will place the latter first;--
+
+
+   Newton, 4th August, 186--.
+
+   MY DEAR RALPH,--
+
+   No doubt you know by this time that my uncle, Gregory, is
+   in London, though you will probably not have seen him. I
+   understand that he has come up with the express purpose
+   of making some settlement in regard to the property, on
+   account of your embarrassments. I need not tell you how
+   sorry I am that the state of your affairs should make this
+   necessary. Ralph goes up also to-morrow;--and though he
+   does not purpose to hunt you up, I hope that you may meet.
+   You know what I think of him, and how much I wish that you
+   two could be friends. He is as generous as the sun, and
+   as just as he is generous. Every Newton ought to make him
+   welcome as one of the family.
+
+   As to money, I do not know what may be the state of
+   your affairs. I only hear from him what he hears from
+   his father. Sooner than that you should endanger your
+   inheritance here I will make any sacrifice,--if there be
+   anything that I can do. You are welcome to sell my share
+   of the Holborn property, and you can pay me after my
+   uncle's death. I can get on very well with my living,
+   as it is not probable that I shall marry. At any rate,
+   understand that I should infinitely prefer to lose every
+   shilling of the London property to hearing that you had
+   imperilled your position here at Newton. I do not suppose
+   that what I have can go far;--but as far as it will go it
+   is at your service. You can show this letter to Sir Thomas
+   if you think fit.
+
+   I could say ever so much more, only that you will know
+   it all without my saying it. And I cannot bear that you
+   should think that I would preach sermons to you. Never
+   mind what I said before about the money that I wanted
+   then. I can do without it now. My uncle will pay for the
+   entire repair of the chancel out of his own pocket. Ever
+   so much must be left undone till more money comes in.
+   Money does come in from this quarter or from that, by
+   God's help. As for the church rates, of course I regret
+   them. But we have to take things in a lump, and it is
+   certainly the fact that we spend ten times as much on the
+   churches as was spent fifty years ago.
+
+   Your most affectionate brother,
+
+   GREGORY NEWTON.
+
+
+The other letter was much shorter, and was addressed to Patience
+Underwood;--
+
+
+   Newton Peele Parsonage, 4th August, 186--.
+
+   MY DEAR MISS UNDERWOOD,--
+
+   My cousin, Mr. Ralph Newton, of whom you have heard me
+   speak so often, is going up to London, and I have asked
+   him to call at Popham Villa, because I am desirous that so
+   very dear a friend of mine should know other friends whom
+   I love so dearly. I am sure you will receive him kindly
+   for my sake, and that you will like him for his own. There
+   are reasons why I wish that your father should know him.
+
+   Give my most affectionate love to your sister. I can send
+   her no other message, and I do not think she will be angry
+   with me for sending that. It cannot hurt her; and she and
+   you at least know how honest and how true it is. Distance
+   and time make no difference. It is as though I were on the
+   lawn with her now.
+
+   Most sincerely yours,
+
+   GREGORY NEWTON.
+
+
+When he had written this in the little book-room of his parsonage he
+opened the window, and, crossing the garden, seated himself on a low
+brick wall, which divided his small domain from the churchyard. The
+night was bright with stars, but there was no moon in the heavens,
+and the gloom of the old ivy-coloured church tower was complete. But
+all the outlines of the place were so well known to him that he could
+trace them all in the dim light. After a while he got down among the
+graves, and with slow steps walked round and round the precincts of
+his church. Here, at least, in this spot, close to the house of God
+which was his own church, within this hallowed enclosure, which was
+his own freehold in a peculiar manner, he could, after a fashion, be
+happy, in spite of the misfortunes of himself and his family. His
+lines had been laid for him in very pleasant places. According to his
+ideas there was no position among the children of men more blessed,
+more diversified, more useful, more noble, than that which had been
+awarded to him,--if only, by God's help, he could perform with
+adequate zeal and ability the high duties which had been entrusted
+to him. Things outside were dark,--at least, so said the squires and
+parsons around him, with whom he was wont to associate. His uncle,
+Gregory, was sure that all things were going to the dogs, since a
+so-called Tory leader had become an advocate for household suffrage,
+and real Tory gentlemen had condescended to follow him. But to our
+parson it had always seemed that there was still a fresh running
+stream of water for him who would care to drink from a fresh stream.
+He heard much of unbelief, and of the professors of unbelief, both
+within and without the great Church;--but in that little church with
+which he was personally concerned there were more worshippers now
+than there had ever been before. And he heard, too, how certain
+well-esteemed preachers and prophets of the day talked loudly of
+the sins of the people, and foretold destruction such as was the
+destruction of Gomorrah;--but to him it seemed that the people of his
+village were more honest, less given to drink, and certainly better
+educated than their fathers. In all which thoughts he found matter
+for hope and encouragement in his daily life. And he set himself to
+work diligently, placing all this as a balance against his private
+sorrows, so that he might teach himself to take that world, of
+which he himself was the centre, as one whole,--and so to walk on
+rejoicing.
+
+The one great sorrow of his life, the thorn in the flesh which was
+always festering, the wound which would not be cured, the grief for
+which there was no remedy, was his love for Clarissa Underwood. He
+had asked her thrice to be his wife,--with very little interval,
+indeed, between the separate prayers,--and had been so answered that
+he entertained no hope. Had there been any faintest expectation in
+his mind that Clarissa would at last become his wife he would have
+been deterred by a sense of duty from making to his brother that
+generous offer of all the property he owned. But he had no such hope.
+Clarissa had given thrice that answer, which of all answers is the
+most grievous to the true-hearted lover. "She felt for him unbounded
+esteem, and would always regard him as a friend." A short decided
+negative, or a doubtful no, or even an indignant repulse, may
+be changed,--may give way to second convictions, or to better
+acquaintance, or to altered circumstances, or even simply to
+perseverance. But an assurance of esteem and friendship means, and
+only can mean, that the lady regards her lover as she might do some
+old uncle or patriarchal family connection, whom, after a fashion,
+she loves, but who can never be to her the one creature to be
+worshipped above all others.
+
+Such were Gregory Newton's ideas as to his own chance of success,
+and, so believing, he had resolved that he would never press his
+suit again. He endeavoured to conquer his love;--but that he found
+to be impossible. He thought that it was so impossible that he had
+determined to give up the endeavour. Though he would have advised
+others that by God's mercy all sorrows in this world could be cured,
+he told himself,--without arraigning God's mercy,--that for him this
+sorrow could not be cured. He did not scruple, therefore, to assure
+his brother that he would not marry,--nor did he hesitate, in writing
+to Patience Underwood, to assure her that his love for her sister was
+unchangeable. In saying so he urged no suit;--but it was impossible
+that he should write to the house without some message, and none
+other from him to her could be a true message. It could not hurt
+her. It would not even give her the trouble to think whether she
+had decided well. He quite understood the nature of the love he
+wanted,--a love that would have felt it to be all happiness to lean
+upon his bosom. Without this love he would not have wished to take
+her;--and with such love as that he knew he could not fill her heart.
+Therefore it was that he would satisfy himself with walking round the
+churchyard of Newton Peele, and telling himself that the pleasure of
+this world was best to be found in the pursuit of the joys of the
+next.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+CLARISSA WAITS.
+
+
+When Patience and Clarissa had got to their own room on the night
+on which they had walked back from Mrs. Brownlow's house to Popham
+Villa,--during all which long walk Clarissa's hand had lain gently
+upon Ralph Newton's arm,--the elder sister looked painfully and
+anxiously into the younger's face, in order that, if it were
+possible, she might learn without direct enquiry what had been said
+during that hour of close communion. Had Ralph meant to speak there
+could have been no time more appropriate. And Patience hardly knew
+what she herself wished,--except that she wished that her sister
+might have everything that was good and joyous and prosperous. There
+was never a look of pain came across Clary's face, but Patience
+suffered some touch of inner agony. This feeling was so strong that
+she sympathised even with Clary's follies, and with Clary's faults.
+She almost knew that it would not be well that Ralph Newton should be
+encouraged as a lover,--brilliant as were his future prospects, and
+dear, as he was personally to them all. He was a spendthrift, and
+it might be that his fine prospects would all be wasted before they
+were matured. And then their father would so probably disapprove!
+And then, again, it was so wrong that Clary's peace should have been
+disturbed and yet no word said to their father. There was much that
+was wrong;--but still so absolute was her clinging love for Clary
+that she longed above all things that Clary should be made happy.
+When Ralph's brother had declared himself as a suitor,--which he
+had done boldly to Sir Thomas, after but a short intimacy with the
+family,--Patience had given him all her sympathy. Sir Thomas, having
+looked at his circumstances, had made him welcome to the house, and
+to his daughter's hand,--if he could win her heart. The stage had
+been open to him, and Patience had been his most eager friend. But
+all that had passed away,--and Clary had been obstinate. "Patty,"
+she had said, with some little arrogance, "he has made a mistake.
+He should have fallen in love with you." "Clergymen are as fond of
+pretty girls as other men," Patty had said, with a smile. "And isn't
+my Patty as pretty and as delicate as a primrose?" Clary had said,
+embracing her sister. Pretty Patience Underwood was not;--but for
+delicacy,--that with which Patience Underwood was gifted transcended
+poor Clarissa's powers of comparison. So it was between them, and now
+there was this acknowledged passion for the spendthrift!
+
+Patience could see that her sister was not unhappy when she came in
+from her walk,--was not moody,--was not heart-broken. And yet it had
+seemed to her, before the walk began, while they were sauntering
+about Mrs. Brownlow's garden, that Ralph had devoted himself entirely
+to the new cousin, and that Clarissa had been miserable. Surely if he
+had spoken during the walk,--if he had renewed his protestations of
+love, if he were now regarded by Clary as her accepted lover, Clary
+would not keep all this as a secret! It could not be that Clary
+should have surrendered herself to a lover, and that their father
+was to be allowed to remain in ignorance that it was so! And yet
+how could it be otherwise if Clary was happy now,--Clary who had
+acknowledged that she loved this man, and had now been leaning on
+his arm for an hour beneath the moonlight? But Patience said not a
+word. She could not bring herself to speak when speech might pain her
+sister.
+
+When they had been some half hour in bed, there stole a whisper
+across the darkness of the chamber from one couch to the other;
+"Patty, are you asleep?" Patience declared that she was wide awake.
+"Then I'll come to you,"--and Clary's naked feet pattered across
+the room. "I've just something to say, and I'll say it better here."
+Patience made glad way for the intruder, and knew that now she would
+hear it all. "Patty, it is better to wait."
+
+"What do you mean, dear?"
+
+"I mean this. I think he does like me; I'm almost sure he does."
+
+"He said nothing to-night?"
+
+"He said a great deal,--of course; but nothing about that;--nothing
+about that exactly."
+
+"Oh, Clary, I'm afraid of him."
+
+"What is the good of fear? The evil is, dear, I think he likes me,
+but it may so well be that he cannot speak out. He is in debt, and
+all that;--and he must wait."
+
+"But that is so terrible. What will you do?"
+
+"I will wait too. I have thought about it, and have determined.
+What's the good of loving a man if one won't go through something for
+him? I do love him,--with all my heart. I pray God I may never have a
+husband, if I cannot be his wife." Patience shuddered in her sister's
+embrace, as these bold words were spoken with energy. "I tell you,
+Patty, just as I tell myself, because you love me so dearly."
+
+"I do love you;--oh, I do love you."
+
+"I do not think it can be unmaidenly to tell the truth to you and
+to myself. How can I help telling it to myself? There it is. I feel
+that I could kiss the very ground on which he stands. He is my
+hero, my Paladin, my heart, my soul. I have given myself to him for
+everything. How can I help myself?"
+
+"But, Clary,--you should repress this, not encourage it."
+
+"It won't be repressed,--not in my own heart. But I will never,
+never, never let him know that it has been so,--till he is all my
+own. There may be a day when,--oh,--I shall tell him everything;
+how wretched I was when he did not speak to me;--how broken-hearted
+when I heard his voice with Mary; how fluttered, and half-happy,
+and half-wretched when I found that I was to have that long walk
+with him;--and then how I determined to wait. I will tell him
+all,--perhaps,--some day. Good-night, dear, dear Patty. I could not
+sleep without letting you know everything." Then she sprang out from
+her sister's arms, and pattered back across the room to her own bed.
+In two minutes Clarissa was asleep, but Patience lay long awake, and
+before she slept her pillow was damp with her tears.
+
+In the course of the following week Ralph was again at the villa. Sir
+Thomas, as a matter of course, was away, but the three girls were at
+home; and, as it happened, Miss Spooner had also come over to take
+her tea with her friends. The hour that he spent there was passed
+half indoors and half out, and certainly Ralph's attentions were
+chiefly paid to Miss Bonner. Miss Bonner herself, however, was so
+discreet in her demeanour, that no one could have suggested that any
+approach had been made to flirtation. To tell the truth, Mary, who
+had received no confidence from her cousin,--and who was a girl slow
+to excite or give a confidence,--had seen some sign, or heard some
+word which had created on her mind a suspicion of the truth. It was
+not that she thought that Clary's heart was irrecoverably given to
+the young man, but that there seemed to be just something with which
+it might be as well that she herself should not interfere. She was
+there on sufferance,--dependent on her uncle's charity for her daily
+bread, let her uncle say what he might to the contrary. As yet she
+hardly knew her cousins, and was quite sure that she was not known by
+them. She heard that Ralph Newton was a man of fashion, and the heir
+to a large fortune. She knew herself to be utterly destitute,--but
+she knew herself to be possessed of great beauty. In her bosom,
+doubtless, there was an ambition to win by her beauty, from some man
+whom she could love, those good things of which she was so destitute.
+She did not lack ambition, and had her high hopes, grounded on the
+knowledge of her own charms. Her beauty, and a certain sufficiency
+of intellect,--of the extent of which she was in a remarkable degree
+herself aware,--were the gifts with which she had been endowed. But
+she knew when she might use them honestly and when she ought to
+refrain from using them. Ralph had looked at her as men do look who
+wish to be allowed to love. All this to her was much more clearly
+intelligible than to Clarissa, who was two years her senior. Though
+she had seen Ralph but thrice, she already felt that she might have
+him on his knees before her, if she cared so to place him. But there
+was that suspicion of something which had gone before, and a feeling
+that honour and gratitude,--perhaps, also, self-interest,--called
+upon her to be cold in her manner to Ralph Newton. She had purposely
+avoided his companionship in their walk home from Mrs. Brownlow's
+house; and now, as they wandered about the lawn and shrubberies of
+Popham Villa, she took care not to be with him out of earshot of
+the others. In all of which there was ten times more of womanly
+cleverness,--or cunning, shall we say,--than had yet come to the
+possession of Clarissa Underwood.
+
+Cunning she was;--but she did not deserve that the objectionable
+epithet should be applied to her. The circumstances of her life had
+made her cunning. She had been the mistress of her father's house
+since her fifteenth year, and for two years of her life had had a
+succession of admirers at her feet. Her father had eaten and drunk
+and laughed, and had joked with his child's lovers about his child.
+It had been through no merit of his that she had held her own among
+them all without soiling either her name or her inner self. Captains
+in West Indian regiments, and lieutenants from Queen's ships lying at
+Spanish Point, had been her admirers. Proposals to marry are as ready
+on the tongues of such men, out in the tropics, as offers to hand
+a shawl or carry a parasol. They are soft-hearted, bold to face
+the world, and very confident in circumstances. Then, too, they
+are ignorant of any other way to progress with a flirtation which
+is all-engrossing. In warm latitudes it is so natural to make an
+offer after the fifth dance. It is the way of the people in those
+latitudes, and seems to lead to no harm. Men and women do marry on
+small incomes; but they do not starve, and the world goes on wagging.
+Mary Bonner, however, whose father's rank had, at least, been higher
+than that of her adorers, and who knew that great gifts had been
+given to her, had held herself aloof from all this, and had early
+resolved to bide her time. She was still biding her time,--with
+patience sufficient to enable her to resist the glances of Ralph
+Newton.
+
+Clarissa Underwood behaved very well on this evening. She gave a
+merry glance at her sister, and devoted herself to Miss Spooner. Mary
+was so wise and so prudent that there was no cause for any great
+agony. As far as Clary could see, Ralph had quite as much to say to
+Patience as to Mary. For herself she had resolved that she would
+wait. Her manner to him was very pretty,--almost the manner of
+a sister to a brother. And then she stayed resolutely with Miss
+Spooner, while Ralph was certainly tempting Mary down by the
+river-side. It did not last long. He was soon gone, and Miss Spooner
+had soon followed him.
+
+"He is very amusing," Mary said, as soon as they were alone.
+
+"Very amusing," said Patience.
+
+"And uncommonly good-looking. Isn't he considered a very handsome man
+here?"
+
+"Yes;--I suppose he is," said Patience. "I don't know that I ever
+thought much about that."
+
+"Of course he is," said Clarissa. "Nobody can doubt about it. There
+are some people as to whom it is as absurd not to admit that they are
+handsome as it would be to say that a fine picture is not beautiful.
+Ralph is one such person,--and of course I know another."
+
+Mary would not seem to take the allusion, even by a smile. "I always
+thought Gregory much nicer looking," said Patience.
+
+"That must be because you are in love with him," said Clarissa.
+
+"There is a speaking brightness, an eloquence, in his eyes; and a
+softness of feeling in the expression of his face, which is above all
+beauty," continued Patience, with energy.
+
+"Here's poetry," said Clarissa. "Eloquence, and softness, and eyes,
+and feeling, and expressive and speaking brightness! You'd better say
+at once that he's a god."
+
+"I wish I knew him," said Mary Bonner.
+
+"You'll know him before long, I don't doubt. And when you do, you'll
+know one of the best fellows in the world. I'll admit as much as
+that; but I will not admit that he can be compared to his brother in
+regard to good looks." In all which poor Clarissa, who had nothing to
+console her but her resolve to wait with courage, bore herself well
+and gallantly.
+
+Soon after this there arrived at Popham Villa the note from Gregory
+Newton. As it happened, Sir Thomas was at home on that morning, and
+heard the tidings. "If young Mr. Newton does come, get him to dine,
+and I will take care to be at home," said Sir Thomas. Patience
+suggested that Ralph,--their own Ralph,--should be asked to meet him;
+but to this Sir Thomas would not accede. "It is not our business to
+make up a family quarrel," he said. "I have had old Mr. Newton with
+me once or twice lately, and I find that the quarrel still exists as
+strong as ever. I asked him to dine here, but he refused. His son
+chooses to come. I shall be glad to see him."
+
+Gregory's letter had not been shown to Sir Thomas, but it was, of
+course, shown to Clarissa. "How could I help it?" said she. From
+which it may be presumed that Patience had looked as though Gregory
+had been hardly treated. "One doesn't know how it is, or why it
+comes, or what it is;--or why it doesn't come. I couldn't have taken
+Gregory Newton for my husband."
+
+"And yet he had all things to recommend him."
+
+"I wish he had asked you, Patty!"
+
+"Don't say that, dear, because there is in it something that annoys
+me. I don't think of myself in such matters, but I do hope to see you
+the happy wife of some happy man."
+
+"I hope you will, with all my heart," said Clary, standing up,--"of
+one man, of one special, dearest, best, and brightest of all men. Oh
+dear! And yet I know it will never be, and I wonder at myself that I
+have been bold enough to tell you." And Patience, also, wondered at
+her sister's boldness.
+
+Ralph Newton,--Ralph from the Priory,--did come down to the villa,
+and did accept the invitation to dinner which was given to him. The
+event was so important that Patience found it necessary to go up
+to London to tell her father. Mary went with her, desirous to see
+something of the mysteries of Southampton Buildings, while Clarissa
+remained at home,--waiting. After the usual skirmishes with Stemm,
+who began by swearing that his master was not at home, they made
+their way into Sir Thomas's library. "Dear, dear, dear; this is
+a very awkward place to bring your cousin to," he said, frowning.
+Mary would have retreated at once had it not been that Patience held
+her ground so boldly. "Why shouldn't she come, papa? And I had to
+see you. Mr. Newton is to dine with us to-morrow." To-morrow was
+a Saturday, and Sir Thomas became seriously displeased. Why had a
+Saturday been chosen? Saturday was the most awkward day in the world
+for the giving and receiving of dinners. It was in vain that Patience
+explained to him that Saturday was the only day on which Mr. Newton
+could come, that Sir Thomas had given his express authority for the
+dinner, and that no bar had been raised against Saturday. "You ought
+to have known," said Sir Thomas. Nevertheless, he allowed them to
+leave the chamber with the understanding that he would preside at
+his own table on the following day. "Why is it that Saturday is so
+distasteful to him?" Mary asked as they walked across Lincoln's Inn
+Fields together.
+
+Patience was silent for awhile, not knowing how to answer the
+question, or how to leave it unanswered. But at last she preferred to
+make some reply. "He does not like going to our church, I think."
+
+"But you like it."
+
+"Yes;--and I wish papa did. But he doesn't." Then there was a pause.
+"Of course it must strike you as very odd, the way in which we live."
+
+"I hope it is not I who drive my uncle away."
+
+"Not in the least, Mary. Since mamma's death he has fallen into this
+habit, and he has got so to love solitude, that he is never happy but
+when alone. We ought to be grateful to him because it shows that he
+trusts us;--but it would be much nicer if he would come home."
+
+"He is so different from my father."
+
+"He was always with you."
+
+"Well;--yes; that is, I could be always with him,--almost always.
+He was so fond of society that he would never be alone. We had a
+great rambling house, always full of people. If he could see people
+pleasant and laughing, that was all that he wanted. It is hard to say
+what is best."
+
+"Papa is as good to us as ever he can be."
+
+"So was my papa good to me,--in his way; but, oh dear, the people
+that used to come there! Poor papa! He used to say that hospitality
+was his chief duty. I sometimes used to think that the world
+would be much pleasanter and better if there was no such thing as
+hospitality;--if people always eat and drank alone, and lived as
+uncle does, in his chambers. There would not be so much money wasted,
+at any rate."
+
+"Papa never wastes any money," said Patience,--"though there never
+was a more generous man."
+
+Ralph Newton,--Ralph of the Priory,--came to dinner, and Miss Spooner
+was asked to meet him. It might have been supposed that a party
+so composed would not have been very bright, but the party at the
+villa went off very satisfactorily. Ralph made himself popular with
+everybody. He became very popular with Sir Thomas by the frank and
+easy way in which he spoke of the family difficulties at Newton. "I
+wish my namesake knew my father," he said, when he was alone with the
+lawyer after dinner. He never spoke of either of these Newtons as his
+cousins, though to Gregory, whom he knew well and loved dearly, he
+would declare that from him he felt entitled to exact all the dues of
+cousinship.
+
+"It would be desirable," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I never give it up. You know my father, I dare say. He thought
+his brother interfered with him, and I suppose he did. But a more
+affectionate or generous man never lived. He is quite as fond of
+Gregory as he is of me, and would do anything on earth that Gregory
+told him. He is rebuilding the chancel of the church just because
+Gregory wishes it. Some day I hope they may be reconciled."
+
+"It is hard to get over money difficulties," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I don't see why there should be money difficulties," said Ralph. "As
+far as I am concerned there need be none."
+
+"Ralph Newton has made money difficulties," said Sir Thomas. "If
+he had been careful with his own fortune there would have been no
+question as to the property between him and your father."
+
+"I can understand that;--and I can understand also my father's
+anxiety, though I do not share it. It would be better that my
+namesake should have the estate. I can see into these matters quite
+well enough to know that were it to be mine there would occur exactly
+that which my father wishes to avoid. I should be the owner of Newton
+Priory, and people would call me Mr. Newton. But I shouldn't be
+Newton of Newton. It had better go to Ralph. I should live elsewhere,
+and people would not notice me then."
+
+Sir Thomas, as he looked up at the young man, leaning back in his
+arm-chair and holding his glass half full of wine in his hand, could
+not but tell himself that the greater was the pity. This off-shoot
+of the Newton stock, who declared of himself that he never could be
+Newton of Newton, was a fine, manly fellow to look at,--not handsome
+as was Ralph the heir, not marked by that singular mixture of
+gentleness, intelligence, and sweetness which was written, not only
+on the countenance, but in the demeanour and very step of Gregory;
+but he was a bigger man than either of them, with a broad chest, and
+a square brow, and was not without that bright gleam of the Newton
+blue eye, which characterised all the family. And there was so much
+of the man in him;--whereas, in manhood, Ralph the heir had certainly
+been deficient. "Ralph must lie on the bed that he has made," said
+Sir Thomas. "And you, of course, will accept the good things that
+come in your way. As far as I can see at present it will be best for
+Ralph that your father should redeem from him a portion, at least, of
+the property. The girls are waiting for us to go out, and perhaps you
+will like a cigar on the lawn."
+
+It was clear to every one there to see that this other Newton greatly
+admired the West Indian cousin. And Mary, with this newcomer, seemed
+to talk on easier terms than she had ever done before since she had
+been at Fulham. She smiled, and listened, and was gracious, and made
+those pleasant little half-affected sallies which girls do make to
+men when they know that they are admired, and are satisfied that it
+should be so. All the story had been told to her, and it might be
+that the poor orphan felt that she was better fitted to associate
+with the almost nameless one than with the true heir of the family.
+Mr. Newton, when he got up to leave them, asked permission to come
+again, and left them all with a pleasant air of intimacy. Two boats
+had passed them, racing on the river, almost close to the edge of
+their lawn, and Newton had offered to bet with Mary as to which would
+first reach the bridge. "I wish you had taken my wager, Miss Bonner,"
+he said, "because then I should have been bound to come back at once
+to pay you." "That's all very well, Mr. Newton," said Mary, "but I
+have heard of gentlemen who are never seen again when they lose."
+"Mr. Newton is unlike that, I'm sure," said Clary; "but I hope he'll
+come again at any rate." Newton promised that he would, and was fully
+determined to keep his promise when he made it.
+
+"Wouldn't it be delightful if they were to fall in love with each
+other and make a match of it?" said Clary to her sister.
+
+"I don't like to plot and plan such things," said Patience.
+
+"I don't like to scheme, but I don't see any harm in planning. He is
+ever so nice,--isn't he?"
+
+"I thought him very pleasant."
+
+"Such an open-spoken, manly, free sort of fellow. And he'll be very
+well off, you know."
+
+"I don't know;--but I dare say he will," said Patience.
+
+"Oh yes, you do. Poor Ralph, our Ralph, is a spendthrift, and I
+shouldn't wonder if this one were to have the property after all.
+And then his father is very rich. I know that because Gregory told
+me. Dear me! wouldn't it be odd if we were all three to become Mrs.
+Newtons?"
+
+"Clary, what did I tell you?"
+
+"Well; I won't. But it would be odd,--and so nice, at least I think
+so. Well;--I dare say I ought not to say it. But then I can't help
+thinking it,--and surely I may tell you what I think."
+
+"I would think it as little as I could, dear."
+
+"Ah, that's very well. A girl can be a hypocrite if she pleases,
+and perhaps she ought. Of course I shall be a hypocrite to all
+the world except you. I tell you what it is, Patty;--you make me
+tell you everything, and say that of course you and I are to tell
+everything,--and then you scold me. Don't you want me to tell you
+everything?"
+
+"Indeed I do;--and I won't scold you. Dear Clary, do I scold you?
+Wouldn't I give one of my eyes to make you happy?"
+
+"That's quite a different thing," said Clarissa.
+
+Three days afterwards Mr. Ralph Newton;--it is hoped that the reader
+may understand the attempts which are made to designate the two young
+men;--Mr. Ralph Newton appeared again at Popham Villa. He came in
+almost with the gait of an old friend, and brought some fern leaves,
+which he had already procured from Hampshire, in compliance with a
+promise which he had made to Patience Underwood. "That's what we
+call the hart's tongue," said he, "though I fancy they give them all
+different names in different places."
+
+"It's the same plant as ours, Mr. Newton,--only yours is larger."
+
+"It's the ugliest of all the ferns," said Clary.
+
+"Even that's a compliment," said Newton. "It's no use transplanting
+them in this weather, but I'll send you a basket in October. You
+should come down to Newton and see our ferns. We think we're very
+pretty, but because we're so near, nobody comes to see us." Then he
+fell a-talking with Mary Bonner, and stayed at the villa nearly all
+the afternoon. For a moment or two he was alone with Clarissa, and at
+once expressed his admiration. "I don't think I ever saw such perfect
+beauty as your cousin's," he said.
+
+"She is handsome."
+
+"And then she is so fair, whereas everybody expects to see dark eyes
+and black hair come from the West Indies."
+
+"But Mary wasn't born there."
+
+"That doesn't matter. The mind doesn't travel back as far as that.
+A negro should be black, and an American thin, and a French woman
+should have her hair dragged up by the roots, and a German should be
+broad-faced, and a Scotchman red-haired,--and a West Indian beauty
+should be dark and languishing."
+
+"I'll tell her you say so, and perhaps she'll have herself altered."
+
+"Whatever you do, don't let her be altered," said Mr. Newton. "She
+can't be changed for the better."
+
+"I am quite sure he is over head and ears in love," said Clarissa to
+Patience that evening.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE CHESHIRE CHEESE.
+
+
+"Labour is the salt of the earth, and Capital is the sworn foe to
+Labour." Hear, hear, hear, with the clattering of many glasses, and
+the smashing of certain pipes! Then the orator went on. "That Labour
+should be the salt of the earth has been the purpose of a beneficent
+Creator;--that Capital should be the foe to Labour has been
+man's handywork. The one is an eternal decree, which nothing can
+change,--which neither the good nor the evil done by man can affect.
+The other is an evil ordinance, the fruit of man's ignorance and
+within the scope of man's intellect to annul." Mr. Ontario Moggs
+was the orator, and he was at this moment addressing a crowd of
+sympathising friends in the large front parlour of the Cheshire
+Cheese. Of all those who were listening to Ontario Moggs there was
+not probably one who had reached a higher grade in commerce than that
+of an artizan working for weekly wages;--but Mr. Moggs was especially
+endeared to them because he was not an artizan working for weekly
+wages, but himself a capitalist. His father was a master bootmaker on
+a great scale;--for none stood much higher in the West-end trade than
+Booby and Moggs; and it was known that Ontario was the only child
+and heir, and as it were sole owner of the shoulders on which must
+some day devolve the mantle of Booby and Moggs. Booby had long been
+gathered to his fathers, and old Moggs was the stern opponent of
+strikes. What he had lost by absolutely refusing to yield a point
+during the last strike among the shoemakers of London no one could
+tell. He had professed aloud that he would sooner be ruined, sooner
+give up his country residence at Shepherd's Bush, sooner pull down
+the honoured names of Booby and Moggs from over the shop-window in
+Old Bond Street, than allow himself to be driven half an inch out
+of his course by men who were attempting to dictate to him what he
+should do with his own. In these days of strikes Moggs would look
+even upon his own workmen with the eyes of a Coriolanus glaring upon
+the disaffected populace of Rome. Mr. Moggs senior would stand at his
+shop-door, with his hand within his waistcoat, watching the men out
+on strike who were picketing the streets round his shop, and would
+feel himself every inch a patrician, ready to die for his order. Such
+was Moggs senior. And Moggs junior, who was a child of Capital, but
+whose heirship depended entirely on his father's will, harangued his
+father's workmen and other workmen at the Cheshire Cheese, telling
+them that Labour was the salt of the earth, and that Capital was
+the foe to Labour! Of course they loved him. The demagogue who
+is of all demagogues the most popular, is the demagogue who is a
+demagogue in opposition to his apparent nature. The radical Earl,
+the free-thinking parson, the squire who won't preserve, the tenant
+who defies his landlord, the capitalist with a theory for dividing
+profits, the Moggs who loves a strike,--these are the men whom the
+working men delight to follow. Ontario Moggs, who was at any rate
+honest in his philanthropy, and who did in truth believe that it was
+better that twenty real bootmakers should eat beef daily than that
+one so-called bootmaker should live in a country residence,--who
+believed this and acted on his belief, though he was himself not
+of the twenty, but rather the one so-called bootmaker who would
+suffer by the propagation of such a creed,--was beloved and almost
+worshipped by the denizens of the Cheshire Cheese. How far the real
+philanthropy of the man may have been marred by an uneasy and fatuous
+ambition; how far he was carried away by a feeling that it was better
+to make speeches at the Cheshire Cheese than to apply for payment of
+money due to his father, it would be very hard for us to decide. That
+there was an alloy even in Ontario Moggs is probable;--but of this
+alloy his hearers knew nothing. To them he was a perfect specimen of
+that combination, which is so grateful to them, of the rich man's
+position with the poor man's sympathies. Therefore they clattered
+their glasses, and broke their pipes, and swore that the words he
+uttered were the kind of stuff they wanted.
+
+"The battle has been fought since man first crawled upon the earth,"
+continued Moggs, stretching himself to his full height and pointing
+to the farthest confines of the inhabited globe;--"since man first
+crawled upon the earth." There was a sound in that word "crawl"
+typical of the abject humility to which working shoemakers were
+subjected by their employers, which specially aroused the feelings
+of the meeting. "And whence comes the battle?" The orator paused,
+and the glasses were jammed upon the table. "Yes,--whence comes the
+battle, in fighting which hecatombs of honest labourers have been
+crushed till the sides of the mountains are white with their bones,
+and the rivers run foul with their blood? From the desire of one
+man to eat the bread of two?" "That's it," said a lean, wizened,
+pale-faced little man in a corner, whose trembling hand was resting
+on a beaker of gin and water. "Yes, and to wear two men's coats and
+trousers, and to take two men's bedses and the wery witals out of two
+men's bodies. D---- them!" Ontario, who understood something of his
+trade as an orator, stood with his hand still stretched out, waiting
+till this ebullition should be over. "No, my friend," said he, "we
+will not damn them. I for one will damn no man. I will simply rebel.
+Of all the sacraments given to us, the sacrament of rebellion is the
+most holy." Hereupon the landlord of the Cheshire Cheese must have
+feared for his tables, so great was the applause and so tremendous
+the thumping;--but he knew his business, no doubt, and omitted to
+interfere. "Of Rebellion, my friends," continued Ontario, with his
+right hand now gracefully laid across his breast, "there are two
+kinds,--or perhaps we may say three. There is the rebellion of arms,
+which can avail us nothing here." "Perhaps it might tho'," said the
+little wizened man in a corner, whose gin and water apparently did
+not comfort him. To this interruption Ontario paid no attention. "And
+there is the dignified and slow rebellion of moral resistance;--too
+slow I fear for us." This point was lost upon the audience, and
+though the speaker paused, no loud cheer was given. "It's as true as
+true," said one man; but he was a vain fellow, simply desirous of
+appearing wiser than his comrades. "And then there is the rebellion
+of the Strike;" now the clamour of men's voices, and the kicking of
+men's feet, and the thumping with men's fists became more frantic
+than ever;"--the legitimate rebellion of Labour against its tyrant.
+Gentlemen, of all efforts this is the most noble. It is a sacrifice
+of self, a martyrdom, a giving up on the part of him who strikes of
+himself, his little ones, and his wife, for the sake of others who
+can only thus be rescued from the grasp of tyranny. Gentlemen, were
+it not for strikes, this would be a country in which no free man
+could live. By the aid of strikes we will make it the Paradise of
+the labourer, an Elysium of industry, an Eden of artizans." There
+was much more of it,--but the reader might be fatigued were the full
+flood of Mr. Moggs's oratory to be let loose upon him. And through
+it all there was a germ of truth and a strong dash of true, noble
+feeling;--but the speaker had omitted as yet to learn how much
+thought must be given to a germ of truth before it can be made to
+produce fruit for the multitude. And then, in speaking, grand words
+come so easily, while thoughts,--even little thoughts,--flow so
+slowly!
+
+
+[Illustration: "The battle has been fought since man first
+crawled upon the earth," continued Moggs, stretching himself
+to his full height and pointing to the farthest confines of
+the inhabited globe . . .]
+
+
+But the speech, such as it was, sufficed amply for the immediate
+wants of the denizens of the Cheshire Cheese. There were men there
+who for the half-hour believed that Ontario Moggs had been born to
+settle all the difficulties between labourers and their employers,
+and that he would do so in such a way that the labourers, at least,
+should have all that they wanted. It would be, perhaps, too much to
+say that any man thought this would come in his own day,--that he so
+believed as to put a personal trust in his own belief; but they did
+think for a while that the good time was coming, and that Ontario
+Moggs would make it come. "We'll have 'im in parl'ament any ways,"
+said a sturdy, short, dirty-looking artizan, who shook his head as
+he spoke to show that, on that matter, his mind was quite made up.
+"I dunno no good as is to cum of sending sich as him to parl'ament,"
+said another. "Parl'ament ain't the place. When it comes to the p'int
+they won't 'ave 'em. There was Odgers, and Mr. Beale. I don't b'lieve
+in parl'ament no more." "Kennington Oval's about the place," said a
+third. "Or Primrose 'ill," said a fourth. "Hyde Park!" screamed the
+little wizen man with the gin and water. "That's the ticket;--and
+down with them gold railings. We'll let' em see!" Nevertheless they
+all went away home in the quietest way in the world, and,--as there
+was no strike in hand,--got to their work punctually on the next
+morning. Of all those who had been loudest at the Cheshire Cheese
+there was not one who was not faithful, and, in a certain way, loyal
+to his employer.
+
+As soon as his speech was over and he was able to extricate himself
+from the crowd, Ontario Moggs escaped from the public-house
+and strutted off through certain narrow, dark streets in the
+neighbourhood, leaning on the arm of a faithful friend. "Mr. Moggs,
+you did pitch it rayther strong, to-night," said the faithful friend.
+
+"Pitch it rather strong;--yes. What good do you think can ever come
+from pitching any thing weak? Pitch it as strong as you will, find it
+don't amount to much."
+
+"But about rebellion, now, Mr. Moggs? Rebellion ain't a good thing,
+surely, Mr. Moggs."
+
+"Isn't it? What was Washington, what was Cromwell, what was Rienzi,
+what was,--was,--; but never mind," said Ontario, who could not at
+the moment think of the name of his favourite Pole.
+
+"And you think as the men should be rebels again' the masters?"
+
+"That depends on who the masters are, Waddle."
+
+"What good 'd cum of it if I rebelled again' Mr. Neefit, and told him
+up to his face as I wouldn't make up the books? He'd only sack me. I
+find thirty-five bob a week, with two kids and their mother to keep
+on it, tight enough, Mr. Moggs. If I 'ad the fixing on it, I should
+say forty bob wasn't over the mark;--I should indeed. But I don't see
+as I should get it."
+
+"Yes you would;--if you earned it, and stuck to your purpose. But
+you're a single stick, and it requires a faggot to do this work."
+
+"I never could see it, Mr. Moggs. All the same I do like to hear you
+talk. It stirs one up, even though one don't just go along with it.
+You won't let on, you know, to Mr. Neefit as I was there."
+
+"And why not?" said Ontario, turning sharp upon his companion.
+
+"The old gen'leman hates the very name of a strike. He's a'most as
+bad as your own father, Mr. Moggs."
+
+"You have done his work to-day. You have earned your bread. You owe
+him nothing."
+
+"That I don't, Mr. Moggs. He'll take care of that."
+
+"And yet you are to stay away from this place, or go to that, to suit
+his pleasure. Are you Neefit's slave?"
+
+"I'm just the young man in his shop,--that's all."
+
+"As long as that is all, Waddle, you are not worthy to be called a
+man."
+
+"Mr. Moggs, you're too hard. As for being a man, I am a man.
+I've a wife and two kids. I don't think more of my governor than
+another;--but if he sacked me, where 'd I get thirty-five bob
+a-week?"
+
+"I beg your pardon, Waddle;--it's true. I should not have said it.
+Perhaps you do not quite understand me, but your position is one of
+a single stick, rather than of the faggot. Ah me! She hasn't been at
+the shop lately?"
+
+"She do come sometimes. She was there the day before yesterday."
+
+"And alone?"
+
+"She come alone, and she went home with the governor."
+
+"And he?"
+
+"Mr. Newton, you mean?"
+
+"Has he been there?"
+
+"Well;--yes; he was there once last week."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"There was words;--that's what there was. It ain't going smooth, and
+he ain't been out there no more,--not as I knows on. I did say a word
+once or twice as to the precious long figure as he stands for on our
+books. Over two hundred for breeches is something quite stupendous.
+Isn't it, Mr. Moggs?"
+
+"And what did Neefit say?"
+
+"Just snarled at me. He can show his teeth, you know, and look as
+bitter as you like. It ain't off, because when I just named the very
+heavy figure in such a business as ours,--he only snarled. But it
+ain't on, Mr. Moggs. It ain't what I call,--on." After this they
+walked on in silence for a short way, when Mr. Waddle made a little
+proposition. "He's on your books, too, Mr. Moggs, pretty tight, as
+I'm told. Why ain't you down on him?"
+
+"Down on him?" said Moggs.
+
+"I wouldn't leave him an hour, if I was you."
+
+"D'you think that's the way I would be down on,--a rival?" and Moggs,
+as he walked along, worked both his fists closely in his energy. "If
+I can't be down on him other gait than that, I'll leave him alone.
+But, Waddle, by my sacred honour as a man, I'll not leave him alone!"
+Waddle started, and stood with his mouth open, looking up at his
+friend. "Base, mercenary, false-hearted loon! What is it that he
+wants?"
+
+"Old Neefit's money. That's it, you know."
+
+"He doesn't know what love means, and he'd take that fair creature,
+and drag her through the dirt, and subject her to the scorn
+of hardened aristocrats, and crush her spirits, and break her
+heart,--just because her father has scraped together a mass of gold.
+But I,--I wouldn't let the wind blow on her too harshly. I despise
+her father's money. I love her. Yes;--I'll be down upon him somehow.
+Good-night, Waddle. To come between me and the pride of my heart for
+a little dirt! Yes; I'll be down upon him." Waddle stood and admired.
+He had read of such things in books, but here it was brought home to
+him in absolute life. He had a young wife whom he loved, but there
+had been no poetry about his marriage. One didn't often come across
+real poetry in the world,--Waddle felt;--but when one did, the treat
+was great. Now Ontario Moggs was full of poetry. When he preached
+rebellion it was very grand,--though at such moments Waddle was apt
+to tell himself that he was precluded by his two kids from taking an
+active share in such poetry as that. But when Moggs was roused to
+speak of his love, poetry couldn't go beyond that. "He'll drop into
+that customer of ours," said Waddle to himself, "and he'll mean
+it when he's a doing of it. But Polly 'll never 'ave 'im." And
+then there came across Waddle's mind an idea which he could not
+express,--that of course no girl would put up with a bootmaker who
+could have a real gentleman. Real gentlemen think a good deal of
+themselves, but not half so much as is thought of them by men who
+know that they themselves are of a different order.
+
+Ontario Moggs, as he went homewards by himself, was disturbed by
+various thoughts. If it really was to be the case that Polly Neefit
+wouldn't have him, why should he stay in a country so ill-adapted to
+his manner of thinking as this? Why remain in a paltry island while
+all the starry west, with its brilliant promises, was open to him?
+Here he could only quarrel with his father, and become a rebel, and
+perhaps live to find himself in a jail. And then what could he do of
+good? He preached and preached, but nothing came of it. Would not
+the land of the starry west suit better such a heart and such a mind
+as his? But he wouldn't stir while his fate was as yet unfixed in
+reference to Polly Neefit. Strikes were dear to him, and oratory, and
+the noisy applauses of the Cheshire Cheese; but nothing was so dear
+to him as Polly Neefit. He went about the world with a great burden
+lying on his chest, and that burden was his love for Polly Neefit.
+In regard to strikes and the ballot he did in a certain way reason
+within himself and teach himself to believe that he had thought out
+those matters; but as to Polly he thought not at all. He simply loved
+her, and felt himself to be a wild, frantic man, quarrelling with his
+father, hurrying towards jails and penal settlements, rushing about
+the streets half disposed to suicide, because Polly Neefit would have
+none of him. He had been jealous, too, of the gasfitter, when he had
+seen his Polly whirling round the room in the gasfitter's arms;--but
+the gasfitter was no gentleman, and the battle had been even. In
+spite of the whirling he still had a chance against the gasfitter.
+But the introduction of the purple and fine linen element into his
+affairs was maddening to him. With all his scorn for gentry, Ontario
+Moggs in his heart feared a gentleman. He thought that he could make
+an effort to punch Ralph Newton's head if they two were ever to be
+brought together in a spot convenient for such an operation; but of
+the man's standing in the world, he was afraid. It seemed to him to
+be impossible that Polly should prefer him, or any one of his class,
+to a suitor whose hands were always clean, whose shirt was always
+white, whose words were soft and well-chosen, who carried with him
+none of the stain of work. Moggs was as true as steel in his genuine
+love of Labour,--of Labour with a great L,--of the People with a
+great P,--of Trade with a great T,--of Commerce with a great C; but
+of himself individually,--of himself, who was a man of the people,
+and a tradesman, he thought very little when he compared himself to
+a gentleman. He could not speak as they spoke; he could not walk as
+they walked; he could not eat as they ate. There was a divinity about
+a gentleman which he envied and hated.
+
+Now Polly Neefit was not subject to this idolatry. Could Moggs
+have read her mind, he might have known that success, as from the
+bootmaker against the gentleman, was by no means so hopeless an
+affair. What Polly liked was a nice young man, who would hold up his
+head and be true to her,--and who would not make a fool of himself.
+If he could waltz into the bargain, that also would Polly like.
+
+On that night Ontario walked all the way out to Alexandria Cottage,
+and spent an hour leaning upon the gate, looking up at the window
+of the breeches-maker's bedroom;--for the chamber of Polly herself
+opened backwards. When he had stood there an hour, he walked home to
+Bond Street.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+RALPH NEWTON'S DOUBTS.
+
+
+That month of August was a very sad time indeed for Ralph the heir.
+With him all months were, we may say, idle months; but, as a rule,
+August was of all the most idle. Sometimes he would affect to shoot
+grouse, but hunting, not grouse-shooting, was his passion as a
+sportsman. He would leave London, and spend perhaps a couple of days
+with Mr. Horsball looking at the nags. Then he would run down to
+some sea-side place, and flirt and laugh and waste his time upon the
+sands. Or he would go abroad as far as Dieppe, or perhaps Biarritz,
+and so would saunter through the end of the summer. It must not be
+supposed of him that he was not fully conscious that this manner of
+life was most pernicious. He knew it well, knew that it would take
+him to the dogs, made faint resolves at improvement which he hardly
+for an hour hoped to be able to keep,--and was in truth anything but
+happy. This was his usual life;--and so for the last three or four
+years had he contrived to get through this month of August. But now
+the utmost sternness of business had come upon him. He was forced to
+remain in town, found himself sitting day after day in his lawyer's
+anteroom, was compelled to seek various interviews with Sir Thomas,
+in which it was impossible that Sir Thomas should make himself very
+pleasant; and,--worst of all,--was at last told that he must make up
+his own mind!
+
+Squire Newton was also up in London; and though London was never much
+to his taste, he was in these days by no means so wretched as his
+nephew. He was intent on a certain object, and he began to hope, nay
+to think, that his object might be achieved. He had not once seen his
+nephew, having declared his conviction very strongly that it would be
+better for all parties that they should remain apart. His own lawyer
+he saw frequently, and Ralph's lawyer once, and Sir Thomas more than
+once or twice. There was considerable delay, but the Squire would
+not leave London till something was, if not settled, at any rate
+arranged, towards a settlement. And it was the expression of his will
+conveyed through the two lawyers which kept Ralph in London. What was
+the worth of Ralph's interest in the property? That was one great
+question. Would Ralph sell that interest when the price was fixed?
+That was the second question. Ralph, to whom the difficulty of giving
+an answer was as a labour of Hercules, staved off the evil day for
+awhile by declaring that he must know what was the price before he
+could say whether he would sell the article. The exact price could
+not be fixed. The lawyers combined in saying that the absolute sum
+of money to include all Ralph's interest in the estate could not be
+named that side of Christmas. It was not to be thought of that any
+actuary, or valuer, or lawyer, or conveyancer, should dispose of
+so great a matter by a month's work. But something approaching to
+a settlement might be made. A sum might be named as a minimum. And
+a compact might be made, subject to the arbitration of a sworn
+appraiser. A sum was named. The matter was carried so far, that Ralph
+was told that he could sign away all his rights by the middle of
+September,--sign away the entire property,--and have his pockets
+filled with ample funds for the Moonbeam, and all other delights. He
+might pay off Moggs and Neefit, and no longer feel that Polly,--poor
+dear Polly,--was a millstone round his neck. And he would indeed, in
+this event, be so well provided, that he did not for a moment doubt
+that, if he chose so to circumscribe himself, Clarissa Underwood
+might be his wife. All the savings of the Squire's life would be
+his,--enough, as the opposing lawyer told him with eager pressing
+words, to give him an estate of over a thousand a year at once. "And
+it may be more,--probably will be more," said the lawyer. But at the
+very least a sum approaching to thirty thousand pounds would be paid
+over to him at once. And he might do what he pleased with this. There
+was still a remnant of his own paternal property sufficient to pay
+his debts.
+
+But why should a man whose encumbrances were so trifling, sacrifice
+prospects that were so glorious? Could he not part with a portion
+of the estate,--with the reversion of half of it, so that the house
+of Newton, Newton Priory, with its grouse and paddocks and adjacent
+farms, might be left to him? If the whole were saleable, surely
+so also must be the half. The third of the money offered to him
+would more than suffice for all his wants. No doubt he might sell
+the half,--but not to the Squire, nor could he effect such sale
+immediately as he would do if the Squire bought it, nor on such
+terms as were offered by the Squire. Money he might raise at once,
+certainly; but it became by degrees as a thing certain to him, that
+if once he raised money in that way, the estate would fly from him.
+His uncle was a hale man, and people told him that his own life was
+not so much better than his uncle's. His uncle had a great object,
+and if Ralph chose to sell at all, that fact would be worth thousands
+to him. But his uncle would not buy the reversion of half or of a
+portion of the property. The Squire at last spoke his mind freely
+on this matter to Sir Thomas. "It shall never be cast in my son's
+teeth," he said, "that his next neighbour is the real man. Early in
+life I made a mistake, and I have had to pay for it ever since. I am
+paying for it now, and must pay for it to the end. But my paying for
+it will be of small service if my boy has to pay for it afterwards."
+Sir Thomas understood him and did not press the point.
+
+Ralph was nearly driven wild with the need of deciding. Moggs's bill
+at two months was coming due, and he knew that he could expect no
+mercy there. To Neefit's establishment in Conduit Street he had gone
+once, and had had words,--as Waddle had told to his rival. Neefit
+was still persistent in his wishes,--still urgent that Newton should
+go forth to Hendon like a man, and "pop" at once. "I'll tell you
+what, Captain," said he;--he had taken to calling Ralph Captain, as a
+goodly familiar name, feeling, no doubt, that Mister was cold between
+father-in-law and son-in-law, and not quite daring to drop all
+reverential title;--"if you're a little hard up, as I know you are,
+you can have three or four hundred if you want it." Ralph did want it
+sorely. "I know how you stand with old Moggs," said Neefit, "and I'll
+see you all right there." Neefit was very urgent. He too had heard
+something of these dealings among the lawyers. To have his Polly Mrs.
+Newton of Newton Priory! The prize was worth fighting for. "Don't let
+them frighten you about a little ready money, Captain. If it comes to
+that, other folk has got ready money besides them."
+
+"Your trust in me surprises me," said Ralph. "I already owe you money
+which I can't pay you."
+
+"I know where to trust, and I know where not to trust. If you'll once
+say as how you'll pop the question to Polly, fair and honest, on
+the square, you shall have five hundred;--bless me, if you shan't.
+If she don't take you after all, why then I must look for my money
+by-and-bye. If you're on the square with me, Captain, you'll never
+find me hard to deal with."
+
+"I hope I shall be on the square, at any rate."
+
+"Then you step out to her and pop." Hereupon Ralph made a long and
+intricate explanation of his affairs, the object of which was to
+prove to Mr. Neefit that a little more delay was essential. He was so
+environed by business and difficulties at the present moment that he
+could take no immediate step such as Mr. Neefit suggested,--no such
+step quite immediately. In about another fortnight, or in a month at
+the furthest, he would be able to declare his purpose. "And how about
+Moggs?" said Neefit, putting his hands into his breeches-pocket,
+pulling down the corners of his mouth, and fixing his saucer eyes
+full upon the young man's face. So he stood for some seconds, and
+then came the words of which Waddle had spoken. Neefit could not
+disentangle the intricacies of Ralph's somewhat fictitious story; but
+he had wit enough to know what it meant. "You ain't on the square,
+Captain. That's what you ain't," he said at last. It must be owned
+that the accusation was just, and it was made so loudly that Waddle
+did not at all exaggerate in saying that there had been words.
+Nevertheless, when Ralph left the shop Neefit relented. "You come to
+me, Captain, when Moggs's bit of stiff comes round."
+
+A few days after that Ralph went to Sir Thomas, with the object of
+declaring his decision;--at least Sir Thomas understood that such
+was to be the purport of the visit. According to his ideas there
+had been quite enough of delay. The Squire had been liberal in his
+offer; and though the thing to be sold was in all its bearings so
+valuable, though it carried with it a value which, in the eyes of
+Sir Thomas,--and, indeed, in the eyes of all Englishmen,--was far
+beyond all money price, though the territorial position was, for a
+legitimate heir, almost a principality; yet, when a man cannot keep a
+thing, what can he do but part with it? Ralph had made his bed, and
+he must lie upon it. Sir Thomas had done what he could, but it had
+all amounted to nothing. There was this young man a beggar,--but for
+this reversion which he had now the power of selling. As for that
+mode of extrication by marrying the breeches-maker's daughter,--that
+to Sir Thomas was infinitely the worst evil of the two. Let Ralph
+accept his uncle's offer and he would still be an English gentleman,
+free to live as such, free to marry as such, free to associate with
+friends fitting to his habits of life. And he would be a gentleman,
+too, with means sufficing for a gentleman's wants. But that escape by
+way of the breeches-maker's daughter would, in accordance with Sir
+Thomas's view of things, destroy everything.
+
+"Well, Ralph," he said, sighing, almost groaning, as his late ward
+took the now accustomed chair opposite to his own.
+
+"I wish I'd never been born," said Ralph, "and that Gregory stood in
+my place."
+
+"But you have been born, Ralph. We must take things as we find them."
+Then there was a long silence. "I think, you know, that you should
+make up your mind one way or the other. Your uncle of course feels
+that as he is ready to pay the money at once he is entitled to an
+immediate answer."
+
+"I don't see that at all," said Ralph. "I am under no obligation to
+my uncle, and I don't see why I am to be bustled by him. He is doing
+nothing for my sake."
+
+"He has, at any rate, the power of retracting."
+
+"Let him retract."
+
+"And then you'll be just where you were before,--ready to fall into
+the hands of the Jews. If you must part with your property you cannot
+do so on better terms."
+
+"It seems to me that I shall be selling £7,000 a year in land for
+about £1,200 a year in the funds."
+
+"Just so;--that's about it, I suppose. But can you tell me when the
+land will be yours,--or whether it will ever be yours at all? What is
+it that you have got to sell? But, Ralph, it is no good going over
+all that again."
+
+"I know that, Sir Thomas."
+
+"I had hoped you would have come to some decision. If you can save
+the property of course you ought to do so. If you can live on what
+pittance is left to you--"
+
+"I can save it."
+
+"Then do save it."
+
+"I can save it by--marrying."
+
+"By selling yourself to the daughter of a man who makes--breeches! I
+can give you advice on no other point; but I do advise you not to do
+that. I look upon an ill-assorted marriage as the very worst kind of
+ruin. I cannot myself conceive any misery greater than that of having
+a wife whom I could not ask my friends to meet."
+
+Ralph when he heard this blushed up to the roots of his hair. He
+remembered that when he had first mentioned to Sir Thomas his
+suggested marriage with Polly Neefit he had said that as regarded
+Polly herself he thought that Patience and Clarissa would not
+object to her. He was now being told by Sir Thomas himself that his
+daughters would certainly not consent to meet Polly Neefit, should
+Polly Neefit become Mrs. Newton. He, too, had his ideas of his own
+standing in the world, and had not been slow to assure himself
+that the woman whom he might choose for his wife would be a fit
+companion for any lady,--as long as the woman was neither vicious
+nor disagreeable. He could make any woman a lady; he could, at any
+rate, make Polly Neefit a lady. He rose from his seat, and prepared
+to leave the room in disgust. "I won't trouble you by coming here
+again," he said.
+
+"You are welcome, Ralph," said Sir Thomas. "If I could assist you,
+you would be doubly welcome."
+
+"I know I have been a great trouble to you,--a thankless, fruitless,
+worthless trouble. I shall make up my mind, no doubt, in a day or
+two, and I will just write you a line. I need not bother you by
+coming any more. Of course I think a great deal about it."
+
+"No doubt," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"Unluckily I have been brought up to know the value of what it is
+I have to throw away. It is a kind of thing that a man doesn't do
+without some regrets."
+
+"They should have come earlier," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"No doubt;--but they didn't, and it is no use saying anything more
+about it. Good-day, sir." Then he flounced out of the room, impatient
+of that single word of rebuke which had been administered to him.
+
+Sir Thomas, as soon as he was alone, applied himself at once to the
+book which he had reluctantly put aside when he was disturbed. But he
+could not divest his mind of its trouble, as quickly as his chamber
+had been divested of the presence of its troubler. He had said
+an ill-natured word, and that grieved him. And then,--was he not
+taking all this great matter too easily? If he would only put his
+shoulder to the wheel thoroughly might he not do something to save
+this friend,--this lad, who had been almost as his own son,--from
+destruction? Would it not be a burden on his conscience to the last
+day of his life that he had allowed his ward to be ruined, when by
+some sacrifice of his own means he might have saved him? He sat and
+thought of it, but did not really resolve that anything could be
+done. He was wont to think in the same way of his own children, whom
+he neglected. His conscience had been pricking him all his life, but
+it hardly pricked him sharp enough to produce consequences.
+
+During those very moments in which Ralph was leaving Southampton
+Buildings he had almost made up his mind to go at once to Alexandria
+Cottage, and to throw himself and the future fate of Newton Priory at
+the feet of Polly Neefit. Two incidents in his late interview with
+Sir Thomas tended to drive him that way. Sir Thomas had told him that
+should he marry the daughter of a man who made--breeches, no lady
+would associate with his wife. Sir Thomas also had seemed to imply
+that he must sell his property. He would show Sir Thomas that he
+could have a will and a way of his own. Polly Neefit should become
+his wife; and he would show the world that no proudest lady in the
+land was treated with more delicate consideration by her husband than
+the breeches-maker's daughter should be treated by him. And when it
+should please Providence to decide that the present squire of Newton
+had reigned long enough over that dominion, he would show the world
+that he had known something of his own position and the value of his
+own prospects. Then Polly should be queen in the Newton dominions,
+and he would see whether the ordinary world of worshippers would not
+come and worship as usual. All the same, he did not on that occasion
+go out to Alexandria Cottage.
+
+When he reached his club he found a note from his brother.
+
+
+   Newton Peele, September 8th, 186--.
+
+   MY DEAR RALPH,--
+
+   I have been sorry not to have had an answer from you to
+   the letter which I wrote to you about a month ago. Of
+   course I hear of what is going on. Ralph Newton up at the
+   house tells me everything. The Squire is still in town,
+   as, of course, you know; and there has got to be a report
+   about here that he has, as the people say, bought you out.
+   I still hope that this is not true. The very idea of it
+   is terrible to me;--that you should sell for an old song,
+   as it were, the property that has belonged to us for
+   centuries! It would not, indeed, go out of the name, but,
+   as far as you and I are concerned, that is the same. I
+   will not refuse, myself, to do anything that you may say
+   is necessary to extricate yourself from embarrassment; but
+   I ran hardly bring myself to believe that a step so fatal
+   as this can be necessary.
+
+   If I understand the matter rightly your difficulty is not
+   so much in regard to debts as in the want of means of
+   livelihood. If so, can you not bring yourself to live
+   quietly for a term of years. Of course you ought to marry,
+   and there may be a difficulty there; but almost anything
+   would be better than abandoning the property. As I told
+   you before, you are welcome to the use of the whole of my
+   share of the London property. It is very nearly £400 a
+   year. Could you not live on that till things come round?
+
+   Our cousin Ralph knows that I am writing to you, and knows
+   what my feelings are. It is not he that is so anxious for
+   the purchase. Pray write and tell me what is to be done.
+
+   Most affectionately yours,
+
+   GREGORY NEWTON.
+
+   I wouldn't lose a day in doing anything you might direct
+   about the Holborn property.
+
+
+Ralph received this at his club, and afterwards dined alone,
+considering it. Before the evening was over he thought that he had
+made up his mind that he would not, under any circumstances, give up
+his reversionary right. "They couldn't make me do it, even though I
+went to prison," he said to himself. Let him starve till he died, and
+then the property would go to Gregory! What did it matter? The thing
+that did matter was this,--that the estate should not be allowed to
+depart out of the true line of the Newton family. He sat thinking of
+it half the night, and before he left the club he wrote the following
+note to his brother;--
+
+
+   September 9th, 186--.
+
+   DEAR GREG.,--
+
+   Be sure of this,--that I will not part with my interest in
+   the property. I do not think that I can be forced, and I
+   will never do it willingly. It may be that I may be driven
+   to take advantage of your liberality and prudence. If so,
+   I can only say that you shall share the property with me
+   when it comes.
+
+   Yours always,
+
+   R. N.
+
+
+This he gave to the porter of the club as he passed out; and then, as
+he went home, he acknowledged to himself that it was tantamount to a
+decision on his part that he would forthwith marry Polly Neefit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+WE WON'T SELL BROWNRIGGS.
+
+
+On the 10th of September the Squire was informed that Ralph Newton
+demanded another ten days for his decision, and that he had
+undertaken to communicate it by letter on the 20th. The Squire
+had growled, thinking that his nephew was unconscionable, and had
+threatened to withdraw his offer. The lawyer, with a smile, assured
+him that the matter really was progressing very quickly, that things
+of that kind could rarely be carried on so expeditiously; and that,
+in short, Mr. Newton had no fair ground of complaint. "When a man
+pays through the nose for his whistle, he ought to get it!" said the
+Squire, plainly showing that his idea as to the price fixed was very
+different from that entertained by his nephew. But he did not retract
+his offer. He was too anxious to accomplish the purchase to do that.
+He would go home, he said, and wait till the 20th. Then he would
+return to London. And he did go home.
+
+On the first evening he said very little to his son. He felt that his
+son did not quite sympathise with him, and he was sore that it should
+be so. He could not be angry with his son. He knew well that this
+want of sympathy arose from a conviction on this son's part that, let
+what might be done in regard to the property, nothing could make him,
+who was illegitimate, capable of holding the position in the country
+which of right belonged to Newton of Newton. But the presence of this
+feeling in the mind of the son was an accusation against himself
+which was very grievous to him. Almost every act of his latter
+life had been done with the object of removing the cause for such
+accusation. To make his boy such as he would have been in every
+respect had not his father sinned in his youth, had been the one
+object of the father's life. And nobody gainsayed him in this but
+that son himself. Nobody told him that all his bother about the
+estate was of no avail. Nobody dared to tell him so. Parson Gregory,
+in his letters to his brother, could express such an opinion. Sir
+Thomas, sitting alone in his chamber, could feel it. Ralph, the
+legitimate heir, with an assumed scorn, could declare to himself
+that, let what might be sold, he would still be Newton of Newton. The
+country people might know it, and the farmers might whisper it one
+to another. But nobody said a word of this to the Squire. His own
+lawyer never alluded to such a matter, though it was of course in his
+thoughts. Nevertheless, the son, whom he loved so well, would tell
+him from day to day,--indirectly, indeed, but with words that were
+plain enough,--that the thing was not to be done. Men and women
+called him Newton, because his father had chosen so to call him;--as
+they would have called him Tomkins or Montmorenci, had he first
+appeared before them with either of those names; but he was not a
+Newton, and nothing could make him Newton of Newton Priory,--not even
+the possession of the whole parish, and an habitation in the Priory
+itself. "I wish you wouldn't think about it," the son would say to
+the father;--and the expression of such a wish would contain the
+whole accusation. What other son would express a desire that the
+father would abstain from troubling himself to leave his estate
+entire to his child?
+
+On the morning after his return the necessary communication was made.
+But it was not commenced in any set form. The two were out together,
+as was usual with them, and were on the road which divided the two
+parishes, Bostock from Newton. On the left of them was Walker's farm,
+called the Brownriggs; and on the right, Darvell's farm, which was in
+their own peculiar parish of Newton. "I was talking to Darvell while
+you were away," said Ralph.
+
+"What does he say for himself?"
+
+"Nothing. It's the old story. He wants to stay, though he knows he'd
+be better away."
+
+"Then let him stay. Only I must have the place made fit to look at. A
+man should have a chance of pulling through."
+
+"Certainly, sir. I don't want him to go. I was only thinking it would
+be better for his children that there should be a change. As for
+making the place fit to look at, he hasn't the means. It's Walker's
+work, at the other side, that shames him."
+
+"One can't have Walkers on every farm," said the Squire. "No;--if
+things go, as I think they will go, we'll pull down every stick and
+stone at Brumby's,"--Brumby's was the name of Darvell's farm,--"and
+put it up all ship-shape. The house hasn't been touched these twenty
+years." Ralph said nothing. He knew well that his father would not
+talk of building unless he intended to buy before he built. Nothing
+could be more opposed to the Squire's purposes in life than the idea
+of building a house which, at his death, would become the property of
+his nephew. And, in this way, the estate was being starved. All this
+Ralph understood thoroughly; and, understanding it, had frequently
+expressed a desire that his father and the heir could act in accord
+together. But now the Squire talked of pulling down and building
+up as though the property were his own, to do as he liked with it.
+"And I think I can do it without selling Brownriggs," continued
+the Squire. "When it came to black and white, the value that he
+has in it doesn't come to so much as I thought." Still Ralph said
+nothing,--nothing, at least, as to the work that had been done
+up in London. He merely made some observation as to Darvell's
+farm;--suggesting that a clear half year's rent should be given to
+the man. "I have pretty well arranged it all in my mind," continued
+the Squire. "We could part with Twining. It don't lie so near as
+Brownriggs."
+
+Ralph felt that it would be necessary that he should say something.
+"Lord Fitzadam would be only too glad to buy it. He owns every acre
+in the parish except Ingram's farm."
+
+"There'll be no difficulty about selling it,--when we have the power
+to sell. It'll fetch thirty years' purchase. I'd give thirty years'
+purchase for it, at the present rent myself, if I had the money.
+Lord Fitzadam shall have it, if he pleases, of course. There's four
+hundred acres of it."
+
+"Four hundred and nine," said Ralph.
+
+"And it's worth over twelve thousand pounds. It would have gone
+against the grain with me to part with any of the land in Bostock;
+but I think we can squeeze through without that."
+
+"Is it arranged, sir?" asked the son at last.
+
+"Well;--no; I can't say it is. He is to give me his answer on the
+20th. But I cannot see that he has any alternative. He must pay his
+debts, and he has no other way of paying them. He must live, and he
+has nothing else to live on. A fellow like that will have money,
+if he can lay his hands on it, and he can't lay his hands on it
+elsewhere. Of course he could get money; but he couldn't get it on
+such terms as I have offered him. He is to have down thirty thousand
+pounds, and then,--after that,--I am to pay him whatever more than
+that they may think the thing is worth to him. Under no circumstances
+is he to have less. It's a large sum of money, Ralph."
+
+"Yes, indeed;--though not so much as you had expected, sir."
+
+"Well,--no; but then there are drawbacks. However, I shall only be
+too glad to have it settled. I don't think, Ralph, you have ever
+realised what it has been for me not to be able to lay out a shilling
+on the property, as to which I was not satisfied that I should see it
+back again in a year or two."
+
+"And yet, sir, I have thought much about it."
+
+"Thought! By heavens, I have thought of nothing else. As I stand
+here, the place has hardly been worth the having to me, because of
+such thinking. Your uncle, from the very first, was determined to
+make it bitter enough. I shall never forget his coming to me when I
+cut down the first tree. Was I going to build houses for a man's son
+who begrudged me the timber I wanted about the place?"
+
+"He couldn't stop you there."
+
+"But he said he could,--and he tried. And if I wanted to change a
+thing here or there, was it pleasant, do you think, to have to go to
+him? And what pleasure could there be in doing anything when another
+was to have it all? But you have never understood it, Ralph. Well;--I
+hope you'll understand it some day. If this goes right, nobody shall
+ever stop you in cutting a tree. You shall be free to do what you
+please with every sod, and every branch, and every wall, and every
+barn. I shall be happy at last, Ralph, if I think that you can enjoy
+it." Then there was again a silence, for tears were in the eyes both
+of the father and of the son. "Indeed," continued the Squire, as he
+rubbed the moisture away, "my great pleasure, while I remain, will be
+to see you active about the place. As it is now, how is it possible
+that you should care for it?"
+
+"But I do care for it, and I think I am active about it."
+
+"Yes,--making money for that idiot, who is to come after me. But I
+don't think he ever will come. I dare say he won't be ashamed to
+shoot your game and drink your claret, if you'll allow him. For the
+matter of that, when the thing is settled he may come and drink
+my wine if he pleases. I'll be his loving uncle then, if he don't
+object. But as it is now;--as it has been, I couldn't have borne
+him."
+
+Even yet there had been no clear statement as to what had been done
+between father and son. There was so much of clinging, trusting,
+perfect love in the father's words towards the son, that the latter
+could not bear to say a word that should produce sorrow. When the
+Squire declared that Ralph should have it all, free,--to do just as
+he pleased with it, with all the full glory of ownership, Ralph could
+not bring himself to throw a doubt upon the matter. And yet he did
+doubt;--more than doubted;--felt almost certain that his father was
+in error. While his father had remained alone up in town he had been
+living with Gregory, and had known what Gregory thought and believed.
+He had even seen his namesake's letter to Gregory, in which it was
+positively stated that the reversion would not be sold. Throughout
+the morning the Squire went on speaking of his hopes, and saying that
+this and that should be done the very moment that the contract was
+signed; at last Ralph spoke out, when, on some occasion, his father
+reproached him for indifference. "I do so fear that you will be
+disappointed," he said.
+
+"Why should I be disappointed?"
+
+"It is not for my own sake that I fear, for in truth the arrangement,
+as it stands, is no bar to my enjoyment of the place."
+
+"It is a most absolute bar to mine," said the Squire.
+
+"I fear it is not settled."
+
+"I know that;--but I see no reason why it should not be settled. Do
+you know any reason?"
+
+"Gregory feels sure that his brother will never consent."
+
+"Gregory is all very well. Gregory is the best fellow in the world.
+Had Gregory been in his brother's place I shouldn't have had a
+chance. But Gregory knows nothing about this kind of thing, and
+Gregory doesn't in the least understand his brother."
+
+"But Ralph has told him so."
+
+"Ralph will say anything. He doesn't mind what lies he tells."
+
+"I think you are too hard on him," said the son.
+
+"Well;--we shall see. But what is it that Ralph has said? And when
+did he say it?" Then the son told the father of the short letter
+which the parson had received from his brother, and almost repeated
+the words of it. And he told the date of the letter, only a day or
+two before the Squire's return. "Why the mischief could he not be
+honest enough to tell me the same thing, if he had made up his mind?"
+said the Squire, angrily. "Put it how you will, he is lying either
+to me or to his brother;--probably to both of us. His word either on
+one side or on the other is worth nothing. I believe he will take my
+money because he wants money, and because he likes money. As for what
+he says, it is worth nothing. When he has once written his name, he
+cannot go back from it, and there will be comfort in that." Ralph
+said nothing more. His father had talked himself into a passion, and
+was quite capable of becoming angry, even with him. So he suggested
+something about the shooting for next day, and proposed that the
+parson should be asked to join them. "He may come if he likes," said
+the Squire, "but I give you my word if this goes on much longer, I
+shall get to dislike even the sight of him." On that very day the
+parson dined with them, and early in the evening the Squire was cold,
+and silent, and then snappish. But he warmed afterwards under the
+double influence of his own port-wine, and the thorough sweetness of
+his nephew's manner. His last words as Gregory left him that night in
+the hall were as follows:--"Bother about the church. I'm half sick of
+the church. You come and shoot to-morrow. Don't let us have any new
+fads about not shooting."
+
+"There are no new fads, uncle Greg, and I'll be with you by twelve
+o'clock," said the parson.
+
+"He is very good as parsons go," said the Squire as he shut the door.
+
+"He's as good as gold," said the Squire's son.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+POLLY'S ANSWER.
+
+
+Moggs's bill became due before the 20th of September, and Ralph
+Newton received due notice,--as of course he had known that he would
+do,--that it had not been cashed at his banker's. How should it be
+cashed at his banker's, seeing that he had not had a shilling there
+for the last three months? Moggs himself, Moggs senior, came to
+Ralph, and made himself peculiarly disagreeable. He had never heard
+of such a thing on the part of a gentleman! Not to have his bill
+taken up! To have his paper dishonoured! Moggs spoke of it as
+though the heavens would fall; and he spoke of it, too, as though,
+even should the heavens not fall, the earth would be made a very
+tumultuous and unpleasant place for Mr. Newton, if Mr. Newton did not
+see at once that these two hundred and odd pounds were forthcoming.
+Moggs said so much that Ralph became very angry, turned him out of
+the room, and told him that he should have his dirty money on the
+morrow. On the morrow the dirty money was paid, Ralph having borrowed
+the amount from Mr. Neefit. Mr. Moggs was quite content. His object
+had been achieved, and, when the cash was paid, he was quite polite.
+But Ralph Newton was not happy as he made the payment. He had
+declared to himself, after writing that letter to his brother, that
+the thing was settled by the very declaration made by him therein.
+When he assured his brother that he would not sell his interest in
+the property, he did, in fact, resolve that he would make Polly
+Neefit his wife. And he did no more than follow up that resolution
+when he asked Neefit for a small additional advance. His due would
+not be given to the breeches-maker if it were not acknowledged that
+on this occasion he behaved very well. He had told Ralph to come to
+him when Moggs's "bit of stiff" came round. Moggs's "bit of stiff"
+did come round, and "the Captain" did as he had been desired to do.
+Neefit wrote out the cheque without saying a word about his daughter.
+"Do you just run across to Argyle Street, Captain," said the
+breeches-maker, "and get the stuff in notes." For Mr. Neefit's
+bankers held an establishment in Argyle Street. "There ain't no need,
+you know, to let on, Captain; is there?" said the breeches-maker.
+Ralph Newton, clearly seeing that there was no need to "let on," did
+as he was bid, and so the account was settled with Mr. Moggs. But now
+as to settling the account with Mr. Neefit? Neefit had his own idea
+of what was right between gentlemen. As the reader knows, he could
+upon an occasion make his own views very clearly intelligible. He was
+neither reticent nor particularly delicate. But there was something
+within him which made him give the cheque to Ralph without a word
+about Polly. That something, let it be what it might, was not lost
+upon Ralph.
+
+Any further doubt on his part was quite out of the question. If his
+mind had not been made up before it must, at least, be made up now.
+He had twice borrowed Mr. Neefit's money, and on this latter occasion
+had taken it on the express understanding that he was to propose to
+Mr. Neefit's daughter. And then, in this way, and in this way only,
+he could throw over his uncle and save the property. As soon as he
+had paid the money to Moggs, he went to his room and dressed himself
+for the occasion. As he arranged his dress with some small signs
+of an intention to be externally smart, he told himself that it
+signified nothing at all, that the girl was only a breeches-maker's
+daughter, and that there was hardly a need that he should take a new
+pair of gloves for such an occasion as this. In that he was probably
+right. An old pair of gloves would have done just as well, though
+Polly did like young men to look smart.
+
+He went out in a hansom of course. A man does not become economical
+because he is embarrassed. And as for embarrassment, he need not
+trouble himself with any further feelings on that score. When once
+he should be the promised husband of Polly Neefit, he would have no
+scruple about the breeches-maker's money. Why should he, when he did
+the thing with the very view of getting it? They couldn't expect him
+to be married till next spring at the earliest, and he would take
+another winter out of himself at the Moonbeam. As the sacrifice
+was to be made he might as well enjoy all that would come of the
+sacrifice. Then as he sat in the cab he took to thinking whether,
+after any fashion at all, he did love Polly Neefit. And from that
+he got to thinking,--not of poor Clary,--but of Mary Bonner. If his
+uncle could at once be translated to his fitting place among the
+immortals, oh,--what a life might be his! But his uncle was still
+mortal, and,--after all,--Polly Neefit was a very jolly girl.
+
+When he got to the house he asked boldly for Miss Neefit. He had told
+himself that no repulse could be injurious to him. If Mrs. Neefit
+were to refuse him admission into the house, the breeches-maker
+would be obliged to own that he had done his best. But there was no
+repulse. In two minutes he found himself in the parlour, with Polly
+standing up to receive him. "Dear me, Mr. Newton; how odd! You might
+have come weeks running before you'd find me here and mother out.
+She's gone to fetch father home. She don't do it,--not once a month."
+Ralph assured her that he was quite contented as it was, and that he
+did not in the least regret the absence of Mrs. Neefit. "But she'll
+be ever so unhappy. She likes to see gentlemen when they call."
+
+"And you dislike it?" asked Ralph.
+
+"Indeed I don't then," said Polly.
+
+And now in what way was he to do it? Would it be well to allude to
+her father's understanding with himself? In the ordinary way of
+love-making Ralph was quite as much at home as another. He had found
+no difficulty in saying a soft word to Clarissa Underwood, and in
+doing more than that. But with Polly the matter was different. There
+was an inappropriateness in his having to do the thing at all, which
+made it difficult to him,--unless he could preface what he did by an
+allusion to his agreement with her father. He could hardly ask Polly
+to be his wife without giving her some reason for the formation of so
+desperate a wish on his own part. "Polly," he said at last, "that was
+very awkward for us all,--that evening when Mr. Moggs was here."
+
+"Indeed it was, Mr. Newton. Poor Mr. Moggs! He shouldn't have
+stayed;--but mother asked him."
+
+"Has he been here since?"
+
+"He was then, and he and I were walking together. There isn't a
+better fellow breathing than Ontario Moggs,--in his own way. But he's
+not company for you, Mr. Newton, of course."
+
+Ralph quailed at this. To be told that his own boot-maker wasn't
+"company" for him,--and that by the young lady whom he intended to
+make his wife! "I don't think he is company for you either Polly," he
+said.
+
+"Why not, Mr. Newton? He's as good as me. What's the difference
+between him and father?" He wondered whether, when she should be his
+own, he would be able to teach her to call Mr. Neefit her papa. "Mr.
+Newton, when you know me better, you'll know that I'm not one to give
+myself airs. I've known Mr. Moggs all my life, and he's equal to me,
+anyways,--only he's a deal better."
+
+"I hope there's nothing more than friendship, Polly."
+
+"What business have you to hope?"
+
+Upon that theme he spoke, and told her in plain language that his
+reason for so hoping was that he trusted to be able to persuade her
+to become his own wife. Polly, when the word was spoken, blushed ruby
+red, and trembled a little. The thing had come to her, and, after
+all, she might be a real lady if she pleased. She blushed ruby red,
+and trembled, but she said not a word for a while. And then, having
+made his offer, he began to speak of love. In speaking of it, he was
+urgent enough, but his words had not that sort of suasiveness which
+they would have possessed had he been addressing himself to Clary
+Underwood. "Polly," he said, "I hope you can love me. I will love you
+very dearly, and do all that I can to make you happy. To me you shall
+be the first woman in the world. Do you think that you can love me,
+Polly?"
+
+Polly was, perhaps, particular. She had not quite approved of the
+manner in which Ontario had disclosed his love, though there had been
+something of the eloquence of passion even in that;--and now she
+was hardly satisfied with Ralph Newton. She had formed to herself,
+perhaps, some idea of a soft, insinuating, coaxing whisper, something
+that should be half caress and half prayer, but something that should
+at least be very gentle and very loving. Ontario was loving, but he
+was not gentle. Ralph Newton was gentle, but then she doubted whether
+he was loving. "Will you say that it shall be so?" he asked, standing
+over her, and looking down upon her with his most bewitching smile.
+
+Polly amidst her blushing and her trembling made up her mind that
+she would say nothing of the kind at this present moment. She would
+like to be a lady though she was not ashamed of being a tradesman's
+daughter;--but she would not buy the privilege of being a lady at too
+dear a price. The price would be very high indeed were she to give
+herself to a man who did not love her, and perhaps despised her. And
+then she was not quite sure that she could love this man herself,
+though she was possessed of a facility for liking nice young men.
+Ralph Newton was well enough in many ways. He was good looking, he
+could speak up for himself, he did not give himself airs,--and then,
+as she had been fully instructed by her father, he must ultimately
+inherit a large property. Were she to marry him her position would
+be absolutely that of one of the ladies of the land. But then she
+knew,--she could not but know,--that he sought her because he was in
+want of money for his present needs. To be made a lady of the land
+would be delightful; but to have a grand passion,--in regard to which
+Polly would not be satisfied unless there were as much love on one
+side as on the other,--would be more delightful. That latter was
+essentially necessary to her. The man must take an absolute pleasure
+in her company, or the whole thing would be a failure. So she blushed
+and trembled, and thought and was silent. "Dear Polly, do you mean
+that you cannot love me?" said Ralph.
+
+"I don't know," said Polly.
+
+"Will you try?" demanded Ralph.
+
+"And I don't know that you can love me."
+
+"Indeed, indeed, I can."
+
+"Ah, yes;--you can say so, I don't doubt. There's a many of them as
+can say so, and yet it's not in 'em to do it. And there's men as
+don't know hardly how to say it, and yet it's in their hearts all the
+while." Polly must have been thinking of Ontario as she made this
+latter oracular observation.
+
+"I don't know much about saying it; but I can do it, Polly."
+
+"Oh, as for talking, you can talk. You've been brought up that way.
+You've had nothing else much to do."
+
+She was very hard upon him, and so he felt it. "I think that's not
+fair, Polly. What can I say to you better than that I love you, and
+will be good to you?"
+
+"Oh, good to me! People are always good to me. Why shouldn't they?"
+
+"Nobody will be so good as I will be,--if you will take me. Tell me,
+Polly, do you not believe me when I say I love you?"
+
+"No;--I don't."
+
+"Why should I be false to you?"
+
+"Ah;--well;--why? It's not for me to say why. Father's been putting
+you up to this. That's why."
+
+"Your father could put me up to nothing of the kind if it were not
+that I really loved you."
+
+"And there's another thing, Mr. Newton."
+
+"What's that, Polly?"
+
+"I'm not at all sure that I'm so very fond of you."
+
+"That's unkind."
+
+"Better be true than to rue," said Polly. "Why, Mr. Newton, we don't
+know anything about each other,--not as yet. I may be, oh, anything
+bad, for what you know. And for anything I know you may be idle, and
+extravagant, and a regular man flirt." Polly had a way of speaking
+the truth without much respect to persons. "And then, Mr. Newton,
+I'm not going to be given away by father just as he pleases. Father
+thinks this and that, and he means it all for the best. I love father
+dearly. But I don't mean to take any body as I don't feel I'd pretty
+nigh break my heart if I wasn't to have him. I ain't come to breaking
+my heart for you yet, Mr. Newton."
+
+"I hope you never will break your heart."
+
+"I don't suppose you understand, but that's how it is. Let it just
+stand by for a year or so, Mr. Newton, and see how it is then. Maybe
+we might get to know each other. Just now, marrying you would be
+like taking a husband out of a lottery." Ralph stood looking at her,
+passing his hand over his head, and not quite knowing how to carry on
+his suit. "I'll tell father what you was saying to me and what I said
+to you," continued Polly, who seemed quite to understand that Ralph
+had done his duty by his creditor in making the offer, and that
+justice to him demanded that this should be acknowledged by the whole
+family.
+
+"And is that to be all, Polly?" asked Ralph in a melancholy voice.
+
+"All at present, Mr. Newton."
+
+Ralph, as he returned to London in his cab, felt more hurt by the
+girl's refusal of him than he would before have thought to be
+possible. He was almost disposed to resolve that he would at once
+renew the siege and carry it on as though there were no question
+of twenty thousand pounds, and of money borrowed from the
+breeches-maker. Polly had shown so much spirit in the interview,
+and had looked so well in showing it, had stood up such a perfect
+specimen of healthy, comely, honest womanhood, that he thought that
+he did love her. There was, however, one comfort clearly left to him.
+He had done his duty by old Neefit. The money due must of course
+be paid;--but he had in good faith done that which he had pledged
+himself to do in taking the money.
+
+As to the surrender of the estate there were still left to him four
+days in which to think of it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+THE CONSERVATIVES OF PERCYCROSS.
+
+
+Early in this month of September there had come a proposition to Sir
+Thomas, which had thoroughly disturbed him, and made him for a few
+days a most miserable man. By the tenth of the month, however, he
+had so far recovered himself as to have made up his mind in regard
+to the proposition with some feeling of triumphant expectation.
+On the following day he went home to Fulham, and communicated
+his determination to his eldest daughter in the following words;
+"Patience, I am going to stand for the borough of Percycross."
+
+"Papa!"
+
+"Yes. I dare say I'm a fool for my pains. It will cost me some money
+which I oughtn't to spend; and if I get in I don't know that I can do
+any good, or that it can do me any good. I suppose you think I'm very
+wrong?"
+
+"I am delighted,--and so will Clary be. I'm so much pleased! Why
+shouldn't you be in Parliament? I have always longed that you should
+go back to public life, though I have never liked to say so to you."
+
+"It is very kind of you to say it now, my dear."
+
+"And I feel it." There was no doubt of that, for, as she spoke, the
+tears were streaming from her eyes. "But will you succeed? Is there
+to be anybody against you?"
+
+"Yes, my dear; there is to be somebody against me. In fact, there
+will be three people against me; and probably I shall not succeed.
+Men such as I am do not have seats offered to them without a contest.
+But there is a chance. I was down at Percycross for two days last
+week, and now I've put out an address. There it is." Upon which he
+handed a copy of a placard to his daughter, who read it, no doubt,
+with more enthusiasm than did any of the free and independent
+electors to whom it was addressed.
+
+The story in regard to the borough of Percycross was as follows.
+There were going forward in the country at this moment preparations
+for a general election, which was to take place in October. The
+readers of this story have not as yet been troubled on this head,
+there having been no connection between that great matter and the
+small matters with which our tale has concerned itself. In the
+Parliament lately dissolved, the very old borough of Percycross,--or
+Percy St. Cross, as the place was properly called,--had displayed no
+political partiality, having been represented by two gentlemen, one
+of whom always followed the conservative leader, and the other the
+liberal leader, into the respective lobbies of the House of Commons.
+The borough had very nearly been curtailed of the privilege in regard
+to two members in the great Reform Bill which had been initiated
+and perfected and carried through as a whole by the almost unaided
+intellect and exertions of the great reformer of his age; but it had
+had its own luck, as the Irishmen say, and had been preserved intact.
+Now the wise men of Percycross, rejoicing in their salvation, and
+knowing that there might still be danger before them should they
+venture on a contest,--for bribery had not been unknown in previous
+contests at Percycross, nor petitions consequent upon bribery; and
+some men had marvelled that the borough should have escaped so
+long; and there was now supposed to be abroad a spirit of assumed
+virtue in regard to such matters under which Percycross might
+still be sacrificed if Percycross did not look very sharp after
+itself;--thinking of all this, the wise men at Percycross had
+concluded that it would be better, just for the present, to let
+things run smoothly, and to return their two old members. When the
+new broom which was to sweep up the dirt of corruption was not quite
+so new, they might return to the old game,--which was, in truth, a
+game very much loved in the old town of Percycross. So thought the
+wise men, and for a while it seemed that the wise men were to have
+their own way. But there were men at Percycross who were not wise,
+and who would have it that such an arrangement as this showed lack of
+spirit. The conservative foolish men at Percycross began by declaring
+that they could return two members for the borough if they pleased,
+and that they would do so, unless this and that were conceded to
+them. The liberal foolish men swore that they were ready for the
+battle. They would concede nothing, and would stand up and fight if
+the word concession were named to them. They would not only have one
+member, but would have half the aldermen, half the town-councillors,
+half the mayor, half the patronage in beadles, bell-ringers and
+bumbledom in general. Had the great reformer of the age given them
+household suffrage for nothing? The liberal foolish men of Percycross
+declared, and perhaps thought, that they could send two liberal
+members to Parliament. And so the borough grew hot. There was
+one very learned pundit in those parts, a pundit very learned in
+political matters, who thus prophesied to one of the proposed
+candidates;--"You'll spend a thousand pounds in the election. You
+won't get in, of course, but you'll petition. That'll be another
+thousand. You'll succeed there, and disfranchise the borough. It will
+be a great career, and no doubt you'll find it satisfactory. You
+mustn't show yourself in Percycross afterwards;--that's all." But the
+spirit was afloat, and the words of the pundit were of no avail. The
+liberal spirit had been set a going, and men went to work with the
+new lists of borough voters. By the end of August it was seen that
+there must be a contest. But who should be the new candidates?
+
+The old candidates were there,--one on each side: an old Tory and a
+young Radical. In telling our tale we will not go back to the old
+sins of the borough, or say aught but good of the past career of the
+members. Old Mr. Griffenbottom, the Tory, had been very generous with
+his purse, and was beloved, doubtless, by many in the borough. It
+is so well for a borough to have some one who is always ready with
+a fifty-pound note in this or that need! It is so comfortable in a
+borough to know that it can always have its subscription lists well
+headed! And the young Radical was popular throughout the county. No
+one could take a chair at a mechanics' meeting with better grace or
+more alacrity, or spin out his half-hour's speech with greater ease
+and volubility. And then he was a born gentleman, which is so great a
+recommendation for a Radical. So that, in fact, young Mr. Westmacott,
+though he did not spend so much money as old Griffenbottom,
+was almost as popular in the borough. There was no doubt about
+Griffenbottom and Westmacott,--if only the borough would have
+listened to its wise men and confined itself to the political
+guardianship of such excellent representatives! But the foolish men
+prevailed over the wise men, and it was decided that there should be
+a contest.
+
+It was an evil day for Griffenbottom when it was suggested to him
+that he should bring a colleague with him. Griffenbottom knew what
+this meant almost as well as the learned pundit whose words we
+have quoted. Griffenbottom had not been blessed with uncontested
+elections, and had run through many perils. He had spent what he was
+accustomed to call, when speaking of his political position among his
+really intimate friends, "a treasure" in maintaining the borough. He
+must often have considered within himself whether his whistle was
+worth the price. He had petitioned and been petitioned against, and
+had had evil things said of him, and had gone through the very heat
+of the fire of political warfare. But he had kept his seat, and now
+at last,--so he thought,--the ease and comfort of an unopposed return
+was to repay him for everything. Alas! how all this was changed; how
+his spirits sank within him, when he received that high-toned letter
+from his confidential agent, Mr. Trigger, in which he was invited
+to suggest the name of a colleague! "I'm sure you'll be rejoiced to
+hear, for the sake of the old borough," said Mr. Trigger, "that we
+feel confident of carrying the two seats." Could Mr. Trigger have
+heard the remarks which his patron made on reading that letter,
+Mr. Trigger would have thought that Mr. Griffenbottom was the most
+ungrateful member of Parliament in the world. What did not Mr.
+Griffenbottom owe to the borough of Percycross? Did he not owe all
+his position in the world, all his friends, the fact that he was
+to be seen on the staircases of Cabinet Ministers, and that he was
+called "honourable friend" by the sons of dukes,--did he not owe it
+all to the borough of Percycross? Mr. Trigger and other friends of
+his, felt secure in their conviction that they had made a man of
+Mr. Griffenbottom. Mr. Griffenbottom understood enough of all this
+to answer Mr. Trigger without inserting in his letter any of those
+anathemas which he uttered in the privacy of his own closet. He
+did, indeed, expostulate, saying, that he would of course suggest
+a colleague, if a colleague were required; but did not Mr. Trigger
+and his other friends in the dear old borough think that just at
+the present moment a pacific line of action would be best for the
+interests of the dear old borough? Mr. Trigger answered him very
+quickly, and perhaps a little sharply. The Liberals had decided upon
+having two men in the field, and therefore a pacific line of action
+was no longer possible. Mr. Griffenbottom hurried over to the dear
+old borough, still hoping,--but could do nothing. The scent of the
+battle was in the air, and the foolish men of Percycross were keen
+for blood. Mr. Griffenbottom smiled and promised, and declared to
+himself that there was no peace for the politician on this side
+the grave. He made known his desires,--or the desire rather of the
+borough,--to a certain gentleman connected with a certain club in
+London, and the gentleman in question on the following day waited
+upon Sir Thomas. Sir Thomas had always been true "to the party,"--so
+the gentleman in question was good enough to say. Everybody had
+regretted the loss of Sir Thomas from the House. The present
+opportunity of returning to it was almost unparalleled, seeing that
+thing was so nearly a certainty. Griffenbottom had always been at the
+top of the poll, and the large majority of the new voters were men in
+the employment of conservative masters. The gentleman in question was
+very clear in his explanation that there was a complete understanding
+on this matter between the employers and employed at Percycross. It
+was the nature of the Percycross artizan to vote as his master voted.
+They made boots, mustard, and paper at Percycross. The men in the
+mustard and paper trade were quite safe;--excellent men, who went
+in a line to the poll, and voted just as the master paper-makers
+and master mustard-makers desired. The gentleman from the club
+acknowledged that there was a difficulty about the boot-trade. All
+the world over, boots do affect radical sentiments. The master
+bootmakers,--there were four in the borough,--were decided; but the
+men could not be got at with any certainty.
+
+"Why should you wish to get at them?" demanded Sir Thomas.
+
+"No;--of course not; one doesn't wish to get at them," said the
+gentleman from the club,--"particularly as we are safe without them."
+Then he went into statistics, and succeeded in proving to Sir Thomas
+that there would be a hard fight. Sir Thomas, who was much pressed as
+to time, took a day to consider. "Did Mr. Griffenbottom intend to
+fight the battle with clean hands?" The gentleman from the club was
+eager in declaring that everything would be done in strict accordance
+with the law. He could give no guarantee as to expenses, but presumed
+it would be about £300,--perhaps £400,--certainly under £500. The
+other party no doubt would bribe. They always did. And on their
+behalf,--on behalf of Westmacott and Co.,--there would be treating,
+and intimidation, and subornation, and fictitious voting, and every
+sin to which an election is subject. It always was so with the
+Liberals at Percycross. But Sir Thomas might be sure that on his side
+everything would be--"serene." Sir Thomas at last consented to go
+down to Percycross, and see one or two of his proposed supporters.
+
+He did go down, and was considerably disgusted. Mr. Trigger took him
+in hand and introduced him to three or four gentlemen in the borough.
+Sir Thomas, in his first interview with Mr. Trigger, declared his
+predilection for purity. "Yes, yes; yes, yes; of course," said Mr.
+Trigger. Mr. Trigger, seeing that Sir Thomas had come among them
+as a stranger to whom had been offered the very great honour of
+standing for the borough of Percycross,--offered to him before
+he had subscribed a shilling to any of the various needs of the
+borough,--was not disposed to listen to dictation. But Sir Thomas
+insisted. "It's as well that we should understand each other at
+once," said Sir Thomas. "I should throw up the contest in the middle
+of it,--even if I were winning,--if I suspected that money was being
+spent improperly." How often has the same thing been said by a
+candidate, and what candidate ever has thrown up the sponge when he
+was winning? Mr. Trigger was at first disposed to tell Sir Thomas
+that he was interfering in things beyond his province. Had it not
+been that the day was late, and that the Liberals were supposed to
+be hard at work,--that the candidate was wanted at once, Mr. Trigger
+would have shown his spirit. As it was he could only assent with a
+growl, and say that he had supposed all that was to be taken as a
+matter of course.
+
+"But I desire to have it absolutely understood by all those who act
+with me in this matter," said Sir Thomas. "At any rate I will not be
+petitioned against."
+
+"Petitions never come to much at Percycross," said Mr. Trigger. He
+certainly ought to have known, as he had had to do with a great many
+of them. Then they started to call upon two or three of the leading
+conservative gentlemen. "If I were you, I wouldn't say anything about
+that, Sir Thomas."
+
+"About what?"
+
+"Well;--bribery and petitions, and the rest of it. Gentlemen when
+they're consulted don't like to be told of those sort of things.
+There has been a little of it, perhaps. Who can say?" Who, indeed, if
+not Mr. Trigger,--in regard to Percycross? "But it's better to let
+all that die out of itself. It never came to much in Percycross. I
+don't think there was ever more than ten shillings to be had for a
+vote. And I've known half-a-crown a piece buy fifty of 'em," he added
+emphatically. "It never was of much account, and it's best to say
+nothing about it."
+
+"It's best perhaps to make one's intentions known," said Sir Thomas
+mildly. Mr. Trigger hummed and hawed, and shook his head, and put
+his hands into his trousers pockets;--and in his heart of hearts he
+despised Sir Thomas.
+
+On that day Sir Thomas was taken to see four gentlemen of note in
+Percycross,--a mustard-maker, a paper-maker, and two bootmakers. The
+mustard-maker was very cordial in offering his support. He would do
+anything for the cause. Trigger knew him. The men were all right
+at his mills. Then Sir Thomas said a word. He was a great foe to
+intimidation;--he wouldn't for worlds have the men coerced. The
+mustard-maker laughed cheerily. "We know what all that comes to at
+Percycross; don't we, Trigger? We shall all go straight from this
+place;--shan't we, Trigger? And he needn't ask any questions;--need
+he, Trigger?" "Lord 'a mercy, no," said Trigger, who was beginning to
+be disgusted. Then they went on to the paper-maker's.
+
+The paper-maker was a very polite gentleman, who seemed to take
+great delight in shaking Sir Thomas by the hand, and who agreed
+with energy to every word Sir Thomas said. Trigger stood a little
+apart at the paper-maker's, as soon as the introduction had been
+performed,--perhaps disapproving in part of the paper-maker's
+principles. "Certainly not, Sir Thomas; not for the world, Sir
+Thomas. I'm clean against anything of that kind, Sir Thomas," said
+the paper-maker. Sir Thomas assured the paper-maker that he was glad
+to hear it;--and he was glad. As they went to the first bootmaker's,
+Mr. Trigger communicated to Sir Thomas a certain incident in the
+career of Mr. Spiveycomb, the paper-maker. "He's got a contract
+for paper from the 'Walhamshire Herald,' Sir Thomas;--the largest
+circulation anywhere in these parts. Griffenbottom gets him that; and
+if ere a man of his didn't vote as he bade 'em, he wouldn't keep 'em,
+not a day. I don't know that we've a man in Percycross so stanch as
+old Spiveycomb." This was Mr. Trigger's revenge.
+
+The first bootmaker had very little to say for himself, and hardly
+gave Sir Thomas much opportunity of preaching his doctrine of purity.
+"I hope you'll do something for our trade, Sir Thomas," said the
+first bootmaker. Sir Thomas explained that he did not at present see
+his way to the doing of anything special for the bootmakers; and then
+took his leave. "He's all right," said Mr. Trigger. "He means it.
+He's all right. And he'll say a word to his men too, though I don't
+know that much 'll come of it. They're a rum lot. If they're put out
+here to-day, they can get in there to-morrow. They're a cankery
+independent sort of chaps, are bootmakers. Now we'll go and see old
+Pile. He'll have to second one of you,--will Pile. He's a sort of
+father of the borough in the way of Conservatives. And look here, Sir
+Thomas;--let him talk. Don't you say much to him. It's no use in life
+talking to old Pile." Sir Thomas said nothing, but he determined that
+he would speak to old Pile just as freely as he had to Mr. Trigger
+himself.
+
+"Eh;--ah;"--said old Pile; "you're Sir Thomas Underwood, are you? And
+you wants to go into Parliament?"
+
+"If it please you and your townsmen to send me there."
+
+"Yes;--that's just it. But if it don't please?"
+
+"Why, then I'll go home again."
+
+"Just so;--but the people here ain't what they are at other places,
+Sir Thomas Underwood. I've seen many elections here, Sir Thomas."
+
+"No doubt you have, Mr. Pile."
+
+"Over a dozen;--haven't you, Mr. Pile?" said Trigger.
+
+"And carried on a deal better than they have been since you meddled
+with them," said Mr. Pile, turning upon Trigger. "They used to do the
+thing here as it should be done, and nobody wasn't extortionate, nor
+yet cross-grained. They're changing a deal about these things, I'm
+told; but they're changing all for the worse. They're talking of
+purity,--purity,--purity; and what does it all amount to? Men is
+getting greedier every day."
+
+"We mean to be pure at this election, Mr. Pile," said Sir Thomas. Mr.
+Pile looked him hard in the face. "At least I do, Mr. Pile. I can
+answer for myself." Mr. Pile turned away his face, and opened his
+mouth, and put his hand upon his stomach, and made a grimace, as
+though,--as though he were not quite as well as he might be. And such
+was the case with him. The idea of purity of election at Percy-cross
+did in truth make him feel very sick. It was an idea which he hated
+with his whole heart. There was to him something absolutely mean and
+ignoble in the idea of a man coming forward to represent a borough in
+Parliament without paying the regular fees. That somebody, somewhere,
+should make a noise about it,--somebody who was impalpable to him, in
+some place that was to him quite another world,--was intelligible.
+It might be all very well in Manchester and such-like disagreeable
+places. But that candidates should come down to Percycross and talk
+about purity there, was a thing abominable to him. He had nothing to
+get by bribery. To a certain extent he was willing to pay money in
+bribery himself. But that a stranger should come to the borough and
+want the seat without paying for it was to him so distasteful, that
+this assurance from the mouth of one of the candidates did make him
+very sick.
+
+"I think you'd better go back to London, Sir Thomas," said Mr. Pile,
+as soon as he recovered himself sufficiently to express his opinion.
+
+"You mean that my ideas as to standing won't suit the borough."
+
+"No, they won't, Sir Thomas. I don't suppose anybody else will tell
+you so,--but I'll do it. Why should, a poor man lose his day's wages
+for the sake of making you a Parliament man? What have you done for
+any of 'em?"
+
+"Half an hour would take a working man to the poll and back," argued
+Sir Thomas.
+
+"That's all you know about elections. That's not the way we manage
+matters here. There won't be any place of business agait that day."
+Then Mr. Trigger whispered a few words to Mr. Pile. Mr. Pile repeated
+the grimace which he had made before, and turned on his heel although
+he was in his own parlour, as though he were going to leave them.
+But he thought better of this, and turned again. "I always vote Blue
+myself," said Mr. Pile, "and I don't suppose I shall do otherwise
+this time. But I shan't take no trouble. There's a many things that I
+don't like, Sir Thomas. Good morning, Sir Thomas. It's all very well
+for Mr. Trigger. He knows where the butter lies for his bread."
+
+"A very disagreeable old man," said Sir Thomas, when they had left
+the house, thinking that as Mr. Trigger had been grossly insulted by
+the bootmaker he would probably coincide in this opinion.
+
+But Mr. Trigger knew his townsman well, and was used to him. "He's
+better than some of 'em, Sir Thomas. He'll do as much as he says, and
+more. Now there was that chap Spicer at the mustard works. They say
+Westmacott people are after him, and if they can make it worth his
+while he'll go over. There's some talk about Apothecary's Hall;--I
+don't know what it is. But you couldn't buy old Pile if you were to
+give him the Queen and all the Royal family to make boots for."
+
+This was to have been the last of Sir Thomas's preliminary visits
+among the leading Conservatives of the borough, but as they were
+going back to the "Percy Standard,"--for such was the name of the
+Blue inn in the borough,--Mr. Trigger saw a gentleman in black
+standing at an open hall door, and immediately proposed that they
+should just say a word or two to Mr. Pabsby. "Wesleyan minister,"
+whispered the Percycross bear-leader into the ear of his bear;--"and
+has a deal to say to many of the men, and more to the women. Can't
+say what he'll do;--split his vote, probably." Then he introduced
+the two men, explaining the cause of Sir Thomas's presence in the
+borough. Mr. Pabsby was delighted to make the acquaintance of Sir
+Thomas, and asked the two gentlemen into the house. In truth he was
+delighted. The hours often ran heavily with him, and here there was
+something for him to do. "You'll give us a help, Mr. Pabsby?" said
+Mr. Trigger. Mr. Pabsby smiled and rubbed his hands, and paused and
+laid his head on one side.
+
+"I hope he will," said Sir Thomas, "if he is of our way cf thinking,
+otherwise I should be sorry to ask him." Still Mr. Pabsby said
+nothing;--but he smiled very sweetly, and laid his head a little
+lower.
+
+
+[Illustration: Still Mr. Pabsby said nothing;--but he smiled
+very sweetly, and laid his head a little lower.]
+
+
+"He knows we're on the respectable side," said Mr. Trigger. "The
+Wesleyans now are most as one as the Church of England,--in the way
+of not being roughs and rowdies." Sir Thomas, who did not know Mr.
+Pabsby, was afraid that he would be offended at this; but he showed
+no sign of offence as he continued to rub his hands. Mr. Pabsby was
+meditating his speech.
+
+"We're a little hurried, Mr. Pabsby," said Mr. Trigger; "perhaps
+you'll think of it."
+
+But Mr. Pabsby was not going to let them escape in that way. It
+was not every day that he had a Sir Thomas, or a candidate for the
+borough, or even a Mr. Trigger, in that little parlour. The fact was
+that Mr. Trigger, who generally knew what he was about, had made a
+mistake. Sir Thomas, who was ready enough to depart, saw that an
+immediate escape was impossible. "Sir Thomas," began Mr. Pabsby, in
+a soft, greasy voice,--a voice made up of pretence, politeness and
+saliva,--"if you will give me three minutes to express myself on this
+subject I shall be obliged to you."
+
+"Certainly," said Sir Thomas, sitting bolt upright in his chair, and
+holding his hat as though he were determined to go directly the three
+minutes were over.
+
+"A minister of the Gospel in this town is placed in a peculiar
+position, Sir Thomas," said Mr. Pabsby very slowly, "and of all
+the ministers of religion in Percycross mine is the most peculiar.
+In this matter I would wish to be guided wholly by duty, and if I
+could see my way clearly I would at once declare it to you. But, Sir
+Thomas, I owe much to the convictions of my people."
+
+"Which way do you mean to vote?" asked Mr. Trigger.
+
+Mr. Pabsby did not even turn his face at this interruption. "A
+private man, Sir Thomas, may follow the dictates of--of--of his own
+heart, perhaps." Here he paused, expecting to be encouraged by some
+words. But Sir Thomas had acquired professionally a knowledge that
+to such a speaker as Mr. Pabsby any rejoinder or argument was like
+winding up a clock. It is better to allow such clocks to run down.
+"With me, I have to consider every possible point. What will my
+people wish? Some of them are eager in the cause of reform, Sir
+Thomas; and some others--"
+
+"We shall lose the train," said Mr. Trigger, jumping up and putting
+on his hat.
+
+"I'm afraid we shall," said Sir Thomas rising, but not putting on
+his.
+
+"Half a minute," said Mr. Pabsby pleading, but not rising from his
+chair. "Perhaps you will do me the honour of calling on me when you
+are again here in Percycross. I shall have the greatest pleasure in
+discussing a few matters with you, Sir Thomas; and then, if I can
+give you my poor help, it will give me and Mrs. Pabsby the most
+sincere pleasure." Mrs. Pabsby had now entered the room, and was
+introduced; but Trigger would not sit down again, nor take off his
+hat. He boldly marshalled the way to the door, while Sir Thomas
+followed, subject as he came to the eloquence of Mr. Pabsby. "If I
+can only see my way clearly, Sir Thomas," were the last words which
+Mr. Pabsby spoke.
+
+"He'll give one to Griffenbottom, certainly," said Mr. Trigger.
+"Westmacott 'll probably have the other. I thought perhaps your title
+might have gone down with him, but it didn't seem to take."
+
+All this was anything but promising, anything but comfortable; and
+yet before he went to bed that night Sir Thomas had undertaken to
+stand. In such circumstances it is very hard for a man to refuse. He
+feels that a certain amount of trouble has been taken on his behalf,
+that retreat will be cowardly, and that the journey for nothing will
+be personally disagreeable to his own feelings. And then, too, there
+was that renewed ambition in his breast,--an ambition which six
+months ago he would have declared to be at rest for ever,--but
+which prompted him, now as strongly as ever, to go forward and do
+something. It is so easy to go and see;--so hard to retreat when one
+has seen. He had not found Percycross to be especially congenial
+to him. He had felt himself to be out of his element there,--among
+people with whom he had no sympathies; and he felt also that he had
+been unfitted for this kind of thing by the life which he had led for
+the last few years. Still he undertook to stand.
+
+"Who is coming forward on the other side?" he asked Mr. Trigger late
+at night, when this matter had been decided in regard to himself.
+
+"Westmacott, of course," said Trigger, "and I'm told that the real
+Rads of the place have got hold of a fellow named Moggs."
+
+"Moggs!" ejaculated Sir Thomas.
+
+"Yes;--Moggs. The Young Men's Reform Association is bringing him
+forward. He's a Trades' Union man, and a Reform Leaguer, and all that
+kind of thing. I shouldn't be surprised if he got in. They say he's
+got money."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+THE LIBERALS OF PERCYCROSS.
+
+
+Yes;--Ontario Moggs was appalled, delighted, exalted, and nearly
+frightened out of his wits by an invitation, conveyed to him by
+certain eager spirits of the town, to come down and stand on the real
+radical interest for the borough of Percycross. The thing was not
+suggested to him till a day or two after Sir Thomas had been sounded,
+and he was then informed that not an hour was to be lost. The
+communication was made in the little back parlour of the Cheshire
+Cheese, and Moggs was expected to give an answer then and there. He
+stood with his hand on his brow for five minutes, and then asked that
+special question which should always come first on such occasions.
+Would it cost any money? Well;--yes. The eager spirits of Percycross
+thought that it would cost something. They were forced to admit that
+Percycross was not one of those well-arranged boroughs in which the
+expenses of an election are all defrayed by the public spirit of the
+citizens. It soon became clear that the deputation had waited upon
+Moggs, not only because Moggs was a good Radical, but because also
+Moggs was supposed to be a Radical with a command of money. Ontario
+frowned and expressed an opinion that all elections should be made
+absolutely free to the candidates. "And everybody ought to go to
+'eaven, Mr. Moggs," said the leading member of the deputation, "but
+everybody don't, 'cause things ain't as they ought to be." There was
+no answer to be made to this. Ontario could only strike his forehead
+and think. It was clear to him that he could not give an affirmative
+answer that night, and he therefore, with some difficulty, arranged
+an adjournment of the meeting till the following afternoon at 2 P.M.
+"We must go down by the 4.45 express to-morrow," said the leading
+member of the deputation, who even by that arrangement would subject
+himself to the loss of two days' wages,--for he was a foreman in the
+establishment of Mr. Spicer the mustard-maker,--and whose allowance
+for expenses would not admit of his sleeping away from home a second
+night. Ontario departed, promising to be ready with his answer by 2
+P.M. on the following day.
+
+How bright with jewels was the crown now held before his eyes, and
+yet how unapproachable, how far beyond his grasp! To be a member of
+Parliament, to speak in that august assembly instead of wasting his
+eloquence on the beery souls of those who frequented the Cheshire
+Cheese, to be somebody in the land at his early age,--something so
+infinitely superior to a maker of boots! A member of Parliament was
+by law an esquire, and therefore a gentleman. Ralph Newton was not
+a member of Parliament;--not half so great a fellow as a member of
+Parliament. Surely if he were to go to Polly Neefit as a member of
+Parliament Polly would reject him no longer! And to what might it not
+lead? He had visions before his eyes of very beautiful moments in
+his future life, in which, standing, as it were, on some well-chosen
+rostrum in that great House, he would make the burning thoughts of
+his mind, the soaring aspirations of his heart, audible to all the
+people. How had Cobden begun his career,--and Bright? Had it not
+been in this way? Why should not he be as great,--greater than
+either;--greater, because in these coming days a man of the people
+would be able to wield a power more extensive than the people had
+earned for themselves in former days? And then, as he walked alone
+through the streets, he took to making speeches,--some such speeches
+as he would make when he stood up in his place in the House of
+Commons as the member for Percycross. The honourable member for
+Percycross! There was something ravishing in the sound. Would not
+that sound be pleasant to the ears of Polly Neefit?
+
+But then, was not the thing as distant as it was glorious? How could
+he be member for Percycross, seeing that in all matters he was
+subject to his father? His father hated the very name of the Cheshire
+Cheese, and was, in every turn and feeling of his life, diametrically
+opposed to his son's sentiments. He would, nevertheless, go to his
+father and demand assistance. If on such an occasion as this his
+father should give him a stone when he asked for bread, he and his
+father must be two! "If, when such a prospect as this is held out to
+his son, he cannot see it," said Ontario, "then he can see nothing!"
+But yet he was sure that his father wouldn't see it.
+
+To his extreme astonishment Mr. Moggs senior did see it. It was some
+time before Mr. Moggs senior clearly understood the proposition which
+was made to him, but when he did he became alive to the honour,--and
+perhaps profit,--of having a member of his firm in Parliament. Of
+politics in the abstract Mr. Moggs senior knew very little. Nor,
+indeed, did he care much. In matters referring to trade he was a
+Conservative, because he was a master. He liked to be able to manage
+his people, and to pay 5_s._ 3_d._ instead of 5_s._ 8_d._ for the
+making of a pair of boots. He hated the Cheshire Cheese because his
+son went there, and because his son entertained strange and injurious
+ideas which were propagated at that low place. But if the Cheshire
+Cheese would send his son to Parliament, Mr. Moggs did not know
+but what the Cheshire Cheese might be very well. At any rate, he
+undertook to pay the bills, if Ontario, his son, were brought forward
+as a candidate for the borough. He lost his head so completely in the
+glory of the thing, that it never occurred to him to ask what might
+be the probable amount of the expenditure. "There ain't no father in
+all London as 'd do more for his son than I would, if only I see'd
+there was something in it," said Moggs senior, with a tear in his
+eye. Moggs junior was profuse in gratitude, profuse in obedience,
+profuse in love. Oh, heavens, what a golden crown was there now
+within his grasp!
+
+All this occurred between the father and son early in the morning at
+Shepherd's Bush, whither the son had gone out to the father after a
+night of feverish longing and ambition. They went into town together,
+on the top of the omnibus, and Ontario felt that he was being
+carried heavenwards. What a heaven had he before him, even in that
+fortnight's canvass which it would be his glory to undertake! What
+truths he would tell to the people, how he would lead them with him
+by political revelations that should be almost divine, how he would
+extract from them bursts of rapturous applause! To explain to them
+that labour is the salt of the earth;--that would be his mission.
+And then, how sweet to teach them the value, the inestimable value,
+of the political privilege lately accorded to them,--or, as Ontario
+would put it, lately wrested on their behalf from the hands of an
+aristocracy which was more timid even than it was selfish;--how sweet
+to explain this, and then to instruct them, afterwards, that it was
+their duty now, having got this great boon for themselves, to see
+at once that it should be extended to those below them. "Let the
+first work of household suffrage be a demand for manhood suffrage."
+This had been enunciated by Ontario Moggs with great effect at the
+Cheshire Cheese;--and now, as the result of such enunciation, he was
+going down to Percycross to stand as a candidate for the borough! He
+was almost drunk with delight as he sat upon the knife-board of the
+Shepherd's Bush omnibus, thinking of it all.
+
+He, too, went down to Percycross, making a preliminary journey,--as
+had done Sir Thomas Underwood,--timing his arrival there a day or
+two after the departure of the lawyer. Alas, he, also, met much to
+disappoint him even at that early period of the contest. The people
+whom he was taken to see were not millionaires and tradesmen in
+a large way of business, but leading young men of warm political
+temperaments. This man was president of a mechanics' institute, that
+secretary to an amalgamation of unions for general improvement, and
+a third chairman of the Young Men's Reform Association. They were
+delighted to see him, and were very civil; but he soon found that
+they were much more anxious to teach him than they were to receive
+his political lessons. When he began, as unfortunately he did very
+early in his dealings with them, to open out his own views, he soon
+found that they had views also to open out. He was to represent
+them,--that is to say, become the mouthpiece of their ideas. He had
+been selected because he was supposed to have some command of money.
+Of course he would have to address the people in the Mechanics' Hall;
+but the chairman of the Young Men's Reform Association was very
+anxious to tell him what to say on that occasion. "I am accustomed to
+addressing people," said Ontario Moggs, with a considerable accession
+of dignity.
+
+He had the satisfaction of addressing the people, and the people
+received him kindly. But he thought he observed that the applause was
+greater when the secretary of the Amalgamation-of-Improvement-Unions
+spoke, and he was sure that the enthusiasm for the Young Men's
+chairman mounted much higher than had done any ardour on his own
+behalf. And he was astonished to find that these young men were just
+as fluent as himself. He did think, indeed, that they did not go
+quite so deep into the matter as he did, that they had not thought
+out great questions so thoroughly, but they had a way of saying
+things which,--which would have told even at the Cheshire Cheese. The
+result of all this was, that at the end of three days,--though he
+was, no doubt, candidate for the borough of Percycross, and in that
+capacity a great man in Percycross,--he did not seem to himself to
+be so great as he had been when he made the journey down from London.
+There was a certain feeling that he was a cat's-paw, brought there
+for certain objects which were not his objects,--because they wanted
+money, and some one who would be fool enough to fight a losing
+battle! He did not reap all that meed of personal admiration for his
+eloquence which he expected.
+
+And, then, during these three days there arose another question, the
+discussion of which embarrassed him not a little. Mr. Westmacott was
+in the town, and there was a question whether he and Mr. Westmacott
+were to join forces. It was understood that Mr. Westmacott and Mr.
+Westmacott's leading friends objected to this; but the chairmen of
+the young men, and the presidents and the secretaries on the Radical
+side put their heads together, and declared that if Mr. Westmacott
+were proud they would run their horse alone;--they would vote for
+Moggs, and for Moggs only. Or else,--as it was whispered,--they would
+come to terms with Griffenbottom, and see that Sir Thomas was sent
+back to London. The chairmen, and the presidents, and the secretaries
+were powerful enough to get the better of Mr. Westmacott, and large
+placards were printed setting forward the joint names of Westmacott
+and Moggs. The two liberal candidates were to employ the same agent,
+and were to canvass together. This was all very well,--was the very
+thing which Moggs should have desired. But it was all arranged
+without any consultation with him, and he felt that the objection
+which had been raised was personal to himself. Worse than all, when
+he was brought face to face with Mr. Westmacott he had not a word
+to say for himself! He tried it and failed. Mr. Westmacott had been
+a member of Parliament, and was a gentleman. Ontario, for aught he
+himself knew, might have called upon Mr. Westmacott for the amount
+of Mr. Westmacott's little bill. He caught himself calling Mr.
+Westmacott, sir, and almost wished that he could bite out his own
+tongue. He felt that he was a nobody in the interview, and that the
+chairmen, the secretaries, and the presidents were regretting their
+bargain, and saying among themselves that they had done very badly in
+bringing down Ontario Moggs as a candidate for their borough. There
+were moments before he left Percycross in which he was almost tempted
+to resign.
+
+But he left the town the accepted candidate of his special friends,
+and was assured, with many parting grasps of the hand on the
+platform, that he would certainly be brought in at the top of the
+poll. Another little incident should be mentioned. He had been asked
+by the electioneering agent for a small trifle of some hundred pounds
+towards the expenses, and this, by the generosity of his father, he
+had been able to give. "We shall get along now like a house on fire,"
+said the agent, as he pocketed the cheque. Up to that moment there
+may have been doubts upon the agent's mind.
+
+As he went back to London he acknowledged to himself that he had
+failed hitherto,--he had failed in making that impression at
+Percycross which would have been becoming to him as the future member
+of Parliament for the borough; but he gallantly resolved that he
+would do better in the future. He would speak in such a way that the
+men of Percycross should listen to him and admire. He would make
+occasion for himself. He thought that he could do better than Mr.
+Westmacott,--put more stuff in what he had got to say. And, whatever
+might happen to him, he would hold up his head. Why should he not be
+as good a man as Westmacott? It was the man that was needed,--not
+the outside trappings. Then he asked himself a question whether, as
+trappings themselves were so trivial, a man was necessarily mean who
+dealt in trappings. He did not remember to have heard of a bootmaker
+in Parliament. But there should be a bootmaker in Parliament
+soon;--and thus he plucked up his courage.
+
+On his journey down to Percycross he had thought that immediately on
+his return to London he would go across to Hendon, and take advantage
+of his standing as a candidate for the borough; but as he returned he
+resolved that he would wait till the election was over. He would go
+to Polly with all his honours on his head.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+RALPH NEWTON'S DECISION.
+
+
+Ontario Moggs was at Percycross when Ralph Newton was making his
+formal offer to Polly Neefit. Ralph when he had made his offer
+returned to London with mixed feelings. He had certainly been
+oppressed at times by the conviction that he must make the offer even
+though it went against the grain with him to do so;--and at these
+moments he had not failed to remind himself that he was about to make
+himself miserable for life because he had been weak enough to take
+pecuniary assistance in the hour of his temporary necessities from
+the hands of Polly's father. Now he had made his offer; it had not
+been accepted, and he was still free. He could see his way out of
+that dilemma without dishonour. But then that dilemma became very
+much smaller to his sight when it was surmounted,--as is the nature
+with all dilemmas; and the other dilemma, which would have been
+remedied had Polly accepted him, again loomed very large. And as he
+looked back at the matrimonial dilemma which he had escaped, and
+at Polly standing before him, comely, healthy, and honest, such a
+pleasant armful, and so womanly withal,--so pleasant a girl if only
+she was not to be judged and sentenced by others beside himself,--he
+almost thought that that dilemma was one which he could have borne
+without complaint. But Polly's suggestion that they should allow a
+year to run round in order that they might learn to know each other
+was one which he could not entertain. He had but three days in which
+to give an answer to his uncle, and up to this time two alternatives
+had been open to him,--the sale of his reversion and independence, or
+Polly and the future lordship of Newton. He had thought that there
+was nothing but to choose. It had not occurred to him that Polly
+would raise any objection. He had felt neither fear nor hope in that
+direction. It followed as a consequence now that the lordship must
+go. He would not, however, make up his mind that it should go till
+the last moment.
+
+On the following morning he was thinking that he might as well go to
+the shop in Conduit Street, feeling that he could encounter Neefit
+without any qualms of conscience, when Mr. Neefit came to him. This
+was certainly a better arrangement. It was easier to talk of his
+own affairs sitting at ease in his own arm-chair, than to carry on
+the discussion among the various sporting garments which adorned Mr.
+Neefit's little back room, subject to interruption from customers,
+and possibly within the hearing of Mr. Waddle and Herr Bawwah.
+Neefit, seated at the end of the sofa in Ralph's comfortable room,
+looking out of his saucer eyes with all his energy, was in a certain
+degree degrading,--but was not quite so degrading as Neefit at his
+own barn-door in Conduit Street. "I was just coming to you," he said,
+as he made the breeches-maker welcome.
+
+"Well;--yes; but I thought I'd catch you here, Captain. Them men
+of mine has such long ears! That German who lets on that he don't
+understand only just a word or two of English, hears everything
+through a twelve-inch brick wall. Polly told me as you'd been with
+her."
+
+"I suppose so, Mr. Neefit."
+
+"Oh, she ain't one as 'd keep anything from me. She's open and
+straightforward, anyways."
+
+"So I found her."
+
+"Now look here, Captain. I've just one word to say about her.
+Stick to her." Ralph was well aware that he must explain the exact
+circumstances in which he stood to the man who was to have been his
+father-in-law, but hardly knew how to begin his explanation. "She
+ain't nowise again you," continued Mr. Neefit. "She owned as much
+when I put her through her facings. I did put her through her facings
+pretty tightly. 'What is it that you want, Miss?' said I. 'D' you
+want to have a husband, or d' you want to be an old maid?' They don't
+like that word old maid;--not as used again themselves, don't any
+young woman."
+
+"Polly will never be an old maid," said Ralph.
+
+"She owned as she didn't want that. 'I suppose I'll have to take some
+of 'em some day,' she said. Lord, how pretty she did look as she said
+it;--just laughing and crying, smiling and pouting all at once. She
+ain't a bad 'un to look at, Captain?"
+
+"Indeed she is not."
+
+"Nor yet to go. Do you stick to her. Them's my words. 'D' you want
+to have that ugly bootmaker?' said I. 'He ain't ugly,' said she. 'D'
+you want to have him, Miss?' said I. 'No, I don't,' said she. 'Well!'
+said I. 'But I do know him,' said Polly, 'and I don't know Mr. Newton
+no more than Adam!' Them were her very words, Captain. Do you stick
+to her, Captain. I'll tell you what. Let's all go down to Margate
+together for a week." That was Mr. Neefit's plan of action.
+
+Then Ralph got up from his easy-chair and began his explanation. He
+couldn't very well go down to Margate, delightful as it would be to
+sit upon the sands with Polly. He was so situated that he must at
+once decide as to the sale of his property at Newton. Mr. Neefit put
+his hands in his pockets, and sat perfectly silent, listening to his
+young friend's explanation. If Polly would have accepted him at once,
+Ralph went on to explain, everything would have been straight; but,
+as she would not do so, he must take his uncle's offer. He had no
+other means of extricating himself from his embarrassments. "Why, Mr.
+Neefit, I could not look you in the face unless I were prepared to
+pay you your money," he said.
+
+"Drat that," replied Neefit, and then again he listened.
+
+Ralph went on. He could not go on long in his present condition. His
+bill for £500 to Mr. Horsball of the Moonbeam was coming round. He
+literally had not £20 in his possession to carry on the war. His
+uncle's offer would be withdrawn if it were not accepted the day
+after to-morrow. Nobody else would give half so much. The thing must
+be done, and then;--why, then he would have nothing to offer to Polly
+worthy of her acceptance. "Bother," said Mr. Neefit, who had not once
+taken his eyes off Ralph's face. Ralph said that that might be all
+very well, but such were the facts. "You ain't that soft that you're
+going to let 'em rob you of the estate?" said the breeches-maker in
+a tone of horror. Ralph raised his hands and his eyebrows together.
+Yes;--that was what he intended to do.
+
+"There shan't be nothing of the kind," said the breeches-maker.
+"What! £7,000 a year, ain't it? All in land, ain't it? And it must
+be your own, let 'em do what they will; mustn't it?" He paused a
+moment, and Ralph nodded his head. "What you have to do is to get a
+wife,--and a son before any of 'em can say Jack Robinson. Lord bless
+you! Just spit at 'em if they talks of buying it. S'pose the old gent
+was to go off all along of apperplexy the next day, how'd you feel
+then? Like cutting your throat;--wouldn't you, Captain?"
+
+"But my uncle's life is very good."
+
+"He ain't got no receipt against kingdom come, I dare say." Ralph was
+surprised by his tradesman's eloquence and wit. "You have a chick of
+your own, and then you'll know as it'll be yours some way or other.
+If I'd the chance I'd sooner beg, borrow, starve, or die, before I'd
+sell it;--let alone working, Captain." There was satire too as well
+as eloquence in the breeches-maker. "No;--you must run your chance,
+somehow."
+
+"I don't see my way," said Ralph.
+
+"You have got something, Captain;--something of your own?"
+
+"Well;--just enough to pay my debts, if all were sold, and buy myself
+a rope to hang myself."
+
+"I'll pay your debts, Captain."
+
+"I couldn't hear of it, Mr. Neefit."
+
+"As for not hearing of it,--that's bother. You do hear of it now. And
+how much more do you want to keep you? You shall have what you want.
+You meant honest along of Polly yesterday, and you mean honest now."
+Ralph winced, but he did not deny what Neefit said, nor aught that
+was implied in the saying. "We'll bring you and Polly together, and I
+tell you she'll come round." Ralph shook his head. "Anyways you shall
+have the money;--there now. We'll have a bit of a paper, and if this
+marriage don't come off there'll be the money to come back, and five
+per cent. when the old gent dies."
+
+"But I might die first."
+
+"We'll insure your life, Captain. Only we must be upon the square."
+
+"Oh, yes," said Ralph.
+
+"I'd rather a'most lose it all than think such a chance should be
+missed. £7,000 a year, and all in land? When one knows how hard it is
+to get, to think of selling it!"
+
+Ralph made no positive promise, but when Mr. Neefit left him, there
+was,--so at least thought Mr. Neefit,--an implied understanding that
+"the Captain" would at once put an end to this transaction between
+him and his uncle. And yet Ralph didn't feel quite certain. The
+breeches-maker had been generous,--very generous, and very trusting;
+but he hated the man's generosity and confidence. The breeches-maker
+had got such a hold of him that he seemed to have lost all power of
+thinking and acting for himself. And then such a man as he was, with
+his staring round eyes, and heavy face, and dirty hands, and ugly
+bald head! There is a baldness that is handsome and noble, and a
+baldness that is peculiarly mean and despicable. Neefit's baldness
+was certainly of the latter order. Now Moggs senior, who was grey and
+not bald, was not bad looking,--at a little distance. His face when
+closely inspected was poor and greedy, but the general effect at a
+passing glance was not contemptible. Moggs might have been a banker,
+or an officer in the Commissariat, or a clerk in the Treasury. A
+son-in-law would have had hopes of Moggs. But nothing of the kind was
+possible with Neefit. One would be forced to explain that he was a
+respectable tradesman in Conduit Street in order that he might not be
+taken for a dealer in potatoes from Whitechapel. He was hopeless. And
+yet he had taken upon himself the absolute management of all Ralph
+Newton's affairs!
+
+Ralph was very unhappy, and in his misery he went to Sir Thomas's
+chambers. This was about four o'clock in the day, at which hour Sir
+Thomas was almost always in his rooms. But Stemm with much difficulty
+succeeded in making him believe that the lawyer was not at home.
+Stemm at this time was much disturbed by his master's terrible
+resolution to try the world again, to stand for a seat in Parliament,
+and to put himself once more in the way of work and possible
+promotion. Stemm had condemned the project,--but, nevertheless,
+took glory in it. What if his master should become,--should
+become anything great and magnificent. Stemm had often groaned in
+silence,--had groaned unconsciously, that his master should be
+nothing. He loved his master thoroughly,--loving no one else in
+the whole world,--and sympathised with him acutely. Still he had
+condemned the project. "There's so many of them, Sir Thomas, as
+is only wanting to put their fingers into somebody's eyes." "No
+doubt, Stemm, no doubt," said Sir Thomas; "and as well into mine as
+another's." "That's it, Sir Thomas." "But I'll just run down and
+see, Stemm." And so it had been settled. Stemm, who had always hated
+Ralph Newton, and who now regarded his master's time as more precious
+than ever, would hardly give any answer at all to Ralph's enquiries.
+His master might be at home at Fulham,--probably was. Where should
+a gentleman so likely be as at home,--that is, when he wasn't in
+chambers? "Anyways, he's not here," said Stemm, bobbing his head, and
+holding the door ready to close it. Ralph was convinced, then dined
+at his club, and afterwards went down to Fulham. He had heard nothing
+from Stemm, or elsewhere, of the intended candidature.
+
+Sir Thomas was not at Fulham, nor did the girls know aught of his
+whereabouts. But the great story was soon told. Papa was going to
+stand for Percycross. "We are so glad," said Mary Bonner, bursting
+out into enthusiasm. "We walk about the garden making speeches to the
+electors all day. Oh dear, I do wish we could do something."
+
+"Glad is no word," said Clarissa. "But if he loses it!"
+
+"The very trying for it is good," said Patience. "It is just the
+proper thing for papa."
+
+"I shall feel so proud when uncle is in Parliament again," said Mary
+Bonner. "A woman's pride is always vicarious;--but still it is
+pride."
+
+Ralph also was surprised,--so much surprised that for a few minutes
+his own affairs were turned out of his head. He, too, had thought
+that Sir Thomas would never again do anything in the world,--unless
+that book should be written of which he had so often heard
+hints,--though never yet, with any accuracy, its name or subject. Sir
+Thomas, he was told, had been at Percycross, but was not supposed
+to be there now. "Of course he was in his chambers," said Clarissa.
+"Old Stemm does know how to tell lies so well!" It was, however,
+acknowledged that, having on his hands a piece of business so very
+weighty, Sir Thomas might be almost anywhere without any fault on his
+part. A gentleman in the throes of an election for Parliament could
+not be expected to be at home. Even Patience did not feel called upon
+to regret his absence.
+
+Before he went back to town Ralph found himself alone with Mary for
+a few minutes. "Mr. Newton," she said, "why don't you stand for
+Parliament?"
+
+"I have not the means."
+
+"You have great prospects. I should have thought you were just
+the man who ought to make it the work of your life to get into
+Parliament." Ralph began to ask himself what had been the work of his
+life. "They say that to be of real use a man ought to begin young."
+
+"Nobody ought to go into the House without money," said Ralph.
+
+"That means, I suppose, that men shouldn't go in who want their time
+to earn their bread. But you haven't that to do. If I were a man such
+as you are I would always try to be something. I am sure Parliament
+was meant for men having estates such as you will have."
+
+"When I've got it, I'll think about Parliament, Miss Bonner."
+
+"Perhaps it will be too late then. Don't you know that song of
+'Excelsior,' Mr. Newton? You ought to learn to sing it."
+
+Yes;--he was learning to sing it after a fine fashion;--borrowing his
+tradesman's money, and promising to marry his tradesman's daughter!
+He was half inclined to be angry with this interference from Mary
+Bonner;--and yet he liked her for it. Could it be that she herself
+felt an interest in what concerned him? "Ah me,"--he said to
+himself,--"how much better would it have been to have learned
+something, to have fitted myself for some high work; and to have been
+able to choose some such woman as this for my wife!" And all that had
+been sacrificed to horses at the Moonbeam, and little dinners with
+Captain Fooks and Lieutenant Cox! Every now and again during his life
+Phoebus had touched his trembling ears, and had given him to know
+that to sport with the tangles of Naæra's hair was not satisfactory
+as the work of a man's life. But, alas, the god had intervened but
+to little purpose. The horses at the Moonbeam, which had been two,
+became four, and then six; and now he was pledged to marry Polly
+Neefit,--if only he could induce Polly Neefit to have him. It was too
+late in the day for him to think now of Parliament and Mary Bonner.
+
+And then, before he left them, poor Clary whispered a word into
+his ear,--a cousinly, brotherly word, such as their circumstances
+authorised her to make. "Is it settled about the property, Ralph?"
+For she, too, had heard that this question of a sale was going
+forward.
+
+"Not quite, Clary."
+
+"You won't sell it; will you?"
+
+"I don't think I shall."
+
+"Oh, don't;--pray don't. Anything will be better than that. It is so
+good to wait." She was thinking only of Ralph, and of his interests,
+but she could not forget the lesson which she was daily teaching to
+herself.
+
+"If I can help it, I shall not sell it."
+
+"Papa will help you;--will he not? If I were you they should drag
+me in pieces before I would part with my birthright;--and such a
+birthright!" It had occurred to her once that Ralph might feel that,
+after what had passed between them one night on the lawn, he was
+bound not to wait, that it was his duty so to settle his affairs that
+he might at once go to her father and say,--"Though I shall never be
+Mr. Newton of Newton, I have still such and such means of supporting
+your daughter." Ah! if he would only be open with her, and tell
+her everything, he would soon know how unnecessary it was to make
+a sacrifice for her. He pressed her hand as he left her, and said
+a word that was a word of comfort. "Clary, I cannot speak with
+certainty, but I do not think that it will be sold."
+
+"I am so glad!" she said. "Oh, Ralph, never, never part with it." And
+then she blushed, as she thought of what she had said. Could it be
+that he would think that she was speaking for her own sake;--because
+she looked forward to reigning some day as mistress of Newton Priory?
+Ah, no, Ralph would never misinterpret her thoughts in a manner so
+unmanly as that!
+
+The day came, and it was absolutely necessary that the answer should
+be given. Neefit came to prompt him again, and seemed to sit on
+the sofa with more feeling of being at home than he had displayed
+before. He brought his cheque-book with him, and laid it rather
+ostentatiously upon the table. He had good news, too, from Polly. "If
+Mr. Newton would come down to Margate, she would be ever so glad."
+That was the message as given by Mr. Neefit, but the reader will
+probably doubt that it came exactly in those words from Polly's lips.
+Ralph was angry, and shook his head in wrath. "Well, Captain, how's
+it to be?" asked Mr. Neefit.
+
+"I shall let my uncle know that I intend to keep my property," said
+Ralph, with as much dignity as he knew how to assume.
+
+The breeches-maker jumped up and crowed,--actually crowed, as might
+have crowed a cock. It was an art that he had learned in his youth.
+"That's my lad of wax," he said, slapping Ralph on the shoulder. "And
+now tell us how much it's to be," said he, opening the cheque-book.
+But Ralph declined to take money at the present moment, endeavouring
+to awe the breeches-maker back into sobriety by his manner. Neefit
+did put up his cheque-book, but was not awed back into perfect
+sobriety. "Come to me, when you want it, and you shall have
+it, Captain. Don't let that chap as 'as the 'orses be any way
+disagreeable. You tell him he can have it all when he wants it. And
+he can;--be blowed if he can't. We'll see it through, Captain. And
+now, Captain, when'll you come out and see Polly?" Ralph would give
+no definite answer to this,--on account of business, but was induced
+at last to send his love to Miss Neefit. "That man will drive me into
+a lunatic asylum at last," he said to himself, as he threw himself
+into his arm-chair when Neefit had departed.
+
+Nevertheless, he wrote his letter to his uncle's lawyer, Mr. Carey,
+as follows:--
+
+
+   ---- Club, 20 Sept., 186--.
+
+   DEAR SIR,--
+
+   After mature consideration I have resolved upon declining
+   the offer made to me by my uncle respecting the Newton
+   property.
+
+   Faithfully yours,
+
+   RALPH NEWTON.
+
+   Richard Carey, Esq.
+
+
+It was very short, but it seemed to him to contain all that there
+was to be said. He might, indeed, have expressed regret that so much
+trouble had been occasioned;--but the trouble had been taken not for
+his sake, and he was not bound to denude himself of his property
+because his uncle had taken trouble.
+
+When the letter was put into the Squire's hands in Mr. Carey's
+private room, the Squire was nearly mad with rage. In spite of all
+that his son had told him, in disregard of all his own solicitor's
+cautions, in the teeth of his nephew Gregory's certainty, he had
+felt sure that the thing would be done. The young man was penniless,
+and must sell; and he could sell nowhere else with circumstances so
+favourable. And now the young man wrote a letter as though he were
+declining to deal about a horse! "It's some sham, some falsehood,"
+said the Squire. "Some low attorney is putting him up to thinking
+that he can get more out of me."
+
+"It's possible," said Mr. Carey; "but there's nothing more to be
+done." The Squire when last in London had asserted most positively
+that he would not increase his bid.
+
+"But he's penniless," said the Squire.
+
+"There are those about him that will put him in the way of raising
+money," said the lawyer.
+
+"And so the property will go to the hammer,--and I can do nothing to
+help it!" Mr. Carey did not tell his client that a gentleman had no
+right to complain because he could not deal with effects which were
+not his own; but that was the line which his thoughts took. The
+Squire walked about the room, lashing himself in his rage. He could
+not bear to be beaten. "How much more would do it?" he said at last.
+It would be terribly bitter to him to be made to give way, to be
+driven to increase the price; but even that would be less bitter than
+failure.
+
+"I should say nothing,--just at present, if I were you," said Mr.
+Carey. The Squire still walked about the room. "If he raises money
+on the estate we shall hear of it. And so much of his rights as pass
+from him we can purchase. It will be more prudent for us to wait."
+
+"Would another £5,000 do it at once?" said the Squire.
+
+"At any rate I would not offer it," said Mr. Carey.
+
+"Ah;--you don't understand. You don't feel what it is that I want.
+What would you say if a man told you to wait while your hand was in
+the fire?"
+
+"But you are in possession, Mr. Newton."
+
+"No;--I'm not. I'm not in possession. I'm only a lodger in the place.
+I can do nothing. I cannot even build a farm-house for a tenant."
+
+"Surely you can, Mr. Gregory."
+
+"What;--for him! You think that would be one of the delights of
+possession? Put my money into the ground like seed, in order that the
+fruit may be gathered by him! I'm not a good enough Christian, Mr.
+Carey, to take much delight in that. I'll tell you what it is, Mr.
+Carey. The place is a hell upon earth to me, till I can call it my
+own." At last he left his lawyer, and went back to Newton Priory,
+having given instructions that the transaction should be re-opened
+between the two lawyers, and that additional money, to the extent of
+£5,000, should by degrees be offered.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+"I'LL BE A HYPOCRITE IF YOU CHOOSE."
+
+
+There could hardly be a more unhappy man than was the Squire on his
+journey home. He had buoyed himself up with hope till he had felt
+certain that he would return to Newton Priory its real and permanent
+owner, no longer a lodger in the place, as he had called himself to
+the lawyer, but able to look upon every tree as his own, with power
+to cut down every oak upon the property; though, as he knew very
+well, he would rather spill blood from his veins than cut down one of
+them. But in that case he would preserve the oaks,--preserve them by
+his own decision,--because they were his own, and because he could
+give them to his own son. His son should cut them down if he pleased.
+And then the power of putting up would be quite as sweet to him as
+the power of pulling down. What pleasure would he have in making
+every deficient house upon the estate efficient, when he knew that
+the stones as he laid them would not become the property of his
+enemy. He was a man who had never spent his full income. The property
+had been in his hands now for some fifteen years, and he had already
+amassed a considerable sum of money,--a sum which would have
+enabled him to buy out his nephew altogether, without selling an
+acre,--presuming the price already fixed to have been sufficient. He
+had determined to sell something, knowing that he could not do as he
+would do with the remainder if his hands were empty. He had settled
+it all in his mind;--how Ralph, his Ralph, must marry, and have a
+separate income. There would be no doubt about his Ralph's marriage
+when once it should be known that his Ralph was the heir to Newton.
+The bar sinister would matter but little then;--would be clean
+forgotten. His mind had been full of all this as he had come up
+to London. It had all been settled. He had decided upon ignoring
+altogether those cautions which his son and nephew and lawyer had
+croaked into his ears. This legitimate heir was a ruined spendthrift,
+who had no alternative but to raise money, no ambition but to spend
+money, no pursuit but to waste money. His temperament was so sanguine
+that when he entered Mr. Carey's office he had hardly doubted. Now
+everything had been upset, and he was cast down from triumph into an
+abyss of despondency by two lines from this wretched, meaningless,
+poor-spirited spendthrift! "I believe he'd take a pleasure in seeing
+the property going to the dogs, merely to spite me," said the Squire
+to his son, as soon as he reached home,--having probably forgotten
+his former idea, that his nephew was determined, with the pertinacity
+of a patient, far-sighted Jew money-lender, to wring from him the
+last possible shilling.
+
+Ralph, who was not the heir, was of his nature so just, that he could
+not hear an accusation which he did not believe to be true, without
+protesting against it. The Squire had called the heir a spiritless
+spendthrift, and a malicious evil-doer, intent upon ruining the
+estate, and a grasping Jew, all in the same breath.
+
+"I think you are hard upon him, sir," said the son to the father.
+
+"Of course you think so. At any rate you'll say so," said the Squire.
+"One would suppose I was thinking only of myself to hear you talk."
+
+"I know what you're thinking of," said Ralph slowly; "and I know how
+much I owe you."
+
+"I sometimes think that you ought to curse me," said the Squire.
+
+After this, at this moment, with such words ringing in his ears,
+Ralph found it to be impossible to expostulate with his father. He
+could only take his father's arm, and whisper a soft feminine word or
+two. He would be as happy as the day was long, if only he could see
+his father happy.
+
+"I can never be happy till I have placed you where you would have
+been," said the Squire. "The gods are just, and our pleasant vices
+make instruments to scourge us." He did not quote the line to
+himself, but the purport of it hung heavy on him. And yet he thought
+it hard that because he had money in his pocket he could not
+altogether make himself free of the scourge.
+
+On the following morning he was less vituperative and less
+unreasonable, but he was still intent upon the subject. After
+breakfast he got his son into his own room,--the room in which he did
+his magistrate's work, and added up his accounts, and kept his spuds
+and spurs,--and seriously discussed the whole matter. What would it
+be wise that they should do next? "You don't mean to tell me that you
+don't wish me to buy it?" said the Squire. No; Ralph would not say
+that. If it were in the market, to be bought, and if the money were
+forthcoming, of course such a purchase would be expedient. "The money
+is forthcoming," said the Squire. "We can make it up one way or
+another. What matter if we did sell Brownriggs? What matter if we
+sold Brownriggs and Twining as well?" Ralph quite acceded to this.
+As far as buying and selling were concerned he would have acceded
+to anything that would have made his father happy. "I won't say a
+word against this fellow, since you are so fond of him," continued
+the Squire. Ralph, though his father paused, made no reply to the
+intended sarcasm. "But you must allow that he had a reason for
+writing such a letter as he did."
+
+"Of course he had a reason," said Ralph.
+
+"Well;--we'll say that he wants to keep it."
+
+"That's not unnatural."
+
+"Not at all. Everybody likes to keep what he's got, and to get as
+much as he can. That's nature. But a man can't eat his cake and have
+it. He has been slow to learn that, no doubt; but I suppose he has
+learned it. He wouldn't have gone to Sir Thomas Underwood, in the
+way he did, crying to be helped,--if he hadn't learned it. Remember,
+Ralph, I didn't go to him first;--he came to me. You always forget
+that. What was the meaning then of Sir Thomas writing to me in that
+pitiful way,--asking me to do something for him;--and he who had I
+don't know how much, something like £800 a year, I take it, the day
+he came of age?"
+
+"Of course he has been imprudent."
+
+"He cannot eat his cake and have it. He wants to eat it, and I want
+to have it. I am sure it may be managed. I suppose you mean to go up
+and see him."
+
+"See Ralph?"
+
+"Why not? You are not afraid of him." The son smiled, but made
+no answer. "You might find out from him what it is he really
+wants;--what he will really do. Those attorneys don't understand.
+Carey isn't a bad fellow, and as for honesty, I'd trust him with
+anything. I've known him and his father all my life, and in any
+ordinary piece of business there is no one whose opinion I would take
+so soon. But he talks of my waiting, telling me that the thing will
+come round after a few years,--as if what one wanted was merely an
+investment for one's money. It isn't that."
+
+"No, sir;--it isn't that."
+
+"Not that at all. It's the feeling of the thing. Your lawyer may be
+the best man in the world to lay out your money in a speculation, but
+he doesn't dare to buy contentment for you. He doesn't see it, and
+one hardly dares to try and make him see it. I'd give the half of
+it all to have the other half, but I cannot tell him that. I'd give
+one half so long as that fellow wasn't to be the owner of the other.
+We'll have no opposition Newton in the place."
+
+The Squire's son was of course willing enough to go up to London.
+He would see the heir at any rate, and endeavour to learn what were
+the wishes of the heir. "You may say what money you like," said the
+Squire. "I hardly care what I pay, so long as it is possible to pay
+it. Go up to £10,000 more, if that will do it."
+
+"I don't think I can bargain," said the son.
+
+"But he can," said the father. "At any rate you can find out whether
+he will name a price. I'd go myself, but I know I should quarrel with
+him."
+
+Ralph prepared himself for the journey, and, as a matter of course,
+took the parson into his confidence; not telling the parson anything
+of the absolute sum named, but explaining that it was his purpose to
+become acquainted with the heir, and if possible to learn his views.
+"You'll find Ralph a very different fellow from what my uncle thinks
+him," said the parson. "I shall be much mistaken if he does not tell
+you quite openly what he intends. He is careless about money, but he
+never was greedy." And then they got to other matters. "You will of
+course see the girls at Fulham," said the parson.
+
+"Yes;--I shall manage to get down there."
+
+The story of Gregory's passion for Clarissa was well known to the
+other. Gregory, who would not for worlds have spoken of such a matter
+among his general acquaintance, who could not have brought himself to
+mention it in the presence of two hearers, had told it all to the one
+companion who was nearest and dearest to him,--"I wish I were going
+with you," said the parson.
+
+"Why not come with me then?"
+
+"And yet I don't wish it. If I were in London I doubt whether I would
+go there. There could be no use in it."
+
+"It is one of those things," said Ralph, "in which a man should never
+despair as long as there is a possibility."
+
+"Ah, yes; people say so. I don't believe in that kind of perseverance
+myself;--at any rate not with her. She knows her own mind,--as well
+as I know mine. I think I promised her that I would trouble her no
+more."
+
+"Promises like that are mere pie-crusts," said Ralph.
+
+"Give her my love;--that's all. And don't do that unless you're alone
+with her. I shall live it down some day, no doubt, but to tell the
+truth I have made up my mind not to marry. I'm half inclined to think
+that a clergyman shouldn't marry. There are some things which our
+ancestors understood pretty well, although we think they were such
+fools. I should like to see the new cousin, certainly."
+
+Ralph said nothing more about the new cousin; and was perhaps hardly
+aware how greatly the idea of again seeing the new cousin had
+enhanced the pleasure of his journey to London. About a week after
+this he started, having devoted nearly all the afternoon before
+he went to the packing of a large basket of ferns,--to each root
+or small bundle of which was appended a long name in Latin,--as an
+offering to Patience Underwood. And yet he did not care very much for
+Patience Underwood.
+
+It was just the end of September,--the last day of September, when
+he reached London. Ralph the heir was out of town, and the servant
+at his lodging professed she did not know where he was. She thought
+it probable that he was "at Mr. 'Orsball's,--Mr. 'Orsball of the
+Moonbeam, Barnfield,--a-looking after his 'orses." She suggested
+this, not from any knowledge in her possession, but because Ralph was
+always believed to go to the Moonbeam when he left town. He would,
+however, be back next week. His namesake, therefore, did not consider
+that it would be expedient for him to follow the heir down to the
+Moonbeam.
+
+But the Underwood girls would certainly be at Fulham, and he started
+at once with his ferns for Popham Villa. He found them at home, and,
+singular to say, he found Sir Thomas there also. On the very next
+morning Sir Thomas was to start for Percycross, to commence the
+actual work of his canvass. The canvass was to occupy a fortnight,
+and on Monday the sixteenth the candidates were to be nominated.
+Tuesday the seventeenth was the day of the election. The whole
+household was so full of the subject that at first there was hardly
+room for the ferns. "Oh, Mr. Newton, we are so much obliged to you.
+Papa is going to stand for Percycross." That, or nearly that, was the
+form in which the ferns were received. Newton was quite contented. An
+excuse for entering the house was what he had wanted, and his excuse
+was deemed ample. Sir Thomas, who was disposed to be very civil to
+the stranger, had not much to say about his own prospects. To a
+certain degree he was ashamed of Percycross, and had said very little
+about it even to Stemm since his personal acquaintance had been made
+with Messrs. Spiveycomb, Pile, and Pabsby. But the girls were not
+ashamed of Percycross. To them as yet Percycross was the noblest of
+all British boroughs. Had not the Conservatives of Percycross chosen
+their father to be their representative out of all British subjects?
+Sir Thomas had tried, but had tried quite in vain, to make them
+understand the real fashion of the selection. If Percycross would
+only send him to Parliament, Percycross should be divine. "What d'you
+think?" said Clary; "there's a man of the name of--. I wish you'd
+guess the name of this man who is going to stand against papa, Mr.
+Newton."
+
+"The name won't make much difference," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"Ontario Moggs!" said Clary. "Do you think it possible, Mr. Newton,
+that Percycross,--the town where one of the Percys set up a cross in
+the time of the Crusaders,--didn't he, papa?--"
+
+"I shall not consider myself bound to learn all that unless they
+elect me," said Sir Thomas; "but I don't think there were Percys in
+the days of the Crusaders."
+
+"At any rate, the proper name is Percy St. Cross," said Clary. "Could
+such a borough choose Ontario Moggs to be one of its members, Mr.
+Newton?"
+
+"I do like the name," said Mary Bonner.
+
+"Perhaps papa and Ontario Moggs may be the two members," said Clary,
+laughing. "If so, you must bring him down here, papa. Only he's a
+shoemaker."
+
+"That makes no difference in these days," said Sir Thomas.
+
+The ferns were at last unpacked, and the three girls were profuse in
+their thanks. Who does not know how large a space a basket of ferns
+will cover when it is unpacked and how large the treasure looms.
+"They'll cover the rocks on the other side," said Mary. It seemed to
+Newton that Mary Bonner was more at home than she had been when he
+had seen her before, spoke more freely of what concerned the house,
+and was beginning to become one of the family. But still she was, as
+it were, overshadowed by Clarissa. In appearance, indeed, she was the
+queen among the three, but in active social life she did not compete
+with Clary. Patience stood as a statue on a pedestal, by no means
+unobserved and ignored; beautiful in form, but colourless. Newton, as
+he looked at the three, wondered that a man so quiet and gentle as
+the young parson should have chosen such a love as Clary Underwood.
+He remained half the day at the villa, dining there at the invitation
+of Sir Thomas. "My last dinner," said Sir Thomas, "unless I am lucky
+enough to be rejected. Men when they are canvassing never dine;--and
+not often after they're elected."
+
+The guest had not much opportunity of ingratiating himself specially
+with the beauty; but the beauty did so far ingratiate herself with
+him,--unconsciously on her part,--that he half resolved that should
+his father be successful in his present enterprise, he would ask Mary
+Bonner to be the Queen of Newton Priory. His father had often urged
+him to marry,--never suggesting that any other quality beyond good
+looks would be required in his son's wife. He had never spoken of
+money, or birth, or name. "I have an idea," he had said, laughing,
+"that you'll marry a fright some day. I own I should like to have a
+pretty woman about the house. One doesn't expect much from a woman,
+but she is bound to be pretty." This woman was at any rate pretty.
+Pretty, indeed! Was it possible that any woman should be framed more
+lovely than this one? But he must bide his time. He would not ask any
+girl to marry him till he should know what position he could ask her
+to fill. But though he spoke little to Mary, he treated her as men do
+treat women whom they desire to be allowed to love. There was a tone
+in his voice, a worship in his eye, and a flush upon his face, and a
+hesitation in his manner, which told the story, at any rate to one
+of the party there. "He didn't come to bring you the ferns," said
+Clarissa to Patience.
+
+"He brought them for all of us," said Patience.
+
+"Young men don't go about with ferns for the sake of the ferns," said
+Clary. "They were merely an excuse to come and see Mary."
+
+"Why shouldn't he come and see Mary?"
+
+"He has my leave, Patty. I think it would be excellent. Isn't it odd
+that there should be two Ralph Newtons. One would be Mrs. Newton and
+the other Mrs. Ralph."
+
+"Clarissa, Clarissa!" said Patience, almost in a tone of agony.
+
+"I'll be a hypocrite if you choose, Patty," said Clarissa, "or I'll
+be true. But you can't have me both at once." Patience said nothing
+further then. The lesson of self-restraint which she desired to teach
+was very hard of teaching.
+
+There was just a word spoken between Sir Thomas and Newton about the
+property. "I intend to see Ralph Newton, if I can find him," said
+Ralph who was not the heir.
+
+"I don't think he is far from town," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"My father thinks that we might come to an understanding."
+
+"Perhaps so," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I have no strong anxiety on the subject myself," said Newton; "but
+my father thinks that if he does wish to sell his reversion--"
+
+"He doesn't wish it. How can a man wish it?"
+
+"Under the circumstances it may be desirable."
+
+"You had better see him, and I think he will tell you," said Sir
+Thomas. "You must understand that a man thinks much of such a
+position. Pray come to us again. We shall always be glad to see you
+when you are in town."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+"I FIND I MUST."
+
+
+Ralph the heir had, after all, gone to Margate. Mr. Neefit had got
+such a hold upon him that he had no help for it. He found himself
+forced to go to Margate. When he was asked the second and third time,
+with all the energy of Mr. Neefit's eloquence, he was unable to
+resist. What reason could he give that he should not go to Margate,
+seeing that it was a thing quite understood that he was to endeavour
+to persuade Polly to be his wife. Neefit came to him two mornings
+running, catching him each morning just as he was smoking his cigar
+after breakfast, and was very eloquent. He already owed Mr. Neefit
+over five hundred pounds, and the debt on the first of these mornings
+was made up to one thousand pounds, a receipt being given for
+the shop debt on one side, and a bond for the whole money, with
+5 per cent. interest, being taken in return for it. "You'd better
+pay off what little things you owes, Captain," said the generous
+breeches-maker, "and then, when the time comes, we'll settle with the
+gent about the 'orses." Neefit played his game very well. He said
+not a word about selling the horses, or as to any restriction on his
+young "Captain's" amusements. If you pull at your fish too hard you
+only break your line. Neefit had a very fine fish on his hook, and he
+meant to land it. Not a word was said about Margate on that occasion,
+till the little pecuniary transaction was completed. Then the Captain
+was informed that the Neefit family would certainly spend the next
+week at that marine Paradise, and that Polly expected "the Captain's"
+company. "Them's the places," said Neefit, "where a girl grows soft
+as butter." This he said when the door-handle was in his hand, so
+that "the Captain" had no chance of answering him. Then he came again
+the next morning, and returned to the subject as though "the Captain"
+had already consented. There was a near approach to anger on one side
+and determined opposition on the other during this interview, but
+it ended in acquiescence on the Captain's side. Then Mr. Neefit was
+once more as gracious as possible. The graciousness of such men in
+acknowledging their own inferiority is sometimes wonderful. "You
+needn't be seen about with me, you know," said Mr. Neefit. This
+was said after Ralph had positively declared that he would not go
+actually with the Neefits and occupy the same apartments. "It would
+be altogether wrong,--for Polly's sake," said Ralph, looking very
+wise and very moral. To this view Neefit assented, not being quite
+sure how far "the Captain" might be correct in his ideas of morality.
+
+"They've been and fixed young Newton for Polly," said Mr. Waddle that
+morning, to his friend Herr Bawwah, when he was told to mark off
+Ralph's account in the books as settled. "Dashed if they 'aven't,"
+the German grunted. "Old Neverfit's a-playing at 'igh game, ain't
+he?" Such was the most undeserved nickname by which this excellent
+tradesman was known in his own establishment. "I don't see nodin
+about 'igh," said the German. "He ain't got no money. I call it low."
+Waddle endeavoured to explain the circumstances, but failed. "De
+peoples should be de peoples, and de nobles should be de nobles,"
+said Herr Bawwah;--a doctrine which was again unintelligible to Mr.
+Waddle.
+
+Ralph having overcome an intense desire to throw over his engagement,
+to sell his horses, and to start for Jerusalem, did go down to
+Margate. He put himself up at an hotel there, eat his dinner, lighted
+a cigar, and went down upon the sands. It was growing dusk, and he
+thought that he should be alone,--or, at least, uninterrupted in
+a crowd. The crowd was there, and nobody in the place would know
+him,--except the Neefits. He had not been on the sands two minutes
+before he encountered Mr. Neefit and his daughter. The breeches-maker
+talked loud, and was extremely happy. Polly smiled, and was very
+pretty. In two minutes Neefit saw, or pretended to see, a friend, and
+Ralph was left with his lady-love. There never was so good-natured a
+father! "You'll bring her home to tea, Captain," said the father, as
+he walked off.
+
+On that occasion, Ralph abstained from all direct love-making,
+and Polly, when she found that it was to be so, made herself very
+pleasant. "The idea of your being at Margate, Mr. Newton," said
+Polly.
+
+"Why not I, as well as another?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know. Brighton, or some of those French places, or any
+where all about the world, would be more likely for you, I should
+think."
+
+"Margate seems to be very jolly."
+
+"Oh, I like it. But then we are not swells, you know. Have you
+heard the news? Ontario Moggs is going to stand to be 'member of
+Parliament' for Percycross."
+
+"My rival!" That was the only word he uttered approaching to the
+subject of love.
+
+"I don't know anything about that, Mr. Newton. But it's true."
+
+"Why, Sir Thomas Underwood is going to stand."
+
+"I don't know anything about anybody else, but Ontario Moggs is
+going to stand. I do so hope he'll get in. They say he speaks quite
+beautiful. Did you ever hear him?"
+
+"I never heard him."
+
+"Ah, you may laugh. But a bootmaker can make a speech sometimes as
+well as,--as well as a peer of Parliament. Father says that old Mr.
+Moggs has given him ever so much money to do it. When a man is in
+Parliament, Mr. Newton, doesn't that make him a gentleman?"
+
+"No."
+
+"What then?"
+
+"Nothing on earth can make a man a gentleman. You don't understand
+Latin, Polly?"
+
+"No. I hope that isn't necessary for a young woman."
+
+"By no means. But a poet is born, and can't be made."
+
+"I'm not talking of poets. Ontario Moggs is a poet. But I know what
+you mean. There's something better even than to be a gentleman."
+
+"One may be an angel,--as you are, Polly."
+
+"Oh,--me;--I'm not thinking of myself. I'm thinking of Ontario
+Moggs,--going into Parliament. But then he is so clever!"
+
+Ralph was not minded to be cut out by Moggs, junior, after coming all
+the way to Margate after his lady-love. The thing was to be done, and
+he would do it. But not to-night. Then he took Polly home, and eat
+prawns with Mr. and Mrs. Neefit. On the next day they all went out
+together in a boat.
+
+The week was nearly over, and Ralph had renewed his suit more than
+once, when the breeches-maker proceeded to "put him through his
+facings." "She's a-coming round, ain't she, Captain?" said Mr.
+Neefit. By this time Ralph hated the sight of Neefit so thoroughly,
+that he was hardly able to repress the feeling. Indeed, he did not
+repress it. Whether Neefit did not see it, or seeing it chose to
+ignore the matter, cannot be said. He was, at any rate, as courteous
+as ever. Mrs. Neefit, overcome partly by her husband's authority,
+and partly induced to believe that as Ontario Moggs was going into
+Parliament he was no longer to be regarded as a possible husband,
+had yielded, and was most polite to the lover. When he came in of an
+evening, she always gave him a double allowance of prawns, and hoped
+that the tea was to his liking. But she said very little more than
+this, standing somewhat in awe of him. Polly had been changeable,
+consenting to walk with him every day, but always staving the matter
+off when he asked her whether she thought that she yet knew him well
+enough to be his wife. "Oh, not half well enough," she would say.
+"And then, perhaps, you know, I'm not over fond of the half that I
+do know." And so it was up to the last evening, when the father put
+him through his facings. In respect of "the Captain's" behaviour to
+Polly, the father had no just ground of complaint, for Ralph had done
+his best. Indeed, Ralph was fond enough of Polly. And it was hard
+for a man to be much with her without becoming fond of her. "She's
+a-coming round, ain't she, Captain?" said Mr. Neefit.
+
+"I can't say that she is," said Ralph, turning upon his heel near the
+end of the pier.
+
+"You don't stick to her fast enough, Captain."
+
+This was not to be borne. "I'll tell you what it is, Mr. Neefit,"
+said Ralph, "you'd better let me alone, or else I shall be off."
+
+"You'd only have to come back, Captain, you know," said Neefit. "Not
+as I want to interfere. You're on the square, I see that. As long
+as you're on the square, there ain't nothing I won't do. I ain't
+a-blaming you,--only stick to her." "Damn it all!" said Ralph,
+turning round again in the other direction. But there was Neefit
+still confronting him. "Only stick to her, Captain, and we'll pull
+through. I'll put her through her facings to-night. She's thinking
+of that orkard lout of a fellow just because he's standing to be a
+Parl'ament gent." This did not improve matters, and Ralph absolutely
+ran away,--ran away, and escaped to his hotel. He would try again in
+the morning, would still make her his wife if she would have him! And
+then swore a solemn oath that in such case he would never see his
+father-in-law again.
+
+Polly was not at all averse to giving him opportunities. They were
+together on the sands on the next morning, and he then asked her very
+seriously whether she did not think that there had been enough of
+this, that they might make up their minds to love each other, and be
+married as it were out of hand. Her father and mother wished it, and
+what was there against it? "You cannot doubt that I am in earnest
+now, Polly?" he said.
+
+"I know you are in earnest well enough," she answered.
+
+"And you do not doubt that I love you?"
+
+"I doubt very much whether you love father," said Polly. She spoke
+this so sharp and quickly that he had no reply ready. "If you and
+I were to be married, where should we live? I should want to have
+father and mother with me. You'd mean that, I suppose?" The girl had
+read his thoughts, and he hadn't a word to say for himself. "The
+truth is, you despise father, Mr. Newton."
+
+"No, indeed."
+
+"Yes, you do. I can see it. And perhaps it's all right that you
+should. I'm not saying-- Of course, he's not like you and your
+people. How should he be? Only I'm thinking, like should marry like."
+
+"Polly, you're fit for any position in which a man could place you."
+
+"No, I'm not. I'm not fit for any place as father wouldn't be fit for
+too. I'd make a better hand at it than father, I dare say,--because
+I'm younger. But I won't go anywhere where folk is to be ashamed of
+father. I'd like to be a lady well enough;--but it'd go against the
+very grain of my heart if I had a house and he wasn't to be made
+welcome to the best of everything."
+
+"Polly, you're an angel!"
+
+"I'm a young woman who knows who's been good to me. He's to give me
+pretty nigh everything. You wouldn't be taking me if it wasn't for
+that. And then, after all, I'm to turn my back on him because he
+ain't like your people. No; never; Mr. Newton! You're well enough,
+Mr. Newton; more than good enough for me, no doubt. But I won't do
+it. I'd cut my heart out if I was turning my back upon father." She
+had spoken out with a vengeance, and Ralph didn't know that there was
+any more to be said. He couldn't bring himself to assure her that
+Mr. Neefit would be a welcome guest in his house. At this moment the
+breeches-maker was so personally distasteful to him that he had not
+force enough in him to tell a lie upon the matter. They were now
+at the entrance of the pier, at which their ways would separate.
+"Good-bye, Mr. Newton," said she. "There had better be an end of
+it;--hadn't there?" "Goodbye, Polly," he said, pressing her hand as
+he left her.
+
+Polly, walked up home with a quick step, with a tear in her eye, and
+with grave thoughts in her heart. It would have been very nice. She
+could have loved him, and she felt the attraction, and the softness,
+and the sweet-smelling delicateness of gentle associations. It would
+have been very nice. But she could not sever herself from her father.
+She could understand that he must be distasteful to such a man as
+Ralph Newton. She would not blame Ralph. But the fact that it was so,
+shut for her the door of that Elysium. She knew that she could not
+be happy were she to be taken to such a mode of life as would force
+her to accuse herself of ingratitude to her father. And so Ralph went
+back to town without again seeing the breeches-maker.
+
+The first thing he found in his lodgings was a note from his
+namesake.
+
+
+   DEAR SIR,--
+
+   I am up in town, and am very anxious to see you in respect
+   of the arrangements which have been proposed respecting
+   the property. Will you fix a meeting as soon as you are
+   back?
+
+   Yours always,
+
+   RALPH NEWTON.
+
+   Charing Cross Hotel, 2 Oct., 186--.
+
+
+Of course he would see his namesake. Why not? And why not take his
+uncle's money, and pay off Neefit, and have done with it? Neefit must
+be paid off, let the money come from where it would. He called at
+the hotel, and not finding his cousin, left a note asking him to
+breakfast on the following morning; and then he spent the remainder
+of that day in renewed doubt. He was so sick of Neefit,--whose manner
+of eating shrimps had been a great offence added to other offences!
+And yet one of his great sorrows was that he should lose Polly.
+Polly in her way was perfect, and he felt almost sure, now, that
+Polly loved him. Girls had no right to cling to their fathers after
+marriage. There was Scripture warranty against it. And yet the manner
+in which she had spoken of her father had greatly added to his
+admiration.
+
+The two Ralphs breakfasted together, not having met each other since
+they were children, and having even then scarcely known each other.
+Ralph the heir had been brought up a boy at the parsonage of Newton
+Peele, but the other Ralph had never been taken to Newton till after
+his grandfather's death. The late parson had died within twelve
+months of his father,--a wretched year, during which the Squire and
+the parson had always squabbled,--and then Ralph who was the heir
+had been transferred to the guardianship of Sir Thomas Underwood. It
+was only during the holidays of that one year that the two Ralphs
+had been together. The "Dear Sir" will probably be understood by the
+discerning reader. The Squire's son had never allowed himself to call
+even Gregory his cousin. Ralph the heir in writing back had addressed
+him as "Dear Ralph." The Squire's son thought that that was very
+well, but chose that any such term of familiarity should come first
+from him who was in truth a Newton. He felt his condition, though he
+was accustomed to make so light of it to his father.
+
+The two young men shook hands together cordially, and were soon
+at work upon their eggs and kidneys. They immediately began about
+Gregory and the parsonage and the church, and the big house. The
+heir to the property, though he had not been at Newton for fourteen
+years, remembered well its slopes, and lawns, and knolls, and little
+valleys. He asked after this tree and that, of this old man and that
+old woman, of the game, and the river fishery, and the fox coverts,
+and the otters of which three or four were reputed to be left when
+he was there. Otters it seems were gone, but the foxes were there in
+plenty. "My father would be half mad if they drew the place blank,"
+said the Squire's son.
+
+"Does my uncle hunt much?"
+
+"Every Monday and Saturday, and very often on the Wednesday."
+
+"And you?"
+
+"I call myself a three-day man, but I often make a fourth. Garth must
+be very far off if he don't see me. I don't do much with any other
+pack."
+
+"Does my uncle ride?"
+
+"Yes; he goes pretty well;--he says he don't. If he gets well away I
+think he rides as hard as ever he did. He don't like a stern chace."
+
+"No more do I," said Ralph the heir. "But I'm often driven to make
+it. What can a fellow do? An old chap turns round and goes home, and
+doesn't feel ashamed of himself; but we can't do that. That's the
+time when one ruins his horses." Then he told all about the Moonbeam
+and the B. & B., and his own stud. The morning was half gone, and not
+a word had been said about business.
+
+The Squire's son felt that it was so, and rushed at the subject all
+in a hurry. "I told you what I have come up to town about."
+
+"Oh, yes; I understand."
+
+"I suppose I may speak plainly," said the Squire's son.
+
+"Why not?" said Ralph the heir.
+
+"Well; I don't know. Of course it's best. You wrote to Carey, you
+know."
+
+"Yes; I wrote the very moment I had made up my mind."
+
+"You had made up your mind, then?"
+
+Ralph had certainly made up his mind when he wrote the letter of
+which they were speaking, but he was by no means sure but that his
+mind was not made up now in another direction. Since he had become
+so closely intimate with Mr. Neefit, and since Polly had so clearly
+explained to him her ideas as to paternal duty, his mind had veered
+round many points. "Yes," said he. "I had made up my mind."
+
+"I don't suppose it can be of any use for you and me to be bargaining
+together," said the other Ralph.
+
+"Not in the least."
+
+"Of course it's a great thing to be heir to Newton. It's a nice
+property, and all that. Only my father thought--"
+
+"He thought that I wanted money," said Ralph the heir.
+
+"Just that."
+
+"So I do. God knows I do. I would tell you everything. I would
+indeed. As to screwing a hard bargain, I'm the last man in London who
+would do it. I thought that your father might be willing to buy half
+the property."
+
+"He won't do that. You see the great thing is the house and park. We
+should both want that;--shouldn't we? Of course it must be yours; and
+I feel--I don't know how I feel in asking you whether you want to
+sell it."
+
+"You needn't mind that, Ralph."
+
+"If you don't think the sum the lawyers and those chaps fixed is
+enough,--"
+
+Then Ralph the heir, interrupting him, rose from his chair and spoke
+out. "My uncle has never understood me, and never will. He thinks
+hardly of me, and if he chooses to do so, I can't help it. He hasn't
+seen me for fourteen years, and of course he is entitled to think
+what he pleases. If he would have seen me the thing might have been
+easier."
+
+"Don't let us go back to that, Ralph," said the Squire's son.
+
+"I don't want to go back to anything. When it comes to a fellow's
+parting with such prospects as mine, it does come very hard upon
+him. Of course it's my own fault. I might have got along well
+enough;--only I haven't. I am hard up for money,--very hard up. And
+yet,--if you were in my place, you wouldn't like to part with it."
+
+"Perhaps not," said the Squire's son, not knowing what to say.
+
+"As to bargaining, and asking so much more, and all the rest of it,
+that's out of the question. Somebody fixed a price, and I suppose he
+knew what he was at."
+
+"That was a minimum price."
+
+"I understand. It was all fair, I don't doubt. It didn't seem a great
+deal; but your father might live for thirty years."
+
+"I hope he will," said the Squire's son.
+
+"As for standing off for more money, I never dreamed of such a thing.
+If your father thinks that, he has wronged me. But I believe he
+always does wrong me. And about the building, and the trees, and the
+leases, and the house, he might do just as he pleased for me. I have
+never said a word, and never shall. I must say I sometimes think he
+has been hard upon me. In fourteen years he has never asked me to set
+my foot upon the estate, that I might see the place which must one
+day be mine."
+
+This was an accusation which the Squire's son found it very difficult
+to answer. It could not be answered without a reference to his own
+birth, and it was almost impossible that he should explain his
+father's feelings on the subject. "If this were settled, we should be
+glad that you would come," he said.
+
+"Yes," said Ralph the heir; "yes,--if I consented to give up
+everything that is mine by right. Do you think that a fellow can
+bring himself to abandon all that so easily? It's like tearing a
+fellow's heart out of him. If I'll do that, my uncle will let me come
+and see what it is that I have lost! That which would induce him to
+welcome me would make it impossible that I should go there. It may be
+that I shall sell it. I suppose I shall. But I will never look at it
+afterwards." As it came to this point, the tears were streaming down
+his cheeks, and the eyes of the other Ralph were not dry.
+
+"I wish it could be made pleasant for us all," said the Squire's son.
+The wish was well enough, but the expression of it was hardly needed,
+because it must be so general.
+
+"But all this is rot and nonsense," said Ralph the heir, brushing
+the tears away from his eyes, "and I am only making an ass of myself.
+Your father wants to know whether I will sell the reversion to Newton
+Priory. I will. I find I must. I don't know whether I wouldn't sooner
+cut my throat; but unless I cut my throat I must sell it. I had a
+means of escape, but that has gone by. When I wrote that letter there
+was a means of escape. Now there's none."
+
+"Ralph," said the other.
+
+"Well; speak on. I've about said all I've got to say. Only don't
+think I want to ballyrag about the money. That's right enough, no
+doubt. If there's more to come, the people that have to look to it
+will say so. I'm not going to be a Jew about it."
+
+"Ralph; I wouldn't do anything in a hurry. I won't take your answer
+in a hurry like this."
+
+"It's no good, my dear fellow, I must do it. I must have £5,000 at
+once."
+
+"You can get that from an insurance office."
+
+"And then I should have nothing to live on. I must do it. I have no
+way out of it,--except cutting my throat."
+
+The Squire's son paused a moment, thinking. "I was told by my
+father," said he, "to offer you more money."
+
+"If it's worth more the people will say so," said Ralph the heir,
+impetuously; "I do not want to sell it for more than it's worth. Ask
+them to settle it immediately. There are people I must pay money to
+at once."
+
+And so the Squire's son had done the Squire's errand. When he
+reported his success to Mr. Carey, that gentleman asked him whether
+he had the heir's consent in writing. At this the successful buyer
+was almost disposed to be angry; but Mr. Carey softened him by an
+acknowledgment that he had done more than could have been expected.
+"I'll see his lawyer to-morrow," said Mr. Carey, "and then, unless
+he changes his mind again, we'll soon have it settled." After that
+the triumphant negotiator sent a telegram home to his father, "It is
+settled, and the purchase is made."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+"MR. GRIFFENBOTTOM."
+
+
+On Monday, the 16th of October, Sir Thomas Underwood went down
+to Percycross, and the first information given him was that Mr.
+Westmacott and Ontario Moggs had arrived on the Saturday, and were
+already at work. Mr. Griffenbottom was expected early on the Tuesday.
+"They've stolen a march on us, then," said Sir Thomas to Mr. Trigger.
+
+"Give 'em rope enough, and they'll hang themselves," replied the
+managing agent. "There was Moggs spouting to them on his own hook on
+Saturday night, and Westmacott's chaps are ready to eat him. And he
+wanted to be doing it yesterday, Sunday; only some of them got a hold
+of him and wouldn't let him loose. Moggs is a great card for us, Sir
+Thomas. There's nothing like one of them spouting fellows to overset
+the coach."
+
+"Mr. Westmacott is fond of that too," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"He understands. He's used to it. He does it in the proper place.
+Westmacott wasn't a bad member for the place;--wasn't perhaps quite
+free enough with his money, but Westmacott was very decent." Sir
+Thomas could not help feeling that Trigger spoke of it as though he
+wished that the two old members might be returned. Ah, well! had
+it been possible, Mr. Trigger would have wished it. Mr. Trigger
+understood the borough, knew well the rocks before them, and
+would have wished it,--although he had been so imperative with Mr.
+Griffenbottom as to the second conservative candidate. And now Mr.
+Griffenbottom had sent them a man who would throw all the fat in the
+fire by talking of purity of election! "And Moggs has been making a
+fool of himself in another direction," said Trigger, thinking that
+no opportunity for giving a valuable hint should be lost. "He's been
+telling the working men already that they'll be scoundrels and knaves
+if they take so much as a glass of beer without paying for it."
+
+"Scoundrel is a strong word," said Sir Thomas, "but I like him for
+that."
+
+"Percycross won't like him. Men would rather have all that left to
+their own feelings. They who want beer or money certainly won't thank
+him; and they who don't want it don't like to be suspected."
+
+"Every one will take it as addressed to his neighbour and not to
+himself."
+
+"We are very fond of our neighbours here, Sir Thomas, and that kind
+of thing won't go down." This was on the evening of the candidate's
+arrival, and the conversation was going on absolutely while Sir
+Thomas was eating his dinner. He had asked Mr. Trigger to join him,
+and Mr. Trigger had faintly alleged that he had dined at three; but
+he soon so far changed his mind as to be able to express an opinion
+that he could "pick a bit," and he did pick a bit. After which he
+drank the best part of a bottle of port,--having assured Sir Thomas
+that the port at the Percy Standard was a sort of wine that one
+didn't get every day. And as he drank his port, he continued to pour
+in lessons of wisdom. Sir Thomas employed his mind the while in
+wondering when Mr. Trigger would go away, and forecasting whether
+Mr. Trigger would desire to drink port wine at the Percy Standard
+every evening during the process of canvassing. About nine o'clock
+the waiter announced that a few gentlemen below desired to see Sir
+Thomas. "Our friends," said Mr. Trigger. "Just put chairs, and bring
+a couple of bottles of port, John. I'm glad they're come, Sir Thomas,
+because it shows that they mean to take to you." Up they were shown,
+Messrs. Spiveycomb, Spicer, Pile, Roodylands,--the bootmaker who
+has not yet been named,--Pabsby, and seven or eight others. Sir
+Thomas shook hands with them all. He observed that Mr. Trigger was
+especially cordial in his treatment of Spicer, the mustard-maker,--as
+to whose defection he had been so fearful in consequence of certain
+power which Mr. Westmacott might have in the wholesale disposal of
+mustard. "I hope you find yourself better," said Mr. Pile, opening
+the conversation. Sir Thomas assured his new friend that he was
+pretty well. "'Cause you seemed rayther down on your luck when you
+was here before," said Mr. Pile.
+
+"No need for that," said Spicer, the man of mustard. "Is there,
+Trigger?" Trigger sat a little apart, with one bottle of port wine at
+his elbow, and took no part in the conversation. He was aware that
+his opportunities were so great that the outside supporters ought to
+have their time. "Any objection to this, Sir Thomas?" he said, taking
+a cigar-case out of his pocket. Sir Thomas, who hated tobacco, of
+course gave permission. Trigger rang the bell, ordered cigars for
+the party, and then sat apart with his port wine. In ten minutes Sir
+Thomas hardly knew where he was, so dense was the cloud of smoke.
+
+"Sir Thomas," began Mr. Pabsby,--"if I could only clearly see my
+way--"
+
+"You'll see it clear enough before nomination-day," said Mr. Pile.
+
+"Any ways, after election," said a conservative grocer. Both these
+gentlemen belonged to the Established Church and delighted in
+snubbing Mr. Pabsby. Indeed, Mr. Pabsby had no business at this
+meeting, and so he had been told very plainly by one or two as he had
+joined them in the street. He explained, however, that his friend Sir
+Thomas had come to him the very first person in Percycross, and he
+carried his point in joining the party. But he was a mild man, and
+when he was interrupted he merely bided another opportunity.
+
+"I hope, Sir Thomas, your mind is made up to do something for our
+trade," said Mr. Roodylands.
+
+"What's the matter with your trade?" said Spiveycomb, the
+paper-maker.
+
+"Well;--we ain't got no jobs in it;--that's the matter," said Mr.
+Pile.
+
+"As for jobs, what's the odds?" said a big and burly loud-mouthed
+tanner. "All on us likes a good thing when it comes in our way. Stow
+that, and don't let's be told about jobs. Sir Thomas, here's your
+health, and I wish you at the top of the poll,--that is, next to
+Mr. Griffenbottom." Then they all drank to Sir Thomas's health, Mr.
+Pabsby filling himself a bumper for the occasion.
+
+It was eleven before they went away, at which time Mr. Pabsby had
+three times got as far as a declaration of his wish to see things
+clearly. Further than this he could not get; but still he went away
+in perfect good humour. He would have another opportunity, as he took
+occasion to whisper when he shook hands with the candidate. Trigger
+stayed even yet for half-an-hour. "Don't waste your time on that
+fellow, Pabsby," he said. "No, I won't," said Sir Thomas. "And be
+very civil to old Pile." "He doesn't seem disposed to return the
+compliment," said Sir Thomas. "But he doesn't want your interest
+in the borough," said Trigger, with the air of a man who had great
+truths to teach. "In electioneering, Sir Thomas, it's mostly the same
+as in other matters. Nothing's to be had for nothing. If you were a
+retail seller of boots from Manchester old Pile would be civil enough
+to you. You may snub Spicer as much as you please, because he'll
+expect to get something out of you." "He'll be very much deceived,"
+said Sir Thomas. "I'm not so sure of that," said Trigger;--"Spicer
+knows what he's about pretty well." Then, at last, Mr. Trigger went,
+assuring Sir Thomas most enthusiastically that he would be with him
+before nine the next morning.
+
+Many distressing thoughts took possession of Sir Thomas as he lay in
+bed. He had made up his mind that he would in no way break the law,
+and he didn't know whether he had not broken it already by giving
+these people tobacco and wine. And yet it would have been impossible
+for him to have refused Mr. Trigger permission to order the supply.
+Even for the sake of the seat,--even for the sake of his reputation,
+which was so much dearer to him than the seat,--he could not have
+bidden guests, who had come to him in his own room, to go elsewhere
+if they required wine. It was a thing not to be done, and yet, for
+aught he knew, Mr. Trigger might continue to order food and wine, and
+beer and tobacco, to be supplied ad libitum, and whenever he chose.
+How was he to put an end to it, otherwise than by throwing up the
+game, and going back to London? That now would be gross ill-usage to
+the Conservatives of Percycross, who by such a step would be left in
+the lurch without a candidate. And then was it to be expected that he
+should live for a week with Mr. Trigger, with no other relief than
+that which would be afforded by Messrs. Pile, Spiveycomb, and Co.
+Everything about him was reeking of tobacco. And then, when he sat
+down to breakfast at nine o'clock there would be Mr. Trigger!
+
+The next morning he was out of bed at seven, and ordered his
+breakfast at eight sharp. He would steal a march on Trigger. He went
+out into the sitting-room, and there was Trigger already seated
+in the arm-chair, studying the list of the voters of Percycross!
+Heavens, what a man! "I thought I'd look in early, and they told me
+you were coming out or I'd have just stepped into your room." Into
+his very bed-room! Sir Thomas shuddered as he heard the proposition.
+"We've a telegram from Griffenbottom," continued Trigger, "and he
+won't be here till noon. We can't begin till he comes."
+
+"Ah;--then I can just write a few letters," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I wouldn't mind letters now if I was you. If you don't mind, we'll
+go and look up the parsons. There are four or five of 'em, and they
+like to be seen;--not in the way of canvassing. They're all right, of
+course. And there's two of 'em won't leave a stone unturned in the
+outside hamlets. But they like to be seen, and their wives like it."
+Whereupon Mr. Trigger ordered breakfast,--and eat it. Sir Thomas
+reminded himself that a fortnight was after all but a short duration
+of time. He might live through a fortnight,--probably,--and then when
+Mr. Griffenbottom came it would be shared between two.
+
+At noon he returned to the Percy Standard, very tired, there to await
+the coming of Mr. Griffenbottom. Mr. Griffenbottom didn't come till
+three, and then bustled up into the sitting-room, which Sir Thomas
+had thought was his own, as though all Percycross belonged to
+him. During the last three hours supporters had been in and out
+continually, and Mr. Pabsby had made an ineffectual attempt or two to
+catch Sir Thomas alone. Trigger had been going up and down between
+the Standard and the station. Various men, friends and supporters
+of Griffenbottom and Underwood, had been brought to him. Who were
+paid agents, who were wealthy townsmen, who were canvassers and
+messengers, he did not know. There were bottles on the sideboard the
+whole time. Sir Thomas, in a speculative manner, endeavouring to
+realise to himself the individuality of this and that stranger, could
+only conceive that they who helped themselves were wealthy townsmen,
+and that they who waited till they were asked by others were paid
+canvassers and agents. But he knew nothing, and could only wish
+himself back in Southampton Buildings.
+
+At last Mr. Griffenbottom, followed by a cloud of supporters, bustled
+into the room. Trigger at once introduced the two candidates. "Very
+glad to meet you," said Griffenbottom. "So we're going to fight
+this little battle together. I remember you in the House, you know,
+and I dare say you remember me. I'm used to this kind of thing. I
+suppose you ain't. Well, Trigger, how are things looking? I suppose
+we'd better begin down Pump Lane. I know my way about the place,
+Honeywood, as well as if it was my bed-room. And so I ought,
+Trigger."
+
+"I suppose you've seen the inside of pretty nearly every house in
+Percycross," said Trigger.
+
+"There's some I don't want to see the inside of any more. I can tell
+you that. How are these new householders going to vote?"
+
+"Betwixt and between, Mr. Griffenbottom."
+
+"I never thought we should find much difference. It don't matter what
+rent a man pays, but what he does. I could tell you how nineteen out
+of twenty men here would vote, if you'd tell me what they did, and
+who they were. What's to be done about talking to 'em?"
+
+"To-morrow night we're to be in the Town Hall, Mr. Griffenbottom, and
+Thursday an open-air meeting, with a balcony in the market-place."
+
+"All right. Come along. Are you good at spinning yarns to them,
+Honeywood?"
+
+"I don't like it, if you mean that," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"It's better than canvassing. By George, anything is better than
+that. Come along. We may get Pump Lane, and Petticoat Yard, and
+those back alleys done before dinner. You've got cards, of course,
+Trigger." And the old, accustomed electioneerer led the way out to
+his work.
+
+Mr. Griffenbottom was a heavy hale man, over sixty, somewhat inclined
+to be corpulent, with a red face, and a look of assured impudence
+about him which nothing could quell or diminish. The kind of
+life which he had led was one to which impudence was essentially
+necessary. He had done nothing for the world to justify him in
+assuming the airs of a great man,--but still he could assume them,
+and many believed in him. He could boast neither birth, nor talent,
+nor wit,--nor, indeed, wealth in the ordinary sense of the word.
+Though he had worked hard all his life at the business to which he
+belonged, he was a poorer man now than he had been thirty years ago.
+It had all gone in procuring him a seat in Parliament. And he had so
+much sense that he never complained. He had known what it was that he
+wanted, and what it was that he must pay for it. He had paid for it,
+and had got it, and was, in his fashion, contented. If he could only
+have continued to have it without paying for it again, how great
+would have been the blessing! But he was a man who knew that such
+blessings were not to be expected. After the first feeling of disgust
+was over on the receipt of Trigger's letter, he put his collar to
+the work again, and was prepared to draw his purse,--intending,
+of course, that the new candidate should bear as much as possible
+of this drain. He knew well that there was a prospect before him
+of abject misery;--for life without Parliament would be such to
+him. There would be no salt left for him in the earth if he was
+ousted. And yet no man could say why he should have cared to sit in
+Parliament. He rarely spoke, and when he did no one listened to him.
+He was anxious for no political measures. He was a favourite with no
+section of a party. He spent all his evenings at the House, but it
+can hardly be imagined that those evenings were pleasantly spent.
+But he rubbed his shoulders against the shoulders of great men, and
+occasionally stood upon their staircases. At any rate, such as was
+the life, it was his life; and he had no time left to choose another.
+He considered himself on this occasion pretty nearly sure to be
+elected. He knew the borough and was sure. But then there was that
+accursed system of petitioning, which according to his idea was
+un-English, ungentlemanlike, and unpatriotic--"A stand-up fight, and
+if you're licked--take it." That was his idea of what an election
+should be.
+
+Sir Thomas, who only just remembered the appearance of the man in the
+House, at once took an extravagant dislike to him. It was abominable
+to him to be called Underwood by a man who did not know him. It was
+nauseous to him to be forced into close relations with a man who
+seemed to him to be rough and ill-mannered. And, judging from what
+he saw, he gave his colleague credit for no good qualities. Now Mr.
+Griffenbottom had good qualities. He was possessed of pluck. He was
+in the main good-natured. And though he could resent an offence with
+ferocity, he could forgive an offence with ease. "Hit him hard, and
+then have an end of it!" That was Mr. Griffenbottom's mode of dealing
+with the offenders and the offences with which he came in contact.
+
+In every house they entered Griffenbottom was at home, and Sir
+Thomas was a stranger of whom the inmates had barely heard the name.
+Griffenbottom was very good at canvassing the poorer classes. He said
+not a word to them about politics, but asked them all whether they
+didn't dislike that fellow Gladstone, who was one thing one day
+and another thing another day. "By G----, nobody knows what he is,"
+swore Mr. Griffenbottom over and over again. The women mostly said
+that they didn't know, but they liked the blue. "Blues allays was
+gallanter nor the yellow," said one of 'em. They who expressed an
+opinion at all hoped that their husbands would vote for him, "as 'd
+do most for 'em." "The big loaf;--that's what we want," said one
+mother of many children, taking Sir Thomas by the hand. There were
+some who took advantage of the occasion to pour out their tales of
+daily griefs into the ears of their visitors. To these Griffenbottom
+was rather short and hard. "What we want, my dear, is your husband's
+vote and interest. We'll hear all the rest another time." Sir Thomas
+would have lingered and listened; but Griffenbottom knew that 1,400
+voters had to be visited in ten days, and work as they would they
+could not see 140 a day. Trigger explained it all to Sir Thomas. "You
+can't work above seven hours, and you can't do twenty an hour. And
+much of the ground you must do twice over. If you stay to talk to
+them you might as well be in London. Mr. Griffenbottom understands it
+so well, you'd better keep your eye on him." There could be no object
+in the world on which Sir Thomas was less desirous of keeping his
+eye.
+
+
+[Illustration: "The big loaf;--that's what we want," said one
+mother of many children, taking Sir Thomas by the hand.]
+
+
+The men, who were much more difficult to find than the women, had
+generally less to say for themselves. Most of them understood at once
+what was wanted, and promised. For it must be understood that on this
+their first day the conservative brigade was moving among its firm
+friends. In Petticoat Yard lived paper-makers in the employment of
+Mr. Spiveycomb, and in Pump Lane the majority of the inhabitants were
+employed by Mr. Spicer, of the mustard works. The manufactories of
+both these men were visited, and there the voters were booked much
+quicker than at the rate of twenty an hour. Here and there a man
+would hold some peculiar opinion of his own. The Permissive Bill was
+asked for by an energetic teetotaller; and others, even in these
+Tory quarters, suggested the ballot. But they all,--or nearly all
+of them,--promised their votes. Now and again some sturdy fellow,
+seeming to be half ashamed of himself in opposing all those around
+him, would say shortly that he meant to vote for Moggs, and pass on.
+"You do,--do you?" Sir Thomas heard Mr. Spicer say to one such man.
+"Yes, I does," said the man. Sir Thomas heard no more, but he felt
+how perilous was the position on which a candidate stood under the
+present law.
+
+As regarded Sir Thomas himself, he felt, as the evening was coming
+on, that he had hardly done his share of the work. Mr. Griffenbottom
+had canvassed, and he had walked behind. Every now and then he had
+attempted a little conversation, but in that he had been immediately
+pulled up by the conscientious and energetic Mr. Trigger. As for
+asking for votes, he hardly knew, when he had been carried back
+into the main street through a labyrinth of alleys at the back of
+Petticoat Yard, whether he had asked any man for his vote or not.
+With the booking of the votes he had, of course, nothing to do. There
+were three men with books;--and three other men to open the doors,
+show the way, and make suggestions on the expediency of going hither
+or thither. Sir Thomas would always have been last in the procession,
+had there not been one silent, civil person, whose duty it seemed to
+be to bring up the rear. If ever Sir Thomas lingered behind to speak
+to a poor woman, there was this silent, civil person lingering too.
+The influence of the silent, civil person was so strong that Sir
+Thomas could not linger much.
+
+As they came into the main street they encountered the opposition
+party, Mr. Westmacott, Ontario Moggs, and their supporters. "I'll
+introduce you," said Mr. Griffenbottom to his colleague. "Come along.
+It's the thing to do." Then they met in the middle of the way. Poor
+Ontario was hanging behind, but holding up his head gallantly,
+and endeavouring to look as though he were equal to the occasion.
+Griffenbottom and Westmacott shook hands cordially, and complained
+with mutual sighs that household suffrage had made the work a deal
+harder than ever. "And I'm only a week up from the gout," said
+Griffenbottom. Then Sir Thomas and Westmacott were introduced, and at
+last Ontario was brought forward. He bowed and attempted to make a
+little speech; but nobody in one army or in the other seemed to care
+much for poor Ontario. He knew that it was so, but that mattered
+little to him. If he were destined to represent Percycross in
+Parliament, it must be by the free votes and unbiassed political
+aspirations of the honest working men of the borough. So remembering
+he stood aloof, stuck his hand into his breast, and held up his
+head something higher than before. Though the candidates had thus
+greeted each other at this chance meeting, the other parties in the
+contending armies had exhibited no courtesies.
+
+The weariness of Sir Thomas when this first day's canvass was over
+was so great that he was tempted to go to bed and ask for a bowl of
+gruel. Nothing kept him from doing so but amazement at the courage
+and endurance of Mr. Griffenbottom. "We could get at a few of
+those chaps who were at the works, if we went out at eight," said
+Griffenbottom. Trigger suggested that Mr. Griffenbottom would be
+very tired. Trigger himself was perhaps tired. "Oh, tired," said
+Griffenbottom; "a man has to be tired at this work." Sir Thomas
+perceived that Griffenbottom was at least ten years his senior,
+and that he was still almost lame from the gout. "You'll be ready,
+Underwood?" said Griffenbottom. Sir Thomas felt himself bound to
+undertake whatever might be thought necessary. "If we were at it
+day and night, it wouldn't be too much," said Griffenbottom, as he
+prepared to amuse himself with one of the poll-books till dinner
+should be on the table. "Didn't we see Jacob Pucky?" asked the
+energetic candidate, observing that the man's name wasn't marked. "To
+be sure we did. I was speaking to him myself. He was one of those
+who didn't know till the day came. We know what that means; eh,
+Honeywood?" Sir Thomas wasn't quite sure that he did know; but he
+presumed that it meant something dishonest. Again Mr. Trigger dined
+with them, and as soon as ever their dinner was swallowed they were
+out again at their work, Sir Thomas being dragged from door to door,
+while Griffenbottom asked for the votes.
+
+And this was to last yet for ten days more!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+MOGGS, PURITY, AND THE RIGHTS OF LABOUR.
+
+
+Mr. Trigger had hinted that Ontario Moggs would be a thorn in the
+flesh of Mr. Westmacott's supporters at Percycross, and he had
+been right. Ontario was timid, hesitating, and not unfrequently
+brow-beaten in the social part of his work at the election. Though he
+made great struggles he could neither talk, nor walk, nor eat, nor
+sit, as though he were the equal of his colleague. But when they came
+to politics and political management, there was no holding him. He
+would make speeches when speeches were not held to be desirable by
+his committee, and he was loud upon topics as to which it was thought
+that no allusion whatever should have been made. To talk about the
+ballot had from the first been conceded to Moggs. Mr. Westmacott
+was, indeed, opposed to the ballot; but it had been a matter
+of course that the candidate of the people should support that
+measure. The ballot would have been a safety-valve. But Moggs was so
+cross-grained, ill-conditioned, and uncontrollable that he would not
+let the ballot suffice him. The ballot was almost nothing to him.
+Strikes and bribery were his great subjects; the beauty of the one
+and the ugliness of the other. The right of the labourer to combine
+with his brother labourers to make his own terms for his labour, was
+the great lesson he taught. The suicidal iniquity of the labourer
+in selling that political power which he should use to protect his
+labour was the source of his burning indignation. That labour was the
+salt of the earth he told the men of Percycross very often;--and he
+told them as often that manliness and courage were necessary to make
+that salt productive. Gradually the men of Percycross,--some said
+that they were only the boys of Percycross,--clustered round him, and
+learned to like to listen to him. They came to understand something
+of the character of the man who was almost too shame-faced to speak
+to them while he was being dragged round to their homes on his
+canvas, but whom nothing could repress when he was on his legs with
+a crowd before him. It was in vain that the managing agent told him
+that he would not get a vote by his spouting and shouting. On such
+occasions he hardly answered a word to the managing agent. But the
+spouting and shouting went on just the same, and was certainly
+popular among the bootmakers and tanners. Mr. Westmacott was asked
+to interfere, and did do so once in some mild fashion; but Ontario
+replied that having been called to this sphere of action he could
+only do his duty according to his own lights. The young men's
+presidents, and secretaries, and chairmen were for awhile somewhat
+frightened, having been assured by the managing men of the liberal
+committee that the election would be lost by the furious insanity of
+their candidate. But they decided upon supporting Moggs, having found
+that they would be deposed from their seats if they discarded him. At
+last, when the futile efforts to control Moggs had been maintained
+with patience for something over a week, when it still wanted four or
+five days to the election, an actual split was made in the liberal
+camp. Moggs was turned adrift by the Westmacottian faction. Bills
+were placarded about the town explaining the cruel necessity for such
+action, and describing Moggs as a revolutionary firebrand. And now
+there were three parties in the town. Mr. Trigger rejoiced over this
+greatly with Mr. Griffenbottom. "If they haven't been and cut their
+throats now it is a wonder," he said over and over again. Even Sir
+Thomas caught something of the feeling of triumph, and began almost
+to hope that he might be successful. Nevertheless the number of men
+who could not quite make up their minds as to what duty required of
+them till the day of the election was considerable, and Mr. Pile
+triumphantly whispered into Mr. Trigger's ear his conviction that
+"after all, things weren't going to be changed at Percycross quite so
+easily as some people supposed."
+
+When Moggs was utterly discarded by the respectable leaders of the
+liberal party in the borough,--turned out of the liberal inn at
+which were the head-quarters of the party, and refused the right
+of participating in the liberal breakfasts and dinners which were
+there provided, Moggs felt himself to be a triumphant martyr. His
+portmanteau and hat-box were carried by an admiring throng down to
+the Cordwainers' Arms,--a house not, indeed, of the highest repute in
+the town,--and here a separate committee was formed. Mr. Westmacott
+did his best to avert the secession; but his supporters were
+inexorable. The liberal tradesmen of Percycross would have nothing to
+do with a candidate who declared that inasmuch as a man's mind was
+more worthy than a man's money, labour was more worthy than capital,
+and that therefore the men should dominate and rule their masters.
+That was a doctrine necessarily abominable to every master tradesman.
+The men were to decide how many hours they would work, what
+recreation they would have, in what fashion and at what rate they
+would be paid, and what proportion of profit should be allowed to the
+members, and masters, and creators of the firm! That was the doctrine
+that Moggs was preaching. The tradesmen of Percycross, whether
+liberal or conservative, did not understand much in the world of
+politics, but they did understand that such a doctrine as that, if
+carried out, would take them to a very Gehenna of revolutionary
+desolation. And so Moggs was banished from the Northern Star, the
+inn at which Mr. Westmacott was living, and was forced to set up his
+radical staff at the Cordwainers' Arms.
+
+In one respect he certainly gained much by this persecution. The
+record of his election doings would have been confined to the columns
+of the "Percycross Herald" had he carried on his candidature after
+the usual fashion; but, as it was now, his doings were blazoned in
+the London newspapers. The "Daily News" reported him, and gave him an
+article all to himself; and even the "Times" condescended to make an
+example of him, and to bring him up as evidence that revolutionary
+doctrines were distasteful to the electors of the country generally.
+The fame of Ontario Moggs certainly became more familiar to the ears
+of the world at large than it would have done had he continued to run
+in a pair with Mr. Westmacott. And that was everything to him. Polly
+Neefit must hear of him now that his name had become a household word
+in the London newspapers.
+
+And in another respect he gained much. All personal canvassing was
+now at an end for him. There could be no use in his going about from
+house to house asking for votes. Indeed, he had discovered that to do
+so was a thing iniquitous in itself, a demoralising practice tending
+to falsehood, intimidation, and corruption,--a thing to be denounced.
+And he denounced it. Let the men of Percycross hear him, question him
+in public, learn from his spoken words what were his political
+principles,--and then vote for him if they pleased. He would
+condescend to ask a vote as a favour from no man. It was for them
+rather to ask him to bestow upon them the gift of his time and such
+ability as he possessed. He took a very high tone indeed in his
+speeches, and was saved the labour of parading the streets. During
+these days he looked down from an immeasurable height on the
+truckling, mean, sordid doings of Griffenbottom, Underwood, and
+Westmacott. A huge board had been hoisted up over the somewhat low
+frontage of the Cordwainers' Arms, and on this was painted in letters
+two feet high a legend which it delighted him to read, MOGGS, PURITY,
+AND THE RIGHTS OF LABOUR. Ah, if that could only be understood, there
+was enough in it to bring back an age of gold to suffering humanity!
+No other Reform would be needed. In that short legend everything
+necessary for man was contained.
+
+Mr. Pile and Mr. Trigger stood together one evening looking at the
+legend from a distance. "Moggs and purity!" said Mr. Pile, in that
+tone of disgust, and with that peculiar action which had become
+common to him in speaking of this election.
+
+"He hasn't a ghost of a chance," said Mr. Trigger, who was always
+looking straight at the main point;--"nor yet hasn't Westmacott."
+
+"There's worse than Westmacott," said Mr. Pile.
+
+"But what can we do?" said Trigger.
+
+"Purity! Purity!" said the old man. "It makes me that sick that I
+wish there weren't such a thing as a member of Parliament. Purity and
+pickpockets is about the same. When I'm among 'em I buttons up my
+breeches-pockets."
+
+"But what can we do?" asked Mr. Trigger again, in a voice of woe. Mr.
+Trigger quite sympathised with his elder friend; but, being a younger
+man, he knew that these innovations must be endured.
+
+Then Mr. Pile made a speech, of such length that he had never been
+known to make the like before;--so that Mr. Trigger felt that things
+had become very serious, and that, not impossibly, Mr. Pile might be
+so affected by this election as never again to hold up his head in
+Percycross. "Purity! Purity!" he repeated. "They're a going on that
+way, Trigger, that the country soon won't be fit for a man to live
+in. And what's the meaning of it all? It's just this,--that folks
+wants what they wants without paying for it. I hate Purity, I do. I
+hate the very smell of it. It stinks. When I see the chaps as come
+here and talk of Purity, I know they mean that nothing ain't to be as
+it used to be. Nobody is to trust no one. There ain't to be nothing
+warm, nor friendly, nor comfortable any more. This Sir Thomas you've
+brought down is just as bad as that shoemaking chap;--worse if
+anything. I know what's a going on inside him. I can see it. If a man
+takes a glass of wine out of his bottle, he's a asking hisself if
+that ain't bribery and corruption! He's got a handle to his name, and
+money, I suppose, and comes down here without knowing a chick or a
+child. Why isn't a poor man, as can't hardly live, to have his three
+half-crowns or fifteen shillings, as things may go, for voting for a
+stranger such as him? I'll tell you what it is, Trigger, I've done
+with it. Things have come to that in the borough, that I'll meddle
+and make no more." Mr. Trigger, as he listened to this eloquence,
+could only sigh and shake his head. "I did think it would last my
+time," added Mr. Pile, almost weeping.
+
+Moggs would steal out of the house in the early morning, look up at
+the big bright red letters, and rejoice in his very heart of hearts.
+He had not lived in vain, when his name had been joined, in the
+public view of men, with words so glorious. Purity and the Rights of
+Labour! "It contains just everything," said Moggs to himself as he
+sat down to his modest, lonely breakfast. After that, sitting with
+his hands clasped upon his brow, disdaining the use of pen and paper
+for such work, he composed his speech for the evening,--a speech
+framed with the purpose of proving to his hearers that Purity and the
+Rights of Labour combined would make them as angels upon the earth.
+As for himself, Moggs, he explained in his speech,--analysing the big
+board which adorned the house,--it mattered little whether they did
+or did not return him. But let them be always persistent in returning
+on every possible occasion Purity and the Rights of Labour, and then
+all other good things would follow to them. He enjoyed at any rate
+that supreme delight which a man feels when he thoroughly believes
+his own doctrine.
+
+But the days were very long with him. When the evening came, when his
+friends were relieved from their toil, and could assemble here and
+there through the borough to hear him preach to them, he was happy
+enough. He had certainly achieved so much that they preferred him now
+to their own presidents and chairmen. There was an enthusiasm for
+Moggs among the labouring men of Percycross, and he was always happy
+while he was addressing them. But the hours in the morning were
+long, and sometimes melancholy. Though all the town was busy with
+these electioneering doings, there was nothing for him to do. His
+rivals canvassed, consulted, roamed through the town,--as he could
+see,--filching votes from him. But he, too noble for such work
+as that, sat there alone in the little upstairs parlour of the
+Cordwainers' Arms, thinking of his speech for the evening,--thinking,
+too, of Polly Neefit. And then, of a sudden, it occurred to him that
+it would be good to write a letter to Polly from Percycross. Surely
+the fact that he was waging this grand battle would have some effect
+upon her heart. So he wrote the following letter, which reached Polly
+about a week after her return home from Margate.
+
+
+   Cordwainers' Arms Inn, Percycross,
+   14 October, 186--.
+
+   MY DEAR POLLY,--
+
+   I hope you won't be angry with me for writing to you. I am
+   here in the midst of the turmoil of a contested election,
+   and I cannot refrain from writing to tell you about it.
+   Out of a full heart they say the mouth speaks, and out of
+   a very full heart I am speaking to you with my pen. The
+   honourable prospect of having a seat in the British House
+   of Parliament, which I regard as the highest dignity that
+   a Briton can enjoy, is very much to me, and fills my mind,
+   and my heart, and my soul; but it all is not so much to me
+   as your love, if only I could win that seat. If I could
+   sit there, in your heart, and be chosen by you, not for a
+   short seven years, but for life, I should be prouder and
+   happier of that honour than of any other. It ought not,
+   perhaps, to be so, but it is. I have to speak here to
+   the people very often; but I never open my mouth without
+   thinking that if I had you to hear me I could speak with
+   more energy and spirit. If I could gain your love and the
+   seat for this borough together, I should have done more
+   then than emperor, or conqueror, or high priest ever
+   accomplished.
+
+   I don't know whether you understand much about elections.
+   When I first came here I was joined with a gentleman
+   who was one of the old members;--but now I stand alone,
+   because he does not comprehend or sympathise with the
+   advanced doctrines which it is my mission to preach to the
+   people. Purity and the Rights of Labour;--those are my
+   watchwords. But there are many here who hate the very name
+   of Purity, and who know nothing of the Rights of Labour.
+   Labour, dear Polly, is the salt of the earth; and I hope
+   that some day I may have the privilege of teaching you
+   that it is so. For myself I do not see why ladies should
+   not understand politics as well as men; and I think that
+   they ought to vote. I hope you think that women ought to
+   have the franchise.
+
+   We are to be nominated on Monday, and the election will
+   take place on Tuesday. I shall be nominated and seconded
+   by two electors who are working men. I would sooner
+   have their support than that of the greatest magnate in
+   the land. But your support would be better for me than
+   anything else in the world. People here, as a rule, are
+   very lukewarm about the ballot, and they seemed to know
+   very little about strikes till I came among them. Without
+   combination and mutual support the working people must be
+   ground to powder. If I am sent to Parliament I shall feel
+   it to be my duty to insist upon this doctrine in season
+   and out of season,--whenever I can make my voice heard.
+   But, oh Polly, if I could do it with you for my wife, my
+   voice would be so much louder.
+
+   Pray give my best respects to your father and mother. I am
+   afraid I have not your father's good wishes, but perhaps
+   if he saw me filling the honourable position of member of
+   Parliament for Percycross he might relent. If you would
+   condescend to write me one word in reply I should be
+   prouder of that than of anything. I suppose I shall be
+   here till Wednesday morning. If you would say but one kind
+   word to me, I think that it would help me on the great
+   day.
+
+   I am, and ever shall be,
+   Your most affectionate admirer,
+
+   ONTARIO MOGGS.
+
+
+[Illustration: "Out of a full heart they say the mouth speaks,
+and out of a very full heart I am speaking to you with my pen."]
+
+
+Polly received this on the Monday, the day of the nomination, and
+though she did answer it at once, Ontario did not get her reply till
+the contest was over, and that great day had done its best and its
+worst for him. But Polly's letter shall be given here. To a well-bred
+young lady, living in good society, the mixture of politics and
+love which had filled Ontario's epistle might perhaps have been
+unacceptable. But Polly thought that the letter was a good letter;
+and was proud of being so noticed by a young man who was standing for
+Parliament. She sympathised with his enthusiasm; and thought that
+she should like to be taught by him that Labour was the Salt of the
+Earth,--if only he were not so awkward and long, and if his hands
+were habitually a little cleaner. She could not, however, take
+upon herself to give him any hope in that direction, and therefore
+confined her answer to the Parliamentary prospects of the hour.
+
+
+   DEAR MR. MOGGS,--[she wrote]--I was very much pleased
+   when I heard that you were going to stand for a member of
+   Parliament, and I wish with all my heart that you may be
+   successful. I shall think it a very great honour indeed
+   to know a member of Parliament, as I have known you for
+   nearly all my life. I am sure you will do a great deal of
+   good, and prevent the people from being wicked. As for
+   ladies voting, I don't think I should like that myself,
+   though if I had twenty votes I would give them to
+   you,--because I have known you so long.
+
+   Father and mother send their respects, and hope you will
+   be successful.
+
+   Yours truly,
+
+   MARYANNE NEEFIT.
+
+   Alexandra Cottage, Monday.
+
+
+When Moggs received this letter he was, not unnaturally, in a state
+of great agitation in reference to the contest through which he had
+just passed; but still he thought very much of it, and put it in his
+breast, where it would lie near his heart. Ah, if only one word of
+warmth had been allowed to escape from the writer, how happy could he
+have been. "Yes," he said scornfully,--"because she has known me all
+her life!" Nevertheless, the paper which her hand had pressed, and
+the letters which her fingers had formed, were placed close to his
+heart.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+THE MOONBEAM.
+
+
+Ralph the heir had given his answer, and the thing was settled. He
+had abandoned his property for ever, and was to be put into immediate
+possession of a large sum of money,--of a sum so large that it would
+seem at once to make him a rich man. He knew, however, that if he
+should spend this money he would be a pauper for life; and he knew
+also how great was his facility for spending. There might, however,
+be at least a thousand a year for him and for his heirs after him,
+and surely it ought to be easy for him to live upon a thousand a
+year.
+
+As he thought of this he tried to make the best of it. He had at
+any rate rescued himself out of the hands of Neefit, who had become
+intolerable to him. As for Polly, she had refused him twice. Polly
+was a very sweet girl, but he could not make it matter of regret to
+himself that he should have lost Polly. Had Polly been all alone in
+the world she would have been well enough,--but Polly with papa and
+mamma Neefit must have been a mistake. It was well for him, at any
+rate, that he was out of that trouble. As regarded the Neefits, it
+would be simply necessary that he should pay the breeches-maker the
+money that he owed them, and go no more either to Conduit Street or
+to Hendon.
+
+And then what else should he do,--or leave undone? In what other
+direction should he be active or inactive? He was well aware
+that hitherto he had utterly wasted his life. Born with glorious
+prospects, he had now so dissipated them that there was nothing left
+for him but a quiet and very unambitious mode of life. Of means he
+had sufficient, if only he could keep that sufficiency. But he knew
+himself,--he feared that he knew himself too well to trust himself
+to keep that which he had unless he altogether changed his manner of
+living. To be a hybrid at the Moonbeam for life,--half hero and half
+dupe, among grooms and stable-keepers, was not satisfactory to him.
+He could see and could appreciate better things, and could long for
+them; but he could not attain to anything better unless he were to
+alter altogether his mode of life. Would it not be well for him to
+get a wife? He was rid of Polly, who had been an incubus to him, and
+now he could choose for himself.
+
+He wrote to his brother Gregory, telling his brother what he had
+done. The writing of letters was ever a trouble to him, and on this
+occasion he told his tidings in a line or two. "Dear Greg., I have
+accepted my uncle's offer. It was better so. When I wrote to you
+before things were different. I need not tell you that my heart is
+sore for the old place. Had I stuck to it, however, I should have
+beggared you and disgraced myself. Yours affectionately, R. N." That
+was all. What more was to be said which, in the saying, could be
+serviceable to any one? The dear old place! He would never see it
+again. Nothing on earth should induce him to go there, now that it
+could under no circumstances be his own. It would still belong to a
+Newton, and he would try and take comfort in that. He might at any
+rate have done worse with it. He might have squandered his interest
+among the Jews, and so have treated his inheritance that it must have
+been sold among strangers.
+
+He was very low in spirits for two or three days, thinking of all
+this. He had been with his lawyer, and his lawyer had told him that
+it must yet be some weeks before the sale would be perfected. "Now
+that it is done, the sooner the better," said Ralph. The lawyer told
+him that if he absolutely wanted ready money for his present needs
+he could have it; but that otherwise it would be better for him to
+wait patiently,--say for a month. He was not absolutely in want of
+money, having still funds which had been supplied to him by the
+breeches-maker. But he could not remain in town. Were he to remain in
+town, Neefit would be upon him; and, in truth, though he was quite
+clear in his conscience in regard to Polly, he did not wish to have
+to explain personally to Mr. Neefit that he had sold his interest in
+Newton Priory. The moment the money was in his hands he would pay Mr.
+Neefit; and then--; why then he thought that he would be entitled
+to have Mr. Neefit told that he was not at home should Mr. Neefit
+trouble him again.
+
+He would marry and live somewhere very quietly;--perhaps take a small
+farm and keep one hunter. His means would be sufficient for that,
+even with a wife and family. Yes;--that would be the kind of life
+most suited for him. He would make a great change. He would be simple
+in his habits, domestic, and extravagant in nothing. To hunt once
+a week from his own little country house would be delightful. Who
+should be the mistress of that home? That of all questions was now
+the most important.
+
+The reader may remember a certain trifling incident which took place
+some three or four months since on the lawn at Popham Villa. It was
+an incident which Clary Underwood had certainly never forgotten. It
+is hardly too much to say that she thought of it every hour. She
+thought of it as a great sin;--but as a sin which had been forgiven,
+and, though a grievous sin, as strong evidence of that which was
+not sinful, and which if true would be so full of joy. Clary had
+never forgotten this incident;--but Ralph had forgotten it nearly
+altogether. That he had accompanied the incident by any assurance of
+his love, by any mention of love intended to mean anything, he was
+altogether unaware. He would have been ready to swear that he had
+never so committed himself. Little tender passages of course there
+had been. Such are common,--so he thought,--when young ladies and
+young gentlemen know each other well and are fond of each other's
+company. But that he owed himself to Clarissa Underwood, and that he
+would sin grievously against her should he give himself to another,
+he had no idea. It merely occurred to him that there might be some
+slight preparatory embarrassment were he to offer his hand to Mary
+Bonner. Yet he thought that of all the girls in the world Mary Bonner
+was the one to whom he would best like to offer it. It might indeed
+be possible for him to marry some young woman with money; but in his
+present frame of mind he was opposed to any such effort. Hitherto
+things with him had been all worldly, empty, useless, and at the same
+time distasteful. He was to have married Polly Neefit for her money,
+and he had been wretched ever since he had entertained the idea. Love
+and a cottage were, he knew, things incompatible; but the love and
+the cottage implied in those words were synonymous with absolute
+poverty. Love with thirty thousand pounds, even though it should have
+a cottage joined with it, need not be a poverty-stricken love. He was
+sick of the world,--of the world such as he had made it for himself,
+and he would see if he could not do something better. He would first
+get Mary Bonner, and then he would get the farm. He was so much
+delighted with the scheme which he thus made for himself, that he
+went to his club and dined there pleasantly, allowing himself a
+bottle of champagne as a sort of reward for having made up his mind
+to so much virtue. He met a friend or two, and spent a pleasant
+evening, and as he walked home to his lodgings in the evening was
+quite in love with his prospects. It was well for him to have rid
+himself of the burden of an inheritance which might perhaps not have
+been his for the next five-and-twenty years. As he undressed himself
+he considered whether it would be well for him at once to throw
+himself at Mary Bonner's feet. There were two reasons for not doing
+this quite immediately. He had been told by his lawyer that he ought
+to wait for some form of assent or agreement from the Squire before
+he took any important step as consequent upon the new arrangement
+in regard to the property, and then Sir Thomas was still among the
+electors at Percycross. He wished to do everything that was proper,
+and would wait for the return of Sir Thomas. But he must do something
+at once. To remain in his lodgings and at his club was not in accord
+with that better path in life which he had chalked out for himself.
+
+Of course he must go down to the Moonbeam. He had four horses there,
+and must sell at least three of them. One hunter he intended to allow
+himself. There were Brag, Banker, Buff, and Brewer; and he thought
+that he would keep Brag. Brag was only six years old, and might last
+him for the next seven years. In the meantime he could see a little
+cub-hunting, and live at the Moonbeam for a week at any rate as
+cheaply as he could in London. So he went down to the Moonbeam, and
+put himself under the charge of Mr. Horsball.
+
+And here he found himself in luck. Lieutenant Cox was there, and with
+the lieutenant a certain Fred Pepper, who hunted habitually with the
+B. and B. Lieutenant Cox had soon told his little tale. He had sold
+out, and had promised his family that he would go to Australia. But
+he intended to "take one more winter out of himself," as he phrased
+it. He had made a bargain to that effect with his governor. His debts
+had been paid, his commission had been sold, and he was to be shipped
+for Queensland. But he was to have one more winter with the B. and B.
+An open, good-humoured, shrewd youth was Lieutenant Cox, who suffered
+nothing from false shame, and was intelligent enough to know that
+life at the rate of £1,200 a year, with £400 to spend, must come to
+an end. Fred Pepper was a young man of about forty-five, who had
+hunted with the B. and B., and lived at the Moonbeam from a time
+beyond which the memory of Mr. Horsball's present customers went not.
+He was the father of the Moonbeam, Mr. Horsball himself having come
+there since the days in which Fred Pepper first became familiar with
+its loose boxes. No one knew how he lived or how he got his horses.
+He had, however, a very pretty knack of selling them, and certainly
+paid Mr. Horsball regularly. He was wont to vanish in April, and
+would always turn up again in October. Some people called him the
+dormouse. He was good-humoured, good-looking after a horsey fashion,
+clever, agreeable, and quite willing to submit himself to any
+nickname that could be found for him. He liked a rubber of whist, and
+was supposed to make something out of bets with bad players. He rode
+very carefully, and was altogether averse to ostentation and bluster
+in the field. But he could make a horse do anything when he wanted
+to sell him, and could on an occasion give a lead as well as any man.
+Everybody liked him, and various things were constantly said in his
+praise. He was never known to borrow a sovereign. He had been known
+to lend a horse. He did not drink. He was a very safe man in the
+field. He did not lie outrageously in selling his horses. He did not
+cheat at cards. As long as he had a drop of drink left in his flask,
+he would share it with any friend. He never boasted. He was much
+given to chaff, but his chaff was good-humoured. He was generous with
+his cigars. Such were his virtues. That he had no adequate means of
+his own and that he never earned a penny, that he lived chiefly by
+gambling, that he had no pursuit in life but pleasure, that he never
+went inside a church, that he never gave away a shilling, that he was
+of no use to any human being, and that no one could believe a word he
+said of himself,--these were specks upon his character. Taken as a
+whole Fred Pepper was certainly very popular with the gentlemen and
+ladies of the B. and B.
+
+Ralph Newton when he dropped down upon the Moonbeam was made loudly
+welcome. Mr. Horsball, whose bill for £500 had been honoured at its
+first day of maturity, not a little, perhaps, to his own surprise,
+treated Ralph almost as a hero. When Ralph made some reference to the
+remainder of the money due, Mr. Horsball expressed himself as quite
+shocked at the allusion. He had really had the greatest regret in
+asking Mr. Newton for his note of hand, and would not have done it,
+had not an unforeseen circumstance called upon him suddenly to make
+up a few thousands. He had felt very much obliged to Mr. Newton for
+his prompt kindness. There needn't be a word about the remainder,
+and if Mr. Newton wanted something specially good for the next
+season,--as of course he would,--Mr. Horsball had just the horse that
+would suit him. "You'll about want a couple more, Mr. Newton," said
+Mr. Horsball.
+
+Then Ralph told something of his plans to this Master of the
+Studs,--something, but not much. He said nothing of the sale of his
+property, and nothing quite definite as to that one horse with which
+his hunting was to be done for the future. "I'm going to turn over a
+new leaf, Horsball," he said.
+
+"Not going to be spliced, squire?"
+
+"Well;--I can't say that I am, but I won't say that I ain't. But I'm
+certainly going to make a change which will take me away from your
+fatherly care."
+
+"I'm sorry for that, squire. We think we've always taken great care
+of you here."
+
+"The very best in the world;--but a man must settle down in the world
+some day, you know. I want a nice bit of land, a hundred and fifty
+acres, or something of that sort."
+
+"To purchase, squire?"
+
+"I don't care whether I buy it or take it on lease. But it mustn't be
+in this county. I am too well known here, and should always want to
+be out when I ought to be looking after the stock."
+
+"You'll take the season out of yourself first, at any rate," said Mr.
+Horsball. Ralph shook his head, but Mr. Horsball felt nearly sure
+of his customer for the ensuing winter. It is not easy for a man to
+part with four horses, seven or eight saddles, an establishment of
+bridles, horsesheets, spurs, rollers, and bandages, a pet groom,
+a roomful of top boots, and leather breeches beyond the power of
+counting. This is a wealth which it is easy to increase, but of which
+it is very difficult to get quit.
+
+"I think I shall sell," said Ralph.
+
+"We'll talk about that in April," said Mr. Horsball.
+
+He went out cub-hunting three or four times, and spent the
+intermediate days playing dummy whist with Fred Pepper and Cox,--who
+was no longer a lieutenant. Ralph felt that this was not the sort of
+beginning for his better life which would have been most appropriate;
+but then he hardly had an opportunity of beginning that better life
+quite at once. He must wait till something more definite had been
+done about the property,--and, above all things, till Sir Thomas
+should be back from canvassing. He did, however, so far begin
+his better life as to declare that the points at whist must be
+low,--shilling points, with half-a-crown on the rubber. "Quite
+enough for this kind of thing," said Fred Pepper. "We only want just
+something to do." And Ralph, when at the end of the week he had lost
+only a matter of fifteen pounds, congratulated himself on having
+begun his better life. Cox and Fred Pepper, who divided the trifle
+between them, laughed at the bagatelle.
+
+But before he left the Moonbeam things had assumed a shape which,
+when looked at all round, was not altogether pleasant to him. Before
+he had been three days at the place he received a letter from his
+lawyer, telling him that his uncle had given his formal assent to the
+purchase, and had offered to pay the stipulated sum as soon as Ralph
+would be willing to receive it. As to any further sum that might be
+forthcoming, a valuer should be agreed upon at once. The actual deed
+of sale and transfer would be ready by the middle of November; and
+the lawyer advised Ralph to postpone his acceptance of the money till
+that deed should have been executed. It was evident from the letter
+that there was no need on his part to hurry back to town. This letter
+he found waiting for him on his return one day from hunting. There
+had been a pretty run, very fast, with a kill, as there will be
+sometimes in cub-hunting in October,--though as a rule, of all
+sports, cub-hunting is the sorriest. Ralph had ridden his favourite
+horse Brag, and Mr. Pepper had taken out,--just to try him,--a little
+animal of his that he had bought, as he said, quite at haphazard. He
+knew nothing about him, and was rather afraid that he had been done.
+But the little horse seemed to have a dash of pace about him, and in
+the evening there was some talk of the animal. Fred Pepper thought
+that the little horse was faster than Brag. Fred Pepper never praised
+his own horses loudly; and when Brag's merits were chaunted, said
+that perhaps Ralph was right. Would Ralph throw his leg over the
+little horse on Friday and try him? On the Friday Ralph did throw his
+leg over the little horse, and there was another burst. Ralph was
+obliged to confess, as they came home together in the afternoon, that
+he had never been better carried. "I can see what he is now," said
+Fred Pepper;--"he is one of those little horses that one don't get
+every day. He's up to a stone over my weight, too." Now Ralph and
+Fred Pepper each rode thirteen stone and a half.
+
+On that day they dined together, and there was much talk as to the
+future prospects of the men. Not that Fred Pepper said anything of
+his future prospects. No one ever presumed him to have a prospect, or
+suggested to him to look for one. But Cox had been very communicative
+and confidential, and Ralph had been prompted to say something of
+himself. Fred Pepper, though he had no future of his own, could
+he pleasantly interested about the future of another, and had
+quite agreed with Ralph that he ought to settle himself. The only
+difficulty was in deciding the when. Cox intended to settle himself
+too, but Cox was quite clear as to the wisdom of taking another
+season out of himself. He was prepared to prove that it would be
+sheer waste of time and money not to do so. "Here I am," said Cox,
+"and a fellow always saves money by staying where he is." There was a
+sparkle of truth in this which Ralph Newton found himself unable to
+deny.
+
+"You'll never have another chance," said Pepper.
+
+"That's another thing," said Cox. "Of course I shan't. I've turned it
+round every side, and I know what I'm about. As for horses, I believe
+they sell better in April than they do in October. Men know what they
+are then." Fred Pepper would not exactly back this opinion, but he
+ventured to suggest that there was not so much difference as some men
+supposed.
+
+"If you are to jump into the cold water," said Ralph, "you'd better
+take the plunge at once."
+
+"I'd sooner do it in summer than winter," said Fred Pepper.
+
+"Of course," said Cox. "If you must give up hunting, do it at the end
+of the season, not at the beginning. There's a time for all things.
+Ring the bell, Dormouse, and we'll have another bottle of claret
+before we go to dummy."
+
+"If I stay here for the winter," said Ralph, "I should want another
+horse. Though I might, perhaps, get through with four."
+
+"Of course you might," said Pepper, who never spoilt his own market
+by pressing.
+
+"I'd rather give up altogether than do it in a scratch way," said
+Ralph. "I've got into a fashion of having a second horse, and I like
+it."
+
+"It's the greatest luxury in the world," said Cox.
+
+"I never tried it," said Pepper; "I'm only too happy to get one." It
+was admitted by all men that Fred Pepper had the art of riding his
+horses without tiring them.
+
+They played their rubber of whist and had a little hot whisky and
+water. On this evening Mr. Horsball was admitted to their company and
+made a fourth. But he wouldn't bet. Shilling points, he said, were
+quite as much as he could afford. Through the whole evening they went
+on talking of the next season, of the absolute folly of giving up one
+thing before another was begun, and of the merits of Fred Pepper's
+little horse. "A clever little animal, Mr. Pepper," said the great
+man, "a very clever little animal; but I wish you wouldn't bring so
+many clever un's down here, Mr. Pepper."
+
+"Why not, Horsball?" asked Cox.
+
+"Because he interferes with my trade," said Mr. Horsball, laughing.
+It was supposed, nevertheless, that Mr. Horsball and Mr. Pepper quite
+understood each other. Before the evening was over, a price had been
+fixed, and Ralph had bought the little horse for £130. Why shouldn't
+he take another winter out of himself? He could not marry Mary Bonner
+and get into a farm all in a day,--nor yet all in a month. He would
+go to work honestly with the view of settling himself; but let him
+be as honest about it as he might, his winter's hunting would not
+interfere with him. So at last he assured himself. And then he had
+another argument strong in his favour. He might hunt all the winter
+and yet have this thirty thousand pounds,--nay, more than thirty
+thousand pounds at the end of it. In fact, imprudent and foolish as
+had been his hunting in all previous winters, there would not even
+be any imprudence in this winter's hunting. Fortified by all these
+unanswerable arguments he did buy Mr. Fred Pepper's little horse.
+
+On the next morning, the morning of the day on which he was to return
+to town, the arguments did not seem to be so irresistible, and he
+almost regretted what he had done. It was not that he would be ruined
+by another six months' fling at life. Situated as he now was so much
+might be allowed to him almost without injury. But then how can a man
+trust in his own resolutions before he has begun to keep them,--when,
+at the very moment of beginning, he throws them to the winds for the
+present, postponing everything for another hour? He knew as well as
+any one could tell him that he was proving himself to be unfit for
+that new life which he was proposing to himself. When one man is
+wise and another foolish, the foolish man knows generally as well
+as does the wise man in what lies wisdom and in what folly. And the
+temptation often is very slight. Ralph Newton had hardly wished to
+buy Mr. Pepper's little horse. The balance of desire during the whole
+evening had lain altogether on the other side. But there had come
+a moment in which he had yielded, and that moment governed all the
+other minutes. We may almost say that a man is only as strong as his
+weakest moment.
+
+But he returned to London very strong in his purpose. He would keep
+his establishment at the Moonbeam for this winter. He had it all laid
+out and planned in his mind. He would at once pay Mr. Horsball the
+balance of the old debt, and count on the value of his horses to
+defray the expense of the coming season. And he would, without a
+week's delay, make his offer to Mary Bonner. A dim idea of some
+feeling of disappointment on Clary's part did cross his brain,--a
+feeling which seemed to threaten some slight discomfort to himself
+as resulting from want of sympathy on her part; but he must assume
+sufficient courage to brave this. That he would in any degree be an
+evil-doer towards Clary,--that did not occur to him. Nor did it occur
+to him as at all probable that Mary Bonner would refuse his offer. In
+these days men never expect to be refused. It has gone forth among
+young men as a doctrine worthy of perfect faith, that young ladies
+are all wanting to get married,--looking out for lovers with an
+absorbing anxiety, and that few can dare to refuse any man who is
+justified in proposing to them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+THE NEW HEIR COUNTS HIS CHICKENS.
+
+
+The Squire was almost lost in joy when he received his son's letter,
+telling him that Ralph the heir had consented to sell everything.
+The one great wish of his life was to be accomplished at last! The
+property was to be his own, so that he might do what he liked with
+it, so that he might leave it entire to his own son, so that for the
+remainder of his life he might enjoy it in that community with his
+son which had always appeared to him to be the very summit of human
+bliss. From the sweet things which he had seen he had been hitherto
+cut off by the record of his own fault, and had spent the greater
+part of his life in the endurance of a bitter punishment. He had been
+torn to pieces, too, in contemplating the modes of escape from the
+position in which his father's very natural will had placed him. He
+might of course have married, and at least have expected and have
+hoped for children. But in that there would have been misery. His
+son was the one human being that was dear to him above all others,
+and by such a marriage he would have ruined his son. Early in life,
+comparatively early, he had made up his mind that he would not do
+that;--that he would save his money, and make a property for the boy
+he loved. But then it had come home to him as a fact, that he could
+be happy in preparing no other home for his son than this old family
+house of his, with all its acres, woods, and homesteads. The acres,
+woods, and homesteads gave to him no delight, feeling as he did every
+hour of his life that they were not his own for purposes of a real
+usufruct. Then by degrees he had heard of his nephew's follies, and
+the idea had come upon him that he might buy his nephew out. Ralph,
+his own Ralph, had told him that the idea was cruel; but he could not
+see the cruelty. "What a bad man loses a good man will get," he said;
+"and surely it must be better for all those who are to live by the
+property that a good man should be the master of it." He would not
+interfere, nor would he have any power of interfering, till others
+would interfere were he to keep aloof. The doings would be the doings
+of that spendthrift heir, and none of his. When Ralph would tell him
+that he was cruel, he would turn away in wrath; but hiding his wrath,
+because he loved his son. But now everything was set right, and his
+son had had the doing of it.
+
+He was nearly mad with joy throughout that day as he thought of the
+great thing which he had accomplished. He was alone in the house, for
+his son was still in London, and during the last few months guests
+had been unfrequent at the Priory. But he did not wish to have
+anybody with him now. He went out, roaming through the park, and
+realising to himself the fact that now, at length, the very trees
+were his own. He gazed at one farmhouse after another, not seeking
+the tenants, hardly speaking to them if he met them, but with his
+brain full of plans of what should be done. He saw Gregory for a
+moment, but only nodded at him smiling, and passed on. He was not in
+a humour just at present to tell his happiness to any one. He walked
+all round Darvell's premises, the desolate, half-ruined house of
+Brumbys, telling himself that very shortly it should be desolate and
+half-ruined no longer. Then he crossed into the lane, and stood with
+his eyes fixed upon Brownriggs,--Walker's farm, the pearl of all the
+farms in those parts, the land with which he thought he could have
+parted so easily when the question before him was that of becoming in
+truth the owner of any portion of the estate. But now, every acre was
+ten times dearer to him than it had been then. He would never part
+with Brownriggs. He would even save Ingram's farm, in Twining, if
+it might possibly be saved. He had not known before how dear to him
+could be every bank, every tree, every sod. Yes;--now in very truth
+he was lord and master of the property which had belonged to his
+father, and his father's fathers before him. He would borrow money,
+and save it during his lifetime. He would do anything rather than
+part with an acre of it, now that the acres were his own to leave
+behind him to his son.
+
+On the following day Ralph arrived. We must no longer call him Ralph
+who was not the heir. He would be heir to everything from the day
+that the contract was completed! The Squire, though he longed to see
+the young man as he had never longed before, would not go to the
+station to meet the welcome one. His irrepressible joy was too great
+to be exhibited before strangers. He remained at home, in his own
+room, desiring that Mr. Ralph might come to him there. He would not
+even show himself in the hall. And yet when Ralph entered the room he
+was very calm. There was a bright light in his eyes, but at first he
+spoke hardly a word. "So, you've managed that little job," he said,
+as he took his son's hand.
+
+"I managed nothing, sir," said Ralph, smiling.
+
+"Didn't you? I thought you had managed a good deal. It is done,
+anyway."
+
+"Yes, sir, it's done. At least, I suppose so." Ralph, after sending
+his telegram, had of course written to his father, giving him full
+particulars of the manner in which the arrangement had been made.
+
+"You don't mean that there is any doubt," said the Squire with almost
+an anxious tone.
+
+"Not at all, as far as I know. The lawyers seem to think that it is
+all right. Ralph is quite in earnest."
+
+"He must be in earnest," said the Squire.
+
+"He has behaved uncommonly well," said the namesake. "So well that I
+think you owe him much. We were quite mistaken in supposing that he
+wanted to drive a sharp bargain." He himself had never so supposed,
+but he found this to be the best way of speaking of that matter to
+his father.
+
+"I will forgive him everything now," said the Squire, "and will do
+anything that I can to help him."
+
+Ralph said many things in praise of his namesake. He still almost
+regretted what had been done. At any rate he could see the pity
+of it. It was that other Ralph who should have been looked to as
+the future proprietor of Newton Priory, and not he, who was hardly
+entitled to call himself a Newton. It would have been more consistent
+with the English order of things that it should be so. And then
+there was so much to say in favour of this young man who had lost
+it all, and so little to say against him! And it almost seemed to
+him for whose sake the purchase was being made, that advantage,--an
+unscrupulous if not an unfair advantage,--was being taken of the
+purchaser. He could not say all this to his father; but he spoke of
+Ralph in such a way as to make his father understand what he thought.
+"He is such a pleasant fellow," said Ralph, who was now the heir.
+
+"Let us have him down here as soon as the thing is settled."
+
+"Ah;--I don't think he'll come now. Of course he's wretched enough
+about it. It is not wonderful that he should have hesitated at
+parting with it."
+
+"Perhaps not," said the Squire, who was willing to forgive past sins;
+"but of course there was no help for it."
+
+"That was what he didn't feel so sure about when he declined your
+first offer. It was not that he objected to the price. As to the
+price he says that of course he can say nothing about it. When I
+told him that you were willing to raise your offer, he declared that
+he would take nothing in that fashion. If those who understood the
+matter said that more was coming to him, he supposed that he would
+get it. According to my ideas he behaved very well, sir."
+
+In this there was something that almost amounted to an accusation
+against the Squire. At least so the Squire felt it; and the feeling
+for the moment robbed him of something of his triumph. According to
+his own view there was no need for pity. It was plain that to his son
+the whole affair was pitiful. But he could not scold his son;--at any
+rate not now. "I feel this, Ralph," he said;--"that from this moment
+everybody connected with the property, every tenant on it and every
+labourer, will be better off than they were a month ago. I may have
+been to blame. I say nothing about that. But I do say that in all
+cases it is well that a property should go to the natural heir of the
+life-tenant. Of course it has been my fault," he added after a pause;
+"but I do feel now that I have in a great measure remedied the evil
+which I did." The tone now had become too serious to admit of further
+argument. Ralph, feeling that this was so, pressed his father's hand
+and then left him. "Gregory is coming across to dinner," said the
+Squire as Ralph was closing the door behind him.
+
+At that time Gregory had received no intimation of what had been done
+in London, his brother's note not reaching him till the following
+morning. Ralph met him before the Squire came down, and the news was
+soon told. "It is all settled," said Ralph, with a sigh.
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Your brother has agreed to sell."
+
+"No!"
+
+"I have almost more pain than pleasure in it myself, because I know
+it will make you unhappy."
+
+"He was so confident when he wrote to me!"
+
+"Yes;--but he explained all that. He had hoped then that he could
+have saved it. But the manner of saving it would have been worse than
+the loss. He will tell you everything, no doubt. No man could have
+behaved better." As it happened, there was still some little space
+of time before the Squire joined them,--a period perhaps of five
+minutes. But the parson spoke hardly a word. The news which he now
+heard confounded him. He had been quite sure that his brother had
+been in earnest, and that his uncle would fail. And then, though
+he loved the one Ralph nearly as well as he did the other,--though
+he must have known that Ralph the base-born was in all respects a
+better man than his own brother, more of a man than the legitimate
+heir,--still to his feelings that legitimacy was everything. He too
+was a Newton of Newton; but it may be truly said of him that there
+was nothing selfish in his feelings. To be the younger brother of
+Newton of Newton, and parson of the parish which bore the same name
+as themselves, was sufficient for his ambition. But things would be
+terribly astray now that the right heir was extruded. Ralph, this
+Ralph whom he loved so well, could not be the right Newton to own the
+property. The world would not so regard him. The tenants would not so
+think of him. The county would not so repute him. To the thinking of
+parson Gregory, a great misfortune had been consummated. As soon as
+he had realised it, he was silent and could speak no more.
+
+Nor did Ralph say a word. Not to triumph in what had been done on his
+behalf,--or at least not to seem to triumph,--that was the lesson
+which he had taught himself. He fully sympathised with Gregory; and
+therefore he stood silent and sad by his side. That there must have
+been some triumph in his heart it is impossible not to imagine. It
+could not be but that he should be alive to the glory of being the
+undoubted heir to Newton Priory. And he understood well that his
+birth would interfere but little now with his position. Should he
+choose to marry, as he would choose, it would of course be necessary
+that he should explain his birth; but it was not likely, he thought,
+that he should seek a wife among those who would reject him, with all
+his other advantages, because he had no just title to his father's
+name. That he should take joy in what had been done on his behalf
+was only natural; but as he stood with Gregory, waiting for his
+father to come to them, he showed no sign of joy. At last the Squire
+came. There certainly was triumph in his eye, but he did not speak
+triumphantly. It was impossible that some word should not be spoken
+between them as to the disposition of the property. "I suppose Ralph
+has told you," he said, "what he has done up in London?"
+
+"Yes;--he has told me," said Gregory.
+
+"I hope there will now be an end of all family ill-feeling among us,"
+said the uncle. "Your brother shall be as welcome at the old place
+as I trust you have always found yourself. If he likes to bring his
+horses here, we shall be delighted."
+
+The parson muttered something as to the kindness with which he had
+ever been treated, but what he said was said with an ill grace. He
+was almost broken-hearted, and thoroughly wished himself back in
+his own solitude. The Squire saw it all, and did not press him to
+talk;--said not a word more of his purchase, and tried to create some
+little interest about parish matters;--asked after the new building
+in the chancel, and was gracious about this old man and that young
+woman. But Gregory could not recover himself,--could not recall his
+old interests, or so far act a part as to make it seem that he was
+not thinking of the misfortune which had fallen upon the family. In
+every look of his eyes and every tone of his voice he was telling
+the son that he was a bastard, and the father that he was destroying
+the inheritance of the family. But yet they bore with him, and
+endeavoured to win him back to pleasantness. Soon after the cloth was
+taken away he took his leave. He had work to do at home, he said, and
+must go. His uncle went out with him into the hall, leaving Ralph
+alone in the parlour. "It will be for the best in the long run," said
+the Squire, with his hand on his nephew's shoulder.
+
+"Perhaps it may, sir. I am not pretending to say. Good night." As he
+walked home across the park, through the old trees which he had known
+since he was an infant, he told himself that it could not be for the
+best that the property should be sent adrift, out of the proper line.
+The only thing to be desired now was that neither he nor his brother
+should have a child, and that there should no longer be a proper
+line.
+
+The Squire's joy was too deep and well founded to be in any way
+damped by poor Gregory's ill-humour, and was too closely present to
+him for him to be capable of restraining it. Why should he restrain
+himself before his son? "I am sorry for Greg," he said, "because he
+has old-fashioned ideas. But of course it will be for the best. His
+brother would have squandered every acre of it." To this Ralph made
+no answer. It might probably have been as his father said. It was
+perhaps best for all who lived in and by the estate that he should be
+the heir. And gradually the feeling of exultation in his own position
+was growing upon him. It was natural that it should do so. He knew
+himself to be capable of filling with credit, and with advantage to
+all around him, the great place which was now assigned to him, and
+it was impossible that he should not be exultant. And he owed it to
+his father to show him that he appreciated all that had been done
+for him. "I think he ought to have the £35,000 at least," said the
+Squire.
+
+"Certainly," said Ralph.
+
+"I think so. As for the bulk sum, I have already written to Carey
+about that. No time ought to be lost. There is no knowing what might
+happen. He might die."
+
+"He doesn't look like dying, sir."
+
+"He might break his neck out hunting. There is no knowing. At any
+rate there should be no delay. From what I am told I don't think that
+with the timber and all they'll make it come to another £5,000; but
+he shall have that. As he has behaved well, I'll show him that I can
+behave well too. I've half a mind to go up to London, and stay till
+it's all through."
+
+"You'd only worry yourself."
+
+"I should worry myself, no doubt. And do you know, I love the place
+so much better than I did, that I can hardly bear to tear myself away
+from it. The first mark of my handiwork, now that I can work, shall
+be put upon Darvell's farm. I'll have the old place about his ears
+before I am a day older."
+
+"You'll not get it through before winter."
+
+"Yes, I will. If it costs me an extra £50 I shan't begrudge it. It
+shall be a sort of memorial building, a farmhouse of thanksgiving.
+I'll make it as snug a place as there is about the property. It has
+made me wretched for these two years."
+
+"I hope all that kind of wretchedness will be over now."
+
+"Thank God;--yes. I was looking at Brownriggs to-day,--and Ingram's.
+I don't think we'll sell either. I have a plan, and I think we can
+pull through without it. It is so much easier to sell than to buy."
+
+"You'd be more comfortable if you sold one of them."
+
+"Of course I must borrow a few thousands;--but why not? I doubt
+whether at this moment there's a property in all Hampshire so free as
+this. I have always lived on less than the income, and I can continue
+to do so easier than before. You are provided for now, old fellow."
+
+"Yes, indeed;--and why should you pinch yourself?"
+
+"I shan't be pinched. I haven't got a score of women about me, as
+you'll have before long. There's nothing in the world like having a
+wife. I am quite sure of that. But if you want to save money, the way
+to do it is not to have a nursery. You'll marry, of course, now?"
+
+"I suppose I shall some day."
+
+"The sooner the better. Take my word for it."
+
+"Perhaps you'd alter your opinion if I came upon you before Christmas
+for your sanction."
+
+"No, by Jove; that I shouldn't. I should be delighted. You don't mean
+to say you've got anybody in your eye. There's only one thing I ask,
+Ralph;--open out-and-out confidence."
+
+"You shall have it, sir."
+
+"There is somebody, then."
+
+"Well; no; there isn't anybody. It would be impudence in me to say
+there was."
+
+"Then I know there is." Upon this encouragement Ralph told his father
+that on his two last visits to London he had seen a girl whom he
+thought that he would like to ask to be his wife. He had been at
+Fulham on three or four occasions,--it was so he put it, but his
+visits had, in truth, been only three,--and he thought that this
+niece of Sir Thomas Underwood possessed every charm that a woman need
+possess,--"except money," said Ralph. "She has no fortune, if you
+care about that."
+
+"I don't care about money," said the Squire. "It is for the man to
+have that;--at any rate for one so circumstanced as you." The end
+of all this was that Ralph was authorised to please himself. If he
+really felt that he liked Miss Bonner well enough, he might ask her
+to be his wife to-morrow.
+
+"The difficulty is to get at her," said Ralph.
+
+"Ask the uncle for his permission. That's the manliest and the
+fittest way to do it. Tell him everything. Take my word for it he
+won't turn his face against you. As for me, nothing on earth would
+make me so happy as to see your children. If there were a dozen, I
+would not think them one too many. But mark you this, Ralph; it will
+be easier for us,--for you and me, if I live,--and for you without
+me if I go, to make all things clear and square and free while the
+bairns are little, than when they have to go to school and college,
+or perhaps want to get married."
+
+"Ain't we counting our chickens before they are hatched?" said Ralph
+laughing.
+
+When they parted for the night, which they did not do till after the
+Squire had slept for an hour on his chair, there was one other speech
+made,--a speech which Ralph was likely to remember to the latest day
+of his life. His father had taken his candlestick in his right hand,
+and had laid his left upon his son's collar. "Ralph," said he, "for
+the first time in my life I can look you in the face, and not feel a
+pang of remorse. You will understand it when you have a son of your
+own. Good-night, my boy." Then he hurried off without waiting to hear
+a word, if there was any word that Ralph could have spoken.
+
+On the next morning they were both out early at Darvell's farm,
+surrounded by bricklayers and carpenters, and before the week was
+over the work was in progress. Poor Darvell, half elated and half
+troubled, knew but little of the cause of this new vehemence.
+Something we suppose he did know, for the news was soon spread over
+the estate that the Squire had bought out Mr. Ralph, and that this
+other Mr. Ralph was now to be Mr. Ralph the heir. That the old butler
+should not be told,--the butler who had lived in the house when the
+present Squire was a boy,--was out of the question; and though the
+communication had been made in confidence, the confidence was not
+hermetical. The Squire after all was glad that it should be so. The
+thing had to be made known,--and why not after this fashion? Among
+the labourers and poor there was no doubt as to the joy felt. That
+other Mr. Ralph, who had always been up in town, was unknown to them,
+and this Mr. Ralph had ever been popular with them all. With the
+tenants the feeling was perhaps more doubtful. "I wish you joy, Mr.
+Newton, with all my heart," said Mr. Walker, who was the richest and
+the most intelligent among them. "The Squire has worked for you like
+a man, and I hope it will come to good."
+
+"I will do my best," said Ralph.
+
+"I am sure you will. There will be a feeling, you know. You mustn't
+be angry at that."
+
+"I understand," said Ralph.
+
+"You won't be vexed with me for just saying so." Ralph promised that
+he would not be vexed, but he thought very much of what Mr. Walker
+had said to him. After all, such a property as Newton does not in
+England belong altogether to the owner of it. Those who live upon it,
+and are closely concerned in it with reference to all that they have
+in the world, have a part property in it. They make it what it is,
+and will not make it what it should be, unless in their hearts they
+are proud of it. "You know he can't be the real squire," said one old
+farmer to Mr. Walker. "They may hugger-mugger it this way and that;
+but this Mr. Ralph can't be like t'other young gentleman."
+
+Nevertheless the Squire himself was very happy. These things were
+not said to him, and he had been successful. He took an interest in
+all things keener than he had felt for years past. One day he was in
+the stables with his son, and spoke about the hunting for the coming
+season. He had an Irish horse of which he was proud, an old hunter
+that had carried him for the last seven years, and of which he had
+often declared that under no consideration would he part with it.
+"Dear old fellow," he said, putting his hand on the animal's neck,
+"you shall work for your bread one other winter, and then you shall
+give over for the rest of your life."
+
+"I never saw him look better," said Ralph.
+
+"He's like his master;--not quite so young as he was once. He never
+made a mistake yet that I know of."
+
+Ralph when he saw how full of joy was his father, could not but
+rejoice also that the thing so ardently desired had been at last
+accomplished.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+THE ELECTION.
+
+
+The day of the nomination at Percycross came at last, and it was
+manifest to everybody that there was a very unpleasant feeling in
+the town. It was not only that party was arrayed against party. That
+would have been a state of things not held to be undesirable, and
+at any rate would have been natural. But at present things were so
+divided that there was no saying which were the existing parties.
+Moggs was separated from Westmacott quite as absolutely as was
+Westmacott from the two Conservative candidates. The old Liberals of
+the borough were full of ridicule for poor Moggs, of whom all absurd
+stories were told by them both publicly and privately. But still he
+was there, the darling of the workmen. It was, indeed, asserted by
+the members of Mr. Westmacott's committee that Moggs's popularity
+would secure for him but very few votes. A great proportion of
+the working men of Percycross were freemen of the borough,--old
+voters who were on the register by right of their birth and family
+connection in the place, independent of householdership and
+rates,--and quite accustomed to the old ways of manipulation. The
+younger of these men might be seduced into listening to Moggs. The
+excitement was pleasant to them. But they were too well trained to be
+led away on the day of election. Moggs would give them no beer, and
+they had always been accustomed to their three half-crowns a head in
+consideration for the day's work. Not a dozen freemen of the borough
+would vote for Moggs. So said Mr. Kirkham, Mr. Westmacott's managing
+man, and no man knew the borough quite so well as did Mr. Kirkham.
+"They'll fight for him at the hustings," said Mr. Kirkham; "but
+they'll take their beer and their money, and they'll vote for us and
+Griffenbottom."
+
+This might be true enough as regarded the freemen,--the men who had
+been, as it were, educated to political life;--but there was much
+doubt as to the new voters. There were about a thousand of these in
+the borough, and it had certainly not been the intention of either
+party that these men should have the half-crowns. It was from
+these men and their leaders,--the secretaries and chairmen and
+presidents,--that had come the cry for a second liberal candidate,
+and the consequent necessity of putting forward two Conservatives.
+They were equally odious to the supporters of Westmacott and of
+Griffenbottom. "They must have the half-crowns," Trigger had said
+to old Pile, the bootmaker. Pile thought that every working man was
+entitled to the three half-crowns, and said as much very clearly.
+"I suppose old Griff ain't going to turn Hunks at this time o' day,"
+said Mr. Pile. But the difficulties were endless, and were much
+better understood by Mr. Trigger than by Mr. Pile. The manner of
+conveying the half-crowns to the three hundred and twenty-four
+freemen, who would take them and vote honestly afterwards for
+Griffenbottom and Underwood, was perfectly well understood. But
+among that godless, riotous, ungoverned and ungovernable set of new
+householders, there was no knowing how to act. They would take the
+money and then vote wrong. They would take the money and then split.
+The freemen were known. Three hundred and twenty-four would take
+Griffenbottom's beer and half-crowns. Two hundred and seventy-two
+would be equally complaisant with Mr. Westmacott. But of these
+householders nothing was known. They could not be handled. Some
+thirty or forty of them would probably have the turning of the
+election at the last hour, must then be paid at their own prices, and
+after that would not be safe! Mr. Trigger, in his disgust, declared
+that things had got into so vile a form that he didn't care if he
+never had anything to do with an election in Percycross again.
+
+And then there was almost as much ill-feeling between the
+old-fashioned Griffenbottomites and the Underwooders as there was
+between Westmacott's Liberals and Moggs's Radicals. The two gentlemen
+themselves still eat their breakfasts and dinners together, and still
+paraded the streets of Percycross in each other's company. But
+Sir Thomas had made himself very odious even to Mr. Griffenbottom
+himself. He was always protesting against beer which he did see, and
+bribery which he did not see but did suspect. He swore that he would
+pay not a shilling, as to which the cause of the expenditure was not
+explained to him. Griffenbottom snarled at him, and expressed an
+opinion that Sir Thomas would of course do the same as any other
+gentleman. Mr. Trigger, with much dignity in his mien as he spoke,
+declared that the discussion of any such matter at the present moment
+was indecorous. Mr. Pile was for sending Sir Thomas back to town, and
+very strongly advocated that measure. Mr. Spicer, as to whom there
+was a story abroad in the borough in respect of a large order for
+mustard, supposed to have reached him from New York through Liverpool
+by the influence of Sir Thomas Underwood, thought that the borough
+should return the two conservative candidates. Sir Thomas might be
+a little indiscreet; but, upon the whole, his principles did him
+honour. So thought Mr. Spicer, who, perhaps, believed that the order
+for the mustard was coming. We need hardly say that the story, at any
+rate in so far as it regarded Sir Thomas Underwood, was altogether
+untrue. "Yes; principles!" said Mr. Pile. "I think we all know Sam
+Spicer's principles. All for hisself, and nothing for a poor man.
+That's Sam Spicer." Of Mr. Pile, it must be acknowledged that he was
+not a pure-minded politician. He loved bribery in his very heart.
+But it is equally true that he did not want to be bribed himself. It
+was the old-fashioned privilege of a poor man to receive some small
+consideration for his vote in Percycross, and Mr. Pile could not
+endure to think that the poor man should be robbed of his little
+comforts.
+
+In the meantime, Sir Thomas himself was in a state of great misery.
+From hour to hour he was fluctuating between a desire to run away
+from the accursed borough, and the shame of taking such a step. The
+desire for the seat which had brought him to Percycross had almost
+died out amidst the misery of his position. Among all the men of
+his party with whom he was associating, there was not one whom he
+did not dislike, and by whom he was not snubbed and contradicted.
+Griffenbottom, who went through his canvass under circumstances of
+coming gout and colchicum with a courage and pertinacity that were
+heroic, was painfully cross to every one who was not a voter. "What's
+the use of all that d----d nonsense, now?" he said to Sir Thomas the
+evening before the nomination day. There were half-a-dozen leading
+Conservatives in the room, and Sir Thomas was making a final protest
+against bribery. He rose from his chair when so addressed, and left
+the room. Never in his life before had he been so insulted. Trigger
+followed him to his bedroom, knowing well that a quarrel at this
+moment would be absolutely suicidal. "It's the gout, Sir Thomas,"
+said Mr. Trigger. "Do remember what he's going through." This was so
+true that Sir Thomas returned to the room. It was almost impossible
+not to forgive anything in a man who was suffering agonies, but could
+still wheedle a voter. There were three conservative doctors with Mr.
+Griffenbottom, each of them twice daily; and there was an opinion
+prevalent through the borough that the gout would be in his stomach
+before the election was over. Sir Thomas did return to the room,
+and sat himself down without saying a word. "Sir Thomas," said Mr.
+Griffenbottom, "a man with the gout is always allowed a little
+liberty."
+
+"I admit the claim," said Sir Thomas, bowing.
+
+"And believe me, I know this game better than you do. It's of no use
+saying these things. No man should ever foul his own nest. Give me a
+little drop more brandy, Trigger, and then I'll get myself to bed."
+When he was gone, they all sang Griffenbottom's praises. In staunch
+pluck, good humour, and manly fighting, no man was his superior.
+"Give and take,--the English bull-dog all over. I do like old
+Griffenbottom," said Spiveycomb, the paper-maker.
+
+On the day of nomination Griffenbottom was carried up on the
+hustings. This carrying did him good in the borough; but it should
+be acknowledged on his behalf that he did his best to walk. In the
+extreme agony of his attack he had to make his speech, and he made
+it. The hustings stood in the market-square, and straight in front
+of the wooden erection, standing at right angles to it, was a stout
+rail dividing the space for the distance of fifty or sixty yards, so
+that the supporters of one set of candidates might congregate on one
+side, and the supporters of the other candidates on the other side.
+In this way would the weaker part, whichever might be the weaker,
+be protected from the violence of the stronger. On the present
+occasion it seemed that the friends of Mr. Westmacott congregated
+with the Conservatives. Moggs's allies alone filled one side of
+the partition. There were a great many speeches made that day from
+the hustings,--thirteen in all. First the mayor, and then the
+four proposers and four seconders of the candidates. During these
+performances, though there was so much noise from the crowd below
+that not a word could be heard, there was no violence. When old
+Griffenbottom got up, supporting himself by an arm round one of the
+posts, he was loudly cheered from both sides. His personal popularity
+in the borough was undoubted, and his gout made him almost a
+demi-god. Nobody heard a word that he said; but then he had no desire
+to be heard. To be seen standing up there, a martyr to the gout, but
+still shouting for Percycross, was enough for his purpose. Sir Thomas
+encountered a very different reception. He was received with yells,
+apparently from the whole crowd. What he said was of no matter,
+as not a word was audible; but he did continue to inveigh against
+bribery. Before he had ceased a huge stone was thrown at him, and
+hit him heavily on the arm. He continued speaking, however, and did
+not himself know till afterwards that his arm was broken between
+the shoulder and the elbow. Mr. Westmacott was very short and
+good-humoured. He intended to be funny about poor Moggs;--and perhaps
+was funny. But his fun was of no avail. The Moggite crowd had
+determined that no men should be heard till their own candidate
+should open his mouth.
+
+At last Ontario's turn had come. At first the roar from the crowd was
+so great that it seemed that it was to be with him as it had been
+with the others. But by degrees, though there was still a roar,--as
+of the sea,--Moggs's words became audible. The voices of assent and
+dissent are very different, even though they be equally loud. Men
+desirous of interrupting, do interrupt. But cheers, though they be
+continuous and loud as thunder, are compatible with a hearing. Moggs
+by this time, too, had learned to pitch his voice for an out-of-door
+multitude. He preached his sermon, his old sermon, about the Rights
+of Labour and the Salt of the Earth, the Tyranny of Capital and
+the Majesty of the Workmen, with an enthusiasm that made him for
+the moment supremely happy. He was certainly the hero of the tour
+in Percycross, and he allowed himself to believe,--just for that
+hour,--that he was about to become the hero of a new doctrine
+throughout England. He spoke for over half an hour, while poor
+Griffenbottom, seated in a chair that had been brought to him, was
+suffering almost the pains of hell. During this speech Sir Thomas,
+who had also suffered greatly, but had at first endeavoured to
+conceal that he was suffering, discovered the extent of his
+misfortune, and allowed himself to be taken out from the hustings
+to his inn. There was an effort made to induce Mr. Griffenbottom
+to retire at the same time; but Mr. Griffenbottom, not quite
+understanding the extent of his colleague's misfortune, and thinking
+that it became him to remain and to endure, was obdurate, and would
+not be moved. He did not care for stones or threats,--did not care
+even for the gout. That was his place till after the show of hands,
+and there he would remain. The populace, seeing this commotion on
+the hustings, began to fear that there was an intention to stop the
+oratory of their popular candidate, and called loudly upon Moggs to
+go on. Moggs did go on,--and was happy.
+
+At last there came the show of hands. It was declared to be in
+favour of Moggs and Westmacott. That it was very much in favour of
+Moggs,--in favour of Moggs by five to one, there was no doubt. Among
+the other candidates there was not perhaps much to choose. A poll
+was, of course, demanded for the two Conservatives; and then the
+mayor, complimenting the people on their good behaviour,--in spite
+of poor Sir Thomas's broken arm,--begged them to go away. That was
+all very well. Of course they would go away; but not till they had
+driven their enemies from the field. In half a minute the dividing
+rail,--the rail that had divided the blue from the yellow,--was down,
+and all those who had dared to show themselves there as supporters
+of Griffenbottom and Underwood were driven ignominiously from the
+market-place. They fled at all corners, and in a few seconds not a
+streak of blue ribbon was to be seen in the square. "They'll elect
+that fellow Moggs to-morrow," said Mr. Westmacott to Kirkham.
+
+"No a bit of it," said Kirkham. "I could spot all the ringleaders in
+the row. Nine or ten of them are Griffenbottom's old men. They take
+his money regularly,--get something nearly every year, join the rads
+at the nomination, and vote for the squire at the poll. The chaps who
+hollow and throw stones always vote t'other side up."
+
+Mr. Griffenbottom kept his seat till he could be carried home
+in safety through the town, and was then put to bed. The three
+conservative doctors, who had all been setting Sir Thomas's arm, sat
+in consultation upon their old friend; and it was acknowledged on
+every side that Mr. Griffenbottom was very ill indeed. All manner of
+rumours went through the town that night. Some believed that both
+Griffenbottom and Sir Thomas were dead,--and that the mayor had now
+no choice but to declare Moggs and Westmacott elected. Then there
+arose a suspicion that the polls would be kept open on the morrow
+on behalf of two defunct candidates, so that a further election on
+behalf of the conservative party might be ensured. Men swore that
+they would break into the bedrooms of the Standard Inn, in order that
+they might satisfy themselves whether the two gentlemen were alive or
+dead. And so the town was in a hubbub.
+
+On that evening Moggs was called upon again to address his friends at
+the Mechanics' Institute, and to listen to the speeches of all the
+presidents and secretaries and chairmen; but by ten o'clock he was
+alone in his bedroom at the Cordwainers' Arms. Down-stairs men were
+shouting, singing, and drinking,--shouting in his honour, though not
+drinking at his expense. He was alone in his little comfortless room,
+but felt it to be impossible that he should lie down and rest. His
+heart was swelling with the emotions of the day, and his mind was
+full of his coming triumph. It was black night, and there was a soft
+drizzling rain;--but it was absolutely necessary for his condition
+that he should go out. It seemed to him that his very bosom would
+burst, if he confined himself in that narrow space. His thoughts were
+too big for so small a closet. He crept downstairs and out, through
+the narrow passage, into the night. Then, by the light of the
+solitary lamp that stood before the door of the public-house, he
+could still see those glorious words, "Moggs, Purity, and the Rights
+of Labour." Noble words, which had sufficed to bind to him the whole
+population of that generous-hearted borough! Purity and the Rights of
+Labour! Might it not be that with that cry, well cried, he might move
+the very world! As he walked the streets of the town he felt a great
+love for the borough grow within his bosom. What would he not owe to
+the dear place which had first recognised his worth, and had enabled
+him thus early in life to seize hold of those ploughshares which it
+would be his destiny to hold for all his coming years? He had before
+him a career such as had graced the lives of the men whom he had
+most loved and admired,--of men who had dared to be independent,
+patriotic, and philanthropical, through all the temptations of
+political life. Would he be too vain if he thought to rival a Hume
+or a Cobden? Conceit, he said to himself, will seek to justify itself.
+Who can rise but those who believe their wings strong enough for
+soaring? There might be shipwreck of course,--but he believed that he
+now saw his way. As to the difficulty of speaking in public,--that
+he had altogether overcome. Some further education as to facts,
+historical and political, might be necessary. That he acknowledged to
+himself;--but he would not spare himself in his efforts to acquire
+such education. He went pacing through the damp, muddy, dark streets,
+making speeches that were deliciously eloquent to his own ears. That
+night he was certainly the happiest man in Percycross, never doubting
+his success on the morrow,--not questioning that. Had not the whole
+town greeted him with loudest acclamation as their chosen member?
+He was deliciously happy;--while poor Sir Thomas was suffering
+the double pain of his broken arm and his dissipated hopes, and
+Griffenbottom was lying in his bed, with a doctor on one side and a
+nurse on the other, hardly able to restrain himself from cursing all
+the world in his agony.
+
+At a little after eleven a tall man, buttoned up to his chin in an
+old great coat, called at the Percy Standard, and asked after the
+health of Mr. Griffenbottom and Sir Thomas. "They ain't neither of
+them very well then," replied the waiter. "Will you say that Mr.
+Moggs called to inquire, with his compliments," said the tall man.
+The respect shown to him was immediately visible. Even the waiter at
+the Percy Standard acknowledged that for that day Mr. Moggs must be
+treated as a great man in Percycross. After that Moggs walked home
+and crept into bed;--but it may be doubted whether he slept a wink
+that night.
+
+And then there came the real day,--the day of the election. It was
+a foul, rainy, muddy, sloppy morning, without a glimmer of sun,
+with that thick, pervading, melancholy atmosphere which forces for
+the time upon imaginative men a conviction that nothing is worth
+anything. Griffenbottom was in bed in one room at the Percy Standard,
+and Underwood in the next. The three conservative doctors moving
+from one chamber to another, watching each other closely, and hardly
+leaving the hotel, had a good time of it. Mr. Trigger had already
+remarked that in one respect the breaking of Sir Thomas's arm was
+lucky, because now there would be no difficulty as to paying the
+doctors out of the common fund. Every half-hour the state of the
+poll was brought to them. Early in the morning Moggs had been in the
+ascendant. At half-past nine the numbers were as follows:--
+
+
+   Moggs          193
+   Westmacott     172
+   Griffenbottom  162
+   Underwood      147
+
+
+At ten, and at half-past ten, Moggs was equally in advance,
+but Westmacott had somewhat receded. At noon the numbers were
+considerably altered, and were as follows:--
+
+
+   Griffenbottom  892
+   Moggs          777
+   Westmacott     752
+   Underwood      678
+
+
+These at least were the numbers as they came from the conservative
+books. Westmacott was placed nearer to Moggs by his own tellers. For
+Moggs no special books were kept. He was content to abide by the
+official counting.
+
+Griffenbottom was consulted privately by Trigger and Mr. Spiveycomb
+as to what steps should be taken in this emergency. It was suggested
+in a whisper that Underwood should be thrown over altogether. There
+would be no beating Moggs,--so thought Mr. Spiveycomb,--and unless an
+effort were made it might be possible that Westmacott would creep up.
+Trigger in his heart considered that it would be impossible to get
+enough men at three half-crowns a piece to bring Sir Thomas up to a
+winning condition. But Griffenbottom, now that the fight was forward,
+was unwilling to give way a foot. "We haven't polled half the
+voters," said he.
+
+"More than half what we shall poll," answered Trigger.
+
+"They always hang back," growled Griffenbottom. "Fight it out. I
+don't believe they'll ever elect a shoemaker here." The order was
+given, and it was fought out.
+
+Moggs, early in the morning, had been radiant with triumph, when he
+saw his name at the head of the lists displayed from the two inimical
+committee rooms. As he walked the streets, with a chairman on one
+side of him and a president on the other, it seemed as though his
+feet almost disdained to touch the mud. These were two happy hours,
+during which he did not allow himself to doubt of his triumph. When
+the presidents and the chairmen spoke to him, he could hardly answer
+them, so rapt was he in contemplation of his coming greatness. His
+very soul was full of his seat in Parliament! But when Griffenbottom
+approached him on the lists, and then passed him, there came a shadow
+upon his brow. He still felt sure of his election, but he would
+lose that grand place at the top of the poll to which he had taught
+himself to look so proudly. Soon after noon a cruel speech was made
+to him. "We've about pumped our side dry," said a secretary of a
+Young Men's Association.
+
+"Do you mean we've polled all our friends?" asked Moggs.
+
+"Pretty nearly, Mr. Moggs. You see our men have nothing to wait for,
+and they came up early." Then Ontario's heart sank within him, and he
+began to think of the shop in Bond Street.
+
+The work of that afternoon in Percycross proved how correct Mr.
+Griffenbottom had been in his judgment. He kept his place at the top
+of the poll. It was soon evident that that could not be shaken. Then
+Westmacott passed by Moggs, and in the next half-hour Sir Thomas
+did so also. This was at two, when Ontario betook himself to the
+privacy of his bedroom at the Cordwainers' Arms. His pluck left him
+altogether, and he found himself unable to face the town as a losing
+candidate. Then for two hours there was a terrible struggle between
+Westmacott and Underwood, during which things were done in the
+desperation of the moment, as to which it might be so difficult to
+give an account, should any subsequent account be required. We all
+know how hard it is to sacrifice the power of winning, when during
+the heat of the contest the power of winning is within our reach. At
+four o'clock the state of the poll was as follows:--
+
+
+   Griffenbottom  1402
+   Underwood      1007
+   Westmacott      984
+   Moggs           821
+
+
+When the chairmen and presidents waited upon Moggs, telling him of
+the final result, and informing him that he must come to the hustings
+and make a speech, they endeavoured to console him by an assurance
+that he, and he alone, had fought the fight fairly. "They'll both be
+unseated, you know, as sure as eggs," said the president. "It can't
+be otherwise. They've been busy up in a little room in Petticoat
+Court all the afternoon, and the men have been getting as much as
+fifteen shillings a head!" Moggs was not consoled, but he did make
+his speech. It was poor and vapid;--but still there was just enough
+of manhood left in him for that. As soon as his speech had been
+spoken he escaped up to London by the night mail train. Westmacott
+also spoke; but announcement was made on behalf of the members of the
+borough that they were, both of them, in their beds.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+"MISS MARY IS IN LUCK."
+
+
+The election took place on a Tuesday,--Tuesday, the 17th of October.
+On the following day one of the members received a visit in his
+bedroom at the Percy Standard which was very pleasant to him. His
+daughter Patience had come down to nurse Sir Thomas and take him back
+to Fulham. Sir Thomas had refused to allow any message to be sent
+home on the day on which the accident had occurred. On the following
+morning he had telegraphed to say that his arm had been broken, but
+that he was doing very well. And on the Wednesday Patience was with
+him.
+
+In spite of the broken arm it was a pleasant meeting. For the last
+fortnight Sir Thomas had not only not seen a human being with whom he
+could sympathise, but had been constrained to associate with people
+who were detestable to him. His horror of Griffenbottom, his disgust
+at Trigger, his fear of Mr. Pabsby's explanations, and his inability
+to cope with Messrs. Spicer and Roodylands when they spoke of mustard
+and boots, had been almost too much for him. The partial seclusion
+occasioned by his broken arm had been a godsend to him. In such a
+state he was prepared to feel that his daughter's presence was an
+angel's visit. And even to him his success had something of the
+pleasure of a triumph. Of course he was pleased to have won the seat.
+And though whispers of threats as to a petition had already reached
+him, he was able in these, the first hours of his membership, to
+throw his fears on that head behind him. The man must be of a most
+cold temperament who, under such circumstances, cannot allow himself
+some short enjoyment of his new toy. It was his at least for the
+time, and he probably told himself that threatened folk lived long.
+That Patience should take glory in the victory was a matter of
+course. "Dear papa," she said, "if you can only get your arm well
+again!"
+
+"I don't suppose there is any cause for fear as to that."
+
+"But a broken arm is a great misfortune," said Patience.
+
+"Well;--yes. One can't deny that. And three Percycross doctors are
+three more misfortunes. I must get home as soon as I can."
+
+"You mustn't be rash, papa, even to escape from Percycross. But, oh,
+papa; we are so happy and so proud. It is such an excellent thing
+that you should be in Parliament again."
+
+"I don't know that, my dear."
+
+"We feel it so,--Clary and I,--and so does Mary. I can't tell you
+the sort of anxiety we were in all day yesterday. First we got the
+telegram about your arm,--and then Stemm came down at eight and told
+us that you were returned. Stemm was quite humane on the occasion."
+
+"Poor Stemm!--I don't know what he'll have to do."
+
+"It won't matter to him, papa;--will it? And then he told me another
+piece of news."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"You won't like it, papa. We didn't like it at all."
+
+"What is it, my dear?"
+
+"Stemm says that Ralph has sold all the Newton Priory estate to his
+uncle."
+
+"It is the best thing he could do."
+
+"Really, papa?"
+
+"I think so. He must have done that or made some disreputable
+marriage."
+
+"I don't think he would have done that," said Patience.
+
+"But he was going to do it. He had half-engaged himself to some
+tailor's daughter. Indeed, up to the moment of your telling me this I
+thought he would marry her." Poor Clary! So Patience said to herself
+as she heard this. "He had got himself into such a mess that the best
+thing he could do was to sell his interest to his uncle. The estate
+will go to a better fellow, though out of the proper line."
+
+Then Patience told her father that she had brought a letter for him
+which had been given to her that morning by Stemm, who had met her at
+the station.
+
+"I think," she said, "that it comes from some of the Newton family
+because of the crest and the Basingstoke postmark." Then the letter
+was brought;--and as it concerns much the thread of our story, it
+shall be given to the reader;--
+
+
+   Newton Priory, October 17, 186--.
+
+   MY DEAR SIR THOMAS UNDERWOOD,--
+
+   I write to you with the sanction, or rather at the
+   instigation, of my father to ask your permission to become
+   a suitor to your niece, Miss Bonner. You will probably
+   have heard, or at least will hear, that my father has made
+   arrangements with his nephew Ralph, by which the reversion
+   of the Newton property will belong to my father. It is his
+   intention to leave the estate to me, and he permits me to
+   tell you that he will consent to any such settlement in
+   the case of my marriage, as would have been usual, had
+   I been his legitimate heir. I think it best to be frank
+   about this, as I should not have ventured to propose
+   such a marriage either to you or to Miss Bonner, had
+   not my father's solicitude succeeded in placing me in
+   circumstances which may, perhaps, be regarded as in part
+   compensating the great misfortune of my birth.
+
+   It may probably be right that I should add that I have
+   said no word on this subject to Miss Bonner. I have
+   hitherto felt myself constrained by the circumstances to
+   which I have alluded from acting as other men may act.
+   Should you be unwilling to concede that the advantages
+   of fortune which have now fallen in my way justify me in
+   proposing to myself such a marriage, I hope that you will
+   at least excuse my application to yourself.
+
+   Very faithfully yours,
+
+   RALPH NEWTON.
+
+
+Sir Thomas read the letter twice before he spoke a word to his
+daughter. Then, after pausing with it for a moment in his hand, he
+threw it to her across the bed. "Miss Mary is in luck," he said;--"in
+very great luck. It is a magnificent property, and as far as I can
+see, one of the finest young fellows I ever met. You understand about
+his birth?"
+
+"Yes," said Patience, almost in a whisper.
+
+"It might be a hindrance to him in some circumstances; but not here.
+It is nothing here. Did you know of this?"
+
+"No, indeed."
+
+"Nor Mary?"
+
+"It will be quite a surprise to her. I am sure it will."
+
+"You think, then, that there has been nothing said,--not a word about
+it?"
+
+"I am sure there has not, papa. Clarissa had some joke with
+Mary,--quite as a joke."
+
+"Then there has been a joke?"
+
+"It meant nothing. And as for Mr. Newton, he could not have dreamed
+of anything of the kind. We all liked him."
+
+"So did I. The property will be much better with him than with the
+other. Mary is a very lucky girl. That's all I can say. As for the
+letter, it's the best letter I ever read in my life."
+
+There was some delay before Sir Thomas could write an answer to young
+Newton. It was, indeed, his left arm that had suffered; but even
+with so much of power abstracted, writing is not an easy task. And
+this was a letter the answering of which could not be deputed to any
+secretary. On the third day after its receipt Sir Thomas did manage
+with much difficulty to get a reply written.
+
+
+   DEAR MR. NEWTON,--
+
+   I have had my left arm broken in the election here. Hence
+   the delay. I can have no objection. Your letter does you
+   infinite honour. I presume you know that my niece has no
+   fortune.
+
+   Yours, most sincerely,
+
+   THOMAS UNDERWOOD.
+
+
+"What a pity it is," said Sir Thomas, "that a man can't have a broken
+arm in answering all letters. I should have had to write ever so much
+had I been well. And yet I could not have said a word more that would
+have been of any use."
+
+Sir Thomas was kept an entire week at the Percycross Standard after
+his election was over before the three doctors and the innkeeper
+between them would allow him to be moved. During this time there was
+very much discussion between the father and daughter as to Mary's
+prospects; and a word or two was said inadvertently which almost
+opened the father's eyes as to the state of his younger daughter's
+affections. It is sometimes impossible to prevent the betrayal of a
+confidence, when the line between betrayal and non-betrayal is finely
+drawn. It was a matter of course that there should be much said about
+that other Ralph, the one now disinherited and dispossessed, who
+had so long and so intimately been known to them; and it was almost
+impossible for Patience not to show the cause of her great grief.
+It might be, as her father said, that the property would be better
+in the hands of this other young man; but Patience knew that her
+sympathies were with the spendthrift, and with the dearly-loved
+sister who loved the spendthrift. Since Clarissa had come to speak
+so openly of her love, to assert it so loudly, and to protest that
+nothing could or should shake it, Patience had been unable not to
+hope that the heir might at last prove himself worthy to be her
+sister's husband. Then they heard that his inheritance was sold.
+"It won't make the slightest difference to me," said Clary almost
+triumphantly, as she discussed the matter with Patience the evening
+before the journey to Percycross. "If he were a beggar it would be
+the same." To Patience, however, the news of the sale had been a
+great blow. And now her father told her that this young man had been
+thinking of marrying another girl, a tailor's daughter;--that such a
+marriage had been almost fixed. Surely it would be better that steps
+should be taken to wean her sister from such a passion! But yet she
+did not tell the secret. She only allowed a word to escape her, from
+which it might be half surmised that Clarissa would be a sufferer.
+"What difference will it make to Clary?" asked Sir Thomas.
+
+"I have sometimes thought that he cared for her," said Patience
+cunningly. "He would hardly have been so often at the villa, unless
+there had been something."
+
+"There must be nothing of that kind," said Sir Thomas. "He is a
+spendthrift, and quite unworthy of her. I will not have him at the
+villa. He must be told so. If you see anything of that kind, you
+must inform me. Do you understand, Patience?" Patience understood
+well enough, but knew not what reply to make. She could not tell her
+sister's secret. And if there were faults in the matter, was it not
+her father's fault? Why had he not lived with them, so that he might
+see these things with his own eyes? "There must be nothing of that
+kind," said Sir Thomas, with a look of anger in his eyes.
+
+When the week was over, the innkeeper and the doctors submitting
+with but a bad grace, the member for Percycross returned to London
+with his arm bound up in a sling. The town was by this time quite
+tranquil. The hustings had been taken down, and the artizans of the
+borough were back at their labours, almost forgetting Moggs and his
+great doctrines. That there was to be a petition was a matter of
+course. It was at least a matter of course that there should be
+threats of a petition. The threat of course reached Sir Thomas's
+ears, but nothing further was said to him. When he and his daughter
+went down to the station in the Standard fly, it almost seemed that
+he was no more to the borough than any other man might be with a
+broken arm. "I shall not speak of this to Mary," he said on his
+journey home. "Nor should you, I think, my dear."
+
+"Of course not, papa."
+
+"He should have the opportunity of changing his mind after receiving
+my letter, if he so pleases. For her sake I hope he will not."
+Patience said nothing further. She loved her cousin Mary, and
+certainly had felt no dislike for this fortunate young man. But she
+could not so quickly bring herself to sympathise with interests which
+seemed to be opposed to those of her sister.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+IT IS ALL SETTLED.
+
+
+In the last half of this month of October the Squire at Newton was
+very pressing on his lawyers up in London to settle the affairs of
+the property. He was most anxious to make a new will, but could not
+do so till his nephew had completed the sale, and till the money had
+been paid. He had expressed a desire to go up to London and remain
+there till all was done; but against this his son had expostulated,
+urging that his father could not hasten the work up in London by
+his presence, but would certainly annoy and flurry everybody in the
+lawyer's office. Mr. Carey had promised that the thing should be
+done with as little delay as possible, but Mr. Carey was not a man
+to be driven. Then again the Squire would be a miserable man up
+in London, whereas at the Priory he might be so happy among the
+new works which he had already inaugurated. The son's arguments
+prevailed,--especially that argument as to the pleasure of the
+Squire's present occupations,--and the Squire consented to remain at
+home.
+
+There seemed to be an infinity of things to be done, and to the
+Squire himself the world appeared to require more of happy activity
+than at any previous time of his life. He got up early, and was out
+about the place before breakfast. He had endless instructions to give
+to everybody about the estate. The very air of the place was sweeter
+to him than heretofore. The labourers were less melancholy at their
+work. The farmers smiled oftener. The women and children were more
+dear to him. Everything around him had now been gifted with the grace
+of established ownership. His nephew Gregory, after that last dinner
+of which mention was made, hardly came near him during the next
+fortnight. Once or twice the Squire went up to the church during
+week days that he might catch the parson, and even called at the
+parsonage. But Gregory was unhappy, and would not conceal his
+unhappiness. "I suppose it will wear off," said the Squire to his
+son.
+
+"Of course it will, sir."
+
+"It shall not be my fault if it does not. I wonder whether it would
+have made him happier to see the property parcelled out and sold to
+the highest bidder after my death."
+
+"It is not unnatural, if you think of it," said Ralph.
+
+"Perhaps not; and God forbid that I should be angry with him because
+he cannot share my triumph. I feel, however, that I have done my
+duty, and that nobody has a right to quarrel with me."
+
+And then there were the hunters. Every sportsman knows, and the
+wives and daughters of all sportsmen know, how important a month in
+the calendar is the month of October. The real campaign begins in
+November; and even for those who do not personally attend to the
+earlier work of the kennel,--or look after cub-hunting, which during
+the last ten days of October is apt to take the shape of genuine
+hunting,--October has charms of its own and peculiar duties. It is
+the busiest month in the year in regard to horses. Is physic needed?
+In the Squire's stables physic was much eschewed, and the Squire's
+horses were usually in good condition. But it is needful to know,
+down to a single line on the form, whether this or that animal wants
+more exercise,--and if so, of what nature. We hold that for hunters
+which are worked regularly throughout the season, and which live in
+loose boxes summer and winter, but little exercise is required except
+in the months of September and October. Let them have been fed on
+oats throughout the year, and a good groom will bring them into form
+in two months. Such at least was the order at the Newton stables;
+and during this autumn,--especially during these last days of
+October,--this order was obeyed with infinite alacrity, and with many
+preparations for coming joys. And there are other cares, less onerous
+indeed, but still needful. What good sportsman is too proud, or even
+too much engaged, to inspect his horse's gear,--and his own? Only
+let his horses' gear stand first in his mind! Let him be sure that
+the fit of a saddle is of more moment than the fit of a pair of
+breeches;--that in riding the length, strength, and nature of the bit
+will avail more,--should at least avail more,--than the depth, form,
+and general arrangement of the flask; that the question of boots,
+great as it certainly is, should be postponed to the question of
+shoes; that a man's seat should be guarded by his girths rather than
+by his spurs; that no run has ever been secured by the brilliancy of
+the cravat, though many a run has been lost by the insufficiency of a
+stirrup-leather. In the stables and saddle-room, and throughout the
+whole establishment of the house at Newton, all these matters were
+ever sedulously regarded; but they had never been regarded with more
+joyful zeal than was given to them during this happy month. There was
+not a stable-boy about the place who did not know and feel that their
+Mr. Ralph was now to take his place in the hunting-field as the heir
+to Newton Priory.
+
+And there were other duties at Newton of which the crowd of
+riding-men know little or nothing. Were there foxes in the coverts?
+The Squire had all his life been a staunch preserver, thinking more
+of a vixen with her young cubs than he would of any lady in the land
+with her first-born son. During the last spring and summer, however,
+things had made him uncomfortable; and he had not personally inquired
+after the well-being of each nursery in the woods as had been his
+wont. Ralph, indeed, had been on the alert, and the keepers had not
+become slack;--but there had been a whisper about the place that the
+master didn't care so much about the foxes as he used to do. They
+soon found out that he cared enough now. The head-keeper opened his
+eyes very wide when he was told that the Squire would take it as a
+personal offence if the coverts were ever drawn blank. It was to be
+understood through the county that at Newton Priory everything now
+was happy and prosperous. "We'll get up a breakfast and a meet on
+the lawn before the end of the month," said the Squire to his son.
+"I hate hunt breakfasts myself, but the farmers like them." From all
+which the reader will perceive that the Squire was in earnest.
+
+Ralph hunted all through the latter days of October, but the Squire
+himself would not go out till the first regular day of the season.
+"I like a law, and I like to stick to it," he said. "Five months
+is enough for the horses in all conscience." At last the happy day
+arrived,--Wednesday, the 2nd of November,--and the father and son
+started together for the meet in a dog-cart on four wheels with
+two horses. On such occasions the Squire always drove himself, and
+professed to go no more than eight miles an hour. The meet was over
+in the Berkshire county in the neighbourhood of Swallowfield, about
+twelve miles distant, and the Squire was in his seat precisely at
+half-past nine. Four horses had gone on in the charge of two grooms,
+for the Squire had insisted on Ralph riding with a second horse. "If
+you don't, I won't," he had said; and Ralph of course had yielded.
+Just at this time there had grown up in the young man's mind a
+feeling that his father was almost excessive in the exuberance of his
+joy,--that he was displaying too ostensibly to the world at large
+the triumph which he had effected. But the checking of this elation
+was almost impossible to the son on whose behalf it was exhibited.
+Therefore, to Ralph's own regret, the two horses had on this morning
+been sent on to Barford Heath. The Squire was not kept waiting a
+moment. Ralph lit his cigar and jumped in, and the Squire started in
+all comfort and joy. The road led them by Darvell's farm, and for a
+moment the carriage was stopped that a word might be spoken to some
+workman. "You'd better have a couple more men, Miles. It won't do to
+let the frost catch us," said the Squire. Miles touched his hat, and
+assented. "The house will look very well from here," said the Squire,
+pointing down through a line of trees. Ralph assented cheerily; and
+yet he thought that his father was spending more money than Darvell's
+house need to have cost him.
+
+They reached Barford Heath a few minutes before eleven, and there was
+a little scene upon the occasion. It was the first recognised meet of
+the season, and the Squire had not been out before. It was now known
+to almost every man there that the owner of Newton Priory had at
+last succeeded in obtaining the reversion of the estate for his own
+son; and though the matter was one which hardly admitted of open
+congratulation, still there were words spoken and looks given, and
+a little additional pressure in the shaking of hands,--all of which
+seemed to mark a triumph. That other Ralph had not been known in the
+county. This Ralph was very popular; and though of course there was
+existent some amount of inner unexpressed feeling that the proper
+line of an old family was being broken, that for the moment was kept
+in abeyance, and all men's faces wore smiles as they were turned
+upon the happy Squire. He hardly carried himself with as perfect a
+moderation as his son would have wished. He was a little loud,--not
+saying much to any one openly about the property, uttering merely
+a word or two in a low voice in answer to the kind expressions of
+one or two specially intimate friends; but in discussing other
+matters,--the appearance of the pack, the prospects of the season,
+the state of the county,--he was not quite like himself. In his
+ordinary way he was a quiet man, not often heard at much distance,
+and contented to be noted as Newton of Newton rather than as a man
+commanding attention by his conduct before other men. There certainly
+was a difference to-day, and it was of that kind which wine produces
+on some who are not habitual drinkers. The gases of his life were in
+exuberance, and he was as a balloon insufficiently freighted with
+ballast. His buoyancy, unless checked, might carry him too high among
+the clouds. All this Ralph saw, and kept himself a little aloof. If
+there were aught amiss, there was no help for it on his part; and,
+after all, what was amiss was so very little amiss.
+
+"We'll draw the small gorses first," said the old master, addressing
+himself specially to Mr. Newton, "and then we'll go into Barford
+Wood."
+
+"Just so," said the Squire; "the gorses first by all means. I
+remember when there was always a fox at Barford Gorse. Come along. I
+hate to see time wasted. You'll be glad to hear we're full of foxes
+at Newton. There were two litters bred in Bostock Spring;--two,
+by Jove! in that little place. Dan,"--Dan was his second
+horseman,--"I'll ride the young one this morning. You have Paddywhack
+fresh for me about one." Paddywhack was the old Irish horse which had
+carried him so long, and has been mentioned before. There was nothing
+remarkable in all this. There was no word spoken that might not have
+been said with a good grace by any old sportsman, who knew the men
+around him, and who had long preserved foxes for their use;--but
+still it was felt that the Squire was a little loud. Ralph the son,
+on whose behalf all this triumph was felt, was silenter than usual,
+and trotted along at the rear of the long line of horsemen.
+
+One specially intimate friend of his,--a man whom he really
+loved,--hung back with the object of congratulating him. "Ralph,"
+said George Morris, of Watheby Grove, a place about four miles from
+the Priory, "I must tell you how glad I am of all this."
+
+"All right, old fellow."
+
+"Come; you might show out a little to me. Isn't it grand? We shall
+always have you among us now. Don't tell me that you are
+indifferent."
+
+"I think enough about it, God knows, George. But it seems to me that
+the less said about it the better. My father has behaved nobly to
+me, and of course I like to feel that I've got a place in the world
+marked out for me. But--"
+
+"But what?"
+
+"You understand it all, George. There shouldn't be rejoicing in a
+family because the heir has lost his inheritance."
+
+"I can't look at it in that line."
+
+"I can't look at it in any other," said Ralph. "Mind you, I'm not
+saying that it isn't all right. What has happened to him has come of
+his own doings. I only mean that we ought to be quiet about it. My
+father's spirits are so high, that he can hardly control them."
+
+"By George, I don't wonder at it," said George Morris.
+
+There were three little bits of gorse about half-a-mile from Barford
+Wood, as to which it seemed that expectation did not run high, but
+from the last of which an old fox broke before the hounds were in
+it. It was so sudden a thing that the pack was on the scent and away
+before half-a-dozen men had seen what had happened. Our Squire had
+been riding with Cox, the huntsman, who had ventured to say how happy
+he was that the young squire was to be the Squire some day. "So am I,
+Cox; so am I," said the Squire. "And I hope he'll be a friend to you
+for many a year."
+
+"By the holy, there's Dick a-hallooing," said Cox, forgetting at
+once the comparatively unimportant affairs of Newton Priory in the
+breaking of this unexpected fox. "Golly;--if he ain't away, Squire."
+The hounds had gone at once to the whip's voice, and were in full cry
+in less time than it has taken to tell the story of "the find." Cox
+was with them, and so was the Squire. There were two or three others,
+and one of the whips. The start, indeed, was not much, but the burst
+was so sharp, and the old fox ran so straight, that it sufficed to
+enable those who had got the lead to keep it. "Tally-ho!" shouted the
+Squire, as he saw the animal making across a stubble field before the
+hounds, with only one fence between him and the quarry. "Tally-ho!"
+It was remarked afterwards that the Squire had never been known to
+halloo to a fox in that way before. "Just like one of the young
+'uns, or a fellow out of the town," said Cox, when expressing his
+astonishment.
+
+But the Squire never rode a run better in his life. He gave a lead to
+the field, and he kept it. "I wouldn't 'a spoilt him by putting my
+nose afore 'is, were it ever so," said Cox afterwards. "He went as
+straight as a schoolboy at Christmas, and the young horse he rode
+never made a mistake. Let men say what they will, a young horse will
+carry a man a brush like that better than an old one. It was very
+short. They had run their fox, pulled him down, broken him up, and
+eaten him within half an hour. Jack Graham, who is particular about
+those things, and who was, at any rate, near enough to see it all,
+said that it was exactly twenty-two minutes and a half. He might
+be right enough in that, but when he swore that they had gone over
+four miles of ground, he was certainly wrong. They killed within a
+field of Heckfield church, and Heckfield church can't be four miles
+from Barford Gorse. That they went as straight as a line everybody
+knew. Besides, they couldn't have covered the ground in the time.
+The pace was good, no doubt; but Jacky Graham is always given to
+exaggeration."
+
+The Squire was very proud of his performance, and, when Ralph came
+up, was loud in praise of the young horse. "Never was carried so well
+in my life,--never," said he. "I knew he was good, but I didn't know
+he would jump like that. I wouldn't take a couple of hundred for
+him." This was still a little loud; but the Squire at this moment had
+the sense of double triumph within, and was to be forgiven. It was
+admitted on all sides that he had ridden the run uncommonly well.
+"Just like a young man, by Jove," said Jack Graham. "Like what sort
+of a young man?" asked George Harris, who had come up at the heel of
+the hunt with Ralph.
+
+"And where were you, Master Ralph?" said the Squire to his son.
+
+"I fancy I just began to know they were running by the time you were
+killing your fox," said Ralph.
+
+"You should have your eyes better about you, my boy; shouldn't he,
+Cox?"
+
+"The young squire ain't often in the wrong box," said the huntsman.
+
+"He wasn't in the right one to-day," said the Squire. This was still
+a little loud. There was too much of that buoyancy which might have
+come from drink; but which, with the Squire, was the effect of that
+success for which he had been longing rather than hoping all his
+life.
+
+From Heckfield they trotted back to Barford Wood, the master
+resolving that he would draw his country in the manner he had
+proposed to himself in the morning. There was some little repining
+at this, partly because the distance was long, and partly because
+Barford Woods were too large to be popular. "Hunting is over for the
+day," said Jack Graham. To this view of the case the Squire, who had
+now changed his horse, objected greatly. "We shall find in Barford
+big wood as sure as the sun rises," said he. "Yes," said Jack, "and
+run into the little wood and back to the big wood, and so on till we
+hate every foot of the ground. I never knew anything from Barford
+Woods yet for which a donkey wasn't as good as a horse." The Squire
+again objected, and told the story of a run from Barford Woods twenty
+years ago which had taken them pretty nearly on to Ascot Heath.
+"Things have changed since that," said Jack Graham. "Very much for
+the better," said the Squire. Ralph was with him then, and still
+felt that his father was too loud. Whether he meant that hunting was
+better now than in the old days twenty years ago, or that things as
+regarded the Newton estate were better, was not explained; but all
+who heard him speak imagined that he was alluding to the latter
+subject.
+
+Drawing Barford Woods is a very different thing than drawing Barford
+Gorses. Anybody may see a fox found at the gorses who will simply
+take the trouble to be with the hounds when they go into the covert;
+but in the wood it becomes a great question with a sportsman whether
+he will stick to the pack or save his horse and loiter about till he
+hears that a fox has been found. The latter is certainly the commoner
+course, and perhaps the wiser. And even when the fox has been found
+it may be better for the expectant sportsman to loiter about till
+he breaks, giving some little attention to the part of the wood in
+which the work of hunting may be progressing. There are those who
+systematically stand still or roam about very slowly;--others, again,
+who ride and cease riding by spurts, just as they become weary or
+impatient;--and others who, with dogged perseverance, stick always to
+the track of the hounds. For years past the Squire was to have been
+found among the former and more prudent set of riders, but on this
+occasion he went gallantly through the thickest of the underwood,
+close at the huntsman's heels. "You'll find it rather nasty, Mr.
+Newton, among them brakes," Cox had said to him. But the Squire had
+answered that he hadn't got his Sunday face on, and had persevered.
+
+They were soon on a fox in Barford Wood;--but being on a fox in
+Barford Wood was very different from finding a fox in Barford Gorse.
+Out of the gorse a fox must go; but in the big woods he might choose
+to remain half the day. And then the chances were that he would
+either beat the hounds at last, or else be eaten in covert. "It's a
+very pretty place to ride about and smoke and drink one's friend's
+sherry." That was Jack Graham's idea of hunting in Barford Woods, and
+a great deal of that kind of thing was going on to-day. Now and then
+there was a little excitement, and cries of "away" were heard. Men
+would burst out of the wood here and there, ride about for a few
+minutes, and then go in again. Cox swore that they had thrice changed
+their fox, and was beginning to be a little short in his temper; the
+whips' horses were becoming jaded, and the master had once or twice
+answered very crossly when questioned. "How the devil do you suppose
+I'm to know," he had said to a young gentleman who had inquired,
+"where they were?" But still the Squire kept on zealously, and
+reminded Ralph that some of the best things of the season were often
+lost by men becoming slack towards evening. At that time it was
+nearly four o'clock, and Cox was clearly of opinion that he couldn't
+kill a fox in Barford Woods that day.
+
+But still the hounds were hunting. "Darned if they ain't back to the
+little wood again," said Cox to the Squire. They were at that moment
+in an extreme corner of an outlying copse, and between them and
+Barford Little Wood was a narrow strip of meadow, over which they had
+passed half-a-dozen times that day. Between the copse and the meadow
+there ran a broad ditch with a hedge,--a rotten made-up fence of
+sticks and bushes, which at the corner had been broken down by the
+constant passing of horses, till, at this hour of the day, there was
+hardly at that spot anything of a fence to be jumped. "We must cross
+with them again, Cox," said the Squire. At that moment he was nearest
+to the gap, and close to him were Ralph and George Morris, as well
+as the huntsman. But Mr. Newton's horse was standing sideways to the
+hedge, and was not facing the passage. He, nevertheless, prepared to
+pass it first, and turned his horse sharply at it; as he did so, some
+bush or stick caught the animal in the flank, and he, in order to
+escape the impediment, clambered up the bank sideways, not taking
+the gap, and then balanced himself to make his jump over the ditch.
+But he was entangled among the sticks and thorns and was on broken
+ground, and jumping short, came down into the ditch. The Squire fell
+heavily head-long on to the field, and the horse, with no further
+effort of his own, but unable to restrain himself, rolled over his
+master. It was a place as to which any horseman would say that a
+child might ride through if on a donkey without a chance of danger,
+and yet the three men who saw it knew at once that the Squire had
+had a bad fall. Ralph was first through the gap, and was off his own
+horse as the old Irish hunter, with a groan, collected himself and
+got upon his legs. In rising, the animal was very careful not to
+strike his late rider with his feet; but it was too evident to Cox
+that the beast in his attempt to rise had given a terrible squeeze to
+the prostrate Squire with his saddle.
+
+In a moment the three men were on their knees, and it was clear that
+Mr. Newton was insensible. "I'm afraid he's hurt," said Morris. Cox
+merely shook his head, as he gently attempted to raise the Squire's
+shoulder against his own. Ralph, as pale as death, held his father's
+hand in one of his own, and with the other endeavoured to feel the
+pulse of the heart. Presently, before any one else came up to them, a
+few drops of blood came from between the sufferer's lips. Cox again
+shook his head. "We'd better get him on to a gate, Mr. Ralph, and
+into a house," said the huntsman. They were quickly surrounded by
+others, and the gate was soon there, and within twenty minutes a
+surgeon was standing over our poor old friend. "No; he wasn't dead,"
+the surgeon said; "but--." "What is it?" asked Ralph, impetuously.
+The surgeon took the master of the hunt aside and whispered into his
+ear that Mr. Newton was a dead man. His spine had been so injured by
+the severity of his own fall, and by the weight of the horse rolling
+on him while he was still doubled up on the ground, that it was
+impossible that he should ever speak again. So the surgeon said, and
+Squire Newton never did speak again.
+
+
+[Illustration: In a moment the three men were on their knees,
+and it was clear that Mr. Newton was insensible.]
+
+
+He was carried home to the house of a gentleman who lived in those
+parts, in order that he might be saved the longer journey to the
+Priory;--but the length of the road mattered but little to him. He
+never spoke again, nor was he sensible for a moment. Ralph remained
+with him during the night,--of course,--and so did the surgeon.
+At five o'clock on the following morning his last breath had been
+drawn, and his life had passed away from him. George Morris also
+had remained with them,--or rather had come back to the house after
+having ridden home and changed his clothes, and it was by him that
+the tidings were at last told to the wretched son. "It is all over,
+Ralph!" "I suppose so!" said Ralph, hoarsely. "There has never been a
+doubt," said George, "since we heard of the manner of the accident."
+"I suppose not," said Ralph. The young man sat silent, and composed,
+and made no expression of his grief. He did not weep, nor did his
+face even wear that look of woe which is so common to us all when
+grief comes to us. They two were still in the room in which the
+body lay, and were standing close together over the fire. Ralph was
+leaning on his elbow upon the chimneypiece, and from time to time
+Morris would press his arm. They had been standing together thus for
+some twenty minutes when Morris asked a question.
+
+"The affair of the property had been settled, Ralph?"
+
+"Don't talk of that now," said the other angrily. Then, after
+a pause, he put up his face and spoke again. "Nothing has been
+settled," he said. "The estate belongs to my cousin Ralph. He should
+be informed at once,--at once. He should he telegraphed to, to come
+to Newton. Would you mind doing it? He should be informed at once."
+
+"There is time enough for that," said George Morris.
+
+"If you will not I must," replied Ralph.
+
+The telegram was at once sent in duplicate, addressed to that other
+Ralph,--Ralph who was declared by the Squire's son to be once more
+Ralph the heir,--addressed to him both at his lodgings in London and
+at the Moonbeam. When the messenger had been sent to the nearest
+railway station with the message, Ralph and his friend started for
+Newton Priory together. Poor Ralph still wore his boots and breeches
+and the red coat in which he had ridden on the former fatal day, and
+in which he had passed the night by the side of his dying father's
+bed. On their journey homeward they met Gregory, who had heard of the
+accident, and had at once started to see his uncle.
+
+"It is all over!" said Ralph. Gregory, who was in his gig, dropped
+the reins and sat in silence. "It is all done. Let us get on, George.
+It is horrid to me to be in this coat. Get on quickly. Yes, indeed;
+everything is done now."
+
+He had lost a father who had loved him dearly, and whom he had dearly
+loved,--a father whose opportunities of showing his active love had
+been greater even than fall to the lot of most parents. A father
+gives naturally to his son, but the Squire had been almost unnatural
+in his desire to give. There had never been a more devoted father,
+one more intensely anxious for his son's welfare;--and Ralph had
+known this, and loved his father accordingly. Nevertheless, he could
+not keep himself from remembering that he had now lost more than
+a father. The estate as to which the Squire had been so full of
+interest,--as to which he, Ralph, had so constantly endeavoured to
+protect himself from an interest that should be too absorbing,--had
+in the last moment escaped him. And now, in this sad and solemn hour,
+he could not keep himself from thinking of that loss. As he had stood
+in the room in which the dead body of his father had been lying, he
+had cautioned himself against this feeling. But still he had known
+that it had been present to him. Let him do what he would with his
+own thoughts, he could not hinder them from running back to the fact
+that by his father's sudden death he had lost the possession of the
+Newton estate. He hated himself for remembering such a fact at such a
+time, but he could not keep himself from remembering it. His father
+had fought a life-long battle to make him the heir of Newton, and had
+perished in the moment of his victory,--but before his victory was
+achieved. Ralph had borne his success well while he had thought that
+his success was certain; but now--! He knew that all such subjects
+should be absent from his mind with such cause for grief as weighed
+upon him at this moment,--but he could not drive away the reflection.
+That other Ralph Newton had won upon the post. He would endeavour to
+bear himself well, but he could not but remember that he had been
+beaten. And there was the father who had loved him so well lying
+dead!
+
+When he reached the house, George Morris was still with him. Gregory,
+to whom he had spoken hardly a word, did not come beyond the
+parsonage. Ralph could not conceal from himself, could hardly conceal
+from his outward manner, the knowledge that Gregory must be aware
+that his cause had triumphed. And yet he hated himself for thinking
+of these things, and believed himself to be brutal in that he could
+not conceal his thoughts. "I'll send over for a few things, and stay
+with you for a day or two," said George Morris. "It would be bad that
+you should be left here alone." But Ralph would not permit the visit.
+"My father's nephew will be here to-morrow," he said, "and I would
+rather that he should find me alone." In thinking of it all, he
+remembered that he must withdraw his claims to the hand of Mary
+Bonner, now that he was nobody. He could have no pretension now to
+offer his hand to any such girl as Mary Bonner!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+SIR THOMAS AT HOME.
+
+
+Sir Thomas Underwood was welcomed home at the villa with a double
+amount of sympathy and glory,--that due to him for his victory being
+added to that which came to him on the score of his broken arm. A
+hero is never so much a hero among women as when he has been wounded
+in the battle. The very weakness which throws him into female hands
+imparts a moiety of his greatness to the women who for the while
+possess him, and creates a partnership in heroism, in which the
+feminine half delights to make the most of its own share. During
+the week at Percycross and throughout the journey Patience had had
+this half all to herself; and there had arisen to her considerable
+enjoyment from it as soon as she found that her father would probably
+be none the worse for his accident after a few weeks. She saw more of
+him now than she had done for years, and was able, after a fashion,
+to work her quiet, loving, female will with him, exacting from him
+an obedience to feminine sway such as had not been exercised on him
+since his wife's death. He himself had been humbled, passive, and
+happy. He had taken his gruel, grumbled with modesty, and consoled
+himself with constantly reflecting that he was member of Parliament
+for the borough of Percycross.
+
+During their journey, although Patience was urgent in requiring from
+her father quiescence, lest he should injure himself by too much
+exertion, there were many words spoken both as to Clarissa and Mary
+Bonner. As to poor Clary, Sir Thomas was very decided that if there
+were any truth in the suspicion which had been now roused in his mind
+as to Ralph the heir, the thing must be put an end to at once. Ralph
+who had been the heir was now in possession of that mess of pottage
+for which he had sold his inheritance,--so said Sir Thomas to his
+daughter,--and would undoubtedly consume that, as he had consumed the
+other mess which should have lasted him till the inheritance was his
+own. And he told to Patience the whole story as to Polly Neefit,--the
+whole story, at least, as he had heard it. Ralph had declared to Sir
+Thomas, when discussing the expedience of his proposed marriage with
+the daughter of the breeches-maker, that he was attached to Polly
+Neefit. Sir Thomas had done all he could to dissuade the young man
+from a marriage which, in his eyes, was disgraceful; but he could
+not bring himself to look with favour on affections transferred so
+quickly from the breeches-maker's daughter to his own. There must be
+no question of a love affair between Clary and the foolish heir who
+had disinherited himself by his folly. All this was doubly painful to
+Patience. She suffered first for her sister, the violence of whose
+feelings were so well known to her, and so completely understood; and
+then on her own account she was obliged to endure the conviction that
+she was deceiving her father. Although she had allowed something of
+the truth to escape from her, she had not wilfully told her sister's
+secret. But looking at the matter from her father's point of view,
+and hearing all that her father now said, she was brought in guilty
+of hypocrisy in the court of her own conscience.
+
+In that other matter as to Mary Bonner there was much more of
+pleasantness. There could be no possible reason why that other man,
+to whom Fortune was going to be so good, should not marry Mary
+Bonner, if Mary could bring herself to take him into her good graces.
+And of course she would. Such at least was Sir Thomas's opinion.
+How was it possible that a girl like Mary, who had nothing of her
+own, should fail to like a lover who had everything to recommend
+him,--good looks, good character, good temper, and good fortune.
+Patience did make some protest against this, for the sake of her sex.
+She didn't think, she said, that Mary had ever thought of Mr. Newton
+in that light. "There must be a beginning to such thoughts, of
+course," said Sir Thomas. Patience explained that she had nothing
+to say against Mr. Newton. It would all be very nice and proper, no
+doubt,--only perhaps Mary might not care for Mr. Newton. "Psha!"
+said Sir Thomas. Sir Thomas seemed to think that the one girl was
+as much bound to fall in love as the other was to abstain from so
+doing. Patience continued her protest,--but very mildly, because her
+father's arm was in a sling. Then there arose the question whether
+Mary should be told of the young man's letter. Patience thought that
+the young man should be allowed to come and speak for himself. Sir
+Thomas made no objection to the young man's coming. The young man
+might come when he pleased. But Sir Thomas thought it would be well
+that Mary should know what the young man had written. And so they
+reached home.
+
+To be glorified by one worshipping daughter had been pleasant to the
+wounded hero, but to be glorified by two daughters and a niece was
+almost wearisome. On the first evening nothing was said about the
+love troubles or love prospects of the girls. Sir Thomas permitted to
+himself the enjoyment of his glory, with some few signs of impatience
+when the admiration became too strong. He told the whole story of
+his election, lying back among his cushions on the sofa, although
+Patience, with mild persistence, cautioned him against exertion.
+
+"It is very bad that you should have your arm broken, papa," said
+Clarissa.
+
+"It is a bore, my dear."
+
+"Of course it is,--a dreadful bore. But as it is doing so well, I am
+so glad that you went down to Percycross. It is such a great thing
+that you should be in the House again. It does give so much colour to
+our lives here."
+
+"I hope they were not colourless before."
+
+"You know what I mean. It is so nice to feel that you are in
+Parliament."
+
+"It is quite on the cards that I may lose the seat by petition."
+
+"They never can be so cruel," said Mary.
+
+"Cruelty!" said Sir Thomas laughing. "In politics men skin each other
+without the slightest feeling. I do not doubt that Mr. Westmacott
+would ruin me with the most perfect satisfaction, if by doing so he
+could bring the seat within his own reach again; and yet I believe
+Mr. Westmacott to be a kind-hearted, good sort of man. There is a
+theory among Englishmen that in politics no man need spare another.
+To wish that your opponent should fall dead upon the hustings is not
+an uncharitable wish at an election."
+
+"Oh, papa!" exclaimed Patience.
+
+"At any rate you are elected," said Clary.
+
+"And threatened folk live long, uncle," said Mary Bonner.
+
+"So they say, my dear. Well, Patience, don't look at me with so much
+reprobation in your eyes, and I will go to bed at once. Being here
+instead of at the Percy Standard does make one inclined to take a
+liberty."
+
+"Oh, papa, it is such a delight to have you," said Clary, jumping up
+and kissing her father's forehead. All this was pleasant enough, and
+the first evening came to an end very happily.
+
+The next morning Patience, when she was alone with her father, made
+a request to him with some urgency. "Papa," she said, "do not say
+anything to Clary about Ralph."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"If there is anything in it, let it die out of itself."
+
+"But is there?"
+
+"How am I to say? Think of it, papa. If I knew it, I could hardly
+tell,--even you."
+
+"Why not? If I am not to hear the truth from you who is to tell me?"
+
+"Dear papa, don't be angry. There may be a truth which had better not
+be told. What we both want is that Clary shouldn't suffer. If you
+question her she will suffer. You may be sure of this,--that she will
+obey your wishes."
+
+"How can she obey them, unless she knows them?"
+
+"She shall know them," said Patience. But Sir Thomas would give no
+promise.
+
+On that same day Sir Thomas sent for his niece into his room, and
+there read to her the letter which he had received from the Squire's
+son. It was now the last week of October,--that short blessed morsel
+of time which to the poor Squire at Newton was the happiest of his
+life. He was now cutting down trees and building farm-houses, and
+looking after his stud in all the glory of his success. Ralph had
+written his letter, and had received his answer,--and he also was
+successful and glorious. That fatal day on which the fox would not
+break from Barford Woods had not yet arrived. Mary Bonner heard the
+letter read, and listened to Sir Thomas's speech without a word,
+without a blush, and without a sign. Sir Thomas began his speech very
+well, but became rather misty towards the end, when he found himself
+unable to reduce Mary to a state of feminine confusion. "My dear," he
+began, "I have received a letter which I think it is my duty to read
+to you."
+
+"A letter, uncle?"
+
+"Yes, my dear. Sit down while I read it. I may as well tell you at
+once that it is a letter which has given me very great satisfaction.
+It is from a young gentleman;"--upon hearing this announcement Mary's
+face assumed a look of settled, collected strength, which never left
+it for a moment during the remainder of the interview,--"yes; from a
+young gentleman, and I may say that I never read a letter which I
+thought to be more honourable to the writer. It is from Mr. Ralph
+Newton,--not the Ralph with whom you have found us to be so intimate,
+but from the other who will some day be Mr. Newton of Newton Priory."
+Then Sir Thomas looked into his niece's face, hoping to see there
+something of the flutter of expectant triumph. But there was neither
+flutter nor triumph in Mary's countenance. He read the letter,
+sitting up in his bed, with his left arm in a sling, and then he
+handed it to her. "You had better look at it yourself, my dear." Mary
+took the letter, and sat as though she were reading it. It seemed
+to Sir Thomas that she was reading it with the cold accuracy of a
+cautious attorney;--but in truth her eyes did not follow a single
+word of the letter. There was neither flutter nor triumph in her
+face, or in the movement of her limbs, or in the quiet, almost
+motionless carriage of her body; but, nevertheless, the pulses of her
+heart beat so strongly, that had all depended on it she could not
+have read a word of the letter. "Well, my dear," said Sir Thomas,
+when he thought that ample time had been given for the perusal. Mary
+simply folded the paper together and returned it into his hands. "I
+have told him, as I was bound to do, my dear, that as far as I was
+concerned, I should be happy to receive him; but that for any other
+answer, I must refer him to you. Of course it will be for you to give
+him what answer your heart dictates. But I may say this,--and it
+is my duty to say it as your guardian and nearest relative;--the
+way in which he has put forward his request shows him to be a most
+honourable man; all that I have ever heard of him is in his favour;
+he is a gentleman every inch of him; and as for his prospects in
+life, they are such that they entitle him to address almost any
+lady in the land. Of course you will follow the dictates of your
+own heart, as I said; but I cannot myself fancy any greater good
+fortune that could come in the way of a young woman than the honest
+affections of such a man as this Ralph Newton." Then Sir Thomas
+paused for some reply, but Mary had none ready for him. "Of course I
+have no questions to ask," he said, and then again paused. But still
+Mary did not speak. "I dare say he will be here before long, and I
+hope that he may meet with a happy reception. I at least shall be
+glad to see him, for I hold him in great honour. And as I look upon
+marriage as the happiest lot for all women, and as I think that this
+would be a happy marriage, I do hope,--I do hope-- But as I said
+before, all that must be left to yourself. Mary, have you nothing to
+say?"
+
+"I trust, uncle, you are not tired of me."
+
+"Tired of you! Certainly not. I have not been with you since you
+have been here as much as I should have wished because,--indeed for
+various reasons. But we all like you, and nobody wants to get rid of
+you. But there is a way in which young ladies leave their own homes,
+which is generally thought to be matter of congratulation. But, as I
+said before, nobody shall press you."
+
+"Dear uncle, I am so full of thanks to you for your kindness."
+
+"But it is of course my duty as your guardian to tell you that in my
+opinion this gentleman is entitled to your esteem."
+
+After that Mary left him without another word, and taking her hat
+and cloak as she passed through the hall went at once out into the
+garden. It was a fine autumn morning, almost with a touch of summer
+in it. We do not know here that special season which across the
+Atlantic is called the Indian summer,--that last glow of the year's
+warmth which always brings with it a half melancholy conviction of
+the year's decay,--which in itself is so delightful, would be so
+full of delight, were it not for the consciousness which it seems
+to contain of being the immediate precursor of winter with all its
+horrors. There is no sufficient constancy with us of the recurrence
+of such a season, to make any special name needful. But now and
+again there comes a day, when the winds of the equinox have lulled
+themselves, and the chill of October rains have left the earth, and
+the sun gives a genial, luxurious warmth, with no power to scorch,
+with strength only to comfort. But here, as elsewhere, this luxury
+is laden with melancholy, because it tells us of decay, and is the
+harbinger of death. This was such a day, and Mary Bonner, as she
+hurried into a shrubbery walk, where she could wander unseen, felt
+both the sadness and the softness of the season. There was a path
+which ran from the front gate of the villa grounds through shrubs
+and tall evergreens down to the river, and was continued along the
+river-bank up through the flower-garden to windows opening from the
+drawing-room. Here she walked alone for more than an hour, turning as
+she came to the river in order that she might not be seen from the
+house.
+
+Mary Bonner, of whose character hitherto but little has been said,
+was, at any rate, an acute observer. Very soon after her first
+introduction to Ralph the heir,--Ralph who had for so many years been
+the intimate friend of the Underwood family,--she perceived something
+in the manner of that very attractive young man which conveyed
+to her a feeling that, if she so pleased, she might count him as
+an admirer of her own. She had heard then, as was natural, much
+of the brilliance of his prospects, and but little,--as was also
+natural,--of what he had done to mar them. And she also perceived,
+or fancied that she perceived, that her cousin Clary gave many of
+her thoughts to the heir. Now Mary Bonner understood the importance
+to herself of a prosperous marriage, as well as any girl ever did
+understand its great significance. She was an orphan, living in fact
+on the charity of her uncle. And she was aware that having come
+to her uncle's house when all the weakness and attractions of her
+childhood were passed, she could have no hold on him or his such as
+would have been hers had she grown to be a woman beneath his roof.
+There was a thoughtfulness too about her,--a thoughtfulness which
+some, perhaps, may call worldliness,--which made it impossible for
+her not to have her own condition constantly in her mind. In her
+father's lifetime she had been driven by his thoughtlessness and her
+own sterner nature to think of these things; and in the few months
+that had passed between her father's death and her acceptance in
+her uncle's house she had taught herself to regard the world as an
+arena in which she must fight a battle by her own strength with such
+weapons as God had given to her. God had, indeed, given to her many
+weapons, but she knew but of one. She did know that God had made
+her very beautiful. But she regarded her beauty after an unfeminine
+fashion,--as a thing of value, but as a chattel of which she could
+not bring herself to be proud. Might it be possible that she should
+win for herself by her beauty some position in the world less
+burdensome, more joyous than that of a governess, and less dependent
+than that of a daily recipient of her uncle's charity?
+
+She had had lovers in the West Indies,--perhaps a score of them,
+but they had been nothing to her. Her father's house had been so
+constituted that it had been impossible for her to escape the very
+plainly spoken admiration of captains, lieutenants, and Colonial
+secretaries. In the West Indies gentlemen do speak so very plainly,
+on, or without, the smallest encouragement, that ladies accept such
+speaking much as they do in England the attention of a handkerchief
+lifted or an offer for a dance. It had all meant nothing to Mary
+Bonner, who from her earliest years of girlhood had been accustomed
+to captains, lieutenants, and even to midshipmen. But, through it
+all, she had grown up with serious thoughts, and something of a
+conviction that love-making was but an ugly amusement. As far as it
+had been possible she had kept herself aloof from it, and though run
+after for her beauty, had been unpopular as being a "proud, cold,
+meaningless minx." When her father died she would speak to no one;
+and then it had been settled among the captains, lieutenants, and
+Colonial secretaries that she was a proud, cold, meaningless minx.
+And with this character she left the island. Now there came to her,
+naturally I say, this question;--What lovers might she find in
+England, and, should she find lovers, how should she deal with them?
+There are among us many who tell us that no pure-minded girl should
+think of finding a lover,--should only deal with him, when he comes,
+as truth, and circumstances, and parental control may suggest to her.
+If there be girls so pure, it certainly seems that no human being
+expects to meet them. Such was not the purity of Mary Bonner,--if
+pure she was. She did think of some coming lover,--did hope that
+there might be for her some prosperity of life as the consequence of
+the love of some worthy man whom she, in return, might worship. And
+then there had come Ralph Newton the heir.
+
+Now to Mary Bonner,--as also to Clarissa Underwood, and to Patience,
+and to old Mrs. Brownlow, and a great many others, Ralph the heir
+did not appear in quite those colours which he probably will in
+the reader's eyes. These ladies, and a great many other ladies
+and gentlemen who reckoned him among their acquaintance, were not
+accurately acquainted with his transactions with Messrs. Neefit,
+Moggs, and Horsball; nor were they thoroughly acquainted with the
+easy nature of our hero's changing convictions. To Clarissa he
+certainly was heroic; to Patience he was very dear; to old Mrs.
+Brownlow he was almost a demigod; to Mr. Poojean he was an object
+of envy. To Mary Bonner, as she first saw him, he was infinitely
+more fascinating than the captains and lieutenants of West Indian
+regiments, or than Colonial secretaries generally.
+
+It was during that evening at Mrs. Brownlow's that Mary Bonner
+resolutely made up her mind that she would be as stiff and cold to
+Ralph the heir as the nature of their acquaintance would allow. She
+had seen Clarissa without watching, and, without thinking, she had
+resolved. Mr. Newton was handsome, well to do, of good address, and
+clever;--he was also attractive; but he should not be attractive for
+her. She would not, as her first episode in her English life, rob
+a cousin of a lover. And so her mind was made up, and no word was
+spoken to any one. She had no confidences. There was no one in whom
+she could confide. Indeed, there was no need for confidence. As
+she left Mrs. Brownlow's house on that evening she slipped her arm
+through that of Patience, and the happy Clarissa was left to walk
+home with Ralph the heir,--as the reader may perhaps remember.
+
+Then that other Ralph had come, and she learned in half-pronounced
+ambiguous whispers what was the nature of his position in the world.
+She did not know,--at that time her cousins did not know,--how nearly
+successful were the efforts made to dispossess the heir of his
+inheritance in order that this other Newton might possess it. But she
+saw, or thought that she saw, that this was the gallanter man of the
+two. Then he came again, and then again, and she knew that her own
+beauty was of avail. She encouraged him not at all. It was not in her
+nature to give encouragement to a man's advances. It may, perhaps, be
+said of her that she had no power to do so. What was in her of the
+graciousness of feminine love, of the leaning, clinging, flattering
+softness of woman's nature, required some effort to extract, and had
+never hitherto been extracted. But within her own bosom she told
+herself that she thought that she could give it, if the asking for it
+were duly done. Then came the first tidings of his heirship, of his
+father's success,--and then, close upon the heels of those tidings,
+this heir's humbly expressed desire to be permitted to woo her. There
+was all the flutter of triumph in her bosom, as that letter was
+read to her, and yet there was no sign of it in her voice or in her
+countenance.
+
+Nor could it have been seen had she been met walking in the shade of
+that shrubbery. And yet she was full of triumph. Here was the man to
+whom her heart had seemed to turn almost at first sight, as it had
+never turned to man before. She had deigned to think of him as of one
+she could love;--and he loved her. As she paced the walk it was also
+much to her that this man who was so generous in her eyes should have
+provided for him so noble a place in the world. She quite understood
+what it was to be the wife of such a one as the Squire of Newton.
+She had grieved for Clary's sake when she heard that the former heir
+should be heir no longer,--suspecting Clary's secret. But she could
+not so grieve as to be insensible of her own joy. And then there was
+something in the very manner in which the man approached her, which
+gratified her pride while it touched her heart. About that other
+Ralph there was a tone of sustained self-applause, which seemed to
+declare that he had only to claim any woman and to receive her.
+There was an old-fashioned mode of wooing of which she had read and
+dreamed, that implied a homage which she knew that she desired. This
+homage her Ralph was prepared to pay.
+
+For an hour she paced the walk, not thinking, but enjoying what she
+knew. There was nothing in it requiring thought. He was to come, and
+till he should come there was nothing that she need either say or do.
+Till he should come she would do nothing and say nothing. Such was
+her determination when Clarissa's step was heard, and in a moment
+Clarissa's arm was round her waist. "Mary," she said, "you must come
+out with me. Come and walk with me. I am going to Mrs. Brownlow's.
+You must come."
+
+"To walk there and back?" said Mary, smiling.
+
+"We will return in an omnibus; but you must come. Oh, I have so much
+to say to you."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+"TELL ME AND I'LL TELL YOU."
+
+
+"Papa has told me all about it," were Clarissa's first words as soon
+as they were out of the gate on the road to Mrs. Brownlow's.
+
+"All about what, Clary?"
+
+"Oh you know;--or rather it was Patience told me, and then I asked
+papa. I am so glad."
+
+Mary had as yet hardly had time to think whether the coming of
+this letter to her uncle would or would not be communicated to her
+cousins; but had she thought, she would have been almost sure that
+Sir Thomas would be more discreet. The whole matter was to her so
+important, so secret, almost so solemn, that she could hardly imagine
+that it should be discussed among the whole household. And yet she
+felt a strong longing within herself to be able to talk of it to some
+one. Of the two cousins Clary was certainly her favourite, and had
+she been forced to consult any one, she would have consulted Clary.
+But an absolute confidence in such a matter with a chosen friend,
+the more delightful it might appear, was on that very account the
+more difficult of attainment. It was an occasion for thought, for
+doubt, and almost for dismay; and now Clary rushed into it as though
+everything could be settled in a walk from Fulham to Parson's Green!
+"It is very good of you to be glad, Clary," said the other,--hardly
+knowing why she said this, and yet meaning it. If in truth Clary was
+glad, it was good of her. For this man to whom Clary was alluding had
+won from her own lover all his inheritance.
+
+"I like him so much. You will let me talk about him; won't you?"
+
+"Oh, yes," said Mary.
+
+"Do; pray do. There are so many reasons why we should tell each other
+everything." This elicited no promise from Mary. "If I thought that
+you would care, I would tell you all."
+
+"I care about everything that concerns you, Clary."
+
+"But I didn't bring you out to talk about myself now. I want to tell
+you how much I like your Ralph Newton."
+
+"But he isn't mine."
+
+"Yes he is;--at any rate, if you like to have him. And of course you
+will like. Why should you not? He is everything that is nice and
+good;--and now he is to be the owner of all the property. What I want
+to tell you is this; I do not begrudge it to you."
+
+Why should Clarissa begrudge or not begrudge the property? Mary
+understood it all, but nothing had been said entitling her to speak
+as though she understood it. "I don't think you would begrudge me
+anything that you thought good for me," said Mary.
+
+"And I think that Mr. Ralph Newton,--this Mr. Ralph Newton, is very
+good for you. Nothing could be so good. In the first place would it
+not be very nice to have you mistress of Newton Priory? Only that
+shouldn't come properly first."
+
+"And what should come first, Clary?"
+
+"Oh,--of course that you should love him better than anything in the
+world. And you do,--don't you?"
+
+"It is too sudden to say that yet, Clary."
+
+"But I am sure you will. Don't you feel that you will? Come, Mary,
+you should tell me something."
+
+"There is so little to tell."
+
+"Then you are afraid of me. I wanted to tell you everything."
+
+"I am not afraid of you. But, remember, it is hardly more than an
+hour ago since I first heard of Mr. Newton's wishes, and up to that
+moment nothing was further from my dreams."
+
+"I was sure of it, ever so long ago," said Clarissa.
+
+"Oh, Clary!"
+
+"I was. I told Patience how it was to be. I saw it in his eyes. One
+does see these things. I knew it would be so; and I told Patience
+that we three would be three Mrs. Newtons. But that of course was
+nonsense."
+
+"Nonsense, indeed."
+
+"I mean about Patience."
+
+"And what about yourself, Clary?" Clarissa made no answer, and yet
+she was burning to tell her own story. She was most anxious to tell
+her own story, but only on the condition of reciprocal confidence.
+The very nature of her story required that the confidence should be
+reciprocal. "You said that you wanted to tell me everything," said
+Mary.
+
+"And so I do."
+
+"You know how glad I shall be to hear."
+
+"That is all very well, but,--" And then Clarissa paused.
+
+"But what, dear?"
+
+"You do mean to accept Mr. Newton?"
+
+Now it was time for Mary to pause. "If I were to tell you my whole
+heart," she said, "I should be ashamed of what I was saying; and yet
+I do not know that there is any cause for shame."
+
+"There can be none," said Clary. "I am sure of that."
+
+"My acquaintance with Mr. Newton is very, very slight. I liked
+him,--oh, so much. I thought him to be high-spirited, manly, and a
+fine gentleman. I never saw any man who so much impressed me."
+
+"Of course not," said Clarissa, making a gesture as though she
+would stop on the high road and clasp her hands together, in which,
+however, she was impeded by her parasol and her remembrance of her
+present position.
+
+"But it is so much to say that one will love a man better than all
+the world, and go to him, and belong to him, and be his wife."
+
+"Ah;--but if one does love him!"
+
+"I can hardly believe that love can grow so quickly."
+
+"Tell the truth, Mary; has it not grown?"
+
+"Indeed I cannot say. There; you shall have the whole truth. When he
+comes to me,--and I suppose he will come."
+
+"There isn't much doubt of that."
+
+"If he does come--"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"I hardly know what I shall say to him. I shall try to--to love him."
+
+"Of course you will love him,--better than all the world."
+
+"I know that he is paying me the greatest compliment that a man can
+pay to a woman. And there is no earthly reason why I should not be
+proud to accept all that he offers me. I have nothing of my own to
+bestow in return."
+
+"But you are so beautiful."
+
+Mary would make no pretence of denying this. It was true that that
+one great feminine possession did belong to her. "After all," she
+said, "how little does beauty signify! It attracts, but it can make
+no man happy. He has everything to give to a wife, and he ought to
+have much in return for what he gives."
+
+"You don't mean that a girl should refuse a rich man because she has
+no fortune of her own?"
+
+"No; not quite that. But she ought to think whether she can be of use
+to him."
+
+"Of course you will be of use, my dear;--of the greatest use in the
+world. That's his affair, and he is the best judge of what will be of
+use. You will love him, and other men will envy him, and that will be
+everything. Oh dear, I do so hope he will come soon."
+
+"And I,--I almost hope he will not. I shall be so afraid to see him.
+The first meeting will be so awful. I shall not dare to look him in
+the face."
+
+"But it is all settled."
+
+"No;--not settled, Clary."
+
+"Yes; it is settled. And now I will tell you what I mean when I say I
+do not begrudge him to you. That is--; I do not know whether you will
+care to be told."
+
+"I care very much, Clary. I should be very unhappy if you did
+begrudge me anything."
+
+"Of course you know that our Ralph Newton, as we call him, ought to
+have been the heir."
+
+"Oh, yes."
+
+"I needn't explain it all; only,--only--"
+
+"Only he is everything to you. Is it that, Clary?"
+
+"Yes; it is that. He is everything to me. I love him--. Oh, yes, I do
+love him! But, Mary, I am not such a happy girl as you are. Sometimes
+I think he hardly cares for me."
+
+"But he has asked you to care for him?"
+
+"Well;--I don't know. I think he has. He has told me, I know, that he
+loved me dearly,--better than any one."
+
+"And what answer did you make to him, Clary?"
+
+Clarissa had the whole scene on the lawn at Popham Villa so clearly
+impressed upon her memory, that an eternity of years, as she thought,
+could obliterate no one of its incidents and render doubtful no tone
+of his voice, no word that her lover had spoken. His conduct had at
+that time been so violent that she had answered him only with tears
+and protestations of undying anger. But her tears had been dried,
+and her anger had passed away;--while the love remained. Ralph, her
+Ralph, of course knew well enough that the tears were dry and the
+anger gone. She could understand that he would understand that. But
+the love which he had protested, if it were real love, would remain.
+And why should she doubt him? The very fact that he was so dear to
+her, made such doubts almost disgraceful. And yet there was so much
+cause for doubt. Patience doubted. She knew herself that she feared
+more than she hoped. She had resolved gallantly that she would be
+true to her own heart, even though by such truth she should be
+preparing for herself a life of disappointment. She had admitted
+the passion, and she would stand by it. In all her fears, too, she
+consoled herself by the reflection that her lover was hindered,
+not by want of earnestness or want of truth,--but by the state
+of his affairs. While he was still in debt, striving to save his
+inheritance, but tormented by the growing certainty that it must
+pass away from him, how could he give himself up to love-making and
+preparations for marriage? Clary made excuses for him which no one
+else would have made, and so managed to feed her hopes. "I made him
+no answer," she said at last.
+
+"And yet you knew you loved him."
+
+"Yes; I knew that. I can tell you, and I told Patience. But I could
+not tell him." She paused a moment thinking whether she could
+describe the whole scene; but she found that she could not do that.
+"I shall tell him, perhaps, when he comes again; that is, if he does
+come."
+
+"If he loves you he will come."
+
+"I don't know. He has all these troubles on him, and he will be very
+poor;--what will seem to him to be very poor. It would not be poor
+for me, but for him it would."
+
+"Would that hinder him?"
+
+"How can I say? There are so many things a girl cannot know. He
+may still be in debt, and then he has been brought up to want so
+much. But it will make no more difference in me. And now you will
+understand why I should tell you that I will never begrudge you your
+good fortune. If all should come right, you shall give us a little
+cottage near your grand house, and you will not despise us." Poor
+Clary, when she spoke of her possible future lord, and the little
+cottage on the Newton demesne, hardly understood the feelings with
+which a disinherited heir must regard the property which he has lost.
+
+"Dear, dearest Clary," said Mary Bonner, pressing her cousin's arm.
+
+They had now reached Mrs. Brownlow's house, and the old lady was
+delighted to receive them. Of course she began to discuss at once the
+great news. Sir Thomas had had his arm broken, and was now again a
+member of Parliament. Mrs. Brownlow was a thorough-going Tory, and
+was in an ecstasy of delight that her old friend should have been
+successful. The success seemed to be so much the greater in that the
+hero had suffered a broken bone. And then there were many questions
+to be asked? Would Sir Thomas again be Solicitor-General by right
+of his seat in Parliament?--for on such matters Mrs. Brownlow was
+rather hazy in her conceptions as to the working of the British
+Constitution. And would he live at home? Clarissa would not say that
+she and Patience expected such a result. All that she could suggest
+of comfort on this matter was that there would be now something of
+a fair cause for excusing their father's residence at his London
+chambers.
+
+But there was a subject more enticing to the old lady even than
+Sir Thomas's triumphs; a subject as to which there could not be
+any triumph,--only dismay; but not, on that account, the less
+interesting. Ralph Newton had sold his inheritance. "I believe it is
+all settled," said Clarissa, demurely.
+
+"Dear, dear, dear, dear!" groaned the old lady. And while she groaned
+Clarissa furtively cast a smile upon her cousin. "It is the saddest
+thing I ever knew," said Mrs. Brownlow. "And, after all, for a young
+man who never can be anybody, you know."
+
+"Oh yes," said Clarissa, "he can be somebody."
+
+"You know what I mean, my dear. I think it very shocking, and very
+wrong. Such a fine estate, too!"
+
+"We all like Mr. Newton very much indeed," said Clarissa. "Papa
+thinks he is a most charming young man. I never knew papa taken with
+any one so much. And so do we all,--Patience and I,--and Mary."
+
+"But, my dear," began Mrs. Brownlow,--Mrs. Brownlow had always
+thought that Ralph the heir would ultimately marry Clarissa
+Underwood, and that it was a manifest duty on his part to do so. She
+had fancied that Clarissa had expected it herself, and had believed
+that all the Underwoods would be broken-hearted at this transfer
+of the estate. "I don't think it can be right," said Mrs. Brownlow;
+"and I must say that it seems to me that old Mr. Newton ought to be
+ashamed of himself. Just because this young man happens to be, in a
+sort of a way, his own son, he is going to destroy the whole family.
+I think that it is very wicked." But she had not a word of censure
+for the heir who had consumed his mess of pottage.
+
+"Wasn't she grand?" said Clary, as soon as they were out again upon
+the road. "She is such a dear old woman, but she doesn't understand
+anything. I couldn't help giving you a look when she was abusing
+our friend. When she knows it all, she'll have to make you such an
+apology."
+
+"I hope she will not do that."
+
+"She will if she does not forget all about it. She does forget
+things. There is one thing I don't agree with her in at all. I don't
+see any shame in your Ralph having the property; and, as to his being
+nobody, that is all nonsense. He would be somebody, wherever he went,
+if he had not an acre of property. He will be Mr. Newton, of Newton
+Priory, just as much as anybody else could be. He has never done
+anything wrong." To all which Mary Bonner had very little to say. She
+certainly was not prepared to blame the present Squire for having so
+managed his affairs as to be able to leave the estate to his own son.
+
+The two girls were very energetic, and walked back the whole way to
+Popham Villa, regardless of a dozen omnibuses that passed them. "I
+told her all about our Ralph,--my Ralph,"--said Clary to her sister
+afterward. "I could not help telling her now."
+
+"Dear Clary," said Patience, "I wish you could help thinking of it
+always."
+
+"That's quite impossible," said Clarissa, cheerily.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+ALONE IN THE HOUSE.
+
+
+Young Newton at last found himself alone in the house at Newton
+Priory after his father's death. He had sent George Morris away,
+becoming very stern in his demand to be left to his solitude as long
+as opposition was made to him. Gregory had come down to him from the
+parsonage, and had also been dismissed. "Your brother will be here
+probably to-day," said Ralph, "and then I will send for you."
+
+"I am thinking more of you than of my brother, just now," answered
+the parson.
+
+"Yes, I know,--and though I cannot talk to you, I know how good you
+are. I want to see nobody but him. I shall be better alone." Then
+Gregory had returned to the parsonage.
+
+As soon as Ralph was alone he crept up to the room in which his
+father's body was lying, and stood silently by the bedside for above
+an hour. He was struggling to remember the loss he had had in the
+man, and to forget the loss in wealth and station. No father had ever
+been better to a son than his father had been to him. In every affair
+of life his happiness, his prosperity, and his future condition had
+given motives to his father's conduct. No lover ever worshipped a
+mistress more thoroughly than his father had idolised him. There
+had never been love to beat it, never solicitude more perfect and
+devoted. And yet, as he had been driven home that day, he had allowed
+his mind to revert to the property, and his regrets to settle
+themselves on his lost position. It should not be so any longer. He
+could not keep his mind from dwelling on the thing, but he would
+think of it as a trifle,--as of a thing which he could afford to lose
+without sorrow. Whereas he had also lost that which is of all things
+the most valuable and most impossible to replace,--a friend whose
+love was perfect.
+
+But then there was another loss. He bitterly blamed himself for
+having written that letter to Sir Thomas Underwood, before he was
+actually in a position to do as he had proposed. It must all be
+unwritten now. Every resolution hitherto taken as to his future life
+must be abandoned. He must begin again, and plan a new life for
+himself. It had all come upon him so suddenly that he was utterly
+at a loss to think what he would do with himself or with his days.
+There was nothing for him but to go away, and be utterly without
+occupation, altogether without friends. Friends, indeed, he
+had,--dear, intimate, loving friends. Gregory Newton and George
+Morris were his friends. Every tenant on the Newton property was his
+friend. There was not a man riding with the hunt, worth having as a
+friend, who was not on friendly terms with him. But all these he must
+leave altogether. In whatever spot he might find for himself a future
+residence, that spot could not be at Peele Newton. After what had
+occurred he could not remain there, now that he was not the heir. And
+then, again, his thoughts came back from his lost father to his lost
+inheritance, and he was very wretched.
+
+Between three and four o'clock he took his hat and walked out. He
+sauntered down along a small stream, which, after running through the
+gardens, bordered one of the coverts which came up near to the house.
+He took this path because he knew that he would be alone there,
+unseen. It had occurred to him already that it would be well that he
+should give orders to stop the works which his father had commenced,
+and there had been a moment in which he had almost told one of the
+servants in the house to do so. But he had felt ashamed at seeming to
+remember so small a thing. The owner would be there soon, probably
+in an hour or two, and could stop or could continue what he pleased.
+Then, as he thought of the ownership of the estate, he reflected
+that, as the sale had been in truth effected by his namesake, the
+money promised by his father would be legally due;--would not now be
+his money. As to the estate itself, that, of course, would go to his
+namesake as his father's heir. No will had been made leaving the
+estate to him, and his namesake would be the heir-at-law. Thus he
+would be utterly beggared. It was not that he actually believed that
+this would be the case; but his thoughts were morbid, and he took an
+unwholesome delight in picturing to himself circumstances in their
+blackest hue. Then he would strike the ground with his stick, in his
+wrath, because he thought of such things at all. How was it that he
+was base enough to think of them while the accident, which had robbed
+him of his father, was so recent?
+
+As the dusk grew on, he emerged out of the copse into the park, and,
+crossing at the back of the home paddocks, came out upon the road
+near to Darvell's farm. He passed a few yards up the lane, till at a
+turn he could discern the dismantled house. As far as he could see
+through the gloom of the evening, there were no workmen near the
+place. Some one, he presumed, had given directions that nothing
+further should be done on a day so sad as this. He stood for awhile
+looking and listening, and then turned round to enter the park again.
+
+It might be that the new squire was already at the house, and it
+would be thought that he ought not to be absent. The road from the
+station to the Priory was not that on which he was standing, and
+Ralph might have arrived without his knowledge. He wandered slowly
+back, but, before he could turn in at the park-gate, he was met by
+a man on the road. It was Mr. Walker, the farmer of Brownriggs, an
+old man over seventy, who had lived on the property all his life,
+succeeding his father in the same farm. Walker had known young Newton
+since he had first been brought to the Priory as a boy, and could
+speak to him with more freedom than perhaps any other tenant on the
+estate. "Oh, Mr. Ralph," he said, "this has been a dreary thing!"
+Ralph, for the first time since the accident, burst out into a flood
+of tears. "No wonder you take on, Mr. Ralph. He was a good father to
+you, and a fine gentleman, and one we all respected." Ralph still
+sobbed, but put his hand on the old man's arm and leaned upon him.
+"I hope, Mr. Ralph, that things was pretty well settled about the
+property." Ralph shook his head, but did not speak. "A bargain is a
+bargain, Mr. Ralph, and I suppose that this bargain was made. The
+lawyers would know that it had been made."
+
+"It don't matter about that, Mr. Walker," said Ralph; "but the estate
+would go to my father's nephew as his heir." The farmer started as
+though he had been shot. "You will have another landlord, Mr. Walker.
+He can hardly be better than the one you have lost."
+
+"Then, Mr. Ralph, you must bear it manly."
+
+"I think that I can say that I will do that. It is not for the
+property that I am crying. I hope you don't think that of me, Mr.
+Walker."
+
+
+[Illustration: "It is not for the property that I am crying."]
+
+
+"No, no, no."
+
+"I can bear that;--though it is hard the having to go away and live
+among strange people. I think I shall get a farm somewhere, and see
+if I can take a lesson from you. I don't know anything else that I
+can do."
+
+"You could have the Mordykes, Mr. Ralph," said Mr. Walker, naming a
+holding on the Newton property as to which there were rumours that it
+would soon be vacant.
+
+"No, Mr. Walker, it mustn't be here. I couldn't stand that. I must
+go away from this,--God knows where. I must go away from this, and I
+shall never see the old place again!"
+
+"Bear it manly, Mr. Ralph," said the farmer.
+
+"I think I shall, after a bit. Good evening, Mr. Walker. I expect my
+father's nephew every hour, and I ought to be up at the house when he
+comes. I shall see you again before I go."
+
+"Yes, yes; that's for certain," said the farmer. They were both
+thinking of the day on which they would follow the old Squire to his
+grave in Newton Peele churchyard.
+
+Ralph re-entered the park, and hurried across to the house as though
+he were afraid that he would be too late to receive the heir; but
+there had been no arrival, nor had there come any message from the
+other Ralph. Indeed up to this hour the news had not reached the
+present owner of Newton Priory. The telegram had been duly delivered
+at the Moonbeam, where the fortunate youth was staying; but he was
+hunting on this day, riding the new horse which he had bought from
+Mr. Pepper, and, up to this moment, did not know anything of that
+which chance had done for him. Nor did he get back to the Moonbeam
+till late at night, having made some engagement for dinner after the
+day's sport. It was not till noon on the following day, the Friday,
+that a message was received from him at the Priory, saying that he
+would at once hurry down to Hampshire.
+
+Ralph sat down to dinner all alone. Let what will happen to break
+hearts and ruin fortunes, dinner comes as long as the means last for
+providing it. The old butler waited upon him in absolute silence,
+fearing to speak a word, lest the word at such a time should be
+ill-spoken. No doubt the old man was thinking of the probable
+expedience of his retiring upon his savings; feeling, however, that
+it became him to show, till the last, every respect to all who bore
+the honoured name of Newton. When the meat had been eaten, the
+old servant did say a word. "Won't you come round to the fire, Mr.
+Ralph?" and he placed comfortably before the hearth one of the heavy
+arm-chairs with which the corners of the broad fire-place were
+flanked. But Ralph only shook his head, and muttered some refusal.
+There he sat, square to the table, with the customary bottle of wine
+before him, leaning back with his hands in his pockets, thinking of
+his condition in life. The loneliness of the room, the loneliness
+of the house, were horrible to him. And yet he would not that his
+solitude should be interrupted. He had been so sitting, motionless,
+almost overcome by the gloom of the big dark room, for so long a
+period that he hardly knew whether it was night or not, when a note
+was brought to him from Gregory. "Dear Ralph,--Shall I not come down
+to you for an hour?--G. N." He read the note, and sent back a verbal
+message. "Tell Mr. Gregory that I had rather not." And so he sat
+motionless till the night had really come, till the old butler
+brought him his candlestick and absolutely bade him betake himself
+to bed. He had watched during the whole of the previous night, and
+now had slumbered in his chair from time to time. But his sleeping
+had been of that painful, wakeful nature which brings with it no
+refreshment. It had been full of dreams, in all of which there had
+been some grotesque reference to the property, but in none of them
+had there been any memory of the Squire's terrible death. And yet, as
+he woke and woke and woke again, it can hardly be said that the truth
+had come back upon him as a new blow. Through such dreams there seems
+to exist a double memory, and a second identity. The misery of his
+isolated position never for a moment left him; and yet there were
+repeated to him over and over again those bungling, ill-arranged,
+impossible pictures of trivial transactions about the place, which
+the slumber of a few seconds sufficed to create in his brain. "Mr.
+Ralph, you must go to bed;--you must indeed, sir," said the old
+butler, standing over him with a candle during one of these fitful
+dreamings.
+
+"Yes, Grey;--yes, I will; directly. Put it down. Thank you. Don't
+mind sitting up," said Ralph, rousing himself in his chair.
+
+"It's past twelve," Mr. Ralph.
+
+"You can go to bed, you know, Grey."
+
+"No, sir;--no. I'll see you to bed first. It'll be better so. Why,
+Mr. Ralph, the fire's all out, and you're sitting here perished. You
+wasn't in bed last night, and you ought to be there now. Come, Mr.
+Ralph."
+
+Then Ralph rose from his chair and took the candlestick. It was true
+enough that he had better be in bed. As he shook himself, he felt
+that he had never been so cold in his life. And then as he moved
+there came upon him that terrible feeling that everything was amiss
+with him, that there was no consolation on any side. "That'll do,
+Grey; good night," he said, as the old man prepared to follow him
+up-stairs. But Grey was not to be shaken off. "I'll just see you to
+your room, Mr. Ralph." He wanted to accompany his young master past
+the door of that chamber in which was lying all that remained of the
+old master. But Ralph would open the door. "Not to-night, Mr. Ralph,"
+said Grey. But Ralph persisted, and stood again by the bedside. "He
+would have given me his flesh and blood;--his very life," said Ralph
+to the butler. "I think no father ever so loved a son. And yet, what
+has it come to?" Then he stooped down, and put his lips to the cold
+clay-blue forehead.
+
+"It ain't come to much surely," said old Grey to himself as he crept
+away to his own room; "and I don't suppose it do come to much mostly
+when folks go wrong."
+
+Ralph was out again before breakfast, wandering up and down the banks
+of the stream where the wood hid him, and then he made up his mind
+that he would at once write again to Sir Thomas Underwood. He must
+immediately make it understood that that suggestion which he had
+made in his ill-assumed pride of position must be abandoned. He
+had nothing now to offer to that queenly princess worthy of the
+acceptance of any woman. He was a base-born son, about to be turned
+out of his father's house because of the disgrace of his birth. In
+the eye of the law he was nobody. The law allowed to him not even a
+name;--certainly allowed to him the possession of no relative; denied
+to him the possibility of any family tie. His father had succeeded
+within an ace of giving him that which would have created for him
+family ties, relatives, name and all. The old Squire had understood
+well how to supersede the law, and to make the harshness of man's
+enactments of no avail. Had the Squire quite succeeded, the son would
+have stood his ground, would have called himself Newton of Newton,
+and nobody would have dared to tell him that he was a nameless
+bastard. But now he could not even wait to be told. He must tell it
+himself, and must vanish. He had failed to understand it all while
+his father was struggling and was yet alive; but he understood it
+well now. So he came in to his breakfast, resolved that he would
+write that letter at once.
+
+And then there were orders to be given;--hideous orders. And there
+was that hideous remembrance that legally he was entitled to give no
+orders. Gregory came down to him as he sat at breakfast, making his
+way into the parlour without excuse. "My brother cannot have been at
+home at either place," he said.
+
+"Perhaps not," said Ralph. "I suppose not."
+
+"The message will be sent after him, and you will hear to-day no
+doubt."
+
+"I suppose I shall," said Ralph.
+
+Then Gregory in a low voice made the suggestion in reference to which
+he had come across from the parsonage. "I think that perhaps I and
+Larkin had better go over to Basingstoke." Larkin was the steward.
+Ralph again burst out into tears, but he assented; and in this way
+those hideous orders were given.
+
+As soon as Gregory was gone he took himself to his desk, and did
+write to Sir Thomas Underwood. His letter, which was perhaps somewhat
+too punctilious, ran as follows:--
+
+
+   Newton Priory, 4th November, 186--.
+
+   MY DEAR SIR,--
+
+   I do not know whether you will have heard before this of
+   the accident which has made me fatherless. The day before
+   yesterday my father was killed by a fall from his horse in
+   the hunting-field. I should not have ventured to trouble
+   you with a letter on this subject, nor should I myself
+   have been disposed to write about it at present, were
+   it not that I feel it to be an imperative duty to refer
+   without delay to my last letter to you, and to your very
+   flattering reply. When I wrote to you it was true that
+   my father had made arrangements for purchasing on my
+   behalf the reversion to the property. That it was so you
+   doubtless were aware from your own personal knowledge
+   of the affairs of Mr. Ralph Newton. Whether that sale
+   was or was not legally completed I do not know. Probably
+   not;--and in regard to my own interests it is to be hoped
+   that it was not completed. But in any event the whole
+   Newton property will pass to your late ward, as my father
+   certainly made no such will as would convey it to me even
+   if the sale were complete.
+
+   It is a sad time for explaining all this, when the body of
+   my poor father is still lying unburied in the house, and
+   when, as you may imagine, I am ill-fitted to think of
+   matters of business; but, after what has passed between
+   us, I conceive myself bound to explain to you that I wrote
+   my last letter under a false impression, and that I can
+   make no such claim to Miss Bonner's favour as I then set
+   up. I am houseless and nameless, and for aught I yet know
+   to the contrary, absolutely penniless. The blow has hit
+   me very hard. I have lost my fortune, which I can bear;
+   I have lost whatever chance I had of gaining your niece's
+   hand, which I must learn to bear; and I have lost the
+   kindest father a man ever had,--which is unbearable.
+
+   Yours very faithfully,
+
+   RALPH NEWTON (so called).
+
+
+If it be thought that there was something in the letter which should
+have been suppressed,--the allusion, for instance, to the possible
+but most improbable loss of his father's private means, and his
+morbid denial of his own right to a name which he had always borne,
+a right which no one would deny him,--it must be remembered that
+the circumstances of the hour bore very heavily on him, and that it
+was hardly possible that he should not nurse the grievance which
+afflicted him. Had he not been alone in these hours he might have
+carried himself more bravely. As it was, he struggled hard to carry
+himself well. If no one had ever been told how nearly successful the
+Squire had been in his struggle to gain the power of leaving the
+estate to his son, had there been nothing of the triumph of victory,
+he could have left the house in which he had lived and the position
+which he had filled almost without sorrow,--certainly without
+lamentation. In the midst of calamities caused by the loss of
+fortune, it is the knowledge of what the world will say that breaks
+us down;--not regret for those enjoyments which wealth can give, and
+which had been long anticipated.
+
+At two o'clock on this day he got a telegram. "I will be at the
+parsonage this evening, and will come down at once." Ralph the heir,
+on his return home late at night, had heard the news, and early on
+the following morning had communicated with his brother and with
+his namesake. In the afternoon, after his return from Basingstoke,
+Gregory again came down to the house, desiring to know whether Ralph
+would prefer that the meeting should be at the Priory or at the
+parsonage, and on this occasion his cousin bore with him. "Why should
+not your brother come to his own house?" asked Ralph.
+
+"I suppose he feels that he should not claim it as his own."
+
+"That is nonsense. It is his own, and he knows it. Does he think that
+I am likely to raise any question against his right?"
+
+"I do not suppose that my brother has ever looked at the matter in
+that light," said the parson. "He is the last man in the world to do
+so. For the present, at any rate, you are living here and he is not.
+In such an emergency, perhaps, he feels that it would be better that
+he should come to his brother than intrude here."
+
+"It would be no intrusion. I should wish him to feel that I am
+prepared to yield to him instantly. Of course the house cannot be
+very pleasant for him as yet. He must suffer something of the misery
+of the occasion before he can enjoy his inheritance. But it will only
+be for a day or so."
+
+"Dear Ralph," said the parson, "I think you somewhat wrong my
+brother."
+
+"I endeavour not to do so. I think no ill of him, because I presume
+he should look for enjoyment from what is certainly his own. He
+and my father were not friends, and this, which has been to me so
+terrible a calamity in every way, cannot affect him with serious
+sorrow. I shall meet him as a friend; but I would sooner meet him
+here than at the parsonage."
+
+It was at last settled that the two brothers should come down to
+the great house,--both Ralph the heir, and Gregory the parson; and
+that the three young men should remain there, at any rate, till the
+funeral was over. And when this was arranged, the two who had really
+been fast friends for so many years, were able to talk to each other
+in true friendship. The solitude which he had endured had been almost
+too much for the one who had been made so desolate; but at last,
+warmed by the comfort of companionship, he resumed his manhood,
+and was able to look his affairs in the face, free from the morbid
+feeling which had oppressed him. Gregory had his own things brought
+down from the parsonage, and in order that there might be no
+hesitation on his brother's part, sent a servant with a note to the
+station desiring his brother to come at once to the Priory. They
+resolved to wait dinner for him till after the arrival of a train
+leaving London at five P.M. By that train the heir came, and between
+seven and eight he entered the house which he had not seen since he
+was a boy, and which was now his own.
+
+The receipt of the telegram at the Moonbeam had affected Ralph, who
+was now in truth the Squire, with absolute awe. He had returned late
+from a somewhat jovial dinner, in company with his friend Cox, who
+was indeed more jovial than was becoming. Ralph was not given to
+drinking more wine than he could carry decently; but his friend, who
+was determined to crowd as much enjoyment of life as was possible
+into the small time allowed him before his disappearance from the
+world that had known him, was noisy and rollicking. Perhaps it may
+be acknowledged in plain terms that he was tipsy. They both entered
+together the sitting-room which Ralph used, and Cox was already
+calling for brandy and water, when the telegram was handed to Newton.
+He read it twice before he understood it. His uncle dead!--suddenly
+dead! And the inheritance all his own! In doing him justice, however,
+we must admit that he did not at the time admit this to be the case.
+He did perceive that there must arise some question; but his first
+feeling, as regarded the property, was one of intense remorse that he
+should have sold his rights at a moment in which they would so soon
+have been realised in his own favour. But the awe which struck him
+was occasioned by the suddenness of the blow which had fallen upon
+his uncle. "What's up now, old fellow?" hiccupped Mr. Cox.
+
+I wonder whether any polite reader, into whose hands this story
+may fall, may ever have possessed a drunken friend, and have been
+struck by some solemn incident at the moment in which his friend
+is exercising the privileges of intoxication. The effect is not
+pleasant, nor conducive of good-humour. Ralph turned away in disgust,
+and leaned upon the chimney-piece, trying to think of what had
+occurred to him. "What ish it, old chap? Shomebody wants shome tin?
+I'll stand to you, old fellow."
+
+"Take him away," said Ralph. "He's drunk." Then, without waiting for
+further remonstrance from the good-natured but now indignant Cox, he
+went off to his own room.
+
+On the following morning he started for London by an early train, and
+by noon was with his lawyer. Up to that moment he believed that he
+had lost his inheritance. When he sent those two telegrams to his
+brother and to his namesake, he hardly doubted but that the entire
+property now belonged to his uncle's son. The idea had never occurred
+to him that, even were the sale complete, he might still inherit the
+property as his uncle's heir-at-law,--and that he would do so unless
+his uncle had already bequeathed it to his son. But the attorney soon
+put him right. The sale had not been yet made. He, Ralph, had not
+signed a single legal document to that effect. He had done nothing
+which would have enabled his late uncle to make a will leaving the
+Newton estate to his son. "The letters which have been written are
+all waste-paper," said the lawyer. "Even if they were to be taken
+as binding as agreements for a covenant, they would operate against
+your cousin,--not in his favour. In such case you would demand the
+specified price and still inherit."
+
+"That is out of the question," said the heir. "Quite out of the
+question," said the attorney. "No doubt Mr. Newton left a will,
+and under it his son will take whatever property the father had to
+leave."
+
+And so Ralph the heir found himself to be the owner of it all just
+at the moment in which he thought that he had lost all chance of the
+inheritance as the result of his own folly. When he walked out of the
+lawyer's office he was almost wild with amazement. This was the prize
+to which he had been taught to look forward through all his boyish
+days, and all his early manhood;--but to look forward to it, as a
+thing that must be very distant, so distant as almost to be lost in
+the vagueness of the prospect. Probably his youth would have clean
+passed from him, and he would have entered upon the downhill course
+of what is called middle life before his inheritance would come to
+him. He had been unable to wait, and had wasted everything,--nearly
+everything; had, at any rate, ruined all his hopes before he was
+seven-and-twenty; and yet, now, at seven-and-twenty, it was, as his
+lawyer assured him, all his own. How nearly had he lost it all! How
+nearly had he married the breeches-maker's daughter! How close upon
+the rocks he had been. But now all was his own, and he was in truth
+Newton of Newton, with no embarrassments of any kind which could
+impose a feather's weight upon his back.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+"SHE'LL ACCEPT YOU, OF COURSE."
+
+
+We will pass over the solemn sadness of the funeral at Newton and
+the subsequent reading of the old Squire's will. As to the latter,
+the will was as it had been made some six or seven years ago. The
+Squire had simply left all that he possessed to his illegitimate
+son Ralph Newton. There was no difficulty about the will. Nor was
+there any difficulty about the estate. The two lawyers came down to
+the funeral. Sir Thomas Underwood would have come but that he was
+prevented by the state of his arm. A statement showing all that had
+been done in the matter was prepared for him, but it was agreed on
+all sides that the sale had not been made, and that the legitimate
+heir must succeed to the property. No one was disposed to dispute the
+decision. The Squire's son had never for a moment supposed that he
+could claim the estate. Nor did Ralph the heir suppose for a moment
+that he could surrender it after the explanation which he had
+received from the lawyer in London.
+
+The funeral was over, and the will had been read, and at the end
+of November the three young men were still living together in the
+great house at Newton. The heir had gone up to London once or twice,
+instigated by the necessity of the now not difficult task of raising
+a little ready money. He must at once pay off all his debts. He
+must especially pay that which he owed to Mr. Neefit; and he must
+do so with many expressions of his gratitude,--perhaps with some
+expressions of polite regret at the hardness of Polly's heart towards
+him. But he must do so certainly without any further entreaty that
+Polly's heart might be softened. Ah,--with what marvellous good
+fortune had he escaped from that pitfall! For how much had he not to
+be thankful to some favouring goddess who must surely have watched
+over him from his birth! From what shipwrecks had he not escaped! And
+now he was Squire of Newton, with wealth and all luxuries at command,
+hampered with no wife, oppressed by no debts, free from all cares. As
+he thought of his perfect freedom in these respects, he remembered
+his former resolution as to Mary Bonner. That resolution he would
+carry out. It would be well for him now to marry a wife, and of
+all the women he had ever seen Mary Bonner was certainly the most
+beautiful. With Newton all his own, with such a string of horses as
+he would soon possess, and with such a wife at the head of his table,
+whom need he envy, and how many were there who would not envy him?
+
+Throughout November he allowed his horses to remain at the Moonbeam,
+being somewhat in doubt whether or no he would return to that
+fascinating hostelrie. He received one or two most respectful letters
+from Mr. Horsball, in which glowing accounts were given of the sport
+of the season, and the health of his horses, and offers made of most
+disinterested services. Rooms should be ready for him at a moment's
+notice if he liked at any time to run over for a week's hunting. It
+was quite evident that in the eyes of Mr. Horsball Newton of Newton
+was a great man. And there came congratulations from Mr. Cox, in
+which no allusion whatever was made to the Squire's somewhat uncivil
+conduct at their last meeting. Mr. Cox trusted that his dearest
+friend would come over and have another spell at the Moonbeam before
+he settled down for life;--and then hinted in language that was
+really delicate in the niceness of its expression, that if he, Cox,
+were but invited to spend a week or two at Newton Priory before he
+banished himself for life to Australia, he would be able to make
+his way over the briny deep with a light heart and an uncomplaining
+tongue. "You know, old fellow, how true I've always been to you,"
+wrote Cox, in language of the purest friendship. "As true as
+steel,--to sausages in the morning and brandy and soda at night,"
+said Ralph to himself as he read this.
+
+He behaved with thorough kindness to his cousin. The three men lived
+together for a month, and their intercourse was as pleasant as was
+possible under the circumstances. Of course there was no hunting
+during this month at Newton. Nor indeed did the heir see a hound till
+December, although, as the reader is aware, he was not particularly
+bound to revere his uncle's memory. He made many overtures to his
+namesake. He would be only too happy if his cousin,--he always called
+the Squire's son his cousin,--would make Newton his home for the
+next twelvemonth. It was found that the Squire had left behind him
+something like forty thousand pounds, so that the son was by no means
+to be regarded as a poor man. It was his idea at present that he
+would purchase in some pleasant county as much land as he might
+farm himself, and there set up his staff for life. "And get about
+two-and-a-half per cent. for your money," said the heir, who was
+beginning to consider himself learned in such matters, and could talk
+of land as a very serious thing in the way of a possession.
+
+"What else am I to do?" said the other. "Two-and-a-half per cent.
+with an occupation is better than five per cent. with none. I should
+make out the remainder, too, by farming the land myself. There is
+nothing else in the world that I could do."
+
+As for remaining twelve months at Newton, that was of course out of
+the question. Nevertheless, when December came he was still living in
+the house, and had consented to remain there till Christmas should
+have passed. He had already heard of a farm in Norfolk. "The worst
+county for hunting in England," the heir had said. "Then I must try
+and live without hunting," said Ralph who was not the heir. During
+all this time not a horse was sent to the meet from the Newton
+stables. The owner of Newton was contented to see the animals
+exercised in the park, and to amuse himself by schooling them over
+hurdles, and by high jumping at the bar.
+
+During the past month the young Squire had received various letters
+from Sir Thomas Underwood, and the other Ralph had received one. With
+Sir Thomas's caution, advice, and explanations to his former ward,
+the story has no immediate concern; but his letter to him who was to
+have been Mary Bonner's suitor may concern us more nearly. It was
+very short, and the reader shall have it entire.
+
+
+   Popham Villa, 10th November, 186--.
+
+   MY DEAR MR. NEWTON,--
+
+   I have delayed answering your letter for a day or two
+   in order that it may not disturb you till the last
+   sad ceremony be over. I do not presume to offer you
+   consolation in your great sorrow. Such tenders should only
+   be made by the nearest and the dearest. Perhaps you will
+   permit me to say that what little I have seen of you and
+   what further I have heard of you assure to you my most
+   perfect sympathy.
+
+   On that other matter which gave occasion for your two
+   letters to me I shall best perhaps discharge my duty by
+   telling you that I showed them both to my niece; and that
+   she feels, as do I, that they are both honourable to you,
+   and of a nature to confer honour upon her. The change
+   in your position, which I acknowledge to be most severe,
+   undoubtedly releases you, as it would have released
+   her,--had she been bound and chose to accept such release.
+
+   Whenever you may be in this neighbourhood we shall be
+   happy to see you.
+
+   The state of my arm still prevents me from writing with
+   ease.
+
+   Yours very faithfully,
+
+   THOMAS UNDERWOOD.
+
+
+Newton, when he received this letter, struggled hard to give to it
+its proper significance, but he could bring himself to no conclusion
+respecting it. Sir Thomas had acknowledged that he was released,--and
+that Mary Bonner would also have been released had she placed herself
+under any obligation; but Sir Thomas did not say a word from which
+his correspondent might gather whether in his present circumstances
+he might still be regarded as an acceptable suitor. The letter was
+most civil, most courteous, almost cordial in its expression of
+sympathy; but yet it did not contain a word of encouragement. It may
+be said that the suitor had himself so written to the lady's uncle,
+as to place himself out of the way of all further encouragement;--as
+to have put it beyond the power of his correspondent to write a word
+to him that should have in it any comfort. Certainly he had done so.
+He had clearly shown in his second letter that he had abandoned all
+idea of making the match as to which he had shown so much urgent
+desire in his first letter. He had explained that the marriage would
+now be impossible, and had spoken of himself as a ruined, broken man,
+all whose hopes were shipwrecked. Sir Thomas could hardly have told
+him in reply that Mary Bonner would still be pleased to see him. And
+yet Mary Bonner had almost said so. She had been very silent when the
+letter was read to her. The news of Mr. Newton's death had already
+reached the family at Popham Villa, and had struck them all with awe.
+How it might affect the property even Sir Thomas had not absolutely
+known at first; though he was not slow to make it understood that in
+all probability this terrible accident would be ruinous to the hopes
+which his niece had been justified in entertaining. At that hour Mary
+had spoken not a word;--nor could she be induced to speak respecting
+it either by Patience or Clarissa. Even to them she could not bring
+herself to say that if the man really loved her he would still
+come to her and say so. There was a feeling of awe upon her which
+made her mute, and stern, and altogether unplastic in the hands
+of her friends. It seemed even to Patience that Mary was struck
+by a stunning sorrow at the ruin which had come upon her lover's
+prospects. But it was not so at all. The thought wronged her utterly.
+What stunned her was this,--that she could not bring herself to
+express a passion for a man whom she had seen so seldom, with whom
+her conversation had been so slight, from whom personally she had
+received no overtures of attachment,--even though he were ruined. She
+could not bring herself to express such a passion;--but yet it was
+there. When Clarissa thought that she might obtain if not a word, at
+least a tear, Mary appeared to be dead to all feeling, though crushed
+by what she had lost. She was thinking the while whether it might be
+possible for such a one as her to send to the man and to tell him
+that that which had now occurred had of a sudden made him really dear
+to her. Thoughts of maiden boldness flitted across her mind, but she
+could not communicate them even to the girls who were her friends.
+Yet in silence and in solitude she resolved that the time should come
+in which she would be bold.
+
+Then young Newton's second letter reached the house, and that also
+had been read to her. "He is quite right," said Sir Thomas. "Of
+course it releases both of you."
+
+"There was nothing to release," said Mary, proudly.
+
+"I mean to say that having made such a proposition as was contained
+in his first letter, he was bound to explain his altered position."
+
+"I suppose so," said Mary.
+
+"Of course he was. He had made his offer believing that he could make
+you mistress of Newton Priory,--and he had made it thinking that he
+himself could marry in that position. And he would have been in that
+position had not this most unforeseen and terrible calamity have
+occurred."
+
+"I do not see that it makes any difference," said Mary, in a whisper.
+
+"What do you mean, my dear?"
+
+"I hardly know, uncle."
+
+"Try to explain yourself, Mary."
+
+"If I had accepted any man when he was rich, I should not go back
+when he was poor,--unless he wanted it." This also she said in a
+whisper.
+
+"But you had not accepted him."
+
+"No," said Mary, still in a whisper. Sir Thomas, who was perhaps not
+very good at such things, did not understand the working of her mind.
+But had she dared, she would have asked her uncle to tell Mr. Newton
+to come and see her. Sir Thomas, having some dim inkling of what
+perhaps might be the case, did add a paragraph to his letter in which
+he notified to his correspondent that a personal visit would be taken
+in good part.
+
+By the end of the first week in December things were beginning to
+settle into shape at the Priory. The three young men were still
+living together at the great house, and the tenants on the estate had
+been taught to recognise the fact that Ralph, who had ever been the
+heir, was in truth the owner. Among the labourers and poorer classes
+there was no doubt much regret, and that regret was expressed. The
+tenants, though they all liked the Squire's son, were not upon the
+whole ill-pleased. It was in proper conformity with English habits
+and English feelings that the real heir should reign. Among the
+gentry the young Squire was made as welcome as the circumstances of
+the heir would admit. According to their way of thinking, personally
+popular as was the other man, it was clearly better that a legitimate
+descendant of the old family should be installed at Newton Priory.
+The old Squire's son rode well to hounds, and was loved by all; but
+nothing that all the world could do on his behalf would make him
+Newton of Newton. If only he would remain in the neighbourhood and
+take some place suited to his income, every house would be open
+to him. He would be received with no diminution of attachment or
+respect. Overtures of this nature were made to him. This house could
+be had for him, and that farm could be made comfortable. He might
+live among them as a general favourite; but he could not under any
+circumstances have been,--Newton of Newton. Nothing, however, was
+clearer to himself than this;--that as he could not remain in the
+county as the master of Newton Priory, he would not remain in the
+county at all.
+
+As things settled down and took shape he began to feel that even
+in his present condition he might possibly make himself acceptable
+to such a girl as Mary Bonner. In respect of fortune there could
+be no reason whatever why he should not offer her his hand. He
+was in truth a rich man, whereas she had nothing, By birth he was
+nobody,--absolutely nobody; but then also would he have been nobody
+had all the lands of Newton belonged to him. When he had written
+that second letter, waiving all claim to Mary's hand because of
+the inferiority of his position, he was suffering from a morbid
+view which he had taken of his own affairs. He was telling himself
+then,--so assuring himself, though he did not in truth believe
+the assurance,--that he had lost not only the estate, but also
+his father's private fortune. At that moment he had been unstrung,
+demoralised, and unmanned,--so weak that a feather would have knocked
+him over. The blow had been so sudden, the solitude and gloom of the
+house so depressing, and his sorrow so crushing, that he was ready
+to acknowledge that there could be no hope for him in any direction.
+He had fed himself upon his own grief, till the idea of any future
+success in life was almost unpalatable to him. But things had mended
+with him now, and he would see whether there might not yet be joys
+for him in the world. He would first see whether there might not be
+that one great joy which he had promised to himself.
+
+And then there came another blow. The young Squire had resolved that
+he would not hunt before Christmas in the Newton country. It was felt
+by him and by his brother that he should abstain from doing so out of
+respect to the memory of his uncle, and he had declared his purpose.
+Of course there was neither hunting nor shooting in these days for
+the other Ralph. But at the end of a month the young Squire began to
+feel that the days went rather slowly with him, and he remembered his
+stud at the Moonbeam. He consulted Gregory; and the parson, though
+he would fain have induced his brother to remain, could not say that
+there was any real objection to a trip to the B. and B's. Ralph would
+go there on the 10th of December, and be back at his own house before
+Christmas. When Christmas was over, the other Ralph was to leave
+Newton,--perhaps for ever.
+
+The two Ralphs had become excellent friends, and when the one that
+was to go declared his intention of going with no intention of
+returning, the other pressed him warmly to think better of it, and
+to look upon the Priory at any rate as a second home. There were
+reasons why it could not be so, said the namesake; but in the close
+confidence of friendship which the giving and the declining of the
+offer generated came this further blow. They were standing together
+leaning upon a gate, and looking at the exhumation of certain vast
+roots, as to which the trees once belonging to them had been made to
+fall in consequence of the improvements going on at Darvell's farm.
+"I don't mind telling you," said Ralph the heir, "that I hope soon to
+have a mistress here."
+
+"And who is she?"
+
+"That would be mere telling;--would it not?"
+
+"Clarissa Underwood?" asked the unsuspecting Ralph.
+
+There did come some prick of conscience, some qualm, of an injury
+done, upon the young Squire as he made his answer. "No; not
+Clarissa;--though she is the dearest, sweetest girl that ever lived,
+and would make a better wife perhaps than the girl I think of."
+
+"And who is the girl you think of?"
+
+"She is to be found in the same house."
+
+"You do not mean the elder sister?" said the unfortunate one. He had
+known well that his companion had not alluded to Patience Underwood;
+but in his agony he had suggested to himself that mode of escape.
+
+"No; not Patience Underwood. Though, let me tell you, a man might do
+worse than marry Patience Underwood. I have always thought it a pity
+that Patience and Gregory would not make a match of it. He, however,
+would fall in love with Clary, and she has too much of the rake in
+her to give herself to a parson. I was thinking of Mary Bonner, who,
+to my mind, is the handsomest woman I ever saw in my life."
+
+"I think she is," said Ralph, turning away his face.
+
+"She hasn't a farthing, I fancy," continued the happy heir, "but I
+don't regard that now. A few months ago I had a mind to marry for
+money; but it isn't the sort of thing that any man should do. I have
+almost made up my mind to ask her. Indeed, when I tell you, I suppose
+I have quite made up my mind."
+
+"She'll accept you,--of course."
+
+"I can say nothing about that, you know. A man must take his chance.
+I can offer her a fine position, and a girl, I think, should have
+some regard to money when she marries, though a man should not. If
+there's nobody before me I should have a chance, I suppose."
+
+His words were not boastful, but there was a tone of triumph in his
+voice. And why should he not triumph? thought the other Ralph. Of
+course he would triumph. He had everything to recommend him. And as
+for himself,--for him, the dispossessed one,--any particle of a claim
+which he might have secured by means of that former correspondence
+had been withdrawn by his own subsequent words. "I dare say she'll
+take you," he said, with his face still averted.
+
+Ralph the heir did indeed think that he would be accepted, and he
+went on to discuss the circumstances of their future home, almost
+as though Mary Bonner were already employed in getting together her
+wedding garments. His companion said nothing further, and Ralph the
+heir did not discover that anything was amiss.
+
+On the following day Ralph the heir went across the country to the
+Moonbeam in Buckinghamshire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+NEEFIT MEANS TO STICK TO IT.
+
+
+There was some business to be done as a matter of course before the
+young Squire could have all his affairs properly settled. There were
+debts to be paid, among which Mr. Neefit's stood certainly first. It
+was first in magnitude, and first in obligation; but it gave Ralph
+no manner of uneasiness. He had really done his best to get Polly
+to marry him, and, luckily for him,--by the direct interposition of
+some divine Providence, as it now seemed to Ralph,--Polly had twice
+refused him. It seemed to him, indeed, that divine Providence looked
+after him in a special way, breaking his uncle's neck in the very
+nick of time, and filling a breeches-maker's daughter's mind with so
+sound a sense of the propriety of things, as to induce her to decline
+the honour of being a millstone round his neck, when positively
+the offer was pressed upon her. As things stood there could be no
+difficulty with Mr. Neefit. The money would be paid, of course, with
+all adjuncts of accruing interest, and Mr. Neefit should go on making
+breeches for him to the end of the chapter. And for raising this
+money he had still a remnant of the old property which he could sell,
+so that he need not begin by laying an ounce of encumbrance on his
+paternal estates. He was very clear in his mind at this period of
+his life that there should never be any such encumbrance in his
+days. That remnant of property should be sold, and Neefit, Horsball,
+and others, should be paid. But it certainly did occur to him in
+regard to Neefit, that there had been that between them which made
+it expedient that the matter should be settled with some greater
+courtesy than would be shown by a simple transaction through his man
+of business. Therefore he wrote a few lines to Mr. Neefit on the day
+before he left the Priory,--a few lines which he thought to be very
+civil.
+
+
+   Newton, 9th December, 186--.
+
+   MY DEAR MR. NEEFIT,--
+
+   You have probably heard before this of the accident which
+   has happened in my family. My uncle has been killed by
+   a fall from his horse, and I have come into my property
+   earlier than I expected. As soon as I could begin to
+   attend to matters of business, I thought of my debt to
+   you, and of all the obligation I owe you. I think the debt
+   is £1,000; but whatever it is it can be paid now. The
+   money will be ready early in the year, if that will do for
+   you,--and I am very much obliged to you. Would you mind
+   letting Mr. Carey know how much it is, interest and all.
+   He is our family lawyer.
+
+   Remember me very kindly to Miss Polly. I hope she will
+   always think of me as a friend. Would you tell Bawwah to
+   put three pairs of breeches in hand for me,--leather.
+
+   Yours very truly,
+
+   RALPH NEWTON.
+
+
+The wrath of Mr. Neefit on receiving this letter at his shop in
+Conduit Street was almost divine. He had heard from Polly an account
+of that last interview at Ramsgate, and Polly had told her story as
+truly as she knew how to tell it. But the father had never for a
+moment allowed himself to conceive that therefore the thing was at
+an end, and had instructed Polly that she was not to look upon it
+in that light. He regarded his young customer as absolutely bound
+to him, and would not acknowledge to himself that such obligation
+could be annulled by Polly's girlish folly. And he did believe that
+young Newton intended to act, as he called it, "on the square." So
+believing, he was ready to make almost any sacrifice of himself; but
+that Newton should now go back, after having received his hard money,
+was to him a thing quite out of the question. He scolded Polly with
+some violence, and asked whether she wanted to marry such a lout as
+Moggs. Polly replied with spirit that she wouldn't marry any man till
+she found that she could love him, and that the man loved her. "Ain't
+he told you as he loves you ever so often?" said Neefit. "I know what
+I'm doing of, father," said Polly, "and I'm not going to be drove."
+Nevertheless Mr. Neefit had felt certain that if young Newton would
+still act upon the square, things would settle themselves rightly.
+There was the money due, and, as Neefit constantly said to himself,
+"money was a thing as was not to be got over."
+
+Then had come upon the tradesman the tidings of the old Squire's
+death. They were read to him out of a newspaper by his shopman,
+Waddle. "I'm blessed if he ain't been and tumbled all at once into
+his uncle's shoes," said Waddle. The paragraph in question was one
+which appeared in a weekly newspaper some two days after the Squire's
+death. Neefit, who at the moment was turning over the pages of his
+ledger, came down from his desk and stood for about ten minutes in
+the middle of his shop, while the Herr ceased from his cutting, and
+Waddle read the paragraph over and over again. Neefit stood stock
+still, with his hands in his breeches pockets, and his great staring
+eyes fixed upon vacancy. "I'm blessed if it ain't true," said Waddle,
+convinced by the repetition of his own reading. News had previously
+reached the shop that the Squire had had a fall. Tidings as to
+troubles in the hunting-field were quick in reaching Mr. Neefit's
+shop;--but there had been no idea that the accident would prove to
+be fatal. Neefit, when he went home that night, told his wife and
+daughter. "That will be the last of young Newton," said Mrs. Neefit.
+"I'm d---- if it will!" said the breeches-maker. Polly maintained a
+discreet silence as to the heir, merely remarking that it was very
+sad for the old gentleman. Polly at that time was very full of
+admiration for Moggs,--in regard, that is, to the political character
+of her lover. Moggs had lost his election, but was about to petition.
+
+Neefit was never called upon, in the way of his own trade, to make
+funereal garments. Men, when they are bereaved of their friends, do
+not ride in black breeches. But he had all a tailor's respect for a
+customer with a dead relation. He felt that it would not become him
+to make an application to the young Squire on a subject connected
+with marriage, till the tombstone over the old Squire should have
+been properly adjusted. He was a patient man, and could wait. And
+he was a man not good at writing letters. His customer and future
+son-in-law would turn up soon; or else, the expectant father-in-law
+might drop down upon him at the Moonbeam or elsewhere. As for a final
+escape, Polly Neefit's father hardly feared that any such attempt
+would be made. The young man had acted on the square, and had made
+his offer in good faith.
+
+Such was Mr. Neefit's state of mind when he received the young
+Squire's letter. The letter almost knocked him down. There was a
+decision about it, a confidence that all was over between them except
+the necessary payment of the money, an absence of all doubt as to
+"Miss Polly," which he could not endure. And then that order for
+more breeches, included in the very same paragraph with Polly,
+was most injurious. It must be owned that the letter was a cruel,
+heart-rending, bad letter. For an hour or so it nearly broke Mr.
+Neefit's heart. But he resolved that he was not going to be done.
+The young Squire should marry his daughter, or the whole transaction
+should be published to the world. He would do such things and say
+such things that the young Squire should certainly not have a good
+time of it. He said not a word to Polly of the letter that night, but
+he did speak of the young Squire. "When that young man comes again,
+Miss Polly," he said, "I shall expect you to take him."
+
+"I don't know anything about that, father," said Polly. "He's had his
+answer, and I'm thinking he won't ask for another." Upon this the
+breeches-maker looked at his daughter, but made no other reply.
+
+During the two or three following days Neefit made some inquiries,
+and found that his customer was at the Moonbeam. It was now necessary
+that he should go to work at once, and, therefore, with many
+misgivings, he took Waddle into his confidence. He could not himself
+write such a letter as then must be written;--but Waddle was perfect
+at the writing of letters. Waddle shrugged his shoulders, and clearly
+did not believe that Polly would ever get the young Squire. Waddle
+indeed went so far as to hint that his master would be lucky in
+obtaining payment of his money,--but, nevertheless, he gave his mind
+to the writing of the letter. The letter was written as follows:--
+
+
+   Conduit Street, 14th December, 186--.
+
+   DEAR SIR,--
+
+   Yours of the 9th instant has come to hand, and I beg to
+   say with compliments how shocked we were to hear of the
+   Squire's accident. It was terribly sudden, and we all felt
+   it very much; as in the way of our business we very often
+   have to.
+
+   As to the money that can stand. Between friends such
+   things needn't be mentioned. Any accommodation of that
+   kind was and always will be ready when required. As to
+   that other matter, a young gentleman like you won't think
+   that a young lady is to be taken at her first word. A
+   bargain is a bargain, and honourable is honourable, which
+   nobody knows as well as you who was always disposed to
+   be upon the square. Our Polly hasn't forgotten you,--and
+   isn't going.
+
+
+It should be acknowledged on Mr. Waddle's behalf, that that last
+assurance was inserted by the unassisted energy of Mr. Neefit
+himself.
+
+
+   We shall expect to see you without delay, here or at
+   Hendon, as may best suit; but pray remember that things
+   stand just as they was. Touching other matters, as needn't
+   be named here, orders will be attended to as usual if
+   given separate.
+
+   Yours very truly and obedient,
+
+   THOMAS NEEFIT.
+
+
+This letter duly reached the young Squire, and did not add to his
+happiness at the Moonbeam. That he should ever renew his offer to
+Polly Neefit was, he well knew, out of the question; but he could
+see before him an infinity of trouble should the breeches-maker be
+foolish enough to press him to do so. He had acted "on the square."
+In compliance with the bargain undoubtedly made by him, he had twice
+proposed to Polly, and had Polly accepted his offer on either of
+these occasions, there would,--he now acknowledged to himself,--have
+been very great difficulty in escaping from the difficulty. Polly
+had thought fit to refuse him, and of course he was free. But,
+nevertheless, there might be trouble in store for him. He had hardly
+begun to ask himself in what way this trouble might next show itself,
+when Neefit was at the Moonbeam. Three days after the receipt of
+his letter, when he rode into the Moonbeam yard on his return from
+hunting, there was Mr. Neefit waiting to receive him.
+
+He certainly had not answered Mr. Neefit's letter, having told
+himself that he might best do so by a personal visit in Conduit
+Street; but now that Neefit was there, the personal intercourse did
+not seem to him to be so easy. He greeted the breeches-maker very
+warmly, while Pepper, Cox, and Mr. Horsball, with sundry grooms and
+helpers, stood by and admired. Something of Mr. Neefit's money, and
+of Polly's charms as connected with the young Squire, had already
+reached the Moonbeam by the tongue of Rumour; and now Mr. Neefit had
+been waiting for the last four hours in the little parlour within
+the Moonbeam bar. He had eaten his mutton chop, and drunk three or
+four glasses of gin and water, but had said nothing of his mission.
+Mrs. Horsball, however, had already whispered her suspicions to her
+husband's sister, a young lady of forty, who dispensed rum, gin, and
+brandy, with very long ringlets and very small glasses.
+
+"You want to have a few words with me, old fellow," said Ralph to
+the breeches-maker, with a cheery laugh. It was a happy idea that of
+making them all around conceive that Neefit had come after his money.
+Only it was not successful. Men are not dunned so rigorously when
+they have just fallen into their fortunes. Neefit, hardly speaking
+above his breath, with that owlish, stolid look, which was always
+common to him except when he was measuring a man for a pair of
+breeches, acknowledged that he did. "Come along, old fellow,"
+said Ralph, taking him by the arm. "But what'll you take to drink
+first?" Neefit shook his head, and accompanied Ralph into the house.
+Ralph had a private sitting-room of his own, so that there was no
+difficulty on that score. "What's all this about?" he said, standing
+with his back to the fire, and still holding Neefit by the arm. He
+did it very well, but he did not as yet know the depth of Neefit's
+obstinacy.
+
+"What's it all about?" asked Neefit in disgust.
+
+"Well; yes. Have you talked to Polly herself about this, old fellow?"
+
+"No, I ain't; and I don't mean."
+
+"Twice I went to her, and twice she refused me. Come, Neefit, be
+reasonable. A man can't be running after a girl all his life, when
+she won't have anything to say to him. I did all that a man could
+do; and upon my honour I was very fond of her. But, God bless my
+soul,--there must be an end to everything."
+
+"There ain't to be no end to this, Mr. Newton."
+
+"I'm to marry the girl whether she will or not?"
+
+"Nohow," said Mr. Neefit, oracularly. "But when a young gentleman
+asks a young lady as whether she'll have him, she's not a-going to
+jump down his throat. You knows that, Mr. Newton. And as for money,
+did I ask for any settlement? I'd a' been ashamed to mention money.
+When are you a-coming to see our Polly, that's the question?"
+
+"I shall come no more, Mr. Neefit."
+
+"You won't?"
+
+"Certainly not, Mr. Neefit. I've been twice rejected."
+
+"And that's the kind of man you are; is it? You're one of them sort,
+are you?" Then he looked out of his saucer eyes upon the young Squire
+with a fishy ferocity, which was very unpleasant. It was quite
+evident that he meant war. "If that's your game, Mr. Newton, I'll be
+even with you."
+
+"Mr. Neefit, I'll pay you anything that you say I owe you."
+
+"Damn your money!" said the breeches-maker, walking out of the room.
+When he got down into the bar he told them all there that young
+Newton was engaged to his daughter, and that, by G----, he should
+marry her.
+
+"Stick to that, Neefit," said Lieutenant Cox.
+
+"I mean to stick to it," said Mr. Neefit. He then ordered another
+glass of gin and water, and was driven back to the station.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+"HE MUST MARRY HER."
+
+
+On the day following that on which Mr. Neefit made his journey to the
+Moonbeam, Sir Thomas Underwood was at his chambers in London. It was
+now eight weeks since his bone had been broken, and though he still
+carried his arm in a sling, he declared of himself that he was able
+to go about as usual;--which assertion was taken at the villa as
+meaning that he was now able to live in Southampton Buildings without
+further assistance from women. When Patience reminded him, with
+tears in her eyes, that he could not as yet put on his own coat,
+he reminded her that Stemm was the most careful of men. Up to
+London he went with a full understanding that he was not at any
+rate to be expected home on that night. He had business on hand of
+great importance, which, as he declared, made his presence in town
+imperative. Mr. Trigger, from Percycross, was to be up with reference
+to the pestilent petition which had been presented against the
+return of Griffenbottom and himself. Moggs had petitioned on his own
+behalf, and two of the Liberals of the borough had also petitioned
+in the interest of Mr. Westmacott. The two Liberal parties who
+had quarrelled during the contest had now again joined forces in
+reference to the petition, and there was no doubt that the matter
+would go on before the judge. Mr. Trigger was coming up to London
+with reference to the defence. Sir Thomas gave Stemm to understand
+that Mr. Trigger would call at one o'clock.
+
+Exactly at one o'clock the bell was rung at Sir Thomas's outside
+door, and Stemm was on the alert to give entrance to Mr. Trigger.
+When the door was opened who should present himself but our
+unfortunate friend Neefit. He humbly asked whether Sir Thomas was
+within, and received a reply which, as coming from Stemm, was
+courteous in the extreme. "Mr. Trigger, I suppose;--walk in, Mr.
+Trigger." Neefit, not at all understanding why he was called Trigger,
+did walk in. Stemm, opening the door of his master's sanctum,
+announced Mr. Trigger. Neefit advanced into the middle of the room.
+Sir Thomas, with some solicitude as to the adjustment of his arm,
+rose to greet his agent from Percy cross. "This isn't Mr. Trigger,"
+said Sir Thomas. "He told me he was, anyhow," said Stemm, "I didn't
+tell you nothing of the kind," said Neefit. "But you come from
+Percycross?" said Sir Thomas. "No I don't; I comes from Conduit
+Street," said Neefit. "You must go away," said Stemm, leaving the
+door open, and advancing into the room as though to turn the enemy's
+flank.
+
+But Neefit, having made good his point so far, did not intend to be
+dislodged without a struggle on his own part. "I've something to say
+to Sir Thomas about Mr. Newton, as I wants to say very particular."
+"You can't say it now," said Stemm. "Oh, but I can," said Neefit,
+"and it won't take three minutes." "Wouldn't another day do for
+it, as I am particularly busy now?" pleaded Sir Thomas. "Well, Sir
+Thomas;--to tell the truth, it wouldn't," said Mr. Neefit, standing
+his ground. Then there came another ring at the bell. "Ask Mr.
+Trigger to sit down in the other room for two minutes, Stemm," said
+Sir Thomas. And so Mr. Neefit had carried his point. "And now, sir,"
+said Sir Thomas, "as I am particularly engaged, I will ask you to be
+as quick as possible."
+
+"My name is Neefit," began the breeches-maker,--and then paused.
+Sir Thomas, who had heard the name from Ralph, but had forgotten
+it altogether, merely bowed his head. "I am the breeches-maker of
+Conduit Street," continued Mr. Neefit, with a proud conviction that
+he too had ascended so high in his calling as to be justified in
+presuming that he was known to mankind. Sir Thomas again bowed.
+Neefit went on with his story. "Mr. Newton is a-going to behave to me
+very bad."
+
+"If he owes you money, he can pay you now," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"He do owe me money;--a thousand pound he owe me."
+
+"A thousand pounds for breeches!"
+
+"No, Sir Thomas. It's most for money lent; but it's not along of that
+as I'd trouble you. I know how to get my money, or to put up with the
+loss if I don't. A thousand pound ain't here nor there,--not in what
+I've got to say. I wouldn't demean myself to ring at your bell, Sir
+Thomas;--not in the way of looking for a thousand pounds."
+
+"In God's name, then, what is it? Pray be quick."
+
+"He's going back from his word as he's promised to my daughter.
+That's what it is." As Neefit paused again, Sir Thomas remembered
+Ralph's proposition, made in his difficulties, as to marrying a
+tradesman's daughter for money, and at once fell to the conclusion
+that Mr. and Miss Neefit had been ill-used. "Sir Thomas," continued
+the breeches-maker, "I've been as good as a father to him. I gave him
+money when nobody else wouldn't."
+
+"Do you mean that he has had money from you?"
+
+"Yes; in course he has; ever so much. I paid for him a lot of money
+to 'Orsball, where he 'unts. Money! I should think so. Didn't I pay
+Moggs for him, the bootmaker? The very money as is rattling in his
+pocket now is my money."
+
+"And he engaged himself to your daughter?"
+
+"He engaged hisself to me to marry her. He won't say no otherwise
+himself. And he asked her twice. Why, Sir Thomas, he was all on the
+square about it till the old gentleman broke his neck. He hadn't
+nowhere else to go to for a shilling. But now the estate's come in
+like, he's for behaving dishonourable. He don't know me yet; that's
+what he don't. But I'll make him know me, Sir Thomas."
+
+Then the door was opened, and Stemm's head appeared. "Mr. Trigger
+says as he's in the greatest possible haste, Sir Thomas." The reader,
+however, may as well be informed that this was pure invention on the
+part of Mr. Stemm.
+
+Sir Thomas tore his hair and rubbed his face. He couldn't bid Neefit
+to call again, as he certainly did not desire to have a second visit.
+"What can I do for you, Mr. Neefit? I have no doubt the money will be
+paid, if owing. I will guarantee that for you."
+
+"It ain't the money. I knows how to get my money."
+
+"Then what can I do for you?"
+
+"Make him go upon the square, Sir Thomas."
+
+"How can I make him? He's twenty-six years old, and he's nothing to
+me. I don't think he should marry the young lady. He's not in her
+rank of life. If he has done her an injury, he must pay for it."
+
+"Injury!" shouted Neefit, upon whose mind the word produced an
+unintended idea. "No, no! Our Polly ain't like that. By G----, I'd
+eat him, if it was that way! There ain't a duchess in the land as 'd
+'ve guv' him his answer more ready than Polly had he ever spoke to
+her that way."
+
+"If he has given rise to hopes which through him will be
+disappointed," said Sir Thomas, gravely, "he is bound to make what
+compensation may be in his power."
+
+"Compensation be d----!" said Neefit. "He must marry her."
+
+"I don't think he will do that."
+
+"You didn't think he would take my money, I suppose; but he did.
+You didn't think he'd come and spend his Sundays out at my cottage,
+but he did. You didn't think as he'd come after our Polly down to
+Ramsgate, but he did. You didn't think as he'd give me his word to
+make her his wife, but he did." At every assertion that he made, the
+breeches-maker bobbed forward his bullet head, stretched open his
+eyes, and stuck out his under lip. During all this excited energy,
+he was not a man pleasant to the eye. "And now how is it to be, Sir
+Thomas? That's what I want to know."
+
+"Mr. Newton is nothing to me, Mr. Neefit."
+
+"Oh;--that's all. Nothing to you, ain't he? Wasn't he brought up by
+you just as a son like? And now he ain't nothing to you! Do you mean
+to say as he didn't ought to marry my girl?"
+
+"I think he ought not to marry her."
+
+"Not arter his promise?"
+
+Sir Thomas was driven very hard, whereas had the sly old
+breeches-maker told all his story, there would have been no
+difficulty at all. "I think such a marriage would lead to the
+happiness of neither party. If an injury has been done,--as I fear
+may be too probable,--I will advise my young friend to make any
+reparation in his power--short of marriage. I can say nothing
+further, Mr. Neefit."
+
+"And that's your idea of being on the square, Sir Thomas?"
+
+"I can say nothing further, Mr. Neefit. As I have an appointment
+made, I must ask you to leave me." As Sir Thomas said this, his hand
+was upon the bell.
+
+"Very well;--very well. As sure as my name's Neefit, he shall hear of
+me. And so shall you, Sir Thomas. Don't you be poking at me in that
+way, old fellow. I don't choose to be poked at." These last words
+were addressed to Stemm, who had entered the room, and was holding
+the door open for Mr. Neefit's exit with something more than the
+energy customary in speeding a parting guest. Mr. Neefit, however,
+did take his departure, and Sir Thomas joined Mr. Trigger in the
+other room.
+
+We will not be present at that interview. Sir Thomas had been in a
+great hurry to get rid of Mr. Neefit, but it may be doubted whether
+he found Mr. Trigger much better company. Mr. Trigger's business
+chiefly consisted in asking Sir Thomas for a considerable sum of
+money, and in explaining to him that the petition would certainly
+cost a large sum beyond this,--unless the expenses could be saddled
+on Westmacott and Moggs, as to which result Mr. Trigger seemed
+to have considerable doubt. But perhaps the bitterest part of Mr.
+Trigger's communication consisted in the expression of his opinion
+that Mr. Griffenbottom should be held by Sir Thomas free from any
+expense as to the petition, on the ground that Griffenbottom, had he
+stood alone, would certainly have carried one of the seats without
+any fear of a petition. "I don't think I can undertake that, Mr.
+Trigger," said Sir Thomas. Mr. Trigger simply shrugged his shoulders.
+
+Sir Thomas, when he was alone, was very uncomfortable. While at
+Percycross he had extracted from Patience an idea that Ralph the heir
+and Clarissa were attached to each other, and he had very strongly
+declared that he would not admit an engagement between them. At that
+time Ralph was supposed to have sold his inheritance, and did not
+stand well in Sir Thomas's eyes. Then had come the Squire's death and
+the altered position of his late ward. Sir Thomas would be injured,
+would be made subject to unjust reproach if it were thought of him
+that he would be willing to give his daughter to a young man simply
+because that young man owned an estate. He had no such sordid feeling
+in regard to his girls. But he did feel that all that had occurred
+at Newton had made a great difference. Ralph would now live at the
+Priory, and there would be enough even for his extravagance. Should
+the Squire of Newton ask him for his girl's hand with that girl's
+consent, he thought that he could hardly refuse it. How could he ask
+Clarissa to abandon so much seeming happiness because the man had
+failed to keep out of debt upon a small income? He could not do so.
+And then it came to pass that he was prepared to admit Ralph as a
+suitor to his child should Ralph renew his request to that effect.
+They had all loved the lad as a boy, and the property was wholly
+unencumbered. Of course he said nothing to Clarissa; but should Ralph
+come to him there could be but one answer. Such had been the state of
+his mind before Mr. Neefit's visit.
+
+But the breeches-maker's tale had altered the aspect of things very
+greatly. Under no circumstances could Sir Thomas recommend the young
+Squire to marry the daughter of the man who had been with him; but if
+Ralph Newton had really engaged himself to this girl, and had done
+so with the purport of borrowing money from the father, that might
+be a reason why, notwithstanding the splendour of his prospects, he
+should not be admitted to further intimacy at the villa. To borrow
+money from one's tradesman was, in the eyes of Sir Thomas, about
+as inexcusable an offence as a young man could commit. He was too
+much disturbed in mind to go home on the following day, but on the
+Thursday he returned to the villa. The following Sunday would be
+Christmas Day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+FOR TWO REASONS.
+
+
+The young Squire, as soon as Neefit had left him in his own
+sitting-room at the Moonbeam, sat himself down and began to think
+over his affairs seriously. One thing was certain to him;--nothing on
+earth should induce him to offer his hand again to Polly Neefit. He
+had had a most miraculous escape, and assuredly would run no further
+risk in that direction. But though he had escaped, he could perceive
+that there was considerable trouble before him,--considerable trouble
+and perhaps some disgrace. It certainly could not be proved against
+him that he had broken any promise, as there had been no engagement;
+but it could be made public that he had twice offered himself to
+Polly, and could also be made public that he had borrowed the
+breeches-maker's money. He kept himself alone on that evening; and
+though he hunted on the following day, he was not found to be a
+lively companion either by Cox or Pepper. The lieutenant was talking
+about Neefit and Neefit's daughter all day: but Mr. Pepper, who was
+more discreet, declined to canvass the subject. "It's nothing to me
+who a man marries and who he don't," said Mr. Pepper. "What sort of
+horses he rides;--that's what I look at." During this day and the
+next Ralph did consider the state of his affairs very closely, and
+the conclusion he came to was this, that the sooner he could engage
+himself to marry Mary Bonner the better. If he were once engaged, the
+engagement would not then be broken off because of any previous folly
+with Miss Neefit; and, again, if he were once engaged to Mary Bonner,
+Neefit would see the absurdity of torturing him further in regard
+to Polly. On the Wednesday evening he went up to town, and on the
+Thursday morning he put himself into a cab and ordered the man to
+drive him to Popham Villa.
+
+It was about noon when he started from town; and though he never
+hesitated,--did not pause for a moment after he had made up his mind
+as to the thing that he would do, still he felt many misgivings as
+he was driven down to Fulham. How should he begin his story to Mary
+Bonner, and how should he look Clary Underwood in the face? And yet
+he had not an idea that he was in truth going to behave badly to
+Clarissa. There had no doubt been a sort of tenderness in the feeling
+that had existed between them,--a something just a little warmer than
+brotherly regard. They had been thrown together and had liked each
+other. And as he was driven nearer to the villa, he remembered
+distinctly that he had kissed her on the lawn. But did any one
+suppose that a man was bound to marry the first girl he kissed,--or
+if not the first, then why the second, or the third? Clarissa could
+have no fair ground of complaint against him; and yet he was uneasy
+as he reflected that she too must know the purport of his present
+visit to the villa.
+
+And he was not quite easy about Mary. The good things which he
+carried in his hand were so many that he did not conceive that Mary
+would refuse him; but yet he wished that the offer had been made, and
+had been accepted. Hitherto he had taken pleasure in his intercourse
+with young ladies, and had rather enjoyed the excitement of those
+moments which to some men are troublesome and even painful. When
+he had told Clarissa that she was dearer than any one else, he had
+been very happy while he was telling her. There had been nothing of
+embarrassment to him in the work of proposing to Polly Neefit. There
+may perhaps have been other passages in his life of the same nature,
+and he certainly had not feared them beforehand or been ashamed of
+them afterwards. But now he found himself endeavouring to think what
+words he would use to Mary Bonner, and in what attitude he would
+stand or sit as he used them. "The truth is," he said to himself, "a
+man should do these kind of things without premeditation." But not
+the less was he resolved, and at the gate he jumped out of his cab
+with a determination to have it over as soon as possible. He desired
+the cabman to wait for him at the nearest stables, remarking that
+he might be there for a few minutes, or for a few hours, and then
+turned to the gate. As he did so, he saw Sir Thomas walking from the
+direction of Fulham Bridge. Sir Thomas had come down by the railway
+on the other side of the river, and was now walking home. A sudden
+thought struck the young Squire. He would begin his work by telling
+his tale to Sir Thomas. There could be nothing so fitting as that he
+should obtain the uncle's leave to address the niece.
+
+The two men greeted each other, and there were many things to be
+said. Sir Thomas had not seen his ward since the old Squire's death,
+and Ralph had not seen Sir Thomas since the election at Percycross
+and the accident of the broken arm. Sir Thomas was by far too
+reticent, too timid, and too reflective a man to begin at once
+whatever observations he might have to make ultimately in regard to
+Miss Polly Neefit. He was somewhat slow of speech, unless specially
+aroused, and had hardly received the congratulations of his young
+friend respecting the election, and expressed with some difficult
+decency his sorrow for the old Squire's death as combined with his
+satisfaction that the estate had not been sacrificed, when Ralph
+stopped him just as they had reached the front door, and, with much
+solemnity of manner, declared his wish to make a very particular
+private communication to Sir Thomas. "Certainly," said Sir Thomas,
+"certainly. Come into my room." But there was some delay before this
+privacy could be achieved, for in the hall they were met by the
+three girls, and of course there were many things to be said by them.
+Clarissa could hardly repress the flutter of her heart. When the
+reader last saw her flutter, and last heard her words as she spoke of
+her love to her cousin, she was taking an opportunity of declaring
+to Mary Bonner that she did not begrudge the brilliance of Mary's
+present prospects,--though the grand estate which made them brilliant
+was in a measure taken from her own hopes. And she had owned at the
+same time that she did not dare to feel confidence in her own love,
+because her lover would now be too poor in his own esteem to indulge
+himself with the luxury of a wife. All this Mary had accepted from
+her, certainly with no expression of triumph, but certainly with some
+triumph in her heart. Now this was entirely changed,--and here was
+her lover, with his fortune restored to him, once more beneath her
+father's roof! She gave him her hand the first of the three. She
+could not repress herself. He took it with a smile, and pressed it
+warmly. But he turned to Patience and took hers as rapidly as he was
+able. Then came Mary's turn. "I hope you also are glad to see me once
+again?" he said. Clarissa's heart sank within her as she heard the
+words. The appreciation of a woman in such matters is as fine as the
+nose of a hound, and is all but unintelligible to a man. "Oh, yes,
+Mr. Newton," said Mary smiling. "But if he asks her, she'll take
+him." No such words as these were formed even in Clarissa's mind; but
+after some fashion such was the ejaculation of her heart. Mary's "Oh,
+yes," had meant little enough, but could Mary withstand such chances
+if they were offered to her?
+
+Sir Thomas led the way into his private room, and Ralph followed him.
+"You won't be long, papa," said Patience.
+
+"I hope not," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"Remember, Ralph, you will be keeping lunch waiting," said Patience.
+
+Then the two men were alone. Sir Thomas's mind had recurred to Neefit
+at the first moment of Ralph's request. The young man was going to
+consult him as to the best mode of getting rid of that embarrassment.
+But in the hall another idea had come upon him. He was to be asked
+for his consent regarding Clarissa. As he seated himself in one chair
+and asked Ralph to take another, he had not quite made up his mind
+as to the answer he would give. There must at any rate be some delay.
+The reader will of course remember that Sir Thomas was persuaded that
+Ralph had engaged himself to marry Polly Neefit.
+
+Ralph rushed boldly at his subject at once. "Sir Thomas," he said,
+"I am going to make a proposition, and I wish to ask you for your
+consent. I have made up my mind that the sooner I marry in my present
+condition the better." Sir Thomas smiled and assented. "And I want to
+know whether you will object to my asking Miss Bonner to be my wife."
+
+"Miss Bonner!" said Sir Thomas, throwing up both his hands.
+
+"Yes, sir;--is there any objection on your part?"
+
+Sir Thomas hardly knew how to say whether there was or was not an
+objection on his part. In the first place he had made up his mind
+that the other Ralph was to marry Mary,--that he would do so in spite
+of that disclaimer which had been made in the first moment of the
+young man's disinheritance. He, Sir Thomas, however, could have no
+right to object on that score. Nor could he raise any objection on
+the score of Clarissa. It did seem to him that all the young people
+were at cross purposes, that Patience must have been very stupid and
+Clarissa most addlepated, or else that this Ralph was abominably
+false; but still, he could say nothing respecting that. No tale had
+reached his ears which made it even possible for him to refer to
+Clarissa. But yet he was dissatisfied with the man, and was disposed
+to show it. "Perhaps I ought to tell you," said Sir Thomas, "that a
+man calling himself Neefit was with me yesterday."
+
+"Oh, yes; the breeches-maker."
+
+"I believe he said that such was his trade. He assured me that you
+had borrowed large sums of money from him."
+
+"I do owe him some money."
+
+"A thousand pounds, I think he said."
+
+"Certainly as much as that."
+
+"Not for breeches,--which I suppose would be impossible, but for
+money advanced."
+
+"Part one and part the other," said Ralph.
+
+"And he went on to tell me that you were engaged,--to marry his
+daughter."
+
+"That is untrue."
+
+"Were you never engaged to her?"
+
+"I was never engaged to her, Sir Thomas."
+
+"And it was all a lie on the part of Mr. Neefit? Was there no
+foundation for it? You had told me yourself that you thought of such
+a marriage."
+
+"There is nothing to justify him in saying that I was ever engaged
+to the young lady. The truth is that I did ask her and she,--refused
+me."
+
+"You did ask her?"
+
+"I did ask her," said Ralph.
+
+"In earnest?"
+
+"Well; yes;--certainly in earnest. At that time I thought it the only
+way to save the property. I need not tell you how wretched I was at
+the time. You will remember what you yourself had said to me. It
+is true that I asked her, and that I did so by agreement with her
+father. She refused me,--twice. She was so good, so sensible, and so
+true, that she knew she had better not make herself a party to such
+a bargain. Whatever you may think of my own conduct I shall not have
+behaved badly to Miss Neefit."
+
+Sir Thomas did think very ill of Ralph's conduct, but he believed
+him. After a while the whole truth came out, as to the money lent and
+as to Neefit's schemes. It was of course understood by both of them
+that Ralph was required neither by honesty nor by honour to renew
+his offer. And then under such circumstances was he or was he not to
+be allowed to propose to Mary Bonner? At first Ralph had been much
+dismayed at having the Neefit mine sprung on him at such a moment;
+but he collected himself very quickly, and renewed his demand as
+to Mary. Sir Thomas could not mean to say that because he had been
+foolish in regard to Polly Neefit, that therefore he was to be
+debarred from marrying! Sir Thomas did not exactly say that; but,
+nevertheless, Sir Thomas showed his displeasure. "It seems," said he,
+"particularly easy to you to transfer your affections."
+
+"My affection for Miss Neefit was not strong," said Ralph. "I did,
+and always shall, regard her as a most excellent young woman."
+
+"She showed her sense in refusing you," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I think she did," said Ralph.
+
+"And I doubt much whether my niece will not be equally--sensible."
+
+"Ah,--I can say nothing as to that."
+
+"Were she to hear this story of Miss Neefit I am sure she would
+refuse you."
+
+"But you would not tell it to her,--as yet! If all goes well with me
+I will tell it to her some day. Come, Sir Thomas, you don't mean to
+be hard upon me at last. It cannot be that you should really regret
+that I have got out of that trouble."
+
+"But I regret much that you should have borrowed a tradesman's money,
+and more that you should have offered to pay the debt by marrying his
+daughter." Through it all, however, there was a feeling present to
+Sir Thomas that he was, in truth, angry with the Squire of Newton,
+not so much for his misconduct in coming to propose to Mary so soon
+after the affair with Polly Neefit, but because he had not come to
+propose to Clarissa. And Sir Thomas knew that such a feeling, if it
+did really exist, must be overcome. Mary was entitled to her chance,
+and must make the best of it. He would not refuse his sanction to a
+marriage with his niece on account of Ralph's misconduct, when he
+would have sanctioned a marriage with his own daughter in spite of
+that misconduct. The conversation was ended by Sir Thomas leaving
+the room with a promise that Miss Bonner should be sent to fill his
+place. In five minutes Miss Bonner was there. She entered the room
+very slowly, with a countenance that was almost savage, and during
+the few minutes that she remained there she did not sit down.
+
+"Sir Thomas has told you why I am here?" he said, advancing towards
+her, and taking her hand.
+
+"No; that is;--no. He has not told me."
+
+"Mary--"
+
+"Mr. Newton, my name is Miss Bonner."
+
+"And must it between us be so cold as that?" He still had her by the
+hand, which she did not at the moment attempt to withdraw. "I have
+come to tell you, at the first moment that was possible to me after
+my uncle's death, that of all women in the world I love you the
+best."
+
+Then she withdrew her hand. "Mr. Newton, I am sorry to hear you say
+so;--very sorry."
+
+"Why should you be sorry? If you are unkind to me like this, there
+may be reason why I should be sorry. I shall, indeed, be very sorry.
+Since I first saw you, I have hoped that you would be my wife."
+
+"I never can be your wife, Mr. Newton."
+
+"Why not? Have I done anything to offend you? Being here as one of
+the family you must know enough of my affairs to feel sure,--that I
+have come to you the first moment that was possible. I did not dare
+to come when I thought that my position was one that was not worthy
+of you."
+
+"It would have been the same at any time," said Mary.
+
+"And why should you reject me,--like this; without a moment's
+thought?"
+
+"For two reasons," said Mary, slowly, and then she paused, as though
+doubting whether she would continue her speech, or give the two
+reasons which now guided her. But he stood, looking into her face,
+waiting for them. "In the first place," she said, "I think you are
+untrue to another person." Then she paused again, as though asking
+herself whether that reason would not suffice. But she resolved that
+she would be bold, and give the other. "In the next place, my heart
+is not my own to give."
+
+"Is it so?" asked Ralph.
+
+"I have said as much as can be necessary,--perhaps more, and I would
+rather go now." Then she left the room with the same slow, stately
+step, and he saw her no more on that day.
+
+Then in those short five minutes Sir Thomas had absolutely told
+her the whole story about Polly Neefit, and she had come to the
+conclusion that because in his trouble he had offered to marry a
+tradesman's daughter, therefore he was to be debarred from ever
+receiving the hand of a lady! That was the light in which he looked
+upon Mary's first announcement. As to the second announcement he was
+absolutely at a loss. There must probably, he thought, have been some
+engagement before she left Jamaica. Not the less on that account was
+it an act of unpardonable ill-nature on the part of Sir Thomas,--that
+telling of Polly Neefit's story to Mary Bonner at such a moment.
+
+He was left alone for a few minutes after Mary's departure, and then
+Patience came to him. Would he stay for dinner? Even Patience was
+very cold to him. Sir Thomas was fatigued and was lying down, but
+would see him, of course, if he wished it. "And where is Clarissa?"
+asked Ralph. Patience said that Clarissa was not very well. She also
+was lying down. "I see what it is," said Ralph, turning upon her
+angrily. "You are, all of you, determined to quarrel with me because
+of my uncle's death."
+
+"I do not see why that should make us quarrel," said Patience. "I do
+not know that any one has quarrelled with you."
+
+Of course he would not wait for dinner, nor would he have any lunch.
+He walked out on to the lawn with something of a bluster in his step,
+and stood there for three or four minutes looking up at the house and
+speaking to Patience. A young man when he has been rejected by one
+of the young ladies of a family has rather a hard time of it till he
+gets away. "Well, Patience," he said at last, "make my farewells for
+me." And then he was gone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+HORSELEECHES.
+
+
+The honour of representing the borough of Percycross in Parliament
+was very great, and Sir Thomas, no doubt, did enjoy it after a
+fashion; but it was by no means an unalloyed pleasure. While he
+was still in bed with his broken arm at the Percy Standard, many
+applications for money had been made to him. This man wanted a
+sovereign, that man a five-pound-note, and some poor starving wretch
+a half-a-crown; and they all came to him with notes from Trigger,
+or messages from Spicer or Spiveycomb, to the effect that as the
+election was now over, the money ought to be given. The landlord of
+the Percy Standard was on such occasions very hard upon him. "It
+really will do good, Sir Thomas." "It is wanted, Sir Thomas." "It
+will make a good feeling in the town, Sir Thomas, and we don't know
+how soon we may have to go to work again." Sir Thomas was too weak in
+health to refuse. He gave the sovereigns, the five-pound-notes, and
+the half-crowns, and hurried back home as quickly as he was able.
+
+But things were almost worse with him at home than at Percycross.
+The real horseleeches felt that they could hardly get a good hold
+of him while he was lying at the Percycross inn. Attacks by letter
+were, they well knew, more fatal than those made personally, and they
+waited. The first that came was from Mr. Pabsby. Mr. Pabsby had at
+last seen his way clear, and had voted for Underwood and Westmacott,
+absolutely throwing away his vote as far as the cause was concerned.
+But Mr. Pabsby had quarrelled with Griffenbottom, who once, when
+pressed hard for some favours, had answered the reverend gentleman
+somewhat roughly. "You may go and be ----," said Mr. Griffenbottom
+in his wrath, "and tell everybody in Percycross that I said so."
+Mr. Pabsby had smiled, had gone away, and had now voted for Mr.
+Westmacott. Mr. Pabsby was indeed a horseleech of the severest
+kind. There had been some outward show of reconciliation between
+Griffenbottom and Pabsby; but Pabsby had at last voted for Underwood
+and Westmacott. Sir Thomas had not been home two days before he
+received a letter from Mr. Pabsby. "It had been with infinite
+satisfaction,"--so Mr. Pabsby now said,--"that he had at length seen
+his way clearly, and found himself able to support his friend Sir
+Thomas. And he believed that he might take upon himself to say that
+when he once had seen his way clearly, he had put his shoulder to the
+wheel gallantly." In fact, it was to be inferred from the contents of
+Mr. Pabsby's letter that Sir Thomas's return had been due altogether
+to Mr. Pabsby's flock, who had, so said Mr. Pabsby, been guided in
+the matter altogether by his advice. Then he sent a list of his
+"hearers," who had voted for Sir Thomas. From this the slight
+change of subject needed to bring him to the new chapel which
+he was building, and his desire that Sir Thomas should head the
+subscription-list in so good a cause, was easy enough. It might be
+difficult to say in what Mr. Pabsby's strength lay, but it certainly
+was the case that the letter was so written as to defy neglect and
+almost to defy refusal. Such is the power of horseleeches. Sir Thomas
+sent Mr. Pabsby a cheque for twenty pounds, and received Mr. Pabsby's
+acknowledgment, thanking him for his "first" subscription. The
+thanks were not very cordial, and it was evident that Mr. Pabsby had
+expected a good deal more than twenty pounds in return for all that
+he had done.
+
+Mr. Pabsby was simply the first. Before Christmas had come, it seemed
+to Sir Thomas that there was not a place of divine worship in the
+whole of Percycross that was not falling to the ground in ruins. He
+had not observed it when he was there, but now it appeared that funds
+were wanted for almost every such edifice in the borough. And the
+schools were in a most destitute condition. He was informed that the
+sitting member had always subscribed to all the schools, and that if
+he did not continue such subscription the children would literally be
+robbed of their education. One gentleman, whose name he did not even
+remember to have heard, simply suggested to him that he would, as
+a matter of course, continue to give "the £50" towards the general
+Christmas collection on behalf of the old women of the borough. The
+sitting members had given it time out of mind. Mr. Roodylands had a
+political project of his own, which in fact, if carried out, would
+amount to a prohibition on the import of French boots, and suggested
+that Sir Thomas should bring in a bill to that effect on the meeting
+of Parliament. If Sir Thomas would not object to the trouble of
+visiting Amiens, Lille, Beauvais, and three or four other French
+towns which Mr. Roodylands mentioned, he would be able to ascertain
+how much injury had been done to Percycross by the Cobden treaty.
+Mr. Spiveycomb had his own ideas about Italian rags,--Mr. Spiveycomb
+being in the paper line,--and wrote a very long letter to Sir Thomas,
+praying the member to make himself master of a subject so vitally
+important to the borough which he represented. Mr. Spicer also
+communicated to him the astounding fact that some high official
+connected with the army was undoubtedly misbehaving himself in regard
+to mustard for the troops. The mustard contracts were not open as
+they should be open. The mustard was all supplied by a London house,
+and Mr. Spicer was very anxious that Sir Thomas should move for a
+committee to inquire of the members of that London firm as to the
+manner in which the contracts were obtained by them. Mr. Spicer was
+disposed to think that this was the most important matter that would
+be brought forward in the next session of Parliament.
+
+Mr. Pabsby had got his cheque before the other applications were
+received; but when they came in shoals, Sir Thomas thought that it
+might be well to refer them to Mr. Trigger for advice. Sir Thomas had
+not loved Griffenbottom during the election, and was not inclined to
+ask his colleague for counsel. Griffenbottom had obtained a name for
+liberality in Percycross, and had shown symptoms,--so thought Sir
+Thomas,--of an intention to use his reputation as a means of throwing
+off further burdens from his own shoulders. "I have spent a treasure
+in the borough. Let my colleague begin now." Words spoken by Mr.
+Griffenbottom in that strain had been repeated to Sir Thomas; and,
+after many such words, Sir Thomas could not go to Mr. Griffenbottom
+for advice as to what he should give, or refuse to give. He doubted
+whether better reliance could be placed on Mr. Trigger;--but to
+some one he must go for direction. Were he once to let it be known
+in Percycross that demands made would be satisfied, he might sign
+cheques to the extent of his whole fortune, during his first session.
+He did write to Mr. Trigger, enclosing the various Percycross
+applications; and Mr. Trigger duly replied to him. Mr. Trigger
+regretted that money had been given to Mr. Pabsby. Mr. Pabsby had
+been of no use, and could be of no use. Mr. Griffenbottom, who knew
+the borough better than any one else, had understood this well when
+on one occasion he had been "a little short" with Mr. Pabsby. Sir
+Thomas ought not to have sent that cheque to Mr. Pabsby. The sending
+it would do infinite harm, and cause dissensions in the borough,
+which might require a considerable expenditure to set right. As to
+the other clerical demands, it seemed to Sir Thomas that Mr. Trigger
+was of opinion that they should all be gratified. He had, in fact,
+sent his money to the only person in Percycross who ought not to have
+received money. The £50 for the old women was a matter of course,
+and would not be begrudged, as it was the only payment which was
+absolutely annual. In regard to the schools, Sir Thomas could do
+what he pleased; but the sitting members had always been liberal to
+the schools. Schools were things to which sitting members were, no
+doubt, expected to subscribe. As to the question of French boots, Mr.
+Trigger thought that there was something in it, and said that if Sir
+Thomas could devote his Christmas holidays to getting up the subject
+in Lille and Amiens, it would have a good effect in the borough, and
+show that he was in earnest. This might be the more desirable, as
+there was no knowing as yet what might be done about the petition.
+There no doubt was a strong feeling in the borough as to the Cobden
+treaty, and Sir Thomas would probably feel it to be his duty to get
+the question up. In regard to the mustard, Mr. Trigger suggested that
+though there was probably nothing in it, it might be as well to ask
+the Secretary at War a question or two on the subject. Mr. Spicer
+was, no doubt, a moving man in Percycross. Sir Thomas could at
+any rate promise that he would ask such questions, as Mr. Spicer
+certainly had friends who might be conducive to the withdrawal
+of the petition. Sir Thomas could at any rate put himself into
+correspondence with the War Office. Mr. Trigger also thought that
+Sir Thomas might judiciously study the subject of Italian rags,
+in reference to the great paper trade of the country. No doubt
+the manufacture of paper was a growing business at Percycross. Mr.
+Trigger returned all the applications, and ended his letter by
+hinting that the cheques might as well be sent at once. Mr. Trigger
+thought that "a little money about the borough," would do good at the
+present moment.
+
+It need hardly be said that this view of things was not pleasant to
+the sitting member, who was still confined to his house at Fulham
+by an arm broken in the cause. Sir Thomas had at once sent the £50
+towards the Christmas festivities for the poor of the borough, and
+had declared his purpose of considering the other matters. Then
+had come a further letter from Mr. Trigger, announcing his journey
+to London, and Mr. Trigger and Sir Thomas had their first meeting
+after the election, immediately upon Mr. Neefit's departure from the
+chambers. "And is it to be?" asked Stemm, as soon as he had closed
+the door behind Mr. Trigger's back.
+
+"Is what to be?"
+
+"Them petitions, Sir Thomas? Petitions costs a deal of money they
+tell me, Sir Thomas." Sir Thomas winced. "I suppose you must go on
+now as your hand is in," continued Stemm.
+
+"I don't know that at all," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"You'll find as you must. There ain't no way out of it;--not now as
+you are the sitting member."
+
+"I am not going to ruin myself, Stemm, for the sake of a seat in
+Parliament."
+
+"I don't know how that may be, Sir Thomas. I hope not, Sir Thomas.
+But I don't see how you're not to go on now, Sir Thomas. If it wasn't
+for petitions, one wouldn't mind."
+
+"There must be petitions, of course; and if there be good cause for
+them, they should succeed."
+
+"No doubt, Sir Thomas. They say the bribery at Percycross was
+tremenjous;--but I suppose it was on the other side."
+
+"If it was on our side, Stemm, it was not so with my knowledge. I did
+all I could to prevent it. I spoke against it whenever I opened my
+mouth. I would not have given a shilling for a single vote, though it
+would have got me the election."
+
+"But they were not all that way, Sir Thomas;--was they?"
+
+"How can I tell? No;--I know that they were not. I fear they were
+not. I cannot say that money was given, but I fear it."
+
+"You must go on now, Sir Thomas, any way," said Stemm with a groan
+that was not reassuring.
+
+"I wish I had never heard the name of Percycross," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I dare say," replied Stemm.
+
+"I went there determined to keep my hands clean."
+
+"When one puts one's hand into other people's business, they won't
+come out clean," said the judicious Stemm. "But you must go on with
+it now, any way, Sir Thomas."
+
+"I don't know what I shall do," said the unhappy member.
+
+On the next morning there came another application from Percycross.
+The postmaster in that town had died suddenly, and the competitors
+for the situation, which was worth about £150 per annum, were very
+numerous. There was a certain Mr. O'Blather, only known in Percycross
+as cousin to one Mrs. Givantake, the wife of a liberal solicitor in
+the borough. Of Mr. O'Blather the worst that could be said was that
+at the age of forty he had no income on which to support himself.
+Mrs. Givantake was attached to her cousin, and Mr. Givantake had
+become sensible of a burden. That the vacant office was just
+the thing for him appeared at a glance to all his friends. Mrs.
+Givantake, in her energy on the subject, expressed an opinion that
+the whole Cabinet should be impeached if the just claims of Mr.
+O'Blather were not conceded. But it was felt that the justice of
+the claims would not prevail without personal interest. The liberal
+party was in power, and application, hot and instant, was made to Mr.
+Westmacott. Mr. Westmacott was happy enough to have his answer ready.
+The Treasury had nothing to do with the matter. It was a Post Office
+concern; and he, simply as the late liberal member, and last liberal
+candidate for the borough, was not entitled to intrude, even in a
+matter of patronage, upon the Postmaster-General, with whom he was
+not acquainted. But Mr. Westmacott was malicious as well as secure.
+He added a postscript to his letter, in which he said that he
+believed the present sitting member, Sir Thomas Underwood, was
+intimately acquainted with the noble lord who presided at the Post
+Office. There were various interests at Percycross moved, brought
+together, weighed against each other, and balanced to a grain,
+and finally dovetailed. If Sir Thomas Underwood would prevail on
+Lord ---- to appoint Mr. O'Blather to the vacant office, then all
+the Givantake influence at Percycross should be used towards the
+withdrawal of the petition. Such was the communication now made to
+Sir Thomas by a gentleman who signed his name as Peter Piper, and who
+professed himself authorised to act on behalf of Mr. Givantake. Sir
+Thomas's answer was as follows;--
+
+
+   Southampton Buildings, December 31, 186--.
+
+   SIR,--
+
+   I can have nothing to do with Mr. O'Blather and the
+   post-office at Percycross.
+
+   I am,
+   Your obedient servant,
+
+   THOMAS UNDERWOOD.
+
+   MR. PETER PIPER, Post-office, Percycross.
+
+
+Christmas had passed,--and had passed uncomfortably enough at Popham
+Villa, in which retreat neither of the three young ladies was at
+present very happy,--when Sir Thomas was invited by Mr. Trigger
+to take further steps with reference to the petitions. It was
+thought necessary that there should be a meeting in the conservative
+interest, and it was suggested that this meeting should take place in
+Sir Thomas's chambers. Mr. Trigger in making the proposition seemed
+to imply that a great favour was thereby conferred on Sir Thomas,--as
+that country is supposed to be most honoured which is selected
+as the meeting-ground for plenipotentiaries when some important
+international point requires to be settled. Sir Thomas could not see
+the arrangement in that light, and would have shuffled out of the
+honour had it been possible. But it was not possible. At this period
+of the year Mr. Griffenbottom had no house in town, and Mr. Trigger
+explained that it was inexpedient that such meetings should take
+place at hotels. There was no place so fitting as a lawyer's
+chambers. Sir Thomas, who regarded as a desecration the entrance
+of one such man as Mr. Trigger into his private room, and who
+was particularly anxious not to fall into any intimacy with Mr.
+Griffenbottom, was driven to consent, and at one o'clock on the
+29th, Stemm was forced to admit the deputation. The deputation from
+Percycross consisted of Mr. Trigger, Mr. Spicer, and Mr. Pile; but
+with them came also the senior sitting member. At first they were all
+very grave, and Sir Thomas asked them, indiscreetly, whether they
+would take a glass of sherry. Pile and Spicer immediately acceded
+to this proposition, and sherry was perhaps efficacious in bringing
+about speedy conversation.
+
+"Well, Underwood," said Mr. Griffenbottom, "it seems that after all
+we are to have these d---- petitions." Sir Thomas lifted his left
+foot on his right knee, and nursed his leg,--but said nothing. On one
+point he was resolved;--nothing on earth should induce him to call
+his colleague Griffenbottom.
+
+"No doubt about that, Mr. Griffenbottom," said Mr. Pile, "--that is,
+unless we can make Westmacott right. T'other chap wouldn't be of much
+account."
+
+"Mr. Pile, you're going a little too fast," said Trigger.
+
+"No, I ain't," said Mr. Pile. But for the moment he allowed himself
+to be silenced.
+
+"We don't like the looks of it at Percycross," said Mr. Spicer.
+
+"And why don't we like the looks of it?" asked Sir Thomas.
+
+"I don't know what your idea of pleasure is," said Mr. Griffenbottom,
+"but I don't take delight in spending money for nothing. I have spent
+enough, I can tell you, and I don't mean to spend much more. My seat
+was as safe as the Church."
+
+"But they have petitioned against that as well as mine," said Sir
+Thomas.
+
+"Yes;--they have. And now what's to be done?"
+
+"I don't know whether Sir Thomas is willing to take the whole cost of
+the defence upon himself," said Mr. Trigger, pouring out for himself
+a second glass of sherry.
+
+"No, I am not," said Sir Thomas. Whereupon there was a pause, during
+which Pile and Spicer also took second glasses of sherry. "Why should
+I pay the cost of defending Mr. Griffenbottom's seat?"
+
+"Why should I pay it?" said Griffenbottom. "My seat was safe enough.
+The fact is, if money was paid,--as to which I know nothing,--it was
+paid to get the second seat. Everybody knows that. Why should any
+one have paid money for me? I was safe. I never have any difficulty;
+everybody knows that. I could come in for Percycross twenty times
+running, without buying a vote. Isn't that true, Trigger?"
+
+"I believe you could, Mr. Griffenbottom."
+
+"Of course I could. Look here, Underwood--"
+
+"I beg your pardon for one moment, Mr. Griffenbottom," said Sir
+Thomas. "Will you tell me, Mr. Trigger, whether votes were bought
+on my behalf?" Mr. Trigger smiled, and put his head on one side,
+but made no answer. "I wish I might be allowed to hear the truth,"
+continued Sir Thomas. Whereupon Spicer grinned, and Mr. Pile looked
+as though he were about to be sick. How was it that a set of
+gentlemen, who generally knew their business so well as did the
+political leaders at Percycross, had got themselves into the same
+boat with a man silly enough to ask such a question as that?
+
+"I shan't spend money," said Griffenbottom; "it's out of the
+question. They can't touch me. I've spent my money, and got my
+article. If others want the article, they must spend theirs."
+
+Mr. Trigger thought it might be as well to change the subject for a
+moment, or, at any rate, to pass on to another clause of the same
+bill. "I was very sorry, Sir Thomas," said he, "that you wrote that
+letter to Mr. Givantake."
+
+"I wrote no letter to Mr. Givantake. A man named Piper addressed me."
+
+"Well, well, well; that's the same thing. It was Givantake, though of
+course he isn't going to sign his name to everything. If you could
+just have written a line to your friend the Postmaster-General, I
+really think we could have squared it all."
+
+"I wouldn't have made a request so improper for all Percycross," said
+Sir Thomas.
+
+"Patronage is open to everybody," suggested Mr. Griffenbottom.
+
+"Those sort of favours are asked every day," said Trigger.
+
+"We live in a free country," said Spicer.
+
+"Givantake is a d---- scoundrel all the same," said Mr. Pile; "and
+as for his wife's Irish cousin, I should be very sorry to leave my
+letters in his hands."
+
+"It wouldn't have come off, Mr. Pile," said Trigger, "but the request
+might have been made. If Sir Thomas will allow me to say as much, the
+request ought to have been made."
+
+"I will allow nothing of the kind, Mr. Trigger," said Sir Thomas,
+with an assumption of personal dignity which caused everyone in the
+room to alter his position in his chair. "I understand these things
+are given by merit." Mr. Trigger smiled, and Mr. Griffenbottom
+laughed outright. "At any rate, they ought to be, and in this office
+I believe they are." Mr. Griffenbottom, who had had the bestowal of
+some local patronage, laughed again.
+
+"The thing is over now, at any rate," said Mr. Trigger.
+
+"I saw Givantake yesterday," said Spicer. "He won't stir a finger
+now."
+
+"He never would have stirred a finger," said Mr. Pile; "and if he'd
+stirred both his fistesses, he wouldn't have done a ha'porth of good.
+Givantake, indeed! He be blowed!" There was a species of honesty
+about Mr. Pile which almost endeared him to Sir Thomas.
+
+"Something must be settled," said Trigger.
+
+"I thought you'd got a proposition to make," said Spicer.
+
+"Well, Sir Thomas," began Mr. Trigger, as it were girding his loins
+for the task before him, "we think that your seat wouldn't stand
+the brunt. We've been putting two and two together and that's what
+we think." A very black cloud came over the brow of Sir Thomas
+Underwood, but at the moment he said nothing. "Of course it can be
+defended. If you choose to fight the battle you can defend it. It
+will cost about £1,500,--or perhaps a little more. That is, the two
+sides, for both will have to be paid." Mr. Trigger paused again, but
+still Sir Thomas said not a word. "Mr. Griffenbottom thinks that he
+should not be asked to take any part of this cost."
+
+"Not a shilling," said Mr. Griffenbottom.
+
+"Well," continued Mr. Trigger, "that being the case, of course we
+have got to see what will be our best plan of action. I suppose, Sir
+Thomas, you are not altogether indifferent about the money."
+
+"By no means," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I don't know who is. Money is money all the world over."
+
+"You may say that," put in Mr. Spicer.
+
+"Just let me go on for a moment, Mr. Spicer, till I make this thing
+clear to Sir Thomas. That's how we stand at present. It will cost
+us,--that is to say you,--about £1,500, and we should do no good. I
+really don't think we should do any good. Here are these judges, and
+you know that new brooms sweep clean. I suppose we may allow that
+there was a little money spent somewhere. They do say now that a
+glass of beer would lose a seat."
+
+Sir Thomas could not but remember all that he had said to prevent
+there being even a glass of beer, and the way in which he had
+been treated by all the party in that matter, because he had so
+endeavoured. But it was useless to refer to all that at the present
+moment. "It seems to me," he said, "that if one seat be vacated, both
+must be vacated."
+
+"It doesn't follow at all," said Mr. Griffenbottom.
+
+"Allow me just for a moment longer," continued Trigger, who rose from
+his seat as he came to the real gist of his speech. "A proposition
+has been made to us, Sir Thomas, and I am able to say that it is
+one which may be trusted. Of course our chief anxiety is for the
+party. You feel that, Sir Thomas, of course." Sir Thomas would not
+condescend to make any reply to this. "Now the Liberals will be
+content with one seat. If we go on it will lead to disfranchising the
+borough, and we none of us want that. It would be no satisfaction
+to you, Sir Thomas, to be the means of robbing the borough of its
+privilege after all that the borough has done for you."
+
+"Go on, Mr. Trigger," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"The Liberals only want one seat. If you'll undertake to accept
+the Hundreds, the petition will be withdrawn, and Mr. Westmacott
+will come forward again. In that case we shouldn't oppose. Now, Sir
+Thomas, you know what the borough thinks will be the best course for
+all of us to pursue."
+
+Sir Thomas did know. We may say that he had known for some minutes
+past. He had perceived what was coming, and various recollections had
+floated across his mind. He especially remembered that £50 for the
+poor old women which Mr. Trigger only a week since had recommended
+that he should give,--and he remembered also that he had given it.
+He recollected the sum which he had already paid for his election
+expenses, as to which Mr. Trigger had been very careful to get
+the money before this new proposition was made. He remembered Mr.
+Pabsby and his cheque for £20. He remembered his broken arm, and
+that fortnight of labour and infinite vexation in the borough. He
+remembered all his hopes, and his girls' triumph. But he remembered
+also that he had told himself a dozen times since his return that he
+wished that he might rid himself altogether of Percycross and the
+seat in Parliament. Now a proposition that would have this effect was
+made to him.
+
+"Well, Sir Thomas, what do you think of it?" asked Mr. Trigger.
+
+Sir Thomas required the passing of a few moments that he might think
+of it, and yet there was a feeling strong at his heart telling him
+that it behoved him not even to seem to doubt. He was a man not
+deficient in spirit when roused as he now was roused. He knew that he
+was being ill used. From the first moment of his entering Percycross
+he had felt that the place was not fit for him, that it required a
+method of canvassing of which he was not only ignorant, but desirous
+to remain ignorant,--that at Percycross he would only be a catspaw in
+the hands of other men. He knew that he could not safely get into the
+same boat with Mr. Griffenbottom, or trust himself to the steering of
+such a coxswain as Mr. Trigger. He had found that there could be no
+sympathy between himself and any one of those who constituted his own
+party in the borough. And yet he had persevered. He had persevered
+because in such matters it is so difficult to choose the moment in
+which to recede. He had persevered,--and had attained a measure of
+success. As far as had been possible for him to do so, he had fought
+his battle with clean hands, and now he was member of Parliament for
+Percycross. Let what end there might come to this petition,--even
+though his seat should be taken from him,--he could be subjected to
+no personal disgrace. He could himself give evidence, the truth of
+which no judge in the land would doubt, as to the purity of his own
+intentions, and as to the struggle to be pure which he had made. And
+now they asked him to give way in order that Mr. Griffenbottom might
+keep his seat!
+
+He felt that he and poor Moggs had been fools together. At this
+moment there came upon him a reflection that such men as he and Moggs
+were unable to open their mouths in such a borough as Percycross
+without having their teeth picked out of their jaws. He remembered
+well poor Moggs's legend, "Moggs, Purity, and the Rights of Labour;"
+and he remembered thinking at the time that neither Moggs nor he
+should have come to Percycross. And now he was told of all that the
+borough had done for him, and was requested to show his gratitude by
+giving up his seat,--in order that Griffenbottom might still be a
+member of Parliament, and that Percycross might not be disfranchised!
+Did he feel any gratitude to Percycross or any love to Mr.
+Griffenbottom? In his heart he desired that Mr. Griffenbottom might
+be made to retire into private life, and he knew that it would be
+well that the borough should be disfranchised.
+
+These horrid men that sat around him,--how he hated them! He could
+get rid of them now, now and for ever, by acceding to the proposition
+made to him. And he thought that in doing so he could speak a few
+words which would be very agreeable to him in the speaking. And then
+all that Mr. Trigger had said about the £1,500 had been doubtless
+true. If he defended his seat money must be spent, and he did not
+know how far he might be able to compel Mr. Griffenbottom to share
+the expense. He was not so rich but what he was bound to think of the
+money, for his children's sake. And he did believe Mr. Trigger, when
+Mr. Trigger told him that the seat could not be saved.
+
+Yet he could not bring himself to let these men have their way with
+him. To have to confess that he had been their tool went so much
+against the grain with him that anything seemed to him to be
+preferable to that. The passage across his brain of all these
+thoughts had not required many seconds, and his guests seemed to
+acknowledge by their silence that some little space of time should be
+allowed to him. Mr. Pile was leaning forward on his stick with his
+eyes fixed upon Sir Thomas's face. Mr. Spicer was amusing himself
+with a third glass of sherry. Mr. Griffenbottom had assumed a look of
+absolute indifference, and was sitting with his eyes fixed upon the
+ceiling. Mr. Trigger, with a pleasant smile on his face, was leaning
+back in his chair with his hands in his trousers pockets. He had done
+his disagreeable job of work, and upon the whole he thought that he
+had done it well.
+
+"I shall do nothing of the kind," said Sir Thomas at last.
+
+"You'll be wrong, Sir Thomas," said Mr. Trigger.
+
+"You'll disfranchise the borough," said Mr. Spicer.
+
+"You'll not be able to keep your seat," said Mr. Trigger.
+
+"And there'll be all the money to pay," said Mr. Spicer.
+
+"Sir Thomas don't mind that," said Mr. Griffenbottom.
+
+"As for paying the money, I do mind it very much," said Sir Thomas.
+"As for disfranchising the borough, I cannot say that I regard it in
+the least. As to your seat, Mr. Griffenbottom--"
+
+"My seat is quite safe," said the senior member.
+
+"As to your seat, which I am well aware must be jeopardised if mine
+be in jeopardy, it would have been matter of more regret to me, had
+I experienced from you any similar sympathy for myself. As it is, it
+seems that each of us is to do the best he can for himself, and I
+shall do the best I can for myself. Good morning."
+
+"What then do you mean to do?" said Mr. Trigger.
+
+"On that matter I shall prefer to converse with my friends."
+
+"You mean," said Mr. Trigger, "that you will put it into other
+hands."
+
+"You have made a proposition to me, Mr. Trigger, and I have given you
+my answer. I have nothing else to say. What steps I may take I do not
+even know at present."
+
+"You will let us hear from you," said Mr. Trigger.
+
+"I cannot say that I will."
+
+"This comes of bringing a gentleman learned in the law down into the
+borough," said Mr. Griffenbottom.
+
+"Gentlemen, I must ask you to leave me," said Sir Thomas, rising from
+his chair and ringing the bell.
+
+"Look here, Sir Thomas Underwood," said Mr. Griffenbottom. "This to
+me is a very important matter."
+
+"And to me also," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I do not know anything about that. Like a good many others, you may
+like to have a seat in Parliament, and may like to get it without any
+trouble and without any money. I have sat for Percycross for many
+years, and have spent a treasure, and have worked myself off my legs.
+I don't know that I care much for anything except for keeping my
+place in the House. The House is everything to me,--meat and drink;
+employment and recreation; and I can tell you I'm not going to lose
+my seat if I can help it. You came in for the second chance, Sir
+Thomas; and a very good second chance it was if you'd just have
+allowed others who knew what they were about to manage matters for
+you. That chance is over now, and according to all rules that ever I
+heard of in such matters, you ought to surrender. Isn't that so, Mr.
+Trigger?"
+
+"Certainly, Mr. Griffenbottom, according to my ideas," said Mr.
+Trigger.
+
+"That's about it," said Mr. Spicer.
+
+Sir Thomas was still standing. Indeed they were all standing now.
+"Mr. Griffenbottom," he said, "I have nothing further that I can
+say at the present moment. To the offer made to me by Mr. Trigger I
+at present positively decline to accede. I look upon that offer as
+unfriendly, and can therefore only wish you a good morning."
+
+"Unfriendly," said Mr. Griffenbottom with a sneer.
+
+"Good-bye, Sir Thomas," said Mr. Pile, putting out his hand. Sir
+Thomas shook hands with Mr. Pile cordially. "It's my opinion that
+he's right," said Mr. Pile. "I don't like his notions, but I do like
+his pluck. Good-bye, Sir Thomas." Then Mr. Pile led the way out of
+the room, and the others followed him.
+
+"Oh!" said Stemm, as soon as he had shut the door behind their backs.
+"That's a deputation from Percycross, is it, Sir Thomas? You were
+saying as how you didn't quite approve of the Percycrossians." To
+this, however, Sir Thomas vouchsafed no reply.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+
+WHAT SIR THOMAS THOUGHT ABOUT IT.
+
+
+Sir Thomas Underwood had been engaged upon a very great piece of work
+ever since he had been called to the Bar in the twenty-fifth year of
+his life. He had then devoted himself to the writing of a life of
+Lord Verulam, and had been at it ever since. But as yet he had not
+written a word. In early life, that is, up to his fortieth year,
+he had talked freely enough about his opus magnum to those of his
+compeers with whom he had been intimate; but of late Bacon's name had
+never been on his lips. Patience, at home, was aware of the name and
+nature of her father's occupation, but Clarissa had not yet learned
+to know that he who had been the great philosopher and little Lord
+Chancellor was not to be lightly mentioned. To Stemm the matter had
+become so serious, that in speaking of books, papers, and documents
+he would have recourse to any periphrasis rather than mention in his
+master's hearing the name of the fallen angel. And yet Sir Thomas was
+always talking to himself about Sir Francis Bacon, and was always
+writing his life.
+
+There are men who never dream of great work, who never realise to
+themselves the need of work so great as to demand a lifetime, but who
+themselves never fail in accomplishing those second-class tasks with
+which they satisfy their own energies. Men these are who to the world
+are very useful. Some few there are, who seeing the beauty of a great
+work and believing in its accomplishment within the years allotted
+to man, are contented to struggle for success, and struggling, fail.
+Here and there comes one who struggles and succeeds. But the men are
+many who see the beauty, who adopt the task, who promise themselves
+the triumph, and then never struggle at all. The task is never
+abandoned; but days go by and weeks; and then months and years,--and
+nothing is done. The dream of youth becomes the doubt of middle life,
+and then the despair of age. In building a summer-house it is so easy
+to plant the first stick, but one does not know where to touch the
+sod when one begins to erect a castle. So it had been with Sir Thomas
+Underwood and his life of Bacon. It would not suffice to him to
+scrape together a few facts, to indulge in some fiction, to tell a
+few anecdotes, and then to call his book a biography. Here was a man
+who had risen higher and was reported to have fallen lower,--perhaps
+than any other son of Adam. With the finest intellect ever given to
+a man, with the purest philanthropy and the most enduring energy, he
+had become a by-word for greed and injustice. Sir Thomas had resolved
+that he would tell the tale as it had never yet been told, that he
+would unravel facts that had never seen the light, that he would let
+the world know of what nature really had been this man,--and that
+he would write a book that should live. He had never abandoned his
+purpose; and now at sixty years of age, his purpose remained with
+him, but not one line of his book was written.
+
+And yet the task had divorced him in a measure from the world. He
+had not been an unsuccessful man in life. He had made money, and had
+risen nearly to the top of his profession. He had been in Parliament,
+and was even now a member. But yet he had been divorced from
+the world, and Bacon had done it. By Bacon he had justified to
+himself,--or rather had failed to justify to himself,--a seclusion
+from his family and from the world which had been intended for
+strenuous work, but had been devoted to dilettante idleness. And he
+had fallen into those mistakes which such habits and such pursuits
+are sure to engender. He thought much, but he thought nothing out,
+and was consequently at sixty still in doubt about almost everything.
+Whether Christ did or did not die to save sinners was a question
+with him so painfully obscure that he had been driven to obtain what
+comfort he might from not thinking of it. The assurance of belief
+certainly was not his to enjoy;--nor yet that absence from fear which
+may come from assured unbelief. And yet none who knew him could say
+that he was a bad man. He robbed no one. He never lied. He was not
+self-indulgent. He was affectionate. But he had spent his life in an
+intention to write the life of Lord Verulam, and not having done it,
+had missed the comfort of self-respect. He had intended to settle
+for himself a belief on subjects which are, of all, to all men the
+most important; and, having still postponed the work of inquiry, had
+never attained the security of a faith. He was for ever doubting, for
+ever intending, and for ever despising himself for his doubts and
+unaccomplished intentions. Now, at the age of sixty, he had thought
+to lessen these inward disturbances by returning to public life, and
+his most unsatisfactory alliance with Mr. Griffenbottom had been the
+result.
+
+They who know the agonies of an ambitious, indolent, doubting,
+self-accusing man,--of a man who has a skeleton in his cupboard
+as to which he can ask for sympathy from no one,--will understand
+what feelings were at work within the bosom of Sir Thomas when his
+Percycross friends left him alone in his chamber. The moment that he
+knew that he was alone he turned the lock of the door, and took from
+out a standing desk a whole heap of loose papers. These were the
+latest of his notes on the great Bacon subject. For though no line
+of the book had ever been written,--nor had his work even yet taken
+such form as to enable him to write a line,--nevertheless, he always
+had by him a large assemblage of documents, notes, queries, extracts
+innumerable, and references which in the course of years had become
+almost unintelligible to himself, upon which from time to time he
+would set himself to work. Whenever he was most wretched he would fly
+at his papers. When the qualms of his conscience became very severe,
+he would copy some passage from a dusty book, hardly in the belief
+that it might prove to be useful, but with half a hope that he might
+cheat himself into so believing. Now, in his misery, he declared
+that he would bind himself to his work and never leave it. There, if
+anywhere, might consolation be found.
+
+With rapid hands he moved about the papers, and tried to fix his eyes
+upon the words. But how was he to fix his thoughts? He could not even
+begin not to think of those scoundrels who had so misused him. It
+was not a week since they had taken £50 from him for the poor of
+Percycross, and now they came to him with a simple statement that he
+was absolutely to be thrown over! He had already paid £900 for his
+election, and was well aware that the account was not closed. And
+he was a man who could not bear to speak about money, or to make
+any complaint as to money. Even though he was being so abominably
+misused, still he must pay any further claim that might be made on
+him in respect of the election that was past. Yes;--he must pay for
+those very purchased votes, for that bribery, as to which he had so
+loudly expressed his abhorrence, and by reason of which he was now to
+lose his seat with ignominy.
+
+But the money was not the worst of it. There was a heavier sorrow
+than that arising from the loss of his money. He alone had been just
+throughout the contest at Percycross; he alone had been truthful,
+and he alone straightforward! And yet he alone must suffer! He began
+to believe that Griffenbottom would keep his seat. That he would
+certainly lose his own, he was quite convinced. He might lose it
+by undergoing an adverse petition, and paying ever so much more
+money,--or he might lose it in the manner that Mr. Trigger had
+so kindly suggested. In either way there would be disgrace, and
+contumely, and hours of the agony of self-reproach in store for him!
+
+What excuse had he for placing himself in contact with such filth? Of
+what childishness had he not been the victim when he allowed himself
+to dream that he, a pure and scrupulous man, could go among such
+impurity as he had found at Percycross, and come out, still clean
+and yet triumphant? Then he thought of Griffenbottom as a member of
+Parliament, and of that Legislation and that Constitution to which
+Griffenbottoms were thought to be essentially necessary. That there
+are always many such men in the House he had always known. He had sat
+there and had seen them. He had stood shoulder to shoulder with them
+through many a division, and had thought about them,--acknowledging
+their use. But now that he was brought into personal contact with
+such an one, his very soul was aghast. The Griffenbottoms never do
+anything in politics. They are men of whom in the lump it may be
+surmised that they take up this or that side in politics, not from
+any instructed conviction, not from faith in measures or even in men,
+nor from adherence either through reason or prejudice to this or that
+set of political theories,--but simply because on this side or on
+that there is an opening. That gradually they do grow into some shape
+of conviction from the moulds in which they are made to live, must
+be believed of them; but these convictions are convictions as to
+divisions, convictions as to patronage, convictions as to success,
+convictions as to Parliamentary management; but not convictions as
+to the political needs of the people. So said Sir Thomas to himself
+as he sat thinking of the Griffenbottoms. In former days he had told
+himself that a pudding cannot be made without suet or dough, and
+that Griffenbottoms were necessary if only for the due adherence of
+the plums. Whatever most health-bestowing drug the patient may take
+would bestow anything but health were it taken undiluted. It was
+thus in former days Sir Thomas had apologised to himself for the
+Griffenbottoms in the House;--but no such apology satisfied him now.
+This log of a man, this lump of suet, this diluting quantity of most
+impure water,--'twas thus that Mr. Griffenbottom was spoken of by Sir
+Thomas to himself as he sat there with all the Bacon documents before
+him,--this politician, whose only real political feeling consisted in
+a positive love of corruption for itself, had not only absolutely got
+the better of him, who regarded himself at any rate as a man of mind
+and thought, but had used him as a puppet, and had compelled him
+to do dirty work. Oh,--that he should have been so lost to his own
+self-respect as to have allowed himself to be dragged through the
+dirt of Percycross!
+
+But he must do something;--he must take some step. Mr. Griffenbottom
+had declared that he would put himself to no expense in defending the
+seat. Of course he, Sir Thomas, could do the same. He believed that
+it might be practicable for him to acknowledge the justice of the
+petition, to declare his belief that his own agents had betrayed him,
+and to acknowledge that his seat was indefensible. But, as he thought
+of it, he found that he was actually ignorant of the law in the
+matter. That he would make no such bargain as that suggested
+to him by Mr. Trigger,--of so much he thought that he was sure.
+At any rate he would do nothing that he himself knew to be
+dishonourable. He must consult his own attorney. That was the end
+of his self-deliberation,--that, and a conviction that under no
+circumstances could he retain his seat.
+
+Then he struggled hard for an hour to keep his mind fixed on the
+subject of his great work. He had found an unknown memoir respecting
+Bacon, written by a German pen in the Latin language, published at
+Leipzig shortly after the date of Bacon's fall. He could translate
+that. It is always easiest for the mind to work in such emergencies,
+on some matter as to which no creative struggles are demanded from
+it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+
+A BROKEN HEART.
+
+
+It was very bad with Clarissa when Ralph Newton was closeted with
+Mary at Popham Villa. She had suspected what was about to take place,
+when Sir Thomas and Ralph went together into the room; but at that
+moment she said nothing. She endeavoured to seem to be cheerful, and
+attempted to joke with Mary. The three girls were sitting at the
+table on which lunch was spread,--a meal which no one was destined
+to eat at Popham Villa on that day,--and thus they remained till Sir
+Thomas joined them. "Mary," he had said, "Ralph Newton wishes to
+speak to you. You had better go to him."
+
+"To me, uncle?"
+
+"Yes, to you. You had better go to him."
+
+"But I had rather not."
+
+"Of course you must do as you please, but I would advise you to go to
+him." Then she had risen very slowly and had gone.
+
+All of them had understood what it meant. To Clarissa the thing
+was as certain as though she already heard the words spoken. With
+Patience even there was no doubt. Sir Thomas, though he had told
+nothing, did not pretend that the truth was to be hidden. He looked
+at his younger daughter sorrowfully, and laid his hand upon her
+head caressingly. With her there was no longer the possibility of
+retaining any secret, hardly the remembrance that there was a secret
+to retain. "Oh, papa," she said;--"oh, papa!" and burst into tears.
+
+"My dear," he said, "believe me that it is best that it should be
+so. He is unworthy." Patience said not a word, but was now holding
+Clarissa close to her bosom. "Tell Mary," continued Sir Thomas, "that
+I will see her when she is at liberty. Patience, you can ask Ralph
+whether it will suit him to stay for dinner. I am tired and will go
+up-stairs myself." And so the two girls were left together.
+
+"Patty, take me away," said Clarissa. "I must never see him
+again,--never!--nor her."
+
+"She will not accept him, Clary."
+
+"Yes, she will. I know she will. She is a sly, artful creature. And I
+have been so good to her."
+
+"No, Clary;--I think not;--but what does it matter? He is unworthy.
+He can be nothing to you now. Papa was right. He is unworthy."
+
+"I care nothing for that. I only care for him. Oh, Patty, take me
+away. I could not bear to see them when they come out."
+
+Then Patience took her sister up to their joint room, and laid the
+poor sufferer on the bed, and throwing herself on her knees beside
+the bed, wept over her sister and caressed her. That argument of
+Ralph's unworthiness was nothing to Clarissa. She did not consider
+herself to be so worthy but what she might forgive any sin, if only
+the chance of forgiving such sin were given to her. At this moment in
+her heart of hearts her anger was more against her rival than against
+the man. She had not yet taught herself to think of all his baseness
+to her,--had only as yet had time to think that that evil had come
+upon her which she had feared from the first moment of her cousin's
+arrival.
+
+Presently Patience heard the door opened of the room down-stairs
+and heard Mary's slow step as she crossed the hall. She understood
+well that some one should be below, and with another single word of
+affection to her sister, she went down-stairs. "Well, Mary," she
+said, looking into her cousin's face.
+
+"There is nothing particular to tell," said Mary, with a gentle
+smile.
+
+"Of course we all knew what he wanted."
+
+"Then of course you all knew what I should say to him."
+
+"I knew," said Patience.
+
+"I am sure that Clary knew," said Mary. "But he is all alone there,
+and will not know what to do with himself. Won't you go to him?"
+
+"You will go up to Clary?" Mary nodded her head, and then Patience
+crossed the hall to liberate the rejected suitor. Mary stood for
+awhile thinking. She already knew from what Patience had said, that
+Clarissa had suspected her, and she felt that there should have been
+no such suspicion. Clarissa had not understood, but ought to have
+understood. For a moment she was angry, and was disposed to go to
+her own room. Then she remembered all her cousin's misery, and crept
+up-stairs to the door. She had come so softly, that though the door
+was hardly closed, nothing had been heard of her approach. "May I
+come in, dear?" she said very gently.
+
+"Well, Mary; tell me all," said Clarissa.
+
+"There is nothing to tell, Clary;--only this, that I fear Mr. Newton
+is not worthy of your love."
+
+"He asked you to take him?"
+
+"Never mind, dearest. We will not talk of that. Dear, dearest Clary,
+if I only could make you happy."
+
+"But you have refused him?"
+
+"Don't you know me better than to ask me? Don't you know where my
+heart is? We will carry our burdens together, dearest, and then they
+will be lighter."
+
+"But he will come to you again;--that other one."
+
+"Clary, dear; we will not think about it. There are things which
+should not be thought of. We will not talk of it, but we will love
+each other so dearly." Clarissa, now that she was assured that her
+evil fortune was not to be aggravated by any injury done to her by
+her cousin, allowed herself to be tranquillised if not comforted.
+There was indeed something in her position that did not admit of
+comfort. All the family knew the story of her unrequited love,
+and treated her with a compassion which, while its tenderness was
+pleasant to her, was still in itself an injury. A vain attachment in
+a woman's heart must ever be a weary load, because she can take no
+step of her own towards that consummation by which the burden may be
+converted into a joy. A man may be active, may press his suit even a
+tenth time, may do something towards achieving success. A woman can
+only be still and endure. But Clarissa had so managed her affairs
+that even that privilege of being still was hardly left to her. Her
+trouble was known to them all. She doubted whether even the servants
+in the house did not know the cause of her woe. How all this had
+come to pass she could not now remember. She had told Patience,--as
+though in compliance with some compact that each should ever tell the
+other all things. And then circumstances had arisen which made it so
+natural that she should be open and candid with Mary. The two Ralphs
+were to be their two lovers. That to her had been a delightful dream
+during the last few months. He, whose inheritance at that moment was
+supposed to have been gone, had, as Clarissa thought, in plainest
+language told his love to her. "Dear, dear Clary, you know I love
+you." The words to her sense had been so all-important, had meant
+so much, had seemed to be so final, that they hardly wanted further
+corroboration. Then, indeed, had come the great fault,--the fault
+which she had doubted whether she could ever pardon; and she, because
+of the heinousness of that offence, had been unable to answer the
+question that had been asked. But the offence, such as it was, had
+not lightened the solemnity of her assurance, as far as love went,
+that Ralph ought to be her own after the speaking of such words as he
+had spoken. There were those troubles about money, but yet she was
+entitled to regard him as her own. Then had come the written offer
+from the other Ralph to Mary,--the offer written in the moment of
+his believed prosperity; and it had been so natural that Clarissa
+should tell her cousin that as regarded the splendour of position
+there should be no jealousy between them. Clarissa did not herself
+think much of a lover who wrote letters instead of coming and
+speaking,--had perhaps an idea that open speech, even though offence
+might follow, was better than formal letters; but all that was Mary's
+affair. This very respectful Ralph was Mary's lover, and if Mary were
+satisfied, she would not quarrel with the well-behaved young man. She
+would not even quarrel with him because he was taking from her own
+Ralph the inheritance which for so many years had been believed to be
+his own. Thus in the plenitude of her affection and in the serenity
+of her heart she had told everything to her cousin. And now also her
+father knew it all. How this had come to pass she did not think to
+inquire. She suspected no harm from Patience. The thing had been so
+clear, that all the world might see it. Ralph, that false one, knew
+it also. Who could know it so well as he did? Had not those very
+words been spoken by him,--been repeated by him? Now she was as one
+stricken, where wounds could not be hidden.
+
+On that day Ralph was driven back to town in his cab, in a rather
+disheartened condition, and no more was seen or heard of him for the
+present at Popham Villa. His late guardian had behaved very ill to
+him in telling Mary Bonner the story of Polly Neefit. That was his
+impression,--feeling sure that Mary had alluded to the unfortunate
+affair with the breeches-maker's daughter, of which she could have
+heard tidings only from Sir Thomas. As to Clarissa, he had not
+exactly forgotten the little affair on the lawn; but to his eyes that
+affair had been so small as to be almost overlooked amidst larger
+matters. Mary, he thought, had never looked so beautiful as she had
+done while refusing him. He did not mean to give her up. Her heart,
+she had told him, was not her own. He thought he had read of young
+ladies in similar conditions, of young ladies who had bestowed their
+hearts and had afterwards got them back again for the sake of making
+second bestowals. He was not sure but that such an object would lend
+a zest to life. There was his brother Gregory in love with Clarissa,
+and still true to her. He would be true to Mary, and would see
+whether, in spite of that far-away lover, he might not be more
+successful than his brother. At any rate he would not give her
+up,--and before he had gone to bed that night he had already
+concocted a letter to her in his brain, explaining the whole of that
+Neefit affair, and asking her whether a man should be condemned to
+misery for life because he had been led by misfortune into such a
+mistake as that. He dined very well at his club, and on the following
+morning went down to the Moonbeam by an early train, for that day's
+hunting. Thence he returned to Newton Priory in time for Christmas,
+and as he was driven up to his own house, through his own park,
+meeting one or two of his own tenants, and encountering now and then
+his own obsequious labourers, he was not an unhappy man in spite of
+Mary Bonner's cruel answer. It may be doubted whether his greatest
+trouble at this moment did not arise from his dread of Neefit. He had
+managed to stay long enough in London to give orders that Neefit's
+money should be immediately paid. He knew that Neefit could not harm
+him at law; but it would not be agreeable if the old man were to go
+about the country telling everyone that he, Ralph Newton of Newton,
+had twice offered to marry Polly. For the present we will leave him,
+although he is our hero, and will return to the girls at Popham
+Villa.
+
+"It is all very well talking, Patience, but I don't mean to try to
+change," Clarissa said. This was after that visit of the Percycross
+deputation to Sir Thomas, and after Christmas. More than a week had
+now passed by since Ralph had rushed down to Fulham with his offer,
+and the new year had commenced. Sir Thomas had been at home for
+Christmas,--for the one day,--and had then returned to London. He had
+seen his attorney respecting the petition, who was again to see Mr.
+Griffenbottom's London attorney and Mr. Trigger. In the meantime
+Sir Thomas was to remain quiet for a few days. The petition was not
+to be tried till the end of February, and there was still time for
+deliberation. Sir Thomas just now very often took out that great
+heap of Baconian papers, but still not a word of the biography was
+written. He was, alas! still very far from writing the first word.
+"It is all very well, Patience, but I do not mean to try to change,"
+said Clarissa.
+
+Poor Patience could make no answer, dreadful as was to her such an
+assertion from a young woman. "There is a man who clearly does not
+want to marry you, who has declared in the plainest way that he does
+want to marry some one else, who has grossly deceived you, and who
+never means to think of you again; and yet you say that you will
+wilfully adhere to your regard for him!" Such would have been the
+speech which Patience would have made, had she openly expressed her
+thoughts. But Clarissa was ill, and weak, and wretched; and Patience
+could not bring herself to say a word that should distress her
+sister.
+
+"If he came to me to-morrow, of course I should forgive him,"
+Clarissa said again. These conversations were never commenced by
+Patience, who would rather have omitted any mention of that base
+young man. "Of course I should. Men do do those things. Men are not
+like women. They do all manner of things and everybody forgives them.
+I don't say anything about hoping. I don't hope for anything. I am
+not happy enough to hope. I shouldn't care if I knew I were going to
+die to-morrow. But there can be no change. If you want me to be a
+hypocrite, Patience, I will; but what will be the use? The truth will
+be the same."
+
+The two girls let her have her way, never contradicted her, coaxed
+her, and tried to comfort her;--but it was in vain. At first she
+would not go out of the house, not even to church, and then she took
+to lying in bed. This lasted into the middle of January, and still
+Sir Thomas did not come home. He wrote frequently, short notes to
+Patience, sending money, making excuses, making promises, always
+expressing some word of hatred or disgust as to Percycross; but still
+he did not come. At last, when Clarissa declared that she preferred
+lying in bed to getting up, Patience went up to London and fetched
+her father home. It had gone so far with Sir Thomas now that he was
+unable even to attempt to defend himself. He humbly said that he was
+sorry that he had been away so long, and returned with Patience to
+the villa.
+
+"My dear," said Sir Thomas, seating himself by Clarissa's bedside,
+"this is very bad."
+
+"If I had known you were coming, papa, I would have got up."
+
+"If you are not well, perhaps you are better here, dear."
+
+"I don't think I am quite well, papa."
+
+"What is it, my love?" Clarissa looked at him out of her large
+tear-laden eyes, but said nothing. "Patience says that you are not
+happy."
+
+"I don't know that anybody is happy, papa."
+
+"I wish that you were with all my heart, my child. Can your father do
+anything that will make you happy?"
+
+"No, papa."
+
+"Tell me, Clary. You do not mind my asking you questions?"
+
+"No, papa."
+
+"Patience tells me that you are still thinking of Ralph Newton."
+
+"Of course I think of him."
+
+"I think of him too;--but there are different ways of thinking. We
+have known him, all of us, a long time."
+
+"Yes, papa."
+
+"I wish with all my heart that we had never seen him. He is not
+worthy of our solicitude."
+
+"You always liked him. I have heard you say you loved him dearly."
+
+"I have said so, and I did love him. In a certain way I love him
+still."
+
+"So do I, papa."
+
+"But I know him to be unworthy. Even if he had come here to offer you
+his hand I doubt whether I could have permitted an engagement. Do you
+know that within the last two months he has twice offered to marry
+another young woman, and I doubt whether he is not at this moment
+engaged to her?"
+
+"Another?" said poor Clarissa.
+
+"Yes, and that without a pretence of affection on his part, simply
+because he wanted to get money from her father."
+
+"Are you sure, papa?" asked Clarissa, who was not prepared to
+believe, and did not believe this enormity on the part of the man she
+loved.
+
+"I am quite sure. The father came to me to complain of him, and I had
+the confession from Ralph's own lips, the very day that he came here
+with his insulting offer to Mary Bonner."
+
+"Did you tell Mary?"
+
+"No. I knew that it was unnecessary. There was no danger as to Mary.
+And who do you think this girl was? The daughter of a tailor, who had
+made some money. It was not that he cared for her, Clary;--no more
+than I do! Whether he meant to marry her or not I do not know."
+
+"I'm sure he didn't, papa," said Clarissa, getting up in bed.
+
+"And will that make it better? All that he wanted was the tradesman's
+money, and to get that he was willing either to deceive the girl, or
+to sell himself to her. I don't know which would have been the baser
+mode of traffic. Is that the conduct of a gentleman, Clary?"
+
+Poor Clarissa was in terrible trouble. She hardly believed the story,
+which seemed to tell her of a degree of villany greater than ever her
+imagination had depicted to her;--and yet, if it were true, she would
+be driven to look for means of excusing it. The story as told was
+indeed hardly just to Ralph, who in the course of his transactions
+with Mr. Neefit had almost taught himself to believe that he could
+love Polly very well; but it was not in this direction that Clarissa
+looked for an apology for such conduct. "They say that men do all
+manner of things," she said, at last.
+
+"I can only tell you this," said Sir Thomas very gravely, "what men
+may do I will not say, but no gentleman can ever have acted after
+this fashion. He has shown himself to be a scoundrel."
+
+"Papa, papa; don't say that!" screamed Clarissa.
+
+"My child, I can only tell you the truth. I know it is hard to bear.
+I would save you if I could; but it is better that you should know."
+
+"Will he always be bad, papa?"
+
+"Who can say, my dear? God forbid that I should be too severe upon
+him. But he has been so bad now that I am bound to tell you that you
+should drive him from your thoughts. When he told me, all smiling,
+that he had come down here to ask your cousin Mary to be his wife, I
+was almost minded to spurn him from the door. He can have no feeling
+himself of true attachment, and cannot know what it means in others.
+He is heartless,--and unprincipled."
+
+"Oh, papa, spare him. It is done now."
+
+"And you will forget him, dearest?"
+
+"I will try, papa. But I think that I shall die. I would rather die.
+What is the good of living when nobody is to care for anybody, and
+people are so bad as that?"
+
+"My Clarissa must not say that nobody cares for her. Has any person
+ever been false to you but he? Is not your sister true to you?"
+
+"Yes, papa."
+
+"And Mary?"
+
+"Yes, papa." He was afraid to ask her whether he also had not been
+true to her? Even in that moment there arose in his mind a doubt,
+whether all this evil might not have been avoided, had he contented
+himself to live beneath the same roof with his children. He said
+nothing of himself, but she supplied the want. "I know you love me,
+papa, and have always been good to me. I did not mean that. But I
+never cared for any one but him,--in that way."
+
+Sir Thomas, in dealing with the character of his late ward, had been
+somewhat too severe. It is difficult, perhaps, to say what amount of
+misconduct does constitute a scoundrel, or justifies the critic in
+saying that this or that man is not a gentleman. There be those who
+affirm that he who owes a debt for goods which he cannot pay is no
+gentleman, and tradesmen when they cannot get their money are no
+doubt sometimes inclined to hold that opinion. But the opinion is
+changed when the money comes at last,--especially if it comes with
+interest. Ralph had never owed a shilling which he did not intend to
+pay, and had not property to cover. That borrowing of money from Mr.
+Neefit was doubtless bad. No one would like to know that his son had
+borrowed money from his tailor. But it is the borrowing of the money
+that is bad, rather than the special dealing with the tradesman. And
+as to that affair with Polly, some excuse may be made. He had meant
+to be honest to Neefit, and he had meant to be true to Neefit's
+daughter. Even Sir Thomas, high-minded as he was, would hardly have
+passed so severe a sentence, had not the great sufferer in the matter
+been his own daughter.
+
+But the words that he spoke were doubtless salutary to poor Clarissa.
+She never again said to Patience that she would not try to make a
+change, nor did she ever again declare that if Ralph came back again
+she would forgive him. On the day after the scene with her father
+she was up again, and she made an effort to employ herself about the
+house. On the next Sunday she went to church, and then they all knew
+that she was making the necessary struggle. Ralph's name was never
+mentioned, nor for a time was any allusion made to the family of the
+Newtons. "The worst of it, I think, is over," said Patience one day
+to Mary.
+
+"The worst of it is over," said Mary; "but it is not all over. It is
+hard to forget when one has loved."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII.
+
+NOT BROKEN-HEARTED.
+
+
+Christmas had come and gone at Newton Priory, and the late Squire's
+son had left the place,--protesting as he did so that he left it
+for ever. To him also life in that particular spot of earth was
+impossible, unless he could live there as the lord and master of
+all. Everybody throughout that and neighbouring parishes treated him
+not only with kindness, but with the warmest affection. The gentry,
+the farmers, and the labourers, all men who had known him in the
+hunting-field, in markets, on the bench, or at church, men, women and
+children, joined together in forming plans by means of which he could
+remain at Newton. The young Squire asked him to make the house his
+home, at any rate for the hunting season. The parson offered half the
+parsonage. His friend Morris, who was a bachelor, suggested a joint
+home and joint stables between them. But it was all of no avail. Had
+it not been for the success which had so nearly crowned the late
+Squire's efforts during the last six months, it might have been that
+his friends would have prevailed with him. But he had been too near
+being the master to be able to live at Newton in any other capacity.
+The tenants had been told that they were to be his tenants. The
+servants had been told that they were to be his servants. During a
+few short weeks, he had almost been master, so absolute had been the
+determination of the old Squire to show to all around him that his
+son, in spite of the blot upon the young man's birth, was now the
+heir in all things, and possessed of every privilege which would
+attach itself to an elder son. He himself while his father lived had
+taken these things calmly, had shown no elation, had even striven to
+moderate the vehemence of his father's efforts on his behalf;--but
+not the less had he been conscious of the value of what was being
+done for him. To be the promised future owner of the acres on which
+he had lived, of the coverts through which he had ridden, of every
+tree and bank which he had known from his boyhood, had been to him
+a source of gratified pride not the less strong because he had
+concealed it. The disappointment did hit him sorely. His dreams
+had been of Parliament, of power in the county, of pride of place,
+and popularity. He now found that they were to be no more than
+dreams;--but with this additional sorrow, that all around him knew
+that they had been dreamed. No;--he could not stay at Newton even
+for the sake of living with friends who loved him so dearly. He said
+little or nothing of this to any one. Not even to Gregory Newton or
+to his friend Morris did he tell much of his feeling. He was not
+proud of his dreamings, and it seemed to himself that his punishment
+was just. Nor could he speak to either of them or to any man of his
+past ambition, or of what hopes might remain to him in reference to
+Mary Bonner. The young Squire had gone forth with the express purpose
+of wooing her, had declared his purpose of doing so, and had returned
+to Newton at any rate without any ready tale of triumph on his
+tongue. What had been his fortune the rival would not ask; and while
+the two remained together at the priory no further word was spoken
+of Mary Bonner. He, Ralph the dispossessed one, while he believed
+himself to be the heir, had intended to bring her home as a fitting
+queen to share his throne. It might be that she would consent to be
+his without a throne to share; but in thinking of her he could not
+but remember what his ambition had been, and he could hardly bring
+himself now to offer to her that which was comparatively so little
+worth the having. To suppose that she should already "be fond of
+him," should already long for him as he longed for her, was contrary
+to his nature. Hitherto when he had been in her presence, he had
+stood there as a man whose position in life was almost contemptible;
+and though it would be unjust to him to say that he had hoped to
+win her by his acres, still he had felt that his father's success
+on his behalf might justify him in that which would otherwise be
+unjustifiable. For the present, however, he could take no steps in
+that direction. He could only suggest to himself what had already
+been her answer, or what at some future time might be the answer
+she would make to his rival. He had lost a father between whom and
+himself there had existed ties, not only of tender love, but of
+perfect friendship, and for awhile he must bewail his loss. That
+he could not bewail his lost father without thinking of his lost
+property, and of the bride that had never been won, was an agony to
+his soul.
+
+He had found a farm down in Norfolk, near to Swaffham, which he could
+take for twelve months, with the option of purchase at the expiration
+of that time, and thither he betook himself. There were about four
+hundred acres, and the place was within his means. He did not think
+it likely that Mary Bonner would choose to come and live upon a
+Norfolk farm; and yet what other work in life was there for which
+he was fit? Early in January he went down to Beamingham Hall, as
+the place was called, and there we will leave him for the present,
+consoling himself with oil-cake, and endeavouring to take a pride in
+a long row of stall-fed cattle.
+
+At this time the two brothers were living at Newton Priory. Ralph the
+heir had bought some of his uncle's horses, and had commenced hunting
+with the hounds around him; though he had not as yet withdrawn his
+stud from the Moonbeam. He was not altogether at his ease, as he
+had before the end of February received three or four letters from
+Neefit, all of them dictated by Waddle, in which his conduct was
+painted not in the most flattering colours. Neefit's money had
+been repaid, but Neefit would not understand that the young heir's
+obligations to him had by any means been acquitted by that very
+ordinary process. He had risked his money when payment was very
+doubtful, and now he intended to have something beyond cash in return
+for all that he had done. "There are debts of honour which a real
+gentleman feels himself more bound to pay than any bills," Waddle had
+written. And to such dogmatic teachings as these Neefit would always
+add something out of his own head. "There ain't nobody who shan't
+know all about it, unless you're on the square again." Ralph had
+written one reply since he had been at Newton, in which he explained
+at some length that it was impossible that he should renew his
+addresses to a young lady who had twice rejected them, and who had
+assured him that she did not love him. He professed the greatest
+respect for Miss Neefit, a respect which had, if possible, been
+heightened by her behaviour in this matter,--but it must now be
+understood that the whole affair was at an end. Neefit would not
+understand this, but Neefit's further letters, which had not been
+unfrequent, were left unanswered. Ralph had now told the whole
+story to his brother, and had written his one reply from Newton in
+conformity with his brother's advice. After that they both thought
+that no further rejoinder could be of any service.
+
+The parsonage was for the time deserted, Gregory having for the
+present consented to share his brother's house. In spite of that
+little thorn in the flesh which Neefit was, Ralph was able to enjoy
+his life very thoroughly. He went on with all the improvements about
+the place which the Squire had commenced, and was active in making
+acquaintance with every one who lived upon his land. He was not
+without good instincts, and understood thoroughly that respectability
+had many more attractions than a character for evil living. He was,
+too, easily amenable to influence from those around him; and under
+Gregory's auspices, was constant at his parish church. He told
+himself at once that he had many duties to perform, and he attempted
+to perform them. He did not ask Lieutenant Cox or Captain Fooks to
+the Priory, and quite prepared himself for the character of Henry
+V. in miniature, as he walked about his park, and rode about his
+farms, and talked with the wealthier farmers on hunting mornings. He
+had a full conception of his own dignity, and some not altogether
+inaccurate idea of the manner in which it would become him to sustain
+it. He was, perhaps, a little too self-conscious, and over-inclined
+to suppose that people were regarding his conduct because he was
+Newton of Newton;--Newton of Newton with no blot on his shield, by
+right of his birth, and subject to no man's reproach.
+
+He had failed grievously in one matter on which he had set his heart;
+but as to that he was, as the reader knows, resolved to try again. He
+had declared his passion to the other Ralph, but his rival had not
+made the confidence mutual. But hitherto he had said nothing on the
+subject to his brother. He had put it by, as it were, out of his mind
+for awhile, resolving that it should not trouble him immediately, in
+the middle of his new joys. It was a thing that would keep,--a thing,
+at any rate, that need not overshadow him night and morning. When
+Neefit continued to disturb him with threats of publicity in regard
+to Polly's wrongs, he did tell himself that in no way could he so
+effectually quiet Mr. Neefit as by marrying somebody else, and that
+he would, at some very early date, have recourse to this measure;
+but, in the meantime, he would enjoy himself without letting his
+unrequited passion lie too heavily as a burden on his heart. So
+he eat and drank, and rode and prayed, and sat with his brother
+magistrates on the bench, and never ceased to think of his good
+fortune, in that he had escaped from the troubles of his youth,
+unscathed and undegraded.
+
+Then there came a further letter from Mr. Neefit, from which there
+arose some increase of confidence among the brothers. There was
+nothing special in this letter. These letters, indeed, were very
+like to each other, and, as had now come to be observed, were always
+received on a Tuesday morning. It was manifest to them that Neefit
+spent the leisure hours of his Sundays in meditating upon the
+hardness of his position; and that, as every Monday morning came,
+he caused a new letter to be written. On this particular Tuesday,
+Ralph had left home before the post had come, and did not get the
+breeches-maker's epistle till his return from hunting. He chucked
+it across the table to Gregory when he came down to dinner, and the
+parson read it. There was no new attack in it; and as the servant was
+in the room, nothing was then said about it. But after dinner the
+subject was discussed.
+
+"I wish I knew how to stop the fellow's mouth," said the elder
+brother.
+
+"I think I should get Carey to see him," suggested Gregory. "He would
+understand a lawyer when he was told that nothing could come of it
+but trouble to himself and his daughter."
+
+"She has no hand in it, you know."
+
+"But it must injure her."
+
+"One would think so. But she is a girl whom nothing can injure. You
+can't imagine how good and how great she is;--great in her way, that
+is. She is as steady as a rock; and nobody who knows her will ever
+imagine her to be a party to her father's folly. She may pick and
+choose a husband any day she pleases. And the men about her won't
+mind this kind of thing as we should. No doubt all their friends joke
+him about it, but no one will think of blaming Polly."
+
+"It can't do her any good," said Gregory.
+
+"It cannot do her any harm. She has a strength of her own that even
+her father can't lessen."
+
+"All the same, I wish there were an end of it."
+
+"So do I, for my own sake," said Ralph. As he spoke he filled his
+glass, and passed the bottle, and then was silent for a few moments.
+"Neefit did help me," he continued, "and I don't want to speak
+against him; but he is the most pig-headed old fool that ever
+existed. Nothing will stop him but Polly's marriage, or mine."
+
+"I suppose you will marry soon now. You ought to be married," said
+Gregory, in a melancholy tone, in which was told something of the
+disappointment of his own passion.
+
+"Well;--yes. I believe I might as well tell you a little secret,
+Greg."
+
+"I suppose I can guess it," said Gregory, with still a deeper sound
+of woe.
+
+"I don't think you can. It is quite possible you may, however. You
+know Mary Bonner;--don't you?"
+
+The cloud upon the parson's brow was at once lightened. "No," said
+he. "I have heard of her, of course."
+
+"You have never seen Mary Bonner?"
+
+"I have not been up in town since she came. What should take me up?
+And if I were there, I doubt whether I should go out to Fulham. What
+is the use of going?" But still, though he spoke thus, there was
+something less of melancholy in his voice than when he had first
+spoken. Ralph did not immediately go on with his story, and his
+brother now asked a question. "But what of Mary Bonner? Is she to be
+the future mistress of the Priory?"
+
+"God only knows."
+
+"But you mean to ask her?"
+
+"I have asked her."
+
+"And you are engaged?"
+
+"By no means. I wish I were. You haven't seen her, but I suppose you
+have heard of her?"
+
+"Ralph spoke of her,--and told me that she was very lovely."
+
+"Upon my word, I don't think that even in a picture I ever saw
+anything approaching to her beauty. You've seen that thing at
+Dresden. She is more like that than anything I know. She seems almost
+too grand for a fellow to speak to, and yet she looks as if she
+didn't know it. I don't think she does know it." Gregory said not a
+word, but looked at his brother, listening. "But, by George there's
+a dignity about her, a sort of self-possession, a kind of noli me
+tangere, you understand, which makes a man almost afraid to come near
+her. She hasn't sixpence in the world."
+
+"That needn't signify to you now."
+
+"Not in the least. I only just mention it to explain. And her father
+was nobody in particular,--some old general who used to wear a cocked
+hat and keep the niggers down out in one of the colonies. She herself
+talked of coming home here to be a governess;--by Jove! yes, a
+governess. Well, to look at her, you'd think she was born a countess
+in her own right."
+
+"Is she so proud?"
+
+"No;--it's not that. I don't know what it is. It's the way her head
+is put on. Upon my word, to see her turn her neck is the grandest
+thing in the world. I never saw anything like it. I don't know that
+she's proud by nature,--though she has got a dash of that too. Don't
+you know there are some horses show their breeding at a glance? I
+don't suppose they feel it themselves; but there it is on them, like
+the Hall-mark on silver. I don't know whether you can understand a
+man being proud of his wife."
+
+"Indeed I can."
+
+"I don't mean of her personal qualities, but of the outside get up.
+Some men are proud of their wives' clothes, or their jewels, or their
+false hair. With Mary nothing of that sort could have any effect; but
+to see her step, or move her head, or lift her arm, is enough to make
+a man feel,--feel,--feel that she beats every other woman in the
+world by chalks."
+
+"And she is to be mistress here?"
+
+"Indeed she should,--to-morrow, if she'd come."
+
+"You did ask her?"
+
+"Yes,--I asked her."
+
+"And what did she say?"
+
+"Nothing that I cared to hear. She had just been told all this
+accursed story about Polly Neefit. I'll never forgive Sir
+Thomas,--never." The reader will be pleased to remember that
+Sir Thomas did not mention Miss Neefit's name, or any of the
+circumstances of the Neefit contract, to his niece.
+
+"He could hardly have wished to set her against you."
+
+"I don't know; but he must have told her. She threw it in my teeth
+that I ought to marry Polly."
+
+"Then she did not accept you?"
+
+"By George! no;--anything but that. She is one of those women who,
+as I fancy, never take a man at the first offer. It isn't that they
+mean to shilly and shally and make a fuss, but there's a sort of
+majesty about them which instinctively declines to yield itself.
+Unconsciously they feel something like offence at the suggestion that
+a man should think enough of himself to ask for such a possession.
+They come to it, after a time."
+
+"And she will come to it, after a time?"
+
+"I didn't mean to say that. I don't intend, however, to give it up."
+Ralph paused in his story, considering whether he would tell his
+brother what Mary had confessed to him as to her affection for some
+one else, but he resolved, at last, that he would say nothing of
+that. He had himself put less of confidence in that assertion than he
+did in her rebuke with reference to the other young woman to whom she
+chose to consider that he owed himself. It was his nature to think
+rather of what absolutely concerned himself, than of what related
+simply to her. "I shan't give her up. That's all I can say," he
+continued. "I'm not the sort of fellow to give things up readily." It
+did occur to Gregory at that moment that his brother had not shown
+much self-confidence on that question of giving up the property. "I'm
+pretty constant when I've set my mind on a thing. I'm not going to
+let any woman break my heart for me, but I shall stick to it."
+
+He was not going to let any woman break his heart for him! Gregory,
+as he heard this, knew that his brother regarded him as a man whose
+heart was broken, and he could not help asking himself whether or
+not it was good for a man that he should be able to suffer as he
+suffered, because a woman was fair and yet not fair for him. That his
+own heart was broken,--broken after the fashion of which his brother
+was speaking,--he was driven to confess to himself. It was not that
+he should die, or that his existence would be one long continued hour
+of misery to him. He could eat and drink, and do his duty and enjoy
+his life. And yet his heart was broken. He could not piece it so that
+it should be fit for any other woman. He could not teach himself not
+to long for that one woman who would not love him. The romance of his
+life had formed itself there, and there it must remain. In all his
+solitary walks it was of her that he still thought. Of all the bright
+castles in the air which he still continued to build, she was ever
+the mistress. And yet he knew that she would never make him happy.
+He had absolutely resolved that he would not torment her by another
+request. But he gave himself no praise for his constancy, looking
+on himself as being somewhat weak in that he could not overcome his
+longing. When Ralph declared that he would not break his heart, but
+that, nevertheless, he would stick to the girl, Gregory envied him,
+not doubting of his success, and believing that it was to men of this
+calibre that success in love is generally given. "I hope with all my
+heart that you may win her," he said.
+
+"I must run my chance like another. There's no 'Veni, vidi, vici,'
+about it, I can tell you; nor is it likely that there should be with
+such a girl as Mary Bonner. Fill your glass, old fellow. We needn't
+sit mumchance because we're thinking of our loves."
+
+"I had thought,--" began Gregory very slowly.
+
+"What did you think?"
+
+"I had thought once that you were thinking of--Clarissa."
+
+"What put that into your head?"
+
+"If you had I should never have said a word, nor fancied any wrong.
+Of course she'll marry some one. And I don't know why I should ever
+wish that it should not be you."
+
+"But what made you think of it?"
+
+"Well; I did. It was just a word that Patience said in one of her
+letters."
+
+"What sort of word?" asked Ralph, with much interest.
+
+"It was nothing, you know. I just misunderstood her. When one is
+always thinking of a thing everything turns itself that way. I got it
+into my head that she meant to hint to me that as you and Clary were
+fond of each other, I ought to forget it all. I made up my mind that
+I would;--but it is so much easier to make up one's mind than to do
+it." There came a tear in each eye as he spoke, and he turned his
+face towards the fire that his brother might not see them. And there
+they remained hot and oppressive, because he would not raise his hand
+to rub them away.
+
+"I wonder what it was she said," asked Ralph.
+
+"Oh, nothing. Don't you know how a fellow has fancies?"
+
+"There wasn't anything in it," said Ralph.
+
+"Oh;--of course not."
+
+"Patience might have imagined it," said Ralph. "That's just like such
+a sister as Patience."
+
+"She's the best woman that ever lived," said Gregory.
+
+"As good as gold," said Ralph. "I don't think, however, I shall very
+soon forgive Sir Thomas."
+
+"I don't mind saying now that I am glad it is so," said Gregory;
+"though as regards Clary that seems to be cruel. But I don't think I
+could have come much here had she become your wife."
+
+"Nothing shall ever separate us, Greg."
+
+"I hope not;--but I don't know whether I could have done it. I almost
+think that I oughtn't to live where I should see her; and I did fear
+it at one time."
+
+"She'll come to the parsonage yet, old fellow, if you'll stick to
+her," said Ralph.
+
+"Never," said Gregory. Then that conversation was over.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII.
+
+ONCE MORE.
+
+
+At the end of February Ralph declared his purpose of returning to the
+Moonbeam, for the rest of the hunting season. "I'm not going to be
+such an ass," he said to his brother, "as to keep two sets of horses
+going. I bought my uncle's because it seemed to suit just at the
+time; and there are the others at Horsball's, because I've not had
+time to settle down yet. I'll go over for March, and take a couple
+with me; and, at the end of it, I'll get rid of those I don't like.
+Then that'll be the end of the Moonbeam, as far as I am concerned."
+So he prepared to start, and on the evening before he went his
+brother declared that he would go as far as London with him. "That's
+all right," said Ralph, "but what's taking you up now?" The parson
+said that he wanted to get a few things, and to have his hair cut. He
+shouldn't stay above one night. Ralph asked no more questions, and
+the two brothers went up to London together.
+
+We fear that Patience Underwood may not have been in all respects a
+discreet preserver of her sister's secrets. But then there is nothing
+more difficult of attainment than discretion in the preservation
+of such mysteries. To keep a friend's secret well the keeper of it
+should be firmly resolved to act upon it in no way,--not even for the
+advantage of the owner of it. If it be confided to you as a secret
+that your friend is about to make his maiden speech in the House, you
+should not even invite your acquaintances to be in their places,--not
+if secrecy be the first object. In all things the knowledge should be
+to you as though you had it not. Great love is hardly capable of such
+secrecy as this. In the fulness of her love Patience had allowed her
+father to learn the secret of poor Clary's heart; and in the fulness
+of her love she had endeavoured to make things smooth at Newton.
+She had not told the young clergyman that Clarissa had given to his
+brother that which she could not give to him; but, meaning to do a
+morsel of service to both of them, if that might be possible, she had
+said a word or two, with what effect the reader will have seen from
+the conversation given in the last chapter.
+
+"She'll come to the parsonage yet," Ralph had said; and Gregory in
+one word had implied his assured conviction that any such coming was
+a thing not to be hoped for,--an event not even to be regarded as
+possible. Nevertheless, he made up his mind that he would go up to
+London,--to have his hair cut. In so making up his mind he did not
+for a moment believe that it could be of any use to him. He was not
+quite sure that when in London he would go to Popham Villa. He was
+quite sure that if he did go to Popham Villa he would make no further
+offer to Clarissa. He knew that his journey was foolish, simply
+the result of an uneasy, restless spirit,--that it would be better
+for him to remain in his parish and move about among the old women
+and bed-ridden men; but still he went. He would dine at his club,
+he said, and perhaps he might go down to Fulham on the following
+morning. And so the brothers parted. Ralph, as a man of property,
+with many weighty matters on hand, had, of course, much to do.
+He desired to inspect some agricultural implements, and a new
+carriage,--he had ever so many things to say to Carey, the lawyer,
+and wanted to order new harnesses for the horses. So he went to his
+club, and played whist all the afternoon.
+
+Gregory, as soon as he had secured a bed at a quiet inn, walked off
+to Southampton Buildings. From the direct manner in which this was
+done, it might have been argued that he had come up to London with
+the purpose of seeing Sir Thomas; but it was not so. He turned his
+steps towards the place where Clary's father was generally to be
+found, because he knew not what else to do. As he went he told
+himself that he might as well leave it alone;--but still he went.
+Stemm at once told him, with a candour that was almost marvellous,
+that Sir Thomas was out of town. The hearing of the petition was
+going on at Percycross, and Sir Thomas was there, as a matter of
+course. Stemm seemed to think it rather odd that an educated man,
+such as was the Rev. Gregory Newton, should have been unaware that
+the petition against the late election at Percycross was being
+carried on at this moment. "We've got Serjeant Burnaby, and little
+Mr. Joram down, to make a fight of it," said Mr. Stemm; "but, as
+far as I can learn, they might just as well have remained up in town.
+It's only sending good money after bad." The young parson hardly
+expressed that interest in the matter which Stemm had expected, but
+turned away, thinking whether he had not better have his hair cut at
+once, and then go home.
+
+But he did go to Popham Villa on the same afternoon, and,--such was
+his fortune,--he found Clarissa alone. Since her father had seen her
+in bed, and spoken to her of what he had called the folly of her
+love, she had not again given herself up to the life of a sick-room.
+She dressed herself and came down to breakfast of a morning, and then
+would sit with a needle in her hand till she took her book, and then
+with a book till she took her needle. She tried to work, and tried to
+read, and perhaps she did accomplish a little of each. And then, when
+Patience would tell her that exercise was necessary, she would put
+on her hat and creep out among the paths. She did make some kind of
+effort to get over the evil that had come upon her; but still no
+one could watch her and not know that she was a wounded deer. "Miss
+Clarissa is at home," said the servant, who well knew that the young
+clergyman was one of the rejected suitors. There had been hardly a
+secret in the house in reference to Gregory Newton's love. The two
+other young ladies, the girl said, had gone to London, but would be
+home to dinner. Then, with a beating heart, Gregory was ushered into
+the drawing-room. Clarissa was sitting near the window, with a novel
+in her lap, having placed herself there with the view of getting what
+was left of the light of the early spring evening; but she had not
+read a word for the last quarter of an hour. She was thinking of
+that word scoundrel, with which her father had spoken of the man she
+loved. Could it be that he was in truth so bad as that? And, if it
+were true, would she not take him, scoundrel as he was, if he would
+come to her? He might be a--scoundrel in that one thing, on that one
+occasion, and yet be good to her. He might repent his scoundrelism,
+and she certainly would forgive it. Of one thing she was quite
+sure;--he had not looked like a scoundrel when he had given her that
+assurance on the lawn! And so she thought of young men in general.
+It was very easy to call a young man a scoundrel, and yet to forgive
+him all his iniquities when it suited to do so. Young men might get
+in debt, and gamble, and make love wherever they pleased, and all at
+once,--and yet be forgiven. All these things were very bad. It might
+be just to call a man a scoundrel because he could not pay his debts,
+or because he made bets about horses. Young men did a great many
+things which would be horrid indeed were a girl to do them. Then one
+papa would call such a man a scoundrel, because he was not wanted
+to come to the house; while another papa would make him welcome,
+and give him the best of everything. Ralph Newton might be a
+scoundrel; but if so,--as Clarissa thought,--there were a great
+many good-looking scoundrels about in the world, as to whom their
+scoundrelism did very little to injure them in the esteem of all
+their friends. It was thus that Clarissa was thinking over her own
+affairs when Gregory Newton was shown into the room.
+
+The greeting on both sides was at first formal and almost cold. Clary
+had given a little start of surprise, and had then subsided into a
+most demure mode of answering questions. Yes; papa was at Percycross.
+She did not know when he was expected back. Mary and Patience were in
+London. Yes;--she was at home all alone. No; she had not seen Ralph
+since his uncle's death. The question which elicited this answer had
+been asked without any design, and Clary endeavoured to make her
+reply without emotion. If she displayed any, Gregory, who had his own
+affairs upon his mind, did not see it. No;--they had not seen the
+other Mr. Newton as he passed through town. They had all understood
+that he had been very much disturbed by his father's horrible
+accident and death. Then Gregory paused in his questions, and
+Clarissa expressed a hope that there might be no more hunting in the
+world.
+
+It was very hard work, this conversation, and Gregory was beginning
+to think that he had done no good by coming, when on a sudden he
+struck a chord from whence came a sound of music. "Ralph and I have
+been living together at the Priory," he said.
+
+"Oh;--indeed; yes;--I think I heard Patience say that you were at the
+Priory."
+
+"I suppose I shall not be telling any secret to you in talking about
+him and your cousin Mary?"
+
+Clarissa felt that she was blushing up to her brow, but she made a
+great effort to compose herself. "Oh, no," she said, "we all know of
+it."
+
+"I hope he may be successful," said Gregory.
+
+"I do not know. I cannot tell."
+
+"I never knew a man more thoroughly in love than he is."
+
+"I don't believe it," said Clarissa.
+
+"Not believe it! Indeed you may, Clary. I have never seen her, but
+from what he says of her I suppose her to be most beautiful."
+
+"She is,--very beautiful." This was said with a strong emphasis.
+
+"And why should you not believe it?"
+
+"It will not be of the slightest use, Mr. Newton; and you may tell
+him so. Though I suppose it is impossible to make a man believe
+that."
+
+"Are we both so unfortunate?" he asked.
+
+The poor girl with her wounded love, and every feeling sore within
+her, had not intended to say anything that should be cruel or
+injurious to Gregory himself, and it was not till the words were
+out of her mouth that she herself perceived their effect. "Oh, Mr.
+Newton, I was only thinking of him," she said, innocently. "I only
+meant that Ralph is one of those who always think they are to have
+everything they want."
+
+"I am not one of those, Clarissa. And yet I am one who seem never to
+be tired of asking for that which is not to be given to me. I said to
+myself when last I went from here that I would never ask again;--that
+I would never trouble you any more." She was sitting with the book in
+her hand, looking out into the gloom, and now she made no attempt to
+answer him. "And yet you see here I am," he continued. She was still
+silent, and her head was still turned away from him; but he could see
+that tears were streaming down her cheeks. "I have not the power not
+to come to you while yet there is a chance," he said. "I can live and
+work without you, but I can have no life of my own. When I first saw
+you I made a picture to myself of what my life might be, and I cannot
+get that moved from before my eyes. I am sorry, however, that my
+coming should make you weep."
+
+"Oh, Mr. Newton, I am so wretched!" she said, turning round sharply
+upon him. For a moment she had thought that she would tell him
+everything, and then she checked herself, and remembered how
+ill-placed such a confidence would be.
+
+"What should make you wretched, dearest?"
+
+"I do not know. I cannot tell. I sometimes think the world is bad
+altogether, and that I had better die. People are so cruel and so
+hard, and things are so wrong. But you may tell your brother that
+he need not think of my cousin, Mary. Nothing ever would move her.
+H--sh--. Here they are. Do not say that I was crying."
+
+He was introduced to the beauty, and as the lights came, Clarissa
+escaped. Yes;--she was indeed most lovely; but as he looked on her,
+Gregory felt that he agreed with Clarissa that nothing on earth would
+move her. He remained there for another half-hour; but Clarissa did
+not return, and then he went back to London.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIV.
+
+THE PETITION.
+
+
+The time for hearing the petition at Percycross had at length come,
+and the judge had gone down to that ancient borough. The day fixed
+was Monday, the 27th, and Parliament had then been sitting for three
+weeks. Mr. Griffenbottom had been as constant in his place as though
+there had been no sword hanging over his head; but Sir Thomas had not
+as yet even taken the oaths. He had made up his mind that he would
+not even enter the house while this bar against him as a legislator
+existed, and he had not as yet even been seen in the lobby. His
+daughters, his colleague, Mr. Trigger, and Stemm had all expostulated
+with him on the subject, assuring him that he should treat the
+petition with the greatest contempt, at any rate till it should have
+proved itself by its success to be a matter not contemptible; but to
+these counsellors he gave no ear, and when he went down to give his
+evidence before the judge at Percycross his seat had as yet availed
+him nothing.
+
+Mr. Griffenbottom had declared that he would not pay a shilling
+towards the expense of the petition, maintaining that his own seat
+was safe, and that any peril incurred had been so incurred simply
+on behalf of Sir Thomas. Nothing, according to Mr. Griffenbottom's
+views, could be more unjust than to expect that he should take any
+part in the matter. Trigger, too, had endeavoured to impress this
+upon Sir Thomas more than once or twice. But this had been all in
+vain; and Sir Thomas, acting under the advice of his own attorney,
+had at last compelled Mr. Griffenbottom to take his share in the
+matter. Mr. Griffenbottom did not scruple to say that he was very
+ill-used, and to hint that any unfair practices which might possibly
+have prevailed during the last election at Percycross, had all been
+adopted on behalf of Sir Thomas, and in conformity with Sir Thomas's
+views. It will, therefore, be understood that the two members did
+not go down to the borough in the best humour with each other. Mr.
+Trigger still nominally acted for both; but it had been almost avowed
+that Sir Thomas was to be treated as a Jonah, if by such treatment
+any salvation might be had for the ship of which Griffenbottom was to
+be regarded as the captain.
+
+Mr. Westmacott was also in Percycross,--and so was Moggs, reinstated
+in his old room at the Cordwainers' Arms. Moggs had not been
+summoned, nor was his presence there required for any purpose
+immediately connected with the inquiry to be made; but Purity and the
+Rights of Labour may always be advocated; and when better than at a
+moment in which the impurity of a borough is about to be made the
+subject of public condemnation? And Moggs, moreover, had now rankling
+in his bosom a second cause of enmity against the Tories of the
+borough. Since the election he had learned that his rival, Ralph
+Newton, was in some way connected with the sitting member, Sir
+Thomas, and he laid upon Sir Thomas's back the weight of his full
+displeasure in reference to the proposed marriage with Polly Neefit.
+He had heard that Polly had raised some difficulty,--had, indeed,
+rejected her aristocratic suitor, and was therefore not without hope;
+but he had been positively assured by Neefit himself that the match
+would be made, and was consequently armed with a double purpose in
+his desire to drive Sir Thomas ignominiously out of Percycross.
+
+Sir Thomas had had more than one interview with Serjeant Burnaby
+and little Mr. Joram, than whom two more astute barristers in such
+matters were not to be found at that time practising,--though perhaps
+at that time the astuteness of the Serjeant was on the wane; while
+that of Jacky Joram, as he was familiarly called, was daily rising
+in repute. Sir Thomas himself, barrister and senior to these two
+gentlemen, had endeavoured to hold his own with them, and to impress
+on them the conviction that he had nothing to conceal; that he had
+personally endeavoured, as best he knew how, to avoid corruption,
+and that if there had been corruption on the part of his own agents,
+he was himself ready to be a party in proclaiming it. But he found
+himself to be absolutely ignored and put out of court by his own
+counsel. They were gentlemen with whom professionally he had had no
+intercourse, as he had practised at the Chancery, and they at the
+Common Law Bar. But he had been Solicitor-General, and was a bencher
+of his Inn, whereas Serjeant Burnaby was only a Serjeant, and Jacky
+Joram still wore a stuff gown. Nevertheless, he found himself to be
+"nowhere" in discussing with them the circumstances of the election.
+Even Joram, whom he seemed to remember having seen only the other day
+as an ugly shame-faced boy about the courts, treated him, not exactly
+with indignity, but with patronising good-nature, listening with
+an air of half-attention to what he said, and then not taking the
+slightest heed of a word of it. Who does not know this transparent
+pretence of courtesies, which of all discourtesies is the most
+offensive? "Ah, just so, Sir Thomas; just so. And now, Mr. Trigger,
+I suppose Mr. Puffer's account hasn't yet been settled." Any word
+from Mr. Trigger was of infinitely greater value with Mr. Joram than
+all Sir Thomas's protestations. Sir Thomas could not keep himself
+from remembering that Jacky Joram's father was a cheesemonger at
+Gloucester, who had married the widow of a Jew with a little money.
+Twenty times Sir Thomas made up his mind to retire from the business
+altogether; but he always found himself unable to do so. When he
+mentioned the idea, Griffenbottom flung up his hands in dismay at
+such treachery on the part of an ally,--such treachery and such
+cowardice! What!--had not he, Sir Thomas, forced him, Griffenbottom,
+into all this ruinous expenditure? And now to talk of throwing up the
+sponge! It was in vain that Sir Thomas explained that he had forced
+nobody into it. It was manifestly the case that he had refused to go
+on with it by himself, and on this Mr. Griffenbottom and Mr. Trigger
+insisted so often and with so much strength that Sir Thomas felt
+himself compelled to stand to his guns, bad as he believed those guns
+to be.
+
+If Sir Thomas meant to retreat, why had he not retreated when a
+proposition to that effect was made to him at his own chambers? Of
+all the weak, vacillating, ill-conditioned men that Mr. Griffenbottom
+had ever been concerned with, Sir Thomas Underwood was the weakest,
+most vacillating, and most ill-conditioned. To have to sit in the
+same boat with such a man was the greatest misfortune that had ever
+befallen Mr. Griffenbottom in public life. Mr. Griffenbottom did not
+exactly say these hard things in the hearing of Sir Thomas, but he
+so said them that they became the common property of the Jorams,
+Triggers, Spiveycombs, and Spicers; and were repeated piecemeal to
+the unhappy second member.
+
+He had secured for himself a separate sitting-room at the "Percy
+Standard," thinking that thus he would have the advantage of being
+alone; but every one connected with his party came in and out of his
+room as though it had been specially selected as a chamber for public
+purposes. Even Griffenbottom came into it to have interviews there
+with Trigger, although at the moment Griffenbottom and Sir Thomas
+were not considered to be on speaking terms. Griffenbottom in these
+matters seemed to have the hide of a rhinoceros. He had chosen to
+quarrel with Sir Thomas. He had declared that he would not speak to a
+colleague whose Parliamentary ideas and habits were so repulsive to
+him. He had said quite aloud, that Trigger had never made a greater
+mistake in his life than in bringing Sir Thomas to the borough, and
+that, let the petition go as it would, Sir Thomas should never be
+returned for the borough again. He had spoken all these things,
+almost in the hearing of Sir Thomas. And yet he would come to Sir
+Thomas's private room, and sit there half the morning with a cigar in
+his mouth! Mr. Pile would come in, and make most unpleasant speeches.
+Mr. Spicer called continually, with his own ideas about the borough.
+The thing could be still saved if enough money were spent. If Mr.
+Givantake were properly handled, and Mr. O'Blather duly provided for,
+the two witnesses upon whom the thing really hung would not be found
+in Percycross when called upon to-morrow. That was Mr. Spicer's idea;
+and he was very eager to communicate it to Serjeant Burnaby. Trigger,
+in his energy, told Mr. Spicer to go and be ----. All this occurred
+in Sir Thomas's private room. And then Mr. Pabsby was there
+constantly, till he at last was turned out by Trigger. In his agony,
+Sir Thomas asked for another sitting-room; but was informed that the
+house was full. The room intended for the two members was occupied
+by Griffenbottom; but nobody ever suggested that the party might
+meet there when Sir Thomas's vain request was made for further
+accommodation. Griffenbottom went on with his cigar, and Mr. Pile
+sat picking his teeth before the fire, and making unpleasant little
+speeches.
+
+The judge, who had hurried into Percycross from another town, and who
+opened the commission on the Monday evening, did not really begin
+his work till the Tuesday morning. Jacky Joram had declared that the
+inquiry would last three days, he having pledged himself to be at
+another town early on the following Friday. Serjeant Burnaby, whose
+future services were not in such immediate demand, was of opinion
+that they would not get out of Percycross till Saturday night. Judge
+Crumbie, who was to try the case, and who had been trying similar
+cases ever since Christmas, was not due at his next town till the
+Monday; but it was understood by everybody that he intended if
+possible to spend his Saturday and Sunday in the bosom of his family.
+Trigger, however, had magnificent ideas. "I believe we shall carry
+them into the middle of next week," he said, "if they choose to
+go on with it." Trigger thoroughly enjoyed the petition; and even
+Griffenbottom, who was no longer troubled by gout, and was not now
+obliged to walk about the borough, did not seem to dislike it. But to
+poor Sir Thomas it was indeed a purgatory.
+
+The sitting members were of course accused, both as regarded
+themselves and their agents, of every crime known in electioneering
+tactics. Votes had been personated. Votes had been bought. Votes
+had been obtained by undue influence on the part of masters and
+landlords, and there had been treating of the most pernicious and
+corrupt description. As to the personating of votes, that according
+to Mr. Trigger, had been merely introduced as a pleasant commencing
+fiction common in Parliamentary petitions. There had been nothing
+of the kind, and nobody supposed that there had, and it did not
+signify. Of undue influence,--what purists choose to call undue
+influence,--there had of course been plenty. It was not likely that
+masters paying thousands a year in wages were going to let these men
+vote against themselves. But this influence was so much a matter
+of course that it could not be proved to the injury of the sitting
+members. Such at least was Mr. Trigger's opinion. Mr. Spicer might
+have been a little imprudent with his men; but no case could be
+brought up in which a man had been injured. Undue influence at
+Percycross was--"gammon." So said Mr. Trigger, and Jacky Joram agreed
+with Mr. Trigger. Serjeant Burnaby rubbed his hands, and would give
+no opinion till he had heard the evidence. That votes had been bought
+during the day of the election there was no doubt on earth. On this
+matter great secrecy prevailed, and Sir Thomas could not get a word
+spoken in his own hearing. It was admitted, however, that votes had
+been bought. There were a dozen men, perhaps more than a dozen,
+who would prove that one Glump had paid them ten shillings a piece
+between one and two on the day of the election. There was a general
+belief that perhaps over a hundred had been bought at that rate. But
+Trigger was ready to swear that he did not know whence Glump had got
+the money, and Glump himself was,--nobody knew where Glump was, but
+strange whispers respecting Glump were floating about the borough.
+Trigger was disposed to believe that they, on their side, could prove
+that Glump had really been employed by Westmacott's people to vitiate
+the election. He was quite sure that nothing could connect Glump
+with him as an agent on behalf of Griffenbottom and Underwood. So
+Mr. Trigger asserted with the greatest confidence; but what was in
+the bottom of Mr. Trigger's mind on this subject no one pretended
+to know. As for Glump himself he was a man who would certainly
+take payment from anybody for any dirty work. It was the general
+impression through the borough that Glump had on this occasion been
+hired by Trigger, and Trigger certainly enjoyed the prestige which
+was thus conferred upon him.
+
+As to the treating,--there could be no doubt about that. There had
+been treating. The idea of conducting an election at Percycross
+without beer seemed to be absurd to every male and female
+Percycrossian. Of course the publicans would open their taps and then
+send in their bills for beer to the electioneering agents. There was
+a prevailing feeling that any interference with so ancient a practice
+was not only un-English, but unjust also;--that it was beyond the
+power of Parliament to enforce any law so abominable and unnatural.
+Trigger was of opinion that though there had been a great deal
+of beer, no attempt would be made to prove that votes had been
+influenced by treating. There had been beer on both sides, and
+Trigger hoped sincerely that there might always be beer on both sides
+as long as Percycross was a borough.
+
+Sir Thomas found that his chance of success was now spoken of in a
+tone very different from that which had been used when the matter
+was discussed in his own chamber. He had been then told that it was
+hardly possible that he should keep his seat;--and he had in fact
+been asked to resign it. Though sick enough of Percycross, this
+he would not do in the manner then proposed to him. Now he was
+encouraged in the fight;--but the encouragement was of a nature which
+gave him no hope, which robbed him even of the wish to have a hope.
+It was all dirt from beginning to end. Whatever might be the verdict
+of the judge,--from the judge the verdict was now to come,--he should
+still believe that nothing short of absolute disfranchisement would
+meet the merits of the case.
+
+The accusation with regard to the personation of votes was
+abandoned,--Serjeant Burnaby expressing the most extreme disgust that
+any such charge should have been made without foundation,--although
+he himself at the borough which he had last left had brought forward
+the same charge on behalf of his then clients, and had abandoned it
+in the same way. Then the whole of the remaining hours of the Tuesday
+and half the Wednesday were passed in showing that Messrs. Spicer,
+Spiveycomb, and Roodylands had forced their own men to vote blue. Mr.
+Spicer had dismissed one man and Mr. Spiveycomb two men; but both
+these gentlemen swore that the men dismissed were not worth their
+salt, and had been sent adrift upon the world by no means on account
+of their politics. True: they had all voted for Moggs; but then they
+had done that simply to spite their late master. On the middle of
+Wednesday, when the matter of intimidation had been completed,--the
+result still lying in the bosom of Baron Crumbie,--Mr. Trigger
+thought that things were looking up. That was the report which he
+brought to Mr. Griffenbottom, who was smoking his midday cigar in
+Sir Thomas's arm-chair, while Sir Thomas was endeavouring to master
+the first book of Lord Verulam's later treatise "De dignitate
+scientiarum," seated in a cane-bottomed chair in a very small
+bed-room up-stairs.
+
+By consent the question of treating came next. Heaven and earth were
+being moved to find Glump. When the proposition was made that the
+treating should come before the bribery Trigger stated in court that
+he was himself doing his very best to find the man. There might yet
+be a hope, though, alas, the hope was becoming slighter every hour.
+His own idea was that Glump had been sent away to Holland by,--well,
+he did not care to name the parties by whom he believed that Glump
+had been expatriated. However, there might be a chance. The counsel
+on the other side remarked that there might, indeed, be a chance.
+Baron Crumbie expressed a hope that Mr. Glump might make his
+appearance,--for the sake of the borough, which might otherwise fare
+badly; and then the great beer question was discussed for two entire
+days.
+
+There was no doubt about the beer. Trigger, who was examined after
+some half-score of publicans, said openly that thirsty Conservative
+souls had been allowed to slake their drought at the joint expense
+of the Conservative party in the borough,--as thirsty Liberal souls
+had been encouraged to do on the other side. When reminded that any
+malpractice in that direction on the part of a beaten candidate could
+not affect the status of the elected members, he replied that all
+the beer consumed in Percycross during the election had not, to the
+best of his belief, affected a vote. The Percycrossians were not men
+to vote this way or that because of beer! He would not believe it
+even in regard to a Liberal Percycrossian. It might be so in other
+boroughs, but of other boroughs he knew absolutely nothing. Who paid
+for the beer? Mr. Trigger at once acknowledged that it was paid for
+out of the general funds provided for the election. Who provided
+those funds? There was not a small amount of fencing on this point,
+during the course of which Mr. Joram snapped very sharply and very
+frequently at the counsel on the other side,--hoping thereby somewhat
+to change the issue. But at last there came out these two facts,
+that there was a general fund, to which all Conservatives might
+subscribe, and that the only known subscribers to this fund were
+Mr. Griffenbottom, Sir Thomas Underwood, and old Mr. Pile, who had
+given a £10 note,--apparently with the view of proving that there
+was a fund. It was agreed on all hands that treating had been
+substantiated; but it was remarked by some that Baron Crumbie had
+not been hard upon treating in other boroughs. After all, the result
+would depend upon what the Baron thought about Mr. Glump. It might be
+that he would recommend further inquiry, under a special commission,
+into the practices of the borough, because of the Glump iniquities,
+and that he should, nevertheless, leave the seats to the sitting
+members. That seemed to be Mr. Trigger's belief on the evening of the
+Thursday, as he took his brandy and water in Sir Thomas's private
+sitting-room.
+
+There is nothing in the world so brisk as the ways and manners of
+lawyers when in any great case they come to that portion of it which
+they know to be the real bone of the limb and kernel of the nut. The
+doctor is very brisk when after a dozen moderately dyspeptic patients
+he comes on some unfortunate gentleman whose gastric apparatus
+is gone altogether. The parson is very brisk when he reaches the
+minatory clause in his sermon. The minister is very brisk when he
+asks the House for a vote, telling his hoped-for followers that this
+special point is absolutely essential to his government. Unless he
+can carry this, he and all those hanging on to him must vacate their
+places. The horse-dealer is very brisk when, after four or five
+indifferent lots, he bids his man bring out from the stable the
+last thorough-bred that he bought, and the very best that he ever
+put his eye on. But the briskness of none of these is equal to the
+briskness of the barrister who has just got into his hands for
+cross-examination him whom we may call the centre witness of a great
+case. He plumes himself like a bullfinch going to sing. He spreads
+himself like a peacock on a lawn. He perks himself like a sparrow on
+a paling. He crows amidst his attorneys and all the satellites of
+the court like a cock among his hens. He puts his hands this way and
+that, settling even the sunbeams as they enter, lest a moat should
+disturb his intellect or dull the edge of his subtlety. There is a
+modesty in his eye, a quiescence in his lips, a repose in his limbs,
+under which lie half-concealed,--not at all concealed from those
+who have often watched him at his work,--the glance, the tone, the
+spring, which are to tear that unfortunate witness into pieces,
+without infringing any one of those conventional rules which
+have been laid down for the guidance of successful well-mannered
+barristers.
+
+Serjeant Burnaby, though astute, was not specially brisk by nature;
+but on this Friday morning Mr. Joram was very brisk indeed. There
+was a certain Mr. Cavity, who had acted as agent for Westmacott, and
+who,--if anybody on the Westmacott side had been so guilty,--had been
+guilty in the matter of Glump's absence. Perhaps we should not do
+justice to Mr. Joram's acuteness were we to imagine him as believing
+that Glump was absent under other influence than that used on behalf
+of the conservative side; but there were subsidiary points on which
+Mr. Cavity might be made to tell tales. Of course there had been
+extensive bribery for years past in Percycross on the liberal as well
+as on the conservative side, and Mr. Joram thought that he could make
+Mr. Cavity tell a tale. And then, too, he could be very brisk in that
+affair of Glump. He was pretty nearly sure that Mr. Glump could not
+be connected by evidence with either of the sitting members or with
+any of their agents. He would prove that Glump was neutral ground,
+and that as such his services could not be traced to his friend, Mr.
+Trigger. Mr. Joram on this occasion was very brisk indeed.
+
+A score of men were brought up, ignorant, half-dumb, heavy-browed
+men, all dressed in the amphibious garb of out-o'-door town
+labourers,--of whom there exists a class of hybrids between the rural
+labourer and the artizan,--each one of whom acknowledged that after
+noon on the election day he received ten shillings, with instructions
+to vote for Griffenbottom and Underwood. And they did vote for
+Griffenbottom and Underwood. At all elections in Percycross they had,
+as they now openly acknowledged, waited till about the same hour on
+the day of election, and then somebody had bought their votes for
+somebody. On this occasion the purchase had been made by Mr. Glump.
+There was a small empty house up a little alley in the town, to which
+there was a back door opening on a vacant space in the town known
+as Grinder's Green. They entered this house by one door, leaving it
+by the other, and as they passed through, Glump gave to each man
+half a sovereign with instructions, entering their names in a small
+book;--and then they went in a body and voted for Griffenbottom and
+Underwood. Each of the twenty knew nearly all the other twenty, but
+none of them knew any other men who had been paid by Glump. Of course
+none of them had the slightest knowledge of Glump's present abode.
+It was proved that at the last election Glump had acted for the
+Liberals; but it was also proved that at the election before he had
+been active in bribing for the Conservatives. Very many things were
+proved,--if a thing be proved when supported by testimony on oath.
+Trigger proved that twenty votes alone could have been of no
+service, and would not certainly have been purchased in a manner so
+detrimental. According to Trigger's views it was as clear as daylight
+that Glump had not been paid by them. When asked whether he would
+cause Mr. Glump to be repaid that sum of ten pounds, should Mr. Glump
+send in any bill to that effect, he simply stated that Mr. Glump
+would certainly send no such bill to him. He was then asked whether
+it might not be possible that the money should be repaid by Messrs.
+Griffenbottom and Underwood through his hands, reaching Glump again
+by means of a further middleman. Mr. Trigger acknowledged that were
+such a claim made upon him by any known agent of his party, he would
+endeavour to pass the ten pounds through the accounts, as he thought
+that there should be a certain feeling of honour in these things;
+but he did not for a moment think that any one acting with him would
+have dealings with Glump. On the Saturday morning, when the case was
+still going on, to the great detriment of Baron Grumble's domestic
+happiness, Glump had not yet been caught. It seemed that the man
+had no wife, no relative, no friend. The woman at whose house he
+lodged declared that he often went and came after this fashion. The
+respect with which Glump's name was mentioned, as his persistency in
+disobeying the law and his capability for intrigue were thus proved,
+was so great, that it was a pity he could not have been there to
+enjoy it. For the hour he was a great man in Percycross,--and the
+greater because Baron Crumbie did not cease to threaten him with
+terrible penalties.
+
+Much other bribery was alleged, but none other was distinctly brought
+home to the agents of the sitting members. As to bringing bribery
+home to Mr. Griffenbottom himself;--that appeared to be out of the
+question. Nobody seemed even to wish to do that. The judge, as it
+appeared, did not contemplate any result so grave and terrible as
+that. There was a band of freemen of whom it was proved that they had
+all been treated with most excessive liberality by the corporation of
+the town; and it was proved, also, that a majority of the corporation
+were supporters of Mr. Griffenbottom. A large number of votes
+had been so secured. Such, at least, was the charge made by the
+petitioners. But this allegation Jacky Joram laughed to scorn. The
+corporation, of course, used the charities and privileges of the town
+as they thought right; and the men voted,--as they thought right. The
+only cases of bribery absolutely proved were those manipulated by
+Glump, and nothing had been adduced clearly connecting Glump and
+the Griffenbottomites. Mr. Trigger was in ecstasies; but Mr. Joram
+somewhat repressed him by referring to these oracular words which had
+fallen from the Baron in respect to the corporation. "A corporation
+may be guilty as well as an individual," the Baron had said. Jacky
+Joram had been very eager in assenting to the Baron, but in asserting
+at the same time that the bribery must be proved. "It won't be
+assumed, my lord, that a corporation has bribed because it has
+political sympathies." "It should have none," said the Baron. "Human
+nature is human nature, my lord,--even in corporations," said Jacky
+Joram. This took place just before luncheon,--which was made a solemn
+meal on all sides, as the judge had declared his intention of sitting
+till midnight, if necessary.
+
+Immediately after the solemn meal Mr. Griffenbottom was examined.
+It had been the declared purpose of the other side to turn Mr.
+Griffenbottom inside out. Mr. Griffenbottom and his conduct had on
+various former occasions been the subject of parliamentary petitions
+under the old form; but on such occasions the chief delinquent
+himself was never examined. Now Mr. Griffenbottom would be made to
+tell all that he knew, not only of his present, but of his past,
+iniquities. And yet Mr. Griffenbottom told very little; and it
+certainly did seem to the bystanders, that even the opposing counsel,
+even the judge on the bench, abstained from their prey because
+he was a member of Parliament. It was notorious to all the world
+that Griffenbottom had debased the borough; had so used its venal
+tendencies as to make that systematic which had before been too
+frequent indeed, but yet not systematized; that he had trained the
+rising generation of Percycross politicians to believe in political
+corruption;--and yet he escaped that utter turning inside out of
+which men had spoken.
+
+The borough had cost him a great deal of money certainly; but as far
+as he knew the money had been spent legally. It had at least always
+been his intention before an election was commenced that nothing
+illegal should be done. He had no doubt always afterwards paid sums
+of money the use of which he did not quite understand, and as to some
+of which he could not but fear that it had been doubtfully applied.
+The final accounts as to the last election had not reached him, but
+he did not expect to be charged with improper expenses. There no
+doubt would be something for beer, but that was unavoidable. As to
+Mr. Glump he knew literally nothing of the man,--nor had he wanted
+any such man's assistance. Twenty votes indeed! Let them look at his
+place upon the poll. There had been a time in the day when twenty
+votes this way or that might be necessary to Sir Thomas. He had been
+told that it was so. On the day of the election his own position
+on the poll had been so certain to him, that he should not have
+cared,--that is, for himself,--had he heard that Glump was buying
+votes against him. He considered it to be quite out of the question
+that Glump should have bought votes for him,--with any purpose of
+serving him. And so Mr. Griffenbottom escaped from the adverse
+counsel and from the judge.
+
+There was very little in the examination of Sir Thomas Underwood to
+interest any one. No one really suspected him of corrupt practices.
+In all such cases the singular part of the matter is that everybody,
+those who are concerned and those who are not concerned, really know
+the whole truth which is to be investigated; and yet, that which
+everybody knows cannot be substantiated. There were not five men in
+court who were not certain that Griffenbottom was corrupt, and that
+Sir Thomas was not; that the borough was rotten as a six-months-old
+egg; that Glump had acted under one of Trigger's aides-de-camp; that
+intimidation was the law of the borough; and that beer was used so
+that men drunk might not fear that which sober they had not the
+courage to encounter. All this was known to everybody; and yet, up
+to the last, it was thought by many in Percycross that corruption,
+acknowledged, transparent, egregious corruption, would prevail even
+in the presence of a judge. Mr. Trigger believed it to the last.
+
+But it was not so thought by the Jacky Jorams or by the Serjeant
+Burnabys. They made their final speeches,--the leading lawyer on each
+side, but they knew well what was coming. At half-past seven, for to
+so late an hour had the work been continued, the judge retired to
+get a cup of tea, and returned at eight to give his award. It was as
+follows:--
+
+As to the personation of votes, there should have been no allegation
+made. In regard to the charge of intimidation it appeared that the
+system prevailed to such an extent as to make it clear to him that
+Percycross was unfit to return representatives to Parliament. In the
+matter of treating he was not quite prepared to say that had no other
+charge been made he should have declared this election void, but of
+that also there had been sufficient to make him feel it to be his
+duty to recommend to the Speaker of the House of Commons that further
+inquiry should be made as to the practices of the borough. And as
+to direct bribery, though he was not prepared to say that he could
+connect the agents of the members with what had been done,--and
+certainly he could not connect either of the two members
+themselves,--still, quite enough had been proved to make it
+imperative upon him to declare the election void. This he should
+do in his report to the Speaker, and should also advise that a
+commission be held with the view of ascertaining whether the
+privilege of returning members of Parliament should remain with the
+borough. With Griffenbottom he dealt as tenderly as he did with Sir
+Thomas, sending them both forth to the world, unseated indeed, but as
+innocent, injured men.
+
+There was a night train up to London at 10 P.M., by which on that
+evening Sir Thomas Underwood travelled, shaking off from his feet as
+he entered the carriage the dust of that most iniquitous borough.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLV.
+
+"NEVER GIVE A THING UP."
+
+
+Mr. Neefit's conduct during this period of disappointment was not
+exactly what it should to have been, either in the bosom of his
+family or among his dependents in Conduit Street. Herr Bawwah, over
+a pot of beer in the public-house opposite, suggested to Mr. Waddle
+that "the governor might be ----," in a manner that affected Mr.
+Waddle greatly. It was an eloquent and energetic expression of
+opinion,--almost an expression of a settled purpose as coming from
+the German as it did come; and Waddle was bound to admit that cause
+had been given. "Fritz," said Waddle pathetically, "don't think about
+it. You can't better the wages." Herr Bawwah looked up from his pot
+of beer and muttered a German oath. He had been told that he was
+beastly, skulking, pig-headed, obstinate, drunken, with some other
+perhaps stronger epithets which may be omitted,--and he had been told
+that he was a German. In that had lain the venom. There was the word
+that rankled. He had another pot of beer, and though it was then only
+twelve o'clock on a Monday morning Herr Bawwah swore that he was
+going to make a day of it, and that old Neefit might cut out the
+stuff for himself if he pleased. As they were now at the end of
+March, which is not a busy time of the year in Mr. Neefit's trade,
+the great artist's defalcation was of less immediate importance;
+but, as Waddle knew, the German was given both to beer and obstinacy
+when aroused to wrath; and what would become of the firm should the
+obstinacy continue?
+
+"Where's that pig-headed German brute?" asked Mr. Neefit, when Mr.
+Waddle returned to the establishment. Mr. Waddle made no reply; and
+when Neefit repeated the question with a free use of the epithets
+previously omitted by us, Waddle still was dumb, leaning over his
+ledger as though in that there were matters so great as to absorb his
+powers of hearing. "The two of you may go and be ---- together!" said
+Mr. Neefit. If any order requiring immediate obedience were contained
+in this, Mr. Waddle disobeyed that order. He still bent himself over
+the ledger, and was dumb. Waddle had been trusted with his master's
+private view in the matter of the Newton marriage, and felt that on
+this account he owed a debt of forbearance to the unhappy father.
+
+The breeches-maker was in truth very unhappy. He had accused his
+German assistant of obstinacy, but the German could hardly have been
+more obstinate than his master. Mr. Neefit had set his heart upon
+making his daughter Mrs. Newton, and had persisted in declaring that
+the marriage should be made to take place. The young man had once
+given him a promise, and should be compelled to keep the promise
+so given. And in these days Mr. Neefit seemed to have lost that
+discretion for which his friends had once given him credit. On the
+occasion of his visit to the Moonbeam early in the hunting season he
+had spoken out very freely among the sportsmen there assembled; and
+from that time all reticence respecting his daughter seemed to have
+been abandoned. He had paid the debts of this young man, who was now
+lord of wide domains, when the young man hadn't "a red copper in his
+pocket,"--so did Mr. Neefit explain the matter to his friends,--and
+he didn't intend that the young man should be off his bargain.
+"No;--he wasn't going to put up with that;--not if he knew it." All
+this he declared freely to his general acquaintance. He was very
+eloquent on the subject in a personal interview which he had with Mr.
+Moggs senior, in consequence of a visit made to Hendon by Mr. Moggs
+junior, during which he feared that Polly had shown some tendency
+towards yielding to the young politician. Mr. Moggs senior might take
+this for granted;--that if Moggs junior made himself master of Polly,
+it would be of Polly pure and simple, of Polly without a shilling of
+dowry. "He'll have to take her in her smock." That was the phrase in
+which Mr. Neefit was pleased to express his resolution. To all of
+which Mr. Moggs senior answered never a word. It was on returning
+from Mr. Moggs's establishment in Bond Street to his own in Conduit
+Street that Mr. Neefit made himself so very unpleasant to the
+unfortunate German. When Ontario put on his best clothes, and took
+himself out to Hendon on the previous Sunday, he did not probably
+calculate that, as one consequence of that visit, the Herr Bawwah
+would pass a whole week of intoxication in the little back parlour of
+the public-house near St. George's Church.
+
+It may be imagined how very unpleasant all this must have been to
+Miss Neefit herself. Poor Polly indeed suffered many things; but she
+bore them with an admirable and a persistent courage. Indeed, she
+possessed a courage which greatly mitigated her sufferings. Let her
+father be as indiscreet as he might, he could not greatly lower her,
+as long as she herself was prudent. It was thus that Polly argued
+with herself. She knew her own value, and was not afraid that she
+should ever lack a lover when she wanted to find a husband. Of course
+it was not a nice thing to be thrown at a man's head, as her father
+was constantly throwing her at the head of young Newton; but such a
+man as she would give herself to at last would understand all that.
+Ontario Moggs, could she ever bring herself to accept Ontario, would
+not be less devoted to her because of her father's ill-arranged
+ambition. Polly could be obstinate too, but with her obstinacy there
+was combined a fund of feminine strength which, as we think, quite
+justified the devotion of Ontario Moggs.
+
+Amidst all these troubles Mrs. Neefit also had a bad time of it; so
+bad a time that she was extremely anxious that Ontario should at once
+carry off the prize;--Ontario, or the gasfitter, or almost anybody.
+Neefit was taking to drink in the midst of all this confusion, and
+was making himself uncommonly unpleasant in the bosom of his family.
+On the Sunday,--the Sunday before the Monday on which the Herr
+decided that his wisest course of action would be to abstain from
+work and make a beast of himself, in order that he might spite his
+master,--Mr. Neefit had dined at one o'clock, and had insisted on his
+gin-and-water and pipe immediately after his dinner. Now Mr. Neefit,
+when he took too much, did not fall into the extreme sins which
+disgraced his foreman. He simply became very cross till he fell
+asleep, very heavy while sleeping, and more cross than ever when
+again awake. While he was asleep on this Sunday afternoon Ontario
+Moggs came down to Hendon dressed in his Sunday best. Mrs. Neefit
+whispered a word to him before he was left alone with Polly. "You be
+round with her, and run your chance about the money." "Mrs. Neefit,"
+said Ontario, laying his hand upon his heart, "all the bullion in the
+Bank of England don't make a feather's weight in the balance." "You
+never was mercenary, Mr. Ontario," said the lady. "My sweetheart is
+to me more than a coined hemisphere," said Ontario. The expression
+may have been absurd, but the feeling was there.
+
+Polly was not at all coy of her presence,--was not so, though she
+had been specially ordered by her father not to have anything to
+say to that long-legged, ugly fool. "Handsome is as handsome does,"
+Polly had answered. Whereupon Mr. Neefit had shown his teeth and
+growled;--but Polly, though she loved her father, and after a fashion
+respected him, was not afraid of him; and now, when her mother left
+her alone with Ontario, she was free enough of her conversation. "Oh,
+Polly," he said, after a while, "you know why I'm here."
+
+"Yes; I know," said Polly.
+
+"I don't think you do care for that young gentleman."
+
+"I'm not going to break my heart about him, Mr. Moggs."
+
+"I'd try to be the death of him, if you did."
+
+"That would be a right down tragedy, because then you'd be hung,--and
+so there'd be an end of us all. I don't think I'd do that, Mr.
+Moggs."
+
+"Polly, I sometimes feel as though I didn't know what to do."
+
+"Tell me the whole story of how you went on down at Percycross. I was
+so anxious you should get in."
+
+"Were you now?"
+
+"Right down sick at heart about it;--that I was. Don't you think we
+should all be proud to know a member of Parliament?"
+
+"Oh; if that's all--"
+
+"I shouldn't think anything of Mr. Newton for being in Parliament.
+Whether he was in Parliament or out would be all the same. Of course
+he's a friend, and we like him very well; but his being in Parliament
+would be nothing. But if you were there--!"
+
+"I don't know what's the difference," said Moggs despondently.
+
+"Because you're one of us."
+
+"Yes; I am," said Moggs, rising to his legs and preparing himself
+for an oration on the rights of labour. "I thank my God that I am no
+aristocrat." Then there came upon him a feeling that this was not a
+time convenient for political fervour. "But, I'll tell you something,
+Polly," he said, interrupting himself.
+
+"Well;--tell me something, Mr. Moggs."
+
+"I'd sooner have a kiss from you than be Prime Minister."
+
+"Kisses mean so much, Mr. Moggs," said Polly.
+
+"I mean them to mean much," said Ontario Moggs. Whereupon Polly,
+declining further converse on that delicate subject, and certainly
+not intending to grant the request made on the occasion, changed the
+subject.
+
+"But you will get in still;--won't you, Mr. Moggs? They tell me that
+those other gentlemen ain't to be members any longer, because what
+they did was unfair. Oughtn't that to make you member?"
+
+"I think it ought, if the law was right;--but it doesn't."
+
+"Doesn't it now? But you'll try again;--won't you? Never give a thing
+up, Mr. Moggs, if you want it really." As the words left her lips she
+understood their meaning,--the meaning in which he must necessarily
+take them,--and she blushed up to her forehead. Then she laughed as
+she strove to recall the encouragement she had given him. "You know
+what I mean, Mr. Moggs. I don't mean any silly nonsense about being
+in love."
+
+"If that is silly, I am the silliest man in London."
+
+"I think you are sometimes;--so I tell you fairly."
+
+In the meantime Mr. Neefit had woke from his slumbers. He was in his
+old arm-chair in the little back room, where they had dined, while
+Polly with her lover was in the front parlour. Mrs. Neefit was seated
+opposite to Mr. Neefit, with an open Bible in her lap, which had been
+as potent for sleep with her as had been the gin-and-water with her
+husband. Neefit suddenly jumped up and growled. "Where's Polly?" he
+demanded.
+
+"She's in the parlour, I suppose," said Mrs. Neefit doubtingly.
+
+"And who is with her?"
+
+"Nobody as hadn't ought to be," said Mrs. Neefit.
+
+"Who's there, I say?" But without waiting for an answer, he stalked
+into the front room. "It's no use in life your coming here," he said,
+addressing himself at once to Ontario; "not the least. She ain't
+for you. She's for somebody else. Why can't one word be as good as
+a thousand?" Moggs stood silent, looking sheepish and confounded.
+It was not that he was afraid of the father; but that he feared to
+offend the daughter should he address the father roughly. "If she
+goes against me she'll have to walk out of the house with just what
+she's got on her back."
+
+"I should be quite contented," said Ontario.
+
+"But I shouldn't;--so you may just cut it. Anybody who wants her
+without my leave must take her in her smock."
+
+"Oh, father!" screamed Polly.
+
+"That's what I mean,--so let's have done with it. What business have
+you coming to another man's house when you're not welcome? When I
+want you I'll send for you; and till I do you have my leave to stay
+away."
+
+"Good-bye, Polly," said Ontario, offering the girl his hand.
+
+"Good-bye, Mr. Moggs," said Polly; "and mind you get into Parliament.
+You stick to it, and you'll do it."
+
+When she repeated this salutary advice, it must have been that she
+intended to apply to the double event. Moggs at any rate took it in
+that light. "I shall," said he, as he opened the door and walked
+triumphantly out of the house.
+
+"Father," said Polly, as soon as they were alone, "you've behaved
+very bad to that young man."
+
+"You be blowed," said Mr. Neefit.
+
+"You have, then. You'll go on till you get me that talked about that
+I shall be ashamed to show myself. What's the good of me trying to
+behave, if you keep going on like that?"
+
+"Why didn't you take that chap when he came after you down to
+Margate?"
+
+"Because I didn't choose. I don't care enough for him; and it's all
+no use of you going on. I wouldn't have him if he came twenty times.
+I've made up my mind, so I tell you."
+
+"You're a very grand young woman."
+
+"I'm grand enough to have a will of my own about that. I'm not going
+to be made to marry any man, I know."
+
+"And you mean to take that long-legged shoemaker's apprentice."
+
+"He's not a shoemaker's apprentice any more than I'm a
+breeches-maker's apprentice." Polly was now quite in earnest, and in
+no mood for picking her words. "He is a bootmaker by his trade; and
+I've never said anything about taking him."
+
+"You've given him a promise."
+
+"No; I've not."
+
+"And you'd better not, unless you want to walk out of this house with
+nothing but the rags on your back. Ain't I doing it all for you?
+Ain't I been sweating my life out these thirty years to make you a
+lady?" This was hard upon Polly, as she was not yet one-and-twenty.
+
+"I don't want to be a lady; no more than I am just by myself, like.
+If I can't be a lady without being made one, I won't be a lady at
+all."
+
+"You be blowed."
+
+"There are different kinds of ladies, father. I want to be such a
+one as neither you nor mother shall ever have cause to say I didn't
+behave myself."
+
+"You'd talk the figures off a milestone," said Mr. Neefit, as he
+returned to his arm-chair, to his gin-and-water, to his growlings,
+and before long to his slumbers. Throughout the whole evening he was
+very unpleasant in the bosom of his family,--which consisted on this
+occasion of his wife only, as Polly took the opportunity of going out
+to drink tea with a young lady friend. Neefit, when he heard this,
+suggested that Ontario was drinking tea at the same house, and would
+have pursued his daughter but for mingled protestations and menaces
+which his wife used for preventing such a violation of parental
+authority. "Moggs don't know from Adam where she is; and you never
+knowed her do anything of that kind. And you'll go about with your
+mad schemes and jealousies till you about ruin the poor girl; that's
+what you will. I won't have it. If you go, I'll go too, and I'll
+shame you. No; you shan't have your hat. Of course she'll be off some
+day, if you make the place that wretched that she can't live in it. I
+know I would,--with the fust man as'd ask me." By these objurgations,
+by a pertinacious refusal as to his hat, and a little yielding in the
+matter of gin-and-water, Mr. Neefit was at length persuaded to remain
+at home.
+
+On the following morning he said nothing before he left home, but as
+soon as he had opened his letters and spoken a few sharp things to
+the two men in Conduit Street, he went off to Mr. Moggs senior. Of
+the interview between Mr. Neefit and Mr. Moggs senior sufficient has
+already been told. Then it was, after his return to his own shop,
+that he so behaved as to drive the German artist into downright
+mutiny and unlimited beer. Through the whole afternoon he snarled at
+Waddle; but Waddle sat silent, bending over the ledger. One question
+Waddle did answer.
+
+"Where's that pig-headed German gone?" asked Mr. Neefit for the tenth
+time.
+
+"I believe he's cutting his throat about this time," said Mr. Waddle.
+
+"He may wait till I come and sew it up," said the breeches-maker.
+
+All this time Mr. Neefit was very unhappy. He knew, as well as did
+Mr. Waddle or Polly, that he was misbehaving himself. He was by no
+means deficient in ideas of duty to his wife, to his daughter, and to
+his dependents. Polly was the apple of his eye; his one jewel;--in
+his estimation the best girl that ever lived. He admired her in all
+her moods, even though she would sometimes oppose his wishes with
+invincible obstinacy. He knew in his heart that were she to marry
+Ontario Moggs he would forgive her on the day of her marriage. He
+could not keep himself from forgiving her though she were to marry a
+chimney-sweep. But, as he thought, a great wrong was being done him.
+He could not bring himself to believe that Polly would not marry
+the young Squire, if the young Squire would only be true to his
+undertaking; and then he could not endure that the young Squire
+should escape from him, after having been, as it were, saved from
+ruin by his money, without paying for the accommodation in some
+shape. He had some inkling of an idea that in punishing Ralph by
+making public the whole transaction, he would be injuring his
+daughter as much as he injured Ralph. But the inkling did not
+sufficiently establish itself in his mind to cause him to desist.
+Ralph Newton ought to be made to repeat his offer before all the
+world; even though he should only repeat it to be again refused. The
+whole of that evening he sat brooding over it, so that he might come
+to some great resolution.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVI.
+
+MR. NEEFIT AGAIN.
+
+
+The last few days in March and the first week in April were devoted
+by Ralph the heir to a final visit to the Moonbeam. He had resolved
+to finish the hunting season at his old quarters, and then to remove
+his stud to Newton. The distinction with which he was welcomed
+by everybody at the Moonbeam must have been very gratifying to
+him. Though he had made no response whatever to Lieutenant Cox's
+proposition as to a visit to Newton, that gentleman received him as a
+hero. Captain Fooks also had escaped from his regiment with the sole
+object of spending these last days with his dear old friend. Fred
+Pepper too was very polite, though it was not customary with Mr.
+Pepper to display friendship so enthusiastic as that which warmed the
+bosoms of the two military gentlemen. As to Mr. Horsball, one might
+have thought from his manner that he hoped to engage his customer to
+remain at the Moonbeam for the rest of his life. But it was not so.
+It was in Mr. Horsball's nature to be civil to a rich hunting country
+gentleman; and it was the fact also that Ralph had ever been popular
+with the world of the Moonbeam,--even at times when the spasmodic,
+and at length dilatory, mode of his payment must have become matter
+for thought to the master of the establishment. There was no doubt
+about the payments now, and Ralph's popularity was increased
+fourfold. Mrs. Horsball got out from some secluded nook a special
+bottle of orange-brandy in his favour,--which Lieutenant Cox would
+have consumed on the day of its opening, had not Mrs. Horsball with
+considerable acrimony declined to supply his orders. The sister with
+ringlets smiled and smirked whenever the young Squire went near the
+bar. The sister in ringlets was given to flirtations of this kind,
+would listen with sweetest complacency to compliments on her beauty,
+and would return them with interest. But she never encouraged this
+sort of intimacy with gentlemen who did not pay their bills, or with
+those whose dealings with the house were not of a profitable nature.
+The man who expected that Miss Horsball would smile upon him because
+he ordered a glass of sherry and bitters or half-a-pint of pale ale
+was very much mistaken; but the softness of her smiles for those who
+consumed the Moonbeam champagne was unbounded. Love and commerce
+with her ran together, and regulated each other in a manner that was
+exceedingly advantageous to her brother. If I were about to open such
+a house as the Moonbeam the first thing I should look for would be
+a discreet, pleasant-visaged lady to assist me in the bar department,
+not much under forty, with ringlets, having no particular leaning
+towards matrimony, who knew how to whisper little speeches while she
+made a bottle of cherry-brandy serve five-and-twenty turns at the
+least. She should be honest, patient, graceful, capable of great
+labour, grasping,--with that wonderful capability of being greedy for
+the benefit of another which belongs to women,--willing to accept
+plentiful meals and a power of saving £20 a year as sufficient
+remuneration for all hardships, with no more susceptibility than a
+milestone, and as indifferent to delicacy in language as a bargee.
+There are such women, and very valuable women they are in that trade.
+Such a one was Miss Horsball, and in these days the sweetest of her
+smiles were bestowed upon the young Squire.
+
+Ralph Newton certainly liked it, though he assumed an air of laughing
+at it all. "One would think that old Hossy thought that I am going to
+go on with this kind of thing," he said one morning to Mr. Pepper as
+the two of them were standing about near the stable doors with pipes
+in their mouths. Old Hossy was the affectionate nickname by which Mr.
+Horsball was known among the hunting men of the B. B. Mr. Pepper and
+Ralph had already breakfasted, and were dressed for hunting except
+that they had not yet put on their scarlet coats. The meet was within
+three miles of their head-quarters; the captain and the lieutenant
+were taking advantage of the occasion by prolonged slumbers; and
+Ralph had passed the morning in discussing hunting matters with Mr.
+Pepper.
+
+"He don't think that," said Mr. Pepper, taking a very convenient
+little implement out of his pocket, contrived for purposes of
+pipe-smoking accommodation. He stopped down his tobacco, and drew the
+smoke, and seemed by his manner to be giving his undivided attention
+to his pipe. But that was Mr. Pepper's manner. He was short in
+speech, but always spoke with a meaning.
+
+"Of course he doesn't really," said Ralph. "I don't suppose I shall
+ever see the old house again after next week. You see when a man has
+a place of one's own, if there be hunting there, one is bound to take
+it; if there isn't, one can go elsewhere and pick and choose."
+
+"Just so," said Mr. Pepper.
+
+"I like this kind of thing amazingly, you know."
+
+"It has its advantages."
+
+"Oh dear, yes. There is no trouble, you know. Everything done for
+you. No servants to look after,--except just the fellow who brings
+you your breeches and rides your second horse." Mr. Pepper never had
+a second horse, or a man of his own to bring him his breeches, but
+the allusion did not on that account vex him. "And then you can do
+what you like a great deal more than you can in a house of your own."
+
+"I should say so," remarked Mr. Pepper.
+
+"I tell you what it is, Fred," continued Ralph, becoming very
+confidential. "I don't mind telling you, because you are a man who
+understands things. There isn't such a great pull after all in having
+a property of your own."
+
+"I shouldn't mind trying it,--just for a year or so," said Mr.
+Pepper.
+
+"I suppose not," said Ralph, chuckling in his triumph. "And yet there
+isn't so much in it. What does it amount to when it's all told? You
+keep horses for other fellows to ride, you buy wine for other fellows
+to drink, you build a house for other fellows to live in. You've a
+deal of business to do, and if you don't mind it you go very soon to
+the dogs. You have to work like a slave, and everybody gets a pull at
+you. The chances are you never have any ready money, and become as
+stingy as an old file. You have to get married because of the family,
+and the place, and all that kind of thing. Then you have to give
+dinners to every old fogy, male and female, within twenty miles
+of you, and before you know where you are you become an old fogy
+yourself. That's about what it is."
+
+"You ought to know," said Mr. Pepper.
+
+"I've been expecting it all my life,--of course. It was what I was
+born to, and everybody has been telling me what a lucky fellow I am
+since I can remember. Now I've got it, and I don't find it comes to
+so very much. I shall always look back upon the dear old Moonbeam,
+and the B. B., and Hossy's wonderful port wine with regret. It hasn't
+been very swell, you know, but it's been uncommonly cosy. Don't you
+think so?"
+
+"You see I wasn't born to anything better," said Mr. Pepper.
+
+Just at this moment Cox and Fooks came out of the house. They had
+not as yet breakfasted, but had thought that a mouthful of air in
+the stable-yard might enable them to get through their toast and
+red herrings with an amount of appetite which had not as yet been
+vouchsafed to them. Second and third editions of that wonderful port
+had been produced on the previous evening, and the two warriors had
+played their parts with it manfully. Fooks was bearing up bravely as
+he made his way across the yard; but Cox looked as though his friends
+ought to see to his making that journey to Australia very soon if
+they intended him to make it at all. "I'm blessed if you fellows
+haven't been and breakfasted," said Captain Fooks.
+
+"That's about it," said the Squire.
+
+"You must be uncommon fond of getting up early."
+
+"Do you know who gets the worm?" asked Mr. Pepper.
+
+"Oh, bother that," said Cox.
+
+"There's nothing I hate so much as being told about that nasty worm,"
+said Captain Fooks. "I don't want a worm."
+
+"But the early birds do," said Mr. Pepper.
+
+Captain Fooks was rather given to be cross of mornings. "I think, you
+know, that when fellows say over night they'll breakfast together, it
+isn't just the sort of thing for one or two to have all the things
+brought up at any unconscionable hour they please. Eh, Cox?"
+
+"I'm sure I don't know," said Cox. "I shall just have another go of
+soda and brandy with a devilled biscuit. That's all I want."
+
+"Fooks had better go to bed again, and see if he can't get out the
+other side," said Ralph.
+
+"Chaff doesn't mean anything," said Captain Fooks.
+
+"That's as you take it," said Mr. Pepper.
+
+"I shall take it just as I please," said Captain Fooks.
+
+Just at this moment Mr. Horsball came up to them, touching his hat
+cheerily in sign of the commencement of the day. "You'll ride Mr.
+Pepper's little 'orse, I suppose, sir?" he said, addressing himself
+to the young Squire.
+
+"Certainly,--I told Larking I would."
+
+"Exactly, Mr. Newton. And Banker might as well go out as second."
+
+"I said Brewer. Banker was out on Friday."
+
+"That won't be no odds, Mr. Newton. The fact is. Brewer's legs is a
+little puffed."
+
+"All right," said the Squire.
+
+"Well, old Hossy," said Lieutenant Cox, summing up all his energy in
+an attempt at matutinal joviality as he slapped the landlord on the
+back, "how are things going with you?"
+
+Mr. Horsball knew his customers, and did not like being slapped
+on the back with more than ordinary vigour by such a customer as
+Lieutenant Cox. "Pretty well, I thank you, Mr. Cox," said he. "I
+didn't take too much last night, and I eat my breakfast 'earty this
+morning."
+
+"There is one for you, young man," said Captain Fooks. Whereupon
+the Squire laughed heartily. Mr. Horsball went on nodding his
+head, intending to signify his opinion that he had done his work
+thoroughly; Mr. Pepper, standing on one foot with the other raised
+on a horse-block, looked on without moving a muscle of his face. The
+lieutenant was disgusted, but was too weak in his inner man to be
+capable of instant raillery;--when, on a sudden, the whole aspect of
+things was changed by the appearance of Mr. Neefit in the yard.
+
+"D----tion!" exclaimed our friend Ralph. The apparition had been so
+sudden that the Squire was unable to restrain himself. Mr. Neefit, as
+the reader will perhaps remember, had been at the Moonbeam before. He
+had written letters which had been answered, and then letters,--many
+letters,--to which no reply had been given. In respect of the Neefit
+arrangements Ralph Newton felt himself to be peculiarly ill-used by
+persecutions such as these, because he had honestly done his best
+to make Polly his wife. No doubt he acknowledged that fortune had
+favoured him almost miraculously, in first saving him from so
+injurious a marriage by the action of the young lady, and then at
+once bestowing upon him his estate. But the escape was the doing of
+fortune and Polly Neefit combined, and had not come of any intrigue
+on his own part. He was in a position,--so he thought,--absolutely
+to repudiate Neefit, and to throw himself upon facts for his
+protection;--but then it was undoubtedly the case that for a year
+or two Mr. Neefit could make his life a burden to him. He would
+have bought off Neefit at a considerable price, had Neefit been
+purchaseable. But Neefit was not in this matter greedy for himself.
+He wanted to make his daughter a lady, and he thought that this
+was the readiest way to accomplish that object. The Squire, in his
+unmeasurable disgust, uttered the curse aloud; but then, remembering
+himself, walked up to the breeches-maker with his extended hand. He
+had borrowed the man's money. "What's in the wind now, Mr. Neefit?"
+he said.
+
+"What's in the wind, Captain? Oh, you know. When are you coming to
+see us at the cottage?"
+
+"I don't think my coming would do any good. I'm not in favour with
+the ladies there." Ralph was aware that all the men standing round
+him had heard the story, and that nothing was to be gained by an
+immediate attempt at concealment. It behoved him, above all things,
+to be upon his metal, to put a good face upon it, and to be at any
+rate equal to the breeches-maker in presence of mind and that kind of
+courage which he himself would have called "cheek."
+
+"My money was in favour with you, Captain, when you promised as how
+you would be on the square with me in regard to our Polly."
+
+"Mr. Neefit," said Ralph, speaking in a low voice, but still clearly,
+so that all around him could hear him, "your daughter and I can never
+be more to each other than we are at present. She has decided that.
+But I value her character and good name too highly to allow even you
+to injure them by such a discussion in a stableyard." And, having
+said this, he walked away into the house.
+
+"My Polly's character!" said the infuriated breeches-maker, turning
+round to the audience, and neglecting to follow his victim in his
+determination to vindicate his daughter. "If my girl's character
+don't stand higher nor his or any one's belonging to him I'll eat
+it!"
+
+"Mr. Newton meant to speak in favour of the young lady, not against
+her," said Mr. Pepper.
+
+"Then why don't he come out on the square? Now, gents, I'll tell you
+just the whole of it. He came down to my little box, where I, and my
+missus, and my girl lives quiet and decent, to borrow money;--and he
+borrowed it. He won't say as that wasn't so."
+
+"And he's paid you the money back again," said Mr. Pepper.
+
+"He have;--but just you listen. I know you, Mr. Pepper, and all about
+you; and do you listen. He have paid it back. But when he come there
+borrowing money, he saw my girl; and, says he,--'I've got to sell
+that 'eritance of mine for just what it 'll fetch.' 'That's bad,
+Captain,' says I. 'It is bad,' says he. Then says he again, 'Neefit,
+that girl of yours there is the sweetest girl as ever I put my eyes
+on.' And so she is,--as sweet as a rose, and as honest as the sun,
+and as good as gold. I says it as oughtn't; but she is. 'It's a pity,
+Neefit,' says he,' about the 'eritance; ain't it?' 'Captain,' says
+I,--I used to call him Captain 'cause he come down quite familiar
+like to eat his bit of salmon and drink his glass of wine. Laws,--he
+was glad enough to come then, mighty grand as he is now."
+
+"I don't think he's grand at all," said Mr. Horsball.
+
+"Well;--do you just listen, gents. 'Captain,' says I, 'that 'eritance
+of yourn mustn't be sold no how. I says so. What's the figure as is
+wanted?' Well; then he went on to say as how Polly was the sweetest
+girl he ever see;--and so we came to an understanding. He was to have
+what money he wanted at once, and then £20,000 down when he married
+Polly. He did have a thousand. And, now,--see what his little game
+is."
+
+"But the young lady wouldn't have anything to say to him," suggested
+Captain Fooks, who, even for the sake of his breakfast, could not
+omit to hear the last of so interesting a conversation.
+
+"Laws, Captain Fooks, to hear the likes of that from you, who is an
+officer and a gentleman by Act of Parliament! When you have anything
+sweet to say to a young woman, does she always jump down your throat
+the first go off?"
+
+"If she don't come at the second time of asking I always go
+elsewhere," said Captain Fooks.
+
+"Then it's my opinion you have a deal of travelling to do," said Mr.
+Neefit, "and don't get much at the end of it. It's because he's come
+in for his 'eritance, which he never would have had only for me, that
+he's demeaning himself this fashion. It ain't acting the gentleman;
+it ain't the thing; it's off the square. Only for me and my money
+there wouldn't be an acre his this blessed minute;--d----d if there
+would! I saved it for him, by my ready money,--just that I might see
+my Polly put into a station as she'd make more genteel than she found
+it. That's what she would;--she has that manners, not to talk of her
+being as pretty a girl as there is from here to,--to anywheres. He
+made me a promise, and he shall keep it. I'll worry the heart out
+of him else. Pay me back my money! Who cares for the money? I can
+tell guineas with him now, I'll be bound. I'll put it all in the
+papers,--I will. There ain't a soul shan't know it. I'll put the
+story of it into the pockets of every pair of breeches as leaves my
+shop. I'll send it to every M. F. H. in the kingdom."
+
+"You'll about destroy your trade, old fellow," said Mr. Pepper.
+
+"I don't care for the trade, Mr. Pepper. Why have I worked like a
+'orse? It's only for my girl."
+
+"I suppose she's not breaking her heart for him?" said Captain Fooks.
+
+"What she's a doing with her heart ain't no business of yours,
+Captain Fooks. I'm her father, and I know what I'm about. I'll make
+that young man's life a burden to him, if 'e ain't on the square
+with my girl. You see if I don't. Mr. 'Orsball, I want a 'orse to go
+a 'unting on to-day. You lets 'em. Just tell your man to get me a
+'orse. I'll pay for him."
+
+"I didn't know you ever did anything in that way," said Mr. Horsball.
+
+"I may begin if I please, I suppose. If I can't go no other way, I'll
+go on a donkey, and I'll tell every one that's out. Oh, 'e don't know
+me yet,--don't that young gent."
+
+Mr. Neefit did not succeed in getting any animal out of Mr.
+Horsball's stables, nor did he make further attempt to carry his last
+threat into execution on that morning. Mr. Horsball now led the way
+into the house, while Mr. Pepper mounted his nag. Captain Fooks and
+Lieutenant Cox went in to their breakfast, and the unfortunate father
+followed them. It was now nearly eleven o'clock, and it was found
+that Ralph's horses had been taken round to the other door, and that
+he had already started. He said very little to any one during the
+day, though he was somewhat comforted by information conveyed to him
+by Mr. Horsball in the course of the afternoon that Mr. Neefit had
+returned to London. "You send your lawyer to him, Squire," said Mr.
+Horsball. "Lawyers cost a deal of money, but they do make things
+straight." This suggestion had also been made to him by his brother
+Gregory.
+
+On the following day Ralph went up to London, and explained all the
+circumstances of the case to Mr. Carey. Mr. Carey undertook to do his
+best to straighten this very crooked episode in his client's life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVII.
+
+THE WAY WHICH SHOWS THAT THEY MEAN IT.
+
+
+If this kind of thing were to go on, life wouldn't be worth having.
+That was the feeling of Ralph, the squire of Newton, as he returned
+on that Saturday from London to the Moonbeam; and so far Mr. Neefit
+had been successful in carrying out his threat. Neefit had sworn
+that he would make the young man's life a burden to him, and the
+burden was already becoming unbearable. Mr. Carey had promised to do
+something. He would, at any rate, see the infatuated breeches-maker
+of Conduit Street. In the meantime he had suggested one remedy of
+which Ralph had thought before,--"If you were married to some one
+else he'd give it up," Mr. Carey had suggested. That no doubt was
+true.
+
+Ralph completed his sojourn at the Moonbeam, leaving that place at
+the end of the first week in April, took a run down to his own place,
+and then settled himself up to London for the season. His brother
+Gregory had at this time returned to the parsonage at Newton; but
+there was an understanding that he was to come up to London and be
+his brother's guest for the first fortnight in May. Ralph the heir
+had taken larger rooms, and had a spare chamber. When Ralph had given
+this invitation, he had expressed his determination of devoting his
+spring in town to an assiduous courtship of Mary Bonner. At the
+moment in which he made that assertion down at Newton, the nuisance
+of the Neefit affair was less intolerable to him than it had since
+become. He had spoken cheerily of his future prospects, declaring
+himself to be violently in love with Mary, though he declared at the
+same time that he had no idea of breaking his heart for any young
+woman. That last assertion was probably true.
+
+As for living in the great house at the Priory all alone, that he
+had declared to be impossible. Of course he would be at home for
+the hunting next winter; but he doubted whether he should be there
+much before that time, unless a certain coming event should make it
+necessary for him to go down and look after things. He thought it
+probable that he should take a run abroad in July; perhaps go to
+Norway for the fishing in June. He was already making arrangements
+with two other men for a move in August. He might be at home for
+partridge shooting about the middle of September, but he shouldn't
+"go into residence" at Newton before that. Thus he had spoken of it
+in describing his plans to his brother, putting great stress on his
+intention to devote the spring months to the lovely Mary. Gregory
+had seen nothing wrong in all this. Ralph was now a rich man, and
+was entitled to amuse himself. Gregory would have wished that his
+brother would at once make himself happy among his own tenants
+and dependents, but that, no doubt, would come soon. Ralph did
+spend two nights at Newton after the scene with Neefit in the
+Moonbeam yard,--just that he might see his nags safe in their new
+quarters,--and then went up to London. He was hardly yet strong in
+heart, because such a trouble as that which vexed him in regard to
+Polly does almost make a man's life a burden. Ralph was gifted with
+much aptitude for throwing his troubles behind, but he hardly was yet
+able to rid himself of this special trouble. That horrid tradesman
+was telling his story to everybody. Sir Thomas Underwood knew
+the story; and so, he thought, did Mary Bonner. Mary Bonner, in
+truth, did not know it; but she had thrown in Ralph's teeth, as an
+accusation against him, that he owed himself and his affections to
+another girl; and Ralph, utterly forgetful of Clarissa and that now
+long-distant scene on the lawn, had believed, and still did believe,
+that Mary had referred to Polly Neefit. On the 10th of April he
+established himself at his new rooms in Spring Gardens, and was
+careful in seeing that there was a comfortable little bed-room for
+his brother Greg. His uncle had now been dead just six months, but he
+felt as though he had been the owner of the Newton estate for years.
+If Mr. Carey could only settle for him that trouble with Mr. Neefit,
+how happy his life would be to him. He was very much in love with
+Mary Bonner, but his trouble with Mr. Neefit was of almost more
+importance to him than his love for Mary Bonner.
+
+In the meantime the girls were living, as usual, at Popham Villa, and
+Sir Thomas was living, as usual, in Southampton Buildings. He and his
+colleague had been unseated, but it had already been decided by the
+House of Commons that no new writ should be at once issued, and that
+there should be a commission appointed to make extended inquiry at
+Percycross in reference to the contemplated disfranchisement of the
+borough. There could be no possible connexion between this inquiry
+and the expediency of Sir Thomas living at home; but, after some
+fashion, he reconciled further delay to his conscience by the fact
+that the Percycross election was not even yet quite settled. No doubt
+it would be necessary that he should again go to Percycross during
+the sitting of the Commission.
+
+The reader will remember the interview between Gregory Newton and
+Clarissa, in which poor Clary had declared with so much emphasis her
+certainty that his brother's suit to Mary must be fruitless. This she
+had said, with artless energy, in no degree on her own behalf. She
+was hopeless now in that direction, and had at last taught herself to
+feel that the man was unworthy. The lesson had reached her, though
+she herself was ignorant not only of the manner of the teaching, but
+of the very fact that she had been taught. She had pleaded, more
+than once, that men did such things, and were yet held in favour and
+forgiven, let their iniquities have been what they might. She had
+hoped to move others by the doctrine; but gradually it had ceased to
+be operative, even on herself. She could not tell how it was that her
+passion faded and died away. It can hardly be said that it died away;
+but it became to herself grievous and a cause of soreness, instead of
+a joy and a triumph. She no longer said, even to herself, that he was
+to be excused. He had come there, and had made a mere plaything of
+her,--wilfully. There was no earnestness in him, no manliness, and
+hardly common honesty. A conviction that it was so had crept into
+her poor wounded heart, in spite of those repeated assertions which
+she had made to Patience as to the persistency of her own affection.
+First dismay and then wrath had come upon her when the man who ought
+to be her lover came to the very house in which she was living, and
+there offered his hand to another girl, almost in her very presence.
+Had the sin been committed elsewhere, and with any rival other than
+her own cousin, she might have still clung to that doctrine of
+forgiveness, because the sinner was a man, and because it is the way
+of the world to forgive men. But the insult had been too close for
+pardon; and now her wrath was slowly changing itself to contempt. Had
+Mary accepted the man's offer this phase of feeling would not have
+occurred. Clarissa would have hated the woman, but still might have
+loved the man. But Mary had treated him as a creature absolutely
+beneath her notice, had evidently despised him, and Mary's scorn
+communicated itself to Clarissa. The fact that Ralph was now Newton
+of Newton, absolutely in harbour after so many dangers of shipwreck,
+assisted her in this. "I would have been true to him, though
+he hadn't had a penny," she said to herself: "I would never
+have given him up though all the world had been against him."
+Debts, difficulties, an inheritance squandered, idle habits, even
+profligacy, should not have torn him from her heart, had he possessed
+the one virtue of meaning what he said when he told her that he loved
+her. She remembered the noble triumph she had felt when she declared
+to Mary that that other Ralph, who was to have been Mary's lover,
+was welcome to the fine property. Her sole ambition had been to be
+loved by this man; but the man had been incapable of loving her.
+She herself was pretty, and soft, bright on occasions, and graceful.
+She knew so much of herself; and she knew, also, that Mary was far
+prettier than herself, and more clever. This young man to whom she
+had devoted herself possessed no power of love for an individual,--no
+capability of so joining himself to another human being as to feel,
+that in spite of any superiority visible to the outside world, that
+one should be esteemed by him superior to all others,--because of
+his love. The young man had liked prettiness and softness and grace
+and feminine nicenesses; and seeing one who was prettier and more
+graceful,--all which poor Clary allowed, though she was not so sure
+about the softness and niceness,--had changed his aim without an
+effort! Ah, how different was poor Gregory!
+
+She thought much of Gregory, reminding herself that as was her sorrow
+in regard to her own crushed hopes, so were his. His hopes, too, had
+been crushed, because she had been so obdurate to him. But she had
+never been false. She had never whispered a word of love to Gregory.
+It might be that his heart was as sore, but he had not been injured
+as she had been injured. She despised the owner of Newton Priory. She
+would scorn him should he come again to her and throw himself at her
+feet. But Gregory could not despise her. She had, indeed, preferred
+the bad to the good. There had been lack of judgment. But there had
+been on her side no lack of truth. Yes;--she had been wrong in her
+choice. Her judgment had been bad. And yet how glorious he had looked
+as he lay upon the lawn, hot from his rowing, all unbraced, brown and
+bold and joyous as a young god, as he bade her go and fetch him drink
+to slake his thirst! How proud, then, she had been to be ordered by
+him, as though their mutual intimacies and confidences and loves were
+sufficient, when they too were alone together, to justify a reversal
+of those social rules by which the man is ordered to wait upon the
+woman. There is nothing in the first flush of acknowledged love that
+is sweeter to the woman than this. All the men around her are her
+servants; but in regard to this man she may have the inexpressibly
+greater pleasure of serving him herself. Clarissa had now thought
+much of these things, and had endeavoured to define to herself what
+had been those gifts belonging to Ralph which had won from her her
+heart. He was not, in truth, handsomer than his brother Gregory,
+was certainly less clever, was selfish in small things from habit,
+whereas Gregory had no thought for his own comfort. It had all come
+from this,--that a black coat and a grave manner of life and serious
+pursuits had been less alluring to her than idleness and pleasure. It
+had suited her that her young god should be joyous, unbraced, brown,
+bold, and thirsty. She did not know Pope's famous line, but it all
+lay in that. She was innocent, pure, unknowing in the ways of vice,
+simple in her tastes, conscientious in her duties, and yet she was
+a rake at heart,--till at last sorrow and disappointment taught her
+that it is not enough that a man should lie loose upon the grass with
+graceful negligence and call for soda-water with a pleasant voice.
+Gregory wore black clothes, was sombre, and was a parson;--but, oh,
+what a thing it is that a man should be true at heart!
+
+She said nothing of her changing feelings to Mary, or even to
+Patience. The household at this time was not very gay or joyous.
+Sir Thomas, after infinite vexation, had lost the seat of which
+they had all been proud. Mary Bonner's condition was not felt to be
+deplorable, as was that of poor Clary, and she certainly did not
+carry herself as a lovelorn maiden. Of Mary Bonner it may be said
+that no disappointment of that kind would affect her outward manner;
+nor would she in any strait of love be willing to make a confidence
+or to discuss her feelings. Whatever care of that kind might be
+present to her would be lightened, if not made altogether as nothing,
+by her conviction that such loads should be carried in silence, and
+without any visible sign to the world that the muscles are overtaxed.
+But it was known that the banished Ralph had, in the moment of his
+expected prosperity, declared his purpose of giving all that he had
+to give to this beauty, and it was believed that she would have
+accepted the gift. It had, therefore, come to pass that the name
+of neither Ralph could be mentioned at the cottage, and that life
+among these maidens was sober, sedate, and melancholy. At last there
+came a note from Sir Thomas to Patience. "I shall be home to dinner
+to-morrow. I found the enclosed from R. N. this morning. I suppose
+he must come. Affectionately, T. U." The enclosed note was as
+follows:--"Dear Sir Thomas, I called this morning, but old Stemm was
+as hard as granite. If you do not object I will run down to the villa
+to-morrow. If you are at home I will stay and dine. Yours ever, Ralph
+Newton."
+
+The mind of Sir Thomas when he received this had been affected
+exactly as his words described. He had supposed that Ralph must come.
+He had learned to hold his late ward in low esteem. The man was now
+beyond all likelihood of want, and sailing with propitious winds; but
+Sir Thomas, had he been able to consult his own inclinations, would
+have had no more to do with him. And yet the young Squire had not
+done anything which, as Sir Thomas thought, would justify him in
+closing his doors against one to whom he had been bound in a manner
+peculiarly intimate. However, if his niece should choose at last
+to accept Ralph, the match would be very brilliant; and the uncle
+thought that it was not his duty to interfere between her and so
+great an advantage. Sir Thomas, in truth, did not as yet understand
+Mary Bonner,--knew very little of her character; but he did know that
+it was incumbent on him to give her some opportunity of taking her
+beauty to market. He wrote a line to Ralph, saying that he himself
+would dine at home on the day indicated.
+
+"Impossible!" said Clary, when she was first told.
+
+"You may be sure he's coming," said Patience.
+
+"Then I shall go and spend the day with Mrs. Brownlow. I cannot stand
+it."
+
+"My dear, he'll know why you are away."
+
+"Let him know," said Clarissa. And she did as she said she would.
+When Sir Thomas came home at about four o'clock on the Thursday which
+Ralph had fixed,--Thursday, the fourteenth of April,--he found that
+Clarissa had flown. The fly was to be sent for her at ten, and it was
+calculated that by the time she returned, Ralph would certainly have
+taken his leave. Sir Thomas expressed neither anger nor satisfaction
+at this arrangement,--"Oh; she has gone to Mrs. Brownlow's, has she?
+Very well. I don't suppose it will make much difference to Ralph."
+"None in the least," said Patience, severely. "Nothing of that kind
+will make any difference to him." But at that time Ralph had been
+above an hour in the house.
+
+We will now return to Ralph and his adventures. He had come up to
+London with the express object of pressing his suit upon Mary Bonner;
+but during his first day or two in London had busied himself rather
+with the affairs of his other love. He had been with Mr. Carey, and
+Mr. Carey had been with Mr. Neefit. "He is the maddest old man that
+I ever saw," said Mr. Carey. "When I suggested to him that you were
+willing to make any reasonable arrangement,--meaning a thousand
+pounds, or something of that kind,--I couldn't get him to understand
+me at all."
+
+"I don't think he wants money," said Ralph.
+
+"'Let him come down and eat a bit of dinner at the cottage,' said he,
+'and we'll make it all square.' Then I offered him a thousand pounds
+down."
+
+"What did he say?"
+
+"Called to a fellow he had there with a knife in his hand, cutting
+leather, to turn me out of the shop. And the man would have done it,
+too, if I hadn't gone."
+
+This was not promising, but on the following morning Ralph received a
+letter which put him into better heart. The letter was from Polly
+herself, and was written as follows:--
+
+
+   Alexandra Cottage, Hendon,
+   April 10th, 186--.
+
+   MY DEAR SIR,
+
+   Father has been going on with all that nonsense of his,
+   and I think it most straightforward to write a letter
+   to you at once, so that things may be understood and
+   finished. Father has no right to be angry with you, anyway
+   not about me. He says somebody has come and offered him
+   money. I wish they hadn't, but perhaps you didn't send
+   them. There's no good in father talking about you and
+   me. Of course it was a great honour, and all that, but
+   I'm not at all sure that anybody should try to get above
+   themselves, not in the way of marrying. And the heart is
+   everything. So I've told father. If ever I bestow mine, I
+   think it will be to somebody in a way of business,--just
+   like father. So I thought I would just write to say that
+   there couldn't be anything between you and me, were it
+   ever so; only that I was very much honoured by your coming
+   down to Margate. I write this to you, because a very
+   particular friend advises me, and I don't mind telling you
+   at once,--it is Mr. Moggs. And I shall show it to father.
+   That is, I have written it twice, and shall keep the
+   other. It's a pity father should go on so, but he means it
+   for the best. And as to anything in the way of money,--oh,
+   Mr. Newton, he's a deal too proud for that.
+
+   Yours truly,
+
+   MARYANNE NEEFIT.
+
+
+As to which letter the little baggage was not altogether true in one
+respect. She did not keep a copy of the whole letter, but left out
+of that which she showed to her father the very material passage
+in which she referred to the advice of her particular friend, Mr.
+Moggs. Ralph, when he received this letter, felt really grateful to
+Polly, and wrote to her a pretty note, in which he acknowledged her
+kindness, and expressed his hope that she might always be as happy
+as she deserved to be. Then it was that he made up his mind to go
+down at once to Popham Villa, thinking that the Neefit nuisance
+was sufficiently abated to enable him to devote his time to a more
+pleasurable pursuit.
+
+He reached the villa between three and four, and learned from the
+gardener's wife at the lodge that Sir Thomas had not as yet returned.
+He did not learn that Clarissa was away, and was not aware of that
+fact till they all sat down to dinner at seven o'clock. Much had been
+done and much endured before that time came. He sauntered slowly up
+the road, and looked about the grounds, hoping to find the young
+ladies there, as he had so often done during his summer visits; but
+there was no one to be seen, and he was obliged to knock at the door.
+He was shown into the drawing-room, and in a few minutes Patience
+came to him. There had been no arrangement between her and Mary as
+to the manner in which he should be received. Mary on a previous
+occasion had given him an answer, and really did believe that that
+would be sufficient. He was, according to her thinking, a light,
+inconstant man, who would hardly give himself the labour necessary
+for perseverance in any suit. Patience at once began to ask him
+after his brother and the doings at the Priory. He had been so
+intimate at the house, and so dear to them all, that in spite of
+the disapprobation with which he was now regarded by them, it was
+impossible that there should not be some outer kindness. "Ah," said
+he, "I do so look forward to the time when you will all be down
+there. I have been so often welcome at your house, that it will be my
+greatest pleasure to make you welcome there."
+
+"We go so little from home," said Patience.
+
+"But I am sure you will come to me. I know you would like to see
+Greg's parsonage and Greg's church."
+
+"I should indeed."
+
+"It is the prettiest church, I think, in England, and the park is
+very nice. The whole house wants a deal of doing to, but I shall set
+about it some day. I don't know a pleasanter neighbourhood anywhere."
+It would have been so natural that Patience should tell him that he
+wanted a mistress for such a home; but she could not say the words.
+She could not find the proper words, and soon left him, muttering
+something as to directions for her father's room.
+
+He had been alone for twenty minutes when Mary came into the room.
+She knew that Patience was not there; and had retreated up-stairs.
+But there seemed to be a cowardice in such retreating, which
+displeased herself. She, at any rate, had no cause to be afraid of
+Mr. Newton. So she collected her thoughts, and arranged her gait,
+and went down, and addressed him with assumed indifference,--as
+though there had never been anything between them beyond simple
+acquaintance. "Uncle Thomas will be here soon, I suppose," she said.
+
+"I hope he will give me half-an-hour first," Ralph answered. There
+was an ease and grace always present in his intercourse with women,
+and a power of saying that which he desired to say,--which perhaps
+arose from the slightness of his purposes and the want of reality in
+his character.
+
+"We see so little of him that we hardly know his hours," said Mary.
+"Uncle Thomas is a sad truant from home."
+
+"He always was, and I declare I think that Patience and Clary have
+been the better for it. They have learned things of which they would
+have known nothing had he been with them every morning and evening. I
+don't know any girls who are so sweet as they are. You know they have
+been like sisters to me."
+
+"So I have been told."
+
+"And when you came, it would have been like another sister coming;
+only--"
+
+"Only what?" said Mary, assuming purposely a savage look.
+
+"That something else intervened."
+
+"Of course it must be very different,--and it should be different.
+You have only known me a few months."
+
+"I have known you enough to wish to know you more closely than
+anybody else for the rest of my life."
+
+"Mr. Newton, I thought you had understood me before."
+
+"So I did." This he said with an assumed tone of lachrymose
+complaint. "I did understand you,--thoroughly. I understood that I
+was rebuked, and rejected, and disdained. But a man, if he is in
+earnest, does not give over on that account. Indeed, there are things
+which he can't give over. You may tell a man that he shouldn't drink,
+or shouldn't gamble; but telling will do no good. When he has once
+begun, he'll go on with it."
+
+"What does that mean?"
+
+"That love is as strong a passion, at any rate, as drinking or
+gambling. You did tell me, and sent me away, and rebuked me because
+of that tradesman's daughter."
+
+"What tradesman's daughter?" asked Mary. "I have spoken of no
+tradesman's daughter. I gave you ample reason why you should not
+address yourself to me."
+
+"Of course there are ample reasons," said Ralph, looking into his
+hat, which he had taken from the table. "The one,--most ample of all,
+is that you do not care for me."
+
+"I do not," said Mary resolutely.
+
+"Exactly;--but that is a sort of reason which a man will do his best
+to conquer. Do not misunderstand me. I am not such a fool as to think
+that I can prevail in a day. I am not vain enough to think that I can
+prevail at all. But I can persist."
+
+"It will not be of the slightest use; indeed, it cannot be allowed. I
+will not allow it. My uncle will not allow it."
+
+"When you told me that I was untrue to another person--; I think that
+was your phrase."
+
+"Very likely."
+
+"I supposed you had heard that stupid story which had got round to my
+uncle,--about a Mr. Neefit's daughter."
+
+"I had heard no stupid story."
+
+"What then did you mean?"
+
+Mary paused a moment, thinking whether it might still be possible
+that a good turn might be done for her cousin. That Clarissa had
+loved this man with her whole heart she had herself owned to Mary.
+That the man had professed his love for Clary, Clary had also let
+her know. And Clary's love had endured even after the blow it had
+received from Ralph's offer to her cousin. All this that cousin knew;
+but she did not know how that love had now turned to simple soreness.
+"I have heard nothing of the man's daughter," said Mary.
+
+"Well then?"
+
+"But I do know that before I came here at all you had striven to gain
+the affections of my cousin."
+
+"Clarissa!"
+
+"Yes; Clarissa. Is it not so?" Then she paused, and Ralph remembered
+the scene on the lawn. In very truth it had never been forgotten.
+There had always been present with him when he thought of Mary Bonner
+a sort of remembrance of the hour in which he had played the fool
+with dear Clary. He had kissed her. Well; yes; and with some girls
+kisses mean so much,--as Polly Neefit had said to her true lover. But
+then with others they mean just nothing. "If you want to find a wife
+in this house you had better ask her. It is certainly useless that
+you should ask me."
+
+"Do you mean quite useless?" asked Ralph, beginning to be somewhat
+abashed.
+
+"Absolutely useless. Did I not tell you something else,--something
+that I would not have hinted to you, had it not been that I desired
+to prevent the possibility of a renewal of anything so vain? But you
+think nothing of that! All that can be changed with you at a moment,
+if other things suit."
+
+"That is meant to be severe, Miss Bonner, and I have not deserved it
+from you. What has brought me to you but that I admire you above all
+others?"
+
+"You shouldn't admire me above others. Is a man to change as he likes
+because he sees a girl whose hair pleases him for the moment better
+than does hers to whom he has sworn to be true?" Ralph did not forget
+at this moment to whisper to himself for his own consolation, that
+he had never sworn to be true to Clarissa. And, indeed, he did feel,
+that though there had been a kiss, the scene on the lawn was being
+used unfairly to his prejudice. "I am afraid you are very fickle, Mr.
+Newton, and that your love is not worth much."
+
+"I hope we may both live till you learn that you have wronged me."
+
+"I hope so. If my opinion be worth anything with you, go back to her
+from whom you have allowed yourself to stray in your folly. To me you
+must not address yourself again. If you do, it will be an insult."
+Then she rose up, queenly in her beauty, and slowly left the room.
+
+There must be an end of that. Such was Ralph's feeling as she
+left the room, in spite of those protestations of constancy and
+persistence which he had made to himself. "A fellow has to go on with
+it, and be refused half a dozen times by one of those proud ones," he
+had said; "but when they do knuckle under, they go in harness better
+than the others." It was thus that he had thought of Mary Bonner, but
+he did not so think of her now. No, indeed. There was an end of that.
+"There is a sort of way of doing it, which shows that they mean it."
+Such was his inward speech; and he did believe that Miss Bonner meant
+it. "By Jove, yes; if words and looks ever can mean anything." But
+how about Clarissa? If it was so, as Mary Bonner had told him, would
+it be the proper kind of thing for him to go back to Clarissa? His
+heart, too,--for he had a heart,--was very soft. He had always been
+fond of Clarissa, and would not, for worlds, that she should be
+unhappy. How pretty she was, and how soft, and how loving! And how
+proudly happy she would be to be driven about the Newton grounds by
+him as their mistress. Then he remembered what Gregory had said to
+him, and how he had encouraged Gregory to persevere. If anything of
+that kind were to happen, Gregory must put up with it. It was clear
+that Clarissa couldn't marry Gregory if she were in love with him.
+But how would he look Sir Thomas in the face? As he thought of this
+he laughed. Sir Thomas, however, would be glad enough to give his
+daughter, not to the heir but to the owner of Newton. Who could be
+that fellow whom Mary Bonner preferred to him--with all Newton to
+back his suit? Perhaps Mary Bonner did not know the meaning of being
+the mistress of Newton Priory.
+
+After a while the servant came to show him to his chamber. Sir Thomas
+had come and had gone at once to his room. So he went up-stairs and
+dressed, expecting to see Clarissa when they all assembled before
+dinner. When he went down, Sir Thomas was there, and Mary, and
+Patience,--but not Clarissa. He had summoned back his courage and
+spoke jauntily to Sir Thomas. Then he turned to Patience and asked
+after her sister. "Clarissa is spending the day with Mrs. Brownlow,"
+said Patience, "and will not be home till quite late."
+
+"Oh, how unfortunate!" exclaimed Ralph. Taking all his difficulties
+into consideration, we must admit that he did not do it badly.
+
+After dinner Sir Thomas sat longer over his wine than is at present
+usual, believing, perhaps, that the young ladies would not want to
+see much more of Ralph on the present occasion. The conversation was
+almost entirely devoted to the affairs of the late election, as to
+which Ralph was much interested and very indignant. "They cannot do
+you any harm, sir, by the investigation," he said.
+
+"No; I don't think they can hurt me."
+
+"And you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you have been the
+means of exposing corruption, and of helping to turn such a man as
+Griffenbottom out of the House. Upon my word, I think it has been
+worth while."
+
+"I am not sure that I would do it again at the same cost, and with
+the same object," said Sir Thomas.
+
+Ralph did have a cup of tea given to him in the drawing-room, and
+then left the villa before Clarissa's fly had returned.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVIII.
+
+MR. MOGGS WALKS TOWARDS EDGEWARE.
+
+
+The judge's decision in Percycross as to the late election was no
+sooner known than fresh overtures were made to Ontario Moggs by the
+Young Men's Association. A letter of triumph was addressed to him at
+the Cheshire Cheese, in which he was informed that Intimidation and
+Corruption had been trodden under foot in the infamous person of Mr.
+Griffenbottom, and that Purity and the Rights of Labour were still
+the watchwords of that wholesome party in the borough which was
+determined to send Mr. Moggs to Parliament. Did not Mr. Moggs think
+it best that he should come down at once to the borough and look
+after his interests? Now Mr. Moggs junior, when he received this
+letter, had left the borough no more than three or four days since,
+having been summoned there as a witness during the trial of the
+petition;--and such continued attendance to the political interests
+of a small and otherwise uninteresting town, without the advantage of
+a seat in Parliament, was felt by Mr. Moggs senior to be a nuisance.
+The expense in all these matters fell of course upon the shoulders
+of the father. "I don't believe in them humbugs no longer," said Mr.
+Moggs senior. Moggs junior, who had felt the enthusiasm of the young
+men of Percycross, and who had more to get and less to lose than his
+father, did believe. Although he had been so lately at Percycross,
+he went down again, and again made speeches to the young men at the
+Mechanics' Institute. Nothing could be more triumphant than his
+speeches, nothing more pleasant than his popularity; but he could
+not fail to become aware, after a further sojourn of three days at
+Percycross, of two things. The first was this,--that if the borough
+were spared there would be a compromise between the leading men on
+the two sides, and Mr. Westmacott would be returned together with a
+young Griffenbottom. The second conviction forced upon him was that
+the borough would not be spared. There was no comfort for him at
+Percycross,--other than what arose from a pure political conscience.
+On the very morning on which he left, he besought his friends, the
+young men,--though they were about to be punished, degraded, and
+disfranchised for the sins of their elders, though it might never be
+allowed to them again to stir themselves for the political welfare
+of their own borough,--still to remember that Purity and the Rights
+of Labour were the two great wants of the world, and that no man
+could make an effort, however humble, in a good cause without doing
+something towards bringing nearer to him that millennium of political
+virtue which was so much wanted, and which would certainly come
+sooner or later. He was cheered to the echo, and almost carried down
+to the station on the shoulders of a chairman, or president, and
+a secretary; but he left Percycross with the conviction that that
+borough would never confer upon him the coveted honour of a seat in
+Parliament.
+
+All this had happened early in March, previous to that Sunday on
+which Mr. Neefit behaved so rudely to him at the cottage. "I think as
+perhaps you'd better stick to business now a bit," said old Moggs. At
+that moment Ontario was sitting up at a high desk behind the ledger
+which he hated, and was sticking to business as well as he knew how
+to stick to it. "No more Cheshire Cheeses, if you please, young man,"
+said the father. This was felt by the son to be unfair, cruel, and
+even corrupt. While the election was going on, as long as there was
+a hope of success at Percycross, Moggs senior had connived at the
+Cheshire Cheese, had said little or nothing about business, had even
+consented on one occasion to hear his son make a speech advocating
+the propriety of combination among workmen. "It ain't my way of
+thinking," Moggs senior had said; "but then, perhaps, I'm old." To
+have had a member of the firm in Parliament would have been glorious
+even to old Moggs, though he hardly knew in what the glory would have
+consisted. But as soon as he found that his hopes were vain, that the
+Cheshire Cheese had been no stepping-stone to such honour, and that
+his money had been spent for nothing, his mind reverted to its old
+form. Strikes became to him the work of the devil, and unions were
+once more the bane of trade.
+
+"I suppose," said Ontario, looking up from his ledger, "if I work for
+my bread by day, I may do as I please with my evenings. At any rate
+I shall," he continued to say after pausing awhile. "It's best we
+should understand each other, father." Moggs senior growled. At a
+word his son would have been off from him, rushing about the country,
+striving to earn a crust as a political lecturer. Moggs knew his son
+well, and in truth loved him dearly. There was, too, a Miss Moggs
+at home, who would give her father no peace if Ontario were turned
+adrift. There is nothing in the world so cruel as the way in which
+sons use the natural affections of their fathers, obtaining from
+these very feelings a power of rebelling against authority! "You must
+go to the devil if you please, I suppose," said Moggs senior.
+
+"I don't know why you say that. What do I do devilish?"
+
+"Them Unions is devilish."
+
+"I think they're Godlike," said Moggs junior. After that they were
+silent for a while, during which Moggs senior was cutting his nails
+with a shoemaker's knife by the fading light of the evening, and
+Moggs junior was summing up an account against a favoured aristocrat,
+who seemed to have worn a great many boots, but who was noticeable to
+Ontario, chiefly from the fact that he represented in Parliament the
+division of the county in which Percycross was situated. "I thought
+you was going to make it all straight by marrying that girl," said
+Moggs senior.
+
+Here was a subject on which the father and the son were in
+unison;--and as to which the romantic heart of Miss Moggs, at home at
+Shepherd's Bush, always glowed with enthusiasm. That her brother was
+in love, was to her, of whom in truth it must be owned that she was
+very plain, the charm of her life. She was fond of poetry, and would
+read to her brother aloud the story of Juan and Haidee, and the
+melancholy condition of the lady who was loved by the veiled prophet.
+She sympathised with the false Queen's passion for Launcelot, and,
+being herself in truth an ugly old maid very far removed from things
+romantic, delighted in the affairs of the heart when they did not run
+smooth. "O Ontario," she would say, "be true to her;--if it's for
+twenty years." "So I will;--but I'd like to begin the twenty years
+by making her Mrs. Moggs," said Ontario. Now Mr. Moggs senior knew
+to a penny what money old Neefit could give his daughter, and placed
+not the slightest trust in that threat about the smock in which she
+stood upright. Polly would certainly get the better of her father as
+Ontario always got the better of him. Ontario made no immediate reply
+to his father, but he found himself getting all wrong among the boots
+and shoes which had been supplied to that aristocratic young member
+of Parliament. "You don't mean as it's all off?" asked Moggs senior.
+
+"No; it isn't all off."
+
+"Then why don't you go in at it?"
+
+"Why don't I go in at it?" said Ontario, closing the book in hopeless
+confusion of mind and figures. "I'd give every pair of boots in this
+place, I'd give all the business, to get a kind word from her."
+
+"Isn't she kind?"
+
+"Kind;--yes, she's kind enough in a way. She's everything just
+what she ought to be. That's what she is. Don't you go on about it,
+father. I'm as much in earnest as you can be. I shan't give it up
+till she calls somebody else her husband; and then,--; why then
+I shall just cut it, and go off to uncle in Canada. I've got my
+mind made up about all that." And so he left the shop, somewhat
+uncourteously perhaps. But he had worked his way back into his
+father's good graces by his determination to stick to Neefit's girl.
+A young man ought to be allowed to attend trades' unions, or any
+other meetings, if he will marry a girl with twenty thousand pounds.
+That evening Ontario Moggs went to the Cheshire Cheese, and was
+greater than ever.
+
+It has been already told how, on a Sunday subsequent to this, he
+managed to have himself almost closeted with Polly, and how he was
+working himself into her good graces, when he was disturbed by Mr.
+Neefit and turned out of the house. Polly's heart had been yielding
+during the whole of that interview. There had come upon her once a
+dream that it would be a fine thing to be the lady of Newton;--and
+the chance had been hers. But when she set herself to work to
+weigh it all, and to find out what it was that young Newton really
+wanted,--and what he ought to want, she shook off from herself that
+dream before it had done her any injury. She meant to be married
+certainly. As to that she had no doubt. But then Ontario Moggs was
+such a long-legged, awkward, ugly, shambling fellow, and Moggs as
+a name was certainly not euphonious. The gasfitter was handsome,
+and was called Yallolegs, which perhaps was better than Moggs. He
+had proposed to her more than once; but the gasfitter's face meant
+nothing, and the gasfitter himself hadn't much meaning in him. As to
+outside appearance, young Newton's was just what he ought to be,--but
+that was a dream which she had shaken off. Onty Moggs had some
+meaning in him, and was a man. If there was one thing, too, under the
+sun of which Polly was quite sure, it was this,--that Onty Moggs did
+really love her. She knew that in the heart, and mind, and eyes of
+Onty Moggs she possessed a divinity which made the ground she stood
+upon holy ground for him. Now that is a conviction very pleasant to a
+young woman.
+
+Ontario was very near his victory on that Sunday. When he told her
+that he would compass the death of Ralph Newton if Ralph Newton was
+to cause her to break her heart, she believed that he would do it,
+and she felt obliged to him,--although she laughed at him. When he
+declared to her that he didn't know what to do because of his love,
+she was near to telling him what he might do. When he told her that
+he would sooner have a kiss from her than be Prime Minister, she
+believed him, and almost longed to make him happy. Then she had
+tripped, giving him encouragement which she did not intend,--and had
+retreated, telling him that he was silly. But as she said so she made
+up her mind that he should be perplexed not much longer. After all,
+in spite of his ugliness, and awkwardness, and long legs, this was
+to be her man. She recognised the fact, and was happy. It is so much
+for a girl to be sure that she is really loved! And there was no word
+which fell from Ontario's mouth which Polly did not believe. Ralph
+Newton's speeches were very pretty, but they conveyed no more than
+his intention to be civil. Ontario's speeches really brought home to
+her all that the words could mean. When he told her father that he
+was quite contented to take her just as she was, without a shilling,
+she knew that he would do so with the utmost joy. Then it was that
+she resolved that he should have her, and that for the future all
+doubtings, all flirtations, all coyness, should be over. She had been
+won, and she lowered her flag. "You stick to it, and you'll do it,"
+she said;--and this time she meant it. "I shall," said Ontario;--and
+he walked all the way back to London, with his head among the clouds,
+disregarding Percycross utterly, forgetful of all the boots and
+aristocrats' accounts, regardless almost of the Cheshire Cheese, not
+even meditating a new speech in defence of the Rights of Labour. He
+believed that on that day he had gained the great victory. If so,
+life before him was one vista of triumph. That he himself was what
+the world calls romantic, he had no idea,--but he had lived now for
+months on the conviction that the only chance of personal happiness
+to himself was to come from the smiles and kindness and love of a
+certain human being whom he had chosen to beatify. To him Polly
+Neefit was divine, and round him also there would be a halo of
+divinity if this goddess would consent to say that she would become
+his wife.
+
+It was impossible that many days should be allowed to pass before he
+made an effort to learn from her own lips, positively, the meaning
+of those last words which she had spoken to him. But there was
+a difficulty. Neefit had warned him from the house, and he felt
+unwilling to knock at the door of a man in that man's absence, who,
+if present, would have refused to him the privilege of admittance.
+That Mrs. Neefit would see him, and afford him opportunity of
+pleading his cause with Polly, he did not doubt;--but some idea that
+a man's house, being his castle, should not be invaded in the owner's
+absence, restrained him. That the man's daughter might be the dearer
+and the choicer, and the more sacred castle of the two, was true
+enough; but then Polly was a castle which, as Moggs thought, ought to
+belong to him rather than to her father. And so he resolved to waylay
+Polly.
+
+His weekdays, from nine in the morning till seven in the evening,
+were at this time due to Booby and Moggs, and he was at present
+paying that debt religiously, under a conviction that his various
+absences at Percycross had been hard upon his father. For there was,
+in truth, no Booby. Moggs senior, and Moggs junior, constituted the
+whole firm;--in which, indeed, up to this moment Moggs junior had no
+recognised share,--and if one was absent, the other must be present.
+But Sunday was his own, and Polly Neefit always went to church.
+Nevertheless, on the first Sunday he failed. He failed, though he saw
+her, walking with two other ladies, and though, to the best of his
+judgment, she also saw him. On the second Sunday he was at Hendon
+from ten till three, hanging about in the lanes, sitting on gates,
+whiling away the time with a treatise on political economy which he
+had brought down in his pocket, thinking of Polly while he strove
+to confine his thoughts to the great subject of man's productive
+industry. Is there any law of Nature,--law of God, rather,--by which
+a man has a right to enough of food, enough of raiment, enough of
+shelter, and enough of recreation, if only he will work? But Polly's
+cheeks, and Polly's lips, the eager fire of Polly's eye as she would
+speak, and all the elastic beauty of Polly's gait as she would walk,
+drove the great question from his mind. Was he ever destined to hold
+Polly in his arms,--close, close to his breast? If not, then the laws
+of Nature and the laws of God, let them be what they might, would not
+have been sufficient to protect him from the cruellest wrong of all.
+
+It was as she went to afternoon church that he hoped to intercept
+her. Morning church with many is a bond. Afternoon church is a virtue
+of supererogation,--practised often because there is nothing else to
+do. It would be out of the question that he should induce her to give
+up the morning service; but if he could only come upon her in the
+afternoon, a little out of sight of others, just as she would turn
+down a lane with which he was acquainted, near to a stile leading
+across the fields towards Edgeware, it might be possible that he
+should prevail. As the hour came near, he put the useless volume into
+his pocket, and stationed himself on the spot which he had selected.
+Almost at the first moment in which he had ventured to hope for her
+presence, Polly turned into the lane. It was six months after this
+occurrence that she confessed to him that she had thought it just
+possible that he might be there. "Of course you would be there,--you
+old goose; as if Jemima hadn't told me that you'd been about all day.
+But I never should have come, if I hadn't quite made up my mind."
+Then Ontario administered to her one of those bear's hugs which were
+wont to make Polly declare that he was an ogre. It was thus that
+Polly made her confession after the six months, as they were sitting
+very close to each other on some remote point of the cliffs down
+on the Kentish coast. At that time the castle had been altogether
+transferred out of the keeping of Mr. Neefit.
+
+But Polly's conduct on this occasion was not at all of a nature to
+make it supposed that Jemima's eyes had been so sharp. "What, Mr.
+Moggs!" she said. "Dear me, what a place to find you in! Are you
+coming to church?"
+
+"I want you just to take a turn with me for a few minutes, Polly."
+
+"But I'm going to church."
+
+"You can go to church afterwards;--that is, if you like. I can't come
+to the house now, and I have got something that I must say to you."
+
+"Something that you must say to me!" And then Polly followed him over
+the stile.
+
+They had walked the length of nearly two fields before Ontario had
+commenced to tell the tale which of necessity must be told; but
+Polly, though she must have known that her chances of getting back to
+church were becoming more and more remote, waited without impatience.
+"I want to know," he said, at last, "whether you can ever learn to
+love me."
+
+"What's the use, Mr. Moggs?"
+
+"It will be all the use in the world to me."
+
+"Oh, no it won't. It can't signify so very much to anybody."
+
+"Nothing, I sometimes think, can ever be of any use to me but that."
+
+"As for learning to love a man,--I suppose I could love a man without
+any learning if I liked him."
+
+"But you don't like me, Polly?"
+
+"I never said I didn't like you. Father and mother always used to
+like you."
+
+"But you, Polly?"
+
+"Oh, I like you well enough. Don't, Mr. Moggs."
+
+"But do you love me?" Then there was a pause, as they stood leaning
+upon a gateway. "Come, Polly; tell a fellow. Do you love me?"
+
+"I don't know." Then there was another pause; but he was in a seventh
+heaven, with his arm round her waist. "I suppose I do; a little,"
+whispered Polly.
+
+"But better than anybody else?"
+
+"You don't think I mean to have two lovers;--do you?"
+
+"And I am to be your lover?"
+
+"There's father, you know. I'm not going to be anybody's wife because
+he tells me; but I wouldn't like to vex him, if we could help it."
+
+"But you'll never belong to any one else?"
+
+"Never," said she solemnly.
+
+"Then I've said what I've got to say, and I'm the happiest man in all
+the world, and you may go to church now if you like." But his arm was
+still tight round her waist.
+
+"It's too late," said Polly, in a melancholy tone,--"and it's all
+your doing."
+
+The walk was prolonged not quite to Edgeware; but so far that Mr.
+Neefit was called upon to remark that the parson was preaching a very
+long sermon. Mrs. Neefit, who perhaps had also had communication
+with Jemima, remarked that it was not to be expected, but that Polly
+should take a ramble with some of her friends. "Why can't she ramble
+where I want her to ramble?" said Mr. Neefit.
+
+Many things were settled during that walk. Within five minutes of
+the time in which she had declared that it was too late for her
+to go to church, she had brought herself to talk to him with all
+the delightful confidence of a completed engagement. She made him
+understand at once that there was no longer any doubt. "A girl must
+have time to know," she said, when he half-reproached her with the
+delay. A girl wasn't like a man, she said, who could just make up his
+mind at once,--a girl had to wait and see. But she was quite sure of
+this,--that having once said the word she would never go back from
+it. She didn't quite know when she had first begun to love him, but
+she thought it was when she heard that he had made up his mind to
+stand for Percycross. It seemed to her to be such a fine thing,--his
+going to Percycross. "Then," said Ontario, gallantly, "Percycross has
+done ten times more for me than it would have done, had it simply
+made me a member of Parliament." Once, twice, and oftener he was
+made happier than he could have been had fortune made him a Prime
+Minister. For Polly, now that she had given her heart and promised
+her hand, would not coy her lips to the man she had chosen.
+
+Many things were settled between them. Polly told her lover all her
+trouble about Ralph Newton, and it was now that she received that
+advice from her "very particular friend, Mr. Moggs," which she
+followed in writing to her late suitor. The letter was to be written
+and posted that afternoon, and then shown to her father. We know
+already that in making the copy for her father she omitted one
+clause,--having resolved that she would tell her mother of her
+engagement, and that her mother should communicate it to her father.
+As for naming any day for their marriage, "That was out of the
+question," she said. She did not wish to delay it; but all that
+she could do was to swear to her father that she would never marry
+anybody else. "And he'll believe me too," said Polly. As for eloping,
+she would not hear of it. "Just that he might have an excuse to give
+his money to somebody else," she said.
+
+"I don't care for his money," protested Moggs.
+
+"That's all very well; but money's a good thing in its way. I hate a
+man who'd sell himself; he's a mean fellow;--or a girl either. Money
+should never be first. But as for pitching it away just because
+you're in a hurry, I don't believe in that at all. I'm not going
+to be an old woman yet, and you may wait a few months very well."
+She walked with him direct up to the gate leading up to their own
+house,--so that all the world might see her, if all the world
+pleased; and then she bade him good-bye. "Some day before very long,
+no doubt," she said when, as he left her, he asked as to their next
+meeting.
+
+And so Polly had engaged herself. I do not know that the matter
+seemed to her to be of so much importance as it does to many girls.
+It was a piece of business which had to be done some day, as she had
+well known for years past; and now that it was done, she was quite
+contented with the doing of it. But there was not much of that
+ecstasy in her bosom which was at the present moment sending Ontario
+Moggs bounding up to town, talking, as he went, to himself,--to the
+amazement of passers by, and assuring himself that he had triumphed
+like an Alexander or a Cæsar. She made some steady resolves to do her
+duty by him, and told herself again and again that nothing should
+ever move her now that she had decided. As for beauty in a man;--what
+did it signify? He was honest. As for awkwardness;--what did it
+matter? He was clever. And in regard to being a gentleman; she rather
+thought that she liked him better because he wasn't exactly what some
+people call a gentleman. Whatever sort of a home he would give her
+to live in, nobody would despise her in it because she was not grand
+enough for her place. She was by no means sure that a good deal of
+misery of that kind might not have fallen to her lot had she become
+the mistress of Newton Priory. "When the beggar woman became a queen,
+how the servants must have snubbed her," said Polly to herself.
+
+That evening she showed her letter to her father. "You haven't sent
+it, you minx?" said he.
+
+"Yes, father. It's in the iron box."
+
+"What business had you to write to a young man?"
+
+"Come, father. I had a business."
+
+"I believe you want to break my heart," said old Neefit.
+
+That evening her mother asked her what she had been doing that
+afternoon. "I just took a walk with Ontario Moggs," said Polly.
+
+"Well?"
+
+"And I've just engaged myself straight off, and you had better tell
+father. I mean to keep to it, mother, let anybody say anything. I
+wouldn't go back from my promise if they were to drag me. So father
+may as well know at once."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIX.
+
+AMONG THE PICTURES.
+
+
+Norfolk is a county by no means devoted to hunting, and Ralph
+Newton,--the disinherited Ralph as we may call him,--had been
+advised by some of his friends round Newton to pitch his tent
+elsewhere,--because of his love of that sport. "You'll get a bit of
+land just as cheap in the shires," Morris had said to him. "And, if
+I were you, I wouldn't go among a set of fellows who don't think of
+anything in the world except partridges." Mr. Morris, who was a very
+good fellow in his way, devoted a considerable portion of his mental
+and physical energies to the birth, rearing, education, preservation,
+and subsequent use of the fox,--thinking that in so doing he employed
+himself nobly as a country gentleman; but he thoroughly despised a
+county in which partridges were worshipped.
+
+"They do preserve foxes," pleaded Ralph.
+
+"One man does, and the next don't. You ought to know what that means.
+It's the most heart-breaking kind of thing in the world. I'd sooner
+be without foxes altogether, and ride to a drag;--I would indeed."
+This assertion Mr. Morris made in a sadly solemn tone, such as men
+use when they speak of some adversity which fate and fortune may be
+preparing for them. "I'd a deal rather die than bear it," says the
+melancholy friend; or,--"I'd much sooner put up with a crust in a
+corner." "I'd rather ride to a drag;--I would indeed," said Mr.
+Morris, with a shake of the head, and a low sigh. As for life without
+riding to hounds at all, Mr. Morris did not for a moment suppose that
+his friend contemplated such an existence.
+
+But Ralph had made up his mind that, in going out into the world to
+do something, foxes should not be his first object. He had to seek
+a home certainly, but more important than his home was the work to
+which he should give himself; and, as he had once said, he knew
+nothing useful that he could do except till the land. So he went
+down into Norfolk among the intermittent fox preservers, and took
+Beamingham Hall.
+
+Almost every place in Norfolk is a "ham," and almost every house is
+a hall. There was a parish of Beamingham, four miles from Swaffham,
+lying between Tillham, Soham, Reepham, and Grindham. It's down in
+all the maps. It's as flat as a pancake; it has a church with a
+magnificent square tower, and a new chancel; there is a resident
+parson, and there are four or five farmers in it; it is under the
+plough throughout, and is famous for its turnips; half the parish
+belongs to a big lord, who lives in the county, and who does preserve
+foxes, but not with all his heart; two other farms are owned by the
+yeomen who farm them,--men who have been brought up to shoot, and who
+hate the very name of hunting. Beamingham Hall was to be sold, and by
+the beginning of May Ralph Newton had bought it. Beamingham Little
+Wood belonged to the estate, and, as it contained about thirty acres,
+Ralph determined that he would endeavour to have a fox there.
+
+By the middle of May he had been four months in his new home. The
+house itself was not bad. It was spacious; and the rooms, though
+low, were large. And it had been built with considerable idea
+of architectural beauty. The windows were all set in stone and
+mullioned,--long, low windows, very beautiful in form, which had till
+some fifteen years back been filled with a multitude of small diamond
+panes;--but now the diamond panes had given way to plate glass. There
+were three gables to the hall, all facing an old-fashioned large
+garden, in which the fruit trees came close up to the house, and
+that which perhaps ought to have been a lawn was almost an orchard.
+But there were trim gravel walks, and trim flower-beds, and a trim
+fish-pond, and a small walled kitchen-garden, with very old peaches,
+and very old apricots, and very old plums. The plums, however, were
+at present better than the peaches or the apricots. The fault of the
+house, as a modern residence, consisted in this,--that the farm-yard,
+with all its appurtenances, was very close to the back door. Ralph
+told himself when he first saw it that Mary Bonner would never
+consent to live in a house so placed.
+
+For whom was such a house as Beamingham Hall originally built,--a
+house not grand enough for a squire's mansion, and too large for a
+farmer's homestead? Such houses throughout England are much more
+numerous than Englishmen think,--either still in good repair, as was
+Beamingham Hall, or going into decay under the lessened domestic
+wants of the present holders. It is especially so in the eastern
+counties, and may be taken as one proof among many that the
+broad-acred squire, with his throng of tenants, is comparatively a
+modern invention. The country gentleman of two hundred years ago
+farmed the land he held. As years have rolled on, the strong have
+swallowed the weak,--one strong man having eaten up half-a-dozen weak
+men. And so the squire has been made. Then the strong squire becomes
+a baronet and a lord,--till he lords it a little too much, and a
+Manchester warehouseman buys him out. The strength of the country
+probably lies in the fact that the change is ever being made, but is
+never made suddenly.
+
+To Ralph the great objection to Beamingham Hall lay in that fear,--or
+rather certainty,--that it could not be made a fitting home for Mary
+Bonner. When he first decided on taking it, and even when he decided
+on buying it, he assured himself that Mary Bonner's taste might be
+quite indifferent to him. In the first place, he had himself written
+to her uncle to withdraw his claim as soon as he found that Newton
+would never belong to him; and then he had been told by the happy
+owner of Newton that Mary was still to be asked to share the throne
+of that principality. When so told he had said nothing of his
+own ambition, but had felt that there was another reason why he
+should leave Newton and its neighbourhood. For him, as a bachelor,
+Beamingham Hall would be only too good a house. He, as a farmer, did
+not mean to be ashamed of his own dunghill.
+
+By the middle of May he had heard nothing either of his namesake
+or of Mary Bonner. He did correspond with Gregory Newton, and thus
+received tidings of the parish, of the church, of the horses,--and
+even of the foxes; but of the heir's matrimonial intentions he heard
+nothing. Gregory did write of his own visits to the metropolis, past
+and future, and Ralph knew that the young parson would again singe
+his wings in the flames that were burning at Popham Villa; but
+nothing was said of the heir. Through March and April that trouble
+respecting Polly Neefit was continued, and Gregory in his letter of
+course did not speak of the Neefits. At last May was come, and Ralph
+from Beamingham made up his mind that he also would go up to London.
+He had been hard at work during the last four months doing all those
+wonderfully attractive things with his new property which a man can
+do when he has money in his pocket,--knocking down hedges, planting
+young trees or preparing for the planting of them, buying stock,
+building or preparing to build sheds,--and the rest of it. There is
+hardly a pleasure in life equal to that of laying out money with a
+conviction that it will come back again. The conviction, alas, is
+so often ill founded,--but the pleasure is the same. In regard to
+the house itself he would do nothing, not even form a plan--as yet.
+It might be possible that some taste other than his own should be
+consulted.
+
+In the second week in May he went up to London, having heard that
+Gregory would be there at the same time; and he at once found himself
+consorting with his namesake almost as much as with the parson. It
+was now a month since the heir had been dismissed from Popham Villa,
+and he had not since that date renewed his visit. Nor from that day
+to the present had he seen Sir Thomas. It cannot be said with exact
+truth that he was afraid of Sir Thomas or ashamed to see the girls.
+He had no idea that he had behaved badly to anybody; and, if he
+had, he was almost disposed to make amends for such sin by marrying
+Clarissa; but he felt that should he ultimately make up his mind in
+Clarissa's favour, a little time should elapse for the gradual cure
+of his former passion. No doubt he placed reliance on his position
+as a man of property, feeling that by his strength in that direction
+he would be pulled through all his little difficulties; but it was
+an unconscious reliance. He believed that he was perfectly free
+from what he himself would have called the dirt and littleness of
+purse-pride--or acre-pride, and would on some occasions assert that
+he really thought nothing of himself because he was Newton of Newton.
+And he meant to be true. Nevertheless, in the bottom of his heart,
+there was a confidence that he might do this and that because of his
+acres, and among the things which might be thus done, but which could
+not otherwise have been done, was this return to Clarissa after his
+little lapse in regard to Mary Bonner.
+
+He was delighted to welcome Ralph from Norfolk to all the pleasures
+of the metropolis. Should he put down Ralph's name at the famous
+Carlton, of which he had lately become a member? Ralph already
+belonged to an old-fashioned club, of which his father had been long
+a member, and declined the new honour. As for balls, evening crushes,
+and large dinner-parties, our Norfolk Ralph thought himself to be
+unsuited for them just at present, because of his father's death. It
+was not for the nephew of the dead man to tell the son that eight
+months of mourning for a father was more than the world now required.
+He could only take the excuse, and suggest the play, and a little
+dinner at Richmond, and a small party to Maidenhead as compromises.
+"I don't know that there is any good in a fellow being so heavy in
+hand because his father is dead," the Squire said to his brother.
+
+"They were so much to each other," pleaded Gregory in return. The
+Squire accepted the excuse, and offered his namesake a horse for the
+park. Would he make one of the party for the moors in August? The
+Squire asserted that he had room for another gun, without entailing
+any additional expense upon himself. This indeed was not strictly
+true, as it had been arranged that the cost should be paid per
+gun; but there was a vacancy still, and Ralph the heir, being
+quite willing to pay for his cousin, thought no harm to cover his
+generosity under a venial falsehood. The disinherited one, however,
+declined the offer, with many thanks. "There is nothing, old fellow,
+I wouldn't do for you, if I knew how," said the happy heir. Whereupon
+the Norfolk Ralph unconsciously resolved that he would accept
+nothing,--or as little as possible,--at the hands of the Squire.
+
+All this happened during the three or four first days of his sojourn
+in London, in which, he hardly knew why, he had gone neither to the
+villa nor to Sir Thomas in Southampton Buildings. He meant to do so,
+but from day to day he put it off. As regarded the ladies at the
+villa the three young men now never spoke to each other respecting
+them. Gregory believed that his brother had failed, and so believing
+did not recur to the subject. Gregory himself had already been at
+Fulham once or twice since his arrival in town; but had nothing
+to say,--or at least did say nothing,--of what happened there. He
+intended to remain away from his parish for no more than the parson's
+normal thirteen days, and was by no means sure that he would make any
+further formal offer. When at the villa he found that Clarissa was
+sad and sober, and almost silent; and he knew that something was
+wrong. It hardly occurred to him to believe that after all he might
+perhaps cure the evil.
+
+One morning, early, Gregory and Ralph from Norfolk were together at
+the Royal Academy. Although it was not yet ten when they entered the
+gallery, the rooms were already so crowded that it was difficult to
+get near the line, and almost impossible either to get into or to
+get out of a corner. Gregory had been there before, and knew the
+pictures. He also was supposed by his friends to understand something
+of the subject; whereas Ralph did not know a Cooke from a Hook, and
+possessed no more than a dim idea that Landseer painted all the wild
+beasts, and Millais all the little children. "That's a fine picture,"
+he said, pointing up at an enormous portrait of the Master of the B.
+B., in a red coat, seated square on a seventeen-hand high horse, with
+his hat off, and the favourite hounds of his pack around him. "That's
+by Grant," said Gregory. "I don't know that I care for that kind of
+thing." "It's as like as it can stare," said Ralph, who appreciated
+the red coat, and the well-groomed horse, and the finely-shaped
+hounds. He backed a few steps to see the picture better, and found
+himself encroaching upon a lady's dress. He turned round and found
+that the lady was Mary Bonner. Together with her were both Clarissa
+and Patience Underwood.
+
+The greetings between them all were pleasant, and the girls were
+unaffectedly pleased to find friends whom they knew well enough to
+accept as guides and monitors in the room. "Now we shall be told all
+about everything," said Clarissa, as the young parson shook hands
+first with her sister and then with her. "Do take us round to the
+best dozen, Mr. Newton. That's the way I like to begin." Her tone was
+completely different from what it had been down at the villa.
+
+"That gentleman in the red coat is my cousin's favourite," said
+Gregory.
+
+"I don't care a bit about that." said Clarissa.
+
+"That's because you don't hunt," said Ralph.
+
+"I wish I hunted," said Mary Bonner.
+
+Mary, when she first saw the man, of whom she had once been told that
+he was to be her lover, and, when so told, had at least been proud
+that she was so chosen,--felt that she was blushing slightly; but
+she recovered herself instantly, and greeted him as though there
+had been no cause whatever for disturbance. He was struck almost
+dumb at seeing her, and it was her tranquillity which restored him
+to composure. After the first greetings were over he found himself
+walking by her side without any effort on her part to avoid him,
+while Gregory and the two sisters went on in advance. Poor Ralph had
+not a word to say about the pictures. "Have you been long in London?"
+she asked.
+
+"Just four days."
+
+"We heard that you were coming, and did think that perhaps you and
+your cousin might find a morning to come down and see us;--your
+cousin Gregory, I mean."
+
+"Of course I shall come."
+
+"My uncle will be so glad to see you;--only, you know, you
+can't always find him at home. And so will Patience. You are a
+great favourite with Patience. You have gone down to live in
+Norfolk,--haven't you?"
+
+"Yes--in Norfolk."
+
+"You have bought an estate there?"
+
+"Just one farm that I look after myself. It's no estate, Miss
+Bonner;--just a farm-house, with barns and stables, and a horse-pond,
+and the rest of it." This was by no means a fair account of the
+place, but it suited him so to speak of it. "My days for having an
+estate were quickly brought to a close;--were they not?" This he said
+with a little laugh, and then hated himself for having spoken so
+foolishly.
+
+"Does that make you unhappy, Mr. Newton?" she asked. He did not
+answer her at once, and she continued, "I should have thought that
+you were above being made unhappy by that."
+
+"Such disappointments carry many things with them of which people
+outside see nothing."
+
+"That is true, no doubt."
+
+"A man may be separated from every friend he has in the world by such
+a change of circumstances."
+
+"I had not thought of that. I beg your pardon," said she, looking
+into his face almost imploringly.
+
+"And there may be worse than that," he said. Of course she knew what
+he meant, but he did not know how much she knew. "It is easy to say
+that a man should stand up against reverses,--but there are some
+reverses a man cannot bear without suffering." She had quite made up
+her mind that the one reverse of which she was thinking should be
+cured; but she could take no prominent step towards curing it yet.
+But that some step should be taken sooner or later she was resolved.
+It might be taken now, indeed, if he would only speak out. But she
+quite understood that he would not speak out now because that house
+down in Norfolk was no more than a farm. "But I didn't mean to
+trouble you with all that nonsense," he said.
+
+"It doesn't trouble me at all. Of course you will tell us everything
+when you come to see us."
+
+"There is very little to tell,--unless you care for cows and pigs,
+and sheep and horses."
+
+"I do care for cows and pigs, and sheep and horses," she said.
+
+"All the same, they are not pleasant subjects of conversation. A man
+may do as much good with a single farm as he can with a large estate;
+but he can't make his affairs as interesting to other people." There
+was present to his own mind the knowledge that he and his rich
+namesake were rivals in regard to the affections of this beautiful
+girl, and he could not avoid allusions to his own inferiority. And
+yet his own words, as soon as they were spoken and had sounded in
+his ear, were recognised by himself as being mean and pitiful,--as
+whining words, and sorry plaints against the trick which fortune had
+played him. He did not know how to tell her boldly that he lamented
+this change from the estate to the farm because he had hoped that
+she would share the one with him, and did not dare even to ask her
+to share the other. She understood it all, down to the look of
+displeasure which crossed his face as he felt the possible effect of
+his own speech. She understood it all, but she could not give him
+much help,--as yet. There might perhaps come a moment in which she
+could explain to him her own ideas about farms and estates, and the
+reasons in accordance with which these might be selected and those
+rejected. "Have you seen much of Ralph Newton lately?" asked the
+other Ralph.
+
+"Of your cousin?"
+
+"Yes;--only I do not call him so. I have no right to call him my
+cousin."
+
+"No; We do not see much of him." This was said in a tone of voice
+which ought to have sufficed for curing any anxiety in Ralph's bosom
+respecting his rival. Had he not been sore and nervous, and, as it
+must be admitted, almost stupid in the matter, he could not but have
+gathered from that tone that his namesake was at least no favourite
+with Miss Bonner. "He used to be a great deal at Popham Villa," said
+Ralph.
+
+"We do not see him often now. I fancy there has been some cause of
+displeasure between him and my uncle. His brother has been with us
+once or twice. I do like Mr. Gregory Newton."
+
+"He is the best fellow that ever lived," exclaimed Ralph with energy.
+
+"So much nicer than his brother," said Mary;--"though perhaps I ought
+not to say so to you."
+
+This at any rate could not but be satisfactory to him. "I like them
+both," he said; "but I love Greg dearly. He and I have lived together
+like brothers for years, whereas it is only quite lately that I have
+known the other."
+
+"It is only lately that I have known either;--but they seem to me
+to be so different. Is not that a wonderfully beautiful picture, Mr.
+Newton? Can't, you almost fancy yourself sitting down and throwing
+stones into the river, or dabbling your feet in it?"
+
+"It is very pretty," said he, not caring a penny for the picture.
+
+"Have you any river at Beamingham?"
+
+"There's a muddy little brook that you could almost jump over. You
+wouldn't want to dabble in that."
+
+"Has it got a name?"
+
+"I think they call it the Wissey. It's not at all a river to be proud
+of,--except in the way of eels and water-rats."
+
+"Is there nothing to be proud of at Beamingham?"
+
+"There's the church tower;--that's all."
+
+"A church tower is something;--but I meant as to Beamingham Hall."
+
+"That word Hall misleads people," said Ralph. "It's a kind of
+upper-class farm-house with a lot of low rooms, and intricate
+passages, and chambers here and there, smelling of apples, and a huge
+kitchen, and an oven big enough for a small dinner-party."
+
+"I should like the oven."
+
+"And a laundry, and a dairy, and a cheese-house,--only we never make
+any cheese; and a horse-pond, and a dung-hill, and a cabbage-garden."
+
+"Is that all you can say for your new purchase, Mr. Newton?"
+
+"The house itself isn't ugly."
+
+"Come;--that's better."
+
+"And it might be made fairly comfortable, if there were any use in
+doing it."
+
+"Of course there will be use."
+
+"I don't know that there will," said Ralph. "Sometimes I think one
+thing, and sometimes another. One week I'm full of a scheme about a
+new garden and a conservatory, and a bow-window to the drawing-room;
+and then, the next week, I think that the two rooms I live in at
+present will be enough for me."
+
+"Stick to the conservatory, Mr. Newton. But here are the girls, and I
+suppose it is about time for us to go."
+
+"Mary, where have you been?" said Clarissa.
+
+"Looking at landscapes," said Mary.
+
+"Mr. Newton has shown us every picture worth seeing, and described
+everything, and we haven't had to look at the catalogue once. That's
+just what I like at the Academy. I don't know whether you've been as
+lucky."
+
+"I've had a great deal described to me too," said Mary; "but I'm
+afraid we've forgotten the particular duty that brought us here."
+Then they parted, the two men promising that they would be at the
+villa before long, and the girls preparing themselves for their
+return home.
+
+"That cousin of theirs is certainly very beautiful," said Gregory,
+after some short tribute to the merits of the two sisters.
+
+"I think she is," said Ralph.
+
+"I do not wonder that my brother has been struck with her."
+
+"Nor do I." Then after a pause he continued; "She said something
+which made me think that she and your brother haven't quite hit it
+off together."
+
+"I don't know that they have," said Gregory. "Ralph does change his
+mind sometimes. He hasn't said a word about her to me lately."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER L.
+
+ANOTHER FAILURE.
+
+
+The day after the meeting at the Academy, as Ralph, the young Squire,
+was sitting alone in his room over a late breakfast, a maid-servant
+belonging to the house opened the door and introduced Mr. Neefit.
+It was now the middle of May, and Ralph had seen nothing of the
+breeches-maker since the morning on which he had made his appearance
+in the yard of the Moonbeam. There had been messages, and Mr. Carey
+had been very busy endeavouring to persuade the father that he
+could benefit neither himself nor his daughter by persistence in so
+extravagant a scheme. Money had been offered to Mr. Neefit,--most
+unfortunately, and this offer had added to his wrongs. And he had
+been told by his wife that Polly had at last decided in regard to her
+own affections, and had accepted her old lover, Mr. Moggs. He had
+raved at Polly to her face. He had sworn at Moggs behind his back. He
+had called Mr. Carey very hard names;--and now he forced himself once
+more upon the presence of the young Squire. "Captain," he said, as
+soon as he had carefully closed the door behind him, "are you going
+to be upon the square?" Newton had given special orders that Neefit
+should not be admitted to his presence; but here he was, having made
+his way into the chamber in the temporary absence of the Squire's own
+servant.
+
+"Mr. Neefit," said Newton, "I cannot allow this."
+
+"Not allow it, Captain?"
+
+"No;--I cannot. I will not be persecuted. I have received favours
+from you--"
+
+"Yes, you have, Captain."
+
+"And I will do anything in reason to repay them."
+
+"Will you come out and see our Polly?"
+
+"No, I won't."
+
+"You won't?"
+
+"Certainly not. I don't believe your daughter wants to see me. She
+is engaged to another man." So much Mr. Carey had learned from Mrs.
+Neefit. "I have a great regard for your daughter, but I will not go
+to see her."
+
+"Engaged to another man;--is she?"
+
+"I am told so."
+
+"Oh;--that's your little game, is it? And you won't see me when I
+call,--won't you? I won't stir out of this room unless you sends
+for the police, and so we'll get it all into one of the courts of
+law. I shall just like to see how you'll look when you're being
+cross-hackled by one of them learned gents. There'll be a question or
+two about the old breeches-maker as the Squire of Newton mayn't like
+to see in the papers the next morning. I shall take the liberty of
+ringing the bell and ordering a bit of dinner here, if you don't
+mind. I shan't go when the police comes without a deal of row, and
+then we shall have it all out in the courts."
+
+This was monstrously absurd, but at the same time very annoying.
+Even though he should disregard that threat of being "cross-hackled
+by a learned gent," and of being afterwards made notorious in the
+newspapers,--which it must be confessed he did not find himself able
+to disregard,--still, independently of that feeling, he was very
+unwilling to call for brute force to remove Mr. Neefit from the
+arm-chair in which that worthy tradesman had seated himself. He
+had treated the man otherwise than as a tradesman. He had borrowed
+the man's money, and eaten the man's dinners; visited the man at
+Ramsgate, and twice offered his hand to the man's daughter. "You are
+very welcome to dine here," he said, "only I am sorry that I cannot
+dine here with you."
+
+"I won't stir from the place for a week."
+
+"That will be inconvenient," said Ralph,
+
+"Uncommon inconvenient I should say, to a gent like you,--especially
+as I shall tell everybody that I'm on a visit to my son-in-law."
+
+"I meant to yourself,--and to the business."
+
+"Never you mind the business, Captain. There'll be enough left to
+give my girl all the money I promised her, and I don't think I shall
+have to ask you to keep your father-in-law neither. Sending an
+attorney to offer me a thousand pounds! It's my belief I could buy
+you out yet, Captain, in regard to ready money."
+
+"I daresay you could, Mr. Neefit."
+
+"And I won't stir from here till you name a day to come and see me
+and my missus and Polly."
+
+"This is sheer madness, Mr. Neefit."
+
+"You think so;--do you, Captain? You'll find me madder nor you think
+for yet. I'm not agoing to be put upon by you, and nothing come
+of it. I'll have it out of you in money or marbles, as the saying
+is. Just order me a glass of sherry wine, will you? I'm a thirsty
+talking. When you came a visiting me, I always give you lashings of
+drink." This was so true that Ralph felt himself compelled to ring
+the bell, and order up some wine. "Soda and brandy let it be, Jack,"
+said Mr. Neefit to Mr. Newton's own man. "It'll be more comfortable
+like between near relations."
+
+"Soda-water and brandy for Mr. Neefit," said the young Squire,
+turning angrily to the man. "Mr. Neefit, you are perfectly welcome to
+as much brandy as you can drink, and my man will wait upon you while
+I'm away. Good morning." Whereupon Newton took up his hat and left
+the room. He had not passed into the little back room, in which he
+knew that the servant would be looking for soda-water, before he
+heard a sound as of smashed crockery, and he was convinced that Mr.
+Neefit was preparing himself for forcible eviction by breaking his
+ornaments. Let the ornaments go, and the mirror, and the clock on
+the chimney-piece, and the windows. It was a frightful nuisance, but
+anything would be better than sending for the police to take away Mr.
+Neefit. "Keep your eye on that man in the front room," said he, to
+his Swiss valet.
+
+"On Mr. Neefit, saar?"
+
+"Yes; on Mr. Neefit. He wants me to marry his daughter, and I can't
+oblige him. Let him have what he wants to eat and drink. Get rid of
+him if you can, but don't send for the police. He's smashing all the
+things, and you must save as many as you can." So saying, he hurried
+down the stairs and out of the house. But what was he to do next?
+If Mr. Neefit chose to carry out his threat by staying in the rooms,
+Mr. Neefit must be allowed to have his own way. If he chose to amuse
+himself by breaking the things, the things must be broken. If he got
+very drunk, he might probably be taken home in a cab, and deposited
+at the cottage at Hendon. But what should Ralph do at this moment?
+He sauntered sadly down St. James's Street with his hands in his
+trousers-pockets, and finding a crawling hansom at the palace-gate,
+he got into it and ordered the man to drive him down to Fulham. He
+had already made up his mind about "dear little Clary," and the thing
+might as well be done at once. None of the girls were at home. Miss
+Underwood and Miss Bonner had gone up to London to see Sir Thomas.
+Miss Clarissa was spending the day with Mrs. Brownlow. "That will
+just be right," said Ralph to himself, as he ordered the cabman to
+drive him to the old lady's house on the Brompton Road.
+
+Mrs. Brownlow had ever been a great admirer of the young Squire,
+and did not admire him less now that he had come to his squireship.
+She had always hoped that Clary would marry the real heir, and was
+sounding his praises while Ralph was knocking at her door. "He is not
+half so fine a fellow as his brother," said Clarissa.
+
+"You did not use to think so," said Mrs. Brownlow. Then the door was
+opened and Ralph was announced.
+
+With his usual easy manner,--with that unabashed grace which Clarissa
+used to think so charming,--he soon explained that he had been to
+Fulham, and had had himself driven back to Bolsover House because
+Clarissa was there. Clarissa, as she heard this, felt the blood
+tingle in her cheeks. His manner now did not seem to her to be so
+full of grace. Was it not all selfishness? Mrs. Brownlow purred
+out her applause. It was not to be supposed that he came to see
+an old woman;--but his coming to see a young woman, with adequate
+intentions, was quite the proper thing for such a young man to do!
+They were just going to take lunch. Of course he would stop and
+lunch with them. He declared that he would like nothing better.
+Mrs. Brownlow rang the bell, and gave her little orders. Clarissa's
+thoughts referred quickly to various matters,--to the scene on the
+lawn, to a certain evening on which she had walked home with him from
+this very house, to the confessions which she had made to her sister,
+to her confidence with her cousin;--and then to the offer that had
+been made to Mary, now only a few weeks since. She looked at him,
+though she did not seem to be looking at him, and told herself that
+the man was nothing to her. He had caused her unutterable sorrow,
+with which her heart was still sore;--but he was nothing to her. She
+would eat her lunch with him, and endeavour to talk to him; but the
+less she might see of him henceforth the better. He was selfish,
+heartless, weak, and unworthy.
+
+The lunch was eaten, and within three minutes afterwards, Mrs.
+Brownlow was away. As they were returning to the little parlour in
+which they had been sitting during the morning, she contrived to
+escape, and Ralph found himself alone with his "dear, darling little
+Clary." In spite of his graceful ease, the task before him was not
+without difficulty. Clarissa, of course, knew that he had proposed to
+Mary, and probably knew that he had proposed to Polly. But Mary had
+told him that Clarissa was devoted to him,--had told him at least
+that which amounted to almost as much. And then it was incumbent on
+him to do something that might put an end to the Neefit abomination.
+Clarissa would be contented to look back upon that episode with
+Mary Bonner, as a dream that meant nothing;--just as he himself was
+already learning to look at it. "Clary," he said, "I have hardly seen
+you to speak to you since the night we walked home together from this
+house."
+
+"No, indeed, Mr. Newton," she said. Hitherto she had always called
+him Ralph. He did not observe the change, having too many things of
+his own to think of at the moment.
+
+"How much has happened since that!"
+
+"Very much, indeed, Mr. Newton."
+
+"And yet it seems to be such a short time ago,--almost yesterday. My
+poor uncle was alive then."
+
+"Yes, he was."
+
+He did not seem to be getting any nearer to his object by these
+references to past events. "Clary," he said, "there are many things
+which I wish to have forgotten, and some perhaps which I would have
+forgiven."
+
+"I suppose that is so with all of us," said Clarissa.
+
+"Just so, though I don't know that any of us have ever been so
+absurdly foolish as I have,--throwing away what was of the greatest
+value in the world for the sake of something that seemed to be
+precious, just for a moment." It was very difficult, and he already
+began to feel that the nature of the girl was altered towards him.
+She had suddenly become hard, undemonstrative, and almost unkind.
+Hitherto he had always regarded her, without much conscious thought
+about it, as a soft, sweet, pleasant thing, that might at any moment
+be his for the asking. And Mary Bonner had told him that he ought to
+ask. Now he was willing to beseech her pardon, to be in very truth
+her lover, and to share with her all his prosperity. But she would
+give him no assistance in his difficulty. He was determined that she
+should speak, and, trusting to Mrs. Brownlow's absence, he sat still,
+waiting for her.
+
+"I hope you have thrown away nothing that you ought to keep," she
+said at last. "It seems to me that you have got everything."
+
+"No,--not as yet everything. I do not know whether I shall ever get
+that which I desire the most." Of course she understood him now;
+but she sat hard, and fixed, and stern,--so absolutely unlike the
+Clarissa whom he had known since they were hardly more than children
+together! "You know what I mean, Clarissa."
+
+"No;--I do not," she said.
+
+"I fear you mean that you cannot forgive me."
+
+"I have nothing to forgive."
+
+"Oh yes, you have; whether you will ever forgive me I cannot say. But
+there is much to forgive;--very much. Your cousin Mary for a short
+moment ran away with us all."
+
+"She is welcome,--for me."
+
+"What do you mean, Clarissa?"
+
+"Just what I say. She is welcome for me. She has taken nothing
+that I prize. Indeed I do not think she has condescended to take
+anything,--anything of the sort you mean. Mary and I love each other
+dearly. There is no danger of our quarrelling."
+
+"Come, Clary," he got up as he spoke, and stood over her, close to
+her shoulder, "you understand well enough what I mean. We have known
+each other so long, and I think we have loved each other so well,
+that you ought to say that you will forgive me. I have been foolish.
+I have been wrong. I have been false, if you will. Cannot you forgive
+me?"
+
+Not for a moment was there a look of forgiveness in her eye, or a
+sign of pardon in the lines of her face. But in her heart there was
+a contest. Something of the old passion remained there, though it
+was no more than the soreness it had caused. For half a moment she
+thought whether it might not be as he would have it. But if so, how
+could she again look any of her friends in the face and admit that
+she had surrendered herself to so much unworthiness? How could she
+tell Patience, who was beginning to be full of renewed hope for
+Gregory? How could she confess such a weakness to her father? How
+could she stand up before Mary Bonner? And was it possible that
+she should really give herself, her whole life, and all her future
+hopes, to one so weak and worthless as this man? "There is nothing to
+forgive," she said, "but I certainly cannot forget."
+
+"You know that I love you," he protested.
+
+"Love me;--yes, with what sort of love? But it does not matter. There
+need be no further talk about it. Your love to me can be nothing."
+
+"Clarissa!"
+
+"And to you it will be quite as little. Your heart will never suffer
+much, Ralph. How long is it since you offered your hand to my cousin?
+Only that you are just a boy playing at love, this would be an
+insult." Then she saw her old friend through the window. "Mrs.
+Brownlow," she said, "Mr. Newton is going, and I am ready for our
+walk whenever you please."
+
+"Think of it twice, Clarissa;--must this be the end of it?" pleaded
+Ralph.
+
+"As far as I am concerned it must be the end of it. When I get home I
+shall probably find that you have already made an offer to Patience."
+Then he got up, took his hat, and having shaken hands cordially with
+Mrs. Brownlow through the window, went out to his hansom cab, which
+was earning sixpence a quarter of an hour out on the road, while he
+had been so absolutely wasting his quarter of an hour within the
+house.
+
+"Has he said anything, my dear?" asked Mrs. Brownlow.
+
+"He has said a great deal."
+
+"Well, my dear?"
+
+"He is an empty, vain, inconstant man."
+
+"Is he, Clarissa?"
+
+"And yet he is so good-humoured, and so gay, and so pleasant, that I
+do not see why he should not make a very good husband to some girl."
+
+"What do you mean, Clarissa? You have not refused him?"
+
+"I did not say he had offered;--did I?"
+
+"But he has?"
+
+"If he did,--then I refused him. He is good-natured; but he has no
+more heart than a log of wood. Don't talk about it any more, dear
+Mrs. Brownlow. I dare say we shall all be friends again before long,
+and he'll almost forget everything that he said this morning."
+
+Throughout the afternoon she was gay and almost happy, and before she
+went home she had made up her mind that she would tell Patience, and
+then get rid of it from her thoughts for ever. Not to tell Patience
+would be a breach of faith between them, and would moreover render
+future sisterly intercourse between them very difficult. But had
+it been possible she would have avoided the expression of triumph
+without which it would be almost impossible for her to tell the
+story. Within her own bosom certainly there was some triumph. The man
+for whose love she had sighed and been sick had surrendered to her at
+last. The prize had been at her feet, but she had not chosen to lift
+it. "Poor Ralph," she said to herself; "he means to do as well as he
+can, but he is so feeble." She certainly would not tell Mary Bonner,
+nor would she say a word to her father. And when she should meet
+Ralph again,--as she did not doubt but that she would meet him
+shortly, she would be very careful to give no sign that she was
+thinking of his disgrace. He should still be called Ralph,--till
+he was a married man; and when it should come to pass that he was
+about to marry she would congratulate him with all the warmth of old
+friendship.
+
+That night she did tell it all to Patience. "You don't mean," she
+said, "that I have not done right?"
+
+"I am sure you have done quite right."
+
+"Then why are you so sober about it, Patty?"
+
+"Only if you do love him--! I would give my right hand, Clary, that
+you might have that which shall make you happy in life."
+
+"If you were to give your right and left hand too, a marriage with
+Ralph Newton would not make me happy. Think of it, Patty;--to both
+of us within two months! He is just like a child. How could I ever
+have respected him, or believed in him? I could never have respected
+myself again. No, Patty, I did love him dearly. I fancied that life
+without him must all be a dreary blank. I made him into a god;--but
+his feet are of the poorest clay! Kiss me, dear, and congratulate
+me;--because I have escaped."
+
+Her sister did kiss her and did congratulate her;--but still there
+was a something of regret in the sister's heart. Clarissa was, to her
+thinking, so fit to be the mistress of Newton Priory.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LI.
+
+MUSIC HAS CHARMS.
+
+
+The Commission appointed to examine into the condition of the borough
+of Percycross cannot exactly be said to have made short work of it,
+for it sat daily for many consecutive weeks, and examined half the
+voters in the town; but it made sharp work, and reported to the
+Speaker of the House such a tale of continual corruption, that all
+the world knew that the borough would be disfranchised. The glory
+of Percycross was gone, and in regard to political influence it was
+to be treated as the cities of the plain, and blotted from off the
+face of existence. The learned gentlemen who formed the Commission
+had traced home to Mr. Griffenbottom's breeches-pockets large sums
+of money which had been expended in the borough for purposes of
+systematised corruption during the whole term of his connection
+with it;--and yet they were not very hard upon Mr. Griffenbottom
+personally in their report. He had spent the money no doubt, but
+had so spent it that at every election it appeared that he had not
+expected to spend it till the bills were sent to him. He frankly
+owned that the borough had been ruinous to him; had made a poor man
+of him,--but assured the Commission at the same time that all this
+had come from his continued innocence. As every new election came
+round, he had hoped that that would at least be pure, and had been
+urgent in his instructions to his agents to that effect. He had at
+last learned, he said, that he was not a sufficient Hercules to
+cleanse so foul a stable. All this created no animosity against him
+in Percycross during the sitting of the Commission. His old friends,
+the Triggers, and Piles, and Spiveycombs, clung to him as closely as
+ever. Every man in Percycross knew that the borough was gone, and
+there really seemed at last to be something of actual gratitude
+in their farewell behaviour to the man who had treated the place
+as it liked to be treated. As the end of it all, the borough was
+undoubtedly to be disfranchised, and Mr. Griffenbottom left it,--a
+ruined man, indeed, according to his own statement,--but still with
+his colours flying, and, to a certain extent, triumphantly. So we
+will leave him, trusting,--or perhaps rather hoping,--that the days
+of Mr. Griffenbottom are nearly at an end.
+
+His colleague, Sir Thomas, on the occasion of his third visit to
+Percycross,--a visit which he was constrained to make, sorely against
+his will, in order that he might give his evidence before the
+Commission,--remained there but a very short time. But while there he
+made a clean breast of it. He had gone down to the borough with the
+most steadfast purpose to avoid corruption; and had done his best in
+that direction. But he had failed. There had been corruption, for
+which he had himself paid in part. There had been treating of the
+grossest kind. Money had been demanded from him since the election,
+as to the actual destination of which he was profoundly ignorant. He
+did not, however, doubt but that this money had been spent in the
+purchase of votes. Sir Thomas was supposed to have betrayed the
+borough in his evidence, and was hooted out of the town. On this
+occasion he only remained there one night, and left Percycross for
+ever, after giving his evidence.
+
+This happened during the second week in May. On his return to London
+he did not go down to Fulham, but remained at his chambers in a most
+unhappy frame of mind. This renewed attempt of his to enter the world
+and to go among men that he might do a man's work, had resulted in
+the loss of a great many hundred pounds, in absolute failure, and, as
+he wrongly told himself, in personal disgrace. He was almost ashamed
+to show himself at his club, and did for two days absolutely have his
+dinner brought to him in his chambers from an eating-house.
+
+"I'm sure you won't like that, Sir Thomas," Stemm had said to him,
+expostulating, and knowing very well the nature of his master's
+sufferings.
+
+"I don't know that I like anything very much," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I wouldn't go and not show my face because of other people's
+roguery," rejoined Stemm, with cruel audacity. Sir Thomas looked at
+him, but did not answer a word, and Stemm fetched the food.
+
+"Stemm," said Sir Thomas the same evening, "it's getting to be fine
+weather now."
+
+"It's fine enough," said Stemm.
+
+"Do you take your nieces down to Southend for an outing. Go down on
+Thursday and come back on Saturday. I shall be at home. There's a
+five-pound note for the expenses." Stemm slowly took the note, but
+grunted and grumbled. The girls were nuisances to him, and he didn't
+want to take them an outing. They wouldn't care to go before July,
+and he didn't care to go at all. "You can go when you please," said
+Sir Thomas. Stemm growled and grumbled, and at last left the room
+with the money.
+
+The morning afterwards Sir Thomas was sitting alone in his room
+absolutely wretched. He had so managed his life that there seemed to
+be nothing left to him in it worth the having. He had raised himself
+to public repute by his intellect and industry, and had then, almost
+at once, allowed himself to be hustled out of the throng simply
+because others had been rougher than he,--because other men had
+pushed and shouldered while he had been quiet and unpretending. Then
+he had resolved to make up for this disappointment by work of another
+kind,--by work which would, after all, be more congenial to him. He
+would go back to the dream of his youth, to the labours of former
+days, and would in truth write his Life of Bacon. He had then
+surrounded himself with his papers, had gotten his books together and
+read up his old notes, had planned chapters and sections, and settled
+divisions, had drawn up headings, and revelled in those paraphernalia
+of work which are so dear to would-be working men;--and then nothing
+had come of it. Of what use was it that he went about ever with a
+volume in his pocket, and read a page or two as he sat over his wine?
+When sitting alone in his room he did read; but when reading he knew
+that he was not working. He went, as it were, round and round the
+thing, never touching it, till the labour which he longed to commence
+became so frightful to him that he did not dare to touch it. To do
+that thing was the settled purpose of his life, and yet, from day to
+day and from month to month, it became more impossible to him even
+to make a beginning. There is a misery in this which only they who
+have endured it can understand. There are idle men who rejoice in
+idleness. Their name is legion. Idleness, even when it is ruinous, is
+delightful to them. They revel in it, look forward to it, and almost
+take a pride in it. When it can be had without pecuniary detriment,
+it is to such men a thing absolutely good in itself. But such a
+one was not Sir Thomas Underwood. And there are men who love work,
+who revel in that, who attack it daily with renewed energy, almost
+wallowing in it, greedy of work, who go to it almost as the drunkard
+goes to his bottle, or the gambler to his gaming-table. These are not
+unhappy men, though they are perhaps apt to make those around them
+unhappy. But such a one was not Sir Thomas Underwood. And again there
+are men, fewer in number, who will work though they hate it, from
+sheer conscience and from conviction that idleness will not suit them
+or make them happy. Strong men these are;--but such a one certainly
+was not Sir Thomas Underwood. Then there are they who love the idea
+of work, but want the fibre needful for the doing it. It may be that
+such a one will earn his bread as Sir Thomas Underwood had earned
+his, not flinching from routine task or even from the healthy efforts
+necessary for subsistence. But there will ever be present to the
+mind of the ambitious man the idea of something to be done over and
+above the mere earning of his bread;--and the ambition may be very
+strong, though the fibre be lacking. Such a one will endure an
+agony protracted for years, always intending, never performing,
+self-accusing through every wakeful hour, self-accusing almost
+through every sleeping hour. The work to be done is close there
+by the hand, but the tools are loathed, and the paraphernalia of
+it become hateful. And yet it can never be put aside. It is to be
+grasped to-morrow, but on every morrow the grasping of it becomes
+more difficult, more impossible, more revolting. There is no
+peace, no happiness for such a man;--and such a one was Sir Thomas
+Underwood.
+
+In this strait he had been tempted to make another effort in
+political life, and he had made it. There had been no difficulty in
+this,--only that the work itself had been so disagreeable, and that
+he had failed in it so egregiously. During his canvass, and in all
+his intercourse with the Griffenbottomites, he had told himself,
+falsely, how pleasant to him it would be to return to his books;--how
+much better for him would be a sedentary life, if he could only bring
+himself to do, or even attempt to do, the work which he had appointed
+for himself. Now he had returned to his solitude, had again dragged
+out his papers, his note-book, his memoranda, his dates, and yet he
+could not in truth get into his harness, put his neck to the collar,
+and attempt to drag the burden up the hill.
+
+He was sitting alone in his room in this condition, with a book
+in his hand of no value to his great purpose, hating himself and
+wretched, when Stemm opened his door, ushering Patience and Mary
+Bonner into his room. "Ah, my dears," he said, "what has brought
+you up to London? I did not think of seeing you here." There was
+no expression of positive displeasure in his voice, but it was
+understood by them all, by the daughter, by the cousin, by old Stemm,
+and by Sir Thomas himself, that such a visit as this was always to be
+regarded more or less as an intrusion. However, he kissed them both,
+and handed them chairs, and was more than usually civil to them.
+
+"We do so want to hear about Percycross, papa," said Patience.
+
+"There is nothing to be told about Percycross."
+
+"Are you to stand again, papa?"
+
+"Nobody will ever stand for Percycross again. It will lose its
+members altogether. The thing is settled."
+
+"And you have had all the trouble for nothing, uncle?" Mary asked.
+
+"All for nothing,--and the expense. But that is a very common thing,
+and I have no ground of complaint beyond many others."
+
+"It does seem so hard," said Patience.
+
+"So very hard," said Mary. And then they were silent. They had not
+come without a purpose; but, as is common with young ladies, they
+kept their purpose for the end of the interview.
+
+"Are you coming home, papa?" Patience asked.
+
+"Well, yes; I won't settle any day now, because I am very busy just
+at present. But I shall be home soon,--very soon."
+
+"I do so hope you'll stay some time with us, papa."
+
+"My dear, you know--" And then he stopped, having been pounced upon
+so suddenly that he had not resolved what excuse he would for the
+moment put forward. "I've got my papers and things in such confusion
+here at present,--because of Percycross and the trouble I have
+had,--that I cannot leave them just now."
+
+"But why not bring the papers with you, papa?"
+
+"My dear, you know I can't."
+
+Then there was another pause. "Papa, I think you ought," said
+Patience. "Indeed I do, for Clary's sake,--and ours." But even this
+was not the subject which had specially brought them on that morning
+to Southampton Buildings.
+
+"What is there wrong with Clary?" asked Sir Thomas.
+
+"There is nothing wrong," said Patience
+
+"What do you mean then?"
+
+"I think it would be so much more comfortable for her that you should
+see things as they are going on."
+
+"I declare I don't know what she means. Do you know what she means,
+Mary?"
+
+"Clary has not been quite herself lately," said Mary.
+
+"I suppose it's something about that scamp, Ralph Newton," said Sir
+Thomas.
+
+"No, indeed, papa; I am sure she does not think of him now." On this
+very morning, as the reader may perhaps remember, the scamp had
+gone down to Fulham, and from Fulham back to Brompton, in search of
+Clarissa; but of the scamp's energy and renewed affections, Patience
+as yet knew nothing. "Gregory has been up in London and has been down
+at Fulham once or twice. We want him to come again before he goes
+back on Saturday, and we thought if you would come home on Thursday,
+we could ask him to dinner." Sir Thomas scratched his head, and
+fidgeted in his chair. "Their cousin is in London also," continued
+Patience.
+
+"The other Ralph; he who has bought Beamingham Hall?"
+
+"Yes, papa; we saw him at the Academy. I told him how happy you would
+be to see him at Fulham."
+
+"Of course I should be glad to see him; that is, if I happened to be
+at home," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"But I could not name a day without asking you, papa."
+
+"He will have gone back by this time," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I think not, papa."
+
+"And what do you say, Mary?"
+
+"I have nothing to say at all, uncle. If Mr. Newton likes to come to
+the villa, I shall be glad to see him. Why should I not? He has done
+nothing to offend me." There was a slight smile on her face as she
+spoke, and the merest hint of a blush on her cheek.
+
+"They tell me that Beamingham Hall isn't much of a place after all,"
+said Sir Thomas.
+
+"From what Mr. Newton says, it must be a very ugly place," said Mary,
+with still the same smile and the same hint of a blush;--"only I
+don't quite credit all he tells us."
+
+"If there is anything settled you ought to tell me," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"There is nothing settled, uncle, or in any way of being settled.
+It so happened that Mr. Newton did speak to me about his new house.
+There is nothing more."
+
+"Nevertheless, papa, pray let us ask him to dinner on Thursday." It
+was for the purpose of making this request that Patience had come to
+Southampton Buildings, braving her father's displeasure. Sir Thomas
+scratched his head, and rubbed his face, and yielded. Of course he
+had no alternative but to yield, and yet he did it with a bad grace.
+Permission, however, was given, and it was understood that Patience
+would write to the two young men, Ralph of Beamingham Hall and the
+parson, asking them to dinner for the day but one following. "As
+the time is so short, I've written the notes ready," said Patience,
+producing them from her pocket. Then the bell was rung, and the two
+notes were confided to Stemm. Patience, as she was going, found a
+moment in which to be alone with her father, and to speak one more
+word to him. "Dear papa, it would be so much better for us that you
+should come and live at home. Think of those two, with nobody, as
+it were, to say a word for them." Sir Thomas groaned, and again
+scratched his head; but Patience left him before he had arranged his
+words for an answer.
+
+When they were gone, Sir Thomas sat for hours in his chair without
+moving, making the while one or two faint attempts at the book before
+him, but in truth giving up his mind to contemplation of the past
+and to conjectures as to the future, burdened by heavy regrets, and
+with hopes too weak to afford him any solace. The last words which
+Patience had spoken rang in his ears,--"Think of those two, with
+nobody, as it were, to say a word for them." He did think of them,
+and of the speaker also, and knew that he had neglected his duty. He
+could understand that such a girl as his own Clarissa did require
+some one "to say a word for her," some stalwart arm to hold her up,
+some loving strength to support her, some counsel to direct her. Of
+course those three girls were as other girls, looking forward to
+matrimony as their future lot in life, and it would not be well that
+they should be left to choose or to be chosen, or left to reject and
+be rejected, without any aid from their remaining parent. He knew
+that he had been wrong, and he almost resolved that the chambers in
+Southampton Buildings should be altogether abandoned, and his books
+removed to Popham Villa.
+
+But such men do not quite resolve. Before he could lay his hand upon
+the table and assure himself that the thing should be done, the
+volume had been taken up again, used for a few minutes, and then the
+man's mind had run away again to that vague contemplation which is
+so much easier than the forming of a steady purpose. It was one of
+those almost sultry days which do come to us occasionally amidst
+the ordinary inclemency of a London May, and he was sitting with
+his window open, though there was a fire in the grate. As he sat,
+dreaming rather than thinking, there came upon his ear the weak,
+wailing, puny sound of a distant melancholy flute. He had heard it
+often before, and had been roused by it to evil wishes, and sometimes
+even to evil words, against the musician. It was the effort of some
+youth in the direction of Staple's Inn to soothe with music the
+savageness of his own bosom. It was borne usually on the evening air,
+but on this occasion the idle swain had taken up his instrument
+within an hour or two of his early dinner. His melody was burdened
+with no peculiar tune, but consisted of a few low, wailing,
+melancholy notes, such as may be extracted from the reed by a breath
+and the slow raising and falling of the little finger, much, we
+believe, to the comfort of the player, but to the ineffable disgust
+of, too often, a large circle of hearers.
+
+Sir Thomas was affected by the sound long before he was aware that he
+was listening to it. To-whew, to-whew; to-whew, to-whew; whew-to-to,
+whew-to-to, whew, to-whew. On the present occasion the variation
+was hardly carried beyond that; but so much was repeated with a
+persistency which at last seemed to burden the whole air round
+Southampton Buildings. The little thing might have been excluded by
+the closing of the window; but Sir Thomas, though he suffered, did
+not reflect for a while whence the suffering came. Who does not know
+how such sounds may serve to enhance the bitterness of remorse, to
+add a sorrow to the present thoughts, and to rob the future of its
+hopes?
+
+There come upon us all as we grow up in years, hours in which it is
+impossible to keep down the conviction that everything is vanity,
+that the life past has been vain from folly, and that the life to
+come must be vain from impotence. It is the presence of thoughts such
+as these that needs the assurance of a heaven to save the thinker
+from madness or from suicide. It is when the feeling of this
+pervading vanity is strongest on him, that he who doubts of heaven
+most regrets his incapacity for belief. If there be nothing better
+than this on to the grave,--and nothing worse beyond the grave, why
+should I bear such fardels?
+
+Sir Thomas, as he sat there listening and thinking, unable not to
+think and not to listen, found that the fardels were very heavy. What
+good had come to him of his life,--to him or to others? And what
+further good did he dare to promise to himself? Had it not all been
+vanity? Was it not all vain to him now at the present? Was not life
+becoming to him vainer and still vainer every day? He had promised
+himself once that books should be the solace of his age, and he was
+beginning to hate his books, because he knew that he did no more than
+trifle with them. He had found himself driven to attempt to escape
+from them back into public life; but had failed, and had been
+inexpressibly dismayed in the failure. While failing, he had promised
+himself that he would rush at his work on his return to privacy and
+to quiet; but he was still as the shivering coward, who stands upon
+the brink, and cannot plunge in among the bathers. And then there was
+sadness beyond this, and even deeper than this. Why should he have
+dared to arrange for himself a life different from the life of the
+ordinary men and women who lived around him? Why had he not contented
+himself with having his children around him; walking with them to
+church on Sunday morning, taking them to the theatre on Monday
+evening, and allowing them to read him to sleep after tea on the
+Tuesday? He had not done these things, was not doing them now,
+because he had ventured to think himself capable of something that
+would justify him in leaving the common circle. He had left it, but
+was not justified. He had been in Parliament, had been in office,
+and had tried to write a book. But he was not a legislator, was
+not a statesman, and was not an author. He was simply a weak, vain,
+wretched man, who, through false conceit, had been induced to neglect
+almost every duty of life! To-whew, to-whew, to-whew, to-whew! As the
+sounds filled his ears, such were the thoughts which lay heavy on his
+bosom. So idle as he had been in thinking, so inconclusive, so frail,
+so subject to gusts of wind, so incapable of following his subject to
+the end, why had he dared to leave that Sunday-keeping, church-going,
+domestic, decent life, which would have become one of so ordinary a
+calibre as himself? There are men who may doubt, who may weigh the
+evidence, who may venture to believe or disbelieve in compliance with
+their own reasoning faculties,--who may trust themselves to think
+it out; but he, too clearly, had not been, was not, and never
+would be one of these. To walk as he saw other men walking around
+him,--because he was one of the many; to believe that to be good
+which the teachers appointed for him declared to be good; to do
+prescribed duties without much personal inquiry into the causes which
+had made them duties; to listen patiently, and to be content without
+excitement; that was the mode of living for which he should have
+known himself to be fit. But he had not known it, and had strayed
+away, and had ventured to think that he could think,--and had been
+ambitious. And now he found himself stranded in the mud of personal
+condemnation,--and that so late in life, that there remained to him
+no hope of escape. Whew-to-to; whew-to-to; whew,--to-whew. "Stemm,
+why do you let that brute go on with his cursed flute?" Stemm at that
+moment had opened the door to suggest that as he usually dined at
+one, and as it was now past three, he would go out and get a bit of
+something to eat.
+
+"He's always at it, sir," said Stemm, pausing for a moment before he
+alluded to his own wants.
+
+"Why the deuce is he always at it? Why isn't he indited for a
+nuisance? Who's to do anything with such a noise as that going on for
+hours together? He has nearly driven me mad."
+
+"It's young Wobble as has the back attic, No. 17, in the Inn," said
+Stemm.
+
+"They ought to turn him out," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I rather like it myself," said Stemm. "It suits my disposition,
+sir." Then he made his little suggestion in regard to his own
+personal needs, and of course was blown up for not having come in
+two hours ago to remind Sir Thomas that it was dinner-time. "It's
+because I wouldn't disturb you when you has the Bacon papers out, Sir
+Thomas," said Stemm serenely. Sir Thomas winced and shook his head;
+but such scenes as this were too common to have much effect. "Stemm!"
+he called aloud, as soon as the old clerk had closed the door;
+"Stemm!" Whereupon Stemm reappeared. "Stemm, have some one here next
+week to pack all these books."
+
+"Pack all the books, Sir Thomas!"
+
+"Yes;--to pack all the books. There must be cases. Now, go and get
+your dinner."
+
+"New cases, Sir Thomas!"
+
+"That will do. Go and get your dinner." And yet his mind was not
+quite made up.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LII.
+
+GUS EARDHAM.
+
+
+Whether Mr. Neefit broke Ralph Newton's little statuette,--a
+miniature copy in porcelain of the Apollo Belvidere, which stood in a
+corner of Ralph's room, and in the possession of which he took some
+pride,--from awkwardness in his wrath or of malice prepense, was
+never known. He told the servant that he had whisked it down with
+his coat tails; but Ralph always thought that the breeches-maker had
+intended to make a general ruin, but had been cowed by the noise of
+his first attack. He did, at any rate, abstain from breaking other
+things, and when the servant entered the room, condescended to make
+some careless apology. "A trifle like that ain't nothing between me
+and your master, Jack," said Mr. Neefit, after accounting for the
+accident by his coat-tails.
+
+"I am not Jack," said the indignant valet, with a strong foreign
+accent. "I am named--Adolphe."
+
+"Adolphe, are you? I don't think much of Adolphe for a name;--but it
+ain't no difference to me. Just pick up them bits; will you?"
+
+The man turned a look of scorn on Mr. Neefit, and did pick up the
+bits. He intended to obey his master as far as might be possible,
+but was very unwilling to wait upon the breeches-maker. He felt that
+the order which had been given to him was very cruel. It was his
+duty,--and his pleasure to wait upon gentlemen; but this man he
+knew to be a tradesman who measured customers for hunting apparel
+in his own shop. It was hard upon him that his master should go
+and leave him to be insulted, ordered about, and trodden upon by
+a breeches-maker. "Get me a bit of steak, will you?" demanded
+Neefit;--"a bit of the rump, not too much done, with the gravy in
+it,--and an onion. What are you staring at? Didn't you hear what your
+master said to you?"
+
+"Onion,--and romp-steak!"
+
+"Yes; rump-steak and onion. I ain't going out of this till I've had a
+bit of grub. Your master knows all about it. I'm going to have more
+nor that out of him before I've done with him."
+
+Neefit did at last succeed, and had his rump-steak and onion,
+together with more brandy and soda-water, eating and drinking as he
+sat in Ralph's beautiful new easy chair,--not very much to his own
+comfort. A steak at the Prince's Feathers in Conduit Street would
+have been very much more pleasant to him, and he would have preferred
+half-and-half in the pewter to brandy and soda-water;--but he felt a
+pride in using his power in a fashion that would be disgraceful to
+his host. When he had done his steak he pulled his pipe out of his
+pocket, and smoked. Against this Adolphe remonstrated stoutly, but
+quite in vain. "The Captain won't mind a little baccy-smoke out of my
+pipe," he said. "He always has his smoke comfortable when he comes
+down to me." At last, about four o'clock, he did go away, assuring
+Adolphe that he would repeat his visit very soon. "I means to see
+a deal of the Captain this season," he said. At last, however, he
+retreated, and Adolphe opened the door of the house for him without
+speaking a word. "Bye, bye," said Neefit. "I'll be here again before
+long."
+
+Ralph on that afternoon came home to dress for dinner at about seven,
+in great fear lest Neefit should still be found in his rooms. "No,
+saar; he go away at last!" said Adolphe, with a melancholy shake of
+his head.
+
+"Has he done much harm?"
+
+"The Apollo gone!--and he had romp-steak,--and onions,--and a pipe.
+Vat vas I to do? I hope he vill never come again." And so also did
+Mr. Newton hope that Neefit would never come again.
+
+He was going to dine with Lady Eardham, the wife of a Berkshire
+baronet, who had three fair daughters. At this period of his life he
+found the aristocracy of Berkshire and Hampshire to be very civil to
+him; and, indeed, the world at large was disposed to smile on him.
+But there was very much in his lot to make him unhappy. He had on
+that morning been utterly rejected by Clarissa Underwood. It may,
+perhaps, be true that he was not a man to break his heart because a
+girl rejected him. He was certainly one who could have sung the old
+song, "If she be not fair for me, what care I how fair she be." And
+yet Clarissa's conduct had distressed him, and had caused him to go
+about throughout the whole afternoon with his heart almost in his
+boots. He had felt her coldness to him much more severely than he had
+that of Mary Bonner. He had taught himself to look upon that little
+episode with Mary as though it had really meant nothing. She had just
+crossed the sky of his heaven like a meteor, and for a moment had
+disturbed its serenity. And Polly also had been to him a false light,
+leading him astray for awhile under exceptional, and, as he thought,
+quite pardonable circumstances. But dear little Clary had been his
+own peculiar star,--a star that was bound to have been true to him,
+even though he might have erred for a moment in his worship,--a
+star with a sweet, soft, enduring light, that he had always assured
+himself he might call his own when he pleased. And now this soft,
+sweet star had turned upon him and scorched him. "When I get home,"
+she had said to him, "I shall find that you have already made an
+offer to Patience!" He certainly had not expected such scorn from
+her. And then he was so sure in his heart that if she would have
+accepted him, he would have been henceforth so true to her, so good
+to her! He would have had such magnanimous pleasure in showering upon
+her pretty little head all the good things at his disposal, that,
+for her own sake, the pity was great. When he had been five minutes
+in his cab, bowling back towards his club, he was almost minded to
+return and give her one more chance. She would just have suited him.
+And as for her,--would it not be a heaven on earth for her if she
+would only consent to forget that foolish, unmeaning little episode.
+Could Clary have forgotten the episode, and been content to care
+little or nothing for that easiness of feeling which made our Ralph
+what he was, she might, probably, have been happy as the mistress of
+the Priory. But she would not have forgotten, and would not have been
+content. She had made up her little heart stoutly that Ralph the heir
+should sit in it no longer, and it was well for him that he did not
+go back.
+
+He went to his club instead,--not daring to go to his rooms. The
+insanity of Neefit was becoming to him a terrible bane. It was, too,
+a cruelty which he certainly had done nothing to deserve. He could
+lay his hand on his heart and assure himself that he had treated that
+mad, pig-headed tradesman well in all respects. He knew himself to
+be the last man to make a promise, and then to break it wilfully. He
+had certainly borrowed money of Neefit;--and at the probable cost
+of all his future happiness he had, with a nobleness which he could
+not himself sufficiently admire, done his very best to keep the
+hard terms which in his distress he had allowed to be imposed upon
+himself. He had been loyal, even to the breeches-maker;--and this was
+the return which was made to him!
+
+What was he to do, should Neefit cling to his threat and remain
+permanently at his chambers? There were the police, and no doubt
+he could rid himself of his persecutor. But he understood well the
+barbarous power which some underbred, well-trained barrister would
+have of asking him questions which it would be so very disagreeable
+for him to answer! He lacked the courage to send for the police.
+Jacky Joram had just distinguished himself greatly, and nearly
+exterminated a young gentleman who had married one girl while he was
+engaged to another. Jacky Joram might ask him questions as to his
+little dinners at Alexandra Lodge, which it would nearly kill him
+to answer. He was very unhappy, and began to think that it might
+be as well that he should travel for twelve months. Neefit could
+not persecute him up the Nile, or among the Rocky Mountains. And
+perhaps Clary's ferocity would have left her were he to return after
+twelve months of glorious journeyings, still constant to his first
+affections. In the meantime he did not dare to go home till it would
+be absolutely necessary that he should dress for dinner.
+
+In the billiard-room of his club he found Lord Polperrow,--the eldest
+son of the Marquis of Megavissey,--pretty Poll, as he was called by
+many young men, and by some young ladies, about town. Lord Polperrow
+had become his fast friend since the day on which his heirship was
+established, and now encountered him with friendly intimacy. "Halloa,
+Newton," said the young lord, "have you seen old Neefit lately?"
+There were eight or ten men in the room, and suddenly there was
+silence among the cues.
+
+Ralph would have given his best horse to be able to laugh it off, but
+he found that he could not laugh. He became very hot, and knew that
+he was red in the face. "What about old Neefit?" he said.
+
+"I've just come from Conduit Street, and he says that he has been
+dining with you. He swears that you are to marry his daughter."
+
+"He be d----!" said Newton. It was a poor way of getting out of the
+scrape, and so Ralph felt.
+
+"But what's the meaning of it all? He's telling everybody about
+London that you went down to stay with him at Margate."
+
+"Neefit has gone mad lately," said Captain Fooks, with a good-natured
+determination to stand by his friend in misfortune.
+
+"But how about the girl, Newton?" asked his lordship.
+
+"You may have her yourself, Poll,--if she don't prefer a young
+shoemaker, to whom I believe she's engaged. She's very pretty, and
+has got a lot of money--which will suit you to a T." He tried to put
+a good face on it; but, nevertheless, he was very hot and red in the
+face.
+
+"I'd put a stop to this if I were you," said another friend,
+confidentially and in a whisper. "He's not only telling everybody,
+but writing letters about it."
+
+"Oh, I know," said Ralph. "How can I help what a madman does? It's a
+bore of course." Then he sauntered out again, feeling sure that his
+transactions with Mr. Neefit would form the subject of conversation
+in the club billiard-room for the next hour and a half. It would
+certainly become expedient that he should travel abroad.
+
+He felt it to be quite a relief when he found that Mr. Neefit was not
+waiting for him at his chambers. "Adolphe," he said as soon as he was
+dressed, "that man must never be allowed to put his foot inside the
+door again."
+
+"Ah;--the Apollo gone! And he did it express!"
+
+"I don't mind the figure;--but he must never be allowed to enter the
+place again. I shall not stay up long, but while we are here you must
+not leave the place till six. He won't come in the evening." Then he
+put a sovereign into the man's hand, and went out to dine at Lady
+Eardham's.
+
+Lady Eardham had three fair daughters, with pretty necks, and
+flaxen hair, and blue eyes, and pug noses, all wonderfully alike.
+They ranged from twenty-seven to twenty-one, there being sons
+between,--and it began to be desirable that they should be married.
+Since Ralph had been in town the Eardham mansion in Cavendish Square
+had been opened to him with almost maternal kindness. He had accepted
+the kindness; but being fully alive to the purposes of matronly
+intrigue, had had his little jokes in reference to the young ladies.
+He liked young ladies generally, but was well aware that a young man
+is not obliged to offer his hand and heart to every girl that is
+civil to him. He and the Eardham girls had been exceedingly intimate,
+but he had had no idea whatever of sharing Newton Priory with an
+Eardham. Now, however, in his misery he was glad to go to a house in
+which he would be received with an assured welcome.
+
+Everybody smiled upon him. Sir George in these days was very cordial,
+greeting him with that genial esoteric warmth which is always felt by
+one English country gentleman with a large estate for another equally
+blessed. Six months ago, when it was believed that Ralph had sold
+his inheritance to his uncle, Sir George when he met the young man
+addressed him in a very different fashion. As he entered the room he
+felt the warmth of the welcoming. The girls, one and all, had ever so
+many things to say to him. They all hunted, and they all wanted him
+to look at horses for them. Lady Eardham was more matronly than ever,
+and at the same time was a little fussy. She would not leave him
+among the girls, and at last succeeded in getting him off into a
+corner of the back drawing-room. "Now, Mr. Newton," she said, "I am
+going to show you that I put the greatest confidence in you."
+
+"So you may," said Ralph, wondering whether one of the girls was to
+be offered to him, out of hand. At the present moment he was so low
+in spirits that he would probably have taken either.
+
+"I have had a letter," said Lady Eardham, whispering the words into
+his ear;--and then she paused. "Such a strange letter, and very
+abominable. I've shown it to no one,--not even to Sir George. I
+wouldn't let one of the girls see it for ever so much." Then there
+was another pause. "I don't believe a word of it, Mr. Newton; but I
+think it right to show it to you,--because it's about you."
+
+"About me?" said Ralph, with his mind fixed at once upon Mr. Neefit.
+
+"Yes, indeed;--and when I tell you it refers to my girls too, you
+will see how strong is my confidence in you. If either had been
+specially named, of course I could not have shown it." Then she
+handed him the letter, which poor Ralph read, as follows:--
+
+
+   MY LADY,--I'm told as Mr. Ralph Newton, of Newton Priory,
+   is sweet upon one of your ladyship's daughters. I think
+   it my duty to tell your ladyship he's engaged to marry my
+   girl, Maryanne Neefit.
+
+   Yours most respectful,
+
+   THOMAS NEEFIT,
+   Breeches-Maker, Conduit Street.
+
+
+"It's a lie," said Ralph.
+
+"I'm sure it's a lie," said Lady Eardham, "only I thought it right to
+show it you."
+
+Ralph took Gus Eardham down to dinner, and did his very best to make
+himself agreeable. Gus was the middle one of the three, and was
+certainly a fine girl. The Eardham girls would have no money; but
+Ralph was not a greedy man,--except when he was in great need. It
+must not be supposed, however, that on this occasion he made up his
+mind to marry Gus Eardham. But, as on previous occasions, he had been
+able to hold all the Eardhams in a kind of subjection to himself,
+feeling himself to be bigger than they,--as hitherto he had been
+conscious that he was bestowing and they receiving,--so now, in his
+present misfortune, did he recognise that Gus was a little bigger
+than himself, and that it was for her to give and for him to take.
+And Gus was able to talk to him as though she also entertained the
+same conviction. Gus was very kind to him, and he felt grateful to
+her.
+
+Lady Eardham saw Gus alone in her bedroom that night. "I believe he's
+a very good young man," said Lady Eardham, "if he's managed rightly.
+And as for all this about the horrid man's daughter, it don't matter
+at all. He'd live it down in a month if he were married."
+
+"I don't think anything about that, mamma. I dare say he's had his
+fun,--just like other men."
+
+"Only, my dear, he's one of that sort that have to be fixed."
+
+"It's so hard to fix them, mamma."
+
+"It needn't be hard to fix him,--that is, if you'll only be steady.
+He's not sharp and hard and callous, like some of them. He doesn't
+mean any harm, and if he once speaks out, he isn't one that can't be
+kept to time. His manners are nice. I don't think the property is
+involved; but I'll find out from papa; and he's just the man to think
+his wife the pink of perfection." Lady Eardham had read our hero's
+character not inaccurately.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LIII.
+
+THE END OF POLLY NEEFIT.
+
+
+Rumours, well-supported rumours, as to the kind of life which Mr.
+Neefit was leading reached Alexandra Cottage, filling Mrs. Neefit's
+mind with dismay, and making Polly very angry indeed. He came home
+always somewhat the worse for drink, and would talk of punching the
+heads both of Mr. Newton and of Mr. Ontario Moggs. Waddle, who was
+very true to his master's interests, had taken an opportunity of
+seeing Mrs. Neefit, and of expressing a very distinct idea that the
+business was going to the mischief. Mrs. Neefit was of opinion that
+in this emergency the business should be sold, and that they might
+safely remove themselves to some distant country,--to Tunbridge, or
+perhaps to Ware. Polly, however, would not accede to her mother's
+views. The evil must, she thought, be cured at once. "If father goes
+on like this, I shall just walk straight out of the house, and marry
+Moggs at once," Polly said. "Father makes no account of my name, and
+so I must just look out for myself." She had not as yet communicated
+these intentions to Ontario, but she was quite sure that she would be
+supported in her views by him whenever she should choose to do so.
+
+Once or twice Ontario came down to the cottage, and when he did so,
+Mr. Neefit was always told of the visit. "I ain't going to keep
+anything from father, mother," Polly would say. "If he chooses
+to misbehave, that isn't my fault. I mean to have Mr. Moggs, and
+it's only natural I should like to see him." Neefit, when informed
+of these visits, after swearing that Moggs junior was a sneaking
+scoundrel to come to his house in his absence, would call upon Moggs
+senior, and swear with many threats that his daughter should have
+nothing but what she stood up in. Moggs senior would stand quite
+silent, cutting the skin on his hand with his shoemaker's knife, and
+would simply bid the infuriated breeches-maker good morning, when
+he left the shop. But, in truth, Mr. Moggs senior had begun to doubt.
+"I'd leave it awhile, Onty, if I was you," he said. "May be, after
+all, he'll give her nothing."
+
+"I'll take her the first day she'll come to me,--money or no money,"
+said Moggs junior.
+
+Foiled ambition had, in truth, driven the breeches-maker to madness.
+But there were moments in which he was softened, melancholy, and
+almost penitent. "Why didn't you have him when he come down to
+Margate," he said, with the tears running down his cheek, that very
+evening after eating his rump-steak in Mr. Newton's rooms. The
+soda-water and brandy, with a little gin-and-water after it, had
+reduced him to an almost maudlin condition, so that he was unable to
+support his parental authority.
+
+"Because I didn't choose, father. It wasn't his fault. He spoke fair
+enough,--though I don't suppose he ever wanted it. Why should he?"
+
+"You might have had him then. He'd 've never dared to go back. I'd a
+killed him if he had."
+
+"What good would it have done, father? He'd never have loved me, and
+he'd have despised you and mother."
+
+"I wouldn't 've minded that," said Mr. Neefit, wiping his eyes.
+
+"But I should have minded. What should I have felt with a husband
+as wouldn't have wanted me ever to have my own father in his house?
+Would that have made me happy?"
+
+"It 'd 've made me happy to know as you was there."
+
+"No, father; there would have been no happiness in it. When I came to
+see what he was I knew I should never love him. He was just willing
+to take me because of his word;--and was I going to a man like that?
+No, father;--certainly not." The poor man was at that moment too far
+gone in his misery to argue the matter further, and he lay on the
+old sofa, very much at Polly's mercy. "Drop it, father," she said.
+"It wasn't to be, and it couldn't have been. You'd better say you'll
+drop it." But, sick and uncomfortable as he was on that evening, he
+couldn't be got to say that he would drop it.
+
+Nor could he be got to drop it for some ten days after that;--but
+on a certain evening he had come home very uncomfortable from the
+effects of gin-and-water, and had been spoken to very sensibly both
+by his wife and daughter.
+
+By seven on the following morning Ontario Moggs was sitting in the
+front parlour of the house at Hendon, and Polly Neefit was sitting
+with him. He had never been there at so early an hour before, and
+it was thought afterwards by both Mr. and Mrs. Neefit that his
+appearance, so unexpected by them, had not surprised their daughter
+Polly. Could it have been possible that she had sent a message to him
+after that little scene with her father? There he was, at any rate,
+and Polly was up to receive him. "Now, Onty, that'll do. I didn't
+want to talk nonsense, but just to settle something."
+
+"But you'll tell a fellow that you're glad to see him?"
+
+"No, I won't. I won't tell a fellow anything he doesn't know already.
+You and I have got to get married."
+
+"Of course we have."
+
+"But we want father's consent. I'm not going to have him made
+unhappy, if I can help it. He's that wretched sometimes at present
+that my heart is half killed about him."
+
+"The things he says are monstrous," asserted Moggs, thinking of the
+protestation lately made by the breeches-maker in his own hearing,
+to the effect that Ralph Newton should yet be made to marry his
+daughter.
+
+"All the same I've got to think about him. There's a dozen or so
+of men as would marry me, Mr. Moggs; but I can never have another
+father."
+
+"I'll be the first of the dozen any way," said the gallant Ontario.
+
+"That depends. However, mother says so, and if father 'll consent,
+I won't go against it. I'll go to him now, before he's up, and I'll
+tell him you're here. I'll bring him to his senses if I can. I don't
+know whatever made him think so much about gentlemen."
+
+"He didn't learn it from you, Polly."
+
+"Perhaps he did, after all; and if so, that's the more reason why I'd
+forgive him." So saying, Polly went up-stairs upon her mission. On
+the landing she met her mother, and made known the fact that Ontario
+was in the parlour. "Don't you go to him, mother;--not yet," said
+Polly. Whereby it may be presumed that Mrs. Neefit had been informed
+of Mr. Moggs's visit before Polly had gone to him.
+
+Mr. Neefit was in bed, and his condition apparently was not a happy
+one. He was lying with his head between his hands, and was groaning,
+not loudly, but very bitterly. His mode of life for the last month
+had not been of a kind to make him comfortable, and his conscience,
+too, was ill at ease. He had been a hard-working man, who had loved
+respectability and been careful of his wife and child. He had been
+proud to think that nobody could say anything against him, and that
+he had always paid his way. Up to the time of this disastrous fit of
+ambition on Polly's behalf he had never made himself ridiculous, and
+had been a prosperous tradesman, well thought of by his customers.
+Suddenly he had become mad, but not so mad as to be unconscious
+of his own madness. The failure of his hopes, joined to the
+inexpressibly bitter feeling that in their joint transactions young
+Newton had received all that had been necessary to him, whereas he,
+Neefit, had got none of that for which he had bargained,--these
+together had so upset him that he had lost his balance, had travelled
+out of his usual grooves, and had made an ass of himself. He knew he
+had made an ass of himself,--and was hopelessly endeavouring to show
+himself to be less of an ass than people thought him, by some success
+in his violence. If he could only punish young Newton terribly,
+people would understand why he had done all this. But drink had been
+necessary to give him courage for his violence, and now as he lay
+miserable in bed, his courage was very low.
+
+"Father," said Polly, "shall I give you a drink?" Neefit muttered
+something, and took the cold tea that was offered to him. It was
+cold tea, with just a spoonful of brandy in it to make it acceptable.
+"Father, there ought to be an end of all this;--oughtn't there?"
+
+"I don't know about no ends. I'll be down on him yet."
+
+"No you won't, father. And why should you? He has done nothing wrong
+to you or me. I wouldn't have him if it was ever so."
+
+"It's all been your fault, Polly."
+
+"Yes;--my fault; that I wouldn't be made what you call a lady; to be
+taken away, so that I'd never see any more of you and mother!" Then
+she put her hand gently on his shoulder. "I couldn't stand that,
+father."
+
+"I'd make him let you come to us."
+
+"A wife must obey her husband, father. Mother always obeyed you."
+
+"No, she didn't. She's again me now."
+
+"Besides, I don't want to be a lady," said Polly, seeing that she had
+better leave that question of marital obedience; "and I won't be a
+lady. I won't be better than you and mother."
+
+"You've been brought up better."
+
+"I'll show my breeding, then, by being true to you, and true to the
+man I love. What would you think of your girl, if she was to give her
+hand to a--gentleman, when she'd given her heart to a--shoemaker?"
+
+"Oh, d---- the shoemaker!"
+
+"No, father, I won't have it. What is there against Ontario? He's a
+fine-hearted fellow, as isn't greedy after money,--as 'd kiss the
+very ground I stand on he's that true to me, and is a tradesman as
+yourself. If we had a little place of our own, wouldn't Ontario be
+proud to have you there, and give you the best of everything; and
+wouldn't I wait upon you, just only trying to know beforehand every
+tittle as you'd like to have. And if there was to be babies, wouldn't
+they be brought up to love you. If I'd gone with that young man down
+to his fine place, do you think it would have been like that? How 'd
+I've felt when he was too proud to let his boy know as you was my
+father?" Neefit turned on his bed and groaned. He was too ill at ease
+as to his inner man to argue the subject from a high point of view,
+or to assert that he was content to be abased himself in order that
+his child and grandchildren might be raised in the world. "Father,"
+said Polly, "you have always been kind to me. Be kind to me now."
+
+"The young 'uns is always to have their own way," said Neefit.
+
+"Hasn't my way been your way, father?"
+
+"Not when you wouldn't take the Captain when he come to Margate."
+
+"I didn't love him, father. Dear father, say the word. We haven't
+been happy lately;--have we, father?"
+
+"I ain't been very 'appy," said Neefit, bursting out into sobs.
+
+She put her face upon his brow and kissed it. "Father, let us be
+happy again. Ontario is down-stairs,--in the parlour now."
+
+"Ontario Moggs in my parlour!" said Neefit, jumping up in bed.
+
+"Yes, father; Ontario Moggs,--my husband, as will be; the man I
+honour and love; the man that will honour and love you; as true a
+fellow as ever made a young woman happy by taking her. Let me tell
+him that you will have him for a son." In truth, Neefit did not speak
+the word;--but when Polly left the room, which she presently did
+after a long embrace, Mr. Neefit was aware that his consent to the
+union would be conveyed to Ontario Moggs in less than five minutes.
+
+"And now you can name the day," said Ontario.
+
+"I cannot do any such thing," replied Polly; "and I think that quite
+enough has been settled for one morning. It's give an inch and take
+an ell with some folks."
+
+Ontario waited for breakfast, and had an interview with his future
+father-in-law. It was an hour after the scene up-stairs before Mr.
+Neefit could descend, and when he did come down he was not very
+jovial at the breakfast-table. "It isn't what I like, Moggs," was the
+first word that he spoke when the young politician rose to grasp the
+hand of his future father-in-law.
+
+"I hope you'll live to like it, Mr. Neefit," said Ontario, who, now
+that he was to have his way in regard to Polly, was prepared to
+disregard entirely any minor annoyances.
+
+"I don't know how that may be. I think my girl might have done
+better. I told her so, and I just tell you the same. She might a'
+done a deal better, but women is always restive."
+
+"We like to have our own way about our young men, father," said
+Polly, who was standing behind her father's chair.
+
+"Bother young men," said the breeches-maker. After that the interview
+passed off, if not very pleasantly, at least smoothly,--and it was
+understood that Mr. Neefit was to abandon that system of persecution
+against Ralph Newton, to which his life had been devoted for the last
+few weeks.
+
+After that there was a pretty little correspondence between Polly and
+Ralph, with which the story of Polly's maiden life may be presumed to
+be ended, and which shall be given to the reader, although by doing
+so the facts of our tale will be somewhat anticipated. Polly, with
+her father's permission, communicated the fact of her engagement to
+her former lover.
+
+
+   Hendon, Saturday.
+
+   DEAR SIR,--
+
+   Father thinks it best that I should tell you that I
+   am engaged to marry Mr. Ontario Moggs,--whom you will
+   remember. He is a most respectable tradesman, and stood
+   once for a member of Parliament, and I think he will make
+   me quite happy; and I'm quite sure that's what I'm fitted
+   for.
+
+
+Whether Polly meant that she was fitted to be made happy, or fitted
+to be the wife of a tradesman who stood for Parliament, did not
+appear quite clearly.
+
+
+   There have been things which we are very sorry for, and
+   hope you'll forgive and forget. Father bids me say how
+   sorry he is he broke a figure of a pretty little man in
+   your room. He would get another, only he would not know
+   where to go for it.
+
+   Wishing you always may be happy, believe me to remain,
+
+   Yours most respectfully,
+
+   MARYANNE NEEFIT.
+
+
+Ralph's answer was dated about a fortnight afterwards;--
+
+
+   --, Cavendish Square, 1 June, 186--.
+
+   MY DEAR POLLY,--
+
+   I hope you will allow me to call you so now for the
+   last time. I am, indeed, happy that you are going to
+   be married. I believe Mr. Moggs to be a most excellent
+   fellow. I hope I may often see him,--and sometimes you.
+   He must allow you to accept a little present which I send
+   you, and never be jealous if you wear it at your waist.
+   The pretty little man that your father broke by accident
+   in my rooms did not signify at all. Pray tell him so from
+   me.
+
+   Believe me to be your very sincere friend,
+
+   RALPH NEWTON.
+
+   I may as well tell you my own secret. I am going to be
+   married, too. The young lady lives in this house, and her
+   name is Augusta Eardham.
+
+
+This letter was sent by messenger from Cavendish Square, with a very
+handsome watch and chain. A month afterwards, when he was preparing
+to leave London for Brayboro' Park, he received a little packet, with
+a note as follows;--
+
+
+   Linton, Devonshire, Wednesday.
+
+   DEAR MR. NEWTON,--
+
+   I am so much obliged for the watch, and so is Ontario, who
+   will never be jealous, I'm sure. It is a most beautiful
+   thing, and I shall value it, oh! so much. I am very glad
+   you are going to be married, and should have answered
+   before, only I wanted to finish making with my own hand a
+   little chain which I send you. And I hope your sweetheart
+   won't be jealous either. We looked her out in a book, and
+   found she is the daughter of a great gentleman with a
+   title. That is all just as it should be. Ontario sends his
+   respects. We have come down here for the honeymoon.
+
+   I remain, yours very sincerely,
+
+   MARYANNE MOGGS.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LIV.
+
+MY MARY.
+
+
+Both the invitations sent by Patience Underwood were accepted, and
+Sir Thomas, on the day named, was at home to receive them. Nothing
+had as yet been done as to the constructing of those cases which he
+so suddenly ordered to be made for his books; and, indeed, Stemm had
+resolved to take the order as meaning nothing. It would not be for
+him to accelerate his master's departure from Southampton Buildings,
+and he knew enough of the man to be aware that he must have some very
+strong motive indeed before so great a change could be really made.
+When Sir Thomas left Southampton Buildings for Fulham, on the day
+named for the dinner, not a word further had been said about packing
+the books.
+
+There was no company at the villa besides Sir Thomas, the three
+girls, and the two young men. As to Clarissa, Patience said not a
+word, even to her father,--that must still be left till time should
+further cure the wound that had been made;--but she did venture to
+suggest, in private with Sir Thomas, that it was a pity that he who
+was certainly the more worthy of the two Ralphs should not be made
+to understand that others did not think so much of the present
+inferiority of his position in the world as he seemed to think
+himself.
+
+"You mean that Mary would take him?" asked Sir Thomas.
+
+"Why should she not, if she likes him? He is very good."
+
+"I can't tell him to offer to her, without telling him also that he
+would be accepted."
+
+"No;--I suppose not," said Patience.
+
+Nevertheless, Sir Thomas did speak to Ralph Newton before
+dinner,--stuttering and muttering, and only half finishing his
+sentence. "We had a correspondence once, Mr. Newton. I dare say you
+remember."
+
+"I remember it very well, Sir Thomas."
+
+"I only wanted to tell you;--you seem to think more about what has
+taken place,--I mean as to the property,--than we do;--that is, than
+I do."
+
+"It has made a change."
+
+"Yes; of course. But I don't know that a large place like Newton
+is sure to make a man happy. Perhaps you'd like to wash your hands
+before dinner." Gregory, in the meantime, was walking round the
+garden with Mary and Clarissa.
+
+The dinner was very quiet, but pleasant and cheerful. Sir Thomas
+talked a good deal, and so did Patience. Mary also was at her ease,
+and able to do all that was required of her. Ralph certainly was not
+gay. He was seated next to Clarissa, and spoke a few words now and
+again; but he was arranging matters in his mind; and Patience, who
+was observing them all, knew that he was pre-occupied. Clarissa,
+who now and again would forget her sorrow and revert to her former
+self,--as she had done in the picture-gallery,--could not now, under
+the eye as it were of her father, her sister, and her old lover,
+forget her troubles. She knew what was expected of her; but she
+could not do it;--she could not do it at least as yet. Nevertheless,
+Patience, who was the engineer in the present crisis, was upon the
+whole contented with the way in which things were going.
+
+The three girls sat with the gentlemen for a quarter of an hour after
+the decanters were put upon the table, and then withdrew. Sir Thomas
+immediately began to talk about Newton Priory, and to ask questions
+which might interest the parson without, as he thought, hurting the
+feelings of the disinherited Ralph. This went on for about five
+minutes, during which Gregory was very eloquent about his church and
+his people, when, suddenly, Ralph rose from his chair and withdrew.
+"Have I said anything that annoyed him?" asked Sir Thomas anxiously.
+
+"It is not that, I think," said Gregory.
+
+Ralph walked across the passage, opened the door of the drawing-room,
+in which the three girls were at work, walked up to the chair in
+which Mary Bonner was sitting, and said something in so low a voice
+that neither of the sisters heard him.
+
+"Certainly I will," said Mary, rising from her chair. Patience
+glanced round, and could see that the colour, always present in her
+cousin's face, was heightened,--ever so little indeed; but still the
+tell-tale blush had told its tale. Ralph stood for a moment while
+Mary moved away to the door, and then followed her without speaking a
+word to the other girls, or bestowing a glance on either of them.
+
+"He is going to propose to her," said Clarissa as soon as the door
+was shut.
+
+"No one can be sure," said Patience.
+
+"Only fancy,--asking a girl to go out of the room,--in that brave
+manner! I shouldn't have gone because I'm a coward; but it's just
+what Mary will like."
+
+"Let me get my hat, Mr. Newton," said Mary, taking the opportunity to
+trip up-stairs, though her hat was hanging in the hall. When she was
+in her room she merely stood upright there, for half a minute, in the
+middle of the chamber, erect and stiff, with her arms and fingers
+stretched out, thinking how she would behave herself. Half a minute
+sufficed for her to find her clue, and then she came down as quickly
+as her feet would carry her. He had opened the front door, and was
+standing outside upon the gravel, and there she joined him.
+
+"I had no other way but this of speaking to you," he said.
+
+"I don't dislike coming out at all," she answered. Then there was
+silence for a moment or two as they walked along into the gloom of
+the shrubbery. "I suppose you are going down to Norfolk soon?" she
+said.
+
+"I do not quite know. I thought of going to-morrow."
+
+"So soon as that?"
+
+"But I've got something that I want to settle. I think you must know
+what it is." Then he paused again, almost as though he expected her
+to confess that she did know. But Mary was well aware that it was not
+for her to say another word till he had fully explained in most open
+detail what it was that he desired to settle. "You know a good deal
+of my history, Miss Newton. When I thought that things were going
+well with me,--much better than I had ever allowed myself to expect
+in early days, I,--I,--became acquainted with you." Again he paused,
+but she had not a word to say. "I dare say you were not told, but I
+wrote to your uncle then, asking him whether I might have his consent
+to,--just to ask you to be my wife." Again he paused, but after that
+he hurried on, speaking the words as quickly as he could throw them
+forth from his mouth. "My father died, and of course that changed
+everything. I told your uncle that all ground for pretension
+that I might have had before was cut from under me. He knew the
+circumstances of my birth,--and I supposed that you would know it
+also."
+
+Then she did speak. "Yes, I did," she said.
+
+"Perhaps I was foolish to think that the property would make a
+difference. But the truth of it is, I have not got over the feeling,
+and shall never get over it. I love you with all my heart,--and
+though it be for no good, I must tell you so."
+
+"The property can make no difference," she said. "You ought to have
+known that, Mr. Newton."
+
+"Ah;--but it does. I tried to tell you the other day something of my
+present home."
+
+"Yes;--I know you did;--and I remember it all."
+
+"There is nothing more to be said;--only to ask you to share it with
+me."
+
+She walked on with him in silence for a minute; but he said nothing
+more to press his suit, and certainly it was her turn to speak now.
+"I will share it with you," she said, pressing her arm upon his.
+
+"My Mary!"
+
+"Yes;--your Mary,--if you please." Then he took her in his arms, and
+pressed her to his bosom, and kissed her lips and forehead, and threw
+back her hat, and put his fingers among her hair. "Why did you say
+that the property would make a difference?" she asked, in a whisper.
+To this he made no answer, but walked on silently, with his arm round
+her waist, till they came out from among the trees, and stood upon
+the bank of the river. "There are people in the boats. You must put
+your arm down," she said.
+
+"I wonder how you will like to be a farmer's wife?" he asked.
+
+"I have not an idea."
+
+"I fear so much that you'll find it rough and hard."
+
+"But I have an idea about something." She took his hand, and looked
+up into his face as she continued. "I have an idea that I shall like
+to be your wife." He was in a seventh heaven of happiness, and would
+have stood there gazing on the river with her all night, if she
+would have allowed him. At last they walked back into the house
+together,--and into the room where the others were assembled, with
+very little outward show of embarrassment. Mary was the first to
+enter the room, and though she blushed she smiled also, and every one
+knew what had taken place. There was no secret or mystery, and in
+five minutes her cousins were congratulating her. "It's all settled
+for you now," said Clarissa laughing.
+
+"Yes, it's all settled for me now, and I wouldn't have it unsettled
+for all the world."
+
+While this was being said in the drawing-room,--being said even in
+the presence of poor Gregory, who could not but have felt how hard it
+was for him to behold such bliss, Sir Thomas and Ralph had withdrawn
+into the opposite room. Ralph began to apologise for his own
+misfortunes,--his misfortune in having lost the inheritance, his
+misfortune in being illegitimate; but Sir Thomas soon cut his
+apologies short. "You think a great deal more of it than she does, or
+than I do," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"If she does not regard it, I will never think of it again," said
+Ralph. "My greatest glory in what had been promised me was in
+thinking that it might help to win her."
+
+"You have won her without such help as that," said Sir Thomas, with
+his arm on the young man's shoulder.
+
+There was another delicious hour in store for him as they sat over
+their late tea. "Do you still think of going to Norfolk to-morrow?"
+she said to him, with that composure which in her was so beautiful,
+and, at the same time, so expressive.
+
+"By an early train in the morning."
+
+"I thought that perhaps you might have stayed another day now."
+
+"I thought that perhaps you might want me to come back again," said
+Ralph;--"and, if so, I could make arrangements;--perhaps for a week
+or ten days."
+
+"Do come back," she said. "And do stay."
+
+Ralph's triumph as he returned that evening to London received
+Gregory's fullest sympathy; but still it must have been hard to bear.
+Perhaps his cousin's parting words contained for him some comfort.
+"Give her a little time, and she will be yours yet. I shall find it
+all out from Mary, and you may be sure we shall help you."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LV.
+
+COOKHAM.
+
+
+We have been obliged to anticipate in some degree the course of
+our story by the necessity which weighed upon us of completing the
+history of Polly Neefit. In regard to her we will only further
+express an opinion,--in which we believe that we shall have the
+concurrence of our readers,--that Mr. Moggs junior had chosen well.
+Her story could not be adequately told without a revelation of that
+correspondence, which, while it has explained the friendly manner in
+which the Neefit-Newton embarrassments were at last brought to an
+end, has, at the same time, disclosed the future lot in life of our
+hero,--as far as a hero's lot in life may be said to depend on his
+marriage.
+
+Mr. Neefit had been almost heart-broken, because he was not satisfied
+that his victim was really punished by any of those tortures which
+his imagination invented, and his energy executed. Even when the
+"pretty little man" was smashed, and was, in truth, smashed of malice
+prepense by a swinging blow from Neefit's umbrella, Neefit did not
+feel satisfied that he would thereby reach his victim's heart. He
+could project his own mind with sufficient force into the bosom of
+his enemy to understand that the onions and tobacco consumed in that
+luxurious chamber would cause annoyance;--but he desired more than
+annoyance;--he wanted to tear the very heart-strings of the young man
+who had, as he thought, so signally outwitted him. He did not believe
+that he was successful; but, in truth, he did make poor Ralph very
+unhappy. The heir felt himself to be wounded, and could not eat and
+drink, or walk and talk, or ride in the park, or play billiards at
+his club, in a manner befitting the owner of Newton Priory. He was
+so injured by Neefit that he became pervious to attacks which would
+otherwise have altogether failed in reaching him. Lady Eardham would
+never have prevailed against him as she did,--conquering by a quick
+repetition of small blows,--had not all his strength been annihilated
+for the time by the persecutions of the breeches-maker.
+
+Lady Eardham whispered to him as he was taking his departure on the
+evening of the dinner in Cavendish Square. "Dear Mr. Newton,--just
+one word," she said, confidentially,--"that must be a very horrid
+man,"--alluding to Mr. Neefit.
+
+"It's a horrid bore, you know, Lady Eardham."
+
+"Just so;--and it makes me feel,--as though I didn't quite know
+whether something ought not to be done. Would you mind calling at
+eleven to-morrow? Of course I shan't tell Sir George,--unless you
+think he ought to be told." Ralph promised that he would call, though
+he felt at the moment that Lady Eardham was an interfering old fool.
+Why should she want to do anything; and why should she give even a
+hint as to telling Sir George? As he walked across Hanover Square and
+down Bond Street to his rooms he did assert to himself plainly that
+the "old harridan," as he called her, was at work for her second
+girl, and he shook his head and winked his eye as he thought of
+it. But, even in his solitude, he did not feel strong against Lady
+Eardham, and he moved along the pavement oppressed by a half-formed
+conviction that her ladyship would prevail against him. He did not,
+however, think that he had any particular objection to Gus Eardham.
+There was a deal of style about the girl, a merit in which either
+Clarissa or Mary would have been sadly deficient. And there could be
+no doubt in this,--that a man in his position ought to marry in his
+own class. The proper thing for him to do was to make the daughter
+of some country gentleman,--or of some nobleman, just as it might
+happen,--mistress of the Priory. Dear little Clary would hardly have
+known how to take her place properly down in Hampshire. And then he
+thought for a moment of Polly! Perhaps, after all, fate, fashion, and
+fortune managed marriage for young men better than they could manage
+it for themselves. What a life would his have been had he really
+married Polly Neefit! Though he did call Lady Eardham a harridan, he
+resolved that he would keep his promise for the following morning.
+
+Lady Eardham when he arrived was mysterious, eulogistic, and
+beneficent. She was clearly of opinion that something should be done.
+"You know it is so horrid having these kind of things said." And yet
+she was almost equally strong in opinion that nothing could be done.
+"You know I wouldn't have my girl's name brought up for all the
+world;--though why the horrid wretch should have named her I cannot
+even guess." The horrid wretch had not, in truth, named any special
+her, though it suited Lady Eardham to presume that allusion had been
+made to that hope of the flock, that crowning glory of the Eardham
+family, that most graceful of the Graces, that Venus certain to
+be chosen by any Paris, her second daughter, Gus. She went on to
+explain that were she to tell the story to her son Marmaduke, her
+son Marmaduke would probably kill the breeches-maker. As Marmaduke
+Eardham was, of all young men about town, perhaps the most careless,
+the most indifferent, and the least ferocious, his mother was
+probably mistaken in her estimate of his resentful feelings. "As for
+Sir George, he would be for taking the law of the wretch for libel,
+and then we should be--! I don't know where we should be then; but my
+dear girl would die."
+
+Of course there was nothing done. During the whole interview Lady
+Eardham continued to press Neefit's letter under her hand upon the
+table, as though it was of all documents the most precious. She
+handled it as though to tear it would be as bad as to tear an
+original document bearing the king's signature. Before the interview
+was over she had locked it up in her desk, as though there were
+something in it by which the whole Eardham race might be blessed or
+banned. And, though she spoke no such word, she certainly gave Ralph
+to understand that by this letter he, Ralph Newton, was in some
+mysterious manner so connected with the secrets, and the interests,
+and the sanctity of the Eardham family, that, whether such connection
+might be for weal or woe, the Newtons and the Eardhams could never
+altogether free themselves from the link. "Perhaps you had better
+come and dine with us in a family way to-morrow," said Lady Eardham,
+giving her invitation as though it must necessarily be tendered, and
+almost necessarily accepted. Ralph, not thanking her, but taking it
+in the same spirit, said that he would be there at half past seven.
+"Just ourselves," said Lady Eardham, in a melancholy tone, as though
+they two were doomed to eat family dinners together for ever after.
+
+"I suppose the property is really his own?" said Lady Eardham to her
+husband that afternoon.
+
+Sir George was a stout, plethoric gentleman, with a short temper and
+many troubles. Marmaduke was expensive, and Sir George himself had
+spent money when he was young. The girls, who knew that they had no
+fortunes, expected that everything should be done for them, at least
+during the period of their natural harvest,--and they were successful
+in having their expectations realised. They demanded that there
+should be horses to ride, servants to attend them, and dresses to
+wear; and they had horses, servants, and dresses. There were also
+younger children; and Sir George was quite as anxious as Lady Eardham
+that his daughters should become wives. "His own?--of course it's his
+own. Who else should it belong to?"
+
+"There was something about that other young man."
+
+"The bastard! It was the greatest sin that ever was thought of to
+palm such a fellow as that off on the county;--but it didn't come to
+anything."
+
+"I'm told, too, he has been very extravagant. No doubt he did get
+money from the,--the tailor who wants to make him marry his
+daughter."
+
+"A flea-bite," said Sir George. "Don't you bother about that." Thus
+authorised, Lady Eardham went to the work with a clear conscience and
+a good will.
+
+On the next morning Ralph received by post an envelope from Sir
+Thomas Underwood containing a letter addressed to him from Mr.
+Neefit. "Sir,--Are you going to make your ward act honourable to me
+and my daughter?--Yours, respectful, THOMAS NEEFIT." The reader will
+understand that this was prior to Polly's triumph over her father.
+Ralph uttered a deep curse, and made up his mind that he must either
+throw himself entirely among the Eardhams, or else start at once for
+the Rocky Mountains. He dined in Cavendish Square that day, and again
+took Gus down to dinner.
+
+"I'm very glad to see you here," said Sir George, when they two
+were alone together after the ladies had left them. Sir George, who
+had been pressed upon home service because of the necessity of the
+occasion, was anxious to get off to his club.
+
+"You are very kind, Sir George," said Ralph.
+
+"We shall be delighted to see you at Brayboro', if you'll come for
+a week in September and look at the girls' horses. They say you're
+quite a pundit about horseflesh."
+
+"Oh, I don't know," said Ralph.
+
+"You'll like to go up to the girls now, I dare say, and I've got
+an engagement." Then Sir George rang the bell for a cab, and Ralph
+went up-stairs to the girls. Emily had taken herself away; Josephine
+was playing bésique with her mother, and Gus was thus forced into
+conversation with the young man. "Bésique is so stupid," said Gus.
+
+"Horribly stupid," said Ralph.
+
+"And what do you like, Mr. Newton?"
+
+"I like you," said Ralph. But he did not propose on that evening.
+Lady Eardham thought he ought to have done so, and was angry with
+him. It was becoming almost a matter of necessity with her that young
+men should not take much time. Emily was twenty-seven, and Josephine
+was a most difficult child to manage,--not pretty, but yet giving
+herself airs and expecting everything. She had refused a clergyman
+with a very good private fortune, greatly to her mother's sorrow. And
+Gus had already been the source of much weary labour. Four eldest
+sons had been brought to her feet and been allowed to slip away; and
+all, as Lady Eardham said, because Gus would "joke" with other young
+men, while the one man should have received all her pleasantry. Emily
+was quite of opinion that young Newton should by no means have been
+allotted to Gus. Lady Eardham, who had played bésique with an energy
+against which Josephine would have mutinied but that some promise was
+made as to Marshall and Snelgrove, could see from her little table
+that young Newton was neither abject nor triumphant in his manner.
+He had not received nor had he even asked when he got up to take his
+leave. Lady Eardham could have boxed his ears; but she smiled upon
+him ineffably, pressed his hand, and in the most natural way in the
+world alluded to some former allusion about riding and the park.
+
+"I shan't ride to-morrow," said Gus, with her back turned to them.
+
+"Do," said Ralph.
+
+"No; I shan't."
+
+"You see what she says, Lady Eardham," said Ralph.
+
+"You promised you would before dinner, my dear," said Lady Eardham,
+"and you ought not to change your mind. If you'll be good-natured
+enough to come, two of them will go." Of course it was understood
+that he would come.
+
+"Nothing on earth, mamma, shall ever induce me to play bésique
+again," said Josephine, yawning.
+
+"It's not worse for you than for me," said the old lady sharply.
+
+"But it isn't fair," said Josephine, who was supposed to be the
+clever one of the family. "I may have to play my bésique a quarter of
+a century hence."
+
+"He's an insufferable puppy," said Emily, who had come into the room,
+and had been pretending to be reading.
+
+"That's because he don't bark at your bidding, my dear," said Gus.
+
+"It doesn't seem that he means to bark at yours," said the elder
+sister.
+
+"If you go on like that, girls, I'll tell your papa, and we'll go to
+Brayboro' at once. It's too bad, and I won't bear it."
+
+"What would you have me do?" said Gus, standing up for herself
+fiercely.
+
+Gus did ride, and so did Josephine, and there was a servant with them
+of course. It had been Emily's turn,--there being two horses for the
+three girls; but Gus had declared that no good could come if Emily
+went;--and Emily's going had been stopped by parental authority.
+"You do as you're bid," said Sir George, "or you'll get the worst of
+it." Sir George suffered much from gout, and had obtained from the
+ill-temper which his pangs produced a mastery over his daughters
+which some fathers might have envied.
+
+"You behaved badly to me last night, Mr. Newton," said Gus, on
+horseback. There was another young man riding with Josephine, so that
+the lovers were alone together.
+
+"Behaved badly to you?"
+
+"Yes, you did, and I felt it very much,--very much indeed."
+
+"How did I behave badly?"
+
+"If you do not know, I'm sure that I shall not tell you." Ralph did
+not know;--but he went home from his ride an unengaged man, and may
+perhaps have been thought to behave badly on that occasion also.
+
+But Lady Eardham, though she was sometimes despondent and often
+cross, was gifted with perseverance. A picnic party up the river
+from Maidenhead to Cookham was got up for the 30th of May, and Ralph
+Newton of course was there. Just at that time the Neefit persecution
+was at its worst. Letters directed by various hands came to him
+daily, and in all of them he was asked when he meant to be on the
+square. He knew the meaning of that picnic as well as does the
+reader,--as well as did Lady Eardham; but it had come to that with
+him that he was willing to yield. It cannot exactly be said for him
+that out of all the feminine worth that he had seen, he himself had
+chosen Gus Eardham as being the most worthy,--or even that he had
+chosen her as being to him the most charming. But it was evident
+to him that he must get married, and why not to her as well as to
+another? She had style, plenty of style; and, as he told himself,
+style for a man in his position was more than anything else. It can
+hardly be said that he had made up his mind to offer to her before
+he started for Cookham,--though doubtless through all the remaining
+years of his life he would think that his mind had been so
+fixed,--but he had concluded, that if she were thrown at his head
+very hard, he might as well take her. "I don't think he ever does
+drink champagne," said Lady Eardham, talking it all over with Gus on
+the morning of the picnic.
+
+At Cookham there is, or was, a punt,--perhaps there always will be
+one, kept there for such purposes;--and into this punt either Gus was
+tempted by Ralph, or Ralph by Gus. "My darling child, what are you
+doing?" shouted Lady Eardham from the bank.
+
+"Mr. Newton says he can take me over," said Gus, standing up in the
+punt, shaking herself with a pretty tremor.
+
+"Don't, Mr. Newton; pray don't!" cried Lady Eardham, with affected
+horror.
+
+Lunch was over, or dinner, as it might be more properly called, and
+Ralph had taken a glass or two of champagne. He was a man whom no one
+had ever seen the "worse for wine;" but on this occasion that which
+might have made others drunk had made him bold. "I will not let you
+out, Gus, till you have promised me one thing," said Ralph.
+
+"What is the one thing?"
+
+"That you will go with me everywhere, always."
+
+"You must let me out," said Gus.
+
+"But will you promise?" Then Gus promised; and Lady Eardham, with
+true triumph in her voice, was able to tell her husband on the
+following morning that the cost of the picnic had not been thrown
+away.
+
+On the next morning early Ralph was in the square. Neither when
+he went to bed at night, nor when he got up in the morning, did
+he regret what he had done. The marriage would be quite a proper
+marriage. Nobody could say that he had been mercenary, and he hated a
+mercenary feeling in marriages. Nobody could say that the match was
+beneath him, and all people were agreed that Augusta Eardham was a
+very fine girl. As to her style, there could be no doubt about it.
+There might be some little unpleasantness in communicating the fact
+to the Underwoods,--but that could be done by letter. After all, it
+would signify very little to him what Sir Thomas thought about him.
+Sir Thomas might think him feeble; but he himself knew very well that
+there had been no feebleness in it. His circumstances had been very
+peculiar, and he really believed that he had made the best of them.
+As Squire of Newton, he was doing quite the proper thing in marrying
+the daughter of a baronet out of the next county. With a light heart,
+a pleased face, and with very well got-up morning apparel, Ralph
+knocked the next morning at the door in Cavendish Square, and asked
+for Sir George Eardham. "I'll just run up-stairs for a second," said
+Ralph, when he was told that Sir George was in the small parlour.
+
+He did run up-stairs, and in three minutes had been kissed by Lady
+Eardham and all her daughters. At this moment Gus was the "dearest
+child" and the "best love of a thing" with all of them. Even Emily
+remembered how pleasant it might be to have a room at Newton Priory,
+and then success always gives a new charm.
+
+"Have you seen Sir George?" asked Lady Eardham.
+
+"Not as yet;--they said he was there, but I had to come up and see
+her first, you know."
+
+"Go down to him," said Lady Eardham, patting her prey on the back
+twice. "When you've daughters of your own, you'll expect to be
+consulted."
+
+"She couldn't have done better, my dear fellow," said Sir George,
+with kind, genial cordiality. "She couldn't have done better, to my
+thinking, even with a peerage. I like you, and I like your family,
+and I like your property; and she's yours with all my heart. A better
+girl never lived."
+
+"Thank you, Sir George."
+
+"She has no money, you know."
+
+"I don't care about money, Sir George."
+
+"My dear boy, she's yours with all my heart; and I hope you'll make
+each other happy."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LVI.
+
+RALPH NEWTON IS BOWLED AWAY.
+
+
+A day or two after his engagement, Ralph did write his letter to Sir
+Thomas, and found when the moment came that the task was difficult.
+But he wrote it. The thing had to be done, and there was nothing to
+be gained by postponing it.
+
+
+   ---- Club, June 2, 186--.
+
+   MY DEAR SIR THOMAS,--
+
+   You will, I hope, be glad to hear that I am engaged to be
+   married to Augusta Eardham, the second daughter of Sir
+   George Eardham, of Brayboro' Park, in Berkshire. Of course
+   you will know the name, and I rather think you were in
+   the House when Sir George sat for Berkshire. Augusta
+   has got no money, but I have not been placed under the
+   disagreeable necessity of looking out for a rich wife. I
+   believe we shall be married about the end of August. As
+   the ceremony will take place down at Brayboro', I fear
+   that I cannot expect that you or Patience and Clarissa
+   should come so far. Pray tell them my news, with my best
+   love.
+
+   Yours, most grateful for all your long kindness,
+
+   RALPH NEWTON.
+
+   I am very sorry that you should have been troubled by
+   letters from Mr. Neefit. The matter has been arranged at
+   last.
+
+
+The letter when done was very simple, but it took him some time, and
+much consideration. Should he or should he not allude to his former
+loves? It was certainly much easier to write his letter without any
+such allusion, and he did so.
+
+About a week after this Sir Thomas went home to Fulham, and took
+the letter with him. "Clary," he said, taking his youngest daughter
+affectionately by the waist, when he found himself alone with her.
+"I've got a piece of news for you."
+
+"For me, papa?"
+
+"Well, for all of us. Somebody is going to be married. Who do you
+think it is?"
+
+"Not Ralph Newton?" said Clarissa, with a little start.
+
+"Yes, Ralph Newton."
+
+"How quick he arranges things!" said Clarissa. There was some little
+emotion, just a quiver, and a quick rush of blood into her cheeks,
+which, however, left them just as quickly.
+
+"Yes;--he is quick."
+
+"Who is it, papa?"
+
+"A very proper sort of person,--the daughter of a Berkshire baronet."
+
+"But what is her name?"
+
+"Augusta Eardham."
+
+"Augusta Eardham. I hope he'll be happy, papa. We've known him a long
+time."
+
+"I think he will be happy;--what people call happy. He is not
+gifted,--or cursed, as it may be,--with fine feelings, and is what
+perhaps may be called thick-skinned; but he will love his own wife
+and children. I don't think he will be a spendthrift now that he has
+plenty to spend, and he is not subject to what the world calls vices.
+I shouldn't wonder if he becomes a prosperous and most respectable
+country gentleman, and quite a model to his neighbours."
+
+"It doesn't seem to matter much;--does it?" said Clarissa, when she
+told the story to Mary and Patience.
+
+"What doesn't matter?" asked Mary.
+
+"Whether a man cares for the girl he's going to marry, or doesn't
+care at all. Ralph Newton cannot care very much for Miss Eardham."
+
+"I think it matters very much," said Mary.
+
+"Perhaps, after all, he'll be just as fond of his wife, in a way,
+as though he had been making love to her,--oh, for years," said
+Clarissa. This was nearly all that was said at the villa, though, no
+doubt, poor Clary had many thoughts on the matter, in her solitary
+rambles along the river. That picture of the youth, as he lay upon
+the lawn, looking up into her eyes, and telling her that she was
+dear to him, could not easily be effaced from her memory. Sir Thomas
+before this had written his congratulations to Ralph. They had been
+very short, and in them no allusion had been made to the young ladies
+at Popham Villa.
+
+In the meantime Ralph was as happy as the day was long, and delighted
+with his lot in life. For some weeks previous to his offer he had
+been aware that Lady Eardham had been angling for him as for a fish,
+that he had been as a prey to her and to her daughter, and that it
+behoved him to amuse himself without really taking the hook between
+his gills. He had taken the hook, and now had totally forgotten all
+those former notions of his in regard to a prey, and a fish, and a
+mercenary old harridan of a mother. He had no sooner been kissed all
+round by the women, and paternally blessed by Sir George, than he
+thought that he had exercised a sound judgment, and had with true
+wisdom arranged to ally himself with just the woman most fit to be
+his wife, and the future mistress of Newton Priory. He was proud,
+indeed, of his success, when he read the paragraph in the "Morning
+Post," announcing as a fact that the alliance had been arranged, and
+was again able to walk about among his comrades as one of those who
+make circumstances subject to them, rather than become subject to
+circumstances. His comrades, no doubt, saw the matter in another
+light. "By Jove," said Pretty Poll at his club, "there's Newton been
+and got caught by old Eardham after all. The girl has been running
+ten years, and been hawked about like a second-class race-horse."
+
+"Yes, poor fellow," said Captain Fooks. "Neefit has done that
+for him. Ralph for a while was so knocked off his pins by the
+breeches-maker, that he didn't know where to look for shelter."
+
+Whether marriages should be made in heaven or on earth, must be
+a matter of doubt to observers;--whether, that is, men and women
+are best married by chance, which I take to be the real fashion of
+heaven-made marriages; or should be brought into that close link and
+loving bondage to each other by thought, selection, and decision.
+That the heavenly mode prevails the oftenest there can hardly be a
+doubt. It takes years to make a friendship; but a marriage may be
+settled in a week,--in an hour. If you desire to go into partnership
+with a man in business, it is an essential necessity that you should
+know your partner; that he be honest,--or dishonest, if such be your
+own tendency,--industrious, instructed in the skill required, and of
+habits of life fit for the work to be done. But into partnerships for
+life,--of a kind much closer than any business partnership,--men rush
+without any preliminary inquiries. Some investigation and anxiety as
+to means there may be, though in this respect the ordinary parlance
+of the world endows men with more caution, or accuses them of more
+greed than they really possess. But in other respects everything is
+taken for granted. Let the woman, if possible, be pretty;--or if
+not pretty, let her have style. Let the man, if possible, not be a
+fool; or if a fool, let him not show his folly too plainly. As for
+knowledge of character, none is possessed, and none is wanted. The
+young people meet each other in their holiday dresses, on holiday
+occasions, amidst holiday pleasures,--and the thing is arranged. Such
+matches may be said to be heaven-made.
+
+It is a fair question whether they do not answer better than those
+which have less of chance,--or less of heaven,--in their manufacture.
+If it be needful that a man and woman take five years to learn
+whether they will suit each other as husband and wife, and that then,
+at the end of the five years, they find that they will not suit, the
+freshness of the flower would be gone before it could be worn in the
+button-hole. There are some leaps which you must take in the dark, if
+you mean to jump at all. We can all understand well that a wise man
+should stand on the brink and hesitate; but we can understand also
+that a very wise man should declare to himself that with no possible
+amount of hesitation could certainty be achieved. Let him take the
+jump or not take it,--but let him not presume to think that he can
+so jump as to land himself in certain bliss. It is clearly God's
+intention that men and women should live together, and therefore let
+the leap in the dark be made.
+
+No doubt there had been very much of heaven in Ralph Newton's last
+choice. It may be acknowledged that in lieu of choosing at all, he
+had left the matter altogether to heaven. Some attempt he had made at
+choosing,--in reference to Mary Bonner; but he had found the attempt
+simply to be troublesome and futile. He had spoken soft, loving words
+to Clarissa, because she herself had been soft and lovable. Nature
+had spoken,--as she does when the birds sing to each other. Then,
+again, while suffering under pecuniary distress he had endeavoured
+to make himself believe that Polly Neefit was just the wife for him.
+Then, amidst the glories of his emancipation from thraldom, he had
+seen Mary Bonner,--and had actually, after a fashion, made a choice
+for himself. His choice had brought upon him nothing but disgrace
+and trouble. Now he had succumbed at the bidding of heaven and Lady
+Eardham, and he was about to be provided with a wife exactly suited
+for him. It may be said at the same time that Augusta Eardham was
+equally lucky. She also had gotten all that she ought to have wanted,
+had she known what to want. They were both of them incapable of what
+men and women call love when they speak of love as a passion linked
+with romance. And in one sense they were cold-hearted. Neither of
+them was endowed with the privilege of pining because another person
+had perished. But each of them was able to love a mate, when assured
+that that mate must continue to be mate, unless separation should
+come by domestic earthquake. They had hearts enough for paternal and
+maternal duties, and would probably agree in thinking that any geese
+which Providence might send them were veritable swans. Bickerings
+there might be, but they would be bickerings without effect; and
+Ralph Newton, of Newton, would probably so live with this wife of his
+bosom, that they, too, might lie at last pleasantly together in the
+family vault, with the record of their homely virtues visible to the
+survivors of the parish on the same tombstone. The means by which
+each of them would have arrived at these blessings would not redound
+to the credit of either; but the blessings would be there, and it may
+be said of their marriage, as of many such marriages, that it was
+made in heaven, and was heavenly.
+
+The marriage was to take place early in September, and the first
+week in August was passed by Sir George and Lady Eardham and their
+two younger daughters at Newton Priory. On the 14th Ralph was to be
+allowed to run down to the moors just for one week, and then he was
+to be back, passing between Newton and Brayboro', signing deeds and
+settlements, preparing for their wedding tour, and obedient in all
+things to Eardham influences. It did occur to him that it would
+be proper that he should go down to Fulham to see his old friends
+once before his marriage; but he felt that such a visit would be
+to himself very unpleasant, and therefore he assured himself, and
+moreover made himself believe, that, if he abstained from the visit,
+he would abstain because it would be unpleasant to them. He did
+abstain. But he did call at the chambers in Southampton Buildings; he
+called, however, at an hour in which he knew that Sir Thomas would
+not be visible, and made no second pressing request to Stemm for the
+privilege of entrance.
+
+He had great pride in showing his house and park and estate to the
+Eardhams, and had some delicious rambles with his Augusta through the
+shrubberies and down by the little brook. Ralph had an enjoyment in
+the prettiness of nature, and Augusta was clever enough to simulate
+the feeling. He was a little annoyed, perhaps, when he found that the
+beauty of her morning dresses did not admit of her sitting upon the
+grass or leaning against gates, and once expressed an opinion that
+she need not be so particular about her gloves in this the hour of
+their billing and cooing. Augusta altogether declined to remove her
+gloves in a place swarming, as she said, with midges, or to undergo
+any kind of embrace while adorned with that sweetest of all hats,
+which had been purchased for his especial delight. But in other
+respects she was good humoured, and tried to please him. She learned
+the names of all his horses, and was beginning to remember those
+of his tenants. She smiled upon Gregory, and behaved with a pretty
+decorum when the young parson showed her his church. Altogether her
+behaviour was much better than might have been expected from the
+training to which she had been subjected during her seven seasons in
+London. Lord Polperrow wronged her greatly when he said that she had
+been "running" for ten years.
+
+There was a little embarrassment in Ralph's first interview with
+Gregory. He had given his brother notice of his engagement by letter
+as soon as he had been accepted, feeling that any annoyance coming to
+him, might be lessened in that way. Unfortunately he had spoken to
+his brother in what he now felt to have been exaggerated terms of his
+passion for Mary Bonner, and he himself was aware that that malady
+had been quickly cured. "I suppose the news startled you?" he had
+said, with a forced laugh, as soon as he met his brother.
+
+"Well;--yes, a little. I did not know that you were so intimate with
+them."
+
+"The truth is, I had thought a deal about the matter, and I had come
+to see how essential it was for the interests of us all that I should
+marry into our own set. The moment I saw Augusta I felt that she was
+exactly the girl to make me happy. She is very handsome. Don't you
+think so?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"And then she has just the style which, after all, does go so far.
+There's nothing dowdy about her. A dowdy woman would have killed me.
+She attracted me from the first moment; and, by Jove, old fellow, I
+can assure you it was mutual. I am the happiest fellow alive, and
+I don't think there is anything I envy anybody." In all this Ralph
+believed that he was speaking the simple truth.
+
+"I hope you'll be happy, with all my heart," said Gregory.
+
+"I am sure I shall;--and so will you if you will ask that little puss
+once again. I believe in my heart she loves you." Gregory, though he
+had been informed of his brother's passion for Mary, had never been
+told of that other passion for Clarissa; and Ralph could therefore
+speak of ground for hope in that direction without uncomfortable
+twinges.
+
+There did occur during this fortnight one or two little matters,
+just sufficiently laden with care to ruffle the rose-leaves of our
+hero's couch. Lady Eardham thought that both the dining-room and
+drawing-room should be re-furnished, that a bow-window should be
+thrown out to the breakfast-parlour, and that a raised conservatory
+should be constructed into which Augusta's own morning sitting-room
+up-stairs might be made to open. Ralph gave way about the furniture
+with a good grace, but he thought that the bow-window would disfigure
+the house, and suggested that the raised conservatory would
+cost money. Augusta thought the bow-window was the very thing
+for the house, and Lady Eardham knew as a fact that a similar
+conservatory,--the sweetest thing in the world,--which she had seen
+at Lord Rosebud's had cost almost absolutely nothing. And if anything
+was well-known in gardening it was this, that the erection of such
+conservatories was a positive saving in garden expenses. The men
+worked under cover during the rainy days, and the hot-water served
+for domestic as well as horticultural purposes. There was some debate
+and a little heat, and the matter was at last referred to Sir George.
+He voted against Ralph on both points, and the orders were given.
+
+Then there was the more important question of the settlements. Of
+course there were to be settlements, in the arrangement of which
+Ralph was to give everything and to get nothing. With high-handed
+magnanimity he had declared that he wanted no money, and therefore
+the trifle which would have been adjudged to be due to Gus was
+retained to help her as yet less fortunate sisters. In truth
+Marmaduke at this time was so expensive that Sir George was obliged
+to be a little hard. Why, however, he should have demanded out of
+such a property as that of Newton a jointure of £4,000 a year, with
+a house to be found either in town or country as the widow might
+desire, on behalf of a penniless girl, no one acting in the Newton
+interest could understand, unless Sir George might have thought that
+the sum to be ultimately obtained might depend in some degree on that
+demanded. Had he known Mr. Carey he would probably not have subjected
+himself to the rebuke which he received.
+
+Ralph, when the sum was first named to him by Sir George's lawyer,
+who came down purposely to Newton, looked very blank, and said
+that he had not anticipated any arrangement so destructive to the
+property. The lawyer pointed out that there was unfortunately no
+dowager's house provided; that the property would not be destroyed
+as the dower would only be an annuity; that ladies now were more
+liberally treated in this matter than formerly;--and that the
+suggestion was quite the usual thing. "You don't suppose I mean my
+daughter to be starved?" said Sir George, upon whom gout was then
+coming. Ralph plucked up spirit and answered him. "Nor do I intend
+that your daughter, sir, should be starved." "Dear Ralph, do be
+liberal to the dear girl," said Lady Eardham afterwards, caressing
+our hero in the solitude of her bed-room. Mr. Carey, however,
+arranged the whole matter very quickly. The dower must be £2,000, out
+of which the widow must find her own house. Sir George must be well
+aware, said Mr. Carey, that the demand made was preposterous. Sir
+George said one or two very nasty things; but the dower as fixed by
+Mr. Carey was accepted, and then everything smiled again.
+
+When the Eardhams were leaving Newton the parting between Augusta
+and her lover was quite pretty. "Dear Gus," he said, "when next I am
+here, you will be my own, own wife," and he kissed her. "Dear Ralph,"
+she said, "when next I am here, you will be my own, own husband," and
+kissed him; "but we have Como, and Florence, and Rome, and Naples to
+do before that;--and won't that be nice?"
+
+"It will be very nice to be anywhere with you," said the lover.
+
+"And mind you have your coat made just as I told you," said Augusta.
+So they parted.
+
+Early in September they were married with great éclat at Brayboro',
+and Lady Eardham spared nothing on the occasion. It was her first
+maternal triumph, and all the country round was made to know of her
+success. The Newtons had been at Newton for--she did not know how
+many hundred years. In her zeal she declared that the estate had been
+in the same hands from long before the Conquest. "There's no title,"
+she said to her intimate friend, Lady Wiggham, "but there's that
+which is better than a title. We're mushrooms to the Newtons, you
+know. We only came into Berkshire in the reign of Henry VIII." As the
+Wigghams had only come into Buckinghamshire in the reign of George
+IV., Lady Wiggham, had she known the facts, would probably have
+reminded her dear friend that the Eardhams had in truth first been
+heard of in those parts in the time of Queen Anne,--the original
+Eardham having made his money in following Marlborough's army. But
+Lady Wiggham had not studied the history of the county gentry. The
+wedding went off very well, and the bride and bridegroom were bowled
+away to the nearest station with four grey post-horses from Reading
+in a manner that was truly delightful to Lady Eardham's motherly
+feelings.
+
+And with the same grey horses shall the happy bride and bridegroom
+be bowled out of our sight also. The writer of this story feels
+that some apology is due to his readers for having endeavoured
+to entertain them so long with the adventures of one of whom it
+certainly cannot be said that he was fit to be delineated as a hero.
+It is thought by many critics that in the pictures of imaginary life
+which novelists produce for the amusement, and possibly for the
+instruction of their readers, none should be put upon the canvas but
+the very good, who by their noble thoughts and deeds may lead others
+to nobility, or the very bad, who by their declared wickedness will
+make iniquity hideous. How can it be worth one's while, such critics
+will say,--the writer here speaks of all critical readers, and not
+of professional critics,--how can it be worth our while to waste our
+imaginations, our sympathies, and our time upon such a one as Ralph,
+the heir of the Newton property? The writer, acknowledging the force
+of these objections, and confessing that his young heroes of romance
+are but seldom heroic, makes his apology as follows.
+
+The reader of a novel,--who has doubtless taken the volume up simply
+for amusement, and who would probably lay it down did he suspect
+that instruction, like a snake in the grass, like physic beneath the
+sugar, was to be imposed upon him,--requires from his author chiefly
+this, that he shall be amused by a narrative in which elevated
+sentiment prevails, and gratified by being made to feel that the
+elevated sentiments described are exactly his own. When the heroine
+is nobly true to her lover, to her friend, or to her duty, through
+all persecution, the girl who reads declares to herself that she also
+would have been a Jeannie Deans had Fate and Fortune given her an
+Effie as a sister. The bald-headed old lawyer,--for bald-headed old
+lawyers do read novels,--who interests himself in the high-minded,
+self-devoting chivalry of a Colonel Newcombe, believes he would have
+acted as did the Colonel had he been so tried. What youth in his
+imagination cannot be as brave, and as loving, though as hopeless
+in his love, as Harry Esmond? Alas, no one will wish to be as
+was Ralph Newton! But for one Harry Esmond, there are fifty Ralph
+Newtons,--five hundred and fifty of them; and the very youth whose
+bosom glows with admiration as he reads of Harry,--who exults in the
+idea that as Harry did, so would he have done,--lives as Ralph lived,
+is less noble, less persistent, less of a man even than was Ralph
+Newton.
+
+It is the test of a novel writer's art that he conceals his
+snake-in-the-grass; but the reader may be sure that it is always
+there. No man or woman with a conscience,--no man or woman with
+intellect sufficient to produce amusement, can go on from year
+to year spinning stories without the desire of teaching; with no
+ambition of influencing readers for their good. Gentle readers, the
+physic is always beneath the sugar, hidden or unhidden. In writing
+novels we novelists preach to you from our pulpits, and are keenly
+anxious that our sermons shall not be inefficacious. Inefficacious
+they are not, unless they be too badly preached to obtain attention.
+Injurious they will be unless the lessons taught be good lessons.
+
+What a world this would be if every man were a Harry Esmond, or every
+woman a Jeannie Deans! But then again, what a world if every woman
+were a Beckie Sharp and every man a Varney or a Barry Lyndon! Of
+Varneys and Harry Esmonds there are very few. Human nature, such as
+it is, does not often produce them. The portraits of such virtues
+and such vices serve no doubt to emulate and to deter. But are no
+other portraits necessary? Should we not be taught to see the men
+and women among whom we really live,--men and women such as we are
+ourselves,--in order that we should know what are the exact failings
+which oppress ourselves, and thus learn to hate, and if possible
+to avoid in life the faults of character which in life are hardly
+visible, but which in portraiture of life can be made to be so
+transparent.
+
+Ralph Newton did nothing, gentle reader, which would have caused
+thee greatly to grieve for him, nothing certainly which would have
+caused thee to repudiate him, had he been thy brother. And gentlest,
+sweetest reader, had he come to thee as thy lover, with sufficient
+protest of love, and with all his history written in his hand, would
+that have caused thee to reject his suit? Had he been thy neighbour,
+thou well-to-do reader, with a house in the country, would he not
+have been welcome to thy table? Wouldst thou have avoided him at
+his club, thou reader from the West-end? Has he not settled himself
+respectably, thou grey-haired, novel-reading paterfamilias, thou
+materfamilias, with daughters of thine own to be married? In life
+would he have been held to have disgraced himself,--except in the
+very moment in which he seemed to be in danger? Nevertheless, the
+faults of a Ralph Newton, and not the vices of a Varney or a Barry
+Lyndon are the evils against which men should in these days be taught
+to guard themselves;--which women also should be made to hate. Such
+is the writer's apology for his very indifferent hero, Ralph the
+Heir.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LVII.
+
+CLARISSA'S FATE.
+
+
+In the following October, while Newton of Newton and his bride
+were making themselves happy amidst the glories of Florence, she
+with her finery from Paris, and he with a newly-acquired taste for
+Michael Angelo and the fine arts generally, Gregory the parson again
+went up to London. He had, of course, "assisted" at his brother's
+marriage,--in which the heavy burden of the ceremony was imposed
+on the shoulders of a venerable dean, who was related to Lady
+Eardham,--and had since that time been all alone at his parsonage.
+Occasionally he had heard of the Underwoods from Ralph Newton of
+Beamingham, whose wedding had been postponed till Beamingham Hall had
+been made fit for its mistress; and from what he had heard Gregory
+was induced,--hardly to hope,--but to dream it to be possible
+that even yet he might prevail in love. An idea had grown upon
+him, springing from various sources, that Clarissa had not been
+indifferent to his brother, and that this feeling on her part had
+marred, and must continue to mar, his own happiness. He never
+believed that there had been fault on his brother's part; but still,
+if Clarissa had been so wounded,--he could hardly hope,--and perhaps
+should not even wish,--that she would consent to share with him his
+parsonage in the close neighbourhood of his brother's house. During
+all that September he told himself that the thing should be over, and
+he began to teach himself,--to try to teach himself,--that celibacy
+was the state in which a clergyman might best live and do his duty.
+But the lesson had not gone far with him before he shook himself, and
+determined that he would try yet once again. If there had been such
+a wound, why should not the wound be cured? Clarissa was at any rate
+true. She would not falsely promise him a heart, when it was beyond
+her power to give it. In October, therefore, he went again up to
+London.
+
+The cases for packing the books had not even yet been made, and Sir
+Thomas was found in Southampton Buildings. The first words had, of
+course, reference to the absent Squire. The squire of one's parish,
+the head of one's family, and one's elder brother, when the three
+are united in the same personage, will become important to one, even
+though the personage himself be not heroic. Ralph had written home
+twice, and everything was prospering with him. Sir Thomas, who had
+become tired of his late ward, and who had thought worse of the
+Eardham marriage than the thing deserved, was indifferent to the joys
+of the Italian honeymoon. "They'll do very well, no doubt," said Sir
+Thomas. "I was delighted to learn that Augusta bore her journey so
+well," said Gregory. "Augustas always do bear their journeys well,"
+said Sir Thomas; "though sometimes, I fancy, they find the days a
+little too long."
+
+But his tone was very different when Gregory asked his leave to make
+one more attempt at Popham Villa. "I only hope you may succeed,--for
+her sake, as well as for your own," said Sir Thomas. But when he was
+asked as to the parson's chance of success, he declared that he could
+say nothing. "She is changed, I think, from what she used to be,--is
+more thoughtful, perhaps, and less giddy. It may be that such
+change will turn her towards you." "I would not have her changed in
+anything," said Gregory,--"except in her feelings towards myself."
+
+He had been there twice or thrice before he found what he thought to
+be an opportunity fit for the work that he had on hand. And yet both
+Patience and Mary did for him and for her all that they knew how
+to do. But in such a matter it is so hard to act without seeming
+to act! She who can manoeuvre on such a field without displaying
+her manoeuvres is indeed a general! No man need ever attempt the
+execution of a task so delicate. Mary and Patience put their heads
+together, and resolved that they would say nothing. Nor did they
+manifestly take steps to leave the two alone together. It was a
+question with them, especially with Patience, whether the lover had
+not come too soon.
+
+But Clarissa at last attacked her sister. "Patience," she said, "why
+do you not speak to me?"
+
+"Not speak to you, Clary?"
+
+"Not a word,--about that which is always on my mind. You have not
+mentioned Ralph Newton's name once since his marriage."
+
+"I have thought it better not to mention it. Why should I mention
+it?"
+
+"If you think that it would pain me, you are mistaken. It pains me
+more that you should think that I could not bear it. He was welcome
+to his wife."
+
+"I know you wish him well, Clary."
+
+"Well! Oh, yes, I wish him well. No doubt he will be happy with her.
+She is fit for him, and I was not. He did quite right."
+
+"He is not half so good as his brother," said Patience.
+
+"Certainly he is not so good as his brother. Men, of course, will be
+different. But it is not always the best man that one likes the best.
+It ought to be so, perhaps."
+
+"I know which I like the best," said Patience. "Oh, Clary, if you
+could but bring yourself to love him."
+
+"How is one to change like that? And I do not know that he cares for
+me now."
+
+"Ah;--I think he cares for you."
+
+"Why should he? Is a man to be sacrificed for always because a girl
+will not take him? His heart is changed. He takes care to show me so
+when he comes here. I am glad that it should be changed. Dear Patty,
+if papa would but come and live at home, I should want nothing else."
+
+"I want something else," said Patience.
+
+"I want nothing but that you should love me;--and that papa should be
+with us. But, Patty, do not make me feel that you are afraid to speak
+to me."
+
+On the day following Gregory was again at Fulham, and he had come
+thither fully determined that he would now for the last time ask that
+question, on the answer to which, as it now seemed to him, all his
+future happiness must depend. He had told himself that he would shake
+off this too human longing for a sweet face to be ever present with
+him at his board, for a sweet heart to cherish him with its love, for
+a dear head to lie upon his bosom. But he had owned to himself that
+it could not be shaken off, and having so owned, was more sick than
+ever with desire. Mary and Clarissa were both out when he arrived,
+and he was closeted for a while with Patience. "How tired you must be
+of seeing me," he said.
+
+"Tired of seeing you? Oh no!"
+
+"I feel myself to be going about like a phantom, and I am ashamed of
+myself. My brother is successful and happy, and has all that he
+desires."
+
+"He is easily satisfied," said Patience, with something of sarcasm in
+her voice.
+
+"And my cousin Ralph is happy and triumphant. I ought not to pine,
+but in truth I am so weak that I am always pining. Tell me at
+once,--is there a chance for me?"
+
+Did it occur to him to think that she to whom he was speaking, ever
+asked herself why it was not given to her to have even a hope of that
+joy for which he was craving? Did she ever pine because, when others
+were mating round her, flying off in pairs to their warm mutual
+nests, there came to her no such question of mating and flying off
+to love and happiness? If there was such pining, it was all inward,
+hidden from her friends so that their mirth should not be lessened by
+her want of mirth, not expressed either by her eye or mouth because
+she knew that on the expression of her face depended somewhat of the
+comfort of those who loved her. A homely brow, and plain features,
+and locks of hair that have not been combed by Love's attendant
+nymphs into soft and winning tresses, seems to tell us that Love is
+not wanted by the bosom that owns them. We teach ourselves to regard
+such a one, let her be ever so good, with ever so sweet temper, ever
+so generous in heart, ever so affectionate among her friends, as
+separated alike from the perils and the privileges of that passion
+without which they who are blessed or banned with beauty would regard
+life but as a charred and mutilated existence. It is as though we
+should believe that passion springs from the rind, which is fair
+or foul to the eye, and not in the heart, which is often fairest,
+freshest, and most free, when the skin is dark and the cheeks are
+rough. This young parson expected Patience to sympathise with him, to
+greet for him, to aid him if there might be aid, and to understand
+that for him the world would be blank and wretched unless he could
+get for himself a soft sweet mate to sing when he sang, and to wail
+when he wailed. The only mate that Patience had was this very girl
+that was to be thus taken from her. But she did sympathise with him,
+did greet for him, did give him all her aid. Knowing what she was
+herself and how God had formed her, she had learned to bury self
+absolutely and to take all her earthly joy from the joys of others.
+Shall it not come to pass that, hereafter, she too shall have a lover
+among the cherubim? "What can I say to you?" replied Patience to the
+young man's earnest entreaty. "If she were mine to give, I would give
+her to you instantly."
+
+"Then you think there is no chance. If I thought that, why should I
+trouble her again?"
+
+"I do not say so. Do you not know, Mr. Newton, that in such matters
+even sisters can hardly tell their thoughts to each other? How can
+they when they do not even know their own wishes?"
+
+"She does not hate me then?"
+
+"Hate you! no;--she does not hate you. But there are so many degrees
+between hating and that kind of love which you want from her! You may
+be sure of this, that she so esteems you that your persistence cannot
+lessen you in her regard."
+
+He was still pleading his case with the elder sister,--very uselessly
+indeed, as he was aware; but having fallen on the subject of his love
+it was impossible for him to change it for any other,--when Clarissa
+came into the room swinging her hat in her hand. She had been over
+at Miss Spooner's house and was full of Miss Spooner's woes and
+complaints. As soon as she had shaken hands with her lover and spoken
+the few words of courtesy which the meeting demanded of her, she
+threw herself into the affairs of Miss Spooner as though they were of
+vital interest. "She is determined to be unhappy, Patty, and it is no
+use trying to make her not so. She says that Jane robs her, which I
+don't believe is true, and that Sarah has a lover,--and why shouldn't
+Sarah have a lover? But as for curing her grievances, it would be
+the cruellest thing in the world. She lives upon her grievances.
+Something has happened to the chimney-pot, and the landlord hasn't
+sent a mason. She is revelling in her chimney-pot."
+
+"Poor dear Miss Spooner," said Patience, getting up and leaving the
+room as though it were her duty to look at once after her old friend
+in the midst of these troubles.
+
+Clarissa had not intended this. "She's asleep now," said Clarissa.
+But Patience went all the same. It might be that Miss Spooner would
+require to be watched in her slumbers. When Patience was gone Gregory
+Newton got up from his seat and walked to the window. He stood
+there for what seemed to be an endless number of seconds before he
+returned, and Clarissa had time to determine that she would escape.
+"I told Mary that I would go to her," she said, "you won't mind being
+left alone for a few minutes, Mr. Newton."
+
+"Do not go just now, Clarissa."
+
+"Only that I said I would," she answered, pleading that she must keep
+a promise which she had never made.
+
+"Mary can spare you,--and I cannot. Mary is staying with you, and I
+shall be gone,--almost immediately. I go back to Newton to-morrow,
+and who can say when I shall see you again?"
+
+"You will be coming up to London, of course."
+
+"I am here now at any rate," he said smiling, "and will take what
+advantage of it I can. It is the old story, Clarissa;--so old that I
+know you must be sick of it."
+
+"If you think so, you should not tell it again."
+
+"Do not be ill-natured to me. I don't know why it is but a man gets
+to be ashamed of himself, as though he were doing something mean
+and paltry, when he loves with persistence, as I do." Had it been
+possible that she should give him so much encouragement she would
+have told him that the mean man, and paltry, was he who could love or
+pretend to love with no capacity for persistency. She could not fail
+to draw a comparison between him and his brother, in which there was
+so much of meanness on the part of him who had at one time been as a
+god to her, and so much nobility in him to whom she was and ever had
+been as a goddess. "I suppose a man should take an answer and have
+done with it," he continued. "But how is a man to have done with it,
+when his heart remains the same?"
+
+"A man should master his heart."
+
+"I am, then, to understand that that which you have said so often
+before must be said again?" He had never knelt to her, and he did not
+kneel now; but he leaned over her so that she hardly knew whether
+he was on his knees or still seated on his chair. And she herself,
+though she answered him briskly,--almost with impertinence,--was so
+little mistress of herself that she knew not what she said. She would
+take him now,--if only she knew how to take him without disgracing
+herself in her own estimation. "Dear Clary, think of it. Try to love
+me. I need not tell you again how true is my love for you." He had
+hold of her hand, and she did not withdraw it, and he ought to have
+known that the battle was won. But he knew nothing. He hardly knew
+that her hand was in his. "Clary, you are all the world to me. Must I
+go back heart-laden, but empty-handed, with no comfort?"
+
+"If you knew all!" she said, rising suddenly from her chair.
+
+"All what?"
+
+"If you knew all, you would not take me though I offered myself."
+He stood staring at her, not at all comprehending her words, and
+she perceived in the midst of her distress that it was needful that
+she should explain herself. "I have loved Ralph always;--yes, your
+brother."
+
+"And he?"
+
+"I will not accuse him in anything. He is married now, and it is
+past."
+
+"And you can never love again?"
+
+"Who would take such a heart as that? It would not be worth the
+giving or worth the taking. Oh--how I loved him!" Then he left her
+side, and went back to the window, while she sank back upon her
+chair, and, burying her face in her hands, gave way to tears and
+sobs. He stood there perhaps for a minute, and then returning to her,
+so gently that she did not hear him, he did kneel at her side. He
+knelt, and putting his hand upon her arm, he kissed the sleeve of her
+gown. "You had better go from me now," she said, amidst her sobs.
+
+"I will never go from you again," he answered. "God's mercy can cure
+also that wound, and I will be his minister in healing it. Clarissa,
+I am so glad that you have told me all. Looking back I can understand
+it now. I once thought that it was so."
+
+"Yes," she said, "yes; it was so."
+
+Gradually one hand of hers fell into his, and though no word of
+acceptance had been spoken he knew that he was at last accepted. "My
+own Clary," he said. "I may call you my own?" There was no answer,
+but he knew that it was so. "Nothing shall be done to trouble
+you;--nothing shall be said to press you. You may be sure of this, if
+it be good to be loved,--that no woman was ever loved more tenderly
+than you are."
+
+"I do know it," she said, through her tears.
+
+Then he rose and stood again at the window, looking out upon the lawn
+and the river. She was still weeping, but he hardly heeded her tears.
+It was better for her that she should weep than restrain them. And,
+as to himself and his own feelings,--he tried to question himself,
+whether, in truth, was he less happy in this great possession, which
+he had at last gained, because his brother had for a while interfered
+with him in gaining it? That she would be as true to him now, as
+tender and as loving, as though Ralph had never crossed her path,
+he did not for a moment doubt. That she would be less sweet to him
+because her sweetness had been offered to another he would not admit
+to himself,--even though the question were asked. She would be all
+his own, and was she not the one thing in the world which he coveted?
+He did think that for such a one as his Clarissa he would be a better
+mate than would have been his brother, and he was sure that she
+herself would learn to know that it was so. He stood there long
+enough to resolve that this which had been told him should be no
+drawback upon his bliss. "Clary," he said, returning to her, "it is
+settled?" She made him no answer. "My darling, I am as happy now
+as though Ralph had never seen your sweet face, or heard your dear
+voice. Look up at me once." Slowly she looked up into his eyes, and
+then stood before him almost as a suppliant, and gave him her face to
+be kissed. So at last they became engaged as man and wife;--though
+it may be doubted whether she spoke another word before he left the
+room.
+
+It was, however, quite understood that they were engaged; and, though
+he did not see Clarissa again, he received the congratulations both
+of Patience and Mary Bonner before he left the house; and that very
+night succeeded in hunting down Sir Thomas, so that he might tell the
+father that the daughter had at last consented to become his wife.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LVIII.
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+
+Clarissa had found it hard to change the object of her love, so hard,
+that for a time she had been unwilling even to make the effort;--and
+she had been ashamed that those around her should think that she
+would make it; but when the thing was done, her second hero was
+dearer to her than ever had been the first. He at least was true.
+With him there was no need of doubt. His assurances were not conveyed
+in words so light that they might mean much or little. This second
+lover was a lover, indeed, who thought no pains too great to show her
+that she was ever growing in his heart of hearts. For a while,--for
+a week or two,--she restrained her tongue; but when once she had
+accustomed herself to the coaxing kindness of her sister and her
+cousin, then her eloquence was loosened, and Gregory Newton was a
+god indeed. In the course of time she got a very pretty note from
+Ralph, congratulating her, as he also had congratulated Polly, and
+expressing a fear that he might not be home in time to be present
+at the wedding. Augusta was so fond of Rome that they did not mean
+to leave it till the late spring. Then, after a while, there came
+to her, also, a watch and chain, twice as costly as those given to
+Polly,--which, however, no persuasion from Gregory would ever induce
+Clarissa to wear. In after time Ralph never noticed that the trinkets
+were not worn.
+
+The winter at Popham Villa went on very much as other winters had
+gone, except that two of the girls living there were full of future
+hopes, and preparing for future cares, while the third occupied her
+heart and mind with the cares and hopes of the other two. Patience,
+however, had one other task in hand, a task upon the performance of
+which her future happiness much depended, and in respect to which she
+now ventured to hope for success. Wherever her future home might be,
+it would be terrible to her if her father would not consent to occupy
+it with her. It had been settled that both the marriages should take
+place early in April,--both on the same day, and, as a matter of
+course, the weddings would be celebrated at Fulham. Christmas had
+come and gone, and winter was going, before Sir Thomas had absolutely
+promised to renew that order for the making of the packing-cases for
+his books. "You won't go back, papa, after they are married,"
+Patience said to her father, early in March.
+
+"If I do it shall not be for long."
+
+"Not for a day, papa! Surely you will not leave me alone? There will
+be plenty of room now. The air of Fulham will be better for your work
+than those stuffy, dark, dingy lawyers' chambers."
+
+"My dear, all the work of my life that was worth doing was done in
+those stuffy, dingy rooms." That was all that Sir Thomas said, but
+the accusation conveyed to him by his daughter's words was very
+heavy. For years past he had sat intending to work, purposing to
+achieve a great task which he set for himself, and had done--almost
+nothing. Might it be yet possible that that purer air of which
+Patty spoke should produce new energy, and lead to better results?
+The promise of it did at least produce new resolutions. It was
+impossible, as Patience had said, that his child should be left to
+dwell alone, while yet she had a father living.
+
+"Stemm," he said, "I told you to get some packing-cases made."
+
+"Packing-cases, Sir Thomas?"
+
+"Yes;--packing-cases for the books. It was months ago. Are they
+ready?"
+
+"No, Sir Thomas. They ain't ready."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Well, Sir Thomas;--they ain't; that's all." Then the order was
+repeated in a manner so formal, as to make Stemm understand that it
+was intended for a fact. "You are going away from this; are you, Sir
+Thomas?"
+
+"I believe that I shall give the chambers up altogether at midsummer.
+At any rate, I mean to have the books packed at once."
+
+"Very well, Sir Thomas." Then there was a pause, during which Stemm
+did not leave the room. Nor did Sir Thomas dismiss him, feeling that
+there might well be other things which would require discussion. "And
+about me, Sir Thomas?" said Stemm.
+
+"I have been thinking about that, Stemm."
+
+"So have I, Sir Thomas,--more nor once."
+
+"You can come to Fulham if you like,--only you must not scold the
+maids."
+
+"Very well, Sir Thomas," said Stemm, with hardly any variation in his
+voice, but still with less of care upon his brow.
+
+"Mind, I will not have you scolding them at the villa."
+
+"Not unless they deserve it, Sir Thomas," said Stemm. Sir Thomas
+could say nothing further. For our own part we fear that the maidens
+at the villa will not be the better in conduct, as they certainly
+will not be more comfortable in their lives, in consequence of this
+change.
+
+And the books were moved in large packing-cases, not one of which had
+yet been opened when the two brides returned to Popham Villa after
+their wedding tours, to see Patience just for a day before they were
+taken to their new homes. Nevertheless, let us hope that the change
+of air and of scene may tend to future diligence, and that the magnus
+opus may yet be achieved. We have heard of editions of Aristophanes,
+of Polybius, of the Iliad, of Ovid, and what not, which have ever
+been forthcoming under the hands of notable scholars, who have grown
+grey amidst the renewed promises which have been given. And some of
+these works have come forth, belying the prophecies of incredulous
+friends. Let us hope that the great Life of Bacon may yet be written.
+
+
+
+
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+   Trollope was sometimes inconsistent with names of people or places.
+   In the early pages of this novel the name of Mr. Neefit's home was
+   Alexandrina Cottage. In the middle of the book it became Alexandria
+   Cottage, and in later pages it was Alexandra Cottage. The names have
+   been transcribed as they were in the original.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RALPH THE HEIR***
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+<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=ISO-8859-1" />
+<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of Ralph the Heir, by Anthony Trollope</title>
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+<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, Ralph the Heir, by Anthony Trollope,
+Illustrated by F. A. Fraser</h1>
+<pre>
+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 <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre>
+<p class="noindent">Title: Ralph the Heir</p>
+<p class="noindent">Author: Anthony Trollope</p>
+<p class="noindent">Release Date: May 23, 2008  [eBook #25579]<br />
+Most recently updated: June 26, 2012</p>
+<p class="noindent">Language: English</p>
+<p class="noindent">Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p>
+<p class="noindent">***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RALPH THE HEIR***</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>E-text prepared by Joseph E. Loewenstein, M.D.</h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<div class="center">
+<table style="margin: 0 auto" cellpadding="4px">
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">
+      <a href="images/19-l.jpg">
+      <img src="images/19-t.jpg" width="540"
+      alt="He drank his sherry and soda-water,
+      and lit his pipe, and lay there on the
+      lawn, as though he were quite at home &#8230;" /></a>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">
+      <span class="caption">He drank his sherry and soda-water,
+      and lit his pipe, and lay there<br />
+      on the lawn, as though he were quite at home &#8230;
+      (Chapter III.)<br />
+      Click to <a href="images/19-l.jpg">ENLARGE</a></span>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h1>RALPH THE HEIR</h1>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h4>by</h4>
+
+<h2>ANTHONY TROLLOPE</h2>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h3>With Illustrations by F. A. Fraser</h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h4>First published serially in <i>Saint Paul's Magazine</i> in 1870-1<br />
+and in book form in 1871</h4>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="narrow" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+
+<h3>CONTENTS</h3>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<div class="center">
+<table style="margin: 0 auto" cellpadding="1">
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">I.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>      <td><a href="#c1" >SIR THOMAS.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">II.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>     <td><a href="#c2" >POPHAM VILLA.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">III.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>    <td><a href="#c3" >WHAT HAPPENED ON THE LAWN AT POPHAM VILLA.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">IV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>     <td><a href="#c4" >MARY BONNER.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">V.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>      <td><a href="#c5" >MR. NEEFIT AND HIS FAMILY.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">VI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>     <td><a href="#c6" >MRS. NEEFIT'S LITTLE DINNER.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">VII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>    <td><a href="#c7" >YOU ARE ONE OF US NOW.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">VIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>   <td><a href="#c8" >RALPH NEWTON'S TROUBLES.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">IX.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>     <td><a href="#c9" >ONTARIO MOGGS.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">X.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>      <td><a href="#c10" >SIR THOMAS IN HIS CHAMBERS.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>     <td><a href="#c11" >NEWTON PRIORY.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>    <td><a href="#c12" >MRS. BROWNLOW.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>   <td><a href="#c13" >MR. NEEFIT IS DISTURBED.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XIV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>    <td><a href="#c14" >THE REV. GREGORY NEWTON.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>     <td><a href="#c15" >CLARISSA WAITS.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XVI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>    <td><a href="#c16" >THE CHESHIRE CHEESE.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XVII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>   <td><a href="#c17" >RALPH NEWTON'S DOUBTS.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XVIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>  <td><a href="#c18" >WE WON'T SELL BROWNRIGGS.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XIX.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>    <td><a href="#c19" >POLLY'S ANSWER.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XX.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>     <td><a href="#c20" >THE CONSERVATIVES OF PERCYCROSS.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>    <td><a href="#c21" >THE LIBERALS OF PERCYCROSS.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>   <td><a href="#c22" >RALPH NEWTON'S DECISION.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>  <td><a href="#c23" >"I'LL BE A HYPOCRITE IF YOU CHOOSE."</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXIV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>   <td><a href="#c24" >"I FIND I MUST."</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>    <td><a href="#c25" >"MR. GRIFFENBOTTOM."</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXVI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>   <td><a href="#c26" >MOGGS, PURITY, AND THE RIGHTS OF LABOUR.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXVII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>  <td><a href="#c27" >THE MOONBEAM.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXVIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td> <td><a href="#c28" >THE NEW HEIR COUNTS HIS CHICKENS.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXIX.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>   <td><a href="#c29" >THE ELECTION.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXX.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>    <td><a href="#c30" >"MISS MARY IS IN LUCK."</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXXI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>   <td><a href="#c31" >IT IS ALL SETTLED.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXXII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>  <td><a href="#c32" >SIR THOMAS AT HOME.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXXIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td> <td><a href="#c33" >"TELL ME AND I'LL TELL YOU."</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXXIV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>  <td><a href="#c34" >ALONE IN THE HOUSE.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXXV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>   <td><a href="#c35" >"SHE'LL ACCEPT YOU, OF COURSE."</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXXVI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>  <td><a href="#c36" >NEEFIT MEANS TO STICK TO IT.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXXVII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td> <td><a href="#c37" >"HE MUST MARRY HER."</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXXVIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td><a href="#c38" >FOR TWO REASONS.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XXXIX.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>  <td><a href="#c39" >HORSELEECHES.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XL.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>     <td><a href="#c40" >WHAT SIR THOMAS THOUGHT ABOUT IT.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XLI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>    <td><a href="#c41" >A BROKEN HEART.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XLII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>   <td><a href="#c42" >NOT BROKEN-HEARTED.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XLIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>  <td><a href="#c43" >ONCE MORE.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XLIV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>   <td><a href="#c44" >THE PETITION.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XLV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>    <td><a href="#c45" >"NEVER GIVE A THING UP."</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XLVI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>   <td><a href="#c46" >MR. NEEFIT AGAIN.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XLVII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>  <td><a href="#c47" >THE WAY WHICH SHOWS THAT THEY MEAN IT.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XLVIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td> <td><a href="#c48" >MR. MOGGS WALKS TOWARDS EDGEWARE.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">XLIX.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>   <td><a href="#c49" >AMONG THE PICTURES.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">L.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>      <td><a href="#c50" >ANOTHER FAILURE.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">LI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>     <td><a href="#c51" >MUSIC HAS CHARMS.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">LII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>    <td><a href="#c52" >GUS EARDHAM.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">LIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>   <td><a href="#c53" >THE END OF POLLY NEEFIT.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">LIV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>    <td><a href="#c54" >MY MARY.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">LV.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>     <td><a href="#c55" >COOKHAM.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">LVI.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>    <td><a href="#c56" >RALPH NEWTON IS BOWLED AWAY.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">LVII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>   <td><a href="#c57" >CLARISSA'S FATE.</a></td></tr>
+<tr><td align="right" valign="top">LVIII.&nbsp;&nbsp;</td>  <td><a href="#c58" >CONCLUSION.</a></td></tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="narrow" />
+
+
+
+<p><a name="c1" id="c1"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER I.</h3>
+<h4>SIR THOMAS.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>There are men who cannot communicate themselves to others, as there
+are also men who not only can do so, but cannot do otherwise. And it
+is hard to say which is the better man of the two. We do not
+specially respect him who wears his heart upon his sleeve for daws to
+peck at, who carries a crystal window to his bosom so that all can
+see the work that is going on within it, who cannot keep any affair
+of his own private, who gushes out in love and friendship to every
+chance acquaintance; but then, again, there is but little love given
+to him who is always wary, always silent as to his own belongings,
+who buttons himself in a suit of close reserve which he never
+loosens. Respect such a one may gain, but hardly love. It is natural
+to us to like to know the affairs of our friends; and natural also, I
+think, to like to talk of our own to those whom we trust. Perhaps,
+after all that may be said of the weakness of the gushing and
+indiscreet babbler, it is pleasanter to live with such a one than
+with the self-constrained reticent man of iron, whose conversation
+among his most intimate friends is solely of politics, of science, of
+literature, or of some other subject equally outside the privacies of
+our inner life.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas Underwood, whom I, and I hope my readers also, will have
+to know very intimately, was one of those who are not able to make
+themselves known intimately to any. I am speaking now of a man of
+sixty, and I am speaking also of one who had never yet made a close
+friend,&mdash;who had never by unconscious and slow degrees of affection
+fallen into that kind of intimacy with another man which justifies
+and renders necessary mutual freedom of intercourse in all the
+affairs of life. And yet he was possessed of warm affections, was by
+no means misanthropic in his nature, and would, in truth, have given
+much to be able to be free and jocund as are other men. He lacked the
+power that way, rather than the will. To himself it seemed to be a
+weakness in him rather than a strength that he should always be
+silent, always guarded, always secret and dark. He had lamented it as
+an acknowledged infirmity;&mdash;as a man grieves that he should be
+short-sighted, or dull of hearing; but at the age of sixty he had
+taken no efficient steps towards curing himself of the evil, and had
+now abandoned all idea of any such cure.</p>
+
+<p>Whether he had been, upon the whole, fortunate or unfortunate in life
+shall be left to the reader's judgment. But he certainly had not been
+happy. He had suffered cruel disappointments; and a disappointment
+will crush the spirit worse than a realised calamity. There is no
+actual misfortune in not being Lord Mayor of London;&mdash;but when a man
+has set his heart upon the place, has worked himself into a position
+within a few feet of the Mansion House, has become alderman with the
+mayoralty before him in immediate rotation, he will suffer more at
+being passed over by the liverymen than if he had lost half his
+fortune. Now Sir Thomas Underwood had become Solicitor-General in his
+profession, but had never risen to the higher rank or more assured
+emoluments of other legal offices.</p>
+
+<p>We will not quite trace our Meleager back to his egg, but we will
+explain that he was the only son of a barrister of moderate means,
+who put him to the Bar, and who died leaving little or nothing behind
+him. The young barrister had an only sister, who married an officer
+in the army, and who had passed all her latter life in distant
+countries to which her husband had been called by the necessity of
+living on the income which his profession gave him. As a Chancery
+barrister, Mr. Underwood,&mdash;our Sir Thomas,&mdash;had done well, living on
+the income he made, marrying at thirty-five, going into Parliament at
+forty-five, becoming Solicitor-General at fifty,&mdash;and ceasing to hold
+that much-desired office four months after his appointment. Such
+cessation, however, arising from political causes, is no
+disappointment to a man. It will doubtless be the case that a man so
+placed will regret the weakness of his party, which has been unable
+to keep the good things of Government in its hands; but he will
+recognise without remorse or sorrow the fact that the Ministry to
+which he has attached himself must cease to be a Ministry;&mdash;and there
+will be nothing in his displacement to gall his pride, or to create
+that inner feeling of almost insupportable mortification which comes
+from the conviction of personal failure. Sir Thomas Underwood had
+been Solicitor-General for a few months under a Conservative Prime
+Minister; and when the Conservative Minister went out of office, Sir
+Thomas Underwood followed him with no feeling of regret that caused
+him unhappiness. But when afterwards the same party came back to
+power, and he, having lost his election at the borough which he had
+represented, was passed over without a word of sympathy or even of
+assumed regret from the Minister, then he was wounded. It was true,
+he knew, that a man, to be Solicitor-General, should have a seat in
+Parliament. The highest legal offices in the country are not to be
+attained by any amount of professional excellence, unless the
+candidate shall have added to such excellence the power of supporting
+a Ministry and a party in the House of Commons. Sir Thomas Underwood
+thoroughly understood this;&mdash;but he knew also that there are various
+ways in which a lame dog may be helped over a stile,&mdash;if only the
+lame dog be popular among dogs. For another ex-Solicitor-General a
+seat would have been found,&mdash;or some delay would have been
+granted,&mdash;or at least there would have been a consultation, with a
+suggestion that something should be tried. But in this case a man
+four years his junior in age, whom he despised, and who, as he was
+informed, had obtained his place in Parliament by gross bribery, was
+put into the office without a word of apology to him. Then he was
+unhappy, and acknowledged to himself that his spirit was crushed.</p>
+
+<p>But he acknowledged to himself at the same time that he was one
+doomed by his nature to such crushing of the spirit if he came out of
+the hole of his solitude, and endeavoured to carry on the open fight
+of life among his fellow-men. He knew that he was one doomed to that
+disappointment, the bitterest of all, which comes from failure when
+the prize has been all but reached. It is much to have become
+Solicitor-General, and that he had achieved;&mdash;but it is worse than
+nothing to have been Solicitor-General for four months, and then to
+find that all the world around one regards one as having failed, and
+as being, therefore, fit for the shelf. Such were Sir Thomas
+Underwood's feelings as he sat alone in his chambers during those
+days in which the new administration was formed,&mdash;in which days he
+was neither consulted nor visited, nor communicated with either by
+message or by letter. But all this,&mdash;this formation of a Ministry, in
+which the late Solicitor-General was not invited to take a
+part,&mdash;occurred seven years before the commencement of our story.</p>
+
+<p>During those years in which our lawyer sat in Parliament as Mr.
+Underwood,&mdash;at which time he was working hard also as a Chancery
+barrister, and was, perhaps, nearer to his fellow-men than he had
+ever been before, or was ever destined to be afterwards,&mdash;he resided,
+as regarded himself almost nominally, at a small but pretty villa,
+which he had taken for his wife's sake at Fulham. It was close upon
+the river, and had well-arranged, though not extensive, shrubbery
+walks, and a little lawn, and a tiny conservatory, and a charming
+opening down to the Thames. Mrs. Underwood had found herself unable
+to live in Half-moon Street; and Mr. Underwood, not unwillingly, had
+removed his household gods to this retreat. At that time his
+household gods consisted of a wife and two daughters;&mdash;but the wife
+had died before the time came at which she could have taken on
+herself the name of Lady Underwood. The villa at Fulham was still
+kept, and there lived the two girls, and there also Sir Thomas, had
+he been interrogated on the subject, would have declared that he also
+was domiciled. But if a man lives at the place in which he most often
+sleeps, Sir Thomas in truth lived at his chambers at Southampton
+Buildings. When he moved those household gods of his to the villa, it
+was necessary, because of his duties in Parliament, that he should
+have some place in town wherein he might lay his head, and therefore,
+I fear not unwillingly, he took to laying his head very frequently in
+the little bedroom which was attached to his chambers.</p>
+
+<p>It is not necessary that we should go back to any feelings which
+might have operated upon him during his wife's lifetime, or during
+the period of his parliamentary career. His wife was now dead, and he
+no longer held a seat in Parliament. He had, indeed, all but
+abandoned his practice at the Bar, never putting himself forward for
+the ordinary business of a Chancery barrister. But, nevertheless, he
+spent the largest half of his life in his chambers, breakfasting
+there, reading there, writing there, and sleeping there. He did not
+altogether desert the lodge at Fulham, and the two girls who lived
+there. He would not even admit to them, or allow them to assert that
+he had not his home with them. Sometimes for two nights together, and
+sometimes for three, he would be at the villa,&mdash;never remaining
+there, however, during the day. But on Sundays it may almost be said
+that he was never at home. And hence arose the feeling that of all,
+this went the nearest to create discord between the father and the
+daughters. Sir Thomas was always in Southampton Buildings on Sundays.
+Did Sir Thomas go to church? The Miss Underwoods did go to church
+very regularly, and thought much of the propriety and necessity of
+such Sunday exercises. They could remember that in their younger days
+their father always had been there with them. They could remember,
+indeed, that he, with something of sternness, would require from them
+punctuality and exactness in this duty. Now and again,&mdash;perhaps four
+times in the year,&mdash;he would go to the Rolls Chapel. So much they
+could learn, But they believed that beyond that his Sundays were kept
+holy by no attendance at divine service. And it may be said at once
+that they believed aright.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas's chambers in Southampton Buildings, though they were dull
+and dingy of aspect from the outside, and were reached by a staircase
+which may be designated as lugubrious,&mdash;so much did its dark and
+dismantled condition tend to melancholy,&mdash;were in themselves large
+and commodious. His bedroom was small, but he had two spacious
+sitting-rooms, one of which was fitted up as a library, and the other
+as a dining-room. Over and beyond these there was a clerk's
+room;&mdash;for Sir Thomas, though he had given up the greater part of his
+business, had not given up his clerk; and here the old man, the
+clerk, passed his entire time, from half-past eight in the morning
+till ten at night, waiting upon his employer in various capacities
+with a sedulous personal attention to which he had probably not
+intended to devote himself when he first took upon himself the duties
+of clerk to a practising Chancery barrister. But Joseph Stemm and Sir
+Thomas were not unlike in character, and had grown old together with
+too equal a step to admit of separation and of new alliance. Stemm
+had but one friend in the world, and Sir Thomas was that friend. I
+have already said that Sir Thomas had no friend;&mdash;but perhaps he felt
+more of that true intimacy, which friendship produces, with Stemm
+than with any other human being.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas was a tall thin man, who stooped considerably,&mdash;though not
+from any effect of years, with a face which would perhaps have been
+almost mean had it not been rescued from that evil condition by the
+assurance of intelligence and strength which is always conveyed by a
+certain class of ugliness. He had a nose something like the great
+Lord Brougham's,&mdash;thin, long, and projecting at the point. He had
+quick grey eyes, and a good forehead;&mdash;but the component parts of his
+countenance were irregular and roughly put together. His chin was
+long, as was also his upper lip;&mdash;so that it may be taken as a fact
+that he was an ugly man. He was hale, however, and strong, and was
+still so good a walker that he thought nothing of making his way down
+to the villa on foot of an evening, after dining at his club.</p>
+
+<p>It was his custom to dine at his club,&mdash;that highly respectable and
+most comfortable club situated at the corner of Suffolk Street, Pall
+Mall;&mdash;the senior of the two which are devoted to the well-being of
+scions of our great Universities. There Sir Thomas dined, perhaps
+four nights in the week, for ten months in the year. And it was said
+of him in the club that he had never been known to dine in company
+with another member of the club. His very manner as he sat at his
+solitary meal,&mdash;always with a pint of port on the table,&mdash;was as well
+known as the figure of the old king on horseback outside in the
+street, and was as unlike the ordinary manner of men as is that
+unlike the ordinary figures of kings. He had always a book in his
+hand,&mdash;not a club book, nor a novel from Mudie's, nor a magazine, but
+some ancient and hard-bound volume from his own library, which he had
+brought in his pocket, and to which his undivided attention would be
+given. The eating of his dinner, which always consisted of the joint
+of the day and of nothing else, did not take him more than five
+minutes;&mdash;but he would sip his port wine slowly, would have a cup of
+tea which he would also drink very slowly,&mdash;and would then pocket his
+book, pay his bill, and would go. It was rarely the case that he
+spoke to any one in the club. He would bow to a man here and
+there,&mdash;and if addressed would answer; but of conversation at his
+club he knew nothing, and hardly ever went into any room but that in
+which his dinner was served to him.</p>
+
+<p>In conversing about him men would express a wonder how such a one had
+ever risen to high office,&mdash;how, indeed, he could have thriven at his
+profession. But in such matters we are, all of us, too apt to form
+confident opinions on apparent causes which are near the surface, but
+which, as guides to character, are fallacious. Perhaps in all London
+there was no better lawyer, in his branch of law, than Sir Thomas
+Underwood. He had worked with great diligence; and though he was shy
+to a degree quite unintelligible to men in general in the ordinary
+intercourse of life, he had no feeling of diffidence when upon his
+legs in Court or in the House of Commons. With the Lord Chancellor's
+wife or daughters he could not exchange five words with comfort to
+himself,&mdash;nor with his lordship himself in a drawing-room; but in
+Court the Lord Chancellor was no more to him than another lawyer whom
+he believed to be not so good a lawyer as himself. No man had ever
+succeeded in browbeating him when panoplied in his wig and gown; nor
+had words ever been wanting to him when so arrayed. It had been
+suggested to him by an attorney who knew him in that way in which
+attorneys ought to know barristers, that he should stand for a
+certain borough;&mdash;and he had stood and had been returned. Thrice he
+had been returned for the same town; but at last, when it was
+discovered that he would never dine with the leading townsmen, or
+call on their wives in London, or assist them in their little private
+views, the strength of his extreme respectability was broken
+down,&mdash;and he was rejected. In the meantime he was found to be of
+value by the party to which he had attached himself. It was
+discovered that he was not only a sound lawyer, but a man of great
+erudition, who had studied the experience of history as well as the
+wants of the present age. He was one who would disgrace no
+Government,&mdash;and he was invited to accept the office of
+Solicitor-General by a Minister who had never seen him out of the
+House of Commons. "He is as good a lawyer as there is in England,"
+said the Lord Chancellor. "He always speaks with uncommon clearness,"
+said the Chancellor of the Exchequer. "I never saw him talking with a
+human being," said the Secretary to the Treasury, deprecating the
+appointment. "He will soon get over that complaint with your
+assistance," said the Minister, laughing. So Mr. Underwood became
+Solicitor-General and Sir Thomas;&mdash;and he so did his work that no
+doubt he would have returned to his office had he been in Parliament
+when his party returned to power. But he had made no friend, he had
+not learned to talk even to the Secretary of the Treasury;&mdash;and when
+the party came back to power he was passed over without remorse, and
+almost without a regret.</p>
+
+<p>He never resumed the active bustle of his profession after that
+disappointment. His wife was then dead, and for nearly a twelvemonth
+he went about, declaring to attorneys and others that his
+professional life was done. He did take again to a certain class of
+work when he came back to the old chambers in Southampton Buildings;
+but he was seen in Court only rarely, and it was understood that he
+wished it to be supposed that he had retired. He had ever been a
+moderate man in his mode of living, and had put together a sum of
+money sufficient for moderate wants. He possessed some twelve or
+fourteen hundred a year independent of anything that he might now
+earn; and, as he had never been a man greedy of money, so was he now
+more indifferent to it than in his earlier days. It is a mistake, I
+think, to suppose that men become greedy as they grow old. The
+avaricious man will show his avarice as he gets into years, because
+avarice is a passion compatible with old age,&mdash;and will become more
+avaricious as his other passions fall off from him. And so will it be
+with the man that is open-handed. Mr. Underwood, when struggling at
+the Bar, had fought as hard as any of his compeers for comfort and
+independence;&mdash;but money, as money, had never been dear to him;&mdash;and
+now he was so trained a philosopher that he disregarded it
+altogether, except so far as it enabled him to maintain his
+independence.</p>
+
+<p>On a certain Friday evening in June, as he sat at dinner at his club,
+instead of applying himself to his book, which according to his
+custom he had taken from his pocket, he there read a letter, which as
+soon as read he would restore to the envelope, and would take it out
+again after a few moments of thought. At last, when the cup of tea
+was done and the bill was paid, he put away letter and book together
+and walked to the door of his club. When there he stood and
+considered what next should he do that evening. It was now past eight
+o'clock, and how should he use the four, five, or perhaps six hours
+which remained to him before he should go to bed? The temptation to
+which he was liable prompted him to return to his solitude in
+Southampton Buildings. Should he do so, he would sleep till ten in
+his chair,&mdash;then he would read, and drink more tea, or perhaps write,
+till one; and after that he would prowl about the purlieus of
+Chancery Lane, the Temple, and Lincoln's Inn, till two or even three
+o'clock in the morning;&mdash;looking up at the old dingy windows, and
+holding, by aid of those powers which imagination gave him, long
+intercourse with men among whom a certain weakness in his physical
+organisation did not enable him to live in the flesh. Well the
+policemen knew him as he roamed about, and much they speculated as to
+his roamings. But in these night wanderings he addressed no word to
+any one; nor did any one ever address a word to him. Yet the world,
+perhaps, was more alive to him then than at any other period in the
+twenty-four hours.</p>
+
+<p>But on the present occasion the temptation was resisted. He had not
+been at home during the whole week, and knew well that he ought to
+give his daughters the countenance of his presence. Whether that
+feeling alone would have been sufficient to withdraw him from the
+charms of Chancery Lane and send him down to the villa may be
+doubted; but there was that in the letter which he had perused so
+carefully which he knew must be communicated to his girls. His niece,
+Mary Bonner, was now an orphan, and would arrive in England from
+Jamaica in about a fortnight. Her mother had been Sir Thomas's
+sister, and had been at this time dead about three years. General
+Bonner, the father, had now died, and the girl was left an orphan,
+almost penniless, and with no near friend unless the Underwoods would
+befriend her. News of the General's death had reached Sir Thomas
+before;&mdash;and he had already made inquiry as to the fate of his niece
+through her late father's agents. Of the General's means he had known
+absolutely nothing,&mdash;believing, however, that they were confined to
+his pay as an officer. Now he was told that the girl would be at
+Southampton in a fortnight, and that she was utterly destitute. He
+declared to himself as he stood on the steps of the club that he
+would go home and consult his daughters;&mdash;but his mind was in fact
+made up as to his niece's fate long before he got home,&mdash;before he
+turned out of Pall Mall into St. James's Park. He would sometimes
+talk to himself of consulting his daughters; but in truth he very
+rarely consulted any human being as to what he would do or leave
+undone. If he went straight, he went straight without other human
+light than such as was given to him by his own intellect, his own
+heart, and his own conscience. It took him about an hour and a half
+to reach his home, but of that time four-fifths were occupied, not in
+resolving what he would do in this emergency, but in deep grumblings
+and regrets that there should be such a thing to be done at all. All
+new cares were grievous to him. Nay;&mdash;old cares were grievous, but
+new cares were terrible. Though he was bold in deciding, he was very
+timid in looking forward as to the results of that decision. Of
+course the orphan girl must be taken into his house;&mdash;and of course
+he must take upon himself the duty of a father in regard to her.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c2" id="c2"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER II.</h3>
+<h4>POPHAM VILLA.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>Popham Villa was the name of the house at Fulham,&mdash;as was to be seen
+by all men passing by, for it was painted up conspicuously on the
+pillars through which the gate led into the garden. Mr. Underwood,
+when he had first taken the place, had wished to expunge the name,
+feeling it to be cockneyfied, pretentious, and unalluring. But Mrs.
+Underwood had rather liked it, and it remained. It was a subject of
+ridicule with the two girls; but they had never ventured to urge its
+withdrawal, and after his wife's death Sir Thomas never alluded to
+the subject. Popham Villa it was, therefore, and there the words
+remained. The house was unpretentious, containing only two
+sitting-rooms besides a small side closet,&mdash;for it could hardly be
+called more,&mdash;which the girls even in their mother's lifetime had
+claimed as their own. But the drawing-room was as pretty as room
+could be, opening on to the lawn with folding windows, and giving a
+near view of the bright river as it flowed by, with just a glimpse of
+the bridge. That and the dining-room and the little closet were all
+on the ground floor, and above were at any rate as many chambers as
+the family required. The girls desired no better house,&mdash;if only
+their father could be with them. But he would urge that his books
+were all in London; and that, even were he willing to move them,
+there was no room for them in Popham Villa.</p>
+
+<p>It was sad enough for the two girls,&mdash;this kind of life. The worst of
+it, perhaps, was this; that they never knew when to expect him. A
+word had been said once as to the impracticability of having dinner
+ready for a gentleman, when the gentleman would never say whether he
+would want a dinner. It had been an unfortunate remark, for Sir
+Thomas had taken advantage of it by saying that when he came he would
+come after dinner, unless he had certified to the contrary
+beforehand. Then, after dinner, would come on him the temptation of
+returning to his chambers, and so it would go on with him from day to
+day.</p>
+
+<p>On this Friday evening the girls almost expected him, as he rarely
+let a week pass without visiting them, and still more rarely came to
+them on a Saturday. He found them out upon the lawn, or rather on the
+brink of the river, and with them was standing a young man whom he
+knew well. He kissed each of the girls, and then gave his hand to the
+young man. "I am glad to see you, Ralph," he said. "Have you been
+here long?"</p>
+
+<p>"As much as an hour or two, I fear. Patience will tell you. I meant
+to have got back by the 9.15 from Putney; but I have been smoking,
+and dreaming, and talking, till now it is nearly ten."</p>
+
+<p>"There is a train at 10.30," said the eldest Miss Underwood.</p>
+
+<p>"And another at 11.15," said the young man.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas was especially anxious to be alone with his daughters, but
+he could not tell the guest to go. Nor was he justified in feeling
+any anger at his presence there,&mdash;though he did experience some prick
+of conscience in the matter. If it was wrong that his daughters
+should be visited by a young man in his absence, the fault lay in his
+absence, rather than with the young man for coming, or with the girls
+for receiving him. The young man had been a ward of his own, and for
+a year or two in former times had been so intimate in his house as to
+live with his daughters almost as an elder brother might have done.
+But young Ralph Newton had early in life taken rooms for himself in
+London, had then ceased to be a ward, and had latterly,&mdash;so Sir
+Thomas understood,&mdash;lived such a life as to make him unfit to be the
+trusted companion of his two girls. And yet there had been nothing in
+his mode of living to make it necessary that he should be absolutely
+banished from the villa. He had spent more money than was fitting,
+and had got into debt, and Sir Thomas had had trouble about his
+affairs. He too was an orphan,&mdash;and the nephew and the heir of an old
+country squire whom he never saw. What money he had received from his
+father he had nearly spent, and it was rumoured of him that he had
+raised funds by post-obits on his uncle's life. Of all these things
+more will be told hereafter;&mdash;but Sir Thomas,&mdash;though he had given no
+instruction on the subject, and was averse even to allude to it,&mdash;did
+not like to think that Ralph Newton was at the villa with the girls
+in his absence. His girls were as good as gold. He was sure of that.
+He told himself over and over again that were it not so, he would not
+have left them so constantly without his own care. Patience, the
+elder, was a marvel among young women for prudence, conduct, and
+proper feeling; and Clarissa, whom he had certainly ever loved the
+better of the two, was as far as he knew faultless;&mdash;a little more
+passionate, a little warmer, somewhat more fond of pleasure than her
+sister; but on that account only the more to be loved. Nothing that
+he could do would make them safer than they would be by their own
+virtue. But still he was not pleased to think that Ralph Newton was
+often at the villa. When a man such as Sir Thomas has been entrusted
+with the charge of a young man with great expectations, he hardly
+wishes his daughter to fall in love with his ward, whether his ward
+be prudent or imprudent in his manner of life.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas was hot and tired after his walk, and there was some
+little fuss in getting him soda-water and tea. And as it was plain to
+see that things were not quite comfortable, Ralph Newton at last took
+his departure, so as to catch the earlier of the two trains which had
+been mentioned. It was, nevertheless, past ten when he went;&mdash;and
+then Sir Thomas, sitting at the open window of the drawing-room,
+again took out the letter. "Patience," he said, addressing his elder
+daughter as he withdrew the enclosure from the envelope, "Mary Bonner
+will be in England in a fortnight. What shall we do for her?" As he
+spoke he held the letter in a manner which justified the girl in
+taking it from his hand. He allowed it to go to her, and she read it
+before she answered him.</p>
+
+<p>It was a very sad letter, cold in its language, but still full of
+pathos. Her friends in the West Indies,&mdash;such friends as she
+had,&mdash;had advised her to proceed to England. She was given to
+understand that when her father's affairs should be settled there
+would be left to her not more than a few hundred pounds. Would her
+uncle provide for her some humble home for the present, and assist
+her in her future endeavours to obtain employment as a governess? She
+could, she thought, teach music and French, and would endeavour to
+fit herself for the work of tuition in other respects. "I know," she
+said, "how very slight is my claim upon one who has never seen me,
+and who is connected with me only by my poor mother;&mdash;but perhaps you
+will allow me to trouble you so far in my great distress."</p>
+
+<p>"She must come here, of course, papa," said Patience, as she handed
+the letter to Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, she must come here," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"But I mean, to stay,&mdash;for always."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes,&mdash;to stay for always. I cannot say that the arrangement is one
+to which I look forward with satisfaction. A man does not undertake
+new duties without fears;&mdash;and especially not such a duty as this, to
+which I can see no end, and which I may probably be quite unable to
+perform."</p>
+
+<p>"Papa, I am sure she will be nice," said Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>"But why are you sure, my dear? We will not argue that, however. She
+must come; and we will hope that she will prove to be what Clarissa
+calls nice. I cannot allow my sister's child to go out into the world
+as a governess while I have a home to offer her. She must come here
+as one of our household. I only hope she will not interfere with your
+happiness."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure she will not," said Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>"We will determine that she shall add to it, and will do our best to
+make her happy," said Patience.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a great risk, but we must run it," said Sir Thomas; and so the
+matter was settled. Then he explained to them that he intended to go
+himself to Southampton to receive his niece, and that he would bring
+her direct from that port to her new home. Patience offered to
+accompany him on the journey, but this he declined as unnecessary.
+Everything was decided between them by eleven o'clock,&mdash;even to the
+room which Mary Bonner should occupy, and then the girls left their
+father, knowing well that he would not go to bed for the next four
+hours. He would sleep in his chair for the next two hours, and would
+then wander about, or read, or perhaps sit and think of this added
+care till the night would be half over. Nor did the two sisters go to
+bed at once. This new arrangement, so important to their father, was
+certainly of more importance to them. He, no doubt, would still
+occupy his chambers, would still live practically alone in London,
+though he was in theory the presiding genius of the household at
+Fulham; but they must take to themselves a new sister; and they both
+knew, in spite of Clarissa's enthusiasm, that it might be that the
+new sister would be one whom they could not love. "I don't remember
+that I ever heard a word about her," said Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>"I have been told that she is pretty. I do remember that," said
+Patience.</p>
+
+<p>"How old is she? Younger than we, I suppose?" Now Clarissa Underwood
+at this time was one-and-twenty, and Patience was nearly two years
+her senior.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes;&mdash;about nineteen, I should say. I think I have been told
+that there were four or five older than Mary, who all died. Is it not
+strange and terrible,&mdash;to be left alone, the last of a large family,
+with not a relation whom one has ever seen?"</p>
+
+<p>"Poor dear girl!"</p>
+
+<p>"If she wrote the letter herself," continued Patience, "I think she
+must be clever."</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure I could not have written a letter at all in such a
+position," said Clarissa. And so they sat, almost as late as their
+father, discussing the probable character and appearance of this new
+relation, and the chance of their being able to love her with all
+their hearts. There was the necessity for an immediate small
+sacrifice, but as to that there was no difficulty. Hitherto the two
+sisters had occupied separate bedrooms, but now, as one chamber must
+be given up to the stranger, it would be necessary that they should
+be together. But there are sacrifices which entail so little pain
+that the pleasant feeling of sacrificial devotion much more than
+atones for the consequences.</p>
+
+<p>Patience Underwood, the elder and the taller of the two girls, was
+certainly not pretty. Her figure was good, her hands and feet were
+small, and she was in all respects like a lady; but she possessed
+neither the feminine loveliness which comes so often simply from
+youth, nor that other, rarer beauty, which belongs to the face
+itself, and is produced by its own lines and its own expression. Her
+countenance was thin, and might perhaps have been called dry and
+hard. She was very like her father,&mdash;without, however, her father's
+nose, and the redeeming feature of her face was to be found in that
+sense of intelligence which was conveyed by her bright grey eyes.
+There was the long chin, and there was the long upper lip, which,
+exaggerated in her father's countenance, made him so notoriously
+plain a man. And then her hair, though plentiful and long, did not
+possess that shining lustre which we love to see in girls, and which
+we all recognise as one of the sweetest graces of girlhood. Such,
+outwardly, was Patience Underwood; and of all those who knew her well
+there was not one so perfectly satisfied that she did want personal
+attraction as was Patience Underwood herself. But she never spoke on
+the subject,&mdash;even to her sister. She did not complain; neither, as
+is much more common, did she boast that she was no beauty. Her
+sister's loveliness was very dear to her, and of that she would
+sometimes break out into enthusiastic words. But of herself,
+externally, she said nothing. Her gifts, if she had any, were of
+another sort; and she was by no means willing to think of herself as
+one unendowed with gifts. She was clever, and knew herself to be
+clever. She could read, and understood what she read. She saw the
+difference between right and wrong, and believed that she saw it
+clearly. She was not diffident of herself, and certainly was not
+unhappy. She had a strong religious faith, and knew how to supplement
+the sometimes failing happiness of this world, by trusting in the
+happiness of the next. Were it not for her extreme anxiety in
+reference to her father, Patience Underwood would have been a happy
+woman.</p>
+
+<p>Clarissa, the younger, was a beauty. The fact that she was a beauty
+was acknowledged by all who knew her, and was well known to herself.
+It was a fact as to which there had never been a doubt since she was
+turned fifteen. She was somewhat shorter than her sister, and less
+slender. She was darker in complexion, and her hair, which was rich
+in colour as brown hair can be, was lustrous, silky, and luxuriant.
+She wore it now, indeed, according to the fashion of the day, with a
+chignon on her head; but beneath that there were curls which escaped,
+and over her forehead it was clipped short, and was wavy, and
+impertinent,&mdash;as is also the fashion of the day. Such as it was, she
+so wore it that a man could hardly wish it to be otherwise. Her eyes,
+unlike those of her father and sister, were blue; and in the whole
+contour of her features there was nothing resembling theirs. The
+upper lip was short, and the chin was short and dimpled. There was a
+dimple on one cheek too, a charm so much more maddening than when it
+is to be seen on both sides alike. Her nose was perfect;&mdash;not
+Grecian, nor Roman, nor Egyptian,&mdash;but simply English, only just not
+retrouss&eacute;. There were those who said her mouth was a thought too
+wide, and her teeth too perfect,&mdash;but they were of that class of
+critics to whom it is a necessity to cavil rather than to kiss. Added
+to all this there was a childishness of manner about her of which,
+though she herself was somewhat ashamed, all others were enamoured.
+It was not the childishness of very youthful years,&mdash;for she had
+already reached the mature age of twenty-one; but the half-doubting,
+half-pouting, half-yielding, half-obstinate, soft, loving, lovable
+childishness, which gives and exacts caresses, and which, when it is
+genuine, may exist to an age much beyond that which Clarissa
+Underwood had reached.</p>
+
+<p>But with all her charms, Clarissa was not so happy a girl as her
+sister. And for this lack of inward satisfaction there were at this
+time two causes. She believed herself to be a fool, and was in that
+respect jealous of her sister;&mdash;and she believed herself to be in
+love, and in love almost without hope. As to her foolishness, it
+seemed to her to be a fact admitted by every one but by Patience
+herself. Not a human being came near her who did not seem to imply
+that any question as to wisdom or judgment or erudition between her
+and her sister would be a farce. Patience could talk Italian, could
+read German, knew, at least by name, every poet that had ever
+written, and was always able to say exactly what ought to be done.
+She could make the servants love her and yet obey her, and could
+always dress on her allowance without owing a shilling. Whereas
+Clarissa was obeyed by no one, was in debt to her bootmaker and
+milliner, and, let her struggles in the cause be as gallant as they
+might, could not understand a word of Dante, and was aware that she
+read the "Faery Queen" exactly as a child performs a lesson. As to
+her love,&mdash;there was a sharper sorrow. Need the reader be told that
+Ralph Newton was the hero to whom its late owner believed that her
+heart had been given? This was a sore subject, which had never as yet
+been mentioned frankly even between the two sisters. In truth, though
+Patience thought that there was a fancy, she did not think that there
+was much more than fancy. And, as far as she could see, there was not
+even fancy on the young man's part. No word had been spoken that
+could be accepted as an expression of avowed love. So at least
+Patience believed. And she would have been very unhappy had it been
+otherwise, for Ralph Newton was not,&mdash;in her opinion,&mdash;a man to whose
+love her sister could be trusted with confidence. And yet, beyond her
+father and sister, there was no one whom Patience loved as she did
+Ralph Newton.</p>
+
+<p>There had, however, been a little episode in the life of Clarissa
+Underwood, which had tended to make her sister uneasy, and which the
+reader may as well hear at once. There was a second Newton, a younger
+brother,&mdash;but, though younger, not only in orders but in the
+possession of a living, Gregory Newton,&mdash;the Rev. Gregory
+Newton,&mdash;who in the space of a few weeks' acquaintance had fallen
+into a fury of love for Clarissa, and in the course of three months
+had made her as many offers, and had been as often refused. This had
+happened in the winter and spring previous to the opening of our
+story,&mdash;and both Patience and Sir Thomas had been well disposed
+towards the young man's suit. He had not been committed to Sir
+Thomas's charge, as had Ralph, having been brought up under the care
+of the uncle whose heir Ralph was through the obligation of legal
+settlements. This uncle, having quarrelled with his own brother,
+since dead, and with his heir, had nevertheless taken his other
+nephew by the hand, and had bestowed upon the young clergyman the
+living of Newton. Gregory Newton had been brought to the villa by his
+brother, and had at once fallen on his knees before the beauty. But
+the beauty would have none of him, and he had gone back to his living
+in Hampshire a broken-hearted priest and swain. Now, Patience, though
+she had never been directly so informed, feared that some partiality
+for the unworthy Ralph had induced her sister to refuse offers from
+the brother, who certainly was worthy. To the thinking of Patience
+Underwood, no lot in life could be happier for a woman than to be the
+wife of a zealous and praiseworthy parson of an English country
+parish;&mdash;no lot in life, at least, could be happier for any woman who
+intended to become a wife.</p>
+
+<p>Such were the two girls at Popham Villa who were told on that evening
+that a new sister was to be brought home to them. When the next
+morning came they were of course still full of the subject. Sir
+Thomas was to go into London after breakfast, and he intended to walk
+over the bridge and catch an early train. He was as intent on being
+punctual to time as though he were bound to be all day in Court: and,
+fond as he might be of his daughters, had already enjoyed enough of
+the comforts of home to satisfy his taste. He did love his
+daughters;&mdash;but even with them he was not at his ease. The only
+society he could enjoy was that of his books or of his own thoughts,
+and the only human being whom he could endure to have long near him
+with equanimity was Joseph Stemm. He had risen at nine, as was his
+custom, and before ten he was bustling about with his hat and gloves.
+"Papa," said Clarissa, "when shall you be home again?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can't name a day, my dear."</p>
+
+<p>"Papa, do come soon."</p>
+
+<p>"No doubt I shall come soon." There was a slight tone of anger in his
+voice as he answered the last entreaty, and he was evidently in a
+hurry with his hat and gloves.</p>
+
+<p>"Papa," said Patience, "of course we shall see you again before you
+go to Southampton." The voice of the elder was quite different from
+that of the younger daughter; and Sir Thomas, though the tone and
+manner of the latter question was injurious to him, hardly dared to
+resent it. Yet they were not, as he thought, justified. It now wanted
+twelve days to the date of his intended journey, and not more than
+three or four times in his life had he been absent from home for
+twelve consecutive days.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, my dear," he said, "I shall be home before that."</p>
+
+<p>"Because, papa, there are things to be thought of."</p>
+
+<p>"What things?"</p>
+
+<p>"Clarissa and I had better have a second bed in our room,&mdash;unless you
+object."</p>
+
+<p>"You know I don't object. Have I ever objected to anything of the
+kind?" He now stood impatient, with his hat in his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I hardly like to order things without telling you, papa. And there
+are a few other articles of furniture needed."</p>
+
+<p>"You can get what you want. Run up to town and go to Barlow's. You
+can do that as well as I can."</p>
+
+<p>"But I should have liked to have settled something about our future
+way of living before Mary comes," said Patience in a very low voice.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas frowned, and then he answered her very slowly. "There can
+be nothing new settled at all. Things will go on as they are at
+present. And I hope, Patience, you will do your best to make your
+cousin understand and receive favourably the future home which she
+will have to inhabit."</p>
+
+<p>"You may be sure, papa, I shall do my best," said Patience;&mdash;and then
+Sir Thomas went.</p>
+
+<p>He did return to the villa before his journey to Southampton, but it
+was only on the eve of that journey. During the interval the two
+girls together had twice sought him at his chambers,&mdash;a liberty on
+their part which, as they well knew, he did not at all approve. "Sir
+Thomas is very busy," old Stemm would say, shaking his head, even to
+his master's daughters, "and if you wouldn't
+<span class="nowrap">mind&mdash;"</span> Then he would
+make a feint as though to close the door, and would go through
+various man&oelig;uvres of defence before he would allow the fort to be
+stormed. But Clarissa would ridicule old Stemm to his face, and
+Patience would not allow herself to be beaten by him. On their second
+visit they did make their way into their father's sanctum,&mdash;and they
+never knew whether in truth he had been there when they called
+before. "Old Stemm doesn't in the least mind what lies he tells,"
+Clarissa had said. To this Patience made no reply, feeling that the
+responsibility for those figments might not perhaps lie exclusively
+on old Stemm's shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>"My dears, this is such an out-of-the-way place for you," Sir Thomas
+said, as soon as the girls had made good their entrance. But the
+girls had so often gone through all this before, that they now
+regarded but little what ejaculations of that nature were made to
+them.</p>
+
+<p>"I have come to show you this list, papa," said Patience. Sir Thomas
+took the list, and found that it contained various articles for
+bedroom and kitchen use,&mdash;towels, sheets, pots and pans, knives and
+forks, and even a set of curtains and a carpet.</p>
+
+<p>"I shouldn't have thought that a girl of eighteen would have wanted
+all these things,&mdash;a new corkscrew, for instance,&mdash;but if she does,
+as I told you before, you must get them."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course they are not all for Mary," said Patience.</p>
+
+<p>"The fact is, papa," said Clarissa, "you never do look to see how
+things are getting worn out."</p>
+
+<p>"Clarissa!" exclaimed the angry father.</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, papa, if you were more at home and saw these things," began
+<span class="nowrap">Patience&mdash;</span></p>
+
+<p>"I have no doubt it is all right. Get what you want. Go to Barlow's
+and to Green's, and to Block and Blowhard. Don't let there be any
+bills, that's all. I will give you cheques when you get the accounts.
+And now, my dears,&mdash;I am in the middle of work which will not bear
+interruption." Then they left him, and when he did come to the villa
+on the evening before his journey, most of the new
+articles,&mdash;including the corkscrew,&mdash;were already in the house.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c3" id="c3"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER III.</h3>
+<h4>WHAT HAPPENED ON THE LAWN AT POPHAM VILLA.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>Sir Thomas started for Southampton on a Friday, having understood
+that the steamer from St. Thomas would reach the harbour on Saturday
+morning. He would then immediately bring Mary Bonner up to London and
+down to Fulham;&mdash;and there certainly had come to be a tacit
+understanding that he would stay at home on the following Sunday. On
+the Friday evening the girls were alone at the villa; but there was
+nothing in this, as it was the life to which they were accustomed.
+They habitually dined at two, calling the meal lunch,&mdash;then had a
+five or six o'clock tea,&mdash;and omitted altogether the ceremony of
+dinner. They had local acquaintances, with whom occasionally they
+would spend their evenings; and now and then an old maid or two,&mdash;now
+and then also a young maid or two would drop in on them. But it was
+their habit to be alone. During these days of which we are speaking
+Clarissa would take her "Faery Queen," and would work hard perhaps
+for half an hour. Then the "Faery Queen" would be changed for a
+novel, and she would look up from her book to see whether Patience
+had turned upon her any glance of reprobation. Patience, in the
+meantime, would sit with unsullied conscience at her work. And so the
+evenings would glide by; and in these soft summer days the girls
+would sit out upon the lawn, and would watch the boats of London
+watermen as they passed up and down below the bridge. On this very
+evening, the last on which they were to be together before the
+arrival of their cousin,&mdash;Patience came out upon the lawn with her
+hat and gloves. "I am going across to Miss Spooner's," she said;
+"will you come?" But Clarissa was idle, and making some little joke,
+not very much to the honour of Miss Spooner, declared that she was
+hot and tired, and had a headache, and would stay at home. "Don't be
+long, Patty," she said; "it is such a bore to be alone." Patience
+promised a speedy return, and, making her way to the gate, crossed
+the road to Miss Spooner's abode. She was hardly out of sight when
+the nose of a wager boat was driven up against the bank, and there
+was Ralph Newton, sitting in a blue Jersey shirt, with a straw hat
+and the perspiration running from his handsome brow. Clarissa did not
+see him till he whistled to her, and then she started, and laughed,
+and ran down to the boat, and hardly remembered that she was quite
+alone till she had taken his hand. "I don't think I'll come out, but
+you must get me some soda-water and brandy," said Ralph. "Where's
+Patience?"</p>
+
+<p>"Patience has gone out to see an old maid; and we haven't got any
+brandy."</p>
+
+<p>"I am so hot," said Ralph, carefully extricating himself from the
+boat. "You have got sherry?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, we've got sherry, and port wine, and Gladstone;" and away she
+went to get him such refreshment as the villa possessed.</p>
+
+<p>He drank his sherry and soda-water, and lit his pipe, and lay there
+on the lawn, as though he were quite at home; and Clarissa ministered
+to him,&mdash;unconscious of any evil. He had been brought up with them on
+terms of such close intimacy that she was entitled to regard him as a
+brother,&mdash;almost as a brother,&mdash;if only she were able so to regard
+him. It was her practice to call him Ralph, and her own name was as
+common to him as though she were in truth his sister. "And what do
+you think of this new cousin?" he asked.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table style="margin: 0 auto" cellpadding="4px">
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">
+      <a href="images/19-l.jpg">
+      <img src="images/19-t.jpg" width="540"
+      alt="He drank his sherry and soda-water,
+      and lit his pipe, and lay there on the
+      lawn, as though he were quite at home &#8230;" /></a>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">
+      <span class="caption">He drank his sherry and soda-water,
+      and lit his pipe, and<br />
+      lay there on the lawn, as though he were quite at home &#8230;<br />
+      Click to <a href="images/19-l.jpg">ENLARGE</a></span>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>"I can think nothing as yet;&mdash;but I mean to like her."</p>
+
+<p>"I mean to hate her furiously," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"That is nonsense. She will be nothing to you. You needn't even see
+her unless you please. But, Ralph, do put your jacket on. I'm sure
+you'll catch cold." And she went down, and hooked his jacket for him
+out of the boat, and put it over his shoulders. "I won't have you
+throw it off," she said; "if you come here you must do as you're
+told."</p>
+
+<p>"You needn't have knocked the pipe out of my mouth all the same. What
+is she like, I wonder?"</p>
+
+<p>"Very,&mdash;very beautiful, I'm told."</p>
+
+<p>"A kind of tropical Venus,&mdash;all eyes, and dark skin, and black hair,
+and strong passions, and apt to murder people;&mdash;but at the same time
+so lazy that she is never to do anything either for herself or
+anybody else;&mdash;wouldn't fetch a fellow's jacket for him, let him be
+catching cold ever so fast."</p>
+
+<p>"She wouldn't fetch yours, I dare say."</p>
+
+<p>"And why shouldn't she?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because she doesn't know you."</p>
+
+<p>"They soon get to know one,&mdash;girls of that sort. I'm told that in the
+West Indies you become as thick as thieves in half a morning's
+flirtation, and are expected to propose at the second meeting."</p>
+
+<p>"That is not to be your way with our cousin, I can assure you."</p>
+
+<p>"But these proposals out there never mean much. You may be engaged to
+half a dozen girls at the same time, and be sure that each of them
+will be engaged to half-a-dozen men. There's some comfort in that,
+you know."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Ralph!"</p>
+
+<p>"That's what they tell me. I haven't been there. I shall come and
+look at her, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course you will."</p>
+
+<p>"And if she is very lovely&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"What then?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do like pretty girls, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know anything about it."</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder what uncle Gregory would say if I were to marry a West
+Indian! He wouldn't say much to me, because we never speak, but he'd
+lead poor Greg a horrid life. He'd be sure to think she was a nigger,
+or at least a Creole. But I shan't do that."</p>
+
+<p>"You might do worse, Ralph."</p>
+
+<p>"But I might do much better." As he said this, he looked up into her
+face, with all the power of his eyes, and poor Clarissa could only
+blush. She knew what he meant, and knew that she was showing him that
+she was conscious. She would have given much not to blush, and not to
+have been so manifestly conscious, but she had no power to control
+herself. "I might do much better," he said. "Don't you think so?"</p>
+
+<p>As far as she could judge of her own feelings at this moment, in the
+absolute absence of any previous accurate thought on the subject, she
+fancied that a real, undoubted, undoubting, trustworthy engagement
+with Ralph Newton would make her the happiest girl in England. She
+had never told herself that she was in love with him; she had never
+flattered herself that he was in love with her;&mdash;she had never
+balanced the matter in her mind as a contingency likely to occur; but
+now, at this moment, as he lay there smoking his pipe and looking
+full into her blushing face, she did think that to have him for her
+own lover would be joy enough for her whole life. She knew that he
+was idle, extravagant, fond of pleasure, and,&mdash;unsteady, as she in
+her vocabulary would be disposed to describe the character which she
+believed to be his. But in her heart of hearts she liked unsteadiness
+in men, if it were not carried too far. Ralph's brother, the parson,
+as to whom she was informed that he possessed every virtue incident
+to humanity, and who was quite as good-looking as his brother, had
+utterly failed to touch her heart. A black coat and a white cravat
+were antipathetic to her. Ralph, as he lay on the green sward, hot,
+with linen trousers and a coloured flannel shirt, with a small straw
+hat stuck on the edge of his head, with nothing round his throat, and
+his jacket over his shoulder, with a pipe in his mouth and an empty
+glass beside him, was to her, in externals, the beau-ideal of a young
+man. And then, though he was unsteady, extravagant, and idle, his
+sins were not so deep as to exclude him from her father's and her
+sister's favour. He was there, on the villa lawn, not as an
+interloper, but by implied permission. Though she made for herself no
+argument on the matter,&mdash;not having much time just now for
+arguing,&mdash;she felt that it was her undoubted privilege to be made
+love to by Ralph Newton, if he and she pleased so to amuse
+themselves. She had never been told not to be made love to by him. Of
+course she would not engage herself without her father's permission.
+Of course she would tell Patience if Ralph should say anything very
+special to her. But she had a right to be made love to if she liked
+it;&mdash;and in this case she would like it. But when Ralph looked at
+her, and asked her whether he might not do better than marry her West
+Indian cousin, she had not a word with which to answer him. He smoked
+on for some seconds in silence still looking at her, while she stood
+over him blushing. Then he spoke again. "I think I might do a great
+deal better." But still she had not a word for him.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah;&mdash;I suppose I must be off," he said, jumping up on his legs, and
+flinging his jacket over his arm. "Patience will be in soon."</p>
+
+<p>"I expect her every minute."</p>
+
+<p>"If I were to say,&mdash;something uncivil about Patience, I suppose you
+wouldn't like it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, I shouldn't like it."</p>
+
+<p>"Only just to wish she were at,&mdash;Jericho?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense, Ralph."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; that would be nonsense. And the chances are, you know, that you
+would be at Jericho with her. Dear, dear Clary,&mdash;you know I love
+you." Then he put his right arm round her waist, pipe and all, and
+kissed her.</p>
+
+<p>She certainly had expected no such assault,&mdash;had not only not thought
+of it, but had not known it to be among the possibilities that might
+occur to her. She had never been so treated before. One other lover
+she had had,&mdash;as we know; but by him she had been treated with the
+deference due by an inferior to a superior being. It would have been
+very nice if Ralph would have told her that he loved her,&mdash;but this
+was not nice. That had been done which she would not dare to tell to
+Patience,&mdash;which she could not have endured that Patience should have
+seen. She was bound to resent it;&mdash;but how? She stood silent for a
+moment, and then burst into tears. "You are not angry with me,
+Clary?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>"I am angry;&mdash;very angry. Go away. I will never speak to you again."</p>
+
+<p>"You know how dearly I love you."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't love you at all. You have insulted me, and I will never
+forgive you. Go away." At this moment the step of Patience coming up
+from the gate was heard upon the gravel. Clarissa's first thought
+when she heard it was to hide her tears. Though the man had injured
+her,&mdash;insulted her,&mdash;her very last resource would be to complain to
+others of the injury or the insult. It must be hidden in her own
+breast,&mdash;but remembered always. Forgotten it could not be,&mdash;nor, as
+she thought at the moment, forgiven. But, above all, it must not be
+repeated. As to any show of anger against the sinner, that was
+impossible to her,&mdash;because it was so necessary that the sin should
+be hidden.</p>
+
+<p>"What;&mdash;Ralph? Have you been here long?" asked Patience, looking with
+somewhat suspicious eyes at Clarissa's back, which was turned to her.</p>
+
+<p>"About half an hour,&mdash;waiting for you, and smoking and drinking
+soda-water. I have a boat here, and I must be off now."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll have the tide with you," said Clarissa, with an effort.</p>
+
+<p>"There is a tide in the affairs of men," said Ralph, with a forced
+laugh. "My affairs shall at once take advantage of this tide. I'll
+come again very soon to see the new cousin. Good-bye, girls." Then he
+inserted himself into his boat, and took himself off, without
+bestowing even anything of a special glance upon Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>"Is there anything the matter?" Patience asked.</p>
+
+<p>"No;&mdash;only why did you stay all the evening with that stupid old
+woman, when you promised me that you would be back in ten minutes?"</p>
+
+<p>"I said nothing about ten minutes, Clary; and, after all, I haven't
+been an hour gone. Miss Spooner is in trouble about her tenant, who
+won't pay the rent, and she had to tell me all about it."</p>
+
+<p>"Stupid old woman!"</p>
+
+<p>"Have you and Ralph been quarrelling, Clary?"</p>
+
+<p>"No;&mdash;why should we quarrel?"</p>
+
+<p>"There seems to have been something wrong."</p>
+
+<p>"It's so stupid being found all alone here. It makes one feel that
+one is so desolate. I do wish papa would live with us like other
+girls' fathers. As he won't, it would be much better not to let
+people come at all."</p>
+
+<p>Patience was sure that something had happened,&mdash;and that that
+something must have reference to the guise of lover either assumed or
+not assumed by Ralph Newton. She accused her sister of no hypocrisy,
+but she was aware that Clarissa's words were wild, not expressing the
+girl's thoughts, and spoken almost at random. Something must be said,
+and therefore these complaints had been made. "Clary, dear; don't you
+like Ralph?" she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"No. That is;&mdash;oh yes, I like him, of course. My head aches and I'll
+go to bed."</p>
+
+<p>"Wait a few minutes, Clary. Something has disturbed you. Has it not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Everything disturbs me."</p>
+
+<p>"But if there is anything special, won't you tell me?" There had been
+something very special, which Clarissa certainly would not tell.
+"What has he said to you? I don't think he would be simply cross to
+you."</p>
+
+<p>"He has not been cross at all."</p>
+
+<p>"What is it then? Well;&mdash;if you won't tell me, I think that you are
+afraid of me. We never yet have been afraid of each other." Then
+there was a pause. "Clary, has he said that,&mdash;he loves you?" There
+was another pause. Clarissa thought it all over, and for a moment was
+not quite certain whether any such sweet assurance had or had not
+been given to her. Then she remembered his words;&mdash;"You know how
+dearly I love you." But ought they to be sweet to her now? Had he not
+so offended her that there could never be forgiveness? And if no
+forgiveness, how then could his love be sweet to her? Patience
+waited, and then repeated her question. "Tell me, Clary; what has he
+said to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you love him, Clary?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. I hate him."</p>
+
+<p>"Hate him, Clary? You did not use to hate him. You did not hate him
+yesterday? You would not hate him without a cause. My darling, tell
+me what it means! If you and I do not trust each other what will the
+world be to us? There is no one else to whom we can tell our
+troubles." Nevertheless Clarissa would not tell this trouble. "Why do
+you say that you hate him?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know why. Oh, dear Patty, why do you go on so? Yes; he did
+say that he loved me;&mdash;there."</p>
+
+<p>"And did that make you unhappy? It need not make you unhappy, though
+you should refuse him. When his brother asked you to marry him, that
+did not make you unhappy."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes it did;&mdash;very."</p>
+
+<p>"And is this the same?"</p>
+
+<p>"No;&mdash;it is quite different."</p>
+
+<p>"I am afraid, Clary, that Ralph Newton would not make a good husband.
+He is extravagant and in debt, and papa would not like it."</p>
+
+<p>"Then papa should not let him come here just as he pleases and
+whenever he likes. It is papa's fault;&mdash;that is to say it would be if
+there were anything in it."</p>
+
+<p>"Is there nothing in it, Clary? What answer did you make when he told
+you that he loved you?"</p>
+
+<p>"You came, and I made no answer. I do so wish that you had come
+before." She wanted to tell her sister everything but the one thing,
+but was unable to do so because the one thing affected the other
+things so vitally. As it was, Patience, finding that she could press
+her questions no further, was altogether in the dark. That Ralph had
+made a declaration of love to her sister she did know; but in what
+manner Clarissa had received it she could not guess. She had hitherto
+feared that Clary was too fond of the young man, but Clary would now
+only say that she hated him. But the matter would soon be set at
+rest. Ralph Newton would now, no doubt, go to their father. If Sir
+Thomas would permit it, this new-fangled hatred of Clary's would,
+Patience thought, soon be overcome. If, however,&mdash;as was more
+probable,&mdash;Sir Thomas should violently disapprove, then there would
+be no more visits from Ralph Newton to the villa. As there had been a
+declaration of love, of course their father would be informed of it
+at once. Patience, having so resolved, allowed her sister to go to
+her bed without further questioning.</p>
+
+<p>In Clarissa's own bosom the great offence had been forgiven,&mdash;or
+rather condoned before the morning. Her lover had been very cruel to
+her, very wicked, and most unkind;&mdash;especially unkind in this, that
+he had turned to absolute pain a moment of life which might have been
+of all moments the fullest of joy; and especially cruel in this, that
+he had so treated her that she could not look forward to future joy
+without alloy. She could forgive him;&mdash;yes. But she could not endure
+that he should think that she would forgive him. She was willing to
+blot out the offence, as a thing by itself, in an island of her
+life,&mdash;of which no one should ever think again. Was she to lose her
+lover for ever because she did not forgive him! If they could only
+come to some agreement that the offence should be acknowledged to be
+heinous, unpardonable, but committed in temporary madness, and that
+henceforward it should be buried in oblivion! Such agreement,
+however, was impossible. There could be no speech about the matter.
+Was she or was she not to lose her lover for ever because he had done
+this wicked thing? During the night she made up her mind that she
+could not afford to pay such a price for the sake of avenging virtue.
+For the future she would be on her guard! Wicked and heartless man,
+who had robbed her of so much! And yet how charming he had been to
+her as he looked into her eyes, and told her that he could do very
+much better than fall in love with her West Indian cousin. Then she
+thought of the offence again. Ah, if only a time might come in which
+they should be engaged together as man and wife with the consent of
+everybody! Then there would be no more offences.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c4" id="c4"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER IV.</h3>
+<h4>MARY BONNER.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>While Clarissa Underwood was being kissed on the lawn at Popham
+Villa, Sir Thomas was sitting, very disconsolate, in a private room
+at the Dolphin, in Southampton. It had required no great
+consideration to induce him to resolve that a home should be given by
+him to his niece. Though he was a man so weak that he could allow
+himself to shun from day to day his daily duty,&mdash;and to do this so
+constantly as to make up out of various omissions, small in
+themselves, a vast aggregate of misconduct,&mdash;still he was one who
+would certainly do what his conscience prompted him to be right in
+any great matter as to which the right and the wrong appeared to him
+to be clearly defined. Though he loved his daughters dearly, he could
+leave them from day to day almost without protection,&mdash;because each
+day's fault in so doing was of itself but small. This new niece of
+his he certainly did not love at all. He had never seen her. He was
+almost morbidly fearful of new responsibilities. He expected nothing
+but trouble in thus annexing a new unknown member to his family. And
+yet he had decided upon doing it, because the duty to be done was
+great enough to be clearly marked,&mdash;demanding an immediate resolve,
+and capable of no postponement. But, as he thought of it, sitting
+alone on the eve of the girl's coming, he was very uneasy. What was
+he to do with her if he found her to be one difficult to manage,
+self-willed, vexatious, or,&mdash;worse again,&mdash;ill-conditioned as to
+conduct, and hurtful to his own children? Should it even become
+imperative upon him to be rid of her, how should riddance be
+effected? And then what would she think of him and his habits of
+life?</p>
+
+<p>And this brought him to other reflections. Might it not be possible
+utterly to break up that establishment of his in Southampton
+Buildings, so that he would be forced by the necessity of things to
+live at his home,&mdash;at some home which he would share with the girls?
+He knew himself well enough to be sure that while those chambers
+remained in his possession, as long as that bedroom and bed were at
+his command, he could not extricate himself from the dilemma. Day
+after day the temptation was too great for him. And he hated the
+villa. There was nothing there that he could do. He had no books at
+the villa; and,&mdash;so he averred,&mdash;there was something in the air of
+Fulham which prevented him from reading books when he brought them
+there. No! He must break altogether fresh ground, and set up a new
+establishment. One thing was clear; he could not now do this before
+Mary Bonner's arrival, and therefore there was nothing to create any
+special urgency. He had hoped that his girls would marry, so that he
+might be left to live alone in his chambers,&mdash;waited upon by old
+Stemm,&mdash;without sin on his part; but he was beginning to discover
+that girls do not always get married out of the way in their first
+bloom. And now he was taking to himself another girl! He must, he
+knew, give over all hope of escape in that direction. He was very
+uneasy; and when quite late at night,&mdash;or rather, early in the
+morning,&mdash;he took himself to bed, his slumbers were not refreshing.
+The truth was that no air suited him for sleeping except the air of
+Southampton Buildings.</p>
+
+<p>The packet from St. Thomas was to be in the harbour at eight o'clock
+the next morning,&mdash;telegrams from Cape Clear, The Lizard, Eddystone
+Lighthouse, and where not, having made all that as certain as
+sun-rising. At eight o'clock he was down on the quay, and there was
+the travelling city of the Royal Atlantic Steam Mail Packet Company
+at that moment being warped into the harbour. The ship as he walked
+along the jetty was so near to him that he could plainly see the
+faces of the passengers on deck,&mdash;men and women, girls and children,
+all dressed up to meet their friends on shore, crowding the sides of
+the vessel in their eagerness to be among the first to get on shore.
+He anxiously scanned the faces of the ladies that he might guess
+which was to be the lady that was to be to him almost the same as a
+daughter. He saw not one as to whom he could say that he had a hope.
+Some there were in the crowd, some three or four, as to whom he
+acknowledged that he had a fear. At last he remembered that his girl
+would necessarily be in deep mourning. He saw two young women in
+black;&mdash;but there was nothing to prepossess him about either of them.
+One of them was insignificant and very plain. The other was fat and
+untidy. They neither of them looked like ladies. What if fate should
+have sent to him as a daughter,&mdash;as a companion for his girls,&mdash;that
+fat, untidy, ill-bred looking young woman! As it happened, the
+ill-bred looking young woman whom he feared, was a cook who had
+married a ship-steward, had gone out among the islands with her
+husband, had found that the speculation did not answer, and was now
+returning in the hope of earning her bread in her old vocation. Of
+this woman Sir Thomas Underwood was in great dread.</p>
+
+<p>But at last he was on board, and whispered his question to the
+purser. Miss Bonner! Oh, yes; Miss Bonner was on board. Was he Sir
+Thomas Underwood, Miss Bonner's uncle? The purser evidently knew all
+about it, and there was something in his tone which seemed to assure
+Sir Thomas that the fat, untidy woman and his niece could not be one
+and the same person. The purser had just raised his cap to Sir
+Thomas, and had turned towards the cabin-stairs to go in search of
+the lady herself; but he was stopped immediately by Miss Bonner
+herself. The purser did his task very well,&mdash;said some slightest word
+to introduce the uncle and the niece together, and then vanished. Sir
+Thomas blushed, shuffled with his feet, and put out both his hands.
+He was shy, astonished, and frightened,&mdash;and did not know what to
+say. The girl came up to him, took his hand in hers, holding it for a
+moment, and then kissed it. "I did not think you would come
+yourself," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I have come myself. My girls are at home, and will receive
+you to-night." She said nothing further then, but again raised his
+hand and kissed it.</p>
+
+<p>It is hardly too much to say that Sir Thomas Underwood was in a
+tremble as he gazed upon his niece. Had she been on the deck as he
+walked along the quay, and had he noted her, he would not have dared
+to think that such a girl as that was coming to his house. He
+declared to himself at once that she was the most lovely young woman
+he had ever seen. She was tall and somewhat large, with fair hair, of
+which now but very little could be seen, with dark eyes, and perfect
+eyebrows, and a face which, either for colour or lines of beauty,
+might have been taken as a model for any female saint or martyr.
+There was a perfection of symmetry about it,&mdash;and an assertion of
+intelligence combined with the loveliness which almost frightened her
+uncle. For there was something there, also, beyond intelligence and
+loveliness. We have heard of "an eye to threaten and command." Sir
+Thomas did not at this moment tell himself that Mary Bonner had such
+an eye, but he did involuntarily and unconsciously acknowledge to
+himself that over such a young lady as this whom he now saw before
+him, it would be very difficult for him to exercise parental control.
+He had heard that she was nineteen, but it certainly seemed to him
+that she was older than his own daughters. As to Clary, there could
+be no question between the two girls as to which of them would
+exercise authority over the other,&mdash;not by force of age,&mdash;but by dint
+of character, will, and fitness. And this Mary Bonner, who now shone
+before him as a goddess almost, a young woman to whom no ordinary man
+would speak without that kind of trepidation which goddesses do
+inflict on ordinary men, had proposed to herself,&mdash;to go out as a
+governess! Indeed, at this very moment such, probably, was her own
+idea. As yet she had received no reply to the letter she had written
+other than that which was now conveyed by her uncle's presence.</p>
+
+<p>A few questions were asked as to the voyage. No;&mdash;she had not been at
+all ill. "I have almost feared," she said, "to reach England,
+thinking I should be so desolate." "We will not let you be desolate,"
+said Sir Thomas, brightening up a little under the graciousness of
+the goddess's demeanour. "My girls are looking forward to your coming
+with the greatest delight." Then she asked some question as to her
+cousins, and Sir Thomas thought that there was majesty even in her
+voice. It was low, soft, and musical; but yet, even in that as in her
+eye, there was something that indicated a power of command.</p>
+
+<p>He had no servant with him to assist in looking after her luggage.
+Old Stemm was the only man in his employment, and he could hardly
+have brought Stemm down to Southampton on such an errand. But he soon
+found that everybody about the ship was ready to wait upon Miss
+Bonner. Even the captain came to take a special farewell of her, and
+the second officer seemed to have nothing to do but to look after
+her. The doctor was at her elbow to the last;&mdash;and all her boxes and
+trunks seemed to extricate themselves from the general mass with a
+readiness which is certainly not experienced by ordinary passengers.
+There are certain favours in life which are very charming,&mdash;but very
+unjust to others, and which we may perhaps lump under the name of
+priority of service. Money will hardly buy it. When money does buy
+it, there is no injustice. When priority of service is had, like a
+coach-and-four, by the man who can afford to pay for it, industry,
+which is the source of wealth, receives its fitting reward. Rank will
+often procure it; most unjustly,&mdash;as we, who have no rank, feel
+sometimes with great soreness. Position other than that of rank,
+official position or commercial position, will secure it in certain
+cases. A railway train is stopped at a wrong place for a railway
+director, or a post-office manager gets his letters taken after time.
+These, too, are grievances. But priority of service is perhaps more
+readily accorded to feminine beauty, and especially to unprotected
+feminine beauty, than to any other form of claim. Whether or no this
+is ever felt as a grievance, ladies who are not beautiful may perhaps
+be able to say. There flits across our memory at the present moment
+some reminiscence of angry glances at the too speedy attendance given
+by custom-house officers to pretty women. But this priority of
+service is, we think, if not deserved, at least so natural, as to
+take it out of the catalogue of evils of which complaint should be
+made. One might complain with as much avail that men will fall in
+love with pretty girls instead of with those who are ugly! On the
+present occasion Sir Thomas was well contented. He was out of the
+ship, and through the Custom House, and at the railway station, and
+back at the inn before the struggling mass of passengers had found
+out whether their longed-for boxes had or had not come with them in
+the ship. And then Miss Bonner took it all,&mdash;not arrogantly, as
+though it were her due; but just as the grass takes rain or the
+flowers sunshine. These good things came to her from heaven, and no
+doubt she was thankful. But they came to her so customarily, as does
+a man's dinner to him, or his bed, that she could not manifest
+surprise at what was done for her.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table style="margin: 0 auto" cellpadding="4px">
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">
+      <a href="images/28-l.jpg">
+      <img src="images/28-t.jpg" width="540"
+      alt="Even the captain came to take a special farewell of her &#8230;" /></a>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">
+      <span class="caption">Even the captain came to take a
+      special farewell of her &#8230;<br />
+      Click to <a href="images/28-l.jpg">ENLARGE</a></span>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Sir Thomas hardly spoke to her except about her journey and her
+luggage till they were down together in the sitting-room at the inn.
+Then he communicated to her his proposal as to her future life. It
+was right, he thought, that she should know at once what he intended.
+Two hours ago, before he had seen her, he had thought of telling her
+simply where she was to live, and of saying that he would find a home
+for her. Now he found it expedient to place the matter in a different
+light. He would offer her the shelter of his roof as though she were
+a queen who might choose among her various palaces. "Mary," he said,
+"we hope that you will stay with us altogether."</p>
+
+<p>"To live with you,&mdash;do you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly to live with us."</p>
+
+<p>"I have no right to expect such an offer as that."</p>
+
+<p>"But every right to accept it, my dear, when it is made. That is if
+it suits you."</p>
+
+<p>"I had not dreamed of that. I thought that perhaps you would let me
+come to you for a few weeks,&mdash;till I should know what to do."</p>
+
+<p>"You shall come and be one of us altogether, my dear, if you think
+that you will like it. My girls have no nearer relative than you. And
+we are not so barbarous as to turn our backs on a new-found cousin."
+She again kissed his hand, and then turned away from him and wept.
+"You feel it all strange now," he said, "but I hope we shall be able
+to make you comfortable."</p>
+
+<p>"I have been so lonely," she sobbed out amidst her tears.</p>
+
+<p>He had not dared to say a word to her about her father, whose death
+had taken place not yet three months since. Of his late
+brother-in-law he had known little or nothing, except that the
+General had been a man who always found it difficult to make both
+ends meet, and who had troubled him frequently, not exactly for
+loans, but in regard to money arrangements which had been
+disagreeable to him. Whether General Bonner had or had not been an
+affectionate father he had never heard. There are men who, in Sir
+Thomas's position, would have known all about such a niece after a
+few hours' acquaintance; but our lawyer was not such a man. Though
+the girl seemed to him to be everything that was charming, he did not
+dare to question her; and when they arrived at the station in London,
+no word had as yet been said about the General.</p>
+
+<p>As they were having the luggage piled on the top of a cab, the fat
+cook passed along the platform. "I hope you are more comfortable now,
+Mrs. Woods," said Mary Bonner, with a smile as sweet as May, while
+she gave her hand to the woman.</p>
+
+<p>"Thank'ee, Miss; I'm better; but it's only a moil of trouble, one
+thing as well as t'other." Mrs. Woods was evidently very melancholy
+at the contemplation of her prospects.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you'll find yourself comfortable now." Then she whispered to
+Sir Thomas;&mdash;"She is a poor young woman whose husband has ill used
+her, and she lost her only child, and has now come here to earn her
+bread. She isn't nice looking, but she is so good!" Sir Thomas did
+not dare to tell Mary Bonner that he had already noticed Mrs. Wood,
+and that he had conceived the idea that Mrs. Wood was the niece of
+whom he had come in search.</p>
+
+<p>They made the journey at once to Fulham in the cab, and Sir Thomas
+found it to be very long. He was proud of his new niece, but he did
+not know what to say to her. And he felt that she, though he was sure
+that she was clever, gave him no encouragement to speak. It was all
+very well while, with her beautiful eyes full of tears, she had gone
+through the ceremony of kissing his hand in token of her respect and
+gratitude;&mdash;but that had been done often enough, and could not very
+well be repeated in the cab. So they sat silent, and he was rejoiced
+when he saw those offensive words, Popham Villa, on the posts of his
+gateway. "We have only a humble little house, my dear," he said, as
+they turned in. She looked at him and smiled. "I believe you West
+Indians generally are lodged very sumptuously."</p>
+
+<p>"Papa had a large straggling place up in the hills, but it was
+anything but sumptuous. I do love the idea of an English home, where
+things are neat and nice. Oh, dear;&mdash;how lovely! That is the River
+Thames;&mdash;isn't it? How very beautiful!" Then the two girls were at
+the door of the cab, and the newcomer was enveloped in the embraces
+of her cousins.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas, as he walked along the banks of the river while the young
+ladies prepared each other for dinner, reflected that he had never in
+his life done such a day's work before as he had just accomplished.
+When he had married a wife, that indeed had been a great piece of
+business; but it had been done slowly,&mdash;for he had been engaged four
+years,&mdash;and he had of course been much younger at that period. Now he
+had brought into his family a new inmate who would force him in his
+old age to change all his habits of life. He did not think that he
+would dare to neglect Mary Bonner, and to stay in London while she
+lived at the villa. He was almost sorry that he had ever heard of
+Mary Bonner, in spite of her beauty, and although he had as yet been
+able to find in her no cause of complaint. She was ladylike and
+quiet;&mdash;but yet he was afraid of her. When she came down into the
+drawing-room with her hand clasped in that of Clarissa, he was still
+more afraid of her. She was dressed all in black, with the utmost
+simplicity,&mdash;with nothing on her by way of ornament beyond a few
+large black beads; but yet she seemed to him to be splendid. There
+was a grace of motion about her that was almost majestic. Clary was
+very pretty,&mdash;very pretty, indeed; but Clary was just the girl that
+an old gentleman likes to fetch him his slippers and give him his
+tea. Sir Thomas felt that, old as he was, it would certainly be his
+business to give Mary Bonner her tea.</p>
+
+<p>The two girls contrived to say a few words to their father that night
+before they joined Mary amidst her trunks in her bedroom. "Papa,
+isn't she lovely?" said Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>"She certainly is a very handsome young woman."</p>
+
+<p>"And not a bit like what I expected," continued Clary. "Of course I
+knew she was good-looking. I had always heard that. But I thought
+that she would have been a sort of West Indian girl, dark, and lazy,
+and selfish. Ralph was saying that is what they are out there."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't suppose that Ralph knows anything about it," said Sir
+Thomas. "And what do you say of your new cousin, Patience?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think I shall love her dearly. She is so gentle and sweet."</p>
+
+<p>"But she is not at all what you expected?" demanded Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>"I hardly know what I expected," replied the prudent Patience. "But
+certainly I did not expect anything so lovely as she is. Of course,
+we can't know her yet; but as far as one can judge, I think I shall
+like her."</p>
+
+<p>"But she is so magnificently beautiful!" said the energetic Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>"I think she is," said Sir Thomas. "And I quite admit that it is a
+kind of beauty to surprise one. It did surprise me. Had not one of
+you better go up-stairs to her?" Then both the girls bounded off to
+assist their cousin in her chamber.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c5" id="c5"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER V.</h3>
+<h4>MR. NEEFIT AND HIS FAMILY.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>Mr. Neefit was a breeches-maker in Conduit Street, of such repute
+that no hunting man could be said to go decently into the hunting
+field unless decorated by a garment made in Mr. Neefit's
+establishment. His manipulation of leather was something marvellous;
+and in latter years he had added to his original art,&mdash;an art which
+had at first been perfect rather than comprehensive,&mdash;an exquisite
+skill in cords, buckskins, and such like materials. When his trade
+was becoming prosperous he had thought of degenerating into a tailor,
+adding largely to his premises, and of compensating his pride by the
+prospects of great increase to his fortune; but an angel of glory had
+whispered to him to let well alone, and he was still able to boast
+that all his measurements had been confined to the legs of sportsmen.
+Instead of extending his business he had simply extended his price,
+and had boldly clapped on an extra half-guinea to every pair that he
+supplied. The experiment was altogether successful, and when it was
+heard by the riding men of the City that Mr. Neefit's prices were
+undoubtedly higher than those of any other breeches-maker in London,
+and that he had refused to supply breeches for the grooms of a
+Marquis because the Marquis was not a hunting man, the riding men of
+the City flocked to him in such numbers, that it became quite a
+common thing for them to give their orders in June and July, so that
+they might not be disappointed when November came round. Mr. Neefit
+was a prosperous man, but he had his troubles. Now, it was a great
+trouble to him that some sporting men would be so very slow in paying
+for the breeches in which they took pride!</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Neefit's fortune had not been rapid in early life. He had begun
+with a small capital and a small establishment, and even now his
+place of business was very limited in size. He had been clever enough
+to make profit even out of its smallness,&mdash;and had contrived that it
+should be understood that the little back room in which men were
+measured was so diminutive because it did not suit his special
+business to welcome a crowd. It was his pride, he said, to wait upon
+hunting men,&mdash;but with the garments of the world at large he wished
+to have no concern whatever. In the outer shop, looking into Conduit
+Street, there was a long counter on which goods were unrolled for
+inspection; and on which an artist, the solemnity of whose brow and
+whose rigid silence betokened the nature of his great employment, was
+always cutting out leather. This grave man was a German, and there
+was a rumour among young sportsmen that old Neefit paid this
+highly-skilled operator &pound;600 a year for his services! Nobody knew as
+he did how each morsel of leather would behave itself under the
+needle, or could come within two hairbreadths of him in accuracy
+across the kneepan. As for measuring, Mr. Neefit did that
+himself,&mdash;almost always. To be measured by Mr. Neefit was as
+essential to perfection as to be cut out for by the German. There
+were rumours, indeed, that from certain classes of customers Mr.
+Neefit and the great foreigner kept themselves personally aloof. It
+was believed that Mr. Neefit would not condescend to measure a retail
+tradesman. Latterly, indeed, there had arisen a doubt whether he
+would lay his august hand on a stockbroker's leg; though little
+Wallop, one of the young glories of Capel Court, swears that he is
+handled by him every year. "Confound 'is impudence," says Wallop;
+"I'd like to see him sending a foreman to me. And as for cutting,
+d'you think I don't know Bawwah's 'and!" The name of the foreign
+artist is not exactly known; but it is pronounced as we have written
+it, and spelt in that fashion by sporting gentlemen when writing to
+each other.</p>
+
+<p>Our readers may be told in confidence that up to a very late date Mr.
+Neefit lived in the rooms over his shop. This is certainly not the
+thing for a prosperous tradesman to do. Indeed, if a tradesman be
+known not to have a private residence, he will hardly become
+prosperous. But Neefit had been a cautious man, and till two years
+before the commencement of our story, he had actually lived in
+Conduit Street,&mdash;working hard, however, to keep his residence a deep
+secret from his customers at large. Now he was the proud possessor of
+a villa residence at Hendon, two miles out in the country beyond the
+Swiss Cottage; and all his customers knew that he was never to be
+found before 9.30 <span class="smallcaps">a.m.</span>, or after
+5.15 <span class="smallcaps">p.m.</span></p>
+
+<p>As we have said, Mr. Neefit had his troubles, and one of his great
+troubles was our young friend, Ralph Newton. Ralph Newton was a
+hunting man, with a stud of horses,&mdash;never less than four, and
+sometimes running up to seven and eight,&mdash;always standing at the
+Moonbeam, at Barnfield. All men know that Barnfield is in the middle
+of the B. B. Hunt,&mdash;the two initials standing for those two sporting
+counties, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. Now, Mr. Neefit had a very
+large connexion in the B. B., and, though he never was on horseback
+in his life, subscribed twenty-five pounds a year to the pack. Mr.
+Ralph Newton had long favoured him with his custom; but, we are sorry
+to say, Mr. Ralph Newton had become a thorn in the flesh to many a
+tradesman in these days. It was not that he never paid. He did pay
+something; but as he ordered more than he paid, the sum-total against
+him was always an increasing figure. But then he was a most engaging,
+civil-spoken young man, whose order it was almost impossible to
+decline. It was known, moreover, that his prospects were so good!
+Nevertheless, it is not pleasant for a breeches-maker to see the
+second hundred pound accumulating on his books for leather breeches
+for one gentleman. "What does he do with 'em?" old Neefit would say
+to himself; but he didn't dare to ask any such question of Mr.
+Newton. It isn't for a tradesman to complain that a gentleman
+consumes too many of his articles. Things, however, went so far that
+Mr. Neefit found it to be incumbent on him to make special inquiry
+about those prospects. Things had gone very far indeed,&mdash;for Ralph
+Newton appeared one summer evening at the villa at Hendon, and
+absolutely asked the breeches-maker to lend him a hundred pounds!
+Before he left he had taken tea with Mr. and Mrs. and Miss Neefit on
+the lawn, and had received almost a promise that the loan should be
+forthcoming if he would call in Conduit Street on the following
+morning. That had been early in May, and Ralph Newton had called,
+and, though there had been difficulties, he had received the money
+before three days had passed.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Neefit was a stout little man, with a bald head and somewhat
+protrusive eyes, whose manners to his customers contained a
+combination of dictatorial assurance and subservience, which he had
+found to be efficacious in his peculiar business. On general subjects
+he would rub his hands, and bow his head, and agree most humbly with
+every word that was uttered. In the same day he would be a Radical
+and a Conservative, devoted to the Church and a scoffer at parsons,
+animated on behalf of staghounds and a loud censurer of aught in the
+way of hunting other than the orthodox fox. On all trivial outside
+subjects he considered it to be his duty as a tradesman simply to
+ingratiate himself; but in a matter of breeches he gave way to no
+man, let his custom be what it might. He knew his business, and was
+not going to be told by any man whether the garments which he made
+did or did not fit. It was the duty of a gentleman to come and allow
+him to see them on while still in a half-embryo condition. If
+gentlemen did their duty, he was sure that he could do his. He would
+take back anything that was not approved without a murmur;&mdash;but after
+that he must decline further transactions. It was, moreover, quite
+understood that to complain of his materials was so to insult him
+that he would condescend to make no civil reply. An elderly gentleman
+from Essex once told him that his buttons were given to breaking. "If
+you have your breeches,&mdash;washed,&mdash;by an old woman,&mdash;in the
+country,"&mdash;said Mr. Neefit, very slowly, looking into the elderly
+gentleman's face, "and then run through the mangle,&mdash;the buttons will
+break." The elderly gentleman never dared even to enter the shop
+again.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Neefit was perhaps somewhat over-imperious in matters relating to
+his own business; but, in excuse for him, it must be stated that he
+was, in truth, an honest tradesman;&mdash;he was honest at least so far,
+that he did make his breeches as well as he knew how. He had made up
+his mind that the best way to make his fortune was to send out good
+articles,&mdash;and he did his best. Whether or no he was honest in adding
+on that additional half guinea to the price because he found that the
+men with whom he dealt were fools enough to be attracted by a high
+price, shall be left to advanced moralists to decide. In that
+universal agreement with diverse opinions there must, we fear, have
+been something of dishonesty. But he made the best of breeches, put
+no shoddy or cheap stitching into them, and was, upon the whole, an
+honest tradesman.</p>
+
+<p>From 9.30 to 5.15 were Mr. Neefit's hours; but it had come to be
+understood by those who knew the establishment well, that from
+half-past twelve to half-past one the master was always absent. The
+young man who sat at the high desk, and seemed to spend all his time
+in contemplating the bad debts in the ledger, would tell gentlemen
+who called up to one that Mr. Neefit was in the City. After one it
+was always said that Mr. Neefit was lunching at the Restaurong. The
+truth was that Mr. Neefit always dined in the middle of the day at a
+public-house round the corner, having a chop and a "follow chop," a
+pint of beer, a penny newspaper and a pipe. When the villa at Hendon
+had been first taken Mrs. Neefit had started late dinners; but that
+vigilant and intelligent lady had soon perceived that this simply
+meant, in regard to her husband, two dinners a day,&mdash;and apoplexy.
+She had, therefore, returned to the old ways,&mdash;an early dinner for
+herself and daughter, and a little bit of supper at night. Now, one
+day in June,&mdash;that very Saturday on which Sir Thomas Underwood
+brought his niece home to Fulham, the day after that wicked kiss on
+the lawn at Fulham, Ralph Newton walked into Neefit's shop during the
+hour of Mr. Neefit's absence, and ordered,&mdash;three pair of breeches.
+Herr "Bawwah," the cutter, who never left his board during the day
+for more than five minutes at a time, remained, as was his custom,
+mute and apparently inattentive; but the foreman came down from his
+perch and took the order. Mr. Neefit was out, unfortunately;&mdash;in the
+City. Ralph Newton remarked that his measure was not in the least
+altered, gave his order, and went out.</p>
+
+<p>"Three pair?&mdash;leather?" asked Mr. Neefit, when he returned, raising
+his eyebrows, and clearly showing that the moment was not one of
+unmixed delight.</p>
+
+<p>"Two leather;&mdash;one cord," said the foreman. "He had four pair last
+year," said Mr. Neefit, in a tone so piteous that it might almost
+have been thought that he was going to weep.</p>
+
+<p>"One hundred and eighty-nine pounds, fourteen shillings, and nine
+pence was the Christmas figure," said the foreman, turning back to a
+leaf in the book, which he found without any difficulty. Mr. Neefit
+took himself to the examination of certain completed articles which
+adorned his shop, as though he were anxious to banish from his mind
+so painful a subject. "Is he to 'ave 'em, Mr. Neefit?" asked the
+foreman. The master was still silent, and still fingered the
+materials which his very soul loved. "He must 'ave a matter of twenty
+pair by him,&mdash;unless he sells 'em," said the suspicious foreman.</p>
+
+<p>"He don't sell 'em," said Mr. Neefit. "He ain't one of that sort. You
+can put 'em in hand, Waddle."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, Mr. Neefit. I only thought I'd mention it. It looked
+queer like, his coming just when you was out."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see anything queer in it. He ain't one of that sort. Do you
+go on." Mr. Waddle knew nothing of the hundred pounds, nor did he
+know that Ralph Newton had,&mdash;twice drank tea at Hendon. On both
+occasions Mrs. Neefit had declared that if ever she saw a gentleman,
+Mr. Newton was a gentleman; and Miss Neefit, though her words had
+been very few, had evidently approved of Mr. Newton's manners. Now
+Miss Neefit was a beauty and an heiress.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Waddle had hardly been silenced, and had just retired with
+melancholy diligence amidst the records of unsatisfactory commercial
+transactions, before Ralph Newton again entered the shop. He shook
+hands with Mr. Neefit,&mdash;as was the practice with many favourite
+customers,&mdash;and immediately went to work in regard to his new order,
+as though every Christmas and every Midsummer saw an account closed
+on his behalf in Mr. Neefit's books. "I did say just now, when I
+found you were out, that last year's lines would do; but it may be,
+you know, that I'm running a little to flesh."</p>
+
+<p>"We can't be too particular, Mr. Newton," said the master.</p>
+
+<p>"It's all for your sake that I come," said the young sportsman,
+walking into the little room, while Mr. Neefit followed with his
+scraps of paper and tapes, and Waddle followed him to write down the
+figures. "I don't care much how they look myself."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Mr. Newton!"</p>
+
+<p>"I shouldn't like 'em to wrinkle inside the knee, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"That isn't likely with us, I hope, Mr. Newton."</p>
+
+<p>"And I own I do like to be able to get into them."</p>
+
+<p>"We don't give much trouble in that way, Mr. Newton."</p>
+
+<p>"But the fact is I have such trust in you and the silent gentleman
+out there, that I believe you would fit me for the next twenty years,
+though you were never to see me."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, thank you, Mr. Newton,&mdash;2, 4, and 1/8th, Waddle. I think Mr.
+Newton is a little stouter. But, perhaps, you may work that off
+before November, Mr. Newton. Thank you, Mr. Newton;&mdash;I think that'll
+do. You'll find we shan't be far wrong. Three pair, Mr. Newton?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes;&mdash;I think three pair will see me through next season. I don't
+suppose I shall hunt above four days, and I have some by me."</p>
+
+<p>Some by him! There must be drawers full of them,&mdash;presses full of
+them, chests full of them! Waddle, the melancholy and suspicious
+Waddle, was sure that their customer was playing them false,&mdash;raising
+money on the garments as soon as they were sent to him; but he did
+not dare to say anything of this after the snubbing which he had
+already received. If old Neefit chose to be done by a dishonest young
+man it was nothing to him. But in truth Waddle did not understand men
+as well as did his master;&mdash;and then he knew nothing of his master's
+ambitious hopes.</p>
+
+<p>"The bishops came out very strong last night;&mdash;didn't they?" said
+Ralph, in the outer shop.</p>
+
+<p>"Very strong, indeed, Mr. Newton;&mdash;very strong."</p>
+
+<p>"But, after all, they're nothing but a pack of old women."</p>
+
+<p>"That's about what they are, Mr. Newton."</p>
+
+<p>"Not but what we must have a Church, I suppose."</p>
+
+<p>"We should do very badly without a Church, Mr. Newton. At least that
+is my opinion." Then Ralph left the shop, and the breeches-maker
+bowed him out of the door.</p>
+
+<p>"Fifty thousand pounds!" said Ralph Newton to himself, as he walked
+into Bond Street and down to his club. When a man is really rich
+rumour always increases his money,&mdash;and rumour had doubled the
+fortune which Mr. Neefit had already amassed. "That means two
+thousand a year; and the girl herself is so pretty, that upon my
+honour I don't know which is the prettier,&mdash;she or Clary. But fancy
+old Neefit for one's father-in-law! Everybody is doing it now; but I
+don't think I'd do it for ten times the money. The fact is, one has
+got to get used to these things, and I am not used to it yet. I soon
+shall be,&mdash;or to something worse." Such was the nature of Ralph's
+thoughts as he walked away from Mr. Neefit's house to his club.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Neefit, as he went home, had his speculations also. In making
+breeches he was perfect, and in putting together money he had proved
+himself to be an adept. But as to the use of his money, he was quite
+as much at a loss as he would have been had he tried to wear the
+garments for which he measured his customers so successfully. He had
+almost realised the truth that from that money he himself could
+extract, for himself, but little delight beyond that which arose
+simply from the possession. Holidays destroyed him. Even a day at
+home at Hendon, other than Sunday, was almost more than he could
+endure. The fruition of life to him was in the completing of
+breeches, and its charm in a mutton-chop and a pipe of tobacco. He
+had tried idleness, and was wise enough to know almost at the first
+trial that idleness would not suit him. He had made one mistake in
+life which was irreparable. He had migrated from Conduit Street to a
+cold, comfortless box of a house at a place in which, in order that
+his respectability might be maintained, he was not allowed to show
+his face in a public-house. This was very bad, but he would not make
+bad worse by giving up so much of Conduit Street as was still left to
+him. He would stick to the shop. But what would he do with his money?
+He had but one daughter. Thinking of this, day after day, month after
+month, year after year, he came slowly to the conclusion that it was
+his duty to make his daughter a lady. He must find some gentleman who
+would marry her, and then would give that gentleman all his
+money,&mdash;knowing as he did so that the gentleman would probably never
+speak to him again. And to this conclusion he came with no bitterness
+of feeling, with no sense of disappointment that to such an end must
+come the exertions of his laborious and successful life. There was
+nothing else for him to do. He could not be a gentleman himself. It
+seemed to be no more within his reach than it is for the gentleman to
+be an angel. He did not desire it. He would not have enjoyed it. He
+had that sort of sense which makes a man know so thoroughly his own
+limits that he has no regret at not passing them. But yet in his eyes
+a gentleman was so grand a thing,&mdash;a being so infinitely superior to
+himself,&mdash;that, loving his daughter above anything else, he did think
+that he could die happy if he could see her married into a station so
+exalted. There was a humility in this as regarded himself and an
+affection for his child which were admirable.</p>
+
+<p>The reader will think that he might at any rate have done better than
+to pitch upon such a one as Ralph Newton; but then the reader hardly
+knows Ralph Newton as yet, and cannot at all realise the difficulty
+which poor Mr. Neefit experienced in coming across any gentleman in
+such a fashion as to be able to commence his operations. It is hardly
+open to a tradesman to ask a young man home to his house when
+measuring him from the hip to the knee. Neefit had heard of many
+cases in which gentlemen of money had married the daughters of
+commercial men, and he knew that the thing was to be done. Money,
+which spent in other directions seemed to be nearly useless to him,
+might be used beneficially in this way. But how was he to set about
+it? Polly Neefit was as pretty a girl as you shall wish to see, and
+he knew that she was pretty. But, if he didn't take care, the
+good-looking young gasfitter, next door to him down at Hendon, would
+have his Polly before he knew where he was. Or, worse still, as he
+thought, there was that mad son of his old friend Moggs, the
+bootmaker, Ontario Moggs as he had been christened by a Canadian
+godfather, with whom Polly had condescended already to hold something
+of a flirtation. He could not advertise for a genteel lover. What
+could he do?</p>
+
+<p>Then Ralph Newton made his way down to the Hendon villa,&mdash;asking for
+money. What should have induced Mr. Newton to come to him for money
+he could not guess;&mdash;but he did know that, of all the young men who
+came into his back shop to be measured, there was no one whose looks
+and manners and cheery voice had created so strong a feeling of
+pleasantness as had those of Mr. Ralph Newton. Mr. Neefit could not
+analyse it, but there was a kind of sunshine about the young man
+which would have made him very unwilling to press hard for payment,
+or to stop the supply of breeches. He had taken a liking to Ralph,
+and found himself thinking about the young man in his journeys
+between Hendon and Conduit Street. Was not this the sort of gentleman
+that would suit his daughter? Neefit wanted no one to tell him that
+Ralph Newton was a gentleman,&mdash;what he meant by a gentleman,&mdash;and
+that Wallop the stockbroker was not. Wallop the stockbroker spoke of
+himself as though he was a very fine fellow indeed; but to the
+thinking of Mr. Neefit, Ontario Moggs was more like a gentleman than
+Mr. Wallop. He had feared much as to his daughter, both in reference
+to the handsome gasfitter and to Ontario Moggs, but since that second
+tea-drinking he had hoped that his daughter's eyes were opened.</p>
+
+<p>He had made inquiry about Ralph Newton, and had found that the young
+man was undoubtedly heir to a handsome estate in Hampshire,&mdash;a place
+called Newton Priory, with a parish of Newton Peele, and lodges, and
+a gamekeeper, and a park. He knew from of old that Ralph's uncle
+would have nothing to do with his nephew's debts; but he learned now
+as a certainty that the uncle could not disinherit his nephew. And
+the debts did not seem to be very high;&mdash;and Ralph had come into some
+property from his father. Upon the whole, though of course there must
+be a sacrifice of money at first, Neefit thought that he saw his way.
+Mr. Newton, too, had been very civil to his girl,&mdash;not simply making
+to her foolish flattering little speeches, but treating her,&mdash;so
+thought Neefit,&mdash;exactly as a high-bred gentleman would treat the
+lady of his thoughts. It was a high ambition; but Neefit thought that
+there might possibly be a way to success.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Neefit had been a good helpmate to her husband,&mdash;having worked
+hard for him when hard work on her part was needed,&mdash;but was not
+altogether so happy in her disposition as her lord. He desired to
+shine only in his daughter,&mdash;and as a tradesman. She was troubled by
+the more difficult ambition of desiring to shine in her own person.
+It was she who had insisted on migrating to Hendon, and who had
+demanded also the establishment of a one-horse carriage. The
+one-horse carriage was no delight to Neefit, and hardly gave
+satisfaction to his wife after the first three months. To be driven
+along the same roads, day after day, at the rate of six miles an
+hour, though it may afford fresh air, is not an exciting amusement.
+Mrs. Neefit was not given to reading, and was debarred by a sense of
+propriety from making those beef-steak puddings for which, within her
+own small household, she had once been so famous. Hendon she found
+dull; and, though Hendon had been her own choice, she could not keep
+herself from complaining of its dulness to her husband. But she
+always told him that the fault lay with him. He ought to content
+himself with going to town four times a week, and take a six weeks'
+holiday in the autumn. That was the recognised mode of life with
+gentlemen who had made their fortunes in trade. Then she tried to
+make him believe that constant seclusion in Conduit Street was bad
+for his liver. But above all things he ought to give up measuring his
+own customers with his own hands. None of their genteel neighbours
+would call upon his wife and daughter as long as he did that. But Mr.
+Neefit was a man within whose bosom gallantry had its limits. He had
+given his wife a house at Hendon, and was contented to take that
+odious journey backwards and forwards six days a week to oblige her.
+But when she told him not to measure his own customers, "he cut up
+rough" as Polly called it. "You be blowed," he said to the wife of
+his bosom. He had said it before, and she bore it with majestic
+equanimity.</p>
+
+<p>Polly Neefit was, as we have said, as pretty a girl as you shall wish
+to see, in spite of a nose that was almost a pug nose, and a mouth
+that was a little large. I think, however, that she was perhaps
+prettier at seventeen, when she would run up and down Conduit Street
+on messages for her father,&mdash;who was not as yet aware that she had
+ceased to be a child,&mdash;than she became afterwards at Hendon, when she
+was twenty. In those early days her glossy black hair hung down her
+face in curls. Now, she had a thing on the back of her head, and her
+hair was man&oelig;uvred after the usual fashion. But her laughing dark
+eyes were full of good-humour, and looked as though they could be
+filled also with feeling. Her complexion was perfect,&mdash;perfect at
+twenty, though from its nature it would be apt to be fixed, and
+perhaps rough and coarse at thirty. But at twenty it was perfect. It
+was as is the colour of a half-blown rose, in which the variations
+from white to pink, and almost to red, are so gradual and soft as to
+have no limits. And then with her there was a charm beyond that of
+the rose, for the hues would ever be changing. As she spoke or
+laughed, or became serious or sat thoughtless, or pored over her
+novel, the tint of her cheek and neck would change as this or that
+emotion, be it ever so slight, played upon the current of her blood.
+She was tall, and well made,&mdash;perhaps almost robust. She was
+good-humoured, somewhat given to frank coquetry, and certainly fond
+of young men. She had sense enough not to despise her father, and was
+good enough to endeavour to make life bearable to her mother. She was
+clever, too, in her way, and could say sprightly things. She read
+novels, and loved a love story. She meant herself to have a grand
+passion some day, but did not quite sympathise with her father's
+views about gentlemen. Not that these views were discussed between
+them, but each was gradually learning the mind of the other. It was
+very pleasant to Polly Neefit to waltz with the good-looking
+gasfitter;&mdash;and indeed to waltz with any man was a pleasure to Polly,
+for dancing was her Paradise upon earth. And she liked talking to
+Ontario Moggs, who was a clever man and had a great deal to say about
+many things. She believed that Ontario Moggs was dying for her love,
+but she had by no means made up her mind that Ontario was to be the
+hero of the great passion. The great passion was quite a necessity
+for her. She must have her romance. But Polly was aware that a great
+passion ought to be made to lead to a snug house, half a dozen
+children, and a proper, church-going, roast-mutton, duty-doing manner
+of life. Now Ontario Moggs had very wild ideas. As for the gasfitter
+he danced well and was good-looking, but he had very little to say
+for himself. When Polly saw Ralph Newton,&mdash;especially when he sat out
+on the lawn with them and smoked cigars on his second coming,&mdash;she
+thought him very nice. She had no idea of being patronised by any
+one, and she was afraid of persons whom she called "stuck-up" ladies
+and gentlemen. But Mr. Newton had not patronised her, and she had
+acknowledged that he was&mdash;very nice. Such as she was, she was the
+idol of her father's heart and the apple of his eye. If she had asked
+him to give up measuring, he might have yielded. But then his Polly
+was too wise for that.</p>
+
+<p>We must say a word more of Mrs. Neefit, and then we shall hope that
+our readers will know the family. She had been the daughter of a
+breeches-maker, to whom Neefit had originally been apprenticed,&mdash;and
+therefore regarded herself as the maker of the family. But in truth
+the business, such as it was now in its glory, had been constructed
+by her husband, and her own fortune had been very small. She was a
+stout, round-faced, healthy, meaningless woman, in whom ill-humour
+would not have developed itself unless idleness,&mdash;that root of all
+evil,&mdash;had fallen in her way. As it was, in the present condition of
+their lives, she did inflict much discomfort on poor Mr. Neefit. Had
+he been ill, she would have nursed him with all her care. Had he
+died, she would have mourned for him as the best of husbands. Had he
+been three parts ruined in trade, she would have gone back to Conduit
+Street and made beef-steak puddings almost without a murmur. She was
+very anxious for his Sunday dinner,&mdash;and would have considered it to
+be a sin to be without a bit of something nice for his supper. She
+took care that he always wore flannel, and would never let him stay
+away from church,&mdash;lest worse should befall him. But she couldn't let
+him be quiet. What else was there left for her to do but to nag him?
+Polly, who was with her during the long hours of the day, would not
+be nagged. "Now, mamma!" she'd say with a tone of authority that
+almost overcame mamma. And if mamma was very cross, Polly would
+escape. But during the long hours of the night the breeches-maker
+could not escape;&mdash;and in minor matters the authority lay with her.
+It was only when great matters were touched that Mr. Neefit would
+rise in his wrath and desire his wife "to be blowed."</p>
+
+<p>No doubt Mrs. Neefit was an unhappy woman,&mdash;more unfortunate as a
+woman than was her husband as a man. The villa at Hendon had been
+heavy upon him, but it had been doubly heavy upon her. He could
+employ himself. The legs of his customers, to him, were a blessed
+resource. But she had no resource. The indefinite idea which she had
+formed of what life would be in a pretty villa residence had been
+proved to be utterly fallacious,&mdash;though she had never acknowledged
+the fallacy either to husband or daughter. That one-horse carriage in
+which she was dragged about, was almost as odious to her as her own
+drawing-room. That had become so horrible that it was rarely
+used;&mdash;but even the dining-room was very bad. What would she do
+there, poor woman? What was there left for her to do at all in this
+world,&mdash;except to nag at her husband?</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless all who knew anything about the Neefits said that they
+were very respectable people, and had done very well in the world.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c6" id="c6"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER VI.</h3>
+<h4>MRS. NEEFIT'S LITTLE DINNER.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>On the Sunday morning following that remarkable Saturday on which
+Miss Bonner had been taken to her new home and Ralph Newton had
+ordered three pair of breeches, Mr. Neefit made a very ambitious
+proposition. "My dear, I think I'll ask that young man to come and
+have a bit of dinner here next Sunday." This was said after
+breakfast, as Mr. Neefit was being made smart in his church-going
+coat and his Sunday hat, which were kept together in Mrs. Neefit's
+big press.</p>
+
+<p>"Which young man?" Now Mrs. Neefit when she asked the question knew
+very well that Mr. Newton was the young man to whom hospitality was
+to be offered. Ontario Moggs was her favourite; but Mr. Neefit would
+not have dreamed of asking Ontario Moggs to dinner.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Newton, my dear," said Mr. Neefit, with his head stuck sharply
+up, while his wife tied a bow in his Sunday neckhandkerchief.</p>
+
+<p>"Why should us ask him? He won't think nothing of his vittels when he
+gets 'em. He'd only turn up his nose; and as for Polly, what's the
+use of making her more saucy than she is? I don't want such as him
+here, Neefit;&mdash;that I don't. Stuck-up young men like him had better
+stay away from Alexandrina Cottage,"&mdash;that was the name of the happy
+home at Hendon. "I'm sure our Polly won't be the better for having
+the likes of him here."</p>
+
+<p>Nothing more was said on the subject till after the return of the
+family from church; but, during the sermon Mr. Neefit had had an
+opportunity of thinking the subject over, and had resolved that this
+was a matter in which it behoved him to be master. How was this
+marriage to be brought about if the young people were not allowed to
+see each other? Of course he might fail. He knew that. Very probably
+Mr. Newton might not accept the invitation,&mdash;might never show himself
+again at Alexandrina Cottage; but unless an effort was made there
+could not be success. "I don't see why he shouldn't eat a bit of
+dinner here," said Mr. Neefit, as soon as his pipe was lighted after
+their early dinner. "It ain't anything out of the way, as I know of."</p>
+
+<p>"You're thinking of Polly, Neefit?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why shouldn't I be thinking of her? There ain't no more of 'em.
+What's the use of working for her, if one don't think of her?"</p>
+
+<p>"It won't do no good, Neefit. If we had things here as we might have
+'em, <span class="nowrap">indeed&mdash;!"</span></p>
+
+<p>"What's amiss?"</p>
+
+<p>"With nothing to drink out of, only common wine-glasses; and it's my
+belief Jemima 'd never cook a dinner as he'd look at. I know what
+they are,&mdash;them sort of young men. They're worse than a dozen ladies
+when you come to vittels."</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless Mr. Neefit resolved upon having his own way, and it was
+settled that Ralph Newton should be asked to come and eat a bit of
+dinner on next Sunday. Then there arose a difficulty as to the mode
+of asking him. Neefit himself felt that it would be altogether out of
+his line to indite an invitation. In days gone by, before he kept a
+clerk for the purpose, he had written very many letters to gentlemen,
+using various strains of pressure as he called their attention to the
+little outstanding accounts which stood on his books and were thorns
+in his flesh. But of the writing of such letters as this now intended
+to be written he had no experience. As for Mrs. Neefit, her skill in
+this respect was less even than that of her husband. She could write,
+no doubt. On very rare occasions she would make some expression of
+her thoughts with pen and ink to Polly, when she and Polly were
+apart. But no one else ever saw how slight was her proficiency in
+this direction. But Polly was always writing. Polly's pothooks, as
+her father called them, were pictures in her father's eyes. She could
+dash off straight lines of writing,&mdash;line after line,&mdash;with
+sharp-pointed angles and long-tailed letters, in a manner which made
+her father proud of the money which he had spent on her education. So
+Polly was told to write the letter, and after many expressions of
+surprise, Polly wrote the letter that evening. "Mr. and Mrs. Neefit's
+compliments to Mr. Newton, and hope he will do them the honour to
+dine with them on Sunday next at five o'clock. Alexandrina Cottage,
+Sunday."</p>
+
+<p>"Say five sharp," said the breeches-maker.</p>
+
+<p>"No, father, I won't,&mdash;say anything about sharp."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not, Polly?"</p>
+
+<p>"It wouldn't look pretty. I don't suppose he'll come, and I'm sure I
+don't know why you should ask him. Dear me, I'm certain he'll know
+that I wrote it. What will he think?"</p>
+
+<p>"He'll think it comes from as pretty a young woman as he ever clapped
+his eyes on," said Mr. Neefit, who was not at all reticent in the
+matter of compliments to his daughter.</p>
+
+<p>"Laws, Neefit, how you do spoil the girl!" said his wife.</p>
+
+<p>"He has about finished spoiling me now, mamma; so it don't much
+signify. You always did spoil me;&mdash;didn't you, father?" Then Polly
+kissed Mr. Neefit's bald head; and Mr. Neefit, as he sat in the
+centre of his lawn, with his girdle loose around him, a glass of gin
+and water by his side, and a pipe in his mouth, felt that in truth
+there was something left in the world worth living for. But a thought
+came across his mind,&mdash;"If that chap comes I shan't be as comfortable
+next Sunday." And then there was another thought,&mdash;"If he takes my
+Polly away from me, I don't know as I shall ever be comfortable
+again." But still he did not hesitate or repent. Of course his Polly
+must have a husband.</p>
+
+<p>Then a dreadful proposition was made by Mrs. Neefit. "Why not have
+Moggs too?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, mamma!"</p>
+
+<p>"Are you going to turn your nose up at Ontario Moggs, Miss Pride?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't turn my nose up at him. I'm very fond of Mr. Moggs. I think
+he's the best fun going. But I am sure that if Mr. Newton does come,
+he'd rather not have Mr. Moggs here too."</p>
+
+<p>"It wouldn't do at all," said Mr. Neefit. "Ontario is all very well,
+but Mr. Newton and he wouldn't suit."</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Neefit was snubbed, and went to sleep on the sofa for the rest
+of the afternoon,&mdash;intending, no doubt, to let Mr. Neefit have the
+benefit of her feelings as soon as they two should be alone together.</p>
+
+<p>Our friend Ralph received the note, and accepted the invitation. He
+told himself that it was a lark. As the reader knows, he had already
+decided that he would not sell himself even to so pretty a girl as
+Polly Neefit for any amount of money; but not the less might it be
+agreeable to him to pass a Sunday afternoon in her company.</p>
+
+<p>Ralph Newton at this time occupied very comfortable bachelor's rooms
+in a small street close to St. James's Palace. He had now held these
+for the last two years, and had contrived to make his friends about
+town know that here was his home. He had declined to go into the army
+himself when he was quite young,&mdash;or rather had agreed not to go into
+the army, on condition that he should not be pressed as to any other
+profession. He lived, however, very much with military friends, many
+of whom found it convenient occasionally to breakfast with him, or to
+smoke a pipe in his chambers. He never did any work, and lived a
+useless, butterfly life,&mdash;only with this difference from other
+butterflies, that he was expected to pay for his wings.</p>
+
+<p>In that matter of payment was the great difficulty of Ralph Newton's
+life. He had been started at nineteen with an allowance of &pound;250 per
+annum. When he was twenty-one he inherited a fortune from his father
+of more than double that amount; and as he was the undoubted heir to
+a property of &pound;7,000 a year, it may be said of him that he was born
+with a golden spoon. But he had got into debt before he was twenty,
+and had never got out of it. The quarrel with his uncle was an old
+affair, arranged for him by his father before he knew how to quarrel
+on his own score, and therefore we need say no more about that at
+present. But his uncle would not pay a shilling for him, and would
+have quarrelled also with his other nephew, the clergyman, had he
+known that the younger brother assisted the elder. But up to the
+moment of which we are writing, the iron of debt had not as yet
+absolutely entered into the soul of this young man. He had, in his
+need, just borrowed &pound;100 from his breeches-maker; and this perhaps
+was not the first time that he had gone to a tradesman for
+assistance. But hitherto money had been forthcoming, creditors had
+been indulgent, and at this moment he possessed four horses which
+were eating their heads off at the Moonbeam, at Barnfield.</p>
+
+<p>At five o'clock, with sufficient sharpness, Ralph Newton got out of a
+Hansom cab at the door of Alexandrina Cottage. "He's cum in a
+'Ansom," said Mrs. Neefit, looking over the blind of the drawing-room
+window. "That's three-and-six," said Neefit, with a sigh. "You didn't
+think he was going to walk, father?" said Polly. "There's the
+Underground within two miles, if the Midland didn't suit," said Mr.
+Neefit. "Nonsense, father. Of course he'd come in a cab!" said Polly.
+Mrs. Neefit was not able to add the stinging remark with which her
+tongue was laden, as Ralph Newton was already in the house. She
+smoothed her apron, crossed her hands, and uttered a deep sigh. There
+could be no more going down into the kitchen now to see whether the
+salmon was boiled, or to provide for the proper dishing of the lamb.
+"This is quite condescending of you, Mr. Newton," said the
+breeches-maker, hardly daring to shake hands with his guest,&mdash;though
+in his shop he was always free enough with his customers in this
+matter. Polly looked as though she thought there was no condescension
+whatever, held up her head, and laughed and joked, and asked some
+questions about the German at the shop, whom she declared she was
+never allowed to see now, and whose voice she swore she had never
+heard. "Is he dumb, Mr. Newton? Father never will tell me anything
+about him. You must know."</p>
+
+<p>"Laws, Polly, what does it matter?" said Mrs. Neefit. And they were
+the only words she had spoken. Polly, from the first, had resolved
+that she would own to the shop. If Mr. Newton came to see her, he
+should come to see a girl who was not ashamed to speak of herself as
+the daughter of a breeches-maker.</p>
+
+<p>"He don't talk much, does he, Mr. Newton?" said Mr. Neefit, laughing
+merrily.</p>
+
+<p>"Do tell me one thing," said Ralph. "I know it's a secret, but I'll
+promise not to tell it. What is his real name?"</p>
+
+<p>"This isn't fair," said Mr. Neefit, greatly delighted. "All trades
+have their secrets. Come, come, Mr. Newton!"</p>
+
+<p>"I know his name," said Polly.</p>
+
+<p>"Do tell me," said Ralph, coming close to her, as though he might
+hear it in a whisper.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Neefit, I wish you wouldn't talk about such things here," said
+the offended matron. "But now here's dinner." She was going to take
+her guest's arm, but Mr. Neefit arranged it otherwise.</p>
+
+<p>"The old uns and the young uns;&mdash;that's the way to pair them," said
+Mr. Neefit,&mdash;understanding nature better than he did precedence; and
+so they walked into the next room. Mrs. Neefit was not quite sure
+whether her husband had or had not done something improper. She had
+her doubts, and they made her uncomfortable.</p>
+
+<p>The dinner went off very well. Neefit told how he had gone himself to
+the fishmonger's for that bit of salmon, how troubled his wife had
+been in mind about the lamb, and how Polly had made the salad. "And
+I'll tell you what I did, Mr. Newton; I brought down that bottle of
+champagne in my pocket myself;&mdash;gave six bob for it at Palmer's, in
+Bond Street. My wife says we ain't got glasses fit to drink it out
+of."</p>
+
+<p>"You needn't tell Mr. Newton all that."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Newton, what I am I ain't ashamed on, nor yet what I does. Let
+me have the honour of drinking a glass of wine with you, Mr. Newton.
+You see us just as we are. I wish it was better, but it couldn't be
+welcomer. Your health, Mr. Newton."</p>
+
+<p>There are many men,&mdash;and men, too, not of a bad sort,&mdash;who in such
+circumstances cannot make themselves pleasant. Grant the
+circumstances, with all the desire to make the best of them,&mdash;and
+these men cannot be otherwise than stiff, disagreeable, and uneasy.
+But then, again, there are men who in almost any position can carry
+themselves as though they were to the manner born. Ralph Newton was
+one of the latter. He was not accustomed to dine with the tradesmen
+who supplied him with goods, and had probably never before
+encountered such a host as Mr. Neefit;&mdash;but he went through the
+dinner with perfect ease and satisfaction, and before the pies and
+jellies had been consumed, had won the heart of even Mrs. Neefit.
+"Laws, Mr. Newton," she said, "what can you know about custards?"
+Then Ralph Newton offered to come and make custards against her in
+her own kitchen,&mdash;providing he might have Polly to help him. "But
+you'd want the back kitchen to yourselves, I'm thinking," said Mr.
+Neefit, in high good-humour.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Neefit certainly was not a delicate man. As soon as dinner was
+over, and the two ladies had eaten their strawberries and cream, he
+suggested that the port wine should be taken out into the garden. In
+the farther corner of Mr. Neefit's grounds, at a distance of about
+twenty yards from the house, was a little recess called "the arbour,"
+admonitory of earwigs, and without much pretension to comfort. It
+might hold three persons, but on this occasion Mr. Neefit was minded
+that two only should enjoy the retreat. Polly carried out the
+decanter and glasses, but did not presume to stay there for a moment.
+She followed her mother into the gorgeous drawing-room, where Mrs.
+Neefit at once went to sleep, while her daughter consoled herself
+with a novel. Mr. Neefit, as we have said, was not a delicate man.
+"That girl 'll have twenty thousand pound, down on the nail, the day
+she marries the man as I approves of. Fill your glass, Mr. Newton.
+She will;&mdash;and there's no mistake about it. There'll be more money
+too, when I'm dead,&mdash;and the old woman."</p>
+
+<p>It might be owned that such a speech from the father of a
+marriageable daughter to a young man who had hardly as yet shown
+himself to be enamoured, was not delicate. But it may be a question
+whether it was not sensible. He had made up his mind, and therefore
+went at once at his object. And unless he did the business in this
+way, what chance was there that it would be done at all? Mr. Newton
+could not come down to Alexandrina Cottage every other day, or meet
+the girl elsewhere, as he might do young ladies of fashion. And,
+moreover, the father knew well enough that were his girl once to tell
+him that she had set her heart upon the gasfitter, or upon Ontario
+Moggs, he would not have the power to contradict her. He desired that
+she should become a gentleman's wife; and thinking that this was the
+readiest way to accomplish his wish, he saw no reason why he should
+not follow it. When he had spoken, he chucked off his glass of wine,
+and looked into his young friend's face for an answer.</p>
+
+<p>"He'll be a lucky fellow that gets her," said Ralph, beginning
+unconsciously to feel that it might perhaps have been as well for him
+had he remained in his lodgings on this Sunday.</p>
+
+<p>"He will be a lucky fellow, Mr. Newton. She's as good as gold. And a
+well bred 'un too, though I say it as shouldn't. There's not a dirty
+drop in her. And she's that clever, she can do a'most anything. As
+for her looks, I'll say nothing about them. You've got eyes in your
+head. There ain't no mistake there, Mr. Newton; no paint; no Madame
+Rachel; no made beautiful for ever! It's human nature what you see
+there, Mr. Newton."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm quite sure of that."</p>
+
+<p>"And she has the heart of an angel." By this time Mr. Neefit was
+alternately wiping the tears from his eyes, and taking half glasses
+of port wine. "I know all about you, Mr. Newton. You are a
+gentleman;&mdash;that's what you are."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope so."</p>
+
+<p>"And if you don't get the wrong side of the post, you'll come out
+right at last. You'll have a nice property some of these days, but
+you're just a little short of cash at present."</p>
+
+<p>"That's about true, Mr. Neefit."</p>
+
+<p>"I want nobody to tell me;&mdash;I know," continued Neefit. "Now if you
+make up to her, there she is,&mdash;with twenty thousand pounds down. You
+are a gentleman, and I want that girl to be a lady. You can make her
+a lady. You can't make her no better than she is. The best man in
+England can't do that. But you can make her a lady. I don't know what
+she'll say, mind; but you can ask her,&mdash;if you please. I like you,
+and you can ask her,&mdash;if you please. What answer she'll make, that's
+her look out. But you can ask her,&mdash;if you please. Perhaps I'm a
+little too forrard; but I call that honest. I don't know what you
+call it. But this I do know;&mdash;there ain't so sweet a girl as that
+within twenty miles round London." Then Mr. Neefit, in his energy,
+dashed his hand down among the glasses on the little rustic table in
+the arbour.</p>
+
+<p>The reader may imagine that Ralph Newton was hardly ready with his
+answer. There are men, no doubt, who in such an emergency would have
+been able to damn the breeches-maker's impudence, and to have walked
+at once out of the house. But our young friend felt no inclination to
+punish his host in such fashion as this. He simply remarked that he
+would think of it, the matter being too grave for immediate decision,
+and that he would join the ladies.</p>
+
+<p>"Do, Mr. Newton," said Mr. Neefit; "go and join Polly. You'll find
+she's all I tell you. I'll sit here and have a pipe."</p>
+
+<p>Ralph did join the ladies; and, finding Mrs. Neefit asleep, he
+induced Polly to take a walk with him amidst the lanes of Hendon.
+When he left Alexandrina Cottage in the evening, Mr. Neefit whispered
+a word into his ear at the gate. "You know my mind. Strike while the
+iron's hot. There she is,&mdash;just what you see her."</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c7" id="c7"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER VII.</h3>
+<h4>YOU ARE ONE OF US NOW.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>The first week after Mary Bonner's arrival at Popham Villa went by
+without much to make it remarkable, except the strangeness arising
+from the coming of a stranger. Sir Thomas did stay at home on that
+Sunday, but when the time came for going to morning church, shuffled
+out of that disagreeable duty in a manner that was satisfactory
+neither to himself nor his daughters. "Oh, papa; I thought you would
+have gone with us!" said Patience at the last moment.</p>
+
+<p>"I think not to-day, my dear," he said, with that sort of smile which
+betokens inward uneasiness. Patience reproached him with a look, and
+then the three girls went off together. Even Patience herself had
+offered to excuse Mary, on the score of fatigue, seasickness, and the
+like; but Mary altogether declined to be excused. She was neither
+fatigued, she said, nor sick; and of course she would go to church.
+Sir Thomas stayed at home, and thought about himself. How could he go
+to church when he knew that he could neither listen to the sermon nor
+join in the prayers? "I suppose people do," he said to himself; "but
+I can't. I'd go to church all day long, if I found that it would
+serve me."</p>
+
+<p>He went up to London on the Monday, and returned to the villa to
+dinner. He did the same on the Tuesday. On the Wednesday he remained
+in London. On the Thursday he came home, but dined in town. After
+that he found himself to be on sufficiently familiar terms with his
+niece to fall back into his old habits of life.</p>
+
+<p>Patience was very slow in speaking to their cousin of her father's
+peculiarities; but Clarissa soon told the tale. "You'll get to know
+papa soon," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"He has been so kind to me."</p>
+
+<p>"He is very good; but you must know, dear, that we are the most
+deserted and disconsolate ladies that ever lived out of a poem. Papa
+has been home now four days together; but that is for your beaux
+yeux. We are here for weeks together without seeing him;&mdash;very often
+for more than a week."</p>
+
+<p>"Where does he go?"</p>
+
+<p>"He has a place in London;&mdash;such a place! You shall go and see it
+some day, though he won't thank us a bit for taking you there. He has
+the queerest old man to wait upon him, and he never sees anybody from
+day to day."</p>
+
+<p>"But what does he do?"</p>
+
+<p>"He is writing a book. That is the great secret. He never speaks
+about it, and does not like to be asked questions. But the truth is,
+he is the most solitude-loving person in the world. He does find its
+charms, though Alexander Selkirk never could."</p>
+
+<p>"And does nobody come here to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"In the way of taking care of us? Nobody! We have to take care of
+ourselves. Of course it is dull. People do come and see us sometimes.
+Miss Spooner, for instance."</p>
+
+<p>"Why should you laugh at poor Miss Spooner?" asked Patience.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't laugh at her. We have other friends, you know; but not
+enough to make the house pleasant to you." After that, when Patience
+was not with them, she told something of Ralph Newton and his visits,
+though she said nothing to her cousin of her own cherished hopes. "I
+wonder what you'll think of Ralph Newton?" she said. Ralph Newton's
+name had been mentioned before in Mary's hearing more than once.</p>
+
+<p>"Why should I think anything particular of Ralph Newton?"</p>
+
+<p>"You'll have to think something particular about him as he is a sort
+of child of the house. Papa was his guardian, and he comes here just
+when he pleases."</p>
+
+<p>"Who is he, and what is he, and where is he, and why is he?"</p>
+
+<p>"He's a gentleman at large who does nothing. That's who he is."</p>
+
+<p>"He thinks ever so much of himself, then?"</p>
+
+<p>"No;&mdash;he doesn't. And he is nephew to an old squire down in
+Hampshire, who won't give him a penny. He oughtn't to want it,
+however, because when he came of age he had ever so much money of his
+own. But he does want it,&mdash;sometimes. He must have the property when
+his uncle dies."</p>
+
+<p>"Dear me;&mdash;how interesting!"</p>
+
+<p>"As for the where he is, and why he is,&mdash;he comes here just when it
+suits him, and because we were almost brought up together. He doesn't
+dine here, and all that kind of thing, because papa is never at home.
+Nobody ever does dine here."</p>
+
+<p>Then there was a short pause. "This Mr. Newton isn't a lover then?"
+asked Miss Bonner.</p>
+
+<p>There was another pause before Clarissa could answer the question.
+"No," she said; "no; he isn't a lover. We don't have any lovers at
+Popham Villa." "Only that's not quite true," she said, after a pause.
+"And as you are to live with us just like a sister, I'll tell you
+about Gregory Newton, Ralph's brother." Then she did tell the story
+of the clergyman's love and the clergyman's discomfiture; but she
+said not a word of Ralph's declaration and Ralph's great sin on that
+fatal evening. And the way in which she told her story about the one
+brother altogether disarmed Mary Bonner's suspicion as to the other.</p>
+
+<p>In truth Clarissa did not know whether it was or was not her
+privilege to regard Ralph Newton as her lover. He had not been to the
+cottage since that evening; and though the words he had spoken were
+still sweet in her ears,&mdash;so sweet that she could not endure the
+thought of abandoning their sweetness,&mdash;still she had a misgiving
+that they were in some sort rendered nugatory by his great fault. She
+had forgiven the fault;&mdash;looking back at it now over the distance of
+eight or ten days, had forgiven it with all her heart; but still
+there remained with her an undefined and unpleasant feeling that the
+spoken words, accompanied by a deed so wicked, were absorbed, and, as
+it were, drowned in the wickedness of the deed. What if the words as
+first spoken were only a prelude to the deed,&mdash;for, as she well
+remembered, they had been spoken twice,&mdash;and if the subsequent words
+were only an excuse for it! There was a painful idea in her mind that
+such might possibly be the case, and that if so, the man could never
+be forgiven, or at least ought never to be spoken to again. Acting on
+this suggestion from within, she absolutely refused to tell her
+father what had happened when Patience urged her to do so. "He'll
+come and see papa himself,&mdash;if he means anything," said Clary.
+Patience only shook her head. She thought that Sir Thomas should be
+told at once; but she could not take upon herself to divulge her
+sister's secret, which had been imparted to her in trust.</p>
+
+<p>Clarissa was obstinate. She would not tell her father, nor would she
+say what would be her own answer if her father were to give his
+permission for the match. As to this Patience had not much doubt. She
+saw that her sister's heart was set upon this lover. She had feared
+it before this late occurrence, and now she could hardly have a
+doubt. But if Ralph really meant it he would hardly have told her
+that he loved her, and then not waited for an answer,&mdash;not have come
+back for an answer,&mdash;not have gone to their father for an answer. And
+then, Patience thought, Sir Thomas would never consent to this
+marriage. Ralph was in debt, and a scapegrace, and quite unfit to
+undertake the management of a wife. Such was the elder sister's
+belief as to her father's mind. But she could not force upon Clary
+the necessity of taking any action in the matter. She was not strong
+enough in her position as elder to demand obedience. Clarissa's
+communication had been made in confidence; and Patience, though she
+was unhappy, would not break the trust.</p>
+
+<p>At last this young Lothario appeared among them again; but, as it
+happened, he came in company with Sir Thomas. Such a thing had not
+happened before since the day on which Sir Thomas had given up all
+charge of his ward's property. But it did so happen now. The two men
+had met in London, and Sir Thomas had suggested that Ralph should
+come and be introduced to the new cousin.</p>
+
+<p>"What are you doing now?" Sir Thomas had asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing particular just at present."</p>
+
+<p>"You can get away this evening?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes,&mdash;I think I can get away." It had been his intention to dine at
+his club with Captain Cox; but as he had dined at the club with
+Captain Cox on the previous day, the engagement was not felt to be
+altogether binding. "I can get away for dinner that is, but I've got
+to go out in the evening. It's a bore, but I promised to be at Lady
+McMarshal's to-night. But if I show there at twelve it will do." Thus
+it happened that Sir Thomas and Ralph Newton went down to Popham
+Villa in a cab together.</p>
+
+<p>It was clear, both to Patience and Clarissa, that he was much struck
+with the new cousin; but then it was quite out of the question that
+any man should not be struck with her. Her beauty was of that
+kind,&mdash;like the beauty of a picture,&mdash;which must strike even if it
+fails to charm. And Mary had a way of exciting attention with
+strangers, even by her silence. It was hardly intentional, and there
+certainly was no coquetry in it; but it was the case that she carried
+herself after a fashion which made it impossible for any stranger to
+regard her place in the room as being merely a chair with a young
+lady in it. She would speak hardly a word; but her very lack of
+speech was eloquent. At the present time she was of course in deep
+mourning, and the contrast between the brilliance of her complexion
+and the dark dress which covered her throat;&mdash;between the black scarf
+and the profusion of bright hair which fell upon it, was so
+remarkable as of itself to excite attention. Clarissa, watching
+everything, though, with feminine instinct, seeming to watch nothing,
+could see that he was amazed. But then she had known that he would be
+amazed. And of what matter would be his amazement, if he were true?
+If, indeed, he were not true,&mdash;then, then,&mdash;then nothing mattered!
+Such was the light in which Clary viewed the circumstances around her
+at the present moment.</p>
+
+<p>The evening did not pass very pleasantly. Ralph was introduced to the
+cousin, and asked some questions about the West Indies. Then there
+was tea. Ralph was dressed, with a black coat and white cravat, and
+Clary could not keep herself from thinking how very much nicer he was
+with a pipe in his mouth, and his neck bare, drinking soda-water and
+sherry out on the lawn. Ah,&mdash;in spite of all that had then happened,
+that was the sweetest moment in her existence, when he jumped up from
+the ground and told her that he might do a great deal better than
+marry the West Indian cousin. She thought now of his very words, and
+suggested to herself that perhaps he would never say them again.
+Nay;&mdash;might it not be possible that he would say the very reverse,
+that he would declare his wish to marry the West Indian cousin. Clary
+could not conceive but that he might have her should he so wish.
+Young ladies, when they are in love, are prone to regard their lovers
+as being prizes so valuable as to be coveted by all female comers.</p>
+
+<p>Before Ralph had taken his leave Sir Thomas took Mary apart to make
+some communication to her as to her own affairs. Everything was now
+settled, and Sir Thomas had purchased stock for her with her little
+fortune. "You have &pound;20 2<i>s.</i> 4<i>d.</i> a year, quite your own," he said,
+laughing;&mdash;as he might have done to one of his own girls, had an
+unexpected legacy been left to her.</p>
+
+<p>"That means that I must be altogether dependent on your charity," she
+said, looking into his face through her tears.</p>
+
+<p>"It means nothing of the kind," he said, with almost the impetuosity
+of anger. "There shall be no such cold word as charity between you
+and me. You are one of us now, and of my cup and of my loaf it is
+your right to partake, as it is the right of those girls there. I
+shall never think of it, or speak of it again."</p>
+
+<p>"But I must think of it, uncle."</p>
+
+<p>"The less the better;&mdash;but never use that odious word again between
+you and me. It is a word for strangers. What is given as I give to
+you should be taken without even an acknowledgment. My payment is to
+be your love."</p>
+
+<p>"You shall be paid in full," she said as she kissed him. This was all
+very well, but still on his part there was some misgiving,&mdash;some
+misgiving, though no doubt. If he were to die what would become of
+her? He must make a new will,&mdash;which in itself was to him a terrible
+trouble; and he must take something from his own girls in order that
+he might provide for this new daughter. That question of adopting is
+very difficult. If a man have no children of his own,&mdash;none others
+that are dependent on him,&mdash;he can give all, and there is an end of
+his trouble. But a man feels that he owes his property to his
+children; and, so feeling, may he take it from them and give it to
+others? Had she been in truth his daughter, he would have felt that
+there was enough for three; but she was not his daughter, and yet he
+was telling her that she should be to him the same as a child of his
+house!</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime Ralph was out on the lawn with the two sisters, and
+was as awkward as men always are in such circumstances. When he spoke
+those words to Clarissa he had in truth no settled purpose in his
+mind. He had always liked her,&mdash;loved her after a fashion,&mdash;felt for
+her an affection different to that which he entertained for her
+sister. Nevertheless, most assuredly he had not come down to Fulham
+on that evening prepared to make her an offer. He had been there by
+chance, and it had been quite by chance that he found Clarissa alone.
+He knew that the words had been spoken, and he knew also that he had
+drawn down her wrath upon his head by his caress. He was man enough
+also to feel that he had no right to believe himself to have been
+forgiven, because now, in the presence of others, she did not receive
+him with a special coldness which would have demanded special
+explanation. As it was, the three were all cold. Patience half felt
+inclined to go and leave them together. She would have given a finger
+off her hand to make Clary happy;&mdash;but would it be right to make
+Clary happy in such fashion as this? She had thought at first when
+she saw her father and Ralph together, that Ralph had spoken of his
+love to Sir Thomas, and that Sir Thomas had allowed him to come; but
+she soon perceived that this was not the case: and so they walked
+about together, each knowing that their intercourse was not as it
+always had been, and each feeling powerless to resume an appearance
+of composure.</p>
+
+<p>"I have got to go and be at Lady McMarshal's," he said, after having
+suffered in this way for a quarter of an hour. "If I did not show
+myself there her ladyship would think that I had given over all ideas
+of propriety, and that I was a lost sheep past redemption."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't let us keep you if you ought to go," said Clary, with dismal
+propriety.</p>
+
+<p>"I think I'll be off. Good-bye, Patience. The new cousin is radiant
+in beauty. No one can doubt that. But I don't know whether she is
+exactly the sort of girl I admire most. By-the-bye, what do you mean
+to do with her?"</p>
+
+<p>"Do with her?" said Patience. "She will live here, of course."</p>
+
+<p>"Just settle down as one of the family? Then, no doubt, I shall see
+her again. Good-night, Patience. Good-bye, Clary. I'll just step in
+and make my adieux to Sir Thomas and the beauty." This he did;&mdash;but
+as he went he pressed Clary's hand in a manner that she could but
+understand. She did not return the pressure, but she did not resent
+it.</p>
+
+<p>"Clarissa," said Patience, when they were together that night, "dear
+Clarissa!"</p>
+
+<p>Clary knew that when she was called Clarissa by her sister something
+special was meant. "What is it?" she asked. "What are you going to
+say now?"</p>
+
+<p>"You know that I am thinking only of your happiness. My darling, he
+doesn't mean it."</p>
+
+<p>"How do you know? What right have you to say so? Why am I to be
+thought such a fool as not to know what I ought to do?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nobody thinks that you are a fool, Clary. I know how clever you
+are,&mdash;and how good. But I cannot bear that you should be unhappy. If
+he had meant it, he would have spoken to papa. If you will only tell
+me that you are not thinking of him, that he is not making you
+unhappy, I will not say a word further."</p>
+
+<p>"I am thinking of him, and he is making me unhappy," said Clarissa,
+bursting into tears. "But I don't know why you should say that he is
+a liar, and dishonest, and everything that is bad."</p>
+
+<p>"I have neither said that, nor thought it, Clary."</p>
+
+<p>"That is what you mean. He did say that he loved me."</p>
+
+<p>"And you,&mdash;you did not answer him?"</p>
+
+<p>"No;&mdash;I said nothing. I can't explain it, and I don't want to explain
+it. I did not say a word to him. You came; and then he went away. If
+I am to be unhappy, I can't help it. He did say that he loved me, and
+I do love him."</p>
+
+<p>"Will you tell papa?"</p>
+
+<p>"No;&mdash;I will not. It would be out of the question. He would go to
+Ralph, and there would be a row, and I would not have it for worlds."
+Then she tried to smile. "Other girls are unhappy, and I don't see
+why I'm to be better off than the rest. I know I am a fool. You'll
+never be unhappy, because you are not a fool. But, Patience, I have
+told you everything, and if you are not true to me I will never
+forgive you." Patience promised that she would be true; and then they
+embraced and were friends.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c8" id="c8"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER VIII.</h3>
+<h4>RALPH NEWTON'S TROUBLES.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>July had come, the second week in July, and Ralph Newton had not as
+yet given any reply to that very definite proposition which had been
+made to him after the little dinner by Mr. Neefit. Now the
+proposition was one which certainly required an answer;&mdash;and all the
+effect which it had hitherto had upon our friend was to induce him
+not to include Conduit Street in any of his daily walks. It has
+already been said that before the offer was made to him, when he
+believed that Polly's fortune would be more than Mr. Neefit had been
+able to promise, he had determined that nothing should induce him to
+marry the daughter of a breeches-maker; and therefore the answer
+might have been easy. Nevertheless he made no answer, but kept out of
+Conduit Street, and allowed the three pair of breeches to be sent
+home to him without trying them on. This was very wrong; for Mr.
+Neefit, though perhaps indelicate, had at least been generous and
+trusting;&mdash;and a definite answer should have been given before the
+middle of July.</p>
+
+<p>Troubles were coming thick upon Ralph Newton. He had borrowed a
+hundred pounds from Mr. Neefit, but this he had done under pressure
+of a letter from his brother the parson. He owed the parson,&mdash;we will
+not say how much. He would get fifty pounds or a hundred from the
+parson every now and again, giving an assurance that it should be
+repaid in a month or six weeks. Sometimes the promise would be
+kept,&mdash;and sometimes not. The parson, as a bachelor, was undoubtedly
+a rich man. He had a living of &pound;400 a year, and some fortune of his
+own; but he had tastes of his own, and was repairing the Church at
+Peele Newton, his parish in Hampshire. It would therefore sometimes
+happen that he was driven to ask his brother for money. The hundred
+pounds which had been borrowed from Mr. Neefit had been sent down to
+Peele Newton with a mere deduction of &pound;25 for current expenses.
+Twenty-five pounds do not go far in current expenses in London with a
+man who is given to be expensive, and Ralph Newton was again in want
+of funds.</p>
+
+<p>And there were other troubles, all coming from want of money. Mr.
+Horsball, of the Moonbeam, who was generally known in the sporting
+world as a man who never did ask for his money, had remarked that as
+Mr. Newton's bill was now above a thousand, he should like a little
+cash. Mr. Newton's bill at two months for &pound;500 would be quite
+satisfactory. "Would Mr. Newton accept the enclosed document?" Mr.
+Newton did accept the document, but he didn't like it. How was he to
+pay &pound;500 in the beginning of September, unless indeed he got it from
+Mr. Neefit? He might raise money, no doubt, on his own interest in
+the Newton Priory estate. But that estate would never be his were he
+to die before his uncle, and he knew that assistance from the Jews on
+such security would ruin him altogether. Of his own property there
+was still a remnant left. He owned houses in London from which he
+still got some income. But they were mortgaged, and the title-deeds
+not in his possession, and his own attorney made difficulties about
+obtaining for him a further advance.</p>
+
+<p>He was sitting one bright July morning in his own room in St. James's
+Street, over a very late breakfast, with his two friends, Captain
+Fooks and Lieutenant Cox, when a little annoyance of a similar kind
+fell upon him;&mdash;a worse annoyance, indeed, than that which had come
+from Mr. Horsball, for Mr. Horsball had not been spiteful enough to
+call upon him. There came a knock at his door, and young Mr. Moggs
+was ushered into the room. Now Mr. Moggs was the son of Booby and
+Moggs, the well-known bootmakers of Old Bond Street; and the boots
+they had made for Ralph Newton had been infinite in number, as they
+had also, no doubt, been excellent in make and leather. But Booby and
+Moggs had of late wanted money, had written many letters, and for
+four months had not seen the face of their customer. When a gentleman
+is driven by his indebtedness to go to another tradesman, it is, so
+to say, "all up with him" in the way of credit. There is nothing the
+tradesman dislikes so much as this, as he fears that the rival is
+going to get the ready money after he has given the credit. And yet
+what is a gentleman to do when his demand for further goods at the
+old shop is met by a request for a little ready money? We know what
+Ralph Newton did at the establishment in Conduit Street. But then Mr.
+Neefit was a very peculiar man.</p>
+
+<p>Cox had just lighted his cigar, and Fooks was filling his pipe when
+Ontario Moggs entered the room. This rival in the regards of Polly
+Neefit was not at that time personally known to Ralph Newton; but the
+name, as mentioned by his servant, was painfully familiar to him.
+"Oh, Mr. Moggs,&mdash;ah;&mdash;it's your father, I suppose, that I know. Sit
+down, Mr. Moggs;&mdash;will you have a cup of tea;&mdash;or perhaps a glass of
+brandy? Take a cigar, Mr. Moggs." But Moggs declined all refreshment
+for the body. He was a tall, thin, young man, with long straggling
+hair, a fierce eye, very thick lips, and a flat nose,&mdash;a nose which
+seemed to be all nostril;&mdash;and then, below his mouth was a tuft of
+beard, which he called an imperial. It was the glory of Ontario Moggs
+to be a politician;&mdash;it was his ambition to be a poet;&mdash;it was his
+nature to be a lover;&mdash;it was his disgrace to be a bootmaker.
+Dependent on a stern father, and aware that it behoved him to earn
+his bread, he could not but obey; but he groaned under this servitude
+to trade, and was only happy when speaking at his debating club, held
+at the Cheshire Cheese, or when basking in the beauty of Polly
+Neefit. He was great upon Strikes,&mdash;in reference to which perilous
+subject he was altogether at variance with his father, who worshipped
+capital and hated unions. Ontario held horrible ideas about
+co-operative associations, the rights of labour, and the welfare of
+the masses. Thrice he had quarrelled with his father;&mdash;but the old
+man loved his son, and though he was stern, strove to bring the young
+man into the ways of money-making. How was he to think of marrying
+Polly Neefit,&mdash;as to the expediency of which arrangement Mr. Moggs
+senior quite agreed with Mr. Moggs junior,&mdash;unless he would show
+himself to be a man of business? Did he think that old Neefit would
+give his money to be wasted upon strikes? Ontario, who was as honest
+a fool as ever lived, told his father that he didn't care a straw for
+Neefit's money. Then Moggs the father had made a plunge against the
+counter with his sharp-pointed shoemaker's knife, which he always
+held in his hand, that had almost been fatal to himself; for the
+knife broke at the thrust, and the fragment cut his wrist. At this
+time there was no real Booby, and the firm was in truth Moggs, and
+Moggs only. The great question was whether it should become Moggs and
+Son. But what tradesman would take a partner into his firm who began
+by declaring that strikes were the safeguards of trade, and that
+he,&mdash;the proposed partner,&mdash;did not personally care for money?
+Nevertheless old Moggs persevered; and Ontario, alive to the fact
+that it was his duty to be a bootmaker, was now attempting to carry
+on his business in the manner laid down for him by his father.</p>
+
+<p>A worse dun,&mdash;a dun with less power of dunning,&mdash;than Ontario Moggs
+could not be conceived. His only strength lay in his helplessness.
+When he found that Mr. Newton had two friends with him, his lips were
+sealed. To ask for money at all was very painful to him, but to ask
+for it before three men was beyond his power. Ralph Newton, seeing
+something of this, felt that generosity demanded of him that he
+should sacrifice himself. "I'm afraid you've come about your bill,
+Mr. Moggs," he said. Ontario Moggs, who on the subject of Trades'
+Unions at the Cheshire Cheese could pour forth a flood of eloquence
+that would hold the room in rapt admiration, and then bring down a
+tumult of applause, now stammered out a half-expressed assent. "As
+Mr. Newton was engaged perhaps he had better call again."</p>
+
+<p>"Well;&mdash;thankee, yes. It would be as well. But what's the total, Mr.
+Moggs?" Ontario could not bring himself to mention the figures, but
+handed a paper to our friend. "Bless my soul! that's very bad," said
+our friend. "Over two hundred pounds for boots! How long can your
+father give me?"</p>
+
+<p>"He's a little pressed just at present," whispered Moggs.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes;&mdash;and he has my bill, which he was forced to take up at
+Christmas. It's quite true." Moggs said not a word, though he had
+been especially commissioned to instruct the debtor that his father
+would be forced to apply through his solicitor, unless he should
+receive at least half the amount due before the end of the next week.
+"Tell your father that I will certainly call within the next three
+days and tell him what I can do;&mdash;or, at least, what I can't do. You
+are sure you won't take a cigar?" Moggs was quite sure that he
+wouldn't take a cigar, and retired, thanking Ralph as though some
+excellent arrangement had been made which would altogether prevent
+further difficulties.</p>
+
+<p>"That's the softest chap I ever saw," said Lieutenant Cox.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish my fellows would treat me like that," said Captain Fooks.
+"But I never knew a fellow have the luck that Newton has. I don't
+suppose I owe a tenth of what you do."</p>
+
+<p>"That's your idea of luck?" said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"Well;&mdash;yes. I owe next to nothing, but I'll be hanged if I can get
+anything done for me without being dunned up to my very eyes. You
+know that chap of Neefit's? I'm blessed if he didn't ask me whether I
+meant to settle last year's bill, before he should send me home a
+couple of cords I ordered! Now I don't owe Neefit twenty pounds if
+all was told."</p>
+
+<p>"What did you do?" asked Lieutenant Cox.</p>
+
+<p>"I just walked out of the shop. Now I shall see whether they're sent
+or not. They tell me there's a fellow down at Rugby makes just as
+well as Neefit, and never bothers you at all. What do you owe Neefit,
+Newton?"</p>
+
+<p>"Untold sums."</p>
+
+<p>"But how much really?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you hear me say the sums are untold?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh; d&mdash;&mdash;n it; I don't understand that.
+I'm never dark about
+anything of that kind. I'll go bail it's more than five times what I
+do."</p>
+
+<p>"Very likely. If you had given your orders generously, as I have
+done, you would have been treated nobly. What good has a man in
+looking at twenty pounds on his books? Of course he must get in the
+small sums."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose there's something in that," said the captain thoughtfully.
+At this moment the conversation was interrupted by the entrance of
+another emissary,&mdash;an emissary from that very establishment to which
+they were alluding. It was Ralph Newton's orders that no one should
+ever be denied to him when he was really in his rooms. He had fought
+the battle long enough to know that such denials create unnecessary
+animosity. And then, as he said, they were simply the resources of a
+coward. It was the duty of a brave man to meet his enemy face to
+face. Fortune could never give him the opportunity of doing that
+pleasantly, in the field, as might happen any day to his happy
+friends, Captain Fooks and Lieutenant Cox; but he was determined that
+he would accustom himself to stand fire;&mdash;and that, therefore, he
+would never run away from a dun. Now there slipped very slowly into
+the room, that most mysterious person who was commonly called Herr
+Bawwah,&mdash;much to the astonishment of the three young gentlemen, as
+the celebrated cutter of leather had never previously been seen by
+either of them elsewhere than standing silent at his board in
+Neefit's shop, with his knife in his hands. They looked at one
+another, and the two military gentlemen thought that Mr. Neefit was
+very much in earnest when he sent Bawwah to look for his money. Mr.
+Neefit was very much in earnest; but on this occasion his emissary
+had not come for money. "What, Herr Bawwah;&mdash;is that you?" said
+Ralph, making the best he could of the name. "Is there anything wrong
+at the shop?" The German looked slowly round the room, and then
+handed to the owner of it a little note without a word.</p>
+
+<p>Ralph read the note,&mdash;to himself. It was written on one of the shop
+bills, and ran as follows:&mdash;"Have you thought of what I was saying?
+If so, I should be happy to see Mr. Newton either in Conduit Street
+or at Alexandrina Cottage." There was neither signature nor date.
+Ralph knew what he was called upon to do, as well as though four
+pages of an elaborate epistle had been indited to him. And he knew,
+too, that he was bound to give an answer. He asked the "Herr" to sit
+down, and prepared to write an answer at once. He offered the Herr a
+glass of brandy, which the Herr swallowed at a gulp. He handed the
+Herr a cigar, which the Herr pocketed;&mdash;and in gratitude for the
+latter favour some inarticulate grunt of thanks was uttered. Ralph at
+once wrote his reply, while the two friends smoked, looked on, and
+wondered. "Dear Mr. Neefit,&mdash;I will be with you at eleven to-morrow
+morning. Yours most truly, <span class="smallcaps">Ralph Newton</span>."
+This he handed, with
+another glass of brandy, to the Herr. The Herr swallowed the second
+glass,&mdash;as he would have done a third had it been offered to
+him,&mdash;and then took his departure.</p>
+
+<p>"That was another dun;&mdash;eh, Newton?" asked the lieutenant.</p>
+
+<p>"What a conjuror you are?" said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"I never heard of his sending Bawwah out before," said the captain.</p>
+
+<p>"He never does under two hundred and fifty pounds," said Ralph. "It's
+a mark of the greatest respect. If I wore nothing but brown cords,
+like you, I never should have seen the Herr here."</p>
+
+<p>"I never had a pair of brown cords in my life!" said the offended
+captain. After this the conversation fell away, and the two warriors
+went off to their military occupations at the Horse Guards, where, no
+doubt, the Commander-in-chief was waiting for them with impatience.</p>
+
+<p>Ralph Newton had much to think of, and much that required thinking of
+at once. Did he mean to make an offer to Clary Underwood? Did he mean
+to take Polly Neefit and her &pound;20,000? Did he mean to marry at all?
+Did he mean to go to the dogs? Had he ever in his life seen anybody
+half so beautiful as Mary Bonner? What was he to say to Mr. Moggs?
+How was he to manage about that &pound;500 which Horsball would demand of
+him in September? In what terms could he speak to Neefit of the money
+due both for breeches and the loan, in the event of his declining
+Polly? And then, generally, how was he to carry on the war? He was
+thoroughly disgusted with himself as he thought of all the evil that
+he had done, and of the good which he had omitted to do. While he was
+yet at college Sir Thomas had been anxious that he should be called
+to the Bar, and had again and again begged of him to consent to this
+as a commencement of his life in London. But Ralph had replied,&mdash;and
+had at last replied with so much decision that Sir Thomas had
+abandoned the subject,&mdash;that as it was out of the question that he
+should ever make money at the Bar, the fact of his being called would
+be useless to him. He argued that he need not waste his life because
+he was not a lawyer. It was not his intention to waste his life. He
+had a sufficient property of his own at once, and must inherit a much
+larger property later in life. He would not be called to the Bar, nor
+would he go into the army, nor would he go abroad for any lengthened
+course of travelling. He was fond of hunting, but he would keep his
+hunting within measure. Surely an English private gentleman might
+live to some profit in his own country! He would go out in honours,
+and take a degree, and then make himself happy among his books. Such
+had been his own plan for himself at twenty-one. At twenty-two he had
+quarrelled with the tutor at his college, and taken his name off the
+books without any degree. About this, too, he had argued with Sir
+Thomas, expressing a strong opinion that a university degree was in
+England, of all pretences, the most vain and hollow. At twenty-three
+he began his career at the Moonbeam with two horses,&mdash;and from that
+day to this hunting had been the chief aim of his life. During the
+last winter he had hunted six days a week,&mdash;assuring Sir Thomas,
+however, that at the end of that season his wild oats would have been
+sown as regarded that amusement, and that henceforth he should
+confine himself to two days a week. Since that he had justified the
+four horses which still remained at the Moonbeam by the alleged fact
+that horses were drugs in April, but would be pearls of price in
+November. Sir Thomas could only expostulate, and when he did so, his
+late ward and present friend, though he was always courteous, would
+always argue. Then he fell, as was natural, into intimacies with such
+men as Cox and Fooks. There was no special harm either in Cox or
+Fooks; but no one knew better than did Ralph Newton himself that they
+were not such friends as he had promised himself when he was younger.</p>
+
+<p>Fathers, guardians, and the race of old friends generally, hardly
+ever give sufficient credit to the remorse which young men themselves
+feel when they gradually go astray. They see the better as plainly as
+do their elders, though they so often follow the worse,&mdash;as not
+unfrequently do the elders also. Ralph Newton passed hardly a day of
+his life without a certain amount of remorse in that he had not
+managed himself better than he had done, and was now doing. He knew
+that Fortune had been very good to him, and that he had hitherto
+wasted all her gifts. And now there came the question whether it was
+as yet too late to retrieve the injury which he had done. He did
+believe,&mdash;not even as yet doubting his power to do well,&mdash;that
+everything might be made right, only that his money difficulties
+pressed him so hardly. He took pen and paper, and made out a list of
+his debts, heading the catalogue with Mr. Horsball of the Moonbeam.
+The amount, when added together, came to something over four thousand
+pounds, including a debt of three hundred to his brother the parson.
+Then he endeavoured to value his property, and calculated that if he
+sold all that was remaining to him he might pay what he owed, and
+have something about fifty pounds per annum left to live upon till he
+should inherit his uncle's property. But he doubted the accuracy even
+of this, knowing that new and unexpected debts will always crop up
+when the day of settlement arrives. Of course he could not live upon
+fifty pounds a year. It would have seemed to him to be almost equally
+impossible to live upon four times fifty pounds. He had given Sir
+Thomas a promise that he would not raise money on post-obits on his
+uncle's life, and hitherto he had kept that promise. He thought that
+he would be guilty of no breach of promise were he so to obtain
+funds, telling Sir Thomas of his purpose, and asking the lawyer's
+assistance; but he knew that if he did this all his chance of future
+high prosperity would be at an end. His uncle might live these twenty
+years, and in that time he, Ralph, might quite as readily die. Money
+might no doubt be raised, but this could only be done at a cost which
+would be utterly ruinous to him. There was one way out of his
+difficulty. He might marry a girl with money. A girl with money had
+been offered to him, and a girl, too, who was very pretty and very
+pleasant. But then, to marry the daughter of a breeches-maker!</p>
+
+<p>And why not? He had been teaching himself all his life to despise
+conventionalities. He had ridiculed degrees. He had laughed at the
+rank and standing of a barrister. "The rank is but the guinea
+stamp&mdash;the man's the gowd for a' that." How often had he declared to
+himself and others that that should be his motto through life. And
+might not he be as much a man, and would not his metal be as pure,
+with Polly Neefit for his wife as though he were to marry a duchess?
+As for love, he thought he could love Polly dearly. He knew that he
+had done some wrong in regard to poor Clary; but he by no means knew
+how much wrong he had done. A single word of love,&mdash;which had been so
+very much to her in her innocence,&mdash;had been so little to him who was
+not innocent. If he could allow himself to choose out of all the
+women he had ever seen, he would, he thought, instigated rather by
+the ambition of having the loveliest woman in the world for his wife
+than by any love, have endeavoured to win Mary Bonner as his own. But
+that was out of the question. Mary Bonner was as poor as himself;
+and, much as he admired her, he certainly could not tell himself that
+he loved her. Polly Neefit would pull him through all his
+difficulties. Nevertheless, he could not make up his mind to ask
+Polly Neefit to be his wife.</p>
+
+<p>But he must make up his mind either that he would or that he would
+not. He must see Mr. Neefit on the morrow;&mdash;and within the next few
+days he must call on Mr. Moggs, unless he broke his word. And in two
+months' time he must have &pound;500 for Mr. Horsball. Suppose he were to
+go to Sir Thomas, tell his whole story without reserve, and ask his
+old friend's advice! Everything without reserve he could not tell. He
+could say nothing to the father of that scene on the lawn with
+Clarissa. But of his own pecuniary difficulties, and of Mr. Neefit's
+generous offer, he was sure that he could tell the entire truth. He
+did go to Southampton Buildings, and after some harsh language
+between himself and Mr. Stemm,&mdash;Sir Thomas being away at the
+time,&mdash;he managed to make an appointment for nine o'clock that
+evening at his late guardian's chambers. At nine o'clock precisely he
+found himself seated with Sir Thomas, all among the books in
+Southampton Buildings. "Perhaps you'll have a cup of tea," said Sir
+Thomas. "Stemm, give us some tea." Ralph waited till the tea was
+handed to him and Stemm was gone. Then he told his story.</p>
+
+<p>He told it very fairly as against himself. He brought out his little
+account and explained to the lawyer how it was that he made himself
+out to be worth fifty pounds a year, and no more. "Oh, heavens, what
+a mess you have made of it!" said the lawyer, holding up both his
+hands. "No doubt I have," said Ralph,&mdash;"a terrible mess! But as I now
+come to you for advice hear me out to the end. You can say nothing as
+to my folly which I do not know already." "Go on," said Sir Thomas.
+"Go on,&mdash;I'll hear you." It may, however, be remarked, by the way,
+that when an old gentleman in Sir Thomas's position is asked his
+advice under such circumstances, he ought to be allowed to remark
+that he had prophesied all these things beforehand. "I told you so,"
+is such a comfortable thing to say! And when an old gentleman has
+taken much fruitless trouble about a young gentleman, he ought at
+least not to be interrupted in his remarks as to that young
+gentleman's folly. But Ralph was energetic, and, knowing that he had
+a point before him, would go on with his story. "And now," he said,
+"I am coming to a way of putting these things right which has been
+suggested to me. You won't like it, I know. But it would put me on my
+legs."</p>
+
+<p>"Raising money on your expectations?" said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"No;&mdash;that is what I must come to if this plan don't answer."</p>
+
+<p>"Anything will be better than that," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>Then Ralph dashed at the suggestion of marriage without further
+delay. "You have heard of Mr. Neefit, the breeches-maker!" It so
+happened that Sir Thomas never had heard of Mr. Neefit. "Well;&mdash;he is
+a tradesman in Conduit Street. He has a daughter, and he will give
+her twenty thousand pounds."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't mean to run away with the breeches-maker's daughter?"
+ejaculated Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly not. I shouldn't get the twenty thousand pounds if I did."
+Then he explained it all;&mdash;how Neefit had asked him to the house, and
+offered him the girl; how the girl herself was as pretty and nice as
+a girl could be; and how he thought,&mdash;though as to that he expressed
+himself with some humility,&mdash;that, were he to propose to her, the
+girl might perhaps take him.</p>
+
+<p>"I dare say she would," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"Well;&mdash;now you know it all. In her way, she has been educated.
+Neefit p&egrave;re is utterly illiterate and ignorant. He is an honest man,
+as vulgar as he can be,&mdash;or rather as unlike you and me, which is
+what men mean when they talk of vulgarity,&mdash;and he makes the best of
+breeches. Neefit m&egrave;re is worse than the father,&mdash;being cross and
+ill-conditioned, as far as I can see. Polly is as good as gold; and
+if I put a house over my head with her money, of course her father
+and her mother will be made welcome there. Your daughters would not
+like to meet them, but I think they could put up with Polly. Now you
+know about all that I can tell you."</p>
+
+<p>Ralph had been so rapid, so energetic, and withal so reasonable, that
+Sir Thomas, at this period of the interview, was unable to refer to
+any of his prophecies. What advice was he to give? Should he adjure
+this young man not to marry the breeches-maker's daughter because of
+the blood of the Newtons and the expected estate, or were he to do so
+even on the score of education and general unfitness, he must suggest
+some other mode or means of living. But how could he advise the
+future Newton of Newton Priory to marry Polly Neefit? The Newtons had
+been at Newton Priory for centuries, and the men Newtons had always
+married ladies, as the women Newtons had always either married
+gentlemen or remained unmarried. Sir Thomas, too, was of his nature,
+and by all his convictions, opposed to such matches. "You have hardly
+realised," said he, "what it would be to have such a father-in-law
+and such a mother-in-law;&mdash;or probably such a wife."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I have. I have realised all that."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course, if you have made up your mind&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"But I have not made up my mind, Sir Thomas. I must make it up before
+eleven o'clock to-morrow morning, because I must then be with
+Neefit,&mdash;by appointment. At this moment I am so much in doubt that I
+am almost inclined to toss up."</p>
+
+<p>"I would sooner cut my throat!" said Sir Thomas, forgetting his
+wisdom amidst the perplexities of his position.</p>
+
+<p>"Not quite that, Sir Thomas. I suppose you mean to say that anything
+would be better than such a marriage?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't suppose you care for the girl," said Sir Thomas, crossly.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not feel uneasy on that score. If I did not like her, and think
+that I could love her, I would have nothing to do with it. She
+herself is charming,&mdash;though I should lie if I were to say that she
+were a lady."</p>
+
+<p>"And the father offered her to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Most distinctly,&mdash;and named the fortune."</p>
+
+<p>"Knowing your own condition as to money?"</p>
+
+<p>"Almost exactly;&mdash;so much so that I do not doubt he will go on with
+it when he knows everything. He had heard about my uncle's property,
+and complimented me by saying that I am a,&mdash;gentleman."</p>
+
+<p>"He does not deserve to have a daughter," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know about that. According to his lights, he means to do the
+best he can for her. And, indeed, I think myself that he might do
+worse. She will probably become Mrs. Newton of Newton Priory if she
+marries me; and the investment of Neefit's twenty thousand pounds
+won't be so bad."</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing on earth can make her a lady."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not so sure of that," said Ralph. "Nothing on earth can make her
+mother a lady; but of Polly I should have hopes. You, however, are
+against it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly."</p>
+
+<p>"Then what ought I to do?" Sir Thomas rubbed the calf of his leg and
+was silent. "The only advice you have given me hitherto was to cut my
+throat," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I didn't. I don't know what you're to do. You've ruined
+yourself;&mdash;that's all."</p>
+
+<p>"But there is a way out of the ruin. In all emergencies there is a
+better and a worse course. What, now, is the better course?"</p>
+
+<p>"You don't know how to earn a shilling," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"No; I don't," said Ralph Newton.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas rubbed his face and scratched his head; but did not know
+how to give advice. "You have made your bed, and you must lie upon
+it," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Exactly;&mdash;but which way am I to get into it, and which way shall I
+get out?" Sir Thomas could only rub his face and scratch his head. "I
+thought it best to come and tell you everything," said Ralph. That
+was all very well, but Sir Thomas would not advise him to marry the
+breeches-maker's daughter.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a matter," Sir Thomas said at last, "in which you must be
+guided by your own feelings. I wish it were otherwise. I can say no
+more." Then Ralph took his leave, and wandered all round St. James's
+Park and the purlieus of Westminster till midnight, endeavouring to
+make up his mind, and building castles in the air, as to what he
+would do with himself, and how he would act, if he had not brought
+himself into so hopeless a mess of troubles.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c9" id="c9"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER IX.</h3>
+<h4>ONTARIO MOGGS.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>On the following morning Ralph Newton was in Conduit Street exactly
+at the hour named. He had not even then made up his mind;&mdash;but he
+thought that he might get an extension of the time allowed him for
+decision. After all, it was hardly a month yet since the proposition
+was made to him. He found Mr. Neefit in the back shop, measuring a
+customer. "I'll be with you in two minutes," said Mr. Neefit, just
+putting his head through the open door, and then going back to his
+work; "3&mdash;1&mdash;1/8, Waddle; Sir George isn't quite as stout as he was
+last year. Oh, no, Sir George; we won't tie you in too tight. Leave
+it to us, Sir George. The last pair too tight? Oh, no; I think not,
+Sir George. Perhaps your man isn't as careful in cleaning as he ought
+to be. Gentlemen's servants do get so careless, it quite sickens
+one!" So Mr. Neefit went on, and as Sir George was very copious in
+the instructions which he had to give,&mdash;all of which, by-the-bye,
+were absolutely thrown away,&mdash;Ralph Newton became tired of waiting.
+He remembered too that he was not there as a customer, but almost as
+a member of the family, and the idea sickened him. He bethought
+himself that on his first visit to Conduit Street he had seen his
+Polly in the shop, cutting up strips wherewith her father would
+measure gentlemen's legs. She must then have been nearly fifteen, and
+the occupation, as he felt, was not one fitting for the girl who was
+to be his wife. "Now, Mr. Newton," said Mr. Neefit, as Sir George at
+last left the little room. The day was hot, and Mr. Neefit had been
+at work in his shirt sleeves. Nor did he now put on his coat. He
+wiped his brow, put his cotton handkerchief inside his braces, and
+shook hands with our hero. "Well, Mr. Newton," he said, "what do you
+think of it? I couldn't learn much about it, but it seemed to me that
+you and Polly got on famous that night. I thought we'd have seen you
+out there again before this."</p>
+
+<p>"I couldn't come, Mr. Neefit, as long as there was a doubt."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, as to doubts,&mdash;doubts be bothered. Of course you must run your
+chance with Polly like any other man."</p>
+
+<p>"Just so."</p>
+
+<p>"But the way to get a girl like that isn't not to come and see her
+for a month. There are others after our Polly, I can tell you;&mdash;and
+men who would take her with nothing but her smock on."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm quite sure of that. No one can see her without admiring her."</p>
+
+<p>"Then what's the good of talking of doubts? I like you because you
+are a gentleman;&mdash;and I can put you on your legs, which, from all I
+hear, is a kind of putting you want bad enough just at present. Say
+the word, and come down to tea this evening."</p>
+
+<p>"The fact is, Mr. Neefit, this is a very serious matter."</p>
+
+<p>"Serious! Twenty thousand pounds is serious. There ain't a doubt
+about that. If you mean to say you don't like the bargain,"&mdash;and as
+he said this there came a black cloud upon Mr. Neefit's
+brow,&mdash;"you've only got to say the word. Our Polly is not to be
+pressed upon any man. But don't let's have any shilly-shallying."</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me one thing, Mr. Neefit."</p>
+
+<p>"Well;&mdash;what's that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Have you spoken to your daughter about this?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Neefit was silent for a moment, "Well, no; I haven't," he said.
+"But, I spoke to her mother, and women is always talking. Mind, I
+don't know what our Polly would say to you, but I do think she
+expects something. There's a chap lives nigh to us who used always to
+be sneaking round; but she has snubbed him terribly this month past.
+So my wife tells me. You come and try, Mr. Newton, and then you'll
+know all about it."</p>
+
+<p>Ralph was aware that he had not as yet begun to explain his
+difficulty to the anxious father. "You see, Mr. Neefit," he
+said,&mdash;and then he paused. It had been much easier for him to talk to
+Sir Thomas than to the breaches-maker.</p>
+
+<p>"If you don't like it,&mdash;say so," said Mr. Neefit;&mdash;"and don't let us
+have no shilly-shallying."</p>
+
+<p>"I do like it."</p>
+
+<p>"Then give us your hand, and come out this evening and have a bit of
+some'at to eat and a drop of some'at hot, and pop the question.
+That's about the way to do it."</p>
+
+<p>"Undoubtedly;&mdash;but marriage is such a serious thing!"</p>
+
+<p>"So it is serious,&mdash;uncommon serious to owe a fellow a lot of money
+you can't pay him. I call that very serious."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Neefit, I owe you nothing but what I can pay you."</p>
+
+<p>"You're very slow about it, Mr. Newton; that's all I can say. But I
+wasn't just talking of myself. After what's passed between you and me
+I ain't going to be hard upon you."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell you what, Mr. Neefit," said Ralph at last,&mdash;"of course you
+can understand that a man may have difficulties with his family."</p>
+
+<p>"Because of my being a breeches-maker?" said Neefit contemptuously.</p>
+
+<p>"I won't say that; but there may be difficulties."</p>
+
+<p>"Twenty thousand pounds does away with a deal of them things."</p>
+
+<p>"Just so;&mdash;but as I was saying, you can understand that there may be
+family difficulties. I only say that because I ought perhaps to have
+given you an answer sooner. I won't go down with you this evening."</p>
+
+<p>"You won't?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not to-night;&mdash;but I'll be with you on Saturday evening, if that
+will suit you."</p>
+
+<p>"Come and have a bit of dinner again on Sunday," said Neefit. Ralph
+accepted the invitation, shook hands with Neefit, and escaped from
+the shop.</p>
+
+<p>When he thought of it all as he went to his rooms, he told himself
+that he had now as good as engaged himself to Polly;&mdash;as good or as
+bad. Of course, after what had passed, he could not go to the house
+again without asking her to be his wife. Were he to do so Neefit
+would be justified in insulting him. And yet when he undertook to
+make this fourth visit to the cottage, he had done so with the
+intention of allowing himself a little more time for judgment. He saw
+plainly enough that he was going to allow himself to drift into this
+marriage without any real decision of his own. He prided himself on
+being strong, and how could any man be more despicably weak than
+this? It was, indeed, true that in all the arguments he had used with
+Sir Thomas he had defended the Neefit marriage as though it was the
+best course he could adopt;&mdash;and even Sir Thomas had not ultimately
+ventured to oppose it. Would it not be as well for him to consider
+that he had absolutely made up his mind to marry Polly?</p>
+
+<p>On the Friday he called at Mr. Moggs's house; Mr. Moggs senior was
+there, and Mr. Moggs junior, and also a shopman. "I was sorry," said
+he, "that when your son called, I had friends with me, and could
+hardly explain circumstances."</p>
+
+<p>"It didn't signify at all," said Moggs junior.</p>
+
+<p>"But it does signify, Mr. Newton," said Moggs senior, who on this
+morning was not in a good humour with his ledger. "Two hundred and
+seventeen pounds, three shillings and four-pence is a good deal of
+money for boots, Mr. Newton, You must allow that."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed it is, Mr. Moggs."</p>
+
+<p>"There hasn't been what you may call a settlement for years.
+Twenty-five pounds paid in the last two years!" and Mr. Moggs as he
+spoke had his finger on the fatal page. "That won't do, you know, Mr.
+Newton;&mdash;that won't do at all!" Mr. Moggs, as he looked into his
+customer's face, worked himself up into a passion. "But I suppose you
+have come to settle it now, Mr. Newton?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not exactly at this moment, Mr. Moggs."</p>
+
+<p>"It must be settled very soon, Mr. Newton;&mdash;it must indeed. My son
+can't be calling on you day after day, and all for nothing. We can't
+stand that you know, Mr. Newton. Perhaps you'll oblige me by saying
+when it will be settled." Then Ralph explained that he had called for
+that purpose, that he was making arrangements for paying all his
+creditors, and that he hoped that Mr. Moggs would have his money
+within three months at the farthest. Mr. Moggs then proposed that he
+should have his customer's bill at three months, and the interview
+ended by the due manufacture of a document to that effect. Ralph,
+when he entered the shop, had not intended to give a bill; but the
+pressure had been too great upon him, and he had yielded. It would
+matter little, however, if he married Polly Neefit. And had he not
+now accepted it as his destiny that he must marry Polly Neefit?</p>
+
+<p>The Saturday he passed in much trouble of spirit, and with many
+doubts; but the upshot of it all was that he would keep his
+engagement for the Sunday. His last chance of escape would have been
+to call in Conduit Street on the Saturday and tell Mr. Neefit, with
+such apologies as he might be able to make, that the marriage would
+not be suitable. While sitting at breakfast he had almost resolved to
+do this;&mdash;but when five o'clock came, after which, as he well knew,
+the breeches-maker would not be found, no such step had been taken.
+He dined that evening and went to the theatre with Lieutenant Cox. At
+twelve they were joined by Fooks and another gay spirit, and they eat
+chops and drank stout and listened to songs at Evans's till near two.
+Cox and Fooks said that they had never been so jolly in their
+lives;&mdash;but Ralph,&mdash;though he eat and drank as much and talked more
+than the others,&mdash;was far from happy. There came upon him a feeling
+that after to-morrow he would never again be able to call himself a
+gentleman. Who would associate with him after he had married the
+breeches-maker's daughter? He laid in bed late on Sunday, and
+certainly went to no place of worship. Would it not be well even yet
+to send a letter down to Neefit, telling him that the thing could not
+be? The man would be very angry with him, and would have great cause
+to be angry. But it would at least be better to do this now than
+hereafter. But when four o'clock came no letter had been sent.</p>
+
+<p>Punctually at five the cab set him down at Alexandrina Cottage. How
+well he seemed to know the place;&mdash;almost as well as though he were
+already one of the family. He was shown into the drawing-room, and
+whom should he see there, seated with Mr. and Mrs. and Miss Neefit,
+but Ontario Moggs. It was clear enough that each of the party was ill
+at ease. Neefit welcomed him with almost boisterous hospitality. Mrs.
+Neefit merely curtseyed and bobbed at him. Polly smiled, and shook
+hands with him, and told him that he was welcome;&mdash;but even Polly was
+a little beside herself. Ontario Moggs stood bolt upright and made
+him a low bow, but did not attempt to speak.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope your father is well," said Ralph, addressing himself to Moggs
+junior.</p>
+
+<p>"Pretty well, I thank you," said Mr. Moggs, getting up from his chair
+and bowing a second time.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Neefit waited for a moment or two during which no one except
+Ralph spoke a word, and then invited his intended son-in-law to
+follow him into the garden. "The fact is," said Neefit winking, "this
+is Mrs. N.'s doing. It don't make any difference, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't quite understand," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"You see we've known Onty Moggs all our lives, and no doubt he has
+been sweet upon Polly. But Polly don't care for him, mind you. You
+ask her. And Mrs. N. has got it into her head that she don't want you
+for Polly. But I do, Mr. Newton;&mdash;and I'm master."</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't for the world make a family quarrel."</p>
+
+<p>"There won't be no quarrelling. It's I as has the purse, and it's the
+purse as makes the master, Mr. Newton. Don't you mind Moggs. Moggs is
+very well in his way, but he ain't going to have our Polly. Well;&mdash;he
+come down here to-day, just by chance;&mdash;and what did Mrs. N. do but
+ask him to stop and eat a bit of dinner! It don't make any
+difference, you know. You come in now, and just go on as though Moggs
+weren't there. You and Polly shall have it all to yourselves this
+evening."</p>
+
+<p>Here was a new feature added to the pleasures of his courtship! He
+had a rival,&mdash;and such a rival;&mdash;his own bootmaker, whom he could not
+pay, and whose father had insulted him a day or two since. Moggs
+junior would of course know why his customer was dining at
+Alexandrina Cottage, and would have his own feelings, too, upon the
+occasion.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you mind him,&mdash;no more than nothing," said Neefit, leading the
+way back into the drawing-room, and passing at the top of the kitchen
+stairs the young woman with the bit of salmon.</p>
+
+<p>The dinner was not gay. In the first place, Neefit and Mrs. Neefit
+gave very explicit and very opposite directions as to the manner in
+which their guests were to walk in to dinner, the result of which was
+that Ralph was obliged to give his arm to the elder lady, while
+Ontario carried off the prize. Mrs. Neefit also gave directions as to
+the places, which were obeyed in spite of an attempt of Neefit's to
+contravene them. Ontario and Polly sat on one side of the table,
+while Ralph sat opposite to them. Neefit, when he saw that the
+arrangement was made and could not be altered, lost his temper and
+scolded his wife. "Law, papa, what does it matter?" said Polly.
+Polly's position certainly was unpleasant enough; but she made head
+against her difficulties gallantly. Ontario, who had begun to guess
+the truth, said not a word. He was not, however, long in making up
+his mind that a personal encounter with Mr. Ralph Newton might be
+good for his system. Mrs. Neefit nagged at her husband, and told him
+when he complained about the meat, that if he would look after the
+drinkables that would be quite enough for him to do. Ralph himself
+found it to be impossible even to look as though things were going
+right. Never in his life had he been in a position so
+uncomfortable,&mdash;or, as he thought, so disreputable. It was not to be
+endured that Moggs, his bootmaker, should see him sitting at the
+table of Neefit, his breeches-maker.</p>
+
+<p>The dinner was at last over, and the port-wine was carried out into
+the arbour;&mdash;not, on this occasion, by Polly, but by the maid. Polly
+and Mrs. Neefit went off together, while Ralph crowded into the
+little summer-house with Moggs and Neefit. In this way half an hour
+was passed,&mdash;a half hour of terrible punishment. But there was worse
+coming. "Mr. Newton," said Neefit, "I think I heard something about
+your taking a walk with our Polly. If you like to make a start of it,
+don't let us keep you. Moggs and I will have a pipe together."</p>
+
+<p>"I also intend to walk with Miss Neefit," said Ontario, standing up
+bravely.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table style="margin: 0 auto" cellpadding="4px">
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">
+      <a href="images/71-l.jpg">
+      <img src="images/71-t.jpg" width="322"
+      alt='"I also intend to walk with Miss Neefit,"
+           said Ontario, standing up bravely.' /></a>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">
+      <span class="caption">"I also intend to walk with Miss Neefit,"<br />
+      said Ontario, standing up bravely.<br />
+      Click to <a href="images/71-l.jpg">ENLARGE</a></span>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>"Two's company and three's none," said Neefit.</p>
+
+<p>"No doubt," said Ontario; "no doubt. I feel that myself. Mr. Newton,
+I've been attached to Miss Neefit these two years. I don't mind
+saying it out straight before her father. I love Miss Neefit! I don't
+know, sir, what your ideas are; but I love Miss Neefit! Perhaps, sir,
+your ideas may be money;&mdash;my ideas are a pure affection for that
+young lady. Now, Mr. Newton, you know what my ideas are." Mr. Moggs
+junior was standing up when he made this speech, and, when he had
+completed it, he looked round, first upon her father and then upon
+his rival.</p>
+
+<p>"She's never given you no encouragement," said Neefit. "How dare you
+speak in that way about my Polly?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do dare," said Ontario. "There!"</p>
+
+<p>"Will you tell Mr. Newton that she ever gave you any encouragement?"</p>
+
+<p>Ontario thought about it for a moment, before he replied. "No;&mdash;I
+will not," said he. "To say that of any young woman wouldn't be in
+accord with my ideas."</p>
+
+<p>"Because you can't. It's all gammon. She don't mean to have him, Mr.
+Newton. You may take my word for that. You go in and ask her if she
+do. A pretty thing indeed! I can't invite my friend, Mr. Newton, to
+eat a bit of dinner, and let him walk out with my Polly, but you must
+interfere. If you had her to-morrow you wouldn't have a shilling with
+her."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want a shilling with her!" said Ontario, still standing upon
+his legs. "I love her. Will Mr. Newton say as fair as that?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Newton found it very difficult to say anything. Even had he been
+thoroughly intent on the design of making Polly his wife, he could
+not have brought himself to declare his love aloud, as had just been
+done by Mr. Moggs. "This is a sort of matter that shouldn't be
+discussed in public," he said at last.</p>
+
+<p>"Public or private, I love her!" said Ontario Moggs with his hand on
+his heart.</p>
+
+<p>Polly herself was certainly badly treated among them. She got no walk
+that evening, and received no assurance of undying affection either
+from one suitor or the other. It became manifest even to Neefit
+himself that the game could not be played out on this evening. He
+could not turn Moggs off the premises, because his wife would have
+interfered. Nor, had he done so, would it have been possible, after
+such an affair to induce Polly to stir from the house. She certainly
+had been badly used among them; and so she took occasion to tell her
+father when the visitors were both gone. They left the house together
+at about eight, and Polly at that time had not reappeared. Moggs went
+to the nearest station of the Midland Railway, and Ralph walked to
+the Swiss Cottage. Certainly Mr. Neefit's little dinner had been
+unsuccessful; but Ralph Newton, as he went back to London, was almost
+disposed to think that Providence had interposed to save him.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell you what it is, father," said Polly to her papa, as soon
+as the two visitors had left the house, "if that's the way you are
+going to go on, I'll never marry anybody as long as I live."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear, it was all your mother," said Mr. Neefit. "Now wasn't it
+all your mother? I wish she'd been blowed fust!"</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c10" id="c10"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER X.</h3>
+<h4>SIR THOMAS IN HIS CHAMBERS.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>It will be remembered that Sir Thomas Underwood had declined to give
+his late ward any advice at that interview which took place in
+Southampton Buildings;&mdash;or rather that the only advice which he had
+given to the young man was to cut his throat. The idle word had left
+no impression on Ralph Newton;&mdash;but still it had been spoken, and was
+remembered by Sir Thomas. When he was left alone after the young
+man's departure he was very unhappy. It was not only that he had
+spoken a word so idle when he ought to have been grave and wise, but
+that he felt that he had been altogether remiss in his duty as guide,
+philosopher, and friend. There were old sorrows, too, on this score.
+In the main Sir Thomas had discharged well a most troublesome,
+thankless, and profitless duty towards the son of a man who had not
+been related to him, and with whom an accidental intimacy had been
+ripened into friendship by letter rather than by social intercourse.
+Ralph Newton's father had been the younger brother of the present
+Gregory Newton, of Newton Priory, and had been the parson of the
+parish of Peele Newton,&mdash;as was now Ralph's younger brother, Gregory.
+The present squire of Newton had been never married, and the
+property, as has before been said, had been settled on Ralph, as the
+male heir,&mdash;provided, of course, that his uncle left no legitimate
+son of his own. It had come to pass that the two brothers, Gregory
+and Ralph, had quarrelled about matters of property, and had not
+spoken for years before the death of the younger. Ralph at this time
+had been just old enough to be brought into the quarrel. There had
+been questions of cutting timber and of leases, as to which the
+parson, acting on his son's behalf, had opposed the Squire with much
+unnecessary bitterness and suspicion. And it was doubtless the case
+that the Squire resented bitterly an act done by his own father with
+the view of perpetuating the property in the true line of the
+Newtons. For when the settlement was made on the marriage of the
+younger brother, the elder was already the father of a child, whom he
+loved none the less because that child's mother had not become his
+wife. So the quarrel had been fostered, and at the time of the
+parson's death had extended itself to the young man who was his son,
+and the heir to the estate. When on his death-bed, the parson had
+asked Mr. Underwood, who had just then entered the House of Commons,
+to undertake this guardianship; and the lawyer, with many doubts, had
+consented. He had striven, but striven in vain, to reconcile the
+uncle and nephew. And, indeed, he was ill-fitted to accomplish such
+task. He could only write letters on the subject, which were very
+sensible but very cold;&mdash;in all of which he would be careful to
+explain that the steps which had been taken in regard to the property
+were in strict conformity with the law. The old Squire would have
+nothing to do with his heir,&mdash;in which resolution he was strengthened
+by the tidings which reached him of his heir's manner of living. He
+was taught to believe that everything was going to the dogs with the
+young man, and was wont to say that Newton Priory, with all its
+acres, would be found to have gone to the dogs too when his day was
+done;&mdash;unless, indeed, Ralph should fortunately kill himself by drink
+or evil living, in which case the property would go to the younger
+Gregory, the present parson. Now the present parson of Newton was his
+uncle's friend. Whether that friendship would have been continued had
+Ralph died and the young clergyman become the heir, may be matter of
+doubt.</p>
+
+<p>This disagreeable duty of guardianship Sir Thomas had performed with
+many scruples of conscience, and a determination to do his best;&mdash;and
+he had nearly done it well. But he was a man who could not do it
+altogether well, let his scruples of conscience be what they might.
+He had failed in obtaining a father's control over the young man; and
+even in regard to the property which had passed through his
+hands,&mdash;though he had been careful with it,&mdash;he had not been adroit.
+Even at this moment things had not been settled which should have
+been settled; and Sir Thomas had felt, when Ralph had spoken of
+selling all that remained to him and of paying his debts, that there
+would be fresh trouble, and that he might be forced to own that he
+had been himself deficient.</p>
+
+<p>And then he told himself,&mdash;and did so as soon as Ralph had left
+him,&mdash;that he should have given some counsel to the young man when he
+came to ask for it. "You had better cut your throat!" In his troubled
+spirit he had said that, and now his spirit was troubled the more
+because he had so spoken. He sat for hours thinking of it all. Ralph
+Newton was the undoubted heir to a very large property. He was now
+embarrassed,&mdash;but all his present debts did not amount to much more
+than half one year's income of that property which would be
+his,&mdash;probably in about ten years. The Squire might live for twenty
+years, or might die to-morrow; but his life-interest in the estate,
+according to the usual calculations, was not worth more than ten
+years' purchase. Could he, Sir Thomas, have been right to tell a
+young man, whose prospects were so good, and whose debts, after all,
+were so light, that he ought to go and cut his throat, as the only
+way of avoiding a disreputable marriage which would otherwise be
+forced upon him by the burden of his circumstances? Would not a
+guardian, with any true idea of his duty, would not a friend, whose
+friendship was in any degree real, have found a way out of such
+difficulties as these?</p>
+
+<p>And then as to the marriage itself,&mdash;the proposed marriage with the
+breeches-maker's daughter,&mdash;the more Sir Thomas thought of it the
+more distasteful did it become to him. He knew that Ralph was unaware
+of all the evil that would follow such a marriage;&mdash;relatives whose
+every thought and action and word would be distasteful to him;
+children whose mother would not be a lady, and whose blood would be
+polluted by an admixture so base;&mdash;and, worse still, a life's
+companion who would be deficient in all those attributes which such a
+man as Ralph Newton should look for in a wife. Sir Thomas was a man
+to magnify rather than lessen these evils. And now he allowed his
+friend,&mdash;a man for whose behalf he had bound himself to use all the
+exercise of friendship,&mdash;to go from him with an idea that nothing but
+suicide could prevent this marriage, simply because there was an
+amount of debt, which, when compared with the man's prospects, should
+hardly have been regarded as a burden! As he thought of all this Sir
+Thomas was very unhappy.</p>
+
+<p>Ralph had left him at about ten o'clock, and he then sat brooding
+over his misery for about an hour. It was his custom when he remained
+in his chambers to tell his clerk, Stemm, between nine and ten that
+nothing more would be wanted. Then Stemm would go, and Sir Thomas
+would sleep for a while in his chair. But the old clerk never stirred
+till thus dismissed. It was now eleven, and Sir Thomas knew very well
+that Stemm would be in his closet. He opened the door and called, and
+Stemm, aroused from his slumbers, slowly crept into the room.
+"Joseph," said his master, "I want Mr. Ralph's papers."</p>
+
+<p>"To-night, Sir Thomas?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well;&mdash;yes, to-night. I ought to have told you when he went away,
+but I was thinking of things."</p>
+
+<p>"So I was thinking of things," said Stemm, as he very slowly made his
+way into the other room, and, climbing up a set of steps which stood
+there, pulled down from an upper shelf a tin box,&mdash;and with it a
+world of dust. "If you'd have said before that they'd be wanted, Sir
+Thomas, there wouldn't be such a deal of dry muck," said Stemm, as he
+put down the box on a chair opposite Sir Thomas's knees.</p>
+
+<p>"And now where is the key?" said Sir Thomas. Stemm shook his head
+very slowly. "You know, Stemm;&mdash;where is it?"</p>
+
+<p>"How am I to know, Sir Thomas? I don't know, Sir Thomas. It's like
+enough in one of those drawers." Then Stemm pointed to a certain
+table, and after a while slowly followed his own finger. The drawer
+was unlocked, and under various loose papers there lay four or five
+loose keys. "Like enough it's one of these," said Stemm.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course you knew where it was," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't know nothing at all about it," said Stemm, bobbing his head
+at his master, and making at the same time a gesture with his lips,
+whereby he intended to signify that his master was making a fool of
+himself. Stemm was hardly more than five feet high, and was a wizened
+dry old man, with a very old yellow wig. He delighted in scolding all
+the world, and his special delight was in scolding his master. But
+against all the world he would take his master's part, and had no
+care in the world except his master's comfort. When Sir Thomas passed
+an evening at Fulham, Stemm could do as he pleased with himself; but
+they were blank evenings with Stemm when Sir Thomas was away. While
+Sir Thomas was in the next room, he always felt that he was in
+company, but when Sir Thomas was away, all London, which was open to
+him, offered him no occupation. "That's the key," said Stemm, picking
+out one; "but it wasn't I as put it there; and you didn't tell me as
+it was there, and I didn't know it was there. I guessed,&mdash;just
+because you do chuck things in there, Sir Thomas."</p>
+
+<p>"What does it matter, Joseph?" said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"It does matter when you say I knowed. I didn't know,&mdash;nor I couldn't
+know. There's the key anyhow."</p>
+
+<p>"You can go now, Joseph," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"Good night, Sir Thomas," said Stemm, retiring slowly, "but I didn't
+know, Sir Thomas,&mdash;nor I couldn't know." Then Sir Thomas unlocked the
+box, and gradually surrounded himself with the papers which he took
+from it. It was past one o'clock before he again began to think what
+he had better do to put Ralph Newton on his legs, and to save him
+from marrying the breeches-maker's daughter. He sat meditating on
+that and other things as they came into his mind for over an hour,
+and then he wrote the following letter to old Mr. Newton. Very many
+years had passed since he had seen Mr. Newton,&mdash;so many that the two
+men would not have known each other had they met; but there had been
+an occasional correspondence between them, and they were presumed to
+be on amicable terms with each other.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="jright">Southampton Buildings, 14th July, 186&mdash;.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">Dear Sir</span>,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>I wish to consult you about the affairs of your heir and
+my late ward, Ralph Newton. Of course I am aware of the
+unfortunate misunderstanding which has hitherto separated
+you from him, as to which I believe you will be willing to
+allow that he, at least, has not been in fault. Though his
+life has by no means been what his friends could have
+wished it, he is a fine young fellow; and perhaps his
+errors have arisen as much from his unfortunate position
+as from any natural tendency to evil on his own part. He
+has been brought up to great expectations, with the
+immediate possession of a small fortune. These together
+have taught him to think that a profession was unnecessary
+for him, and he has been debarred from those occupations
+which generally fall in the way of the heir to a large
+landed property by the unfortunate fact of his entire
+separation from the estate which will one day be his. Had
+he been your son instead of your nephew, I think that his
+life would have been prosperous and useful.</p>
+
+<p>As it is, he has got into debt, and I fear that the
+remains of his own property will not more than suffice to
+free him from his liabilities. Of course he could raise
+money on his interest in the Newton estate. Hitherto he
+has not done so; and I am most anxious to save him from a
+course so ruinous;&mdash;as you will be also, I am sure. He has
+come to me for advice, and I grieve to say, has formed a
+project of placing himself right again as regards money by
+offering marriage to the daughter of a retail tradesman. I
+have reason to believe that hitherto he has not committed
+himself; but I think that the young woman's father would
+accept the offer, if made. The money, I do not doubt,
+would be forthcoming; but the result could not be
+fortunate. He would then have allied himself with people
+who are not fit to be his associates, and he would have
+tied himself to a wife who, whatever may be her merits as
+a woman, cannot be fit to be the mistress of Newton
+Priory. But I have not known what advice to give him. I
+have pointed out to him the miseries of such a match; and
+I have also told him how surely his prospects for the
+future would be ruined, were he to attempt to live on
+money borrowed on the uncertain security of his future
+inheritance. I have said so much as plainly as I know how
+to say it;&mdash;but I have been unable to point out a third
+course. I have not ventured to recommend him to make any
+application to you.</p>
+
+<p>It seems, however, to me, that I should be remiss in my
+duty both to him and to you were I not to make you
+acquainted with his circumstances,&mdash;so that you may
+interfere, should you please to do so, either on his
+behalf or on behalf of the property. Whatever offence
+there may have been, I think there can have been none
+personally from him to yourself. I beg you to believe that
+I am far from being desirous to dictate to you, or to
+point out to you this or that as your duty; but I venture
+to think that you will be obliged to me for giving you
+information which may lead to the protection of interests
+which cannot but be dear to you. In conclusion, I will
+only again say that Ralph himself is clever,
+well-conditioned, and, as I most truly believe, a thorough
+gentleman. Were the intercourse between you that of a
+father and son, I think you would feel proud of the
+relationship.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="ind8">I remain, dear sir,</span><br />
+<span class="ind10">Very faithfully yours,</span></p>
+
+<p class="ind12"><span class="smallcaps">Thomas Underwood</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">Gregory Newton, Esq., Newton Priory.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>This was written on Friday night, and was posted on the Saturday
+morning by the faithful hand of Joseph Stemm;&mdash;who, however, did not
+hesitate to declare to himself, as he read the address, that his
+master was a fool for his pains. Stemm had never been favourable to
+the cause of young Newton, and had considered from the first that Sir
+Thomas should have declined the trust that had been imposed upon him.
+What good was to be expected from such a guardianship? And as things
+had gone on, proving Stemm's prophecies as to young Newton's career
+to be true, that trusty clerk had not failed to remind his master of
+his own misgivings. "I told you so," had been repeated by Stemm over
+and over again, in more phrases than one, until the repetition had
+made Sir Thomas very angry. Sir Thomas, when he gave the letter to
+Stemm for posting, said not a word of the contents; but Stemm knew
+something of old Mr. Gregory Newton and the Newton Priory estate.
+Stemm, moreover, could put two and two together. "He's a fool for his
+pains;&mdash;that's all," said Stemm, as he poked the letter into the box.</p>
+
+<p>During the whole of the next day the matter troubled Sir Thomas. What
+if Ralph should go at once to the breeches-maker's daughter,&mdash;the
+thought of whom made Sir Thomas very sick,&mdash;and commit himself before
+an answer should be received from Mr. Newton? It was only on Sunday
+that an idea struck him that he might still do something further to
+avoid the evil;&mdash;and with this object he despatched a note to Ralph,
+imploring him to wait for a few days before he would take any steps
+towards the desperate remedy of matrimony. Then he begged Ralph to
+call upon him again on the Wednesday morning. This note Ralph did not
+get till he went home on the Sunday evening;&mdash;at which time, as the
+reader knows, he had not as yet committed himself to the desperate
+remedy.</p>
+
+<p>On the following Tuesday Sir Thomas received the following letter
+from Mr. <span class="nowrap">Newton:&mdash;</span><br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="jright">Newton Priory, 17th July, 186&mdash;.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">Dear Sir</span>,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>I have received your letter respecting Mr. Ralph Newton's
+affairs, in regard to which, as far as they concern
+himself, I am free to say that I do not feel much
+interest. But you are quite right in your suggestion that
+my solicitude in respect of the family property is very
+great. I need not trouble you by pointing out the nature
+of my solicitude, but may as well at once make an offer to
+you, which you, as Mr. Ralph Newton's friend, and as an
+experienced lawyer, can consider,&mdash;and communicate to him,
+if you think right to do so.</p>
+
+<p>It seems that he will be driven to raise money on his
+interest in this property. I have always felt that he
+would do so, and that from the habits of his life the
+property would be squandered before it came into his
+possession. Why should he not sell his reversion, and why
+should I not buy it? I write in ignorance, but I presume
+such an arrangement would be legal and honourable on my
+part. The sum to be given would be named without
+difficulty by an actuary. I am now fifty-five, and, I
+believe, in good health. You yourself will probably know
+within a few thousand pounds what would be the value of
+the reversion. A proper person would, however, be of
+course employed.</p>
+
+<p>I have saved money, but by no means enough for such an
+outlay as this. I would, however, mortgage the property or
+sell one half of it, if by doing so I could redeem the
+other half from Mr. Ralph Newton.</p>
+
+<p>You no doubt will understand exactly the nature of my
+offer, and will let me have an answer. I do not know that
+I can in any other way expedite Mr. Ralph Newton's course
+in life.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="ind8">I am, dear sir,</span><br />
+<span class="ind10">Faithfully yours,</span></p>
+
+<p class="ind12"><span class="smallcaps">Gregory
+Newton</span>, Senior.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>When Sir Thomas read this he was almost in greater doubt and
+difficulty than before. The measure proposed by the elder Newton was
+no doubt legal and honourable, but it could hardly be so carried out
+as to be efficacious. Ralph could only sell his share of the
+inheritance;&mdash;or rather his chance of inheriting the estate. Were he
+to die without a son before his uncle, then his brother would be the
+heir. The arrangement, however, if practicable, would at once make
+all things comfortable for Ralph, and would give him, probably, a
+large unembarrassed revenue,&mdash;so large, that the owner of it need
+certainly have recourse to no discreditable marriage as the means of
+extricating himself from present calamity. But then Sir Thomas had
+very strong ideas about a family property. Were Ralph's affairs,
+indeed, in such disorder as to make it necessary for him to abandon
+the great prospect of being Newton of Newton? If the breeches-maker's
+twenty thousand would suffice, surely the thing could be done on
+cheaper terms than those suggested by the old Squire,&mdash;and done
+without the intervention of Polly Neefit!</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c11" id="c11"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XI.</h3>
+<h4>NEWTON PRIORY.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>Newton Priory was at this time inhabited by two gentlemen,&mdash;old
+Gregory Newton, who for miles round was known as the Squire; and his
+son, Ralph Newton,&mdash;his son, but not his heir; a son, however, whom
+he loved as well as though he had been born with an undoubted right
+to inherit all those dearly-valued acres. A few lines will tell all
+that need be told of the Squire's early life,&mdash;and indeed of his life
+down to the present period. In very early days, immediately upon his
+leaving college, he had travelled abroad and had formed an attachment
+with a German lady, who by him became the mother of a child. He
+intended to marry her, hoping to reconcile his father to the match;
+but before either marriage or reconciliation could take place the
+young mother, whose babe's life could then only be counted by months,
+was dead. In the hope that the old man might yield in all things, the
+infant had been christened Ralph; for the old Squire's name was
+Ralph, and there had been a Ralph among the Newtons since Newton
+Priory had existed. But the old Squire had a Ralph of his own,&mdash;the
+father of our Ralph and of the present parson,&mdash;who in his time was
+rector of Peele Newton; and when the tidings of this foreign baby and
+of the proposed foreign marriage reached the old Squire,&mdash;then he
+urged his second son to marry, and made the settlement of the estate
+of which the reader has heard. The settlement was natural enough. It
+simply entailed the property on the male heir of the family in the
+second generation. It deprived the eldest son of nothing that would
+be his in accordance with the usual tenure of English primogeniture.
+Had he married and become the father of a family, his eldest son
+would have been the heir. But heretofore there had been no such
+entails in the Newton family; or, at least, he was pleased to think
+that there had been none such. And when he himself inherited the
+property early in life,&mdash;before he had reached his thirtieth
+year,&mdash;he thought that his father had injured him. His boy was as
+dear to him, as though the mother had been his honest wife. Then he
+endeavoured to come to some terms with his brother. He would do
+anything in order that his child might be Newton of Newton after him.
+But the parson would come to no terms at all, and was powerless to
+make any such terms as those which the elder brother required. The
+parson was honest, self-denying, and proud on behalf of his own
+children; but he was intrusive in regard to the property, and apt to
+claim privileges of interference beyond his right as the guardian of
+his own or of his children's future interests. And so the brothers
+had quarrelled;&mdash;and so the story of Newton Priory is told up to the
+period at which our story begins.</p>
+
+<p>Gregory Newton and his son Ralph had lived together at the Priory for
+the last six-and-twenty years, and the young man had grown up as a
+Newton within the knowledge of all the gentry around them. The story
+of his birth was public, and it was of course understood that he was
+not the heir. His father had been too wise on the son's behalf to
+encourage any concealment. The son was very popular, and deserved to
+be so; but it was known to all the young men round, and also to all
+the maidens, that he would not be Newton of Newton. There had been no
+ill-contrived secret, sufficient to make a difficulty, but not
+sufficient to save the lad from the pains of his position. Everybody
+knew it; and yet it can hardly be said that he was treated otherwise
+than he would have been treated had he been the heir. In the
+hunting-field there was no more popular man. A point had been
+stretched in his favour, and he was a magistrate. Mothers were kind
+to him, for it was known that his father loved him well, and that his
+father had been a prudent man. In all respects he was treated as
+though he were the heir. He managed the shooting, and was the trusted
+friend of all the tenants. Doubtless his father was the more
+indulgent to him because of the injury that had been done to him.
+After all, his life promised well as to material prosperity; for,
+though the Squire, in writing to Sir Thomas, had spoken of selling
+half the property with the view of keeping the other half for his
+son, he was already possessed of means that would enable him to make
+the proposed arrangement without such sacrifice as that. For
+twenty-four years he had felt that he was bound to make a fortune for
+his son out of his own income. And he had made a fortune, and mothers
+knew it, and everybody in the county was very civil to Ralph,&mdash;to
+that Ralph who was not the heir.</p>
+
+<p>But the Squire had never yet quite abandoned the hope that Ralph who
+was not the heir might yet possess the place; and when he heard of
+his nephew's doings, heard falsehood as well as truth, from day to
+day he built up new hopes. He had not expected any such overture as
+that which had come from Sir Thomas; but if, as he did expect, Ralph
+the heir should go to the Jews, why should not the Squire purchase
+the Jews' interest in his own estate? Or, if Ralph the heir should,
+more wisely, deal with some great money-lending office, why should
+not he redeem the property through the same? Ralph the heir would
+surely throw what interest he had into the market, and if so, that
+interest might be bought by the person to whom it must be of more
+value than to any other. He had said little about it even to his
+son;&mdash;but he had hoped; and now had come this letter from Sir Thomas.
+The reader knows the letter and the Squire's answer.</p>
+
+<p>The Squire himself was a very handsome man, tall, broad-shouldered,
+square-faced, with hair and whiskers almost snow-white already, but
+which nevertheless gave to him but little sign of age. He was very
+strong, and could sit in the saddle all day without fatigue. He was
+given much to farming, and thoroughly understood the duties of a
+country gentleman. He was hospitable, too; for, though money had been
+saved, the Priory had ever been kept as one of the pleasantest houses
+in the county. There had been no wife, no child but the one, and no
+house in London. The stables, however, had been full of hunters: and
+it was generally said that no men in Hampshire were better mounted
+than Gregory the father and Ralph the son. Of the father we will only
+further say that he was a generous, passionate, persistent,
+vindictive, and unforgiving man, a bitter enemy and a staunch friend;
+a thorough-going Tory, who, much as he loved England and Hampshire
+and Newton Priory, feared that they were all going to the dogs
+because of Mr. Disraeli and household suffrage; but who felt, in
+spite of those fears, that to make his son master of Newton Priory
+after him would be the greatest glory of his life. He had sworn to
+the young mother on her death-bed that the boy should be to him as
+though he had been born in wedlock. He had been as good as his
+word;&mdash;and we may say that he was one who had at least that virtue,
+that he was always as good as his word.</p>
+
+<p>The son was very like the father in face and gait and bearing,&mdash;so
+like that the parentage was marked to the glance of any observer. He
+was tall, as was his father, and broad across the chest, and strong
+and active, as his father had ever been. But his face was of a nobler
+stamp, bearing a surer impress of intellect, and in that respect
+telling certainly the truth. This Ralph Newton had been educated
+abroad, his father, with a morbid feeling which he had since done
+much to conquer, having feared to send him among other young men, the
+sons of squires and noblemen, who would have known that their comrade
+was debarred by the disgrace of his birth from inheriting the
+property of his father. But it may be doubted whether he had not
+gained as much as he had lost. German and French were the same to him
+as his native tongue; and he returned to the life of an English
+country gentleman young enough to learn to ride to hounds, and to
+live as he found others living around him.</p>
+
+<p>Very little was said, or indeed ever had been said, between the
+father and son as to their relative position in reference to the
+property. Ralph,&mdash;the illegitimate Ralph,&mdash;knew well enough and had
+always known, that the estate was not to be his. He had known this so
+long that he did not remember the day when he had not known it.
+Occasionally the Squire would observe with a curse that this or that
+could not be done with the property,&mdash;such a house pulled down, or
+such another built, this copse grupped up, or those trees cut
+down,&mdash;because of that reprobate up in London. As to pulling down,
+there was no probability of interference now, though there had been
+much of such interference in the life of the old rector. "Ralph," he
+had once said to his brother the rector, "I'll marry and have a
+family yet if there is another word about the timber." "I have not
+the slightest right or even wish to object to your doing so," said
+the rector; "but as long as things are on their present footing, I
+shall continue to do my duty." Soon after that it had come to pass
+that the brothers so quarrelled that all intercourse between them was
+at an end. Such revenge, such absolute punishment as that which the
+Squire had threatened, would have been very pleasant to him;&mdash;but not
+even for such pleasure as that would he ruin the boy whom he loved.
+He did not marry, but saved money, and dreamed of buying up the
+reversion of his nephew's interest.</p>
+
+<p>His son was just two years older than our Ralph up in London, and his
+father was desirous that he should marry. "Your wife would be
+mistress of the house,&mdash;as long as I live, at least," he had once
+said. "There are difficulties about it," said the son. Of course
+there were difficulties. "I do not know whether it is not better that
+I should remain unmarried," he said, a few minutes later. "There are
+men whom marriage does not seem to suit,&mdash;I mean as regards their
+position." The father turned away, and groaned aloud when he was
+alone. On the evening of that day, as they were sitting together over
+their wine, the son alluded, not exactly to the same subject, but to
+the thoughts which had arisen from it within his own mind. "Father,"
+he said, "I don't know whether it wouldn't be better for you to make
+it up with my cousin, and have him down here."</p>
+
+<p>"What cousin?" said the Squire, turning sharply round.</p>
+
+<p>"With Gregory's eldest brother." The reader will perhaps remember
+that the Gregory of that day was the parson. "I believe he is a good
+fellow, and he has done you no harm."</p>
+
+<p>"He has done me all harm."</p>
+
+<p>"No; father; no. We cannot help ourselves, you know. Were he to die,
+Gregory would be in the same position. It would be better that the
+family should be kept together."</p>
+
+<p>"I would sooner have the devil here. No consideration on earth shall
+induce me to allow him to put his foot upon this place. No;&mdash;not
+whilst I live." The son said nothing further, and they sat together
+in silence for some quarter of an hour,&mdash;after which the elder of the
+two rose from his chair, and, coming round the table, put his hand on
+the son's shoulder, and kissed his son's brow. "Father," said the
+young man, "you think that I am troubled by things which hardly touch
+me at all." "By God, they touch me close enough!" said the elder.
+This had taken place some month or two before the date of Sir
+Thomas's letter;&mdash;but any reference to the matter of which they were
+both no doubt always thinking was very rare between them.</p>
+
+<p>Newton Priory was a place which a father might well wish to leave
+unimpaired to his son. It lay in the north of Hampshire, where that
+county is joined to Berkshire; and perhaps in England there is no
+prettier district, no country in which moorland and woodland and
+pasture are more daintily thrown together to please the eye, in which
+there is a sweeter air, or a more thorough seeming of English wealth
+and English beauty and English comfort. Those who know Eversley and
+Bramshill and Heckfield and Strathfieldsaye will acknowledge that it
+is so. But then how few are the Englishmen who travel to see the
+beauties of their own country! Newton Priory, or Newton Peele as the
+parish was called, lay somewhat west of these places, but was as
+charming as any of them. The entire parish belonged to Mr. Newton, as
+did portions of three or four parishes adjoining. The house itself
+was neither large nor remarkable for its architecture;&mdash;but it was
+comfortable. The rooms indeed were low, for it had been built in the
+ungainly days of Queen Anne, with additions in the equally ungainly
+time of George II., and the passages were long and narrow, and the
+bedrooms were up and down stairs, as though pains had been taken that
+no two should be on a level; and the windows were of ugly shape, and
+the whole mass was uncouth and formless,&mdash;partaking neither of the
+Gothic beauty of the Stuart architecture, nor of the palatial
+grandeur which has sprung up in our days; and it stood low, giving
+but little view from the windows. But, nevertheless, there was a
+family comfort and a warm solidity about the house, which endeared it
+to those who knew it well. There had been a time in which the present
+Squire had thought of building for himself an entirely new house, on
+another site,&mdash;on the rising brow of a hill, some quarter of a mile
+away from his present residence;&mdash;but he had remembered that as he
+could not leave his estate to his son, it behoved him to spend
+nothing on the property which duty did not demand from him.</p>
+
+<p>The house stood in a park of some two hundred acres, in which the
+ground was poor, indeed, but beautifully diversified by rising knolls
+and little ravines, which seemed to make the space almost unlimited.
+And then the pines which waved in the Newton woods sighed and moaned
+with a melody which, in the ears of their owner, was equalled by that
+of no other fir trees in the world. And the broom was yellower at
+Newton than elsewhere, and more plentiful; and the heather was
+sweeter;&mdash;and wild thyme on the grass more fragrant. So at least Mr.
+Newton was always ready to swear. And all this he could not leave
+behind him to his son;&mdash;but must die with the knowledge, that as soon
+as the breath was out of his body, it would become the property of a
+young man whom he hated! He might not cut down the pine woods, nor
+disturb those venerable single trees which were the glory of his
+park;&mdash;but there were moments in which he thought that he could take
+a delight in ploughing up the furze, and in stripping the hill-sides
+of the heather. Why should his estate be so beautiful for one who was
+nothing to him? Would it not be well that he should sell everything
+that was saleable in order that his own son might be the richer?</p>
+
+<p>On the day after he had written his reply to Sir Thomas he was
+rambling in the evening with his son through the woods. Nothing could
+be more beautiful than the park was now;&mdash;and Ralph had been speaking
+of the glory of the place. But something had occurred to make his
+father revert to the condition of a certain tenant, whose holding on
+the property was by no means satisfactory either to himself or to his
+landlord. "You know, sir," said the son, "I told you last year that
+Darvell would have to go."</p>
+
+<p>"Where's he to go to?"</p>
+
+<p>"He'll go to the workhouse if he stays here. It will be much better
+for him to be bought out while there is still something left for him
+to sell. Nothing can be worse than a man sticking on to land without
+a shilling of capital."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course it's bad. His father did very well there."</p>
+
+<p>"His father did very well there till he took to drink and died of it.
+You know where the road parts Darvell's farm and Brownriggs? Just
+look at the difference of the crops. There's a place with wheat on
+each side of you. I was looking at them before dinner."</p>
+
+<p>"Brownriggs is in a different parish. Brownriggs is in Bostock."</p>
+
+<p>"But the land is of the same quality. Of course Walker is a different
+sort of man from Darvell. I believe there are nearly four hundred
+acres in Brownriggs."</p>
+
+<p>"All that," said the father.</p>
+
+<p>"And Darvell has about seventy;&mdash;but the land should be made to bear
+the same produce per acre."</p>
+
+<p>The Squire paused a moment, and then asked a question. "What should
+you say if I proposed to sell Brownriggs?" Now there were two or
+three matters which made the proposition to sell Brownriggs a very
+wonderful proposition to come from the Squire. In the first place he
+couldn't sell an acre of the property at all,&mdash;of which fact his son
+was very well aware; and then, of all the farms on the estate it was,
+perhaps, the best and most prosperous. Mr. Walker, the tenant, was a
+man in very good circumstances, who hunted, and was popular, and was
+just the man of whose tenancy no landlord would be ashamed.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table style="margin: 0 auto" cellpadding="4px">
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">
+      <a href="images/85-l.jpg">
+      <img src="images/85-t.jpg" width="540"
+      alt='"What should you say if I proposed to sell Brownriggs?"' /></a>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">
+      <span class="caption">"What should you say if I proposed
+      to sell Brownriggs?"<br />
+      Click to <a href="images/85-l.jpg">ENLARGE</a></span>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>"Sell Brownriggs!" said the young man. "Well, yes; I should be
+surprised. Could you sell it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not at present," said the Squire.</p>
+
+<p>"How could it be sold at all?" They were now standing at a gate
+leading out of the park into a field held by the Squire in his own
+hands, and were both leaning on it. "Father," said the son, "I wish
+you would not trouble yourself about the estate, but let things come
+and go just as they have been arranged."</p>
+
+<p>"I prefer to arrange them for myself,&mdash;if I can. It comes to this,
+that it may be possible to buy the reversion of the property. I could
+not buy it all;&mdash;or if I did, must sell a portion of it to raise the
+money. I have been thinking it over and making calculations. If we
+let Walker's farm go, and Ingram's, I think I could manage the rest.
+Of course it would depend on the value of my own life."</p>
+
+<p>There was a long pause, during which they both were still leaning on
+the gate. "It is a phantom, sir!" the young man said at last.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean by a phantom? I don't see any phantom. A reversion
+can be bought and sold as well as any other property. And if it be
+sold in this case, I am as free to buy it as any other man."</p>
+
+<p>"Who says it is to be sold, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"I say so. That prig of a barrister, Sir Thomas Underwood, has
+already made overtures to me to do something for that young scoundrel
+in London. He is a scoundrel, for he is spending money that is not
+his own. And he is now about to make a marriage that will disgrace
+his family." The Squire probably did not at the moment think of the
+disgrace which he had brought upon the family by not marrying. "The
+fact is, that he will have to sell all that he can sell. Why should I
+not buy it!"</p>
+
+<p>"If he were to die?" suggested the son.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish he would," said the father.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't say that, sir. But if he were to die, Gregory here, who is as
+good a fellow as ever lived, would come into his shoes. Ralph could
+sell no more than his own chance."</p>
+
+<p>"We could get Gregory to join us," said the energetic Squire. "He,
+also, could sell his right."</p>
+
+<p>"You had better leave it as it is, sir," said the son, after another
+pause. "I feel sure that you will only get yourself into trouble. The
+place is yours as long as you live, and you should enjoy it."</p>
+
+<p>"And know that it is going to the Jews after me! Not if I can help
+it. You won't marry, as things are; but you'd marry quick enough if
+you knew you would remain here after my death;&mdash;if you were sure that
+a child of yours could inherit the estate. I mean to try it on, and
+it is best that you should know. Whatever he can make over to the
+Jews he can make over to me;&mdash;and as that is what he is about, I
+shall keep my eyes open. I shall go up to London about it and see
+Carey next week. A man can do a deal if he sets himself thoroughly to
+work."</p>
+
+<p>"I'd leave it alone if I were you," said the young man.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall not leave it alone. I mayn't be able to get it all, but I'll
+do my best to secure a part of it. If any is to go, it had better be
+the land in Bostock and Twining. I think we could manage to keep
+Newton entire."</p>
+
+<p>His mind was always on the subject, though it was not often that he
+said a word about it to the son in whose behalf he was so anxious.
+His thoughts were always dwelling on it, so that the whole peace and
+comfort of his life were disturbed. A life-interest in a property is,
+perhaps, as much as a man desires to have when he for whose
+protection he is debarred from further privileges of ownership is a
+well-loved son;&mdash;but an entail that limits an owner's rights on
+behalf of an heir who is not loved, who is looked upon as an enemy,
+is very grievous. And in this case the man who was so limited, so
+cramped, so hedged in, and robbed of the true pleasures of ownership,
+had a son with whom he would have been willing to share
+everything,&mdash;whom it would have been his delight to consult as to
+every roof to be built, every tree to be cut, every lease to be
+granted or denied. He would dream of telling his son, with a certain
+luxury of self-abnegation, that this or that question as to the
+estate should be settled in the interest, not of the setting, but of
+the rising sun. "It is your affair rather than mine, my boy;&mdash;do as
+you like." He could picture to himself in his imagination a pleasant,
+half-mock melancholy in saying such things, and in sharing the reins
+of government between his own hands and those of his heir. As the sun
+is falling in the heavens and the evening lights come on, this
+world's wealth and prosperity afford no pleasure equal to this. It is
+this delight that enables a man to feel, up to the last moment, that
+the goods of the world are good. But of all this he was to be
+robbed,&mdash;in spite of all his prudence. It might perhaps sometimes
+occur to him that he by his own vice had brought this scourge upon
+his back;&mdash;but not the less on that account did it cause him to rebel
+against the rod. Then there would come upon him the idea that he
+might cure this evil were his energy sufficient;&mdash;and all that he
+heard of that nephew and heir, whom he hated, tended to make him
+think that the cure was within his reach. There had been moments in
+which he had planned a scheme of leading on that reprobate into
+quicker and deeper destruction, of a pretended friendship with the
+spendthrift, in order that money for speedier ruin might be lent on
+that security which the uncle himself was so anxious to possess as
+his very own. But the scheme of this iniquity, though it had been
+planned and mapped out in his brain, had never been entertained as a
+thing really to be done. There are few of us who have not allowed our
+thoughts to work on this or that villany, arranging the method of its
+performance, though the performance itself is far enough from our
+purpose. The amusement is not without its danger,&mdash;and to the Squire
+of Newton had so far been injurious that it had tended to foster his
+hatred. He would, however, do nothing that was dishonest,&mdash;nothing
+that the world would condemn,&mdash;nothing that would not bear the light.
+The argument to which he mainly trusted was this,&mdash;that if Ralph
+Newton, the heir, had anything to sell and was pleased to sell it, it
+was as open to him to buy it as to any other. If the reversion of the
+estate of Newton Priory was in the market, why should he not buy
+it?&mdash;the reversion or any part of the reversion? If such were the
+case he certainly would buy it.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c12" id="c12"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XII.</h3>
+<h4>MRS. BROWNLOW.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>There was a certain old Mrs. Brownlow, who inhabited a large
+old-fashioned house on the Fulham Road, just beyond the fashionable
+confines of Brompton, but nearer to town than the decidedly rural
+district of Walham Green and Parson's Green. She was deeply
+interested in the welfare of the Underwood girls, having been a first
+cousin of their paternal grandmother, and was very unhappy because
+their father would not go home and take care of them. She was an
+excellent old woman, affectionate, charitable, and religious; but she
+was rather behindhand in general matters, and did not clearly
+understand much about anything in these latter days. She had heard
+that Sir Thomas was accustomed to live away from his daughters, and
+thought it very shocking;&mdash;but she knew that Sir Thomas either was or
+had been in Parliament, and that he was a great lawyer and a very
+clever man, and therefore she made excuses. She did not quite
+understand it all, but she thought it expedient to befriend the young
+ladies. She had heard, too, that Ralph Newton, who had been entrusted
+to the care of Sir Thomas, was heir to an enormous property; and she
+thought that the young man ought to marry one of the young ladies.
+Consequently, whenever she would ask her cousins to tea, she would
+also ask Mr. Ralph Newton. Sometimes he would come. More frequently
+he would express his deep regret that a previous engagement prevented
+him from having the pleasure of accepting Mrs. Brownlow's kind
+invitation. On all these occasions Mrs. Brownlow invited Sir
+Thomas;&mdash;but Sir Thomas never came. It could hardly have been
+expected of him that he should do so. Bolsover House was the
+old-fashioned name of Mrs. Brownlow's residence; and an invitation
+for tea had been sent for a certain Tuesday in July,&mdash;Tuesday, July
+the 18th. Mrs. Brownlow had of course been informed of the arrival of
+Mary Bonner,&mdash;who was in truth as nearly related to her as the
+Underwood girls,&mdash;and the invitation was given with the express
+intention of doing honour to Mary. By the young ladies from Popham
+Villa the invitation was accepted as a matter of course.</p>
+
+<p>"Will he be there?" Clary said to her sister.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope not, Clarissa."</p>
+
+<p>"Why do you hope not? We are not to quarrel; are we, Patty?"</p>
+
+<p>"No;&mdash;we need not quarrel. But I am afraid of him. He is not good
+enough, Clary, for you to be unhappy about him. And I fear,&mdash;I fear,
+he <span class="nowrap">is&mdash;"</span></p>
+
+<p>"Is what, Patty? Do speak it out. There is nothing I hate so much as
+a mystery."</p>
+
+<p>"I fear he is not genuine;&mdash;what people call honest. He would say
+things without quite meaning what he says."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think it. I am sure he is not like that. I may have been a
+<span class="nowrap">fool&mdash;"</span> Then
+she stopped herself, remembering the whole scene on the
+lawn. Alas;&mdash;there had been no misunderstanding him. The crime had
+been forgiven; but the crime had been a great fact. Since that she
+had seen him only once, and then he had been so cold! But yet as he
+left her he had not been quite cold. Surely that pressure of her hand
+had meant something;&mdash;had meant something after that great crime! But
+why did he not come to her; or why,&mdash;which would have been so far,
+far better,&mdash;did he not go to her papa and tell everything to him?
+Now, however, there was the chance that she would see him at Bolsover
+House. That Mrs. Brownlow would ask him was quite a matter of course.</p>
+
+<p>The great event of the evening was to be the introduction of Mrs.
+Brownlow to the new cousin. They were to drink tea out in the
+old-fashioned garden behind the house, from which Mrs. Brownlow could
+retreat into her own room at the first touch of a breath of air. The
+day was one of which the world at large would declare that there was
+no breath of air, morning, noon, or night. There was to be quite a
+party. That was evident from the first to our young ladies, who knew
+the ways of the house, and who saw that the maids were very smart,
+and that an extra young woman had been brought in; but they were the
+first to come,&mdash;as was proper.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear Mary," said the old woman to her new guest, "I am glad to
+see you. I knew your mother and loved her well. I hope you will be
+happy, my dear." Mrs. Brownlow was a very little old woman, very
+pretty, very grey, very nicely dressed, and just a little deaf. Mary
+Bonner kissed her, and murmured some word of thanks. The old woman
+stood for a few seconds, looking at the beauty,&mdash;astounded like the
+rest of the world. "Somebody told me she was good-looking," Mrs.
+Brownlow said to Patience;&mdash;"but I did not expect to see her like
+that."</p>
+
+<p>"Is she not lovely?"</p>
+
+<p>"She is a miracle, my dear! I hope she won't steal all the nice young
+men away from you and your sister, eh? Yes;&mdash;yes. What does Mr.
+Newton say to her?" Patience, however, knew that she need not answer
+all the questions which Mrs. Brownlow asked, and she left this
+question unanswered.</p>
+
+<p>Two or three elderly ladies came in, and four or five young ladies,
+and an old gentleman who sat close to Mrs. Brownlow and squeezed her
+hand very often, and a middle-aged gentleman who was exceedingly
+funny, and two young gentlemen who carried the tea and cakes about,
+but did not talk much. Such were the guests, and the young ladies,
+who no doubt were accustomed to Mrs. Brownlow's parties, took it all
+as it was intended, and were not discontented. There was one young
+lady, however, who longed to ask a question, but durst not. Had Ralph
+Newton promised that he would come? Clary was sitting between the old
+gentleman who seemed to be so fond of Mrs. Brownlow's hand and her
+cousin Mary. She said not a word,&mdash;nor, indeed, was there much
+talking among the guests in general. The merry, middle-aged gentleman
+did the talking, combining with it a good deal of exhilarating
+laughter at his own wit. The ladies sat round, and sipped their tea
+and smiled. That middle-aged gentleman certainly earned his mild
+refreshment;&mdash;for the party without him must have been very dull.
+Then there came a breath of air,&mdash;or, as Mrs. Brownlow called it, a
+keen north wind; and the old lady retreated into the house. "Don't
+let me take anybody else in,&mdash;only I can't stand a wind like that."
+The old gentleman accompanied her, and then the elderly ladies. The
+young ladies came next, and the man of wit, with the silent young
+gentlemen, followed, laden with scarfs, parasols, fans, and stray
+teacups. "I don't think we used to have such cold winds in July,"
+said Mrs. Brownlow. The old gentleman pressed her hand once more, and
+whispered into her ear that there had certainly been a great change.</p>
+
+<p>Suddenly Ralph Newton was among them. Clarissa had not heard him
+announced, and to her it seemed as though he had come down from the
+heavens,&mdash;as would have befitted his godship. He was a great
+favourite with Mrs. Brownlow, who, having heard that he was heir to a
+very large property, thought that his extravagance became him.
+According to her views it was his duty to spend a good deal of money,
+and his duty also to marry Clarissa Underwood. As he was as yet
+unmarried to any one else, she hardly doubted that he would do his
+duty. She was a sanguine old lady, who always believed that things
+would go right. She bustled and fussed on the present occasion with
+the very evident intention of getting a seat for him next to
+Clarissa; but Clarissa was as active in avoiding such an arrangement,
+and Ralph soon found himself placed between Mary Bonner and a very
+deaf old lady, who was always present at Mrs. Brownlow's tea-parties.
+"I suppose this has all been got up in your honour," he said to Mary.
+She smiled, and shook her head. "Oh, but it has. I know the dear old
+lady's ways so well! She would never allow a new Underwood to be at
+the villa for a month without having a tea-party to consecrate the
+event."</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't she charming, Mr. Newton;&mdash;and so pretty?"</p>
+
+<p>"No end of charming, and awfully pretty. Why are we all in here
+instead of out in the garden?"</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. Brownlow thought that it was cold."</p>
+
+<p>"With the thermometer at 80&deg;! What do you think, who ought to know
+what hot weather means? Are you chilly?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not in the least. We West Indians never find this climate cold the
+first year. Next year I don't doubt that I shall be full of
+rheumatism all over, and begging to be taken back to the islands."</p>
+
+<p>Clarissa watched them from over the way as though every word spoken
+between them had been a treason to herself. And yet she had almost
+been rude to old Mrs. Brownlow in the manner in which she had placed
+herself on one side of the circle when the old lady had begged her to
+sit on the other. Certainly, had she heard all that was said between
+her lover and her cousin, there was nothing in the words to offend
+her. She did not hear them; but she could see that Ralph looked into
+Mary's beautiful face, and that Mary smiled in a demure, silent,
+self-assured way which was already becoming odious to Clarissa.
+Clarissa herself, when Ralph looked into her face, would blush and
+turn away, and feel herself unable to bear the gaze of the god.</p>
+
+<p>In a few minutes there came to be a sudden move, and all the young
+people trooped back into the garden. It was Ralph Newton who did it,
+and nobody quite understood how it was done. "Certainly, my dears;
+certainly," said the old lady. "I dare say the moon is very
+beautiful. Yes; I see Mr. Ralph. You are not going to take me out, I
+can tell you. The moon is all very well, but I like to see it through
+the window. Don't mind me. Mr. Truepeny will stay with me." Mr.
+Truepeny, who was turned eighty, put out his hand and patted Mrs.
+Brownlow's arm, and assured her that he wanted nothing better than to
+stay with her for ever. The witty gentleman did not like the move,
+because it had been brought about by a newcomer, who had, as it were,
+taken the wind out of his sails. He lingered awhile, hoping to have
+weight enough to control the multitude;&mdash;in which he failed, and at
+last made one of the followers. And Clarissa lingered also, because
+Ralph had been the first to stir. Ralph had gone out with Mary
+Bonner, and therefore Clarissa had held back. So it came to pass that
+she found herself walking round the garden with the witty,
+exhilarating, middle-aged gentleman,&mdash;whom, for the present at least,
+she most cordially hated. "I am not quite sure that our dear old
+friend isn't right," said the witty man, whose name was Poojean;&mdash;"a
+chair to sit down upon, and a wall or two around one, and a few
+little knick-nacks about,&mdash;carpets and tables and those sort of
+things,&mdash;are comfortable at times."</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder you should leave them then," said Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>"Can there be a wonder that I leave them with such temptation as
+this," said the gallant Poojean. Clarissa hated him worse than ever,
+and would not look at him, or even make the faintest sign that she
+heard him. The voice of Ralph Newton through the trees struck her
+ears; and yet the voice wasn't loud,&mdash;as it would not be if it were
+addressed with tenderness to Mary. And there was she bound by some
+indissoluble knot to,&mdash;Mr. Poojean. "That Mr. Newton is a friend of
+yours?" asked Mr. Poojean.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes;&mdash;a friend of ours," said Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I will express my intense admiration for his wit, general
+character, and personal appearance. Had he been a stranger to you, I
+should, of course, have insinuated an opinion that he was a fool, a
+coxcomb, and the very plainest young man I had ever seen. That is the
+way of the world,&mdash;isn't it, Miss Underwood?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," said Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes,&mdash;you do. That's the way we all go on. As he is your friend,
+I can't dare to begin to abuse him till after the third time round
+the garden."</p>
+
+<p>"I beg, then, that there may be only two turns," said Clarissa. But
+she did not know how to stop, or to get rid of her abominable
+companion.</p>
+
+<p>"If I mustn't abuse him after three turns, he must be a favourite,"
+said the persevering Poojean. "I suppose he is a favourite.
+By-the-bye, what a lovely girl that is with whom your favourite
+was,&mdash;shall I say flirting?"</p>
+
+<p>"That lady is my cousin, Mr. Poojean."</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't say that she was flirting, mind. I wouldn't hint such a
+thing of any young lady, let her be anybody's cousin. Young ladies
+never flirt. But young men do sometimes;&mdash;don't they? After all, it
+is the best fun going;&mdash;isn't it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," said Clarissa. By this time they had got round to the
+steps leading from the garden to the house. "I think I'll go in, Mr.
+Poojean." She did go in, and Mr. Poojean was left looking at the moon
+all alone, as though he had separated himself from all mirth and
+society for that melancholy but pleasing occupation. He stood there
+gazing upwards with his thumbs beneath his waistcoat. "Grand,&mdash;is it
+not?" he said to the first couple that passed him.</p>
+
+<p>"Awfully grand, and beautifully soft, and all the rest of it," said
+Ralph, as he went on with Mary Bonner by his side.</p>
+
+<p>"That fellow has got no touch of poetry in him!" said Poojean to
+himself. In the meantime Clarissa, pausing a moment as she entered
+through the open window, heard Ralph's cheery voice. How well she
+knew its tones! And she still paused, with ears erect, striving to
+catch some word from her cousin's mouth. But Mary's words, if they
+were words spoken by her, were too low and soft to be caught.
+"Oh,&mdash;if she should turn out to be sly!" Clarissa said to herself.
+Was it true that Ralph had been flirting with her,&mdash;as that odious
+man had said? And why, why, why had Ralph not come to her, if he
+really loved her, as he had twice told her that he did? Of course she
+had not thrown herself into his arms when old Mrs. Brownlow made that
+foolish fuss. But still he might have come to her. He might have
+waited for her in the garden. He might have saved her from the
+"odious vulgarity" of that "abominable old wretch." For in such
+language did Clarissa describe to herself the exertions to amuse her
+which had been made by her late companion. But had the Sydney Smith
+of the day been talking to her, he would have been dull, or the Count
+D'Orsay of the day, he would have been vulgar, while the sound of
+Ralph Newton's voice, as he walked with another girl, was reaching
+her ears. And then, before she had seated herself in Mrs. Brownlow's
+drawing-room, another idea had struck her. Could it be that Ralph did
+not come to her because she had told him that she would never forgive
+him for that crime? Was it possible that his own shame was so great
+that he was afraid of her? If so, could she not let him know that he
+was,&mdash;well, forgiven? Poor Clarissa! In the meantime the voices still
+came to her from the garden, and she still thought that she could
+distinguish Ralph's low murmurings.</p>
+
+<p>It may be feared that Ralph had no such deep sense of his fault as
+that suggested. He did remember well enough,&mdash;had reflected more than
+once or twice,&mdash;on those words which he had spoken to Clary. Having
+spoken them he had felt his crime to be their not unnatural
+accompaniment. At that moment, when he was on the lawn at Fulham, he
+had thought that it would be very sweet to devote himself to dear
+Clary,&mdash;that Clary was the best and prettiest girl he knew, that, in
+short, it might be well for him to love her and cherish her and make
+her his wife. Had not Patience come upon the scene, and disturbed
+them, he would probably then and there have offered to her his hand
+and heart. But Patience had come upon the scene, and the offer had
+not been, as he thought, made. Since all that, which had passed ages
+ago,&mdash;weeks and weeks ago,&mdash;there had fallen upon him the prosaic
+romance of Polly Neefit. He had actually gone down to Hendon to offer
+himself as a husband to the breeches-maker's daughter. It is true he
+had hitherto escaped in that quarter also,&mdash;or, at any rate, had not
+as yet committed himself. But the train of incidents and thoughts
+which had induced him to think seriously of marrying Polly, had made
+him aware that he could not propose marriage to Sir Thomas
+Underwood's daughter. From such delight as that he found, on calm
+reflection, that he had debarred himself by the folly of his past
+life. It was well that Patience had come upon the scene.</p>
+
+<p>Such being the state of affairs with him, that little episode with
+Clary being at an end,&mdash;or rather, as he thought, never having quite
+come to a beginning,&mdash;and his little arrangement as to Polly Neefit
+being in abeyance, he was free to amuse himself with this newcomer.
+Miss Bonner was certainly the most lovely girl he had ever seen. He
+could imagine no beauty to exceed hers. He knew well enough that her
+loveliness could be nothing to him;&mdash;but a woman's beauty is in one
+sense as free as the air in all Christian countries. It is a light
+shed for the delight, not of one, but of many. There could be no
+reason why he should not be among the admirers of Miss Bonner. "I
+expect, you know, to be admitted quite on the terms of an old
+friend," he said. "I shall call you Mary, and all that kind of
+thing."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see your claim," said Miss Bonner.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes, you do,&mdash;and must allow it. I was almost a sort of son of
+Sir Thomas's,&mdash;till he turned me off when I came of age. And Patience
+and Clarissa are just the same as sisters to me."</p>
+
+<p>"You are not even a cousin, Mr. Newton."</p>
+
+<p>"No;&mdash;I'm not a cousin. It's more like a foster-brother, you know. Of
+course I shan't call you Mary if you tell me not. How is it to be?"</p>
+
+<p>"Just for the present I'll be Miss Bonner."</p>
+
+<p>"For a week or so?"</p>
+
+<p>"Say for a couple of years, and then we'll see how it is."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll be some lucky's fellow's wife long before that. Do you like
+living at Fulham?"</p>
+
+<p>"Very much. How should I not like it? They are so kind to me. And you
+know, when I first resolved to come home, I thought I should have to
+go out as a governess,&mdash;or, perhaps, as a nursery-maid, if they
+didn't think me clever enough to teach. I did not expect my uncle to
+be so good to me. I had never seen him, you know. Is it not odd that
+my uncle is so little at home?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is odd. He is writing a book, you see, and he finds that the air
+of Fulham doesn't suit his brains."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Mr. Newton!"</p>
+
+<p>"And he likes to be quite alone. There isn't a better fellow going
+than your uncle. I am sure I ought to say so. But he isn't just what
+I should call,&mdash;sociable."</p>
+
+<p>"I think him almost perfection;&mdash;but I do wish he was more at home
+for their sakes. We'll go in now, Mr. Newton. Patience has gone in,
+and I haven't seen Clarissa for ever so long."</p>
+
+<p>Soon after this the guests began to go away. Mr. Truepeny gave Mrs.
+Brownlow's hand the last squeeze, and Mr. Poojean remarked that all
+terrestrial joys must have an end. "Not but that such hours as
+these," said he, "have about them a dash of the celestial which
+almost gives them a claim to eternity." "Horrible fool!" said
+Clarissa to her sister, who was standing close to her.</p>
+
+<p>"Mrs. Brownlow would, perhaps, prefer going to bed," said Ralph. Then
+every one was gone except the Underwoods and Ralph Newton. The girls
+had on their hats and shawls, and all was prepared for their
+departure;&mdash;but there was some difficulty about the fly. The Fulham
+fly which had brought them, and which always took them everywhere,
+had hitherto omitted to return for them. It was ordered for half-past
+ten, and now it was eleven. "Are you sure he was told?" said Clary.
+Patience had told him herself,&mdash;twice. "Then he must be tipsy again,"
+said Clary. Mrs. Brownlow bade them to sit still and wait; but when
+the fly did not arrive by half-past eleven, it was necessary that
+something should be done. There were omnibuses on the road, but they
+might probably be full. "It is only two miles,&mdash;let us walk," said
+Clary; and so it was decided.</p>
+
+<p>Ralph insisted on walking with them till he should meet an omnibus or
+a cab to take him back to London. Patience did her best to save him
+from such labour, protesting that they would want no such escort. But
+he would not be gainsayed, and would go with them at least a part of
+the way. Of course he did not leave them till they had reached the
+gate of Popham Villa. But when they were starting there arose a
+difficulty as to the order in which they would marshal themselves;&mdash;a
+difficulty as to which not a word could be spoken, but which was not
+the less a difficulty. Clarissa hung back. Ralph had spoken hardly a
+word to her all the evening. It had better continue so. She was sure
+that he could not care for her. But she thought that she would be
+better contented that he should walk with Patience than with Mary
+Bonner. But Mary took the matter into her own hands, and started off
+boldly with Patience. Patience hardly approved, but there would be
+nothing so bad as seeming to disapprove. Clary's heart was in her
+mouth as she found her arm within his. He had contrived that it
+should be so, and she could not refuse. Her mind was changed again
+now, and once more she wished that she could let him know that the
+crime was forgiven.</p>
+
+<p>"I am so glad to have a word with you at last," he said. "How do you
+get on with the new cousin?"</p>
+
+<p>"Very well;&mdash;and how have you got on with her?"</p>
+
+<p>"You must ask her that. She is very beautiful,&mdash;what I call
+wonderfully beautiful."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed she is," said Clary, withdrawing almost altogether the weight
+of her hand from his arm.</p>
+
+<p>"And clever, too,&mdash;very clever; but&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"But what?" asked Clary, and the softest, gentlest half-ounce of
+pressure was restored.</p>
+
+<p>"Well;&mdash;nothing. I like her uncommonly;&mdash;but is she not
+quite,&mdash;quite,&mdash;<span class="nowrap">quite&mdash;"</span></p>
+
+<p>"She is quite everything that she ought to be, Ralph."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sure of that;&mdash;an angel, you know, and all the rest of it. But
+angels are cold, you know. I don't know that I ever admired a girl so
+much in my life." The pressure was again lessened,&mdash;all but
+annihilated. "But, somehow, I should never dream of falling in love
+with your cousin."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps you may do so without dreaming," said Clary, as
+unconsciously she gave back the weight to her hand.</p>
+
+<p>"No;&mdash;I know very well the sort of girl that makes me spoony." This
+was not very encouraging to poor Clary, but still she presumed that
+he meant to imply that she herself was a girl of the sort that so
+acted upon him. And the conversation went on in this way throughout
+the walk. There was not much encouragement to her, and certainly she
+did not say a word to him that could make him feel that she wanted
+encouragement. But still he had been with her, and she had been
+happy; and when they parted at the gate, and he again pressed her
+hand, she thought that things had gone well. "He must know that I
+have forgiven him now!" she said to herself.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c13" id="c13"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XIII.</h3>
+<h4>MR. NEEFIT IS DISTURBED.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>On the morning following Mrs. Brownlow's little tea-party Ralph
+Newton was bound by appointment to call upon Sir Thomas. But before
+he started on that duty a certain friend of his called upon him. This
+friend was Mr. Neefit. But before the necessary account of Mr.
+Neefit's mission is given, the reader must be made acquainted with a
+few circumstances as they had occurred at Hendon.</p>
+
+<p>It will be remembered perhaps that on the Sunday evening the two
+rivals left the cottage at the same moment, one taking the road to
+the right, and the other that to the left,&mdash;so that bloodshed, for
+that occasion at least, was prevented. "Neefit," said his wife to him
+when they were alone together, "you'll be getting yourself into
+trouble." "You be blowed," said Neefit. He was very angry with his
+wife, and was considering what steps he would take to maintain his
+proper marital and parental authority. He was not going to give way
+to the weaker vessel in a matter of such paramount importance, as to
+be made a fool of in his own family. He was quite sure of this, while
+the strength of the port wine still stood to him; and though he was
+somewhat more troubled in spirit when his wife began to bully him on
+the next morning, he still had valour enough to say that Ontario
+Moggs also might be&mdash;blowed.</p>
+
+<p>On the Monday, when he returned home and asked for Polly, he found
+that Polly was out walking. Mrs. Neefit did not at once tell him that
+Moggs was walking with her, but such was the fact. Just at five
+o'clock Moggs had presented himself at the cottage,&mdash;knowing very
+well, sly dog that he was, the breeches-maker's hour of return, which
+took place always precisely at four minutes past six,&mdash;and boldly
+demanded an interview with Polly. "I should like to hear what she's
+got to say to me," said he, looking boldly, almost savagely, into
+Mrs. Neefit's face. According to that matron's ideas this was the
+proper way in which maidens should be wooed and won; and, though
+Polly had at first declared that she had nothing at all to say to Mr.
+Moggs, she allowed herself at last to be led forth. Till they had
+passed the railway station on the road leading away from London,
+Ontario said not a word of his purpose. Polly, feeling that silence
+was awkward, and finding that she was being hurried along at a
+tremendous pace, spoke of the weather and of the heat, and
+expostulated. "It is hot, very hot," said Ontario, taking off his hat
+and wiping his brow,&mdash;"but there are moments in a man's life when he
+can't go slow."</p>
+
+<p>"Then there are moments in his life when he must go on by himself,"
+said Polly. But her pluck was too good for her to desert him at such
+a moment, and, although he hardly moderated his pace till he had
+passed the railway station, she kept by his side. As things had gone
+so far it might be quite as well now that she should hear what he had
+to say. A dim, hazy idea had crossed the mind of Moggs that it would
+be as well that he should get out into the country before he began
+his task, and that the line of the railway which passed beneath the
+road about a quarter of a mile beyond Mr. Neefit's cottage, might be
+considered as the boundary which divided the town from pastoral joys.
+He waited, therefore, till the bridge was behind them, till they had
+passed the station, which was close to the bridge;&mdash;and then he
+began. "Polly," said he, "you know what brings me here."</p>
+
+<p>Polly did know very well, but she was not bound to confess such
+knowledge. "You've brought me here, Mr. Moggs, and that's all I
+know," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes;&mdash;I've brought you here. Polly, what took place last night made
+me very unhappy,&mdash;very unhappy indeed."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't help that, Mr. Moggs."</p>
+
+<p>"Not that I mean to blame you."</p>
+
+<p>"Blame me! I should think not. Blame me, indeed! Why are you to blame
+anybody because father chooses to ask whom he pleases to dinner? A
+pretty thing indeed, if father isn't to have whom he likes in his own
+house."</p>
+
+<p>"Polly, you know what I mean."</p>
+
+<p>"I know you made a great goose of yourself last night, and I didn't
+feel a bit obliged to you."</p>
+
+<p>"No, I didn't. I wasn't a goose at all. I don't say but what I'm as
+big a fool as most men. I don't mean to stick up for myself. I know
+well enough that I am foolish often. But I wasn't foolish last night.
+What was he there for?"</p>
+
+<p>"What business have you to ask, Mr. Moggs?"</p>
+
+<p>"All the business in life. Love;&mdash;real love. That's why I have
+business. That young man, who is, I suppose, what you call a swell."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't put words into my mouth, Mr. Moggs. I don't call him anything
+of the kind."</p>
+
+<p>"He's a gentleman."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes;&mdash;he is a gentleman,&mdash;I suppose."</p>
+
+<p>"And I'm a tradesman,&mdash;a bootmaker."</p>
+
+<p>"So is father a tradesman, and if you mean to tell me that I turn up
+my nose at people the same as father is, you may just go back to
+London and think what you like about me. I won't put up with it from
+you or anybody. A tradesman to me is as good as anybody,&mdash;if he is as
+good. There."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Polly, you do look so beautiful!"</p>
+
+<p>"Bother!"</p>
+
+<p>"When you say that, and speak in that way, I think you as good as you
+are beautiful."</p>
+
+<p>"Remember,&mdash;I don't say a word against what you call&mdash;gentlemen. I
+take 'em just as they come. Mr. Newton is a very nice young man."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you going to take him, Polly?"</p>
+
+<p>"How can I take him when he has never asked me? You are not my
+father, Mr. Moggs, not yet my uncle. What right have you to question
+me? If I was going to take him, I shouldn't want your leave."</p>
+
+<p>"Polly, you ought to be honest."</p>
+
+<p>"I am honest."</p>
+
+<p>"Will you hear me, Polly?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I won't."</p>
+
+<p>"You won't! Is that answer to go for always?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, it is. You come and tease and say uncivil things, and I don't
+choose to be bullied. What right have you to talk to me about Mr.
+Newton? Did I ever give you any right? Honest indeed! What right have
+you to talk to me about being honest?"</p>
+
+<p>"It's all true, dear."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, then. Hold your tongue, and don't say such things. Honest
+indeed! If I were to take the young man to-morrow, that would not
+make me dishonest."</p>
+
+<p>"It's all true, dear, and I beg your pardon. If I have offended you,
+I will beg your pardon."</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind about that;&mdash;only don't say foolish things."</p>
+
+<p>"Is it foolish, Polly, to say that I love you? And if I love you, can
+I like to see a young fellow like Mr. Newton hanging about after you?
+He doesn't love you. He can't love you,&mdash;as I do. Your father brings
+him here because he is a gentleman."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think anything of his being a gentleman."</p>
+
+<p>"But think of me. Of course I was unhappy, wretched,&mdash;miserable. I
+knew why he was there. You can understand, Polly, that when a man
+really loves he must be the miserablest or the happiest of human
+beings."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't understand anything about it."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish you would let me teach you."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want to learn, and I doubt whether you'd make a good master.
+I really must go back now, Mr. Moggs. I came out because mother said
+I'd better. I don't know that it could do any good if we were to walk
+on to Edgeware." And so saying, Polly turned back.</p>
+
+<p>He walked beside her half the way home in silence, thinking that if
+he could only choose the proper words and the proper tone he might
+yet prevail; but feeling that the proper words and the proper tone
+were altogether out of his reach. On those favourite subjects, the
+ballot, or the power of strikes, he could always find the proper
+words and the proper tone when he rose upon his legs at the Cheshire
+Cheese;&mdash;and yet, much as he loved the ballot, he loved Polly Neefit
+infinitely more dearly. When at the Cheshire Cheese he was a man; but
+now, walking with the girl of his heart, he felt himself to be a
+bootmaker, and the smell of the leather depressed him. It was evident
+that she would walk the whole way home in silence, if he would permit
+it. The railway station was already again in sight, when he stopped
+her on the pathway, and made one more attempt. "You believe me, when
+I say that I love you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know, Mr. Moggs."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Polly, you don't know!"</p>
+
+<p>"But it doesn't signify,&mdash;not the least. I ain't bound to take a man
+because he loves me."</p>
+
+<p>"You won't take Mr. Newton;&mdash;will you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know. I won't say anything about it. Mr. Newton is nothing
+to you." Then there was a pause. "If you think, Mr. Moggs, that you
+can recommend yourself to a young woman by such tantrums as there
+were going on last night, you are very much mistaken. That's not the
+way to win me."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I knew which was the way."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Newton never said a word."</p>
+
+<p>"Your father told him to take you out a-walking before my very eyes!
+Was I to bear that? Think of it, Polly. You mayn't care for me, and I
+don't suppose you do; but you may understand what my feelings were.
+What would you have thought of me if I'd stayed there, smoking, and
+borne it quiet,&mdash;and you going about with that young man? I'll tell
+you what it is, Polly, I couldn't bear it, and I won't. There;&mdash;and
+now you know what I mean." At this point in his speech he took off
+his hat and waved it in the air. "I won't bear it. There are things a
+man can't bear,&mdash;can't bear,&mdash;can't bear. Oh, Polly! if you could
+only be brought to understand what it is that I feel!"</p>
+
+<p>After all, he didn't do it so very badly. There was just a tear in
+the corner of Polly's eye, though Polly was very careful that he
+shouldn't see it. And Polly did know well enough that he was in
+earnest,&mdash;that he was, in fact, true. But then he was gawky and
+ungainly. It was not that he was a shoemaker. Could he have had his
+own wits, and danced like the gasfitter, he might have won her still,
+against Ralph Newton, with all his blood and white hands. But poor
+Ontario was, as regarded externals, so ill a subject for a great
+passion!</p>
+
+<p>"And where have you been, Polly?" said her father, as soon as she
+entered the house.</p>
+
+<p>"I have been walking with Ontario Moggs," said Polly boldly.</p>
+
+<p>"What have you been saying to him? I won't have you walk with Ontario
+Moggs. I and your mother 'll have to fall out if this kind of thing
+goes on."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't be silly, father."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean by that, miss?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is silly. Why shouldn't I walk with him? Haven't I known him all
+my life, and walked with him scores of times? Isn't it silly, father?
+Don't I know that if I told you I loved Ontario Moggs, you'd let me
+marry him to-morrow?"</p>
+
+<p>"He'd have to take you in what you stand up in."</p>
+
+<p>"He wouldn't desire anything better. I'll say that for him. He's true
+and honest. I'd love him if I could,&mdash;only, somehow I don't."</p>
+
+<p>"You've told him you didn't,&mdash;once and for all?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know about that, father. He'll come again, you may be sure.
+He's one of that sort that isn't easily said nay to. If you
+mean,&mdash;have I said yes?&mdash;I haven't. I'll never say yes to any man
+unless I love him. When I do say it I shall mean it,&mdash;whether it's
+Onty Moggs or anybody else. I'm not going to be given away, you know,
+like a birthday present, out of a shop. There's nobody can give me
+away, father,&mdash;only myself." To all which utterances of a rebellious
+spirit the breeches-maker made no answer. He knew that Polly would,
+at least, be true to him; and, as she was as yet free, the field was
+still open to his candidate. He believed thoroughly that had not his
+wife interfered, and asked the bootmaker to join that unfortunate
+dinner party, his daughter and Ralph Newton would now have been
+engaged together. And probably it might have been so. When first it
+had been whispered to Polly that that handsome and very agreeable
+young gentleman, Mr. Ralph Newton, might become a suitor for her
+hand, she had chucked up her head and declared to her mother that she
+didn't intend to take a husband of her father's choosing; but as she
+came to know Ralph a little, she did find that he was good-looking
+and agreeable,&mdash;and her heart did flutter at the idea of becoming the
+wife of a real, undoubted gentleman. She meant to have her grand
+passion, and she must be quite sure that Mr. Newton loved her. But
+she didn't see any reason why Mr. Newton shouldn't love her, and,
+upon the whole, she was inclined to obey her father rather than to
+disobey him. And it might still be that he should win her;&mdash;for he
+had done nothing to disgrace himself in her sight. But there did lurk
+within her bosom some dim idea that he should have bestirred himself
+more thoroughly on that Sunday evening, and not have allowed himself
+to be driven out of the field by Ontario Moggs. She wronged him
+there, as indeed he had had no alternative, unless he had followed
+her up to her bedroom.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Neefit, when he found that no harm had as yet been done, resolved
+that he would return to the charge. It has been before observed that
+he lacked something in delicacy, but what he did so lack he made up
+in persistency. He had been unable to impute any blame to Ralph as to
+that evening. He felt that he rather owed an apology to his favourite
+candidate. He would make the apology, and inform the favourite
+candidate, at the same time, that the course was still open to him.
+With these views he left Conduit Street early on the Wednesday
+morning, and called on Ralph at his rooms. "Mr. Newton," he said,
+hastening at once upon the grand subject, "I hope you didn't think as
+I was to blame in having Moggs at our little dinner on Sunday." Ralph
+declared that he had never thought of imputing blame to any one. "But
+it was,&mdash;as awk'ard as awk'ard could be. It was my wife's doing. Of
+course you can see how it all is. That chap has been hankering after
+Polly ever since she was in her teens. But, Lord love you, Captain,
+he ain't a chance with her. He was there again o' Monday, but the
+girl wouldn't have a word to say to him." Ralph sat silent, and very
+grave. He was taken now somewhat by surprise, having felt, up to this
+moment, that he would at least have the advantage of a further
+interview with Sir Thomas, before he need say another word to Mr.
+Neefit. "What I want you to do, Captain, is just to pop it, straight
+off, to my girl. I know she'd take you, because of her way of
+looking. Not, mind, that she ever said so. Oh, no. But the way to
+find out is just to ask the question."</p>
+
+<p>"You see, Mr. Neefit, it wasn't very easy to ask it last Sunday,"
+said Ralph, attempting to laugh.</p>
+
+<p>"Moggs has been at her again," said Neefit. This argument was good.
+Had Ralph been as anxious as Moggs, he would have made his
+opportunity.</p>
+
+<p>"And, to tell you the truth, Mr. Neefit&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, sir?"</p>
+
+<p>"There is nothing so disagreeable as interfering in families. I
+admire your daughter amazingly."</p>
+
+<p>"She's a trump, Mr. Newton."</p>
+
+<p>"She is indeed;&mdash;and I thoroughly appreciate the great generosity of
+your offer."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll be as good as my word, Mr. Newton. The money shall be all
+there,&mdash;down on the nail."</p>
+
+<p>"But, you see, your wife is against me."</p>
+
+<p>"Blow my wife. You don't think Polly 'd do what her mother tells her?
+Who's got the money-bag? That's the question. You go down and pop it
+straight. You ain't afraid of an old woman, I suppose;&mdash;nor yet of a
+young un. Don't mind waiting for more dinners, or anything of that
+kind. They likes a man to be hot about it;&mdash;that's what they likes.
+You're sure to find her any time before dinner;&mdash;that's at one, you
+know. May be she mayn't be figged out fine, but you won't mind that.
+I'll go bail you'll find the flesh and blood all right. Just you make
+your way in, and say what you've got to say. I'll make it straight
+with the old woman afterwards."</p>
+
+<p>Ralph Newton had hitherto rather prided himself on his happy
+management of young ladies. He was not ordinarily much afflicted by
+shyness, and conceived himself able to declare a passion, perhaps
+whether felt or feigned, as well as another. And now he was being
+taught how to go a-wooing by his breeches-maker! He did not
+altogether like it, and, as at this moment his mind was rather set
+against the Hendon matrimonial speculation, he was disposed to resent
+it. "I think you're making a little mistake, Mr. Neefit," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"What mistake? I don't know as I'm making any mistake. You'll be
+making a mistake, and so you'll find when the plum's gone."</p>
+
+<p>"It's just this, you know. When you suggested this thing to
+<span class="nowrap">me&mdash;"</span></p>
+
+<p>"Well;&mdash;yes; I did suggest it, and I ain't ashamed of it."</p>
+
+<p>"I was awfully grateful. I had met your daughter once or twice, and I
+told you I admired her ever so much."</p>
+
+<p>"That's true;&mdash;but you didn't admire her a bit more than what she's
+entitled to."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sure of that. But then I thought I ought,&mdash;just to,&mdash;know her a
+little better, you see. And then how could I presume to think she'd
+take me till she knew me a little better?"</p>
+
+<p>"Presume to think! Is that all you know about young women? Pop the
+question right out, and give her a buss. That's the way."</p>
+
+<p>Newton paused a moment before he spoke, and looked very grave. "I
+think you're driving me a little too fast, Mr. Neefit," he said at
+last.</p>
+
+<p>"The deuce I am! Driving you too fast. What does that mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"There must be a little management and deliberation in these things.
+If I were to do as you propose, I should not recommend myself to your
+daughter; and I should myself feel that, at the most important crisis
+of my life, I was allowing myself to be hurried beyond my judgment."
+These words were spoken with a slow solemnity of demeanour, and a
+tone of voice so serious that for a moment they perfectly awed the
+breeches-maker. Ralph was almost successful in reducing his proposed
+father-in-law to a state of absolute subjection. Mr. Neefit was all
+but induced to forget that he stood there with twenty thousand pounds
+in his pocket. There came a drop or two of perspiration on his brow,
+and his large saucer eyes almost quailed before those of his debtor.
+But at last he rallied himself,&mdash;though not entirely. He could not
+quite assume that self-assertion which he knew that his position
+would have warranted; but he did keep his flag up after a fashion. "I
+dare say you know your own business best, Mr. Newton;&mdash;only them's
+not my ideas; that's all. I come to you fair and honest, and I
+repeats the same. Good morning, Mr. Newton." So he went, and nothing
+had been settled.</p>
+
+<p>To say that Ralph had even yet made up his mind would be to give him
+praise which was not his due. He was still doubting, though in his
+doubts the idea of marrying Polly Neefit became more indistinct, and
+less alluring than ever. By this time he almost hated Mr. Neefit, and
+most unjustly regarded that man as a persecutor, who was taking
+advantage of his pecuniary ascendancy to trample on him. "He thinks I
+must take his daughter because I owe him two or three hundred
+pounds." Such were Ralph Newton's thoughts about the
+breeches-maker,&mdash;which thoughts were very unjust. Neefit was
+certainly vulgar, illiterate, and indelicate; but he was a man who
+could do a generous action, and having offered his daughter to this
+young aristocrat would have scorned to trouble him afterwards about
+his "little bill." Ralph sat trying to think for about an hour, and
+then walked to Southampton Buildings. He had not much hope as he
+went. Indeed hope hardly entered into his feelings. Sir Thomas would
+of course say unpleasant words to him, and of course he would be
+unable to answer them. There was no ground for hoping
+anything,&mdash;unless indeed he could make himself happy in a snug little
+box in a hunting country, with Polly Neefit for his wife, living on
+the interest of the breeches-maker's money. He was quite alive to the
+fact that in this position he would in truth be the most miserable
+dog in existence,&mdash;that it would be infinitely better for him to turn
+his prospects into cash, and buy sheep in Australia, or cattle in
+South America, or to grow corn in Canada. Any life would be better
+than one supported in comfortable idleness on Mr. Neefit's savings.
+Nevertheless he felt that that would most probably be his doom. The
+sheep or the cattle or the corn required an amount of energy which he
+no longer possessed. There were the four horses at the Moonbeam;&mdash;and
+he could ride them to hounds as well as any man. So much he could do,
+and would seem in doing it to be full of life. But as for selling the
+four horses, and changing altogether the mode of his life,&mdash;that was
+more than he had vitality left to perform. Such was the measure which
+he took of himself, and in taking it he despised himself
+thoroughly,&mdash;knowing well how poor a creature he was.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas told him readily what he had done, giving him to read a
+copy of his letter to Mr. Newton and Mr. Newton's reply. "I can do
+nothing more," said Sir Thomas. "I hope you have given up the sad
+notion of marrying that young woman." Ralph sat still and listened.
+"No good, I think, can come of that," continued Sir Thomas. "If you
+are in truth compelled to part with your reversion to the Newton
+estate,&mdash;which is in itself a property of great value,&mdash;I do not
+doubt but your uncle will purchase it at its worth. It is a thousand
+pities that prospects so noble should have been dissipated by early
+imprudence."</p>
+
+<p>"That's quite true, Sir Thomas," said Ralph, in a loud ringing tone,
+which seemed to imply that let things be as bad as they might he did
+not mean to make a poor mouth of them. It was his mask for the
+occasion, and it sufficed to hide his misery from Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"If you think of selling what you have to sell," continued Sir
+Thomas, "you had better take Mr. Newton's letter and put it into the
+hands of your own attorney. It will be ten times better than going to
+the money-lending companies for advances. If I had the means of
+helping you myself, I would do it."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Sir Thomas!"</p>
+
+<p>"But I have not. I should be robbing my own girls, which I am sure
+you would not wish."</p>
+
+<p>"That is quite out of the question, Sir Thomas."</p>
+
+<p>"If you do resolve on selling the estate, you had better come to me
+as the thing goes on. I can't do much, but I may perhaps be able to
+see that nothing improper is proposed for you to do. Goodbye, Ralph.
+Anything will be better than marrying that what-d'ye-callem's
+daughter."</p>
+
+<p>Ralph, as he walked westwards towards the club, was by no means sure
+that Sir Thomas had been right in this. By marrying Polly he would,
+after all, keep the property.</p>
+
+<p>Just by the lions in Trafalgar Square he met Ontario Moggs. Ontario
+Moggs scowled at him, and cut him dead.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c14" id="c14"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XIV.</h3>
+<h4>THE REV. GREGORY NEWTON.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>It was quite at the end of July, in the very hottest days of a very
+hot summer, that Squire Newton left Newton Priory for London, intent
+upon law business, and filled with ambition to purchase the right of
+leaving his own estate to any heir whom he might himself select. He
+left his son alone at the Priory; but his son and the parson were
+sure to be together on such an occasion. Ralph,&mdash;the country
+Ralph,&mdash;dined at the Rectory on the day that his father started; and
+on every succeeding day, Gregory, the parson, dined up at the large
+house. It was a thing altogether understood at the Priory that the
+present parson Gregory was altogether exempted from the anathema
+which had been pronounced against the heir and against the memory of
+the heir's father. Gregory simply filled the place which might have
+been his had there been no crushing entail, and was, moreover, so
+sweet and gentle-hearted a fellow that it was impossible not to love
+him. He was a tall, slender man, somewhat narrow-chested,
+bright-eyed, with a kind-looking sweet mouth, a small well-cut nose,
+dark but not black hair, and a dimple on his chin. He always went
+with his hands in his pockets, walking quick, but shuffling sometimes
+in step as though with hesitation, stooping somewhat, absent
+occasionally, going about with his chin stuck out before him, as
+though he were seeking something,&mdash;he knew not what. A more generous
+fellow, who delighted more in giving, hesitated more in asking, more
+averse to begging though a friend of beggars, less self-arrogant, or
+self-seeking, or more devoted to his profession, never lived. He was
+a man with prejudices,&mdash;kindly, gentlemanlike, amiable prejudices. He
+thought that a clergyman should be a graduate from one of the three
+universities,&mdash;including Trinity, Dublin; and he thought, also, that
+a clergyman should be a gentleman. He thought that Dissenters
+were,&mdash;a great mistake. He thought that Convocation should be
+potential. He thought that the Church had certain powers and
+privileges which Parliament could not take away except by spoliation.
+He thought that a parson should always be well-dressed,&mdash;according to
+his order. He thought that the bishop of his diocese was the purest,
+best, and noblest peer in England. He thought that Newton Churchyard
+was, of all spots on earth, the most lovely. He thought very little
+of himself. And he thought that of all the delights given by God for
+the delectation of his creatures, the love of Clarissa Underwood
+would be the most delightful. In all these thinkings he was astray,
+carried away by prejudices which he was not strong enough to
+withstand. But the joint effect of so many faults in judgment was not
+disagreeable; and, as one result of that effect, Gregory Newton was
+loved and respected and believed in by all men and women, poor and
+rich, who lived within knowledge of his name. His uncle Gregory, who
+was wont to be severe in his judgment on men, would declare that the
+Rev. Gregory,&mdash;as he was called,&mdash;was perfect. But then the Squire
+was a man who was himself very much subject to prejudices.</p>
+
+<p>There was now, and ever had been, great freedom of discussion between
+Ralph Newton of the Priory and his cousin Gregory,&mdash;if under the
+circumstances the two young men may be called cousins,&mdash;respecting
+the affairs of the property. There was naturally much to check or to
+prevent such freedom. Their own interests in regard to the property
+were, as far as they went, adverse. The young parson might possibly
+inherit the whole of the estate, whereas he was aware that the
+present Squire would move heaven and earth to leave it, or a portion
+of it, to his own son. Gregory had always taken his brother's part
+before the Squire; and the Squire, much as he liked the parson, was
+never slow in abusing the parson's brother. It would have been no
+more than natural had the question of the property been, by tacit
+agreement, always kept out of sight between the two young men. But
+they had grown up from boyhood together as firm friends, and there
+was no reticence between them on this all-important subject. The
+Squire's son had never known his mother; and could therefore speak of
+his own position as would hardly have been possible to him had any
+memory of her form or person remained with him. And then, though
+their interests were opposite, nothing that either could say would
+much affect those interests.</p>
+
+<p>The two men were sitting on the lawn at the Priory after dinner,
+smoking cigars, and Ralph,&mdash;this other Ralph,&mdash;had just told the
+parson of his intention of joining his father in London. "I don't see
+that I can do any good," said Ralph, "but he wishes it, and of course
+I shall go."</p>
+
+<p>"You won't see my brother, I suppose?"</p>
+
+<p>"I should think not. You know what my father's feelings are, and I
+certainly shall not go out of my way to offend them. I have no
+animosity against Ralph; but I could do no good by opposing my
+father."</p>
+
+<p>"No," said the parson, "not but what I wish it were otherwise. It is
+a trouble to me that I cannot have Ralph here;&mdash;though perhaps he
+would not care to come."</p>
+
+<p>"I feel it hard too, that he should not be allowed to see a place
+which, in a measure, belongs to him. I wish with all my heart that my
+father did not think so much about the estate. Much as I love the old
+place, I can hardly think about it without bitterness. Had my father
+and your brother been on good terms together, there would have been
+none of that. Nothing that he could do,&mdash;no success in his
+efforts,&mdash;can make me be as I should have been had I been born his
+heir. It is a misfortune, and of course one feels it; but I think I
+should feel it less were he not so fixed in his purpose to undo what
+can never be undone."</p>
+
+<p>"He will never succeed," said Gregory.</p>
+
+<p>"Probably not;&mdash;though, for that matter, I suppose Ralph will be
+driven to raise money on his inheritance."</p>
+
+<p>"He will never sell the property."</p>
+
+<p>"It seems that he does spend money faster than he can get it."</p>
+
+<p>"He may have done so."</p>
+
+<p>"Is he not always in debt to you yourself? Is he not now thinking of
+marrying some tradesman's daughter to relieve him of his
+embarrassments? We have to own, I suppose, that Master Ralph has made
+a mess of his money matters?" The parson, who couldn't deny the fact,
+hardly knew what to say on his brother's behalf. "I protest to you,
+Greg, that if my father were to tell me that he had changed his mind,
+and paid your brother's debts out of sheer kindness and uncleship,
+and the rest of it, I should be well pleased. But he won't do that,
+and it does seem to me probable that the estate will get into the
+hands of Jews, financiers, and professional money-dealers, unless my
+father can save it. You wouldn't be glad to see some shopkeeper's
+daughter calling herself Mrs. Newton of Newton."</p>
+
+<p>"A shopkeeper's daughter need not necessarily be a&mdash;a&mdash;a bad sort of
+woman," said Gregory.</p>
+
+<p>"The chances are that a shopkeeper's daughter will not be an educated
+lady. Come, Greg;&mdash;you cannot say that it is the kind of way out of
+the mess you would approve."</p>
+
+<p>"I am so sorry that there should be any mess at all!"</p>
+
+<p>"Just so. It is a pity that there should be any mess;&mdash;is not it?
+Come, old fellow, drink your coffee, and let us take a turn across
+the park. I want to see what Larkin is doing about those sheep. I
+often feel that my coming into the world was a mess altogether;
+though, now that I am here, I must make the best of it. If I hadn't
+come, my father would have married, and had a score of children, and
+Master Ralph would have been none the better for it."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll go and see the Underwoods," said the parson, as they were
+walking across the park.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table style="margin: 0 auto" cellpadding="4px">
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">
+      <a href="images/108-l.jpg">
+      <img src="images/108-t.jpg" width="319"
+      alt="'You'll go and see the Underwoods,' said the
+      parson, as they were walking across the park." /></a>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">
+      <span class="caption">"You'll go and see the Underwoods,"
+      said the<br />
+      parson, as they were walking across the park.<br />
+      Click to <a href="images/108-l.jpg">ENLARGE</a></span>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>"If you wish it, I will."</p>
+
+<p>"I do wish it. They know all the history as a matter of course. It
+cannot be otherwise. And they have so often heard me talk of you. The
+girls are simply perfect. I shall write to Miss Underwood, and tell
+her that you will call. I hope, too, that you will see Sir Thomas. It
+would be so much better that he should know you."</p>
+
+<p>That same night Gregory Newton wrote the two following letters before
+he went to bed;&mdash;the first written was to Miss Underwood, and the
+second to his brother; but we will place the latter
+<span class="nowrap">first;&mdash;</span><br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="jright">Newton, 4th August, 186&mdash;.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">My dear
+Ralph</span>,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>No doubt you know by this time that my uncle, Gregory, is
+in London, though you will probably not have seen him. I
+understand that he has come up with the express purpose of
+making some settlement in regard to the property, on
+account of your embarrassments. I need not tell you how
+sorry I am that the state of your affairs should make this
+necessary. Ralph goes up also to-morrow;&mdash;and though he
+does not purpose to hunt you up, I hope that you may meet.
+You know what I think of him, and how much I wish that you
+two could be friends. He is as generous as the sun, and as
+just as he is generous. Every Newton ought to make him
+welcome as one of the family.</p>
+
+<p>As to money, I do not know what may be the state of your
+affairs. I only hear from him what he hears from his
+father. Sooner than that you should endanger your
+inheritance here I will make any sacrifice,&mdash;if there be
+anything that I can do. You are welcome to sell my share
+of the Holborn property, and you can pay me after my
+uncle's death. I can get on very well with my living, as
+it is not probable that I shall marry. At any rate,
+understand that I should infinitely prefer to lose every
+shilling of the London property to hearing that you had
+imperilled your position here at Newton. I do not suppose
+that what I have can go far;&mdash;but as far as it will go it
+is at your service. You can show this letter to Sir Thomas
+if you think fit.</p>
+
+<p>I could say ever so much more, only that you will know it
+all without my saying it. And I cannot bear that you
+should think that I would preach sermons to you. Never
+mind what I said before about the money that I wanted
+then. I can do without it now. My uncle will pay for the
+entire repair of the chancel out of his own pocket. Ever
+so much must be left undone till more money comes in.
+Money does come in from this quarter or from that, by
+God's help. As for the church rates, of course I regret
+them. But we have to take things in a lump, and it is
+certainly the fact that we spend ten times as much on the
+churches as was spent fifty years ago.</p>
+
+<p class="ind8">Your most affectionate brother,</p>
+
+<p class="ind15"><span class="smallcaps">Gregory
+Newton</span>.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>The other letter was much shorter, and was addressed to Patience
+<span class="nowrap">Underwood;&mdash;</span><br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="jright">Newton Peele Parsonage, 4th August, 186&mdash;.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">My dear Miss
+Underwood</span>,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>My cousin, Mr. Ralph Newton, of whom you have heard me
+speak so often, is going up to London, and I have asked
+him to call at Popham Villa, because I am desirous that so
+very dear a friend of mine should know other friends whom
+I love so dearly. I am sure you will receive him kindly
+for my sake, and that you will like him for his own. There
+are reasons why I wish that your father should know him.</p>
+
+<p>Give my most affectionate love to your sister. I can send
+her no other message, and I do not think she will be angry
+with me for sending that. It cannot hurt her; and she and
+you at least know how honest and how true it is. Distance
+and time make no difference. It is as though I were on the
+lawn with her now.</p>
+
+<p class="ind10">Most sincerely yours,</p>
+
+<p class="ind15"><span class="smallcaps">Gregory
+Newton</span>.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>When he had written this in the little book-room of his parsonage he
+opened the window, and, crossing the garden, seated himself on a low
+brick wall, which divided his small domain from the churchyard. The
+night was bright with stars, but there was no moon in the heavens,
+and the gloom of the old ivy-coloured church tower was complete. But
+all the outlines of the place were so well known to him that he could
+trace them all in the dim light. After a while he got down among the
+graves, and with slow steps walked round and round the precincts of
+his church. Here, at least, in this spot, close to the house of God
+which was his own church, within this hallowed enclosure, which was
+his own freehold in a peculiar manner, he could, after a fashion, be
+happy, in spite of the misfortunes of himself and his family. His
+lines had been laid for him in very pleasant places. According to his
+ideas there was no position among the children of men more blessed,
+more diversified, more useful, more noble, than that which had been
+awarded to him,&mdash;if only, by God's help, he could perform with
+adequate zeal and ability the high duties which had been entrusted to
+him. Things outside were dark,&mdash;at least, so said the squires and
+parsons around him, with whom he was wont to associate. His uncle,
+Gregory, was sure that all things were going to the dogs, since a
+so-called Tory leader had become an advocate for household suffrage,
+and real Tory gentlemen had condescended to follow him. But to our
+parson it had always seemed that there was still a fresh running
+stream of water for him who would care to drink from a fresh stream.
+He heard much of unbelief, and of the professors of unbelief, both
+within and without the great Church;&mdash;but in that little church with
+which he was personally concerned there were more worshippers now
+than there had ever been before. And he heard, too, how certain
+well-esteemed preachers and prophets of the day talked loudly of the
+sins of the people, and foretold destruction such as was the
+destruction of Gomorrah;&mdash;but to him it seemed that the people of his
+village were more honest, less given to drink, and certainly better
+educated than their fathers. In all which thoughts he found matter
+for hope and encouragement in his daily life. And he set himself to
+work diligently, placing all this as a balance against his private
+sorrows, so that he might teach himself to take that world, of which
+he himself was the centre, as one whole,&mdash;and so to walk on
+rejoicing.</p>
+
+<p>The one great sorrow of his life, the thorn in the flesh which was
+always festering, the wound which would not be cured, the grief for
+which there was no remedy, was his love for Clarissa Underwood. He
+had asked her thrice to be his wife,&mdash;with very little interval,
+indeed, between the separate prayers,&mdash;and had been so answered that
+he entertained no hope. Had there been any faintest expectation in
+his mind that Clarissa would at last become his wife he would have
+been deterred by a sense of duty from making to his brother that
+generous offer of all the property he owned. But he had no such hope.
+Clarissa had given thrice that answer, which of all answers is the
+most grievous to the true-hearted lover. "She felt for him unbounded
+esteem, and would always regard him as a friend." A short decided
+negative, or a doubtful no, or even an indignant repulse, may be
+changed,&mdash;may give way to second convictions, or to better
+acquaintance, or to altered circumstances, or even simply to
+perseverance. But an assurance of esteem and friendship means, and
+only can mean, that the lady regards her lover as she might do some
+old uncle or patriarchal family connection, whom, after a fashion,
+she loves, but who can never be to her the one creature to be
+worshipped above all others.</p>
+
+<p>Such were Gregory Newton's ideas as to his own chance of success,
+and, so believing, he had resolved that he would never press his suit
+again. He endeavoured to conquer his love;&mdash;but that he found to be
+impossible. He thought that it was so impossible that he had
+determined to give up the endeavour. Though he would have advised
+others that by God's mercy all sorrows in this world could be cured,
+he told himself,&mdash;without arraigning God's mercy,&mdash;that for him this
+sorrow could not be cured. He did not scruple, therefore, to assure
+his brother that he would not marry,&mdash;nor did he hesitate, in writing
+to Patience Underwood, to assure her that his love for her sister was
+unchangeable. In saying so he urged no suit;&mdash;but it was impossible
+that he should write to the house without some message, and none
+other from him to her could be a true message. It could not hurt her.
+It would not even give her the trouble to think whether she had
+decided well. He quite understood the nature of the love he
+wanted,&mdash;a love that would have felt it to be all happiness to lean
+upon his bosom. Without this love he would not have wished to take
+her;&mdash;and with such love as that he knew he could not fill her heart.
+Therefore it was that he would satisfy himself with walking round the
+churchyard of Newton Peele, and telling himself that the pleasure of
+this world was best to be found in the pursuit of the joys of the
+next.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c15" id="c15"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XV.</h3>
+<h4>CLARISSA WAITS.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>When Patience and Clarissa had got to their own room on the night on
+which they had walked back from Mrs. Brownlow's house to Popham
+Villa,&mdash;during all which long walk Clarissa's hand had lain gently
+upon Ralph Newton's arm,&mdash;the elder sister looked painfully and
+anxiously into the younger's face, in order that, if it were
+possible, she might learn without direct enquiry what had been said
+during that hour of close communion. Had Ralph meant to speak there
+could have been no time more appropriate. And Patience hardly knew
+what she herself wished,&mdash;except that she wished that her sister
+might have everything that was good and joyous and prosperous. There
+was never a look of pain came across Clary's face, but Patience
+suffered some touch of inner agony. This feeling was so strong that
+she sympathised even with Clary's follies, and with Clary's faults.
+She almost knew that it would not be well that Ralph Newton should be
+encouraged as a lover,&mdash;brilliant as were his future prospects, and
+dear, as he was personally to them all. He was a spendthrift, and it
+might be that his fine prospects would all be wasted before they were
+matured. And then their father would so probably disapprove! And
+then, again, it was so wrong that Clary's peace should have been
+disturbed and yet no word said to their father. There was much that
+was wrong;&mdash;but still so absolute was her clinging love for Clary
+that she longed above all things that Clary should be made happy.
+When Ralph's brother had declared himself as a suitor,&mdash;which he had
+done boldly to Sir Thomas, after but a short intimacy with the
+family,&mdash;Patience had given him all her sympathy. Sir Thomas, having
+looked at his circumstances, had made him welcome to the house, and
+to his daughter's hand,&mdash;if he could win her heart. The stage had
+been open to him, and Patience had been his most eager friend. But
+all that had passed away,&mdash;and Clary had been obstinate. "Patty," she
+had said, with some little arrogance, "he has made a mistake. He
+should have fallen in love with you." "Clergymen are as fond of
+pretty girls as other men," Patty had said, with a smile. "And isn't
+my Patty as pretty and as delicate as a primrose?" Clary had said,
+embracing her sister. Pretty Patience Underwood was not;&mdash;but for
+delicacy,&mdash;that with which Patience Underwood was gifted transcended
+poor Clarissa's powers of comparison. So it was between them, and now
+there was this acknowledged passion for the spendthrift!</p>
+
+<p>Patience could see that her sister was not unhappy when she came in
+from her walk,&mdash;was not moody,&mdash;was not heart-broken. And yet it had
+seemed to her, before the walk began, while they were sauntering
+about Mrs. Brownlow's garden, that Ralph had devoted himself entirely
+to the new cousin, and that Clarissa had been miserable. Surely if he
+had spoken during the walk,&mdash;if he had renewed his protestations of
+love, if he were now regarded by Clary as her accepted lover, Clary
+would not keep all this as a secret! It could not be that Clary
+should have surrendered herself to a lover, and that their father was
+to be allowed to remain in ignorance that it was so! And yet how
+could it be otherwise if Clary was happy now,&mdash;Clary who had
+acknowledged that she loved this man, and had now been leaning on his
+arm for an hour beneath the moonlight? But Patience said not a word.
+She could not bring herself to speak when speech might pain her
+sister.</p>
+
+<p>When they had been some half hour in bed, there stole a whisper
+across the darkness of the chamber from one couch to the other;
+"Patty, are you asleep?" Patience declared that she was wide awake.
+"Then I'll come to you,"&mdash;and Clary's naked feet pattered across the
+room. "I've just something to say, and I'll say it better here."
+Patience made glad way for the intruder, and knew that now she would
+hear it all. "Patty, it is better to wait."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean, dear?"</p>
+
+<p>"I mean this. I think he does like me; I'm almost sure he does."</p>
+
+<p>"He said nothing to-night?"</p>
+
+<p>"He said a great deal,&mdash;of course; but nothing about that;&mdash;nothing
+about that exactly."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Clary, I'm afraid of him."</p>
+
+<p>"What is the good of fear? The evil is, dear, I think he likes me,
+but it may so well be that he cannot speak out. He is in debt, and
+all that;&mdash;and he must wait."</p>
+
+<p>"But that is so terrible. What will you do?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will wait too. I have thought about it, and have determined.
+What's the good of loving a man if one won't go through something for
+him? I do love him,&mdash;with all my heart. I pray God I may never have a
+husband, if I cannot be his wife." Patience shuddered in her sister's
+embrace, as these bold words were spoken with energy. "I tell you,
+Patty, just as I tell myself, because you love me so dearly."</p>
+
+<p>"I do love you;&mdash;oh, I do love you."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not think it can be unmaidenly to tell the truth to you and to
+myself. How can I help telling it to myself? There it is. I feel that
+I could kiss the very ground on which he stands. He is my hero, my
+Paladin, my heart, my soul. I have given myself to him for
+everything. How can I help myself?"</p>
+
+<p>"But, Clary,&mdash;you should repress this, not encourage it."</p>
+
+<p>"It won't be repressed,&mdash;not in my own heart. But I will never,
+never, never let him know that it has been so,&mdash;till he is all my
+own. There may be a day when,&mdash;oh,&mdash;I shall tell him everything; how
+wretched I was when he did not speak to me;&mdash;how broken-hearted when
+I heard his voice with Mary; how fluttered, and half-happy, and
+half-wretched when I found that I was to have that long walk with
+him;&mdash;and then how I determined to wait. I will tell him
+all,&mdash;perhaps,&mdash;some day. Good-night, dear, dear Patty. I could not
+sleep without letting you know everything." Then she sprang out from
+her sister's arms, and pattered back across the room to her own bed.
+In two minutes Clarissa was asleep, but Patience lay long awake, and
+before she slept her pillow was damp with her tears.</p>
+
+<p>In the course of the following week Ralph was again at the villa. Sir
+Thomas, as a matter of course, was away, but the three girls were at
+home; and, as it happened, Miss Spooner had also come over to take
+her tea with her friends. The hour that he spent there was passed
+half indoors and half out, and certainly Ralph's attentions were
+chiefly paid to Miss Bonner. Miss Bonner herself, however, was so
+discreet in her demeanour, that no one could have suggested that any
+approach had been made to flirtation. To tell the truth, Mary, who
+had received no confidence from her cousin,&mdash;and who was a girl slow
+to excite or give a confidence,&mdash;had seen some sign, or heard some
+word which had created on her mind a suspicion of the truth. It was
+not that she thought that Clary's heart was irrecoverably given to
+the young man, but that there seemed to be just something with which
+it might be as well that she herself should not interfere. She was
+there on sufferance,&mdash;dependent on her uncle's charity for her daily
+bread, let her uncle say what he might to the contrary. As yet she
+hardly knew her cousins, and was quite sure that she was not known by
+them. She heard that Ralph Newton was a man of fashion, and the heir
+to a large fortune. She knew herself to be utterly destitute,&mdash;but
+she knew herself to be possessed of great beauty. In her bosom,
+doubtless, there was an ambition to win by her beauty, from some man
+whom she could love, those good things of which she was so destitute.
+She did not lack ambition, and had her high hopes, grounded on the
+knowledge of her own charms. Her beauty, and a certain sufficiency of
+intellect,&mdash;of the extent of which she was in a remarkable degree
+herself aware,&mdash;were the gifts with which she had been endowed. But
+she knew when she might use them honestly and when she ought to
+refrain from using them. Ralph had looked at her as men do look who
+wish to be allowed to love. All this to her was much more clearly
+intelligible than to Clarissa, who was two years her senior. Though
+she had seen Ralph but thrice, she already felt that she might have
+him on his knees before her, if she cared so to place him. But there
+was that suspicion of something which had gone before, and a feeling
+that honour and gratitude,&mdash;perhaps, also, self-interest,&mdash;called
+upon her to be cold in her manner to Ralph Newton. She had purposely
+avoided his companionship in their walk home from Mrs. Brownlow's
+house; and now, as they wandered about the lawn and shrubberies of
+Popham Villa, she took care not to be with him out of earshot of the
+others. In all of which there was ten times more of womanly
+cleverness,&mdash;or cunning, shall we say,&mdash;than had yet come to the
+possession of Clarissa Underwood.</p>
+
+<p>Cunning she was;&mdash;but she did not deserve that the objectionable
+epithet should be applied to her. The circumstances of her life had
+made her cunning. She had been the mistress of her father's house
+since her fifteenth year, and for two years of her life had had a
+succession of admirers at her feet. Her father had eaten and drunk
+and laughed, and had joked with his child's lovers about his child.
+It had been through no merit of his that she had held her own among
+them all without soiling either her name or her inner self. Captains
+in West Indian regiments, and lieutenants from Queen's ships lying at
+Spanish Point, had been her admirers. Proposals to marry are as ready
+on the tongues of such men, out in the tropics, as offers to hand a
+shawl or carry a parasol. They are soft-hearted, bold to face the
+world, and very confident in circumstances. Then, too, they are
+ignorant of any other way to progress with a flirtation which is
+all-engrossing. In warm latitudes it is so natural to make an offer
+after the fifth dance. It is the way of the people in those
+latitudes, and seems to lead to no harm. Men and women do marry on
+small incomes; but they do not starve, and the world goes on wagging.
+Mary Bonner, however, whose father's rank had, at least, been higher
+than that of her adorers, and who knew that great gifts had been
+given to her, had held herself aloof from all this, and had early
+resolved to bide her time. She was still biding her time,&mdash;with
+patience sufficient to enable her to resist the glances of Ralph
+Newton.</p>
+
+<p>Clarissa Underwood behaved very well on this evening. She gave a
+merry glance at her sister, and devoted herself to Miss Spooner. Mary
+was so wise and so prudent that there was no cause for any great
+agony. As far as Clary could see, Ralph had quite as much to say to
+Patience as to Mary. For herself she had resolved that she would
+wait. Her manner to him was very pretty,&mdash;almost the manner of a
+sister to a brother. And then she stayed resolutely with Miss
+Spooner, while Ralph was certainly tempting Mary down by the
+river-side. It did not last long. He was soon gone, and Miss Spooner
+had soon followed him.</p>
+
+<p>"He is very amusing," Mary said, as soon as they were alone.</p>
+
+<p>"Very amusing," said Patience.</p>
+
+<p>"And uncommonly good-looking. Isn't he considered a very handsome man
+here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes;&mdash;I suppose he is," said Patience. "I don't know that I ever
+thought much about that."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course he is," said Clarissa. "Nobody can doubt about it. There
+are some people as to whom it is as absurd not to admit that they are
+handsome as it would be to say that a fine picture is not beautiful.
+Ralph is one such person,&mdash;and of course I know another."</p>
+
+<p>Mary would not seem to take the allusion, even by a smile. "I always
+thought Gregory much nicer looking," said Patience.</p>
+
+<p>"That must be because you are in love with him," said Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>"There is a speaking brightness, an eloquence, in his eyes; and a
+softness of feeling in the expression of his face, which is above all
+beauty," continued Patience, with energy.</p>
+
+<p>"Here's poetry," said Clarissa. "Eloquence, and softness, and eyes,
+and feeling, and expressive and speaking brightness! You'd better say
+at once that he's a god."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I knew him," said Mary Bonner.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll know him before long, I don't doubt. And when you do, you'll
+know one of the best fellows in the world. I'll admit as much as
+that; but I will not admit that he can be compared to his brother in
+regard to good looks." In all which poor Clarissa, who had nothing to
+console her but her resolve to wait with courage, bore herself well
+and gallantly.</p>
+
+<p>Soon after this there arrived at Popham Villa the note from Gregory
+Newton. As it happened, Sir Thomas was at home on that morning, and
+heard the tidings. "If young Mr. Newton does come, get him to dine,
+and I will take care to be at home," said Sir Thomas. Patience
+suggested that Ralph,&mdash;their own Ralph,&mdash;should be asked to meet him;
+but to this Sir Thomas would not accede. "It is not our business to
+make up a family quarrel," he said. "I have had old Mr. Newton with
+me once or twice lately, and I find that the quarrel still exists as
+strong as ever. I asked him to dine here, but he refused. His son
+chooses to come. I shall be glad to see him."</p>
+
+<p>Gregory's letter had not been shown to Sir Thomas, but it was, of
+course, shown to Clarissa. "How could I help it?" said she. From
+which it may be presumed that Patience had looked as though Gregory
+had been hardly treated. "One doesn't know how it is, or why it
+comes, or what it is;&mdash;or why it doesn't come. I couldn't have taken
+Gregory Newton for my husband."</p>
+
+<p>"And yet he had all things to recommend him."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish he had asked you, Patty!"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't say that, dear, because there is in it something that annoys
+me. I don't think of myself in such matters, but I do hope to see you
+the happy wife of some happy man."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you will, with all my heart," said Clary, standing up,&mdash;"of
+one man, of one special, dearest, best, and brightest of all men. Oh
+dear! And yet I know it will never be, and I wonder at myself that I
+have been bold enough to tell you." And Patience, also, wondered at
+her sister's boldness.</p>
+
+<p>Ralph Newton,&mdash;Ralph from the Priory,&mdash;did come down to the villa,
+and did accept the invitation to dinner which was given to him. The
+event was so important that Patience found it necessary to go up to
+London to tell her father. Mary went with her, desirous to see
+something of the mysteries of Southampton Buildings, while Clarissa
+remained at home,&mdash;waiting. After the usual skirmishes with Stemm,
+who began by swearing that his master was not at home, they made
+their way into Sir Thomas's library. "Dear, dear, dear; this is a
+very awkward place to bring your cousin to," he said, frowning. Mary
+would have retreated at once had it not been that Patience held her
+ground so boldly. "Why shouldn't she come, papa? And I had to see
+you. Mr. Newton is to dine with us to-morrow." To-morrow was a
+Saturday, and Sir Thomas became seriously displeased. Why had a
+Saturday been chosen? Saturday was the most awkward day in the world
+for the giving and receiving of dinners. It was in vain that Patience
+explained to him that Saturday was the only day on which Mr. Newton
+could come, that Sir Thomas had given his express authority for the
+dinner, and that no bar had been raised against Saturday. "You ought
+to have known," said Sir Thomas. Nevertheless, he allowed them to
+leave the chamber with the understanding that he would preside at his
+own table on the following day. "Why is it that Saturday is so
+distasteful to him?" Mary asked as they walked across Lincoln's Inn
+Fields together.</p>
+
+<p>Patience was silent for awhile, not knowing how to answer the
+question, or how to leave it unanswered. But at last she preferred to
+make some reply. "He does not like going to our church, I think."</p>
+
+<p>"But you like it."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes;&mdash;and I wish papa did. But he doesn't." Then there was a pause.
+"Of course it must strike you as very odd, the way in which we live."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope it is not I who drive my uncle away."</p>
+
+<p>"Not in the least, Mary. Since mamma's death he has fallen into this
+habit, and he has got so to love solitude, that he is never happy but
+when alone. We ought to be grateful to him because it shows that he
+trusts us;&mdash;but it would be much nicer if he would come home."</p>
+
+<p>"He is so different from my father."</p>
+
+<p>"He was always with you."</p>
+
+<p>"Well;&mdash;yes; that is, I could be always with him,&mdash;almost always. He
+was so fond of society that he would never be alone. We had a great
+rambling house, always full of people. If he could see people
+pleasant and laughing, that was all that he wanted. It is hard to say
+what is best."</p>
+
+<p>"Papa is as good to us as ever he can be."</p>
+
+<p>"So was my papa good to me,&mdash;in his way; but, oh dear, the people
+that used to come there! Poor papa! He used to say that hospitality
+was his chief duty. I sometimes used to think that the world would be
+much pleasanter and better if there was no such thing as
+hospitality;&mdash;if people always eat and drank alone, and lived as
+uncle does, in his chambers. There would not be so much money wasted,
+at any rate."</p>
+
+<p>"Papa never wastes any money," said Patience,&mdash;"though there never
+was a more generous man."</p>
+
+<p>Ralph Newton,&mdash;Ralph of the Priory,&mdash;came to dinner, and Miss Spooner
+was asked to meet him. It might have been supposed that a party so
+composed would not have been very bright, but the party at the villa
+went off very satisfactorily. Ralph made himself popular with
+everybody. He became very popular with Sir Thomas by the frank and
+easy way in which he spoke of the family difficulties at Newton. "I
+wish my namesake knew my father," he said, when he was alone with the
+lawyer after dinner. He never spoke of either of these Newtons as his
+cousins, though to Gregory, whom he knew well and loved dearly, he
+would declare that from him he felt entitled to exact all the dues of
+cousinship.</p>
+
+<p>"It would be desirable," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"I never give it up. You know my father, I dare say. He thought his
+brother interfered with him, and I suppose he did. But a more
+affectionate or generous man never lived. He is quite as fond of
+Gregory as he is of me, and would do anything on earth that Gregory
+told him. He is rebuilding the chancel of the church just because
+Gregory wishes it. Some day I hope they may be reconciled."</p>
+
+<p>"It is hard to get over money difficulties," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see why there should be money difficulties," said Ralph. "As
+far as I am concerned there need be none."</p>
+
+<p>"Ralph Newton has made money difficulties," said Sir Thomas. "If he
+had been careful with his own fortune there would have been no
+question as to the property between him and your father."</p>
+
+<p>"I can understand that;&mdash;and I can understand also my father's
+anxiety, though I do not share it. It would be better that my
+namesake should have the estate. I can see into these matters quite
+well enough to know that were it to be mine there would occur exactly
+that which my father wishes to avoid. I should be the owner of Newton
+Priory, and people would call me Mr. Newton. But I shouldn't be
+Newton of Newton. It had better go to Ralph. I should live elsewhere,
+and people would not notice me then."</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas, as he looked up at the young man, leaning back in his
+arm-chair and holding his glass half full of wine in his hand, could
+not but tell himself that the greater was the pity. This off-shoot of
+the Newton stock, who declared of himself that he never could be
+Newton of Newton, was a fine, manly fellow to look at,&mdash;not handsome
+as was Ralph the heir, not marked by that singular mixture of
+gentleness, intelligence, and sweetness which was written, not only
+on the countenance, but in the demeanour and very step of Gregory;
+but he was a bigger man than either of them, with a broad chest, and
+a square brow, and was not without that bright gleam of the Newton
+blue eye, which characterised all the family. And there was so much
+of the man in him;&mdash;whereas, in manhood, Ralph the heir had certainly
+been deficient. "Ralph must lie on the bed that he has made," said
+Sir Thomas. "And you, of course, will accept the good things that
+come in your way. As far as I can see at present it will be best for
+Ralph that your father should redeem from him a portion, at least, of
+the property. The girls are waiting for us to go out, and perhaps you
+will like a cigar on the lawn."</p>
+
+<p>It was clear to every one there to see that this other Newton greatly
+admired the West Indian cousin. And Mary, with this newcomer, seemed
+to talk on easier terms than she had ever done before since she had
+been at Fulham. She smiled, and listened, and was gracious, and made
+those pleasant little half-affected sallies which girls do make to
+men when they know that they are admired, and are satisfied that it
+should be so. All the story had been told to her, and it might be
+that the poor orphan felt that she was better fitted to associate
+with the almost nameless one than with the true heir of the family.
+Mr. Newton, when he got up to leave them, asked permission to come
+again, and left them all with a pleasant air of intimacy. Two boats
+had passed them, racing on the river, almost close to the edge of
+their lawn, and Newton had offered to bet with Mary as to which would
+first reach the bridge. "I wish you had taken my wager, Miss Bonner,"
+he said, "because then I should have been bound to come back at once
+to pay you." "That's all very well, Mr. Newton," said Mary, "but I
+have heard of gentlemen who are never seen again when they lose."
+"Mr. Newton is unlike that, I'm sure," said Clary; "but I hope he'll
+come again at any rate." Newton promised that he would, and was fully
+determined to keep his promise when he made it.</p>
+
+<p>"Wouldn't it be delightful if they were to fall in love with each
+other and make a match of it?" said Clary to her sister.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't like to plot and plan such things," said Patience.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't like to scheme, but I don't see any harm in planning. He is
+ever so nice,&mdash;isn't he?"</p>
+
+<p>"I thought him very pleasant."</p>
+
+<p>"Such an open-spoken, manly, free sort of fellow. And he'll be very
+well off, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know;&mdash;but I dare say he will," said Patience.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes, you do. Poor Ralph, our Ralph, is a spendthrift, and I
+shouldn't wonder if this one were to have the property after all. And
+then his father is very rich. I know that because Gregory told me.
+Dear me! wouldn't it be odd if we were all three to become Mrs.
+Newtons?"</p>
+
+<p>"Clary, what did I tell you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well; I won't. But it would be odd,&mdash;and so nice, at least I think
+so. Well;&mdash;I dare say I ought not to say it. But then I can't help
+thinking it,&mdash;and surely I may tell you what I think."</p>
+
+<p>"I would think it as little as I could, dear."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, that's very well. A girl can be a hypocrite if she pleases, and
+perhaps she ought. Of course I shall be a hypocrite to all the world
+except you. I tell you what it is, Patty;&mdash;you make me tell you
+everything, and say that of course you and I are to tell
+everything,&mdash;and then you scold me. Don't you want me to tell you
+everything?"</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed I do;&mdash;and I won't scold you. Dear Clary, do I scold you?
+Wouldn't I give one of my eyes to make you happy?"</p>
+
+<p>"That's quite a different thing," said Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>Three days afterwards Mr. Ralph Newton;&mdash;it is hoped that the reader
+may understand the attempts which are made to designate the two young
+men;&mdash;Mr. Ralph Newton appeared again at Popham Villa. He came in
+almost with the gait of an old friend, and brought some fern leaves,
+which he had already procured from Hampshire, in compliance with a
+promise which he had made to Patience Underwood. "That's what we call
+the hart's tongue," said he, "though I fancy they give them all
+different names in different places."</p>
+
+<p>"It's the same plant as ours, Mr. Newton,&mdash;only yours is larger."</p>
+
+<p>"It's the ugliest of all the ferns," said Clary.</p>
+
+<p>"Even that's a compliment," said Newton. "It's no use transplanting
+them in this weather, but I'll send you a basket in October. You
+should come down to Newton and see our ferns. We think we're very
+pretty, but because we're so near, nobody comes to see us." Then he
+fell a-talking with Mary Bonner, and stayed at the villa nearly all
+the afternoon. For a moment or two he was alone with Clarissa, and at
+once expressed his admiration. "I don't think I ever saw such perfect
+beauty as your cousin's," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"She is handsome."</p>
+
+<p>"And then she is so fair, whereas everybody expects to see dark eyes
+and black hair come from the West Indies."</p>
+
+<p>"But Mary wasn't born there."</p>
+
+<p>"That doesn't matter. The mind doesn't travel back as far as that. A
+negro should be black, and an American thin, and a French woman
+should have her hair dragged up by the roots, and a German should be
+broad-faced, and a Scotchman red-haired,&mdash;and a West Indian beauty
+should be dark and languishing."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll tell her you say so, and perhaps she'll have herself altered."</p>
+
+<p>"Whatever you do, don't let her be altered," said Mr. Newton. "She
+can't be changed for the better."</p>
+
+<p>"I am quite sure he is over head and ears in love," said Clarissa to
+Patience that evening.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c16" id="c16"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XVI.</h3>
+<h4>THE CHESHIRE CHEESE.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>"Labour is the salt of the earth, and Capital is the sworn foe to
+Labour." Hear, hear, hear, with the clattering of many glasses, and
+the smashing of certain pipes! Then the orator went on. "That Labour
+should be the salt of the earth has been the purpose of a beneficent
+Creator;&mdash;that Capital should be the foe to Labour has been man's
+handywork. The one is an eternal decree, which nothing can
+change,&mdash;which neither the good nor the evil done by man can affect.
+The other is an evil ordinance, the fruit of man's ignorance and
+within the scope of man's intellect to annul." Mr. Ontario Moggs was
+the orator, and he was at this moment addressing a crowd of
+sympathising friends in the large front parlour of the Cheshire
+Cheese. Of all those who were listening to Ontario Moggs there was
+not probably one who had reached a higher grade in commerce than that
+of an artizan working for weekly wages;&mdash;but Mr. Moggs was especially
+endeared to them because he was not an artizan working for weekly
+wages, but himself a capitalist. His father was a master bootmaker on
+a great scale;&mdash;for none stood much higher in the West-end trade than
+Booby and Moggs; and it was known that Ontario was the only child and
+heir, and as it were sole owner of the shoulders on which must some
+day devolve the mantle of Booby and Moggs. Booby had long been
+gathered to his fathers, and old Moggs was the stern opponent of
+strikes. What he had lost by absolutely refusing to yield a point
+during the last strike among the shoemakers of London no one could
+tell. He had professed aloud that he would sooner be ruined, sooner
+give up his country residence at Shepherd's Bush, sooner pull down
+the honoured names of Booby and Moggs from over the shop-window in
+Old Bond Street, than allow himself to be driven half an inch out of
+his course by men who were attempting to dictate to him what he
+should do with his own. In these days of strikes Moggs would look
+even upon his own workmen with the eyes of a Coriolanus glaring upon
+the disaffected populace of Rome. Mr. Moggs senior would stand at his
+shop-door, with his hand within his waistcoat, watching the men out
+on strike who were picketing the streets round his shop, and would
+feel himself every inch a patrician, ready to die for his order. Such
+was Moggs senior. And Moggs junior, who was a child of Capital, but
+whose heirship depended entirely on his father's will, harangued his
+father's workmen and other workmen at the Cheshire Cheese, telling
+them that Labour was the salt of the earth, and that Capital was the
+foe to Labour! Of course they loved him. The demagogue who is of all
+demagogues the most popular, is the demagogue who is a demagogue in
+opposition to his apparent nature. The radical Earl, the
+free-thinking parson, the squire who won't preserve, the tenant who
+defies his landlord, the capitalist with a theory for dividing
+profits, the Moggs who loves a strike,&mdash;these are the men whom the
+working men delight to follow. Ontario Moggs, who was at any rate
+honest in his philanthropy, and who did in truth believe that it was
+better that twenty real bootmakers should eat beef daily than that
+one so-called bootmaker should live in a country residence,&mdash;who
+believed this and acted on his belief, though he was himself not of
+the twenty, but rather the one so-called bootmaker who would suffer
+by the propagation of such a creed,&mdash;was beloved and almost
+worshipped by the denizens of the Cheshire Cheese. How far the real
+philanthropy of the man may have been marred by an uneasy and fatuous
+ambition; how far he was carried away by a feeling that it was better
+to make speeches at the Cheshire Cheese than to apply for payment of
+money due to his father, it would be very hard for us to decide. That
+there was an alloy even in Ontario Moggs is probable;&mdash;but of this
+alloy his hearers knew nothing. To them he was a perfect specimen of
+that combination, which is so grateful to them, of the rich man's
+position with the poor man's sympathies. Therefore they clattered
+their glasses, and broke their pipes, and swore that the words he
+uttered were the kind of stuff they wanted.</p>
+
+<p>"The battle has been fought since man first crawled upon the earth,"
+continued Moggs, stretching himself to his full height and pointing
+to the farthest confines of the inhabited globe;&mdash;"since man first
+crawled upon the earth." There was a sound in that word "crawl"
+typical of the abject humility to which working shoemakers were
+subjected by their employers, which specially aroused the feelings of
+the meeting. "And whence comes the battle?" The orator paused, and
+the glasses were jammed upon the table. "Yes,&mdash;whence comes the
+battle, in fighting which hecatombs of honest labourers have been
+crushed till the sides of the mountains are white with their bones,
+and the rivers run foul with their blood? From the desire of one man
+to eat the bread of two?" "That's it," said a lean, wizened,
+pale-faced little man in a corner, whose trembling hand was resting
+on a beaker of gin and water. "Yes, and to wear two men's coats and
+trousers, and to take two men's bedses and the wery witals out of two
+men's bodies. <span class="nowrap">D&mdash;&mdash;</span>
+them!" Ontario, who understood something of his
+trade as an orator, stood with his hand still stretched out, waiting
+till this ebullition should be over. "No, my friend," said he, "we
+will not damn them. I for one will damn no man. I will simply rebel.
+Of all the sacraments given to us, the sacrament of rebellion is the
+most holy." Hereupon the landlord of the Cheshire Cheese must have
+feared for his tables, so great was the applause and so tremendous
+the thumping;&mdash;but he knew his business, no doubt, and omitted to
+interfere. "Of Rebellion, my friends," continued Ontario, with his
+right hand now gracefully laid across his breast, "there are two
+kinds,&mdash;or perhaps we may say three. There is the rebellion of arms,
+which can avail us nothing here." "Perhaps it might tho'," said the
+little wizened man in a corner, whose gin and water apparently did
+not comfort him. To this interruption Ontario paid no attention. "And
+there is the dignified and slow rebellion of moral resistance;&mdash;too
+slow I fear for us." This point was lost upon the audience, and
+though the speaker paused, no loud cheer was given. "It's as true as
+true," said one man; but he was a vain fellow, simply desirous of
+appearing wiser than his comrades. "And then there is the rebellion
+of the Strike;" now the clamour of men's voices, and the kicking of
+men's feet, and the thumping with men's fists became more frantic
+than ever;"&mdash;the legitimate rebellion of Labour against its tyrant.
+Gentlemen, of all efforts this is the most noble. It is a sacrifice
+of self, a martyrdom, a giving up on the part of him who strikes of
+himself, his little ones, and his wife, for the sake of others who
+can only thus be rescued from the grasp of tyranny. Gentlemen, were
+it not for strikes, this would be a country in which no free man
+could live. By the aid of strikes we will make it the Paradise of the
+labourer, an Elysium of industry, an Eden of artizans." There was
+much more of it,&mdash;but the reader might be fatigued were the full
+flood of Mr. Moggs's oratory to be let loose upon him. And through it
+all there was a germ of truth and a strong dash of true, noble
+feeling;&mdash;but the speaker had omitted as yet to learn how much
+thought must be given to a germ of truth before it can be made to
+produce fruit for the multitude. And then, in speaking, grand words
+come so easily, while thoughts,&mdash;even little thoughts,&mdash;flow so
+slowly!</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table style="margin: 0 auto" cellpadding="4px">
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">
+      <a href="images/122-l.jpg">
+      <img src="images/122-t.jpg" width="540"
+      alt='"The battle has been fought since man first
+      crawled upon the earth," continued Moggs, stretching
+      himself to his full height and pointing to the
+      farthest confines of the inhabited globe&#8230;' /></a>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">
+      <span class="caption">"The battle has been fought since man
+      first crawled upon the earth,"<br />
+      continued Moggs, stretching himself to his full height and<br />
+      pointing to the farthest confines of the inhabited
+      <span class="nowrap">globe &#8230;</span><br />
+      Click to <a href="images/122-l.jpg">ENLARGE</a></span>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+
+
+<p>But the speech, such as it was, sufficed amply for the immediate
+wants of the denizens of the Cheshire Cheese. There were men there
+who for the half-hour believed that Ontario Moggs had been born to
+settle all the difficulties between labourers and their employers,
+and that he would do so in such a way that the labourers, at least,
+should have all that they wanted. It would be, perhaps, too much to
+say that any man thought this would come in his own day,&mdash;that he so
+believed as to put a personal trust in his own belief; but they did
+think for a while that the good time was coming, and that Ontario
+Moggs would make it come. "We'll have 'im in parl'ament any ways,"
+said a sturdy, short, dirty-looking artizan, who shook his head as he
+spoke to show that, on that matter, his mind was quite made up. "I
+dunno no good as is to cum of sending sich as him to parl'ament,"
+said another. "Parl'ament ain't the place. When it comes to the p'int
+they won't 'ave 'em. There was Odgers, and Mr. Beale. I don't b'lieve
+in parl'ament no more." "Kennington Oval's about the place," said a
+third. "Or Primrose 'ill," said a fourth. "Hyde Park!" screamed the
+little wizen man with the gin and water. "That's the ticket;&mdash;and
+down with them gold railings. We'll let' em see!" Nevertheless they
+all went away home in the quietest way in the world, and,&mdash;as there
+was no strike in hand,&mdash;got to their work punctually on the next
+morning. Of all those who had been loudest at the Cheshire Cheese
+there was not one who was not faithful, and, in a certain way, loyal
+to his employer.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as his speech was over and he was able to extricate himself
+from the crowd, Ontario Moggs escaped from the public-house and
+strutted off through certain narrow, dark streets in the
+neighbourhood, leaning on the arm of a faithful friend. "Mr. Moggs,
+you did pitch it rayther strong, to-night," said the faithful friend.</p>
+
+<p>"Pitch it rather strong;&mdash;yes. What good do you think can ever come
+from pitching any thing weak? Pitch it as strong as you will, find it
+don't amount to much."</p>
+
+<p>"But about rebellion, now, Mr. Moggs? Rebellion ain't a good thing,
+surely, Mr. Moggs."</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't it? What was Washington, what was Cromwell, what was Rienzi,
+what was,&mdash;was,&mdash;; but never mind," said Ontario, who could not at
+the moment think of the name of his favourite Pole.</p>
+
+<p>"And you think as the men should be rebels again' the masters?"</p>
+
+<p>"That depends on who the masters are, Waddle."</p>
+
+<p>"What good 'd cum of it if I rebelled again' Mr. Neefit, and told him
+up to his face as I wouldn't make up the books? He'd only sack me. I
+find thirty-five bob a week, with two kids and their mother to keep
+on it, tight enough, Mr. Moggs. If I 'ad the fixing on it, I should
+say forty bob wasn't over the mark;&mdash;I should indeed. But I don't see
+as I should get it."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes you would;&mdash;if you earned it, and stuck to your purpose. But
+you're a single stick, and it requires a faggot to do this work."</p>
+
+<p>"I never could see it, Mr. Moggs. All the same I do like to hear you
+talk. It stirs one up, even though one don't just go along with it.
+You won't let on, you know, to Mr. Neefit as I was there."</p>
+
+<p>"And why not?" said Ontario, turning sharp upon his companion.</p>
+
+<p>"The old gen'leman hates the very name of a strike. He's a'most as
+bad as your own father, Mr. Moggs."</p>
+
+<p>"You have done his work to-day. You have earned your bread. You owe
+him nothing."</p>
+
+<p>"That I don't, Mr. Moggs. He'll take care of that."</p>
+
+<p>"And yet you are to stay away from this place, or go to that, to suit
+his pleasure. Are you Neefit's slave?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm just the young man in his shop,&mdash;that's all."</p>
+
+<p>"As long as that is all, Waddle, you are not worthy to be called a
+man."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Moggs, you're too hard. As for being a man, I am a man. I've a
+wife and two kids. I don't think more of my governor than
+another;&mdash;but if he sacked me, where 'd I get thirty-five bob
+a-week?"</p>
+
+<p>"I beg your pardon, Waddle;&mdash;it's true. I should not have said it.
+Perhaps you do not quite understand me, but your position is one of a
+single stick, rather than of the faggot. Ah me! She hasn't been at
+the shop lately?"</p>
+
+<p>"She do come sometimes. She was there the day before yesterday."</p>
+
+<p>"And alone?"</p>
+
+<p>"She come alone, and she went home with the governor."</p>
+
+<p>"And he?"</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Newton, you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"Has he been there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well;&mdash;yes; he was there once last week."</p>
+
+<p>"Well?"</p>
+
+<p>"There was words;&mdash;that's what there was. It ain't going smooth, and
+he ain't been out there no more,&mdash;not as I knows on. I did say a word
+once or twice as to the precious long figure as he stands for on our
+books. Over two hundred for breeches is something quite stupendous.
+Isn't it, Mr. Moggs?"</p>
+
+<p>"And what did Neefit say?"</p>
+
+<p>"Just snarled at me. He can show his teeth, you know, and look as
+bitter as you like. It ain't off, because when I just named the very
+heavy figure in such a business as ours,&mdash;he only snarled. But it
+ain't on, Mr. Moggs. It ain't what I call,&mdash;on." After this they
+walked on in silence for a short way, when Mr. Waddle made a little
+proposition. "He's on your books, too, Mr. Moggs, pretty tight, as
+I'm told. Why ain't you down on him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Down on him?" said Moggs.</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't leave him an hour, if I was you."</p>
+
+<p>"D'you think that's the way I would be down on,&mdash;a rival?" and Moggs,
+as he walked along, worked both his fists closely in his energy. "If
+I can't be down on him other gait than that, I'll leave him alone.
+But, Waddle, by my sacred honour as a man, I'll not leave him alone!"
+Waddle started, and stood with his mouth open, looking up at his
+friend. "Base, mercenary, false-hearted loon! What is it that he
+wants?"</p>
+
+<p>"Old Neefit's money. That's it, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"He doesn't know what love means, and he'd take that fair creature,
+and drag her through the dirt, and subject her to the scorn of
+hardened aristocrats, and crush her spirits, and break her
+heart,&mdash;just because her father has scraped together a mass of gold.
+But I,&mdash;I wouldn't let the wind blow on her too harshly. I despise
+her father's money. I love her. Yes;&mdash;I'll be down upon him somehow.
+Good-night, Waddle. To come between me and the pride of my heart for
+a little dirt! Yes; I'll be down upon him." Waddle stood and admired.
+He had read of such things in books, but here it was brought home to
+him in absolute life. He had a young wife whom he loved, but there
+had been no poetry about his marriage. One didn't often come across
+real poetry in the world,&mdash;Waddle felt;&mdash;but when one did, the treat
+was great. Now Ontario Moggs was full of poetry. When he preached
+rebellion it was very grand,&mdash;though at such moments Waddle was apt
+to tell himself that he was precluded by his two kids from taking an
+active share in such poetry as that. But when Moggs was roused to
+speak of his love, poetry couldn't go beyond that. "He'll drop into
+that customer of ours," said Waddle to himself, "and he'll mean it
+when he's a doing of it. But Polly 'll never 'ave 'im." And then
+there came across Waddle's mind an idea which he could not
+express,&mdash;that of course no girl would put up with a bootmaker who
+could have a real gentleman. Real gentlemen think a good deal of
+themselves, but not half so much as is thought of them by men who
+know that they themselves are of a different order.</p>
+
+<p>Ontario Moggs, as he went homewards by himself, was disturbed by
+various thoughts. If it really was to be the case that Polly Neefit
+wouldn't have him, why should he stay in a country so ill-adapted to
+his manner of thinking as this? Why remain in a paltry island while
+all the starry west, with its brilliant promises, was open to him?
+Here he could only quarrel with his father, and become a rebel, and
+perhaps live to find himself in a jail. And then what could he do of
+good? He preached and preached, but nothing came of it. Would not the
+land of the starry west suit better such a heart and such a mind as
+his? But he wouldn't stir while his fate was as yet unfixed in
+reference to Polly Neefit. Strikes were dear to him, and oratory, and
+the noisy applauses of the Cheshire Cheese; but nothing was so dear
+to him as Polly Neefit. He went about the world with a great burden
+lying on his chest, and that burden was his love for Polly Neefit. In
+regard to strikes and the ballot he did in a certain way reason
+within himself and teach himself to believe that he had thought out
+those matters; but as to Polly he thought not at all. He simply loved
+her, and felt himself to be a wild, frantic man, quarrelling with his
+father, hurrying towards jails and penal settlements, rushing about
+the streets half disposed to suicide, because Polly Neefit would have
+none of him. He had been jealous, too, of the gasfitter, when he had
+seen his Polly whirling round the room in the gasfitter's arms;&mdash;but
+the gasfitter was no gentleman, and the battle had been even. In
+spite of the whirling he still had a chance against the gasfitter.
+But the introduction of the purple and fine linen element into his
+affairs was maddening to him. With all his scorn for gentry, Ontario
+Moggs in his heart feared a gentleman. He thought that he could make
+an effort to punch Ralph Newton's head if they two were ever to be
+brought together in a spot convenient for such an operation; but of
+the man's standing in the world, he was afraid. It seemed to him to
+be impossible that Polly should prefer him, or any one of his class,
+to a suitor whose hands were always clean, whose shirt was always
+white, whose words were soft and well-chosen, who carried with him
+none of the stain of work. Moggs was as true as steel in his genuine
+love of Labour,&mdash;of Labour with a great L,&mdash;of the People with a
+great P,&mdash;of Trade with a great T,&mdash;of Commerce with a great C; but
+of himself individually,&mdash;of himself, who was a man of the people,
+and a tradesman, he thought very little when he compared himself to a
+gentleman. He could not speak as they spoke; he could not walk as
+they walked; he could not eat as they ate. There was a divinity about
+a gentleman which he envied and hated.</p>
+
+<p>Now Polly Neefit was not subject to this idolatry. Could Moggs have
+read her mind, he might have known that success, as from the
+bootmaker against the gentleman, was by no means so hopeless an
+affair. What Polly liked was a nice young man, who would hold up his
+head and be true to her,&mdash;and who would not make a fool of himself.
+If he could waltz into the bargain, that also would Polly like.</p>
+
+<p>On that night Ontario walked all the way out to Alexandria Cottage,
+and spent an hour leaning upon the gate, looking up at the window of
+the breeches-maker's bedroom;&mdash;for the chamber of Polly herself
+opened backwards. When he had stood there an hour, he walked home to
+Bond Street.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c17" id="c17"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XVII.</h3>
+<h4>RALPH NEWTON'S DOUBTS.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>That month of August was a very sad time indeed for Ralph the heir.
+With him all months were, we may say, idle months; but, as a rule,
+August was of all the most idle. Sometimes he would affect to shoot
+grouse, but hunting, not grouse-shooting, was his passion as a
+sportsman. He would leave London, and spend perhaps a couple of days
+with Mr. Horsball looking at the nags. Then he would run down to some
+sea-side place, and flirt and laugh and waste his time upon the
+sands. Or he would go abroad as far as Dieppe, or perhaps Biarritz,
+and so would saunter through the end of the summer. It must not be
+supposed of him that he was not fully conscious that this manner of
+life was most pernicious. He knew it well, knew that it would take
+him to the dogs, made faint resolves at improvement which he hardly
+for an hour hoped to be able to keep,&mdash;and was in truth anything but
+happy. This was his usual life;&mdash;and so for the last three or four
+years had he contrived to get through this month of August. But now
+the utmost sternness of business had come upon him. He was forced to
+remain in town, found himself sitting day after day in his lawyer's
+anteroom, was compelled to seek various interviews with Sir Thomas,
+in which it was impossible that Sir Thomas should make himself very
+pleasant; and,&mdash;worst of all,&mdash;was at last told that he must make up
+his own mind!</p>
+
+<p>Squire Newton was also up in London; and though London was never much
+to his taste, he was in these days by no means so wretched as his
+nephew. He was intent on a certain object, and he began to hope, nay
+to think, that his object might be achieved. He had not once seen his
+nephew, having declared his conviction very strongly that it would be
+better for all parties that they should remain apart. His own lawyer
+he saw frequently, and Ralph's lawyer once, and Sir Thomas more than
+once or twice. There was considerable delay, but the Squire would not
+leave London till something was, if not settled, at any rate
+arranged, towards a settlement. And it was the expression of his will
+conveyed through the two lawyers which kept Ralph in London. What was
+the worth of Ralph's interest in the property? That was one great
+question. Would Ralph sell that interest when the price was fixed?
+That was the second question. Ralph, to whom the difficulty of giving
+an answer was as a labour of Hercules, staved off the evil day for
+awhile by declaring that he must know what was the price before he
+could say whether he would sell the article. The exact price could
+not be fixed. The lawyers combined in saying that the absolute sum of
+money to include all Ralph's interest in the estate could not be
+named that side of Christmas. It was not to be thought of that any
+actuary, or valuer, or lawyer, or conveyancer, should dispose of so
+great a matter by a month's work. But something approaching to a
+settlement might be made. A sum might be named as a minimum. And a
+compact might be made, subject to the arbitration of a sworn
+appraiser. A sum was named. The matter was carried so far, that Ralph
+was told that he could sign away all his rights by the middle of
+September,&mdash;sign away the entire property,&mdash;and have his pockets
+filled with ample funds for the Moonbeam, and all other delights. He
+might pay off Moggs and Neefit, and no longer feel that Polly,&mdash;poor
+dear Polly,&mdash;was a millstone round his neck. And he would indeed, in
+this event, be so well provided, that he did not for a moment doubt
+that, if he chose so to circumscribe himself, Clarissa Underwood
+might be his wife. All the savings of the Squire's life would be
+his,&mdash;enough, as the opposing lawyer told him with eager pressing
+words, to give him an estate of over a thousand a year at once. "And
+it may be more,&mdash;probably will be more," said the lawyer. But at the
+very least a sum approaching to thirty thousand pounds would be paid
+over to him at once. And he might do what he pleased with this. There
+was still a remnant of his own paternal property sufficient to pay
+his debts.</p>
+
+<p>But why should a man whose encumbrances were so trifling, sacrifice
+prospects that were so glorious? Could he not part with a portion of
+the estate,&mdash;with the reversion of half of it, so that the house of
+Newton, Newton Priory, with its grouse and paddocks and adjacent
+farms, might be left to him? If the whole were saleable, surely so
+also must be the half. The third of the money offered to him would
+more than suffice for all his wants. No doubt he might sell the
+half,&mdash;but not to the Squire, nor could he effect such sale
+immediately as he would do if the Squire bought it, nor on such terms
+as were offered by the Squire. Money he might raise at once,
+certainly; but it became by degrees as a thing certain to him, that
+if once he raised money in that way, the estate would fly from him.
+His uncle was a hale man, and people told him that his own life was
+not so much better than his uncle's. His uncle had a great object,
+and if Ralph chose to sell at all, that fact would be worth thousands
+to him. But his uncle would not buy the reversion of half or of a
+portion of the property. The Squire at last spoke his mind freely on
+this matter to Sir Thomas. "It shall never be cast in my son's
+teeth," he said, "that his next neighbour is the real man. Early in
+life I made a mistake, and I have had to pay for it ever since. I am
+paying for it now, and must pay for it to the end. But my paying for
+it will be of small service if my boy has to pay for it afterwards."
+Sir Thomas understood him and did not press the point.</p>
+
+<p>Ralph was nearly driven wild with the need of deciding. Moggs's bill
+at two months was coming due, and he knew that he could expect no
+mercy there. To Neefit's establishment in Conduit Street he had gone
+once, and had had words,&mdash;as Waddle had told to his rival. Neefit was
+still persistent in his wishes,&mdash;still urgent that Newton should go
+forth to Hendon like a man, and "pop" at once. "I'll tell you what,
+Captain," said he;&mdash;he had taken to calling Ralph Captain, as a
+goodly familiar name, feeling, no doubt, that Mister was cold between
+father-in-law and son-in-law, and not quite daring to drop all
+reverential title;&mdash;"if you're a little hard up, as I know you are,
+you can have three or four hundred if you want it." Ralph did want it
+sorely. "I know how you stand with old Moggs," said Neefit, "and I'll
+see you all right there." Neefit was very urgent. He too had heard
+something of these dealings among the lawyers. To have his Polly Mrs.
+Newton of Newton Priory! The prize was worth fighting for. "Don't let
+them frighten you about a little ready money, Captain. If it comes to
+that, other folk has got ready money besides them."</p>
+
+<p>"Your trust in me surprises me," said Ralph. "I already owe you money
+which I can't pay you."</p>
+
+<p>"I know where to trust, and I know where not to trust. If you'll once
+say as how you'll pop the question to Polly, fair and honest, on the
+square, you shall have five hundred;&mdash;bless me, if you shan't. If she
+don't take you after all, why then I must look for my money
+by-and-bye. If you're on the square with me, Captain, you'll never
+find me hard to deal with."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope I shall be on the square, at any rate."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you step out to her and pop." Hereupon Ralph made a long and
+intricate explanation of his affairs, the object of which was to
+prove to Mr. Neefit that a little more delay was essential. He was so
+environed by business and difficulties at the present moment that he
+could take no immediate step such as Mr. Neefit suggested,&mdash;no such
+step quite immediately. In about another fortnight, or in a month at
+the furthest, he would be able to declare his purpose. "And how about
+Moggs?" said Neefit, putting his hands into his breeches-pocket,
+pulling down the corners of his mouth, and fixing his saucer eyes
+full upon the young man's face. So he stood for some seconds, and
+then came the words of which Waddle had spoken. Neefit could not
+disentangle the intricacies of Ralph's somewhat fictitious story; but
+he had wit enough to know what it meant. "You ain't on the square,
+Captain. That's what you ain't," he said at last. It must be owned
+that the accusation was just, and it was made so loudly that Waddle
+did not at all exaggerate in saying that there had been words.
+Nevertheless, when Ralph left the shop Neefit relented. "You come to
+me, Captain, when Moggs's bit of stiff comes round."</p>
+
+<p>A few days after that Ralph went to Sir Thomas, with the object of
+declaring his decision;&mdash;at least Sir Thomas understood that such was
+to be the purport of the visit. According to his ideas there had been
+quite enough of delay. The Squire had been liberal in his offer; and
+though the thing to be sold was in all its bearings so valuable,
+though it carried with it a value which, in the eyes of Sir
+Thomas,&mdash;and, indeed, in the eyes of all Englishmen,&mdash;was far beyond
+all money price, though the territorial position was, for a
+legitimate heir, almost a principality; yet, when a man cannot keep a
+thing, what can he do but part with it? Ralph had made his bed, and
+he must lie upon it. Sir Thomas had done what he could, but it had
+all amounted to nothing. There was this young man a beggar,&mdash;but for
+this reversion which he had now the power of selling. As for that
+mode of extrication by marrying the breeches-maker's daughter,&mdash;that
+to Sir Thomas was infinitely the worst evil of the two. Let Ralph
+accept his uncle's offer and he would still be an English gentleman,
+free to live as such, free to marry as such, free to associate with
+friends fitting to his habits of life. And he would be a gentleman,
+too, with means sufficing for a gentleman's wants. But that escape by
+way of the breeches-maker's daughter would, in accordance with Sir
+Thomas's view of things, destroy everything.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Ralph," he said, sighing, almost groaning, as his late ward
+took the now accustomed chair opposite to his own.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I'd never been born," said Ralph, "and that Gregory stood in
+my place."</p>
+
+<p>"But you have been born, Ralph. We must take things as we find them."
+Then there was a long silence. "I think, you know, that you should
+make up your mind one way or the other. Your uncle of course feels
+that as he is ready to pay the money at once he is entitled to an
+immediate answer."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see that at all," said Ralph. "I am under no obligation to
+my uncle, and I don't see why I am to be bustled by him. He is doing
+nothing for my sake."</p>
+
+<p>"He has, at any rate, the power of retracting."</p>
+
+<p>"Let him retract."</p>
+
+<p>"And then you'll be just where you were before,&mdash;ready to fall into
+the hands of the Jews. If you must part with your property you cannot
+do so on better terms."</p>
+
+<p>"It seems to me that I shall be selling &pound;7,000 a year in land for
+about &pound;1,200 a year in the funds."</p>
+
+<p>"Just so;&mdash;that's about it, I suppose. But can you tell me when the
+land will be yours,&mdash;or whether it will ever be yours at all? What is
+it that you have got to sell? But, Ralph, it is no good going over
+all that again."</p>
+
+<p>"I know that, Sir Thomas."</p>
+
+<p>"I had hoped you would have come to some decision. If you can save
+the property of course you ought to do so. If you can live on what
+pittance is left to <span class="nowrap">you&mdash;"</span></p>
+
+<p>"I can save it."</p>
+
+<p>"Then do save it."</p>
+
+<p>"I can save it by&mdash;marrying."</p>
+
+<p>"By selling yourself to the daughter of a man who makes&mdash;breeches! I
+can give you advice on no other point; but I do advise you not to do
+that. I look upon an ill-assorted marriage as the very worst kind of
+ruin. I cannot myself conceive any misery greater than that of having
+a wife whom I could not ask my friends to meet."</p>
+
+<p>Ralph when he heard this blushed up to the roots of his hair. He
+remembered that when he had first mentioned to Sir Thomas his
+suggested marriage with Polly Neefit he had said that as regarded
+Polly herself he thought that Patience and Clarissa would not object
+to her. He was now being told by Sir Thomas himself that his
+daughters would certainly not consent to meet Polly Neefit, should
+Polly Neefit become Mrs. Newton. He, too, had his ideas of his own
+standing in the world, and had not been slow to assure himself that
+the woman whom he might choose for his wife would be a fit companion
+for any lady,&mdash;as long as the woman was neither vicious nor
+disagreeable. He could make any woman a lady; he could, at any rate,
+make Polly Neefit a lady. He rose from his seat, and prepared to
+leave the room in disgust. "I won't trouble you by coming here
+again," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"You are welcome, Ralph," said Sir Thomas. "If I could assist you,
+you would be doubly welcome."</p>
+
+<p>"I know I have been a great trouble to you,&mdash;a thankless, fruitless,
+worthless trouble. I shall make up my mind, no doubt, in a day or
+two, and I will just write you a line. I need not bother you by
+coming any more. Of course I think a great deal about it."</p>
+
+<p>"No doubt," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"Unluckily I have been brought up to know the value of what it is I
+have to throw away. It is a kind of thing that a man doesn't do
+without some regrets."</p>
+
+<p>"They should have come earlier," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"No doubt;&mdash;but they didn't, and it is no use saying anything more
+about it. Good-day, sir." Then he flounced out of the room, impatient
+of that single word of rebuke which had been administered to him.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas, as soon as he was alone, applied himself at once to the
+book which he had reluctantly put aside when he was disturbed. But he
+could not divest his mind of its trouble, as quickly as his chamber
+had been divested of the presence of its troubler. He had said an
+ill-natured word, and that grieved him. And then,&mdash;was he not taking
+all this great matter too easily? If he would only put his shoulder
+to the wheel thoroughly might he not do something to save this
+friend,&mdash;this lad, who had been almost as his own son,&mdash;from
+destruction? Would it not be a burden on his conscience to the last
+day of his life that he had allowed his ward to be ruined, when by
+some sacrifice of his own means he might have saved him? He sat and
+thought of it, but did not really resolve that anything could be
+done. He was wont to think in the same way of his own children, whom
+he neglected. His conscience had been pricking him all his life, but
+it hardly pricked him sharp enough to produce consequences.</p>
+
+<p>During those very moments in which Ralph was leaving Southampton
+Buildings he had almost made up his mind to go at once to Alexandria
+Cottage, and to throw himself and the future fate of Newton Priory at
+the feet of Polly Neefit. Two incidents in his late interview with
+Sir Thomas tended to drive him that way. Sir Thomas had told him that
+should he marry the daughter of a man who made&mdash;breeches, no lady
+would associate with his wife. Sir Thomas also had seemed to imply
+that he must sell his property. He would show Sir Thomas that he
+could have a will and a way of his own. Polly Neefit should become
+his wife; and he would show the world that no proudest lady in the
+land was treated with more delicate consideration by her husband than
+the breeches-maker's daughter should be treated by him. And when it
+should please Providence to decide that the present squire of Newton
+had reigned long enough over that dominion, he would show the world
+that he had known something of his own position and the value of his
+own prospects. Then Polly should be queen in the Newton dominions,
+and he would see whether the ordinary world of worshippers would not
+come and worship as usual. All the same, he did not on that occasion
+go out to Alexandria Cottage.</p>
+
+<p>When he reached his club he found a note from his
+brother.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="jright">Newton Peele, September 8th, 186&mdash;.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">My dear
+Ralph</span>,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>I have been sorry not to have had an answer from you to
+the letter which I wrote to you about a month ago. Of
+course I hear of what is going on. Ralph Newton up at the
+house tells me everything. The Squire is still in town,
+as, of course, you know; and there has got to be a report
+about here that he has, as the people say, bought you out.
+I still hope that this is not true. The very idea of it is
+terrible to me;&mdash;that you should sell for an old song, as
+it were, the property that has belonged to us for
+centuries! It would not, indeed, go out of the name, but,
+as far as you and I are concerned, that is the same. I
+will not refuse, myself, to do anything that you may say
+is necessary to extricate yourself from embarrassment; but
+I ran hardly bring myself to believe that a step so fatal
+as this can be necessary.</p>
+
+<p>If I understand the matter rightly your difficulty is not
+so much in regard to debts as in the want of means of
+livelihood. If so, can you not bring yourself to live
+quietly for a term of years. Of course you ought to marry,
+and there may be a difficulty there; but almost anything
+would be better than abandoning the property. As I told
+you before, you are welcome to the use of the whole of my
+share of the London property. It is very nearly &pound;400 a
+year. Could you not live on that till things come round?</p>
+
+<p>Our cousin Ralph knows that I am writing to you, and knows
+what my feelings are. It is not he that is so anxious for
+the purchase. Pray write and tell me what is to be done.</p>
+
+<p class="ind10">Most affectionately yours,</p>
+
+<p class="ind15"><span class="smallcaps">Gregory Newton</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">I wouldn't lose a day
+in doing anything you might direct
+about the Holborn property.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>Ralph received this at his club, and afterwards dined alone,
+considering it. Before the evening was over he thought that he had
+made up his mind that he would not, under any circumstances, give up
+his reversionary right. "They couldn't make me do it, even though I
+went to prison," he said to himself. Let him starve till he died, and
+then the property would go to Gregory! What did it matter? The thing
+that did matter was this,&mdash;that the estate should not be allowed to
+depart out of the true line of the Newton family. He sat thinking of
+it half the night, and before he left the club he wrote the following
+note to his <span class="nowrap">brother;&mdash;</span><br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="jright">September 9th, 186&mdash;.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">Dear Greg</span>.,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>Be sure of this,&mdash;that I will not part with my interest in
+the property. I do not think that I can be forced, and I
+will never do it willingly. It may be that I may be driven
+to take advantage of your liberality and prudence. If so,
+I can only say that you shall share the property with me
+when it comes.</p>
+
+<p class="ind10">Yours always,</p>
+
+<p class="ind15">R. N.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>This he gave to the porter of the club as he passed out; and then, as
+he went home, he acknowledged to himself that it was tantamount to a
+decision on his part that he would forthwith marry Polly Neefit.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c18" id="c18"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XVIII.</h3>
+<h4>WE WON'T SELL BROWNRIGGS.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>On the 10th of September the Squire was informed that Ralph Newton
+demanded another ten days for his decision, and that he had
+undertaken to communicate it by letter on the 20th. The Squire had
+growled, thinking that his nephew was unconscionable, and had
+threatened to withdraw his offer. The lawyer, with a smile, assured
+him that the matter really was progressing very quickly, that things
+of that kind could rarely be carried on so expeditiously; and that,
+in short, Mr. Newton had no fair ground of complaint. "When a man
+pays through the nose for his whistle, he ought to get it!" said the
+Squire, plainly showing that his idea as to the price fixed was very
+different from that entertained by his nephew. But he did not retract
+his offer. He was too anxious to accomplish the purchase to do that.
+He would go home, he said, and wait till the 20th. Then he would
+return to London. And he did go home.</p>
+
+<p>On the first evening he said very little to his son. He felt that his
+son did not quite sympathise with him, and he was sore that it should
+be so. He could not be angry with his son. He knew well that this
+want of sympathy arose from a conviction on this son's part that, let
+what might be done in regard to the property, nothing could make him,
+who was illegitimate, capable of holding the position in the country
+which of right belonged to Newton of Newton. But the presence of this
+feeling in the mind of the son was an accusation against himself
+which was very grievous to him. Almost every act of his latter life
+had been done with the object of removing the cause for such
+accusation. To make his boy such as he would have been in every
+respect had not his father sinned in his youth, had been the one
+object of the father's life. And nobody gainsayed him in this but
+that son himself. Nobody told him that all his bother about the
+estate was of no avail. Nobody dared to tell him so. Parson Gregory,
+in his letters to his brother, could express such an opinion. Sir
+Thomas, sitting alone in his chamber, could feel it. Ralph, the
+legitimate heir, with an assumed scorn, could declare to himself
+that, let what might be sold, he would still be Newton of Newton. The
+country people might know it, and the farmers might whisper it one to
+another. But nobody said a word of this to the Squire. His own lawyer
+never alluded to such a matter, though it was of course in his
+thoughts. Nevertheless, the son, whom he loved so well, would tell
+him from day to day,&mdash;indirectly, indeed, but with words that were
+plain enough,&mdash;that the thing was not to be done. Men and women
+called him Newton, because his father had chosen so to call him;&mdash;as
+they would have called him Tomkins or Montmorenci, had he first
+appeared before them with either of those names; but he was not a
+Newton, and nothing could make him Newton of Newton Priory,&mdash;not even
+the possession of the whole parish, and an habitation in the Priory
+itself. "I wish you wouldn't think about it," the son would say to
+the father;&mdash;and the expression of such a wish would contain the
+whole accusation. What other son would express a desire that the
+father would abstain from troubling himself to leave his estate
+entire to his child?</p>
+
+<p>On the morning after his return the necessary communication was made.
+But it was not commenced in any set form. The two were out together,
+as was usual with them, and were on the road which divided the two
+parishes, Bostock from Newton. On the left of them was Walker's farm,
+called the Brownriggs; and on the right, Darvell's farm, which was in
+their own peculiar parish of Newton. "I was talking to Darvell while
+you were away," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"What does he say for himself?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing. It's the old story. He wants to stay, though he knows he'd
+be better away."</p>
+
+<p>"Then let him stay. Only I must have the place made fit to look at. A
+man should have a chance of pulling through."</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, sir. I don't want him to go. I was only thinking it would
+be better for his children that there should be a change. As for
+making the place fit to look at, he hasn't the means. It's Walker's
+work, at the other side, that shames him."</p>
+
+<p>"One can't have Walkers on every farm," said the Squire. "No;&mdash;if
+things go, as I think they will go, we'll pull down every stick and
+stone at Brumby's,"&mdash;Brumby's was the name of Darvell's farm,&mdash;"and
+put it up all ship-shape. The house hasn't been touched these twenty
+years." Ralph said nothing. He knew well that his father would not
+talk of building unless he intended to buy before he built. Nothing
+could be more opposed to the Squire's purposes in life than the idea
+of building a house which, at his death, would become the property of
+his nephew. And, in this way, the estate was being starved. All this
+Ralph understood thoroughly; and, understanding it, had frequently
+expressed a desire that his father and the heir could act in accord
+together. But now the Squire talked of pulling down and building up
+as though the property were his own, to do as he liked with it. "And
+I think I can do it without selling Brownriggs," continued the
+Squire. "When it came to black and white, the value that he has in it
+doesn't come to so much as I thought." Still Ralph said
+nothing,&mdash;nothing, at least, as to the work that had been done up in
+London. He merely made some observation as to Darvell's
+farm;&mdash;suggesting that a clear half year's rent should be given to
+the man. "I have pretty well arranged it all in my mind," continued
+the Squire. "We could part with Twining. It don't lie so near as
+Brownriggs."</p>
+
+<p>Ralph felt that it would be necessary that he should say something.
+"Lord Fitzadam would be only too glad to buy it. He owns every acre
+in the parish except Ingram's farm."</p>
+
+<p>"There'll be no difficulty about selling it,&mdash;when we have the power
+to sell. It'll fetch thirty years' purchase. I'd give thirty years'
+purchase for it, at the present rent myself, if I had the money. Lord
+Fitzadam shall have it, if he pleases, of course. There's four
+hundred acres of it."</p>
+
+<p>"Four hundred and nine," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"And it's worth over twelve thousand pounds. It would have gone
+against the grain with me to part with any of the land in Bostock;
+but I think we can squeeze through without that."</p>
+
+<p>"Is it arranged, sir?" asked the son at last.</p>
+
+<p>"Well;&mdash;no; I can't say it is. He is to give me his answer on the
+20th. But I cannot see that he has any alternative. He must pay his
+debts, and he has no other way of paying them. He must live, and he
+has nothing else to live on. A fellow like that will have money, if
+he can lay his hands on it, and he can't lay his hands on it
+elsewhere. Of course he could get money; but he couldn't get it on
+such terms as I have offered him. He is to have down thirty thousand
+pounds, and then,&mdash;after that,&mdash;I am to pay him whatever more than
+that they may think the thing is worth to him. Under no circumstances
+is he to have less. It's a large sum of money, Ralph."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, indeed;&mdash;though not so much as you had expected, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"Well,&mdash;no; but then there are drawbacks. However, I shall only be
+too glad to have it settled. I don't think, Ralph, you have ever
+realised what it has been for me not to be able to lay out a shilling
+on the property, as to which I was not satisfied that I should see it
+back again in a year or two."</p>
+
+<p>"And yet, sir, I have thought much about it."</p>
+
+<p>"Thought! By heavens, I have thought of nothing else. As I stand
+here, the place has hardly been worth the having to me, because of
+such thinking. Your uncle, from the very first, was determined to
+make it bitter enough. I shall never forget his coming to me when I
+cut down the first tree. Was I going to build houses for a man's son
+who begrudged me the timber I wanted about the place?"</p>
+
+<p>"He couldn't stop you there."</p>
+
+<p>"But he said he could,&mdash;and he tried. And if I wanted to change a
+thing here or there, was it pleasant, do you think, to have to go to
+him? And what pleasure could there be in doing anything when another
+was to have it all? But you have never understood it, Ralph. Well;&mdash;I
+hope you'll understand it some day. If this goes right, nobody shall
+ever stop you in cutting a tree. You shall be free to do what you
+please with every sod, and every branch, and every wall, and every
+barn. I shall be happy at last, Ralph, if I think that you can enjoy
+it." Then there was again a silence, for tears were in the eyes both
+of the father and of the son. "Indeed," continued the Squire, as he
+rubbed the moisture away, "my great pleasure, while I remain, will be
+to see you active about the place. As it is now, how is it possible
+that you should care for it?"</p>
+
+<p>"But I do care for it, and I think I am active about it."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes,&mdash;making money for that idiot, who is to come after me. But I
+don't think he ever will come. I dare say he won't be ashamed to
+shoot your game and drink your claret, if you'll allow him. For the
+matter of that, when the thing is settled he may come and drink my
+wine if he pleases. I'll be his loving uncle then, if he don't
+object. But as it is now;&mdash;as it has been, I couldn't have borne
+him."</p>
+
+<p>Even yet there had been no clear statement as to what had been done
+between father and son. There was so much of clinging, trusting,
+perfect love in the father's words towards the son, that the latter
+could not bear to say a word that should produce sorrow. When the
+Squire declared that Ralph should have it all, free,&mdash;to do just as
+he pleased with it, with all the full glory of ownership, Ralph could
+not bring himself to throw a doubt upon the matter. And yet he did
+doubt;&mdash;more than doubted;&mdash;felt almost certain that his father was
+in error. While his father had remained alone up in town he had been
+living with Gregory, and had known what Gregory thought and believed.
+He had even seen his namesake's letter to Gregory, in which it was
+positively stated that the reversion would not be sold. Throughout
+the morning the Squire went on speaking of his hopes, and saying that
+this and that should be done the very moment that the contract was
+signed; at last Ralph spoke out, when, on some occasion, his father
+reproached him for indifference. "I do so fear that you will be
+disappointed," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Why should I be disappointed?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is not for my own sake that I fear, for in truth the arrangement,
+as it stands, is no bar to my enjoyment of the place."</p>
+
+<p>"It is a most absolute bar to mine," said the Squire.</p>
+
+<p>"I fear it is not settled."</p>
+
+<p>"I know that;&mdash;but I see no reason why it should not be settled. Do
+you know any reason?"</p>
+
+<p>"Gregory feels sure that his brother will never consent."</p>
+
+<p>"Gregory is all very well. Gregory is the best fellow in the world.
+Had Gregory been in his brother's place I shouldn't have had a
+chance. But Gregory knows nothing about this kind of thing, and
+Gregory doesn't in the least understand his brother."</p>
+
+<p>"But Ralph has told him so."</p>
+
+<p>"Ralph will say anything. He doesn't mind what lies he tells."</p>
+
+<p>"I think you are too hard on him," said the son.</p>
+
+<p>"Well;&mdash;we shall see. But what is it that Ralph has said? And when
+did he say it?" Then the son told the father of the short letter
+which the parson had received from his brother, and almost repeated
+the words of it. And he told the date of the letter, only a day or
+two before the Squire's return. "Why the mischief could he not be
+honest enough to tell me the same thing, if he had made up his mind?"
+said the Squire, angrily. "Put it how you will, he is lying either to
+me or to his brother;&mdash;probably to both of us. His word either on one
+side or on the other is worth nothing. I believe he will take my
+money because he wants money, and because he likes money. As for what
+he says, it is worth nothing. When he has once written his name, he
+cannot go back from it, and there will be comfort in that." Ralph
+said nothing more. His father had talked himself into a passion, and
+was quite capable of becoming angry, even with him. So he suggested
+something about the shooting for next day, and proposed that the
+parson should be asked to join them. "He may come if he likes," said
+the Squire, "but I give you my word if this goes on much longer, I
+shall get to dislike even the sight of him." On that very day the
+parson dined with them, and early in the evening the Squire was cold,
+and silent, and then snappish. But he warmed afterwards under the
+double influence of his own port-wine, and the thorough sweetness of
+his nephew's manner. His last words as Gregory left him that night in
+the hall were as follows:&mdash;"Bother about the church. I'm half sick of
+the church. You come and shoot to-morrow. Don't let us have any new
+fads about not shooting."</p>
+
+<p>"There are no new fads, uncle Greg, and I'll be with you by twelve
+o'clock," said the parson.</p>
+
+<p>"He is very good as parsons go," said the Squire as he shut the door.</p>
+
+<p>"He's as good as gold," said the Squire's son.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c19" id="c19"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XIX.</h3>
+<h4>POLLY'S ANSWER.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>Moggs's bill became due before the 20th of September, and Ralph
+Newton received due notice,&mdash;as of course he had known that he would
+do,&mdash;that it had not been cashed at his banker's. How should it be
+cashed at his banker's, seeing that he had not had a shilling there
+for the last three months? Moggs himself, Moggs senior, came to
+Ralph, and made himself peculiarly disagreeable. He had never heard
+of such a thing on the part of a gentleman! Not to have his bill
+taken up! To have his paper dishonoured! Moggs spoke of it as though
+the heavens would fall; and he spoke of it, too, as though, even
+should the heavens not fall, the earth would be made a very
+tumultuous and unpleasant place for Mr. Newton, if Mr. Newton did not
+see at once that these two hundred and odd pounds were forthcoming.
+Moggs said so much that Ralph became very angry, turned him out of
+the room, and told him that he should have his dirty money on the
+morrow. On the morrow the dirty money was paid, Ralph having borrowed
+the amount from Mr. Neefit. Mr. Moggs was quite content. His object
+had been achieved, and, when the cash was paid, he was quite polite.
+But Ralph Newton was not happy as he made the payment. He had
+declared to himself, after writing that letter to his brother, that
+the thing was settled by the very declaration made by him therein.
+When he assured his brother that he would not sell his interest in
+the property, he did, in fact, resolve that he would make Polly
+Neefit his wife. And he did no more than follow up that resolution
+when he asked Neefit for a small additional advance. His due would
+not be given to the breeches-maker if it were not acknowledged that
+on this occasion he behaved very well. He had told Ralph to come to
+him when Moggs's "bit of stiff" came round. Moggs's "bit of stiff"
+did come round, and "the Captain" did as he had been desired to do.
+Neefit wrote out the cheque without saying a word about his daughter.
+"Do you just run across to Argyle Street, Captain," said the
+breeches-maker, "and get the stuff in notes." For Mr. Neefit's
+bankers held an establishment in Argyle Street. "There ain't no need,
+you know, to let on, Captain; is there?" said the breeches-maker.
+Ralph Newton, clearly seeing that there was no need to "let on," did
+as he was bid, and so the account was settled with Mr. Moggs. But now
+as to settling the account with Mr. Neefit? Neefit had his own idea
+of what was right between gentlemen. As the reader knows, he could
+upon an occasion make his own views very clearly intelligible. He was
+neither reticent nor particularly delicate. But there was something
+within him which made him give the cheque to Ralph without a word
+about Polly. That something, let it be what it might, was not lost
+upon Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>Any further doubt on his part was quite out of the question. If his
+mind had not been made up before it must, at least, be made up now.
+He had twice borrowed Mr. Neefit's money, and on this latter occasion
+had taken it on the express understanding that he was to propose to
+Mr. Neefit's daughter. And then, in this way, and in this way only,
+he could throw over his uncle and save the property. As soon as he
+had paid the money to Moggs, he went to his room and dressed himself
+for the occasion. As he arranged his dress with some small signs of
+an intention to be externally smart, he told himself that it
+signified nothing at all, that the girl was only a breeches-maker's
+daughter, and that there was hardly a need that he should take a new
+pair of gloves for such an occasion as this. In that he was probably
+right. An old pair of gloves would have done just as well, though
+Polly did like young men to look smart.</p>
+
+<p>He went out in a hansom of course. A man does not become economical
+because he is embarrassed. And as for embarrassment, he need not
+trouble himself with any further feelings on that score. When once he
+should be the promised husband of Polly Neefit, he would have no
+scruple about the breeches-maker's money. Why should he, when he did
+the thing with the very view of getting it? They couldn't expect him
+to be married till next spring at the earliest, and he would take
+another winter out of himself at the Moonbeam. As the sacrifice was
+to be made he might as well enjoy all that would come of the
+sacrifice. Then as he sat in the cab he took to thinking whether,
+after any fashion at all, he did love Polly Neefit. And from that he
+got to thinking,&mdash;not of poor Clary,&mdash;but of Mary Bonner. If his
+uncle could at once be translated to his fitting place among the
+immortals, oh,&mdash;what a life might be his! But his uncle was still
+mortal, and,&mdash;after all,&mdash;Polly Neefit was a very jolly girl.</p>
+
+<p>When he got to the house he asked boldly for Miss Neefit. He had told
+himself that no repulse could be injurious to him. If Mrs. Neefit
+were to refuse him admission into the house, the breeches-maker would
+be obliged to own that he had done his best. But there was no
+repulse. In two minutes he found himself in the parlour, with Polly
+standing up to receive him. "Dear me, Mr. Newton; how odd! You might
+have come weeks running before you'd find me here and mother out.
+She's gone to fetch father home. She don't do it,&mdash;not once a month."
+Ralph assured her that he was quite contented as it was, and that he
+did not in the least regret the absence of Mrs. Neefit. "But she'll
+be ever so unhappy. She likes to see gentlemen when they call."</p>
+
+<p>"And you dislike it?" asked Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed I don't then," said Polly.</p>
+
+<p>And now in what way was he to do it? Would it be well to allude to
+her father's understanding with himself? In the ordinary way of
+love-making Ralph was quite as much at home as another. He had found
+no difficulty in saying a soft word to Clarissa Underwood, and in
+doing more than that. But with Polly the matter was different. There
+was an inappropriateness in his having to do the thing at all, which
+made it difficult to him,&mdash;unless he could preface what he did by an
+allusion to his agreement with her father. He could hardly ask Polly
+to be his wife without giving her some reason for the formation of so
+desperate a wish on his own part. "Polly," he said at last, "that was
+very awkward for us all,&mdash;that evening when Mr. Moggs was here."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed it was, Mr. Newton. Poor Mr. Moggs! He shouldn't have
+stayed;&mdash;but mother asked him."</p>
+
+<p>"Has he been here since?"</p>
+
+<p>"He was then, and he and I were walking together. There isn't a
+better fellow breathing than Ontario Moggs,&mdash;in his own way. But he's
+not company for you, Mr. Newton, of course."</p>
+
+<p>Ralph quailed at this. To be told that his own boot-maker wasn't
+"company" for him,&mdash;and that by the young lady whom he intended to
+make his wife! "I don't think he is company for you either Polly," he
+said.</p>
+
+<p>"Why not, Mr. Newton? He's as good as me. What's the difference
+between him and father?" He wondered whether, when she should be his
+own, he would be able to teach her to call Mr. Neefit her papa. "Mr.
+Newton, when you know me better, you'll know that I'm not one to give
+myself airs. I've known Mr. Moggs all my life, and he's equal to me,
+anyways,&mdash;only he's a deal better."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope there's nothing more than friendship, Polly."</p>
+
+<p>"What business have you to hope?"</p>
+
+<p>Upon that theme he spoke, and told her in plain language that his
+reason for so hoping was that he trusted to be able to persuade her
+to become his own wife. Polly, when the word was spoken, blushed ruby
+red, and trembled a little. The thing had come to her, and, after
+all, she might be a real lady if she pleased. She blushed ruby red,
+and trembled, but she said not a word for a while. And then, having
+made his offer, he began to speak of love. In speaking of it, he was
+urgent enough, but his words had not that sort of suasiveness which
+they would have possessed had he been addressing himself to Clary
+Underwood. "Polly," he said, "I hope you can love me. I will love you
+very dearly, and do all that I can to make you happy. To me you shall
+be the first woman in the world. Do you think that you can love me,
+Polly?"</p>
+
+<p>Polly was, perhaps, particular. She had not quite approved of the
+manner in which Ontario had disclosed his love, though there had been
+something of the eloquence of passion even in that;&mdash;and now she was
+hardly satisfied with Ralph Newton. She had formed to herself,
+perhaps, some idea of a soft, insinuating, coaxing whisper, something
+that should be half caress and half prayer, but something that should
+at least be very gentle and very loving. Ontario was loving, but he
+was not gentle. Ralph Newton was gentle, but then she doubted whether
+he was loving. "Will you say that it shall be so?" he asked, standing
+over her, and looking down upon her with his most bewitching smile.</p>
+
+<p>Polly amidst her blushing and her trembling made up her mind that she
+would say nothing of the kind at this present moment. She would like
+to be a lady though she was not ashamed of being a tradesman's
+daughter;&mdash;but she would not buy the privilege of being a lady at too
+dear a price. The price would be very high indeed were she to give
+herself to a man who did not love her, and perhaps despised her. And
+then she was not quite sure that she could love this man herself,
+though she was possessed of a facility for liking nice young men.
+Ralph Newton was well enough in many ways. He was good looking, he
+could speak up for himself, he did not give himself airs,&mdash;and then,
+as she had been fully instructed by her father, he must ultimately
+inherit a large property. Were she to marry him her position would be
+absolutely that of one of the ladies of the land. But then she
+knew,&mdash;she could not but know,&mdash;that he sought her because he was in
+want of money for his present needs. To be made a lady of the land
+would be delightful; but to have a grand passion,&mdash;in regard to which
+Polly would not be satisfied unless there were as much love on one
+side as on the other,&mdash;would be more delightful. That latter was
+essentially necessary to her. The man must take an absolute pleasure
+in her company, or the whole thing would be a failure. So she blushed
+and trembled, and thought and was silent. "Dear Polly, do you mean
+that you cannot love me?" said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know," said Polly.</p>
+
+<p>"Will you try?" demanded Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"And I don't know that you can love me."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed, indeed, I can."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, yes;&mdash;you can say so, I don't doubt. There's a many of them as
+can say so, and yet it's not in 'em to do it. And there's men as
+don't know hardly how to say it, and yet it's in their hearts all the
+while." Polly must have been thinking of Ontario as she made this
+latter oracular observation.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know much about saying it; but I can do it, Polly."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, as for talking, you can talk. You've been brought up that way.
+You've had nothing else much to do."</p>
+
+<p>She was very hard upon him, and so he felt it. "I think that's not
+fair, Polly. What can I say to you better than that I love you, and
+will be good to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, good to me! People are always good to me. Why shouldn't they?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nobody will be so good as I will be,&mdash;if you will take me. Tell me,
+Polly, do you not believe me when I say I love you?"</p>
+
+<p>"No;&mdash;I don't."</p>
+
+<p>"Why should I be false to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ah;&mdash;well;&mdash;why? It's not for me to say why. Father's been putting
+you up to this. That's why."</p>
+
+<p>"Your father could put me up to nothing of the kind if it were not
+that I really loved you."</p>
+
+<p>"And there's another thing, Mr. Newton."</p>
+
+<p>"What's that, Polly?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not at all sure that I'm so very fond of you."</p>
+
+<p>"That's unkind."</p>
+
+<p>"Better be true than to rue," said Polly. "Why, Mr. Newton, we don't
+know anything about each other,&mdash;not as yet. I may be, oh, anything
+bad, for what you know. And for anything I know you may be idle, and
+extravagant, and a regular man flirt." Polly had a way of speaking
+the truth without much respect to persons. "And then, Mr. Newton, I'm
+not going to be given away by father just as he pleases. Father
+thinks this and that, and he means it all for the best. I love father
+dearly. But I don't mean to take any body as I don't feel I'd pretty
+nigh break my heart if I wasn't to have him. I ain't come to breaking
+my heart for you yet, Mr. Newton."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you never will break your heart."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't suppose you understand, but that's how it is. Let it just
+stand by for a year or so, Mr. Newton, and see how it is then. Maybe
+we might get to know each other. Just now, marrying you would be like
+taking a husband out of a lottery." Ralph stood looking at her,
+passing his hand over his head, and not quite knowing how to carry on
+his suit. "I'll tell father what you was saying to me and what I said
+to you," continued Polly, who seemed quite to understand that Ralph
+had done his duty by his creditor in making the offer, and that
+justice to him demanded that this should be acknowledged by the whole
+family.</p>
+
+<p>"And is that to be all, Polly?" asked Ralph in a melancholy voice.</p>
+
+<p>"All at present, Mr. Newton."</p>
+
+<p>Ralph, as he returned to London in his cab, felt more hurt by the
+girl's refusal of him than he would before have thought to be
+possible. He was almost disposed to resolve that he would at once
+renew the siege and carry it on as though there were no question of
+twenty thousand pounds, and of money borrowed from the
+breeches-maker. Polly had shown so much spirit in the interview, and
+had looked so well in showing it, had stood up such a perfect
+specimen of healthy, comely, honest womanhood, that he thought that
+he did love her. There was, however, one comfort clearly left to him.
+He had done his duty by old Neefit. The money due must of course be
+paid;&mdash;but he had in good faith done that which he had pledged
+himself to do in taking the money.</p>
+
+<p>As to the surrender of the estate there were still left to him four
+days in which to think of it.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c20" id="c20"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XX.</h3>
+<h4>THE CONSERVATIVES OF PERCYCROSS.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>Early in this month of September there had come a proposition to Sir
+Thomas, which had thoroughly disturbed him, and made him for a few
+days a most miserable man. By the tenth of the month, however, he had
+so far recovered himself as to have made up his mind in regard to the
+proposition with some feeling of triumphant expectation. On the
+following day he went home to Fulham, and communicated his
+determination to his eldest daughter in the following words;
+"Patience, I am going to stand for the borough of Percycross."</p>
+
+<p>"Papa!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes. I dare say I'm a fool for my pains. It will cost me some money
+which I oughtn't to spend; and if I get in I don't know that I can do
+any good, or that it can do me any good. I suppose you think I'm very
+wrong?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am delighted,&mdash;and so will Clary be. I'm so much pleased! Why
+shouldn't you be in Parliament? I have always longed that you should
+go back to public life, though I have never liked to say so to you."</p>
+
+<p>"It is very kind of you to say it now, my dear."</p>
+
+<p>"And I feel it." There was no doubt of that, for, as she spoke, the
+tears were streaming from her eyes. "But will you succeed? Is there
+to be anybody against you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, my dear; there is to be somebody against me. In fact, there
+will be three people against me; and probably I shall not succeed.
+Men such as I am do not have seats offered to them without a contest.
+But there is a chance. I was down at Percycross for two days last
+week, and now I've put out an address. There it is." Upon which he
+handed a copy of a placard to his daughter, who read it, no doubt,
+with more enthusiasm than did any of the free and independent
+electors to whom it was addressed.</p>
+
+<p>The story in regard to the borough of Percycross was as follows.
+There were going forward in the country at this moment preparations
+for a general election, which was to take place in October. The
+readers of this story have not as yet been troubled on this head,
+there having been no connection between that great matter and the
+small matters with which our tale has concerned itself. In the
+Parliament lately dissolved, the very old borough of Percycross,&mdash;or
+Percy St. Cross, as the place was properly called,&mdash;had displayed no
+political partiality, having been represented by two gentlemen, one
+of whom always followed the conservative leader, and the other the
+liberal leader, into the respective lobbies of the House of Commons.
+The borough had very nearly been curtailed of the privilege in regard
+to two members in the great Reform Bill which had been initiated and
+perfected and carried through as a whole by the almost unaided
+intellect and exertions of the great reformer of his age; but it had
+had its own luck, as the Irishmen say, and had been preserved intact.
+Now the wise men of Percycross, rejoicing in their salvation, and
+knowing that there might still be danger before them should they
+venture on a contest,&mdash;for bribery had not been unknown in previous
+contests at Percycross, nor petitions consequent upon bribery; and
+some men had marvelled that the borough should have escaped so long;
+and there was now supposed to be abroad a spirit of assumed virtue in
+regard to such matters under which Percycross might still be
+sacrificed if Percycross did not look very sharp after
+itself;&mdash;thinking of all this, the wise men at Percycross had
+concluded that it would be better, just for the present, to let
+things run smoothly, and to return their two old members. When the
+new broom which was to sweep up the dirt of corruption was not quite
+so new, they might return to the old game,&mdash;which was, in truth, a
+game very much loved in the old town of Percycross. So thought the
+wise men, and for a while it seemed that the wise men were to have
+their own way. But there were men at Percycross who were not wise,
+and who would have it that such an arrangement as this showed lack of
+spirit. The conservative foolish men at Percycross began by declaring
+that they could return two members for the borough if they pleased,
+and that they would do so, unless this and that were conceded to
+them. The liberal foolish men swore that they were ready for the
+battle. They would concede nothing, and would stand up and fight if
+the word concession were named to them. They would not only have one
+member, but would have half the aldermen, half the town-councillors,
+half the mayor, half the patronage in beadles, bell-ringers and
+bumbledom in general. Had the great reformer of the age given them
+household suffrage for nothing? The liberal foolish men of Percycross
+declared, and perhaps thought, that they could send two liberal
+members to Parliament. And so the borough grew hot. There was one
+very learned pundit in those parts, a pundit very learned in
+political matters, who thus prophesied to one of the proposed
+candidates;&mdash;"You'll spend a thousand pounds in the election. You
+won't get in, of course, but you'll petition. That'll be another
+thousand. You'll succeed there, and disfranchise the borough. It will
+be a great career, and no doubt you'll find it satisfactory. You
+mustn't show yourself in Percycross afterwards;&mdash;that's all." But the
+spirit was afloat, and the words of the pundit were of no avail. The
+liberal spirit had been set a going, and men went to work with the
+new lists of borough voters. By the end of August it was seen that
+there must be a contest. But who should be the new candidates?</p>
+
+<p>The old candidates were there,&mdash;one on each side: an old Tory and a
+young Radical. In telling our tale we will not go back to the old
+sins of the borough, or say aught but good of the past career of the
+members. Old Mr. Griffenbottom, the Tory, had been very generous with
+his purse, and was beloved, doubtless, by many in the borough. It is
+so well for a borough to have some one who is always ready with a
+fifty-pound note in this or that need! It is so comfortable in a
+borough to know that it can always have its subscription lists well
+headed! And the young Radical was popular throughout the county. No
+one could take a chair at a mechanics' meeting with better grace or
+more alacrity, or spin out his half-hour's speech with greater ease
+and volubility. And then he was a born gentleman, which is so great a
+recommendation for a Radical. So that, in fact, young Mr. Westmacott,
+though he did not spend so much money as old Griffenbottom, was
+almost as popular in the borough. There was no doubt about
+Griffenbottom and Westmacott,&mdash;if only the borough would have
+listened to its wise men and confined itself to the political
+guardianship of such excellent representatives! But the foolish men
+prevailed over the wise men, and it was decided that there should be
+a contest.</p>
+
+<p>It was an evil day for Griffenbottom when it was suggested to him
+that he should bring a colleague with him. Griffenbottom knew what
+this meant almost as well as the learned pundit whose words we have
+quoted. Griffenbottom had not been blessed with uncontested
+elections, and had run through many perils. He had spent what he was
+accustomed to call, when speaking of his political position among his
+really intimate friends, "a treasure" in maintaining the borough. He
+must often have considered within himself whether his whistle was
+worth the price. He had petitioned and been petitioned against, and
+had had evil things said of him, and had gone through the very heat
+of the fire of political warfare. But he had kept his seat, and now
+at last,&mdash;so he thought,&mdash;the ease and comfort of an unopposed return
+was to repay him for everything. Alas! how all this was changed; how
+his spirits sank within him, when he received that high-toned letter
+from his confidential agent, Mr. Trigger, in which he was invited to
+suggest the name of a colleague! "I'm sure you'll be rejoiced to
+hear, for the sake of the old borough," said Mr. Trigger, "that we
+feel confident of carrying the two seats." Could Mr. Trigger have
+heard the remarks which his patron made on reading that letter, Mr.
+Trigger would have thought that Mr. Griffenbottom was the most
+ungrateful member of Parliament in the world. What did not Mr.
+Griffenbottom owe to the borough of Percycross? Did he not owe all
+his position in the world, all his friends, the fact that he was to
+be seen on the staircases of Cabinet Ministers, and that he was
+called "honourable friend" by the sons of dukes,&mdash;did he not owe it
+all to the borough of Percycross? Mr. Trigger and other friends of
+his, felt secure in their conviction that they had made a man of Mr.
+Griffenbottom. Mr. Griffenbottom understood enough of all this to
+answer Mr. Trigger without inserting in his letter any of those
+anathemas which he uttered in the privacy of his own closet. He did,
+indeed, expostulate, saying, that he would of course suggest a
+colleague, if a colleague were required; but did not Mr. Trigger and
+his other friends in the dear old borough think that just at the
+present moment a pacific line of action would be best for the
+interests of the dear old borough? Mr. Trigger answered him very
+quickly, and perhaps a little sharply. The Liberals had decided upon
+having two men in the field, and therefore a pacific line of action
+was no longer possible. Mr. Griffenbottom hurried over to the dear
+old borough, still hoping,&mdash;but could do nothing. The scent of the
+battle was in the air, and the foolish men of Percycross were keen
+for blood. Mr. Griffenbottom smiled and promised, and declared to
+himself that there was no peace for the politician on this side the
+grave. He made known his desires,&mdash;or the desire rather of the
+borough,&mdash;to a certain gentleman connected with a certain club in
+London, and the gentleman in question on the following day waited
+upon Sir Thomas. Sir Thomas had always been true "to the party,"&mdash;so
+the gentleman in question was good enough to say. Everybody had
+regretted the loss of Sir Thomas from the House. The present
+opportunity of returning to it was almost unparalleled, seeing that
+thing was so nearly a certainty. Griffenbottom had always been at the
+top of the poll, and the large majority of the new voters were men in
+the employment of conservative masters. The gentleman in question was
+very clear in his explanation that there was a complete understanding
+on this matter between the employers and employed at Percycross. It
+was the nature of the Percycross artizan to vote as his master voted.
+They made boots, mustard, and paper at Percycross. The men in the
+mustard and paper trade were quite safe;&mdash;excellent men, who went in
+a line to the poll, and voted just as the master paper-makers and
+master mustard-makers desired. The gentleman from the club
+acknowledged that there was a difficulty about the boot-trade. All
+the world over, boots do affect radical sentiments. The master
+bootmakers,&mdash;there were four in the borough,&mdash;were decided; but the
+men could not be got at with any certainty.</p>
+
+<p>"Why should you wish to get at them?" demanded Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"No;&mdash;of course not; one doesn't wish to get at them," said the
+gentleman from the club,&mdash;"particularly as we are safe without them."
+Then he went into statistics, and succeeded in proving to Sir Thomas
+that there would be a hard fight. Sir Thomas, who was much pressed as
+to time, took a day to consider. "Did Mr. Griffenbottom intend to
+fight the battle with clean hands?" The gentleman from the club was
+eager in declaring that everything would be done in strict accordance
+with the law. He could give no guarantee as to expenses, but presumed
+it would be about &pound;300,&mdash;perhaps &pound;400,&mdash;certainly under &pound;500. The
+other party no doubt would bribe. They always did. And on their
+behalf,&mdash;on behalf of Westmacott and Co.,&mdash;there would be treating,
+and intimidation, and subornation, and fictitious voting, and every
+sin to which an election is subject. It always was so with the
+Liberals at Percycross. But Sir Thomas might be sure that on his side
+everything would be&mdash;"serene." Sir Thomas at last consented to go
+down to Percycross, and see one or two of his proposed supporters.</p>
+
+<p>He did go down, and was considerably disgusted. Mr. Trigger took him
+in hand and introduced him to three or four gentlemen in the borough.
+Sir Thomas, in his first interview with Mr. Trigger, declared his
+predilection for purity. "Yes, yes; yes, yes; of course," said Mr.
+Trigger. Mr. Trigger, seeing that Sir Thomas had come among them as a
+stranger to whom had been offered the very great honour of standing
+for the borough of Percycross,&mdash;offered to him before he had
+subscribed a shilling to any of the various needs of the
+borough,&mdash;was not disposed to listen to dictation. But Sir Thomas
+insisted. "It's as well that we should understand each other at
+once," said Sir Thomas. "I should throw up the contest in the middle
+of it,&mdash;even if I were winning,&mdash;if I suspected that money was being
+spent improperly." How often has the same thing been said by a
+candidate, and what candidate ever has thrown up the sponge when he
+was winning? Mr. Trigger was at first disposed to tell Sir Thomas
+that he was interfering in things beyond his province. Had it not
+been that the day was late, and that the Liberals were supposed to be
+hard at work,&mdash;that the candidate was wanted at once, Mr. Trigger
+would have shown his spirit. As it was he could only assent with a
+growl, and say that he had supposed all that was to be taken as a
+matter of course.</p>
+
+<p>"But I desire to have it absolutely understood by all those who act
+with me in this matter," said Sir Thomas. "At any rate I will not be
+petitioned against."</p>
+
+<p>"Petitions never come to much at Percycross," said Mr. Trigger. He
+certainly ought to have known, as he had had to do with a great many
+of them. Then they started to call upon two or three of the leading
+conservative gentlemen. "If I were you, I wouldn't say anything about
+that, Sir Thomas."</p>
+
+<p>"About what?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well;&mdash;bribery and petitions, and the rest of it. Gentlemen when
+they're consulted don't like to be told of those sort of things.
+There has been a little of it, perhaps. Who can say?" Who, indeed, if
+not Mr. Trigger,&mdash;in regard to Percycross? "But it's better to let
+all that die out of itself. It never came to much in Percycross. I
+don't think there was ever more than ten shillings to be had for a
+vote. And I've known half-a-crown a piece buy fifty of 'em," he added
+emphatically. "It never was of much account, and it's best to say
+nothing about it."</p>
+
+<p>"It's best perhaps to make one's intentions known," said Sir Thomas
+mildly. Mr. Trigger hummed and hawed, and shook his head, and put his
+hands into his trousers pockets;&mdash;and in his heart of hearts he
+despised Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>On that day Sir Thomas was taken to see four gentlemen of note in
+Percycross,&mdash;a mustard-maker, a paper-maker, and two bootmakers. The
+mustard-maker was very cordial in offering his support. He would do
+anything for the cause. Trigger knew him. The men were all right at
+his mills. Then Sir Thomas said a word. He was a great foe to
+intimidation;&mdash;he wouldn't for worlds have the men coerced. The
+mustard-maker laughed cheerily. "We know what all that comes to at
+Percycross; don't we, Trigger? We shall all go straight from this
+place;&mdash;shan't we, Trigger? And he needn't ask any questions;&mdash;need
+he, Trigger?" "Lord 'a mercy, no," said Trigger, who was beginning to
+be disgusted. Then they went on to the paper-maker's.</p>
+
+<p>The paper-maker was a very polite gentleman, who seemed to take great
+delight in shaking Sir Thomas by the hand, and who agreed with energy
+to every word Sir Thomas said. Trigger stood a little apart at the
+paper-maker's, as soon as the introduction had been
+performed,&mdash;perhaps disapproving in part of the paper-maker's
+principles. "Certainly not, Sir Thomas; not for the world, Sir
+Thomas. I'm clean against anything of that kind, Sir Thomas," said
+the paper-maker. Sir Thomas assured the paper-maker that he was glad
+to hear it;&mdash;and he was glad. As they went to the first bootmaker's,
+Mr. Trigger communicated to Sir Thomas a certain incident in the
+career of Mr. Spiveycomb, the paper-maker. "He's got a contract for
+paper from the 'Walhamshire Herald,' Sir Thomas;&mdash;the largest
+circulation anywhere in these parts. Griffenbottom gets him that; and
+if ere a man of his didn't vote as he bade 'em, he wouldn't keep 'em,
+not a day. I don't know that we've a man in Percycross so stanch as
+old Spiveycomb." This was Mr. Trigger's revenge.</p>
+
+<p>The first bootmaker had very little to say for himself, and hardly
+gave Sir Thomas much opportunity of preaching his doctrine of purity.
+"I hope you'll do something for our trade, Sir Thomas," said the
+first bootmaker. Sir Thomas explained that he did not at present see
+his way to the doing of anything special for the bootmakers; and then
+took his leave. "He's all right," said Mr. Trigger. "He means it.
+He's all right. And he'll say a word to his men too, though I don't
+know that much 'll come of it. They're a rum lot. If they're put out
+here to-day, they can get in there to-morrow. They're a cankery
+independent sort of chaps, are bootmakers. Now we'll go and see old
+Pile. He'll have to second one of you,&mdash;will Pile. He's a sort of
+father of the borough in the way of Conservatives. And look here, Sir
+Thomas;&mdash;let him talk. Don't you say much to him. It's no use in life
+talking to old Pile." Sir Thomas said nothing, but he determined that
+he would speak to old Pile just as freely as he had to Mr. Trigger
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Eh;&mdash;ah;"&mdash;said old Pile; "you're Sir Thomas Underwood, are you? And
+you wants to go into Parliament?"</p>
+
+<p>"If it please you and your townsmen to send me there."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes;&mdash;that's just it. But if it don't please?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why, then I'll go home again."</p>
+
+<p>"Just so;&mdash;but the people here ain't what they are at other places,
+Sir Thomas Underwood. I've seen many elections here, Sir Thomas."</p>
+
+<p>"No doubt you have, Mr. Pile."</p>
+
+<p>"Over a dozen;&mdash;haven't you, Mr. Pile?" said Trigger.</p>
+
+<p>"And carried on a deal better than they have been since you meddled
+with them," said Mr. Pile, turning upon Trigger. "They used to do the
+thing here as it should be done, and nobody wasn't extortionate, nor
+yet cross-grained. They're changing a deal about these things, I'm
+told; but they're changing all for the worse. They're talking of
+purity,&mdash;purity,&mdash;purity; and what does it all amount to? Men is
+getting greedier every day."</p>
+
+<p>"We mean to be pure at this election, Mr. Pile," said Sir Thomas. Mr.
+Pile looked him hard in the face. "At least I do, Mr. Pile. I can
+answer for myself." Mr. Pile turned away his face, and opened his
+mouth, and put his hand upon his stomach, and made a grimace, as
+though,&mdash;as though he were not quite as well as he might be. And such
+was the case with him. The idea of purity of election at Percy-cross
+did in truth make him feel very sick. It was an idea which he hated
+with his whole heart. There was to him something absolutely mean and
+ignoble in the idea of a man coming forward to represent a borough in
+Parliament without paying the regular fees. That somebody, somewhere,
+should make a noise about it,&mdash;somebody who was impalpable to him, in
+some place that was to him quite another world,&mdash;was intelligible. It
+might be all very well in Manchester and such-like disagreeable
+places. But that candidates should come down to Percycross and talk
+about purity there, was a thing abominable to him. He had nothing to
+get by bribery. To a certain extent he was willing to pay money in
+bribery himself. But that a stranger should come to the borough and
+want the seat without paying for it was to him so distasteful, that
+this assurance from the mouth of one of the candidates did make him
+very sick.</p>
+
+<p>"I think you'd better go back to London, Sir Thomas," said Mr. Pile,
+as soon as he recovered himself sufficiently to express his opinion.</p>
+
+<p>"You mean that my ideas as to standing won't suit the borough."</p>
+
+<p>"No, they won't, Sir Thomas. I don't suppose anybody else will tell
+you so,&mdash;but I'll do it. Why should, a poor man lose his day's wages
+for the sake of making you a Parliament man? What have you done for
+any of 'em?"</p>
+
+<p>"Half an hour would take a working man to the poll and back," argued
+Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"That's all you know about elections. That's not the way we manage
+matters here. There won't be any place of business agait that day."
+Then Mr. Trigger whispered a few words to Mr. Pile. Mr. Pile repeated
+the grimace which he had made before, and turned on his heel although
+he was in his own parlour, as though he were going to leave them. But
+he thought better of this, and turned again. "I always vote Blue
+myself," said Mr. Pile, "and I don't suppose I shall do otherwise
+this time. But I shan't take no trouble. There's a many things that I
+don't like, Sir Thomas. Good morning, Sir Thomas. It's all very well
+for Mr. Trigger. He knows where the butter lies for his bread."</p>
+
+<p>"A very disagreeable old man," said Sir Thomas, when they had left
+the house, thinking that as Mr. Trigger had been grossly insulted by
+the bootmaker he would probably coincide in this opinion.</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. Trigger knew his townsman well, and was used to him. "He's
+better than some of 'em, Sir Thomas. He'll do as much as he says, and
+more. Now there was that chap Spicer at the mustard works. They say
+Westmacott people are after him, and if they can make it worth his
+while he'll go over. There's some talk about Apothecary's Hall;&mdash;I
+don't know what it is. But you couldn't buy old Pile if you were to
+give him the Queen and all the Royal family to make boots for."</p>
+
+<p>This was to have been the last of Sir Thomas's preliminary visits
+among the leading Conservatives of the borough, but as they were
+going back to the "Percy Standard,"&mdash;for such was the name of the
+Blue inn in the borough,&mdash;Mr. Trigger saw a gentleman in black
+standing at an open hall door, and immediately proposed that they
+should just say a word or two to Mr. Pabsby. "Wesleyan minister,"
+whispered the Percycross bear-leader into the ear of his bear;&mdash;"and
+has a deal to say to many of the men, and more to the women. Can't
+say what he'll do;&mdash;split his vote, probably." Then he introduced the
+two men, explaining the cause of Sir Thomas's presence in the
+borough. Mr. Pabsby was delighted to make the acquaintance of Sir
+Thomas, and asked the two gentlemen into the house. In truth he was
+delighted. The hours often ran heavily with him, and here there was
+something for him to do. "You'll give us a help, Mr. Pabsby?" said
+Mr. Trigger. Mr. Pabsby smiled and rubbed his hands, and paused and
+laid his head on one side.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope he will," said Sir Thomas, "if he is of our way cf thinking,
+otherwise I should be sorry to ask him." Still Mr. Pabsby said
+nothing;&mdash;but he smiled very sweetly, and laid his head a little
+lower.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table style="margin: 0 auto" cellpadding="4px">
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">
+      <a href="images/153-l.jpg">
+      <img src="images/153-t.jpg" width="319"
+      alt="Still Mr. Pabsby said nothing;--but he smiled
+      very sweetly, and laid his head a little lower." /></a>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">
+      <span class="caption">Still Mr. Pabsby said nothing;--but he
+      smiled<br />
+      very sweetly, and laid his head a little lower.<br />
+      Click to <a href="images/153-l.jpg">ENLARGE</a></span>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>"He knows we're on the respectable side," said Mr. Trigger. "The
+Wesleyans now are most as one as the Church of England,&mdash;in the way
+of not being roughs and rowdies." Sir Thomas, who did not know Mr.
+Pabsby, was afraid that he would be offended at this; but he showed
+no sign of offence as he continued to rub his hands. Mr. Pabsby was
+meditating his speech.</p>
+
+<p>"We're a little hurried, Mr. Pabsby," said Mr. Trigger; "perhaps
+you'll think of it."</p>
+
+<p>But Mr. Pabsby was not going to let them escape in that way. It was
+not every day that he had a Sir Thomas, or a candidate for the
+borough, or even a Mr. Trigger, in that little parlour. The fact was
+that Mr. Trigger, who generally knew what he was about, had made a
+mistake. Sir Thomas, who was ready enough to depart, saw that an
+immediate escape was impossible. "Sir Thomas," began Mr. Pabsby, in a
+soft, greasy voice,&mdash;a voice made up of pretence, politeness and
+saliva,&mdash;"if you will give me three minutes to express myself on this
+subject I shall be obliged to you."</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly," said Sir Thomas, sitting bolt upright in his chair, and
+holding his hat as though he were determined to go directly the three
+minutes were over.</p>
+
+<p>"A minister of the Gospel in this town is placed in a peculiar
+position, Sir Thomas," said Mr. Pabsby very slowly, "and of all the
+ministers of religion in Percycross mine is the most peculiar. In
+this matter I would wish to be guided wholly by duty, and if I could
+see my way clearly I would at once declare it to you. But, Sir
+Thomas, I owe much to the convictions of my people."</p>
+
+<p>"Which way do you mean to vote?" asked Mr. Trigger.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Pabsby did not even turn his face at this interruption. "A
+private man, Sir Thomas, may follow the dictates of&mdash;of&mdash;of his own
+heart, perhaps." Here he paused, expecting to be encouraged by some
+words. But Sir Thomas had acquired professionally a knowledge that to
+such a speaker as Mr. Pabsby any rejoinder or argument was like
+winding up a clock. It is better to allow such clocks to run down.
+"With me, I have to consider every possible point. What will my
+people wish? Some of them are eager in the cause of reform, Sir
+Thomas; and some <span class="nowrap">others&mdash;"</span></p>
+
+<p>"We shall lose the train," said Mr. Trigger, jumping up and putting
+on his hat.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm afraid we shall," said Sir Thomas rising, but not putting on
+his.</p>
+
+<p>"Half a minute," said Mr. Pabsby pleading, but not rising from his
+chair. "Perhaps you will do me the honour of calling on me when you
+are again here in Percycross. I shall have the greatest pleasure in
+discussing a few matters with you, Sir Thomas; and then, if I can
+give you my poor help, it will give me and Mrs. Pabsby the most
+sincere pleasure." Mrs. Pabsby had now entered the room, and was
+introduced; but Trigger would not sit down again, nor take off his
+hat. He boldly marshalled the way to the door, while Sir Thomas
+followed, subject as he came to the eloquence of Mr. Pabsby. "If I
+can only see my way clearly, Sir Thomas," were the last words which
+Mr. Pabsby spoke.</p>
+
+<p>"He'll give one to Griffenbottom, certainly," said Mr. Trigger.
+"Westmacott 'll probably have the other. I thought perhaps your title
+might have gone down with him, but it didn't seem to take."</p>
+
+<p>All this was anything but promising, anything but comfortable; and
+yet before he went to bed that night Sir Thomas had undertaken to
+stand. In such circumstances it is very hard for a man to refuse. He
+feels that a certain amount of trouble has been taken on his behalf,
+that retreat will be cowardly, and that the journey for nothing will
+be personally disagreeable to his own feelings. And then, too, there
+was that renewed ambition in his breast,&mdash;an ambition which six
+months ago he would have declared to be at rest for ever,&mdash;but which
+prompted him, now as strongly as ever, to go forward and do
+something. It is so easy to go and see;&mdash;so hard to retreat when one
+has seen. He had not found Percycross to be especially congenial to
+him. He had felt himself to be out of his element there,&mdash;among
+people with whom he had no sympathies; and he felt also that he had
+been unfitted for this kind of thing by the life which he had led for
+the last few years. Still he undertook to stand.</p>
+
+<p>"Who is coming forward on the other side?" he asked Mr. Trigger late
+at night, when this matter had been decided in regard to himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Westmacott, of course," said Trigger, "and I'm told that the real
+Rads of the place have got hold of a fellow named Moggs."</p>
+
+<p>"Moggs!" ejaculated Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes;&mdash;Moggs. The Young Men's Reform Association is bringing him
+forward. He's a Trades' Union man, and a Reform Leaguer, and all that
+kind of thing. I shouldn't be surprised if he got in. They say he's
+got money."</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c21" id="c21"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XXI.</h3>
+<h4>THE LIBERALS OF PERCYCROSS.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>Yes;&mdash;Ontario Moggs was appalled, delighted, exalted, and nearly
+frightened out of his wits by an invitation, conveyed to him by
+certain eager spirits of the town, to come down and stand on the real
+radical interest for the borough of Percycross. The thing was not
+suggested to him till a day or two after Sir Thomas had been sounded,
+and he was then informed that not an hour was to be lost. The
+communication was made in the little back parlour of the Cheshire
+Cheese, and Moggs was expected to give an answer then and there. He
+stood with his hand on his brow for five minutes, and then asked that
+special question which should always come first on such occasions.
+Would it cost any money? Well;&mdash;yes. The eager spirits of Percycross
+thought that it would cost something. They were forced to admit that
+Percycross was not one of those well-arranged boroughs in which the
+expenses of an election are all defrayed by the public spirit of the
+citizens. It soon became clear that the deputation had waited upon
+Moggs, not only because Moggs was a good Radical, but because also
+Moggs was supposed to be a Radical with a command of money. Ontario
+frowned and expressed an opinion that all elections should be made
+absolutely free to the candidates. "And everybody ought to go to
+'eaven, Mr. Moggs," said the leading member of the deputation, "but
+everybody don't, 'cause things ain't as they ought to be." There was
+no answer to be made to this. Ontario could only strike his forehead
+and think. It was clear to him that he could not give an affirmative
+answer that night, and he therefore, with some difficulty, arranged
+an adjournment of the meeting till the following afternoon at 2
+<span class="smallcaps">p.m.</span>
+"We must go down by the 4.45 express to-morrow," said the leading
+member of the deputation, who even by that arrangement would subject
+himself to the loss of two days' wages,&mdash;for he was a foreman in the
+establishment of Mr. Spicer the mustard-maker,&mdash;and whose allowance
+for expenses would not admit of his sleeping away from home a second
+night. Ontario departed, promising to be ready with his answer by 2
+<span class="smallcaps">p.m.</span> on the following day.</p>
+
+<p>How bright with jewels was the crown now held before his eyes, and
+yet how unapproachable, how far beyond his grasp! To be a member of
+Parliament, to speak in that august assembly instead of wasting his
+eloquence on the beery souls of those who frequented the Cheshire
+Cheese, to be somebody in the land at his early age,&mdash;something so
+infinitely superior to a maker of boots! A member of Parliament was
+by law an esquire, and therefore a gentleman. Ralph Newton was not a
+member of Parliament;&mdash;not half so great a fellow as a member of
+Parliament. Surely if he were to go to Polly Neefit as a member of
+Parliament Polly would reject him no longer! And to what might it not
+lead? He had visions before his eyes of very beautiful moments in his
+future life, in which, standing, as it were, on some well-chosen
+rostrum in that great House, he would make the burning thoughts of
+his mind, the soaring aspirations of his heart, audible to all the
+people. How had Cobden begun his career,&mdash;and Bright? Had it not been
+in this way? Why should not he be as great,&mdash;greater than
+either;&mdash;greater, because in these coming days a man of the people
+would be able to wield a power more extensive than the people had
+earned for themselves in former days? And then, as he walked alone
+through the streets, he took to making speeches,&mdash;some such speeches
+as he would make when he stood up in his place in the House of
+Commons as the member for Percycross. The honourable member for
+Percycross! There was something ravishing in the sound. Would not
+that sound be pleasant to the ears of Polly Neefit?</p>
+
+<p>But then, was not the thing as distant as it was glorious? How could
+he be member for Percycross, seeing that in all matters he was
+subject to his father? His father hated the very name of the Cheshire
+Cheese, and was, in every turn and feeling of his life, diametrically
+opposed to his son's sentiments. He would, nevertheless, go to his
+father and demand assistance. If on such an occasion as this his
+father should give him a stone when he asked for bread, he and his
+father must be two! "If, when such a prospect as this is held out to
+his son, he cannot see it," said Ontario, "then he can see nothing!"
+But yet he was sure that his father wouldn't see it.</p>
+
+<p>To his extreme astonishment Mr. Moggs senior did see it. It was some
+time before Mr. Moggs senior clearly understood the proposition which
+was made to him, but when he did he became alive to the honour,&mdash;and
+perhaps profit,&mdash;of having a member of his firm in Parliament. Of
+politics in the abstract Mr. Moggs senior knew very little. Nor,
+indeed, did he care much. In matters referring to trade he was a
+Conservative, because he was a master. He liked to be able to manage
+his people, and to pay 5<i>s.</i> 3<i>d.</i>
+instead of 5<i>s.</i> 8<i>d.</i> for the
+making of a pair of boots. He hated the Cheshire Cheese because his
+son went there, and because his son entertained strange and injurious
+ideas which were propagated at that low place. But if the Cheshire
+Cheese would send his son to Parliament, Mr. Moggs did not know but
+what the Cheshire Cheese might be very well. At any rate, he
+undertook to pay the bills, if Ontario, his son, were brought forward
+as a candidate for the borough. He lost his head so completely in the
+glory of the thing, that it never occurred to him to ask what might
+be the probable amount of the expenditure. "There ain't no father in
+all London as 'd do more for his son than I would, if only I see'd
+there was something in it," said Moggs senior, with a tear in his
+eye. Moggs junior was profuse in gratitude, profuse in obedience,
+profuse in love. Oh, heavens, what a golden crown was there now
+within his grasp!</p>
+
+<p>All this occurred between the father and son early in the morning at
+Shepherd's Bush, whither the son had gone out to the father after a
+night of feverish longing and ambition. They went into town together,
+on the top of the omnibus, and Ontario felt that he was being carried
+heavenwards. What a heaven had he before him, even in that
+fortnight's canvass which it would be his glory to undertake! What
+truths he would tell to the people, how he would lead them with him
+by political revelations that should be almost divine, how he would
+extract from them bursts of rapturous applause! To explain to them
+that labour is the salt of the earth;&mdash;that would be his mission. And
+then, how sweet to teach them the value, the inestimable value, of
+the political privilege lately accorded to them,&mdash;or, as Ontario
+would put it, lately wrested on their behalf from the hands of an
+aristocracy which was more timid even than it was selfish;&mdash;how sweet
+to explain this, and then to instruct them, afterwards, that it was
+their duty now, having got this great boon for themselves, to see at
+once that it should be extended to those below them. "Let the first
+work of household suffrage be a demand for manhood suffrage." This
+had been enunciated by Ontario Moggs with great effect at the
+Cheshire Cheese;&mdash;and now, as the result of such enunciation, he was
+going down to Percycross to stand as a candidate for the borough! He
+was almost drunk with delight as he sat upon the knife-board of the
+Shepherd's Bush omnibus, thinking of it all.</p>
+
+<p>He, too, went down to Percycross, making a preliminary journey,&mdash;as
+had done Sir Thomas Underwood,&mdash;timing his arrival there a day or two
+after the departure of the lawyer. Alas, he, also, met much to
+disappoint him even at that early period of the contest. The people
+whom he was taken to see were not millionaires and tradesmen in a
+large way of business, but leading young men of warm political
+temperaments. This man was president of a mechanics' institute, that
+secretary to an amalgamation of unions for general improvement, and a
+third chairman of the Young Men's Reform Association. They were
+delighted to see him, and were very civil; but he soon found that
+they were much more anxious to teach him than they were to receive
+his political lessons. When he began, as unfortunately he did very
+early in his dealings with them, to open out his own views, he soon
+found that they had views also to open out. He was to represent
+them,&mdash;that is to say, become the mouthpiece of their ideas. He had
+been selected because he was supposed to have some command of money.
+Of course he would have to address the people in the Mechanics' Hall;
+but the chairman of the Young Men's Reform Association was very
+anxious to tell him what to say on that occasion. "I am accustomed to
+addressing people," said Ontario Moggs, with a considerable accession
+of dignity.</p>
+
+<p>He had the satisfaction of addressing the people, and the people
+received him kindly. But he thought he observed that the applause was
+greater when the secretary of the Amalgamation-of-Improvement-Unions
+spoke, and he was sure that the enthusiasm for the Young Men's
+chairman mounted much higher than had done any ardour on his own
+behalf. And he was astonished to find that these young men were just
+as fluent as himself. He did think, indeed, that they did not go
+quite so deep into the matter as he did, that they had not thought
+out great questions so thoroughly, but they had a way of saying
+things which,&mdash;which would have told even at the Cheshire Cheese. The
+result of all this was, that at the end of three days,&mdash;though he
+was, no doubt, candidate for the borough of Percycross, and in that
+capacity a great man in Percycross,&mdash;he did not seem to himself to be
+so great as he had been when he made the journey down from London.
+There was a certain feeling that he was a cat's-paw, brought there
+for certain objects which were not his objects,&mdash;because they wanted
+money, and some one who would be fool enough to fight a losing
+battle! He did not reap all that meed of personal admiration for his
+eloquence which he expected.</p>
+
+<p>And, then, during these three days there arose another question, the
+discussion of which embarrassed him not a little. Mr. Westmacott was
+in the town, and there was a question whether he and Mr. Westmacott
+were to join forces. It was understood that Mr. Westmacott and Mr.
+Westmacott's leading friends objected to this; but the chairmen of
+the young men, and the presidents and the secretaries on the Radical
+side put their heads together, and declared that if Mr. Westmacott
+were proud they would run their horse alone;&mdash;they would vote for
+Moggs, and for Moggs only. Or else,&mdash;as it was whispered,&mdash;they would
+come to terms with Griffenbottom, and see that Sir Thomas was sent
+back to London. The chairmen, and the presidents, and the secretaries
+were powerful enough to get the better of Mr. Westmacott, and large
+placards were printed setting forward the joint names of Westmacott
+and Moggs. The two liberal candidates were to employ the same agent,
+and were to canvass together. This was all very well,&mdash;was the very
+thing which Moggs should have desired. But it was all arranged
+without any consultation with him, and he felt that the objection
+which had been raised was personal to himself. Worse than all, when
+he was brought face to face with Mr. Westmacott he had not a word to
+say for himself! He tried it and failed. Mr. Westmacott had been a
+member of Parliament, and was a gentleman. Ontario, for aught he
+himself knew, might have called upon Mr. Westmacott for the amount of
+Mr. Westmacott's little bill. He caught himself calling Mr.
+Westmacott, sir, and almost wished that he could bite out his own
+tongue. He felt that he was a nobody in the interview, and that the
+chairmen, the secretaries, and the presidents were regretting their
+bargain, and saying among themselves that they had done very badly in
+bringing down Ontario Moggs as a candidate for their borough. There
+were moments before he left Percycross in which he was almost tempted
+to resign.</p>
+
+<p>But he left the town the accepted candidate of his special friends,
+and was assured, with many parting grasps of the hand on the
+platform, that he would certainly be brought in at the top of the
+poll. Another little incident should be mentioned. He had been asked
+by the electioneering agent for a small trifle of some hundred pounds
+towards the expenses, and this, by the generosity of his father, he
+had been able to give. "We shall get along now like a house on fire,"
+said the agent, as he pocketed the cheque. Up to that moment there
+may have been doubts upon the agent's mind.</p>
+
+<p>As he went back to London he acknowledged to himself that he had
+failed hitherto,&mdash;he had failed in making that impression at
+Percycross which would have been becoming to him as the future member
+of Parliament for the borough; but he gallantly resolved that he
+would do better in the future. He would speak in such a way that the
+men of Percycross should listen to him and admire. He would make
+occasion for himself. He thought that he could do better than Mr.
+Westmacott,&mdash;put more stuff in what he had got to say. And, whatever
+might happen to him, he would hold up his head. Why should he not be
+as good a man as Westmacott? It was the man that was needed,&mdash;not the
+outside trappings. Then he asked himself a question whether, as
+trappings themselves were so trivial, a man was necessarily mean who
+dealt in trappings. He did not remember to have heard of a bootmaker
+in Parliament. But there should be a bootmaker in Parliament
+soon;&mdash;and thus he plucked up his courage.</p>
+
+<p>On his journey down to Percycross he had thought that immediately on
+his return to London he would go across to Hendon, and take advantage
+of his standing as a candidate for the borough; but as he returned he
+resolved that he would wait till the election was over. He would go
+to Polly with all his honours on his head.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c22" id="c22"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XXII.</h3>
+<h4>RALPH NEWTON'S DECISION.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>Ontario Moggs was at Percycross when Ralph Newton was making his
+formal offer to Polly Neefit. Ralph when he had made his offer
+returned to London with mixed feelings. He had certainly been
+oppressed at times by the conviction that he must make the offer even
+though it went against the grain with him to do so;&mdash;and at these
+moments he had not failed to remind himself that he was about to make
+himself miserable for life because he had been weak enough to take
+pecuniary assistance in the hour of his temporary necessities from
+the hands of Polly's father. Now he had made his offer; it had not
+been accepted, and he was still free. He could see his way out of
+that dilemma without dishonour. But then that dilemma became very
+much smaller to his sight when it was surmounted,&mdash;as is the nature
+with all dilemmas; and the other dilemma, which would have been
+remedied had Polly accepted him, again loomed very large. And as he
+looked back at the matrimonial dilemma which he had escaped, and at
+Polly standing before him, comely, healthy, and honest, such a
+pleasant armful, and so womanly withal,&mdash;so pleasant a girl if only
+she was not to be judged and sentenced by others beside himself,&mdash;he
+almost thought that that dilemma was one which he could have borne
+without complaint. But Polly's suggestion that they should allow a
+year to run round in order that they might learn to know each other
+was one which he could not entertain. He had but three days in which
+to give an answer to his uncle, and up to this time two alternatives
+had been open to him,&mdash;the sale of his reversion and independence, or
+Polly and the future lordship of Newton. He had thought that there
+was nothing but to choose. It had not occurred to him that Polly
+would raise any objection. He had felt neither fear nor hope in that
+direction. It followed as a consequence now that the lordship must
+go. He would not, however, make up his mind that it should go till
+the last moment.</p>
+
+<p>On the following morning he was thinking that he might as well go to
+the shop in Conduit Street, feeling that he could encounter Neefit
+without any qualms of conscience, when Mr. Neefit came to him. This
+was certainly a better arrangement. It was easier to talk of his own
+affairs sitting at ease in his own arm-chair, than to carry on the
+discussion among the various sporting garments which adorned Mr.
+Neefit's little back room, subject to interruption from customers,
+and possibly within the hearing of Mr. Waddle and Herr Bawwah.
+Neefit, seated at the end of the sofa in Ralph's comfortable room,
+looking out of his saucer eyes with all his energy, was in a certain
+degree degrading,&mdash;but was not quite so degrading as Neefit at his
+own barn-door in Conduit Street. "I was just coming to you," he said,
+as he made the breeches-maker welcome.</p>
+
+<p>"Well;&mdash;yes; but I thought I'd catch you here, Captain. Them men of
+mine has such long ears! That German who lets on that he don't
+understand only just a word or two of English, hears everything
+through a twelve-inch brick wall. Polly told me as you'd been with
+her."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose so, Mr. Neefit."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, she ain't one as 'd keep anything from me. She's open and
+straightforward, anyways."</p>
+
+<p>"So I found her."</p>
+
+<p>"Now look here, Captain. I've just one word to say about her. Stick
+to her." Ralph was well aware that he must explain the exact
+circumstances in which he stood to the man who was to have been his
+father-in-law, but hardly knew how to begin his explanation. "She
+ain't nowise again you," continued Mr. Neefit. "She owned as much
+when I put her through her facings. I did put her through her facings
+pretty tightly. 'What is it that you want, Miss?' said I. 'D' you
+want to have a husband, or d' you want to be an old maid?' They don't
+like that word old maid;&mdash;not as used again themselves, don't any
+young woman."</p>
+
+<p>"Polly will never be an old maid," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"She owned as she didn't want that. 'I suppose I'll have to take some
+of 'em some day,' she said. Lord, how pretty she did look as she said
+it;&mdash;just laughing and crying, smiling and pouting all at once. She
+ain't a bad 'un to look at, Captain?"</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed she is not."</p>
+
+<p>"Nor yet to go. Do you stick to her. Them's my words. 'D' you want to
+have that ugly bootmaker?' said I. 'He ain't ugly,' said she. 'D' you
+want to have him, Miss?' said I. 'No, I don't,' said she. 'Well!'
+said I. 'But I do know him,' said Polly, 'and I don't know Mr. Newton
+no more than Adam!' Them were her very words, Captain. Do you stick
+to her, Captain. I'll tell you what. Let's all go down to Margate
+together for a week." That was Mr. Neefit's plan of action.</p>
+
+<p>Then Ralph got up from his easy-chair and began his explanation. He
+couldn't very well go down to Margate, delightful as it would be to
+sit upon the sands with Polly. He was so situated that he must at
+once decide as to the sale of his property at Newton. Mr. Neefit put
+his hands in his pockets, and sat perfectly silent, listening to his
+young friend's explanation. If Polly would have accepted him at once,
+Ralph went on to explain, everything would have been straight; but,
+as she would not do so, he must take his uncle's offer. He had no
+other means of extricating himself from his embarrassments. "Why, Mr.
+Neefit, I could not look you in the face unless I were prepared to
+pay you your money," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Drat that," replied Neefit, and then again he listened.</p>
+
+<p>Ralph went on. He could not go on long in his present condition. His
+bill for &pound;500 to Mr. Horsball of the Moonbeam was coming round. He
+literally had not &pound;20 in his possession to carry on the war. His
+uncle's offer would be withdrawn if it were not accepted the day
+after to-morrow. Nobody else would give half so much. The thing must
+be done, and then;&mdash;why, then he would have nothing to offer to Polly
+worthy of her acceptance. "Bother," said Mr. Neefit, who had not once
+taken his eyes off Ralph's face. Ralph said that that might be all
+very well, but such were the facts. "You ain't that soft that you're
+going to let 'em rob you of the estate?" said the breeches-maker in a
+tone of horror. Ralph raised his hands and his eyebrows together.
+Yes;&mdash;that was what he intended to do.</p>
+
+<p>"There shan't be nothing of the kind," said the breeches-maker.
+"What! &pound;7,000 a year, ain't it? All in land, ain't it? And it must be
+your own, let 'em do what they will; mustn't it?" He paused a moment,
+and Ralph nodded his head. "What you have to do is to get a
+wife,&mdash;and a son before any of 'em can say Jack Robinson. Lord bless
+you! Just spit at 'em if they talks of buying it. S'pose the old gent
+was to go off all along of apperplexy the next day, how'd you feel
+then? Like cutting your throat;&mdash;wouldn't you, Captain?"</p>
+
+<p>"But my uncle's life is very good."</p>
+
+<p>"He ain't got no receipt against kingdom come, I dare say." Ralph was
+surprised by his tradesman's eloquence and wit. "You have a chick of
+your own, and then you'll know as it'll be yours some way or other.
+If I'd the chance I'd sooner beg, borrow, starve, or die, before I'd
+sell it;&mdash;let alone working, Captain." There was satire too as well
+as eloquence in the breeches-maker. "No;&mdash;you must run your chance,
+somehow."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't see my way," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"You have got something, Captain;&mdash;something of your own?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well;&mdash;just enough to pay my debts, if all were sold, and buy myself
+a rope to hang myself."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll pay your debts, Captain."</p>
+
+<p>"I couldn't hear of it, Mr. Neefit."</p>
+
+<p>"As for not hearing of it,&mdash;that's bother. You do hear of it now. And
+how much more do you want to keep you? You shall have what you want.
+You meant honest along of Polly yesterday, and you mean honest now."
+Ralph winced, but he did not deny what Neefit said, nor aught that
+was implied in the saying. "We'll bring you and Polly together, and I
+tell you she'll come round." Ralph shook his head. "Anyways you shall
+have the money;&mdash;there now. We'll have a bit of a paper, and if this
+marriage don't come off there'll be the money to come back, and five
+per cent. when the old gent dies."</p>
+
+<p>"But I might die first."</p>
+
+<p>"We'll insure your life, Captain. Only we must be upon the square."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"I'd rather a'most lose it all than think such a chance should be
+missed. &pound;7,000 a year, and all in land? When one knows how hard it is
+to get, to think of selling it!"</p>
+
+<p>Ralph made no positive promise, but when Mr. Neefit left him, there
+was,&mdash;so at least thought Mr. Neefit,&mdash;an implied understanding that
+"the Captain" would at once put an end to this transaction between
+him and his uncle. And yet Ralph didn't feel quite certain. The
+breeches-maker had been generous,&mdash;very generous, and very trusting;
+but he hated the man's generosity and confidence. The breeches-maker
+had got such a hold of him that he seemed to have lost all power of
+thinking and acting for himself. And then such a man as he was, with
+his staring round eyes, and heavy face, and dirty hands, and ugly
+bald head! There is a baldness that is handsome and noble, and a
+baldness that is peculiarly mean and despicable. Neefit's baldness
+was certainly of the latter order. Now Moggs senior, who was grey and
+not bald, was not bad looking,&mdash;at a little distance. His face when
+closely inspected was poor and greedy, but the general effect at a
+passing glance was not contemptible. Moggs might have been a banker,
+or an officer in the Commissariat, or a clerk in the Treasury. A
+son-in-law would have had hopes of Moggs. But nothing of the kind was
+possible with Neefit. One would be forced to explain that he was a
+respectable tradesman in Conduit Street in order that he might not be
+taken for a dealer in potatoes from Whitechapel. He was hopeless. And
+yet he had taken upon himself the absolute management of all Ralph
+Newton's affairs!</p>
+
+<p>Ralph was very unhappy, and in his misery he went to Sir Thomas's
+chambers. This was about four o'clock in the day, at which hour Sir
+Thomas was almost always in his rooms. But Stemm with much difficulty
+succeeded in making him believe that the lawyer was not at home.
+Stemm at this time was much disturbed by his master's terrible
+resolution to try the world again, to stand for a seat in Parliament,
+and to put himself once more in the way of work and possible
+promotion. Stemm had condemned the project,&mdash;but, nevertheless, took
+glory in it. What if his master should become,&mdash;should become
+anything great and magnificent. Stemm had often groaned in
+silence,&mdash;had groaned unconsciously, that his master should be
+nothing. He loved his master thoroughly,&mdash;loving no one else in the
+whole world,&mdash;and sympathised with him acutely. Still he had
+condemned the project. "There's so many of them, Sir Thomas, as is
+only wanting to put their fingers into somebody's eyes." "No doubt,
+Stemm, no doubt," said Sir Thomas; "and as well into mine as
+another's." "That's it, Sir Thomas." "But I'll just run down and see,
+Stemm." And so it had been settled. Stemm, who had always hated Ralph
+Newton, and who now regarded his master's time as more precious than
+ever, would hardly give any answer at all to Ralph's enquiries. His
+master might be at home at Fulham,&mdash;probably was. Where should a
+gentleman so likely be as at home,&mdash;that is, when he wasn't in
+chambers? "Anyways, he's not here," said Stemm, bobbing his head, and
+holding the door ready to close it. Ralph was convinced, then dined
+at his club, and afterwards went down to Fulham. He had heard nothing
+from Stemm, or elsewhere, of the intended candidature.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas was not at Fulham, nor did the girls know aught of his
+whereabouts. But the great story was soon told. Papa was going to
+stand for Percycross. "We are so glad," said Mary Bonner, bursting
+out into enthusiasm. "We walk about the garden making speeches to the
+electors all day. Oh dear, I do wish we could do something."</p>
+
+<p>"Glad is no word," said Clarissa. "But if he loses it!"</p>
+
+<p>"The very trying for it is good," said Patience. "It is just the
+proper thing for papa."</p>
+
+<p>"I shall feel so proud when uncle is in Parliament again," said Mary
+Bonner. "A woman's pride is always vicarious;&mdash;but still it is
+pride."</p>
+
+<p>Ralph also was surprised,&mdash;so much surprised that for a few minutes
+his own affairs were turned out of his head. He, too, had thought
+that Sir Thomas would never again do anything in the world,&mdash;unless
+that book should be written of which he had so often heard
+hints,&mdash;though never yet, with any accuracy, its name or subject. Sir
+Thomas, he was told, had been at Percycross, but was not supposed to
+be there now. "Of course he was in his chambers," said Clarissa. "Old
+Stemm does know how to tell lies so well!" It was, however,
+acknowledged that, having on his hands a piece of business so very
+weighty, Sir Thomas might be almost anywhere without any fault on his
+part. A gentleman in the throes of an election for Parliament could
+not be expected to be at home. Even Patience did not feel called upon
+to regret his absence.</p>
+
+<p>Before he went back to town Ralph found himself alone with Mary for a
+few minutes. "Mr. Newton," she said, "why don't you stand for
+Parliament?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have not the means."</p>
+
+<p>"You have great prospects. I should have thought you were just the
+man who ought to make it the work of your life to get into
+Parliament." Ralph began to ask himself what had been the work of his
+life. "They say that to be of real use a man ought to begin young."</p>
+
+<p>"Nobody ought to go into the House without money," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"That means, I suppose, that men shouldn't go in who want their time
+to earn their bread. But you haven't that to do. If I were a man such
+as you are I would always try to be something. I am sure Parliament
+was meant for men having estates such as you will have."</p>
+
+<p>"When I've got it, I'll think about Parliament, Miss Bonner."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps it will be too late then. Don't you know that song of
+'Excelsior,' Mr. Newton? You ought to learn to sing it."</p>
+
+<p>Yes;&mdash;he was learning to sing it after a fine fashion;&mdash;borrowing his
+tradesman's money, and promising to marry his tradesman's daughter!
+He was half inclined to be angry with this interference from Mary
+Bonner;&mdash;and yet he liked her for it. Could it be that she herself
+felt an interest in what concerned him? "Ah me,"&mdash;he said to
+himself,&mdash;"how much better would it have been to have learned
+something, to have fitted myself for some high work; and to have been
+able to choose some such woman as this for my wife!" And all that had
+been sacrificed to horses at the Moonbeam, and little dinners with
+Captain Fooks and Lieutenant Cox! Every now and again during his life
+Ph&oelig;bus had touched his trembling ears, and had given him to know
+that to sport with the tangles of Na&aelig;ra's hair was not satisfactory
+as the work of a man's life. But, alas, the god had intervened but to
+little purpose. The horses at the Moonbeam, which had been two,
+became four, and then six; and now he was pledged to marry Polly
+Neefit,&mdash;if only he could induce Polly Neefit to have him. It was too
+late in the day for him to think now of Parliament and Mary Bonner.</p>
+
+<p>And then, before he left them, poor Clary whispered a word into his
+ear,&mdash;a cousinly, brotherly word, such as their circumstances
+authorised her to make. "Is it settled about the property, Ralph?"
+For she, too, had heard that this question of a sale was going
+forward.</p>
+
+<p>"Not quite, Clary."</p>
+
+<p>"You won't sell it; will you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think I shall."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, don't;&mdash;pray don't. Anything will be better than that. It is so
+good to wait." She was thinking only of Ralph, and of his interests,
+but she could not forget the lesson which she was daily teaching to
+herself.</p>
+
+<p>"If I can help it, I shall not sell it."</p>
+
+<p>"Papa will help you;&mdash;will he not? If I were you they should drag me
+in pieces before I would part with my birthright;&mdash;and such a
+birthright!" It had occurred to her once that Ralph might feel that,
+after what had passed between them one night on the lawn, he was
+bound not to wait, that it was his duty so to settle his affairs that
+he might at once go to her father and say,&mdash;"Though I shall never be
+Mr. Newton of Newton, I have still such and such means of supporting
+your daughter." Ah! if he would only be open with her, and tell her
+everything, he would soon know how unnecessary it was to make a
+sacrifice for her. He pressed her hand as he left her, and said a
+word that was a word of comfort. "Clary, I cannot speak with
+certainty, but I do not think that it will be sold."</p>
+
+<p>"I am so glad!" she said. "Oh, Ralph, never, never part with it." And
+then she blushed, as she thought of what she had said. Could it be
+that he would think that she was speaking for her own sake;&mdash;because
+she looked forward to reigning some day as mistress of Newton Priory?
+Ah, no, Ralph would never misinterpret her thoughts in a manner so
+unmanly as that!</p>
+
+<p>The day came, and it was absolutely necessary that the answer should
+be given. Neefit came to prompt him again, and seemed to sit on the
+sofa with more feeling of being at home than he had displayed before.
+He brought his cheque-book with him, and laid it rather
+ostentatiously upon the table. He had good news, too, from Polly. "If
+Mr. Newton would come down to Margate, she would be ever so glad."
+That was the message as given by Mr. Neefit, but the reader will
+probably doubt that it came exactly in those words from Polly's lips.
+Ralph was angry, and shook his head in wrath. "Well, Captain, how's
+it to be?" asked Mr. Neefit.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall let my uncle know that I intend to keep my property," said
+Ralph, with as much dignity as he knew how to assume.</p>
+
+<p>The breeches-maker jumped up and crowed,&mdash;actually crowed, as might
+have crowed a cock. It was an art that he had learned in his youth.
+"That's my lad of wax," he said, slapping Ralph on the shoulder. "And
+now tell us how much it's to be," said he, opening the cheque-book.
+But Ralph declined to take money at the present moment, endeavouring
+to awe the breeches-maker back into sobriety by his manner. Neefit
+did put up his cheque-book, but was not awed back into perfect
+sobriety. "Come to me, when you want it, and you shall have it,
+Captain. Don't let that chap as 'as the 'orses be any way
+disagreeable. You tell him he can have it all when he wants it. And
+he can;&mdash;be blowed if he can't. We'll see it through, Captain. And
+now, Captain, when'll you come out and see Polly?" Ralph would give
+no definite answer to this,&mdash;on account of business, but was induced
+at last to send his love to Miss Neefit. "That man will drive me into
+a lunatic asylum at last," he said to himself, as he threw himself
+into his arm-chair when Neefit had departed.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, he wrote his letter to his uncle's lawyer, Mr. Carey,
+as <span class="nowrap">follows:&mdash;</span><br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="jright">&mdash;&mdash; Club, 20 Sept., 186&mdash;.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">Dear Sir</span>,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>After mature consideration I have resolved upon declining
+the offer made to me by my uncle respecting the Newton
+property.</p>
+
+<p class="ind10">Faithfully yours,</p>
+
+<p class="ind15"><span class="smallcaps">Ralph Newton</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">Richard Carey, Esq.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>It was very short, but it seemed to him to contain all that there was
+to be said. He might, indeed, have expressed regret that so much
+trouble had been occasioned;&mdash;but the trouble had been taken not for
+his sake, and he was not bound to denude himself of his property
+because his uncle had taken trouble.</p>
+
+<p>When the letter was put into the Squire's hands in Mr. Carey's
+private room, the Squire was nearly mad with rage. In spite of all
+that his son had told him, in disregard of all his own solicitor's
+cautions, in the teeth of his nephew Gregory's certainty, he had felt
+sure that the thing would be done. The young man was penniless, and
+must sell; and he could sell nowhere else with circumstances so
+favourable. And now the young man wrote a letter as though he were
+declining to deal about a horse! "It's some sham, some falsehood,"
+said the Squire. "Some low attorney is putting him up to thinking
+that he can get more out of me."</p>
+
+<p>"It's possible," said Mr. Carey; "but there's nothing more to be
+done." The Squire when last in London had asserted most positively
+that he would not increase his bid.</p>
+
+<p>"But he's penniless," said the Squire.</p>
+
+<p>"There are those about him that will put him in the way of raising
+money," said the lawyer.</p>
+
+<p>"And so the property will go to the hammer,&mdash;and I can do nothing to
+help it!" Mr. Carey did not tell his client that a gentleman had no
+right to complain because he could not deal with effects which were
+not his own; but that was the line which his thoughts took. The
+Squire walked about the room, lashing himself in his rage. He could
+not bear to be beaten. "How much more would do it?" he said at last.
+It would be terribly bitter to him to be made to give way, to be
+driven to increase the price; but even that would be less bitter than
+failure.</p>
+
+<p>"I should say nothing,&mdash;just at present, if I were you," said Mr.
+Carey. The Squire still walked about the room. "If he raises money on
+the estate we shall hear of it. And so much of his rights as pass
+from him we can purchase. It will be more prudent for us to wait."</p>
+
+<p>"Would another &pound;5,000 do it at once?" said the Squire.</p>
+
+<p>"At any rate I would not offer it," said Mr. Carey.</p>
+
+<p>"Ah;&mdash;you don't understand. You don't feel what it is that I want.
+What would you say if a man told you to wait while your hand was in
+the fire?"</p>
+
+<p>"But you are in possession, Mr. Newton."</p>
+
+<p>"No;&mdash;I'm not. I'm not in possession. I'm only a lodger in the place.
+I can do nothing. I cannot even build a farm-house for a tenant."</p>
+
+<p>"Surely you can, Mr. Gregory."</p>
+
+<p>"What;&mdash;for him! You think that would be one of the delights of
+possession? Put my money into the ground like seed, in order that the
+fruit may be gathered by him! I'm not a good enough Christian, Mr.
+Carey, to take much delight in that. I'll tell you what it is, Mr.
+Carey. The place is a hell upon earth to me, till I can call it my
+own." At last he left his lawyer, and went back to Newton Priory,
+having given instructions that the transaction should be re-opened
+between the two lawyers, and that additional money, to the extent of
+&pound;5,000, should by degrees be offered.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c23" id="c23"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XXIII.</h3>
+<h4>"I'LL BE A HYPOCRITE IF YOU CHOOSE."<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>There could hardly be a more unhappy man than was the Squire on his
+journey home. He had buoyed himself up with hope till he had felt
+certain that he would return to Newton Priory its real and permanent
+owner, no longer a lodger in the place, as he had called himself to
+the lawyer, but able to look upon every tree as his own, with power
+to cut down every oak upon the property; though, as he knew very
+well, he would rather spill blood from his veins than cut down one of
+them. But in that case he would preserve the oaks,&mdash;preserve them by
+his own decision,&mdash;because they were his own, and because he could
+give them to his own son. His son should cut them down if he pleased.
+And then the power of putting up would be quite as sweet to him as
+the power of pulling down. What pleasure would he have in making
+every deficient house upon the estate efficient, when he knew that
+the stones as he laid them would not become the property of his
+enemy. He was a man who had never spent his full income. The property
+had been in his hands now for some fifteen years, and he had already
+amassed a considerable sum of money,&mdash;a sum which would have enabled
+him to buy out his nephew altogether, without selling an
+acre,&mdash;presuming the price already fixed to have been sufficient. He
+had determined to sell something, knowing that he could not do as he
+would do with the remainder if his hands were empty. He had settled
+it all in his mind;&mdash;how Ralph, his Ralph, must marry, and have a
+separate income. There would be no doubt about his Ralph's marriage
+when once it should be known that his Ralph was the heir to Newton.
+The bar sinister would matter but little then;&mdash;would be clean
+forgotten. His mind had been full of all this as he had come up to
+London. It had all been settled. He had decided upon ignoring
+altogether those cautions which his son and nephew and lawyer had
+croaked into his ears. This legitimate heir was a ruined spendthrift,
+who had no alternative but to raise money, no ambition but to spend
+money, no pursuit but to waste money. His temperament was so sanguine
+that when he entered Mr. Carey's office he had hardly doubted. Now
+everything had been upset, and he was cast down from triumph into an
+abyss of despondency by two lines from this wretched, meaningless,
+poor-spirited spendthrift! "I believe he'd take a pleasure in seeing
+the property going to the dogs, merely to spite me," said the Squire
+to his son, as soon as he reached home,&mdash;having probably forgotten
+his former idea, that his nephew was determined, with the pertinacity
+of a patient, far-sighted Jew money-lender, to wring from him the
+last possible shilling.</p>
+
+<p>Ralph, who was not the heir, was of his nature so just, that he could
+not hear an accusation which he did not believe to be true, without
+protesting against it. The Squire had called the heir a spiritless
+spendthrift, and a malicious evil-doer, intent upon ruining the
+estate, and a grasping Jew, all in the same breath.</p>
+
+<p>"I think you are hard upon him, sir," said the son to the father.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course you think so. At any rate you'll say so," said the Squire.
+"One would suppose I was thinking only of myself to hear you talk."</p>
+
+<p>"I know what you're thinking of," said Ralph slowly; "and I know how
+much I owe you."</p>
+
+<p>"I sometimes think that you ought to curse me," said the Squire.</p>
+
+<p>After this, at this moment, with such words ringing in his ears,
+Ralph found it to be impossible to expostulate with his father. He
+could only take his father's arm, and whisper a soft feminine word or
+two. He would be as happy as the day was long, if only he could see
+his father happy.</p>
+
+<p>"I can never be happy till I have placed you where you would have
+been," said the Squire. "The gods are just, and our pleasant vices
+make instruments to scourge us." He did not quote the line to
+himself, but the purport of it hung heavy on him. And yet he thought
+it hard that because he had money in his pocket he could not
+altogether make himself free of the scourge.</p>
+
+<p>On the following morning he was less vituperative and less
+unreasonable, but he was still intent upon the subject. After
+breakfast he got his son into his own room,&mdash;the room in which he did
+his magistrate's work, and added up his accounts, and kept his spuds
+and spurs,&mdash;and seriously discussed the whole matter. What would it
+be wise that they should do next? "You don't mean to tell me that you
+don't wish me to buy it?" said the Squire. No; Ralph would not say
+that. If it were in the market, to be bought, and if the money were
+forthcoming, of course such a purchase would be expedient. "The money
+is forthcoming," said the Squire. "We can make it up one way or
+another. What matter if we did sell Brownriggs? What matter if we
+sold Brownriggs and Twining as well?" Ralph quite acceded to this. As
+far as buying and selling were concerned he would have acceded to
+anything that would have made his father happy. "I won't say a word
+against this fellow, since you are so fond of him," continued the
+Squire. Ralph, though his father paused, made no reply to the
+intended sarcasm. "But you must allow that he had a reason for
+writing such a letter as he did."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course he had a reason," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"Well;&mdash;we'll say that he wants to keep it."</p>
+
+<p>"That's not unnatural."</p>
+
+<p>"Not at all. Everybody likes to keep what he's got, and to get as
+much as he can. That's nature. But a man can't eat his cake and have
+it. He has been slow to learn that, no doubt; but I suppose he has
+learned it. He wouldn't have gone to Sir Thomas Underwood, in the way
+he did, crying to be helped,&mdash;if he hadn't learned it. Remember,
+Ralph, I didn't go to him first;&mdash;he came to me. You always forget
+that. What was the meaning then of Sir Thomas writing to me in that
+pitiful way,&mdash;asking me to do something for him;&mdash;and he who had I
+don't know how much, something like &pound;800 a year, I take it, the day
+he came of age?"</p>
+
+<p>"Of course he has been imprudent."</p>
+
+<p>"He cannot eat his cake and have it. He wants to eat it, and I want
+to have it. I am sure it may be managed. I suppose you mean to go up
+and see him."</p>
+
+<p>"See Ralph?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why not? You are not afraid of him." The son smiled, but made no
+answer. "You might find out from him what it is he really
+wants;&mdash;what he will really do. Those attorneys don't understand.
+Carey isn't a bad fellow, and as for honesty, I'd trust him with
+anything. I've known him and his father all my life, and in any
+ordinary piece of business there is no one whose opinion I would take
+so soon. But he talks of my waiting, telling me that the thing will
+come round after a few years,&mdash;as if what one wanted was merely an
+investment for one's money. It isn't that."</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir;&mdash;it isn't that."</p>
+
+<p>"Not that at all. It's the feeling of the thing. Your lawyer may be
+the best man in the world to lay out your money in a speculation, but
+he doesn't dare to buy contentment for you. He doesn't see it, and
+one hardly dares to try and make him see it. I'd give the half of it
+all to have the other half, but I cannot tell him that. I'd give one
+half so long as that fellow wasn't to be the owner of the other.
+We'll have no opposition Newton in the place."</p>
+
+<p>The Squire's son was of course willing enough to go up to London. He
+would see the heir at any rate, and endeavour to learn what were the
+wishes of the heir. "You may say what money you like," said the
+Squire. "I hardly care what I pay, so long as it is possible to pay
+it. Go up to &pound;10,000 more, if that will do it."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think I can bargain," said the son.</p>
+
+<p>"But he can," said the father. "At any rate you can find out whether
+he will name a price. I'd go myself, but I know I should quarrel with
+him."</p>
+
+<p>Ralph prepared himself for the journey, and, as a matter of course,
+took the parson into his confidence; not telling the parson anything
+of the absolute sum named, but explaining that it was his purpose to
+become acquainted with the heir, and if possible to learn his views.
+"You'll find Ralph a very different fellow from what my uncle thinks
+him," said the parson. "I shall be much mistaken if he does not tell
+you quite openly what he intends. He is careless about money, but he
+never was greedy." And then they got to other matters. "You will of
+course see the girls at Fulham," said the parson.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes;&mdash;I shall manage to get down there."</p>
+
+<p>The story of Gregory's passion for Clarissa was well known to the
+other. Gregory, who would not for worlds have spoken of such a matter
+among his general acquaintance, who could not have brought himself to
+mention it in the presence of two hearers, had told it all to the one
+companion who was nearest and dearest to him,&mdash;"I wish I were going
+with you," said the parson.</p>
+
+<p>"Why not come with me then?"</p>
+
+<p>"And yet I don't wish it. If I were in London I doubt whether I would
+go there. There could be no use in it."</p>
+
+<p>"It is one of those things," said Ralph, "in which a man should never
+despair as long as there is a possibility."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, yes; people say so. I don't believe in that kind of perseverance
+myself;&mdash;at any rate not with her. She knows her own mind,&mdash;as well
+as I know mine. I think I promised her that I would trouble her no
+more."</p>
+
+<p>"Promises like that are mere pie-crusts," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"Give her my love;&mdash;that's all. And don't do that unless you're alone
+with her. I shall live it down some day, no doubt, but to tell the
+truth I have made up my mind not to marry. I'm half inclined to think
+that a clergyman shouldn't marry. There are some things which our
+ancestors understood pretty well, although we think they were such
+fools. I should like to see the new cousin, certainly."</p>
+
+<p>Ralph said nothing more about the new cousin; and was perhaps hardly
+aware how greatly the idea of again seeing the new cousin had
+enhanced the pleasure of his journey to London. About a week after
+this he started, having devoted nearly all the afternoon before he
+went to the packing of a large basket of ferns,&mdash;to each root or
+small bundle of which was appended a long name in Latin,&mdash;as an
+offering to Patience Underwood. And yet he did not care very much for
+Patience Underwood.</p>
+
+<p>It was just the end of September,&mdash;the last day of September, when he
+reached London. Ralph the heir was out of town, and the servant at
+his lodging professed she did not know where he was. She thought it
+probable that he was "at Mr. 'Orsball's,&mdash;Mr. 'Orsball of the
+Moonbeam, Barnfield,&mdash;a-looking after his 'orses." She suggested
+this, not from any knowledge in her possession, but because Ralph was
+always believed to go to the Moonbeam when he left town. He would,
+however, be back next week. His namesake, therefore, did not consider
+that it would be expedient for him to follow the heir down to the
+Moonbeam.</p>
+
+<p>But the Underwood girls would certainly be at Fulham, and he started
+at once with his ferns for Popham Villa. He found them at home, and,
+singular to say, he found Sir Thomas there also. On the very next
+morning Sir Thomas was to start for Percycross, to commence the
+actual work of his canvass. The canvass was to occupy a fortnight,
+and on Monday the sixteenth the candidates were to be nominated.
+Tuesday the seventeenth was the day of the election. The whole
+household was so full of the subject that at first there was hardly
+room for the ferns. "Oh, Mr. Newton, we are so much obliged to you.
+Papa is going to stand for Percycross." That, or nearly that, was the
+form in which the ferns were received. Newton was quite contented. An
+excuse for entering the house was what he had wanted, and his excuse
+was deemed ample. Sir Thomas, who was disposed to be very civil to
+the stranger, had not much to say about his own prospects. To a
+certain degree he was ashamed of Percycross, and had said very little
+about it even to Stemm since his personal acquaintance had been made
+with Messrs. Spiveycomb, Pile, and Pabsby. But the girls were not
+ashamed of Percycross. To them as yet Percycross was the noblest of
+all British boroughs. Had not the Conservatives of Percycross chosen
+their father to be their representative out of all British subjects?
+Sir Thomas had tried, but had tried quite in vain, to make them
+understand the real fashion of the selection. If Percycross would
+only send him to Parliament, Percycross should be divine. "What d'you
+think?" said Clary; "there's a man of the name of&mdash;. I wish you'd
+guess the name of this man who is going to stand against papa, Mr.
+Newton."</p>
+
+<p>"The name won't make much difference," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"Ontario Moggs!" said Clary. "Do you think it possible, Mr. Newton,
+that Percycross,&mdash;the town where one of the Percys set up a cross in
+the time of the Crusaders,&mdash;didn't he,
+<span class="nowrap">papa?&mdash;"</span></p>
+
+<p>"I shall not consider myself bound to learn all that unless they
+elect me," said Sir Thomas; "but I don't think there were Percys in
+the days of the Crusaders."</p>
+
+<p>"At any rate, the proper name is Percy St. Cross," said Clary. "Could
+such a borough choose Ontario Moggs to be one of its members, Mr.
+Newton?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do like the name," said Mary Bonner.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps papa and Ontario Moggs may be the two members," said Clary,
+laughing. "If so, you must bring him down here, papa. Only he's a
+shoemaker."</p>
+
+<p>"That makes no difference in these days," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>The ferns were at last unpacked, and the three girls were profuse in
+their thanks. Who does not know how large a space a basket of ferns
+will cover when it is unpacked and how large the treasure looms.
+"They'll cover the rocks on the other side," said Mary. It seemed to
+Newton that Mary Bonner was more at home than she had been when he
+had seen her before, spoke more freely of what concerned the house,
+and was beginning to become one of the family. But still she was, as
+it were, overshadowed by Clarissa. In appearance, indeed, she was the
+queen among the three, but in active social life she did not compete
+with Clary. Patience stood as a statue on a pedestal, by no means
+unobserved and ignored; beautiful in form, but colourless. Newton, as
+he looked at the three, wondered that a man so quiet and gentle as
+the young parson should have chosen such a love as Clary Underwood.
+He remained half the day at the villa, dining there at the invitation
+of Sir Thomas. "My last dinner," said Sir Thomas, "unless I am lucky
+enough to be rejected. Men when they are canvassing never dine;&mdash;and
+not often after they're elected."</p>
+
+<p>The guest had not much opportunity of ingratiating himself specially
+with the beauty; but the beauty did so far ingratiate herself with
+him,&mdash;unconsciously on her part,&mdash;that he half resolved that should
+his father be successful in his present enterprise, he would ask Mary
+Bonner to be the Queen of Newton Priory. His father had often urged
+him to marry,&mdash;never suggesting that any other quality beyond good
+looks would be required in his son's wife. He had never spoken of
+money, or birth, or name. "I have an idea," he had said, laughing,
+"that you'll marry a fright some day. I own I should like to have a
+pretty woman about the house. One doesn't expect much from a woman,
+but she is bound to be pretty." This woman was at any rate pretty.
+Pretty, indeed! Was it possible that any woman should be framed more
+lovely than this one? But he must bide his time. He would not ask any
+girl to marry him till he should know what position he could ask her
+to fill. But though he spoke little to Mary, he treated her as men do
+treat women whom they desire to be allowed to love. There was a tone
+in his voice, a worship in his eye, and a flush upon his face, and a
+hesitation in his manner, which told the story, at any rate to one of
+the party there. "He didn't come to bring you the ferns," said
+Clarissa to Patience.</p>
+
+<p>"He brought them for all of us," said Patience.</p>
+
+<p>"Young men don't go about with ferns for the sake of the ferns," said
+Clary. "They were merely an excuse to come and see Mary."</p>
+
+<p>"Why shouldn't he come and see Mary?"</p>
+
+<p>"He has my leave, Patty. I think it would be excellent. Isn't it odd
+that there should be two Ralph Newtons. One would be Mrs. Newton and
+the other Mrs. Ralph."</p>
+
+<p>"Clarissa, Clarissa!" said Patience, almost in a tone of agony.</p>
+
+<p>"I'll be a hypocrite if you choose, Patty," said Clarissa, "or I'll
+be true. But you can't have me both at once." Patience said nothing
+further then. The lesson of self-restraint which she desired to teach
+was very hard of teaching.</p>
+
+<p>There was just a word spoken between Sir Thomas and Newton about the
+property. "I intend to see Ralph Newton, if I can find him," said
+Ralph who was not the heir.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think he is far from town," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"My father thinks that we might come to an understanding."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps so," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"I have no strong anxiety on the subject myself," said Newton; "but
+my father thinks that if he does wish to sell his
+<span class="nowrap">reversion&mdash;"</span></p>
+
+<p>"He doesn't wish it. How can a man wish it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Under the circumstances it may be desirable."</p>
+
+<p>"You had better see him, and I think he will tell you," said Sir
+Thomas. "You must understand that a man thinks much of such a
+position. Pray come to us again. We shall always be glad to see you
+when you are in town."</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c24" id="c24"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XXIV.</h3>
+<h4>"I FIND I MUST."<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>Ralph the heir had, after all, gone to Margate. Mr. Neefit had got
+such a hold upon him that he had no help for it. He found himself
+forced to go to Margate. When he was asked the second and third time,
+with all the energy of Mr. Neefit's eloquence, he was unable to
+resist. What reason could he give that he should not go to Margate,
+seeing that it was a thing quite understood that he was to endeavour
+to persuade Polly to be his wife. Neefit came to him two mornings
+running, catching him each morning just as he was smoking his cigar
+after breakfast, and was very eloquent. He already owed Mr. Neefit
+over five hundred pounds, and the debt on the first of these mornings
+was made up to one thousand pounds, a receipt being given for the
+shop debt on one side, and a bond for the whole money, with 5 per
+cent. interest, being taken in return for it. "You'd better pay off
+what little things you owes, Captain," said the generous
+breeches-maker, "and then, when the time comes, we'll settle with the
+gent about the 'orses." Neefit played his game very well. He said not
+a word about selling the horses, or as to any restriction on his
+young "Captain's" amusements. If you pull at your fish too hard you
+only break your line. Neefit had a very fine fish on his hook, and he
+meant to land it. Not a word was said about Margate on that occasion,
+till the little pecuniary transaction was completed. Then the Captain
+was informed that the Neefit family would certainly spend the next
+week at that marine Paradise, and that Polly expected "the Captain's"
+company. "Them's the places," said Neefit, "where a girl grows soft
+as butter." This he said when the door-handle was in his hand, so
+that "the Captain" had no chance of answering him. Then he came again
+the next morning, and returned to the subject as though "the Captain"
+had already consented. There was a near approach to anger on one side
+and determined opposition on the other during this interview, but it
+ended in acquiescence on the Captain's side. Then Mr. Neefit was once
+more as gracious as possible. The graciousness of such men in
+acknowledging their own inferiority is sometimes wonderful. "You
+needn't be seen about with me, you know," said Mr. Neefit. This was
+said after Ralph had positively declared that he would not go
+actually with the Neefits and occupy the same apartments. "It would
+be altogether wrong,&mdash;for Polly's sake," said Ralph, looking very
+wise and very moral. To this view Neefit assented, not being quite
+sure how far "the Captain" might be correct in his ideas of morality.</p>
+
+<p>"They've been and fixed young Newton for Polly," said Mr. Waddle that
+morning, to his friend Herr Bawwah, when he was told to mark off
+Ralph's account in the books as settled. "Dashed if they 'aven't,"
+the German grunted. "Old Neverfit's a-playing at 'igh game, ain't
+he?" Such was the most undeserved nickname by which this excellent
+tradesman was known in his own establishment. "I don't see nodin
+about 'igh," said the German. "He ain't got no money. I call it low."
+Waddle endeavoured to explain the circumstances, but failed. "De
+peoples should be de peoples, and de nobles should be de nobles,"
+said Herr Bawwah;&mdash;a doctrine which was again unintelligible to Mr.
+Waddle.</p>
+
+<p>Ralph having overcome an intense desire to throw over his engagement,
+to sell his horses, and to start for Jerusalem, did go down to
+Margate. He put himself up at an hotel there, eat his dinner, lighted
+a cigar, and went down upon the sands. It was growing dusk, and he
+thought that he should be alone,&mdash;or, at least, uninterrupted in a
+crowd. The crowd was there, and nobody in the place would know
+him,&mdash;except the Neefits. He had not been on the sands two minutes
+before he encountered Mr. Neefit and his daughter. The breeches-maker
+talked loud, and was extremely happy. Polly smiled, and was very
+pretty. In two minutes Neefit saw, or pretended to see, a friend, and
+Ralph was left with his lady-love. There never was so good-natured a
+father! "You'll bring her home to tea, Captain," said the father, as
+he walked off.</p>
+
+<p>On that occasion, Ralph abstained from all direct love-making, and
+Polly, when she found that it was to be so, made herself very
+pleasant. "The idea of your being at Margate, Mr. Newton," said
+Polly.</p>
+
+<p>"Why not I, as well as another?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I don't know. Brighton, or some of those French places, or any
+where all about the world, would be more likely for you, I should
+think."</p>
+
+<p>"Margate seems to be very jolly."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I like it. But then we are not swells, you know. Have you heard
+the news? Ontario Moggs is going to stand to be 'member of
+Parliament' for Percycross."</p>
+
+<p>"My rival!" That was the only word he uttered approaching to the
+subject of love.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know anything about that, Mr. Newton. But it's true."</p>
+
+<p>"Why, Sir Thomas Underwood is going to stand."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know anything about anybody else, but Ontario Moggs is going
+to stand. I do so hope he'll get in. They say he speaks quite
+beautiful. Did you ever hear him?"</p>
+
+<p>"I never heard him."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah, you may laugh. But a bootmaker can make a speech sometimes as
+well as,&mdash;as well as a peer of Parliament. Father says that old Mr.
+Moggs has given him ever so much money to do it. When a man is in
+Parliament, Mr. Newton, doesn't that make him a gentleman?"</p>
+
+<p>"No."</p>
+
+<p>"What then?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing on earth can make a man a gentleman. You don't understand
+Latin, Polly?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. I hope that isn't necessary for a young woman."</p>
+
+<p>"By no means. But a poet is born, and can't be made."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not talking of poets. Ontario Moggs is a poet. But I know what
+you mean. There's something better even than to be a gentleman."</p>
+
+<p>"One may be an angel,&mdash;as you are, Polly."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh,&mdash;me;&mdash;I'm not thinking of myself. I'm thinking of Ontario
+Moggs,&mdash;going into Parliament. But then he is so clever!"</p>
+
+<p>Ralph was not minded to be cut out by Moggs, junior, after coming all
+the way to Margate after his lady-love. The thing was to be done, and
+he would do it. But not to-night. Then he took Polly home, and eat
+prawns with Mr. and Mrs. Neefit. On the next day they all went out
+together in a boat.</p>
+
+<p>The week was nearly over, and Ralph had renewed his suit more than
+once, when the breeches-maker proceeded to "put him through his
+facings." "She's a-coming round, ain't she, Captain?" said Mr.
+Neefit. By this time Ralph hated the sight of Neefit so thoroughly,
+that he was hardly able to repress the feeling. Indeed, he did not
+repress it. Whether Neefit did not see it, or seeing it chose to
+ignore the matter, cannot be said. He was, at any rate, as courteous
+as ever. Mrs. Neefit, overcome partly by her husband's authority, and
+partly induced to believe that as Ontario Moggs was going into
+Parliament he was no longer to be regarded as a possible husband, had
+yielded, and was most polite to the lover. When he came in of an
+evening, she always gave him a double allowance of prawns, and hoped
+that the tea was to his liking. But she said very little more than
+this, standing somewhat in awe of him. Polly had been changeable,
+consenting to walk with him every day, but always staving the matter
+off when he asked her whether she thought that she yet knew him well
+enough to be his wife. "Oh, not half well enough," she would say.
+"And then, perhaps, you know, I'm not over fond of the half that I do
+know." And so it was up to the last evening, when the father put him
+through his facings. In respect of "the Captain's" behaviour to
+Polly, the father had no just ground of complaint, for Ralph had done
+his best. Indeed, Ralph was fond enough of Polly. And it was hard for
+a man to be much with her without becoming fond of her. "She's
+a-coming round, ain't she, Captain?" said Mr. Neefit.</p>
+
+<p>"I can't say that she is," said Ralph, turning upon his heel near the
+end of the pier.</p>
+
+<p>"You don't stick to her fast enough, Captain."</p>
+
+<p>This was not to be borne. "I'll tell you what it is, Mr. Neefit,"
+said Ralph, "you'd better let me alone, or else I shall be off."</p>
+
+<p>"You'd only have to come back, Captain, you know," said Neefit. "Not
+as I want to interfere. You're on the square, I see that. As long as
+you're on the square, there ain't nothing I won't do. I ain't
+a-blaming you,&mdash;only stick to her." "Damn it all!" said Ralph,
+turning round again in the other direction. But there was Neefit
+still confronting him. "Only stick to her, Captain, and we'll pull
+through. I'll put her through her facings to-night. She's thinking of
+that orkard lout of a fellow just because he's standing to be a
+Parl'ament gent." This did not improve matters, and Ralph absolutely
+ran away,&mdash;ran away, and escaped to his hotel. He would try again in
+the morning, would still make her his wife if she would have him! And
+then swore a solemn oath that in such case he would never see his
+father-in-law again.</p>
+
+<p>Polly was not at all averse to giving him opportunities. They were
+together on the sands on the next morning, and he then asked her very
+seriously whether she did not think that there had been enough of
+this, that they might make up their minds to love each other, and be
+married as it were out of hand. Her father and mother wished it, and
+what was there against it? "You cannot doubt that I am in earnest
+now, Polly?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>"I know you are in earnest well enough," she answered.</p>
+
+<p>"And you do not doubt that I love you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I doubt very much whether you love father," said Polly. She spoke
+this so sharp and quickly that he had no reply ready. "If you and I
+were to be married, where should we live? I should want to have
+father and mother with me. You'd mean that, I suppose?" The girl had
+read his thoughts, and he hadn't a word to say for himself. "The
+truth is, you despise father, Mr. Newton."</p>
+
+<p>"No, indeed."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, you do. I can see it. And perhaps it's all right that you
+should. I'm not saying&mdash; Of course, he's not like you and your
+people. How should he be? Only I'm thinking, like should marry like."</p>
+
+<p>"Polly, you're fit for any position in which a man could place you."</p>
+
+<p>"No, I'm not. I'm not fit for any place as father wouldn't be fit for
+too. I'd make a better hand at it than father, I dare say,&mdash;because
+I'm younger. But I won't go anywhere where folk is to be ashamed of
+father. I'd like to be a lady well enough;&mdash;but it'd go against the
+very grain of my heart if I had a house and he wasn't to be made
+welcome to the best of everything."</p>
+
+<p>"Polly, you're an angel!"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm a young woman who knows who's been good to me. He's to give me
+pretty nigh everything. You wouldn't be taking me if it wasn't for
+that. And then, after all, I'm to turn my back on him because he
+ain't like your people. No; never; Mr. Newton! You're well enough,
+Mr. Newton; more than good enough for me, no doubt. But I won't do
+it. I'd cut my heart out if I was turning my back upon father." She
+had spoken out with a vengeance, and Ralph didn't know that there was
+any more to be said. He couldn't bring himself to assure her that Mr.
+Neefit would be a welcome guest in his house. At this moment the
+breeches-maker was so personally distasteful to him that he had not
+force enough in him to tell a lie upon the matter. They were now at
+the entrance of the pier, at which their ways would separate.
+"Good-bye, Mr. Newton," said she. "There had better be an end of
+it;&mdash;hadn't there?" "Goodbye, Polly," he said, pressing her hand as
+he left her.</p>
+
+<p>Polly, walked up home with a quick step, with a tear in her eye, and
+with grave thoughts in her heart. It would have been very nice. She
+could have loved him, and she felt the attraction, and the softness,
+and the sweet-smelling delicateness of gentle associations. It would
+have been very nice. But she could not sever herself from her father.
+She could understand that he must be distasteful to such a man as
+Ralph Newton. She would not blame Ralph. But the fact that it was so,
+shut for her the door of that Elysium. She knew that she could not be
+happy were she to be taken to such a mode of life as would force her
+to accuse herself of ingratitude to her father. And so Ralph went
+back to town without again seeing the breeches-maker.</p>
+
+<p>The first thing he found in his lodgings was a note from his
+namesake.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">Dear Sir</span>,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>I am up in town, and am very anxious to see you in respect
+of the arrangements which have been proposed respecting
+the property. Will you fix a meeting as soon as you are
+back?</p>
+
+<p class="ind10">Yours always,</p>
+
+<p class="ind15"><span class="smallcaps">Ralph Newton</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">Charing Cross Hotel, 2 Oct., 186&mdash;.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>Of course he would see his namesake. Why not? And why not take his
+uncle's money, and pay off Neefit, and have done with it? Neefit must
+be paid off, let the money come from where it would. He called at the
+hotel, and not finding his cousin, left a note asking him to
+breakfast on the following morning; and then he spent the remainder
+of that day in renewed doubt. He was so sick of Neefit,&mdash;whose manner
+of eating shrimps had been a great offence added to other offences!
+And yet one of his great sorrows was that he should lose Polly. Polly
+in her way was perfect, and he felt almost sure, now, that Polly
+loved him. Girls had no right to cling to their fathers after
+marriage. There was Scripture warranty against it. And yet the manner
+in which she had spoken of her father had greatly added to his
+admiration.</p>
+
+<p>The two Ralphs breakfasted together, not having met each other since
+they were children, and having even then scarcely known each other.
+Ralph the heir had been brought up a boy at the parsonage of Newton
+Peele, but the other Ralph had never been taken to Newton till after
+his grandfather's death. The late parson had died within twelve
+months of his father,&mdash;a wretched year, during which the Squire and
+the parson had always squabbled,&mdash;and then Ralph who was the heir had
+been transferred to the guardianship of Sir Thomas Underwood. It was
+only during the holidays of that one year that the two Ralphs had
+been together. The "Dear Sir" will probably be understood by the
+discerning reader. The Squire's son had never allowed himself to call
+even Gregory his cousin. Ralph the heir in writing back had addressed
+him as "Dear Ralph." The Squire's son thought that that was very
+well, but chose that any such term of familiarity should come first
+from him who was in truth a Newton. He felt his condition, though he
+was accustomed to make so light of it to his father.</p>
+
+<p>The two young men shook hands together cordially, and were soon at
+work upon their eggs and kidneys. They immediately began about
+Gregory and the parsonage and the church, and the big house. The heir
+to the property, though he had not been at Newton for fourteen years,
+remembered well its slopes, and lawns, and knolls, and little
+valleys. He asked after this tree and that, of this old man and that
+old woman, of the game, and the river fishery, and the fox coverts,
+and the otters of which three or four were reputed to be left when he
+was there. Otters it seems were gone, but the foxes were there in
+plenty. "My father would be half mad if they drew the place blank,"
+said the Squire's son.</p>
+
+<p>"Does my uncle hunt much?"</p>
+
+<p>"Every Monday and Saturday, and very often on the Wednesday."</p>
+
+<p>"And you?"</p>
+
+<p>"I call myself a three-day man, but I often make a fourth. Garth must
+be very far off if he don't see me. I don't do much with any other
+pack."</p>
+
+<p>"Does my uncle ride?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; he goes pretty well;&mdash;he says he don't. If he gets well away I
+think he rides as hard as ever he did. He don't like a stern chace."</p>
+
+<p>"No more do I," said Ralph the heir. "But I'm often driven to make
+it. What can a fellow do? An old chap turns round and goes home, and
+doesn't feel ashamed of himself; but we can't do that. That's the
+time when one ruins his horses." Then he told all about the Moonbeam
+and the B. &amp; B., and his own stud. The morning was half gone, and not
+a word had been said about business.</p>
+
+<p>The Squire's son felt that it was so, and rushed at the subject all
+in a hurry. "I told you what I have come up to town about."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes; I understand."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose I may speak plainly," said the Squire's son.</p>
+
+<p>"Why not?" said Ralph the heir.</p>
+
+<p>"Well; I don't know. Of course it's best. You wrote to Carey, you
+know."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; I wrote the very moment I had made up my mind."</p>
+
+<p>"You had made up your mind, then?"</p>
+
+<p>Ralph had certainly made up his mind when he wrote the letter of
+which they were speaking, but he was by no means sure but that his
+mind was not made up now in another direction. Since he had become so
+closely intimate with Mr. Neefit, and since Polly had so clearly
+explained to him her ideas as to paternal duty, his mind had veered
+round many points. "Yes," said he. "I had made up my mind."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't suppose it can be of any use for you and me to be bargaining
+together," said the other Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"Not in the least."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course it's a great thing to be heir to Newton. It's a nice
+property, and all that. Only my father
+<span class="nowrap">thought&mdash;"</span></p>
+
+<p>"He thought that I wanted money," said Ralph the heir.</p>
+
+<p>"Just that."</p>
+
+<p>"So I do. God knows I do. I would tell you everything. I would
+indeed. As to screwing a hard bargain, I'm the last man in London who
+would do it. I thought that your father might be willing to buy half
+the property."</p>
+
+<p>"He won't do that. You see the great thing is the house and park. We
+should both want that;&mdash;shouldn't we? Of course it must be yours; and
+I feel&mdash;I don't know how I feel in asking you whether you want to
+sell it."</p>
+
+<p>"You needn't mind that, Ralph."</p>
+
+<p>"If you don't think the sum the lawyers and those chaps fixed is
+<span class="nowrap">enough,&mdash;"</span></p>
+
+<p>Then Ralph the heir, interrupting him, rose from his chair and spoke
+out. "My uncle has never understood me, and never will. He thinks
+hardly of me, and if he chooses to do so, I can't help it. He hasn't
+seen me for fourteen years, and of course he is entitled to think
+what he pleases. If he would have seen me the thing might have been
+easier."</p>
+
+<p>"Don't let us go back to that, Ralph," said the Squire's son.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want to go back to anything. When it comes to a fellow's
+parting with such prospects as mine, it does come very hard upon him.
+Of course it's my own fault. I might have got along well
+enough;&mdash;only I haven't. I am hard up for money,&mdash;very hard up. And
+yet,&mdash;if you were in my place, you wouldn't like to part with it."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps not," said the Squire's son, not knowing what to say.</p>
+
+<p>"As to bargaining, and asking so much more, and all the rest of it,
+that's out of the question. Somebody fixed a price, and I suppose he
+knew what he was at."</p>
+
+<p>"That was a minimum price."</p>
+
+<p>"I understand. It was all fair, I don't doubt. It didn't seem a great
+deal; but your father might live for thirty years."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope he will," said the Squire's son.</p>
+
+<p>"As for standing off for more money, I never dreamed of such a thing.
+If your father thinks that, he has wronged me. But I believe he
+always does wrong me. And about the building, and the trees, and the
+leases, and the house, he might do just as he pleased for me. I have
+never said a word, and never shall. I must say I sometimes think he
+has been hard upon me. In fourteen years he has never asked me to set
+my foot upon the estate, that I might see the place which must one
+day be mine."</p>
+
+<p>This was an accusation which the Squire's son found it very difficult
+to answer. It could not be answered without a reference to his own
+birth, and it was almost impossible that he should explain his
+father's feelings on the subject. "If this were settled, we should be
+glad that you would come," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Ralph the heir; "yes,&mdash;if I consented to give up
+everything that is mine by right. Do you think that a fellow can
+bring himself to abandon all that so easily? It's like tearing a
+fellow's heart out of him. If I'll do that, my uncle will let me come
+and see what it is that I have lost! That which would induce him to
+welcome me would make it impossible that I should go there. It may be
+that I shall sell it. I suppose I shall. But I will never look at it
+afterwards." As it came to this point, the tears were streaming down
+his cheeks, and the eyes of the other Ralph were not dry.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish it could be made pleasant for us all," said the Squire's son.
+The wish was well enough, but the expression of it was hardly needed,
+because it must be so general.</p>
+
+<p>"But all this is rot and nonsense," said Ralph the heir, brushing the
+tears away from his eyes, "and I am only making an ass of myself.
+Your father wants to know whether I will sell the reversion to Newton
+Priory. I will. I find I must. I don't know whether I wouldn't sooner
+cut my throat; but unless I cut my throat I must sell it. I had a
+means of escape, but that has gone by. When I wrote that letter there
+was a means of escape. Now there's none."</p>
+
+<p>"Ralph," said the other.</p>
+
+<p>"Well; speak on. I've about said all I've got to say. Only don't
+think I want to ballyrag about the money. That's right enough, no
+doubt. If there's more to come, the people that have to look to it
+will say so. I'm not going to be a Jew about it."</p>
+
+<p>"Ralph; I wouldn't do anything in a hurry. I won't take your answer
+in a hurry like this."</p>
+
+<p>"It's no good, my dear fellow, I must do it. I must have &pound;5,000 at
+once."</p>
+
+<p>"You can get that from an insurance office."</p>
+
+<p>"And then I should have nothing to live on. I must do it. I have no
+way out of it,&mdash;except cutting my throat."</p>
+
+<p>The Squire's son paused a moment, thinking. "I was told by my
+father," said he, "to offer you more money."</p>
+
+<p>"If it's worth more the people will say so," said Ralph the heir,
+impetuously; "I do not want to sell it for more than it's worth. Ask
+them to settle it immediately. There are people I must pay money to
+at once."</p>
+
+<p>And so the Squire's son had done the Squire's errand. When he
+reported his success to Mr. Carey, that gentleman asked him whether
+he had the heir's consent in writing. At this the successful buyer
+was almost disposed to be angry; but Mr. Carey softened him by an
+acknowledgment that he had done more than could have been expected.
+"I'll see his lawyer to-morrow," said Mr. Carey, "and then, unless he
+changes his mind again, we'll soon have it settled." After that the
+triumphant negotiator sent a telegram home to his father, "It is
+settled, and the purchase is made."</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c25" id="c25"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XXV.</h3>
+<h4>"MR. GRIFFENBOTTOM."<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>On Monday, the 16th of October, Sir Thomas Underwood went down to
+Percycross, and the first information given him was that Mr.
+Westmacott and Ontario Moggs had arrived on the Saturday, and were
+already at work. Mr. Griffenbottom was expected early on the Tuesday.
+"They've stolen a march on us, then," said Sir Thomas to Mr. Trigger.</p>
+
+<p>"Give 'em rope enough, and they'll hang themselves," replied the
+managing agent. "There was Moggs spouting to them on his own hook on
+Saturday night, and Westmacott's chaps are ready to eat him. And he
+wanted to be doing it yesterday, Sunday; only some of them got a hold
+of him and wouldn't let him loose. Moggs is a great card for us, Sir
+Thomas. There's nothing like one of them spouting fellows to overset
+the coach."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Westmacott is fond of that too," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"He understands. He's used to it. He does it in the proper place.
+Westmacott wasn't a bad member for the place;&mdash;wasn't perhaps quite
+free enough with his money, but Westmacott was very decent." Sir
+Thomas could not help feeling that Trigger spoke of it as though he
+wished that the two old members might be returned. Ah, well! had it
+been possible, Mr. Trigger would have wished it. Mr. Trigger
+understood the borough, knew well the rocks before them, and would
+have wished it,&mdash;although he had been so imperative with Mr.
+Griffenbottom as to the second conservative candidate. And now Mr.
+Griffenbottom had sent them a man who would throw all the fat in the
+fire by talking of purity of election! "And Moggs has been making a
+fool of himself in another direction," said Trigger, thinking that no
+opportunity for giving a valuable hint should be lost. "He's been
+telling the working men already that they'll be scoundrels and knaves
+if they take so much as a glass of beer without paying for it."</p>
+
+<p>"Scoundrel is a strong word," said Sir Thomas, "but I like him for
+that."</p>
+
+<p>"Percycross won't like him. Men would rather have all that left to
+their own feelings. They who want beer or money certainly won't thank
+him; and they who don't want it don't like to be suspected."</p>
+
+<p>"Every one will take it as addressed to his neighbour and not to
+himself."</p>
+
+<p>"We are very fond of our neighbours here, Sir Thomas, and that kind
+of thing won't go down." This was on the evening of the candidate's
+arrival, and the conversation was going on absolutely while Sir
+Thomas was eating his dinner. He had asked Mr. Trigger to join him,
+and Mr. Trigger had faintly alleged that he had dined at three; but
+he soon so far changed his mind as to be able to express an opinion
+that he could "pick a bit," and he did pick a bit. After which he
+drank the best part of a bottle of port,&mdash;having assured Sir Thomas
+that the port at the Percy Standard was a sort of wine that one
+didn't get every day. And as he drank his port, he continued to pour
+in lessons of wisdom. Sir Thomas employed his mind the while in
+wondering when Mr. Trigger would go away, and forecasting whether Mr.
+Trigger would desire to drink port wine at the Percy Standard every
+evening during the process of canvassing. About nine o'clock the
+waiter announced that a few gentlemen below desired to see Sir
+Thomas. "Our friends," said Mr. Trigger. "Just put chairs, and bring
+a couple of bottles of port, John. I'm glad they're come, Sir Thomas,
+because it shows that they mean to take to you." Up they were shown,
+Messrs. Spiveycomb, Spicer, Pile, Roodylands,&mdash;the bootmaker who has
+not yet been named,&mdash;Pabsby, and seven or eight others. Sir Thomas
+shook hands with them all. He observed that Mr. Trigger was
+especially cordial in his treatment of Spicer, the mustard-maker,&mdash;as
+to whose defection he had been so fearful in consequence of certain
+power which Mr. Westmacott might have in the wholesale disposal of
+mustard. "I hope you find yourself better," said Mr. Pile, opening
+the conversation. Sir Thomas assured his new friend that he was
+pretty well. "'Cause you seemed rayther down on your luck when you
+was here before," said Mr. Pile.</p>
+
+<p>"No need for that," said Spicer, the man of mustard. "Is there,
+Trigger?" Trigger sat a little apart, with one bottle of port wine at
+his elbow, and took no part in the conversation. He was aware that
+his opportunities were so great that the outside supporters ought to
+have their time. "Any objection to this, Sir Thomas?" he said, taking
+a cigar-case out of his pocket. Sir Thomas, who hated tobacco, of
+course gave permission. Trigger rang the bell, ordered cigars for the
+party, and then sat apart with his port wine. In ten minutes Sir
+Thomas hardly knew where he was, so dense was the cloud of smoke.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir Thomas," began Mr. Pabsby,&mdash;"if I could only clearly see my
+<span class="nowrap">way&mdash;"</span></p>
+
+<p>"You'll see it clear enough before nomination-day," said Mr. Pile.</p>
+
+<p>"Any ways, after election," said a conservative grocer. Both these
+gentlemen belonged to the Established Church and delighted in
+snubbing Mr. Pabsby. Indeed, Mr. Pabsby had no business at this
+meeting, and so he had been told very plainly by one or two as he had
+joined them in the street. He explained, however, that his friend Sir
+Thomas had come to him the very first person in Percycross, and he
+carried his point in joining the party. But he was a mild man, and
+when he was interrupted he merely bided another opportunity.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope, Sir Thomas, your mind is made up to do something for our
+trade," said Mr. Roodylands.</p>
+
+<p>"What's the matter with your trade?" said Spiveycomb, the
+paper-maker.</p>
+
+<p>"Well;&mdash;we ain't got no jobs in it;&mdash;that's the matter," said Mr.
+Pile.</p>
+
+<p>"As for jobs, what's the odds?" said a big and burly loud-mouthed
+tanner. "All on us likes a good thing when it comes in our way. Stow
+that, and don't let's be told about jobs. Sir Thomas, here's your
+health, and I wish you at the top of the poll,&mdash;that is, next to Mr.
+Griffenbottom." Then they all drank to Sir Thomas's health, Mr.
+Pabsby filling himself a bumper for the occasion.</p>
+
+<p>It was eleven before they went away, at which time Mr. Pabsby had
+three times got as far as a declaration of his wish to see things
+clearly. Further than this he could not get; but still he went away
+in perfect good humour. He would have another opportunity, as he took
+occasion to whisper when he shook hands with the candidate. Trigger
+stayed even yet for half-an-hour. "Don't waste your time on that
+fellow, Pabsby," he said. "No, I won't," said Sir Thomas. "And be
+very civil to old Pile." "He doesn't seem disposed to return the
+compliment," said Sir Thomas. "But he doesn't want your interest in
+the borough," said Trigger, with the air of a man who had great
+truths to teach. "In electioneering, Sir Thomas, it's mostly the same
+as in other matters. Nothing's to be had for nothing. If you were a
+retail seller of boots from Manchester old Pile would be civil enough
+to you. You may snub Spicer as much as you please, because he'll
+expect to get something out of you." "He'll be very much deceived,"
+said Sir Thomas. "I'm not so sure of that," said Trigger;&mdash;"Spicer
+knows what he's about pretty well." Then, at last, Mr. Trigger went,
+assuring Sir Thomas most enthusiastically that he would be with him
+before nine the next morning.</p>
+
+<p>Many distressing thoughts took possession of Sir Thomas as he lay in
+bed. He had made up his mind that he would in no way break the law,
+and he didn't know whether he had not broken it already by giving
+these people tobacco and wine. And yet it would have been impossible
+for him to have refused Mr. Trigger permission to order the supply.
+Even for the sake of the seat,&mdash;even for the sake of his reputation,
+which was so much dearer to him than the seat,&mdash;he could not have
+bidden guests, who had come to him in his own room, to go elsewhere
+if they required wine. It was a thing not to be done, and yet, for
+aught he knew, Mr. Trigger might continue to order food and wine, and
+beer and tobacco, to be supplied ad libitum, and whenever he chose.
+How was he to put an end to it, otherwise than by throwing up the
+game, and going back to London? That now would be gross ill-usage to
+the Conservatives of Percycross, who by such a step would be left in
+the lurch without a candidate. And then was it to be expected that he
+should live for a week with Mr. Trigger, with no other relief than
+that which would be afforded by Messrs. Pile, Spiveycomb, and Co.
+Everything about him was reeking of tobacco. And then, when he sat
+down to breakfast at nine o'clock there would be Mr. Trigger!</p>
+
+<p>The next morning he was out of bed at seven, and ordered his
+breakfast at eight sharp. He would steal a march on Trigger. He went
+out into the sitting-room, and there was Trigger already seated in
+the arm-chair, studying the list of the voters of Percycross!
+Heavens, what a man! "I thought I'd look in early, and they told me
+you were coming out or I'd have just stepped into your room." Into
+his very bed-room! Sir Thomas shuddered as he heard the proposition.
+"We've a telegram from Griffenbottom," continued Trigger, "and he
+won't be here till noon. We can't begin till he comes."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah;&mdash;then I can just write a few letters," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't mind letters now if I was you. If you don't mind, we'll
+go and look up the parsons. There are four or five of 'em, and they
+like to be seen;&mdash;not in the way of canvassing. They're all right, of
+course. And there's two of 'em won't leave a stone unturned in the
+outside hamlets. But they like to be seen, and their wives like it."
+Whereupon Mr. Trigger ordered breakfast,&mdash;and eat it. Sir Thomas
+reminded himself that a fortnight was after all but a short duration
+of time. He might live through a fortnight,&mdash;probably,&mdash;and then when
+Mr. Griffenbottom came it would be shared between two.</p>
+
+<p>At noon he returned to the Percy Standard, very tired, there to await
+the coming of Mr. Griffenbottom. Mr. Griffenbottom didn't come till
+three, and then bustled up into the sitting-room, which Sir Thomas
+had thought was his own, as though all Percycross belonged to him.
+During the last three hours supporters had been in and out
+continually, and Mr. Pabsby had made an ineffectual attempt or two to
+catch Sir Thomas alone. Trigger had been going up and down between
+the Standard and the station. Various men, friends and supporters of
+Griffenbottom and Underwood, had been brought to him. Who were paid
+agents, who were wealthy townsmen, who were canvassers and
+messengers, he did not know. There were bottles on the sideboard the
+whole time. Sir Thomas, in a speculative manner, endeavouring to
+realise to himself the individuality of this and that stranger, could
+only conceive that they who helped themselves were wealthy townsmen,
+and that they who waited till they were asked by others were paid
+canvassers and agents. But he knew nothing, and could only wish
+himself back in Southampton Buildings.</p>
+
+<p>At last Mr. Griffenbottom, followed by a cloud of supporters, bustled
+into the room. Trigger at once introduced the two candidates. "Very
+glad to meet you," said Griffenbottom. "So we're going to fight this
+little battle together. I remember you in the House, you know, and I
+dare say you remember me. I'm used to this kind of thing. I suppose
+you ain't. Well, Trigger, how are things looking? I suppose we'd
+better begin down Pump Lane. I know my way about the place,
+Honeywood, as well as if it was my bed-room. And so I ought,
+Trigger."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you've seen the inside of pretty nearly every house in
+Percycross," said Trigger.</p>
+
+<p>"There's some I don't want to see the inside of any more. I can tell
+you that. How are these new householders going to vote?"</p>
+
+<p>"Betwixt and between, Mr. Griffenbottom."</p>
+
+<p>"I never thought we should find much difference. It don't matter what
+rent a man pays, but what he does. I could tell you how nineteen out
+of twenty men here would vote, if you'd tell me what they did, and
+who they were. What's to be done about talking to 'em?"</p>
+
+<p>"To-morrow night we're to be in the Town Hall, Mr. Griffenbottom, and
+Thursday an open-air meeting, with a balcony in the market-place."</p>
+
+<p>"All right. Come along. Are you good at spinning yarns to them,
+Honeywood?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't like it, if you mean that," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"It's better than canvassing. By George, anything is better than
+that. Come along. We may get Pump Lane, and Petticoat Yard, and those
+back alleys done before dinner. You've got cards, of course,
+Trigger." And the old, accustomed electioneerer led the way out to
+his work.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Griffenbottom was a heavy hale man, over sixty, somewhat inclined
+to be corpulent, with a red face, and a look of assured impudence
+about him which nothing could quell or diminish. The kind of life
+which he had led was one to which impudence was essentially
+necessary. He had done nothing for the world to justify him in
+assuming the airs of a great man,&mdash;but still he could assume them,
+and many believed in him. He could boast neither birth, nor talent,
+nor wit,&mdash;nor, indeed, wealth in the ordinary sense of the word.
+Though he had worked hard all his life at the business to which he
+belonged, he was a poorer man now than he had been thirty years ago.
+It had all gone in procuring him a seat in Parliament. And he had so
+much sense that he never complained. He had known what it was that he
+wanted, and what it was that he must pay for it. He had paid for it,
+and had got it, and was, in his fashion, contented. If he could only
+have continued to have it without paying for it again, how great
+would have been the blessing! But he was a man who knew that such
+blessings were not to be expected. After the first feeling of disgust
+was over on the receipt of Trigger's letter, he put his collar to the
+work again, and was prepared to draw his purse,&mdash;intending, of
+course, that the new candidate should bear as much as possible of
+this drain. He knew well that there was a prospect before him of
+abject misery;&mdash;for life without Parliament would be such to him.
+There would be no salt left for him in the earth if he was ousted.
+And yet no man could say why he should have cared to sit in
+Parliament. He rarely spoke, and when he did no one listened to him.
+He was anxious for no political measures. He was a favourite with no
+section of a party. He spent all his evenings at the House, but it
+can hardly be imagined that those evenings were pleasantly spent. But
+he rubbed his shoulders against the shoulders of great men, and
+occasionally stood upon their staircases. At any rate, such as was
+the life, it was his life; and he had no time left to choose another.
+He considered himself on this occasion pretty nearly sure to be
+elected. He knew the borough and was sure. But then there was that
+accursed system of petitioning, which according to his idea was
+un-English, ungentlemanlike, and unpatriotic&mdash;"A stand-up fight, and
+if you're licked&mdash;take it." That was his idea of what an election
+should be.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas, who only just remembered the appearance of the man in the
+House, at once took an extravagant dislike to him. It was abominable
+to him to be called Underwood by a man who did not know him. It was
+nauseous to him to be forced into close relations with a man who
+seemed to him to be rough and ill-mannered. And, judging from what he
+saw, he gave his colleague credit for no good qualities. Now Mr.
+Griffenbottom had good qualities. He was possessed of pluck. He was
+in the main good-natured. And though he could resent an offence with
+ferocity, he could forgive an offence with ease. "Hit him hard, and
+then have an end of it!" That was Mr. Griffenbottom's mode of dealing
+with the offenders and the offences with which he came in contact.</p>
+
+<p>In every house they entered Griffenbottom was at home, and Sir Thomas
+was a stranger of whom the inmates had barely heard the name.
+Griffenbottom was very good at canvassing the poorer classes. He said
+not a word to them about politics, but asked them all whether they
+didn't dislike that fellow Gladstone, who was one thing one day and
+another thing another day. "By
+<span class="nowrap">G&mdash;&mdash;,</span>
+nobody knows what he is," swore
+Mr. Griffenbottom over and over again. The women mostly said that
+they didn't know, but they liked the blue. "Blues allays was
+gallanter nor the yellow," said one of 'em. They who expressed an
+opinion at all hoped that their husbands would vote for him, "as 'd
+do most for 'em." "The big loaf;&mdash;that's what we want," said one
+mother of many children, taking Sir Thomas by the hand. There were
+some who took advantage of the occasion to pour out their tales of
+daily griefs into the ears of their visitors. To these Griffenbottom
+was rather short and hard. "What we want, my dear, is your husband's
+vote and interest. We'll hear all the rest another time." Sir Thomas
+would have lingered and listened; but Griffenbottom knew that 1,400
+voters had to be visited in ten days, and work as they would they
+could not see 140 a day. Trigger explained it all to Sir Thomas. "You
+can't work above seven hours, and you can't do twenty an hour. And
+much of the ground you must do twice over. If you stay to talk to
+them you might as well be in London. Mr. Griffenbottom understands it
+so well, you'd better keep your eye on him." There could be no object
+in the world on which Sir Thomas was less desirous of keeping his
+eye.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table style="margin: 0 auto" cellpadding="4px">
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">
+      <a href="images/190-l.jpg">
+      <img src="images/190-t.jpg" width="324"
+      alt="'The big loaf;--that's what we want,' said one mother
+      of many children, taking Sir Thomas by the hand." /></a>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">
+      <span class="caption">"The big loaf;--that's what we want,"
+      said one mother<br />
+      of many children, taking Sir Thomas by the hand.<br />
+      Click to <a href="images/190-l.jpg">ENLARGE</a></span>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>The men, who were much more difficult to find than the women, had
+generally less to say for themselves. Most of them understood at once
+what was wanted, and promised. For it must be understood that on this
+their first day the conservative brigade was moving among its firm
+friends. In Petticoat Yard lived paper-makers in the employment of
+Mr. Spiveycomb, and in Pump Lane the majority of the inhabitants were
+employed by Mr. Spicer, of the mustard works. The manufactories of
+both these men were visited, and there the voters were booked much
+quicker than at the rate of twenty an hour. Here and there a man
+would hold some peculiar opinion of his own. The Permissive Bill was
+asked for by an energetic teetotaller; and others, even in these Tory
+quarters, suggested the ballot. But they all,&mdash;or nearly all of
+them,&mdash;promised their votes. Now and again some sturdy fellow,
+seeming to be half ashamed of himself in opposing all those around
+him, would say shortly that he meant to vote for Moggs, and pass on.
+"You do,&mdash;do you?" Sir Thomas heard Mr. Spicer say to one such man.
+"Yes, I does," said the man. Sir Thomas heard no more, but he felt
+how perilous was the position on which a candidate stood under the
+present law.</p>
+
+<p>As regarded Sir Thomas himself, he felt, as the evening was coming
+on, that he had hardly done his share of the work. Mr. Griffenbottom
+had canvassed, and he had walked behind. Every now and then he had
+attempted a little conversation, but in that he had been immediately
+pulled up by the conscientious and energetic Mr. Trigger. As for
+asking for votes, he hardly knew, when he had been carried back into
+the main street through a labyrinth of alleys at the back of
+Petticoat Yard, whether he had asked any man for his vote or not.
+With the booking of the votes he had, of course, nothing to do. There
+were three men with books;&mdash;and three other men to open the doors,
+show the way, and make suggestions on the expediency of going hither
+or thither. Sir Thomas would always have been last in the procession,
+had there not been one silent, civil person, whose duty it seemed to
+be to bring up the rear. If ever Sir Thomas lingered behind to speak
+to a poor woman, there was this silent, civil person lingering too.
+The influence of the silent, civil person was so strong that Sir
+Thomas could not linger much.</p>
+
+<p>As they came into the main street they encountered the opposition
+party, Mr. Westmacott, Ontario Moggs, and their supporters. "I'll
+introduce you," said Mr. Griffenbottom to his colleague. "Come along.
+It's the thing to do." Then they met in the middle of the way. Poor
+Ontario was hanging behind, but holding up his head gallantly, and
+endeavouring to look as though he were equal to the occasion.
+Griffenbottom and Westmacott shook hands cordially, and complained
+with mutual sighs that household suffrage had made the work a deal
+harder than ever. "And I'm only a week up from the gout," said
+Griffenbottom. Then Sir Thomas and Westmacott were introduced, and at
+last Ontario was brought forward. He bowed and attempted to make a
+little speech; but nobody in one army or in the other seemed to care
+much for poor Ontario. He knew that it was so, but that mattered
+little to him. If he were destined to represent Percycross in
+Parliament, it must be by the free votes and unbiassed political
+aspirations of the honest working men of the borough. So remembering
+he stood aloof, stuck his hand into his breast, and held up his head
+something higher than before. Though the candidates had thus greeted
+each other at this chance meeting, the other parties in the
+contending armies had exhibited no courtesies.</p>
+
+<p>The weariness of Sir Thomas when this first day's canvass was over
+was so great that he was tempted to go to bed and ask for a bowl of
+gruel. Nothing kept him from doing so but amazement at the courage
+and endurance of Mr. Griffenbottom. "We could get at a few of those
+chaps who were at the works, if we went out at eight," said
+Griffenbottom. Trigger suggested that Mr. Griffenbottom would be very
+tired. Trigger himself was perhaps tired. "Oh, tired," said
+Griffenbottom; "a man has to be tired at this work." Sir Thomas
+perceived that Griffenbottom was at least ten years his senior, and
+that he was still almost lame from the gout. "You'll be ready,
+Underwood?" said Griffenbottom. Sir Thomas felt himself bound to
+undertake whatever might be thought necessary. "If we were at it day
+and night, it wouldn't be too much," said Griffenbottom, as he
+prepared to amuse himself with one of the poll-books till dinner
+should be on the table. "Didn't we see Jacob Pucky?" asked the
+energetic candidate, observing that the man's name wasn't marked. "To
+be sure we did. I was speaking to him myself. He was one of those who
+didn't know till the day came. We know what that means; eh,
+Honeywood?" Sir Thomas wasn't quite sure that he did know; but he
+presumed that it meant something dishonest. Again Mr. Trigger dined
+with them, and as soon as ever their dinner was swallowed they were
+out again at their work, Sir Thomas being dragged from door to door,
+while Griffenbottom asked for the votes.</p>
+
+<p>And this was to last yet for ten days more!</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c26" id="c26"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XXVI.</h3>
+<h4>MOGGS, PURITY, AND THE RIGHTS OF LABOUR.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>Mr. Trigger had hinted that Ontario Moggs would be a thorn in the
+flesh of Mr. Westmacott's supporters at Percycross, and he had been
+right. Ontario was timid, hesitating, and not unfrequently
+brow-beaten in the social part of his work at the election. Though he
+made great struggles he could neither talk, nor walk, nor eat, nor
+sit, as though he were the equal of his colleague. But when they came
+to politics and political management, there was no holding him. He
+would make speeches when speeches were not held to be desirable by
+his committee, and he was loud upon topics as to which it was thought
+that no allusion whatever should have been made. To talk about the
+ballot had from the first been conceded to Moggs. Mr. Westmacott was,
+indeed, opposed to the ballot; but it had been a matter of course
+that the candidate of the people should support that measure. The
+ballot would have been a safety-valve. But Moggs was so
+cross-grained, ill-conditioned, and uncontrollable that he would not
+let the ballot suffice him. The ballot was almost nothing to him.
+Strikes and bribery were his great subjects; the beauty of the one
+and the ugliness of the other. The right of the labourer to combine
+with his brother labourers to make his own terms for his labour, was
+the great lesson he taught. The suicidal iniquity of the labourer in
+selling that political power which he should use to protect his
+labour was the source of his burning indignation. That labour was the
+salt of the earth he told the men of Percycross very often;&mdash;and he
+told them as often that manliness and courage were necessary to make
+that salt productive. Gradually the men of Percycross,&mdash;some said
+that they were only the boys of Percycross,&mdash;clustered round him, and
+learned to like to listen to him. They came to understand something
+of the character of the man who was almost too shame-faced to speak
+to them while he was being dragged round to their homes on his
+canvas, but whom nothing could repress when he was on his legs with a
+crowd before him. It was in vain that the managing agent told him
+that he would not get a vote by his spouting and shouting. On such
+occasions he hardly answered a word to the managing agent. But the
+spouting and shouting went on just the same, and was certainly
+popular among the bootmakers and tanners. Mr. Westmacott was asked to
+interfere, and did do so once in some mild fashion; but Ontario
+replied that having been called to this sphere of action he could
+only do his duty according to his own lights. The young men's
+presidents, and secretaries, and chairmen were for awhile somewhat
+frightened, having been assured by the managing men of the liberal
+committee that the election would be lost by the furious insanity of
+their candidate. But they decided upon supporting Moggs, having found
+that they would be deposed from their seats if they discarded him. At
+last, when the futile efforts to control Moggs had been maintained
+with patience for something over a week, when it still wanted four or
+five days to the election, an actual split was made in the liberal
+camp. Moggs was turned adrift by the Westmacottian faction. Bills
+were placarded about the town explaining the cruel necessity for such
+action, and describing Moggs as a revolutionary firebrand. And now
+there were three parties in the town. Mr. Trigger rejoiced over this
+greatly with Mr. Griffenbottom. "If they haven't been and cut their
+throats now it is a wonder," he said over and over again. Even Sir
+Thomas caught something of the feeling of triumph, and began almost
+to hope that he might be successful. Nevertheless the number of men
+who could not quite make up their minds as to what duty required of
+them till the day of the election was considerable, and Mr. Pile
+triumphantly whispered into Mr. Trigger's ear his conviction that
+"after all, things weren't going to be changed at Percycross quite so
+easily as some people supposed."</p>
+
+<p>When Moggs was utterly discarded by the respectable leaders of the
+liberal party in the borough,&mdash;turned out of the liberal inn at which
+were the head-quarters of the party, and refused the right of
+participating in the liberal breakfasts and dinners which were there
+provided, Moggs felt himself to be a triumphant martyr. His
+portmanteau and hat-box were carried by an admiring throng down to
+the Cordwainers' Arms,&mdash;a house not, indeed, of the highest repute in
+the town,&mdash;and here a separate committee was formed. Mr. Westmacott
+did his best to avert the secession; but his supporters were
+inexorable. The liberal tradesmen of Percycross would have nothing to
+do with a candidate who declared that inasmuch as a man's mind was
+more worthy than a man's money, labour was more worthy than capital,
+and that therefore the men should dominate and rule their masters.
+That was a doctrine necessarily abominable to every master tradesman.
+The men were to decide how many hours they would work, what
+recreation they would have, in what fashion and at what rate they
+would be paid, and what proportion of profit should be allowed to the
+members, and masters, and creators of the firm! That was the doctrine
+that Moggs was preaching. The tradesmen of Percycross, whether
+liberal or conservative, did not understand much in the world of
+politics, but they did understand that such a doctrine as that, if
+carried out, would take them to a very Gehenna of revolutionary
+desolation. And so Moggs was banished from the Northern Star, the inn
+at which Mr. Westmacott was living, and was forced to set up his
+radical staff at the Cordwainers' Arms.</p>
+
+<p>In one respect he certainly gained much by this persecution. The
+record of his election doings would have been confined to the columns
+of the "Percycross Herald" had he carried on his candidature after
+the usual fashion; but, as it was now, his doings were blazoned in
+the London newspapers. The "Daily News" reported him, and gave him an
+article all to himself; and even the "Times" condescended to make an
+example of him, and to bring him up as evidence that revolutionary
+doctrines were distasteful to the electors of the country generally.
+The fame of Ontario Moggs certainly became more familiar to the ears
+of the world at large than it would have done had he continued to run
+in a pair with Mr. Westmacott. And that was everything to him. Polly
+Neefit must hear of him now that his name had become a household word
+in the London newspapers.</p>
+
+<p>And in another respect he gained much. All personal canvassing was
+now at an end for him. There could be no use in his going about from
+house to house asking for votes. Indeed, he had discovered that to do
+so was a thing iniquitous in itself, a demoralising practice tending
+to falsehood, intimidation, and corruption,&mdash;a thing to be denounced.
+And he denounced it. Let the men of Percycross hear him, question him
+in public, learn from his spoken words what were his political
+principles,&mdash;and then vote for him if they pleased. He would
+condescend to ask a vote as a favour from no man. It was for them
+rather to ask him to bestow upon them the gift of his time and such
+ability as he possessed. He took a very high tone indeed in his
+speeches, and was saved the labour of parading the streets. During
+these days he looked down from an immeasurable height on the
+truckling, mean, sordid doings of Griffenbottom, Underwood, and
+Westmacott. A huge board had been hoisted up over the somewhat low
+frontage of the Cordwainers' Arms, and on this was painted in letters
+two feet high a legend which it delighted him to read,
+<span class="smallcaps">Moggs, Purity, and the Rights of
+Labour</span>. Ah, if that could only be understood, there
+was enough in it to bring back an age of gold to suffering humanity!
+No other Reform would be needed. In that short legend everything
+necessary for man was contained.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Pile and Mr. Trigger stood together one evening looking at the
+legend from a distance. "Moggs and purity!" said Mr. Pile, in that
+tone of disgust, and with that peculiar action which had become
+common to him in speaking of this election.</p>
+
+<p>"He hasn't a ghost of a chance," said Mr. Trigger, who was always
+looking straight at the main point;&mdash;"nor yet hasn't Westmacott."</p>
+
+<p>"There's worse than Westmacott," said Mr. Pile.</p>
+
+<p>"But what can we do?" said Trigger.</p>
+
+<p>"Purity! Purity!" said the old man. "It makes me that sick that I
+wish there weren't such a thing as a member of Parliament. Purity and
+pickpockets is about the same. When I'm among 'em I buttons up my
+breeches-pockets."</p>
+
+<p>"But what can we do?" asked Mr. Trigger again, in a voice of woe. Mr.
+Trigger quite sympathised with his elder friend; but, being a younger
+man, he knew that these innovations must be endured.</p>
+
+<p>Then Mr. Pile made a speech, of such length that he had never been
+known to make the like before;&mdash;so that Mr. Trigger felt that things
+had become very serious, and that, not impossibly, Mr. Pile might be
+so affected by this election as never again to hold up his head in
+Percycross. "Purity! Purity!" he repeated. "They're a going on that
+way, Trigger, that the country soon won't be fit for a man to live
+in. And what's the meaning of it all? It's just this,&mdash;that folks
+wants what they wants without paying for it. I hate Purity, I do. I
+hate the very smell of it. It stinks. When I see the chaps as come
+here and talk of Purity, I know they mean that nothing ain't to be as
+it used to be. Nobody is to trust no one. There ain't to be nothing
+warm, nor friendly, nor comfortable any more. This Sir Thomas you've
+brought down is just as bad as that shoemaking chap;&mdash;worse if
+anything. I know what's a going on inside him. I can see it. If a man
+takes a glass of wine out of his bottle, he's a asking hisself if
+that ain't bribery and corruption! He's got a handle to his name, and
+money, I suppose, and comes down here without knowing a chick or a
+child. Why isn't a poor man, as can't hardly live, to have his three
+half-crowns or fifteen shillings, as things may go, for voting for a
+stranger such as him? I'll tell you what it is, Trigger, I've done
+with it. Things have come to that in the borough, that I'll meddle
+and make no more." Mr. Trigger, as he listened to this eloquence,
+could only sigh and shake his head. "I did think it would last my
+time," added Mr. Pile, almost weeping.</p>
+
+<p>Moggs would steal out of the house in the early morning, look up at
+the big bright red letters, and rejoice in his very heart of hearts.
+He had not lived in vain, when his name had been joined, in the
+public view of men, with words so glorious. Purity and the Rights of
+Labour! "It contains just everything," said Moggs to himself as he
+sat down to his modest, lonely breakfast. After that, sitting with
+his hands clasped upon his brow, disdaining the use of pen and paper
+for such work, he composed his speech for the evening,&mdash;a speech
+framed with the purpose of proving to his hearers that Purity and the
+Rights of Labour combined would make them as angels upon the earth.
+As for himself, Moggs, he explained in his speech,&mdash;analysing the big
+board which adorned the house,&mdash;it mattered little whether they did
+or did not return him. But let them be always persistent in returning
+on every possible occasion Purity and the Rights of Labour, and then
+all other good things would follow to them. He enjoyed at any rate
+that supreme delight which a man feels when he thoroughly believes
+his own doctrine.</p>
+
+<p>But the days were very long with him. When the evening came, when his
+friends were relieved from their toil, and could assemble here and
+there through the borough to hear him preach to them, he was happy
+enough. He had certainly achieved so much that they preferred him now
+to their own presidents and chairmen. There was an enthusiasm for
+Moggs among the labouring men of Percycross, and he was always happy
+while he was addressing them. But the hours in the morning were long,
+and sometimes melancholy. Though all the town was busy with these
+electioneering doings, there was nothing for him to do. His rivals
+canvassed, consulted, roamed through the town,&mdash;as he could
+see,&mdash;filching votes from him. But he, too noble for such work as
+that, sat there alone in the little upstairs parlour of the
+Cordwainers' Arms, thinking of his speech for the evening,&mdash;thinking,
+too, of Polly Neefit. And then, of a sudden, it occurred to him that
+it would be good to write a letter to Polly from Percycross. Surely
+the fact that he was waging this grand battle would have some effect
+upon her heart. So he wrote the following letter, which reached Polly
+about a week after her return home from Margate.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="jright">Cordwainers' Arms Inn, Percycross,<br />
+14 October, 186&mdash;.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">My dear Polly</span>,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>I hope you won't be angry with me for writing to you. I am
+here in the midst of the turmoil of a contested election,
+and I cannot refrain from writing to tell you about it.
+Out of a full heart they say the mouth speaks, and out of
+a very full heart I am speaking to you with my pen. The
+honourable prospect of having a seat in the British House
+of Parliament, which I regard as the highest dignity that
+a Briton can enjoy, is very much to me, and fills my mind,
+and my heart, and my soul; but it all is not so much to me
+as your love, if only I could win that seat. If I could
+sit there, in your heart, and be chosen by you, not for a
+short seven years, but for life, I should be prouder and
+happier of that honour than of any other. It ought not,
+perhaps, to be so, but it is. I have to speak here to the
+people very often; but I never open my mouth without
+thinking that if I had you to hear me I could speak with
+more energy and spirit. If I could gain your love and the
+seat for this borough together, I should have done more
+then than emperor, or conqueror, or high priest ever
+accomplished.</p>
+
+<p>I don't know whether you understand much about elections.
+When I first came here I was joined with a gentleman who
+was one of the old members;&mdash;but now I stand alone,
+because he does not comprehend or sympathise with the
+advanced doctrines which it is my mission to preach to the
+people. Purity and the Rights of Labour;&mdash;those are my
+watchwords. But there are many here who hate the very name
+of Purity, and who know nothing of the Rights of Labour.
+Labour, dear Polly, is the salt of the earth; and I hope
+that some day I may have the privilege of teaching you
+that it is so. For myself I do not see why ladies should
+not understand politics as well as men; and I think that
+they ought to vote. I hope you think that women ought to
+have the franchise.</p>
+
+<p>We are to be nominated on Monday, and the election will
+take place on Tuesday. I shall be nominated and seconded
+by two electors who are working men. I would sooner have
+their support than that of the greatest magnate in the
+land. But your support would be better for me than
+anything else in the world. People here, as a rule, are
+very lukewarm about the ballot, and they seemed to know
+very little about strikes till I came among them. Without
+combination and mutual support the working people must be
+ground to powder. If I am sent to Parliament I shall feel
+it to be my duty to insist upon this doctrine in season
+and out of season,&mdash;whenever I can make my voice heard.
+But, oh Polly, if I could do it with you for my wife, my
+voice would be so much louder.</p>
+
+<p>Pray give my best respects to your father and mother. I am
+afraid I have not your father's good wishes, but perhaps
+if he saw me filling the honourable position of member of
+Parliament for Percycross he might relent. If you would
+condescend to write me one word in reply I should be
+prouder of that than of anything. I suppose I shall be
+here till Wednesday morning. If you would say but one kind
+word to me, I think that it would help me on the great
+day.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="ind6">I am, and ever shall be,</span><br />
+<span class="ind8">Your most affectionate admirer,</span></p>
+
+<p class="ind15"><span class="smallcaps">Ontario
+Moggs</span>.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table style="margin: 0 auto" cellpadding="4px">
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">
+      <a href="images/197-l.jpg">
+      <img src="images/197-t.jpg" width="322"
+      alt='"Out of a full heart they say the mouth
+      speaks, and out of a very full heart
+      I am speaking to you with my pen."' /></a>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">
+      <span class="caption">Out of a full heart they say the mouth<br />
+      speaks,and out of a very full heart I<br />
+      am speaking to you with my pen.<br />
+      Click to <a href="images/197-l.jpg">ENLARGE</a></span>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>Polly received this on the Monday, the day of the nomination, and
+though she did answer it at once, Ontario did not get her reply till
+the contest was over, and that great day had done its best and its
+worst for him. But Polly's letter shall be given here. To a well-bred
+young lady, living in good society, the mixture of politics and love
+which had filled Ontario's epistle might perhaps have been
+unacceptable. But Polly thought that the letter was a good letter;
+and was proud of being so noticed by a young man who was standing for
+Parliament. She sympathised with his enthusiasm; and thought that she
+should like to be taught by him that Labour was the Salt of the
+Earth,&mdash;if only he were not so awkward and long, and if his hands
+were habitually a little cleaner. She could not, however, take upon
+herself to give him any hope in that direction, and therefore
+confined her answer to the Parliamentary prospects of the
+hour.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">Dear Mr.
+Moggs</span>,&mdash;[she wrote]&mdash;I was very much pleased when
+I heard that you were going to stand for a member of
+Parliament, and I wish with all my heart that you may be
+successful. I shall think it a very great honour indeed to
+know a member of Parliament, as I have known you for
+nearly all my life. I am sure you will do a great deal of
+good, and prevent the people from being wicked. As for
+ladies voting, I don't think I should like that myself,
+though if I had twenty votes I would give them to
+you,&mdash;because I have known you so long.</p>
+
+<p>Father and mother send their respects, and hope you will
+be successful.</p>
+
+<p class="ind10">Yours truly,</p>
+
+<p class="ind15"><span class="smallcaps">Maryanne Neefit</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">Alexandra Cottage, Monday.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>When Moggs received this letter he was, not unnaturally, in a state
+of great agitation in reference to the contest through which he had
+just passed; but still he thought very much of it, and put it in his
+breast, where it would lie near his heart. Ah, if only one word of
+warmth had been allowed to escape from the writer, how happy could he
+have been. "Yes," he said scornfully,&mdash;"because she has known me all
+her life!" Nevertheless, the paper which her hand had pressed, and
+the letters which her fingers had formed, were placed close to his
+heart.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c27" id="c27"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XXVII.</h3>
+<h4>THE MOONBEAM.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>Ralph the heir had given his answer, and the thing was settled. He
+had abandoned his property for ever, and was to be put into immediate
+possession of a large sum of money,&mdash;of a sum so large that it would
+seem at once to make him a rich man. He knew, however, that if he
+should spend this money he would be a pauper for life; and he knew
+also how great was his facility for spending. There might, however,
+be at least a thousand a year for him and for his heirs after him,
+and surely it ought to be easy for him to live upon a thousand a
+year.</p>
+
+<p>As he thought of this he tried to make the best of it. He had at any
+rate rescued himself out of the hands of Neefit, who had become
+intolerable to him. As for Polly, she had refused him twice. Polly
+was a very sweet girl, but he could not make it matter of regret to
+himself that he should have lost Polly. Had Polly been all alone in
+the world she would have been well enough,&mdash;but Polly with papa and
+mamma Neefit must have been a mistake. It was well for him, at any
+rate, that he was out of that trouble. As regarded the Neefits, it
+would be simply necessary that he should pay the breeches-maker the
+money that he owed them, and go no more either to Conduit Street or
+to Hendon.</p>
+
+<p>And then what else should he do,&mdash;or leave undone? In what other
+direction should he be active or inactive? He was well aware that
+hitherto he had utterly wasted his life. Born with glorious
+prospects, he had now so dissipated them that there was nothing left
+for him but a quiet and very unambitious mode of life. Of means he
+had sufficient, if only he could keep that sufficiency. But he knew
+himself,&mdash;he feared that he knew himself too well to trust himself to
+keep that which he had unless he altogether changed his manner of
+living. To be a hybrid at the Moonbeam for life,&mdash;half hero and half
+dupe, among grooms and stable-keepers, was not satisfactory to him.
+He could see and could appreciate better things, and could long for
+them; but he could not attain to anything better unless he were to
+alter altogether his mode of life. Would it not be well for him to
+get a wife? He was rid of Polly, who had been an incubus to him, and
+now he could choose for himself.</p>
+
+<p>He wrote to his brother Gregory, telling his brother what he had
+done. The writing of letters was ever a trouble to him, and on this
+occasion he told his tidings in a line or two. "Dear Greg., I have
+accepted my uncle's offer. It was better so. When I wrote to you
+before things were different. I need not tell you that my heart is
+sore for the old place. Had I stuck to it, however, I should have
+beggared you and disgraced myself. Yours affectionately, R. N." That
+was all. What more was to be said which, in the saying, could be
+serviceable to any one? The dear old place! He would never see it
+again. Nothing on earth should induce him to go there, now that it
+could under no circumstances be his own. It would still belong to a
+Newton, and he would try and take comfort in that. He might at any
+rate have done worse with it. He might have squandered his interest
+among the Jews, and so have treated his inheritance that it must have
+been sold among strangers.</p>
+
+<p>He was very low in spirits for two or three days, thinking of all
+this. He had been with his lawyer, and his lawyer had told him that
+it must yet be some weeks before the sale would be perfected. "Now
+that it is done, the sooner the better," said Ralph. The lawyer told
+him that if he absolutely wanted ready money for his present needs he
+could have it; but that otherwise it would be better for him to wait
+patiently,&mdash;say for a month. He was not absolutely in want of money,
+having still funds which had been supplied to him by the
+breeches-maker. But he could not remain in town. Were he to remain in
+town, Neefit would be upon him; and, in truth, though he was quite
+clear in his conscience in regard to Polly, he did not wish to have
+to explain personally to Mr. Neefit that he had sold his interest in
+Newton Priory. The moment the money was in his hands he would pay Mr.
+Neefit; and then&mdash;; why then he thought that he would be entitled to
+have Mr. Neefit told that he was not at home should Mr. Neefit
+trouble him again.</p>
+
+<p>He would marry and live somewhere very quietly;&mdash;perhaps take a small
+farm and keep one hunter. His means would be sufficient for that,
+even with a wife and family. Yes;&mdash;that would be the kind of life
+most suited for him. He would make a great change. He would be simple
+in his habits, domestic, and extravagant in nothing. To hunt once a
+week from his own little country house would be delightful. Who
+should be the mistress of that home? That of all questions was now
+the most important.</p>
+
+<p>The reader may remember a certain trifling incident which took place
+some three or four months since on the lawn at Popham Villa. It was
+an incident which Clary Underwood had certainly never forgotten. It
+is hardly too much to say that she thought of it every hour. She
+thought of it as a great sin;&mdash;but as a sin which had been forgiven,
+and, though a grievous sin, as strong evidence of that which was not
+sinful, and which if true would be so full of joy. Clary had never
+forgotten this incident;&mdash;but Ralph had forgotten it nearly
+altogether. That he had accompanied the incident by any assurance of
+his love, by any mention of love intended to mean anything, he was
+altogether unaware. He would have been ready to swear that he had
+never so committed himself. Little tender passages of course there
+had been. Such are common,&mdash;so he thought,&mdash;when young ladies and
+young gentlemen know each other well and are fond of each other's
+company. But that he owed himself to Clarissa Underwood, and that he
+would sin grievously against her should he give himself to another,
+he had no idea. It merely occurred to him that there might be some
+slight preparatory embarrassment were he to offer his hand to Mary
+Bonner. Yet he thought that of all the girls in the world Mary Bonner
+was the one to whom he would best like to offer it. It might indeed
+be possible for him to marry some young woman with money; but in his
+present frame of mind he was opposed to any such effort. Hitherto
+things with him had been all worldly, empty, useless, and at the same
+time distasteful. He was to have married Polly Neefit for her money,
+and he had been wretched ever since he had entertained the idea. Love
+and a cottage were, he knew, things incompatible; but the love and
+the cottage implied in those words were synonymous with absolute
+poverty. Love with thirty thousand pounds, even though it should have
+a cottage joined with it, need not be a poverty-stricken love. He was
+sick of the world,&mdash;of the world such as he had made it for himself,
+and he would see if he could not do something better. He would first
+get Mary Bonner, and then he would get the farm. He was so much
+delighted with the scheme which he thus made for himself, that he
+went to his club and dined there pleasantly, allowing himself a
+bottle of champagne as a sort of reward for having made up his mind
+to so much virtue. He met a friend or two, and spent a pleasant
+evening, and as he walked home to his lodgings in the evening was
+quite in love with his prospects. It was well for him to have rid
+himself of the burden of an inheritance which might perhaps not have
+been his for the next five-and-twenty years. As he undressed himself
+he considered whether it would be well for him at once to throw
+himself at Mary Bonner's feet. There were two reasons for not doing
+this quite immediately. He had been told by his lawyer that he ought
+to wait for some form of assent or agreement from the Squire before
+he took any important step as consequent upon the new arrangement in
+regard to the property, and then Sir Thomas was still among the
+electors at Percycross. He wished to do everything that was proper,
+and would wait for the return of Sir Thomas. But he must do something
+at once. To remain in his lodgings and at his club was not in accord
+with that better path in life which he had chalked out for himself.</p>
+
+<p>Of course he must go down to the Moonbeam. He had four horses there,
+and must sell at least three of them. One hunter he intended to allow
+himself. There were Brag, Banker, Buff, and Brewer; and he thought
+that he would keep Brag. Brag was only six years old, and might last
+him for the next seven years. In the meantime he could see a little
+cub-hunting, and live at the Moonbeam for a week at any rate as
+cheaply as he could in London. So he went down to the Moonbeam, and
+put himself under the charge of Mr. Horsball.</p>
+
+<p>And here he found himself in luck. Lieutenant Cox was there, and with
+the lieutenant a certain Fred Pepper, who hunted habitually with the
+B. and B. Lieutenant Cox had soon told his little tale. He had sold
+out, and had promised his family that he would go to Australia. But
+he intended to "take one more winter out of himself," as he phrased
+it. He had made a bargain to that effect with his governor. His debts
+had been paid, his commission had been sold, and he was to be shipped
+for Queensland. But he was to have one more winter with the B. and B.
+An open, good-humoured, shrewd youth was Lieutenant Cox, who suffered
+nothing from false shame, and was intelligent enough to know that
+life at the rate of &pound;1,200 a year, with &pound;400 to spend, must come to
+an end. Fred Pepper was a young man of about forty-five, who had
+hunted with the B. and B., and lived at the Moonbeam from a time
+beyond which the memory of Mr. Horsball's present customers went not.
+He was the father of the Moonbeam, Mr. Horsball himself having come
+there since the days in which Fred Pepper first became familiar with
+its loose boxes. No one knew how he lived or how he got his horses.
+He had, however, a very pretty knack of selling them, and certainly
+paid Mr. Horsball regularly. He was wont to vanish in April, and
+would always turn up again in October. Some people called him the
+dormouse. He was good-humoured, good-looking after a horsey fashion,
+clever, agreeable, and quite willing to submit himself to any
+nickname that could be found for him. He liked a rubber of whist, and
+was supposed to make something out of bets with bad players. He rode
+very carefully, and was altogether averse to ostentation and bluster
+in the field. But he could make a horse do anything when he wanted to
+sell him, and could on an occasion give a lead as well as any man.
+Everybody liked him, and various things were constantly said in his
+praise. He was never known to borrow a sovereign. He had been known
+to lend a horse. He did not drink. He was a very safe man in the
+field. He did not lie outrageously in selling his horses. He did not
+cheat at cards. As long as he had a drop of drink left in his flask,
+he would share it with any friend. He never boasted. He was much
+given to chaff, but his chaff was good-humoured. He was generous with
+his cigars. Such were his virtues. That he had no adequate means of
+his own and that he never earned a penny, that he lived chiefly by
+gambling, that he had no pursuit in life but pleasure, that he never
+went inside a church, that he never gave away a shilling, that he was
+of no use to any human being, and that no one could believe a word he
+said of himself,&mdash;these were specks upon his character. Taken as a
+whole Fred Pepper was certainly very popular with the gentlemen and
+ladies of the B. and B.</p>
+
+<p>Ralph Newton when he dropped down upon the Moonbeam was made loudly
+welcome. Mr. Horsball, whose bill for &pound;500 had been honoured at its
+first day of maturity, not a little, perhaps, to his own surprise,
+treated Ralph almost as a hero. When Ralph made some reference to the
+remainder of the money due, Mr. Horsball expressed himself as quite
+shocked at the allusion. He had really had the greatest regret in
+asking Mr. Newton for his note of hand, and would not have done it,
+had not an unforeseen circumstance called upon him suddenly to make
+up a few thousands. He had felt very much obliged to Mr. Newton for
+his prompt kindness. There needn't be a word about the remainder, and
+if Mr. Newton wanted something specially good for the next
+season,&mdash;as of course he would,&mdash;Mr. Horsball had just the horse that
+would suit him. "You'll about want a couple more, Mr. Newton," said
+Mr. Horsball.</p>
+
+<p>Then Ralph told something of his plans to this Master of the
+Studs,&mdash;something, but not much. He said nothing of the sale of his
+property, and nothing quite definite as to that one horse with which
+his hunting was to be done for the future. "I'm going to turn over a
+new leaf, Horsball," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Not going to be spliced, squire?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well;&mdash;I can't say that I am, but I won't say that I ain't. But I'm
+certainly going to make a change which will take me away from your
+fatherly care."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sorry for that, squire. We think we've always taken great care
+of you here."</p>
+
+<p>"The very best in the world;&mdash;but a man must settle down in the world
+some day, you know. I want a nice bit of land, a hundred and fifty
+acres, or something of that sort."</p>
+
+<p>"To purchase, squire?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't care whether I buy it or take it on lease. But it mustn't be
+in this county. I am too well known here, and should always want to
+be out when I ought to be looking after the stock."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll take the season out of yourself first, at any rate," said Mr.
+Horsball. Ralph shook his head, but Mr. Horsball felt nearly sure of
+his customer for the ensuing winter. It is not easy for a man to part
+with four horses, seven or eight saddles, an establishment of
+bridles, horsesheets, spurs, rollers, and bandages, a pet groom, a
+roomful of top boots, and leather breeches beyond the power of
+counting. This is a wealth which it is easy to increase, but of which
+it is very difficult to get quit.</p>
+
+<p>"I think I shall sell," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll talk about that in April," said Mr. Horsball.</p>
+
+<p>He went out cub-hunting three or four times, and spent the
+intermediate days playing dummy whist with Fred Pepper and Cox,&mdash;who
+was no longer a lieutenant. Ralph felt that this was not the sort of
+beginning for his better life which would have been most appropriate;
+but then he hardly had an opportunity of beginning that better life
+quite at once. He must wait till something more definite had been
+done about the property,&mdash;and, above all things, till Sir Thomas
+should be back from canvassing. He did, however, so far begin his
+better life as to declare that the points at whist must be
+low,&mdash;shilling points, with half-a-crown on the rubber. "Quite enough
+for this kind of thing," said Fred Pepper. "We only want just
+something to do." And Ralph, when at the end of the week he had lost
+only a matter of fifteen pounds, congratulated himself on having
+begun his better life. Cox and Fred Pepper, who divided the trifle
+between them, laughed at the bagatelle.</p>
+
+<p>But before he left the Moonbeam things had assumed a shape which,
+when looked at all round, was not altogether pleasant to him. Before
+he had been three days at the place he received a letter from his
+lawyer, telling him that his uncle had given his formal assent to the
+purchase, and had offered to pay the stipulated sum as soon as Ralph
+would be willing to receive it. As to any further sum that might be
+forthcoming, a valuer should be agreed upon at once. The actual deed
+of sale and transfer would be ready by the middle of November; and
+the lawyer advised Ralph to postpone his acceptance of the money till
+that deed should have been executed. It was evident from the letter
+that there was no need on his part to hurry back to town. This letter
+he found waiting for him on his return one day from hunting. There
+had been a pretty run, very fast, with a kill, as there will be
+sometimes in cub-hunting in October,&mdash;though as a rule, of all
+sports, cub-hunting is the sorriest. Ralph had ridden his favourite
+horse Brag, and Mr. Pepper had taken out,&mdash;just to try him,&mdash;a little
+animal of his that he had bought, as he said, quite at haphazard. He
+knew nothing about him, and was rather afraid that he had been done.
+But the little horse seemed to have a dash of pace about him, and in
+the evening there was some talk of the animal. Fred Pepper thought
+that the little horse was faster than Brag. Fred Pepper never praised
+his own horses loudly; and when Brag's merits were chaunted, said
+that perhaps Ralph was right. Would Ralph throw his leg over the
+little horse on Friday and try him? On the Friday Ralph did throw his
+leg over the little horse, and there was another burst. Ralph was
+obliged to confess, as they came home together in the afternoon, that
+he had never been better carried. "I can see what he is now," said
+Fred Pepper;&mdash;"he is one of those little horses that one don't get
+every day. He's up to a stone over my weight, too." Now Ralph and
+Fred Pepper each rode thirteen stone and a half.</p>
+
+<p>On that day they dined together, and there was much talk as to the
+future prospects of the men. Not that Fred Pepper said anything of
+his future prospects. No one ever presumed him to have a prospect, or
+suggested to him to look for one. But Cox had been very communicative
+and confidential, and Ralph had been prompted to say something of
+himself. Fred Pepper, though he had no future of his own, could he
+pleasantly interested about the future of another, and had quite
+agreed with Ralph that he ought to settle himself. The only
+difficulty was in deciding the when. Cox intended to settle himself
+too, but Cox was quite clear as to the wisdom of taking another
+season out of himself. He was prepared to prove that it would be
+sheer waste of time and money not to do so. "Here I am," said Cox,
+"and a fellow always saves money by staying where he is." There was a
+sparkle of truth in this which Ralph Newton found himself unable to
+deny.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll never have another chance," said Pepper.</p>
+
+<p>"That's another thing," said Cox. "Of course I shan't. I've turned it
+round every side, and I know what I'm about. As for horses, I believe
+they sell better in April than they do in October. Men know what they
+are then." Fred Pepper would not exactly back this opinion, but he
+ventured to suggest that there was not so much difference as some men
+supposed.</p>
+
+<p>"If you are to jump into the cold water," said Ralph, "you'd better
+take the plunge at once."</p>
+
+<p>"I'd sooner do it in summer than winter," said Fred Pepper.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course," said Cox. "If you must give up hunting, do it at the end
+of the season, not at the beginning. There's a time for all things.
+Ring the bell, Dormouse, and we'll have another bottle of claret
+before we go to dummy."</p>
+
+<p>"If I stay here for the winter," said Ralph, "I should want another
+horse. Though I might, perhaps, get through with four."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course you might," said Pepper, who never spoilt his own market
+by pressing.</p>
+
+<p>"I'd rather give up altogether than do it in a scratch way," said
+Ralph. "I've got into a fashion of having a second horse, and I like
+it."</p>
+
+<p>"It's the greatest luxury in the world," said Cox.</p>
+
+<p>"I never tried it," said Pepper; "I'm only too happy to get one." It
+was admitted by all men that Fred Pepper had the art of riding his
+horses without tiring them.</p>
+
+<p>They played their rubber of whist and had a little hot whisky and
+water. On this evening Mr. Horsball was admitted to their company and
+made a fourth. But he wouldn't bet. Shilling points, he said, were
+quite as much as he could afford. Through the whole evening they went
+on talking of the next season, of the absolute folly of giving up one
+thing before another was begun, and of the merits of Fred Pepper's
+little horse. "A clever little animal, Mr. Pepper," said the great
+man, "a very clever little animal; but I wish you wouldn't bring so
+many clever un's down here, Mr. Pepper."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not, Horsball?" asked Cox.</p>
+
+<p>"Because he interferes with my trade," said Mr. Horsball, laughing.
+It was supposed, nevertheless, that Mr. Horsball and Mr. Pepper quite
+understood each other. Before the evening was over, a price had been
+fixed, and Ralph had bought the little horse for &pound;130. Why shouldn't
+he take another winter out of himself? He could not marry Mary Bonner
+and get into a farm all in a day,&mdash;nor yet all in a month. He would
+go to work honestly with the view of settling himself; but let him be
+as honest about it as he might, his winter's hunting would not
+interfere with him. So at last he assured himself. And then he had
+another argument strong in his favour. He might hunt all the winter
+and yet have this thirty thousand pounds,&mdash;nay, more than thirty
+thousand pounds at the end of it. In fact, imprudent and foolish as
+had been his hunting in all previous winters, there would not even be
+any imprudence in this winter's hunting. Fortified by all these
+unanswerable arguments he did buy Mr. Fred Pepper's little horse.</p>
+
+<p>On the next morning, the morning of the day on which he was to return
+to town, the arguments did not seem to be so irresistible, and he
+almost regretted what he had done. It was not that he would be ruined
+by another six months' fling at life. Situated as he now was so much
+might be allowed to him almost without injury. But then how can a man
+trust in his own resolutions before he has begun to keep them,&mdash;when,
+at the very moment of beginning, he throws them to the winds for the
+present, postponing everything for another hour? He knew as well as
+any one could tell him that he was proving himself to be unfit for
+that new life which he was proposing to himself. When one man is wise
+and another foolish, the foolish man knows generally as well as does
+the wise man in what lies wisdom and in what folly. And the
+temptation often is very slight. Ralph Newton had hardly wished to
+buy Mr. Pepper's little horse. The balance of desire during the whole
+evening had lain altogether on the other side. But there had come a
+moment in which he had yielded, and that moment governed all the
+other minutes. We may almost say that a man is only as strong as his
+weakest moment.</p>
+
+<p>But he returned to London very strong in his purpose. He would keep
+his establishment at the Moonbeam for this winter. He had it all laid
+out and planned in his mind. He would at once pay Mr. Horsball the
+balance of the old debt, and count on the value of his horses to
+defray the expense of the coming season. And he would, without a
+week's delay, make his offer to Mary Bonner. A dim idea of some
+feeling of disappointment on Clary's part did cross his brain,&mdash;a
+feeling which seemed to threaten some slight discomfort to himself as
+resulting from want of sympathy on her part; but he must assume
+sufficient courage to brave this. That he would in any degree be an
+evil-doer towards Clary,&mdash;that did not occur to him. Nor did it occur
+to him as at all probable that Mary Bonner would refuse his offer. In
+these days men never expect to be refused. It has gone forth among
+young men as a doctrine worthy of perfect faith, that young ladies
+are all wanting to get married,&mdash;looking out for lovers with an
+absorbing anxiety, and that few can dare to refuse any man who is
+justified in proposing to them.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c28" id="c28"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h3>
+<h4>THE NEW HEIR COUNTS HIS CHICKENS.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>The Squire was almost lost in joy when he received his son's letter,
+telling him that Ralph the heir had consented to sell everything. The
+one great wish of his life was to be accomplished at last! The
+property was to be his own, so that he might do what he liked with
+it, so that he might leave it entire to his own son, so that for the
+remainder of his life he might enjoy it in that community with his
+son which had always appeared to him to be the very summit of human
+bliss. From the sweet things which he had seen he had been hitherto
+cut off by the record of his own fault, and had spent the greater
+part of his life in the endurance of a bitter punishment. He had been
+torn to pieces, too, in contemplating the modes of escape from the
+position in which his father's very natural will had placed him. He
+might of course have married, and at least have expected and have
+hoped for children. But in that there would have been misery. His son
+was the one human being that was dear to him above all others, and by
+such a marriage he would have ruined his son. Early in life,
+comparatively early, he had made up his mind that he would not do
+that;&mdash;that he would save his money, and make a property for the boy
+he loved. But then it had come home to him as a fact, that he could
+be happy in preparing no other home for his son than this old family
+house of his, with all its acres, woods, and homesteads. The acres,
+woods, and homesteads gave to him no delight, feeling as he did every
+hour of his life that they were not his own for purposes of a real
+usufruct. Then by degrees he had heard of his nephew's follies, and
+the idea had come upon him that he might buy his nephew out. Ralph,
+his own Ralph, had told him that the idea was cruel; but he could not
+see the cruelty. "What a bad man loses a good man will get," he said;
+"and surely it must be better for all those who are to live by the
+property that a good man should be the master of it." He would not
+interfere, nor would he have any power of interfering, till others
+would interfere were he to keep aloof. The doings would be the doings
+of that spendthrift heir, and none of his. When Ralph would tell him
+that he was cruel, he would turn away in wrath; but hiding his wrath,
+because he loved his son. But now everything was set right, and his
+son had had the doing of it.</p>
+
+<p>He was nearly mad with joy throughout that day as he thought of the
+great thing which he had accomplished. He was alone in the house, for
+his son was still in London, and during the last few months guests
+had been unfrequent at the Priory. But he did not wish to have
+anybody with him now. He went out, roaming through the park, and
+realising to himself the fact that now, at length, the very trees
+were his own. He gazed at one farmhouse after another, not seeking
+the tenants, hardly speaking to them if he met them, but with his
+brain full of plans of what should be done. He saw Gregory for a
+moment, but only nodded at him smiling, and passed on. He was not in
+a humour just at present to tell his happiness to any one. He walked
+all round Darvell's premises, the desolate, half-ruined house of
+Brumbys, telling himself that very shortly it should be desolate and
+half-ruined no longer. Then he crossed into the lane, and stood with
+his eyes fixed upon Brownriggs,&mdash;Walker's farm, the pearl of all the
+farms in those parts, the land with which he thought he could have
+parted so easily when the question before him was that of becoming in
+truth the owner of any portion of the estate. But now, every acre was
+ten times dearer to him than it had been then. He would never part
+with Brownriggs. He would even save Ingram's farm, in Twining, if it
+might possibly be saved. He had not known before how dear to him
+could be every bank, every tree, every sod. Yes;&mdash;now in very truth
+he was lord and master of the property which had belonged to his
+father, and his father's fathers before him. He would borrow money,
+and save it during his lifetime. He would do anything rather than
+part with an acre of it, now that the acres were his own to leave
+behind him to his son.</p>
+
+<p>On the following day Ralph arrived. We must no longer call him Ralph
+who was not the heir. He would be heir to everything from the day
+that the contract was completed! The Squire, though he longed to see
+the young man as he had never longed before, would not go to the
+station to meet the welcome one. His irrepressible joy was too great
+to be exhibited before strangers. He remained at home, in his own
+room, desiring that Mr. Ralph might come to him there. He would not
+even show himself in the hall. And yet when Ralph entered the room he
+was very calm. There was a bright light in his eyes, but at first he
+spoke hardly a word. "So, you've managed that little job," he said,
+as he took his son's hand.</p>
+
+<p>"I managed nothing, sir," said Ralph, smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"Didn't you? I thought you had managed a good deal. It is done,
+anyway."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir, it's done. At least, I suppose so." Ralph, after sending
+his telegram, had of course written to his father, giving him full
+particulars of the manner in which the arrangement had been made.</p>
+
+<p>"You don't mean that there is any doubt," said the Squire with almost
+an anxious tone.</p>
+
+<p>"Not at all, as far as I know. The lawyers seem to think that it is
+all right. Ralph is quite in earnest."</p>
+
+<p>"He must be in earnest," said the Squire.</p>
+
+<p>"He has behaved uncommonly well," said the namesake. "So well that I
+think you owe him much. We were quite mistaken in supposing that he
+wanted to drive a sharp bargain." He himself had never so supposed,
+but he found this to be the best way of speaking of that matter to
+his father.</p>
+
+<p>"I will forgive him everything now," said the Squire, "and will do
+anything that I can to help him."</p>
+
+<p>Ralph said many things in praise of his namesake. He still almost
+regretted what had been done. At any rate he could see the pity of
+it. It was that other Ralph who should have been looked to as the
+future proprietor of Newton Priory, and not he, who was hardly
+entitled to call himself a Newton. It would have been more consistent
+with the English order of things that it should be so. And then there
+was so much to say in favour of this young man who had lost it all,
+and so little to say against him! And it almost seemed to him for
+whose sake the purchase was being made, that advantage,&mdash;an
+unscrupulous if not an unfair advantage,&mdash;was being taken of the
+purchaser. He could not say all this to his father; but he spoke of
+Ralph in such a way as to make his father understand what he thought.
+"He is such a pleasant fellow," said Ralph, who was now the heir.</p>
+
+<p>"Let us have him down here as soon as the thing is settled."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah;&mdash;I don't think he'll come now. Of course he's wretched enough
+about it. It is not wonderful that he should have hesitated at
+parting with it."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps not," said the Squire, who was willing to forgive past sins;
+"but of course there was no help for it."</p>
+
+<p>"That was what he didn't feel so sure about when he declined your
+first offer. It was not that he objected to the price. As to the
+price he says that of course he can say nothing about it. When I told
+him that you were willing to raise your offer, he declared that he
+would take nothing in that fashion. If those who understood the
+matter said that more was coming to him, he supposed that he would
+get it. According to my ideas he behaved very well, sir."</p>
+
+<p>In this there was something that almost amounted to an accusation
+against the Squire. At least so the Squire felt it; and the feeling
+for the moment robbed him of something of his triumph. According to
+his own view there was no need for pity. It was plain that to his son
+the whole affair was pitiful. But he could not scold his son;&mdash;at any
+rate not now. "I feel this, Ralph," he said;&mdash;"that from this moment
+everybody connected with the property, every tenant on it and every
+labourer, will be better off than they were a month ago. I may have
+been to blame. I say nothing about that. But I do say that in all
+cases it is well that a property should go to the natural heir of the
+life-tenant. Of course it has been my fault," he added after a pause;
+"but I do feel now that I have in a great measure remedied the evil
+which I did." The tone now had become too serious to admit of further
+argument. Ralph, feeling that this was so, pressed his father's hand
+and then left him. "Gregory is coming across to dinner," said the
+Squire as Ralph was closing the door behind him.</p>
+
+<p>At that time Gregory had received no intimation of what had been done
+in London, his brother's note not reaching him till the following
+morning. Ralph met him before the Squire came down, and the news was
+soon told. "It is all settled," said Ralph, with a sigh.</p>
+
+<p>"Well?"</p>
+
+<p>"Your brother has agreed to sell."</p>
+
+<p>"No!"</p>
+
+<p>"I have almost more pain than pleasure in it myself, because I know
+it will make you unhappy."</p>
+
+<p>"He was so confident when he wrote to me!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes;&mdash;but he explained all that. He had hoped then that he could
+have saved it. But the manner of saving it would have been worse than
+the loss. He will tell you everything, no doubt. No man could have
+behaved better." As it happened, there was still some little space of
+time before the Squire joined them,&mdash;a period perhaps of five
+minutes. But the parson spoke hardly a word. The news which he now
+heard confounded him. He had been quite sure that his brother had
+been in earnest, and that his uncle would fail. And then, though he
+loved the one Ralph nearly as well as he did the other,&mdash;though he
+must have known that Ralph the base-born was in all respects a better
+man than his own brother, more of a man than the legitimate
+heir,&mdash;still to his feelings that legitimacy was everything. He too
+was a Newton of Newton; but it may be truly said of him that there
+was nothing selfish in his feelings. To be the younger brother of
+Newton of Newton, and parson of the parish which bore the same name
+as themselves, was sufficient for his ambition. But things would be
+terribly astray now that the right heir was extruded. Ralph, this
+Ralph whom he loved so well, could not be the right Newton to own the
+property. The world would not so regard him. The tenants would not so
+think of him. The county would not so repute him. To the thinking of
+parson Gregory, a great misfortune had been consummated. As soon as
+he had realised it, he was silent and could speak no more.</p>
+
+<p>Nor did Ralph say a word. Not to triumph in what had been done on his
+behalf,&mdash;or at least not to seem to triumph,&mdash;that was the lesson
+which he had taught himself. He fully sympathised with Gregory; and
+therefore he stood silent and sad by his side. That there must have
+been some triumph in his heart it is impossible not to imagine. It
+could not be but that he should be alive to the glory of being the
+undoubted heir to Newton Priory. And he understood well that his
+birth would interfere but little now with his position. Should he
+choose to marry, as he would choose, it would of course be necessary
+that he should explain his birth; but it was not likely, he thought,
+that he should seek a wife among those who would reject him, with all
+his other advantages, because he had no just title to his father's
+name. That he should take joy in what had been done on his behalf was
+only natural; but as he stood with Gregory, waiting for his father to
+come to them, he showed no sign of joy. At last the Squire came.
+There certainly was triumph in his eye, but he did not speak
+triumphantly. It was impossible that some word should not be spoken
+between them as to the disposition of the property. "I suppose Ralph
+has told you," he said, "what he has done up in London?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes;&mdash;he has told me," said Gregory.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope there will now be an end of all family ill-feeling among us,"
+said the uncle. "Your brother shall be as welcome at the old place as
+I trust you have always found yourself. If he likes to bring his
+horses here, we shall be delighted."</p>
+
+<p>The parson muttered something as to the kindness with which he had
+ever been treated, but what he said was said with an ill grace. He
+was almost broken-hearted, and thoroughly wished himself back in his
+own solitude. The Squire saw it all, and did not press him to
+talk;&mdash;said not a word more of his purchase, and tried to create some
+little interest about parish matters;&mdash;asked after the new building
+in the chancel, and was gracious about this old man and that young
+woman. But Gregory could not recover himself,&mdash;could not recall his
+old interests, or so far act a part as to make it seem that he was
+not thinking of the misfortune which had fallen upon the family. In
+every look of his eyes and every tone of his voice he was telling the
+son that he was a bastard, and the father that he was destroying the
+inheritance of the family. But yet they bore with him, and
+endeavoured to win him back to pleasantness. Soon after the cloth was
+taken away he took his leave. He had work to do at home, he said, and
+must go. His uncle went out with him into the hall, leaving Ralph
+alone in the parlour. "It will be for the best in the long run," said
+the Squire, with his hand on his nephew's shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps it may, sir. I am not pretending to say. Good night." As he
+walked home across the park, through the old trees which he had known
+since he was an infant, he told himself that it could not be for the
+best that the property should be sent adrift, out of the proper line.
+The only thing to be desired now was that neither he nor his brother
+should have a child, and that there should no longer be a proper
+line.</p>
+
+<p>The Squire's joy was too deep and well founded to be in any way
+damped by poor Gregory's ill-humour, and was too closely present to
+him for him to be capable of restraining it. Why should he restrain
+himself before his son? "I am sorry for Greg," he said, "because he
+has old-fashioned ideas. But of course it will be for the best. His
+brother would have squandered every acre of it." To this Ralph made
+no answer. It might probably have been as his father said. It was
+perhaps best for all who lived in and by the estate that he should be
+the heir. And gradually the feeling of exultation in his own position
+was growing upon him. It was natural that it should do so. He knew
+himself to be capable of filling with credit, and with advantage to
+all around him, the great place which was now assigned to him, and it
+was impossible that he should not be exultant. And he owed it to his
+father to show him that he appreciated all that had been done for
+him. "I think he ought to have the &pound;35,000 at least," said the
+Squire.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"I think so. As for the bulk sum, I have already written to Carey
+about that. No time ought to be lost. There is no knowing what might
+happen. He might die."</p>
+
+<p>"He doesn't look like dying, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"He might break his neck out hunting. There is no knowing. At any
+rate there should be no delay. From what I am told I don't think that
+with the timber and all they'll make it come to another &pound;5,000; but
+he shall have that. As he has behaved well, I'll show him that I can
+behave well too. I've half a mind to go up to London, and stay till
+it's all through."</p>
+
+<p>"You'd only worry yourself."</p>
+
+<p>"I should worry myself, no doubt. And do you know, I love the place
+so much better than I did, that I can hardly bear to tear myself away
+from it. The first mark of my handiwork, now that I can work, shall
+be put upon Darvell's farm. I'll have the old place about his ears
+before I am a day older."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll not get it through before winter."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I will. If it costs me an extra &pound;50 I shan't begrudge it. It
+shall be a sort of memorial building, a farmhouse of thanksgiving.
+I'll make it as snug a place as there is about the property. It has
+made me wretched for these two years."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope all that kind of wretchedness will be over now."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank God;&mdash;yes. I was looking at Brownriggs to-day,&mdash;and Ingram's.
+I don't think we'll sell either. I have a plan, and I think we can
+pull through without it. It is so much easier to sell than to buy."</p>
+
+<p>"You'd be more comfortable if you sold one of them."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I must borrow a few thousands;&mdash;but why not? I doubt
+whether at this moment there's a property in all Hampshire so free as
+this. I have always lived on less than the income, and I can continue
+to do so easier than before. You are provided for now, old fellow."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, indeed;&mdash;and why should you pinch yourself?"</p>
+
+<p>"I shan't be pinched. I haven't got a score of women about me, as
+you'll have before long. There's nothing in the world like having a
+wife. I am quite sure of that. But if you want to save money, the way
+to do it is not to have a nursery. You'll marry, of course, now?"</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose I shall some day."</p>
+
+<p>"The sooner the better. Take my word for it."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps you'd alter your opinion if I came upon you before Christmas
+for your sanction."</p>
+
+<p>"No, by Jove; that I shouldn't. I should be delighted. You don't mean
+to say you've got anybody in your eye. There's only one thing I ask,
+Ralph;&mdash;open out-and-out confidence."</p>
+
+<p>"You shall have it, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"There is somebody, then."</p>
+
+<p>"Well; no; there isn't anybody. It would be impudence in me to say
+there was."</p>
+
+<p>"Then I know there is." Upon this encouragement Ralph told his father
+that on his two last visits to London he had seen a girl whom he
+thought that he would like to ask to be his wife. He had been at
+Fulham on three or four occasions,&mdash;it was so he put it, but his
+visits had, in truth, been only three,&mdash;and he thought that this
+niece of Sir Thomas Underwood possessed every charm that a woman need
+possess,&mdash;"except money," said Ralph. "She has no fortune, if you
+care about that."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't care about money," said the Squire. "It is for the man to
+have that;&mdash;at any rate for one so circumstanced as you." The end of
+all this was that Ralph was authorised to please himself. If he
+really felt that he liked Miss Bonner well enough, he might ask her
+to be his wife to-morrow.</p>
+
+<p>"The difficulty is to get at her," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"Ask the uncle for his permission. That's the manliest and the
+fittest way to do it. Tell him everything. Take my word for it he
+won't turn his face against you. As for me, nothing on earth would
+make me so happy as to see your children. If there were a dozen, I
+would not think them one too many. But mark you this, Ralph; it will
+be easier for us,&mdash;for you and me, if I live,&mdash;and for you without me
+if I go, to make all things clear and square and free while the
+bairns are little, than when they have to go to school and college,
+or perhaps want to get married."</p>
+
+<p>"Ain't we counting our chickens before they are hatched?" said Ralph
+laughing.</p>
+
+<p>When they parted for the night, which they did not do till after the
+Squire had slept for an hour on his chair, there was one other speech
+made,&mdash;a speech which Ralph was likely to remember to the latest day
+of his life. His father had taken his candlestick in his right hand,
+and had laid his left upon his son's collar. "Ralph," said he, "for
+the first time in my life I can look you in the face, and not feel a
+pang of remorse. You will understand it when you have a son of your
+own. Good-night, my boy." Then he hurried off without waiting to hear
+a word, if there was any word that Ralph could have spoken.</p>
+
+<p>On the next morning they were both out early at Darvell's farm,
+surrounded by bricklayers and carpenters, and before the week was
+over the work was in progress. Poor Darvell, half elated and half
+troubled, knew but little of the cause of this new vehemence.
+Something we suppose he did know, for the news was soon spread over
+the estate that the Squire had bought out Mr. Ralph, and that this
+other Mr. Ralph was now to be Mr. Ralph the heir. That the old butler
+should not be told,&mdash;the butler who had lived in the house when the
+present Squire was a boy,&mdash;was out of the question; and though the
+communication had been made in confidence, the confidence was not
+hermetical. The Squire after all was glad that it should be so. The
+thing had to be made known,&mdash;and why not after this fashion? Among
+the labourers and poor there was no doubt as to the joy felt. That
+other Mr. Ralph, who had always been up in town, was unknown to them,
+and this Mr. Ralph had ever been popular with them all. With the
+tenants the feeling was perhaps more doubtful. "I wish you joy, Mr.
+Newton, with all my heart," said Mr. Walker, who was the richest and
+the most intelligent among them. "The Squire has worked for you like
+a man, and I hope it will come to good."</p>
+
+<p>"I will do my best," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure you will. There will be a feeling, you know. You mustn't
+be angry at that."</p>
+
+<p>"I understand," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"You won't be vexed with me for just saying so." Ralph promised that
+he would not be vexed, but he thought very much of what Mr. Walker
+had said to him. After all, such a property as Newton does not in
+England belong altogether to the owner of it. Those who live upon it,
+and are closely concerned in it with reference to all that they have
+in the world, have a part property in it. They make it what it is,
+and will not make it what it should be, unless in their hearts they
+are proud of it. "You know he can't be the real squire," said one old
+farmer to Mr. Walker. "They may hugger-mugger it this way and that;
+but this Mr. Ralph can't be like t'other young gentleman."</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless the Squire himself was very happy. These things were not
+said to him, and he had been successful. He took an interest in all
+things keener than he had felt for years past. One day he was in the
+stables with his son, and spoke about the hunting for the coming
+season. He had an Irish horse of which he was proud, an old hunter
+that had carried him for the last seven years, and of which he had
+often declared that under no consideration would he part with it.
+"Dear old fellow," he said, putting his hand on the animal's neck,
+"you shall work for your bread one other winter, and then you shall
+give over for the rest of your life."</p>
+
+<p>"I never saw him look better," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"He's like his master;&mdash;not quite so young as he was once. He never
+made a mistake yet that I know of."</p>
+
+<p>Ralph when he saw how full of joy was his father, could not but
+rejoice also that the thing so ardently desired had been at last
+accomplished.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c29" id="c29"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XXIX.</h3>
+<h4>THE ELECTION.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>The day of the nomination at Percycross came at last, and it was
+manifest to everybody that there was a very unpleasant feeling in the
+town. It was not only that party was arrayed against party. That
+would have been a state of things not held to be undesirable, and at
+any rate would have been natural. But at present things were so
+divided that there was no saying which were the existing parties.
+Moggs was separated from Westmacott quite as absolutely as was
+Westmacott from the two Conservative candidates. The old Liberals of
+the borough were full of ridicule for poor Moggs, of whom all absurd
+stories were told by them both publicly and privately. But still he
+was there, the darling of the workmen. It was, indeed, asserted by
+the members of Mr. Westmacott's committee that Moggs's popularity
+would secure for him but very few votes. A great proportion of the
+working men of Percycross were freemen of the borough,&mdash;old voters
+who were on the register by right of their birth and family
+connection in the place, independent of householdership and
+rates,&mdash;and quite accustomed to the old ways of manipulation. The
+younger of these men might be seduced into listening to Moggs. The
+excitement was pleasant to them. But they were too well trained to be
+led away on the day of election. Moggs would give them no beer, and
+they had always been accustomed to their three half-crowns a head in
+consideration for the day's work. Not a dozen freemen of the borough
+would vote for Moggs. So said Mr. Kirkham, Mr. Westmacott's managing
+man, and no man knew the borough quite so well as did Mr. Kirkham.
+"They'll fight for him at the hustings," said Mr. Kirkham; "but
+they'll take their beer and their money, and they'll vote for us and
+Griffenbottom."</p>
+
+<p>This might be true enough as regarded the freemen,&mdash;the men who had
+been, as it were, educated to political life;&mdash;but there was much
+doubt as to the new voters. There were about a thousand of these in
+the borough, and it had certainly not been the intention of either
+party that these men should have the half-crowns. It was from these
+men and their leaders,&mdash;the secretaries and chairmen and
+presidents,&mdash;that had come the cry for a second liberal candidate,
+and the consequent necessity of putting forward two Conservatives.
+They were equally odious to the supporters of Westmacott and of
+Griffenbottom. "They must have the half-crowns," Trigger had said to
+old Pile, the bootmaker. Pile thought that every working man was
+entitled to the three half-crowns, and said as much very clearly. "I
+suppose old Griff ain't going to turn Hunks at this time o' day,"
+said Mr. Pile. But the difficulties were endless, and were much
+better understood by Mr. Trigger than by Mr. Pile. The manner of
+conveying the half-crowns to the three hundred and twenty-four
+freemen, who would take them and vote honestly afterwards for
+Griffenbottom and Underwood, was perfectly well understood. But among
+that godless, riotous, ungoverned and ungovernable set of new
+householders, there was no knowing how to act. They would take the
+money and then vote wrong. They would take the money and then split.
+The freemen were known. Three hundred and twenty-four would take
+Griffenbottom's beer and half-crowns. Two hundred and seventy-two
+would be equally complaisant with Mr. Westmacott. But of these
+householders nothing was known. They could not be handled. Some
+thirty or forty of them would probably have the turning of the
+election at the last hour, must then be paid at their own prices, and
+after that would not be safe! Mr. Trigger, in his disgust, declared
+that things had got into so vile a form that he didn't care if he
+never had anything to do with an election in Percycross again.</p>
+
+<p>And then there was almost as much ill-feeling between the
+old-fashioned Griffenbottomites and the Underwooders as there was
+between Westmacott's Liberals and Moggs's Radicals. The two gentlemen
+themselves still eat their breakfasts and dinners together, and still
+paraded the streets of Percycross in each other's company. But Sir
+Thomas had made himself very odious even to Mr. Griffenbottom
+himself. He was always protesting against beer which he did see, and
+bribery which he did not see but did suspect. He swore that he would
+pay not a shilling, as to which the cause of the expenditure was not
+explained to him. Griffenbottom snarled at him, and expressed an
+opinion that Sir Thomas would of course do the same as any other
+gentleman. Mr. Trigger, with much dignity in his mien as he spoke,
+declared that the discussion of any such matter at the present moment
+was indecorous. Mr. Pile was for sending Sir Thomas back to town, and
+very strongly advocated that measure. Mr. Spicer, as to whom there
+was a story abroad in the borough in respect of a large order for
+mustard, supposed to have reached him from New York through Liverpool
+by the influence of Sir Thomas Underwood, thought that the borough
+should return the two conservative candidates. Sir Thomas might be a
+little indiscreet; but, upon the whole, his principles did him
+honour. So thought Mr. Spicer, who, perhaps, believed that the order
+for the mustard was coming. We need hardly say that the story, at any
+rate in so far as it regarded Sir Thomas Underwood, was altogether
+untrue. "Yes; principles!" said Mr. Pile. "I think we all know Sam
+Spicer's principles. All for hisself, and nothing for a poor man.
+That's Sam Spicer." Of Mr. Pile, it must be acknowledged that he was
+not a pure-minded politician. He loved bribery in his very heart. But
+it is equally true that he did not want to be bribed himself. It was
+the old-fashioned privilege of a poor man to receive some small
+consideration for his vote in Percycross, and Mr. Pile could not
+endure to think that the poor man should be robbed of his little
+comforts.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime, Sir Thomas himself was in a state of great misery.
+From hour to hour he was fluctuating between a desire to run away
+from the accursed borough, and the shame of taking such a step. The
+desire for the seat which had brought him to Percycross had almost
+died out amidst the misery of his position. Among all the men of his
+party with whom he was associating, there was not one whom he did not
+dislike, and by whom he was not snubbed and contradicted.
+Griffenbottom, who went through his canvass under circumstances of
+coming gout and colchicum with a courage and pertinacity that were
+heroic, was painfully cross to every one who was not a voter. "What's
+the use of all that
+<span class="nowrap">d&mdash;&mdash;d</span>
+nonsense, now?" he said to Sir Thomas the
+evening before the nomination day. There were half-a-dozen leading
+Conservatives in the room, and Sir Thomas was making a final protest
+against bribery. He rose from his chair when so addressed, and left
+the room. Never in his life before had he been so insulted. Trigger
+followed him to his bedroom, knowing well that a quarrel at this
+moment would be absolutely suicidal. "It's the gout, Sir Thomas,"
+said Mr. Trigger. "Do remember what he's going through." This was so
+true that Sir Thomas returned to the room. It was almost impossible
+not to forgive anything in a man who was suffering agonies, but could
+still wheedle a voter. There were three conservative doctors with Mr.
+Griffenbottom, each of them twice daily; and there was an opinion
+prevalent through the borough that the gout would be in his stomach
+before the election was over. Sir Thomas did return to the room, and
+sat himself down without saying a word. "Sir Thomas," said Mr.
+Griffenbottom, "a man with the gout is always allowed a little
+liberty."</p>
+
+<p>"I admit the claim," said Sir Thomas, bowing.</p>
+
+<p>"And believe me, I know this game better than you do. It's of no use
+saying these things. No man should ever foul his own nest. Give me a
+little drop more brandy, Trigger, and then I'll get myself to bed."
+When he was gone, they all sang Griffenbottom's praises. In staunch
+pluck, good humour, and manly fighting, no man was his superior.
+"Give and take,&mdash;the English bull-dog all over. I do like old
+Griffenbottom," said Spiveycomb, the paper-maker.</p>
+
+<p>On the day of nomination Griffenbottom was carried up on the
+hustings. This carrying did him good in the borough; but it should be
+acknowledged on his behalf that he did his best to walk. In the
+extreme agony of his attack he had to make his speech, and he made
+it. The hustings stood in the market-square, and straight in front of
+the wooden erection, standing at right angles to it, was a stout rail
+dividing the space for the distance of fifty or sixty yards, so that
+the supporters of one set of candidates might congregate on one side,
+and the supporters of the other candidates on the other side. In this
+way would the weaker part, whichever might be the weaker, be
+protected from the violence of the stronger. On the present occasion
+it seemed that the friends of Mr. Westmacott congregated with the
+Conservatives. Moggs's allies alone filled one side of the partition.
+There were a great many speeches made that day from the
+hustings,&mdash;thirteen in all. First the mayor, and then the four
+proposers and four seconders of the candidates. During these
+performances, though there was so much noise from the crowd below
+that not a word could be heard, there was no violence. When old
+Griffenbottom got up, supporting himself by an arm round one of the
+posts, he was loudly cheered from both sides. His personal popularity
+in the borough was undoubted, and his gout made him almost a
+demi-god. Nobody heard a word that he said; but then he had no desire
+to be heard. To be seen standing up there, a martyr to the gout, but
+still shouting for Percycross, was enough for his purpose. Sir Thomas
+encountered a very different reception. He was received with yells,
+apparently from the whole crowd. What he said was of no matter, as
+not a word was audible; but he did continue to inveigh against
+bribery. Before he had ceased a huge stone was thrown at him, and hit
+him heavily on the arm. He continued speaking, however, and did not
+himself know till afterwards that his arm was broken between the
+shoulder and the elbow. Mr. Westmacott was very short and
+good-humoured. He intended to be funny about poor Moggs;&mdash;and perhaps
+was funny. But his fun was of no avail. The Moggite crowd had
+determined that no men should be heard till their own candidate
+should open his mouth.</p>
+
+<p>At last Ontario's turn had come. At first the roar from the crowd was
+so great that it seemed that it was to be with him as it had been
+with the others. But by degrees, though there was still a roar,&mdash;as
+of the sea,&mdash;Moggs's words became audible. The voices of assent and
+dissent are very different, even though they be equally loud. Men
+desirous of interrupting, do interrupt. But cheers, though they be
+continuous and loud as thunder, are compatible with a hearing. Moggs
+by this time, too, had learned to pitch his voice for an out-of-door
+multitude. He preached his sermon, his old sermon, about the Rights
+of Labour and the Salt of the Earth, the Tyranny of Capital and the
+Majesty of the Workmen, with an enthusiasm that made him for the
+moment supremely happy. He was certainly the hero of the tour in
+Percycross, and he allowed himself to believe,&mdash;just for that
+hour,&mdash;that he was about to become the hero of a new doctrine
+throughout England. He spoke for over half an hour, while poor
+Griffenbottom, seated in a chair that had been brought to him, was
+suffering almost the pains of hell. During this speech Sir Thomas,
+who had also suffered greatly, but had at first endeavoured to
+conceal that he was suffering, discovered the extent of his
+misfortune, and allowed himself to be taken out from the hustings to
+his inn. There was an effort made to induce Mr. Griffenbottom to
+retire at the same time; but Mr. Griffenbottom, not quite
+understanding the extent of his colleague's misfortune, and thinking
+that it became him to remain and to endure, was obdurate, and would
+not be moved. He did not care for stones or threats,&mdash;did not care
+even for the gout. That was his place till after the show of hands,
+and there he would remain. The populace, seeing this commotion on the
+hustings, began to fear that there was an intention to stop the
+oratory of their popular candidate, and called loudly upon Moggs to
+go on. Moggs did go on,&mdash;and was happy.</p>
+
+<p>At last there came the show of hands. It was declared to be in favour
+of Moggs and Westmacott. That it was very much in favour of
+Moggs,&mdash;in favour of Moggs by five to one, there was no doubt. Among
+the other candidates there was not perhaps much to choose. A poll
+was, of course, demanded for the two Conservatives; and then the
+mayor, complimenting the people on their good behaviour,&mdash;in spite of
+poor Sir Thomas's broken arm,&mdash;begged them to go away. That was all
+very well. Of course they would go away; but not till they had driven
+their enemies from the field. In half a minute the dividing
+rail,&mdash;the rail that had divided the blue from the yellow,&mdash;was down,
+and all those who had dared to show themselves there as supporters of
+Griffenbottom and Underwood were driven ignominiously from the
+market-place. They fled at all corners, and in a few seconds not a
+streak of blue ribbon was to be seen in the square. "They'll elect
+that fellow Moggs to-morrow," said Mr. Westmacott to Kirkham.</p>
+
+<p>"No a bit of it," said Kirkham. "I could spot all the ringleaders in
+the row. Nine or ten of them are Griffenbottom's old men. They take
+his money regularly,&mdash;get something nearly every year, join the rads
+at the nomination, and vote for the squire at the poll. The chaps who
+hollow and throw stones always vote t'other side up."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Griffenbottom kept his seat till he could be carried home in
+safety through the town, and was then put to bed. The three
+conservative doctors, who had all been setting Sir Thomas's arm, sat
+in consultation upon their old friend; and it was acknowledged on
+every side that Mr. Griffenbottom was very ill indeed. All manner of
+rumours went through the town that night. Some believed that both
+Griffenbottom and Sir Thomas were dead,&mdash;and that the mayor had now
+no choice but to declare Moggs and Westmacott elected. Then there
+arose a suspicion that the polls would be kept open on the morrow on
+behalf of two defunct candidates, so that a further election on
+behalf of the conservative party might be ensured. Men swore that
+they would break into the bedrooms of the Standard Inn, in order that
+they might satisfy themselves whether the two gentlemen were alive or
+dead. And so the town was in a hubbub.</p>
+
+<p>On that evening Moggs was called upon again to address his friends at
+the Mechanics' Institute, and to listen to the speeches of all the
+presidents and secretaries and chairmen; but by ten o'clock he was
+alone in his bedroom at the Cordwainers' Arms. Down-stairs men were
+shouting, singing, and drinking,&mdash;shouting in his honour, though not
+drinking at his expense. He was alone in his little comfortless room,
+but felt it to be impossible that he should lie down and rest. His
+heart was swelling with the emotions of the day, and his mind was
+full of his coming triumph. It was black night, and there was a soft
+drizzling rain;&mdash;but it was absolutely necessary for his condition
+that he should go out. It seemed to him that his very bosom would
+burst, if he confined himself in that narrow space. His thoughts were
+too big for so small a closet. He crept downstairs and out, through
+the narrow passage, into the night. Then, by the light of the
+solitary lamp that stood before the door of the public-house, he
+could still see those glorious words, "Moggs, Purity, and the Rights
+of Labour." Noble words, which had sufficed to bind to him the whole
+population of that generous-hearted borough! Purity and the Rights of
+Labour! Might it not be that with that cry, well cried, he might move
+the very world! As he walked the streets of the town he felt a great
+love for the borough grow within his bosom. What would he not owe to
+the dear place which had first recognised his worth, and had enabled
+him thus early in life to seize hold of those ploughshares which it
+would be his destiny to hold for all his coming years? He had before
+him a career such as had graced the lives of the men whom he had most
+loved and admired,&mdash;of men who had dared to be independent,
+patriotic, and philanthropical, through all the temptations of
+political life. Would he be too vain if he thought to rival a Hume or
+a Cobden? Conceit, he said to himself, will seek to justify itself.
+Who can rise but those who believe their wings strong enough for
+soaring? There might be shipwreck of course,&mdash;but he believed that he
+now saw his way. As to the difficulty of speaking in public,&mdash;that he
+had altogether overcome. Some further education as to facts,
+historical and political, might be necessary. That he acknowledged to
+himself;&mdash;but he would not spare himself in his efforts to acquire
+such education. He went pacing through the damp, muddy, dark streets,
+making speeches that were deliciously eloquent to his own ears. That
+night he was certainly the happiest man in Percycross, never doubting
+his success on the morrow,&mdash;not questioning that. Had not the whole
+town greeted him with loudest acclamation as their chosen member? He
+was deliciously happy;&mdash;while poor Sir Thomas was suffering the
+double pain of his broken arm and his dissipated hopes, and
+Griffenbottom was lying in his bed, with a doctor on one side and a
+nurse on the other, hardly able to restrain himself from cursing all
+the world in his agony.</p>
+
+<p>At a little after eleven a tall man, buttoned up to his chin in an
+old great coat, called at the Percy Standard, and asked after the
+health of Mr. Griffenbottom and Sir Thomas. "They ain't neither of
+them very well then," replied the waiter. "Will you say that Mr.
+Moggs called to inquire, with his compliments," said the tall man.
+The respect shown to him was immediately visible. Even the waiter at
+the Percy Standard acknowledged that for that day Mr. Moggs must be
+treated as a great man in Percycross. After that Moggs walked home
+and crept into bed;&mdash;but it may be doubted whether he slept a wink
+that night.</p>
+
+<p>And then there came the real day,&mdash;the day of the election. It was a
+foul, rainy, muddy, sloppy morning, without a glimmer of sun, with
+that thick, pervading, melancholy atmosphere which forces for the
+time upon imaginative men a conviction that nothing is worth
+anything. Griffenbottom was in bed in one room at the Percy Standard,
+and Underwood in the next. The three conservative doctors moving from
+one chamber to another, watching each other closely, and hardly
+leaving the hotel, had a good time of it. Mr. Trigger had already
+remarked that in one respect the breaking of Sir Thomas's arm was
+lucky, because now there would be no difficulty as to paying the
+doctors out of the common fund. Every half-hour the state of the poll
+was brought to them. Early in the morning Moggs had been in the
+ascendant. At half-past nine the numbers were as
+<span class="nowrap">follows:&mdash;</span></p>
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table style="margin: 0 auto">
+  <tr><td>Moggs</td>                          <td align="right">193</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Westmacott</td>                     <td align="right">172</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Griffenbottom&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="right">162</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Underwood</td>                      <td align="right">147</td></tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>At ten, and at half-past ten, Moggs was equally in advance, but
+Westmacott had somewhat receded. At noon the numbers were
+considerably altered, and were as
+<span class="nowrap">follows:&mdash;</span></p>
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table style="margin: 0 auto">
+  <tr><td>Griffenbottom&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="right">892</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Moggs</td>                          <td align="right">777</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Westmacott</td>                     <td align="right">752</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Underwood</td>                      <td align="right">678</td></tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>These at least were the numbers as they came from the conservative
+books. Westmacott was placed nearer to Moggs by his own tellers. For
+Moggs no special books were kept. He was content to abide by the
+official counting.</p>
+
+<p>Griffenbottom was consulted privately by Trigger and Mr. Spiveycomb
+as to what steps should be taken in this emergency. It was suggested
+in a whisper that Underwood should be thrown over altogether. There
+would be no beating Moggs,&mdash;so thought Mr. Spiveycomb,&mdash;and unless an
+effort were made it might be possible that Westmacott would creep up.
+Trigger in his heart considered that it would be impossible to get
+enough men at three half-crowns a piece to bring Sir Thomas up to a
+winning condition. But Griffenbottom, now that the fight was forward,
+was unwilling to give way a foot. "We haven't polled half the
+voters," said he.</p>
+
+<p>"More than half what we shall poll," answered Trigger.</p>
+
+<p>"They always hang back," growled Griffenbottom. "Fight it out. I
+don't believe they'll ever elect a shoemaker here." The order was
+given, and it was fought out.</p>
+
+<p>Moggs, early in the morning, had been radiant with triumph, when he
+saw his name at the head of the lists displayed from the two inimical
+committee rooms. As he walked the streets, with a chairman on one
+side of him and a president on the other, it seemed as though his
+feet almost disdained to touch the mud. These were two happy hours,
+during which he did not allow himself to doubt of his triumph. When
+the presidents and the chairmen spoke to him, he could hardly answer
+them, so rapt was he in contemplation of his coming greatness. His
+very soul was full of his seat in Parliament! But when Griffenbottom
+approached him on the lists, and then passed him, there came a shadow
+upon his brow. He still felt sure of his election, but he would lose
+that grand place at the top of the poll to which he had taught
+himself to look so proudly. Soon after noon a cruel speech was made
+to him. "We've about pumped our side dry," said a secretary of a
+Young Men's Association.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean we've polled all our friends?" asked Moggs.</p>
+
+<p>"Pretty nearly, Mr. Moggs. You see our men have nothing to wait for,
+and they came up early." Then Ontario's heart sank within him, and he
+began to think of the shop in Bond Street.</p>
+
+<p>The work of that afternoon in Percycross proved how correct Mr.
+Griffenbottom had been in his judgment. He kept his place at the top
+of the poll. It was soon evident that that could not be shaken. Then
+Westmacott passed by Moggs, and in the next half-hour Sir Thomas did
+so also. This was at two, when Ontario betook himself to the privacy
+of his bedroom at the Cordwainers' Arms. His pluck left him
+altogether, and he found himself unable to face the town as a losing
+candidate. Then for two hours there was a terrible struggle between
+Westmacott and Underwood, during which things were done in the
+desperation of the moment, as to which it might be so difficult to
+give an account, should any subsequent account be required. We all
+know how hard it is to sacrifice the power of winning, when during
+the heat of the contest the power of winning is within our reach. At
+four o'clock the state of the poll was as
+<span class="nowrap">follows:&mdash;</span></p>
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table style="margin: 0 auto">
+  <tr><td>Griffenbottom&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</td><td align="right">1402</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Underwood</td>                      <td align="right">1007</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Westmacott</td>                     <td align="right">984</td></tr>
+  <tr><td>Moggs</td>                          <td align="right">821</td></tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>When the chairmen and presidents waited upon Moggs, telling him of
+the final result, and informing him that he must come to the hustings
+and make a speech, they endeavoured to console him by an assurance
+that he, and he alone, had fought the fight fairly. "They'll both be
+unseated, you know, as sure as eggs," said the president. "It can't
+be otherwise. They've been busy up in a little room in Petticoat
+Court all the afternoon, and the men have been getting as much as
+fifteen shillings a head!" Moggs was not consoled, but he did make
+his speech. It was poor and vapid;&mdash;but still there was just enough
+of manhood left in him for that. As soon as his speech had been
+spoken he escaped up to London by the night mail train. Westmacott
+also spoke; but announcement was made on behalf of the members of the
+borough that they were, both of them, in their beds.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c30" id="c30"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XXX.</h3>
+<h4>"MISS MARY IS IN LUCK."<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>The election took place on a Tuesday,&mdash;Tuesday, the 17th of October.
+On the following day one of the members received a visit in his
+bedroom at the Percy Standard which was very pleasant to him. His
+daughter Patience had come down to nurse Sir Thomas and take him back
+to Fulham. Sir Thomas had refused to allow any message to be sent
+home on the day on which the accident had occurred. On the following
+morning he had telegraphed to say that his arm had been broken, but
+that he was doing very well. And on the Wednesday Patience was with
+him.</p>
+
+<p>In spite of the broken arm it was a pleasant meeting. For the last
+fortnight Sir Thomas had not only not seen a human being with whom he
+could sympathise, but had been constrained to associate with people
+who were detestable to him. His horror of Griffenbottom, his disgust
+at Trigger, his fear of Mr. Pabsby's explanations, and his inability
+to cope with Messrs. Spicer and Roodylands when they spoke of mustard
+and boots, had been almost too much for him. The partial seclusion
+occasioned by his broken arm had been a godsend to him. In such a
+state he was prepared to feel that his daughter's presence was an
+angel's visit. And even to him his success had something of the
+pleasure of a triumph. Of course he was pleased to have won the seat.
+And though whispers of threats as to a petition had already reached
+him, he was able in these, the first hours of his membership, to
+throw his fears on that head behind him. The man must be of a most
+cold temperament who, under such circumstances, cannot allow himself
+some short enjoyment of his new toy. It was his at least for the
+time, and he probably told himself that threatened folk lived long.
+That Patience should take glory in the victory was a matter of
+course. "Dear papa," she said, "if you can only get your arm well
+again!"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't suppose there is any cause for fear as to that."</p>
+
+<p>"But a broken arm is a great misfortune," said Patience.</p>
+
+<p>"Well;&mdash;yes. One can't deny that. And three Percycross doctors are
+three more misfortunes. I must get home as soon as I can."</p>
+
+<p>"You mustn't be rash, papa, even to escape from Percycross. But, oh,
+papa; we are so happy and so proud. It is such an excellent thing
+that you should be in Parliament again."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know that, my dear."</p>
+
+<p>"We feel it so,&mdash;Clary and I,&mdash;and so does Mary. I can't tell you the
+sort of anxiety we were in all day yesterday. First we got the
+telegram about your arm,&mdash;and then Stemm came down at eight and told
+us that you were returned. Stemm was quite humane on the occasion."</p>
+
+<p>"Poor Stemm!&mdash;I don't know what he'll have to do."</p>
+
+<p>"It won't matter to him, papa;&mdash;will it? And then he told me another
+piece of news."</p>
+
+<p>"What is it?"</p>
+
+<p>"You won't like it, papa. We didn't like it at all."</p>
+
+<p>"What is it, my dear?"</p>
+
+<p>"Stemm says that Ralph has sold all the Newton Priory estate to his
+uncle."</p>
+
+<p>"It is the best thing he could do."</p>
+
+<p>"Really, papa?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think so. He must have done that or made some disreputable
+marriage."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think he would have done that," said Patience.</p>
+
+<p>"But he was going to do it. He had half-engaged himself to some
+tailor's daughter. Indeed, up to the moment of your telling me this I
+thought he would marry her." Poor Clary! So Patience said to herself
+as she heard this. "He had got himself into such a mess that the best
+thing he could do was to sell his interest to his uncle. The estate
+will go to a better fellow, though out of the proper line."</p>
+
+<p>Then Patience told her father that she had brought a letter for him
+which had been given to her that morning by Stemm, who had met her at
+the station.</p>
+
+<p>"I think," she said, "that it comes from some of the Newton family
+because of the crest and the Basingstoke postmark." Then the letter
+was brought;&mdash;and as it concerns much the thread of our story, it
+shall be given to the
+<span class="nowrap">reader;&mdash;</span><br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="jright">Newton Priory, October 17, 186&mdash;.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">My Dear Sir
+Thomas Underwood</span>,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>I write to you with the sanction, or rather at the
+instigation, of my father to ask your permission to become
+a suitor to your niece, Miss Bonner. You will probably
+have heard, or at least will hear, that my father has made
+arrangements with his nephew Ralph, by which the reversion
+of the Newton property will belong to my father. It is his
+intention to leave the estate to me, and he permits me to
+tell you that he will consent to any such settlement in
+the case of my marriage, as would have been usual, had I
+been his legitimate heir. I think it best to be frank
+about this, as I should not have ventured to propose such
+a marriage either to you or to Miss Bonner, had not my
+father's solicitude succeeded in placing me in
+circumstances which may, perhaps, be regarded as in part
+compensating the great misfortune of my birth.</p>
+
+<p>It may probably be right that I should add that I have
+said no word on this subject to Miss Bonner. I have
+hitherto felt myself constrained by the circumstances to
+which I have alluded from acting as other men may act.
+Should you be unwilling to concede that the advantages of
+fortune which have now fallen in my way justify me in
+proposing to myself such a marriage, I hope that you will
+at least excuse my application to yourself.</p>
+
+<p class="ind10">Very faithfully yours,</p>
+
+<p class="ind15"><span class="smallcaps">Ralph Newton</span>.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>Sir Thomas read the letter twice before he spoke a word to his
+daughter. Then, after pausing with it for a moment in his hand, he
+threw it to her across the bed. "Miss Mary is in luck," he said;&mdash;"in
+very great luck. It is a magnificent property, and as far as I can
+see, one of the finest young fellows I ever met. You understand about
+his birth?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," said Patience, almost in a whisper.</p>
+
+<p>"It might be a hindrance to him in some circumstances; but not here.
+It is nothing here. Did you know of this?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, indeed."</p>
+
+<p>"Nor Mary?"</p>
+
+<p>"It will be quite a surprise to her. I am sure it will."</p>
+
+<p>"You think, then, that there has been nothing said,&mdash;not a word about
+it?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure there has not, papa. Clarissa had some joke with
+Mary,&mdash;quite as a joke."</p>
+
+<p>"Then there has been a joke?"</p>
+
+<p>"It meant nothing. And as for Mr. Newton, he could not have dreamed
+of anything of the kind. We all liked him."</p>
+
+<p>"So did I. The property will be much better with him than with the
+other. Mary is a very lucky girl. That's all I can say. As for the
+letter, it's the best letter I ever read in my life."</p>
+
+<p>There was some delay before Sir Thomas could write an answer to young
+Newton. It was, indeed, his left arm that had suffered; but even with
+so much of power abstracted, writing is not an easy task. And this
+was a letter the answering of which could not be deputed to any
+secretary. On the third day after its receipt Sir Thomas did manage
+with much difficulty to get a reply written.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">Dear Mr. Newton</span>,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>I have had my left arm broken in the election here. Hence
+the delay. I can have no objection. Your letter does you
+infinite honour. I presume you know that my niece has no
+fortune.</p>
+
+<p class="ind10">Yours, most sincerely,</p>
+
+<p class="ind12"><span class="smallcaps">Thomas Underwood</span>.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>"What a pity it is," said Sir Thomas, "that a man can't have a broken
+arm in answering all letters. I should have had to write ever so much
+had I been well. And yet I could not have said a word more that would
+have been of any use."</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas was kept an entire week at the Percycross Standard after
+his election was over before the three doctors and the innkeeper
+between them would allow him to be moved. During this time there was
+very much discussion between the father and daughter as to Mary's
+prospects; and a word or two was said inadvertently which almost
+opened the father's eyes as to the state of his younger daughter's
+affections. It is sometimes impossible to prevent the betrayal of a
+confidence, when the line between betrayal and non-betrayal is finely
+drawn. It was a matter of course that there should be much said about
+that other Ralph, the one now disinherited and dispossessed, who had
+so long and so intimately been known to them; and it was almost
+impossible for Patience not to show the cause of her great grief. It
+might be, as her father said, that the property would be better in
+the hands of this other young man; but Patience knew that her
+sympathies were with the spendthrift, and with the dearly-loved
+sister who loved the spendthrift. Since Clarissa had come to speak so
+openly of her love, to assert it so loudly, and to protest that
+nothing could or should shake it, Patience had been unable not to
+hope that the heir might at last prove himself worthy to be her
+sister's husband. Then they heard that his inheritance was sold. "It
+won't make the slightest difference to me," said Clary almost
+triumphantly, as she discussed the matter with Patience the evening
+before the journey to Percycross. "If he were a beggar it would be
+the same." To Patience, however, the news of the sale had been a
+great blow. And now her father told her that this young man had been
+thinking of marrying another girl, a tailor's daughter;&mdash;that such a
+marriage had been almost fixed. Surely it would be better that steps
+should be taken to wean her sister from such a passion! But yet she
+did not tell the secret. She only allowed a word to escape her, from
+which it might be half surmised that Clarissa would be a sufferer.
+"What difference will it make to Clary?" asked Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"I have sometimes thought that he cared for her," said Patience
+cunningly. "He would hardly have been so often at the villa, unless
+there had been something."</p>
+
+<p>"There must be nothing of that kind," said Sir Thomas. "He is a
+spendthrift, and quite unworthy of her. I will not have him at the
+villa. He must be told so. If you see anything of that kind, you must
+inform me. Do you understand, Patience?" Patience understood well
+enough, but knew not what reply to make. She could not tell her
+sister's secret. And if there were faults in the matter, was it not
+her father's fault? Why had he not lived with them, so that he might
+see these things with his own eyes? "There must be nothing of that
+kind," said Sir Thomas, with a look of anger in his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>When the week was over, the innkeeper and the doctors submitting with
+but a bad grace, the member for Percycross returned to London with
+his arm bound up in a sling. The town was by this time quite
+tranquil. The hustings had been taken down, and the artizans of the
+borough were back at their labours, almost forgetting Moggs and his
+great doctrines. That there was to be a petition was a matter of
+course. It was at least a matter of course that there should be
+threats of a petition. The threat of course reached Sir Thomas's
+ears, but nothing further was said to him. When he and his daughter
+went down to the station in the Standard fly, it almost seemed that
+he was no more to the borough than any other man might be with a
+broken arm. "I shall not speak of this to Mary," he said on his
+journey home. "Nor should you, I think, my dear."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course not, papa."</p>
+
+<p>"He should have the opportunity of changing his mind after receiving
+my letter, if he so pleases. For her sake I hope he will not."
+Patience said nothing further. She loved her cousin Mary, and
+certainly had felt no dislike for this fortunate young man. But she
+could not so quickly bring herself to sympathise with interests which
+seemed to be opposed to those of her sister.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c31" id="c31"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XXXI.</h3>
+<h4>IT IS ALL SETTLED.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>In the last half of this month of October the Squire at Newton was
+very pressing on his lawyers up in London to settle the affairs of
+the property. He was most anxious to make a new will, but could not
+do so till his nephew had completed the sale, and till the money had
+been paid. He had expressed a desire to go up to London and remain
+there till all was done; but against this his son had expostulated,
+urging that his father could not hasten the work up in London by his
+presence, but would certainly annoy and flurry everybody in the
+lawyer's office. Mr. Carey had promised that the thing should be done
+with as little delay as possible, but Mr. Carey was not a man to be
+driven. Then again the Squire would be a miserable man up in London,
+whereas at the Priory he might be so happy among the new works which
+he had already inaugurated. The son's arguments
+prevailed,&mdash;especially that argument as to the pleasure of the
+Squire's present occupations,&mdash;and the Squire consented to remain at
+home.</p>
+
+<p>There seemed to be an infinity of things to be done, and to the
+Squire himself the world appeared to require more of happy activity
+than at any previous time of his life. He got up early, and was out
+about the place before breakfast. He had endless instructions to give
+to everybody about the estate. The very air of the place was sweeter
+to him than heretofore. The labourers were less melancholy at their
+work. The farmers smiled oftener. The women and children were more
+dear to him. Everything around him had now been gifted with the grace
+of established ownership. His nephew Gregory, after that last dinner
+of which mention was made, hardly came near him during the next
+fortnight. Once or twice the Squire went up to the church during week
+days that he might catch the parson, and even called at the
+parsonage. But Gregory was unhappy, and would not conceal his
+unhappiness. "I suppose it will wear off," said the Squire to his
+son.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course it will, sir."</p>
+
+<p>"It shall not be my fault if it does not. I wonder whether it would
+have made him happier to see the property parcelled out and sold to
+the highest bidder after my death."</p>
+
+<p>"It is not unnatural, if you think of it," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps not; and God forbid that I should be angry with him because
+he cannot share my triumph. I feel, however, that I have done my
+duty, and that nobody has a right to quarrel with me."</p>
+
+<p>And then there were the hunters. Every sportsman knows, and the wives
+and daughters of all sportsmen know, how important a month in the
+calendar is the month of October. The real campaign begins in
+November; and even for those who do not personally attend to the
+earlier work of the kennel,&mdash;or look after cub-hunting, which during
+the last ten days of October is apt to take the shape of genuine
+hunting,&mdash;October has charms of its own and peculiar duties. It is
+the busiest month in the year in regard to horses. Is physic needed?
+In the Squire's stables physic was much eschewed, and the Squire's
+horses were usually in good condition. But it is needful to know,
+down to a single line on the form, whether this or that animal wants
+more exercise,&mdash;and if so, of what nature. We hold that for hunters
+which are worked regularly throughout the season, and which live in
+loose boxes summer and winter, but little exercise is required except
+in the months of September and October. Let them have been fed on
+oats throughout the year, and a good groom will bring them into form
+in two months. Such at least was the order at the Newton stables; and
+during this autumn,&mdash;especially during these last days of
+October,&mdash;this order was obeyed with infinite alacrity, and with many
+preparations for coming joys. And there are other cares, less onerous
+indeed, but still needful. What good sportsman is too proud, or even
+too much engaged, to inspect his horse's gear,&mdash;and his own? Only let
+his horses' gear stand first in his mind! Let him be sure that the
+fit of a saddle is of more moment than the fit of a pair of
+breeches;&mdash;that in riding the length, strength, and nature of the bit
+will avail more,&mdash;should at least avail more,&mdash;than the depth, form,
+and general arrangement of the flask; that the question of boots,
+great as it certainly is, should be postponed to the question of
+shoes; that a man's seat should be guarded by his girths rather than
+by his spurs; that no run has ever been secured by the brilliancy of
+the cravat, though many a run has been lost by the insufficiency of a
+stirrup-leather. In the stables and saddle-room, and throughout the
+whole establishment of the house at Newton, all these matters were
+ever sedulously regarded; but they had never been regarded with more
+joyful zeal than was given to them during this happy month. There was
+not a stable-boy about the place who did not know and feel that their
+Mr. Ralph was now to take his place in the hunting-field as the heir
+to Newton Priory.</p>
+
+<p>And there were other duties at Newton of which the crowd of
+riding-men know little or nothing. Were there foxes in the coverts?
+The Squire had all his life been a staunch preserver, thinking more
+of a vixen with her young cubs than he would of any lady in the land
+with her first-born son. During the last spring and summer, however,
+things had made him uncomfortable; and he had not personally inquired
+after the well-being of each nursery in the woods as had been his
+wont. Ralph, indeed, had been on the alert, and the keepers had not
+become slack;&mdash;but there had been a whisper about the place that the
+master didn't care so much about the foxes as he used to do. They
+soon found out that he cared enough now. The head-keeper opened his
+eyes very wide when he was told that the Squire would take it as a
+personal offence if the coverts were ever drawn blank. It was to be
+understood through the county that at Newton Priory everything now
+was happy and prosperous. "We'll get up a breakfast and a meet on the
+lawn before the end of the month," said the Squire to his son. "I
+hate hunt breakfasts myself, but the farmers like them." From all
+which the reader will perceive that the Squire was in earnest.</p>
+
+<p>Ralph hunted all through the latter days of October, but the Squire
+himself would not go out till the first regular day of the season. "I
+like a law, and I like to stick to it," he said. "Five months is
+enough for the horses in all conscience." At last the happy day
+arrived,&mdash;Wednesday, the 2nd of November,&mdash;and the father and son
+started together for the meet in a dog-cart on four wheels with two
+horses. On such occasions the Squire always drove himself, and
+professed to go no more than eight miles an hour. The meet was over
+in the Berkshire county in the neighbourhood of Swallowfield, about
+twelve miles distant, and the Squire was in his seat precisely at
+half-past nine. Four horses had gone on in the charge of two grooms,
+for the Squire had insisted on Ralph riding with a second horse. "If
+you don't, I won't," he had said; and Ralph of course had yielded.
+Just at this time there had grown up in the young man's mind a
+feeling that his father was almost excessive in the exuberance of his
+joy,&mdash;that he was displaying too ostensibly to the world at large the
+triumph which he had effected. But the checking of this elation was
+almost impossible to the son on whose behalf it was exhibited.
+Therefore, to Ralph's own regret, the two horses had on this morning
+been sent on to Barford Heath. The Squire was not kept waiting a
+moment. Ralph lit his cigar and jumped in, and the Squire started in
+all comfort and joy. The road led them by Darvell's farm, and for a
+moment the carriage was stopped that a word might be spoken to some
+workman. "You'd better have a couple more men, Miles. It won't do to
+let the frost catch us," said the Squire. Miles touched his hat, and
+assented. "The house will look very well from here," said the Squire,
+pointing down through a line of trees. Ralph assented cheerily; and
+yet he thought that his father was spending more money than Darvell's
+house need to have cost him.</p>
+
+<p>They reached Barford Heath a few minutes before eleven, and there was
+a little scene upon the occasion. It was the first recognised meet of
+the season, and the Squire had not been out before. It was now known
+to almost every man there that the owner of Newton Priory had at last
+succeeded in obtaining the reversion of the estate for his own son;
+and though the matter was one which hardly admitted of open
+congratulation, still there were words spoken and looks given, and a
+little additional pressure in the shaking of hands,&mdash;all of which
+seemed to mark a triumph. That other Ralph had not been known in the
+county. This Ralph was very popular; and though of course there was
+existent some amount of inner unexpressed feeling that the proper
+line of an old family was being broken, that for the moment was kept
+in abeyance, and all men's faces wore smiles as they were turned upon
+the happy Squire. He hardly carried himself with as perfect a
+moderation as his son would have wished. He was a little loud,&mdash;not
+saying much to any one openly about the property, uttering merely a
+word or two in a low voice in answer to the kind expressions of one
+or two specially intimate friends; but in discussing other
+matters,&mdash;the appearance of the pack, the prospects of the season,
+the state of the county,&mdash;he was not quite like himself. In his
+ordinary way he was a quiet man, not often heard at much distance,
+and contented to be noted as Newton of Newton rather than as a man
+commanding attention by his conduct before other men. There certainly
+was a difference to-day, and it was of that kind which wine produces
+on some who are not habitual drinkers. The gases of his life were in
+exuberance, and he was as a balloon insufficiently freighted with
+ballast. His buoyancy, unless checked, might carry him too high among
+the clouds. All this Ralph saw, and kept himself a little aloof. If
+there were aught amiss, there was no help for it on his part; and,
+after all, what was amiss was so very little amiss.</p>
+
+<p>"We'll draw the small gorses first," said the old master, addressing
+himself specially to Mr. Newton, "and then we'll go into Barford
+Wood."</p>
+
+<p>"Just so," said the Squire; "the gorses first by all means. I
+remember when there was always a fox at Barford Gorse. Come along. I
+hate to see time wasted. You'll be glad to hear we're full of foxes
+at Newton. There were two litters bred in Bostock Spring;&mdash;two, by
+Jove! in that little place. Dan,"&mdash;Dan was his second
+horseman,&mdash;"I'll ride the young one this morning. You have Paddywhack
+fresh for me about one." Paddywhack was the old Irish horse which had
+carried him so long, and has been mentioned before. There was nothing
+remarkable in all this. There was no word spoken that might not have
+been said with a good grace by any old sportsman, who knew the men
+around him, and who had long preserved foxes for their use;&mdash;but
+still it was felt that the Squire was a little loud. Ralph the son,
+on whose behalf all this triumph was felt, was silenter than usual,
+and trotted along at the rear of the long line of horsemen.</p>
+
+<p>One specially intimate friend of his,&mdash;a man whom he really
+loved,&mdash;hung back with the object of congratulating him. "Ralph,"
+said George Morris, of Watheby Grove, a place about four miles from
+the Priory, "I must tell you how glad I am of all this."</p>
+
+<p>"All right, old fellow."</p>
+
+<p>"Come; you might show out a little to me. Isn't it grand? We shall
+always have you among us now. Don't tell me that you are
+indifferent."</p>
+
+<p>"I think enough about it, God knows, George. But it seems to me that
+the less said about it the better. My father has behaved nobly to me,
+and of course I like to feel that I've got a place in the world
+marked out for me. <span class="nowrap">But&mdash;"</span></p>
+
+<p>"But what?"</p>
+
+<p>"You understand it all, George. There shouldn't be rejoicing in a
+family because the heir has lost his inheritance."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't look at it in that line."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't look at it in any other," said Ralph. "Mind you, I'm not
+saying that it isn't all right. What has happened to him has come of
+his own doings. I only mean that we ought to be quiet about it. My
+father's spirits are so high, that he can hardly control them."</p>
+
+<p>"By George, I don't wonder at it," said George Morris.</p>
+
+<p>There were three little bits of gorse about half-a-mile from Barford
+Wood, as to which it seemed that expectation did not run high, but
+from the last of which an old fox broke before the hounds were in it.
+It was so sudden a thing that the pack was on the scent and away
+before half-a-dozen men had seen what had happened. Our Squire had
+been riding with Cox, the huntsman, who had ventured to say how happy
+he was that the young squire was to be the Squire some day. "So am I,
+Cox; so am I," said the Squire. "And I hope he'll be a friend to you
+for many a year."</p>
+
+<p>"By the holy, there's Dick a-hallooing," said Cox, forgetting at once
+the comparatively unimportant affairs of Newton Priory in the
+breaking of this unexpected fox. "Golly;&mdash;if he ain't away, Squire."
+The hounds had gone at once to the whip's voice, and were in full cry
+in less time than it has taken to tell the story of "the find." Cox
+was with them, and so was the Squire. There were two or three others,
+and one of the whips. The start, indeed, was not much, but the burst
+was so sharp, and the old fox ran so straight, that it sufficed to
+enable those who had got the lead to keep it. "Tally-ho!" shouted the
+Squire, as he saw the animal making across a stubble field before the
+hounds, with only one fence between him and the quarry. "Tally-ho!"
+It was remarked afterwards that the Squire had never been known to
+halloo to a fox in that way before. "Just like one of the young 'uns,
+or a fellow out of the town," said Cox, when expressing his
+astonishment.</p>
+
+<p>But the Squire never rode a run better in his life. He gave a lead to
+the field, and he kept it. "I wouldn't 'a spoilt him by putting my
+nose afore 'is, were it ever so," said Cox afterwards. "He went as
+straight as a schoolboy at Christmas, and the young horse he rode
+never made a mistake. Let men say what they will, a young horse will
+carry a man a brush like that better than an old one. It was very
+short. They had run their fox, pulled him down, broken him up, and
+eaten him within half an hour. Jack Graham, who is particular about
+those things, and who was, at any rate, near enough to see it all,
+said that it was exactly twenty-two minutes and a half. He might be
+right enough in that, but when he swore that they had gone over four
+miles of ground, he was certainly wrong. They killed within a field
+of Heckfield church, and Heckfield church can't be four miles from
+Barford Gorse. That they went as straight as a line everybody knew.
+Besides, they couldn't have covered the ground in the time. The pace
+was good, no doubt; but Jacky Graham is always given to
+exaggeration."</p>
+
+<p>The Squire was very proud of his performance, and, when Ralph came
+up, was loud in praise of the young horse. "Never was carried so well
+in my life,&mdash;never," said he. "I knew he was good, but I didn't know
+he would jump like that. I wouldn't take a couple of hundred for
+him." This was still a little loud; but the Squire at this moment had
+the sense of double triumph within, and was to be forgiven. It was
+admitted on all sides that he had ridden the run uncommonly well.
+"Just like a young man, by Jove," said Jack Graham. "Like what sort
+of a young man?" asked George Harris, who had come up at the heel of
+the hunt with Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"And where were you, Master Ralph?" said the Squire to his son.</p>
+
+<p>"I fancy I just began to know they were running by the time you were
+killing your fox," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"You should have your eyes better about you, my boy; shouldn't he,
+Cox?"</p>
+
+<p>"The young squire ain't often in the wrong box," said the huntsman.</p>
+
+<p>"He wasn't in the right one to-day," said the Squire. This was still
+a little loud. There was too much of that buoyancy which might have
+come from drink; but which, with the Squire, was the effect of that
+success for which he had been longing rather than hoping all his
+life.</p>
+
+<p>From Heckfield they trotted back to Barford Wood, the master
+resolving that he would draw his country in the manner he had
+proposed to himself in the morning. There was some little repining at
+this, partly because the distance was long, and partly because
+Barford Woods were too large to be popular. "Hunting is over for the
+day," said Jack Graham. To this view of the case the Squire, who had
+now changed his horse, objected greatly. "We shall find in Barford
+big wood as sure as the sun rises," said he. "Yes," said Jack, "and
+run into the little wood and back to the big wood, and so on till we
+hate every foot of the ground. I never knew anything from Barford
+Woods yet for which a donkey wasn't as good as a horse." The Squire
+again objected, and told the story of a run from Barford Woods twenty
+years ago which had taken them pretty nearly on to Ascot Heath.
+"Things have changed since that," said Jack Graham. "Very much for
+the better," said the Squire. Ralph was with him then, and still felt
+that his father was too loud. Whether he meant that hunting was
+better now than in the old days twenty years ago, or that things as
+regarded the Newton estate were better, was not explained; but all
+who heard him speak imagined that he was alluding to the latter
+subject.</p>
+
+<p>Drawing Barford Woods is a very different thing than drawing Barford
+Gorses. Anybody may see a fox found at the gorses who will simply
+take the trouble to be with the hounds when they go into the covert;
+but in the wood it becomes a great question with a sportsman whether
+he will stick to the pack or save his horse and loiter about till he
+hears that a fox has been found. The latter is certainly the commoner
+course, and perhaps the wiser. And even when the fox has been found
+it may be better for the expectant sportsman to loiter about till he
+breaks, giving some little attention to the part of the wood in which
+the work of hunting may be progressing. There are those who
+systematically stand still or roam about very slowly;&mdash;others, again,
+who ride and cease riding by spurts, just as they become weary or
+impatient;&mdash;and others who, with dogged perseverance, stick always to
+the track of the hounds. For years past the Squire was to have been
+found among the former and more prudent set of riders, but on this
+occasion he went gallantly through the thickest of the underwood,
+close at the huntsman's heels. "You'll find it rather nasty, Mr.
+Newton, among them brakes," Cox had said to him. But the Squire had
+answered that he hadn't got his Sunday face on, and had persevered.</p>
+
+<p>They were soon on a fox in Barford Wood;&mdash;but being on a fox in
+Barford Wood was very different from finding a fox in Barford Gorse.
+Out of the gorse a fox must go; but in the big woods he might choose
+to remain half the day. And then the chances were that he would
+either beat the hounds at last, or else be eaten in covert. "It's a
+very pretty place to ride about and smoke and drink one's friend's
+sherry." That was Jack Graham's idea of hunting in Barford Woods, and
+a great deal of that kind of thing was going on to-day. Now and then
+there was a little excitement, and cries of "away" were heard. Men
+would burst out of the wood here and there, ride about for a few
+minutes, and then go in again. Cox swore that they had thrice changed
+their fox, and was beginning to be a little short in his temper; the
+whips' horses were becoming jaded, and the master had once or twice
+answered very crossly when questioned. "How the devil do you suppose
+I'm to know," he had said to a young gentleman who had inquired,
+"where they were?" But still the Squire kept on zealously, and
+reminded Ralph that some of the best things of the season were often
+lost by men becoming slack towards evening. At that time it was
+nearly four o'clock, and Cox was clearly of opinion that he couldn't
+kill a fox in Barford Woods that day.</p>
+
+<p>But still the hounds were hunting. "Darned if they ain't back to the
+little wood again," said Cox to the Squire. They were at that moment
+in an extreme corner of an outlying copse, and between them and
+Barford Little Wood was a narrow strip of meadow, over which they had
+passed half-a-dozen times that day. Between the copse and the meadow
+there ran a broad ditch with a hedge,&mdash;a rotten made-up fence of
+sticks and bushes, which at the corner had been broken down by the
+constant passing of horses, till, at this hour of the day, there was
+hardly at that spot anything of a fence to be jumped. "We must cross
+with them again, Cox," said the Squire. At that moment he was nearest
+to the gap, and close to him were Ralph and George Morris, as well as
+the huntsman. But Mr. Newton's horse was standing sideways to the
+hedge, and was not facing the passage. He, nevertheless, prepared to
+pass it first, and turned his horse sharply at it; as he did so, some
+bush or stick caught the animal in the flank, and he, in order to
+escape the impediment, clambered up the bank sideways, not taking the
+gap, and then balanced himself to make his jump over the ditch. But
+he was entangled among the sticks and thorns and was on broken
+ground, and jumping short, came down into the ditch. The Squire fell
+heavily head-long on to the field, and the horse, with no further
+effort of his own, but unable to restrain himself, rolled over his
+master. It was a place as to which any horseman would say that a
+child might ride through if on a donkey without a chance of danger,
+and yet the three men who saw it knew at once that the Squire had had
+a bad fall. Ralph was first through the gap, and was off his own
+horse as the old Irish hunter, with a groan, collected himself and
+got upon his legs. In rising, the animal was very careful not to
+strike his late rider with his feet; but it was too evident to Cox
+that the beast in his attempt to rise had given a terrible squeeze to
+the prostrate Squire with his saddle.</p>
+
+<p>In a moment the three men were on their knees, and it was clear that
+Mr. Newton was insensible. "I'm afraid he's hurt," said Morris. Cox
+merely shook his head, as he gently attempted to raise the Squire's
+shoulder against his own. Ralph, as pale as death, held his father's
+hand in one of his own, and with the other endeavoured to feel the
+pulse of the heart. Presently, before any one else came up to them, a
+few drops of blood came from between the sufferer's lips. Cox again
+shook his head. "We'd better get him on to a gate, Mr. Ralph, and
+into a house," said the huntsman. They were quickly surrounded by
+others, and the gate was soon there, and within twenty minutes a
+surgeon was standing over our poor old friend. "No; he wasn't dead,"
+the surgeon said; "but&mdash;." "What is it?" asked Ralph, impetuously.
+The surgeon took the master of the hunt aside and whispered into his
+ear that Mr. Newton was a dead man. His spine had been so injured by
+the severity of his own fall, and by the weight of the horse rolling
+on him while he was still doubled up on the ground, that it was
+impossible that he should ever speak again. So the surgeon said, and
+Squire Newton never did speak again.</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table style="margin: 0 auto" cellpadding="4px">
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">
+      <a href="images/238-l.jpg">
+      <img src="images/238-t.jpg" width="540"
+      alt="In a moment the three men were on their knees,
+      and it was clear that Mr. Newton was insensible." /></a>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">
+      <span class="caption">In a moment the three men were on their knees,<br />
+      and it was clear that Mr. Newton was insensible.<br />
+      Click to <a href="images/238-l.jpg">ENLARGE</a></span>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>He was carried home to the house of a gentleman who lived in those
+parts, in order that he might be saved the longer journey to the
+Priory;&mdash;but the length of the road mattered but little to him. He
+never spoke again, nor was he sensible for a moment. Ralph remained
+with him during the night,&mdash;of course,&mdash;and so did the surgeon. At
+five o'clock on the following morning his last breath had been drawn,
+and his life had passed away from him. George Morris also had
+remained with them,&mdash;or rather had come back to the house after
+having ridden home and changed his clothes, and it was by him that
+the tidings were at last told to the wretched son. "It is all over,
+Ralph!" "I suppose so!" said Ralph, hoarsely. "There has never been a
+doubt," said George, "since we heard of the manner of the accident."
+"I suppose not," said Ralph. The young man sat silent, and composed,
+and made no expression of his grief. He did not weep, nor did his
+face even wear that look of woe which is so common to us all when
+grief comes to us. They two were still in the room in which the body
+lay, and were standing close together over the fire. Ralph was
+leaning on his elbow upon the chimneypiece, and from time to time
+Morris would press his arm. They had been standing together thus for
+some twenty minutes when Morris asked a question.</p>
+
+<p>"The affair of the property had been settled, Ralph?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't talk of that now," said the other angrily. Then, after a
+pause, he put up his face and spoke again. "Nothing has been
+settled," he said. "The estate belongs to my cousin Ralph. He should
+be informed at once,&mdash;at once. He should he telegraphed to, to come
+to Newton. Would you mind doing it? He should be informed at once."</p>
+
+<p>"There is time enough for that," said George Morris.</p>
+
+<p>"If you will not I must," replied Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>The telegram was at once sent in duplicate, addressed to that other
+Ralph,&mdash;Ralph who was declared by the Squire's son to be once more
+Ralph the heir,&mdash;addressed to him both at his lodgings in London and
+at the Moonbeam. When the messenger had been sent to the nearest
+railway station with the message, Ralph and his friend started for
+Newton Priory together. Poor Ralph still wore his boots and breeches
+and the red coat in which he had ridden on the former fatal day, and
+in which he had passed the night by the side of his dying father's
+bed. On their journey homeward they met Gregory, who had heard of the
+accident, and had at once started to see his uncle.</p>
+
+<p>"It is all over!" said Ralph. Gregory, who was in his gig, dropped
+the reins and sat in silence. "It is all done. Let us get on, George.
+It is horrid to me to be in this coat. Get on quickly. Yes, indeed;
+everything is done now."</p>
+
+<p>He had lost a father who had loved him dearly, and whom he had dearly
+loved,&mdash;a father whose opportunities of showing his active love had
+been greater even than fall to the lot of most parents. A father
+gives naturally to his son, but the Squire had been almost unnatural
+in his desire to give. There had never been a more devoted father,
+one more intensely anxious for his son's welfare;&mdash;and Ralph had
+known this, and loved his father accordingly. Nevertheless, he could
+not keep himself from remembering that he had now lost more than a
+father. The estate as to which the Squire had been so full of
+interest,&mdash;as to which he, Ralph, had so constantly endeavoured to
+protect himself from an interest that should be too absorbing,&mdash;had
+in the last moment escaped him. And now, in this sad and solemn hour,
+he could not keep himself from thinking of that loss. As he had stood
+in the room in which the dead body of his father had been lying, he
+had cautioned himself against this feeling. But still he had known
+that it had been present to him. Let him do what he would with his
+own thoughts, he could not hinder them from running back to the fact
+that by his father's sudden death he had lost the possession of the
+Newton estate. He hated himself for remembering such a fact at such a
+time, but he could not keep himself from remembering it. His father
+had fought a life-long battle to make him the heir of Newton, and had
+perished in the moment of his victory,&mdash;but before his victory was
+achieved. Ralph had borne his success well while he had thought that
+his success was certain; but now&mdash;! He knew that all such subjects
+should be absent from his mind with such cause for grief as weighed
+upon him at this moment,&mdash;but he could not drive away the reflection.
+That other Ralph Newton had won upon the post. He would endeavour to
+bear himself well, but he could not but remember that he had been
+beaten. And there was the father who had loved him so well lying
+dead!</p>
+
+<p>When he reached the house, George Morris was still with him. Gregory,
+to whom he had spoken hardly a word, did not come beyond the
+parsonage. Ralph could not conceal from himself, could hardly conceal
+from his outward manner, the knowledge that Gregory must be aware
+that his cause had triumphed. And yet he hated himself for thinking
+of these things, and believed himself to be brutal in that he could
+not conceal his thoughts. "I'll send over for a few things, and stay
+with you for a day or two," said George Morris. "It would be bad that
+you should be left here alone." But Ralph would not permit the visit.
+"My father's nephew will be here to-morrow," he said, "and I would
+rather that he should find me alone." In thinking of it all, he
+remembered that he must withdraw his claims to the hand of Mary
+Bonner, now that he was nobody. He could have no pretension now to
+offer his hand to any such girl as Mary Bonner!</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c32" id="c32"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XXXII.</h3>
+<h4>SIR THOMAS AT HOME.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>Sir Thomas Underwood was welcomed home at the villa with a double
+amount of sympathy and glory,&mdash;that due to him for his victory being
+added to that which came to him on the score of his broken arm. A
+hero is never so much a hero among women as when he has been wounded
+in the battle. The very weakness which throws him into female hands
+imparts a moiety of his greatness to the women who for the while
+possess him, and creates a partnership in heroism, in which the
+feminine half delights to make the most of its own share. During the
+week at Percycross and throughout the journey Patience had had this
+half all to herself; and there had arisen to her considerable
+enjoyment from it as soon as she found that her father would probably
+be none the worse for his accident after a few weeks. She saw more of
+him now than she had done for years, and was able, after a fashion,
+to work her quiet, loving, female will with him, exacting from him an
+obedience to feminine sway such as had not been exercised on him
+since his wife's death. He himself had been humbled, passive, and
+happy. He had taken his gruel, grumbled with modesty, and consoled
+himself with constantly reflecting that he was member of Parliament
+for the borough of Percycross.</p>
+
+<p>During their journey, although Patience was urgent in requiring from
+her father quiescence, lest he should injure himself by too much
+exertion, there were many words spoken both as to Clarissa and Mary
+Bonner. As to poor Clary, Sir Thomas was very decided that if there
+were any truth in the suspicion which had been now roused in his mind
+as to Ralph the heir, the thing must be put an end to at once. Ralph
+who had been the heir was now in possession of that mess of pottage
+for which he had sold his inheritance,&mdash;so said Sir Thomas to his
+daughter,&mdash;and would undoubtedly consume that, as he had consumed the
+other mess which should have lasted him till the inheritance was his
+own. And he told to Patience the whole story as to Polly Neefit,&mdash;the
+whole story, at least, as he had heard it. Ralph had declared to Sir
+Thomas, when discussing the expedience of his proposed marriage with
+the daughter of the breeches-maker, that he was attached to Polly
+Neefit. Sir Thomas had done all he could to dissuade the young man
+from a marriage which, in his eyes, was disgraceful; but he could not
+bring himself to look with favour on affections transferred so
+quickly from the breeches-maker's daughter to his own. There must be
+no question of a love affair between Clary and the foolish heir who
+had disinherited himself by his folly. All this was doubly painful to
+Patience. She suffered first for her sister, the violence of whose
+feelings were so well known to her, and so completely understood; and
+then on her own account she was obliged to endure the conviction that
+she was deceiving her father. Although she had allowed something of
+the truth to escape from her, she had not wilfully told her sister's
+secret. But looking at the matter from her father's point of view,
+and hearing all that her father now said, she was brought in guilty
+of hypocrisy in the court of her own conscience.</p>
+
+<p>In that other matter as to Mary Bonner there was much more of
+pleasantness. There could be no possible reason why that other man,
+to whom Fortune was going to be so good, should not marry Mary
+Bonner, if Mary could bring herself to take him into her good graces.
+And of course she would. Such at least was Sir Thomas's opinion. How
+was it possible that a girl like Mary, who had nothing of her own,
+should fail to like a lover who had everything to recommend
+him,&mdash;good looks, good character, good temper, and good fortune.
+Patience did make some protest against this, for the sake of her sex.
+She didn't think, she said, that Mary had ever thought of Mr. Newton
+in that light. "There must be a beginning to such thoughts, of
+course," said Sir Thomas. Patience explained that she had nothing to
+say against Mr. Newton. It would all be very nice and proper, no
+doubt,&mdash;only perhaps Mary might not care for Mr. Newton. "Psha!" said
+Sir Thomas. Sir Thomas seemed to think that the one girl was as much
+bound to fall in love as the other was to abstain from so doing.
+Patience continued her protest,&mdash;but very mildly, because her
+father's arm was in a sling. Then there arose the question whether
+Mary should be told of the young man's letter. Patience thought that
+the young man should be allowed to come and speak for himself. Sir
+Thomas made no objection to the young man's coming. The young man
+might come when he pleased. But Sir Thomas thought it would be well
+that Mary should know what the young man had written. And so they
+reached home.</p>
+
+<p>To be glorified by one worshipping daughter had been pleasant to the
+wounded hero, but to be glorified by two daughters and a niece was
+almost wearisome. On the first evening nothing was said about the
+love troubles or love prospects of the girls. Sir Thomas permitted to
+himself the enjoyment of his glory, with some few signs of impatience
+when the admiration became too strong. He told the whole story of his
+election, lying back among his cushions on the sofa, although
+Patience, with mild persistence, cautioned him against exertion.</p>
+
+<p>"It is very bad that you should have your arm broken, papa," said
+Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>"It is a bore, my dear."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course it is,&mdash;a dreadful bore. But as it is doing so well, I am
+so glad that you went down to Percycross. It is such a great thing
+that you should be in the House again. It does give so much colour to
+our lives here."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope they were not colourless before."</p>
+
+<p>"You know what I mean. It is so nice to feel that you are in
+Parliament."</p>
+
+<p>"It is quite on the cards that I may lose the seat by petition."</p>
+
+<p>"They never can be so cruel," said Mary.</p>
+
+<p>"Cruelty!" said Sir Thomas laughing. "In politics men skin each other
+without the slightest feeling. I do not doubt that Mr. Westmacott
+would ruin me with the most perfect satisfaction, if by doing so he
+could bring the seat within his own reach again; and yet I believe
+Mr. Westmacott to be a kind-hearted, good sort of man. There is a
+theory among Englishmen that in politics no man need spare another.
+To wish that your opponent should fall dead upon the hustings is not
+an uncharitable wish at an election."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, papa!" exclaimed Patience.</p>
+
+<p>"At any rate you are elected," said Clary.</p>
+
+<p>"And threatened folk live long, uncle," said Mary Bonner.</p>
+
+<p>"So they say, my dear. Well, Patience, don't look at me with so much
+reprobation in your eyes, and I will go to bed at once. Being here
+instead of at the Percy Standard does make one inclined to take a
+liberty."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, papa, it is such a delight to have you," said Clary, jumping up
+and kissing her father's forehead. All this was pleasant enough, and
+the first evening came to an end very happily.</p>
+
+<p>The next morning Patience, when she was alone with her father, made a
+request to him with some urgency. "Papa," she said, "do not say
+anything to Clary about Ralph."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not?"</p>
+
+<p>"If there is anything in it, let it die out of itself."</p>
+
+<p>"But is there?"</p>
+
+<p>"How am I to say? Think of it, papa. If I knew it, I could hardly
+tell,&mdash;even you."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not? If I am not to hear the truth from you who is to tell me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Dear papa, don't be angry. There may be a truth which had better not
+be told. What we both want is that Clary shouldn't suffer. If you
+question her she will suffer. You may be sure of this,&mdash;that she will
+obey your wishes."</p>
+
+<p>"How can she obey them, unless she knows them?"</p>
+
+<p>"She shall know them," said Patience. But Sir Thomas would give no
+promise.</p>
+
+<p>On that same day Sir Thomas sent for his niece into his room, and
+there read to her the letter which he had received from the Squire's
+son. It was now the last week of October,&mdash;that short blessed morsel
+of time which to the poor Squire at Newton was the happiest of his
+life. He was now cutting down trees and building farm-houses, and
+looking after his stud in all the glory of his success. Ralph had
+written his letter, and had received his answer,&mdash;and he also was
+successful and glorious. That fatal day on which the fox would not
+break from Barford Woods had not yet arrived. Mary Bonner heard the
+letter read, and listened to Sir Thomas's speech without a word,
+without a blush, and without a sign. Sir Thomas began his speech very
+well, but became rather misty towards the end, when he found himself
+unable to reduce Mary to a state of feminine confusion. "My dear," he
+began, "I have received a letter which I think it is my duty to read
+to you."</p>
+
+<p>"A letter, uncle?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, my dear. Sit down while I read it. I may as well tell you at
+once that it is a letter which has given me very great satisfaction.
+It is from a young gentleman;"&mdash;upon hearing this announcement Mary's
+face assumed a look of settled, collected strength, which never left
+it for a moment during the remainder of the interview,&mdash;"yes; from a
+young gentleman, and I may say that I never read a letter which I
+thought to be more honourable to the writer. It is from Mr. Ralph
+Newton,&mdash;not the Ralph with whom you have found us to be so intimate,
+but from the other who will some day be Mr. Newton of Newton Priory."
+Then Sir Thomas looked into his niece's face, hoping to see there
+something of the flutter of expectant triumph. But there was neither
+flutter nor triumph in Mary's countenance. He read the letter,
+sitting up in his bed, with his left arm in a sling, and then he
+handed it to her. "You had better look at it yourself, my dear." Mary
+took the letter, and sat as though she were reading it. It seemed to
+Sir Thomas that she was reading it with the cold accuracy of a
+cautious attorney;&mdash;but in truth her eyes did not follow a single
+word of the letter. There was neither flutter nor triumph in her
+face, or in the movement of her limbs, or in the quiet, almost
+motionless carriage of her body; but, nevertheless, the pulses of her
+heart beat so strongly, that had all depended on it she could not
+have read a word of the letter. "Well, my dear," said Sir Thomas,
+when he thought that ample time had been given for the perusal. Mary
+simply folded the paper together and returned it into his hands. "I
+have told him, as I was bound to do, my dear, that as far as I was
+concerned, I should be happy to receive him; but that for any other
+answer, I must refer him to you. Of course it will be for you to give
+him what answer your heart dictates. But I may say this,&mdash;and it is
+my duty to say it as your guardian and nearest relative;&mdash;the way in
+which he has put forward his request shows him to be a most
+honourable man; all that I have ever heard of him is in his favour;
+he is a gentleman every inch of him; and as for his prospects in
+life, they are such that they entitle him to address almost any lady
+in the land. Of course you will follow the dictates of your own
+heart, as I said; but I cannot myself fancy any greater good fortune
+that could come in the way of a young woman than the honest
+affections of such a man as this Ralph Newton." Then Sir Thomas
+paused for some reply, but Mary had none ready for him. "Of course I
+have no questions to ask," he said, and then again paused. But still
+Mary did not speak. "I dare say he will be here before long, and I
+hope that he may meet with a happy reception. I at least shall be
+glad to see him, for I hold him in great honour. And as I look upon
+marriage as the happiest lot for all women, and as I think that this
+would be a happy marriage, I do hope,&mdash;I do hope&mdash; But as I said
+before, all that must be left to yourself. Mary, have you nothing to
+say?"</p>
+
+<p>"I trust, uncle, you are not tired of me."</p>
+
+<p>"Tired of you! Certainly not. I have not been with you since you have
+been here as much as I should have wished because,&mdash;indeed for
+various reasons. But we all like you, and nobody wants to get rid of
+you. But there is a way in which young ladies leave their own homes,
+which is generally thought to be matter of congratulation. But, as I
+said before, nobody shall press you."</p>
+
+<p>"Dear uncle, I am so full of thanks to you for your kindness."</p>
+
+<p>"But it is of course my duty as your guardian to tell you that in my
+opinion this gentleman is entitled to your esteem."</p>
+
+<p>After that Mary left him without another word, and taking her hat and
+cloak as she passed through the hall went at once out into the
+garden. It was a fine autumn morning, almost with a touch of summer
+in it. We do not know here that special season which across the
+Atlantic is called the Indian summer,&mdash;that last glow of the year's
+warmth which always brings with it a half melancholy conviction of
+the year's decay,&mdash;which in itself is so delightful, would be so full
+of delight, were it not for the consciousness which it seems to
+contain of being the immediate precursor of winter with all its
+horrors. There is no sufficient constancy with us of the recurrence
+of such a season, to make any special name needful. But now and again
+there comes a day, when the winds of the equinox have lulled
+themselves, and the chill of October rains have left the earth, and
+the sun gives a genial, luxurious warmth, with no power to scorch,
+with strength only to comfort. But here, as elsewhere, this luxury is
+laden with melancholy, because it tells us of decay, and is the
+harbinger of death. This was such a day, and Mary Bonner, as she
+hurried into a shrubbery walk, where she could wander unseen, felt
+both the sadness and the softness of the season. There was a path
+which ran from the front gate of the villa grounds through shrubs and
+tall evergreens down to the river, and was continued along the
+river-bank up through the flower-garden to windows opening from the
+drawing-room. Here she walked alone for more than an hour, turning as
+she came to the river in order that she might not be seen from the
+house.</p>
+
+<p>Mary Bonner, of whose character hitherto but little has been said,
+was, at any rate, an acute observer. Very soon after her first
+introduction to Ralph the heir,&mdash;Ralph who had for so many years been
+the intimate friend of the Underwood family,&mdash;she perceived something
+in the manner of that very attractive young man which conveyed to her
+a feeling that, if she so pleased, she might count him as an admirer
+of her own. She had heard then, as was natural, much of the
+brilliance of his prospects, and but little,&mdash;as was also
+natural,&mdash;of what he had done to mar them. And she also perceived, or
+fancied that she perceived, that her cousin Clary gave many of her
+thoughts to the heir. Now Mary Bonner understood the importance to
+herself of a prosperous marriage, as well as any girl ever did
+understand its great significance. She was an orphan, living in fact
+on the charity of her uncle. And she was aware that having come to
+her uncle's house when all the weakness and attractions of her
+childhood were passed, she could have no hold on him or his such as
+would have been hers had she grown to be a woman beneath his roof.
+There was a thoughtfulness too about her,&mdash;a thoughtfulness which
+some, perhaps, may call worldliness,&mdash;which made it impossible for
+her not to have her own condition constantly in her mind. In her
+father's lifetime she had been driven by his thoughtlessness and her
+own sterner nature to think of these things; and in the few months
+that had passed between her father's death and her acceptance in her
+uncle's house she had taught herself to regard the world as an arena
+in which she must fight a battle by her own strength with such
+weapons as God had given to her. God had, indeed, given to her many
+weapons, but she knew but of one. She did know that God had made her
+very beautiful. But she regarded her beauty after an unfeminine
+fashion,&mdash;as a thing of value, but as a chattel of which she could
+not bring herself to be proud. Might it be possible that she should
+win for herself by her beauty some position in the world less
+burdensome, more joyous than that of a governess, and less dependent
+than that of a daily recipient of her uncle's charity?</p>
+
+<p>She had had lovers in the West Indies,&mdash;perhaps a score of them, but
+they had been nothing to her. Her father's house had been so
+constituted that it had been impossible for her to escape the very
+plainly spoken admiration of captains, lieutenants, and Colonial
+secretaries. In the West Indies gentlemen do speak so very plainly,
+on, or without, the smallest encouragement, that ladies accept such
+speaking much as they do in England the attention of a handkerchief
+lifted or an offer for a dance. It had all meant nothing to Mary
+Bonner, who from her earliest years of girlhood had been accustomed
+to captains, lieutenants, and even to midshipmen. But, through it
+all, she had grown up with serious thoughts, and something of a
+conviction that love-making was but an ugly amusement. As far as it
+had been possible she had kept herself aloof from it, and though run
+after for her beauty, had been unpopular as being a "proud, cold,
+meaningless minx." When her father died she would speak to no one;
+and then it had been settled among the captains, lieutenants, and
+Colonial secretaries that she was a proud, cold, meaningless minx.
+And with this character she left the island. Now there came to her,
+naturally I say, this question;&mdash;What lovers might she find in
+England, and, should she find lovers, how should she deal with them?
+There are among us many who tell us that no pure-minded girl should
+think of finding a lover,&mdash;should only deal with him, when he comes,
+as truth, and circumstances, and parental control may suggest to her.
+If there be girls so pure, it certainly seems that no human being
+expects to meet them. Such was not the purity of Mary Bonner,&mdash;if
+pure she was. She did think of some coming lover,&mdash;did hope that
+there might be for her some prosperity of life as the consequence of
+the love of some worthy man whom she, in return, might worship. And
+then there had come Ralph Newton the heir.</p>
+
+<p>Now to Mary Bonner,&mdash;as also to Clarissa Underwood, and to Patience,
+and to old Mrs. Brownlow, and a great many others, Ralph the heir did
+not appear in quite those colours which he probably will in the
+reader's eyes. These ladies, and a great many other ladies and
+gentlemen who reckoned him among their acquaintance, were not
+accurately acquainted with his transactions with Messrs. Neefit,
+Moggs, and Horsball; nor were they thoroughly acquainted with the
+easy nature of our hero's changing convictions. To Clarissa he
+certainly was heroic; to Patience he was very dear; to old Mrs.
+Brownlow he was almost a demigod; to Mr. Poojean he was an object of
+envy. To Mary Bonner, as she first saw him, he was infinitely more
+fascinating than the captains and lieutenants of West Indian
+regiments, or than Colonial secretaries generally.</p>
+
+<p>It was during that evening at Mrs. Brownlow's that Mary Bonner
+resolutely made up her mind that she would be as stiff and cold to
+Ralph the heir as the nature of their acquaintance would allow. She
+had seen Clarissa without watching, and, without thinking, she had
+resolved. Mr. Newton was handsome, well to do, of good address, and
+clever;&mdash;he was also attractive; but he should not be attractive for
+her. She would not, as her first episode in her English life, rob a
+cousin of a lover. And so her mind was made up, and no word was
+spoken to any one. She had no confidences. There was no one in whom
+she could confide. Indeed, there was no need for confidence. As she
+left Mrs. Brownlow's house on that evening she slipped her arm
+through that of Patience, and the happy Clarissa was left to walk
+home with Ralph the heir,&mdash;as the reader may perhaps remember.</p>
+
+<p>Then that other Ralph had come, and she learned in half-pronounced
+ambiguous whispers what was the nature of his position in the world.
+She did not know,&mdash;at that time her cousins did not know,&mdash;how nearly
+successful were the efforts made to dispossess the heir of his
+inheritance in order that this other Newton might possess it. But she
+saw, or thought that she saw, that this was the gallanter man of the
+two. Then he came again, and then again, and she knew that her own
+beauty was of avail. She encouraged him not at all. It was not in her
+nature to give encouragement to a man's advances. It may, perhaps, be
+said of her that she had no power to do so. What was in her of the
+graciousness of feminine love, of the leaning, clinging, flattering
+softness of woman's nature, required some effort to extract, and had
+never hitherto been extracted. But within her own bosom she told
+herself that she thought that she could give it, if the asking for it
+were duly done. Then came the first tidings of his heirship, of his
+father's success,&mdash;and then, close upon the heels of those tidings,
+this heir's humbly expressed desire to be permitted to woo her. There
+was all the flutter of triumph in her bosom, as that letter was read
+to her, and yet there was no sign of it in her voice or in her
+countenance.</p>
+
+<p>Nor could it have been seen had she been met walking in the shade of
+that shrubbery. And yet she was full of triumph. Here was the man to
+whom her heart had seemed to turn almost at first sight, as it had
+never turned to man before. She had deigned to think of him as of one
+she could love;&mdash;and he loved her. As she paced the walk it was also
+much to her that this man who was so generous in her eyes should have
+provided for him so noble a place in the world. She quite understood
+what it was to be the wife of such a one as the Squire of Newton. She
+had grieved for Clary's sake when she heard that the former heir
+should be heir no longer,&mdash;suspecting Clary's secret. But she could
+not so grieve as to be insensible of her own joy. And then there was
+something in the very manner in which the man approached her, which
+gratified her pride while it touched her heart. About that other
+Ralph there was a tone of sustained self-applause, which seemed to
+declare that he had only to claim any woman and to receive her. There
+was an old-fashioned mode of wooing of which she had read and
+dreamed, that implied a homage which she knew that she desired. This
+homage her Ralph was prepared to pay.</p>
+
+<p>For an hour she paced the walk, not thinking, but enjoying what she
+knew. There was nothing in it requiring thought. He was to come, and
+till he should come there was nothing that she need either say or do.
+Till he should come she would do nothing and say nothing. Such was
+her determination when Clarissa's step was heard, and in a moment
+Clarissa's arm was round her waist. "Mary," she said, "you must come
+out with me. Come and walk with me. I am going to Mrs. Brownlow's.
+You must come."</p>
+
+<p>"To walk there and back?" said Mary, smiling.</p>
+
+<p>"We will return in an omnibus; but you must come. Oh, I have so much
+to say to you."</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c33" id="c33"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XXXIII.</h3>
+<h4>"TELL ME AND I'LL TELL YOU."<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>"Papa has told me all about it," were Clarissa's first words as soon
+as they were out of the gate on the road to Mrs. Brownlow's.</p>
+
+<p>"All about what, Clary?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh you know;&mdash;or rather it was Patience told me, and then I asked
+papa. I am so glad."</p>
+
+<p>Mary had as yet hardly had time to think whether the coming of this
+letter to her uncle would or would not be communicated to her
+cousins; but had she thought, she would have been almost sure that
+Sir Thomas would be more discreet. The whole matter was to her so
+important, so secret, almost so solemn, that she could hardly imagine
+that it should be discussed among the whole household. And yet she
+felt a strong longing within herself to be able to talk of it to some
+one. Of the two cousins Clary was certainly her favourite, and had
+she been forced to consult any one, she would have consulted Clary.
+But an absolute confidence in such a matter with a chosen friend, the
+more delightful it might appear, was on that very account the more
+difficult of attainment. It was an occasion for thought, for doubt,
+and almost for dismay; and now Clary rushed into it as though
+everything could be settled in a walk from Fulham to Parson's Green!
+"It is very good of you to be glad, Clary," said the other,&mdash;hardly
+knowing why she said this, and yet meaning it. If in truth Clary was
+glad, it was good of her. For this man to whom Clary was alluding had
+won from her own lover all his inheritance.</p>
+
+<p>"I like him so much. You will let me talk about him; won't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes," said Mary.</p>
+
+<p>"Do; pray do. There are so many reasons why we should tell each other
+everything." This elicited no promise from Mary. "If I thought that
+you would care, I would tell you all."</p>
+
+<p>"I care about everything that concerns you, Clary."</p>
+
+<p>"But I didn't bring you out to talk about myself now. I want to tell
+you how much I like your Ralph Newton."</p>
+
+<p>"But he isn't mine."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes he is;&mdash;at any rate, if you like to have him. And of course you
+will like. Why should you not? He is everything that is nice and
+good;&mdash;and now he is to be the owner of all the property. What I want
+to tell you is this; I do not begrudge it to you."</p>
+
+<p>Why should Clarissa begrudge or not begrudge the property? Mary
+understood it all, but nothing had been said entitling her to speak
+as though she understood it. "I don't think you would begrudge me
+anything that you thought good for me," said Mary.</p>
+
+<p>"And I think that Mr. Ralph Newton,&mdash;this Mr. Ralph Newton, is very
+good for you. Nothing could be so good. In the first place would it
+not be very nice to have you mistress of Newton Priory? Only that
+shouldn't come properly first."</p>
+
+<p>"And what should come first, Clary?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh,&mdash;of course that you should love him better than anything in the
+world. And you do,&mdash;don't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is too sudden to say that yet, Clary."</p>
+
+<p>"But I am sure you will. Don't you feel that you will? Come, Mary,
+you should tell me something."</p>
+
+<p>"There is so little to tell."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you are afraid of me. I wanted to tell you everything."</p>
+
+<p>"I am not afraid of you. But, remember, it is hardly more than an
+hour ago since I first heard of Mr. Newton's wishes, and up to that
+moment nothing was further from my dreams."</p>
+
+<p>"I was sure of it, ever so long ago," said Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Clary!"</p>
+
+<p>"I was. I told Patience how it was to be. I saw it in his eyes. One
+does see these things. I knew it would be so; and I told Patience
+that we three would be three Mrs. Newtons. But that of course was
+nonsense."</p>
+
+<p>"Nonsense, indeed."</p>
+
+<p>"I mean about Patience."</p>
+
+<p>"And what about yourself, Clary?" Clarissa made no answer, and yet
+she was burning to tell her own story. She was most anxious to tell
+her own story, but only on the condition of reciprocal confidence.
+The very nature of her story required that the confidence should be
+reciprocal. "You said that you wanted to tell me everything," said
+Mary.</p>
+
+<p>"And so I do."</p>
+
+<p>"You know how glad I shall be to hear."</p>
+
+<p>"That is all very well, but,&mdash;" And then Clarissa paused.</p>
+
+<p>"But what, dear?"</p>
+
+<p>"You do mean to accept Mr. Newton?"</p>
+
+<p>Now it was time for Mary to pause. "If I were to tell you my whole
+heart," she said, "I should be ashamed of what I was saying; and yet
+I do not know that there is any cause for shame."</p>
+
+<p>"There can be none," said Clary. "I am sure of that."</p>
+
+<p>"My acquaintance with Mr. Newton is very, very slight. I liked
+him,&mdash;oh, so much. I thought him to be high-spirited, manly, and a
+fine gentleman. I never saw any man who so much impressed me."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course not," said Clarissa, making a gesture as though she would
+stop on the high road and clasp her hands together, in which,
+however, she was impeded by her parasol and her remembrance of her
+present position.</p>
+
+<p>"But it is so much to say that one will love a man better than all
+the world, and go to him, and belong to him, and be his wife."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah;&mdash;but if one does love him!"</p>
+
+<p>"I can hardly believe that love can grow so quickly."</p>
+
+<p>"Tell the truth, Mary; has it not grown?"</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed I cannot say. There; you shall have the whole truth. When he
+comes to me,&mdash;and I suppose he will come."</p>
+
+<p>"There isn't much doubt of that."</p>
+
+<p>"If he does come&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Well?"</p>
+
+<p>"I hardly know what I shall say to him. I shall try to&mdash;to love him."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course you will love him,&mdash;better than all the world."</p>
+
+<p>"I know that he is paying me the greatest compliment that a man can
+pay to a woman. And there is no earthly reason why I should not be
+proud to accept all that he offers me. I have nothing of my own to
+bestow in return."</p>
+
+<p>"But you are so beautiful."</p>
+
+<p>Mary would make no pretence of denying this. It was true that that
+one great feminine possession did belong to her. "After all," she
+said, "how little does beauty signify! It attracts, but it can make
+no man happy. He has everything to give to a wife, and he ought to
+have much in return for what he gives."</p>
+
+<p>"You don't mean that a girl should refuse a rich man because she has
+no fortune of her own?"</p>
+
+<p>"No; not quite that. But she ought to think whether she can be of use
+to him."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course you will be of use, my dear;&mdash;of the greatest use in the
+world. That's his affair, and he is the best judge of what will be of
+use. You will love him, and other men will envy him, and that will be
+everything. Oh dear, I do so hope he will come soon."</p>
+
+<p>"And I,&mdash;I almost hope he will not. I shall be so afraid to see him.
+The first meeting will be so awful. I shall not dare to look him in
+the face."</p>
+
+<p>"But it is all settled."</p>
+
+<p>"No;&mdash;not settled, Clary."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; it is settled. And now I will tell you what I mean when I say I
+do not begrudge him to you. That is&mdash;; I do not know whether you will
+care to be told."</p>
+
+<p>"I care very much, Clary. I should be very unhappy if you did
+begrudge me anything."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course you know that our Ralph Newton, as we call him, ought to
+have been the heir."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes."</p>
+
+<p>"I needn't explain it all; only,&mdash;only&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Only he is everything to you. Is it that, Clary?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; it is that. He is everything to me. I love him&mdash;. Oh, yes, I do
+love him! But, Mary, I am not such a happy girl as you are. Sometimes
+I think he hardly cares for me."</p>
+
+<p>"But he has asked you to care for him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well;&mdash;I don't know. I think he has. He has told me, I know, that he
+loved me dearly,&mdash;better than any one."</p>
+
+<p>"And what answer did you make to him, Clary?"</p>
+
+<p>Clarissa had the whole scene on the lawn at Popham Villa so clearly
+impressed upon her memory, that an eternity of years, as she thought,
+could obliterate no one of its incidents and render doubtful no tone
+of his voice, no word that her lover had spoken. His conduct had at
+that time been so violent that she had answered him only with tears
+and protestations of undying anger. But her tears had been dried, and
+her anger had passed away;&mdash;while the love remained. Ralph, her
+Ralph, of course knew well enough that the tears were dry and the
+anger gone. She could understand that he would understand that. But
+the love which he had protested, if it were real love, would remain.
+And why should she doubt him? The very fact that he was so dear to
+her, made such doubts almost disgraceful. And yet there was so much
+cause for doubt. Patience doubted. She knew herself that she feared
+more than she hoped. She had resolved gallantly that she would be
+true to her own heart, even though by such truth she should be
+preparing for herself a life of disappointment. She had admitted the
+passion, and she would stand by it. In all her fears, too, she
+consoled herself by the reflection that her lover was hindered, not
+by want of earnestness or want of truth,&mdash;but by the state of his
+affairs. While he was still in debt, striving to save his
+inheritance, but tormented by the growing certainty that it must pass
+away from him, how could he give himself up to love-making and
+preparations for marriage? Clary made excuses for him which no one
+else would have made, and so managed to feed her hopes. "I made him
+no answer," she said at last.</p>
+
+<p>"And yet you knew you loved him."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; I knew that. I can tell you, and I told Patience. But I could
+not tell him." She paused a moment thinking whether she could
+describe the whole scene; but she found that she could not do that.
+"I shall tell him, perhaps, when he comes again; that is, if he does
+come."</p>
+
+<p>"If he loves you he will come."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know. He has all these troubles on him, and he will be very
+poor;&mdash;what will seem to him to be very poor. It would not be poor
+for me, but for him it would."</p>
+
+<p>"Would that hinder him?"</p>
+
+<p>"How can I say? There are so many things a girl cannot know. He may
+still be in debt, and then he has been brought up to want so much.
+But it will make no more difference in me. And now you will
+understand why I should tell you that I will never begrudge you your
+good fortune. If all should come right, you shall give us a little
+cottage near your grand house, and you will not despise us." Poor
+Clary, when she spoke of her possible future lord, and the little
+cottage on the Newton demesne, hardly understood the feelings with
+which a disinherited heir must regard the property which he has lost.</p>
+
+<p>"Dear, dearest Clary," said Mary Bonner, pressing her cousin's arm.</p>
+
+<p>They had now reached Mrs. Brownlow's house, and the old lady was
+delighted to receive them. Of course she began to discuss at once the
+great news. Sir Thomas had had his arm broken, and was now again a
+member of Parliament. Mrs. Brownlow was a thorough-going Tory, and
+was in an ecstasy of delight that her old friend should have been
+successful. The success seemed to be so much the greater in that the
+hero had suffered a broken bone. And then there were many questions
+to be asked? Would Sir Thomas again be Solicitor-General by right of
+his seat in Parliament?&mdash;for on such matters Mrs. Brownlow was rather
+hazy in her conceptions as to the working of the British
+Constitution. And would he live at home? Clarissa would not say that
+she and Patience expected such a result. All that she could suggest
+of comfort on this matter was that there would be now something of a
+fair cause for excusing their father's residence at his London
+chambers.</p>
+
+<p>But there was a subject more enticing to the old lady even than Sir
+Thomas's triumphs; a subject as to which there could not be any
+triumph,&mdash;only dismay; but not, on that account, the less
+interesting. Ralph Newton had sold his inheritance. "I believe it is
+all settled," said Clarissa, demurely.</p>
+
+<p>"Dear, dear, dear, dear!" groaned the old lady. And while she groaned
+Clarissa furtively cast a smile upon her cousin. "It is the saddest
+thing I ever knew," said Mrs. Brownlow. "And, after all, for a young
+man who never can be anybody, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes," said Clarissa, "he can be somebody."</p>
+
+<p>"You know what I mean, my dear. I think it very shocking, and very
+wrong. Such a fine estate, too!"</p>
+
+<p>"We all like Mr. Newton very much indeed," said Clarissa. "Papa
+thinks he is a most charming young man. I never knew papa taken with
+any one so much. And so do we all,&mdash;Patience and I,&mdash;and Mary."</p>
+
+<p>"But, my dear," began Mrs. Brownlow,&mdash;Mrs. Brownlow had always
+thought that Ralph the heir would ultimately marry Clarissa
+Underwood, and that it was a manifest duty on his part to do so. She
+had fancied that Clarissa had expected it herself, and had believed
+that all the Underwoods would be broken-hearted at this transfer of
+the estate. "I don't think it can be right," said Mrs. Brownlow; "and
+I must say that it seems to me that old Mr. Newton ought to be
+ashamed of himself. Just because this young man happens to be, in a
+sort of a way, his own son, he is going to destroy the whole family.
+I think that it is very wicked." But she had not a word of censure
+for the heir who had consumed his mess of pottage.</p>
+
+<p>"Wasn't she grand?" said Clary, as soon as they were out again upon
+the road. "She is such a dear old woman, but she doesn't understand
+anything. I couldn't help giving you a look when she was abusing our
+friend. When she knows it all, she'll have to make you such an
+apology."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope she will not do that."</p>
+
+<p>"She will if she does not forget all about it. She does forget
+things. There is one thing I don't agree with her in at all. I don't
+see any shame in your Ralph having the property; and, as to his being
+nobody, that is all nonsense. He would be somebody, wherever he went,
+if he had not an acre of property. He will be Mr. Newton, of Newton
+Priory, just as much as anybody else could be. He has never done
+anything wrong." To all which Mary Bonner had very little to say. She
+certainly was not prepared to blame the present Squire for having so
+managed his affairs as to be able to leave the estate to his own son.</p>
+
+<p>The two girls were very energetic, and walked back the whole way to
+Popham Villa, regardless of a dozen omnibuses that passed them. "I
+told her all about our Ralph,&mdash;my Ralph,"&mdash;said Clary to her sister
+afterward. "I could not help telling her now."</p>
+
+<p>"Dear Clary," said Patience, "I wish you could help thinking of it
+always."</p>
+
+<p>"That's quite impossible," said Clarissa, cheerily.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c34" id="c34"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XXXIV.</h3>
+<h4>ALONE IN THE HOUSE.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>Young Newton at last found himself alone in the house at Newton
+Priory after his father's death. He had sent George Morris away,
+becoming very stern in his demand to be left to his solitude as long
+as opposition was made to him. Gregory had come down to him from the
+parsonage, and had also been dismissed. "Your brother will be here
+probably to-day," said Ralph, "and then I will send for you."</p>
+
+<p>"I am thinking more of you than of my brother, just now," answered
+the parson.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, I know,&mdash;and though I cannot talk to you, I know how good you
+are. I want to see nobody but him. I shall be better alone." Then
+Gregory had returned to the parsonage.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as Ralph was alone he crept up to the room in which his
+father's body was lying, and stood silently by the bedside for above
+an hour. He was struggling to remember the loss he had had in the
+man, and to forget the loss in wealth and station. No father had ever
+been better to a son than his father had been to him. In every affair
+of life his happiness, his prosperity, and his future condition had
+given motives to his father's conduct. No lover ever worshipped a
+mistress more thoroughly than his father had idolised him. There had
+never been love to beat it, never solicitude more perfect and
+devoted. And yet, as he had been driven home that day, he had allowed
+his mind to revert to the property, and his regrets to settle
+themselves on his lost position. It should not be so any longer. He
+could not keep his mind from dwelling on the thing, but he would
+think of it as a trifle,&mdash;as of a thing which he could afford to lose
+without sorrow. Whereas he had also lost that which is of all things
+the most valuable and most impossible to replace,&mdash;a friend whose
+love was perfect.</p>
+
+<p>But then there was another loss. He bitterly blamed himself for
+having written that letter to Sir Thomas Underwood, before he was
+actually in a position to do as he had proposed. It must all be
+unwritten now. Every resolution hitherto taken as to his future life
+must be abandoned. He must begin again, and plan a new life for
+himself. It had all come upon him so suddenly that he was utterly at
+a loss to think what he would do with himself or with his days. There
+was nothing for him but to go away, and be utterly without
+occupation, altogether without friends. Friends, indeed, he
+had,&mdash;dear, intimate, loving friends. Gregory Newton and George
+Morris were his friends. Every tenant on the Newton property was his
+friend. There was not a man riding with the hunt, worth having as a
+friend, who was not on friendly terms with him. But all these he must
+leave altogether. In whatever spot he might find for himself a future
+residence, that spot could not be at Peele Newton. After what had
+occurred he could not remain there, now that he was not the heir. And
+then, again, his thoughts came back from his lost father to his lost
+inheritance, and he was very wretched.</p>
+
+<p>Between three and four o'clock he took his hat and walked out. He
+sauntered down along a small stream, which, after running through the
+gardens, bordered one of the coverts which came up near to the house.
+He took this path because he knew that he would be alone there,
+unseen. It had occurred to him already that it would be well that he
+should give orders to stop the works which his father had commenced,
+and there had been a moment in which he had almost told one of the
+servants in the house to do so. But he had felt ashamed at seeming to
+remember so small a thing. The owner would be there soon, probably in
+an hour or two, and could stop or could continue what he pleased.
+Then, as he thought of the ownership of the estate, he reflected
+that, as the sale had been in truth effected by his namesake, the
+money promised by his father would be legally due;&mdash;would not now be
+his money. As to the estate itself, that, of course, would go to his
+namesake as his father's heir. No will had been made leaving the
+estate to him, and his namesake would be the heir-at-law. Thus he
+would be utterly beggared. It was not that he actually believed that
+this would be the case; but his thoughts were morbid, and he took an
+unwholesome delight in picturing to himself circumstances in their
+blackest hue. Then he would strike the ground with his stick, in his
+wrath, because he thought of such things at all. How was it that he
+was base enough to think of them while the accident, which had robbed
+him of his father, was so recent?</p>
+
+<p>As the dusk grew on, he emerged out of the copse into the park, and,
+crossing at the back of the home paddocks, came out upon the road
+near to Darvell's farm. He passed a few yards up the lane, till at a
+turn he could discern the dismantled house. As far as he could see
+through the gloom of the evening, there were no workmen near the
+place. Some one, he presumed, had given directions that nothing
+further should be done on a day so sad as this. He stood for awhile
+looking and listening, and then turned round to enter the park again.</p>
+
+<p>It might be that the new squire was already at the house, and it
+would be thought that he ought not to be absent. The road from the
+station to the Priory was not that on which he was standing, and
+Ralph might have arrived without his knowledge. He wandered slowly
+back, but, before he could turn in at the park-gate, he was met by a
+man on the road. It was Mr. Walker, the farmer of Brownriggs, an old
+man over seventy, who had lived on the property all his life,
+succeeding his father in the same farm. Walker had known young Newton
+since he had first been brought to the Priory as a boy, and could
+speak to him with more freedom than perhaps any other tenant on the
+estate. "Oh, Mr. Ralph," he said, "this has been a dreary thing!"
+Ralph, for the first time since the accident, burst out into a flood
+of tears. "No wonder you take on, Mr. Ralph. He was a good father to
+you, and a fine gentleman, and one we all respected." Ralph still
+sobbed, but put his hand on the old man's arm and leaned upon him. "I
+hope, Mr. Ralph, that things was pretty well settled about the
+property." Ralph shook his head, but did not speak. "A bargain is a
+bargain, Mr. Ralph, and I suppose that this bargain was made. The
+lawyers would know that it had been made."</p>
+
+<p>"It don't matter about that, Mr. Walker," said Ralph; "but the estate
+would go to my father's nephew as his heir." The farmer started as
+though he had been shot. "You will have another landlord, Mr. Walker.
+He can hardly be better than the one you have lost."</p>
+
+<p>"Then, Mr. Ralph, you must bear it manly."</p>
+
+<p>"I think that I can say that I will do that. It is not for the
+property that I am crying. I hope you don't think that of me, Mr.
+Walker."</p>
+
+
+<div class="center">
+<table style="margin: 0 auto" cellpadding="4px">
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">
+      <a href="images/257-l.jpg">
+      <img src="images/257-t.jpg" width="540"
+      alt='"It is not for the property that I am crying."' /></a>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">
+      <span class="caption">"It is not for the property that I am crying."<br />
+      Click to <a href="images/257-l.jpg">ENLARGE</a></span>
+    </td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+</div>
+
+
+<p>"No, no, no."</p>
+
+<p>"I can bear that;&mdash;though it is hard the having to go away and live
+among strange people. I think I shall get a farm somewhere, and see
+if I can take a lesson from you. I don't know anything else that I
+can do."</p>
+
+<p>"You could have the Mordykes, Mr. Ralph," said Mr. Walker, naming a
+holding on the Newton property as to which there were rumours that it
+would soon be vacant.</p>
+
+<p>"No, Mr. Walker, it mustn't be here. I couldn't stand that. I must go
+away from this,&mdash;God knows where. I must go away from this, and I
+shall never see the old place again!"</p>
+
+<p>"Bear it manly, Mr. Ralph," said the farmer.</p>
+
+<p>"I think I shall, after a bit. Good evening, Mr. Walker. I expect my
+father's nephew every hour, and I ought to be up at the house when he
+comes. I shall see you again before I go."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, yes; that's for certain," said the farmer. They were both
+thinking of the day on which they would follow the old Squire to his
+grave in Newton Peele churchyard.</p>
+
+<p>Ralph re-entered the park, and hurried across to the house as though
+he were afraid that he would be too late to receive the heir; but
+there had been no arrival, nor had there come any message from the
+other Ralph. Indeed up to this hour the news had not reached the
+present owner of Newton Priory. The telegram had been duly delivered
+at the Moonbeam, where the fortunate youth was staying; but he was
+hunting on this day, riding the new horse which he had bought from
+Mr. Pepper, and, up to this moment, did not know anything of that
+which chance had done for him. Nor did he get back to the Moonbeam
+till late at night, having made some engagement for dinner after the
+day's sport. It was not till noon on the following day, the Friday,
+that a message was received from him at the Priory, saying that he
+would at once hurry down to Hampshire.</p>
+
+<p>Ralph sat down to dinner all alone. Let what will happen to break
+hearts and ruin fortunes, dinner comes as long as the means last for
+providing it. The old butler waited upon him in absolute silence,
+fearing to speak a word, lest the word at such a time should be
+ill-spoken. No doubt the old man was thinking of the probable
+expedience of his retiring upon his savings; feeling, however, that
+it became him to show, till the last, every respect to all who bore
+the honoured name of Newton. When the meat had been eaten, the old
+servant did say a word. "Won't you come round to the fire, Mr.
+Ralph?" and he placed comfortably before the hearth one of the heavy
+arm-chairs with which the corners of the broad fire-place were
+flanked. But Ralph only shook his head, and muttered some refusal.
+There he sat, square to the table, with the customary bottle of wine
+before him, leaning back with his hands in his pockets, thinking of
+his condition in life. The loneliness of the room, the loneliness of
+the house, were horrible to him. And yet he would not that his
+solitude should be interrupted. He had been so sitting, motionless,
+almost overcome by the gloom of the big dark room, for so long a
+period that he hardly knew whether it was night or not, when a note
+was brought to him from Gregory. "Dear Ralph,&mdash;Shall I not come down
+to you for an hour?&mdash;G. N." He read the note, and sent back a verbal
+message. "Tell Mr. Gregory that I had rather not." And so he sat
+motionless till the night had really come, till the old butler
+brought him his candlestick and absolutely bade him betake himself to
+bed. He had watched during the whole of the previous night, and now
+had slumbered in his chair from time to time. But his sleeping had
+been of that painful, wakeful nature which brings with it no
+refreshment. It had been full of dreams, in all of which there had
+been some grotesque reference to the property, but in none of them
+had there been any memory of the Squire's terrible death. And yet, as
+he woke and woke and woke again, it can hardly be said that the truth
+had come back upon him as a new blow. Through such dreams there seems
+to exist a double memory, and a second identity. The misery of his
+isolated position never for a moment left him; and yet there were
+repeated to him over and over again those bungling, ill-arranged,
+impossible pictures of trivial transactions about the place, which
+the slumber of a few seconds sufficed to create in his brain. "Mr.
+Ralph, you must go to bed;&mdash;you must indeed, sir," said the old
+butler, standing over him with a candle during one of these fitful
+dreamings.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Grey;&mdash;yes, I will; directly. Put it down. Thank you. Don't
+mind sitting up," said Ralph, rousing himself in his chair.</p>
+
+<p>"It's past twelve," Mr. Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"You can go to bed, you know, Grey."</p>
+
+<p>"No, sir;&mdash;no. I'll see you to bed first. It'll be better so. Why,
+Mr. Ralph, the fire's all out, and you're sitting here perished. You
+wasn't in bed last night, and you ought to be there now. Come, Mr.
+Ralph."</p>
+
+<p>Then Ralph rose from his chair and took the candlestick. It was true
+enough that he had better be in bed. As he shook himself, he felt
+that he had never been so cold in his life. And then as he moved
+there came upon him that terrible feeling that everything was amiss
+with him, that there was no consolation on any side. "That'll do,
+Grey; good night," he said, as the old man prepared to follow him
+up-stairs. But Grey was not to be shaken off. "I'll just see you to
+your room, Mr. Ralph." He wanted to accompany his young master past
+the door of that chamber in which was lying all that remained of the
+old master. But Ralph would open the door. "Not to-night, Mr. Ralph,"
+said Grey. But Ralph persisted, and stood again by the bedside. "He
+would have given me his flesh and blood;&mdash;his very life," said Ralph
+to the butler. "I think no father ever so loved a son. And yet, what
+has it come to?" Then he stooped down, and put his lips to the cold
+clay-blue forehead.</p>
+
+<p>"It ain't come to much surely," said old Grey to himself as he crept
+away to his own room; "and I don't suppose it do come to much mostly
+when folks go wrong."</p>
+
+<p>Ralph was out again before breakfast, wandering up and down the banks
+of the stream where the wood hid him, and then he made up his mind
+that he would at once write again to Sir Thomas Underwood. He must
+immediately make it understood that that suggestion which he had made
+in his ill-assumed pride of position must be abandoned. He had
+nothing now to offer to that queenly princess worthy of the
+acceptance of any woman. He was a base-born son, about to be turned
+out of his father's house because of the disgrace of his birth. In
+the eye of the law he was nobody. The law allowed to him not even a
+name;&mdash;certainly allowed to him the possession of no relative; denied
+to him the possibility of any family tie. His father had succeeded
+within an ace of giving him that which would have created for him
+family ties, relatives, name and all. The old Squire had understood
+well how to supersede the law, and to make the harshness of man's
+enactments of no avail. Had the Squire quite succeeded, the son would
+have stood his ground, would have called himself Newton of Newton,
+and nobody would have dared to tell him that he was a nameless
+bastard. But now he could not even wait to be told. He must tell it
+himself, and must vanish. He had failed to understand it all while
+his father was struggling and was yet alive; but he understood it
+well now. So he came in to his breakfast, resolved that he would
+write that letter at once.</p>
+
+<p>And then there were orders to be given;&mdash;hideous orders. And there
+was that hideous remembrance that legally he was entitled to give no
+orders. Gregory came down to him as he sat at breakfast, making his
+way into the parlour without excuse. "My brother cannot have been at
+home at either place," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps not," said Ralph. "I suppose not."</p>
+
+<p>"The message will be sent after him, and you will hear to-day no
+doubt."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose I shall," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>Then Gregory in a low voice made the suggestion in reference to which
+he had come across from the parsonage. "I think that perhaps I and
+Larkin had better go over to Basingstoke." Larkin was the steward.
+Ralph again burst out into tears, but he assented; and in this way
+those hideous orders were given.</p>
+
+<p>As soon as Gregory was gone he took himself to his desk, and did
+write to Sir Thomas Underwood. His letter, which was perhaps somewhat
+too punctilious, ran as
+<span class="nowrap">follows:&mdash;</span><br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="jright">Newton Priory, 4th November, 186&mdash;.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">My dear Sir</span>,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>I do not know whether you will have heard before this of
+the accident which has made me fatherless. The day before
+yesterday my father was killed by a fall from his horse in
+the hunting-field. I should not have ventured to trouble
+you with a letter on this subject, nor should I myself
+have been disposed to write about it at present, were it
+not that I feel it to be an imperative duty to refer
+without delay to my last letter to you, and to your very
+flattering reply. When I wrote to you it was true that my
+father had made arrangements for purchasing on my behalf
+the reversion to the property. That it was so you
+doubtless were aware from your own personal knowledge of
+the affairs of Mr. Ralph Newton. Whether that sale was or
+was not legally completed I do not know. Probably
+not;&mdash;and in regard to my own interests it is to be hoped
+that it was not completed. But in any event the whole
+Newton property will pass to your late ward, as my father
+certainly made no such will as would convey it to me even
+if the sale were complete.</p>
+
+<p>It is a sad time for explaining all this, when the body of
+my poor father is still lying unburied in the house, and
+when, as you may imagine, I am ill-fitted to think of
+matters of business; but, after what has passed between
+us, I conceive myself bound to explain to you that I wrote
+my last letter under a false impression, and that I can
+make no such claim to Miss Bonner's favour as I then set
+up. I am houseless and nameless, and for aught I yet know
+to the contrary, absolutely penniless. The blow has hit me
+very hard. I have lost my fortune, which I can bear; I
+have lost whatever chance I had of gaining your niece's
+hand, which I must learn to bear; and I have lost the
+kindest father a man ever had,&mdash;which is unbearable.</p>
+
+<p class="ind8">Yours very faithfully,</p>
+
+<p class="ind10"><span class="smallcaps">Ralph Newton</span>
+(so called).<br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>If it be thought that there was something in the letter which should
+have been suppressed,&mdash;the allusion, for instance, to the possible
+but most improbable loss of his father's private means, and his
+morbid denial of his own right to a name which he had always borne, a
+right which no one would deny him,&mdash;it must be remembered that the
+circumstances of the hour bore very heavily on him, and that it was
+hardly possible that he should not nurse the grievance which
+afflicted him. Had he not been alone in these hours he might have
+carried himself more bravely. As it was, he struggled hard to carry
+himself well. If no one had ever been told how nearly successful the
+Squire had been in his struggle to gain the power of leaving the
+estate to his son, had there been nothing of the triumph of victory,
+he could have left the house in which he had lived and the position
+which he had filled almost without sorrow,&mdash;certainly without
+lamentation. In the midst of calamities caused by the loss of
+fortune, it is the knowledge of what the world will say that breaks
+us down;&mdash;not regret for those enjoyments which wealth can give, and
+which had been long anticipated.</p>
+
+<p>At two o'clock on this day he got a telegram. "I will be at the
+parsonage this evening, and will come down at once." Ralph the heir,
+on his return home late at night, had heard the news, and early on
+the following morning had communicated with his brother and with his
+namesake. In the afternoon, after his return from Basingstoke,
+Gregory again came down to the house, desiring to know whether Ralph
+would prefer that the meeting should be at the Priory or at the
+parsonage, and on this occasion his cousin bore with him. "Why should
+not your brother come to his own house?" asked Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose he feels that he should not claim it as his own."</p>
+
+<p>"That is nonsense. It is his own, and he knows it. Does he think that
+I am likely to raise any question against his right?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do not suppose that my brother has ever looked at the matter in
+that light," said the parson. "He is the last man in the world to do
+so. For the present, at any rate, you are living here and he is not.
+In such an emergency, perhaps, he feels that it would be better that
+he should come to his brother than intrude here."</p>
+
+<p>"It would be no intrusion. I should wish him to feel that I am
+prepared to yield to him instantly. Of course the house cannot be
+very pleasant for him as yet. He must suffer something of the misery
+of the occasion before he can enjoy his inheritance. But it will only
+be for a day or so."</p>
+
+<p>"Dear Ralph," said the parson, "I think you somewhat wrong my
+brother."</p>
+
+<p>"I endeavour not to do so. I think no ill of him, because I presume
+he should look for enjoyment from what is certainly his own. He and
+my father were not friends, and this, which has been to me so
+terrible a calamity in every way, cannot affect him with serious
+sorrow. I shall meet him as a friend; but I would sooner meet him
+here than at the parsonage."</p>
+
+<p>It was at last settled that the two brothers should come down to the
+great house,&mdash;both Ralph the heir, and Gregory the parson; and that
+the three young men should remain there, at any rate, till the
+funeral was over. And when this was arranged, the two who had really
+been fast friends for so many years, were able to talk to each other
+in true friendship. The solitude which he had endured had been almost
+too much for the one who had been made so desolate; but at last,
+warmed by the comfort of companionship, he resumed his manhood, and
+was able to look his affairs in the face, free from the morbid
+feeling which had oppressed him. Gregory had his own things brought
+down from the parsonage, and in order that there might be no
+hesitation on his brother's part, sent a servant with a note to the
+station desiring his brother to come at once to the Priory. They
+resolved to wait dinner for him till after the arrival of a train
+leaving London at five <span class="smallcaps">p.m.</span>
+By that train the heir came, and between
+seven and eight he entered the house which he had not seen since he
+was a boy, and which was now his own.</p>
+
+<p>The receipt of the telegram at the Moonbeam had affected Ralph, who
+was now in truth the Squire, with absolute awe. He had returned late
+from a somewhat jovial dinner, in company with his friend Cox, who
+was indeed more jovial than was becoming. Ralph was not given to
+drinking more wine than he could carry decently; but his friend, who
+was determined to crowd as much enjoyment of life as was possible
+into the small time allowed him before his disappearance from the
+world that had known him, was noisy and rollicking. Perhaps it may be
+acknowledged in plain terms that he was tipsy. They both entered
+together the sitting-room which Ralph used, and Cox was already
+calling for brandy and water, when the telegram was handed to Newton.
+He read it twice before he understood it. His uncle dead!&mdash;suddenly
+dead! And the inheritance all his own! In doing him justice, however,
+we must admit that he did not at the time admit this to be the case.
+He did perceive that there must arise some question; but his first
+feeling, as regarded the property, was one of intense remorse that he
+should have sold his rights at a moment in which they would so soon
+have been realised in his own favour. But the awe which struck him
+was occasioned by the suddenness of the blow which had fallen upon
+his uncle. "What's up now, old fellow?" hiccupped Mr. Cox.</p>
+
+<p>I wonder whether any polite reader, into whose hands this story may
+fall, may ever have possessed a drunken friend, and have been struck
+by some solemn incident at the moment in which his friend is
+exercising the privileges of intoxication. The effect is not
+pleasant, nor conducive of good-humour. Ralph turned away in disgust,
+and leaned upon the chimney-piece, trying to think of what had
+occurred to him. "What ish it, old chap? Shomebody wants shome tin?
+I'll stand to you, old fellow."</p>
+
+<p>"Take him away," said Ralph. "He's drunk." Then, without waiting for
+further remonstrance from the good-natured but now indignant Cox, he
+went off to his own room.</p>
+
+<p>On the following morning he started for London by an early train, and
+by noon was with his lawyer. Up to that moment he believed that he
+had lost his inheritance. When he sent those two telegrams to his
+brother and to his namesake, he hardly doubted but that the entire
+property now belonged to his uncle's son. The idea had never occurred
+to him that, even were the sale complete, he might still inherit the
+property as his uncle's heir-at-law,&mdash;and that he would do so unless
+his uncle had already bequeathed it to his son. But the attorney soon
+put him right. The sale had not been yet made. He, Ralph, had not
+signed a single legal document to that effect. He had done nothing
+which would have enabled his late uncle to make a will leaving the
+Newton estate to his son. "The letters which have been written are
+all waste-paper," said the lawyer. "Even if they were to be taken as
+binding as agreements for a covenant, they would operate against your
+cousin,&mdash;not in his favour. In such case you would demand the
+specified price and still inherit."</p>
+
+<p>"That is out of the question," said the heir. "Quite out of the
+question," said the attorney. "No doubt Mr. Newton left a will, and
+under it his son will take whatever property the father had to
+leave."</p>
+
+<p>And so Ralph the heir found himself to be the owner of it all just at
+the moment in which he thought that he had lost all chance of the
+inheritance as the result of his own folly. When he walked out of the
+lawyer's office he was almost wild with amazement. This was the prize
+to which he had been taught to look forward through all his boyish
+days, and all his early manhood;&mdash;but to look forward to it, as a
+thing that must be very distant, so distant as almost to be lost in
+the vagueness of the prospect. Probably his youth would have clean
+passed from him, and he would have entered upon the downhill course
+of what is called middle life before his inheritance would come to
+him. He had been unable to wait, and had wasted everything,&mdash;nearly
+everything; had, at any rate, ruined all his hopes before he was
+seven-and-twenty; and yet, now, at seven-and-twenty, it was, as his
+lawyer assured him, all his own. How nearly had he lost it all! How
+nearly had he married the breeches-maker's daughter! How close upon
+the rocks he had been. But now all was his own, and he was in truth
+Newton of Newton, with no embarrassments of any kind which could
+impose a feather's weight upon his back.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c35" id="c35"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XXXV.</h3>
+<h4>"SHE'LL ACCEPT YOU, OF COURSE."<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>We will pass over the solemn sadness of the funeral at Newton and the
+subsequent reading of the old Squire's will. As to the latter, the
+will was as it had been made some six or seven years ago. The Squire
+had simply left all that he possessed to his illegitimate son Ralph
+Newton. There was no difficulty about the will. Nor was there any
+difficulty about the estate. The two lawyers came down to the
+funeral. Sir Thomas Underwood would have come but that he was
+prevented by the state of his arm. A statement showing all that had
+been done in the matter was prepared for him, but it was agreed on
+all sides that the sale had not been made, and that the legitimate
+heir must succeed to the property. No one was disposed to dispute the
+decision. The Squire's son had never for a moment supposed that he
+could claim the estate. Nor did Ralph the heir suppose for a moment
+that he could surrender it after the explanation which he had
+received from the lawyer in London.</p>
+
+<p>The funeral was over, and the will had been read, and at the end of
+November the three young men were still living together in the great
+house at Newton. The heir had gone up to London once or twice,
+instigated by the necessity of the now not difficult task of raising
+a little ready money. He must at once pay off all his debts. He must
+especially pay that which he owed to Mr. Neefit; and he must do so
+with many expressions of his gratitude,&mdash;perhaps with some
+expressions of polite regret at the hardness of Polly's heart towards
+him. But he must do so certainly without any further entreaty that
+Polly's heart might be softened. Ah,&mdash;with what marvellous good
+fortune had he escaped from that pitfall! For how much had he not to
+be thankful to some favouring goddess who must surely have watched
+over him from his birth! From what shipwrecks had he not escaped! And
+now he was Squire of Newton, with wealth and all luxuries at command,
+hampered with no wife, oppressed by no debts, free from all cares. As
+he thought of his perfect freedom in these respects, he remembered
+his former resolution as to Mary Bonner. That resolution he would
+carry out. It would be well for him now to marry a wife, and of all
+the women he had ever seen Mary Bonner was certainly the most
+beautiful. With Newton all his own, with such a string of horses as
+he would soon possess, and with such a wife at the head of his table,
+whom need he envy, and how many were there who would not envy him?</p>
+
+<p>Throughout November he allowed his horses to remain at the Moonbeam,
+being somewhat in doubt whether or no he would return to that
+fascinating hostelrie. He received one or two most respectful letters
+from Mr. Horsball, in which glowing accounts were given of the sport
+of the season, and the health of his horses, and offers made of most
+disinterested services. Rooms should be ready for him at a moment's
+notice if he liked at any time to run over for a week's hunting. It
+was quite evident that in the eyes of Mr. Horsball Newton of Newton
+was a great man. And there came congratulations from Mr. Cox, in
+which no allusion whatever was made to the Squire's somewhat uncivil
+conduct at their last meeting. Mr. Cox trusted that his dearest
+friend would come over and have another spell at the Moonbeam before
+he settled down for life;&mdash;and then hinted in language that was
+really delicate in the niceness of its expression, that if he, Cox,
+were but invited to spend a week or two at Newton Priory before he
+banished himself for life to Australia, he would be able to make his
+way over the briny deep with a light heart and an uncomplaining
+tongue. "You know, old fellow, how true I've always been to you,"
+wrote Cox, in language of the purest friendship. "As true as
+steel,&mdash;to sausages in the morning and brandy and soda at night,"
+said Ralph to himself as he read this.</p>
+
+<p>He behaved with thorough kindness to his cousin. The three men lived
+together for a month, and their intercourse was as pleasant as was
+possible under the circumstances. Of course there was no hunting
+during this month at Newton. Nor indeed did the heir see a hound till
+December, although, as the reader is aware, he was not particularly
+bound to revere his uncle's memory. He made many overtures to his
+namesake. He would be only too happy if his cousin,&mdash;he always called
+the Squire's son his cousin,&mdash;would make Newton his home for the next
+twelvemonth. It was found that the Squire had left behind him
+something like forty thousand pounds, so that the son was by no means
+to be regarded as a poor man. It was his idea at present that he
+would purchase in some pleasant county as much land as he might farm
+himself, and there set up his staff for life. "And get about
+two-and-a-half per cent. for your money," said the heir, who was
+beginning to consider himself learned in such matters, and could talk
+of land as a very serious thing in the way of a possession.</p>
+
+<p>"What else am I to do?" said the other. "Two-and-a-half per cent.
+with an occupation is better than five per cent. with none. I should
+make out the remainder, too, by farming the land myself. There is
+nothing else in the world that I could do."</p>
+
+<p>As for remaining twelve months at Newton, that was of course out of
+the question. Nevertheless, when December came he was still living in
+the house, and had consented to remain there till Christmas should
+have passed. He had already heard of a farm in Norfolk. "The worst
+county for hunting in England," the heir had said. "Then I must try
+and live without hunting," said Ralph who was not the heir. During
+all this time not a horse was sent to the meet from the Newton
+stables. The owner of Newton was contented to see the animals
+exercised in the park, and to amuse himself by schooling them over
+hurdles, and by high jumping at the bar.</p>
+
+<p>During the past month the young Squire had received various letters
+from Sir Thomas Underwood, and the other Ralph had received one. With
+Sir Thomas's caution, advice, and explanations to his former ward,
+the story has no immediate concern; but his letter to him who was to
+have been Mary Bonner's suitor may concern us more nearly. It was
+very short, and the reader shall have it entire.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="jright">Popham Villa, 10th November, 186&mdash;.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">My dear Mr. Newton</span>,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>I have delayed answering your letter for a day or two in
+order that it may not disturb you till the last sad
+ceremony be over. I do not presume to offer you
+consolation in your great sorrow. Such tenders should only
+be made by the nearest and the dearest. Perhaps you will
+permit me to say that what little I have seen of you and
+what further I have heard of you assure to you my most
+perfect sympathy.</p>
+
+<p>On that other matter which gave occasion for your two
+letters to me I shall best perhaps discharge my duty by
+telling you that I showed them both to my niece; and that
+she feels, as do I, that they are both honourable to you,
+and of a nature to confer honour upon her. The change in
+your position, which I acknowledge to be most severe,
+undoubtedly releases you, as it would have released
+her,&mdash;had she been bound and chose to accept such release.</p>
+
+<p>Whenever you may be in this neighbourhood we shall be
+happy to see you.</p>
+
+<p>The state of my arm still prevents me from writing with
+ease.</p>
+
+<p class="ind8">Yours very faithfully,</p>
+
+<p class="ind12"><span class="smallcaps">Thomas
+Underwood</span>.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>Newton, when he received this letter, struggled hard to give to it
+its proper significance, but he could bring himself to no conclusion
+respecting it. Sir Thomas had acknowledged that he was released,&mdash;and
+that Mary Bonner would also have been released had she placed herself
+under any obligation; but Sir Thomas did not say a word from which
+his correspondent might gather whether in his present circumstances
+he might still be regarded as an acceptable suitor. The letter was
+most civil, most courteous, almost cordial in its expression of
+sympathy; but yet it did not contain a word of encouragement. It may
+be said that the suitor had himself so written to the lady's uncle,
+as to place himself out of the way of all further encouragement;&mdash;as
+to have put it beyond the power of his correspondent to write a word
+to him that should have in it any comfort. Certainly he had done so.
+He had clearly shown in his second letter that he had abandoned all
+idea of making the match as to which he had shown so much urgent
+desire in his first letter. He had explained that the marriage would
+now be impossible, and had spoken of himself as a ruined, broken man,
+all whose hopes were shipwrecked. Sir Thomas could hardly have told
+him in reply that Mary Bonner would still be pleased to see him. And
+yet Mary Bonner had almost said so. She had been very silent when the
+letter was read to her. The news of Mr. Newton's death had already
+reached the family at Popham Villa, and had struck them all with awe.
+How it might affect the property even Sir Thomas had not absolutely
+known at first; though he was not slow to make it understood that in
+all probability this terrible accident would be ruinous to the hopes
+which his niece had been justified in entertaining. At that hour Mary
+had spoken not a word;&mdash;nor could she be induced to speak respecting
+it either by Patience or Clarissa. Even to them she could not bring
+herself to say that if the man really loved her he would still come
+to her and say so. There was a feeling of awe upon her which made her
+mute, and stern, and altogether unplastic in the hands of her
+friends. It seemed even to Patience that Mary was struck by a
+stunning sorrow at the ruin which had come upon her lover's
+prospects. But it was not so at all. The thought wronged her utterly.
+What stunned her was this,&mdash;that she could not bring herself to
+express a passion for a man whom she had seen so seldom, with whom
+her conversation had been so slight, from whom personally she had
+received no overtures of attachment,&mdash;even though he were ruined. She
+could not bring herself to express such a passion;&mdash;but yet it was
+there. When Clarissa thought that she might obtain if not a word, at
+least a tear, Mary appeared to be dead to all feeling, though crushed
+by what she had lost. She was thinking the while whether it might be
+possible for such a one as her to send to the man and to tell him
+that that which had now occurred had of a sudden made him really dear
+to her. Thoughts of maiden boldness flitted across her mind, but she
+could not communicate them even to the girls who were her friends.
+Yet in silence and in solitude she resolved that the time should come
+in which she would be bold.</p>
+
+<p>Then young Newton's second letter reached the house, and that also
+had been read to her. "He is quite right," said Sir Thomas. "Of
+course it releases both of you."</p>
+
+<p>"There was nothing to release," said Mary, proudly.</p>
+
+<p>"I mean to say that having made such a proposition as was contained
+in his first letter, he was bound to explain his altered position."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose so," said Mary.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course he was. He had made his offer believing that he could make
+you mistress of Newton Priory,&mdash;and he had made it thinking that he
+himself could marry in that position. And he would have been in that
+position had not this most unforeseen and terrible calamity have
+occurred."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not see that it makes any difference," said Mary, in a whisper.</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean, my dear?"</p>
+
+<p>"I hardly know, uncle."</p>
+
+<p>"Try to explain yourself, Mary."</p>
+
+<p>"If I had accepted any man when he was rich, I should not go back
+when he was poor,&mdash;unless he wanted it." This also she said in a
+whisper.</p>
+
+<p>"But you had not accepted him."</p>
+
+<p>"No," said Mary, still in a whisper. Sir Thomas, who was perhaps not
+very good at such things, did not understand the working of her mind.
+But had she dared, she would have asked her uncle to tell Mr. Newton
+to come and see her. Sir Thomas, having some dim inkling of what
+perhaps might be the case, did add a paragraph to his letter in which
+he notified to his correspondent that a personal visit would be taken
+in good part.</p>
+
+<p>By the end of the first week in December things were beginning to
+settle into shape at the Priory. The three young men were still
+living together at the great house, and the tenants on the estate had
+been taught to recognise the fact that Ralph, who had ever been the
+heir, was in truth the owner. Among the labourers and poorer classes
+there was no doubt much regret, and that regret was expressed. The
+tenants, though they all liked the Squire's son, were not upon the
+whole ill-pleased. It was in proper conformity with English habits
+and English feelings that the real heir should reign. Among the
+gentry the young Squire was made as welcome as the circumstances of
+the heir would admit. According to their way of thinking, personally
+popular as was the other man, it was clearly better that a legitimate
+descendant of the old family should be installed at Newton Priory.
+The old Squire's son rode well to hounds, and was loved by all; but
+nothing that all the world could do on his behalf would make him
+Newton of Newton. If only he would remain in the neighbourhood and
+take some place suited to his income, every house would be open to
+him. He would be received with no diminution of attachment or
+respect. Overtures of this nature were made to him. This house could
+be had for him, and that farm could be made comfortable. He might
+live among them as a general favourite; but he could not under any
+circumstances have been,&mdash;Newton of Newton. Nothing, however, was
+clearer to himself than this;&mdash;that as he could not remain in the
+county as the master of Newton Priory, he would not remain in the
+county at all.</p>
+
+<p>As things settled down and took shape he began to feel that even in
+his present condition he might possibly make himself acceptable to
+such a girl as Mary Bonner. In respect of fortune there could be no
+reason whatever why he should not offer her his hand. He was in truth
+a rich man, whereas she had nothing, By birth he was
+nobody,&mdash;absolutely nobody; but then also would he have been nobody
+had all the lands of Newton belonged to him. When he had written that
+second letter, waiving all claim to Mary's hand because of the
+inferiority of his position, he was suffering from a morbid view
+which he had taken of his own affairs. He was telling himself
+then,&mdash;so assuring himself, though he did not in truth believe the
+assurance,&mdash;that he had lost not only the estate, but also his
+father's private fortune. At that moment he had been unstrung,
+demoralised, and unmanned,&mdash;so weak that a feather would have knocked
+him over. The blow had been so sudden, the solitude and gloom of the
+house so depressing, and his sorrow so crushing, that he was ready to
+acknowledge that there could be no hope for him in any direction. He
+had fed himself upon his own grief, till the idea of any future
+success in life was almost unpalatable to him. But things had mended
+with him now, and he would see whether there might not yet be joys
+for him in the world. He would first see whether there might not be
+that one great joy which he had promised to himself.</p>
+
+<p>And then there came another blow. The young Squire had resolved that
+he would not hunt before Christmas in the Newton country. It was felt
+by him and by his brother that he should abstain from doing so out of
+respect to the memory of his uncle, and he had declared his purpose.
+Of course there was neither hunting nor shooting in these days for
+the other Ralph. But at the end of a month the young Squire began to
+feel that the days went rather slowly with him, and he remembered his
+stud at the Moonbeam. He consulted Gregory; and the parson, though he
+would fain have induced his brother to remain, could not say that
+there was any real objection to a trip to the B. and B's. Ralph would
+go there on the 10th of December, and be back at his own house before
+Christmas. When Christmas was over, the other Ralph was to leave
+Newton,&mdash;perhaps for ever.</p>
+
+<p>The two Ralphs had become excellent friends, and when the one that
+was to go declared his intention of going with no intention of
+returning, the other pressed him warmly to think better of it, and to
+look upon the Priory at any rate as a second home. There were reasons
+why it could not be so, said the namesake; but in the close
+confidence of friendship which the giving and the declining of the
+offer generated came this further blow. They were standing together
+leaning upon a gate, and looking at the exhumation of certain vast
+roots, as to which the trees once belonging to them had been made to
+fall in consequence of the improvements going on at Darvell's farm.
+"I don't mind telling you," said Ralph the heir, "that I hope soon to
+have a mistress here."</p>
+
+<p>"And who is she?"</p>
+
+<p>"That would be mere telling;&mdash;would it not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Clarissa Underwood?" asked the unsuspecting Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>There did come some prick of conscience, some qualm, of an injury
+done, upon the young Squire as he made his answer. "No; not
+Clarissa;&mdash;though she is the dearest, sweetest girl that ever lived,
+and would make a better wife perhaps than the girl I think of."</p>
+
+<p>"And who is the girl you think of?"</p>
+
+<p>"She is to be found in the same house."</p>
+
+<p>"You do not mean the elder sister?" said the unfortunate one. He had
+known well that his companion had not alluded to Patience Underwood;
+but in his agony he had suggested to himself that mode of escape.</p>
+
+<p>"No; not Patience Underwood. Though, let me tell you, a man might do
+worse than marry Patience Underwood. I have always thought it a pity
+that Patience and Gregory would not make a match of it. He, however,
+would fall in love with Clary, and she has too much of the rake in
+her to give herself to a parson. I was thinking of Mary Bonner, who,
+to my mind, is the handsomest woman I ever saw in my life."</p>
+
+<p>"I think she is," said Ralph, turning away his face.</p>
+
+<p>"She hasn't a farthing, I fancy," continued the happy heir, "but I
+don't regard that now. A few months ago I had a mind to marry for
+money; but it isn't the sort of thing that any man should do. I have
+almost made up my mind to ask her. Indeed, when I tell you, I suppose
+I have quite made up my mind."</p>
+
+<p>"She'll accept you,&mdash;of course."</p>
+
+<p>"I can say nothing about that, you know. A man must take his chance.
+I can offer her a fine position, and a girl, I think, should have
+some regard to money when she marries, though a man should not. If
+there's nobody before me I should have a chance, I suppose."</p>
+
+<p>His words were not boastful, but there was a tone of triumph in his
+voice. And why should he not triumph? thought the other Ralph. Of
+course he would triumph. He had everything to recommend him. And as
+for himself,&mdash;for him, the dispossessed one,&mdash;any particle of a claim
+which he might have secured by means of that former correspondence
+had been withdrawn by his own subsequent words. "I dare say she'll
+take you," he said, with his face still averted.</p>
+
+<p>Ralph the heir did indeed think that he would be accepted, and he
+went on to discuss the circumstances of their future home, almost as
+though Mary Bonner were already employed in getting together her
+wedding garments. His companion said nothing further, and Ralph the
+heir did not discover that anything was amiss.</p>
+
+<p>On the following day Ralph the heir went across the country to the
+Moonbeam in Buckinghamshire.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c36" id="c36"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XXXVI.</h3>
+<h4>NEEFIT MEANS TO STICK TO IT.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>There was some business to be done as a matter of course before the
+young Squire could have all his affairs properly settled. There were
+debts to be paid, among which Mr. Neefit's stood certainly first. It
+was first in magnitude, and first in obligation; but it gave Ralph no
+manner of uneasiness. He had really done his best to get Polly to
+marry him, and, luckily for him,&mdash;by the direct interposition of some
+divine Providence, as it now seemed to Ralph,&mdash;Polly had twice
+refused him. It seemed to him, indeed, that divine Providence looked
+after him in a special way, breaking his uncle's neck in the very
+nick of time, and filling a breeches-maker's daughter's mind with so
+sound a sense of the propriety of things, as to induce her to decline
+the honour of being a millstone round his neck, when positively the
+offer was pressed upon her. As things stood there could be no
+difficulty with Mr. Neefit. The money would be paid, of course, with
+all adjuncts of accruing interest, and Mr. Neefit should go on making
+breeches for him to the end of the chapter. And for raising this
+money he had still a remnant of the old property which he could sell,
+so that he need not begin by laying an ounce of encumbrance on his
+paternal estates. He was very clear in his mind at this period of his
+life that there should never be any such encumbrance in his days.
+That remnant of property should be sold, and Neefit, Horsball, and
+others, should be paid. But it certainly did occur to him in regard
+to Neefit, that there had been that between them which made it
+expedient that the matter should be settled with some greater
+courtesy than would be shown by a simple transaction through his man
+of business. Therefore he wrote a few lines to Mr. Neefit on the day
+before he left the Priory,&mdash;a few lines which he thought to be very
+civil.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="jright">Newton, 9th December, 186&mdash;.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">My dear Mr. Neefit</span>,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>You have probably heard before this of the accident which
+has happened in my family. My uncle has been killed by a
+fall from his horse, and I have come into my property
+earlier than I expected. As soon as I could begin to
+attend to matters of business, I thought of my debt to
+you, and of all the obligation I owe you. I think the debt
+is &pound;1,000; but whatever it is it can be paid now. The
+money will be ready early in the year, if that will do for
+you,&mdash;and I am very much obliged to you. Would you mind
+letting Mr. Carey know how much it is, interest and all.
+He is our family lawyer.</p>
+
+<p>Remember me very kindly to Miss Polly. I hope she will
+always think of me as a friend. Would you tell Bawwah to
+put three pairs of breeches in hand for me,&mdash;leather.</p>
+
+<p class="ind10">Yours very truly,</p>
+
+<p class="ind15"><span class="smallcaps">Ralph Newton</span>.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>The wrath of Mr. Neefit on receiving this letter at his shop in
+Conduit Street was almost divine. He had heard from Polly an account
+of that last interview at Ramsgate, and Polly had told her story as
+truly as she knew how to tell it. But the father had never for a
+moment allowed himself to conceive that therefore the thing was at an
+end, and had instructed Polly that she was not to look upon it in
+that light. He regarded his young customer as absolutely bound to
+him, and would not acknowledge to himself that such obligation could
+be annulled by Polly's girlish folly. And he did believe that young
+Newton intended to act, as he called it, "on the square." So
+believing, he was ready to make almost any sacrifice of himself; but
+that Newton should now go back, after having received his hard money,
+was to him a thing quite out of the question. He scolded Polly with
+some violence, and asked whether she wanted to marry such a lout as
+Moggs. Polly replied with spirit that she wouldn't marry any man till
+she found that she could love him, and that the man loved her. "Ain't
+he told you as he loves you ever so often?" said Neefit. "I know what
+I'm doing of, father," said Polly, "and I'm not going to be drove."
+Nevertheless Mr. Neefit had felt certain that if young Newton would
+still act upon the square, things would settle themselves rightly.
+There was the money due, and, as Neefit constantly said to himself,
+"money was a thing as was not to be got over."</p>
+
+<p>Then had come upon the tradesman the tidings of the old Squire's
+death. They were read to him out of a newspaper by his shopman,
+Waddle. "I'm blessed if he ain't been and tumbled all at once into
+his uncle's shoes," said Waddle. The paragraph in question was one
+which appeared in a weekly newspaper some two days after the Squire's
+death. Neefit, who at the moment was turning over the pages of his
+ledger, came down from his desk and stood for about ten minutes in
+the middle of his shop, while the Herr ceased from his cutting, and
+Waddle read the paragraph over and over again. Neefit stood stock
+still, with his hands in his breeches pockets, and his great staring
+eyes fixed upon vacancy. "I'm blessed if it ain't true," said Waddle,
+convinced by the repetition of his own reading. News had previously
+reached the shop that the Squire had had a fall. Tidings as to
+troubles in the hunting-field were quick in reaching Mr. Neefit's
+shop;&mdash;but there had been no idea that the accident would prove to be
+fatal. Neefit, when he went home that night, told his wife and
+daughter. "That will be the last of young Newton," said Mrs. Neefit.
+"I'm <span class="nowrap">d&mdash;&mdash;</span>
+if it will!" said the breeches-maker. Polly maintained a
+discreet silence as to the heir, merely remarking that it was very
+sad for the old gentleman. Polly at that time was very full of
+admiration for Moggs,&mdash;in regard, that is, to the political character
+of her lover. Moggs had lost his election, but was about to petition.</p>
+
+<p>Neefit was never called upon, in the way of his own trade, to make
+funereal garments. Men, when they are bereaved of their friends, do
+not ride in black breeches. But he had all a tailor's respect for a
+customer with a dead relation. He felt that it would not become him
+to make an application to the young Squire on a subject connected
+with marriage, till the tombstone over the old Squire should have
+been properly adjusted. He was a patient man, and could wait. And he
+was a man not good at writing letters. His customer and future
+son-in-law would turn up soon; or else, the expectant father-in-law
+might drop down upon him at the Moonbeam or elsewhere. As for a final
+escape, Polly Neefit's father hardly feared that any such attempt
+would be made. The young man had acted on the square, and had made
+his offer in good faith.</p>
+
+<p>Such was Mr. Neefit's state of mind when he received the young
+Squire's letter. The letter almost knocked him down. There was a
+decision about it, a confidence that all was over between them except
+the necessary payment of the money, an absence of all doubt as to
+"Miss Polly," which he could not endure. And then that order for more
+breeches, included in the very same paragraph with Polly, was most
+injurious. It must be owned that the letter was a cruel,
+heart-rending, bad letter. For an hour or so it nearly broke Mr.
+Neefit's heart. But he resolved that he was not going to be done. The
+young Squire should marry his daughter, or the whole transaction
+should be published to the world. He would do such things and say
+such things that the young Squire should certainly not have a good
+time of it. He said not a word to Polly of the letter that night, but
+he did speak of the young Squire. "When that young man comes again,
+Miss Polly," he said, "I shall expect you to take him."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know anything about that, father," said Polly. "He's had his
+answer, and I'm thinking he won't ask for another." Upon this the
+breeches-maker looked at his daughter, but made no other reply.</p>
+
+<p>During the two or three following days Neefit made some inquiries,
+and found that his customer was at the Moonbeam. It was now necessary
+that he should go to work at once, and, therefore, with many
+misgivings, he took Waddle into his confidence. He could not himself
+write such a letter as then must be written;&mdash;but Waddle was perfect
+at the writing of letters. Waddle shrugged his shoulders, and clearly
+did not believe that Polly would ever get the young Squire. Waddle
+indeed went so far as to hint that his master would be lucky in
+obtaining payment of his money,&mdash;but, nevertheless, he gave his mind
+to the writing of the letter. The letter was written as
+<span class="nowrap">follows:&mdash;</span><br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="jright">Conduit Street, 14th December, 186&mdash;.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">Dear Sir</span>,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>Yours of the 9th instant has come to hand, and I beg to
+say with compliments how shocked we were to hear of the
+Squire's accident. It was terribly sudden, and we all felt
+it very much; as in the way of our business we very often
+have to.</p>
+
+<p>As to the money that can stand. Between friends such
+things needn't be mentioned. Any accommodation of that
+kind was and always will be ready when required. As to
+that other matter, a young gentleman like you won't think
+that a young lady is to be taken at her first word. A
+bargain is a bargain, and honourable is honourable, which
+nobody knows as well as you who was always disposed to be
+upon the square. Our Polly hasn't forgotten you,&mdash;and
+isn't going.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p class="noindent">It should
+be acknowledged on Mr. Waddle's behalf, that that last
+assurance was inserted by the unassisted energy of Mr. Neefit
+himself.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="noindent">We shall expect to see you without delay, here or at
+Hendon, as may best suit; but pray remember that things
+stand just as they was. Touching other matters, as needn't
+be named here, orders will be attended to as usual if
+given separate.</p>
+
+<p class="ind8">Yours very truly and obedient,</p>
+
+<p class="ind15"><span class="smallcaps">Thomas Neefit</span>.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>This letter duly reached the young Squire, and did not add to his
+happiness at the Moonbeam. That he should ever renew his offer to
+Polly Neefit was, he well knew, out of the question; but he could see
+before him an infinity of trouble should the breeches-maker be
+foolish enough to press him to do so. He had acted "on the square."
+In compliance with the bargain undoubtedly made by him, he had twice
+proposed to Polly, and had Polly accepted his offer on either of
+these occasions, there would,&mdash;he now acknowledged to himself,&mdash;have
+been very great difficulty in escaping from the difficulty. Polly had
+thought fit to refuse him, and of course he was free. But,
+nevertheless, there might be trouble in store for him. He had hardly
+begun to ask himself in what way this trouble might next show itself,
+when Neefit was at the Moonbeam. Three days after the receipt of his
+letter, when he rode into the Moonbeam yard on his return from
+hunting, there was Mr. Neefit waiting to receive him.</p>
+
+<p>He certainly had not answered Mr. Neefit's letter, having told
+himself that he might best do so by a personal visit in Conduit
+Street; but now that Neefit was there, the personal intercourse did
+not seem to him to be so easy. He greeted the breeches-maker very
+warmly, while Pepper, Cox, and Mr. Horsball, with sundry grooms and
+helpers, stood by and admired. Something of Mr. Neefit's money, and
+of Polly's charms as connected with the young Squire, had already
+reached the Moonbeam by the tongue of Rumour; and now Mr. Neefit had
+been waiting for the last four hours in the little parlour within the
+Moonbeam bar. He had eaten his mutton chop, and drunk three or four
+glasses of gin and water, but had said nothing of his mission. Mrs.
+Horsball, however, had already whispered her suspicions to her
+husband's sister, a young lady of forty, who dispensed rum, gin, and
+brandy, with very long ringlets and very small glasses.</p>
+
+<p>"You want to have a few words with me, old fellow," said Ralph to the
+breeches-maker, with a cheery laugh. It was a happy idea that of
+making them all around conceive that Neefit had come after his money.
+Only it was not successful. Men are not dunned so rigorously when
+they have just fallen into their fortunes. Neefit, hardly speaking
+above his breath, with that owlish, stolid look, which was always
+common to him except when he was measuring a man for a pair of
+breeches, acknowledged that he did. "Come along, old fellow," said
+Ralph, taking him by the arm. "But what'll you take to drink first?"
+Neefit shook his head, and accompanied Ralph into the house. Ralph
+had a private sitting-room of his own, so that there was no
+difficulty on that score. "What's all this about?" he said, standing
+with his back to the fire, and still holding Neefit by the arm. He
+did it very well, but he did not as yet know the depth of Neefit's
+obstinacy.</p>
+
+<p>"What's it all about?" asked Neefit in disgust.</p>
+
+<p>"Well; yes. Have you talked to Polly herself about this, old fellow?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I ain't; and I don't mean."</p>
+
+<p>"Twice I went to her, and twice she refused me. Come, Neefit, be
+reasonable. A man can't be running after a girl all his life, when
+she won't have anything to say to him. I did all that a man could do;
+and upon my honour I was very fond of her. But, God bless my
+soul,&mdash;there must be an end to everything."</p>
+
+<p>"There ain't to be no end to this, Mr. Newton."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm to marry the girl whether she will or not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nohow," said Mr. Neefit, oracularly. "But when a young gentleman
+asks a young lady as whether she'll have him, she's not a-going to
+jump down his throat. You knows that, Mr. Newton. And as for money,
+did I ask for any settlement? I'd a' been ashamed to mention money.
+When are you a-coming to see our Polly, that's the question?"</p>
+
+<p>"I shall come no more, Mr. Neefit."</p>
+
+<p>"You won't?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly not, Mr. Neefit. I've been twice rejected."</p>
+
+<p>"And that's the kind of man you are; is it? You're one of them sort,
+are you?" Then he looked out of his saucer eyes upon the young Squire
+with a fishy ferocity, which was very unpleasant. It was quite
+evident that he meant war. "If that's your game, Mr. Newton, I'll be
+even with you."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Neefit, I'll pay you anything that you say I owe you."</p>
+
+<p>"Damn your money!" said the breeches-maker, walking out of the room.
+When he got down into the bar he told them all there that young
+Newton was engaged to his daughter, and that, by
+<span class="nowrap">G&mdash;&mdash;,</span> he should
+marry her.</p>
+
+<p>"Stick to that, Neefit," said Lieutenant Cox.</p>
+
+<p>"I mean to stick to it," said Mr. Neefit. He then ordered another
+glass of gin and water, and was driven back to the station.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c37" id="c37"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XXXVII.</h3>
+<h4>"HE MUST MARRY HER."<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>On the day following that on which Mr. Neefit made his journey to the
+Moonbeam, Sir Thomas Underwood was at his chambers in London. It was
+now eight weeks since his bone had been broken, and though he still
+carried his arm in a sling, he declared of himself that he was able
+to go about as usual;&mdash;which assertion was taken at the villa as
+meaning that he was now able to live in Southampton Buildings without
+further assistance from women. When Patience reminded him, with tears
+in her eyes, that he could not as yet put on his own coat, he
+reminded her that Stemm was the most careful of men. Up to London he
+went with a full understanding that he was not at any rate to be
+expected home on that night. He had business on hand of great
+importance, which, as he declared, made his presence in town
+imperative. Mr. Trigger, from Percycross, was to be up with reference
+to the pestilent petition which had been presented against the return
+of Griffenbottom and himself. Moggs had petitioned on his own behalf,
+and two of the Liberals of the borough had also petitioned in the
+interest of Mr. Westmacott. The two Liberal parties who had
+quarrelled during the contest had now again joined forces in
+reference to the petition, and there was no doubt that the matter
+would go on before the judge. Mr. Trigger was coming up to London
+with reference to the defence. Sir Thomas gave Stemm to understand
+that Mr. Trigger would call at one o'clock.</p>
+
+<p>Exactly at one o'clock the bell was rung at Sir Thomas's outside
+door, and Stemm was on the alert to give entrance to Mr. Trigger.
+When the door was opened who should present himself but our
+unfortunate friend Neefit. He humbly asked whether Sir Thomas was
+within, and received a reply which, as coming from Stemm, was
+courteous in the extreme. "Mr. Trigger, I suppose;&mdash;walk in, Mr.
+Trigger." Neefit, not at all understanding why he was called Trigger,
+did walk in. Stemm, opening the door of his master's sanctum,
+announced Mr. Trigger. Neefit advanced into the middle of the room.
+Sir Thomas, with some solicitude as to the adjustment of his arm,
+rose to greet his agent from Percy cross. "This isn't Mr. Trigger,"
+said Sir Thomas. "He told me he was, anyhow," said Stemm, "I didn't
+tell you nothing of the kind," said Neefit. "But you come from
+Percycross?" said Sir Thomas. "No I don't; I comes from Conduit
+Street," said Neefit. "You must go away," said Stemm, leaving the
+door open, and advancing into the room as though to turn the enemy's
+flank.</p>
+
+<p>But Neefit, having made good his point so far, did not intend to be
+dislodged without a struggle on his own part. "I've something to say
+to Sir Thomas about Mr. Newton, as I wants to say very particular."
+"You can't say it now," said Stemm. "Oh, but I can," said Neefit,
+"and it won't take three minutes." "Wouldn't another day do for it,
+as I am particularly busy now?" pleaded Sir Thomas. "Well, Sir
+Thomas;&mdash;to tell the truth, it wouldn't," said Mr. Neefit, standing
+his ground. Then there came another ring at the bell. "Ask Mr.
+Trigger to sit down in the other room for two minutes, Stemm," said
+Sir Thomas. And so Mr. Neefit had carried his point. "And now, sir,"
+said Sir Thomas, "as I am particularly engaged, I will ask you to be
+as quick as possible."</p>
+
+<p>"My name is Neefit," began the breeches-maker,&mdash;and then paused. Sir
+Thomas, who had heard the name from Ralph, but had forgotten it
+altogether, merely bowed his head. "I am the breeches-maker of
+Conduit Street," continued Mr. Neefit, with a proud conviction that
+he too had ascended so high in his calling as to be justified in
+presuming that he was known to mankind. Sir Thomas again bowed.
+Neefit went on with his story. "Mr. Newton is a-going to behave to me
+very bad."</p>
+
+<p>"If he owes you money, he can pay you now," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"He do owe me money;&mdash;a thousand pound he owe me."</p>
+
+<p>"A thousand pounds for breeches!"</p>
+
+<p>"No, Sir Thomas. It's most for money lent; but it's not along of that
+as I'd trouble you. I know how to get my money, or to put up with the
+loss if I don't. A thousand pound ain't here nor there,&mdash;not in what
+I've got to say. I wouldn't demean myself to ring at your bell, Sir
+Thomas;&mdash;not in the way of looking for a thousand pounds."</p>
+
+<p>"In God's name, then, what is it? Pray be quick."</p>
+
+<p>"He's going back from his word as he's promised to my daughter.
+That's what it is." As Neefit paused again, Sir Thomas remembered
+Ralph's proposition, made in his difficulties, as to marrying a
+tradesman's daughter for money, and at once fell to the conclusion
+that Mr. and Miss Neefit had been ill-used. "Sir Thomas," continued
+the breeches-maker, "I've been as good as a father to him. I gave him
+money when nobody else wouldn't."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean that he has had money from you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; in course he has; ever so much. I paid for him a lot of money
+to 'Orsball, where he 'unts. Money! I should think so. Didn't I pay
+Moggs for him, the bootmaker? The very money as is rattling in his
+pocket now is my money."</p>
+
+<p>"And he engaged himself to your daughter?"</p>
+
+<p>"He engaged hisself to me to marry her. He won't say no otherwise
+himself. And he asked her twice. Why, Sir Thomas, he was all on the
+square about it till the old gentleman broke his neck. He hadn't
+nowhere else to go to for a shilling. But now the estate's come in
+like, he's for behaving dishonourable. He don't know me yet; that's
+what he don't. But I'll make him know me, Sir Thomas."</p>
+
+<p>Then the door was opened, and Stemm's head appeared. "Mr. Trigger
+says as he's in the greatest possible haste, Sir Thomas." The reader,
+however, may as well be informed that this was pure invention on the
+part of Mr. Stemm.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas tore his hair and rubbed his face. He couldn't bid Neefit
+to call again, as he certainly did not desire to have a second visit.
+"What can I do for you, Mr. Neefit? I have no doubt the money will be
+paid, if owing. I will guarantee that for you."</p>
+
+<p>"It ain't the money. I knows how to get my money."</p>
+
+<p>"Then what can I do for you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Make him go upon the square, Sir Thomas."</p>
+
+<p>"How can I make him? He's twenty-six years old, and he's nothing to
+me. I don't think he should marry the young lady. He's not in her
+rank of life. If he has done her an injury, he must pay for it."</p>
+
+<p>"Injury!" shouted Neefit, upon whose mind the word produced an
+unintended idea. "No, no! Our Polly ain't like that. By
+<span class="nowrap">G&mdash;&mdash;,</span> I'd
+eat him, if it was that way! There ain't a duchess in the land as 'd
+'ve guv' him his answer more ready than Polly had he ever spoke to
+her that way."</p>
+
+<p>"If he has given rise to hopes which through him will be
+disappointed," said Sir Thomas, gravely, "he is bound to make what
+compensation may be in his power."</p>
+
+<p>"Compensation be d&mdash;&mdash;!" said Neefit.
+"He must marry her."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think he will do that."</p>
+
+<p>"You didn't think he would take my money, I suppose; but he did. You
+didn't think he'd come and spend his Sundays out at my cottage, but
+he did. You didn't think as he'd come after our Polly down to
+Ramsgate, but he did. You didn't think as he'd give me his word to
+make her his wife, but he did." At every assertion that he made, the
+breeches-maker bobbed forward his bullet head, stretched open his
+eyes, and stuck out his under lip. During all this excited energy, he
+was not a man pleasant to the eye. "And now how is it to be, Sir
+Thomas? That's what I want to know."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Newton is nothing to me, Mr. Neefit."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh;&mdash;that's all. Nothing to you, ain't he? Wasn't he brought up by
+you just as a son like? And now he ain't nothing to you! Do you mean
+to say as he didn't ought to marry my girl?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think he ought not to marry her."</p>
+
+<p>"Not arter his promise?"</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas was driven very hard, whereas had the sly old
+breeches-maker told all his story, there would have been no
+difficulty at all. "I think such a marriage would lead to the
+happiness of neither party. If an injury has been done,&mdash;as I fear
+may be too probable,&mdash;I will advise my young friend to make any
+reparation in his power&mdash;short of marriage. I can say nothing
+further, Mr. Neefit."</p>
+
+<p>"And that's your idea of being on the square, Sir Thomas?"</p>
+
+<p>"I can say nothing further, Mr. Neefit. As I have an appointment
+made, I must ask you to leave me." As Sir Thomas said this, his hand
+was upon the bell.</p>
+
+<p>"Very well;&mdash;very well. As sure as my name's Neefit, he shall hear of
+me. And so shall you, Sir Thomas. Don't you be poking at me in that
+way, old fellow. I don't choose to be poked at." These last words
+were addressed to Stemm, who had entered the room, and was holding
+the door open for Mr. Neefit's exit with something more than the
+energy customary in speeding a parting guest. Mr. Neefit, however,
+did take his departure, and Sir Thomas joined Mr. Trigger in the
+other room.</p>
+
+<p>We will not be present at that interview. Sir Thomas had been in a
+great hurry to get rid of Mr. Neefit, but it may be doubted whether
+he found Mr. Trigger much better company. Mr. Trigger's business
+chiefly consisted in asking Sir Thomas for a considerable sum of
+money, and in explaining to him that the petition would certainly
+cost a large sum beyond this,&mdash;unless the expenses could be saddled
+on Westmacott and Moggs, as to which result Mr. Trigger seemed to
+have considerable doubt. But perhaps the bitterest part of Mr.
+Trigger's communication consisted in the expression of his opinion
+that Mr. Griffenbottom should be held by Sir Thomas free from any
+expense as to the petition, on the ground that Griffenbottom, had he
+stood alone, would certainly have carried one of the seats without
+any fear of a petition. "I don't think I can undertake that, Mr.
+Trigger," said Sir Thomas. Mr. Trigger simply shrugged his shoulders.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas, when he was alone, was very uncomfortable. While at
+Percycross he had extracted from Patience an idea that Ralph the heir
+and Clarissa were attached to each other, and he had very strongly
+declared that he would not admit an engagement between them. At that
+time Ralph was supposed to have sold his inheritance, and did not
+stand well in Sir Thomas's eyes. Then had come the Squire's death and
+the altered position of his late ward. Sir Thomas would be injured,
+would be made subject to unjust reproach if it were thought of him
+that he would be willing to give his daughter to a young man simply
+because that young man owned an estate. He had no such sordid feeling
+in regard to his girls. But he did feel that all that had occurred at
+Newton had made a great difference. Ralph would now live at the
+Priory, and there would be enough even for his extravagance. Should
+the Squire of Newton ask him for his girl's hand with that girl's
+consent, he thought that he could hardly refuse it. How could he ask
+Clarissa to abandon so much seeming happiness because the man had
+failed to keep out of debt upon a small income? He could not do so.
+And then it came to pass that he was prepared to admit Ralph as a
+suitor to his child should Ralph renew his request to that effect.
+They had all loved the lad as a boy, and the property was wholly
+unencumbered. Of course he said nothing to Clarissa; but should Ralph
+come to him there could be but one answer. Such had been the state of
+his mind before Mr. Neefit's visit.</p>
+
+<p>But the breeches-maker's tale had altered the aspect of things very
+greatly. Under no circumstances could Sir Thomas recommend the young
+Squire to marry the daughter of the man who had been with him; but if
+Ralph Newton had really engaged himself to this girl, and had done so
+with the purport of borrowing money from the father, that might be a
+reason why, notwithstanding the splendour of his prospects, he should
+not be admitted to further intimacy at the villa. To borrow money
+from one's tradesman was, in the eyes of Sir Thomas, about as
+inexcusable an offence as a young man could commit. He was too much
+disturbed in mind to go home on the following day, but on the
+Thursday he returned to the villa. The following Sunday would be
+Christmas Day.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c38" id="c38"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XXXVIII.</h3>
+<h4>FOR TWO REASONS.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>The young Squire, as soon as Neefit had left him in his own
+sitting-room at the Moonbeam, sat himself down and began to think
+over his affairs seriously. One thing was certain to him;&mdash;nothing on
+earth should induce him to offer his hand again to Polly Neefit. He
+had had a most miraculous escape, and assuredly would run no further
+risk in that direction. But though he had escaped, he could perceive
+that there was considerable trouble before him,&mdash;considerable trouble
+and perhaps some disgrace. It certainly could not be proved against
+him that he had broken any promise, as there had been no engagement;
+but it could be made public that he had twice offered himself to
+Polly, and could also be made public that he had borrowed the
+breeches-maker's money. He kept himself alone on that evening; and
+though he hunted on the following day, he was not found to be a
+lively companion either by Cox or Pepper. The lieutenant was talking
+about Neefit and Neefit's daughter all day: but Mr. Pepper, who was
+more discreet, declined to canvass the subject. "It's nothing to me
+who a man marries and who he don't," said Mr. Pepper. "What sort of
+horses he rides;&mdash;that's what I look at." During this day and the
+next Ralph did consider the state of his affairs very closely, and
+the conclusion he came to was this, that the sooner he could engage
+himself to marry Mary Bonner the better. If he were once engaged, the
+engagement would not then be broken off because of any previous folly
+with Miss Neefit; and, again, if he were once engaged to Mary Bonner,
+Neefit would see the absurdity of torturing him further in regard to
+Polly. On the Wednesday evening he went up to town, and on the
+Thursday morning he put himself into a cab and ordered the man to
+drive him to Popham Villa.</p>
+
+<p>It was about noon when he started from town; and though he never
+hesitated,&mdash;did not pause for a moment after he had made up his mind
+as to the thing that he would do, still he felt many misgivings as he
+was driven down to Fulham. How should he begin his story to Mary
+Bonner, and how should he look Clary Underwood in the face? And yet
+he had not an idea that he was in truth going to behave badly to
+Clarissa. There had no doubt been a sort of tenderness in the feeling
+that had existed between them,&mdash;a something just a little warmer than
+brotherly regard. They had been thrown together and had liked each
+other. And as he was driven nearer to the villa, he remembered
+distinctly that he had kissed her on the lawn. But did any one
+suppose that a man was bound to marry the first girl he kissed,&mdash;or
+if not the first, then why the second, or the third? Clarissa could
+have no fair ground of complaint against him; and yet he was uneasy
+as he reflected that she too must know the purport of his present
+visit to the villa.</p>
+
+<p>And he was not quite easy about Mary. The good things which he
+carried in his hand were so many that he did not conceive that Mary
+would refuse him; but yet he wished that the offer had been made, and
+had been accepted. Hitherto he had taken pleasure in his intercourse
+with young ladies, and had rather enjoyed the excitement of those
+moments which to some men are troublesome and even painful. When he
+had told Clarissa that she was dearer than any one else, he had been
+very happy while he was telling her. There had been nothing of
+embarrassment to him in the work of proposing to Polly Neefit. There
+may perhaps have been other passages in his life of the same nature,
+and he certainly had not feared them beforehand or been ashamed of
+them afterwards. But now he found himself endeavouring to think what
+words he would use to Mary Bonner, and in what attitude he would
+stand or sit as he used them. "The truth is," he said to himself, "a
+man should do these kind of things without premeditation." But not
+the less was he resolved, and at the gate he jumped out of his cab
+with a determination to have it over as soon as possible. He desired
+the cabman to wait for him at the nearest stables, remarking that he
+might be there for a few minutes, or for a few hours, and then turned
+to the gate. As he did so, he saw Sir Thomas walking from the
+direction of Fulham Bridge. Sir Thomas had come down by the railway
+on the other side of the river, and was now walking home. A sudden
+thought struck the young Squire. He would begin his work by telling
+his tale to Sir Thomas. There could be nothing so fitting as that he
+should obtain the uncle's leave to address the niece.</p>
+
+<p>The two men greeted each other, and there were many things to be
+said. Sir Thomas had not seen his ward since the old Squire's death,
+and Ralph had not seen Sir Thomas since the election at Percycross
+and the accident of the broken arm. Sir Thomas was by far too
+reticent, too timid, and too reflective a man to begin at once
+whatever observations he might have to make ultimately in regard to
+Miss Polly Neefit. He was somewhat slow of speech, unless specially
+aroused, and had hardly received the congratulations of his young
+friend respecting the election, and expressed with some difficult
+decency his sorrow for the old Squire's death as combined with his
+satisfaction that the estate had not been sacrificed, when Ralph
+stopped him just as they had reached the front door, and, with much
+solemnity of manner, declared his wish to make a very particular
+private communication to Sir Thomas. "Certainly," said Sir Thomas,
+"certainly. Come into my room." But there was some delay before this
+privacy could be achieved, for in the hall they were met by the three
+girls, and of course there were many things to be said by them.
+Clarissa could hardly repress the flutter of her heart. When the
+reader last saw her flutter, and last heard her words as she spoke of
+her love to her cousin, she was taking an opportunity of declaring to
+Mary Bonner that she did not begrudge the brilliance of Mary's
+present prospects,&mdash;though the grand estate which made them brilliant
+was in a measure taken from her own hopes. And she had owned at the
+same time that she did not dare to feel confidence in her own love,
+because her lover would now be too poor in his own esteem to indulge
+himself with the luxury of a wife. All this Mary had accepted from
+her, certainly with no expression of triumph, but certainly with some
+triumph in her heart. Now this was entirely changed,&mdash;and here was
+her lover, with his fortune restored to him, once more beneath her
+father's roof! She gave him her hand the first of the three. She
+could not repress herself. He took it with a smile, and pressed it
+warmly. But he turned to Patience and took hers as rapidly as he was
+able. Then came Mary's turn. "I hope you also are glad to see me once
+again?" he said. Clarissa's heart sank within her as she heard the
+words. The appreciation of a woman in such matters is as fine as the
+nose of a hound, and is all but unintelligible to a man. "Oh, yes,
+Mr. Newton," said Mary smiling. "But if he asks her, she'll take
+him." No such words as these were formed even in Clarissa's mind; but
+after some fashion such was the ejaculation of her heart. Mary's "Oh,
+yes," had meant little enough, but could Mary withstand such chances
+if they were offered to her?</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas led the way into his private room, and Ralph followed him.
+"You won't be long, papa," said Patience.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope not," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"Remember, Ralph, you will be keeping lunch waiting," said Patience.</p>
+
+<p>Then the two men were alone. Sir Thomas's mind had recurred to Neefit
+at the first moment of Ralph's request. The young man was going to
+consult him as to the best mode of getting rid of that embarrassment.
+But in the hall another idea had come upon him. He was to be asked
+for his consent regarding Clarissa. As he seated himself in one chair
+and asked Ralph to take another, he had not quite made up his mind as
+to the answer he would give. There must at any rate be some delay.
+The reader will of course remember that Sir Thomas was persuaded that
+Ralph had engaged himself to marry Polly Neefit.</p>
+
+<p>Ralph rushed boldly at his subject at once. "Sir Thomas," he said, "I
+am going to make a proposition, and I wish to ask you for your
+consent. I have made up my mind that the sooner I marry in my present
+condition the better." Sir Thomas smiled and assented. "And I want to
+know whether you will object to my asking Miss Bonner to be my wife."</p>
+
+<p>"Miss Bonner!" said Sir Thomas, throwing up both his hands.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, sir;&mdash;is there any objection on your part?"</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas hardly knew how to say whether there was or was not an
+objection on his part. In the first place he had made up his mind
+that the other Ralph was to marry Mary,&mdash;that he would do so in spite
+of that disclaimer which had been made in the first moment of the
+young man's disinheritance. He, Sir Thomas, however, could have no
+right to object on that score. Nor could he raise any objection on
+the score of Clarissa. It did seem to him that all the young people
+were at cross purposes, that Patience must have been very stupid and
+Clarissa most addlepated, or else that this Ralph was abominably
+false; but still, he could say nothing respecting that. No tale had
+reached his ears which made it even possible for him to refer to
+Clarissa. But yet he was dissatisfied with the man, and was disposed
+to show it. "Perhaps I ought to tell you," said Sir Thomas, "that a
+man calling himself Neefit was with me yesterday."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, yes; the breeches-maker."</p>
+
+<p>"I believe he said that such was his trade. He assured me that you
+had borrowed large sums of money from him."</p>
+
+<p>"I do owe him some money."</p>
+
+<p>"A thousand pounds, I think he said."</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly as much as that."</p>
+
+<p>"Not for breeches,&mdash;which I suppose would be impossible, but for
+money advanced."</p>
+
+<p>"Part one and part the other," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"And he went on to tell me that you were engaged,&mdash;to marry his
+daughter."</p>
+
+<p>"That is untrue."</p>
+
+<p>"Were you never engaged to her?"</p>
+
+<p>"I was never engaged to her, Sir Thomas."</p>
+
+<p>"And it was all a lie on the part of Mr. Neefit? Was there no
+foundation for it? You had told me yourself that you thought of such
+a marriage."</p>
+
+<p>"There is nothing to justify him in saying that I was ever engaged to
+the young lady. The truth is that I did ask her and she,&mdash;refused
+me."</p>
+
+<p>"You did ask her?"</p>
+
+<p>"I did ask her," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"In earnest?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well; yes;&mdash;certainly in earnest. At that time I thought it the only
+way to save the property. I need not tell you how wretched I was at
+the time. You will remember what you yourself had said to me. It is
+true that I asked her, and that I did so by agreement with her
+father. She refused me,&mdash;twice. She was so good, so sensible, and so
+true, that she knew she had better not make herself a party to such a
+bargain. Whatever you may think of my own conduct I shall not have
+behaved badly to Miss Neefit."</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas did think very ill of Ralph's conduct, but he believed
+him. After a while the whole truth came out, as to the money lent and
+as to Neefit's schemes. It was of course understood by both of them
+that Ralph was required neither by honesty nor by honour to renew his
+offer. And then under such circumstances was he or was he not to be
+allowed to propose to Mary Bonner? At first Ralph had been much
+dismayed at having the Neefit mine sprung on him at such a moment;
+but he collected himself very quickly, and renewed his demand as to
+Mary. Sir Thomas could not mean to say that because he had been
+foolish in regard to Polly Neefit, that therefore he was to be
+debarred from marrying! Sir Thomas did not exactly say that; but,
+nevertheless, Sir Thomas showed his displeasure. "It seems," said he,
+"particularly easy to you to transfer your affections."</p>
+
+<p>"My affection for Miss Neefit was not strong," said Ralph. "I did,
+and always shall, regard her as a most excellent young woman."</p>
+
+<p>"She showed her sense in refusing you," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"I think she did," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"And I doubt much whether my niece will not be equally&mdash;sensible."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah,&mdash;I can say nothing as to that."</p>
+
+<p>"Were she to hear this story of Miss Neefit I am sure she would
+refuse you."</p>
+
+<p>"But you would not tell it to her,&mdash;as yet! If all goes well with me
+I will tell it to her some day. Come, Sir Thomas, you don't mean to
+be hard upon me at last. It cannot be that you should really regret
+that I have got out of that trouble."</p>
+
+<p>"But I regret much that you should have borrowed a tradesman's money,
+and more that you should have offered to pay the debt by marrying his
+daughter." Through it all, however, there was a feeling present to
+Sir Thomas that he was, in truth, angry with the Squire of Newton,
+not so much for his misconduct in coming to propose to Mary so soon
+after the affair with Polly Neefit, but because he had not come to
+propose to Clarissa. And Sir Thomas knew that such a feeling, if it
+did really exist, must be overcome. Mary was entitled to her chance,
+and must make the best of it. He would not refuse his sanction to a
+marriage with his niece on account of Ralph's misconduct, when he
+would have sanctioned a marriage with his own daughter in spite of
+that misconduct. The conversation was ended by Sir Thomas leaving the
+room with a promise that Miss Bonner should be sent to fill his
+place. In five minutes Miss Bonner was there. She entered the room
+very slowly, with a countenance that was almost savage, and during
+the few minutes that she remained there she did not sit down.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir Thomas has told you why I am here?" he said, advancing towards
+her, and taking her hand.</p>
+
+<p>"No; that is;&mdash;no. He has not told me."</p>
+
+<p>"Mary&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Newton, my name is Miss Bonner."</p>
+
+<p>"And must it between us be so cold as that?" He still had her by the
+hand, which she did not at the moment attempt to withdraw. "I have
+come to tell you, at the first moment that was possible to me after
+my uncle's death, that of all women in the world I love you the
+best."</p>
+
+<p>Then she withdrew her hand. "Mr. Newton, I am sorry to hear you say
+so;&mdash;very sorry."</p>
+
+<p>"Why should you be sorry? If you are unkind to me like this, there
+may be reason why I should be sorry. I shall, indeed, be very sorry.
+Since I first saw you, I have hoped that you would be my wife."</p>
+
+<p>"I never can be your wife, Mr. Newton."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not? Have I done anything to offend you? Being here as one of
+the family you must know enough of my affairs to feel sure,&mdash;that I
+have come to you the first moment that was possible. I did not dare
+to come when I thought that my position was one that was not worthy
+of you."</p>
+
+<p>"It would have been the same at any time," said Mary.</p>
+
+<p>"And why should you reject me,&mdash;like this; without a moment's
+thought?"</p>
+
+<p>"For two reasons," said Mary, slowly, and then she paused, as though
+doubting whether she would continue her speech, or give the two
+reasons which now guided her. But he stood, looking into her face,
+waiting for them. "In the first place," she said, "I think you are
+untrue to another person." Then she paused again, as though asking
+herself whether that reason would not suffice. But she resolved that
+she would be bold, and give the other. "In the next place, my heart
+is not my own to give."</p>
+
+<p>"Is it so?" asked Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"I have said as much as can be necessary,&mdash;perhaps more, and I would
+rather go now." Then she left the room with the same slow, stately
+step, and he saw her no more on that day.</p>
+
+<p>Then in those short five minutes Sir Thomas had absolutely told her
+the whole story about Polly Neefit, and she had come to the
+conclusion that because in his trouble he had offered to marry a
+tradesman's daughter, therefore he was to be debarred from ever
+receiving the hand of a lady! That was the light in which he looked
+upon Mary's first announcement. As to the second announcement he was
+absolutely at a loss. There must probably, he thought, have been some
+engagement before she left Jamaica. Not the less on that account was
+it an act of unpardonable ill-nature on the part of Sir Thomas,&mdash;that
+telling of Polly Neefit's story to Mary Bonner at such a moment.</p>
+
+<p>He was left alone for a few minutes after Mary's departure, and then
+Patience came to him. Would he stay for dinner? Even Patience was
+very cold to him. Sir Thomas was fatigued and was lying down, but
+would see him, of course, if he wished it. "And where is Clarissa?"
+asked Ralph. Patience said that Clarissa was not very well. She also
+was lying down. "I see what it is," said Ralph, turning upon her
+angrily. "You are, all of you, determined to quarrel with me because
+of my uncle's death."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not see why that should make us quarrel," said Patience. "I do
+not know that any one has quarrelled with you."</p>
+
+<p>Of course he would not wait for dinner, nor would he have any lunch.
+He walked out on to the lawn with something of a bluster in his step,
+and stood there for three or four minutes looking up at the house and
+speaking to Patience. A young man when he has been rejected by one of
+the young ladies of a family has rather a hard time of it till he
+gets away. "Well, Patience," he said at last, "make my farewells for
+me." And then he was gone.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c39" id="c39"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XXXIX.</h3>
+<h4>HORSELEECHES.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>The honour of representing the borough of Percycross in Parliament
+was very great, and Sir Thomas, no doubt, did enjoy it after a
+fashion; but it was by no means an unalloyed pleasure. While he was
+still in bed with his broken arm at the Percy Standard, many
+applications for money had been made to him. This man wanted a
+sovereign, that man a five-pound-note, and some poor starving wretch
+a half-a-crown; and they all came to him with notes from Trigger, or
+messages from Spicer or Spiveycomb, to the effect that as the
+election was now over, the money ought to be given. The landlord of
+the Percy Standard was on such occasions very hard upon him. "It
+really will do good, Sir Thomas." "It is wanted, Sir Thomas." "It
+will make a good feeling in the town, Sir Thomas, and we don't know
+how soon we may have to go to work again." Sir Thomas was too weak in
+health to refuse. He gave the sovereigns, the five-pound-notes, and
+the half-crowns, and hurried back home as quickly as he was able.</p>
+
+<p>But things were almost worse with him at home than at Percycross. The
+real horseleeches felt that they could hardly get a good hold of him
+while he was lying at the Percycross inn. Attacks by letter were,
+they well knew, more fatal than those made personally, and they
+waited. The first that came was from Mr. Pabsby. Mr. Pabsby had at
+last seen his way clear, and had voted for Underwood and Westmacott,
+absolutely throwing away his vote as far as the cause was concerned.
+But Mr. Pabsby had quarrelled with Griffenbottom, who once, when
+pressed hard for some favours, had answered the reverend gentleman
+somewhat roughly. "You may go and be
+<span class="nowrap">&mdash;&mdash;,"</span>
+said Mr. Griffenbottom in
+his wrath, "and tell everybody in Percycross that I said so." Mr.
+Pabsby had smiled, had gone away, and had now voted for Mr.
+Westmacott. Mr. Pabsby was indeed a horseleech of the severest kind.
+There had been some outward show of reconciliation between
+Griffenbottom and Pabsby; but Pabsby had at last voted for Underwood
+and Westmacott. Sir Thomas had not been home two days before he
+received a letter from Mr. Pabsby. "It had been with infinite
+satisfaction,"&mdash;so Mr. Pabsby now said,&mdash;"that he had at length seen
+his way clearly, and found himself able to support his friend Sir
+Thomas. And he believed that he might take upon himself to say that
+when he once had seen his way clearly, he had put his shoulder to the
+wheel gallantly." In fact, it was to be inferred from the contents of
+Mr. Pabsby's letter that Sir Thomas's return had been due altogether
+to Mr. Pabsby's flock, who had, so said Mr. Pabsby, been guided in
+the matter altogether by his advice. Then he sent a list of his
+"hearers," who had voted for Sir Thomas. From this the slight change
+of subject needed to bring him to the new chapel which he was
+building, and his desire that Sir Thomas should head the
+subscription-list in so good a cause, was easy enough. It might be
+difficult to say in what Mr. Pabsby's strength lay, but it certainly
+was the case that the letter was so written as to defy neglect and
+almost to defy refusal. Such is the power of horseleeches. Sir Thomas
+sent Mr. Pabsby a cheque for twenty pounds, and received Mr. Pabsby's
+acknowledgment, thanking him for his "first" subscription. The thanks
+were not very cordial, and it was evident that Mr. Pabsby had
+expected a good deal more than twenty pounds in return for all that
+he had done.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Pabsby was simply the first. Before Christmas had come, it seemed
+to Sir Thomas that there was not a place of divine worship in the
+whole of Percycross that was not falling to the ground in ruins. He
+had not observed it when he was there, but now it appeared that funds
+were wanted for almost every such edifice in the borough. And the
+schools were in a most destitute condition. He was informed that the
+sitting member had always subscribed to all the schools, and that if
+he did not continue such subscription the children would literally be
+robbed of their education. One gentleman, whose name he did not even
+remember to have heard, simply suggested to him that he would, as a
+matter of course, continue to give "the &pound;50" towards the general
+Christmas collection on behalf of the old women of the borough. The
+sitting members had given it time out of mind. Mr. Roodylands had a
+political project of his own, which in fact, if carried out, would
+amount to a prohibition on the import of French boots, and suggested
+that Sir Thomas should bring in a bill to that effect on the meeting
+of Parliament. If Sir Thomas would not object to the trouble of
+visiting Amiens, Lille, Beauvais, and three or four other French
+towns which Mr. Roodylands mentioned, he would be able to ascertain
+how much injury had been done to Percycross by the Cobden treaty. Mr.
+Spiveycomb had his own ideas about Italian rags,&mdash;Mr. Spiveycomb
+being in the paper line,&mdash;and wrote a very long letter to Sir Thomas,
+praying the member to make himself master of a subject so vitally
+important to the borough which he represented. Mr. Spicer also
+communicated to him the astounding fact that some high official
+connected with the army was undoubtedly misbehaving himself in regard
+to mustard for the troops. The mustard contracts were not open as
+they should be open. The mustard was all supplied by a London house,
+and Mr. Spicer was very anxious that Sir Thomas should move for a
+committee to inquire of the members of that London firm as to the
+manner in which the contracts were obtained by them. Mr. Spicer was
+disposed to think that this was the most important matter that would
+be brought forward in the next session of Parliament.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Pabsby had got his cheque before the other applications were
+received; but when they came in shoals, Sir Thomas thought that it
+might be well to refer them to Mr. Trigger for advice. Sir Thomas had
+not loved Griffenbottom during the election, and was not inclined to
+ask his colleague for counsel. Griffenbottom had obtained a name for
+liberality in Percycross, and had shown symptoms,&mdash;so thought Sir
+Thomas,&mdash;of an intention to use his reputation as a means of throwing
+off further burdens from his own shoulders. "I have spent a treasure
+in the borough. Let my colleague begin now." Words spoken by Mr.
+Griffenbottom in that strain had been repeated to Sir Thomas; and,
+after many such words, Sir Thomas could not go to Mr. Griffenbottom
+for advice as to what he should give, or refuse to give. He doubted
+whether better reliance could be placed on Mr. Trigger;&mdash;but to some
+one he must go for direction. Were he once to let it be known in
+Percycross that demands made would be satisfied, he might sign
+cheques to the extent of his whole fortune, during his first session.
+He did write to Mr. Trigger, enclosing the various Percycross
+applications; and Mr. Trigger duly replied to him. Mr. Trigger
+regretted that money had been given to Mr. Pabsby. Mr. Pabsby had
+been of no use, and could be of no use. Mr. Griffenbottom, who knew
+the borough better than any one else, had understood this well when
+on one occasion he had been "a little short" with Mr. Pabsby. Sir
+Thomas ought not to have sent that cheque to Mr. Pabsby. The sending
+it would do infinite harm, and cause dissensions in the borough,
+which might require a considerable expenditure to set right. As to
+the other clerical demands, it seemed to Sir Thomas that Mr. Trigger
+was of opinion that they should all be gratified. He had, in fact,
+sent his money to the only person in Percycross who ought not to have
+received money. The &pound;50 for the old women was a matter of course, and
+would not be begrudged, as it was the only payment which was
+absolutely annual. In regard to the schools, Sir Thomas could do what
+he pleased; but the sitting members had always been liberal to the
+schools. Schools were things to which sitting members were, no doubt,
+expected to subscribe. As to the question of French boots, Mr.
+Trigger thought that there was something in it, and said that if Sir
+Thomas could devote his Christmas holidays to getting up the subject
+in Lille and Amiens, it would have a good effect in the borough, and
+show that he was in earnest. This might be the more desirable, as
+there was no knowing as yet what might be done about the petition.
+There no doubt was a strong feeling in the borough as to the Cobden
+treaty, and Sir Thomas would probably feel it to be his duty to get
+the question up. In regard to the mustard, Mr. Trigger suggested that
+though there was probably nothing in it, it might be as well to ask
+the Secretary at War a question or two on the subject. Mr. Spicer
+was, no doubt, a moving man in Percycross. Sir Thomas could at any
+rate promise that he would ask such questions, as Mr. Spicer
+certainly had friends who might be conducive to the withdrawal of the
+petition. Sir Thomas could at any rate put himself into
+correspondence with the War Office. Mr. Trigger also thought that Sir
+Thomas might judiciously study the subject of Italian rags, in
+reference to the great paper trade of the country. No doubt the
+manufacture of paper was a growing business at Percycross. Mr.
+Trigger returned all the applications, and ended his letter by
+hinting that the cheques might as well be sent at once. Mr. Trigger
+thought that "a little money about the borough," would do good at the
+present moment.</p>
+
+<p>It need hardly be said that this view of things was not pleasant to
+the sitting member, who was still confined to his house at Fulham by
+an arm broken in the cause. Sir Thomas had at once sent the &pound;50
+towards the Christmas festivities for the poor of the borough, and
+had declared his purpose of considering the other matters. Then had
+come a further letter from Mr. Trigger, announcing his journey to
+London, and Mr. Trigger and Sir Thomas had their first meeting after
+the election, immediately upon Mr. Neefit's departure from the
+chambers. "And is it to be?" asked Stemm, as soon as he had closed
+the door behind Mr. Trigger's back.</p>
+
+<p>"Is what to be?"</p>
+
+<p>"Them petitions, Sir Thomas? Petitions costs a deal of money they
+tell me, Sir Thomas." Sir Thomas winced. "I suppose you must go on
+now as your hand is in," continued Stemm.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know that at all," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll find as you must. There ain't no way out of it;&mdash;not now as
+you are the sitting member."</p>
+
+<p>"I am not going to ruin myself, Stemm, for the sake of a seat in
+Parliament."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know how that may be, Sir Thomas. I hope not, Sir Thomas.
+But I don't see how you're not to go on now, Sir Thomas. If it wasn't
+for petitions, one wouldn't mind."</p>
+
+<p>"There must be petitions, of course; and if there be good cause for
+them, they should succeed."</p>
+
+<p>"No doubt, Sir Thomas. They say the bribery at Percycross was
+tremenjous;&mdash;but I suppose it was on the other side."</p>
+
+<p>"If it was on our side, Stemm, it was not so with my knowledge. I did
+all I could to prevent it. I spoke against it whenever I opened my
+mouth. I would not have given a shilling for a single vote, though it
+would have got me the election."</p>
+
+<p>"But they were not all that way, Sir Thomas;&mdash;was they?"</p>
+
+<p>"How can I tell? No;&mdash;I know that they were not. I fear they were
+not. I cannot say that money was given, but I fear it."</p>
+
+<p>"You must go on now, Sir Thomas, any way," said Stemm with a groan
+that was not reassuring.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I had never heard the name of Percycross," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"I dare say," replied Stemm.</p>
+
+<p>"I went there determined to keep my hands clean."</p>
+
+<p>"When one puts one's hand into other people's business, they won't
+come out clean," said the judicious Stemm. "But you must go on with
+it now, any way, Sir Thomas."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know what I shall do," said the unhappy member.</p>
+
+<p>On the next morning there came another application from Percycross.
+The postmaster in that town had died suddenly, and the competitors
+for the situation, which was worth about &pound;150 per annum, were very
+numerous. There was a certain Mr. O'Blather, only known in Percycross
+as cousin to one Mrs. Givantake, the wife of a liberal solicitor in
+the borough. Of Mr. O'Blather the worst that could be said was that
+at the age of forty he had no income on which to support himself.
+Mrs. Givantake was attached to her cousin, and Mr. Givantake had
+become sensible of a burden. That the vacant office was just the
+thing for him appeared at a glance to all his friends. Mrs.
+Givantake, in her energy on the subject, expressed an opinion that
+the whole Cabinet should be impeached if the just claims of Mr.
+O'Blather were not conceded. But it was felt that the justice of the
+claims would not prevail without personal interest. The liberal party
+was in power, and application, hot and instant, was made to Mr.
+Westmacott. Mr. Westmacott was happy enough to have his answer ready.
+The Treasury had nothing to do with the matter. It was a Post Office
+concern; and he, simply as the late liberal member, and last liberal
+candidate for the borough, was not entitled to intrude, even in a
+matter of patronage, upon the Postmaster-General, with whom he was
+not acquainted. But Mr. Westmacott was malicious as well as secure.
+He added a postscript to his letter, in which he said that he
+believed the present sitting member, Sir Thomas Underwood, was
+intimately acquainted with the noble lord who presided at the Post
+Office. There were various interests at Percycross moved, brought
+together, weighed against each other, and balanced to a grain, and
+finally dovetailed. If Sir Thomas Underwood would prevail on Lord
+<span class="nowrap">&mdash;&mdash;</span>
+to appoint Mr. O'Blather to the vacant office, then all the
+Givantake influence at Percycross should be used towards the
+withdrawal of the petition. Such was the communication now made to
+Sir Thomas by a gentleman who signed his name as Peter Piper, and who
+professed himself authorised to act on behalf of Mr. Givantake. Sir
+Thomas's answer was as
+<span class="nowrap">follows;&mdash;</span><br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="jright">Southampton Buildings, December 31, 186&mdash;.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">Sir</span>,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>I can have nothing to do with Mr. O'Blather and the
+post-office at Percycross.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="ind8">I am,</span><br />
+<span class="ind10">Your obedient servant,</span></p>
+
+<p class="ind12"><span class="smallcaps">Thomas Underwood</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">Mr. Peter Piper</span>,
+Post-office, Percycross.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>Christmas had passed,&mdash;and had passed uncomfortably enough at Popham
+Villa, in which retreat neither of the three young ladies was at
+present very happy,&mdash;when Sir Thomas was invited by Mr. Trigger to
+take further steps with reference to the petitions. It was thought
+necessary that there should be a meeting in the conservative
+interest, and it was suggested that this meeting should take place in
+Sir Thomas's chambers. Mr. Trigger in making the proposition seemed
+to imply that a great favour was thereby conferred on Sir Thomas,&mdash;as
+that country is supposed to be most honoured which is selected as the
+meeting-ground for plenipotentiaries when some important
+international point requires to be settled. Sir Thomas could not see
+the arrangement in that light, and would have shuffled out of the
+honour had it been possible. But it was not possible. At this period
+of the year Mr. Griffenbottom had no house in town, and Mr. Trigger
+explained that it was inexpedient that such meetings should take
+place at hotels. There was no place so fitting as a lawyer's
+chambers. Sir Thomas, who regarded as a desecration the entrance of
+one such man as Mr. Trigger into his private room, and who was
+particularly anxious not to fall into any intimacy with Mr.
+Griffenbottom, was driven to consent, and at one o'clock on the 29th,
+Stemm was forced to admit the deputation. The deputation from
+Percycross consisted of Mr. Trigger, Mr. Spicer, and Mr. Pile; but
+with them came also the senior sitting member. At first they were all
+very grave, and Sir Thomas asked them, indiscreetly, whether they
+would take a glass of sherry. Pile and Spicer immediately acceded to
+this proposition, and sherry was perhaps efficacious in bringing
+about speedy conversation.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Underwood," said Mr. Griffenbottom, "it seems that after all
+we are to have these
+<span class="nowrap">d&mdash;&mdash;</span>
+petitions." Sir Thomas lifted his left
+foot on his right knee, and nursed his leg,&mdash;but said nothing. On one
+point he was resolved;&mdash;nothing on earth should induce him to call
+his colleague Griffenbottom.</p>
+
+<p>"No doubt about that, Mr. Griffenbottom," said Mr. Pile, "&mdash;that is,
+unless we can make Westmacott right. T'other chap wouldn't be of much
+account."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Pile, you're going a little too fast," said Trigger.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I ain't," said Mr. Pile. But for the moment he allowed himself
+to be silenced.</p>
+
+<p>"We don't like the looks of it at Percycross," said Mr. Spicer.</p>
+
+<p>"And why don't we like the looks of it?" asked Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know what your idea of pleasure is," said Mr. Griffenbottom,
+"but I don't take delight in spending money for nothing. I have spent
+enough, I can tell you, and I don't mean to spend much more. My seat
+was as safe as the Church."</p>
+
+<p>"But they have petitioned against that as well as mine," said Sir
+Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes;&mdash;they have. And now what's to be done?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know whether Sir Thomas is willing to take the whole cost of
+the defence upon himself," said Mr. Trigger, pouring out for himself
+a second glass of sherry.</p>
+
+<p>"No, I am not," said Sir Thomas. Whereupon there was a pause, during
+which Pile and Spicer also took second glasses of sherry. "Why should
+I pay the cost of defending Mr. Griffenbottom's seat?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why should I pay it?" said Griffenbottom. "My seat was safe enough.
+The fact is, if money was paid,&mdash;as to which I know nothing,&mdash;it was
+paid to get the second seat. Everybody knows that. Why should any one
+have paid money for me? I was safe. I never have any difficulty;
+everybody knows that. I could come in for Percycross twenty times
+running, without buying a vote. Isn't that true, Trigger?"</p>
+
+<p>"I believe you could, Mr. Griffenbottom."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I could. Look here, Underwood&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I beg your pardon for one moment, Mr. Griffenbottom," said Sir
+Thomas. "Will you tell me, Mr. Trigger, whether votes were bought on
+my behalf?" Mr. Trigger smiled, and put his head on one side, but
+made no answer. "I wish I might be allowed to hear the truth,"
+continued Sir Thomas. Whereupon Spicer grinned, and Mr. Pile looked
+as though he were about to be sick. How was it that a set of
+gentlemen, who generally knew their business so well as did the
+political leaders at Percycross, had got themselves into the same
+boat with a man silly enough to ask such a question as that?</p>
+
+<p>"I shan't spend money," said Griffenbottom; "it's out of the
+question. They can't touch me. I've spent my money, and got my
+article. If others want the article, they must spend theirs."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Trigger thought it might be as well to change the subject for a
+moment, or, at any rate, to pass on to another clause of the same
+bill. "I was very sorry, Sir Thomas," said he, "that you wrote that
+letter to Mr. Givantake."</p>
+
+<p>"I wrote no letter to Mr. Givantake. A man named Piper addressed me."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, well, well; that's the same thing. It was Givantake, though of
+course he isn't going to sign his name to everything. If you could
+just have written a line to your friend the Postmaster-General, I
+really think we could have squared it all."</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't have made a request so improper for all Percycross," said
+Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"Patronage is open to everybody," suggested Mr. Griffenbottom.</p>
+
+<p>"Those sort of favours are asked every day," said Trigger.</p>
+
+<p>"We live in a free country," said Spicer.</p>
+
+<p>"Givantake is a d&mdash;&mdash; scoundrel all
+the same," said Mr. Pile; "and as
+for his wife's Irish cousin, I should be very sorry to leave my
+letters in his hands."</p>
+
+<p>"It wouldn't have come off, Mr. Pile," said Trigger, "but the request
+might have been made. If Sir Thomas will allow me to say as much, the
+request ought to have been made."</p>
+
+<p>"I will allow nothing of the kind, Mr. Trigger," said Sir Thomas,
+with an assumption of personal dignity which caused everyone in the
+room to alter his position in his chair. "I understand these things
+are given by merit." Mr. Trigger smiled, and Mr. Griffenbottom
+laughed outright. "At any rate, they ought to be, and in this office
+I believe they are." Mr. Griffenbottom, who had had the bestowal of
+some local patronage, laughed again.</p>
+
+<p>"The thing is over now, at any rate," said Mr. Trigger.</p>
+
+<p>"I saw Givantake yesterday," said Spicer. "He won't stir a finger
+now."</p>
+
+<p>"He never would have stirred a finger," said Mr. Pile; "and if he'd
+stirred both his fistesses, he wouldn't have done a ha'porth of good.
+Givantake, indeed! He be blowed!" There was a species of honesty
+about Mr. Pile which almost endeared him to Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"Something must be settled," said Trigger.</p>
+
+<p>"I thought you'd got a proposition to make," said Spicer.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Sir Thomas," began Mr. Trigger, as it were girding his loins
+for the task before him, "we think that your seat wouldn't stand the
+brunt. We've been putting two and two together and that's what we
+think." A very black cloud came over the brow of Sir Thomas
+Underwood, but at the moment he said nothing. "Of course it can be
+defended. If you choose to fight the battle you can defend it. It
+will cost about &pound;1,500,&mdash;or perhaps a little more. That is, the two
+sides, for both will have to be paid." Mr. Trigger paused again, but
+still Sir Thomas said not a word. "Mr. Griffenbottom thinks that he
+should not be asked to take any part of this cost."</p>
+
+<p>"Not a shilling," said Mr. Griffenbottom.</p>
+
+<p>"Well," continued Mr. Trigger, "that being the case, of course we
+have got to see what will be our best plan of action. I suppose, Sir
+Thomas, you are not altogether indifferent about the money."</p>
+
+<p>"By no means," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know who is. Money is money all the world over."</p>
+
+<p>"You may say that," put in Mr. Spicer.</p>
+
+<p>"Just let me go on for a moment, Mr. Spicer, till I make this thing
+clear to Sir Thomas. That's how we stand at present. It will cost
+us,&mdash;that is to say you,&mdash;about &pound;1,500, and we should do no good. I
+really don't think we should do any good. Here are these judges, and
+you know that new brooms sweep clean. I suppose we may allow that
+there was a little money spent somewhere. They do say now that a
+glass of beer would lose a seat."</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas could not but remember all that he had said to prevent
+there being even a glass of beer, and the way in which he had been
+treated by all the party in that matter, because he had so
+endeavoured. But it was useless to refer to all that at the present
+moment. "It seems to me," he said, "that if one seat be vacated, both
+must be vacated."</p>
+
+<p>"It doesn't follow at all," said Mr. Griffenbottom.</p>
+
+<p>"Allow me just for a moment longer," continued Trigger, who rose from
+his seat as he came to the real gist of his speech. "A proposition
+has been made to us, Sir Thomas, and I am able to say that it is one
+which may be trusted. Of course our chief anxiety is for the party.
+You feel that, Sir Thomas, of course." Sir Thomas would not
+condescend to make any reply to this. "Now the Liberals will be
+content with one seat. If we go on it will lead to disfranchising the
+borough, and we none of us want that. It would be no satisfaction to
+you, Sir Thomas, to be the means of robbing the borough of its
+privilege after all that the borough has done for you."</p>
+
+<p>"Go on, Mr. Trigger," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"The Liberals only want one seat. If you'll undertake to accept the
+Hundreds, the petition will be withdrawn, and Mr. Westmacott will
+come forward again. In that case we shouldn't oppose. Now, Sir
+Thomas, you know what the borough thinks will be the best course for
+all of us to pursue."</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas did know. We may say that he had known for some minutes
+past. He had perceived what was coming, and various recollections had
+floated across his mind. He especially remembered that &pound;50 for the
+poor old women which Mr. Trigger only a week since had recommended
+that he should give,&mdash;and he remembered also that he had given it. He
+recollected the sum which he had already paid for his election
+expenses, as to which Mr. Trigger had been very careful to get the
+money before this new proposition was made. He remembered Mr. Pabsby
+and his cheque for &pound;20. He remembered his broken arm, and that
+fortnight of labour and infinite vexation in the borough. He
+remembered all his hopes, and his girls' triumph. But he remembered
+also that he had told himself a dozen times since his return that he
+wished that he might rid himself altogether of Percycross and the
+seat in Parliament. Now a proposition that would have this effect was
+made to him.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Sir Thomas, what do you think of it?" asked Mr. Trigger.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas required the passing of a few moments that he might think
+of it, and yet there was a feeling strong at his heart telling him
+that it behoved him not even to seem to doubt. He was a man not
+deficient in spirit when roused as he now was roused. He knew that he
+was being ill used. From the first moment of his entering Percycross
+he had felt that the place was not fit for him, that it required a
+method of canvassing of which he was not only ignorant, but desirous
+to remain ignorant,&mdash;that at Percycross he would only be a catspaw in
+the hands of other men. He knew that he could not safely get into the
+same boat with Mr. Griffenbottom, or trust himself to the steering of
+such a coxswain as Mr. Trigger. He had found that there could be no
+sympathy between himself and any one of those who constituted his own
+party in the borough. And yet he had persevered. He had persevered
+because in such matters it is so difficult to choose the moment in
+which to recede. He had persevered,&mdash;and had attained a measure of
+success. As far as had been possible for him to do so, he had fought
+his battle with clean hands, and now he was member of Parliament for
+Percycross. Let what end there might come to this petition,&mdash;even
+though his seat should be taken from him,&mdash;he could be subjected to
+no personal disgrace. He could himself give evidence, the truth of
+which no judge in the land would doubt, as to the purity of his own
+intentions, and as to the struggle to be pure which he had made. And
+now they asked him to give way in order that Mr. Griffenbottom might
+keep his seat!</p>
+
+<p>He felt that he and poor Moggs had been fools together. At this
+moment there came upon him a reflection that such men as he and Moggs
+were unable to open their mouths in such a borough as Percycross
+without having their teeth picked out of their jaws. He remembered
+well poor Moggs's legend, "Moggs, Purity, and the Rights of Labour;"
+and he remembered thinking at the time that neither Moggs nor he
+should have come to Percycross. And now he was told of all that the
+borough had done for him, and was requested to show his gratitude by
+giving up his seat,&mdash;in order that Griffenbottom might still be a
+member of Parliament, and that Percycross might not be disfranchised!
+Did he feel any gratitude to Percycross or any love to Mr.
+Griffenbottom? In his heart he desired that Mr. Griffenbottom might
+be made to retire into private life, and he knew that it would be
+well that the borough should be disfranchised.</p>
+
+<p>These horrid men that sat around him,&mdash;how he hated them! He could
+get rid of them now, now and for ever, by acceding to the proposition
+made to him. And he thought that in doing so he could speak a few
+words which would be very agreeable to him in the speaking. And then
+all that Mr. Trigger had said about the &pound;1,500 had been doubtless
+true. If he defended his seat money must be spent, and he did not
+know how far he might be able to compel Mr. Griffenbottom to share
+the expense. He was not so rich but what he was bound to think of the
+money, for his children's sake. And he did believe Mr. Trigger, when
+Mr. Trigger told him that the seat could not be saved.</p>
+
+<p>Yet he could not bring himself to let these men have their way with
+him. To have to confess that he had been their tool went so much
+against the grain with him that anything seemed to him to be
+preferable to that. The passage across his brain of all these
+thoughts had not required many seconds, and his guests seemed to
+acknowledge by their silence that some little space of time should be
+allowed to him. Mr. Pile was leaning forward on his stick with his
+eyes fixed upon Sir Thomas's face. Mr. Spicer was amusing himself
+with a third glass of sherry. Mr. Griffenbottom had assumed a look of
+absolute indifference, and was sitting with his eyes fixed upon the
+ceiling. Mr. Trigger, with a pleasant smile on his face, was leaning
+back in his chair with his hands in his trousers pockets. He had done
+his disagreeable job of work, and upon the whole he thought that he
+had done it well.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall do nothing of the kind," said Sir Thomas at last.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll be wrong, Sir Thomas," said Mr. Trigger.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll disfranchise the borough," said Mr. Spicer.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll not be able to keep your seat," said Mr. Trigger.</p>
+
+<p>"And there'll be all the money to pay," said Mr. Spicer.</p>
+
+<p>"Sir Thomas don't mind that," said Mr. Griffenbottom.</p>
+
+<p>"As for paying the money, I do mind it very much," said Sir Thomas.
+"As for disfranchising the borough, I cannot say that I regard it in
+the least. As to your seat, Mr.
+<span class="nowrap">Griffenbottom&mdash;"</span></p>
+
+<p>"My seat is quite safe," said the senior member.</p>
+
+<p>"As to your seat, which I am well aware must be jeopardised if mine
+be in jeopardy, it would have been matter of more regret to me, had I
+experienced from you any similar sympathy for myself. As it is, it
+seems that each of us is to do the best he can for himself, and I
+shall do the best I can for myself. Good morning."</p>
+
+<p>"What then do you mean to do?" said Mr. Trigger.</p>
+
+<p>"On that matter I shall prefer to converse with my friends."</p>
+
+<p>"You mean," said Mr. Trigger, "that you will put it into other
+hands."</p>
+
+<p>"You have made a proposition to me, Mr. Trigger, and I have given you
+my answer. I have nothing else to say. What steps I may take I do not
+even know at present."</p>
+
+<p>"You will let us hear from you," said Mr. Trigger.</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot say that I will."</p>
+
+<p>"This comes of bringing a gentleman learned in the law down into the
+borough," said Mr. Griffenbottom.</p>
+
+<p>"Gentlemen, I must ask you to leave me," said Sir Thomas, rising from
+his chair and ringing the bell.</p>
+
+<p>"Look here, Sir Thomas Underwood," said Mr. Griffenbottom. "This to
+me is a very important matter."</p>
+
+<p>"And to me also," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know anything about that. Like a good many others, you may
+like to have a seat in Parliament, and may like to get it without any
+trouble and without any money. I have sat for Percycross for many
+years, and have spent a treasure, and have worked myself off my legs.
+I don't know that I care much for anything except for keeping my
+place in the House. The House is everything to me,&mdash;meat and drink;
+employment and recreation; and I can tell you I'm not going to lose
+my seat if I can help it. You came in for the second chance, Sir
+Thomas; and a very good second chance it was if you'd just have
+allowed others who knew what they were about to manage matters for
+you. That chance is over now, and according to all rules that ever I
+heard of in such matters, you ought to surrender. Isn't that so, Mr.
+Trigger?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly, Mr. Griffenbottom, according to my ideas," said Mr.
+Trigger.</p>
+
+<p>"That's about it," said Mr. Spicer.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas was still standing. Indeed they were all standing now.
+"Mr. Griffenbottom," he said, "I have nothing further that I can say
+at the present moment. To the offer made to me by Mr. Trigger I at
+present positively decline to accede. I look upon that offer as
+unfriendly, and can therefore only wish you a good morning."</p>
+
+<p>"Unfriendly," said Mr. Griffenbottom with a sneer.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-bye, Sir Thomas," said Mr. Pile, putting out his hand. Sir
+Thomas shook hands with Mr. Pile cordially. "It's my opinion that
+he's right," said Mr. Pile. "I don't like his notions, but I do like
+his pluck. Good-bye, Sir Thomas." Then Mr. Pile led the way out of
+the room, and the others followed him.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh!" said Stemm, as soon as he had shut the door behind their backs.
+"That's a deputation from Percycross, is it, Sir Thomas? You were
+saying as how you didn't quite approve of the Percycrossians." To
+this, however, Sir Thomas vouchsafed no reply.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c40" id="c40"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XL.</h3>
+<h4>WHAT SIR THOMAS THOUGHT ABOUT IT.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>Sir Thomas Underwood had been engaged upon a very great piece of work
+ever since he had been called to the Bar in the twenty-fifth year of
+his life. He had then devoted himself to the writing of a life of
+Lord Verulam, and had been at it ever since. But as yet he had not
+written a word. In early life, that is, up to his fortieth year, he
+had talked freely enough about his opus magnum to those of his
+compeers with whom he had been intimate; but of late Bacon's name had
+never been on his lips. Patience, at home, was aware of the name and
+nature of her father's occupation, but Clarissa had not yet learned
+to know that he who had been the great philosopher and little Lord
+Chancellor was not to be lightly mentioned. To Stemm the matter had
+become so serious, that in speaking of books, papers, and documents
+he would have recourse to any periphrasis rather than mention in his
+master's hearing the name of the fallen angel. And yet Sir Thomas was
+always talking to himself about Sir Francis Bacon, and was always
+writing his life.</p>
+
+<p>There are men who never dream of great work, who never realise to
+themselves the need of work so great as to demand a lifetime, but who
+themselves never fail in accomplishing those second-class tasks with
+which they satisfy their own energies. Men these are who to the world
+are very useful. Some few there are, who seeing the beauty of a great
+work and believing in its accomplishment within the years allotted to
+man, are contented to struggle for success, and struggling, fail.
+Here and there comes one who struggles and succeeds. But the men are
+many who see the beauty, who adopt the task, who promise themselves
+the triumph, and then never struggle at all. The task is never
+abandoned; but days go by and weeks; and then months and years,&mdash;and
+nothing is done. The dream of youth becomes the doubt of middle life,
+and then the despair of age. In building a summer-house it is so easy
+to plant the first stick, but one does not know where to touch the
+sod when one begins to erect a castle. So it had been with Sir Thomas
+Underwood and his life of Bacon. It would not suffice to him to
+scrape together a few facts, to indulge in some fiction, to tell a
+few anecdotes, and then to call his book a biography. Here was a man
+who had risen higher and was reported to have fallen lower,&mdash;perhaps
+than any other son of Adam. With the finest intellect ever given to a
+man, with the purest philanthropy and the most enduring energy, he
+had become a by-word for greed and injustice. Sir Thomas had resolved
+that he would tell the tale as it had never yet been told, that he
+would unravel facts that had never seen the light, that he would let
+the world know of what nature really had been this man,&mdash;and that he
+would write a book that should live. He had never abandoned his
+purpose; and now at sixty years of age, his purpose remained with
+him, but not one line of his book was written.</p>
+
+<p>And yet the task had divorced him in a measure from the world. He had
+not been an unsuccessful man in life. He had made money, and had
+risen nearly to the top of his profession. He had been in Parliament,
+and was even now a member. But yet he had been divorced from the
+world, and Bacon had done it. By Bacon he had justified to
+himself,&mdash;or rather had failed to justify to himself,&mdash;a seclusion
+from his family and from the world which had been intended for
+strenuous work, but had been devoted to dilettante idleness. And he
+had fallen into those mistakes which such habits and such pursuits
+are sure to engender. He thought much, but he thought nothing out,
+and was consequently at sixty still in doubt about almost everything.
+Whether Christ did or did not die to save sinners was a question with
+him so painfully obscure that he had been driven to obtain what
+comfort he might from not thinking of it. The assurance of belief
+certainly was not his to enjoy;&mdash;nor yet that absence from fear which
+may come from assured unbelief. And yet none who knew him could say
+that he was a bad man. He robbed no one. He never lied. He was not
+self-indulgent. He was affectionate. But he had spent his life in an
+intention to write the life of Lord Verulam, and not having done it,
+had missed the comfort of self-respect. He had intended to settle for
+himself a belief on subjects which are, of all, to all men the most
+important; and, having still postponed the work of inquiry, had never
+attained the security of a faith. He was for ever doubting, for ever
+intending, and for ever despising himself for his doubts and
+unaccomplished intentions. Now, at the age of sixty, he had thought
+to lessen these inward disturbances by returning to public life, and
+his most unsatisfactory alliance with Mr. Griffenbottom had been the
+result.</p>
+
+<p>They who know the agonies of an ambitious, indolent, doubting,
+self-accusing man,&mdash;of a man who has a skeleton in his cupboard as to
+which he can ask for sympathy from no one,&mdash;will understand what
+feelings were at work within the bosom of Sir Thomas when his
+Percycross friends left him alone in his chamber. The moment that he
+knew that he was alone he turned the lock of the door, and took from
+out a standing desk a whole heap of loose papers. These were the
+latest of his notes on the great Bacon subject. For though no line of
+the book had ever been written,&mdash;nor had his work even yet taken such
+form as to enable him to write a line,&mdash;nevertheless, he always had
+by him a large assemblage of documents, notes, queries, extracts
+innumerable, and references which in the course of years had become
+almost unintelligible to himself, upon which from time to time he
+would set himself to work. Whenever he was most wretched he would fly
+at his papers. When the qualms of his conscience became very severe,
+he would copy some passage from a dusty book, hardly in the belief
+that it might prove to be useful, but with half a hope that he might
+cheat himself into so believing. Now, in his misery, he declared that
+he would bind himself to his work and never leave it. There, if
+anywhere, might consolation be found.</p>
+
+<p>With rapid hands he moved about the papers, and tried to fix his eyes
+upon the words. But how was he to fix his thoughts? He could not even
+begin not to think of those scoundrels who had so misused him. It was
+not a week since they had taken &pound;50 from him for the poor of
+Percycross, and now they came to him with a simple statement that he
+was absolutely to be thrown over! He had already paid &pound;900 for his
+election, and was well aware that the account was not closed. And he
+was a man who could not bear to speak about money, or to make any
+complaint as to money. Even though he was being so abominably
+misused, still he must pay any further claim that might be made on
+him in respect of the election that was past. Yes;&mdash;he must pay for
+those very purchased votes, for that bribery, as to which he had so
+loudly expressed his abhorrence, and by reason of which he was now to
+lose his seat with ignominy.</p>
+
+<p>But the money was not the worst of it. There was a heavier sorrow
+than that arising from the loss of his money. He alone had been just
+throughout the contest at Percycross; he alone had been truthful, and
+he alone straightforward! And yet he alone must suffer! He began to
+believe that Griffenbottom would keep his seat. That he would
+certainly lose his own, he was quite convinced. He might lose it by
+undergoing an adverse petition, and paying ever so much more
+money,&mdash;or he might lose it in the manner that Mr. Trigger had so
+kindly suggested. In either way there would be disgrace, and
+contumely, and hours of the agony of self-reproach in store for him!</p>
+
+<p>What excuse had he for placing himself in contact with such filth? Of
+what childishness had he not been the victim when he allowed himself
+to dream that he, a pure and scrupulous man, could go among such
+impurity as he had found at Percycross, and come out, still clean and
+yet triumphant? Then he thought of Griffenbottom as a member of
+Parliament, and of that Legislation and that Constitution to which
+Griffenbottoms were thought to be essentially necessary. That there
+are always many such men in the House he had always known. He had sat
+there and had seen them. He had stood shoulder to shoulder with them
+through many a division, and had thought about them,&mdash;acknowledging
+their use. But now that he was brought into personal contact with
+such an one, his very soul was aghast. The Griffenbottoms never do
+anything in politics. They are men of whom in the lump it may be
+surmised that they take up this or that side in politics, not from
+any instructed conviction, not from faith in measures or even in men,
+nor from adherence either through reason or prejudice to this or that
+set of political theories,&mdash;but simply because on this side or on
+that there is an opening. That gradually they do grow into some shape
+of conviction from the moulds in which they are made to live, must be
+believed of them; but these convictions are convictions as to
+divisions, convictions as to patronage, convictions as to success,
+convictions as to Parliamentary management; but not convictions as to
+the political needs of the people. So said Sir Thomas to himself as
+he sat thinking of the Griffenbottoms. In former days he had told
+himself that a pudding cannot be made without suet or dough, and that
+Griffenbottoms were necessary if only for the due adherence of the
+plums. Whatever most health-bestowing drug the patient may take would
+bestow anything but health were it taken undiluted. It was thus in
+former days Sir Thomas had apologised to himself for the
+Griffenbottoms in the House;&mdash;but no such apology satisfied him now.
+This log of a man, this lump of suet, this diluting quantity of most
+impure water,&mdash;'twas thus that Mr. Griffenbottom was spoken of by Sir
+Thomas to himself as he sat there with all the Bacon documents before
+him,&mdash;this politician, whose only real political feeling consisted in
+a positive love of corruption for itself, had not only absolutely got
+the better of him, who regarded himself at any rate as a man of mind
+and thought, but had used him as a puppet, and had compelled him to
+do dirty work. Oh,&mdash;that he should have been so lost to his own
+self-respect as to have allowed himself to be dragged through the
+dirt of Percycross!</p>
+
+<p>But he must do something;&mdash;he must take some step. Mr. Griffenbottom
+had declared that he would put himself to no expense in defending the
+seat. Of course he, Sir Thomas, could do the same. He believed that
+it might be practicable for him to acknowledge the justice of the
+petition, to declare his belief that his own agents had betrayed him,
+and to acknowledge that his seat was indefensible. But, as he thought
+of it, he found that he was actually ignorant of the law in the
+matter. That he would make no such bargain as that suggested to him
+by Mr. Trigger,&mdash;of so much he thought that he was sure. At any rate
+he would do nothing that he himself knew to be dishonourable. He must
+consult his own attorney. That was the end of his
+self-deliberation,&mdash;that, and a conviction that under no
+circumstances could he retain his seat.</p>
+
+<p>Then he struggled hard for an hour to keep his mind fixed on the
+subject of his great work. He had found an unknown memoir respecting
+Bacon, written by a German pen in the Latin language, published at
+Leipzig shortly after the date of Bacon's fall. He could translate
+that. It is always easiest for the mind to work in such emergencies,
+on some matter as to which no creative struggles are demanded from
+it.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c41" id="c41"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XLI.</h3>
+<h4>A BROKEN HEART.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>It was very bad with Clarissa when Ralph Newton was closeted with
+Mary at Popham Villa. She had suspected what was about to take place,
+when Sir Thomas and Ralph went together into the room; but at that
+moment she said nothing. She endeavoured to seem to be cheerful, and
+attempted to joke with Mary. The three girls were sitting at the
+table on which lunch was spread,&mdash;a meal which no one was destined to
+eat at Popham Villa on that day,&mdash;and thus they remained till Sir
+Thomas joined them. "Mary," he had said, "Ralph Newton wishes to
+speak to you. You had better go to him."</p>
+
+<p>"To me, uncle?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, to you. You had better go to him."</p>
+
+<p>"But I had rather not."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course you must do as you please, but I would advise you to go to
+him." Then she had risen very slowly and had gone.</p>
+
+<p>All of them had understood what it meant. To Clarissa the thing was
+as certain as though she already heard the words spoken. With
+Patience even there was no doubt. Sir Thomas, though he had told
+nothing, did not pretend that the truth was to be hidden. He looked
+at his younger daughter sorrowfully, and laid his hand upon her head
+caressingly. With her there was no longer the possibility of
+retaining any secret, hardly the remembrance that there was a secret
+to retain. "Oh, papa," she said;&mdash;"oh, papa!" and burst into tears.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear," he said, "believe me that it is best that it should be so.
+He is unworthy." Patience said not a word, but was now holding
+Clarissa close to her bosom. "Tell Mary," continued Sir Thomas, "that
+I will see her when she is at liberty. Patience, you can ask Ralph
+whether it will suit him to stay for dinner. I am tired and will go
+up-stairs myself." And so the two girls were left together.</p>
+
+<p>"Patty, take me away," said Clarissa. "I must never see him
+again,&mdash;never!&mdash;nor her."</p>
+
+<p>"She will not accept him, Clary."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, she will. I know she will. She is a sly, artful creature. And I
+have been so good to her."</p>
+
+<p>"No, Clary;&mdash;I think not;&mdash;but what does it matter? He is unworthy.
+He can be nothing to you now. Papa was right. He is unworthy."</p>
+
+<p>"I care nothing for that. I only care for him. Oh, Patty, take me
+away. I could not bear to see them when they come out."</p>
+
+<p>Then Patience took her sister up to their joint room, and laid the
+poor sufferer on the bed, and throwing herself on her knees beside
+the bed, wept over her sister and caressed her. That argument of
+Ralph's unworthiness was nothing to Clarissa. She did not consider
+herself to be so worthy but what she might forgive any sin, if only
+the chance of forgiving such sin were given to her. At this moment in
+her heart of hearts her anger was more against her rival than against
+the man. She had not yet taught herself to think of all his baseness
+to her,&mdash;had only as yet had time to think that that evil had come
+upon her which she had feared from the first moment of her cousin's
+arrival.</p>
+
+<p>Presently Patience heard the door opened of the room down-stairs and
+heard Mary's slow step as she crossed the hall. She understood well
+that some one should be below, and with another single word of
+affection to her sister, she went down-stairs. "Well, Mary," she
+said, looking into her cousin's face.</p>
+
+<p>"There is nothing particular to tell," said Mary, with a gentle
+smile.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course we all knew what he wanted."</p>
+
+<p>"Then of course you all knew what I should say to him."</p>
+
+<p>"I knew," said Patience.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure that Clary knew," said Mary. "But he is all alone there,
+and will not know what to do with himself. Won't you go to him?"</p>
+
+<p>"You will go up to Clary?" Mary nodded her head, and then Patience
+crossed the hall to liberate the rejected suitor. Mary stood for
+awhile thinking. She already knew from what Patience had said, that
+Clarissa had suspected her, and she felt that there should have been
+no such suspicion. Clarissa had not understood, but ought to have
+understood. For a moment she was angry, and was disposed to go to her
+own room. Then she remembered all her cousin's misery, and crept
+up-stairs to the door. She had come so softly, that though the door
+was hardly closed, nothing had been heard of her approach. "May I
+come in, dear?" she said very gently.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Mary; tell me all," said Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>"There is nothing to tell, Clary;&mdash;only this, that I fear Mr. Newton
+is not worthy of your love."</p>
+
+<p>"He asked you to take him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Never mind, dearest. We will not talk of that. Dear, dearest Clary,
+if I only could make you happy."</p>
+
+<p>"But you have refused him?"</p>
+
+<p>"Don't you know me better than to ask me? Don't you know where my
+heart is? We will carry our burdens together, dearest, and then they
+will be lighter."</p>
+
+<p>"But he will come to you again;&mdash;that other one."</p>
+
+<p>"Clary, dear; we will not think about it. There are things which
+should not be thought of. We will not talk of it, but we will love
+each other so dearly." Clarissa, now that she was assured that her
+evil fortune was not to be aggravated by any injury done to her by
+her cousin, allowed herself to be tranquillised if not comforted.
+There was indeed something in her position that did not admit of
+comfort. All the family knew the story of her unrequited love, and
+treated her with a compassion which, while its tenderness was
+pleasant to her, was still in itself an injury. A vain attachment in
+a woman's heart must ever be a weary load, because she can take no
+step of her own towards that consummation by which the burden may be
+converted into a joy. A man may be active, may press his suit even a
+tenth time, may do something towards achieving success. A woman can
+only be still and endure. But Clarissa had so managed her affairs
+that even that privilege of being still was hardly left to her. Her
+trouble was known to them all. She doubted whether even the servants
+in the house did not know the cause of her woe. How all this had come
+to pass she could not now remember. She had told Patience,&mdash;as though
+in compliance with some compact that each should ever tell the other
+all things. And then circumstances had arisen which made it so
+natural that she should be open and candid with Mary. The two Ralphs
+were to be their two lovers. That to her had been a delightful dream
+during the last few months. He, whose inheritance at that moment was
+supposed to have been gone, had, as Clarissa thought, in plainest
+language told his love to her. "Dear, dear Clary, you know I love
+you." The words to her sense had been so all-important, had meant so
+much, had seemed to be so final, that they hardly wanted further
+corroboration. Then, indeed, had come the great fault,&mdash;the fault
+which she had doubted whether she could ever pardon; and she, because
+of the heinousness of that offence, had been unable to answer the
+question that had been asked. But the offence, such as it was, had
+not lightened the solemnity of her assurance, as far as love went,
+that Ralph ought to be her own after the speaking of such words as he
+had spoken. There were those troubles about money, but yet she was
+entitled to regard him as her own. Then had come the written offer
+from the other Ralph to Mary,&mdash;the offer written in the moment of his
+believed prosperity; and it had been so natural that Clarissa should
+tell her cousin that as regarded the splendour of position there
+should be no jealousy between them. Clarissa did not herself think
+much of a lover who wrote letters instead of coming and
+speaking,&mdash;had perhaps an idea that open speech, even though offence
+might follow, was better than formal letters; but all that was Mary's
+affair. This very respectful Ralph was Mary's lover, and if Mary were
+satisfied, she would not quarrel with the well-behaved young man. She
+would not even quarrel with him because he was taking from her own
+Ralph the inheritance which for so many years had been believed to be
+his own. Thus in the plenitude of her affection and in the serenity
+of her heart she had told everything to her cousin. And now also her
+father knew it all. How this had come to pass she did not think to
+inquire. She suspected no harm from Patience. The thing had been so
+clear, that all the world might see it. Ralph, that false one, knew
+it also. Who could know it so well as he did? Had not those very
+words been spoken by him,&mdash;been repeated by him? Now she was as one
+stricken, where wounds could not be hidden.</p>
+
+<p>On that day Ralph was driven back to town in his cab, in a rather
+disheartened condition, and no more was seen or heard of him for the
+present at Popham Villa. His late guardian had behaved very ill to
+him in telling Mary Bonner the story of Polly Neefit. That was his
+impression,&mdash;feeling sure that Mary had alluded to the unfortunate
+affair with the breeches-maker's daughter, of which she could have
+heard tidings only from Sir Thomas. As to Clarissa, he had not
+exactly forgotten the little affair on the lawn; but to his eyes that
+affair had been so small as to be almost overlooked amidst larger
+matters. Mary, he thought, had never looked so beautiful as she had
+done while refusing him. He did not mean to give her up. Her heart,
+she had told him, was not her own. He thought he had read of young
+ladies in similar conditions, of young ladies who had bestowed their
+hearts and had afterwards got them back again for the sake of making
+second bestowals. He was not sure but that such an object would lend
+a zest to life. There was his brother Gregory in love with Clarissa,
+and still true to her. He would be true to Mary, and would see
+whether, in spite of that far-away lover, he might not be more
+successful than his brother. At any rate he would not give her
+up,&mdash;and before he had gone to bed that night he had already
+concocted a letter to her in his brain, explaining the whole of that
+Neefit affair, and asking her whether a man should be condemned to
+misery for life because he had been led by misfortune into such a
+mistake as that. He dined very well at his club, and on the following
+morning went down to the Moonbeam by an early train, for that day's
+hunting. Thence he returned to Newton Priory in time for Christmas,
+and as he was driven up to his own house, through his own park,
+meeting one or two of his own tenants, and encountering now and then
+his own obsequious labourers, he was not an unhappy man in spite of
+Mary Bonner's cruel answer. It may be doubted whether his greatest
+trouble at this moment did not arise from his dread of Neefit. He had
+managed to stay long enough in London to give orders that Neefit's
+money should be immediately paid. He knew that Neefit could not harm
+him at law; but it would not be agreeable if the old man were to go
+about the country telling everyone that he, Ralph Newton of Newton,
+had twice offered to marry Polly. For the present we will leave him,
+although he is our hero, and will return to the girls at Popham
+Villa.</p>
+
+<p>"It is all very well talking, Patience, but I don't mean to try to
+change," Clarissa said. This was after that visit of the Percycross
+deputation to Sir Thomas, and after Christmas. More than a week had
+now passed by since Ralph had rushed down to Fulham with his offer,
+and the new year had commenced. Sir Thomas had been at home for
+Christmas,&mdash;for the one day,&mdash;and had then returned to London. He had
+seen his attorney respecting the petition, who was again to see Mr.
+Griffenbottom's London attorney and Mr. Trigger. In the meantime Sir
+Thomas was to remain quiet for a few days. The petition was not to be
+tried till the end of February, and there was still time for
+deliberation. Sir Thomas just now very often took out that great heap
+of Baconian papers, but still not a word of the biography was
+written. He was, alas! still very far from writing the first word.
+"It is all very well, Patience, but I do not mean to try to change,"
+said Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>Poor Patience could make no answer, dreadful as was to her such an
+assertion from a young woman. "There is a man who clearly does not
+want to marry you, who has declared in the plainest way that he does
+want to marry some one else, who has grossly deceived you, and who
+never means to think of you again; and yet you say that you will
+wilfully adhere to your regard for him!" Such would have been the
+speech which Patience would have made, had she openly expressed her
+thoughts. But Clarissa was ill, and weak, and wretched; and Patience
+could not bring herself to say a word that should distress her
+sister.</p>
+
+<p>"If he came to me to-morrow, of course I should forgive him,"
+Clarissa said again. These conversations were never commenced by
+Patience, who would rather have omitted any mention of that base
+young man. "Of course I should. Men do do those things. Men are not
+like women. They do all manner of things and everybody forgives them.
+I don't say anything about hoping. I don't hope for anything. I am
+not happy enough to hope. I shouldn't care if I knew I were going to
+die to-morrow. But there can be no change. If you want me to be a
+hypocrite, Patience, I will; but what will be the use? The truth will
+be the same."</p>
+
+<p>The two girls let her have her way, never contradicted her, coaxed
+her, and tried to comfort her;&mdash;but it was in vain. At first she
+would not go out of the house, not even to church, and then she took
+to lying in bed. This lasted into the middle of January, and still
+Sir Thomas did not come home. He wrote frequently, short notes to
+Patience, sending money, making excuses, making promises, always
+expressing some word of hatred or disgust as to Percycross; but still
+he did not come. At last, when Clarissa declared that she preferred
+lying in bed to getting up, Patience went up to London and fetched
+her father home. It had gone so far with Sir Thomas now that he was
+unable even to attempt to defend himself. He humbly said that he was
+sorry that he had been away so long, and returned with Patience to
+the villa.</p>
+
+<p>"My dear," said Sir Thomas, seating himself by Clarissa's bedside,
+"this is very bad."</p>
+
+<p>"If I had known you were coming, papa, I would have got up."</p>
+
+<p>"If you are not well, perhaps you are better here, dear."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think I am quite well, papa."</p>
+
+<p>"What is it, my love?" Clarissa looked at him out of her large
+tear-laden eyes, but said nothing. "Patience says that you are not
+happy."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know that anybody is happy, papa."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish that you were with all my heart, my child. Can your father do
+anything that will make you happy?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, papa."</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me, Clary. You do not mind my asking you questions?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, papa."</p>
+
+<p>"Patience tells me that you are still thinking of Ralph Newton."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I think of him."</p>
+
+<p>"I think of him too;&mdash;but there are different ways of thinking. We
+have known him, all of us, a long time."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, papa."</p>
+
+<p>"I wish with all my heart that we had never seen him. He is not
+worthy of our solicitude."</p>
+
+<p>"You always liked him. I have heard you say you loved him dearly."</p>
+
+<p>"I have said so, and I did love him. In a certain way I love him
+still."</p>
+
+<p>"So do I, papa."</p>
+
+<p>"But I know him to be unworthy. Even if he had come here to offer you
+his hand I doubt whether I could have permitted an engagement. Do you
+know that within the last two months he has twice offered to marry
+another young woman, and I doubt whether he is not at this moment
+engaged to her?"</p>
+
+<p>"Another?" said poor Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, and that without a pretence of affection on his part, simply
+because he wanted to get money from her father."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you sure, papa?" asked Clarissa, who was not prepared to
+believe, and did not believe this enormity on the part of the man she
+loved.</p>
+
+<p>"I am quite sure. The father came to me to complain of him, and I had
+the confession from Ralph's own lips, the very day that he came here
+with his insulting offer to Mary Bonner."</p>
+
+<p>"Did you tell Mary?"</p>
+
+<p>"No. I knew that it was unnecessary. There was no danger as to Mary.
+And who do you think this girl was? The daughter of a tailor, who had
+made some money. It was not that he cared for her, Clary;&mdash;no more
+than I do! Whether he meant to marry her or not I do not know."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sure he didn't, papa," said Clarissa, getting up in bed.</p>
+
+<p>"And will that make it better? All that he wanted was the tradesman's
+money, and to get that he was willing either to deceive the girl, or
+to sell himself to her. I don't know which would have been the baser
+mode of traffic. Is that the conduct of a gentleman, Clary?"</p>
+
+<p>Poor Clarissa was in terrible trouble. She hardly believed the story,
+which seemed to tell her of a degree of villany greater than ever her
+imagination had depicted to her;&mdash;and yet, if it were true, she would
+be driven to look for means of excusing it. The story as told was
+indeed hardly just to Ralph, who in the course of his transactions
+with Mr. Neefit had almost taught himself to believe that he could
+love Polly very well; but it was not in this direction that Clarissa
+looked for an apology for such conduct. "They say that men do all
+manner of things," she said, at last.</p>
+
+<p>"I can only tell you this," said Sir Thomas very gravely, "what men
+may do I will not say, but no gentleman can ever have acted after
+this fashion. He has shown himself to be a scoundrel."</p>
+
+<p>"Papa, papa; don't say that!" screamed Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>"My child, I can only tell you the truth. I know it is hard to bear.
+I would save you if I could; but it is better that you should know."</p>
+
+<p>"Will he always be bad, papa?"</p>
+
+<p>"Who can say, my dear? God forbid that I should be too severe upon
+him. But he has been so bad now that I am bound to tell you that you
+should drive him from your thoughts. When he told me, all smiling,
+that he had come down here to ask your cousin Mary to be his wife, I
+was almost minded to spurn him from the door. He can have no feeling
+himself of true attachment, and cannot know what it means in others.
+He is heartless,&mdash;and unprincipled."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, papa, spare him. It is done now."</p>
+
+<p>"And you will forget him, dearest?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will try, papa. But I think that I shall die. I would rather die.
+What is the good of living when nobody is to care for anybody, and
+people are so bad as that?"</p>
+
+<p>"My Clarissa must not say that nobody cares for her. Has any person
+ever been false to you but he? Is not your sister true to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, papa."</p>
+
+<p>"And Mary?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, papa." He was afraid to ask her whether he also had not been
+true to her? Even in that moment there arose in his mind a doubt,
+whether all this evil might not have been avoided, had he contented
+himself to live beneath the same roof with his children. He said
+nothing of himself, but she supplied the want. "I know you love me,
+papa, and have always been good to me. I did not mean that. But I
+never cared for any one but him,&mdash;in that way."</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas, in dealing with the character of his late ward, had been
+somewhat too severe. It is difficult, perhaps, to say what amount of
+misconduct does constitute a scoundrel, or justifies the critic in
+saying that this or that man is not a gentleman. There be those who
+affirm that he who owes a debt for goods which he cannot pay is no
+gentleman, and tradesmen when they cannot get their money are no
+doubt sometimes inclined to hold that opinion. But the opinion is
+changed when the money comes at last,&mdash;especially if it comes with
+interest. Ralph had never owed a shilling which he did not intend to
+pay, and had not property to cover. That borrowing of money from Mr.
+Neefit was doubtless bad. No one would like to know that his son had
+borrowed money from his tailor. But it is the borrowing of the money
+that is bad, rather than the special dealing with the tradesman. And
+as to that affair with Polly, some excuse may be made. He had meant
+to be honest to Neefit, and he had meant to be true to Neefit's
+daughter. Even Sir Thomas, high-minded as he was, would hardly have
+passed so severe a sentence, had not the great sufferer in the matter
+been his own daughter.</p>
+
+<p>But the words that he spoke were doubtless salutary to poor Clarissa.
+She never again said to Patience that she would not try to make a
+change, nor did she ever again declare that if Ralph came back again
+she would forgive him. On the day after the scene with her father she
+was up again, and she made an effort to employ herself about the
+house. On the next Sunday she went to church, and then they all knew
+that she was making the necessary struggle. Ralph's name was never
+mentioned, nor for a time was any allusion made to the family of the
+Newtons. "The worst of it, I think, is over," said Patience one day
+to Mary.</p>
+
+<p>"The worst of it is over," said Mary; "but it is not all over. It is
+hard to forget when one has loved."</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c42" id="c42"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XLII.</h3>
+<h4>NOT BROKEN-HEARTED.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>Christmas had come and gone at Newton Priory, and the late Squire's
+son had left the place,&mdash;protesting as he did so that he left it for
+ever. To him also life in that particular spot of earth was
+impossible, unless he could live there as the lord and master of all.
+Everybody throughout that and neighbouring parishes treated him not
+only with kindness, but with the warmest affection. The gentry, the
+farmers, and the labourers, all men who had known him in the
+hunting-field, in markets, on the bench, or at church, men, women and
+children, joined together in forming plans by means of which he could
+remain at Newton. The young Squire asked him to make the house his
+home, at any rate for the hunting season. The parson offered half the
+parsonage. His friend Morris, who was a bachelor, suggested a joint
+home and joint stables between them. But it was all of no avail. Had
+it not been for the success which had so nearly crowned the late
+Squire's efforts during the last six months, it might have been that
+his friends would have prevailed with him. But he had been too near
+being the master to be able to live at Newton in any other capacity.
+The tenants had been told that they were to be his tenants. The
+servants had been told that they were to be his servants. During a
+few short weeks, he had almost been master, so absolute had been the
+determination of the old Squire to show to all around him that his
+son, in spite of the blot upon the young man's birth, was now the
+heir in all things, and possessed of every privilege which would
+attach itself to an elder son. He himself while his father lived had
+taken these things calmly, had shown no elation, had even striven to
+moderate the vehemence of his father's efforts on his behalf;&mdash;but
+not the less had he been conscious of the value of what was being
+done for him. To be the promised future owner of the acres on which
+he had lived, of the coverts through which he had ridden, of every
+tree and bank which he had known from his boyhood, had been to him a
+source of gratified pride not the less strong because he had
+concealed it. The disappointment did hit him sorely. His dreams had
+been of Parliament, of power in the county, of pride of place, and
+popularity. He now found that they were to be no more than
+dreams;&mdash;but with this additional sorrow, that all around him knew
+that they had been dreamed. No;&mdash;he could not stay at Newton even for
+the sake of living with friends who loved him so dearly. He said
+little or nothing of this to any one. Not even to Gregory Newton or
+to his friend Morris did he tell much of his feeling. He was not
+proud of his dreamings, and it seemed to himself that his punishment
+was just. Nor could he speak to either of them or to any man of his
+past ambition, or of what hopes might remain to him in reference to
+Mary Bonner. The young Squire had gone forth with the express purpose
+of wooing her, had declared his purpose of doing so, and had returned
+to Newton at any rate without any ready tale of triumph on his
+tongue. What had been his fortune the rival would not ask; and while
+the two remained together at the priory no further word was spoken of
+Mary Bonner. He, Ralph the dispossessed one, while he believed
+himself to be the heir, had intended to bring her home as a fitting
+queen to share his throne. It might be that she would consent to be
+his without a throne to share; but in thinking of her he could not
+but remember what his ambition had been, and he could hardly bring
+himself now to offer to her that which was comparatively so little
+worth the having. To suppose that she should already "be fond of
+him," should already long for him as he longed for her, was contrary
+to his nature. Hitherto when he had been in her presence, he had
+stood there as a man whose position in life was almost contemptible;
+and though it would be unjust to him to say that he had hoped to win
+her by his acres, still he had felt that his father's success on his
+behalf might justify him in that which would otherwise be
+unjustifiable. For the present, however, he could take no steps in
+that direction. He could only suggest to himself what had already
+been her answer, or what at some future time might be the answer she
+would make to his rival. He had lost a father between whom and
+himself there had existed ties, not only of tender love, but of
+perfect friendship, and for awhile he must bewail his loss. That he
+could not bewail his lost father without thinking of his lost
+property, and of the bride that had never been won, was an agony to
+his soul.</p>
+
+<p>He had found a farm down in Norfolk, near to Swaffham, which he could
+take for twelve months, with the option of purchase at the expiration
+of that time, and thither he betook himself. There were about four
+hundred acres, and the place was within his means. He did not think
+it likely that Mary Bonner would choose to come and live upon a
+Norfolk farm; and yet what other work in life was there for which he
+was fit? Early in January he went down to Beamingham Hall, as the
+place was called, and there we will leave him for the present,
+consoling himself with oil-cake, and endeavouring to take a pride in
+a long row of stall-fed cattle.</p>
+
+<p>At this time the two brothers were living at Newton Priory. Ralph the
+heir had bought some of his uncle's horses, and had commenced hunting
+with the hounds around him; though he had not as yet withdrawn his
+stud from the Moonbeam. He was not altogether at his ease, as he had
+before the end of February received three or four letters from
+Neefit, all of them dictated by Waddle, in which his conduct was
+painted not in the most flattering colours. Neefit's money had been
+repaid, but Neefit would not understand that the young heir's
+obligations to him had by any means been acquitted by that very
+ordinary process. He had risked his money when payment was very
+doubtful, and now he intended to have something beyond cash in return
+for all that he had done. "There are debts of honour which a real
+gentleman feels himself more bound to pay than any bills," Waddle had
+written. And to such dogmatic teachings as these Neefit would always
+add something out of his own head. "There ain't nobody who shan't
+know all about it, unless you're on the square again." Ralph had
+written one reply since he had been at Newton, in which he explained
+at some length that it was impossible that he should renew his
+addresses to a young lady who had twice rejected them, and who had
+assured him that she did not love him. He professed the greatest
+respect for Miss Neefit, a respect which had, if possible, been
+heightened by her behaviour in this matter,&mdash;but it must now be
+understood that the whole affair was at an end. Neefit would not
+understand this, but Neefit's further letters, which had not been
+unfrequent, were left unanswered. Ralph had now told the whole story
+to his brother, and had written his one reply from Newton in
+conformity with his brother's advice. After that they both thought
+that no further rejoinder could be of any service.</p>
+
+<p>The parsonage was for the time deserted, Gregory having for the
+present consented to share his brother's house. In spite of that
+little thorn in the flesh which Neefit was, Ralph was able to enjoy
+his life very thoroughly. He went on with all the improvements about
+the place which the Squire had commenced, and was active in making
+acquaintance with every one who lived upon his land. He was not
+without good instincts, and understood thoroughly that respectability
+had many more attractions than a character for evil living. He was,
+too, easily amenable to influence from those around him; and under
+Gregory's auspices, was constant at his parish church. He told
+himself at once that he had many duties to perform, and he attempted
+to perform them. He did not ask Lieutenant Cox or Captain Fooks to
+the Priory, and quite prepared himself for the character of Henry V.
+in miniature, as he walked about his park, and rode about his farms,
+and talked with the wealthier farmers on hunting mornings. He had a
+full conception of his own dignity, and some not altogether
+inaccurate idea of the manner in which it would become him to sustain
+it. He was, perhaps, a little too self-conscious, and over-inclined
+to suppose that people were regarding his conduct because he was
+Newton of Newton;&mdash;Newton of Newton with no blot on his shield, by
+right of his birth, and subject to no man's reproach.</p>
+
+<p>He had failed grievously in one matter on which he had set his heart;
+but as to that he was, as the reader knows, resolved to try again. He
+had declared his passion to the other Ralph, but his rival had not
+made the confidence mutual. But hitherto he had said nothing on the
+subject to his brother. He had put it by, as it were, out of his mind
+for awhile, resolving that it should not trouble him immediately, in
+the middle of his new joys. It was a thing that would keep,&mdash;a thing,
+at any rate, that need not overshadow him night and morning. When
+Neefit continued to disturb him with threats of publicity in regard
+to Polly's wrongs, he did tell himself that in no way could he so
+effectually quiet Mr. Neefit as by marrying somebody else, and that
+he would, at some very early date, have recourse to this measure;
+but, in the meantime, he would enjoy himself without letting his
+unrequited passion lie too heavily as a burden on his heart. So he
+eat and drank, and rode and prayed, and sat with his brother
+magistrates on the bench, and never ceased to think of his good
+fortune, in that he had escaped from the troubles of his youth,
+unscathed and undegraded.</p>
+
+<p>Then there came a further letter from Mr. Neefit, from which there
+arose some increase of confidence among the brothers. There was
+nothing special in this letter. These letters, indeed, were very like
+to each other, and, as had now come to be observed, were always
+received on a Tuesday morning. It was manifest to them that Neefit
+spent the leisure hours of his Sundays in meditating upon the
+hardness of his position; and that, as every Monday morning came, he
+caused a new letter to be written. On this particular Tuesday, Ralph
+had left home before the post had come, and did not get the
+breeches-maker's epistle till his return from hunting. He chucked it
+across the table to Gregory when he came down to dinner, and the
+parson read it. There was no new attack in it; and as the servant was
+in the room, nothing was then said about it. But after dinner the
+subject was discussed.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I knew how to stop the fellow's mouth," said the elder
+brother.</p>
+
+<p>"I think I should get Carey to see him," suggested Gregory. "He would
+understand a lawyer when he was told that nothing could come of it
+but trouble to himself and his daughter."</p>
+
+<p>"She has no hand in it, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"But it must injure her."</p>
+
+<p>"One would think so. But she is a girl whom nothing can injure. You
+can't imagine how good and how great she is;&mdash;great in her way, that
+is. She is as steady as a rock; and nobody who knows her will ever
+imagine her to be a party to her father's folly. She may pick and
+choose a husband any day she pleases. And the men about her won't
+mind this kind of thing as we should. No doubt all their friends joke
+him about it, but no one will think of blaming Polly."</p>
+
+<p>"It can't do her any good," said Gregory.</p>
+
+<p>"It cannot do her any harm. She has a strength of her own that even
+her father can't lessen."</p>
+
+<p>"All the same, I wish there were an end of it."</p>
+
+<p>"So do I, for my own sake," said Ralph. As he spoke he filled his
+glass, and passed the bottle, and then was silent for a few moments.
+"Neefit did help me," he continued, "and I don't want to speak
+against him; but he is the most pig-headed old fool that ever
+existed. Nothing will stop him but Polly's marriage, or mine."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose you will marry soon now. You ought to be married," said
+Gregory, in a melancholy tone, in which was told something of the
+disappointment of his own passion.</p>
+
+<p>"Well;&mdash;yes. I believe I might as well tell you a little secret,
+Greg."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose I can guess it," said Gregory, with still a deeper sound
+of woe.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think you can. It is quite possible you may, however. You
+know Mary Bonner;&mdash;don't you?"</p>
+
+<p>The cloud upon the parson's brow was at once lightened. "No," said
+he. "I have heard of her, of course."</p>
+
+<p>"You have never seen Mary Bonner?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have not been up in town since she came. What should take me up?
+And if I were there, I doubt whether I should go out to Fulham. What
+is the use of going?" But still, though he spoke thus, there was
+something less of melancholy in his voice than when he had first
+spoken. Ralph did not immediately go on with his story, and his
+brother now asked a question. "But what of Mary Bonner? Is she to be
+the future mistress of the Priory?"</p>
+
+<p>"God only knows."</p>
+
+<p>"But you mean to ask her?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have asked her."</p>
+
+<p>"And you are engaged?"</p>
+
+<p>"By no means. I wish I were. You haven't seen her, but I suppose you
+have heard of her?"</p>
+
+<p>"Ralph spoke of her,&mdash;and told me that she was very lovely."</p>
+
+<p>"Upon my word, I don't think that even in a picture I ever saw
+anything approaching to her beauty. You've seen that thing at
+Dresden. She is more like that than anything I know. She seems almost
+too grand for a fellow to speak to, and yet she looks as if she
+didn't know it. I don't think she does know it." Gregory said not a
+word, but looked at his brother, listening. "But, by George there's a
+dignity about her, a sort of self-possession, a kind of noli me
+tangere, you understand, which makes a man almost afraid to come near
+her. She hasn't sixpence in the world."</p>
+
+<p>"That needn't signify to you now."</p>
+
+<p>"Not in the least. I only just mention it to explain. And her father
+was nobody in particular,&mdash;some old general who used to wear a cocked
+hat and keep the niggers down out in one of the colonies. She herself
+talked of coming home here to be a governess;&mdash;by Jove! yes, a
+governess. Well, to look at her, you'd think she was born a countess
+in her own right."</p>
+
+<p>"Is she so proud?"</p>
+
+<p>"No;&mdash;it's not that. I don't know what it is. It's the way her head
+is put on. Upon my word, to see her turn her neck is the grandest
+thing in the world. I never saw anything like it. I don't know that
+she's proud by nature,&mdash;though she has got a dash of that too. Don't
+you know there are some horses show their breeding at a glance? I
+don't suppose they feel it themselves; but there it is on them, like
+the Hall-mark on silver. I don't know whether you can understand a
+man being proud of his wife."</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed I can."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't mean of her personal qualities, but of the outside get up.
+Some men are proud of their wives' clothes, or their jewels, or their
+false hair. With Mary nothing of that sort could have any effect; but
+to see her step, or move her head, or lift her arm, is enough to make
+a man feel,&mdash;feel,&mdash;feel that she beats every other woman in the
+world by chalks."</p>
+
+<p>"And she is to be mistress here?"</p>
+
+<p>"Indeed she should,&mdash;to-morrow, if she'd come."</p>
+
+<p>"You did ask her?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes,&mdash;I asked her."</p>
+
+<p>"And what did she say?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing that I cared to hear. She had just been told all this
+accursed story about Polly Neefit. I'll never forgive Sir
+Thomas,&mdash;never." The reader will be pleased to remember that Sir
+Thomas did not mention Miss Neefit's name, or any of the
+circumstances of the Neefit contract, to his niece.</p>
+
+<p>"He could hardly have wished to set her against you."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know; but he must have told her. She threw it in my teeth
+that I ought to marry Polly."</p>
+
+<p>"Then she did not accept you?"</p>
+
+<p>"By George! no;&mdash;anything but that. She is one of those women who, as
+I fancy, never take a man at the first offer. It isn't that they mean
+to shilly and shally and make a fuss, but there's a sort of majesty
+about them which instinctively declines to yield itself.
+Unconsciously they feel something like offence at the suggestion that
+a man should think enough of himself to ask for such a possession.
+They come to it, after a time."</p>
+
+<p>"And she will come to it, after a time?"</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't mean to say that. I don't intend, however, to give it up."
+Ralph paused in his story, considering whether he would tell his
+brother what Mary had confessed to him as to her affection for some
+one else, but he resolved, at last, that he would say nothing of
+that. He had himself put less of confidence in that assertion than he
+did in her rebuke with reference to the other young woman to whom she
+chose to consider that he owed himself. It was his nature to think
+rather of what absolutely concerned himself, than of what related
+simply to her. "I shan't give her up. That's all I can say," he
+continued. "I'm not the sort of fellow to give things up readily." It
+did occur to Gregory at that moment that his brother had not shown
+much self-confidence on that question of giving up the property. "I'm
+pretty constant when I've set my mind on a thing. I'm not going to
+let any woman break my heart for me, but I shall stick to it."</p>
+
+<p>He was not going to let any woman break his heart for him! Gregory,
+as he heard this, knew that his brother regarded him as a man whose
+heart was broken, and he could not help asking himself whether or not
+it was good for a man that he should be able to suffer as he
+suffered, because a woman was fair and yet not fair for him. That his
+own heart was broken,&mdash;broken after the fashion of which his brother
+was speaking,&mdash;he was driven to confess to himself. It was not that
+he should die, or that his existence would be one long continued hour
+of misery to him. He could eat and drink, and do his duty and enjoy
+his life. And yet his heart was broken. He could not piece it so that
+it should be fit for any other woman. He could not teach himself not
+to long for that one woman who would not love him. The romance of his
+life had formed itself there, and there it must remain. In all his
+solitary walks it was of her that he still thought. Of all the bright
+castles in the air which he still continued to build, she was ever
+the mistress. And yet he knew that she would never make him happy. He
+had absolutely resolved that he would not torment her by another
+request. But he gave himself no praise for his constancy, looking on
+himself as being somewhat weak in that he could not overcome his
+longing. When Ralph declared that he would not break his heart, but
+that, nevertheless, he would stick to the girl, Gregory envied him,
+not doubting of his success, and believing that it was to men of this
+calibre that success in love is generally given. "I hope with all my
+heart that you may win her," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"I must run my chance like another. There's no 'Veni, vidi, vici,'
+about it, I can tell you; nor is it likely that there should be with
+such a girl as Mary Bonner. Fill your glass, old fellow. We needn't
+sit mumchance because we're thinking of our loves."</p>
+
+<p>"I had thought,&mdash;" began Gregory very slowly.</p>
+
+<p>"What did you think?"</p>
+
+<p>"I had thought once that you were thinking of&mdash;Clarissa."</p>
+
+<p>"What put that into your head?"</p>
+
+<p>"If you had I should never have said a word, nor fancied any wrong.
+Of course she'll marry some one. And I don't know why I should ever
+wish that it should not be you."</p>
+
+<p>"But what made you think of it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well; I did. It was just a word that Patience said in one of her
+letters."</p>
+
+<p>"What sort of word?" asked Ralph, with much interest.</p>
+
+<p>"It was nothing, you know. I just misunderstood her. When one is
+always thinking of a thing everything turns itself that way. I got it
+into my head that she meant to hint to me that as you and Clary were
+fond of each other, I ought to forget it all. I made up my mind that
+I would;&mdash;but it is so much easier to make up one's mind than to do
+it." There came a tear in each eye as he spoke, and he turned his
+face towards the fire that his brother might not see them. And there
+they remained hot and oppressive, because he would not raise his hand
+to rub them away.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder what it was she said," asked Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, nothing. Don't you know how a fellow has fancies?"</p>
+
+<p>"There wasn't anything in it," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh;&mdash;of course not."</p>
+
+<p>"Patience might have imagined it," said Ralph. "That's just like such
+a sister as Patience."</p>
+
+<p>"She's the best woman that ever lived," said Gregory.</p>
+
+<p>"As good as gold," said Ralph. "I don't think, however, I shall very
+soon forgive Sir Thomas."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't mind saying now that I am glad it is so," said Gregory;
+"though as regards Clary that seems to be cruel. But I don't think I
+could have come much here had she become your wife."</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing shall ever separate us, Greg."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope not;&mdash;but I don't know whether I could have done it. I almost
+think that I oughtn't to live where I should see her; and I did fear
+it at one time."</p>
+
+<p>"She'll come to the parsonage yet, old fellow, if you'll stick to
+her," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"Never," said Gregory. Then that conversation was over.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c43" id="c43"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XLIII.</h3>
+<h4>ONCE MORE.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>At the end of February Ralph declared his purpose of returning to the
+Moonbeam, for the rest of the hunting season. "I'm not going to be
+such an ass," he said to his brother, "as to keep two sets of horses
+going. I bought my uncle's because it seemed to suit just at the
+time; and there are the others at Horsball's, because I've not had
+time to settle down yet. I'll go over for March, and take a couple
+with me; and, at the end of it, I'll get rid of those I don't like.
+Then that'll be the end of the Moonbeam, as far as I am concerned."
+So he prepared to start, and on the evening before he went his
+brother declared that he would go as far as London with him. "That's
+all right," said Ralph, "but what's taking you up now?" The parson
+said that he wanted to get a few things, and to have his hair cut. He
+shouldn't stay above one night. Ralph asked no more questions, and
+the two brothers went up to London together.</p>
+
+<p>We fear that Patience Underwood may not have been in all respects a
+discreet preserver of her sister's secrets. But then there is nothing
+more difficult of attainment than discretion in the preservation of
+such mysteries. To keep a friend's secret well the keeper of it
+should be firmly resolved to act upon it in no way,&mdash;not even for the
+advantage of the owner of it. If it be confided to you as a secret
+that your friend is about to make his maiden speech in the House, you
+should not even invite your acquaintances to be in their places,&mdash;not
+if secrecy be the first object. In all things the knowledge should be
+to you as though you had it not. Great love is hardly capable of such
+secrecy as this. In the fulness of her love Patience had allowed her
+father to learn the secret of poor Clary's heart; and in the fulness
+of her love she had endeavoured to make things smooth at Newton. She
+had not told the young clergyman that Clarissa had given to his
+brother that which she could not give to him; but, meaning to do a
+morsel of service to both of them, if that might be possible, she had
+said a word or two, with what effect the reader will have seen from
+the conversation given in the last chapter.</p>
+
+<p>"She'll come to the parsonage yet," Ralph had said; and Gregory in
+one word had implied his assured conviction that any such coming was
+a thing not to be hoped for,&mdash;an event not even to be regarded as
+possible. Nevertheless, he made up his mind that he would go up to
+London,&mdash;to have his hair cut. In so making up his mind he did not
+for a moment believe that it could be of any use to him. He was not
+quite sure that when in London he would go to Popham Villa. He was
+quite sure that if he did go to Popham Villa he would make no further
+offer to Clarissa. He knew that his journey was foolish, simply the
+result of an uneasy, restless spirit,&mdash;that it would be better for
+him to remain in his parish and move about among the old women and
+bed-ridden men; but still he went. He would dine at his club, he
+said, and perhaps he might go down to Fulham on the following
+morning. And so the brothers parted. Ralph, as a man of property,
+with many weighty matters on hand, had, of course, much to do. He
+desired to inspect some agricultural implements, and a new
+carriage,&mdash;he had ever so many things to say to Carey, the lawyer,
+and wanted to order new harnesses for the horses. So he went to his
+club, and played whist all the afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>Gregory, as soon as he had secured a bed at a quiet inn, walked off
+to Southampton Buildings. From the direct manner in which this was
+done, it might have been argued that he had come up to London with
+the purpose of seeing Sir Thomas; but it was not so. He turned his
+steps towards the place where Clary's father was generally to be
+found, because he knew not what else to do. As he went he told
+himself that he might as well leave it alone;&mdash;but still he went.
+Stemm at once told him, with a candour that was almost marvellous,
+that Sir Thomas was out of town. The hearing of the petition was
+going on at Percycross, and Sir Thomas was there, as a matter of
+course. Stemm seemed to think it rather odd that an educated man,
+such as was the Rev. Gregory Newton, should have been unaware that
+the petition against the late election at Percycross was being
+carried on at this moment. "We've got Serjeant Burnaby, and little
+Mr. Joram down, to make a fight of it," said Mr. Stemm; "but, as far
+as I can learn, they might just as well have remained up in town.
+It's only sending good money after bad." The young parson hardly
+expressed that interest in the matter which Stemm had expected, but
+turned away, thinking whether he had not better have his hair cut at
+once, and then go home.</p>
+
+<p>But he did go to Popham Villa on the same afternoon, and,&mdash;such was
+his fortune,&mdash;he found Clarissa alone. Since her father had seen her
+in bed, and spoken to her of what he had called the folly of her
+love, she had not again given herself up to the life of a sick-room.
+She dressed herself and came down to breakfast of a morning, and then
+would sit with a needle in her hand till she took her book, and then
+with a book till she took her needle. She tried to work, and tried to
+read, and perhaps she did accomplish a little of each. And then, when
+Patience would tell her that exercise was necessary, she would put on
+her hat and creep out among the paths. She did make some kind of
+effort to get over the evil that had come upon her; but still no one
+could watch her and not know that she was a wounded deer. "Miss
+Clarissa is at home," said the servant, who well knew that the young
+clergyman was one of the rejected suitors. There had been hardly a
+secret in the house in reference to Gregory Newton's love. The two
+other young ladies, the girl said, had gone to London, but would be
+home to dinner. Then, with a beating heart, Gregory was ushered into
+the drawing-room. Clarissa was sitting near the window, with a novel
+in her lap, having placed herself there with the view of getting what
+was left of the light of the early spring evening; but she had not
+read a word for the last quarter of an hour. She was thinking of that
+word scoundrel, with which her father had spoken of the man she
+loved. Could it be that he was in truth so bad as that? And, if it
+were true, would she not take him, scoundrel as he was, if he would
+come to her? He might be a&mdash;scoundrel in that one thing, on that one
+occasion, and yet be good to her. He might repent his scoundrelism,
+and she certainly would forgive it. Of one thing she was quite
+sure;&mdash;he had not looked like a scoundrel when he had given her that
+assurance on the lawn! And so she thought of young men in general. It
+was very easy to call a young man a scoundrel, and yet to forgive him
+all his iniquities when it suited to do so. Young men might get in
+debt, and gamble, and make love wherever they pleased, and all at
+once,&mdash;and yet be forgiven. All these things were very bad. It might
+be just to call a man a scoundrel because he could not pay his debts,
+or because he made bets about horses. Young men did a great many
+things which would be horrid indeed were a girl to do them. Then one
+papa would call such a man a scoundrel, because he was not wanted to
+come to the house; while another papa would make him welcome, and
+give him the best of everything. Ralph Newton might be a scoundrel;
+but if so,&mdash;as Clarissa thought,&mdash;there were a great many
+good-looking scoundrels about in the world, as to whom their
+scoundrelism did very little to injure them in the esteem of all
+their friends. It was thus that Clarissa was thinking over her own
+affairs when Gregory Newton was shown into the room.</p>
+
+<p>The greeting on both sides was at first formal and almost cold. Clary
+had given a little start of surprise, and had then subsided into a
+most demure mode of answering questions. Yes; papa was at Percycross.
+She did not know when he was expected back. Mary and Patience were in
+London. Yes;&mdash;she was at home all alone. No; she had not seen Ralph
+since his uncle's death. The question which elicited this answer had
+been asked without any design, and Clary endeavoured to make her
+reply without emotion. If she displayed any, Gregory, who had his own
+affairs upon his mind, did not see it. No;&mdash;they had not seen the
+other Mr. Newton as he passed through town. They had all understood
+that he had been very much disturbed by his father's horrible
+accident and death. Then Gregory paused in his questions, and
+Clarissa expressed a hope that there might be no more hunting in the
+world.</p>
+
+<p>It was very hard work, this conversation, and Gregory was beginning
+to think that he had done no good by coming, when on a sudden he
+struck a chord from whence came a sound of music. "Ralph and I have
+been living together at the Priory," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh;&mdash;indeed; yes;&mdash;I think I heard Patience say that you were at the
+Priory."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose I shall not be telling any secret to you in talking about
+him and your cousin Mary?"</p>
+
+<p>Clarissa felt that she was blushing up to her brow, but she made a
+great effort to compose herself. "Oh, no," she said, "we all know of
+it."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope he may be successful," said Gregory.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know. I cannot tell."</p>
+
+<p>"I never knew a man more thoroughly in love than he is."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't believe it," said Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>"Not believe it! Indeed you may, Clary. I have never seen her, but
+from what he says of her I suppose her to be most beautiful."</p>
+
+<p>"She is,&mdash;very beautiful." This was said with a strong emphasis.</p>
+
+<p>"And why should you not believe it?"</p>
+
+<p>"It will not be of the slightest use, Mr. Newton; and you may tell
+him so. Though I suppose it is impossible to make a man believe
+that."</p>
+
+<p>"Are we both so unfortunate?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>The poor girl with her wounded love, and every feeling sore within
+her, had not intended to say anything that should be cruel or
+injurious to Gregory himself, and it was not till the words were out
+of her mouth that she herself perceived their effect. "Oh, Mr.
+Newton, I was only thinking of him," she said, innocently. "I only
+meant that Ralph is one of those who always think they are to have
+everything they want."</p>
+
+<p>"I am not one of those, Clarissa. And yet I am one who seem never to
+be tired of asking for that which is not to be given to me. I said to
+myself when last I went from here that I would never ask again;&mdash;that
+I would never trouble you any more." She was sitting with the book in
+her hand, looking out into the gloom, and now she made no attempt to
+answer him. "And yet you see here I am," he continued. She was still
+silent, and her head was still turned away from him; but he could see
+that tears were streaming down her cheeks. "I have not the power not
+to come to you while yet there is a chance," he said. "I can live and
+work without you, but I can have no life of my own. When I first saw
+you I made a picture to myself of what my life might be, and I cannot
+get that moved from before my eyes. I am sorry, however, that my
+coming should make you weep."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, Mr. Newton, I am so wretched!" she said, turning round sharply
+upon him. For a moment she had thought that she would tell him
+everything, and then she checked herself, and remembered how
+ill-placed such a confidence would be.</p>
+
+<p>"What should make you wretched, dearest?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do not know. I cannot tell. I sometimes think the world is bad
+altogether, and that I had better die. People are so cruel and so
+hard, and things are so wrong. But you may tell your brother that he
+need not think of my cousin, Mary. Nothing ever would move her.
+H&mdash;sh&mdash;. Here they are. Do not say that I was crying."</p>
+
+<p>He was introduced to the beauty, and as the lights came, Clarissa
+escaped. Yes;&mdash;she was indeed most lovely; but as he looked on her,
+Gregory felt that he agreed with Clarissa that nothing on earth would
+move her. He remained there for another half-hour; but Clarissa did
+not return, and then he went back to London.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c44" id="c44"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XLIV.</h3>
+<h4>THE PETITION.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>The time for hearing the petition at Percycross had at length come,
+and the judge had gone down to that ancient borough. The day fixed
+was Monday, the 27th, and Parliament had then been sitting for three
+weeks. Mr. Griffenbottom had been as constant in his place as though
+there had been no sword hanging over his head; but Sir Thomas had not
+as yet even taken the oaths. He had made up his mind that he would
+not even enter the house while this bar against him as a legislator
+existed, and he had not as yet even been seen in the lobby. His
+daughters, his colleague, Mr. Trigger, and Stemm had all expostulated
+with him on the subject, assuring him that he should treat the
+petition with the greatest contempt, at any rate till it should have
+proved itself by its success to be a matter not contemptible; but to
+these counsellors he gave no ear, and when he went down to give his
+evidence before the judge at Percycross his seat had as yet availed
+him nothing.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Griffenbottom had declared that he would not pay a shilling
+towards the expense of the petition, maintaining that his own seat
+was safe, and that any peril incurred had been so incurred simply on
+behalf of Sir Thomas. Nothing, according to Mr. Griffenbottom's
+views, could be more unjust than to expect that he should take any
+part in the matter. Trigger, too, had endeavoured to impress this
+upon Sir Thomas more than once or twice. But this had been all in
+vain; and Sir Thomas, acting under the advice of his own attorney,
+had at last compelled Mr. Griffenbottom to take his share in the
+matter. Mr. Griffenbottom did not scruple to say that he was very
+ill-used, and to hint that any unfair practices which might possibly
+have prevailed during the last election at Percycross, had all been
+adopted on behalf of Sir Thomas, and in conformity with Sir Thomas's
+views. It will, therefore, be understood that the two members did not
+go down to the borough in the best humour with each other. Mr.
+Trigger still nominally acted for both; but it had been almost avowed
+that Sir Thomas was to be treated as a Jonah, if by such treatment
+any salvation might be had for the ship of which Griffenbottom was to
+be regarded as the captain.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Westmacott was also in Percycross,&mdash;and so was Moggs, reinstated
+in his old room at the Cordwainers' Arms. Moggs had not been
+summoned, nor was his presence there required for any purpose
+immediately connected with the inquiry to be made; but Purity and the
+Rights of Labour may always be advocated; and when better than at a
+moment in which the impurity of a borough is about to be made the
+subject of public condemnation? And Moggs, moreover, had now rankling
+in his bosom a second cause of enmity against the Tories of the
+borough. Since the election he had learned that his rival, Ralph
+Newton, was in some way connected with the sitting member, Sir
+Thomas, and he laid upon Sir Thomas's back the weight of his full
+displeasure in reference to the proposed marriage with Polly Neefit.
+He had heard that Polly had raised some difficulty,&mdash;had, indeed,
+rejected her aristocratic suitor, and was therefore not without hope;
+but he had been positively assured by Neefit himself that the match
+would be made, and was consequently armed with a double purpose in
+his desire to drive Sir Thomas ignominiously out of Percycross.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas had had more than one interview with Serjeant Burnaby and
+little Mr. Joram, than whom two more astute barristers in such
+matters were not to be found at that time practising,&mdash;though perhaps
+at that time the astuteness of the Serjeant was on the wane; while
+that of Jacky Joram, as he was familiarly called, was daily rising in
+repute. Sir Thomas himself, barrister and senior to these two
+gentlemen, had endeavoured to hold his own with them, and to impress
+on them the conviction that he had nothing to conceal; that he had
+personally endeavoured, as best he knew how, to avoid corruption, and
+that if there had been corruption on the part of his own agents, he
+was himself ready to be a party in proclaiming it. But he found
+himself to be absolutely ignored and put out of court by his own
+counsel. They were gentlemen with whom professionally he had had no
+intercourse, as he had practised at the Chancery, and they at the
+Common Law Bar. But he had been Solicitor-General, and was a bencher
+of his Inn, whereas Serjeant Burnaby was only a Serjeant, and Jacky
+Joram still wore a stuff gown. Nevertheless, he found himself to be
+"nowhere" in discussing with them the circumstances of the election.
+Even Joram, whom he seemed to remember having seen only the other day
+as an ugly shame-faced boy about the courts, treated him, not exactly
+with indignity, but with patronising good-nature, listening with an
+air of half-attention to what he said, and then not taking the
+slightest heed of a word of it. Who does not know this transparent
+pretence of courtesies, which of all discourtesies is the most
+offensive? "Ah, just so, Sir Thomas; just so. And now, Mr. Trigger, I
+suppose Mr. Puffer's account hasn't yet been settled." Any word from
+Mr. Trigger was of infinitely greater value with Mr. Joram than all
+Sir Thomas's protestations. Sir Thomas could not keep himself from
+remembering that Jacky Joram's father was a cheesemonger at
+Gloucester, who had married the widow of a Jew with a little money.
+Twenty times Sir Thomas made up his mind to retire from the business
+altogether; but he always found himself unable to do so. When he
+mentioned the idea, Griffenbottom flung up his hands in dismay at
+such treachery on the part of an ally,&mdash;such treachery and such
+cowardice! What!&mdash;had not he, Sir Thomas, forced him, Griffenbottom,
+into all this ruinous expenditure? And now to talk of throwing up the
+sponge! It was in vain that Sir Thomas explained that he had forced
+nobody into it. It was manifestly the case that he had refused to go
+on with it by himself, and on this Mr. Griffenbottom and Mr. Trigger
+insisted so often and with so much strength that Sir Thomas felt
+himself compelled to stand to his guns, bad as he believed those guns
+to be.</p>
+
+<p>If Sir Thomas meant to retreat, why had he not retreated when a
+proposition to that effect was made to him at his own chambers? Of
+all the weak, vacillating, ill-conditioned men that Mr. Griffenbottom
+had ever been concerned with, Sir Thomas Underwood was the weakest,
+most vacillating, and most ill-conditioned. To have to sit in the
+same boat with such a man was the greatest misfortune that had ever
+befallen Mr. Griffenbottom in public life. Mr. Griffenbottom did not
+exactly say these hard things in the hearing of Sir Thomas, but he so
+said them that they became the common property of the Jorams,
+Triggers, Spiveycombs, and Spicers; and were repeated piecemeal to
+the unhappy second member.</p>
+
+<p>He had secured for himself a separate sitting-room at the "Percy
+Standard," thinking that thus he would have the advantage of being
+alone; but every one connected with his party came in and out of his
+room as though it had been specially selected as a chamber for public
+purposes. Even Griffenbottom came into it to have interviews there
+with Trigger, although at the moment Griffenbottom and Sir Thomas
+were not considered to be on speaking terms. Griffenbottom in these
+matters seemed to have the hide of a rhinoceros. He had chosen to
+quarrel with Sir Thomas. He had declared that he would not speak to a
+colleague whose Parliamentary ideas and habits were so repulsive to
+him. He had said quite aloud, that Trigger had never made a greater
+mistake in his life than in bringing Sir Thomas to the borough, and
+that, let the petition go as it would, Sir Thomas should never be
+returned for the borough again. He had spoken all these things,
+almost in the hearing of Sir Thomas. And yet he would come to Sir
+Thomas's private room, and sit there half the morning with a cigar in
+his mouth! Mr. Pile would come in, and make most unpleasant speeches.
+Mr. Spicer called continually, with his own ideas about the borough.
+The thing could be still saved if enough money were spent. If Mr.
+Givantake were properly handled, and Mr. O'Blather duly provided for,
+the two witnesses upon whom the thing really hung would not be found
+in Percycross when called upon to-morrow. That was Mr. Spicer's idea;
+and he was very eager to communicate it to Serjeant Burnaby. Trigger,
+in his energy, told Mr. Spicer to go and be
+<span class="nowrap">&mdash;&mdash;.</span> All this
+occurred in Sir Thomas's private room. And then Mr. Pabsby was there
+constantly, till he at last was turned out by Trigger. In his agony,
+Sir Thomas asked for another sitting-room; but was informed that the
+house was full. The room intended for the two members was occupied by
+Griffenbottom; but nobody ever suggested that the party might meet
+there when Sir Thomas's vain request was made for further
+accommodation. Griffenbottom went on with his cigar, and Mr. Pile sat
+picking his teeth before the fire, and making unpleasant little
+speeches.</p>
+
+<p>The judge, who had hurried into Percycross from another town, and who
+opened the commission on the Monday evening, did not really begin his
+work till the Tuesday morning. Jacky Joram had declared that the
+inquiry would last three days, he having pledged himself to be at
+another town early on the following Friday. Serjeant Burnaby, whose
+future services were not in such immediate demand, was of opinion
+that they would not get out of Percycross till Saturday night. Judge
+Crumbie, who was to try the case, and who had been trying similar
+cases ever since Christmas, was not due at his next town till the
+Monday; but it was understood by everybody that he intended if
+possible to spend his Saturday and Sunday in the bosom of his family.
+Trigger, however, had magnificent ideas. "I believe we shall carry
+them into the middle of next week," he said, "if they choose to go on
+with it." Trigger thoroughly enjoyed the petition; and even
+Griffenbottom, who was no longer troubled by gout, and was not now
+obliged to walk about the borough, did not seem to dislike it. But to
+poor Sir Thomas it was indeed a purgatory.</p>
+
+<p>The sitting members were of course accused, both as regarded
+themselves and their agents, of every crime known in electioneering
+tactics. Votes had been personated. Votes had been bought. Votes had
+been obtained by undue influence on the part of masters and
+landlords, and there had been treating of the most pernicious and
+corrupt description. As to the personating of votes, that according
+to Mr. Trigger, had been merely introduced as a pleasant commencing
+fiction common in Parliamentary petitions. There had been nothing of
+the kind, and nobody supposed that there had, and it did not signify.
+Of undue influence,&mdash;what purists choose to call undue
+influence,&mdash;there had of course been plenty. It was not likely that
+masters paying thousands a year in wages were going to let these men
+vote against themselves. But this influence was so much a matter of
+course that it could not be proved to the injury of the sitting
+members. Such at least was Mr. Trigger's opinion. Mr. Spicer might
+have been a little imprudent with his men; but no case could be
+brought up in which a man had been injured. Undue influence at
+Percycross was&mdash;"gammon." So said Mr. Trigger, and Jacky Joram agreed
+with Mr. Trigger. Serjeant Burnaby rubbed his hands, and would give
+no opinion till he had heard the evidence. That votes had been bought
+during the day of the election there was no doubt on earth. On this
+matter great secrecy prevailed, and Sir Thomas could not get a word
+spoken in his own hearing. It was admitted, however, that votes had
+been bought. There were a dozen men, perhaps more than a dozen, who
+would prove that one Glump had paid them ten shillings a piece
+between one and two on the day of the election. There was a general
+belief that perhaps over a hundred had been bought at that rate. But
+Trigger was ready to swear that he did not know whence Glump had got
+the money, and Glump himself was,&mdash;nobody knew where Glump was, but
+strange whispers respecting Glump were floating about the borough.
+Trigger was disposed to believe that they, on their side, could prove
+that Glump had really been employed by Westmacott's people to vitiate
+the election. He was quite sure that nothing could connect Glump with
+him as an agent on behalf of Griffenbottom and Underwood. So Mr.
+Trigger asserted with the greatest confidence; but what was in the
+bottom of Mr. Trigger's mind on this subject no one pretended to
+know. As for Glump himself he was a man who would certainly take
+payment from anybody for any dirty work. It was the general
+impression through the borough that Glump had on this occasion been
+hired by Trigger, and Trigger certainly enjoyed the prestige which
+was thus conferred upon him.</p>
+
+<p>As to the treating,&mdash;there could be no doubt about that. There had
+been treating. The idea of conducting an election at Percycross
+without beer seemed to be absurd to every male and female
+Percycrossian. Of course the publicans would open their taps and then
+send in their bills for beer to the electioneering agents. There was
+a prevailing feeling that any interference with so ancient a practice
+was not only un-English, but unjust also;&mdash;that it was beyond the
+power of Parliament to enforce any law so abominable and unnatural.
+Trigger was of opinion that though there had been a great deal of
+beer, no attempt would be made to prove that votes had been
+influenced by treating. There had been beer on both sides, and
+Trigger hoped sincerely that there might always be beer on both sides
+as long as Percycross was a borough.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas found that his chance of success was now spoken of in a
+tone very different from that which had been used when the matter was
+discussed in his own chamber. He had been then told that it was
+hardly possible that he should keep his seat;&mdash;and he had in fact
+been asked to resign it. Though sick enough of Percycross, this he
+would not do in the manner then proposed to him. Now he was
+encouraged in the fight;&mdash;but the encouragement was of a nature which
+gave him no hope, which robbed him even of the wish to have a hope.
+It was all dirt from beginning to end. Whatever might be the verdict
+of the judge,&mdash;from the judge the verdict was now to come,&mdash;he should
+still believe that nothing short of absolute disfranchisement would
+meet the merits of the case.</p>
+
+<p>The accusation with regard to the personation of votes was
+abandoned,&mdash;Serjeant Burnaby expressing the most extreme disgust that
+any such charge should have been made without foundation,&mdash;although
+he himself at the borough which he had last left had brought forward
+the same charge on behalf of his then clients, and had abandoned it
+in the same way. Then the whole of the remaining hours of the Tuesday
+and half the Wednesday were passed in showing that Messrs. Spicer,
+Spiveycomb, and Roodylands had forced their own men to vote blue. Mr.
+Spicer had dismissed one man and Mr. Spiveycomb two men; but both
+these gentlemen swore that the men dismissed were not worth their
+salt, and had been sent adrift upon the world by no means on account
+of their politics. True: they had all voted for Moggs; but then they
+had done that simply to spite their late master. On the middle of
+Wednesday, when the matter of intimidation had been completed,&mdash;the
+result still lying in the bosom of Baron Crumbie,&mdash;Mr. Trigger
+thought that things were looking up. That was the report which he
+brought to Mr. Griffenbottom, who was smoking his midday cigar in Sir
+Thomas's arm-chair, while Sir Thomas was endeavouring to master the
+first book of Lord Verulam's later treatise "De dignitate
+scientiarum," seated in a cane-bottomed chair in a very small
+bed-room up-stairs.</p>
+
+<p>By consent the question of treating came next. Heaven and earth were
+being moved to find Glump. When the proposition was made that the
+treating should come before the bribery Trigger stated in court that
+he was himself doing his very best to find the man. There might yet
+be a hope, though, alas, the hope was becoming slighter every hour.
+His own idea was that Glump had been sent away to Holland by,&mdash;well,
+he did not care to name the parties by whom he believed that Glump
+had been expatriated. However, there might be a chance. The counsel
+on the other side remarked that there might, indeed, be a chance.
+Baron Crumbie expressed a hope that Mr. Glump might make his
+appearance,&mdash;for the sake of the borough, which might otherwise fare
+badly; and then the great beer question was discussed for two entire
+days.</p>
+
+<p>There was no doubt about the beer. Trigger, who was examined after
+some half-score of publicans, said openly that thirsty Conservative
+souls had been allowed to slake their drought at the joint expense of
+the Conservative party in the borough,&mdash;as thirsty Liberal souls had
+been encouraged to do on the other side. When reminded that any
+malpractice in that direction on the part of a beaten candidate could
+not affect the status of the elected members, he replied that all the
+beer consumed in Percycross during the election had not, to the best
+of his belief, affected a vote. The Percycrossians were not men to
+vote this way or that because of beer! He would not believe it even
+in regard to a Liberal Percycrossian. It might be so in other
+boroughs, but of other boroughs he knew absolutely nothing. Who paid
+for the beer? Mr. Trigger at once acknowledged that it was paid for
+out of the general funds provided for the election. Who provided
+those funds? There was not a small amount of fencing on this point,
+during the course of which Mr. Joram snapped very sharply and very
+frequently at the counsel on the other side,&mdash;hoping thereby somewhat
+to change the issue. But at last there came out these two facts, that
+there was a general fund, to which all Conservatives might subscribe,
+and that the only known subscribers to this fund were Mr.
+Griffenbottom, Sir Thomas Underwood, and old Mr. Pile, who had given
+a &pound;10 note,&mdash;apparently with the view of proving that there was a
+fund. It was agreed on all hands that treating had been
+substantiated; but it was remarked by some that Baron Crumbie had not
+been hard upon treating in other boroughs. After all, the result
+would depend upon what the Baron thought about Mr. Glump. It might be
+that he would recommend further inquiry, under a special commission,
+into the practices of the borough, because of the Glump iniquities,
+and that he should, nevertheless, leave the seats to the sitting
+members. That seemed to be Mr. Trigger's belief on the evening of the
+Thursday, as he took his brandy and water in Sir Thomas's private
+sitting-room.</p>
+
+<p>There is nothing in the world so brisk as the ways and manners of
+lawyers when in any great case they come to that portion of it which
+they know to be the real bone of the limb and kernel of the nut. The
+doctor is very brisk when after a dozen moderately dyspeptic patients
+he comes on some unfortunate gentleman whose gastric apparatus is
+gone altogether. The parson is very brisk when he reaches the
+minatory clause in his sermon. The minister is very brisk when he
+asks the House for a vote, telling his hoped-for followers that this
+special point is absolutely essential to his government. Unless he
+can carry this, he and all those hanging on to him must vacate their
+places. The horse-dealer is very brisk when, after four or five
+indifferent lots, he bids his man bring out from the stable the last
+thorough-bred that he bought, and the very best that he ever put his
+eye on. But the briskness of none of these is equal to the briskness
+of the barrister who has just got into his hands for
+cross-examination him whom we may call the centre witness of a great
+case. He plumes himself like a bullfinch going to sing. He spreads
+himself like a peacock on a lawn. He perks himself like a sparrow on
+a paling. He crows amidst his attorneys and all the satellites of the
+court like a cock among his hens. He puts his hands this way and
+that, settling even the sunbeams as they enter, lest a moat should
+disturb his intellect or dull the edge of his subtlety. There is a
+modesty in his eye, a quiescence in his lips, a repose in his limbs,
+under which lie half-concealed,&mdash;not at all concealed from those who
+have often watched him at his work,&mdash;the glance, the tone, the
+spring, which are to tear that unfortunate witness into pieces,
+without infringing any one of those conventional rules which have
+been laid down for the guidance of successful well-mannered
+barristers.</p>
+
+<p>Serjeant Burnaby, though astute, was not specially brisk by nature;
+but on this Friday morning Mr. Joram was very brisk indeed. There was
+a certain Mr. Cavity, who had acted as agent for Westmacott, and
+who,&mdash;if anybody on the Westmacott side had been so guilty,&mdash;had been
+guilty in the matter of Glump's absence. Perhaps we should not do
+justice to Mr. Joram's acuteness were we to imagine him as believing
+that Glump was absent under other influence than that used on behalf
+of the conservative side; but there were subsidiary points on which
+Mr. Cavity might be made to tell tales. Of course there had been
+extensive bribery for years past in Percycross on the liberal as well
+as on the conservative side, and Mr. Joram thought that he could make
+Mr. Cavity tell a tale. And then, too, he could be very brisk in that
+affair of Glump. He was pretty nearly sure that Mr. Glump could not
+be connected by evidence with either of the sitting members or with
+any of their agents. He would prove that Glump was neutral ground,
+and that as such his services could not be traced to his friend, Mr.
+Trigger. Mr. Joram on this occasion was very brisk indeed.</p>
+
+<p>A score of men were brought up, ignorant, half-dumb, heavy-browed
+men, all dressed in the amphibious garb of out-o'-door town
+labourers,&mdash;of whom there exists a class of hybrids between the rural
+labourer and the artizan,&mdash;each one of whom acknowledged that after
+noon on the election day he received ten shillings, with instructions
+to vote for Griffenbottom and Underwood. And they did vote for
+Griffenbottom and Underwood. At all elections in Percycross they had,
+as they now openly acknowledged, waited till about the same hour on
+the day of election, and then somebody had bought their votes for
+somebody. On this occasion the purchase had been made by Mr. Glump.
+There was a small empty house up a little alley in the town, to which
+there was a back door opening on a vacant space in the town known as
+Grinder's Green. They entered this house by one door, leaving it by
+the other, and as they passed through, Glump gave to each man half a
+sovereign with instructions, entering their names in a small
+book;&mdash;and then they went in a body and voted for Griffenbottom and
+Underwood. Each of the twenty knew nearly all the other twenty, but
+none of them knew any other men who had been paid by Glump. Of course
+none of them had the slightest knowledge of Glump's present abode. It
+was proved that at the last election Glump had acted for the
+Liberals; but it was also proved that at the election before he had
+been active in bribing for the Conservatives. Very many things were
+proved,&mdash;if a thing be proved when supported by testimony on oath.
+Trigger proved that twenty votes alone could have been of no service,
+and would not certainly have been purchased in a manner so
+detrimental. According to Trigger's views it was as clear as daylight
+that Glump had not been paid by them. When asked whether he would
+cause Mr. Glump to be repaid that sum of ten pounds, should Mr. Glump
+send in any bill to that effect, he simply stated that Mr. Glump
+would certainly send no such bill to him. He was then asked whether
+it might not be possible that the money should be repaid by Messrs.
+Griffenbottom and Underwood through his hands, reaching Glump again
+by means of a further middleman. Mr. Trigger acknowledged that were
+such a claim made upon him by any known agent of his party, he would
+endeavour to pass the ten pounds through the accounts, as he thought
+that there should be a certain feeling of honour in these things; but
+he did not for a moment think that any one acting with him would have
+dealings with Glump. On the Saturday morning, when the case was still
+going on, to the great detriment of Baron Grumble's domestic
+happiness, Glump had not yet been caught. It seemed that the man had
+no wife, no relative, no friend. The woman at whose house he lodged
+declared that he often went and came after this fashion. The respect
+with which Glump's name was mentioned, as his persistency in
+disobeying the law and his capability for intrigue were thus proved,
+was so great, that it was a pity he could not have been there to
+enjoy it. For the hour he was a great man in Percycross,&mdash;and the
+greater because Baron Crumbie did not cease to threaten him with
+terrible penalties.</p>
+
+<p>Much other bribery was alleged, but none other was distinctly brought
+home to the agents of the sitting members. As to bringing bribery
+home to Mr. Griffenbottom himself;&mdash;that appeared to be out of the
+question. Nobody seemed even to wish to do that. The judge, as it
+appeared, did not contemplate any result so grave and terrible as
+that. There was a band of freemen of whom it was proved that they had
+all been treated with most excessive liberality by the corporation of
+the town; and it was proved, also, that a majority of the corporation
+were supporters of Mr. Griffenbottom. A large number of votes had
+been so secured. Such, at least, was the charge made by the
+petitioners. But this allegation Jacky Joram laughed to scorn. The
+corporation, of course, used the charities and privileges of the town
+as they thought right; and the men voted,&mdash;as they thought right. The
+only cases of bribery absolutely proved were those manipulated by
+Glump, and nothing had been adduced clearly connecting Glump and the
+Griffenbottomites. Mr. Trigger was in ecstasies; but Mr. Joram
+somewhat repressed him by referring to these oracular words which had
+fallen from the Baron in respect to the corporation. "A corporation
+may be guilty as well as an individual," the Baron had said. Jacky
+Joram had been very eager in assenting to the Baron, but in asserting
+at the same time that the bribery must be proved. "It won't be
+assumed, my lord, that a corporation has bribed because it has
+political sympathies." "It should have none," said the Baron. "Human
+nature is human nature, my lord,&mdash;even in corporations," said Jacky
+Joram. This took place just before luncheon,&mdash;which was made a solemn
+meal on all sides, as the judge had declared his intention of sitting
+till midnight, if necessary.</p>
+
+<p>Immediately after the solemn meal Mr. Griffenbottom was examined. It
+had been the declared purpose of the other side to turn Mr.
+Griffenbottom inside out. Mr. Griffenbottom and his conduct had on
+various former occasions been the subject of parliamentary petitions
+under the old form; but on such occasions the chief delinquent
+himself was never examined. Now Mr. Griffenbottom would be made to
+tell all that he knew, not only of his present, but of his past,
+iniquities. And yet Mr. Griffenbottom told very little; and it
+certainly did seem to the bystanders, that even the opposing counsel,
+even the judge on the bench, abstained from their prey because he was
+a member of Parliament. It was notorious to all the world that
+Griffenbottom had debased the borough; had so used its venal
+tendencies as to make that systematic which had before been too
+frequent indeed, but yet not systematized; that he had trained the
+rising generation of Percycross politicians to believe in political
+corruption;&mdash;and yet he escaped that utter turning inside out of
+which men had spoken.</p>
+
+<p>The borough had cost him a great deal of money certainly; but as far
+as he knew the money had been spent legally. It had at least always
+been his intention before an election was commenced that nothing
+illegal should be done. He had no doubt always afterwards paid sums
+of money the use of which he did not quite understand, and as to some
+of which he could not but fear that it had been doubtfully applied.
+The final accounts as to the last election had not reached him, but
+he did not expect to be charged with improper expenses. There no
+doubt would be something for beer, but that was unavoidable. As to
+Mr. Glump he knew literally nothing of the man,&mdash;nor had he wanted
+any such man's assistance. Twenty votes indeed! Let them look at his
+place upon the poll. There had been a time in the day when twenty
+votes this way or that might be necessary to Sir Thomas. He had been
+told that it was so. On the day of the election his own position on
+the poll had been so certain to him, that he should not have
+cared,&mdash;that is, for himself,&mdash;had he heard that Glump was buying
+votes against him. He considered it to be quite out of the question
+that Glump should have bought votes for him,&mdash;with any purpose of
+serving him. And so Mr. Griffenbottom escaped from the adverse
+counsel and from the judge.</p>
+
+<p>There was very little in the examination of Sir Thomas Underwood to
+interest any one. No one really suspected him of corrupt practices.
+In all such cases the singular part of the matter is that everybody,
+those who are concerned and those who are not concerned, really know
+the whole truth which is to be investigated; and yet, that which
+everybody knows cannot be substantiated. There were not five men in
+court who were not certain that Griffenbottom was corrupt, and that
+Sir Thomas was not; that the borough was rotten as a six-months-old
+egg; that Glump had acted under one of Trigger's aides-de-camp; that
+intimidation was the law of the borough; and that beer was used so
+that men drunk might not fear that which sober they had not the
+courage to encounter. All this was known to everybody; and yet, up to
+the last, it was thought by many in Percycross that corruption,
+acknowledged, transparent, egregious corruption, would prevail even
+in the presence of a judge. Mr. Trigger believed it to the last.</p>
+
+<p>But it was not so thought by the Jacky Jorams or by the Serjeant
+Burnabys. They made their final speeches,&mdash;the leading lawyer on each
+side, but they knew well what was coming. At half-past seven, for to
+so late an hour had the work been continued, the judge retired to get
+a cup of tea, and returned at eight to give his award. It was as
+<span class="nowrap">follows:&mdash;</span></p>
+
+<p>As to the personation of votes, there should have been no allegation
+made. In regard to the charge of intimidation it appeared that the
+system prevailed to such an extent as to make it clear to him that
+Percycross was unfit to return representatives to Parliament. In the
+matter of treating he was not quite prepared to say that had no other
+charge been made he should have declared this election void, but of
+that also there had been sufficient to make him feel it to be his
+duty to recommend to the Speaker of the House of Commons that further
+inquiry should be made as to the practices of the borough. And as to
+direct bribery, though he was not prepared to say that he could
+connect the agents of the members with what had been done,&mdash;and
+certainly he could not connect either of the two members
+themselves,&mdash;still, quite enough had been proved to make it
+imperative upon him to declare the election void. This he should do
+in his report to the Speaker, and should also advise that a
+commission be held with the view of ascertaining whether the
+privilege of returning members of Parliament should remain with the
+borough. With Griffenbottom he dealt as tenderly as he did with Sir
+Thomas, sending them both forth to the world, unseated indeed, but as
+innocent, injured men.</p>
+
+<p>There was a night train up to London at 10
+<span class="smallcaps">p.m.</span>, by which on that
+evening Sir Thomas Underwood travelled, shaking off from his feet as
+he entered the carriage the dust of that most iniquitous borough.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c45" id="c45"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XLV.</h3>
+<h4>"NEVER GIVE A THING UP."<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>Mr. Neefit's conduct during this period of disappointment was not
+exactly what it should to have been, either in the bosom of his
+family or among his dependents in Conduit Street. Herr Bawwah, over a
+pot of beer in the public-house opposite, suggested to Mr. Waddle
+that "the governor might be
+<span class="nowrap">&mdash;&mdash;,"</span>
+in a manner that affected Mr.
+Waddle greatly. It was an eloquent and energetic expression of
+opinion,&mdash;almost an expression of a settled purpose as coming from
+the German as it did come; and Waddle was bound to admit that cause
+had been given. "Fritz," said Waddle pathetically, "don't think about
+it. You can't better the wages." Herr Bawwah looked up from his pot
+of beer and muttered a German oath. He had been told that he was
+beastly, skulking, pig-headed, obstinate, drunken, with some other
+perhaps stronger epithets which may be omitted,&mdash;and he had been told
+that he was a German. In that had lain the venom. There was the word
+that rankled. He had another pot of beer, and though it was then only
+twelve o'clock on a Monday morning Herr Bawwah swore that he was
+going to make a day of it, and that old Neefit might cut out the
+stuff for himself if he pleased. As they were now at the end of
+March, which is not a busy time of the year in Mr. Neefit's trade,
+the great artist's defalcation was of less immediate importance; but,
+as Waddle knew, the German was given both to beer and obstinacy when
+aroused to wrath; and what would become of the firm should the
+obstinacy continue?</p>
+
+<p>"Where's that pig-headed German brute?" asked Mr. Neefit, when Mr.
+Waddle returned to the establishment. Mr. Waddle made no reply; and
+when Neefit repeated the question with a free use of the epithets
+previously omitted by us, Waddle still was dumb, leaning over his
+ledger as though in that there were matters so great as to absorb his
+powers of hearing. "The two of you may go and be
+<span class="nowrap">&mdash;&mdash;</span> together!" said
+Mr. Neefit. If any order requiring immediate obedience were contained
+in this, Mr. Waddle disobeyed that order. He still bent himself over
+the ledger, and was dumb. Waddle had been trusted with his master's
+private view in the matter of the Newton marriage, and felt that on
+this account he owed a debt of forbearance to the unhappy father.</p>
+
+<p>The breeches-maker was in truth very unhappy. He had accused his
+German assistant of obstinacy, but the German could hardly have been
+more obstinate than his master. Mr. Neefit had set his heart upon
+making his daughter Mrs. Newton, and had persisted in declaring that
+the marriage should be made to take place. The young man had once
+given him a promise, and should be compelled to keep the promise so
+given. And in these days Mr. Neefit seemed to have lost that
+discretion for which his friends had once given him credit. On the
+occasion of his visit to the Moonbeam early in the hunting season he
+had spoken out very freely among the sportsmen there assembled; and
+from that time all reticence respecting his daughter seemed to have
+been abandoned. He had paid the debts of this young man, who was now
+lord of wide domains, when the young man hadn't "a red copper in his
+pocket,"&mdash;so did Mr. Neefit explain the matter to his friends,&mdash;and
+he didn't intend that the young man should be off his bargain.
+"No;&mdash;he wasn't going to put up with that;&mdash;not if he knew it." All
+this he declared freely to his general acquaintance. He was very
+eloquent on the subject in a personal interview which he had with Mr.
+Moggs senior, in consequence of a visit made to Hendon by Mr. Moggs
+junior, during which he feared that Polly had shown some tendency
+towards yielding to the young politician. Mr. Moggs senior might take
+this for granted;&mdash;that if Moggs junior made himself master of Polly,
+it would be of Polly pure and simple, of Polly without a shilling of
+dowry. "He'll have to take her in her smock." That was the phrase in
+which Mr. Neefit was pleased to express his resolution. To all of
+which Mr. Moggs senior answered never a word. It was on returning
+from Mr. Moggs's establishment in Bond Street to his own in Conduit
+Street that Mr. Neefit made himself so very unpleasant to the
+unfortunate German. When Ontario put on his best clothes, and took
+himself out to Hendon on the previous Sunday, he did not probably
+calculate that, as one consequence of that visit, the Herr Bawwah
+would pass a whole week of intoxication in the little back parlour of
+the public-house near St. George's Church.</p>
+
+<p>It may be imagined how very unpleasant all this must have been to
+Miss Neefit herself. Poor Polly indeed suffered many things; but she
+bore them with an admirable and a persistent courage. Indeed, she
+possessed a courage which greatly mitigated her sufferings. Let her
+father be as indiscreet as he might, he could not greatly lower her,
+as long as she herself was prudent. It was thus that Polly argued
+with herself. She knew her own value, and was not afraid that she
+should ever lack a lover when she wanted to find a husband. Of course
+it was not a nice thing to be thrown at a man's head, as her father
+was constantly throwing her at the head of young Newton; but such a
+man as she would give herself to at last would understand all that.
+Ontario Moggs, could she ever bring herself to accept Ontario, would
+not be less devoted to her because of her father's ill-arranged
+ambition. Polly could be obstinate too, but with her obstinacy there
+was combined a fund of feminine strength which, as we think, quite
+justified the devotion of Ontario Moggs.</p>
+
+<p>Amidst all these troubles Mrs. Neefit also had a bad time of it; so
+bad a time that she was extremely anxious that Ontario should at once
+carry off the prize;&mdash;Ontario, or the gasfitter, or almost anybody.
+Neefit was taking to drink in the midst of all this confusion, and
+was making himself uncommonly unpleasant in the bosom of his family.
+On the Sunday,&mdash;the Sunday before the Monday on which the Herr
+decided that his wisest course of action would be to abstain from
+work and make a beast of himself, in order that he might spite his
+master,&mdash;Mr. Neefit had dined at one o'clock, and had insisted on his
+gin-and-water and pipe immediately after his dinner. Now Mr. Neefit,
+when he took too much, did not fall into the extreme sins which
+disgraced his foreman. He simply became very cross till he fell
+asleep, very heavy while sleeping, and more cross than ever when
+again awake. While he was asleep on this Sunday afternoon Ontario
+Moggs came down to Hendon dressed in his Sunday best. Mrs. Neefit
+whispered a word to him before he was left alone with Polly. "You be
+round with her, and run your chance about the money." "Mrs. Neefit,"
+said Ontario, laying his hand upon his heart, "all the bullion in the
+Bank of England don't make a feather's weight in the balance." "You
+never was mercenary, Mr. Ontario," said the lady. "My sweetheart is
+to me more than a coined hemisphere," said Ontario. The expression
+may have been absurd, but the feeling was there.</p>
+
+<p>Polly was not at all coy of her presence,&mdash;was not so, though she had
+been specially ordered by her father not to have anything to say to
+that long-legged, ugly fool. "Handsome is as handsome does," Polly
+had answered. Whereupon Mr. Neefit had shown his teeth and
+growled;&mdash;but Polly, though she loved her father, and after a fashion
+respected him, was not afraid of him; and now, when her mother left
+her alone with Ontario, she was free enough of her conversation. "Oh,
+Polly," he said, after a while, "you know why I'm here."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; I know," said Polly.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think you do care for that young gentleman."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm not going to break my heart about him, Mr. Moggs."</p>
+
+<p>"I'd try to be the death of him, if you did."</p>
+
+<p>"That would be a right down tragedy, because then you'd be hung,&mdash;and
+so there'd be an end of us all. I don't think I'd do that, Mr.
+Moggs."</p>
+
+<p>"Polly, I sometimes feel as though I didn't know what to do."</p>
+
+<p>"Tell me the whole story of how you went on down at Percycross. I was
+so anxious you should get in."</p>
+
+<p>"Were you now?"</p>
+
+<p>"Right down sick at heart about it;&mdash;that I was. Don't you think we
+should all be proud to know a member of Parliament?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh; if that's all&mdash;"</p>
+
+<p>"I shouldn't think anything of Mr. Newton for being in Parliament.
+Whether he was in Parliament or out would be all the same. Of course
+he's a friend, and we like him very well; but his being in Parliament
+would be nothing. But if you were
+<span class="nowrap">there&mdash;!"</span></p>
+
+<p>"I don't know what's the difference," said Moggs despondently.</p>
+
+<p>"Because you're one of us."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; I am," said Moggs, rising to his legs and preparing himself for
+an oration on the rights of labour. "I thank my God that I am no
+aristocrat." Then there came upon him a feeling that this was not a
+time convenient for political fervour. "But, I'll tell you something,
+Polly," he said, interrupting himself.</p>
+
+<p>"Well;&mdash;tell me something, Mr. Moggs."</p>
+
+<p>"I'd sooner have a kiss from you than be Prime Minister."</p>
+
+<p>"Kisses mean so much, Mr. Moggs," said Polly.</p>
+
+<p>"I mean them to mean much," said Ontario Moggs. Whereupon Polly,
+declining further converse on that delicate subject, and certainly
+not intending to grant the request made on the occasion, changed the
+subject.</p>
+
+<p>"But you will get in still;&mdash;won't you, Mr. Moggs? They tell me that
+those other gentlemen ain't to be members any longer, because what
+they did was unfair. Oughtn't that to make you member?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think it ought, if the law was right;&mdash;but it doesn't."</p>
+
+<p>"Doesn't it now? But you'll try again;&mdash;won't you? Never give a thing
+up, Mr. Moggs, if you want it really." As the words left her lips she
+understood their meaning,&mdash;the meaning in which he must necessarily
+take them,&mdash;and she blushed up to her forehead. Then she laughed as
+she strove to recall the encouragement she had given him. "You know
+what I mean, Mr. Moggs. I don't mean any silly nonsense about being
+in love."</p>
+
+<p>"If that is silly, I am the silliest man in London."</p>
+
+<p>"I think you are sometimes;&mdash;so I tell you fairly."</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime Mr. Neefit had woke from his slumbers. He was in his
+old arm-chair in the little back room, where they had dined, while
+Polly with her lover was in the front parlour. Mrs. Neefit was seated
+opposite to Mr. Neefit, with an open Bible in her lap, which had been
+as potent for sleep with her as had been the gin-and-water with her
+husband. Neefit suddenly jumped up and growled. "Where's Polly?" he
+demanded.</p>
+
+<p>"She's in the parlour, I suppose," said Mrs. Neefit doubtingly.</p>
+
+<p>"And who is with her?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nobody as hadn't ought to be," said Mrs. Neefit.</p>
+
+<p>"Who's there, I say?" But without waiting for an answer, he stalked
+into the front room. "It's no use in life your coming here," he said,
+addressing himself at once to Ontario; "not the least. She ain't for
+you. She's for somebody else. Why can't one word be as good as a
+thousand?" Moggs stood silent, looking sheepish and confounded. It
+was not that he was afraid of the father; but that he feared to
+offend the daughter should he address the father roughly. "If she
+goes against me she'll have to walk out of the house with just what
+she's got on her back."</p>
+
+<p>"I should be quite contented," said Ontario.</p>
+
+<p>"But I shouldn't;&mdash;so you may just cut it. Anybody who wants her
+without my leave must take her in her smock."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, father!" screamed Polly.</p>
+
+<p>"That's what I mean,&mdash;so let's have done with it. What business have
+you coming to another man's house when you're not welcome? When I
+want you I'll send for you; and till I do you have my leave to stay
+away."</p>
+
+<p>"Good-bye, Polly," said Ontario, offering the girl his hand.</p>
+
+<p>"Good-bye, Mr. Moggs," said Polly; "and mind you get into Parliament.
+You stick to it, and you'll do it."</p>
+
+<p>When she repeated this salutary advice, it must have been that she
+intended to apply to the double event. Moggs at any rate took it in
+that light. "I shall," said he, as he opened the door and walked
+triumphantly out of the house.</p>
+
+<p>"Father," said Polly, as soon as they were alone, "you've behaved
+very bad to that young man."</p>
+
+<p>"You be blowed," said Mr. Neefit.</p>
+
+<p>"You have, then. You'll go on till you get me that talked about that
+I shall be ashamed to show myself. What's the good of me trying to
+behave, if you keep going on like that?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why didn't you take that chap when he came after you down to
+Margate?"</p>
+
+<p>"Because I didn't choose. I don't care enough for him; and it's all
+no use of you going on. I wouldn't have him if he came twenty times.
+I've made up my mind, so I tell you."</p>
+
+<p>"You're a very grand young woman."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm grand enough to have a will of my own about that. I'm not going
+to be made to marry any man, I know."</p>
+
+<p>"And you mean to take that long-legged shoemaker's apprentice."</p>
+
+<p>"He's not a shoemaker's apprentice any more than I'm a
+breeches-maker's apprentice." Polly was now quite in earnest, and in
+no mood for picking her words. "He is a bootmaker by his trade; and
+I've never said anything about taking him."</p>
+
+<p>"You've given him a promise."</p>
+
+<p>"No; I've not."</p>
+
+<p>"And you'd better not, unless you want to walk out of this house with
+nothing but the rags on your back. Ain't I doing it all for you?
+Ain't I been sweating my life out these thirty years to make you a
+lady?" This was hard upon Polly, as she was not yet one-and-twenty.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't want to be a lady; no more than I am just by myself, like.
+If I can't be a lady without being made one, I won't be a lady at
+all."</p>
+
+<p>"You be blowed."</p>
+
+<p>"There are different kinds of ladies, father. I want to be such a one
+as neither you nor mother shall ever have cause to say I didn't
+behave myself."</p>
+
+<p>"You'd talk the figures off a milestone," said Mr. Neefit, as he
+returned to his arm-chair, to his gin-and-water, to his growlings,
+and before long to his slumbers. Throughout the whole evening he was
+very unpleasant in the bosom of his family,&mdash;which consisted on this
+occasion of his wife only, as Polly took the opportunity of going out
+to drink tea with a young lady friend. Neefit, when he heard this,
+suggested that Ontario was drinking tea at the same house, and would
+have pursued his daughter but for mingled protestations and menaces
+which his wife used for preventing such a violation of parental
+authority. "Moggs don't know from Adam where she is; and you never
+knowed her do anything of that kind. And you'll go about with your
+mad schemes and jealousies till you about ruin the poor girl; that's
+what you will. I won't have it. If you go, I'll go too, and I'll
+shame you. No; you shan't have your hat. Of course she'll be off some
+day, if you make the place that wretched that she can't live in it. I
+know I would,&mdash;with the fust man as'd ask me." By these objurgations,
+by a pertinacious refusal as to his hat, and a little yielding in the
+matter of gin-and-water, Mr. Neefit was at length persuaded to remain
+at home.</p>
+
+<p>On the following morning he said nothing before he left home, but as
+soon as he had opened his letters and spoken a few sharp things to
+the two men in Conduit Street, he went off to Mr. Moggs senior. Of
+the interview between Mr. Neefit and Mr. Moggs senior sufficient has
+already been told. Then it was, after his return to his own shop,
+that he so behaved as to drive the German artist into downright
+mutiny and unlimited beer. Through the whole afternoon he snarled at
+Waddle; but Waddle sat silent, bending over the ledger. One question
+Waddle did answer.</p>
+
+<p>"Where's that pig-headed German gone?" asked Mr. Neefit for the tenth
+time.</p>
+
+<p>"I believe he's cutting his throat about this time," said Mr. Waddle.</p>
+
+<p>"He may wait till I come and sew it up," said the breeches-maker.</p>
+
+<p>All this time Mr. Neefit was very unhappy. He knew, as well as did
+Mr. Waddle or Polly, that he was misbehaving himself. He was by no
+means deficient in ideas of duty to his wife, to his daughter, and to
+his dependents. Polly was the apple of his eye; his one jewel;&mdash;in
+his estimation the best girl that ever lived. He admired her in all
+her moods, even though she would sometimes oppose his wishes with
+invincible obstinacy. He knew in his heart that were she to marry
+Ontario Moggs he would forgive her on the day of her marriage. He
+could not keep himself from forgiving her though she were to marry a
+chimney-sweep. But, as he thought, a great wrong was being done him.
+He could not bring himself to believe that Polly would not marry the
+young Squire, if the young Squire would only be true to his
+undertaking; and then he could not endure that the young Squire
+should escape from him, after having been, as it were, saved from
+ruin by his money, without paying for the accommodation in some
+shape. He had some inkling of an idea that in punishing Ralph by
+making public the whole transaction, he would be injuring his
+daughter as much as he injured Ralph. But the inkling did not
+sufficiently establish itself in his mind to cause him to desist.
+Ralph Newton ought to be made to repeat his offer before all the
+world; even though he should only repeat it to be again refused. The
+whole of that evening he sat brooding over it, so that he might come
+to some great resolution.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c46" id="c46"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XLVI.</h3>
+<h4>MR. NEEFIT AGAIN.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>The last few days in March and the first week in April were devoted
+by Ralph the heir to a final visit to the Moonbeam. He had resolved
+to finish the hunting season at his old quarters, and then to remove
+his stud to Newton. The distinction with which he was welcomed by
+everybody at the Moonbeam must have been very gratifying to him.
+Though he had made no response whatever to Lieutenant Cox's
+proposition as to a visit to Newton, that gentleman received him as a
+hero. Captain Fooks also had escaped from his regiment with the sole
+object of spending these last days with his dear old friend. Fred
+Pepper too was very polite, though it was not customary with Mr.
+Pepper to display friendship so enthusiastic as that which warmed the
+bosoms of the two military gentlemen. As to Mr. Horsball, one might
+have thought from his manner that he hoped to engage his customer to
+remain at the Moonbeam for the rest of his life. But it was not so.
+It was in Mr. Horsball's nature to be civil to a rich hunting country
+gentleman; and it was the fact also that Ralph had ever been popular
+with the world of the Moonbeam,&mdash;even at times when the spasmodic,
+and at length dilatory, mode of his payment must have become matter
+for thought to the master of the establishment. There was no doubt
+about the payments now, and Ralph's popularity was increased
+fourfold. Mrs. Horsball got out from some secluded nook a special
+bottle of orange-brandy in his favour,&mdash;which Lieutenant Cox would
+have consumed on the day of its opening, had not Mrs. Horsball with
+considerable acrimony declined to supply his orders. The sister with
+ringlets smiled and smirked whenever the young Squire went near the
+bar. The sister in ringlets was given to flirtations of this kind,
+would listen with sweetest complacency to compliments on her beauty,
+and would return them with interest. But she never encouraged this
+sort of intimacy with gentlemen who did not pay their bills, or with
+those whose dealings with the house were not of a profitable nature.
+The man who expected that Miss Horsball would smile upon him because
+he ordered a glass of sherry and bitters or half-a-pint of pale ale
+was very much mistaken; but the softness of her smiles for those who
+consumed the Moonbeam champagne was unbounded. Love and commerce with
+her ran together, and regulated each other in a manner that was
+exceedingly advantageous to her brother. If I were about to open such
+a house as the Moonbeam the first thing I should look for would be a
+discreet, pleasant-visaged lady to assist me in the bar department,
+not much under forty, with ringlets, having no particular leaning
+towards matrimony, who knew how to whisper little speeches while she
+made a bottle of cherry-brandy serve five-and-twenty turns at the
+least. She should be honest, patient, graceful, capable of great
+labour, grasping,&mdash;with that wonderful capability of being greedy for
+the benefit of another which belongs to women,&mdash;willing to accept
+plentiful meals and a power of saving &pound;20 a year as sufficient
+remuneration for all hardships, with no more susceptibility than a
+milestone, and as indifferent to delicacy in language as a bargee.
+There are such women, and very valuable women they are in that trade.
+Such a one was Miss Horsball, and in these days the sweetest of her
+smiles were bestowed upon the young Squire.</p>
+
+<p>Ralph Newton certainly liked it, though he assumed an air of laughing
+at it all. "One would think that old Hossy thought that I am going to
+go on with this kind of thing," he said one morning to Mr. Pepper as
+the two of them were standing about near the stable doors with pipes
+in their mouths. Old Hossy was the affectionate nickname by which Mr.
+Horsball was known among the hunting men of the B. B. Mr. Pepper and
+Ralph had already breakfasted, and were dressed for hunting except
+that they had not yet put on their scarlet coats. The meet was within
+three miles of their head-quarters; the captain and the lieutenant
+were taking advantage of the occasion by prolonged slumbers; and
+Ralph had passed the morning in discussing hunting matters with Mr.
+Pepper.</p>
+
+<p>"He don't think that," said Mr. Pepper, taking a very convenient
+little implement out of his pocket, contrived for purposes of
+pipe-smoking accommodation. He stopped down his tobacco, and drew the
+smoke, and seemed by his manner to be giving his undivided attention
+to his pipe. But that was Mr. Pepper's manner. He was short in
+speech, but always spoke with a meaning.</p>
+
+<p>"Of course he doesn't really," said Ralph. "I don't suppose I shall
+ever see the old house again after next week. You see when a man has
+a place of one's own, if there be hunting there, one is bound to take
+it; if there isn't, one can go elsewhere and pick and choose."</p>
+
+<p>"Just so," said Mr. Pepper.</p>
+
+<p>"I like this kind of thing amazingly, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"It has its advantages."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh dear, yes. There is no trouble, you know. Everything done for
+you. No servants to look after,&mdash;except just the fellow who brings
+you your breeches and rides your second horse." Mr. Pepper never had
+a second horse, or a man of his own to bring him his breeches, but
+the allusion did not on that account vex him. "And then you can do
+what you like a great deal more than you can in a house of your own."</p>
+
+<p>"I should say so," remarked Mr. Pepper.</p>
+
+<p>"I tell you what it is, Fred," continued Ralph, becoming very
+confidential. "I don't mind telling you, because you are a man who
+understands things. There isn't such a great pull after all in having
+a property of your own."</p>
+
+<p>"I shouldn't mind trying it,&mdash;just for a year or so," said Mr.
+Pepper.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose not," said Ralph, chuckling in his triumph. "And yet there
+isn't so much in it. What does it amount to when it's all told? You
+keep horses for other fellows to ride, you buy wine for other fellows
+to drink, you build a house for other fellows to live in. You've a
+deal of business to do, and if you don't mind it you go very soon to
+the dogs. You have to work like a slave, and everybody gets a pull at
+you. The chances are you never have any ready money, and become as
+stingy as an old file. You have to get married because of the family,
+and the place, and all that kind of thing. Then you have to give
+dinners to every old fogy, male and female, within twenty miles of
+you, and before you know where you are you become an old fogy
+yourself. That's about what it is."</p>
+
+<p>"You ought to know," said Mr. Pepper.</p>
+
+<p>"I've been expecting it all my life,&mdash;of course. It was what I was
+born to, and everybody has been telling me what a lucky fellow I am
+since I can remember. Now I've got it, and I don't find it comes to
+so very much. I shall always look back upon the dear old Moonbeam,
+and the B. B., and Hossy's wonderful port wine with regret. It hasn't
+been very swell, you know, but it's been uncommonly cosy. Don't you
+think so?"</p>
+
+<p>"You see I wasn't born to anything better," said Mr. Pepper.</p>
+
+<p>Just at this moment Cox and Fooks came out of the house. They had not
+as yet breakfasted, but had thought that a mouthful of air in the
+stable-yard might enable them to get through their toast and red
+herrings with an amount of appetite which had not as yet been
+vouchsafed to them. Second and third editions of that wonderful port
+had been produced on the previous evening, and the two warriors had
+played their parts with it manfully. Fooks was bearing up bravely as
+he made his way across the yard; but Cox looked as though his friends
+ought to see to his making that journey to Australia very soon if
+they intended him to make it at all. "I'm blessed if you fellows
+haven't been and breakfasted," said Captain Fooks.</p>
+
+<p>"That's about it," said the Squire.</p>
+
+<p>"You must be uncommon fond of getting up early."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you know who gets the worm?" asked Mr. Pepper.</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, bother that," said Cox.</p>
+
+<p>"There's nothing I hate so much as being told about that nasty worm,"
+said Captain Fooks. "I don't want a worm."</p>
+
+<p>"But the early birds do," said Mr. Pepper.</p>
+
+<p>Captain Fooks was rather given to be cross of mornings. "I think, you
+know, that when fellows say over night they'll breakfast together, it
+isn't just the sort of thing for one or two to have all the things
+brought up at any unconscionable hour they please. Eh, Cox?"</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sure I don't know," said Cox. "I shall just have another go of
+soda and brandy with a devilled biscuit. That's all I want."</p>
+
+<p>"Fooks had better go to bed again, and see if he can't get out the
+other side," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"Chaff doesn't mean anything," said Captain Fooks.</p>
+
+<p>"That's as you take it," said Mr. Pepper.</p>
+
+<p>"I shall take it just as I please," said Captain Fooks.</p>
+
+<p>Just at this moment Mr. Horsball came up to them, touching his hat
+cheerily in sign of the commencement of the day. "You'll ride Mr.
+Pepper's little 'orse, I suppose, sir?" he said, addressing himself
+to the young Squire.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly,&mdash;I told Larking I would."</p>
+
+<p>"Exactly, Mr. Newton. And Banker might as well go out as second."</p>
+
+<p>"I said Brewer. Banker was out on Friday."</p>
+
+<p>"That won't be no odds, Mr. Newton. The fact is. Brewer's legs is a
+little puffed."</p>
+
+<p>"All right," said the Squire.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, old Hossy," said Lieutenant Cox, summing up all his energy in
+an attempt at matutinal joviality as he slapped the landlord on the
+back, "how are things going with you?"</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Horsball knew his customers, and did not like being slapped on
+the back with more than ordinary vigour by such a customer as
+Lieutenant Cox. "Pretty well, I thank you, Mr. Cox," said he. "I
+didn't take too much last night, and I eat my breakfast 'earty this
+morning."</p>
+
+<p>"There is one for you, young man," said Captain Fooks. Whereupon the
+Squire laughed heartily. Mr. Horsball went on nodding his head,
+intending to signify his opinion that he had done his work
+thoroughly; Mr. Pepper, standing on one foot with the other raised on
+a horse-block, looked on without moving a muscle of his face. The
+lieutenant was disgusted, but was too weak in his inner man to be
+capable of instant raillery;&mdash;when, on a sudden, the whole aspect of
+things was changed by the appearance of Mr. Neefit in the yard.</p>
+
+<p>"D&mdash;&mdash;tion!" exclaimed our
+friend Ralph. The apparition had been so
+sudden that the Squire was unable to restrain himself. Mr. Neefit, as
+the reader will perhaps remember, had been at the Moonbeam before. He
+had written letters which had been answered, and then letters,&mdash;many
+letters,&mdash;to which no reply had been given. In respect of the Neefit
+arrangements Ralph Newton felt himself to be peculiarly ill-used by
+persecutions such as these, because he had honestly done his best to
+make Polly his wife. No doubt he acknowledged that fortune had
+favoured him almost miraculously, in first saving him from so
+injurious a marriage by the action of the young lady, and then at
+once bestowing upon him his estate. But the escape was the doing of
+fortune and Polly Neefit combined, and had not come of any intrigue
+on his own part. He was in a position,&mdash;so he thought,&mdash;absolutely to
+repudiate Neefit, and to throw himself upon facts for his
+protection;&mdash;but then it was undoubtedly the case that for a year or
+two Mr. Neefit could make his life a burden to him. He would have
+bought off Neefit at a considerable price, had Neefit been
+purchaseable. But Neefit was not in this matter greedy for himself.
+He wanted to make his daughter a lady, and he thought that this was
+the readiest way to accomplish that object. The Squire, in his
+unmeasurable disgust, uttered the curse aloud; but then, remembering
+himself, walked up to the breeches-maker with his extended hand. He
+had borrowed the man's money. "What's in the wind now, Mr. Neefit?"
+he said.</p>
+
+<p>"What's in the wind, Captain? Oh, you know. When are you coming to
+see us at the cottage?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think my coming would do any good. I'm not in favour with
+the ladies there." Ralph was aware that all the men standing round
+him had heard the story, and that nothing was to be gained by an
+immediate attempt at concealment. It behoved him, above all things,
+to be upon his metal, to put a good face upon it, and to be at any
+rate equal to the breeches-maker in presence of mind and that kind of
+courage which he himself would have called "cheek."</p>
+
+<p>"My money was in favour with you, Captain, when you promised as how
+you would be on the square with me in regard to our Polly."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Neefit," said Ralph, speaking in a low voice, but still clearly,
+so that all around him could hear him, "your daughter and I can never
+be more to each other than we are at present. She has decided that.
+But I value her character and good name too highly to allow even you
+to injure them by such a discussion in a stableyard." And, having
+said this, he walked away into the house.</p>
+
+<p>"My Polly's character!" said the infuriated breeches-maker, turning
+round to the audience, and neglecting to follow his victim in his
+determination to vindicate his daughter. "If my girl's character
+don't stand higher nor his or any one's belonging to him I'll eat
+it!"</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Newton meant to speak in favour of the young lady, not against
+her," said Mr. Pepper.</p>
+
+<p>"Then why don't he come out on the square? Now, gents, I'll tell you
+just the whole of it. He came down to my little box, where I, and my
+missus, and my girl lives quiet and decent, to borrow money;&mdash;and he
+borrowed it. He won't say as that wasn't so."</p>
+
+<p>"And he's paid you the money back again," said Mr. Pepper.</p>
+
+<p>"He have;&mdash;but just you listen. I know you, Mr. Pepper, and all about
+you; and do you listen. He have paid it back. But when he come there
+borrowing money, he saw my girl; and, says he,&mdash;'I've got to sell
+that 'eritance of mine for just what it 'll fetch.' 'That's bad,
+Captain,' says I. 'It is bad,' says he. Then says he again, 'Neefit,
+that girl of yours there is the sweetest girl as ever I put my eyes
+on.' And so she is,&mdash;as sweet as a rose, and as honest as the sun,
+and as good as gold. I says it as oughtn't; but she is. 'It's a pity,
+Neefit,' says he,' about the 'eritance; ain't it?' 'Captain,' says
+I,&mdash;I used to call him Captain 'cause he come down quite familiar
+like to eat his bit of salmon and drink his glass of wine. Laws,&mdash;he
+was glad enough to come then, mighty grand as he is now."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think he's grand at all," said Mr. Horsball.</p>
+
+<p>"Well;&mdash;do you just listen, gents. 'Captain,' says I, 'that 'eritance
+of yourn mustn't be sold no how. I says so. What's the figure as is
+wanted?' Well; then he went on to say as how Polly was the sweetest
+girl he ever see;&mdash;and so we came to an understanding. He was to have
+what money he wanted at once, and then &pound;20,000 down when he married
+Polly. He did have a thousand. And, now,&mdash;see what his little game
+is."</p>
+
+<p>"But the young lady wouldn't have anything to say to him," suggested
+Captain Fooks, who, even for the sake of his breakfast, could not
+omit to hear the last of so interesting a conversation.</p>
+
+<p>"Laws, Captain Fooks, to hear the likes of that from you, who is an
+officer and a gentleman by Act of Parliament! When you have anything
+sweet to say to a young woman, does she always jump down your throat
+the first go off?"</p>
+
+<p>"If she don't come at the second time of asking I always go
+elsewhere," said Captain Fooks.</p>
+
+<p>"Then it's my opinion you have a deal of travelling to do," said Mr.
+Neefit, "and don't get much at the end of it. It's because he's come
+in for his 'eritance, which he never would have had only for me, that
+he's demeaning himself this fashion. It ain't acting the gentleman;
+it ain't the thing; it's off the square. Only for me and my money
+there wouldn't be an acre his this blessed
+minute;&mdash;<span class="nowrap">d&mdash;&mdash;d</span>
+if there would! I saved it for him, by my ready
+money,&mdash;just that I might see
+my Polly put into a station as she'd make more genteel than she found
+it. That's what she would;&mdash;she has that manners, not to talk of her
+being as pretty a girl as there is from here to,&mdash;to anywheres. He
+made me a promise, and he shall keep it. I'll worry the heart out of
+him else. Pay me back my money! Who cares for the money? I can tell
+guineas with him now, I'll be bound. I'll put it all in the
+papers,&mdash;I will. There ain't a soul shan't know it. I'll put the
+story of it into the pockets of every pair of breeches as leaves my
+shop. I'll send it to every M. F. H. in the kingdom."</p>
+
+<p>"You'll about destroy your trade, old fellow," said Mr. Pepper.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't care for the trade, Mr. Pepper. Why have I worked like a
+'orse? It's only for my girl."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose she's not breaking her heart for him?" said Captain Fooks.</p>
+
+<p>"What she's a doing with her heart ain't no business of yours,
+Captain Fooks. I'm her father, and I know what I'm about. I'll make
+that young man's life a burden to him, if 'e ain't on the square with
+my girl. You see if I don't. Mr. 'Orsball, I want a 'orse to go a
+'unting on to-day. You lets 'em. Just tell your man to get me a
+'orse. I'll pay for him."</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't know you ever did anything in that way," said Mr. Horsball.</p>
+
+<p>"I may begin if I please, I suppose. If I can't go no other way, I'll
+go on a donkey, and I'll tell every one that's out. Oh, 'e don't know
+me yet,&mdash;don't that young gent."</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Neefit did not succeed in getting any animal out of Mr.
+Horsball's stables, nor did he make further attempt to carry his last
+threat into execution on that morning. Mr. Horsball now led the way
+into the house, while Mr. Pepper mounted his nag. Captain Fooks and
+Lieutenant Cox went in to their breakfast, and the unfortunate father
+followed them. It was now nearly eleven o'clock, and it was found
+that Ralph's horses had been taken round to the other door, and that
+he had already started. He said very little to any one during the
+day, though he was somewhat comforted by information conveyed to him
+by Mr. Horsball in the course of the afternoon that Mr. Neefit had
+returned to London. "You send your lawyer to him, Squire," said Mr.
+Horsball. "Lawyers cost a deal of money, but they do make things
+straight." This suggestion had also been made to him by his brother
+Gregory.</p>
+
+<p>On the following day Ralph went up to London, and explained all the
+circumstances of the case to Mr. Carey. Mr. Carey undertook to do his
+best to straighten this very crooked episode in his client's life.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c47" id="c47"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XLVII.</h3>
+<h4>THE WAY WHICH SHOWS THAT THEY MEAN IT.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>If this kind of thing were to go on, life wouldn't be worth having.
+That was the feeling of Ralph, the squire of Newton, as he returned
+on that Saturday from London to the Moonbeam; and so far Mr. Neefit
+had been successful in carrying out his threat. Neefit had sworn that
+he would make the young man's life a burden to him, and the burden
+was already becoming unbearable. Mr. Carey had promised to do
+something. He would, at any rate, see the infatuated breeches-maker
+of Conduit Street. In the meantime he had suggested one remedy of
+which Ralph had thought before,&mdash;"If you were married to some one
+else he'd give it up," Mr. Carey had suggested. That no doubt was
+true.</p>
+
+<p>Ralph completed his sojourn at the Moonbeam, leaving that place at
+the end of the first week in April, took a run down to his own place,
+and then settled himself up to London for the season. His brother
+Gregory had at this time returned to the parsonage at Newton; but
+there was an understanding that he was to come up to London and be
+his brother's guest for the first fortnight in May. Ralph the heir
+had taken larger rooms, and had a spare chamber. When Ralph had given
+this invitation, he had expressed his determination of devoting his
+spring in town to an assiduous courtship of Mary Bonner. At the
+moment in which he made that assertion down at Newton, the nuisance
+of the Neefit affair was less intolerable to him than it had since
+become. He had spoken cheerily of his future prospects, declaring
+himself to be violently in love with Mary, though he declared at the
+same time that he had no idea of breaking his heart for any young
+woman. That last assertion was probably true.</p>
+
+<p>As for living in the great house at the Priory all alone, that he had
+declared to be impossible. Of course he would be at home for the
+hunting next winter; but he doubted whether he should be there much
+before that time, unless a certain coming event should make it
+necessary for him to go down and look after things. He thought it
+probable that he should take a run abroad in July; perhaps go to
+Norway for the fishing in June. He was already making arrangements
+with two other men for a move in August. He might be at home for
+partridge shooting about the middle of September, but he shouldn't
+"go into residence" at Newton before that. Thus he had spoken of it
+in describing his plans to his brother, putting great stress on his
+intention to devote the spring months to the lovely Mary. Gregory had
+seen nothing wrong in all this. Ralph was now a rich man, and was
+entitled to amuse himself. Gregory would have wished that his brother
+would at once make himself happy among his own tenants and
+dependents, but that, no doubt, would come soon. Ralph did spend two
+nights at Newton after the scene with Neefit in the Moonbeam
+yard,&mdash;just that he might see his nags safe in their new
+quarters,&mdash;and then went up to London. He was hardly yet strong in
+heart, because such a trouble as that which vexed him in regard to
+Polly does almost make a man's life a burden. Ralph was gifted with
+much aptitude for throwing his troubles behind, but he hardly was yet
+able to rid himself of this special trouble. That horrid tradesman
+was telling his story to everybody. Sir Thomas Underwood knew the
+story; and so, he thought, did Mary Bonner. Mary Bonner, in truth,
+did not know it; but she had thrown in Ralph's teeth, as an
+accusation against him, that he owed himself and his affections to
+another girl; and Ralph, utterly forgetful of Clarissa and that now
+long-distant scene on the lawn, had believed, and still did believe,
+that Mary had referred to Polly Neefit. On the 10th of April he
+established himself at his new rooms in Spring Gardens, and was
+careful in seeing that there was a comfortable little bed-room for
+his brother Greg. His uncle had now been dead just six months, but he
+felt as though he had been the owner of the Newton estate for years.
+If Mr. Carey could only settle for him that trouble with Mr. Neefit,
+how happy his life would be to him. He was very much in love with
+Mary Bonner, but his trouble with Mr. Neefit was of almost more
+importance to him than his love for Mary Bonner.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime the girls were living, as usual, at Popham Villa, and
+Sir Thomas was living, as usual, in Southampton Buildings. He and his
+colleague had been unseated, but it had already been decided by the
+House of Commons that no new writ should be at once issued, and that
+there should be a commission appointed to make extended inquiry at
+Percycross in reference to the contemplated disfranchisement of the
+borough. There could be no possible connexion between this inquiry
+and the expediency of Sir Thomas living at home; but, after some
+fashion, he reconciled further delay to his conscience by the fact
+that the Percycross election was not even yet quite settled. No doubt
+it would be necessary that he should again go to Percycross during
+the sitting of the Commission.</p>
+
+<p>The reader will remember the interview between Gregory Newton and
+Clarissa, in which poor Clary had declared with so much emphasis her
+certainty that his brother's suit to Mary must be fruitless. This she
+had said, with artless energy, in no degree on her own behalf. She
+was hopeless now in that direction, and had at last taught herself to
+feel that the man was unworthy. The lesson had reached her, though
+she herself was ignorant not only of the manner of the teaching, but
+of the very fact that she had been taught. She had pleaded, more than
+once, that men did such things, and were yet held in favour and
+forgiven, let their iniquities have been what they might. She had
+hoped to move others by the doctrine; but gradually it had ceased to
+be operative, even on herself. She could not tell how it was that her
+passion faded and died away. It can hardly be said that it died away;
+but it became to herself grievous and a cause of soreness, instead of
+a joy and a triumph. She no longer said, even to herself, that he was
+to be excused. He had come there, and had made a mere plaything of
+her,&mdash;wilfully. There was no earnestness in him, no manliness, and
+hardly common honesty. A conviction that it was so had crept into her
+poor wounded heart, in spite of those repeated assertions which she
+had made to Patience as to the persistency of her own affection.
+First dismay and then wrath had come upon her when the man who ought
+to be her lover came to the very house in which she was living, and
+there offered his hand to another girl, almost in her very presence.
+Had the sin been committed elsewhere, and with any rival other than
+her own cousin, she might have still clung to that doctrine of
+forgiveness, because the sinner was a man, and because it is the way
+of the world to forgive men. But the insult had been too close for
+pardon; and now her wrath was slowly changing itself to contempt. Had
+Mary accepted the man's offer this phase of feeling would not have
+occurred. Clarissa would have hated the woman, but still might have
+loved the man. But Mary had treated him as a creature absolutely
+beneath her notice, had evidently despised him, and Mary's scorn
+communicated itself to Clarissa. The fact that Ralph was now Newton
+of Newton, absolutely in harbour after so many dangers of shipwreck,
+assisted her in this. "I would have been true to him, though he
+hadn't had a penny," she said to herself: "I would never have given
+him up though all the world had been against him." Debts,
+difficulties, an inheritance squandered, idle habits, even
+profligacy, should not have torn him from her heart, had he possessed
+the one virtue of meaning what he said when he told her that he loved
+her. She remembered the noble triumph she had felt when she declared
+to Mary that that other Ralph, who was to have been Mary's lover, was
+welcome to the fine property. Her sole ambition had been to be loved
+by this man; but the man had been incapable of loving her. She
+herself was pretty, and soft, bright on occasions, and graceful. She
+knew so much of herself; and she knew, also, that Mary was far
+prettier than herself, and more clever. This young man to whom she
+had devoted herself possessed no power of love for an individual,&mdash;no
+capability of so joining himself to another human being as to feel,
+that in spite of any superiority visible to the outside world, that
+one should be esteemed by him superior to all others,&mdash;because of his
+love. The young man had liked prettiness and softness and grace and
+feminine nicenesses; and seeing one who was prettier and more
+graceful,&mdash;all which poor Clary allowed, though she was not so sure
+about the softness and niceness,&mdash;had changed his aim without an
+effort! Ah, how different was poor Gregory!</p>
+
+<p>She thought much of Gregory, reminding herself that as was her sorrow
+in regard to her own crushed hopes, so were his. His hopes, too, had
+been crushed, because she had been so obdurate to him. But she had
+never been false. She had never whispered a word of love to Gregory.
+It might be that his heart was as sore, but he had not been injured
+as she had been injured. She despised the owner of Newton Priory. She
+would scorn him should he come again to her and throw himself at her
+feet. But Gregory could not despise her. She had, indeed, preferred
+the bad to the good. There had been lack of judgment. But there had
+been on her side no lack of truth. Yes;&mdash;she had been wrong in her
+choice. Her judgment had been bad. And yet how glorious he had looked
+as he lay upon the lawn, hot from his rowing, all unbraced, brown and
+bold and joyous as a young god, as he bade her go and fetch him drink
+to slake his thirst! How proud, then, she had been to be ordered by
+him, as though their mutual intimacies and confidences and loves were
+sufficient, when they too were alone together, to justify a reversal
+of those social rules by which the man is ordered to wait upon the
+woman. There is nothing in the first flush of acknowledged love that
+is sweeter to the woman than this. All the men around her are her
+servants; but in regard to this man she may have the inexpressibly
+greater pleasure of serving him herself. Clarissa had now thought
+much of these things, and had endeavoured to define to herself what
+had been those gifts belonging to Ralph which had won from her her
+heart. He was not, in truth, handsomer than his brother Gregory, was
+certainly less clever, was selfish in small things from habit,
+whereas Gregory had no thought for his own comfort. It had all come
+from this,&mdash;that a black coat and a grave manner of life and serious
+pursuits had been less alluring to her than idleness and pleasure. It
+had suited her that her young god should be joyous, unbraced, brown,
+bold, and thirsty. She did not know Pope's famous line, but it all
+lay in that. She was innocent, pure, unknowing in the ways of vice,
+simple in her tastes, conscientious in her duties, and yet she was a
+rake at heart,&mdash;till at last sorrow and disappointment taught her
+that it is not enough that a man should lie loose upon the grass with
+graceful negligence and call for soda-water with a pleasant voice.
+Gregory wore black clothes, was sombre, and was a parson;&mdash;but, oh,
+what a thing it is that a man should be true at heart!</p>
+
+<p>She said nothing of her changing feelings to Mary, or even to
+Patience. The household at this time was not very gay or joyous. Sir
+Thomas, after infinite vexation, had lost the seat of which they had
+all been proud. Mary Bonner's condition was not felt to be
+deplorable, as was that of poor Clary, and she certainly did not
+carry herself as a lovelorn maiden. Of Mary Bonner it may be said
+that no disappointment of that kind would affect her outward manner;
+nor would she in any strait of love be willing to make a confidence
+or to discuss her feelings. Whatever care of that kind might be
+present to her would be lightened, if not made altogether as nothing,
+by her conviction that such loads should be carried in silence, and
+without any visible sign to the world that the muscles are overtaxed.
+But it was known that the banished Ralph had, in the moment of his
+expected prosperity, declared his purpose of giving all that he had
+to give to this beauty, and it was believed that she would have
+accepted the gift. It had, therefore, come to pass that the name of
+neither Ralph could be mentioned at the cottage, and that life among
+these maidens was sober, sedate, and melancholy. At last there came a
+note from Sir Thomas to Patience. "I shall be home to dinner
+to-morrow. I found the enclosed from R. N. this morning. I suppose he
+must come. Affectionately, T. U." The enclosed note was as
+follows:&mdash;"Dear Sir Thomas, I called this morning, but old Stemm was
+as hard as granite. If you do not object I will run down to the villa
+to-morrow. If you are at home I will stay and dine. Yours ever, Ralph
+Newton."</p>
+
+<p>The mind of Sir Thomas when he received this had been affected
+exactly as his words described. He had supposed that Ralph must come.
+He had learned to hold his late ward in low esteem. The man was now
+beyond all likelihood of want, and sailing with propitious winds; but
+Sir Thomas, had he been able to consult his own inclinations, would
+have had no more to do with him. And yet the young Squire had not
+done anything which, as Sir Thomas thought, would justify him in
+closing his doors against one to whom he had been bound in a manner
+peculiarly intimate. However, if his niece should choose at last to
+accept Ralph, the match would be very brilliant; and the uncle
+thought that it was not his duty to interfere between her and so
+great an advantage. Sir Thomas, in truth, did not as yet understand
+Mary Bonner,&mdash;knew very little of her character; but he did know that
+it was incumbent on him to give her some opportunity of taking her
+beauty to market. He wrote a line to Ralph, saying that he himself
+would dine at home on the day indicated.</p>
+
+<p>"Impossible!" said Clary, when she was first told.</p>
+
+<p>"You may be sure he's coming," said Patience.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I shall go and spend the day with Mrs. Brownlow. I cannot stand
+it."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear, he'll know why you are away."</p>
+
+<p>"Let him know," said Clarissa. And she did as she said she would.
+When Sir Thomas came home at about four o'clock on the Thursday which
+Ralph had fixed,&mdash;Thursday, the fourteenth of April,&mdash;he found that
+Clarissa had flown. The fly was to be sent for her at ten, and it was
+calculated that by the time she returned, Ralph would certainly have
+taken his leave. Sir Thomas expressed neither anger nor satisfaction
+at this arrangement,&mdash;"Oh; she has gone to Mrs. Brownlow's, has she?
+Very well. I don't suppose it will make much difference to Ralph."
+"None in the least," said Patience, severely. "Nothing of that kind
+will make any difference to him." But at that time Ralph had been
+above an hour in the house.</p>
+
+<p>We will now return to Ralph and his adventures. He had come up to
+London with the express object of pressing his suit upon Mary Bonner;
+but during his first day or two in London had busied himself rather
+with the affairs of his other love. He had been with Mr. Carey, and
+Mr. Carey had been with Mr. Neefit. "He is the maddest old man that I
+ever saw," said Mr. Carey. "When I suggested to him that you were
+willing to make any reasonable arrangement,&mdash;meaning a thousand
+pounds, or something of that kind,&mdash;I couldn't get him to understand
+me at all."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think he wants money," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"'Let him come down and eat a bit of dinner at the cottage,' said he,
+'and we'll make it all square.' Then I offered him a thousand pounds
+down."</p>
+
+<p>"What did he say?"</p>
+
+<p>"Called to a fellow he had there with a knife in his hand, cutting
+leather, to turn me out of the shop. And the man would have done it,
+too, if I hadn't gone."</p>
+
+<p>This was not promising, but on the following morning Ralph received a
+letter which put him into better heart. The letter was from Polly
+herself, and was written as
+<span class="nowrap">follows:&mdash;</span><br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="jright">Alexandra Cottage, Hendon,<br />
+April 10th, 186&mdash;.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">My dear Sir</span>,</p>
+
+<p>Father has been going on with all that nonsense of his,
+and I think it most straightforward to write a letter to
+you at once, so that things may be understood and
+finished. Father has no right to be angry with you, anyway
+not about me. He says somebody has come and offered him
+money. I wish they hadn't, but perhaps you didn't send
+them. There's no good in father talking about you and me.
+Of course it was a great honour, and all that, but I'm not
+at all sure that anybody should try to get above
+themselves, not in the way of marrying. And the heart is
+everything. So I've told father. If ever I bestow mine, I
+think it will be to somebody in a way of business,&mdash;just
+like father. So I thought I would just write to say that
+there couldn't be anything between you and me, were it
+ever so; only that I was very much honoured by your coming
+down to Margate. I write this to you, because a very
+particular friend advises me, and I don't mind telling you
+at once,&mdash;it is Mr. Moggs. And I shall show it to father.
+That is, I have written it twice, and shall keep the
+other. It's a pity father should go on so, but he means it
+for the best. And as to anything in the way of money,&mdash;oh,
+Mr. Newton, he's a deal too proud for that.</p>
+
+<p class="ind10">Yours truly,</p>
+
+<p class="ind12"><span class="smallcaps">Maryanne
+Neefit</span>.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>As to which letter the little baggage was not altogether true in one
+respect. She did not keep a copy of the whole letter, but left out of
+that which she showed to her father the very material passage in
+which she referred to the advice of her particular friend, Mr. Moggs.
+Ralph, when he received this letter, felt really grateful to Polly,
+and wrote to her a pretty note, in which he acknowledged her
+kindness, and expressed his hope that she might always be as happy as
+she deserved to be. Then it was that he made up his mind to go down
+at once to Popham Villa, thinking that the Neefit nuisance was
+sufficiently abated to enable him to devote his time to a more
+pleasurable pursuit.</p>
+
+<p>He reached the villa between three and four, and learned from the
+gardener's wife at the lodge that Sir Thomas had not as yet returned.
+He did not learn that Clarissa was away, and was not aware of that
+fact till they all sat down to dinner at seven o'clock. Much had been
+done and much endured before that time came. He sauntered slowly up
+the road, and looked about the grounds, hoping to find the young
+ladies there, as he had so often done during his summer visits; but
+there was no one to be seen, and he was obliged to knock at the door.
+He was shown into the drawing-room, and in a few minutes Patience
+came to him. There had been no arrangement between her and Mary as to
+the manner in which he should be received. Mary on a previous
+occasion had given him an answer, and really did believe that that
+would be sufficient. He was, according to her thinking, a light,
+inconstant man, who would hardly give himself the labour necessary
+for perseverance in any suit. Patience at once began to ask him after
+his brother and the doings at the Priory. He had been so intimate at
+the house, and so dear to them all, that in spite of the
+disapprobation with which he was now regarded by them, it was
+impossible that there should not be some outer kindness. "Ah," said
+he, "I do so look forward to the time when you will all be down
+there. I have been so often welcome at your house, that it will be my
+greatest pleasure to make you welcome there."</p>
+
+<p>"We go so little from home," said Patience.</p>
+
+<p>"But I am sure you will come to me. I know you would like to see
+Greg's parsonage and Greg's church."</p>
+
+<p>"I should indeed."</p>
+
+<p>"It is the prettiest church, I think, in England, and the park is
+very nice. The whole house wants a deal of doing to, but I shall set
+about it some day. I don't know a pleasanter neighbourhood anywhere."
+It would have been so natural that Patience should tell him that he
+wanted a mistress for such a home; but she could not say the words.
+She could not find the proper words, and soon left him, muttering
+something as to directions for her father's room.</p>
+
+<p>He had been alone for twenty minutes when Mary came into the room.
+She knew that Patience was not there; and had retreated up-stairs.
+But there seemed to be a cowardice in such retreating, which
+displeased herself. She, at any rate, had no cause to be afraid of
+Mr. Newton. So she collected her thoughts, and arranged her gait, and
+went down, and addressed him with assumed indifference,&mdash;as though
+there had never been anything between them beyond simple
+acquaintance. "Uncle Thomas will be here soon, I suppose," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope he will give me half-an-hour first," Ralph answered. There
+was an ease and grace always present in his intercourse with women,
+and a power of saying that which he desired to say,&mdash;which perhaps
+arose from the slightness of his purposes and the want of reality in
+his character.</p>
+
+<p>"We see so little of him that we hardly know his hours," said Mary.
+"Uncle Thomas is a sad truant from home."</p>
+
+<p>"He always was, and I declare I think that Patience and Clary have
+been the better for it. They have learned things of which they would
+have known nothing had he been with them every morning and evening. I
+don't know any girls who are so sweet as they are. You know they have
+been like sisters to me."</p>
+
+<p>"So I have been told."</p>
+
+<p>"And when you came, it would have been like another sister coming;
+<span class="nowrap">only&mdash;"</span></p>
+
+<p>"Only what?" said Mary, assuming purposely a savage look.</p>
+
+<p>"That something else intervened."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course it must be very different,&mdash;and it should be different.
+You have only known me a few months."</p>
+
+<p>"I have known you enough to wish to know you more closely than
+anybody else for the rest of my life."</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Newton, I thought you had understood me before."</p>
+
+<p>"So I did." This he said with an assumed tone of lachrymose
+complaint. "I did understand you,&mdash;thoroughly. I understood that I
+was rebuked, and rejected, and disdained. But a man, if he is in
+earnest, does not give over on that account. Indeed, there are things
+which he can't give over. You may tell a man that he shouldn't drink,
+or shouldn't gamble; but telling will do no good. When he has once
+begun, he'll go on with it."</p>
+
+<p>"What does that mean?"</p>
+
+<p>"That love is as strong a passion, at any rate, as drinking or
+gambling. You did tell me, and sent me away, and rebuked me because
+of that tradesman's daughter."</p>
+
+<p>"What tradesman's daughter?" asked Mary. "I have spoken of no
+tradesman's daughter. I gave you ample reason why you should not
+address yourself to me."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course there are ample reasons," said Ralph, looking into his
+hat, which he had taken from the table. "The one,&mdash;most ample of all,
+is that you do not care for me."</p>
+
+<p>"I do not," said Mary resolutely.</p>
+
+<p>"Exactly;&mdash;but that is a sort of reason which a man will do his best
+to conquer. Do not misunderstand me. I am not such a fool as to think
+that I can prevail in a day. I am not vain enough to think that I can
+prevail at all. But I can persist."</p>
+
+<p>"It will not be of the slightest use; indeed, it cannot be allowed. I
+will not allow it. My uncle will not allow it."</p>
+
+<p>"When you told me that I was untrue to another person&mdash;; I think that
+was your phrase."</p>
+
+<p>"Very likely."</p>
+
+<p>"I supposed you had heard that stupid story which had got round to my
+uncle,&mdash;about a Mr. Neefit's daughter."</p>
+
+<p>"I had heard no stupid story."</p>
+
+<p>"What then did you mean?"</p>
+
+<p>Mary paused a moment, thinking whether it might still be possible
+that a good turn might be done for her cousin. That Clarissa had
+loved this man with her whole heart she had herself owned to Mary.
+That the man had professed his love for Clary, Clary had also let her
+know. And Clary's love had endured even after the blow it had
+received from Ralph's offer to her cousin. All this that cousin knew;
+but she did not know how that love had now turned to simple soreness.
+"I have heard nothing of the man's daughter," said Mary.</p>
+
+<p>"Well then?"</p>
+
+<p>"But I do know that before I came here at all you had striven to gain
+the affections of my cousin."</p>
+
+<p>"Clarissa!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; Clarissa. Is it not so?" Then she paused, and Ralph remembered
+the scene on the lawn. In very truth it had never been forgotten.
+There had always been present with him when he thought of Mary Bonner
+a sort of remembrance of the hour in which he had played the fool
+with dear Clary. He had kissed her. Well; yes; and with some girls
+kisses mean so much,&mdash;as Polly Neefit had said to her true lover. But
+then with others they mean just nothing. "If you want to find a wife
+in this house you had better ask her. It is certainly useless that
+you should ask me."</p>
+
+<p>"Do you mean quite useless?" asked Ralph, beginning to be somewhat
+abashed.</p>
+
+<p>"Absolutely useless. Did I not tell you something else,&mdash;something
+that I would not have hinted to you, had it not been that I desired
+to prevent the possibility of a renewal of anything so vain? But you
+think nothing of that! All that can be changed with you at a moment,
+if other things suit."</p>
+
+<p>"That is meant to be severe, Miss Bonner, and I have not deserved it
+from you. What has brought me to you but that I admire you above all
+others?"</p>
+
+<p>"You shouldn't admire me above others. Is a man to change as he likes
+because he sees a girl whose hair pleases him for the moment better
+than does hers to whom he has sworn to be true?" Ralph did not forget
+at this moment to whisper to himself for his own consolation, that he
+had never sworn to be true to Clarissa. And, indeed, he did feel,
+that though there had been a kiss, the scene on the lawn was being
+used unfairly to his prejudice. "I am afraid you are very fickle, Mr.
+Newton, and that your love is not worth much."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope we may both live till you learn that you have wronged me."</p>
+
+<p>"I hope so. If my opinion be worth anything with you, go back to her
+from whom you have allowed yourself to stray in your folly. To me you
+must not address yourself again. If you do, it will be an insult."
+Then she rose up, queenly in her beauty, and slowly left the room.</p>
+
+<p>There must be an end of that. Such was Ralph's feeling as she left
+the room, in spite of those protestations of constancy and
+persistence which he had made to himself. "A fellow has to go on with
+it, and be refused half a dozen times by one of those proud ones," he
+had said; "but when they do knuckle under, they go in harness better
+than the others." It was thus that he had thought of Mary Bonner, but
+he did not so think of her now. No, indeed. There was an end of that.
+"There is a sort of way of doing it, which shows that they mean it."
+Such was his inward speech; and he did believe that Miss Bonner meant
+it. "By Jove, yes; if words and looks ever can mean anything." But
+how about Clarissa? If it was so, as Mary Bonner had told him, would
+it be the proper kind of thing for him to go back to Clarissa? His
+heart, too,&mdash;for he had a heart,&mdash;was very soft. He had always been
+fond of Clarissa, and would not, for worlds, that she should be
+unhappy. How pretty she was, and how soft, and how loving! And how
+proudly happy she would be to be driven about the Newton grounds by
+him as their mistress. Then he remembered what Gregory had said to
+him, and how he had encouraged Gregory to persevere. If anything of
+that kind were to happen, Gregory must put up with it. It was clear
+that Clarissa couldn't marry Gregory if she were in love with him.
+But how would he look Sir Thomas in the face? As he thought of this
+he laughed. Sir Thomas, however, would be glad enough to give his
+daughter, not to the heir but to the owner of Newton. Who could be
+that fellow whom Mary Bonner preferred to him&mdash;with all Newton to
+back his suit? Perhaps Mary Bonner did not know the meaning of being
+the mistress of Newton Priory.</p>
+
+<p>After a while the servant came to show him to his chamber. Sir Thomas
+had come and had gone at once to his room. So he went up-stairs and
+dressed, expecting to see Clarissa when they all assembled before
+dinner. When he went down, Sir Thomas was there, and Mary, and
+Patience,&mdash;but not Clarissa. He had summoned back his courage and
+spoke jauntily to Sir Thomas. Then he turned to Patience and asked
+after her sister. "Clarissa is spending the day with Mrs. Brownlow,"
+said Patience, "and will not be home till quite late."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, how unfortunate!" exclaimed Ralph. Taking all his difficulties
+into consideration, we must admit that he did not do it badly.</p>
+
+<p>After dinner Sir Thomas sat longer over his wine than is at present
+usual, believing, perhaps, that the young ladies would not want to
+see much more of Ralph on the present occasion. The conversation was
+almost entirely devoted to the affairs of the late election, as to
+which Ralph was much interested and very indignant. "They cannot do
+you any harm, sir, by the investigation," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"No; I don't think they can hurt me."</p>
+
+<p>"And you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you have been the
+means of exposing corruption, and of helping to turn such a man as
+Griffenbottom out of the House. Upon my word, I think it has been
+worth while."</p>
+
+<p>"I am not sure that I would do it again at the same cost, and with
+the same object," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>Ralph did have a cup of tea given to him in the drawing-room, and
+then left the villa before Clarissa's fly had returned.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c48" id="c48"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XLVIII.</h3>
+<h4>MR. MOGGS WALKS TOWARDS EDGEWARE.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>The judge's decision in Percycross as to the late election was no
+sooner known than fresh overtures were made to Ontario Moggs by the
+Young Men's Association. A letter of triumph was addressed to him at
+the Cheshire Cheese, in which he was informed that Intimidation and
+Corruption had been trodden under foot in the infamous person of Mr.
+Griffenbottom, and that Purity and the Rights of Labour were still
+the watchwords of that wholesome party in the borough which was
+determined to send Mr. Moggs to Parliament. Did not Mr. Moggs think
+it best that he should come down at once to the borough and look
+after his interests? Now Mr. Moggs junior, when he received this
+letter, had left the borough no more than three or four days since,
+having been summoned there as a witness during the trial of the
+petition;&mdash;and such continued attendance to the political interests
+of a small and otherwise uninteresting town, without the advantage of
+a seat in Parliament, was felt by Mr. Moggs senior to be a nuisance.
+The expense in all these matters fell of course upon the shoulders of
+the father. "I don't believe in them humbugs no longer," said Mr.
+Moggs senior. Moggs junior, who had felt the enthusiasm of the young
+men of Percycross, and who had more to get and less to lose than his
+father, did believe. Although he had been so lately at Percycross, he
+went down again, and again made speeches to the young men at the
+Mechanics' Institute. Nothing could be more triumphant than his
+speeches, nothing more pleasant than his popularity; but he could not
+fail to become aware, after a further sojourn of three days at
+Percycross, of two things. The first was this,&mdash;that if the borough
+were spared there would be a compromise between the leading men on
+the two sides, and Mr. Westmacott would be returned together with a
+young Griffenbottom. The second conviction forced upon him was that
+the borough would not be spared. There was no comfort for him at
+Percycross,&mdash;other than what arose from a pure political conscience.
+On the very morning on which he left, he besought his friends, the
+young men,&mdash;though they were about to be punished, degraded, and
+disfranchised for the sins of their elders, though it might never be
+allowed to them again to stir themselves for the political welfare of
+their own borough,&mdash;still to remember that Purity and the Rights of
+Labour were the two great wants of the world, and that no man could
+make an effort, however humble, in a good cause without doing
+something towards bringing nearer to him that millennium of political
+virtue which was so much wanted, and which would certainly come
+sooner or later. He was cheered to the echo, and almost carried down
+to the station on the shoulders of a chairman, or president, and a
+secretary; but he left Percycross with the conviction that that
+borough would never confer upon him the coveted honour of a seat in
+Parliament.</p>
+
+<p>All this had happened early in March, previous to that Sunday on
+which Mr. Neefit behaved so rudely to him at the cottage. "I think as
+perhaps you'd better stick to business now a bit," said old Moggs. At
+that moment Ontario was sitting up at a high desk behind the ledger
+which he hated, and was sticking to business as well as he knew how
+to stick to it. "No more Cheshire Cheeses, if you please, young man,"
+said the father. This was felt by the son to be unfair, cruel, and
+even corrupt. While the election was going on, as long as there was a
+hope of success at Percycross, Moggs senior had connived at the
+Cheshire Cheese, had said little or nothing about business, had even
+consented on one occasion to hear his son make a speech advocating
+the propriety of combination among workmen. "It ain't my way of
+thinking," Moggs senior had said; "but then, perhaps, I'm old." To
+have had a member of the firm in Parliament would have been glorious
+even to old Moggs, though he hardly knew in what the glory would have
+consisted. But as soon as he found that his hopes were vain, that the
+Cheshire Cheese had been no stepping-stone to such honour, and that
+his money had been spent for nothing, his mind reverted to its old
+form. Strikes became to him the work of the devil, and unions were
+once more the bane of trade.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose," said Ontario, looking up from his ledger, "if I work for
+my bread by day, I may do as I please with my evenings. At any rate I
+shall," he continued to say after pausing awhile. "It's best we
+should understand each other, father." Moggs senior growled. At a
+word his son would have been off from him, rushing about the country,
+striving to earn a crust as a political lecturer. Moggs knew his son
+well, and in truth loved him dearly. There was, too, a Miss Moggs at
+home, who would give her father no peace if Ontario were turned
+adrift. There is nothing in the world so cruel as the way in which
+sons use the natural affections of their fathers, obtaining from
+these very feelings a power of rebelling against authority! "You must
+go to the devil if you please, I suppose," said Moggs senior.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know why you say that. What do I do devilish?"</p>
+
+<p>"Them Unions is devilish."</p>
+
+<p>"I think they're Godlike," said Moggs junior. After that they were
+silent for a while, during which Moggs senior was cutting his nails
+with a shoemaker's knife by the fading light of the evening, and
+Moggs junior was summing up an account against a favoured aristocrat,
+who seemed to have worn a great many boots, but who was noticeable to
+Ontario, chiefly from the fact that he represented in Parliament the
+division of the county in which Percycross was situated. "I thought
+you was going to make it all straight by marrying that girl," said
+Moggs senior.</p>
+
+<p>Here was a subject on which the father and the son were in
+unison;&mdash;and as to which the romantic heart of Miss Moggs, at home at
+Shepherd's Bush, always glowed with enthusiasm. That her brother was
+in love, was to her, of whom in truth it must be owned that she was
+very plain, the charm of her life. She was fond of poetry, and would
+read to her brother aloud the story of Juan and Haidee, and the
+melancholy condition of the lady who was loved by the veiled prophet.
+She sympathised with the false Queen's passion for Launcelot, and,
+being herself in truth an ugly old maid very far removed from things
+romantic, delighted in the affairs of the heart when they did not run
+smooth. "O Ontario," she would say, "be true to her;&mdash;if it's for
+twenty years." "So I will;&mdash;but I'd like to begin the twenty years by
+making her Mrs. Moggs," said Ontario. Now Mr. Moggs senior knew to a
+penny what money old Neefit could give his daughter, and placed not
+the slightest trust in that threat about the smock in which she stood
+upright. Polly would certainly get the better of her father as
+Ontario always got the better of him. Ontario made no immediate reply
+to his father, but he found himself getting all wrong among the boots
+and shoes which had been supplied to that aristocratic young member
+of Parliament. "You don't mean as it's all off?" asked Moggs senior.</p>
+
+<p>"No; it isn't all off."</p>
+
+<p>"Then why don't you go in at it?"</p>
+
+<p>"Why don't I go in at it?" said Ontario, closing the book in hopeless
+confusion of mind and figures. "I'd give every pair of boots in this
+place, I'd give all the business, to get a kind word from her."</p>
+
+<p>"Isn't she kind?"</p>
+
+<p>"Kind;&mdash;yes, she's kind enough in a way. She's everything just what
+she ought to be. That's what she is. Don't you go on about it,
+father. I'm as much in earnest as you can be. I shan't give it up
+till she calls somebody else her husband; and then,&mdash;; why then I
+shall just cut it, and go off to uncle in Canada. I've got my mind
+made up about all that." And so he left the shop, somewhat
+uncourteously perhaps. But he had worked his way back into his
+father's good graces by his determination to stick to Neefit's girl.
+A young man ought to be allowed to attend trades' unions, or any
+other meetings, if he will marry a girl with twenty thousand pounds.
+That evening Ontario Moggs went to the Cheshire Cheese, and was
+greater than ever.</p>
+
+<p>It has been already told how, on a Sunday subsequent to this, he
+managed to have himself almost closeted with Polly, and how he was
+working himself into her good graces, when he was disturbed by Mr.
+Neefit and turned out of the house. Polly's heart had been yielding
+during the whole of that interview. There had come upon her once a
+dream that it would be a fine thing to be the lady of Newton;&mdash;and
+the chance had been hers. But when she set herself to work to weigh
+it all, and to find out what it was that young Newton really
+wanted,&mdash;and what he ought to want, she shook off from herself that
+dream before it had done her any injury. She meant to be married
+certainly. As to that she had no doubt. But then Ontario Moggs was
+such a long-legged, awkward, ugly, shambling fellow, and Moggs as a
+name was certainly not euphonious. The gasfitter was handsome, and
+was called Yallolegs, which perhaps was better than Moggs. He had
+proposed to her more than once; but the gasfitter's face meant
+nothing, and the gasfitter himself hadn't much meaning in him. As to
+outside appearance, young Newton's was just what he ought to be,&mdash;but
+that was a dream which she had shaken off. Onty Moggs had some
+meaning in him, and was a man. If there was one thing, too, under the
+sun of which Polly was quite sure, it was this,&mdash;that Onty Moggs did
+really love her. She knew that in the heart, and mind, and eyes of
+Onty Moggs she possessed a divinity which made the ground she stood
+upon holy ground for him. Now that is a conviction very pleasant to a
+young woman.</p>
+
+<p>Ontario was very near his victory on that Sunday. When he told her
+that he would compass the death of Ralph Newton if Ralph Newton was
+to cause her to break her heart, she believed that he would do it,
+and she felt obliged to him,&mdash;although she laughed at him. When he
+declared to her that he didn't know what to do because of his love,
+she was near to telling him what he might do. When he told her that
+he would sooner have a kiss from her than be Prime Minister, she
+believed him, and almost longed to make him happy. Then she had
+tripped, giving him encouragement which she did not intend,&mdash;and had
+retreated, telling him that he was silly. But as she said so she made
+up her mind that he should be perplexed not much longer. After all,
+in spite of his ugliness, and awkwardness, and long legs, this was to
+be her man. She recognised the fact, and was happy. It is so much for
+a girl to be sure that she is really loved! And there was no word
+which fell from Ontario's mouth which Polly did not believe. Ralph
+Newton's speeches were very pretty, but they conveyed no more than
+his intention to be civil. Ontario's speeches really brought home to
+her all that the words could mean. When he told her father that he
+was quite contented to take her just as she was, without a shilling,
+she knew that he would do so with the utmost joy. Then it was that
+she resolved that he should have her, and that for the future all
+doubtings, all flirtations, all coyness, should be over. She had been
+won, and she lowered her flag. "You stick to it, and you'll do it,"
+she said;&mdash;and this time she meant it. "I shall," said Ontario;&mdash;and
+he walked all the way back to London, with his head among the clouds,
+disregarding Percycross utterly, forgetful of all the boots and
+aristocrats' accounts, regardless almost of the Cheshire Cheese, not
+even meditating a new speech in defence of the Rights of Labour. He
+believed that on that day he had gained the great victory. If so,
+life before him was one vista of triumph. That he himself was what
+the world calls romantic, he had no idea,&mdash;but he had lived now for
+months on the conviction that the only chance of personal happiness
+to himself was to come from the smiles and kindness and love of a
+certain human being whom he had chosen to beatify. To him Polly
+Neefit was divine, and round him also there would be a halo of
+divinity if this goddess would consent to say that she would become
+his wife.</p>
+
+<p>It was impossible that many days should be allowed to pass before he
+made an effort to learn from her own lips, positively, the meaning of
+those last words which she had spoken to him. But there was a
+difficulty. Neefit had warned him from the house, and he felt
+unwilling to knock at the door of a man in that man's absence, who,
+if present, would have refused to him the privilege of admittance.
+That Mrs. Neefit would see him, and afford him opportunity of
+pleading his cause with Polly, he did not doubt;&mdash;but some idea that
+a man's house, being his castle, should not be invaded in the owner's
+absence, restrained him. That the man's daughter might be the dearer
+and the choicer, and the more sacred castle of the two, was true
+enough; but then Polly was a castle which, as Moggs thought, ought to
+belong to him rather than to her father. And so he resolved to waylay
+Polly.</p>
+
+<p>His weekdays, from nine in the morning till seven in the evening,
+were at this time due to Booby and Moggs, and he was at present
+paying that debt religiously, under a conviction that his various
+absences at Percycross had been hard upon his father. For there was,
+in truth, no Booby. Moggs senior, and Moggs junior, constituted the
+whole firm;&mdash;in which, indeed, up to this moment Moggs junior had no
+recognised share,&mdash;and if one was absent, the other must be present.
+But Sunday was his own, and Polly Neefit always went to church.
+Nevertheless, on the first Sunday he failed. He failed, though he saw
+her, walking with two other ladies, and though, to the best of his
+judgment, she also saw him. On the second Sunday he was at Hendon
+from ten till three, hanging about in the lanes, sitting on gates,
+whiling away the time with a treatise on political economy which he
+had brought down in his pocket, thinking of Polly while he strove to
+confine his thoughts to the great subject of man's productive
+industry. Is there any law of Nature,&mdash;law of God, rather,&mdash;by which
+a man has a right to enough of food, enough of raiment, enough of
+shelter, and enough of recreation, if only he will work? But Polly's
+cheeks, and Polly's lips, the eager fire of Polly's eye as she would
+speak, and all the elastic beauty of Polly's gait as she would walk,
+drove the great question from his mind. Was he ever destined to hold
+Polly in his arms,&mdash;close, close to his breast? If not, then the laws
+of Nature and the laws of God, let them be what they might, would not
+have been sufficient to protect him from the cruellest wrong of all.</p>
+
+<p>It was as she went to afternoon church that he hoped to intercept
+her. Morning church with many is a bond. Afternoon church is a virtue
+of supererogation,&mdash;practised often because there is nothing else to
+do. It would be out of the question that he should induce her to give
+up the morning service; but if he could only come upon her in the
+afternoon, a little out of sight of others, just as she would turn
+down a lane with which he was acquainted, near to a stile leading
+across the fields towards Edgeware, it might be possible that he
+should prevail. As the hour came near, he put the useless volume into
+his pocket, and stationed himself on the spot which he had selected.
+Almost at the first moment in which he had ventured to hope for her
+presence, Polly turned into the lane. It was six months after this
+occurrence that she confessed to him that she had thought it just
+possible that he might be there. "Of course you would be there,&mdash;you
+old goose; as if Jemima hadn't told me that you'd been about all day.
+But I never should have come, if I hadn't quite made up my mind."
+Then Ontario administered to her one of those bear's hugs which were
+wont to make Polly declare that he was an ogre. It was thus that
+Polly made her confession after the six months, as they were sitting
+very close to each other on some remote point of the cliffs down on
+the Kentish coast. At that time the castle had been altogether
+transferred out of the keeping of Mr. Neefit.</p>
+
+<p>But Polly's conduct on this occasion was not at all of a nature to
+make it supposed that Jemima's eyes had been so sharp. "What, Mr.
+Moggs!" she said. "Dear me, what a place to find you in! Are you
+coming to church?"</p>
+
+<p>"I want you just to take a turn with me for a few minutes, Polly."</p>
+
+<p>"But I'm going to church."</p>
+
+<p>"You can go to church afterwards;&mdash;that is, if you like. I can't come
+to the house now, and I have got something that I must say to you."</p>
+
+<p>"Something that you must say to me!" And then Polly followed him over
+the stile.</p>
+
+<p>They had walked the length of nearly two fields before Ontario had
+commenced to tell the tale which of necessity must be told; but
+Polly, though she must have known that her chances of getting back to
+church were becoming more and more remote, waited without impatience.
+"I want to know," he said, at last, "whether you can ever learn to
+love me."</p>
+
+<p>"What's the use, Mr. Moggs?"</p>
+
+<p>"It will be all the use in the world to me."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, no it won't. It can't signify so very much to anybody."</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing, I sometimes think, can ever be of any use to me but that."</p>
+
+<p>"As for learning to love a man,&mdash;I suppose I could love a man without
+any learning if I liked him."</p>
+
+<p>"But you don't like me, Polly?"</p>
+
+<p>"I never said I didn't like you. Father and mother always used to
+like you."</p>
+
+<p>"But you, Polly?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I like you well enough. Don't, Mr. Moggs."</p>
+
+<p>"But do you love me?" Then there was a pause, as they stood leaning
+upon a gateway. "Come, Polly; tell a fellow. Do you love me?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know." Then there was another pause; but he was in a seventh
+heaven, with his arm round her waist. "I suppose I do; a little,"
+whispered Polly.</p>
+
+<p>"But better than anybody else?"</p>
+
+<p>"You don't think I mean to have two lovers;&mdash;do you?"</p>
+
+<p>"And I am to be your lover?"</p>
+
+<p>"There's father, you know. I'm not going to be anybody's wife because
+he tells me; but I wouldn't like to vex him, if we could help it."</p>
+
+<p>"But you'll never belong to any one else?"</p>
+
+<p>"Never," said she solemnly.</p>
+
+<p>"Then I've said what I've got to say, and I'm the happiest man in all
+the world, and you may go to church now if you like." But his arm was
+still tight round her waist.</p>
+
+<p>"It's too late," said Polly, in a melancholy tone,&mdash;"and it's all
+your doing."</p>
+
+<p>The walk was prolonged not quite to Edgeware; but so far that Mr.
+Neefit was called upon to remark that the parson was preaching a very
+long sermon. Mrs. Neefit, who perhaps had also had communication with
+Jemima, remarked that it was not to be expected, but that Polly
+should take a ramble with some of her friends. "Why can't she ramble
+where I want her to ramble?" said Mr. Neefit.</p>
+
+<p>Many things were settled during that walk. Within five minutes of the
+time in which she had declared that it was too late for her to go to
+church, she had brought herself to talk to him with all the
+delightful confidence of a completed engagement. She made him
+understand at once that there was no longer any doubt. "A girl must
+have time to know," she said, when he half-reproached her with the
+delay. A girl wasn't like a man, she said, who could just make up his
+mind at once,&mdash;a girl had to wait and see. But she was quite sure of
+this,&mdash;that having once said the word she would never go back from
+it. She didn't quite know when she had first begun to love him, but
+she thought it was when she heard that he had made up his mind to
+stand for Percycross. It seemed to her to be such a fine thing,&mdash;his
+going to Percycross. "Then," said Ontario, gallantly, "Percycross has
+done ten times more for me than it would have done, had it simply
+made me a member of Parliament." Once, twice, and oftener he was made
+happier than he could have been had fortune made him a Prime
+Minister. For Polly, now that she had given her heart and promised
+her hand, would not coy her lips to the man she had chosen.</p>
+
+<p>Many things were settled between them. Polly told her lover all her
+trouble about Ralph Newton, and it was now that she received that
+advice from her "very particular friend, Mr. Moggs," which she
+followed in writing to her late suitor. The letter was to be written
+and posted that afternoon, and then shown to her father. We know
+already that in making the copy for her father she omitted one
+clause,&mdash;having resolved that she would tell her mother of her
+engagement, and that her mother should communicate it to her father.
+As for naming any day for their marriage, "That was out of the
+question," she said. She did not wish to delay it; but all that she
+could do was to swear to her father that she would never marry
+anybody else. "And he'll believe me too," said Polly. As for eloping,
+she would not hear of it. "Just that he might have an excuse to give
+his money to somebody else," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't care for his money," protested Moggs.</p>
+
+<p>"That's all very well; but money's a good thing in its way. I hate a
+man who'd sell himself; he's a mean fellow;&mdash;or a girl either. Money
+should never be first. But as for pitching it away just because
+you're in a hurry, I don't believe in that at all. I'm not going to
+be an old woman yet, and you may wait a few months very well." She
+walked with him direct up to the gate leading up to their own
+house,&mdash;so that all the world might see her, if all the world
+pleased; and then she bade him good-bye. "Some day before very long,
+no doubt," she said when, as he left her, he asked as to their next
+meeting.</p>
+
+<p>And so Polly had engaged herself. I do not know that the matter
+seemed to her to be of so much importance as it does to many girls.
+It was a piece of business which had to be done some day, as she had
+well known for years past; and now that it was done, she was quite
+contented with the doing of it. But there was not much of that
+ecstasy in her bosom which was at the present moment sending Ontario
+Moggs bounding up to town, talking, as he went, to himself,&mdash;to the
+amazement of passers by, and assuring himself that he had triumphed
+like an Alexander or a C&aelig;sar. She made some steady resolves to do her
+duty by him, and told herself again and again that nothing should
+ever move her now that she had decided. As for beauty in a man;&mdash;what
+did it signify? He was honest. As for awkwardness;&mdash;what did it
+matter? He was clever. And in regard to being a gentleman; she rather
+thought that she liked him better because he wasn't exactly what some
+people call a gentleman. Whatever sort of a home he would give her to
+live in, nobody would despise her in it because she was not grand
+enough for her place. She was by no means sure that a good deal of
+misery of that kind might not have fallen to her lot had she become
+the mistress of Newton Priory. "When the beggar woman became a queen,
+how the servants must have snubbed her," said Polly to herself.</p>
+
+<p>That evening she showed her letter to her father. "You haven't sent
+it, you minx?" said he.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, father. It's in the iron box."</p>
+
+<p>"What business had you to write to a young man?"</p>
+
+<p>"Come, father. I had a business."</p>
+
+<p>"I believe you want to break my heart," said old Neefit.</p>
+
+<p>That evening her mother asked her what she had been doing that
+afternoon. "I just took a walk with Ontario Moggs," said Polly.</p>
+
+<p>"Well?"</p>
+
+<p>"And I've just engaged myself straight off, and you had better tell
+father. I mean to keep to it, mother, let anybody say anything. I
+wouldn't go back from my promise if they were to drag me. So father
+may as well know at once."</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c49" id="c49"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER XLIX.</h3>
+<h4>AMONG THE PICTURES.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>Norfolk is a county by no means devoted to hunting, and Ralph
+Newton,&mdash;the disinherited Ralph as we may call him,&mdash;had been advised
+by some of his friends round Newton to pitch his tent
+elsewhere,&mdash;because of his love of that sport. "You'll get a bit of
+land just as cheap in the shires," Morris had said to him. "And, if I
+were you, I wouldn't go among a set of fellows who don't think of
+anything in the world except partridges." Mr. Morris, who was a very
+good fellow in his way, devoted a considerable portion of his mental
+and physical energies to the birth, rearing, education, preservation,
+and subsequent use of the fox,&mdash;thinking that in so doing he employed
+himself nobly as a country gentleman; but he thoroughly despised a
+county in which partridges were worshipped.</p>
+
+<p>"They do preserve foxes," pleaded Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"One man does, and the next don't. You ought to know what that means.
+It's the most heart-breaking kind of thing in the world. I'd sooner
+be without foxes altogether, and ride to a drag;&mdash;I would indeed."
+This assertion Mr. Morris made in a sadly solemn tone, such as men
+use when they speak of some adversity which fate and fortune may be
+preparing for them. "I'd a deal rather die than bear it," says the
+melancholy friend; or,&mdash;"I'd much sooner put up with a crust in a
+corner." "I'd rather ride to a drag;&mdash;I would indeed," said Mr.
+Morris, with a shake of the head, and a low sigh. As for life without
+riding to hounds at all, Mr. Morris did not for a moment suppose that
+his friend contemplated such an existence.</p>
+
+<p>But Ralph had made up his mind that, in going out into the world to
+do something, foxes should not be his first object. He had to seek a
+home certainly, but more important than his home was the work to
+which he should give himself; and, as he had once said, he knew
+nothing useful that he could do except till the land. So he went down
+into Norfolk among the intermittent fox preservers, and took
+Beamingham Hall.</p>
+
+<p>Almost every place in Norfolk is a "ham," and almost every house is a
+hall. There was a parish of Beamingham, four miles from Swaffham,
+lying between Tillham, Soham, Reepham, and Grindham. It's down in all
+the maps. It's as flat as a pancake; it has a church with a
+magnificent square tower, and a new chancel; there is a resident
+parson, and there are four or five farmers in it; it is under the
+plough throughout, and is famous for its turnips; half the parish
+belongs to a big lord, who lives in the county, and who does preserve
+foxes, but not with all his heart; two other farms are owned by the
+yeomen who farm them,&mdash;men who have been brought up to shoot, and who
+hate the very name of hunting. Beamingham Hall was to be sold, and by
+the beginning of May Ralph Newton had bought it. Beamingham Little
+Wood belonged to the estate, and, as it contained about thirty acres,
+Ralph determined that he would endeavour to have a fox there.</p>
+
+<p>By the middle of May he had been four months in his new home. The
+house itself was not bad. It was spacious; and the rooms, though low,
+were large. And it had been built with considerable idea of
+architectural beauty. The windows were all set in stone and
+mullioned,&mdash;long, low windows, very beautiful in form, which had till
+some fifteen years back been filled with a multitude of small diamond
+panes;&mdash;but now the diamond panes had given way to plate glass. There
+were three gables to the hall, all facing an old-fashioned large
+garden, in which the fruit trees came close up to the house, and that
+which perhaps ought to have been a lawn was almost an orchard. But
+there were trim gravel walks, and trim flower-beds, and a trim
+fish-pond, and a small walled kitchen-garden, with very old peaches,
+and very old apricots, and very old plums. The plums, however, were
+at present better than the peaches or the apricots. The fault of the
+house, as a modern residence, consisted in this,&mdash;that the farm-yard,
+with all its appurtenances, was very close to the back door. Ralph
+told himself when he first saw it that Mary Bonner would never
+consent to live in a house so placed.</p>
+
+<p>For whom was such a house as Beamingham Hall originally built,&mdash;a
+house not grand enough for a squire's mansion, and too large for a
+farmer's homestead? Such houses throughout England are much more
+numerous than Englishmen think,&mdash;either still in good repair, as was
+Beamingham Hall, or going into decay under the lessened domestic
+wants of the present holders. It is especially so in the eastern
+counties, and may be taken as one proof among many that the
+broad-acred squire, with his throng of tenants, is comparatively a
+modern invention. The country gentleman of two hundred years ago
+farmed the land he held. As years have rolled on, the strong have
+swallowed the weak,&mdash;one strong man having eaten up half-a-dozen weak
+men. And so the squire has been made. Then the strong squire becomes
+a baronet and a lord,&mdash;till he lords it a little too much, and a
+Manchester warehouseman buys him out. The strength of the country
+probably lies in the fact that the change is ever being made, but is
+never made suddenly.</p>
+
+<p>To Ralph the great objection to Beamingham Hall lay in that fear,&mdash;or
+rather certainty,&mdash;that it could not be made a fitting home for Mary
+Bonner. When he first decided on taking it, and even when he decided
+on buying it, he assured himself that Mary Bonner's taste might be
+quite indifferent to him. In the first place, he had himself written
+to her uncle to withdraw his claim as soon as he found that Newton
+would never belong to him; and then he had been told by the happy
+owner of Newton that Mary was still to be asked to share the throne
+of that principality. When so told he had said nothing of his own
+ambition, but had felt that there was another reason why he should
+leave Newton and its neighbourhood. For him, as a bachelor,
+Beamingham Hall would be only too good a house. He, as a farmer, did
+not mean to be ashamed of his own dunghill.</p>
+
+<p>By the middle of May he had heard nothing either of his namesake or
+of Mary Bonner. He did correspond with Gregory Newton, and thus
+received tidings of the parish, of the church, of the horses,&mdash;and
+even of the foxes; but of the heir's matrimonial intentions he heard
+nothing. Gregory did write of his own visits to the metropolis, past
+and future, and Ralph knew that the young parson would again singe
+his wings in the flames that were burning at Popham Villa; but
+nothing was said of the heir. Through March and April that trouble
+respecting Polly Neefit was continued, and Gregory in his letter of
+course did not speak of the Neefits. At last May was come, and Ralph
+from Beamingham made up his mind that he also would go up to London.
+He had been hard at work during the last four months doing all those
+wonderfully attractive things with his new property which a man can
+do when he has money in his pocket,&mdash;knocking down hedges, planting
+young trees or preparing for the planting of them, buying stock,
+building or preparing to build sheds,&mdash;and the rest of it. There is
+hardly a pleasure in life equal to that of laying out money with a
+conviction that it will come back again. The conviction, alas, is so
+often ill founded,&mdash;but the pleasure is the same. In regard to the
+house itself he would do nothing, not even form a plan&mdash;as yet. It
+might be possible that some taste other than his own should be
+consulted.</p>
+
+<p>In the second week in May he went up to London, having heard that
+Gregory would be there at the same time; and he at once found himself
+consorting with his namesake almost as much as with the parson. It
+was now a month since the heir had been dismissed from Popham Villa,
+and he had not since that date renewed his visit. Nor from that day
+to the present had he seen Sir Thomas. It cannot be said with exact
+truth that he was afraid of Sir Thomas or ashamed to see the girls.
+He had no idea that he had behaved badly to anybody; and, if he had,
+he was almost disposed to make amends for such sin by marrying
+Clarissa; but he felt that should he ultimately make up his mind in
+Clarissa's favour, a little time should elapse for the gradual cure
+of his former passion. No doubt he placed reliance on his position as
+a man of property, feeling that by his strength in that direction he
+would be pulled through all his little difficulties; but it was an
+unconscious reliance. He believed that he was perfectly free from
+what he himself would have called the dirt and littleness of
+purse-pride&mdash;or acre-pride, and would on some occasions assert that
+he really thought nothing of himself because he was Newton of Newton.
+And he meant to be true. Nevertheless, in the bottom of his heart,
+there was a confidence that he might do this and that because of his
+acres, and among the things which might be thus done, but which could
+not otherwise have been done, was this return to Clarissa after his
+little lapse in regard to Mary Bonner.</p>
+
+<p>He was delighted to welcome Ralph from Norfolk to all the pleasures
+of the metropolis. Should he put down Ralph's name at the famous
+Carlton, of which he had lately become a member? Ralph already
+belonged to an old-fashioned club, of which his father had been long
+a member, and declined the new honour. As for balls, evening crushes,
+and large dinner-parties, our Norfolk Ralph thought himself to be
+unsuited for them just at present, because of his father's death. It
+was not for the nephew of the dead man to tell the son that eight
+months of mourning for a father was more than the world now required.
+He could only take the excuse, and suggest the play, and a little
+dinner at Richmond, and a small party to Maidenhead as compromises.
+"I don't know that there is any good in a fellow being so heavy in
+hand because his father is dead," the Squire said to his brother.</p>
+
+<p>"They were so much to each other," pleaded Gregory in return. The
+Squire accepted the excuse, and offered his namesake a horse for the
+park. Would he make one of the party for the moors in August? The
+Squire asserted that he had room for another gun, without entailing
+any additional expense upon himself. This indeed was not strictly
+true, as it had been arranged that the cost should be paid per gun;
+but there was a vacancy still, and Ralph the heir, being quite
+willing to pay for his cousin, thought no harm to cover his
+generosity under a venial falsehood. The disinherited one, however,
+declined the offer, with many thanks. "There is nothing, old fellow,
+I wouldn't do for you, if I knew how," said the happy heir. Whereupon
+the Norfolk Ralph unconsciously resolved that he would accept
+nothing,&mdash;or as little as possible,&mdash;at the hands of the Squire.</p>
+
+<p>All this happened during the three or four first days of his sojourn
+in London, in which, he hardly knew why, he had gone neither to the
+villa nor to Sir Thomas in Southampton Buildings. He meant to do so,
+but from day to day he put it off. As regarded the ladies at the
+villa the three young men now never spoke to each other respecting
+them. Gregory believed that his brother had failed, and so believing
+did not recur to the subject. Gregory himself had already been at
+Fulham once or twice since his arrival in town; but had nothing to
+say,&mdash;or at least did say nothing,&mdash;of what happened there. He
+intended to remain away from his parish for no more than the parson's
+normal thirteen days, and was by no means sure that he would make any
+further formal offer. When at the villa he found that Clarissa was
+sad and sober, and almost silent; and he knew that something was
+wrong. It hardly occurred to him to believe that after all he might
+perhaps cure the evil.</p>
+
+<p>One morning, early, Gregory and Ralph from Norfolk were together at
+the Royal Academy. Although it was not yet ten when they entered the
+gallery, the rooms were already so crowded that it was difficult to
+get near the line, and almost impossible either to get into or to get
+out of a corner. Gregory had been there before, and knew the
+pictures. He also was supposed by his friends to understand something
+of the subject; whereas Ralph did not know a Cooke from a Hook, and
+possessed no more than a dim idea that Landseer painted all the wild
+beasts, and Millais all the little children. "That's a fine picture,"
+he said, pointing up at an enormous portrait of the Master of the B.
+B., in a red coat, seated square on a seventeen-hand high horse, with
+his hat off, and the favourite hounds of his pack around him. "That's
+by Grant," said Gregory. "I don't know that I care for that kind of
+thing." "It's as like as it can stare," said Ralph, who appreciated
+the red coat, and the well-groomed horse, and the finely-shaped
+hounds. He backed a few steps to see the picture better, and found
+himself encroaching upon a lady's dress. He turned round and found
+that the lady was Mary Bonner. Together with her were both Clarissa
+and Patience Underwood.</p>
+
+<p>The greetings between them all were pleasant, and the girls were
+unaffectedly pleased to find friends whom they knew well enough to
+accept as guides and monitors in the room. "Now we shall be told all
+about everything," said Clarissa, as the young parson shook hands
+first with her sister and then with her. "Do take us round to the
+best dozen, Mr. Newton. That's the way I like to begin." Her tone was
+completely different from what it had been down at the villa.</p>
+
+<p>"That gentleman in the red coat is my cousin's favourite," said
+Gregory.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't care a bit about that." said Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>"That's because you don't hunt," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"I wish I hunted," said Mary Bonner.</p>
+
+<p>Mary, when she first saw the man, of whom she had once been told that
+he was to be her lover, and, when so told, had at least been proud
+that she was so chosen,&mdash;felt that she was blushing slightly; but she
+recovered herself instantly, and greeted him as though there had been
+no cause whatever for disturbance. He was struck almost dumb at
+seeing her, and it was her tranquillity which restored him to
+composure. After the first greetings were over he found himself
+walking by her side without any effort on her part to avoid him,
+while Gregory and the two sisters went on in advance. Poor Ralph had
+not a word to say about the pictures. "Have you been long in London?"
+she asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Just four days."</p>
+
+<p>"We heard that you were coming, and did think that perhaps you and
+your cousin might find a morning to come down and see us;&mdash;your
+cousin Gregory, I mean."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I shall come."</p>
+
+<p>"My uncle will be so glad to see you;&mdash;only, you know, you can't
+always find him at home. And so will Patience. You are a great
+favourite with Patience. You have gone down to live in
+Norfolk,&mdash;haven't you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes&mdash;in Norfolk."</p>
+
+<p>"You have bought an estate there?"</p>
+
+<p>"Just one farm that I look after myself. It's no estate, Miss
+Bonner;&mdash;just a farm-house, with barns and stables, and a horse-pond,
+and the rest of it." This was by no means a fair account of the
+place, but it suited him so to speak of it. "My days for having an
+estate were quickly brought to a close;&mdash;were they not?" This he said
+with a little laugh, and then hated himself for having spoken so
+foolishly.</p>
+
+<p>"Does that make you unhappy, Mr. Newton?" she asked. He did not
+answer her at once, and she continued, "I should have thought that
+you were above being made unhappy by that."</p>
+
+<p>"Such disappointments carry many things with them of which people
+outside see nothing."</p>
+
+<p>"That is true, no doubt."</p>
+
+<p>"A man may be separated from every friend he has in the world by such
+a change of circumstances."</p>
+
+<p>"I had not thought of that. I beg your pardon," said she, looking
+into his face almost imploringly.</p>
+
+<p>"And there may be worse than that," he said. Of course she knew what
+he meant, but he did not know how much she knew. "It is easy to say
+that a man should stand up against reverses,&mdash;but there are some
+reverses a man cannot bear without suffering." She had quite made up
+her mind that the one reverse of which she was thinking should be
+cured; but she could take no prominent step towards curing it yet.
+But that some step should be taken sooner or later she was resolved.
+It might be taken now, indeed, if he would only speak out. But she
+quite understood that he would not speak out now because that house
+down in Norfolk was no more than a farm. "But I didn't mean to
+trouble you with all that nonsense," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"It doesn't trouble me at all. Of course you will tell us everything
+when you come to see us."</p>
+
+<p>"There is very little to tell,&mdash;unless you care for cows and pigs,
+and sheep and horses."</p>
+
+<p>"I do care for cows and pigs, and sheep and horses," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"All the same, they are not pleasant subjects of conversation. A man
+may do as much good with a single farm as he can with a large estate;
+but he can't make his affairs as interesting to other people." There
+was present to his own mind the knowledge that he and his rich
+namesake were rivals in regard to the affections of this beautiful
+girl, and he could not avoid allusions to his own inferiority. And
+yet his own words, as soon as they were spoken and had sounded in his
+ear, were recognised by himself as being mean and pitiful,&mdash;as
+whining words, and sorry plaints against the trick which fortune had
+played him. He did not know how to tell her boldly that he lamented
+this change from the estate to the farm because he had hoped that she
+would share the one with him, and did not dare even to ask her to
+share the other. She understood it all, down to the look of
+displeasure which crossed his face as he felt the possible effect of
+his own speech. She understood it all, but she could not give him
+much help,&mdash;as yet. There might perhaps come a moment in which she
+could explain to him her own ideas about farms and estates, and the
+reasons in accordance with which these might be selected and those
+rejected. "Have you seen much of Ralph Newton lately?" asked the
+other Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"Of your cousin?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes;&mdash;only I do not call him so. I have no right to call him my
+cousin."</p>
+
+<p>"No; We do not see much of him." This was said in a tone of voice
+which ought to have sufficed for curing any anxiety in Ralph's bosom
+respecting his rival. Had he not been sore and nervous, and, as it
+must be admitted, almost stupid in the matter, he could not but have
+gathered from that tone that his namesake was at least no favourite
+with Miss Bonner. "He used to be a great deal at Popham Villa," said
+Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"We do not see him often now. I fancy there has been some cause of
+displeasure between him and my uncle. His brother has been with us
+once or twice. I do like Mr. Gregory Newton."</p>
+
+<p>"He is the best fellow that ever lived," exclaimed Ralph with energy.</p>
+
+<p>"So much nicer than his brother," said Mary;&mdash;"though perhaps I ought
+not to say so to you."</p>
+
+<p>This at any rate could not but be satisfactory to him. "I like them
+both," he said; "but I love Greg dearly. He and I have lived together
+like brothers for years, whereas it is only quite lately that I have
+known the other."</p>
+
+<p>"It is only lately that I have known either;&mdash;but they seem to me to
+be so different. Is not that a wonderfully beautiful picture, Mr.
+Newton? Can't, you almost fancy yourself sitting down and throwing
+stones into the river, or dabbling your feet in it?"</p>
+
+<p>"It is very pretty," said he, not caring a penny for the picture.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you any river at Beamingham?"</p>
+
+<p>"There's a muddy little brook that you could almost jump over. You
+wouldn't want to dabble in that."</p>
+
+<p>"Has it got a name?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think they call it the Wissey. It's not at all a river to be proud
+of,&mdash;except in the way of eels and water-rats."</p>
+
+<p>"Is there nothing to be proud of at Beamingham?"</p>
+
+<p>"There's the church tower;&mdash;that's all."</p>
+
+<p>"A church tower is something;&mdash;but I meant as to Beamingham Hall."</p>
+
+<p>"That word Hall misleads people," said Ralph. "It's a kind of
+upper-class farm-house with a lot of low rooms, and intricate
+passages, and chambers here and there, smelling of apples, and a huge
+kitchen, and an oven big enough for a small dinner-party."</p>
+
+<p>"I should like the oven."</p>
+
+<p>"And a laundry, and a dairy, and a cheese-house,&mdash;only we never make
+any cheese; and a horse-pond, and a dung-hill, and a cabbage-garden."</p>
+
+<p>"Is that all you can say for your new purchase, Mr. Newton?"</p>
+
+<p>"The house itself isn't ugly."</p>
+
+<p>"Come;&mdash;that's better."</p>
+
+<p>"And it might be made fairly comfortable, if there were any use in
+doing it."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course there will be use."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know that there will," said Ralph. "Sometimes I think one
+thing, and sometimes another. One week I'm full of a scheme about a
+new garden and a conservatory, and a bow-window to the drawing-room;
+and then, the next week, I think that the two rooms I live in at
+present will be enough for me."</p>
+
+<p>"Stick to the conservatory, Mr. Newton. But here are the girls, and I
+suppose it is about time for us to go."</p>
+
+<p>"Mary, where have you been?" said Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>"Looking at landscapes," said Mary.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Newton has shown us every picture worth seeing, and described
+everything, and we haven't had to look at the catalogue once. That's
+just what I like at the Academy. I don't know whether you've been as
+lucky."</p>
+
+<p>"I've had a great deal described to me too," said Mary; "but I'm
+afraid we've forgotten the particular duty that brought us here."
+Then they parted, the two men promising that they would be at the
+villa before long, and the girls preparing themselves for their
+return home.</p>
+
+<p>"That cousin of theirs is certainly very beautiful," said Gregory,
+after some short tribute to the merits of the two sisters.</p>
+
+<p>"I think she is," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not wonder that my brother has been struck with her."</p>
+
+<p>"Nor do I." Then after a pause he continued; "She said something
+which made me think that she and your brother haven't quite hit it
+off together."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know that they have," said Gregory. "Ralph does change his
+mind sometimes. He hasn't said a word about her to me lately."</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c50" id="c50"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER L.</h3>
+<h4>ANOTHER FAILURE.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>The day after the meeting at the Academy, as Ralph, the young Squire,
+was sitting alone in his room over a late breakfast, a maid-servant
+belonging to the house opened the door and introduced Mr. Neefit. It
+was now the middle of May, and Ralph had seen nothing of the
+breeches-maker since the morning on which he had made his appearance
+in the yard of the Moonbeam. There had been messages, and Mr. Carey
+had been very busy endeavouring to persuade the father that he could
+benefit neither himself nor his daughter by persistence in so
+extravagant a scheme. Money had been offered to Mr. Neefit,&mdash;most
+unfortunately, and this offer had added to his wrongs. And he had
+been told by his wife that Polly had at last decided in regard to her
+own affections, and had accepted her old lover, Mr. Moggs. He had
+raved at Polly to her face. He had sworn at Moggs behind his back. He
+had called Mr. Carey very hard names;&mdash;and now he forced himself once
+more upon the presence of the young Squire. "Captain," he said, as
+soon as he had carefully closed the door behind him, "are you going
+to be upon the square?" Newton had given special orders that Neefit
+should not be admitted to his presence; but here he was, having made
+his way into the chamber in the temporary absence of the Squire's own
+servant.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Neefit," said Newton, "I cannot allow this."</p>
+
+<p>"Not allow it, Captain?"</p>
+
+<p>"No;&mdash;I cannot. I will not be persecuted. I have received favours
+from <span class="nowrap">you&mdash;"</span></p>
+
+<p>"Yes, you have, Captain."</p>
+
+<p>"And I will do anything in reason to repay them."</p>
+
+<p>"Will you come out and see our Polly?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I won't."</p>
+
+<p>"You won't?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly not. I don't believe your daughter wants to see me. She is
+engaged to another man." So much Mr. Carey had learned from Mrs.
+Neefit. "I have a great regard for your daughter, but I will not go
+to see her."</p>
+
+<p>"Engaged to another man;&mdash;is she?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am told so."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh;&mdash;that's your little game, is it? And you won't see me when I
+call,&mdash;won't you? I won't stir out of this room unless you sends for
+the police, and so we'll get it all into one of the courts of law. I
+shall just like to see how you'll look when you're being
+cross-hackled by one of them learned gents. There'll be a question or
+two about the old breeches-maker as the Squire of Newton mayn't like
+to see in the papers the next morning. I shall take the liberty of
+ringing the bell and ordering a bit of dinner here, if you don't
+mind. I shan't go when the police comes without a deal of row, and
+then we shall have it all out in the courts."</p>
+
+<p>This was monstrously absurd, but at the same time very annoying. Even
+though he should disregard that threat of being "cross-hackled by a
+learned gent," and of being afterwards made notorious in the
+newspapers,&mdash;which it must be confessed he did not find himself able
+to disregard,&mdash;still, independently of that feeling, he was very
+unwilling to call for brute force to remove Mr. Neefit from the
+arm-chair in which that worthy tradesman had seated himself. He had
+treated the man otherwise than as a tradesman. He had borrowed the
+man's money, and eaten the man's dinners; visited the man at
+Ramsgate, and twice offered his hand to the man's daughter. "You are
+very welcome to dine here," he said, "only I am sorry that I cannot
+dine here with you."</p>
+
+<p>"I won't stir from the place for a week."</p>
+
+<p>"That will be inconvenient," said Ralph,</p>
+
+<p>"Uncommon inconvenient I should say, to a gent like you,&mdash;especially
+as I shall tell everybody that I'm on a visit to my son-in-law."</p>
+
+<p>"I meant to yourself,&mdash;and to the business."</p>
+
+<p>"Never you mind the business, Captain. There'll be enough left to
+give my girl all the money I promised her, and I don't think I shall
+have to ask you to keep your father-in-law neither. Sending an
+attorney to offer me a thousand pounds! It's my belief I could buy
+you out yet, Captain, in regard to ready money."</p>
+
+<p>"I daresay you could, Mr. Neefit."</p>
+
+<p>"And I won't stir from here till you name a day to come and see me
+and my missus and Polly."</p>
+
+<p>"This is sheer madness, Mr. Neefit."</p>
+
+<p>"You think so;&mdash;do you, Captain? You'll find me madder nor you think
+for yet. I'm not agoing to be put upon by you, and nothing come of
+it. I'll have it out of you in money or marbles, as the saying is.
+Just order me a glass of sherry wine, will you? I'm a thirsty
+talking. When you came a visiting me, I always give you lashings of
+drink." This was so true that Ralph felt himself compelled to ring
+the bell, and order up some wine. "Soda and brandy let it be, Jack,"
+said Mr. Neefit to Mr. Newton's own man. "It'll be more comfortable
+like between near relations."</p>
+
+<p>"Soda-water and brandy for Mr. Neefit," said the young Squire,
+turning angrily to the man. "Mr. Neefit, you are perfectly welcome to
+as much brandy as you can drink, and my man will wait upon you while
+I'm away. Good morning." Whereupon Newton took up his hat and left
+the room. He had not passed into the little back room, in which he
+knew that the servant would be looking for soda-water, before he
+heard a sound as of smashed crockery, and he was convinced that Mr.
+Neefit was preparing himself for forcible eviction by breaking his
+ornaments. Let the ornaments go, and the mirror, and the clock on the
+chimney-piece, and the windows. It was a frightful nuisance, but
+anything would be better than sending for the police to take away Mr.
+Neefit. "Keep your eye on that man in the front room," said he, to
+his Swiss valet.</p>
+
+<p>"On Mr. Neefit, saar?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; on Mr. Neefit. He wants me to marry his daughter, and I can't
+oblige him. Let him have what he wants to eat and drink. Get rid of
+him if you can, but don't send for the police. He's smashing all the
+things, and you must save as many as you can." So saying, he hurried
+down the stairs and out of the house. But what was he to do next? If
+Mr. Neefit chose to carry out his threat by staying in the rooms, Mr.
+Neefit must be allowed to have his own way. If he chose to amuse
+himself by breaking the things, the things must be broken. If he got
+very drunk, he might probably be taken home in a cab, and deposited
+at the cottage at Hendon. But what should Ralph do at this moment? He
+sauntered sadly down St. James's Street with his hands in his
+trousers-pockets, and finding a crawling hansom at the palace-gate,
+he got into it and ordered the man to drive him down to Fulham. He
+had already made up his mind about "dear little Clary," and the thing
+might as well be done at once. None of the girls were at home. Miss
+Underwood and Miss Bonner had gone up to London to see Sir Thomas.
+Miss Clarissa was spending the day with Mrs. Brownlow. "That will
+just be right," said Ralph to himself, as he ordered the cabman to
+drive him to the old lady's house on the Brompton Road.</p>
+
+<p>Mrs. Brownlow had ever been a great admirer of the young Squire, and
+did not admire him less now that he had come to his squireship. She
+had always hoped that Clary would marry the real heir, and was
+sounding his praises while Ralph was knocking at her door. "He is not
+half so fine a fellow as his brother," said Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>"You did not use to think so," said Mrs. Brownlow. Then the door was
+opened and Ralph was announced.</p>
+
+<p>With his usual easy manner,&mdash;with that unabashed grace which Clarissa
+used to think so charming,&mdash;he soon explained that he had been to
+Fulham, and had had himself driven back to Bolsover House because
+Clarissa was there. Clarissa, as she heard this, felt the blood
+tingle in her cheeks. His manner now did not seem to her to be so
+full of grace. Was it not all selfishness? Mrs. Brownlow purred out
+her applause. It was not to be supposed that he came to see an old
+woman;&mdash;but his coming to see a young woman, with adequate
+intentions, was quite the proper thing for such a young man to do!
+They were just going to take lunch. Of course he would stop and lunch
+with them. He declared that he would like nothing better. Mrs.
+Brownlow rang the bell, and gave her little orders. Clarissa's
+thoughts referred quickly to various matters,&mdash;to the scene on the
+lawn, to a certain evening on which she had walked home with him from
+this very house, to the confessions which she had made to her sister,
+to her confidence with her cousin;&mdash;and then to the offer that had
+been made to Mary, now only a few weeks since. She looked at him,
+though she did not seem to be looking at him, and told herself that
+the man was nothing to her. He had caused her unutterable sorrow,
+with which her heart was still sore;&mdash;but he was nothing to her. She
+would eat her lunch with him, and endeavour to talk to him; but the
+less she might see of him henceforth the better. He was selfish,
+heartless, weak, and unworthy.</p>
+
+<p>The lunch was eaten, and within three minutes afterwards, Mrs.
+Brownlow was away. As they were returning to the little parlour in
+which they had been sitting during the morning, she contrived to
+escape, and Ralph found himself alone with his "dear, darling little
+Clary." In spite of his graceful ease, the task before him was not
+without difficulty. Clarissa, of course, knew that he had proposed to
+Mary, and probably knew that he had proposed to Polly. But Mary had
+told him that Clarissa was devoted to him,&mdash;had told him at least
+that which amounted to almost as much. And then it was incumbent on
+him to do something that might put an end to the Neefit abomination.
+Clarissa would be contented to look back upon that episode with Mary
+Bonner, as a dream that meant nothing;&mdash;just as he himself was
+already learning to look at it. "Clary," he said, "I have hardly seen
+you to speak to you since the night we walked home together from this
+house."</p>
+
+<p>"No, indeed, Mr. Newton," she said. Hitherto she had always called
+him Ralph. He did not observe the change, having too many things of
+his own to think of at the moment.</p>
+
+<p>"How much has happened since that!"</p>
+
+<p>"Very much, indeed, Mr. Newton."</p>
+
+<p>"And yet it seems to be such a short time ago,&mdash;almost yesterday. My
+poor uncle was alive then."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, he was."</p>
+
+<p>He did not seem to be getting any nearer to his object by these
+references to past events. "Clary," he said, "there are many things
+which I wish to have forgotten, and some perhaps which I would have
+forgiven."</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose that is so with all of us," said Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>"Just so, though I don't know that any of us have ever been so
+absurdly foolish as I have,&mdash;throwing away what was of the greatest
+value in the world for the sake of something that seemed to be
+precious, just for a moment." It was very difficult, and he already
+began to feel that the nature of the girl was altered towards him.
+She had suddenly become hard, undemonstrative, and almost unkind.
+Hitherto he had always regarded her, without much conscious thought
+about it, as a soft, sweet, pleasant thing, that might at any moment
+be his for the asking. And Mary Bonner had told him that he ought to
+ask. Now he was willing to beseech her pardon, to be in very truth
+her lover, and to share with her all his prosperity. But she would
+give him no assistance in his difficulty. He was determined that she
+should speak, and, trusting to Mrs. Brownlow's absence, he sat still,
+waiting for her.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you have thrown away nothing that you ought to keep," she
+said at last. "It seems to me that you have got everything."</p>
+
+<p>"No,&mdash;not as yet everything. I do not know whether I shall ever get
+that which I desire the most." Of course she understood him now; but
+she sat hard, and fixed, and stern,&mdash;so absolutely unlike the
+Clarissa whom he had known since they were hardly more than children
+together! "You know what I mean, Clarissa."</p>
+
+<p>"No;&mdash;I do not," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"I fear you mean that you cannot forgive me."</p>
+
+<p>"I have nothing to forgive."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh yes, you have; whether you will ever forgive me I cannot say. But
+there is much to forgive;&mdash;very much. Your cousin Mary for a short
+moment ran away with us all."</p>
+
+<p>"She is welcome,&mdash;for me."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean, Clarissa?"</p>
+
+<p>"Just what I say. She is welcome for me. She has taken nothing that I
+prize. Indeed I do not think she has condescended to take
+anything,&mdash;anything of the sort you mean. Mary and I love each other
+dearly. There is no danger of our quarrelling."</p>
+
+<p>"Come, Clary," he got up as he spoke, and stood over her, close to
+her shoulder, "you understand well enough what I mean. We have known
+each other so long, and I think we have loved each other so well,
+that you ought to say that you will forgive me. I have been foolish.
+I have been wrong. I have been false, if you will. Cannot you forgive
+me?"</p>
+
+<p>Not for a moment was there a look of forgiveness in her eye, or a
+sign of pardon in the lines of her face. But in her heart there was a
+contest. Something of the old passion remained there, though it was
+no more than the soreness it had caused. For half a moment she
+thought whether it might not be as he would have it. But if so, how
+could she again look any of her friends in the face and admit that
+she had surrendered herself to so much unworthiness? How could she
+tell Patience, who was beginning to be full of renewed hope for
+Gregory? How could she confess such a weakness to her father? How
+could she stand up before Mary Bonner? And was it possible that she
+should really give herself, her whole life, and all her future hopes,
+to one so weak and worthless as this man? "There is nothing to
+forgive," she said, "but I certainly cannot forget."</p>
+
+<p>"You know that I love you," he protested.</p>
+
+<p>"Love me;&mdash;yes, with what sort of love? But it does not matter. There
+need be no further talk about it. Your love to me can be nothing."</p>
+
+<p>"Clarissa!"</p>
+
+<p>"And to you it will be quite as little. Your heart will never suffer
+much, Ralph. How long is it since you offered your hand to my cousin?
+Only that you are just a boy playing at love, this would be an
+insult." Then she saw her old friend through the window. "Mrs.
+Brownlow," she said, "Mr. Newton is going, and I am ready for our
+walk whenever you please."</p>
+
+<p>"Think of it twice, Clarissa;&mdash;must this be the end of it?" pleaded
+Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"As far as I am concerned it must be the end of it. When I get home I
+shall probably find that you have already made an offer to Patience."
+Then he got up, took his hat, and having shaken hands cordially with
+Mrs. Brownlow through the window, went out to his hansom cab, which
+was earning sixpence a quarter of an hour out on the road, while he
+had been so absolutely wasting his quarter of an hour within the
+house.</p>
+
+<p>"Has he said anything, my dear?" asked Mrs. Brownlow.</p>
+
+<p>"He has said a great deal."</p>
+
+<p>"Well, my dear?"</p>
+
+<p>"He is an empty, vain, inconstant man."</p>
+
+<p>"Is he, Clarissa?"</p>
+
+<p>"And yet he is so good-humoured, and so gay, and so pleasant, that I
+do not see why he should not make a very good husband to some girl."</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean, Clarissa? You have not refused him?"</p>
+
+<p>"I did not say he had offered;&mdash;did I?"</p>
+
+<p>"But he has?"</p>
+
+<p>"If he did,&mdash;then I refused him. He is good-natured; but he has no
+more heart than a log of wood. Don't talk about it any more, dear
+Mrs. Brownlow. I dare say we shall all be friends again before long,
+and he'll almost forget everything that he said this morning."</p>
+
+<p>Throughout the afternoon she was gay and almost happy, and before she
+went home she had made up her mind that she would tell Patience, and
+then get rid of it from her thoughts for ever. Not to tell Patience
+would be a breach of faith between them, and would moreover render
+future sisterly intercourse between them very difficult. But had it
+been possible she would have avoided the expression of triumph
+without which it would be almost impossible for her to tell the
+story. Within her own bosom certainly there was some triumph. The man
+for whose love she had sighed and been sick had surrendered to her at
+last. The prize had been at her feet, but she had not chosen to lift
+it. "Poor Ralph," she said to herself; "he means to do as well as he
+can, but he is so feeble." She certainly would not tell Mary Bonner,
+nor would she say a word to her father. And when she should meet
+Ralph again,&mdash;as she did not doubt but that she would meet him
+shortly, she would be very careful to give no sign that she was
+thinking of his disgrace. He should still be called Ralph,&mdash;till he
+was a married man; and when it should come to pass that he was about
+to marry she would congratulate him with all the warmth of old
+friendship.</p>
+
+<p>That night she did tell it all to Patience. "You don't mean," she
+said, "that I have not done right?"</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure you have done quite right."</p>
+
+<p>"Then why are you so sober about it, Patty?"</p>
+
+<p>"Only if you do love him&mdash;! I would give my right hand, Clary, that
+you might have that which shall make you happy in life."</p>
+
+<p>"If you were to give your right and left hand too, a marriage with
+Ralph Newton would not make me happy. Think of it, Patty;&mdash;to both of
+us within two months! He is just like a child. How could I ever have
+respected him, or believed in him? I could never have respected
+myself again. No, Patty, I did love him dearly. I fancied that life
+without him must all be a dreary blank. I made him into a god;&mdash;but
+his feet are of the poorest clay! Kiss me, dear, and congratulate
+me;&mdash;because I have escaped."</p>
+
+<p>Her sister did kiss her and did congratulate her;&mdash;but still there
+was a something of regret in the sister's heart. Clarissa was, to her
+thinking, so fit to be the mistress of Newton Priory.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c51" id="c51"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER LI.</h3>
+<h4>MUSIC HAS CHARMS.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>The Commission appointed to examine into the condition of the borough
+of Percycross cannot exactly be said to have made short work of it,
+for it sat daily for many consecutive weeks, and examined half the
+voters in the town; but it made sharp work, and reported to the
+Speaker of the House such a tale of continual corruption, that all
+the world knew that the borough would be disfranchised. The glory of
+Percycross was gone, and in regard to political influence it was to
+be treated as the cities of the plain, and blotted from off the face
+of existence. The learned gentlemen who formed the Commission had
+traced home to Mr. Griffenbottom's breeches-pockets large sums of
+money which had been expended in the borough for purposes of
+systematised corruption during the whole term of his connection with
+it;&mdash;and yet they were not very hard upon Mr. Griffenbottom
+personally in their report. He had spent the money no doubt, but had
+so spent it that at every election it appeared that he had not
+expected to spend it till the bills were sent to him. He frankly
+owned that the borough had been ruinous to him; had made a poor man
+of him,&mdash;but assured the Commission at the same time that all this
+had come from his continued innocence. As every new election came
+round, he had hoped that that would at least be pure, and had been
+urgent in his instructions to his agents to that effect. He had at
+last learned, he said, that he was not a sufficient Hercules to
+cleanse so foul a stable. All this created no animosity against him
+in Percycross during the sitting of the Commission. His old friends,
+the Triggers, and Piles, and Spiveycombs, clung to him as closely as
+ever. Every man in Percycross knew that the borough was gone, and
+there really seemed at last to be something of actual gratitude in
+their farewell behaviour to the man who had treated the place as it
+liked to be treated. As the end of it all, the borough was
+undoubtedly to be disfranchised, and Mr. Griffenbottom left it,&mdash;a
+ruined man, indeed, according to his own statement,&mdash;but still with
+his colours flying, and, to a certain extent, triumphantly. So we
+will leave him, trusting,&mdash;or perhaps rather hoping,&mdash;that the days
+of Mr. Griffenbottom are nearly at an end.</p>
+
+<p>His colleague, Sir Thomas, on the occasion of his third visit to
+Percycross,&mdash;a visit which he was constrained to make, sorely against
+his will, in order that he might give his evidence before the
+Commission,&mdash;remained there but a very short time. But while there he
+made a clean breast of it. He had gone down to the borough with the
+most steadfast purpose to avoid corruption; and had done his best in
+that direction. But he had failed. There had been corruption, for
+which he had himself paid in part. There had been treating of the
+grossest kind. Money had been demanded from him since the election,
+as to the actual destination of which he was profoundly ignorant. He
+did not, however, doubt but that this money had been spent in the
+purchase of votes. Sir Thomas was supposed to have betrayed the
+borough in his evidence, and was hooted out of the town. On this
+occasion he only remained there one night, and left Percycross for
+ever, after giving his evidence.</p>
+
+<p>This happened during the second week in May. On his return to London
+he did not go down to Fulham, but remained at his chambers in a most
+unhappy frame of mind. This renewed attempt of his to enter the world
+and to go among men that he might do a man's work, had resulted in
+the loss of a great many hundred pounds, in absolute failure, and, as
+he wrongly told himself, in personal disgrace. He was almost ashamed
+to show himself at his club, and did for two days absolutely have his
+dinner brought to him in his chambers from an eating-house.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sure you won't like that, Sir Thomas," Stemm had said to him,
+expostulating, and knowing very well the nature of his master's
+sufferings.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know that I like anything very much," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't go and not show my face because of other people's
+roguery," rejoined Stemm, with cruel audacity. Sir Thomas looked at
+him, but did not answer a word, and Stemm fetched the food.</p>
+
+<p>"Stemm," said Sir Thomas the same evening, "it's getting to be fine
+weather now."</p>
+
+<p>"It's fine enough," said Stemm.</p>
+
+<p>"Do you take your nieces down to Southend for an outing. Go down on
+Thursday and come back on Saturday. I shall be at home. There's a
+five-pound note for the expenses." Stemm slowly took the note, but
+grunted and grumbled. The girls were nuisances to him, and he didn't
+want to take them an outing. They wouldn't care to go before July,
+and he didn't care to go at all. "You can go when you please," said
+Sir Thomas. Stemm growled and grumbled, and at last left the room
+with the money.</p>
+
+<p>The morning afterwards Sir Thomas was sitting alone in his room
+absolutely wretched. He had so managed his life that there seemed to
+be nothing left to him in it worth the having. He had raised himself
+to public repute by his intellect and industry, and had then, almost
+at once, allowed himself to be hustled out of the throng simply
+because others had been rougher than he,&mdash;because other men had
+pushed and shouldered while he had been quiet and unpretending. Then
+he had resolved to make up for this disappointment by work of another
+kind,&mdash;by work which would, after all, be more congenial to him. He
+would go back to the dream of his youth, to the labours of former
+days, and would in truth write his Life of Bacon. He had then
+surrounded himself with his papers, had gotten his books together and
+read up his old notes, had planned chapters and sections, and settled
+divisions, had drawn up headings, and revelled in those paraphernalia
+of work which are so dear to would-be working men;&mdash;and then nothing
+had come of it. Of what use was it that he went about ever with a
+volume in his pocket, and read a page or two as he sat over his wine?
+When sitting alone in his room he did read; but when reading he knew
+that he was not working. He went, as it were, round and round the
+thing, never touching it, till the labour which he longed to commence
+became so frightful to him that he did not dare to touch it. To do
+that thing was the settled purpose of his life, and yet, from day to
+day and from month to month, it became more impossible to him even to
+make a beginning. There is a misery in this which only they who have
+endured it can understand. There are idle men who rejoice in
+idleness. Their name is legion. Idleness, even when it is ruinous, is
+delightful to them. They revel in it, look forward to it, and almost
+take a pride in it. When it can be had without pecuniary detriment,
+it is to such men a thing absolutely good in itself. But such a one
+was not Sir Thomas Underwood. And there are men who love work, who
+revel in that, who attack it daily with renewed energy, almost
+wallowing in it, greedy of work, who go to it almost as the drunkard
+goes to his bottle, or the gambler to his gaming-table. These are not
+unhappy men, though they are perhaps apt to make those around them
+unhappy. But such a one was not Sir Thomas Underwood. And again there
+are men, fewer in number, who will work though they hate it, from
+sheer conscience and from conviction that idleness will not suit them
+or make them happy. Strong men these are;&mdash;but such a one certainly
+was not Sir Thomas Underwood. Then there are they who love the idea
+of work, but want the fibre needful for the doing it. It may be that
+such a one will earn his bread as Sir Thomas Underwood had earned
+his, not flinching from routine task or even from the healthy efforts
+necessary for subsistence. But there will ever be present to the mind
+of the ambitious man the idea of something to be done over and above
+the mere earning of his bread;&mdash;and the ambition may be very strong,
+though the fibre be lacking. Such a one will endure an agony
+protracted for years, always intending, never performing,
+self-accusing through every wakeful hour, self-accusing almost
+through every sleeping hour. The work to be done is close there by
+the hand, but the tools are loathed, and the paraphernalia of it
+become hateful. And yet it can never be put aside. It is to be
+grasped to-morrow, but on every morrow the grasping of it becomes
+more difficult, more impossible, more revolting. There is no peace,
+no happiness for such a man;&mdash;and such a one was Sir Thomas
+Underwood.</p>
+
+<p>In this strait he had been tempted to make another effort in
+political life, and he had made it. There had been no difficulty in
+this,&mdash;only that the work itself had been so disagreeable, and that
+he had failed in it so egregiously. During his canvass, and in all
+his intercourse with the Griffenbottomites, he had told himself,
+falsely, how pleasant to him it would be to return to his books;&mdash;how
+much better for him would be a sedentary life, if he could only bring
+himself to do, or even attempt to do, the work which he had appointed
+for himself. Now he had returned to his solitude, had again dragged
+out his papers, his note-book, his memoranda, his dates, and yet he
+could not in truth get into his harness, put his neck to the collar,
+and attempt to drag the burden up the hill.</p>
+
+<p>He was sitting alone in his room in this condition, with a book in
+his hand of no value to his great purpose, hating himself and
+wretched, when Stemm opened his door, ushering Patience and Mary
+Bonner into his room. "Ah, my dears," he said, "what has brought you
+up to London? I did not think of seeing you here." There was no
+expression of positive displeasure in his voice, but it was
+understood by them all, by the daughter, by the cousin, by old Stemm,
+and by Sir Thomas himself, that such a visit as this was always to be
+regarded more or less as an intrusion. However, he kissed them both,
+and handed them chairs, and was more than usually civil to them.</p>
+
+<p>"We do so want to hear about Percycross, papa," said Patience.</p>
+
+<p>"There is nothing to be told about Percycross."</p>
+
+<p>"Are you to stand again, papa?"</p>
+
+<p>"Nobody will ever stand for Percycross again. It will lose its
+members altogether. The thing is settled."</p>
+
+<p>"And you have had all the trouble for nothing, uncle?" Mary asked.</p>
+
+<p>"All for nothing,&mdash;and the expense. But that is a very common thing,
+and I have no ground of complaint beyond many others."</p>
+
+<p>"It does seem so hard," said Patience.</p>
+
+<p>"So very hard," said Mary. And then they were silent. They had not
+come without a purpose; but, as is common with young ladies, they
+kept their purpose for the end of the interview.</p>
+
+<p>"Are you coming home, papa?" Patience asked.</p>
+
+<p>"Well, yes; I won't settle any day now, because I am very busy just
+at present. But I shall be home soon,&mdash;very soon."</p>
+
+<p>"I do so hope you'll stay some time with us, papa."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear, you know&mdash;" And then he stopped, having been pounced upon
+so suddenly that he had not resolved what excuse he would for the
+moment put forward. "I've got my papers and things in such confusion
+here at present,&mdash;because of Percycross and the trouble I have
+had,&mdash;that I cannot leave them just now."</p>
+
+<p>"But why not bring the papers with you, papa?"</p>
+
+<p>"My dear, you know I can't."</p>
+
+<p>Then there was another pause. "Papa, I think you ought," said
+Patience. "Indeed I do, for Clary's sake,&mdash;and ours." But even this
+was not the subject which had specially brought them on that morning
+to Southampton Buildings.</p>
+
+<p>"What is there wrong with Clary?" asked Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"There is nothing wrong," said Patience</p>
+
+<p>"What do you mean then?"</p>
+
+<p>"I think it would be so much more comfortable for her that you should
+see things as they are going on."</p>
+
+<p>"I declare I don't know what she means. Do you know what she means,
+Mary?"</p>
+
+<p>"Clary has not been quite herself lately," said Mary.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose it's something about that scamp, Ralph Newton," said Sir
+Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"No, indeed, papa; I am sure she does not think of him now." On this
+very morning, as the reader may perhaps remember, the scamp had gone
+down to Fulham, and from Fulham back to Brompton, in search of
+Clarissa; but of the scamp's energy and renewed affections, Patience
+as yet knew nothing. "Gregory has been up in London and has been down
+at Fulham once or twice. We want him to come again before he goes
+back on Saturday, and we thought if you would come home on Thursday,
+we could ask him to dinner." Sir Thomas scratched his head, and
+fidgeted in his chair. "Their cousin is in London also," continued
+Patience.</p>
+
+<p>"The other Ralph; he who has bought Beamingham Hall?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, papa; we saw him at the Academy. I told him how happy you would
+be to see him at Fulham."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course I should be glad to see him; that is, if I happened to be
+at home," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"But I could not name a day without asking you, papa."</p>
+
+<p>"He will have gone back by this time," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"I think not, papa."</p>
+
+<p>"And what do you say, Mary?"</p>
+
+<p>"I have nothing to say at all, uncle. If Mr. Newton likes to come to
+the villa, I shall be glad to see him. Why should I not? He has done
+nothing to offend me." There was a slight smile on her face as she
+spoke, and the merest hint of a blush on her cheek.</p>
+
+<p>"They tell me that Beamingham Hall isn't much of a place after all,"
+said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"From what Mr. Newton says, it must be a very ugly place," said Mary,
+with still the same smile and the same hint of a blush;&mdash;"only I
+don't quite credit all he tells us."</p>
+
+<p>"If there is anything settled you ought to tell me," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"There is nothing settled, uncle, or in any way of being settled. It
+so happened that Mr. Newton did speak to me about his new house.
+There is nothing more."</p>
+
+<p>"Nevertheless, papa, pray let us ask him to dinner on Thursday." It
+was for the purpose of making this request that Patience had come to
+Southampton Buildings, braving her father's displeasure. Sir Thomas
+scratched his head, and rubbed his face, and yielded. Of course he
+had no alternative but to yield, and yet he did it with a bad grace.
+Permission, however, was given, and it was understood that Patience
+would write to the two young men, Ralph of Beamingham Hall and the
+parson, asking them to dinner for the day but one following. "As the
+time is so short, I've written the notes ready," said Patience,
+producing them from her pocket. Then the bell was rung, and the two
+notes were confided to Stemm. Patience, as she was going, found a
+moment in which to be alone with her father, and to speak one more
+word to him. "Dear papa, it would be so much better for us that you
+should come and live at home. Think of those two, with nobody, as it
+were, to say a word for them." Sir Thomas groaned, and again
+scratched his head; but Patience left him before he had arranged his
+words for an answer.</p>
+
+<p>When they were gone, Sir Thomas sat for hours in his chair without
+moving, making the while one or two faint attempts at the book before
+him, but in truth giving up his mind to contemplation of the past and
+to conjectures as to the future, burdened by heavy regrets, and with
+hopes too weak to afford him any solace. The last words which
+Patience had spoken rang in his ears,&mdash;"Think of those two, with
+nobody, as it were, to say a word for them." He did think of them,
+and of the speaker also, and knew that he had neglected his duty. He
+could understand that such a girl as his own Clarissa did require
+some one "to say a word for her," some stalwart arm to hold her up,
+some loving strength to support her, some counsel to direct her. Of
+course those three girls were as other girls, looking forward to
+matrimony as their future lot in life, and it would not be well that
+they should be left to choose or to be chosen, or left to reject and
+be rejected, without any aid from their remaining parent. He knew
+that he had been wrong, and he almost resolved that the chambers in
+Southampton Buildings should be altogether abandoned, and his books
+removed to Popham Villa.</p>
+
+<p>But such men do not quite resolve. Before he could lay his hand upon
+the table and assure himself that the thing should be done, the
+volume had been taken up again, used for a few minutes, and then the
+man's mind had run away again to that vague contemplation which is so
+much easier than the forming of a steady purpose. It was one of those
+almost sultry days which do come to us occasionally amidst the
+ordinary inclemency of a London May, and he was sitting with his
+window open, though there was a fire in the grate. As he sat,
+dreaming rather than thinking, there came upon his ear the weak,
+wailing, puny sound of a distant melancholy flute. He had heard it
+often before, and had been roused by it to evil wishes, and sometimes
+even to evil words, against the musician. It was the effort of some
+youth in the direction of Staple's Inn to soothe with music the
+savageness of his own bosom. It was borne usually on the evening air,
+but on this occasion the idle swain had taken up his instrument
+within an hour or two of his early dinner. His melody was burdened
+with no peculiar tune, but consisted of a few low, wailing,
+melancholy notes, such as may be extracted from the reed by a breath
+and the slow raising and falling of the little finger, much, we
+believe, to the comfort of the player, but to the ineffable disgust
+of, too often, a large circle of hearers.</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas was affected by the sound long before he was aware that he
+was listening to it. To-whew, to-whew; to-whew, to-whew; whew-to-to,
+whew-to-to, whew, to-whew. On the present occasion the variation was
+hardly carried beyond that; but so much was repeated with a
+persistency which at last seemed to burden the whole air round
+Southampton Buildings. The little thing might have been excluded by
+the closing of the window; but Sir Thomas, though he suffered, did
+not reflect for a while whence the suffering came. Who does not know
+how such sounds may serve to enhance the bitterness of remorse, to
+add a sorrow to the present thoughts, and to rob the future of its
+hopes?</p>
+
+<p>There come upon us all as we grow up in years, hours in which it is
+impossible to keep down the conviction that everything is vanity,
+that the life past has been vain from folly, and that the life to
+come must be vain from impotence. It is the presence of thoughts such
+as these that needs the assurance of a heaven to save the thinker
+from madness or from suicide. It is when the feeling of this
+pervading vanity is strongest on him, that he who doubts of heaven
+most regrets his incapacity for belief. If there be nothing better
+than this on to the grave,&mdash;and nothing worse beyond the grave, why
+should I bear such fardels?</p>
+
+<p>Sir Thomas, as he sat there listening and thinking, unable not to
+think and not to listen, found that the fardels were very heavy. What
+good had come to him of his life,&mdash;to him or to others? And what
+further good did he dare to promise to himself? Had it not all been
+vanity? Was it not all vain to him now at the present? Was not life
+becoming to him vainer and still vainer every day? He had promised
+himself once that books should be the solace of his age, and he was
+beginning to hate his books, because he knew that he did no more than
+trifle with them. He had found himself driven to attempt to escape
+from them back into public life; but had failed, and had been
+inexpressibly dismayed in the failure. While failing, he had promised
+himself that he would rush at his work on his return to privacy and
+to quiet; but he was still as the shivering coward, who stands upon
+the brink, and cannot plunge in among the bathers. And then there was
+sadness beyond this, and even deeper than this. Why should he have
+dared to arrange for himself a life different from the life of the
+ordinary men and women who lived around him? Why had he not contented
+himself with having his children around him; walking with them to
+church on Sunday morning, taking them to the theatre on Monday
+evening, and allowing them to read him to sleep after tea on the
+Tuesday? He had not done these things, was not doing them now,
+because he had ventured to think himself capable of something that
+would justify him in leaving the common circle. He had left it, but
+was not justified. He had been in Parliament, had been in office, and
+had tried to write a book. But he was not a legislator, was not a
+statesman, and was not an author. He was simply a weak, vain,
+wretched man, who, through false conceit, had been induced to neglect
+almost every duty of life! To-whew, to-whew, to-whew, to-whew! As the
+sounds filled his ears, such were the thoughts which lay heavy on his
+bosom. So idle as he had been in thinking, so inconclusive, so frail,
+so subject to gusts of wind, so incapable of following his subject to
+the end, why had he dared to leave that Sunday-keeping, church-going,
+domestic, decent life, which would have become one of so ordinary a
+calibre as himself? There are men who may doubt, who may weigh the
+evidence, who may venture to believe or disbelieve in compliance with
+their own reasoning faculties,&mdash;who may trust themselves to think it
+out; but he, too clearly, had not been, was not, and never would be
+one of these. To walk as he saw other men walking around
+him,&mdash;because he was one of the many; to believe that to be good
+which the teachers appointed for him declared to be good; to do
+prescribed duties without much personal inquiry into the causes which
+had made them duties; to listen patiently, and to be content without
+excitement; that was the mode of living for which he should have
+known himself to be fit. But he had not known it, and had strayed
+away, and had ventured to think that he could think,&mdash;and had been
+ambitious. And now he found himself stranded in the mud of personal
+condemnation,&mdash;and that so late in life, that there remained to him
+no hope of escape. Whew-to-to; whew-to-to; whew,&mdash;to-whew. "Stemm,
+why do you let that brute go on with his cursed flute?" Stemm at that
+moment had opened the door to suggest that as he usually dined at
+one, and as it was now past three, he would go out and get a bit of
+something to eat.</p>
+
+<p>"He's always at it, sir," said Stemm, pausing for a moment before he
+alluded to his own wants.</p>
+
+<p>"Why the deuce is he always at it? Why isn't he indited for a
+nuisance? Who's to do anything with such a noise as that going on for
+hours together? He has nearly driven me mad."</p>
+
+<p>"It's young Wobble as has the back attic, No. 17, in the Inn," said
+Stemm.</p>
+
+<p>"They ought to turn him out," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"I rather like it myself," said Stemm. "It suits my disposition,
+sir." Then he made his little suggestion in regard to his own
+personal needs, and of course was blown up for not having come in two
+hours ago to remind Sir Thomas that it was dinner-time. "It's because
+I wouldn't disturb you when you has the Bacon papers out, Sir
+Thomas," said Stemm serenely. Sir Thomas winced and shook his head;
+but such scenes as this were too common to have much effect. "Stemm!"
+he called aloud, as soon as the old clerk had closed the door;
+"Stemm!" Whereupon Stemm reappeared. "Stemm, have some one here next
+week to pack all these books."</p>
+
+<p>"Pack all the books, Sir Thomas!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes;&mdash;to pack all the books. There must be cases. Now, go and get
+your dinner."</p>
+
+<p>"New cases, Sir Thomas!"</p>
+
+<p>"That will do. Go and get your dinner." And yet his mind was not
+quite made up.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c52" id="c52"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER LII.</h3>
+<h4>GUS EARDHAM.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>Whether Mr. Neefit broke Ralph Newton's little statuette,&mdash;a
+miniature copy in porcelain of the Apollo Belvidere, which stood in a
+corner of Ralph's room, and in the possession of which he took some
+pride,&mdash;from awkwardness in his wrath or of malice prepense, was
+never known. He told the servant that he had whisked it down with his
+coat tails; but Ralph always thought that the breeches-maker had
+intended to make a general ruin, but had been cowed by the noise of
+his first attack. He did, at any rate, abstain from breaking other
+things, and when the servant entered the room, condescended to make
+some careless apology. "A trifle like that ain't nothing between me
+and your master, Jack," said Mr. Neefit, after accounting for the
+accident by his coat-tails.</p>
+
+<p>"I am not Jack," said the indignant valet, with a strong foreign
+accent. "I am named&mdash;Adolphe."</p>
+
+<p>"Adolphe, are you? I don't think much of Adolphe for a name;&mdash;but it
+ain't no difference to me. Just pick up them bits; will you?"</p>
+
+<p>The man turned a look of scorn on Mr. Neefit, and did pick up the
+bits. He intended to obey his master as far as might be possible, but
+was very unwilling to wait upon the breeches-maker. He felt that the
+order which had been given to him was very cruel. It was his
+duty,&mdash;and his pleasure to wait upon gentlemen; but this man he knew
+to be a tradesman who measured customers for hunting apparel in his
+own shop. It was hard upon him that his master should go and leave
+him to be insulted, ordered about, and trodden upon by a
+breeches-maker. "Get me a bit of steak, will you?" demanded
+Neefit;&mdash;"a bit of the rump, not too much done, with the gravy in
+it,&mdash;and an onion. What are you staring at? Didn't you hear what your
+master said to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Onion,&mdash;and romp-steak!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; rump-steak and onion. I ain't going out of this till I've had a
+bit of grub. Your master knows all about it. I'm going to have more
+nor that out of him before I've done with him."</p>
+
+<p>Neefit did at last succeed, and had his rump-steak and onion,
+together with more brandy and soda-water, eating and drinking as he
+sat in Ralph's beautiful new easy chair,&mdash;not very much to his own
+comfort. A steak at the Prince's Feathers in Conduit Street would
+have been very much more pleasant to him, and he would have preferred
+half-and-half in the pewter to brandy and soda-water;&mdash;but he felt a
+pride in using his power in a fashion that would be disgraceful to
+his host. When he had done his steak he pulled his pipe out of his
+pocket, and smoked. Against this Adolphe remonstrated stoutly, but
+quite in vain. "The Captain won't mind a little baccy-smoke out of my
+pipe," he said. "He always has his smoke comfortable when he comes
+down to me." At last, about four o'clock, he did go away, assuring
+Adolphe that he would repeat his visit very soon. "I means to see a
+deal of the Captain this season," he said. At last, however, he
+retreated, and Adolphe opened the door of the house for him without
+speaking a word. "Bye, bye," said Neefit. "I'll be here again before
+long."</p>
+
+<p>Ralph on that afternoon came home to dress for dinner at about seven,
+in great fear lest Neefit should still be found in his rooms. "No,
+saar; he go away at last!" said Adolphe, with a melancholy shake of
+his head.</p>
+
+<p>"Has he done much harm?"</p>
+
+<p>"The Apollo gone!&mdash;and he had romp-steak,&mdash;and onions,&mdash;and a pipe.
+Vat vas I to do? I hope he vill never come again." And so also did
+Mr. Newton hope that Neefit would never come again.</p>
+
+<p>He was going to dine with Lady Eardham, the wife of a Berkshire
+baronet, who had three fair daughters. At this period of his life he
+found the aristocracy of Berkshire and Hampshire to be very civil to
+him; and, indeed, the world at large was disposed to smile on him.
+But there was very much in his lot to make him unhappy. He had on
+that morning been utterly rejected by Clarissa Underwood. It may,
+perhaps, be true that he was not a man to break his heart because a
+girl rejected him. He was certainly one who could have sung the old
+song, "If she be not fair for me, what care I how fair she be." And
+yet Clarissa's conduct had distressed him, and had caused him to go
+about throughout the whole afternoon with his heart almost in his
+boots. He had felt her coldness to him much more severely than he had
+that of Mary Bonner. He had taught himself to look upon that little
+episode with Mary as though it had really meant nothing. She had just
+crossed the sky of his heaven like a meteor, and for a moment had
+disturbed its serenity. And Polly also had been to him a false light,
+leading him astray for awhile under exceptional, and, as he thought,
+quite pardonable circumstances. But dear little Clary had been his
+own peculiar star,&mdash;a star that was bound to have been true to him,
+even though he might have erred for a moment in his worship,&mdash;a star
+with a sweet, soft, enduring light, that he had always assured
+himself he might call his own when he pleased. And now this soft,
+sweet star had turned upon him and scorched him. "When I get home,"
+she had said to him, "I shall find that you have already made an
+offer to Patience!" He certainly had not expected such scorn from
+her. And then he was so sure in his heart that if she would have
+accepted him, he would have been henceforth so true to her, so good
+to her! He would have had such magnanimous pleasure in showering upon
+her pretty little head all the good things at his disposal, that, for
+her own sake, the pity was great. When he had been five minutes in
+his cab, bowling back towards his club, he was almost minded to
+return and give her one more chance. She would just have suited him.
+And as for her,&mdash;would it not be a heaven on earth for her if she
+would only consent to forget that foolish, unmeaning little episode.
+Could Clary have forgotten the episode, and been content to care
+little or nothing for that easiness of feeling which made our Ralph
+what he was, she might, probably, have been happy as the mistress of
+the Priory. But she would not have forgotten, and would not have been
+content. She had made up her little heart stoutly that Ralph the heir
+should sit in it no longer, and it was well for him that he did not
+go back.</p>
+
+<p>He went to his club instead,&mdash;not daring to go to his rooms. The
+insanity of Neefit was becoming to him a terrible bane. It was, too,
+a cruelty which he certainly had done nothing to deserve. He could
+lay his hand on his heart and assure himself that he had treated that
+mad, pig-headed tradesman well in all respects. He knew himself to be
+the last man to make a promise, and then to break it wilfully. He had
+certainly borrowed money of Neefit;&mdash;and at the probable cost of all
+his future happiness he had, with a nobleness which he could not
+himself sufficiently admire, done his very best to keep the hard
+terms which in his distress he had allowed to be imposed upon
+himself. He had been loyal, even to the breeches-maker;&mdash;and this was
+the return which was made to him!</p>
+
+<p>What was he to do, should Neefit cling to his threat and remain
+permanently at his chambers? There were the police, and no doubt he
+could rid himself of his persecutor. But he understood well the
+barbarous power which some underbred, well-trained barrister would
+have of asking him questions which it would be so very disagreeable
+for him to answer! He lacked the courage to send for the police.
+Jacky Joram had just distinguished himself greatly, and nearly
+exterminated a young gentleman who had married one girl while he was
+engaged to another. Jacky Joram might ask him questions as to his
+little dinners at Alexandra Lodge, which it would nearly kill him to
+answer. He was very unhappy, and began to think that it might be as
+well that he should travel for twelve months. Neefit could not
+persecute him up the Nile, or among the Rocky Mountains. And perhaps
+Clary's ferocity would have left her were he to return after twelve
+months of glorious journeyings, still constant to his first
+affections. In the meantime he did not dare to go home till it would
+be absolutely necessary that he should dress for dinner.</p>
+
+<p>In the billiard-room of his club he found Lord Polperrow,&mdash;the eldest
+son of the Marquis of Megavissey,&mdash;pretty Poll, as he was called by
+many young men, and by some young ladies, about town. Lord Polperrow
+had become his fast friend since the day on which his heirship was
+established, and now encountered him with friendly intimacy. "Halloa,
+Newton," said the young lord, "have you seen old Neefit lately?"
+There were eight or ten men in the room, and suddenly there was
+silence among the cues.</p>
+
+<p>Ralph would have given his best horse to be able to laugh it off, but
+he found that he could not laugh. He became very hot, and knew that
+he was red in the face. "What about old Neefit?" he said.</p>
+
+<p>"I've just come from Conduit Street, and he says that he has been
+dining with you. He swears that you are to marry his daughter."</p>
+
+<p>"He be d&mdash;&mdash;!" said Newton. It was a
+poor way of getting out of the scrape, and so Ralph felt.</p>
+
+<p>"But what's the meaning of it all? He's telling everybody about
+London that you went down to stay with him at Margate."</p>
+
+<p>"Neefit has gone mad lately," said Captain Fooks, with a good-natured
+determination to stand by his friend in misfortune.</p>
+
+<p>"But how about the girl, Newton?" asked his lordship.</p>
+
+<p>"You may have her yourself, Poll,&mdash;if she don't prefer a young
+shoemaker, to whom I believe she's engaged. She's very pretty, and
+has got a lot of money&mdash;which will suit you to a T." He tried to put
+a good face on it; but, nevertheless, he was very hot and red in the
+face.</p>
+
+<p>"I'd put a stop to this if I were you," said another friend,
+confidentially and in a whisper. "He's not only telling everybody,
+but writing letters about it."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I know," said Ralph. "How can I help what a madman does? It's a
+bore of course." Then he sauntered out again, feeling sure that his
+transactions with Mr. Neefit would form the subject of conversation
+in the club billiard-room for the next hour and a half. It would
+certainly become expedient that he should travel abroad.</p>
+
+<p>He felt it to be quite a relief when he found that Mr. Neefit was not
+waiting for him at his chambers. "Adolphe," he said as soon as he was
+dressed, "that man must never be allowed to put his foot inside the
+door again."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah;&mdash;the Apollo gone! And he did it express!"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't mind the figure;&mdash;but he must never be allowed to enter the
+place again. I shall not stay up long, but while we are here you must
+not leave the place till six. He won't come in the evening." Then he
+put a sovereign into the man's hand, and went out to dine at Lady
+Eardham's.</p>
+
+<p>Lady Eardham had three fair daughters, with pretty necks, and flaxen
+hair, and blue eyes, and pug noses, all wonderfully alike. They
+ranged from twenty-seven to twenty-one, there being sons
+between,&mdash;and it began to be desirable that they should be married.
+Since Ralph had been in town the Eardham mansion in Cavendish Square
+had been opened to him with almost maternal kindness. He had accepted
+the kindness; but being fully alive to the purposes of matronly
+intrigue, had had his little jokes in reference to the young ladies.
+He liked young ladies generally, but was well aware that a young man
+is not obliged to offer his hand and heart to every girl that is
+civil to him. He and the Eardham girls had been exceedingly intimate,
+but he had had no idea whatever of sharing Newton Priory with an
+Eardham. Now, however, in his misery he was glad to go to a house in
+which he would be received with an assured welcome.</p>
+
+<p>Everybody smiled upon him. Sir George in these days was very cordial,
+greeting him with that genial esoteric warmth which is always felt by
+one English country gentleman with a large estate for another equally
+blessed. Six months ago, when it was believed that Ralph had sold his
+inheritance to his uncle, Sir George when he met the young man
+addressed him in a very different fashion. As he entered the room he
+felt the warmth of the welcoming. The girls, one and all, had ever so
+many things to say to him. They all hunted, and they all wanted him
+to look at horses for them. Lady Eardham was more matronly than ever,
+and at the same time was a little fussy. She would not leave him
+among the girls, and at last succeeded in getting him off into a
+corner of the back drawing-room. "Now, Mr. Newton," she said, "I am
+going to show you that I put the greatest confidence in you."</p>
+
+<p>"So you may," said Ralph, wondering whether one of the girls was to
+be offered to him, out of hand. At the present moment he was so low
+in spirits that he would probably have taken either.</p>
+
+<p>"I have had a letter," said Lady Eardham, whispering the words into
+his ear;&mdash;and then she paused. "Such a strange letter, and very
+abominable. I've shown it to no one,&mdash;not even to Sir George. I
+wouldn't let one of the girls see it for ever so much." Then there
+was another pause. "I don't believe a word of it, Mr. Newton; but I
+think it right to show it to you,&mdash;because it's about you."</p>
+
+<p>"About me?" said Ralph, with his mind fixed at once upon Mr. Neefit.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, indeed;&mdash;and when I tell you it refers to my girls too, you
+will see how strong is my confidence in you. If either had been
+specially named, of course I could not have shown it." Then she
+handed him the letter, which poor Ralph read, as
+<span class="nowrap">follows:&mdash;</span><br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">My Lady</span>,&mdash;I'm
+told as Mr. Ralph Newton, of Newton Priory,
+is sweet upon one of your ladyship's daughters. I think it
+my duty to tell your ladyship he's engaged to marry my
+girl, Maryanne Neefit.</p>
+
+<p class="ind8">Yours most respectful,</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="ind12"><span class="smallcaps">Thomas
+Neefit</span>,</span><br />
+<span class="ind12">Breeches-Maker, Conduit Street.</span><br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>"It's a lie," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm sure it's a lie," said Lady Eardham, "only I thought it right to
+show it you."</p>
+
+<p>Ralph took Gus Eardham down to dinner, and did his very best to make
+himself agreeable. Gus was the middle one of the three, and was
+certainly a fine girl. The Eardham girls would have no money; but
+Ralph was not a greedy man,&mdash;except when he was in great need. It
+must not be supposed, however, that on this occasion he made up his
+mind to marry Gus Eardham. But, as on previous occasions, he had been
+able to hold all the Eardhams in a kind of subjection to himself,
+feeling himself to be bigger than they,&mdash;as hitherto he had been
+conscious that he was bestowing and they receiving,&mdash;so now, in his
+present misfortune, did he recognise that Gus was a little bigger
+than himself, and that it was for her to give and for him to take.
+And Gus was able to talk to him as though she also entertained the
+same conviction. Gus was very kind to him, and he felt grateful to
+her.</p>
+
+<p>Lady Eardham saw Gus alone in her bedroom that night. "I believe he's
+a very good young man," said Lady Eardham, "if he's managed rightly.
+And as for all this about the horrid man's daughter, it don't matter
+at all. He'd live it down in a month if he were married."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't think anything about that, mamma. I dare say he's had his
+fun,&mdash;just like other men."</p>
+
+<p>"Only, my dear, he's one of that sort that have to be fixed."</p>
+
+<p>"It's so hard to fix them, mamma."</p>
+
+<p>"It needn't be hard to fix him,&mdash;that is, if you'll only be steady.
+He's not sharp and hard and callous, like some of them. He doesn't
+mean any harm, and if he once speaks out, he isn't one that can't be
+kept to time. His manners are nice. I don't think the property is
+involved; but I'll find out from papa; and he's just the man to think
+his wife the pink of perfection." Lady Eardham had read our hero's
+character not inaccurately.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c53" id="c53"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER LIII.</h3>
+<h4>THE END OF POLLY NEEFIT.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>Rumours, well-supported rumours, as to the kind of life which Mr.
+Neefit was leading reached Alexandra Cottage, filling Mrs. Neefit's
+mind with dismay, and making Polly very angry indeed. He came home
+always somewhat the worse for drink, and would talk of punching the
+heads both of Mr. Newton and of Mr. Ontario Moggs. Waddle, who was
+very true to his master's interests, had taken an opportunity of
+seeing Mrs. Neefit, and of expressing a very distinct idea that the
+business was going to the mischief. Mrs. Neefit was of opinion that
+in this emergency the business should be sold, and that they might
+safely remove themselves to some distant country,&mdash;to Tunbridge, or
+perhaps to Ware. Polly, however, would not accede to her mother's
+views. The evil must, she thought, be cured at once. "If father goes
+on like this, I shall just walk straight out of the house, and marry
+Moggs at once," Polly said. "Father makes no account of my name, and
+so I must just look out for myself." She had not as yet communicated
+these intentions to Ontario, but she was quite sure that she would be
+supported in her views by him whenever she should choose to do so.</p>
+
+<p>Once or twice Ontario came down to the cottage, and when he did so,
+Mr. Neefit was always told of the visit. "I ain't going to keep
+anything from father, mother," Polly would say. "If he chooses to
+misbehave, that isn't my fault. I mean to have Mr. Moggs, and it's
+only natural I should like to see him." Neefit, when informed of
+these visits, after swearing that Moggs junior was a sneaking
+scoundrel to come to his house in his absence, would call upon Moggs
+senior, and swear with many threats that his daughter should have
+nothing but what she stood up in. Moggs senior would stand quite
+silent, cutting the skin on his hand with his shoemaker's knife, and
+would simply bid the infuriated breeches-maker good morning, when he
+left the shop. But, in truth, Mr. Moggs senior had begun to doubt.
+"I'd leave it awhile, Onty, if I was you," he said. "May be, after
+all, he'll give her nothing."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll take her the first day she'll come to me,&mdash;money or no money,"
+said Moggs junior.</p>
+
+<p>Foiled ambition had, in truth, driven the breeches-maker to madness.
+But there were moments in which he was softened, melancholy, and
+almost penitent. "Why didn't you have him when he come down to
+Margate," he said, with the tears running down his cheek, that very
+evening after eating his rump-steak in Mr. Newton's rooms. The
+soda-water and brandy, with a little gin-and-water after it, had
+reduced him to an almost maudlin condition, so that he was unable to
+support his parental authority.</p>
+
+<p>"Because I didn't choose, father. It wasn't his fault. He spoke fair
+enough,&mdash;though I don't suppose he ever wanted it. Why should he?"</p>
+
+<p>"You might have had him then. He'd 've never dared to go back. I'd a
+killed him if he had."</p>
+
+<p>"What good would it have done, father? He'd never have loved me, and
+he'd have despised you and mother."</p>
+
+<p>"I wouldn't 've minded that," said Mr. Neefit, wiping his eyes.</p>
+
+<p>"But I should have minded. What should I have felt with a husband as
+wouldn't have wanted me ever to have my own father in his house?
+Would that have made me happy?"</p>
+
+<p>"It 'd 've made me happy to know as you was there."</p>
+
+<p>"No, father; there would have been no happiness in it. When I came to
+see what he was I knew I should never love him. He was just willing
+to take me because of his word;&mdash;and was I going to a man like that?
+No, father;&mdash;certainly not." The poor man was at that moment too far
+gone in his misery to argue the matter further, and he lay on the old
+sofa, very much at Polly's mercy. "Drop it, father," she said. "It
+wasn't to be, and it couldn't have been. You'd better say you'll drop
+it." But, sick and uncomfortable as he was on that evening, he
+couldn't be got to say that he would drop it.</p>
+
+<p>Nor could he be got to drop it for some ten days after that;&mdash;but on
+a certain evening he had come home very uncomfortable from the
+effects of gin-and-water, and had been spoken to very sensibly both
+by his wife and daughter.</p>
+
+<p>By seven on the following morning Ontario Moggs was sitting in the
+front parlour of the house at Hendon, and Polly Neefit was sitting
+with him. He had never been there at so early an hour before, and it
+was thought afterwards by both Mr. and Mrs. Neefit that his
+appearance, so unexpected by them, had not surprised their daughter
+Polly. Could it have been possible that she had sent a message to him
+after that little scene with her father? There he was, at any rate,
+and Polly was up to receive him. "Now, Onty, that'll do. I didn't
+want to talk nonsense, but just to settle something."</p>
+
+<p>"But you'll tell a fellow that you're glad to see him?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, I won't. I won't tell a fellow anything he doesn't know already.
+You and I have got to get married."</p>
+
+<p>"Of course we have."</p>
+
+<p>"But we want father's consent. I'm not going to have him made
+unhappy, if I can help it. He's that wretched sometimes at present
+that my heart is half killed about him."</p>
+
+<p>"The things he says are monstrous," asserted Moggs, thinking of the
+protestation lately made by the breeches-maker in his own hearing, to
+the effect that Ralph Newton should yet be made to marry his
+daughter.</p>
+
+<p>"All the same I've got to think about him. There's a dozen or so of
+men as would marry me, Mr. Moggs; but I can never have another
+father."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll be the first of the dozen any way," said the gallant Ontario.</p>
+
+<p>"That depends. However, mother says so, and if father 'll consent, I
+won't go against it. I'll go to him now, before he's up, and I'll
+tell him you're here. I'll bring him to his senses if I can. I don't
+know whatever made him think so much about gentlemen."</p>
+
+<p>"He didn't learn it from you, Polly."</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps he did, after all; and if so, that's the more reason why I'd
+forgive him." So saying, Polly went up-stairs upon her mission. On
+the landing she met her mother, and made known the fact that Ontario
+was in the parlour. "Don't you go to him, mother;&mdash;not yet," said
+Polly. Whereby it may be presumed that Mrs. Neefit had been informed
+of Mr. Moggs's visit before Polly had gone to him.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Neefit was in bed, and his condition apparently was not a happy
+one. He was lying with his head between his hands, and was groaning,
+not loudly, but very bitterly. His mode of life for the last month
+had not been of a kind to make him comfortable, and his conscience,
+too, was ill at ease. He had been a hard-working man, who had loved
+respectability and been careful of his wife and child. He had been
+proud to think that nobody could say anything against him, and that
+he had always paid his way. Up to the time of this disastrous fit of
+ambition on Polly's behalf he had never made himself ridiculous, and
+had been a prosperous tradesman, well thought of by his customers.
+Suddenly he had become mad, but not so mad as to be unconscious of
+his own madness. The failure of his hopes, joined to the
+inexpressibly bitter feeling that in their joint transactions young
+Newton had received all that had been necessary to him, whereas he,
+Neefit, had got none of that for which he had bargained,&mdash;these
+together had so upset him that he had lost his balance, had travelled
+out of his usual grooves, and had made an ass of himself. He knew he
+had made an ass of himself,&mdash;and was hopelessly endeavouring to show
+himself to be less of an ass than people thought him, by some success
+in his violence. If he could only punish young Newton terribly,
+people would understand why he had done all this. But drink had been
+necessary to give him courage for his violence, and now as he lay
+miserable in bed, his courage was very low.</p>
+
+<p>"Father," said Polly, "shall I give you a drink?" Neefit muttered
+something, and took the cold tea that was offered to him. It was cold
+tea, with just a spoonful of brandy in it to make it acceptable.
+"Father, there ought to be an end of all this;&mdash;oughtn't there?"</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know about no ends. I'll be down on him yet."</p>
+
+<p>"No you won't, father. And why should you? He has done nothing wrong
+to you or me. I wouldn't have him if it was ever so."</p>
+
+<p>"It's all been your fault, Polly."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes;&mdash;my fault; that I wouldn't be made what you call a lady; to be
+taken away, so that I'd never see any more of you and mother!" Then
+she put her hand gently on his shoulder. "I couldn't stand that,
+father."</p>
+
+<p>"I'd make him let you come to us."</p>
+
+<p>"A wife must obey her husband, father. Mother always obeyed you."</p>
+
+<p>"No, she didn't. She's again me now."</p>
+
+<p>"Besides, I don't want to be a lady," said Polly, seeing that she had
+better leave that question of marital obedience; "and I won't be a
+lady. I won't be better than you and mother."</p>
+
+<p>"You've been brought up better."</p>
+
+<p>"I'll show my breeding, then, by being true to you, and true to the
+man I love. What would you think of your girl, if she was to give her
+hand to a&mdash;gentleman, when she'd given her heart to a&mdash;shoemaker?"</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, d&mdash;&mdash; the shoemaker!"</p>
+
+<p>"No, father, I won't have it. What is there against Ontario? He's a
+fine-hearted fellow, as isn't greedy after money,&mdash;as 'd kiss the
+very ground I stand on he's that true to me, and is a tradesman as
+yourself. If we had a little place of our own, wouldn't Ontario be
+proud to have you there, and give you the best of everything; and
+wouldn't I wait upon you, just only trying to know beforehand every
+tittle as you'd like to have. And if there was to be babies, wouldn't
+they be brought up to love you. If I'd gone with that young man down
+to his fine place, do you think it would have been like that? How 'd
+I've felt when he was too proud to let his boy know as you was my
+father?" Neefit turned on his bed and groaned. He was too ill at ease
+as to his inner man to argue the subject from a high point of view,
+or to assert that he was content to be abased himself in order that
+his child and grandchildren might be raised in the world. "Father,"
+said Polly, "you have always been kind to me. Be kind to me now."</p>
+
+<p>"The young 'uns is always to have their own way," said Neefit.</p>
+
+<p>"Hasn't my way been your way, father?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not when you wouldn't take the Captain when he come to Margate."</p>
+
+<p>"I didn't love him, father. Dear father, say the word. We haven't
+been happy lately;&mdash;have we, father?"</p>
+
+<p>"I ain't been very 'appy," said Neefit, bursting out into sobs.</p>
+
+<p>She put her face upon his brow and kissed it. "Father, let us be
+happy again. Ontario is down-stairs,&mdash;in the parlour now."</p>
+
+<p>"Ontario Moggs in my parlour!" said Neefit, jumping up in bed.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, father; Ontario Moggs,&mdash;my husband, as will be; the man I
+honour and love; the man that will honour and love you; as true a
+fellow as ever made a young woman happy by taking her. Let me tell
+him that you will have him for a son." In truth, Neefit did not speak
+the word;&mdash;but when Polly left the room, which she presently did
+after a long embrace, Mr. Neefit was aware that his consent to the
+union would be conveyed to Ontario Moggs in less than five minutes.</p>
+
+<p>"And now you can name the day," said Ontario.</p>
+
+<p>"I cannot do any such thing," replied Polly; "and I think that quite
+enough has been settled for one morning. It's give an inch and take
+an ell with some folks."</p>
+
+<p>Ontario waited for breakfast, and had an interview with his future
+father-in-law. It was an hour after the scene up-stairs before Mr.
+Neefit could descend, and when he did come down he was not very
+jovial at the breakfast-table. "It isn't what I like, Moggs," was the
+first word that he spoke when the young politician rose to grasp the
+hand of his future father-in-law.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you'll live to like it, Mr. Neefit," said Ontario, who, now
+that he was to have his way in regard to Polly, was prepared to
+disregard entirely any minor annoyances.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't know how that may be. I think my girl might have done
+better. I told her so, and I just tell you the same. She might a'
+done a deal better, but women is always restive."</p>
+
+<p>"We like to have our own way about our young men, father," said
+Polly, who was standing behind her father's chair.</p>
+
+<p>"Bother young men," said the breeches-maker. After that the interview
+passed off, if not very pleasantly, at least smoothly,&mdash;and it was
+understood that Mr. Neefit was to abandon that system of persecution
+against Ralph Newton, to which his life had been devoted for the last
+few weeks.</p>
+
+<p>After that there was a pretty little correspondence between Polly and
+Ralph, with which the story of Polly's maiden life may be presumed to
+be ended, and which shall be given to the reader, although by doing
+so the facts of our tale will be somewhat anticipated. Polly, with
+her father's permission, communicated the fact of her engagement to
+her former lover.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="jright">Hendon, Saturday.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">Dear Sir</span>,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>Father thinks it best that I should tell you that I am
+engaged to marry Mr. Ontario Moggs,&mdash;whom you will
+remember. He is a most respectable tradesman, and stood
+once for a member of Parliament, and I think he will make
+me quite happy; and I'm quite sure that's what I'm fitted
+for.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p class="noindent">Whether Polly
+meant that she was fitted to be made happy, or fitted
+to be the wife of a tradesman who stood for Parliament, did not
+appear quite clearly.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p>There have been things which we are very sorry for, and
+hope you'll forgive and forget. Father bids me say how
+sorry he is he broke a figure of a pretty little man in
+your room. He would get another, only he would not know
+where to go for it.</p>
+
+<p>Wishing you always may be happy, believe me to remain,</p>
+
+<p class="ind8">Yours most respectfully,</p>
+
+<p class="ind12"><span class="smallcaps">Maryanne Neefit</span>.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>Ralph's answer was dated about a fortnight
+<span class="nowrap">afterwards;&mdash;</span><br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="jright">&mdash;, Cavendish Square, 1 June, 186&mdash;.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">My dear Polly</span>,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>I hope you will allow me to call you so now for the last
+time. I am, indeed, happy that you are going to be
+married. I believe Mr. Moggs to be a most excellent
+fellow. I hope I may often see him,&mdash;and sometimes you. He
+must allow you to accept a little present which I send
+you, and never be jealous if you wear it at your waist.</p>
+<p>The pretty little man that your father broke by accident
+in my rooms did not signify at all. Pray tell him so from
+me.</p>
+
+<p class="ind4">Believe me to be your very sincere friend,</p>
+
+<p class="ind15"><span class="smallcaps">Ralph Newton</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">I may as
+well tell you my own secret. I am going to be
+married, too. The young lady lives in this house, and her
+name is Augusta Eardham.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>This letter was sent by messenger from Cavendish Square, with a very
+handsome watch and chain. A month afterwards, when he was preparing
+to leave London for Brayboro' Park, he received a little packet, with
+a note as <span class="nowrap">follows;&mdash;</span><br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="jright">Linton, Devonshire, Wednesday.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">Dear Mr. Newton</span>,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>I am so much obliged for the watch, and so is Ontario, who
+will never be jealous, I'm sure. It is a most beautiful
+thing, and I shall value it, oh! so much. I am very glad
+you are going to be married, and should have answered
+before, only I wanted to finish making with my own hand a
+little chain which I send you. And I hope your sweetheart
+won't be jealous either. We looked her out in a book, and
+found she is the daughter of a great gentleman with a
+title. That is all just as it should be. Ontario sends his
+respects. We have come down here for the honeymoon.</p>
+
+<p class="ind6">I remain, yours very sincerely,</p>
+
+<p class="ind12"><span class="smallcaps">Maryanne Moggs</span>.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p><a name="c54" id="c54"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER LIV.</h3>
+<h4>MY MARY.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>Both the invitations sent by Patience Underwood were accepted, and
+Sir Thomas, on the day named, was at home to receive them. Nothing
+had as yet been done as to the constructing of those cases which he
+so suddenly ordered to be made for his books; and, indeed, Stemm had
+resolved to take the order as meaning nothing. It would not be for
+him to accelerate his master's departure from Southampton Buildings,
+and he knew enough of the man to be aware that he must have some very
+strong motive indeed before so great a change could be really made.
+When Sir Thomas left Southampton Buildings for Fulham, on the day
+named for the dinner, not a word further had been said about packing
+the books.</p>
+
+<p>There was no company at the villa besides Sir Thomas, the three
+girls, and the two young men. As to Clarissa, Patience said not a
+word, even to her father,&mdash;that must still be left till time should
+further cure the wound that had been made;&mdash;but she did venture to
+suggest, in private with Sir Thomas, that it was a pity that he who
+was certainly the more worthy of the two Ralphs should not be made to
+understand that others did not think so much of the present
+inferiority of his position in the world as he seemed to think
+himself.</p>
+
+<p>"You mean that Mary would take him?" asked Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"Why should she not, if she likes him? He is very good."</p>
+
+<p>"I can't tell him to offer to her, without telling him also that he
+would be accepted."</p>
+
+<p>"No;&mdash;I suppose not," said Patience.</p>
+
+<p>Nevertheless, Sir Thomas did speak to Ralph Newton before
+dinner,&mdash;stuttering and muttering, and only half finishing his
+sentence. "We had a correspondence once, Mr. Newton. I dare say you
+remember."</p>
+
+<p>"I remember it very well, Sir Thomas."</p>
+
+<p>"I only wanted to tell you;&mdash;you seem to think more about what has
+taken place,&mdash;I mean as to the property,&mdash;than we do;&mdash;that is, than
+I do."</p>
+
+<p>"It has made a change."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes; of course. But I don't know that a large place like Newton is
+sure to make a man happy. Perhaps you'd like to wash your hands
+before dinner." Gregory, in the meantime, was walking round the
+garden with Mary and Clarissa.</p>
+
+<p>The dinner was very quiet, but pleasant and cheerful. Sir Thomas
+talked a good deal, and so did Patience. Mary also was at her ease,
+and able to do all that was required of her. Ralph certainly was not
+gay. He was seated next to Clarissa, and spoke a few words now and
+again; but he was arranging matters in his mind; and Patience, who
+was observing them all, knew that he was pre-occupied. Clarissa, who
+now and again would forget her sorrow and revert to her former
+self,&mdash;as she had done in the picture-gallery,&mdash;could not now, under
+the eye as it were of her father, her sister, and her old lover,
+forget her troubles. She knew what was expected of her; but she could
+not do it;&mdash;she could not do it at least as yet. Nevertheless,
+Patience, who was the engineer in the present crisis, was upon the
+whole contented with the way in which things were going.</p>
+
+<p>The three girls sat with the gentlemen for a quarter of an hour after
+the decanters were put upon the table, and then withdrew. Sir Thomas
+immediately began to talk about Newton Priory, and to ask questions
+which might interest the parson without, as he thought, hurting the
+feelings of the disinherited Ralph. This went on for about five
+minutes, during which Gregory was very eloquent about his church and
+his people, when, suddenly, Ralph rose from his chair and withdrew.
+"Have I said anything that annoyed him?" asked Sir Thomas anxiously.</p>
+
+<p>"It is not that, I think," said Gregory.</p>
+
+<p>Ralph walked across the passage, opened the door of the drawing-room,
+in which the three girls were at work, walked up to the chair in
+which Mary Bonner was sitting, and said something in so low a voice
+that neither of the sisters heard him.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly I will," said Mary, rising from her chair. Patience
+glanced round, and could see that the colour, always present in her
+cousin's face, was heightened,&mdash;ever so little indeed; but still the
+tell-tale blush had told its tale. Ralph stood for a moment while
+Mary moved away to the door, and then followed her without speaking a
+word to the other girls, or bestowing a glance on either of them.</p>
+
+<p>"He is going to propose to her," said Clarissa as soon as the door
+was shut.</p>
+
+<p>"No one can be sure," said Patience.</p>
+
+<p>"Only fancy,&mdash;asking a girl to go out of the room,&mdash;in that brave
+manner! I shouldn't have gone because I'm a coward; but it's just
+what Mary will like."</p>
+
+<p>"Let me get my hat, Mr. Newton," said Mary, taking the opportunity to
+trip up-stairs, though her hat was hanging in the hall. When she was
+in her room she merely stood upright there, for half a minute, in the
+middle of the chamber, erect and stiff, with her arms and fingers
+stretched out, thinking how she would behave herself. Half a minute
+sufficed for her to find her clue, and then she came down as quickly
+as her feet would carry her. He had opened the front door, and was
+standing outside upon the gravel, and there she joined him.</p>
+
+<p>"I had no other way but this of speaking to you," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"I don't dislike coming out at all," she answered. Then there was
+silence for a moment or two as they walked along into the gloom of
+the shrubbery. "I suppose you are going down to Norfolk soon?" she
+said.</p>
+
+<p>"I do not quite know. I thought of going to-morrow."</p>
+
+<p>"So soon as that?"</p>
+
+<p>"But I've got something that I want to settle. I think you must know
+what it is." Then he paused again, almost as though he expected her
+to confess that she did know. But Mary was well aware that it was not
+for her to say another word till he had fully explained in most open
+detail what it was that he desired to settle. "You know a good deal
+of my history, Miss Newton. When I thought that things were going
+well with me,&mdash;much better than I had ever allowed myself to expect
+in early days, I,&mdash;I,&mdash;became acquainted with you." Again he paused,
+but she had not a word to say. "I dare say you were not told, but I
+wrote to your uncle then, asking him whether I might have his consent
+to,&mdash;just to ask you to be my wife." Again he paused, but after that
+he hurried on, speaking the words as quickly as he could throw them
+forth from his mouth. "My father died, and of course that changed
+everything. I told your uncle that all ground for pretension that I
+might have had before was cut from under me. He knew the
+circumstances of my birth,&mdash;and I supposed that you would know it
+also."</p>
+
+<p>Then she did speak. "Yes, I did," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps I was foolish to think that the property would make a
+difference. But the truth of it is, I have not got over the feeling,
+and shall never get over it. I love you with all my heart,&mdash;and
+though it be for no good, I must tell you so."</p>
+
+<p>"The property can make no difference," she said. "You ought to have
+known that, Mr. Newton."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah;&mdash;but it does. I tried to tell you the other day something of my
+present home."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes;&mdash;I know you did;&mdash;and I remember it all."</p>
+
+<p>"There is nothing more to be said;&mdash;only to ask you to share it with
+me."</p>
+
+<p>She walked on with him in silence for a minute; but he said nothing
+more to press his suit, and certainly it was her turn to speak now.
+"I will share it with you," she said, pressing her arm upon his.</p>
+
+<p>"My Mary!"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes;&mdash;your Mary,&mdash;if you please." Then he took her in his arms, and
+pressed her to his bosom, and kissed her lips and forehead, and threw
+back her hat, and put his fingers among her hair. "Why did you say
+that the property would make a difference?" she asked, in a whisper.
+To this he made no answer, but walked on silently, with his arm round
+her waist, till they came out from among the trees, and stood upon
+the bank of the river. "There are people in the boats. You must put
+your arm down," she said.</p>
+
+<p>"I wonder how you will like to be a farmer's wife?" he asked.</p>
+
+<p>"I have not an idea."</p>
+
+<p>"I fear so much that you'll find it rough and hard."</p>
+
+<p>"But I have an idea about something." She took his hand, and looked
+up into his face as she continued. "I have an idea that I shall like
+to be your wife." He was in a seventh heaven of happiness, and would
+have stood there gazing on the river with her all night, if she would
+have allowed him. At last they walked back into the house
+together,&mdash;and into the room where the others were assembled, with
+very little outward show of embarrassment. Mary was the first to
+enter the room, and though she blushed she smiled also, and every one
+knew what had taken place. There was no secret or mystery, and in
+five minutes her cousins were congratulating her. "It's all settled
+for you now," said Clarissa laughing.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, it's all settled for me now, and I wouldn't have it unsettled
+for all the world."</p>
+
+<p>While this was being said in the drawing-room,&mdash;being said even in
+the presence of poor Gregory, who could not but have felt how hard it
+was for him to behold such bliss, Sir Thomas and Ralph had withdrawn
+into the opposite room. Ralph began to apologise for his own
+misfortunes,&mdash;his misfortune in having lost the inheritance, his
+misfortune in being illegitimate; but Sir Thomas soon cut his
+apologies short. "You think a great deal more of it than she does, or
+than I do," said Sir Thomas.</p>
+
+<p>"If she does not regard it, I will never think of it again," said
+Ralph. "My greatest glory in what had been promised me was in
+thinking that it might help to win her."</p>
+
+<p>"You have won her without such help as that," said Sir Thomas, with
+his arm on the young man's shoulder.</p>
+
+<p>There was another delicious hour in store for him as they sat over
+their late tea. "Do you still think of going to Norfolk to-morrow?"
+she said to him, with that composure which in her was so beautiful,
+and, at the same time, so expressive.</p>
+
+<p>"By an early train in the morning."</p>
+
+<p>"I thought that perhaps you might have stayed another day now."</p>
+
+<p>"I thought that perhaps you might want me to come back again," said
+Ralph;&mdash;"and, if so, I could make arrangements;&mdash;perhaps for a week
+or ten days."</p>
+
+<p>"Do come back," she said. "And do stay."</p>
+
+<p>Ralph's triumph as he returned that evening to London received
+Gregory's fullest sympathy; but still it must have been hard to bear.
+Perhaps his cousin's parting words contained for him some comfort.
+"Give her a little time, and she will be yours yet. I shall find it
+all out from Mary, and you may be sure we shall help you."</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c55" id="c55"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER LV.</h3>
+<h4>COOKHAM.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>We have been obliged to anticipate in some degree the course of our
+story by the necessity which weighed upon us of completing the
+history of Polly Neefit. In regard to her we will only further
+express an opinion,&mdash;in which we believe that we shall have the
+concurrence of our readers,&mdash;that Mr. Moggs junior had chosen well.
+Her story could not be adequately told without a revelation of that
+correspondence, which, while it has explained the friendly manner in
+which the Neefit-Newton embarrassments were at last brought to an
+end, has, at the same time, disclosed the future lot in life of our
+hero,&mdash;as far as a hero's lot in life may be said to depend on his
+marriage.</p>
+
+<p>Mr. Neefit had been almost heart-broken, because he was not satisfied
+that his victim was really punished by any of those tortures which
+his imagination invented, and his energy executed. Even when the
+"pretty little man" was smashed, and was, in truth, smashed of malice
+prepense by a swinging blow from Neefit's umbrella, Neefit did not
+feel satisfied that he would thereby reach his victim's heart. He
+could project his own mind with sufficient force into the bosom of
+his enemy to understand that the onions and tobacco consumed in that
+luxurious chamber would cause annoyance;&mdash;but he desired more than
+annoyance;&mdash;he wanted to tear the very heart-strings of the young man
+who had, as he thought, so signally outwitted him. He did not believe
+that he was successful; but, in truth, he did make poor Ralph very
+unhappy. The heir felt himself to be wounded, and could not eat and
+drink, or walk and talk, or ride in the park, or play billiards at
+his club, in a manner befitting the owner of Newton Priory. He was so
+injured by Neefit that he became pervious to attacks which would
+otherwise have altogether failed in reaching him. Lady Eardham would
+never have prevailed against him as she did,&mdash;conquering by a quick
+repetition of small blows,&mdash;had not all his strength been annihilated
+for the time by the persecutions of the breeches-maker.</p>
+
+<p>Lady Eardham whispered to him as he was taking his departure on the
+evening of the dinner in Cavendish Square. "Dear Mr. Newton,&mdash;just
+one word," she said, confidentially,&mdash;"that must be a very horrid
+man,"&mdash;alluding to Mr. Neefit.</p>
+
+<p>"It's a horrid bore, you know, Lady Eardham."</p>
+
+<p>"Just so;&mdash;and it makes me feel,&mdash;as though I didn't quite know
+whether something ought not to be done. Would you mind calling at
+eleven to-morrow? Of course I shan't tell Sir George,&mdash;unless you
+think he ought to be told." Ralph promised that he would call, though
+he felt at the moment that Lady Eardham was an interfering old fool.
+Why should she want to do anything; and why should she give even a
+hint as to telling Sir George? As he walked across Hanover Square and
+down Bond Street to his rooms he did assert to himself plainly that
+the "old harridan," as he called her, was at work for her second
+girl, and he shook his head and winked his eye as he thought of it.
+But, even in his solitude, he did not feel strong against Lady
+Eardham, and he moved along the pavement oppressed by a half-formed
+conviction that her ladyship would prevail against him. He did not,
+however, think that he had any particular objection to Gus Eardham.
+There was a deal of style about the girl, a merit in which either
+Clarissa or Mary would have been sadly deficient. And there could be
+no doubt in this,&mdash;that a man in his position ought to marry in his
+own class. The proper thing for him to do was to make the daughter of
+some country gentleman,&mdash;or of some nobleman, just as it might
+happen,&mdash;mistress of the Priory. Dear little Clary would hardly have
+known how to take her place properly down in Hampshire. And then he
+thought for a moment of Polly! Perhaps, after all, fate, fashion, and
+fortune managed marriage for young men better than they could manage
+it for themselves. What a life would his have been had he really
+married Polly Neefit! Though he did call Lady Eardham a harridan, he
+resolved that he would keep his promise for the following morning.</p>
+
+<p>Lady Eardham when he arrived was mysterious, eulogistic, and
+beneficent. She was clearly of opinion that something should be done.
+"You know it is so horrid having these kind of things said." And yet
+she was almost equally strong in opinion that nothing could be done.
+"You know I wouldn't have my girl's name brought up for all the
+world;&mdash;though why the horrid wretch should have named her I cannot
+even guess." The horrid wretch had not, in truth, named any special
+her, though it suited Lady Eardham to presume that allusion had been
+made to that hope of the flock, that crowning glory of the Eardham
+family, that most graceful of the Graces, that Venus certain to be
+chosen by any Paris, her second daughter, Gus. She went on to explain
+that were she to tell the story to her son Marmaduke, her son
+Marmaduke would probably kill the breeches-maker. As Marmaduke
+Eardham was, of all young men about town, perhaps the most careless,
+the most indifferent, and the least ferocious, his mother was
+probably mistaken in her estimate of his resentful feelings. "As for
+Sir George, he would be for taking the law of the wretch for libel,
+and then we should be&mdash;! I don't know where we should be then; but my
+dear girl would die."</p>
+
+<p>Of course there was nothing done. During the whole interview Lady
+Eardham continued to press Neefit's letter under her hand upon the
+table, as though it was of all documents the most precious. She
+handled it as though to tear it would be as bad as to tear an
+original document bearing the king's signature. Before the interview
+was over she had locked it up in her desk, as though there were
+something in it by which the whole Eardham race might be blessed or
+banned. And, though she spoke no such word, she certainly gave Ralph
+to understand that by this letter he, Ralph Newton, was in some
+mysterious manner so connected with the secrets, and the interests,
+and the sanctity of the Eardham family, that, whether such connection
+might be for weal or woe, the Newtons and the Eardhams could never
+altogether free themselves from the link. "Perhaps you had better
+come and dine with us in a family way to-morrow," said Lady Eardham,
+giving her invitation as though it must necessarily be tendered, and
+almost necessarily accepted. Ralph, not thanking her, but taking it
+in the same spirit, said that he would be there at half past seven.
+"Just ourselves," said Lady Eardham, in a melancholy tone, as though
+they two were doomed to eat family dinners together for ever after.</p>
+
+<p>"I suppose the property is really his own?" said Lady Eardham to her
+husband that afternoon.</p>
+
+<p>Sir George was a stout, plethoric gentleman, with a short temper and
+many troubles. Marmaduke was expensive, and Sir George himself had
+spent money when he was young. The girls, who knew that they had no
+fortunes, expected that everything should be done for them, at least
+during the period of their natural harvest,&mdash;and they were successful
+in having their expectations realised. They demanded that there
+should be horses to ride, servants to attend them, and dresses to
+wear; and they had horses, servants, and dresses. There were also
+younger children; and Sir George was quite as anxious as Lady Eardham
+that his daughters should become wives. "His own?&mdash;of course it's his
+own. Who else should it belong to?"</p>
+
+<p>"There was something about that other young man."</p>
+
+<p>"The bastard! It was the greatest sin that ever was thought of to
+palm such a fellow as that off on the county;&mdash;but it didn't come to
+anything."</p>
+
+<p>"I'm told, too, he has been very extravagant. No doubt he did get
+money from the,&mdash;the tailor who wants to make him marry his
+daughter."</p>
+
+<p>"A flea-bite," said Sir George. "Don't you bother about that." Thus
+authorised, Lady Eardham went to the work with a clear conscience and
+a good will.</p>
+
+<p>On the next morning Ralph received by post an envelope from Sir
+Thomas Underwood containing a letter addressed to him from Mr.
+Neefit. "Sir,&mdash;Are you going to make your ward act honourable to me
+and my daughter?&mdash;Yours, respectful,
+<span class="smallcaps">Thomas Neefit</span>." The reader will
+understand that this was prior to Polly's triumph over her father.
+Ralph uttered a deep curse, and made up his mind that he must either
+throw himself entirely among the Eardhams, or else start at once for
+the Rocky Mountains. He dined in Cavendish Square that day, and again
+took Gus down to dinner.</p>
+
+<p>"I'm very glad to see you here," said Sir George, when they two were
+alone together after the ladies had left them. Sir George, who had
+been pressed upon home service because of the necessity of the
+occasion, was anxious to get off to his club.</p>
+
+<p>"You are very kind, Sir George," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"We shall be delighted to see you at Brayboro', if you'll come for a
+week in September and look at the girls' horses. They say you're
+quite a pundit about horseflesh."</p>
+
+<p>"Oh, I don't know," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"You'll like to go up to the girls now, I dare say, and I've got an
+engagement." Then Sir George rang the bell for a cab, and Ralph went
+up-stairs to the girls. Emily had taken herself away; Josephine was
+playing b&eacute;sique with her mother, and Gus was thus forced into
+conversation with the young man. "B&eacute;sique is so stupid," said Gus.</p>
+
+<p>"Horribly stupid," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"And what do you like, Mr. Newton?"</p>
+
+<p>"I like you," said Ralph. But he did not propose on that evening.
+Lady Eardham thought he ought to have done so, and was angry with
+him. It was becoming almost a matter of necessity with her that young
+men should not take much time. Emily was twenty-seven, and Josephine
+was a most difficult child to manage,&mdash;not pretty, but yet giving
+herself airs and expecting everything. She had refused a clergyman
+with a very good private fortune, greatly to her mother's sorrow. And
+Gus had already been the source of much weary labour. Four eldest
+sons had been brought to her feet and been allowed to slip away; and
+all, as Lady Eardham said, because Gus would "joke" with other young
+men, while the one man should have received all her pleasantry. Emily
+was quite of opinion that young Newton should by no means have been
+allotted to Gus. Lady Eardham, who had played b&eacute;sique with an energy
+against which Josephine would have mutinied but that some promise was
+made as to Marshall and Snelgrove, could see from her little table
+that young Newton was neither abject nor triumphant in his manner. He
+had not received nor had he even asked when he got up to take his
+leave. Lady Eardham could have boxed his ears; but she smiled upon
+him ineffably, pressed his hand, and in the most natural way in the
+world alluded to some former allusion about riding and the park.</p>
+
+<p>"I shan't ride to-morrow," said Gus, with her back turned to them.</p>
+
+<p>"Do," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"No; I shan't."</p>
+
+<p>"You see what she says, Lady Eardham," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"You promised you would before dinner, my dear," said Lady Eardham,
+"and you ought not to change your mind. If you'll be good-natured
+enough to come, two of them will go." Of course it was understood
+that he would come.</p>
+
+<p>"Nothing on earth, mamma, shall ever induce me to play b&eacute;sique
+again," said Josephine, yawning.</p>
+
+<p>"It's not worse for you than for me," said the old lady sharply.</p>
+
+<p>"But it isn't fair," said Josephine, who was supposed to be the
+clever one of the family. "I may have to play my b&eacute;sique a quarter of
+a century hence."</p>
+
+<p>"He's an insufferable puppy," said Emily, who had come into the room,
+and had been pretending to be reading.</p>
+
+<p>"That's because he don't bark at your bidding, my dear," said Gus.</p>
+
+<p>"It doesn't seem that he means to bark at yours," said the elder
+sister.</p>
+
+<p>"If you go on like that, girls, I'll tell your papa, and we'll go to
+Brayboro' at once. It's too bad, and I won't bear it."</p>
+
+<p>"What would you have me do?" said Gus, standing up for herself
+fiercely.</p>
+
+<p>Gus did ride, and so did Josephine, and there was a servant with them
+of course. It had been Emily's turn,&mdash;there being two horses for the
+three girls; but Gus had declared that no good could come if Emily
+went;&mdash;and Emily's going had been stopped by parental authority. "You
+do as you're bid," said Sir George, "or you'll get the worst of it."
+Sir George suffered much from gout, and had obtained from the
+ill-temper which his pangs produced a mastery over his daughters
+which some fathers might have envied.</p>
+
+<p>"You behaved badly to me last night, Mr. Newton," said Gus, on
+horseback. There was another young man riding with Josephine, so that
+the lovers were alone together.</p>
+
+<p>"Behaved badly to you?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, you did, and I felt it very much,&mdash;very much indeed."</p>
+
+<p>"How did I behave badly?"</p>
+
+<p>"If you do not know, I'm sure that I shall not tell you." Ralph did
+not know;&mdash;but he went home from his ride an unengaged man, and may
+perhaps have been thought to behave badly on that occasion also.</p>
+
+<p>But Lady Eardham, though she was sometimes despondent and often
+cross, was gifted with perseverance. A picnic party up the river from
+Maidenhead to Cookham was got up for the 30th of May, and Ralph
+Newton of course was there. Just at that time the Neefit persecution
+was at its worst. Letters directed by various hands came to him
+daily, and in all of them he was asked when he meant to be on the
+square. He knew the meaning of that picnic as well as does the
+reader,&mdash;as well as did Lady Eardham; but it had come to that with
+him that he was willing to yield. It cannot exactly be said for him
+that out of all the feminine worth that he had seen, he himself had
+chosen Gus Eardham as being the most worthy,&mdash;or even that he had
+chosen her as being to him the most charming. But it was evident to
+him that he must get married, and why not to her as well as to
+another? She had style, plenty of style; and, as he told himself,
+style for a man in his position was more than anything else. It can
+hardly be said that he had made up his mind to offer to her before he
+started for Cookham,&mdash;though doubtless through all the remaining
+years of his life he would think that his mind had been so
+fixed,&mdash;but he had concluded, that if she were thrown at his head
+very hard, he might as well take her. "I don't think he ever does
+drink champagne," said Lady Eardham, talking it all over with Gus on
+the morning of the picnic.</p>
+
+<p>At Cookham there is, or was, a punt,&mdash;perhaps there always will be
+one, kept there for such purposes;&mdash;and into this punt either Gus was
+tempted by Ralph, or Ralph by Gus. "My darling child, what are you
+doing?" shouted Lady Eardham from the bank.</p>
+
+<p>"Mr. Newton says he can take me over," said Gus, standing up in the
+punt, shaking herself with a pretty tremor.</p>
+
+<p>"Don't, Mr. Newton; pray don't!" cried Lady Eardham, with affected
+horror.</p>
+
+<p>Lunch was over, or dinner, as it might be more properly called, and
+Ralph had taken a glass or two of champagne. He was a man whom no one
+had ever seen the "worse for wine;" but on this occasion that which
+might have made others drunk had made him bold. "I will not let you
+out, Gus, till you have promised me one thing," said Ralph.</p>
+
+<p>"What is the one thing?"</p>
+
+<p>"That you will go with me everywhere, always."</p>
+
+<p>"You must let me out," said Gus.</p>
+
+<p>"But will you promise?" Then Gus promised; and Lady Eardham, with
+true triumph in her voice, was able to tell her husband on the
+following morning that the cost of the picnic had not been thrown
+away.</p>
+
+<p>On the next morning early Ralph was in the square. Neither when he
+went to bed at night, nor when he got up in the morning, did he
+regret what he had done. The marriage would be quite a proper
+marriage. Nobody could say that he had been mercenary, and he hated a
+mercenary feeling in marriages. Nobody could say that the match was
+beneath him, and all people were agreed that Augusta Eardham was a
+very fine girl. As to her style, there could be no doubt about it.
+There might be some little unpleasantness in communicating the fact
+to the Underwoods,&mdash;but that could be done by letter. After all, it
+would signify very little to him what Sir Thomas thought about him.
+Sir Thomas might think him feeble; but he himself knew very well that
+there had been no feebleness in it. His circumstances had been very
+peculiar, and he really believed that he had made the best of them.
+As Squire of Newton, he was doing quite the proper thing in marrying
+the daughter of a baronet out of the next county. With a light heart,
+a pleased face, and with very well got-up morning apparel, Ralph
+knocked the next morning at the door in Cavendish Square, and asked
+for Sir George Eardham. "I'll just run up-stairs for a second," said
+Ralph, when he was told that Sir George was in the small parlour.</p>
+
+<p>He did run up-stairs, and in three minutes had been kissed by Lady
+Eardham and all her daughters. At this moment Gus was the "dearest
+child" and the "best love of a thing" with all of them. Even Emily
+remembered how pleasant it might be to have a room at Newton Priory,
+and then success always gives a new charm.</p>
+
+<p>"Have you seen Sir George?" asked Lady Eardham.</p>
+
+<p>"Not as yet;&mdash;they said he was there, but I had to come up and see
+her first, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"Go down to him," said Lady Eardham, patting her prey on the back
+twice. "When you've daughters of your own, you'll expect to be
+consulted."</p>
+
+<p>"She couldn't have done better, my dear fellow," said Sir George,
+with kind, genial cordiality. "She couldn't have done better, to my
+thinking, even with a peerage. I like you, and I like your family,
+and I like your property; and she's yours with all my heart. A better
+girl never lived."</p>
+
+<p>"Thank you, Sir George."</p>
+
+<p>"She has no money, you know."</p>
+
+<p>"I don't care about money, Sir George."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear boy, she's yours with all my heart; and I hope you'll make
+each other happy."</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c56" id="c56"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER LVI.</h3>
+<h4>RALPH NEWTON IS BOWLED AWAY.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>A day or two after his engagement, Ralph did write his letter to Sir
+Thomas, and found when the moment came that the task was difficult.
+But he wrote it. The thing had to be done, and there was nothing to
+be gained by postponing it.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+
+
+<blockquote>
+<p class="jright">&mdash;&mdash; Club, June 2, 186&mdash;.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent"><span class="smallcaps">My dear
+Sir Thomas</span>,&mdash;</p>
+
+<p>You will, I hope, be glad to hear that I am engaged to be
+married to Augusta Eardham, the second daughter of Sir
+George Eardham, of Brayboro' Park, in Berkshire. Of course
+you will know the name, and I rather think you were in the
+House when Sir George sat for Berkshire. Augusta has got
+no money, but I have not been placed under the
+disagreeable necessity of looking out for a rich wife. I
+believe we shall be married about the end of August. As
+the ceremony will take place down at Brayboro', I fear
+that I cannot expect that you or Patience and Clarissa
+should come so far. Pray tell them my news, with my best
+love.</p>
+
+<p class="ind4">Yours, most grateful for all your long kindness,</p>
+
+<p class="ind15"><span class="smallcaps">Ralph Newton</span>.</p>
+
+<p class="noindent">I am very sorry that you should have
+been troubled by letters from Mr. Neefit. The matter has been
+arranged at last.<br />&nbsp;</p>
+</blockquote>
+
+
+<p>The letter when done was very simple, but it took him some time, and
+much consideration. Should he or should he not allude to his former
+loves? It was certainly much easier to write his letter without any
+such allusion, and he did so.</p>
+
+<p>About a week after this Sir Thomas went home to Fulham, and took the
+letter with him. "Clary," he said, taking his youngest daughter
+affectionately by the waist, when he found himself alone with her.
+"I've got a piece of news for you."</p>
+
+<p>"For me, papa?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, for all of us. Somebody is going to be married. Who do you
+think it is?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not Ralph Newton?" said Clarissa, with a little start.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, Ralph Newton."</p>
+
+<p>"How quick he arranges things!" said Clarissa. There was some little
+emotion, just a quiver, and a quick rush of blood into her cheeks,
+which, however, left them just as quickly.</p>
+
+<p>"Yes;&mdash;he is quick."</p>
+
+<p>"Who is it, papa?"</p>
+
+<p>"A very proper sort of person,&mdash;the daughter of a Berkshire baronet."</p>
+
+<p>"But what is her name?"</p>
+
+<p>"Augusta Eardham."</p>
+
+<p>"Augusta Eardham. I hope he'll be happy, papa. We've known him a long
+time."</p>
+
+<p>"I think he will be happy;&mdash;what people call happy. He is not
+gifted,&mdash;or cursed, as it may be,&mdash;with fine feelings, and is what
+perhaps may be called thick-skinned; but he will love his own wife
+and children. I don't think he will be a spendthrift now that he has
+plenty to spend, and he is not subject to what the world calls vices.
+I shouldn't wonder if he becomes a prosperous and most respectable
+country gentleman, and quite a model to his neighbours."</p>
+
+<p>"It doesn't seem to matter much;&mdash;does it?" said Clarissa, when she
+told the story to Mary and Patience.</p>
+
+<p>"What doesn't matter?" asked Mary.</p>
+
+<p>"Whether a man cares for the girl he's going to marry, or doesn't
+care at all. Ralph Newton cannot care very much for Miss Eardham."</p>
+
+<p>"I think it matters very much," said Mary.</p>
+
+<p>"Perhaps, after all, he'll be just as fond of his wife, in a way, as
+though he had been making love to her,&mdash;oh, for years," said
+Clarissa. This was nearly all that was said at the villa, though, no
+doubt, poor Clary had many thoughts on the matter, in her solitary
+rambles along the river. That picture of the youth, as he lay upon
+the lawn, looking up into her eyes, and telling her that she was dear
+to him, could not easily be effaced from her memory. Sir Thomas
+before this had written his congratulations to Ralph. They had been
+very short, and in them no allusion had been made to the young ladies
+at Popham Villa.</p>
+
+<p>In the meantime Ralph was as happy as the day was long, and delighted
+with his lot in life. For some weeks previous to his offer he had
+been aware that Lady Eardham had been angling for him as for a fish,
+that he had been as a prey to her and to her daughter, and that it
+behoved him to amuse himself without really taking the hook between
+his gills. He had taken the hook, and now had totally forgotten all
+those former notions of his in regard to a prey, and a fish, and a
+mercenary old harridan of a mother. He had no sooner been kissed all
+round by the women, and paternally blessed by Sir George, than he
+thought that he had exercised a sound judgment, and had with true
+wisdom arranged to ally himself with just the woman most fit to be
+his wife, and the future mistress of Newton Priory. He was proud,
+indeed, of his success, when he read the paragraph in the "Morning
+Post," announcing as a fact that the alliance had been arranged, and
+was again able to walk about among his comrades as one of those who
+make circumstances subject to them, rather than become subject to
+circumstances. His comrades, no doubt, saw the matter in another
+light. "By Jove," said Pretty Poll at his club, "there's Newton been
+and got caught by old Eardham after all. The girl has been running
+ten years, and been hawked about like a second-class race-horse."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes, poor fellow," said Captain Fooks. "Neefit has done that for
+him. Ralph for a while was so knocked off his pins by the
+breeches-maker, that he didn't know where to look for shelter."</p>
+
+<p>Whether marriages should be made in heaven or on earth, must be a
+matter of doubt to observers;&mdash;whether, that is, men and women are
+best married by chance, which I take to be the real fashion of
+heaven-made marriages; or should be brought into that close link and
+loving bondage to each other by thought, selection, and decision.
+That the heavenly mode prevails the oftenest there can hardly be a
+doubt. It takes years to make a friendship; but a marriage may be
+settled in a week,&mdash;in an hour. If you desire to go into partnership
+with a man in business, it is an essential necessity that you should
+know your partner; that he be honest,&mdash;or dishonest, if such be your
+own tendency,&mdash;industrious, instructed in the skill required, and of
+habits of life fit for the work to be done. But into partnerships for
+life,&mdash;of a kind much closer than any business partnership,&mdash;men rush
+without any preliminary inquiries. Some investigation and anxiety as
+to means there may be, though in this respect the ordinary parlance
+of the world endows men with more caution, or accuses them of more
+greed than they really possess. But in other respects everything is
+taken for granted. Let the woman, if possible, be pretty;&mdash;or if not
+pretty, let her have style. Let the man, if possible, not be a fool;
+or if a fool, let him not show his folly too plainly. As for
+knowledge of character, none is possessed, and none is wanted. The
+young people meet each other in their holiday dresses, on holiday
+occasions, amidst holiday pleasures,&mdash;and the thing is arranged. Such
+matches may be said to be heaven-made.</p>
+
+<p>It is a fair question whether they do not answer better than those
+which have less of chance,&mdash;or less of heaven,&mdash;in their manufacture.
+If it be needful that a man and woman take five years to learn
+whether they will suit each other as husband and wife, and that then,
+at the end of the five years, they find that they will not suit, the
+freshness of the flower would be gone before it could be worn in the
+button-hole. There are some leaps which you must take in the dark, if
+you mean to jump at all. We can all understand well that a wise man
+should stand on the brink and hesitate; but we can understand also
+that a very wise man should declare to himself that with no possible
+amount of hesitation could certainty be achieved. Let him take the
+jump or not take it,&mdash;but let him not presume to think that he can so
+jump as to land himself in certain bliss. It is clearly God's
+intention that men and women should live together, and therefore let
+the leap in the dark be made.</p>
+
+<p>No doubt there had been very much of heaven in Ralph Newton's last
+choice. It may be acknowledged that in lieu of choosing at all, he
+had left the matter altogether to heaven. Some attempt he had made at
+choosing,&mdash;in reference to Mary Bonner; but he had found the attempt
+simply to be troublesome and futile. He had spoken soft, loving words
+to Clarissa, because she herself had been soft and lovable. Nature
+had spoken,&mdash;as she does when the birds sing to each other. Then,
+again, while suffering under pecuniary distress he had endeavoured to
+make himself believe that Polly Neefit was just the wife for him.
+Then, amidst the glories of his emancipation from thraldom, he had
+seen Mary Bonner,&mdash;and had actually, after a fashion, made a choice
+for himself. His choice had brought upon him nothing but disgrace and
+trouble. Now he had succumbed at the bidding of heaven and Lady
+Eardham, and he was about to be provided with a wife exactly suited
+for him. It may be said at the same time that Augusta Eardham was
+equally lucky. She also had gotten all that she ought to have wanted,
+had she known what to want. They were both of them incapable of what
+men and women call love when they speak of love as a passion linked
+with romance. And in one sense they were cold-hearted. Neither of
+them was endowed with the privilege of pining because another person
+had perished. But each of them was able to love a mate, when assured
+that that mate must continue to be mate, unless separation should
+come by domestic earthquake. They had hearts enough for paternal and
+maternal duties, and would probably agree in thinking that any geese
+which Providence might send them were veritable swans. Bickerings
+there might be, but they would be bickerings without effect; and
+Ralph Newton, of Newton, would probably so live with this wife of his
+bosom, that they, too, might lie at last pleasantly together in the
+family vault, with the record of their homely virtues visible to the
+survivors of the parish on the same tombstone. The means by which
+each of them would have arrived at these blessings would not redound
+to the credit of either; but the blessings would be there, and it may
+be said of their marriage, as of many such marriages, that it was
+made in heaven, and was heavenly.</p>
+
+<p>The marriage was to take place early in September, and the first week
+in August was passed by Sir George and Lady Eardham and their two
+younger daughters at Newton Priory. On the 14th Ralph was to be
+allowed to run down to the moors just for one week, and then he was
+to be back, passing between Newton and Brayboro', signing deeds and
+settlements, preparing for their wedding tour, and obedient in all
+things to Eardham influences. It did occur to him that it would be
+proper that he should go down to Fulham to see his old friends once
+before his marriage; but he felt that such a visit would be to
+himself very unpleasant, and therefore he assured himself, and
+moreover made himself believe, that, if he abstained from the visit,
+he would abstain because it would be unpleasant to them. He did
+abstain. But he did call at the chambers in Southampton Buildings; he
+called, however, at an hour in which he knew that Sir Thomas would
+not be visible, and made no second pressing request to Stemm for the
+privilege of entrance.</p>
+
+<p>He had great pride in showing his house and park and estate to the
+Eardhams, and had some delicious rambles with his Augusta through the
+shrubberies and down by the little brook. Ralph had an enjoyment in
+the prettiness of nature, and Augusta was clever enough to simulate
+the feeling. He was a little annoyed, perhaps, when he found that the
+beauty of her morning dresses did not admit of her sitting upon the
+grass or leaning against gates, and once expressed an opinion that
+she need not be so particular about her gloves in this the hour of
+their billing and cooing. Augusta altogether declined to remove her
+gloves in a place swarming, as she said, with midges, or to undergo
+any kind of embrace while adorned with that sweetest of all hats,
+which had been purchased for his especial delight. But in other
+respects she was good humoured, and tried to please him. She learned
+the names of all his horses, and was beginning to remember those of
+his tenants. She smiled upon Gregory, and behaved with a pretty
+decorum when the young parson showed her his church. Altogether her
+behaviour was much better than might have been expected from the
+training to which she had been subjected during her seven seasons in
+London. Lord Polperrow wronged her greatly when he said that she had
+been "running" for ten years.</p>
+
+<p>There was a little embarrassment in Ralph's first interview with
+Gregory. He had given his brother notice of his engagement by letter
+as soon as he had been accepted, feeling that any annoyance coming to
+him, might be lessened in that way. Unfortunately he had spoken to
+his brother in what he now felt to have been exaggerated terms of his
+passion for Mary Bonner, and he himself was aware that that malady
+had been quickly cured. "I suppose the news startled you?" he had
+said, with a forced laugh, as soon as he met his brother.</p>
+
+<p>"Well;&mdash;yes, a little. I did not know that you were so intimate with
+them."</p>
+
+<p>"The truth is, I had thought a deal about the matter, and I had come
+to see how essential it was for the interests of us all that I should
+marry into our own set. The moment I saw Augusta I felt that she was
+exactly the girl to make me happy. She is very handsome. Don't you
+think so?"</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly."</p>
+
+<p>"And then she has just the style which, after all, does go so far.
+There's nothing dowdy about her. A dowdy woman would have killed me.
+She attracted me from the first moment; and, by Jove, old fellow, I
+can assure you it was mutual. I am the happiest fellow alive, and I
+don't think there is anything I envy anybody." In all this Ralph
+believed that he was speaking the simple truth.</p>
+
+<p>"I hope you'll be happy, with all my heart," said Gregory.</p>
+
+<p>"I am sure I shall;&mdash;and so will you if you will ask that little puss
+once again. I believe in my heart she loves you." Gregory, though he
+had been informed of his brother's passion for Mary, had never been
+told of that other passion for Clarissa; and Ralph could therefore
+speak of ground for hope in that direction without uncomfortable
+twinges.</p>
+
+<p>There did occur during this fortnight one or two little matters, just
+sufficiently laden with care to ruffle the rose-leaves of our hero's
+couch. Lady Eardham thought that both the dining-room and
+drawing-room should be re-furnished, that a bow-window should be
+thrown out to the breakfast-parlour, and that a raised conservatory
+should be constructed into which Augusta's own morning sitting-room
+up-stairs might be made to open. Ralph gave way about the furniture
+with a good grace, but he thought that the bow-window would disfigure
+the house, and suggested that the raised conservatory would cost
+money. Augusta thought the bow-window was the very thing for the
+house, and Lady Eardham knew as a fact that a similar
+conservatory,&mdash;the sweetest thing in the world,&mdash;which she had seen
+at Lord Rosebud's had cost almost absolutely nothing. And if anything
+was well-known in gardening it was this, that the erection of such
+conservatories was a positive saving in garden expenses. The men
+worked under cover during the rainy days, and the hot-water served
+for domestic as well as horticultural purposes. There was some debate
+and a little heat, and the matter was at last referred to Sir George.
+He voted against Ralph on both points, and the orders were given.</p>
+
+<p>Then there was the more important question of the settlements. Of
+course there were to be settlements, in the arrangement of which
+Ralph was to give everything and to get nothing. With high-handed
+magnanimity he had declared that he wanted no money, and therefore
+the trifle which would have been adjudged to be due to Gus was
+retained to help her as yet less fortunate sisters. In truth
+Marmaduke at this time was so expensive that Sir George was obliged
+to be a little hard. Why, however, he should have demanded out of
+such a property as that of Newton a jointure of &pound;4,000 a year, with a
+house to be found either in town or country as the widow might
+desire, on behalf of a penniless girl, no one acting in the Newton
+interest could understand, unless Sir George might have thought that
+the sum to be ultimately obtained might depend in some degree on that
+demanded. Had he known Mr. Carey he would probably not have subjected
+himself to the rebuke which he received.</p>
+
+<p>Ralph, when the sum was first named to him by Sir George's lawyer,
+who came down purposely to Newton, looked very blank, and said that
+he had not anticipated any arrangement so destructive to the
+property. The lawyer pointed out that there was unfortunately no
+dowager's house provided; that the property would not be destroyed as
+the dower would only be an annuity; that ladies now were more
+liberally treated in this matter than formerly;&mdash;and that the
+suggestion was quite the usual thing. "You don't suppose I mean my
+daughter to be starved?" said Sir George, upon whom gout was then
+coming. Ralph plucked up spirit and answered him. "Nor do I intend
+that your daughter, sir, should be starved." "Dear Ralph, do be
+liberal to the dear girl," said Lady Eardham afterwards, caressing
+our hero in the solitude of her bed-room. Mr. Carey, however,
+arranged the whole matter very quickly. The dower must be &pound;2,000, out
+of which the widow must find her own house. Sir George must be well
+aware, said Mr. Carey, that the demand made was preposterous. Sir
+George said one or two very nasty things; but the dower as fixed by
+Mr. Carey was accepted, and then everything smiled again.</p>
+
+<p>When the Eardhams were leaving Newton the parting between Augusta and
+her lover was quite pretty. "Dear Gus," he said, "when next I am
+here, you will be my own, own wife," and he kissed her. "Dear Ralph,"
+she said, "when next I am here, you will be my own, own husband," and
+kissed him; "but we have Como, and Florence, and Rome, and Naples to
+do before that;&mdash;and won't that be nice?"</p>
+
+<p>"It will be very nice to be anywhere with you," said the lover.</p>
+
+<p>"And mind you have your coat made just as I told you," said Augusta.
+So they parted.</p>
+
+<p>Early in September they were married with great &eacute;clat at Brayboro',
+and Lady Eardham spared nothing on the occasion. It was her first
+maternal triumph, and all the country round was made to know of her
+success. The Newtons had been at Newton for&mdash;she did not know how
+many hundred years. In her zeal she declared that the estate had been
+in the same hands from long before the Conquest. "There's no title,"
+she said to her intimate friend, Lady Wiggham, "but there's that
+which is better than a title. We're mushrooms to the Newtons, you
+know. We only came into Berkshire in the reign of Henry VIII." As the
+Wigghams had only come into Buckinghamshire in the reign of George
+IV., Lady Wiggham, had she known the facts, would probably have
+reminded her dear friend that the Eardhams had in truth first been
+heard of in those parts in the time of Queen Anne,&mdash;the original
+Eardham having made his money in following Marlborough's army. But
+Lady Wiggham had not studied the history of the county gentry. The
+wedding went off very well, and the bride and bridegroom were bowled
+away to the nearest station with four grey post-horses from Reading
+in a manner that was truly delightful to Lady Eardham's motherly
+feelings.</p>
+
+<p>And with the same grey horses shall the happy bride and bridegroom be
+bowled out of our sight also. The writer of this story feels that
+some apology is due to his readers for having endeavoured to
+entertain them so long with the adventures of one of whom it
+certainly cannot be said that he was fit to be delineated as a hero.
+It is thought by many critics that in the pictures of imaginary life
+which novelists produce for the amusement, and possibly for the
+instruction of their readers, none should be put upon the canvas but
+the very good, who by their noble thoughts and deeds may lead others
+to nobility, or the very bad, who by their declared wickedness will
+make iniquity hideous. How can it be worth one's while, such critics
+will say,&mdash;the writer here speaks of all critical readers, and not of
+professional critics,&mdash;how can it be worth our while to waste our
+imaginations, our sympathies, and our time upon such a one as Ralph,
+the heir of the Newton property? The writer, acknowledging the force
+of these objections, and confessing that his young heroes of romance
+are but seldom heroic, makes his apology as follows.</p>
+
+<p>The reader of a novel,&mdash;who has doubtless taken the volume up simply
+for amusement, and who would probably lay it down did he suspect that
+instruction, like a snake in the grass, like physic beneath the
+sugar, was to be imposed upon him,&mdash;requires from his author chiefly
+this, that he shall be amused by a narrative in which elevated
+sentiment prevails, and gratified by being made to feel that the
+elevated sentiments described are exactly his own. When the heroine
+is nobly true to her lover, to her friend, or to her duty, through
+all persecution, the girl who reads declares to herself that she also
+would have been a Jeannie Deans had Fate and Fortune given her an
+Effie as a sister. The bald-headed old lawyer,&mdash;for bald-headed old
+lawyers do read novels,&mdash;who interests himself in the high-minded,
+self-devoting chivalry of a Colonel Newcombe, believes he would have
+acted as did the Colonel had he been so tried. What youth in his
+imagination cannot be as brave, and as loving, though as hopeless in
+his love, as Harry Esmond? Alas, no one will wish to be as was Ralph
+Newton! But for one Harry Esmond, there are fifty Ralph
+Newtons,&mdash;five hundred and fifty of them; and the very youth whose
+bosom glows with admiration as he reads of Harry,&mdash;who exults in the
+idea that as Harry did, so would he have done,&mdash;lives as Ralph lived,
+is less noble, less persistent, less of a man even than was Ralph
+Newton.</p>
+
+<p>It is the test of a novel writer's art that he conceals his
+snake-in-the-grass; but the reader may be sure that it is always
+there. No man or woman with a conscience,&mdash;no man or woman with
+intellect sufficient to produce amusement, can go on from year to
+year spinning stories without the desire of teaching; with no
+ambition of influencing readers for their good. Gentle readers, the
+physic is always beneath the sugar, hidden or unhidden. In writing
+novels we novelists preach to you from our pulpits, and are keenly
+anxious that our sermons shall not be inefficacious. Inefficacious
+they are not, unless they be too badly preached to obtain attention.
+Injurious they will be unless the lessons taught be good lessons.</p>
+
+<p>What a world this would be if every man were a Harry Esmond, or every
+woman a Jeannie Deans! But then again, what a world if every woman
+were a Beckie Sharp and every man a Varney or a Barry Lyndon! Of
+Varneys and Harry Esmonds there are very few. Human nature, such as
+it is, does not often produce them. The portraits of such virtues and
+such vices serve no doubt to emulate and to deter. But are no other
+portraits necessary? Should we not be taught to see the men and women
+among whom we really live,&mdash;men and women such as we are
+ourselves,&mdash;in order that we should know what are the exact failings
+which oppress ourselves, and thus learn to hate, and if possible to
+avoid in life the faults of character which in life are hardly
+visible, but which in portraiture of life can be made to be so
+transparent.</p>
+
+<p>Ralph Newton did nothing, gentle reader, which would have caused thee
+greatly to grieve for him, nothing certainly which would have caused
+thee to repudiate him, had he been thy brother. And gentlest,
+sweetest reader, had he come to thee as thy lover, with sufficient
+protest of love, and with all his history written in his hand, would
+that have caused thee to reject his suit? Had he been thy neighbour,
+thou well-to-do reader, with a house in the country, would he not
+have been welcome to thy table? Wouldst thou have avoided him at his
+club, thou reader from the West-end? Has he not settled himself
+respectably, thou grey-haired, novel-reading paterfamilias, thou
+materfamilias, with daughters of thine own to be married? In life
+would he have been held to have disgraced himself,&mdash;except in the
+very moment in which he seemed to be in danger? Nevertheless, the
+faults of a Ralph Newton, and not the vices of a Varney or a Barry
+Lyndon are the evils against which men should in these days be taught
+to guard themselves;&mdash;which women also should be made to hate. Such
+is the writer's apology for his very indifferent hero, Ralph the
+Heir.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c57" id="c57"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER LVII.</h3>
+<h4>CLARISSA'S FATE.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>In the following October, while Newton of Newton and his bride were
+making themselves happy amidst the glories of Florence, she with her
+finery from Paris, and he with a newly-acquired taste for Michael
+Angelo and the fine arts generally, Gregory the parson again went up
+to London. He had, of course, "assisted" at his brother's
+marriage,&mdash;in which the heavy burden of the ceremony was imposed on
+the shoulders of a venerable dean, who was related to Lady
+Eardham,&mdash;and had since that time been all alone at his parsonage.
+Occasionally he had heard of the Underwoods from Ralph Newton of
+Beamingham, whose wedding had been postponed till Beamingham Hall had
+been made fit for its mistress; and from what he had heard Gregory
+was induced,&mdash;hardly to hope,&mdash;but to dream it to be possible that
+even yet he might prevail in love. An idea had grown upon him,
+springing from various sources, that Clarissa had not been
+indifferent to his brother, and that this feeling on her part had
+marred, and must continue to mar, his own happiness. He never
+believed that there had been fault on his brother's part; but still,
+if Clarissa had been so wounded,&mdash;he could hardly hope,&mdash;and perhaps
+should not even wish,&mdash;that she would consent to share with him his
+parsonage in the close neighbourhood of his brother's house. During
+all that September he told himself that the thing should be over, and
+he began to teach himself,&mdash;to try to teach himself,&mdash;that celibacy
+was the state in which a clergyman might best live and do his duty.
+But the lesson had not gone far with him before he shook himself, and
+determined that he would try yet once again. If there had been such a
+wound, why should not the wound be cured? Clarissa was at any rate
+true. She would not falsely promise him a heart, when it was beyond
+her power to give it. In October, therefore, he went again up to
+London.</p>
+
+<p>The cases for packing the books had not even yet been made, and Sir
+Thomas was found in Southampton Buildings. The first words had, of
+course, reference to the absent Squire. The squire of one's parish,
+the head of one's family, and one's elder brother, when the three are
+united in the same personage, will become important to one, even
+though the personage himself be not heroic. Ralph had written home
+twice, and everything was prospering with him. Sir Thomas, who had
+become tired of his late ward, and who had thought worse of the
+Eardham marriage than the thing deserved, was indifferent to the joys
+of the Italian honeymoon. "They'll do very well, no doubt," said Sir
+Thomas. "I was delighted to learn that Augusta bore her journey so
+well," said Gregory. "Augustas always do bear their journeys well,"
+said Sir Thomas; "though sometimes, I fancy, they find the days a
+little too long."</p>
+
+<p>But his tone was very different when Gregory asked his leave to make
+one more attempt at Popham Villa. "I only hope you may succeed,&mdash;for
+her sake, as well as for your own," said Sir Thomas. But when he was
+asked as to the parson's chance of success, he declared that he could
+say nothing. "She is changed, I think, from what she used to be,&mdash;is
+more thoughtful, perhaps, and less giddy. It may be that such change
+will turn her towards you." "I would not have her changed in
+anything," said Gregory,&mdash;"except in her feelings towards myself."</p>
+
+<p>He had been there twice or thrice before he found what he thought to
+be an opportunity fit for the work that he had on hand. And yet both
+Patience and Mary did for him and for her all that they knew how to
+do. But in such a matter it is so hard to act without seeming to act!
+She who can man&oelig;uvre on such a field without displaying her
+man&oelig;uvres is indeed a general! No man need ever attempt the
+execution of a task so delicate. Mary and Patience put their heads
+together, and resolved that they would say nothing. Nor did they
+manifestly take steps to leave the two alone together. It was a
+question with them, especially with Patience, whether the lover had
+not come too soon.</p>
+
+<p>But Clarissa at last attacked her sister. "Patience," she said, "why
+do you not speak to me?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not speak to you, Clary?"</p>
+
+<p>"Not a word,&mdash;about that which is always on my mind. You have not
+mentioned Ralph Newton's name once since his marriage."</p>
+
+<p>"I have thought it better not to mention it. Why should I mention
+it?"</p>
+
+<p>"If you think that it would pain me, you are mistaken. It pains me
+more that you should think that I could not bear it. He was welcome
+to his wife."</p>
+
+<p>"I know you wish him well, Clary."</p>
+
+<p>"Well! Oh, yes, I wish him well. No doubt he will be happy with her.
+She is fit for him, and I was not. He did quite right."</p>
+
+<p>"He is not half so good as his brother," said Patience.</p>
+
+<p>"Certainly he is not so good as his brother. Men, of course, will be
+different. But it is not always the best man that one likes the best.
+It ought to be so, perhaps."</p>
+
+<p>"I know which I like the best," said Patience. "Oh, Clary, if you
+could but bring yourself to love him."</p>
+
+<p>"How is one to change like that? And I do not know that he cares for
+me now."</p>
+
+<p>"Ah;&mdash;I think he cares for you."</p>
+
+<p>"Why should he? Is a man to be sacrificed for always because a girl
+will not take him? His heart is changed. He takes care to show me so
+when he comes here. I am glad that it should be changed. Dear Patty,
+if papa would but come and live at home, I should want nothing else."</p>
+
+<p>"I want something else," said Patience.</p>
+
+<p>"I want nothing but that you should love me;&mdash;and that papa should be
+with us. But, Patty, do not make me feel that you are afraid to speak
+to me."</p>
+
+<p>On the day following Gregory was again at Fulham, and he had come
+thither fully determined that he would now for the last time ask that
+question, on the answer to which, as it now seemed to him, all his
+future happiness must depend. He had told himself that he would shake
+off this too human longing for a sweet face to be ever present with
+him at his board, for a sweet heart to cherish him with its love, for
+a dear head to lie upon his bosom. But he had owned to himself that
+it could not be shaken off, and having so owned, was more sick than
+ever with desire. Mary and Clarissa were both out when he arrived,
+and he was closeted for a while with Patience. "How tired you must be
+of seeing me," he said.</p>
+
+<p>"Tired of seeing you? Oh no!"</p>
+
+<p>"I feel myself to be going about like a phantom, and I am ashamed of
+myself. My brother is successful and happy, and has all that he
+desires."</p>
+
+<p>"He is easily satisfied," said Patience, with something of sarcasm in
+her voice.</p>
+
+<p>"And my cousin Ralph is happy and triumphant. I ought not to pine,
+but in truth I am so weak that I am always pining. Tell me at
+once,&mdash;is there a chance for me?"</p>
+
+<p>Did it occur to him to think that she to whom he was speaking, ever
+asked herself why it was not given to her to have even a hope of that
+joy for which he was craving? Did she ever pine because, when others
+were mating round her, flying off in pairs to their warm mutual
+nests, there came to her no such question of mating and flying off to
+love and happiness? If there was such pining, it was all inward,
+hidden from her friends so that their mirth should not be lessened by
+her want of mirth, not expressed either by her eye or mouth because
+she knew that on the expression of her face depended somewhat of the
+comfort of those who loved her. A homely brow, and plain features,
+and locks of hair that have not been combed by Love's attendant
+nymphs into soft and winning tresses, seems to tell us that Love is
+not wanted by the bosom that owns them. We teach ourselves to regard
+such a one, let her be ever so good, with ever so sweet temper, ever
+so generous in heart, ever so affectionate among her friends, as
+separated alike from the perils and the privileges of that passion
+without which they who are blessed or banned with beauty would regard
+life but as a charred and mutilated existence. It is as though we
+should believe that passion springs from the rind, which is fair or
+foul to the eye, and not in the heart, which is often fairest,
+freshest, and most free, when the skin is dark and the cheeks are
+rough. This young parson expected Patience to sympathise with him, to
+greet for him, to aid him if there might be aid, and to understand
+that for him the world would be blank and wretched unless he could
+get for himself a soft sweet mate to sing when he sang, and to wail
+when he wailed. The only mate that Patience had was this very girl
+that was to be thus taken from her. But she did sympathise with him,
+did greet for him, did give him all her aid. Knowing what she was
+herself and how God had formed her, she had learned to bury self
+absolutely and to take all her earthly joy from the joys of others.
+Shall it not come to pass that, hereafter, she too shall have a lover
+among the cherubim? "What can I say to you?" replied Patience to the
+young man's earnest entreaty. "If she were mine to give, I would give
+her to you instantly."</p>
+
+<p>"Then you think there is no chance. If I thought that, why should I
+trouble her again?"</p>
+
+<p>"I do not say so. Do you not know, Mr. Newton, that in such matters
+even sisters can hardly tell their thoughts to each other? How can
+they when they do not even know their own wishes?"</p>
+
+<p>"She does not hate me then?"</p>
+
+<p>"Hate you! no;&mdash;she does not hate you. But there are so many degrees
+between hating and that kind of love which you want from her! You may
+be sure of this, that she so esteems you that your persistence cannot
+lessen you in her regard."</p>
+
+<p>He was still pleading his case with the elder sister,&mdash;very uselessly
+indeed, as he was aware; but having fallen on the subject of his love
+it was impossible for him to change it for any other,&mdash;when Clarissa
+came into the room swinging her hat in her hand. She had been over at
+Miss Spooner's house and was full of Miss Spooner's woes and
+complaints. As soon as she had shaken hands with her lover and spoken
+the few words of courtesy which the meeting demanded of her, she
+threw herself into the affairs of Miss Spooner as though they were of
+vital interest. "She is determined to be unhappy, Patty, and it is no
+use trying to make her not so. She says that Jane robs her, which I
+don't believe is true, and that Sarah has a lover,&mdash;and why shouldn't
+Sarah have a lover? But as for curing her grievances, it would be the
+cruellest thing in the world. She lives upon her grievances.
+Something has happened to the chimney-pot, and the landlord hasn't
+sent a mason. She is revelling in her chimney-pot."</p>
+
+<p>"Poor dear Miss Spooner," said Patience, getting up and leaving the
+room as though it were her duty to look at once after her old friend
+in the midst of these troubles.</p>
+
+<p>Clarissa had not intended this. "She's asleep now," said Clarissa.
+But Patience went all the same. It might be that Miss Spooner would
+require to be watched in her slumbers. When Patience was gone Gregory
+Newton got up from his seat and walked to the window. He stood there
+for what seemed to be an endless number of seconds before he
+returned, and Clarissa had time to determine that she would escape.
+"I told Mary that I would go to her," she said, "you won't mind being
+left alone for a few minutes, Mr. Newton."</p>
+
+<p>"Do not go just now, Clarissa."</p>
+
+<p>"Only that I said I would," she answered, pleading that she must keep
+a promise which she had never made.</p>
+
+<p>"Mary can spare you,&mdash;and I cannot. Mary is staying with you, and I
+shall be gone,&mdash;almost immediately. I go back to Newton to-morrow,
+and who can say when I shall see you again?"</p>
+
+<p>"You will be coming up to London, of course."</p>
+
+<p>"I am here now at any rate," he said smiling, "and will take what
+advantage of it I can. It is the old story, Clarissa;&mdash;so old that I
+know you must be sick of it."</p>
+
+<p>"If you think so, you should not tell it again."</p>
+
+<p>"Do not be ill-natured to me. I don't know why it is but a man gets
+to be ashamed of himself, as though he were doing something mean and
+paltry, when he loves with persistence, as I do." Had it been
+possible that she should give him so much encouragement she would
+have told him that the mean man, and paltry, was he who could love or
+pretend to love with no capacity for persistency. She could not fail
+to draw a comparison between him and his brother, in which there was
+so much of meanness on the part of him who had at one time been as a
+god to her, and so much nobility in him to whom she was and ever had
+been as a goddess. "I suppose a man should take an answer and have
+done with it," he continued. "But how is a man to have done with it,
+when his heart remains the same?"</p>
+
+<p>"A man should master his heart."</p>
+
+<p>"I am, then, to understand that that which you have said so often
+before must be said again?" He had never knelt to her, and he did not
+kneel now; but he leaned over her so that she hardly knew whether he
+was on his knees or still seated on his chair. And she herself,
+though she answered him briskly,&mdash;almost with impertinence,&mdash;was so
+little mistress of herself that she knew not what she said. She would
+take him now,&mdash;if only she knew how to take him without disgracing
+herself in her own estimation. "Dear Clary, think of it. Try to love
+me. I need not tell you again how true is my love for you." He had
+hold of her hand, and she did not withdraw it, and he ought to have
+known that the battle was won. But he knew nothing. He hardly knew
+that her hand was in his. "Clary, you are all the world to me. Must I
+go back heart-laden, but empty-handed, with no comfort?"</p>
+
+<p>"If you knew all!" she said, rising suddenly from her chair.</p>
+
+<p>"All what?"</p>
+
+<p>"If you knew all, you would not take me though I offered myself." He
+stood staring at her, not at all comprehending her words, and she
+perceived in the midst of her distress that it was needful that she
+should explain herself. "I have loved Ralph always;&mdash;yes, your
+brother."</p>
+
+<p>"And he?"</p>
+
+<p>"I will not accuse him in anything. He is married now, and it is
+past."</p>
+
+<p>"And you can never love again?"</p>
+
+<p>"Who would take such a heart as that? It would not be worth the
+giving or worth the taking. Oh&mdash;how I loved him!" Then he left her
+side, and went back to the window, while she sank back upon her
+chair, and, burying her face in her hands, gave way to tears and
+sobs. He stood there perhaps for a minute, and then returning to her,
+so gently that she did not hear him, he did kneel at her side. He
+knelt, and putting his hand upon her arm, he kissed the sleeve of her
+gown. "You had better go from me now," she said, amidst her sobs.</p>
+
+<p>"I will never go from you again," he answered. "God's mercy can cure
+also that wound, and I will be his minister in healing it. Clarissa,
+I am so glad that you have told me all. Looking back I can understand
+it now. I once thought that it was so."</p>
+
+<p>"Yes," she said, "yes; it was so."</p>
+
+<p>Gradually one hand of hers fell into his, and though no word of
+acceptance had been spoken he knew that he was at last accepted. "My
+own Clary," he said. "I may call you my own?" There was no answer,
+but he knew that it was so. "Nothing shall be done to trouble
+you;&mdash;nothing shall be said to press you. You may be sure of this, if
+it be good to be loved,&mdash;that no woman was ever loved more tenderly
+than you are."</p>
+
+<p>"I do know it," she said, through her tears.</p>
+
+<p>Then he rose and stood again at the window, looking out upon the lawn
+and the river. She was still weeping, but he hardly heeded her tears.
+It was better for her that she should weep than restrain them. And,
+as to himself and his own feelings,&mdash;he tried to question himself,
+whether, in truth, was he less happy in this great possession, which
+he had at last gained, because his brother had for a while interfered
+with him in gaining it? That she would be as true to him now, as
+tender and as loving, as though Ralph had never crossed her path, he
+did not for a moment doubt. That she would be less sweet to him
+because her sweetness had been offered to another he would not admit
+to himself,&mdash;even though the question were asked. She would be all
+his own, and was she not the one thing in the world which he coveted?
+He did think that for such a one as his Clarissa he would be a better
+mate than would have been his brother, and he was sure that she
+herself would learn to know that it was so. He stood there long
+enough to resolve that this which had been told him should be no
+drawback upon his bliss. "Clary," he said, returning to her, "it is
+settled?" She made him no answer. "My darling, I am as happy now as
+though Ralph had never seen your sweet face, or heard your dear
+voice. Look up at me once." Slowly she looked up into his eyes, and
+then stood before him almost as a suppliant, and gave him her face to
+be kissed. So at last they became engaged as man and wife;&mdash;though it
+may be doubted whether she spoke another word before he left the
+room.</p>
+
+<p>It was, however, quite understood that they were engaged; and, though
+he did not see Clarissa again, he received the congratulations both
+of Patience and Mary Bonner before he left the house; and that very
+night succeeded in hunting down Sir Thomas, so that he might tell the
+father that the daughter had at last consented to become his wife.</p>
+
+
+<p><a name="c58" id="c58"></a>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<h3>CHAPTER LVIII.</h3>
+<h4>CONCLUSION.<br />&nbsp;</h4>
+
+
+<p>Clarissa had found it hard to change the object of her love, so hard,
+that for a time she had been unwilling even to make the effort;&mdash;and
+she had been ashamed that those around her should think that she
+would make it; but when the thing was done, her second hero was
+dearer to her than ever had been the first. He at least was true.
+With him there was no need of doubt. His assurances were not conveyed
+in words so light that they might mean much or little. This second
+lover was a lover, indeed, who thought no pains too great to show her
+that she was ever growing in his heart of hearts. For a while,&mdash;for a
+week or two,&mdash;she restrained her tongue; but when once she had
+accustomed herself to the coaxing kindness of her sister and her
+cousin, then her eloquence was loosened, and Gregory Newton was a god
+indeed. In the course of time she got a very pretty note from Ralph,
+congratulating her, as he also had congratulated Polly, and
+expressing a fear that he might not be home in time to be present at
+the wedding. Augusta was so fond of Rome that they did not mean to
+leave it till the late spring. Then, after a while, there came to
+her, also, a watch and chain, twice as costly as those given to
+Polly,&mdash;which, however, no persuasion from Gregory would ever induce
+Clarissa to wear. In after time Ralph never noticed that the trinkets
+were not worn.</p>
+
+<p>The winter at Popham Villa went on very much as other winters had
+gone, except that two of the girls living there were full of future
+hopes, and preparing for future cares, while the third occupied her
+heart and mind with the cares and hopes of the other two. Patience,
+however, had one other task in hand, a task upon the performance of
+which her future happiness much depended, and in respect to which she
+now ventured to hope for success. Wherever her future home might be,
+it would be terrible to her if her father would not consent to occupy
+it with her. It had been settled that both the marriages should take
+place early in April,&mdash;both on the same day, and, as a matter of
+course, the weddings would be celebrated at Fulham. Christmas had
+come and gone, and winter was going, before Sir Thomas had absolutely
+promised to renew that order for the making of the packing-cases for
+his books. "You won't go back, papa, after they are married,"
+Patience said to her father, early in March.</p>
+
+<p>"If I do it shall not be for long."</p>
+
+<p>"Not for a day, papa! Surely you will not leave me alone? There will
+be plenty of room now. The air of Fulham will be better for your work
+than those stuffy, dark, dingy lawyers' chambers."</p>
+
+<p>"My dear, all the work of my life that was worth doing was done in
+those stuffy, dingy rooms." That was all that Sir Thomas said, but
+the accusation conveyed to him by his daughter's words was very
+heavy. For years past he had sat intending to work, purposing to
+achieve a great task which he set for himself, and had done&mdash;almost
+nothing. Might it be yet possible that that purer air of which Patty
+spoke should produce new energy, and lead to better results? The
+promise of it did at least produce new resolutions. It was
+impossible, as Patience had said, that his child should be left to
+dwell alone, while yet she had a father living.</p>
+
+<p>"Stemm," he said, "I told you to get some packing-cases made."</p>
+
+<p>"Packing-cases, Sir Thomas?"</p>
+
+<p>"Yes;&mdash;packing-cases for the books. It was months ago. Are they
+ready?"</p>
+
+<p>"No, Sir Thomas. They ain't ready."</p>
+
+<p>"Why not?"</p>
+
+<p>"Well, Sir Thomas;&mdash;they ain't; that's all." Then the order was
+repeated in a manner so formal, as to make Stemm understand that it
+was intended for a fact. "You are going away from this; are you, Sir
+Thomas?"</p>
+
+<p>"I believe that I shall give the chambers up altogether at midsummer.
+At any rate, I mean to have the books packed at once."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, Sir Thomas." Then there was a pause, during which Stemm
+did not leave the room. Nor did Sir Thomas dismiss him, feeling that
+there might well be other things which would require discussion. "And
+about me, Sir Thomas?" said Stemm.</p>
+
+<p>"I have been thinking about that, Stemm."</p>
+
+<p>"So have I, Sir Thomas,&mdash;more nor once."</p>
+
+<p>"You can come to Fulham if you like,&mdash;only you must not scold the
+maids."</p>
+
+<p>"Very well, Sir Thomas," said Stemm, with hardly any variation in his
+voice, but still with less of care upon his brow.</p>
+
+<p>"Mind, I will not have you scolding them at the villa."</p>
+
+<p>"Not unless they deserve it, Sir Thomas," said Stemm. Sir Thomas
+could say nothing further. For our own part we fear that the maidens
+at the villa will not be the better in conduct, as they certainly
+will not be more comfortable in their lives, in consequence of this
+change.</p>
+
+<p>And the books were moved in large packing-cases, not one of which had
+yet been opened when the two brides returned to Popham Villa after
+their wedding tours, to see Patience just for a day before they were
+taken to their new homes. Nevertheless, let us hope that the change
+of air and of scene may tend to future diligence, and that the magnus
+opus may yet be achieved. We have heard of editions of Aristophanes,
+of Polybius, of the Iliad, of Ovid, and what not, which have ever
+been forthcoming under the hands of notable scholars, who have grown
+grey amidst the renewed promises which have been given. And some of
+these works have come forth, belying the prophecies of incredulous
+friends. Let us hope that the great Life of Bacon may yet be written.</p>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="narrow" />
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<table border="0" cellpadding="10" style="background-color: #ccccff;">
+  <tr>
+    <td align="center">Transcriber's note:</td>
+  </tr>
+  <tr>
+    <td class="j">
+		<p>Trollope was sometimes inconsistent with names of people or places.
+		In the early pages of this novel the name of Mr. Neefit's home was
+		Alexandrina Cottage. In the middle of the book it became Alexandria
+		Cottage, and in later pages it was Alexandra Cottage. The names have
+		been transcribed as they were in the original.</p>
+	</td>
+  </tr>
+</table>
+
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<p>&nbsp;</p>
+<hr class="full" />
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@@ -0,0 +1,22530 @@
+The Project Gutenberg eBook, Ralph the Heir, by Anthony Trollope,
+Illustrated by F. A. Fraser
+
+
+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: Ralph the Heir
+
+
+Author: Anthony Trollope
+
+
+
+Release Date: May 23, 2008  [eBook #25579]
+Most recently updated: June 26, 2012
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII)
+
+
+***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RALPH THE HEIR***
+
+
+E-text prepared by Joseph E. Loewenstein, M.D.
+
+
+
+Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this
+      file which includes the original illustrations.
+      See 25579-h.htm or 25579-h.zip:
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/5/7/25579/25579-h/25579-h.htm)
+      or
+      (https://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/2/5/5/7/25579/25579-h.zip)
+
+
+
+
+
+RALPH THE HEIR
+
+by
+
+ANTHONY TROLLOPE
+
+With Illustrations by F. A. Fraser
+
+First published serially in _Saint Paul's Magazine_ in 1870-1
+and in book form in 1871
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: He drank his sherry and soda-water, and lit his pipe,
+and lay there on the lawn, as though he were quite at home . . .
+(Chapter III.)]
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS
+
+         I. SIR THOMAS.
+        II. POPHAM VILLA.
+       III. WHAT HAPPENED ON THE LAWN AT POPHAM VILLA.
+        IV. MARY BONNER.
+         V. MR. NEEFIT AND HIS FAMILY.
+        VI. MRS. NEEFIT'S LITTLE DINNER.
+       VII. YOU ARE ONE OF US NOW.
+      VIII. RALPH NEWTON'S TROUBLES.
+        IX. ONTARIO MOGGS.
+         X. SIR THOMAS IN HIS CHAMBERS.
+        XI. NEWTON PRIORY.
+       XII. MRS. BROWNLOW.
+      XIII. MR. NEEFIT IS DISTURBED.
+       XIV. THE REV. GREGORY NEWTON.
+        XV. CLARISSA WAITS.
+       XVI. THE CHESHIRE CHEESE.
+      XVII. RALPH NEWTON'S DOUBTS.
+     XVIII. WE WON'T SELL BROWNRIGGS.
+       XIX. POLLY'S ANSWER.
+        XX. THE CONSERVATIVES OF PERCYCROSS.
+       XXI. THE LIBERALS OF PERCYCROSS.
+      XXII. RALPH NEWTON'S DECISION.
+     XXIII. "I'LL BE A HYPOCRITE IF YOU CHOOSE."
+      XXIV. "I FIND I MUST."
+       XXV. "MR. GRIFFENBOTTOM."
+      XXVI. MOGGS, PURITY, AND THE RIGHTS OF LABOUR.
+     XXVII. THE MOONBEAM.
+    XXVIII. THE NEW HEIR COUNTS HIS CHICKENS.
+      XXIX. THE ELECTION.
+       XXX. "MISS MARY IS IN LUCK."
+      XXXI. IT IS ALL SETTLED.
+     XXXII. SIR THOMAS AT HOME.
+    XXXIII. "TELL ME AND I'LL TELL YOU."
+     XXXIV. ALONE IN THE HOUSE.
+      XXXV. "SHE'LL ACCEPT YOU, OF COURSE."
+     XXXVI. NEEFIT MEANS TO STICK TO IT.
+    XXXVII. "HE MUST MARRY HER."
+   XXXVIII. FOR TWO REASONS.
+     XXXIX. HORSELEECHES.
+        XL. WHAT SIR THOMAS THOUGHT ABOUT IT.
+       XLI. A BROKEN HEART.
+      XLII. NOT BROKEN-HEARTED.
+     XLIII. ONCE MORE.
+      XLIV. THE PETITION.
+       XLV. "NEVER GIVE A THING UP."
+      XLVI. MR. NEEFIT AGAIN.
+     XLVII. THE WAY WHICH SHOWS THAT THEY MEAN IT.
+    XLVIII. MR. MOGGS WALKS TOWARDS EDGEWARE.
+      XLIX. AMONG THE PICTURES.
+         L. ANOTHER FAILURE.
+        LI. MUSIC HAS CHARMS.
+       LII. GUS EARDHAM.
+      LIII. THE END OF POLLY NEEFIT.
+       LIV. MY MARY.
+        LV. COOKHAM.
+       LVI. RALPH NEWTON IS BOWLED AWAY.
+     LVIII. CLARISSA'S FATE.
+     LVIII. CONCLUSION.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+SIR THOMAS.
+
+
+There are men who cannot communicate themselves to others, as there
+are also men who not only can do so, but cannot do otherwise. And
+it is hard to say which is the better man of the two. We do not
+specially respect him who wears his heart upon his sleeve for daws to
+peck at, who carries a crystal window to his bosom so that all can
+see the work that is going on within it, who cannot keep any affair
+of his own private, who gushes out in love and friendship to every
+chance acquaintance; but then, again, there is but little love given
+to him who is always wary, always silent as to his own belongings,
+who buttons himself in a suit of close reserve which he never
+loosens. Respect such a one may gain, but hardly love. It is natural
+to us to like to know the affairs of our friends; and natural also,
+I think, to like to talk of our own to those whom we trust. Perhaps,
+after all that may be said of the weakness of the gushing and
+indiscreet babbler, it is pleasanter to live with such a one than
+with the self-constrained reticent man of iron, whose conversation
+among his most intimate friends is solely of politics, of science, of
+literature, or of some other subject equally outside the privacies of
+our inner life.
+
+Sir Thomas Underwood, whom I, and I hope my readers also, will have
+to know very intimately, was one of those who are not able to make
+themselves known intimately to any. I am speaking now of a man of
+sixty, and I am speaking also of one who had never yet made a close
+friend,--who had never by unconscious and slow degrees of affection
+fallen into that kind of intimacy with another man which justifies
+and renders necessary mutual freedom of intercourse in all the
+affairs of life. And yet he was possessed of warm affections, was by
+no means misanthropic in his nature, and would, in truth, have given
+much to be able to be free and jocund as are other men. He lacked
+the power that way, rather than the will. To himself it seemed to be
+a weakness in him rather than a strength that he should always be
+silent, always guarded, always secret and dark. He had lamented it
+as an acknowledged infirmity;--as a man grieves that he should be
+short-sighted, or dull of hearing; but at the age of sixty he had
+taken no efficient steps towards curing himself of the evil, and had
+now abandoned all idea of any such cure.
+
+Whether he had been, upon the whole, fortunate or unfortunate in life
+shall be left to the reader's judgment. But he certainly had not been
+happy. He had suffered cruel disappointments; and a disappointment
+will crush the spirit worse than a realised calamity. There is no
+actual misfortune in not being Lord Mayor of London;--but when a man
+has set his heart upon the place, has worked himself into a position
+within a few feet of the Mansion House, has become alderman with
+the mayoralty before him in immediate rotation, he will suffer more
+at being passed over by the liverymen than if he had lost half his
+fortune. Now Sir Thomas Underwood had become Solicitor-General in his
+profession, but had never risen to the higher rank or more assured
+emoluments of other legal offices.
+
+We will not quite trace our Meleager back to his egg, but we will
+explain that he was the only son of a barrister of moderate means,
+who put him to the Bar, and who died leaving little or nothing behind
+him. The young barrister had an only sister, who married an officer
+in the army, and who had passed all her latter life in distant
+countries to which her husband had been called by the necessity of
+living on the income which his profession gave him. As a Chancery
+barrister, Mr. Underwood,--our Sir Thomas,--had done well, living on
+the income he made, marrying at thirty-five, going into Parliament
+at forty-five, becoming Solicitor-General at fifty,--and ceasing
+to hold that much-desired office four months after his appointment.
+Such cessation, however, arising from political causes, is no
+disappointment to a man. It will doubtless be the case that a man so
+placed will regret the weakness of his party, which has been unable
+to keep the good things of Government in its hands; but he will
+recognise without remorse or sorrow the fact that the Ministry to
+which he has attached himself must cease to be a Ministry;--and there
+will be nothing in his displacement to gall his pride, or to create
+that inner feeling of almost insupportable mortification which comes
+from the conviction of personal failure. Sir Thomas Underwood had
+been Solicitor-General for a few months under a Conservative Prime
+Minister; and when the Conservative Minister went out of office, Sir
+Thomas Underwood followed him with no feeling of regret that caused
+him unhappiness. But when afterwards the same party came back to
+power, and he, having lost his election at the borough which he had
+represented, was passed over without a word of sympathy or even of
+assumed regret from the Minister, then he was wounded. It was true,
+he knew, that a man, to be Solicitor-General, should have a seat
+in Parliament. The highest legal offices in the country are not to
+be attained by any amount of professional excellence, unless the
+candidate shall have added to such excellence the power of supporting
+a Ministry and a party in the House of Commons. Sir Thomas Underwood
+thoroughly understood this;--but he knew also that there are various
+ways in which a lame dog may be helped over a stile,--if only the
+lame dog be popular among dogs. For another ex-Solicitor-General
+a seat would have been found,--or some delay would have been
+granted,--or at least there would have been a consultation, with a
+suggestion that something should be tried. But in this case a man
+four years his junior in age, whom he despised, and who, as he was
+informed, had obtained his place in Parliament by gross bribery, was
+put into the office without a word of apology to him. Then he was
+unhappy, and acknowledged to himself that his spirit was crushed.
+
+But he acknowledged to himself at the same time that he was one
+doomed by his nature to such crushing of the spirit if he came out of
+the hole of his solitude, and endeavoured to carry on the open fight
+of life among his fellow-men. He knew that he was one doomed to
+that disappointment, the bitterest of all, which comes from failure
+when the prize has been all but reached. It is much to have become
+Solicitor-General, and that he had achieved;--but it is worse than
+nothing to have been Solicitor-General for four months, and then
+to find that all the world around one regards one as having failed,
+and as being, therefore, fit for the shelf. Such were Sir Thomas
+Underwood's feelings as he sat alone in his chambers during those
+days in which the new administration was formed,--in which days he
+was neither consulted nor visited, nor communicated with either by
+message or by letter. But all this,--this formation of a Ministry,
+in which the late Solicitor-General was not invited to take a
+part,--occurred seven years before the commencement of our story.
+
+During those years in which our lawyer sat in Parliament as Mr.
+Underwood,--at which time he was working hard also as a Chancery
+barrister, and was, perhaps, nearer to his fellow-men than he had
+ever been before, or was ever destined to be afterwards,--he resided,
+as regarded himself almost nominally, at a small but pretty villa,
+which he had taken for his wife's sake at Fulham. It was close upon
+the river, and had well-arranged, though not extensive, shrubbery
+walks, and a little lawn, and a tiny conservatory, and a charming
+opening down to the Thames. Mrs. Underwood had found herself unable
+to live in Half-moon Street; and Mr. Underwood, not unwillingly,
+had removed his household gods to this retreat. At that time his
+household gods consisted of a wife and two daughters;--but the wife
+had died before the time came at which she could have taken on
+herself the name of Lady Underwood. The villa at Fulham was still
+kept, and there lived the two girls, and there also Sir Thomas, had
+he been interrogated on the subject, would have declared that he also
+was domiciled. But if a man lives at the place in which he most often
+sleeps, Sir Thomas in truth lived at his chambers at Southampton
+Buildings. When he moved those household gods of his to the villa, it
+was necessary, because of his duties in Parliament, that he should
+have some place in town wherein he might lay his head, and therefore,
+I fear not unwillingly, he took to laying his head very frequently in
+the little bedroom which was attached to his chambers.
+
+It is not necessary that we should go back to any feelings which
+might have operated upon him during his wife's lifetime, or during
+the period of his parliamentary career. His wife was now dead, and
+he no longer held a seat in Parliament. He had, indeed, all but
+abandoned his practice at the Bar, never putting himself forward for
+the ordinary business of a Chancery barrister. But, nevertheless,
+he spent the largest half of his life in his chambers, breakfasting
+there, reading there, writing there, and sleeping there. He did not
+altogether desert the lodge at Fulham, and the two girls who lived
+there. He would not even admit to them, or allow them to assert that
+he had not his home with them. Sometimes for two nights together,
+and sometimes for three, he would be at the villa,--never remaining
+there, however, during the day. But on Sundays it may almost be said
+that he was never at home. And hence arose the feeling that of all,
+this went the nearest to create discord between the father and the
+daughters. Sir Thomas was always in Southampton Buildings on Sundays.
+Did Sir Thomas go to church? The Miss Underwoods did go to church
+very regularly, and thought much of the propriety and necessity of
+such Sunday exercises. They could remember that in their younger days
+their father always had been there with them. They could remember,
+indeed, that he, with something of sternness, would require from them
+punctuality and exactness in this duty. Now and again,--perhaps four
+times in the year,--he would go to the Rolls Chapel. So much they
+could learn, But they believed that beyond that his Sundays were kept
+holy by no attendance at divine service. And it may be said at once
+that they believed aright.
+
+Sir Thomas's chambers in Southampton Buildings, though they were dull
+and dingy of aspect from the outside, and were reached by a staircase
+which may be designated as lugubrious,--so much did its dark and
+dismantled condition tend to melancholy,--were in themselves large
+and commodious. His bedroom was small, but he had two spacious
+sitting-rooms, one of which was fitted up as a library, and the
+other as a dining-room. Over and beyond these there was a clerk's
+room;--for Sir Thomas, though he had given up the greater part of
+his business, had not given up his clerk; and here the old man, the
+clerk, passed his entire time, from half-past eight in the morning
+till ten at night, waiting upon his employer in various capacities
+with a sedulous personal attention to which he had probably not
+intended to devote himself when he first took upon himself the duties
+of clerk to a practising Chancery barrister. But Joseph Stemm and Sir
+Thomas were not unlike in character, and had grown old together with
+too equal a step to admit of separation and of new alliance. Stemm
+had but one friend in the world, and Sir Thomas was that friend. I
+have already said that Sir Thomas had no friend;--but perhaps he felt
+more of that true intimacy, which friendship produces, with Stemm
+than with any other human being.
+
+Sir Thomas was a tall thin man, who stooped considerably,--though not
+from any effect of years, with a face which would perhaps have been
+almost mean had it not been rescued from that evil condition by the
+assurance of intelligence and strength which is always conveyed by
+a certain class of ugliness. He had a nose something like the great
+Lord Brougham's,--thin, long, and projecting at the point. He had
+quick grey eyes, and a good forehead;--but the component parts of his
+countenance were irregular and roughly put together. His chin was
+long, as was also his upper lip;--so that it may be taken as a fact
+that he was an ugly man. He was hale, however, and strong, and was
+still so good a walker that he thought nothing of making his way down
+to the villa on foot of an evening, after dining at his club.
+
+It was his custom to dine at his club,--that highly respectable and
+most comfortable club situated at the corner of Suffolk Street, Pall
+Mall;--the senior of the two which are devoted to the well-being of
+scions of our great Universities. There Sir Thomas dined, perhaps
+four nights in the week, for ten months in the year. And it was said
+of him in the club that he had never been known to dine in company
+with another member of the club. His very manner as he sat at his
+solitary meal,--always with a pint of port on the table,--was as
+well known as the figure of the old king on horseback outside in
+the street, and was as unlike the ordinary manner of men as is that
+unlike the ordinary figures of kings. He had always a book in his
+hand,--not a club book, nor a novel from Mudie's, nor a magazine, but
+some ancient and hard-bound volume from his own library, which he had
+brought in his pocket, and to which his undivided attention would be
+given. The eating of his dinner, which always consisted of the joint
+of the day and of nothing else, did not take him more than five
+minutes;--but he would sip his port wine slowly, would have a cup of
+tea which he would also drink very slowly,--and would then pocket
+his book, pay his bill, and would go. It was rarely the case that
+he spoke to any one in the club. He would bow to a man here and
+there,--and if addressed would answer; but of conversation at his
+club he knew nothing, and hardly ever went into any room but that in
+which his dinner was served to him.
+
+In conversing about him men would express a wonder how such a one had
+ever risen to high office,--how, indeed, he could have thriven at his
+profession. But in such matters we are, all of us, too apt to form
+confident opinions on apparent causes which are near the surface, but
+which, as guides to character, are fallacious. Perhaps in all London
+there was no better lawyer, in his branch of law, than Sir Thomas
+Underwood. He had worked with great diligence; and though he was shy
+to a degree quite unintelligible to men in general in the ordinary
+intercourse of life, he had no feeling of diffidence when upon his
+legs in Court or in the House of Commons. With the Lord Chancellor's
+wife or daughters he could not exchange five words with comfort to
+himself,--nor with his lordship himself in a drawing-room; but in
+Court the Lord Chancellor was no more to him than another lawyer whom
+he believed to be not so good a lawyer as himself. No man had ever
+succeeded in browbeating him when panoplied in his wig and gown;
+nor had words ever been wanting to him when so arrayed. It had been
+suggested to him by an attorney who knew him in that way in which
+attorneys ought to know barristers, that he should stand for a
+certain borough;--and he had stood and had been returned. Thrice
+he had been returned for the same town; but at last, when it was
+discovered that he would never dine with the leading townsmen,
+or call on their wives in London, or assist them in their little
+private views, the strength of his extreme respectability was broken
+down,--and he was rejected. In the meantime he was found to be
+of value by the party to which he had attached himself. It was
+discovered that he was not only a sound lawyer, but a man of great
+erudition, who had studied the experience of history as well
+as the wants of the present age. He was one who would disgrace
+no Government,--and he was invited to accept the office of
+Solicitor-General by a Minister who had never seen him out of the
+House of Commons. "He is as good a lawyer as there is in England,"
+said the Lord Chancellor. "He always speaks with uncommon clearness,"
+said the Chancellor of the Exchequer. "I never saw him talking with
+a human being," said the Secretary to the Treasury, deprecating
+the appointment. "He will soon get over that complaint with your
+assistance," said the Minister, laughing. So Mr. Underwood became
+Solicitor-General and Sir Thomas;--and he so did his work that no
+doubt he would have returned to his office had he been in Parliament
+when his party returned to power. But he had made no friend, he had
+not learned to talk even to the Secretary of the Treasury;--and when
+the party came back to power he was passed over without remorse, and
+almost without a regret.
+
+He never resumed the active bustle of his profession after that
+disappointment. His wife was then dead, and for nearly a twelvemonth
+he went about, declaring to attorneys and others that his
+professional life was done. He did take again to a certain class of
+work when he came back to the old chambers in Southampton Buildings;
+but he was seen in Court only rarely, and it was understood that he
+wished it to be supposed that he had retired. He had ever been a
+moderate man in his mode of living, and had put together a sum of
+money sufficient for moderate wants. He possessed some twelve or
+fourteen hundred a year independent of anything that he might now
+earn; and, as he had never been a man greedy of money, so was he now
+more indifferent to it than in his earlier days. It is a mistake,
+I think, to suppose that men become greedy as they grow old. The
+avaricious man will show his avarice as he gets into years, because
+avarice is a passion compatible with old age,--and will become more
+avaricious as his other passions fall off from him. And so will it
+be with the man that is open-handed. Mr. Underwood, when struggling
+at the Bar, had fought as hard as any of his compeers for comfort
+and independence;--but money, as money, had never been dear to
+him;--and now he was so trained a philosopher that he disregarded
+it altogether, except so far as it enabled him to maintain his
+independence.
+
+On a certain Friday evening in June, as he sat at dinner at his club,
+instead of applying himself to his book, which according to his
+custom he had taken from his pocket, he there read a letter, which
+as soon as read he would restore to the envelope, and would take it
+out again after a few moments of thought. At last, when the cup of
+tea was done and the bill was paid, he put away letter and book
+together and walked to the door of his club. When there he stood and
+considered what next should he do that evening. It was now past eight
+o'clock, and how should he use the four, five, or perhaps six hours
+which remained to him before he should go to bed? The temptation
+to which he was liable prompted him to return to his solitude in
+Southampton Buildings. Should he do so, he would sleep till ten
+in his chair,--then he would read, and drink more tea, or perhaps
+write, till one; and after that he would prowl about the purlieus of
+Chancery Lane, the Temple, and Lincoln's Inn, till two or even three
+o'clock in the morning;--looking up at the old dingy windows, and
+holding, by aid of those powers which imagination gave him, long
+intercourse with men among whom a certain weakness in his physical
+organisation did not enable him to live in the flesh. Well the
+policemen knew him as he roamed about, and much they speculated as to
+his roamings. But in these night wanderings he addressed no word to
+any one; nor did any one ever address a word to him. Yet the world,
+perhaps, was more alive to him then than at any other period in the
+twenty-four hours.
+
+But on the present occasion the temptation was resisted. He had not
+been at home during the whole week, and knew well that he ought to
+give his daughters the countenance of his presence. Whether that
+feeling alone would have been sufficient to withdraw him from the
+charms of Chancery Lane and send him down to the villa may be
+doubted; but there was that in the letter which he had perused so
+carefully which he knew must be communicated to his girls. His niece,
+Mary Bonner, was now an orphan, and would arrive in England from
+Jamaica in about a fortnight. Her mother had been Sir Thomas's
+sister, and had been at this time dead about three years. General
+Bonner, the father, had now died, and the girl was left an orphan,
+almost penniless, and with no near friend unless the Underwoods would
+befriend her. News of the General's death had reached Sir Thomas
+before;--and he had already made inquiry as to the fate of his niece
+through her late father's agents. Of the General's means he had known
+absolutely nothing,--believing, however, that they were confined to
+his pay as an officer. Now he was told that the girl would be at
+Southampton in a fortnight, and that she was utterly destitute. He
+declared to himself as he stood on the steps of the club that he
+would go home and consult his daughters;--but his mind was in fact
+made up as to his niece's fate long before he got home,--before he
+turned out of Pall Mall into St. James's Park. He would sometimes
+talk to himself of consulting his daughters; but in truth he very
+rarely consulted any human being as to what he would do or leave
+undone. If he went straight, he went straight without other human
+light than such as was given to him by his own intellect, his own
+heart, and his own conscience. It took him about an hour and a half
+to reach his home, but of that time four-fifths were occupied, not in
+resolving what he would do in this emergency, but in deep grumblings
+and regrets that there should be such a thing to be done at all. All
+new cares were grievous to him. Nay;--old cares were grievous, but
+new cares were terrible. Though he was bold in deciding, he was very
+timid in looking forward as to the results of that decision. Of
+course the orphan girl must be taken into his house;--and of course
+he must take upon himself the duty of a father in regard to her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+POPHAM VILLA.
+
+
+Popham Villa was the name of the house at Fulham,--as was to be seen
+by all men passing by, for it was painted up conspicuously on the
+pillars through which the gate led into the garden. Mr. Underwood,
+when he had first taken the place, had wished to expunge the name,
+feeling it to be cockneyfied, pretentious, and unalluring. But Mrs.
+Underwood had rather liked it, and it remained. It was a subject of
+ridicule with the two girls; but they had never ventured to urge
+its withdrawal, and after his wife's death Sir Thomas never alluded
+to the subject. Popham Villa it was, therefore, and there the
+words remained. The house was unpretentious, containing only two
+sitting-rooms besides a small side closet,--for it could hardly be
+called more,--which the girls even in their mother's lifetime had
+claimed as their own. But the drawing-room was as pretty as room
+could be, opening on to the lawn with folding windows, and giving a
+near view of the bright river as it flowed by, with just a glimpse
+of the bridge. That and the dining-room and the little closet were
+all on the ground floor, and above were at any rate as many chambers
+as the family required. The girls desired no better house,--if only
+their father could be with them. But he would urge that his books
+were all in London; and that, even were he willing to move them,
+there was no room for them in Popham Villa.
+
+It was sad enough for the two girls,--this kind of life. The worst
+of it, perhaps, was this; that they never knew when to expect him. A
+word had been said once as to the impracticability of having dinner
+ready for a gentleman, when the gentleman would never say whether
+he would want a dinner. It had been an unfortunate remark, for Sir
+Thomas had taken advantage of it by saying that when he came he
+would come after dinner, unless he had certified to the contrary
+beforehand. Then, after dinner, would come on him the temptation of
+returning to his chambers, and so it would go on with him from day to
+day.
+
+On this Friday evening the girls almost expected him, as he rarely
+let a week pass without visiting them, and still more rarely came to
+them on a Saturday. He found them out upon the lawn, or rather on the
+brink of the river, and with them was standing a young man whom he
+knew well. He kissed each of the girls, and then gave his hand to the
+young man. "I am glad to see you, Ralph," he said. "Have you been
+here long?"
+
+"As much as an hour or two, I fear. Patience will tell you. I meant
+to have got back by the 9.15 from Putney; but I have been smoking,
+and dreaming, and talking, till now it is nearly ten."
+
+"There is a train at 10.30," said the eldest Miss Underwood.
+
+"And another at 11.15," said the young man.
+
+Sir Thomas was especially anxious to be alone with his daughters, but
+he could not tell the guest to go. Nor was he justified in feeling
+any anger at his presence there,--though he did experience some prick
+of conscience in the matter. If it was wrong that his daughters
+should be visited by a young man in his absence, the fault lay in his
+absence, rather than with the young man for coming, or with the girls
+for receiving him. The young man had been a ward of his own, and for
+a year or two in former times had been so intimate in his house as to
+live with his daughters almost as an elder brother might have done.
+But young Ralph Newton had early in life taken rooms for himself
+in London, had then ceased to be a ward, and had latterly,--so Sir
+Thomas understood,--lived such a life as to make him unfit to be the
+trusted companion of his two girls. And yet there had been nothing in
+his mode of living to make it necessary that he should be absolutely
+banished from the villa. He had spent more money than was fitting,
+and had got into debt, and Sir Thomas had had trouble about his
+affairs. He too was an orphan,--and the nephew and the heir of an old
+country squire whom he never saw. What money he had received from his
+father he had nearly spent, and it was rumoured of him that he had
+raised funds by post-obits on his uncle's life. Of all these things
+more will be told hereafter;--but Sir Thomas,--though he had given no
+instruction on the subject, and was averse even to allude to it,--did
+not like to think that Ralph Newton was at the villa with the girls
+in his absence. His girls were as good as gold. He was sure of that.
+He told himself over and over again that were it not so, he would
+not have left them so constantly without his own care. Patience, the
+elder, was a marvel among young women for prudence, conduct, and
+proper feeling; and Clarissa, whom he had certainly ever loved the
+better of the two, was as far as he knew faultless;--a little more
+passionate, a little warmer, somewhat more fond of pleasure than her
+sister; but on that account only the more to be loved. Nothing that
+he could do would make them safer than they would be by their own
+virtue. But still he was not pleased to think that Ralph Newton was
+often at the villa. When a man such as Sir Thomas has been entrusted
+with the charge of a young man with great expectations, he hardly
+wishes his daughter to fall in love with his ward, whether his ward
+be prudent or imprudent in his manner of life.
+
+Sir Thomas was hot and tired after his walk, and there was some
+little fuss in getting him soda-water and tea. And as it was plain to
+see that things were not quite comfortable, Ralph Newton at last took
+his departure, so as to catch the earlier of the two trains which had
+been mentioned. It was, nevertheless, past ten when he went;--and
+then Sir Thomas, sitting at the open window of the drawing-room,
+again took out the letter. "Patience," he said, addressing his elder
+daughter as he withdrew the enclosure from the envelope, "Mary Bonner
+will be in England in a fortnight. What shall we do for her?" As he
+spoke he held the letter in a manner which justified the girl in
+taking it from his hand. He allowed it to go to her, and she read it
+before she answered him.
+
+It was a very sad letter, cold in its language, but still full
+of pathos. Her friends in the West Indies,--such friends as she
+had,--had advised her to proceed to England. She was given to
+understand that when her father's affairs should be settled there
+would be left to her not more than a few hundred pounds. Would her
+uncle provide for her some humble home for the present, and assist
+her in her future endeavours to obtain employment as a governess? She
+could, she thought, teach music and French, and would endeavour to
+fit herself for the work of tuition in other respects. "I know," she
+said, "how very slight is my claim upon one who has never seen me,
+and who is connected with me only by my poor mother;--but perhaps you
+will allow me to trouble you so far in my great distress."
+
+"She must come here, of course, papa," said Patience, as she handed
+the letter to Clarissa.
+
+"Yes, she must come here," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"But I mean, to stay,--for always."
+
+"Yes,--to stay for always. I cannot say that the arrangement is one
+to which I look forward with satisfaction. A man does not undertake
+new duties without fears;--and especially not such a duty as this, to
+which I can see no end, and which I may probably be quite unable to
+perform."
+
+"Papa, I am sure she will be nice," said Clarissa.
+
+"But why are you sure, my dear? We will not argue that, however. She
+must come; and we will hope that she will prove to be what Clarissa
+calls nice. I cannot allow my sister's child to go out into the world
+as a governess while I have a home to offer her. She must come here
+as one of our household. I only hope she will not interfere with your
+happiness."
+
+"I am sure she will not," said Clarissa.
+
+"We will determine that she shall add to it, and will do our best to
+make her happy," said Patience.
+
+"It is a great risk, but we must run it," said Sir Thomas; and so the
+matter was settled. Then he explained to them that he intended to
+go himself to Southampton to receive his niece, and that he would
+bring her direct from that port to her new home. Patience offered to
+accompany him on the journey, but this he declined as unnecessary.
+Everything was decided between them by eleven o'clock,--even to the
+room which Mary Bonner should occupy, and then the girls left their
+father, knowing well that he would not go to bed for the next four
+hours. He would sleep in his chair for the next two hours, and would
+then wander about, or read, or perhaps sit and think of this added
+care till the night would be half over. Nor did the two sisters go
+to bed at once. This new arrangement, so important to their father,
+was certainly of more importance to them. He, no doubt, would still
+occupy his chambers, would still live practically alone in London,
+though he was in theory the presiding genius of the household at
+Fulham; but they must take to themselves a new sister; and they both
+knew, in spite of Clarissa's enthusiasm, that it might be that the
+new sister would be one whom they could not love. "I don't remember
+that I ever heard a word about her," said Clarissa.
+
+"I have been told that she is pretty. I do remember that," said
+Patience.
+
+"How old is she? Younger than we, I suppose?" Now Clarissa Underwood
+at this time was one-and-twenty, and Patience was nearly two years
+her senior.
+
+"Oh, yes;--about nineteen, I should say. I think I have been told
+that there were four or five older than Mary, who all died. Is it not
+strange and terrible,--to be left alone, the last of a large family,
+with not a relation whom one has ever seen?"
+
+"Poor dear girl!"
+
+"If she wrote the letter herself," continued Patience, "I think she
+must be clever."
+
+"I am sure I could not have written a letter at all in such a
+position," said Clarissa. And so they sat, almost as late as their
+father, discussing the probable character and appearance of this
+new relation, and the chance of their being able to love her with
+all their hearts. There was the necessity for an immediate small
+sacrifice, but as to that there was no difficulty. Hitherto the two
+sisters had occupied separate bedrooms, but now, as one chamber must
+be given up to the stranger, it would be necessary that they should
+be together. But there are sacrifices which entail so little pain
+that the pleasant feeling of sacrificial devotion much more than
+atones for the consequences.
+
+Patience Underwood, the elder and the taller of the two girls, was
+certainly not pretty. Her figure was good, her hands and feet were
+small, and she was in all respects like a lady; but she possessed
+neither the feminine loveliness which comes so often simply from
+youth, nor that other, rarer beauty, which belongs to the face
+itself, and is produced by its own lines and its own expression. Her
+countenance was thin, and might perhaps have been called dry and
+hard. She was very like her father,--without, however, her father's
+nose, and the redeeming feature of her face was to be found in that
+sense of intelligence which was conveyed by her bright grey eyes.
+There was the long chin, and there was the long upper lip, which,
+exaggerated in her father's countenance, made him so notoriously
+plain a man. And then her hair, though plentiful and long, did not
+possess that shining lustre which we love to see in girls, and which
+we all recognise as one of the sweetest graces of girlhood. Such,
+outwardly, was Patience Underwood; and of all those who knew her well
+there was not one so perfectly satisfied that she did want personal
+attraction as was Patience Underwood herself. But she never spoke
+on the subject,--even to her sister. She did not complain; neither,
+as is much more common, did she boast that she was no beauty. Her
+sister's loveliness was very dear to her, and of that she would
+sometimes break out into enthusiastic words. But of herself,
+externally, she said nothing. Her gifts, if she had any, were of
+another sort; and she was by no means willing to think of herself
+as one unendowed with gifts. She was clever, and knew herself to be
+clever. She could read, and understood what she read. She saw the
+difference between right and wrong, and believed that she saw it
+clearly. She was not diffident of herself, and certainly was not
+unhappy. She had a strong religious faith, and knew how to supplement
+the sometimes failing happiness of this world, by trusting in the
+happiness of the next. Were it not for her extreme anxiety in
+reference to her father, Patience Underwood would have been a happy
+woman.
+
+Clarissa, the younger, was a beauty. The fact that she was a beauty
+was acknowledged by all who knew her, and was well known to herself.
+It was a fact as to which there had never been a doubt since she was
+turned fifteen. She was somewhat shorter than her sister, and less
+slender. She was darker in complexion, and her hair, which was rich
+in colour as brown hair can be, was lustrous, silky, and luxuriant.
+She wore it now, indeed, according to the fashion of the day, with a
+chignon on her head; but beneath that there were curls which escaped,
+and over her forehead it was clipped short, and was wavy, and
+impertinent,--as is also the fashion of the day. Such as it was, she
+so wore it that a man could hardly wish it to be otherwise. Her eyes,
+unlike those of her father and sister, were blue; and in the whole
+contour of her features there was nothing resembling theirs. The
+upper lip was short, and the chin was short and dimpled. There was
+a dimple on one cheek too, a charm so much more maddening than when
+it is to be seen on both sides alike. Her nose was perfect;--not
+Grecian, nor Roman, nor Egyptian,--but simply English, only just not
+retrousse. There were those who said her mouth was a thought too
+wide, and her teeth too perfect,--but they were of that class of
+critics to whom it is a necessity to cavil rather than to kiss. Added
+to all this there was a childishness of manner about her of which,
+though she herself was somewhat ashamed, all others were enamoured.
+It was not the childishness of very youthful years,--for she had
+already reached the mature age of twenty-one; but the half-doubting,
+half-pouting, half-yielding, half-obstinate, soft, loving, lovable
+childishness, which gives and exacts caresses, and which, when it
+is genuine, may exist to an age much beyond that which Clarissa
+Underwood had reached.
+
+But with all her charms, Clarissa was not so happy a girl as her
+sister. And for this lack of inward satisfaction there were at this
+time two causes. She believed herself to be a fool, and was in that
+respect jealous of her sister;--and she believed herself to be in
+love, and in love almost without hope. As to her foolishness, it
+seemed to her to be a fact admitted by every one but by Patience
+herself. Not a human being came near her who did not seem to imply
+that any question as to wisdom or judgment or erudition between
+her and her sister would be a farce. Patience could talk Italian,
+could read German, knew, at least by name, every poet that had ever
+written, and was always able to say exactly what ought to be done.
+She could make the servants love her and yet obey her, and could
+always dress on her allowance without owing a shilling. Whereas
+Clarissa was obeyed by no one, was in debt to her bootmaker and
+milliner, and, let her struggles in the cause be as gallant as they
+might, could not understand a word of Dante, and was aware that she
+read the "Faery Queen" exactly as a child performs a lesson. As to
+her love,--there was a sharper sorrow. Need the reader be told that
+Ralph Newton was the hero to whom its late owner believed that her
+heart had been given? This was a sore subject, which had never as yet
+been mentioned frankly even between the two sisters. In truth, though
+Patience thought that there was a fancy, she did not think that there
+was much more than fancy. And, as far as she could see, there was
+not even fancy on the young man's part. No word had been spoken
+that could be accepted as an expression of avowed love. So at least
+Patience believed. And she would have been very unhappy had it been
+otherwise, for Ralph Newton was not,--in her opinion,--a man to whose
+love her sister could be trusted with confidence. And yet, beyond her
+father and sister, there was no one whom Patience loved as she did
+Ralph Newton.
+
+There had, however, been a little episode in the life of Clarissa
+Underwood, which had tended to make her sister uneasy, and which
+the reader may as well hear at once. There was a second Newton,
+a younger brother,--but, though younger, not only in orders but
+in the possession of a living, Gregory Newton,--the Rev. Gregory
+Newton,--who in the space of a few weeks' acquaintance had fallen
+into a fury of love for Clarissa, and in the course of three months
+had made her as many offers, and had been as often refused. This had
+happened in the winter and spring previous to the opening of our
+story,--and both Patience and Sir Thomas had been well disposed
+towards the young man's suit. He had not been committed to Sir
+Thomas's charge, as had Ralph, having been brought up under the care
+of the uncle whose heir Ralph was through the obligation of legal
+settlements. This uncle, having quarrelled with his own brother,
+since dead, and with his heir, had nevertheless taken his other
+nephew by the hand, and had bestowed upon the young clergyman the
+living of Newton. Gregory Newton had been brought to the villa by his
+brother, and had at once fallen on his knees before the beauty. But
+the beauty would have none of him, and he had gone back to his living
+in Hampshire a broken-hearted priest and swain. Now, Patience, though
+she had never been directly so informed, feared that some partiality
+for the unworthy Ralph had induced her sister to refuse offers from
+the brother, who certainly was worthy. To the thinking of Patience
+Underwood, no lot in life could be happier for a woman than to be
+the wife of a zealous and praiseworthy parson of an English country
+parish;--no lot in life, at least, could be happier for any woman who
+intended to become a wife.
+
+Such were the two girls at Popham Villa who were told on that evening
+that a new sister was to be brought home to them. When the next
+morning came they were of course still full of the subject. Sir
+Thomas was to go into London after breakfast, and he intended to walk
+over the bridge and catch an early train. He was as intent on being
+punctual to time as though he were bound to be all day in Court: and,
+fond as he might be of his daughters, had already enjoyed enough
+of the comforts of home to satisfy his taste. He did love his
+daughters;--but even with them he was not at his ease. The only
+society he could enjoy was that of his books or of his own thoughts,
+and the only human being whom he could endure to have long near him
+with equanimity was Joseph Stemm. He had risen at nine, as was his
+custom, and before ten he was bustling about with his hat and gloves.
+"Papa," said Clarissa, "when shall you be home again?"
+
+"I can't name a day, my dear."
+
+"Papa, do come soon."
+
+"No doubt I shall come soon." There was a slight tone of anger in his
+voice as he answered the last entreaty, and he was evidently in a
+hurry with his hat and gloves.
+
+"Papa," said Patience, "of course we shall see you again before you
+go to Southampton." The voice of the elder was quite different from
+that of the younger daughter; and Sir Thomas, though the tone and
+manner of the latter question was injurious to him, hardly dared to
+resent it. Yet they were not, as he thought, justified. It now wanted
+twelve days to the date of his intended journey, and not more than
+three or four times in his life had he been absent from home for
+twelve consecutive days.
+
+"Yes, my dear," he said, "I shall be home before that."
+
+"Because, papa, there are things to be thought of."
+
+"What things?"
+
+"Clarissa and I had better have a second bed in our room,--unless you
+object."
+
+"You know I don't object. Have I ever objected to anything of the
+kind?" He now stood impatient, with his hat in his hand.
+
+"I hardly like to order things without telling you, papa. And there
+are a few other articles of furniture needed."
+
+"You can get what you want. Run up to town and go to Barlow's. You
+can do that as well as I can."
+
+"But I should have liked to have settled something about our future
+way of living before Mary comes," said Patience in a very low voice.
+
+Sir Thomas frowned, and then he answered her very slowly. "There
+can be nothing new settled at all. Things will go on as they are at
+present. And I hope, Patience, you will do your best to make your
+cousin understand and receive favourably the future home which she
+will have to inhabit."
+
+"You may be sure, papa, I shall do my best," said Patience;--and then
+Sir Thomas went.
+
+He did return to the villa before his journey to Southampton, but
+it was only on the eve of that journey. During the interval the two
+girls together had twice sought him at his chambers,--a liberty on
+their part which, as they well knew, he did not at all approve. "Sir
+Thomas is very busy," old Stemm would say, shaking his head, even to
+his master's daughters, "and if you wouldn't mind--" Then he would
+make a feint as though to close the door, and would go through
+various manoeuvres of defence before he would allow the fort to be
+stormed. But Clarissa would ridicule old Stemm to his face, and
+Patience would not allow herself to be beaten by him. On their second
+visit they did make their way into their father's sanctum,--and
+they never knew whether in truth he had been there when they called
+before. "Old Stemm doesn't in the least mind what lies he tells,"
+Clarissa had said. To this Patience made no reply, feeling that the
+responsibility for those figments might not perhaps lie exclusively
+on old Stemm's shoulders.
+
+"My dears, this is such an out-of-the-way place for you," Sir Thomas
+said, as soon as the girls had made good their entrance. But the
+girls had so often gone through all this before, that they now
+regarded but little what ejaculations of that nature were made to
+them.
+
+"I have come to show you this list, papa," said Patience. Sir Thomas
+took the list, and found that it contained various articles for
+bedroom and kitchen use,--towels, sheets, pots and pans, knives and
+forks, and even a set of curtains and a carpet.
+
+"I shouldn't have thought that a girl of eighteen would have wanted
+all these things,--a new corkscrew, for instance,--but if she does,
+as I told you before, you must get them."
+
+"Of course they are not all for Mary," said Patience.
+
+"The fact is, papa," said Clarissa, "you never do look to see how
+things are getting worn out."
+
+"Clarissa!" exclaimed the angry father.
+
+"Indeed, papa, if you were more at home and saw these things," began
+Patience--
+
+"I have no doubt it is all right. Get what you want. Go to Barlow's
+and to Green's, and to Block and Blowhard. Don't let there be any
+bills, that's all. I will give you cheques when you get the accounts.
+And now, my dears,--I am in the middle of work which will not
+bear interruption." Then they left him, and when he did come to
+the villa on the evening before his journey, most of the new
+articles,--including the corkscrew,--were already in the house.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+WHAT HAPPENED ON THE LAWN AT POPHAM VILLA.
+
+
+Sir Thomas started for Southampton on a Friday, having understood
+that the steamer from St. Thomas would reach the harbour on Saturday
+morning. He would then immediately bring Mary Bonner up to London
+and down to Fulham;--and there certainly had come to be a tacit
+understanding that he would stay at home on the following Sunday. On
+the Friday evening the girls were alone at the villa; but there was
+nothing in this, as it was the life to which they were accustomed.
+They habitually dined at two, calling the meal lunch,--then had a
+five or six o'clock tea,--and omitted altogether the ceremony of
+dinner. They had local acquaintances, with whom occasionally they
+would spend their evenings; and now and then an old maid or two,--now
+and then also a young maid or two would drop in on them. But it was
+their habit to be alone. During these days of which we are speaking
+Clarissa would take her "Faery Queen," and would work hard perhaps
+for half an hour. Then the "Faery Queen" would be changed for a
+novel, and she would look up from her book to see whether Patience
+had turned upon her any glance of reprobation. Patience, in the
+meantime, would sit with unsullied conscience at her work. And so
+the evenings would glide by; and in these soft summer days the girls
+would sit out upon the lawn, and would watch the boats of London
+watermen as they passed up and down below the bridge. On this very
+evening, the last on which they were to be together before the
+arrival of their cousin,--Patience came out upon the lawn with her
+hat and gloves. "I am going across to Miss Spooner's," she said;
+"will you come?" But Clarissa was idle, and making some little joke,
+not very much to the honour of Miss Spooner, declared that she was
+hot and tired, and had a headache, and would stay at home. "Don't be
+long, Patty," she said; "it is such a bore to be alone." Patience
+promised a speedy return, and, making her way to the gate, crossed
+the road to Miss Spooner's abode. She was hardly out of sight when
+the nose of a wager boat was driven up against the bank, and there
+was Ralph Newton, sitting in a blue Jersey shirt, with a straw hat
+and the perspiration running from his handsome brow. Clarissa did not
+see him till he whistled to her, and then she started, and laughed,
+and ran down to the boat, and hardly remembered that she was quite
+alone till she had taken his hand. "I don't think I'll come out, but
+you must get me some soda-water and brandy," said Ralph. "Where's
+Patience?"
+
+"Patience has gone out to see an old maid; and we haven't got any
+brandy."
+
+"I am so hot," said Ralph, carefully extricating himself from the
+boat. "You have got sherry?"
+
+"Yes, we've got sherry, and port wine, and Gladstone;" and away she
+went to get him such refreshment as the villa possessed.
+
+He drank his sherry and soda-water, and lit his pipe, and lay there
+on the lawn, as though he were quite at home; and Clarissa ministered
+to him,--unconscious of any evil. He had been brought up with them on
+terms of such close intimacy that she was entitled to regard him as
+a brother,--almost as a brother,--if only she were able so to regard
+him. It was her practice to call him Ralph, and her own name was as
+common to him as though she were in truth his sister. "And what do
+you think of this new cousin?" he asked.
+
+
+[Illustration: He drank his sherry and soda-water, and lit his pipe,
+and lay there on the lawn, as though he were quite at home . . .]
+
+
+"I can think nothing as yet;--but I mean to like her."
+
+"I mean to hate her furiously," said Ralph.
+
+"That is nonsense. She will be nothing to you. You needn't even see
+her unless you please. But, Ralph, do put your jacket on. I'm sure
+you'll catch cold." And she went down, and hooked his jacket for him
+out of the boat, and put it over his shoulders. "I won't have you
+throw it off," she said; "if you come here you must do as you're
+told."
+
+"You needn't have knocked the pipe out of my mouth all the same. What
+is she like, I wonder?"
+
+"Very,--very beautiful, I'm told."
+
+"A kind of tropical Venus,--all eyes, and dark skin, and black hair,
+and strong passions, and apt to murder people;--but at the same
+time so lazy that she is never to do anything either for herself or
+anybody else;--wouldn't fetch a fellow's jacket for him, let him be
+catching cold ever so fast."
+
+"She wouldn't fetch yours, I dare say."
+
+"And why shouldn't she?"
+
+"Because she doesn't know you."
+
+"They soon get to know one,--girls of that sort. I'm told that in
+the West Indies you become as thick as thieves in half a morning's
+flirtation, and are expected to propose at the second meeting."
+
+"That is not to be your way with our cousin, I can assure you."
+
+"But these proposals out there never mean much. You may be engaged to
+half a dozen girls at the same time, and be sure that each of them
+will be engaged to half-a-dozen men. There's some comfort in that,
+you know."
+
+"Oh, Ralph!"
+
+"That's what they tell me. I haven't been there. I shall come and
+look at her, you know."
+
+"Of course you will."
+
+"And if she is very lovely--"
+
+"What then?"
+
+"I do like pretty girls, you know."
+
+"I don't know anything about it."
+
+"I wonder what uncle Gregory would say if I were to marry a West
+Indian! He wouldn't say much to me, because we never speak, but he'd
+lead poor Greg a horrid life. He'd be sure to think she was a nigger,
+or at least a Creole. But I shan't do that."
+
+"You might do worse, Ralph."
+
+"But I might do much better." As he said this, he looked up into her
+face, with all the power of his eyes, and poor Clarissa could only
+blush. She knew what he meant, and knew that she was showing him that
+she was conscious. She would have given much not to blush, and not to
+have been so manifestly conscious, but she had no power to control
+herself. "I might do much better," he said. "Don't you think so?"
+
+As far as she could judge of her own feelings at this moment, in the
+absolute absence of any previous accurate thought on the subject, she
+fancied that a real, undoubted, undoubting, trustworthy engagement
+with Ralph Newton would make her the happiest girl in England. She
+had never told herself that she was in love with him; she had never
+flattered herself that he was in love with her;--she had never
+balanced the matter in her mind as a contingency likely to occur; but
+now, at this moment, as he lay there smoking his pipe and looking
+full into her blushing face, she did think that to have him for her
+own lover would be joy enough for her whole life. She knew that he
+was idle, extravagant, fond of pleasure, and,--unsteady, as she in
+her vocabulary would be disposed to describe the character which she
+believed to be his. But in her heart of hearts she liked unsteadiness
+in men, if it were not carried too far. Ralph's brother, the parson,
+as to whom she was informed that he possessed every virtue incident
+to humanity, and who was quite as good-looking as his brother, had
+utterly failed to touch her heart. A black coat and a white cravat
+were antipathetic to her. Ralph, as he lay on the green sward, hot,
+with linen trousers and a coloured flannel shirt, with a small straw
+hat stuck on the edge of his head, with nothing round his throat, and
+his jacket over his shoulder, with a pipe in his mouth and an empty
+glass beside him, was to her, in externals, the beau-ideal of a
+young man. And then, though he was unsteady, extravagant, and idle,
+his sins were not so deep as to exclude him from her father's and
+her sister's favour. He was there, on the villa lawn, not as an
+interloper, but by implied permission. Though she made for herself
+no argument on the matter,--not having much time just now for
+arguing,--she felt that it was her undoubted privilege to be
+made love to by Ralph Newton, if he and she pleased so to amuse
+themselves. She had never been told not to be made love to by him. Of
+course she would not engage herself without her father's permission.
+Of course she would tell Patience if Ralph should say anything very
+special to her. But she had a right to be made love to if she liked
+it;--and in this case she would like it. But when Ralph looked at
+her, and asked her whether he might not do better than marry her West
+Indian cousin, she had not a word with which to answer him. He smoked
+on for some seconds in silence still looking at her, while she stood
+over him blushing. Then he spoke again. "I think I might do a great
+deal better." But still she had not a word for him.
+
+"Ah;--I suppose I must be off," he said, jumping up on his legs, and
+flinging his jacket over his arm. "Patience will be in soon."
+
+"I expect her every minute."
+
+"If I were to say,--something uncivil about Patience, I suppose you
+wouldn't like it?"
+
+"Certainly, I shouldn't like it."
+
+"Only just to wish she were at,--Jericho?"
+
+"Nonsense, Ralph."
+
+"Yes; that would be nonsense. And the chances are, you know, that
+you would be at Jericho with her. Dear, dear Clary,--you know I love
+you." Then he put his right arm round her waist, pipe and all, and
+kissed her.
+
+She certainly had expected no such assault,--had not only not thought
+of it, but had not known it to be among the possibilities that might
+occur to her. She had never been so treated before. One other lover
+she had had,--as we know; but by him she had been treated with the
+deference due by an inferior to a superior being. It would have been
+very nice if Ralph would have told her that he loved her,--but this
+was not nice. That had been done which she would not dare to tell to
+Patience,--which she could not have endured that Patience should have
+seen. She was bound to resent it;--but how? She stood silent for a
+moment, and then burst into tears. "You are not angry with me,
+Clary?" he said.
+
+"I am angry;--very angry. Go away. I will never speak to you again."
+
+"You know how dearly I love you."
+
+"I don't love you at all. You have insulted me, and I will never
+forgive you. Go away." At this moment the step of Patience coming up
+from the gate was heard upon the gravel. Clarissa's first thought
+when she heard it was to hide her tears. Though the man had injured
+her,--insulted her,--her very last resource would be to complain to
+others of the injury or the insult. It must be hidden in her own
+breast,--but remembered always. Forgotten it could not be,--nor, as
+she thought at the moment, forgiven. But, above all, it must not
+be repeated. As to any show of anger against the sinner, that was
+impossible to her,--because it was so necessary that the sin should
+be hidden.
+
+"What;--Ralph? Have you been here long?" asked Patience, looking with
+somewhat suspicious eyes at Clarissa's back, which was turned to her.
+
+"About half an hour,--waiting for you, and smoking and drinking
+soda-water. I have a boat here, and I must be off now."
+
+"You'll have the tide with you," said Clarissa, with an effort.
+
+"There is a tide in the affairs of men," said Ralph, with a forced
+laugh. "My affairs shall at once take advantage of this tide. I'll
+come again very soon to see the new cousin. Good-bye, girls." Then
+he inserted himself into his boat, and took himself off, without
+bestowing even anything of a special glance upon Clarissa.
+
+"Is there anything the matter?" Patience asked.
+
+"No;--only why did you stay all the evening with that stupid old
+woman, when you promised me that you would be back in ten minutes?"
+
+"I said nothing about ten minutes, Clary; and, after all, I haven't
+been an hour gone. Miss Spooner is in trouble about her tenant, who
+won't pay the rent, and she had to tell me all about it."
+
+"Stupid old woman!"
+
+"Have you and Ralph been quarrelling, Clary?"
+
+"No;--why should we quarrel?"
+
+"There seems to have been something wrong."
+
+"It's so stupid being found all alone here. It makes one feel that
+one is so desolate. I do wish papa would live with us like other
+girls' fathers. As he won't, it would be much better not to let
+people come at all."
+
+Patience was sure that something had happened,--and that that
+something must have reference to the guise of lover either assumed or
+not assumed by Ralph Newton. She accused her sister of no hypocrisy,
+but she was aware that Clarissa's words were wild, not expressing the
+girl's thoughts, and spoken almost at random. Something must be said,
+and therefore these complaints had been made. "Clary, dear; don't you
+like Ralph?" she asked.
+
+"No. That is;--oh yes, I like him, of course. My head aches and I'll
+go to bed."
+
+"Wait a few minutes, Clary. Something has disturbed you. Has it not?"
+
+"Everything disturbs me."
+
+"But if there is anything special, won't you tell me?" There had
+been something very special, which Clarissa certainly would not tell.
+"What has he said to you? I don't think he would be simply cross to
+you."
+
+"He has not been cross at all."
+
+"What is it then? Well;--if you won't tell me, I think that you are
+afraid of me. We never yet have been afraid of each other." Then
+there was a pause. "Clary, has he said that,--he loves you?" There
+was another pause. Clarissa thought it all over, and for a moment was
+not quite certain whether any such sweet assurance had or had not
+been given to her. Then she remembered his words;--"You know how
+dearly I love you." But ought they to be sweet to her now? Had he
+not so offended her that there could never be forgiveness? And if
+no forgiveness, how then could his love be sweet to her? Patience
+waited, and then repeated her question. "Tell me, Clary; what has he
+said to you?"
+
+"I don't know."
+
+"Do you love him, Clary?"
+
+"No. I hate him."
+
+"Hate him, Clary? You did not use to hate him. You did not hate him
+yesterday? You would not hate him without a cause. My darling, tell
+me what it means! If you and I do not trust each other what will
+the world be to us? There is no one else to whom we can tell our
+troubles." Nevertheless Clarissa would not tell this trouble. "Why do
+you say that you hate him?"
+
+"I don't know why. Oh, dear Patty, why do you go on so? Yes; he did
+say that he loved me;--there."
+
+"And did that make you unhappy? It need not make you unhappy, though
+you should refuse him. When his brother asked you to marry him, that
+did not make you unhappy."
+
+"Yes it did;--very."
+
+"And is this the same?"
+
+"No;--it is quite different."
+
+"I am afraid, Clary, that Ralph Newton would not make a good husband.
+He is extravagant and in debt, and papa would not like it."
+
+"Then papa should not let him come here just as he pleases and
+whenever he likes. It is papa's fault;--that is to say it would be if
+there were anything in it."
+
+"Is there nothing in it, Clary? What answer did you make when he told
+you that he loved you?"
+
+"You came, and I made no answer. I do so wish that you had come
+before." She wanted to tell her sister everything but the one thing,
+but was unable to do so because the one thing affected the other
+things so vitally. As it was, Patience, finding that she could press
+her questions no further, was altogether in the dark. That Ralph had
+made a declaration of love to her sister she did know; but in what
+manner Clarissa had received it she could not guess. She had hitherto
+feared that Clary was too fond of the young man, but Clary would now
+only say that she hated him. But the matter would soon be set at
+rest. Ralph Newton would now, no doubt, go to their father. If Sir
+Thomas would permit it, this new-fangled hatred of Clary's would,
+Patience thought, soon be overcome. If, however,--as was more
+probable,--Sir Thomas should violently disapprove, then there would
+be no more visits from Ralph Newton to the villa. As there had been a
+declaration of love, of course their father would be informed of it
+at once. Patience, having so resolved, allowed her sister to go to
+her bed without further questioning.
+
+In Clarissa's own bosom the great offence had been forgiven,--or
+rather condoned before the morning. Her lover had been very cruel to
+her, very wicked, and most unkind;--especially unkind in this, that
+he had turned to absolute pain a moment of life which might have been
+of all moments the fullest of joy; and especially cruel in this, that
+he had so treated her that she could not look forward to future joy
+without alloy. She could forgive him;--yes. But she could not endure
+that he should think that she would forgive him. She was willing
+to blot out the offence, as a thing by itself, in an island of her
+life,--of which no one should ever think again. Was she to lose her
+lover for ever because she did not forgive him! If they could only
+come to some agreement that the offence should be acknowledged to
+be heinous, unpardonable, but committed in temporary madness, and
+that henceforward it should be buried in oblivion! Such agreement,
+however, was impossible. There could be no speech about the matter.
+Was she or was she not to lose her lover for ever because he had done
+this wicked thing? During the night she made up her mind that she
+could not afford to pay such a price for the sake of avenging virtue.
+For the future she would be on her guard! Wicked and heartless man,
+who had robbed her of so much! And yet how charming he had been to
+her as he looked into her eyes, and told her that he could do very
+much better than fall in love with her West Indian cousin. Then she
+thought of the offence again. Ah, if only a time might come in which
+they should be engaged together as man and wife with the consent of
+everybody! Then there would be no more offences.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+MARY BONNER.
+
+
+While Clarissa Underwood was being kissed on the lawn at Popham
+Villa, Sir Thomas was sitting, very disconsolate, in a private
+room at the Dolphin, in Southampton. It had required no great
+consideration to induce him to resolve that a home should be given
+by him to his niece. Though he was a man so weak that he could
+allow himself to shun from day to day his daily duty,--and to do
+this so constantly as to make up out of various omissions, small in
+themselves, a vast aggregate of misconduct,--still he was one who
+would certainly do what his conscience prompted him to be right in
+any great matter as to which the right and the wrong appeared to him
+to be clearly defined. Though he loved his daughters dearly, he could
+leave them from day to day almost without protection,--because each
+day's fault in so doing was of itself but small. This new niece of
+his he certainly did not love at all. He had never seen her. He was
+almost morbidly fearful of new responsibilities. He expected nothing
+but trouble in thus annexing a new unknown member to his family. And
+yet he had decided upon doing it, because the duty to be done was
+great enough to be clearly marked,--demanding an immediate resolve,
+and capable of no postponement. But, as he thought of it, sitting
+alone on the eve of the girl's coming, he was very uneasy. What was
+he to do with her if he found her to be one difficult to manage,
+self-willed, vexatious, or,--worse again,--ill-conditioned as to
+conduct, and hurtful to his own children? Should it even become
+imperative upon him to be rid of her, how should riddance be
+effected? And then what would she think of him and his habits of
+life?
+
+And this brought him to other reflections. Might it not be possible
+utterly to break up that establishment of his in Southampton
+Buildings, so that he would be forced by the necessity of things to
+live at his home,--at some home which he would share with the girls?
+He knew himself well enough to be sure that while those chambers
+remained in his possession, as long as that bedroom and bed were at
+his command, he could not extricate himself from the dilemma. Day
+after day the temptation was too great for him. And he hated the
+villa. There was nothing there that he could do. He had no books at
+the villa; and,--so he averred,--there was something in the air of
+Fulham which prevented him from reading books when he brought them
+there. No! He must break altogether fresh ground, and set up a new
+establishment. One thing was clear; he could not now do this before
+Mary Bonner's arrival, and therefore there was nothing to create any
+special urgency. He had hoped that his girls would marry, so that
+he might be left to live alone in his chambers,--waited upon by old
+Stemm,--without sin on his part; but he was beginning to discover
+that girls do not always get married out of the way in their first
+bloom. And now he was taking to himself another girl! He must, he
+knew, give over all hope of escape in that direction. He was very
+uneasy; and when quite late at night,--or rather, early in the
+morning,--he took himself to bed, his slumbers were not refreshing.
+The truth was that no air suited him for sleeping except the air of
+Southampton Buildings.
+
+The packet from St. Thomas was to be in the harbour at eight o'clock
+the next morning,--telegrams from Cape Clear, The Lizard, Eddystone
+Lighthouse, and where not, having made all that as certain as
+sun-rising. At eight o'clock he was down on the quay, and there was
+the travelling city of the Royal Atlantic Steam Mail Packet Company
+at that moment being warped into the harbour. The ship as he walked
+along the jetty was so near to him that he could plainly see the
+faces of the passengers on deck,--men and women, girls and children,
+all dressed up to meet their friends on shore, crowding the sides of
+the vessel in their eagerness to be among the first to get on shore.
+He anxiously scanned the faces of the ladies that he might guess
+which was to be the lady that was to be to him almost the same as a
+daughter. He saw not one as to whom he could say that he had a hope.
+Some there were in the crowd, some three or four, as to whom he
+acknowledged that he had a fear. At last he remembered that his girl
+would necessarily be in deep mourning. He saw two young women in
+black;--but there was nothing to prepossess him about either of them.
+One of them was insignificant and very plain. The other was fat and
+untidy. They neither of them looked like ladies. What if fate should
+have sent to him as a daughter,--as a companion for his girls,--that
+fat, untidy, ill-bred looking young woman! As it happened, the
+ill-bred looking young woman whom he feared, was a cook who had
+married a ship-steward, had gone out among the islands with her
+husband, had found that the speculation did not answer, and was now
+returning in the hope of earning her bread in her old vocation. Of
+this woman Sir Thomas Underwood was in great dread.
+
+But at last he was on board, and whispered his question to the
+purser. Miss Bonner! Oh, yes; Miss Bonner was on board. Was he Sir
+Thomas Underwood, Miss Bonner's uncle? The purser evidently knew all
+about it, and there was something in his tone which seemed to assure
+Sir Thomas that the fat, untidy woman and his niece could not be
+one and the same person. The purser had just raised his cap to Sir
+Thomas, and had turned towards the cabin-stairs to go in search of
+the lady herself; but he was stopped immediately by Miss Bonner
+herself. The purser did his task very well,--said some slightest word
+to introduce the uncle and the niece together, and then vanished. Sir
+Thomas blushed, shuffled with his feet, and put out both his hands.
+He was shy, astonished, and frightened,--and did not know what to
+say. The girl came up to him, took his hand in hers, holding it
+for a moment, and then kissed it. "I did not think you would come
+yourself," she said.
+
+"Of course I have come myself. My girls are at home, and will receive
+you to-night." She said nothing further then, but again raised his
+hand and kissed it.
+
+It is hardly too much to say that Sir Thomas Underwood was in a
+tremble as he gazed upon his niece. Had she been on the deck as
+he walked along the quay, and had he noted her, he would not have
+dared to think that such a girl as that was coming to his house. He
+declared to himself at once that she was the most lovely young woman
+he had ever seen. She was tall and somewhat large, with fair hair, of
+which now but very little could be seen, with dark eyes, and perfect
+eyebrows, and a face which, either for colour or lines of beauty,
+might have been taken as a model for any female saint or martyr.
+There was a perfection of symmetry about it,--and an assertion of
+intelligence combined with the loveliness which almost frightened her
+uncle. For there was something there, also, beyond intelligence and
+loveliness. We have heard of "an eye to threaten and command." Sir
+Thomas did not at this moment tell himself that Mary Bonner had such
+an eye, but he did involuntarily and unconsciously acknowledge to
+himself that over such a young lady as this whom he now saw before
+him, it would be very difficult for him to exercise parental control.
+He had heard that she was nineteen, but it certainly seemed to him
+that she was older than his own daughters. As to Clary, there could
+be no question between the two girls as to which of them would
+exercise authority over the other,--not by force of age,--but by dint
+of character, will, and fitness. And this Mary Bonner, who now shone
+before him as a goddess almost, a young woman to whom no ordinary
+man would speak without that kind of trepidation which goddesses do
+inflict on ordinary men, had proposed to herself,--to go out as a
+governess! Indeed, at this very moment such, probably, was her own
+idea. As yet she had received no reply to the letter she had written
+other than that which was now conveyed by her uncle's presence.
+
+A few questions were asked as to the voyage. No;--she had not been
+at all ill. "I have almost feared," she said, "to reach England,
+thinking I should be so desolate." "We will not let you be desolate,"
+said Sir Thomas, brightening up a little under the graciousness of
+the goddess's demeanour. "My girls are looking forward to your coming
+with the greatest delight." Then she asked some question as to her
+cousins, and Sir Thomas thought that there was majesty even in her
+voice. It was low, soft, and musical; but yet, even in that as in her
+eye, there was something that indicated a power of command.
+
+He had no servant with him to assist in looking after her luggage.
+Old Stemm was the only man in his employment, and he could hardly
+have brought Stemm down to Southampton on such an errand. But he
+soon found that everybody about the ship was ready to wait upon Miss
+Bonner. Even the captain came to take a special farewell of her, and
+the second officer seemed to have nothing to do but to look after
+her. The doctor was at her elbow to the last;--and all her boxes and
+trunks seemed to extricate themselves from the general mass with a
+readiness which is certainly not experienced by ordinary passengers.
+There are certain favours in life which are very charming,--but very
+unjust to others, and which we may perhaps lump under the name of
+priority of service. Money will hardly buy it. When money does buy
+it, there is no injustice. When priority of service is had, like a
+coach-and-four, by the man who can afford to pay for it, industry,
+which is the source of wealth, receives its fitting reward. Rank
+will often procure it; most unjustly,--as we, who have no rank, feel
+sometimes with great soreness. Position other than that of rank,
+official position or commercial position, will secure it in certain
+cases. A railway train is stopped at a wrong place for a railway
+director, or a post-office manager gets his letters taken after time.
+These, too, are grievances. But priority of service is perhaps more
+readily accorded to feminine beauty, and especially to unprotected
+feminine beauty, than to any other form of claim. Whether or no this
+is ever felt as a grievance, ladies who are not beautiful may perhaps
+be able to say. There flits across our memory at the present moment
+some reminiscence of angry glances at the too speedy attendance
+given by custom-house officers to pretty women. But this priority of
+service is, we think, if not deserved, at least so natural, as to
+take it out of the catalogue of evils of which complaint should be
+made. One might complain with as much avail that men will fall in
+love with pretty girls instead of with those who are ugly! On the
+present occasion Sir Thomas was well contented. He was out of the
+ship, and through the Custom House, and at the railway station, and
+back at the inn before the struggling mass of passengers had found
+out whether their longed-for boxes had or had not come with them
+in the ship. And then Miss Bonner took it all,--not arrogantly, as
+though it were her due; but just as the grass takes rain or the
+flowers sunshine. These good things came to her from heaven, and
+no doubt she was thankful. But they came to her so customarily, as
+does a man's dinner to him, or his bed, that she could not manifest
+surprise at what was done for her.
+
+
+[Illustration: Even the captain came to take a special farewell of
+her . . .]
+
+
+Sir Thomas hardly spoke to her except about her journey and her
+luggage till they were down together in the sitting-room at the inn.
+Then he communicated to her his proposal as to her future life. It
+was right, he thought, that she should know at once what he intended.
+Two hours ago, before he had seen her, he had thought of telling her
+simply where she was to live, and of saying that he would find a home
+for her. Now he found it expedient to place the matter in a different
+light. He would offer her the shelter of his roof as though she were
+a queen who might choose among her various palaces. "Mary," he said,
+"we hope that you will stay with us altogether."
+
+"To live with you,--do you mean?"
+
+"Certainly to live with us."
+
+"I have no right to expect such an offer as that."
+
+"But every right to accept it, my dear, when it is made. That is if
+it suits you."
+
+"I had not dreamed of that. I thought that perhaps you would let me
+come to you for a few weeks,--till I should know what to do."
+
+"You shall come and be one of us altogether, my dear, if you think
+that you will like it. My girls have no nearer relative than you. And
+we are not so barbarous as to turn our backs on a new-found cousin."
+She again kissed his hand, and then turned away from him and wept.
+"You feel it all strange now," he said, "but I hope we shall be able
+to make you comfortable."
+
+"I have been so lonely," she sobbed out amidst her tears.
+
+He had not dared to say a word to her about her father, whose
+death had taken place not yet three months since. Of his late
+brother-in-law he had known little or nothing, except that the
+General had been a man who always found it difficult to make
+both ends meet, and who had troubled him frequently, not exactly
+for loans, but in regard to money arrangements which had been
+disagreeable to him. Whether General Bonner had or had not been an
+affectionate father he had never heard. There are men who, in Sir
+Thomas's position, would have known all about such a niece after a
+few hours' acquaintance; but our lawyer was not such a man. Though
+the girl seemed to him to be everything that was charming, he did not
+dare to question her; and when they arrived at the station in London,
+no word had as yet been said about the General.
+
+As they were having the luggage piled on the top of a cab, the fat
+cook passed along the platform. "I hope you are more comfortable now,
+Mrs. Woods," said Mary Bonner, with a smile as sweet as May, while
+she gave her hand to the woman.
+
+"Thank'ee, Miss; I'm better; but it's only a moil of trouble, one
+thing as well as t'other." Mrs. Woods was evidently very melancholy
+at the contemplation of her prospects.
+
+"I hope you'll find yourself comfortable now." Then she whispered to
+Sir Thomas;--"She is a poor young woman whose husband has ill used
+her, and she lost her only child, and has now come here to earn her
+bread. She isn't nice looking, but she is so good!" Sir Thomas did
+not dare to tell Mary Bonner that he had already noticed Mrs. Wood,
+and that he had conceived the idea that Mrs. Wood was the niece of
+whom he had come in search.
+
+They made the journey at once to Fulham in the cab, and Sir Thomas
+found it to be very long. He was proud of his new niece, but he did
+not know what to say to her. And he felt that she, though he was sure
+that she was clever, gave him no encouragement to speak. It was all
+very well while, with her beautiful eyes full of tears, she had gone
+through the ceremony of kissing his hand in token of her respect and
+gratitude;--but that had been done often enough, and could not very
+well be repeated in the cab. So they sat silent, and he was rejoiced
+when he saw those offensive words, Popham Villa, on the posts of his
+gateway. "We have only a humble little house, my dear," he said, as
+they turned in. She looked at him and smiled. "I believe you West
+Indians generally are lodged very sumptuously."
+
+"Papa had a large straggling place up in the hills, but it was
+anything but sumptuous. I do love the idea of an English home, where
+things are neat and nice. Oh, dear;--how lovely! That is the River
+Thames;--isn't it? How very beautiful!" Then the two girls were at
+the door of the cab, and the newcomer was enveloped in the embraces
+of her cousins.
+
+Sir Thomas, as he walked along the banks of the river while the young
+ladies prepared each other for dinner, reflected that he had never in
+his life done such a day's work before as he had just accomplished.
+When he had married a wife, that indeed had been a great piece of
+business; but it had been done slowly,--for he had been engaged four
+years,--and he had of course been much younger at that period. Now he
+had brought into his family a new inmate who would force him in his
+old age to change all his habits of life. He did not think that he
+would dare to neglect Mary Bonner, and to stay in London while she
+lived at the villa. He was almost sorry that he had ever heard of
+Mary Bonner, in spite of her beauty, and although he had as yet been
+able to find in her no cause of complaint. She was ladylike and
+quiet;--but yet he was afraid of her. When she came down into the
+drawing-room with her hand clasped in that of Clarissa, he was still
+more afraid of her. She was dressed all in black, with the utmost
+simplicity,--with nothing on her by way of ornament beyond a few
+large black beads; but yet she seemed to him to be splendid. There
+was a grace of motion about her that was almost majestic. Clary was
+very pretty,--very pretty, indeed; but Clary was just the girl that
+an old gentleman likes to fetch him his slippers and give him his
+tea. Sir Thomas felt that, old as he was, it would certainly be his
+business to give Mary Bonner her tea.
+
+The two girls contrived to say a few words to their father that night
+before they joined Mary amidst her trunks in her bedroom. "Papa,
+isn't she lovely?" said Clarissa.
+
+"She certainly is a very handsome young woman."
+
+"And not a bit like what I expected," continued Clary. "Of course
+I knew she was good-looking. I had always heard that. But I thought
+that she would have been a sort of West Indian girl, dark, and lazy,
+and selfish. Ralph was saying that is what they are out there."
+
+"I don't suppose that Ralph knows anything about it," said Sir
+Thomas. "And what do you say of your new cousin, Patience?"
+
+"I think I shall love her dearly. She is so gentle and sweet."
+
+"But she is not at all what you expected?" demanded Clarissa.
+
+"I hardly know what I expected," replied the prudent Patience. "But
+certainly I did not expect anything so lovely as she is. Of course,
+we can't know her yet; but as far as one can judge, I think I shall
+like her."
+
+"But she is so magnificently beautiful!" said the energetic Clarissa.
+
+"I think she is," said Sir Thomas. "And I quite admit that it is a
+kind of beauty to surprise one. It did surprise me. Had not one of
+you better go up-stairs to her?" Then both the girls bounded off to
+assist their cousin in her chamber.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+MR. NEEFIT AND HIS FAMILY.
+
+
+Mr. Neefit was a breeches-maker in Conduit Street, of such
+repute that no hunting man could be said to go decently into the
+hunting field unless decorated by a garment made in Mr. Neefit's
+establishment. His manipulation of leather was something marvellous;
+and in latter years he had added to his original art,--an art which
+had at first been perfect rather than comprehensive,--an exquisite
+skill in cords, buckskins, and such like materials. When his trade
+was becoming prosperous he had thought of degenerating into a tailor,
+adding largely to his premises, and of compensating his pride by the
+prospects of great increase to his fortune; but an angel of glory had
+whispered to him to let well alone, and he was still able to boast
+that all his measurements had been confined to the legs of sportsmen.
+Instead of extending his business he had simply extended his price,
+and had boldly clapped on an extra half-guinea to every pair that he
+supplied. The experiment was altogether successful, and when it was
+heard by the riding men of the City that Mr. Neefit's prices were
+undoubtedly higher than those of any other breeches-maker in London,
+and that he had refused to supply breeches for the grooms of a
+Marquis because the Marquis was not a hunting man, the riding men
+of the City flocked to him in such numbers, that it became quite a
+common thing for them to give their orders in June and July, so that
+they might not be disappointed when November came round. Mr. Neefit
+was a prosperous man, but he had his troubles. Now, it was a great
+trouble to him that some sporting men would be so very slow in paying
+for the breeches in which they took pride!
+
+Mr. Neefit's fortune had not been rapid in early life. He had begun
+with a small capital and a small establishment, and even now his
+place of business was very limited in size. He had been clever enough
+to make profit even out of its smallness,--and had contrived that
+it should be understood that the little back room in which men were
+measured was so diminutive because it did not suit his special
+business to welcome a crowd. It was his pride, he said, to wait upon
+hunting men,--but with the garments of the world at large he wished
+to have no concern whatever. In the outer shop, looking into Conduit
+Street, there was a long counter on which goods were unrolled for
+inspection; and on which an artist, the solemnity of whose brow and
+whose rigid silence betokened the nature of his great employment,
+was always cutting out leather. This grave man was a German, and
+there was a rumour among young sportsmen that old Neefit paid
+this highly-skilled operator L600 a year for his services! Nobody
+knew as he did how each morsel of leather would behave itself
+under the needle, or could come within two hairbreadths of him
+in accuracy across the kneepan. As for measuring, Mr. Neefit did
+that himself,--almost always. To be measured by Mr. Neefit was as
+essential to perfection as to be cut out for by the German. There
+were rumours, indeed, that from certain classes of customers Mr.
+Neefit and the great foreigner kept themselves personally aloof. It
+was believed that Mr. Neefit would not condescend to measure a retail
+tradesman. Latterly, indeed, there had arisen a doubt whether he
+would lay his august hand on a stockbroker's leg; though little
+Wallop, one of the young glories of Capel Court, swears that he is
+handled by him every year. "Confound 'is impudence," says Wallop;
+"I'd like to see him sending a foreman to me. And as for cutting,
+d'you think I don't know Bawwah's 'and!" The name of the foreign
+artist is not exactly known; but it is pronounced as we have written
+it, and spelt in that fashion by sporting gentlemen when writing to
+each other.
+
+Our readers may be told in confidence that up to a very late date
+Mr. Neefit lived in the rooms over his shop. This is certainly not
+the thing for a prosperous tradesman to do. Indeed, if a tradesman
+be known not to have a private residence, he will hardly become
+prosperous. But Neefit had been a cautious man, and till two years
+before the commencement of our story, he had actually lived in
+Conduit Street,--working hard, however, to keep his residence a deep
+secret from his customers at large. Now he was the proud possessor of
+a villa residence at Hendon, two miles out in the country beyond the
+Swiss Cottage; and all his customers knew that he was never to be
+found before 9.30 A.M., or after 5.15 P.M.
+
+As we have said, Mr. Neefit had his troubles, and one of his great
+troubles was our young friend, Ralph Newton. Ralph Newton was a
+hunting man, with a stud of horses,--never less than four, and
+sometimes running up to seven and eight,--always standing at the
+Moonbeam, at Barnfield. All men know that Barnfield is in the middle
+of the B. B. Hunt,--the two initials standing for those two sporting
+counties, Berkshire and Buckinghamshire. Now, Mr. Neefit had a very
+large connexion in the B. B., and, though he never was on horseback
+in his life, subscribed twenty-five pounds a year to the pack. Mr.
+Ralph Newton had long favoured him with his custom; but, we are sorry
+to say, Mr. Ralph Newton had become a thorn in the flesh to many a
+tradesman in these days. It was not that he never paid. He did pay
+something; but as he ordered more than he paid, the sum-total against
+him was always an increasing figure. But then he was a most engaging,
+civil-spoken young man, whose order it was almost impossible to
+decline. It was known, moreover, that his prospects were so good!
+Nevertheless, it is not pleasant for a breeches-maker to see the
+second hundred pound accumulating on his books for leather breeches
+for one gentleman. "What does he do with 'em?" old Neefit would
+say to himself; but he didn't dare to ask any such question of
+Mr. Newton. It isn't for a tradesman to complain that a gentleman
+consumes too many of his articles. Things, however, went so far that
+Mr. Neefit found it to be incumbent on him to make special inquiry
+about those prospects. Things had gone very far indeed,--for Ralph
+Newton appeared one summer evening at the villa at Hendon, and
+absolutely asked the breeches-maker to lend him a hundred pounds!
+Before he left he had taken tea with Mr. and Mrs. and Miss Neefit
+on the lawn, and had received almost a promise that the loan should
+be forthcoming if he would call in Conduit Street on the following
+morning. That had been early in May, and Ralph Newton had called,
+and, though there had been difficulties, he had received the money
+before three days had passed.
+
+Mr. Neefit was a stout little man, with a bald head and somewhat
+protrusive eyes, whose manners to his customers contained a
+combination of dictatorial assurance and subservience, which he had
+found to be efficacious in his peculiar business. On general subjects
+he would rub his hands, and bow his head, and agree most humbly with
+every word that was uttered. In the same day he would be a Radical
+and a Conservative, devoted to the Church and a scoffer at parsons,
+animated on behalf of staghounds and a loud censurer of aught in the
+way of hunting other than the orthodox fox. On all trivial outside
+subjects he considered it to be his duty as a tradesman simply to
+ingratiate himself; but in a matter of breeches he gave way to no
+man, let his custom be what it might. He knew his business, and was
+not going to be told by any man whether the garments which he made
+did or did not fit. It was the duty of a gentleman to come and
+allow him to see them on while still in a half-embryo condition. If
+gentlemen did their duty, he was sure that he could do his. He would
+take back anything that was not approved without a murmur;--but after
+that he must decline further transactions. It was, moreover, quite
+understood that to complain of his materials was so to insult him
+that he would condescend to make no civil reply. An elderly gentleman
+from Essex once told him that his buttons were given to breaking.
+"If you have your breeches,--washed,--by an old woman,--in the
+country,"--said Mr. Neefit, very slowly, looking into the elderly
+gentleman's face, "and then run through the mangle,--the buttons will
+break." The elderly gentleman never dared even to enter the shop
+again.
+
+Mr. Neefit was perhaps somewhat over-imperious in matters relating to
+his own business; but, in excuse for him, it must be stated that he
+was, in truth, an honest tradesman;--he was honest at least so far,
+that he did make his breeches as well as he knew how. He had made up
+his mind that the best way to make his fortune was to send out good
+articles,--and he did his best. Whether or no he was honest in adding
+on that additional half guinea to the price because he found that
+the men with whom he dealt were fools enough to be attracted by a
+high price, shall be left to advanced moralists to decide. In that
+universal agreement with diverse opinions there must, we fear, have
+been something of dishonesty. But he made the best of breeches, put
+no shoddy or cheap stitching into them, and was, upon the whole, an
+honest tradesman.
+
+From 9.30 to 5.15 were Mr. Neefit's hours; but it had come to be
+understood by those who knew the establishment well, that from
+half-past twelve to half-past one the master was always absent. The
+young man who sat at the high desk, and seemed to spend all his time
+in contemplating the bad debts in the ledger, would tell gentlemen
+who called up to one that Mr. Neefit was in the City. After one it
+was always said that Mr. Neefit was lunching at the Restaurong. The
+truth was that Mr. Neefit always dined in the middle of the day at a
+public-house round the corner, having a chop and a "follow chop," a
+pint of beer, a penny newspaper and a pipe. When the villa at Hendon
+had been first taken Mrs. Neefit had started late dinners; but that
+vigilant and intelligent lady had soon perceived that this simply
+meant, in regard to her husband, two dinners a day,--and apoplexy.
+She had, therefore, returned to the old ways,--an early dinner for
+herself and daughter, and a little bit of supper at night. Now,
+one day in June,--that very Saturday on which Sir Thomas Underwood
+brought his niece home to Fulham, the day after that wicked kiss on
+the lawn at Fulham, Ralph Newton walked into Neefit's shop during the
+hour of Mr. Neefit's absence, and ordered,--three pair of breeches.
+Herr "Bawwah," the cutter, who never left his board during the day
+for more than five minutes at a time, remained, as was his custom,
+mute and apparently inattentive; but the foreman came down from his
+perch and took the order. Mr. Neefit was out, unfortunately;--in the
+City. Ralph Newton remarked that his measure was not in the least
+altered, gave his order, and went out.
+
+"Three pair?--leather?" asked Mr. Neefit, when he returned, raising
+his eyebrows, and clearly showing that the moment was not one of
+unmixed delight.
+
+"Two leather;--one cord," said the foreman. "He had four pair last
+year," said Mr. Neefit, in a tone so piteous that it might almost
+have been thought that he was going to weep.
+
+"One hundred and eighty-nine pounds, fourteen shillings, and nine
+pence was the Christmas figure," said the foreman, turning back to a
+leaf in the book, which he found without any difficulty. Mr. Neefit
+took himself to the examination of certain completed articles which
+adorned his shop, as though he were anxious to banish from his
+mind so painful a subject. "Is he to 'ave 'em, Mr. Neefit?" asked
+the foreman. The master was still silent, and still fingered the
+materials which his very soul loved. "He must 'ave a matter of twenty
+pair by him,--unless he sells 'em," said the suspicious foreman.
+
+"He don't sell 'em," said Mr. Neefit. "He ain't one of that sort. You
+can put 'em in hand, Waddle."
+
+"Very well, Mr. Neefit. I only thought I'd mention it. It looked
+queer like, his coming just when you was out."
+
+"I don't see anything queer in it. He ain't one of that sort. Do
+you go on." Mr. Waddle knew nothing of the hundred pounds, nor did
+he know that Ralph Newton had,--twice drank tea at Hendon. On both
+occasions Mrs. Neefit had declared that if ever she saw a gentleman,
+Mr. Newton was a gentleman; and Miss Neefit, though her words had
+been very few, had evidently approved of Mr. Newton's manners. Now
+Miss Neefit was a beauty and an heiress.
+
+Mr. Waddle had hardly been silenced, and had just retired with
+melancholy diligence amidst the records of unsatisfactory commercial
+transactions, before Ralph Newton again entered the shop. He shook
+hands with Mr. Neefit,--as was the practice with many favourite
+customers,--and immediately went to work in regard to his new order,
+as though every Christmas and every Midsummer saw an account closed
+on his behalf in Mr. Neefit's books. "I did say just now, when I
+found you were out, that last year's lines would do; but it may be,
+you know, that I'm running a little to flesh."
+
+"We can't be too particular, Mr. Newton," said the master.
+
+"It's all for your sake that I come," said the young sportsman,
+walking into the little room, while Mr. Neefit followed with his
+scraps of paper and tapes, and Waddle followed him to write down the
+figures. "I don't care much how they look myself."
+
+"Oh, Mr. Newton!"
+
+"I shouldn't like 'em to wrinkle inside the knee, you know."
+
+"That isn't likely with us, I hope, Mr. Newton."
+
+"And I own I do like to be able to get into them."
+
+"We don't give much trouble in that way, Mr. Newton."
+
+"But the fact is I have such trust in you and the silent gentleman
+out there, that I believe you would fit me for the next twenty years,
+though you were never to see me."
+
+"Oh, thank you, Mr. Newton,--2, 4, and 1/8th, Waddle. I think Mr.
+Newton is a little stouter. But, perhaps, you may work that off
+before November, Mr. Newton. Thank you, Mr. Newton;--I think that'll
+do. You'll find we shan't be far wrong. Three pair, Mr. Newton?"
+
+"Yes;--I think three pair will see me through next season. I don't
+suppose I shall hunt above four days, and I have some by me."
+
+Some by him! There must be drawers full of them,--presses full of
+them, chests full of them! Waddle, the melancholy and suspicious
+Waddle, was sure that their customer was playing them false,--raising
+money on the garments as soon as they were sent to him; but he did
+not dare to say anything of this after the snubbing which he had
+already received. If old Neefit chose to be done by a dishonest young
+man it was nothing to him. But in truth Waddle did not understand men
+as well as did his master;--and then he knew nothing of his master's
+ambitious hopes.
+
+"The bishops came out very strong last night;--didn't they?" said
+Ralph, in the outer shop.
+
+"Very strong, indeed, Mr. Newton;--very strong."
+
+"But, after all, they're nothing but a pack of old women."
+
+"That's about what they are, Mr. Newton."
+
+"Not but what we must have a Church, I suppose."
+
+"We should do very badly without a Church, Mr. Newton. At least that
+is my opinion." Then Ralph left the shop, and the breeches-maker
+bowed him out of the door.
+
+"Fifty thousand pounds!" said Ralph Newton to himself, as he walked
+into Bond Street and down to his club. When a man is really rich
+rumour always increases his money,--and rumour had doubled the
+fortune which Mr. Neefit had already amassed. "That means two
+thousand a year; and the girl herself is so pretty, that upon my
+honour I don't know which is the prettier,--she or Clary. But fancy
+old Neefit for one's father-in-law! Everybody is doing it now; but I
+don't think I'd do it for ten times the money. The fact is, one has
+got to get used to these things, and I am not used to it yet. I soon
+shall be,--or to something worse." Such was the nature of Ralph's
+thoughts as he walked away from Mr. Neefit's house to his club.
+
+Mr. Neefit, as he went home, had his speculations also. In making
+breeches he was perfect, and in putting together money he had proved
+himself to be an adept. But as to the use of his money, he was quite
+as much at a loss as he would have been had he tried to wear the
+garments for which he measured his customers so successfully. He
+had almost realised the truth that from that money he himself could
+extract, for himself, but little delight beyond that which arose
+simply from the possession. Holidays destroyed him. Even a day
+at home at Hendon, other than Sunday, was almost more than he
+could endure. The fruition of life to him was in the completing of
+breeches, and its charm in a mutton-chop and a pipe of tobacco. He
+had tried idleness, and was wise enough to know almost at the first
+trial that idleness would not suit him. He had made one mistake in
+life which was irreparable. He had migrated from Conduit Street to a
+cold, comfortless box of a house at a place in which, in order that
+his respectability might be maintained, he was not allowed to show
+his face in a public-house. This was very bad, but he would not make
+bad worse by giving up so much of Conduit Street as was still left to
+him. He would stick to the shop. But what would he do with his money?
+He had but one daughter. Thinking of this, day after day, month after
+month, year after year, he came slowly to the conclusion that it was
+his duty to make his daughter a lady. He must find some gentleman
+who would marry her, and then would give that gentleman all his
+money,--knowing as he did so that the gentleman would probably never
+speak to him again. And to this conclusion he came with no bitterness
+of feeling, with no sense of disappointment that to such an end must
+come the exertions of his laborious and successful life. There was
+nothing else for him to do. He could not be a gentleman himself. It
+seemed to be no more within his reach than it is for the gentleman to
+be an angel. He did not desire it. He would not have enjoyed it. He
+had that sort of sense which makes a man know so thoroughly his own
+limits that he has no regret at not passing them. But yet in his eyes
+a gentleman was so grand a thing,--a being so infinitely superior to
+himself,--that, loving his daughter above anything else, he did think
+that he could die happy if he could see her married into a station
+so exalted. There was a humility in this as regarded himself and an
+affection for his child which were admirable.
+
+The reader will think that he might at any rate have done better than
+to pitch upon such a one as Ralph Newton; but then the reader hardly
+knows Ralph Newton as yet, and cannot at all realise the difficulty
+which poor Mr. Neefit experienced in coming across any gentleman
+in such a fashion as to be able to commence his operations. It is
+hardly open to a tradesman to ask a young man home to his house
+when measuring him from the hip to the knee. Neefit had heard of
+many cases in which gentlemen of money had married the daughters of
+commercial men, and he knew that the thing was to be done. Money,
+which spent in other directions seemed to be nearly useless to him,
+might be used beneficially in this way. But how was he to set about
+it? Polly Neefit was as pretty a girl as you shall wish to see,
+and he knew that she was pretty. But, if he didn't take care, the
+good-looking young gasfitter, next door to him down at Hendon, would
+have his Polly before he knew where he was. Or, worse still, as
+he thought, there was that mad son of his old friend Moggs, the
+bootmaker, Ontario Moggs as he had been christened by a Canadian
+godfather, with whom Polly had condescended already to hold something
+of a flirtation. He could not advertise for a genteel lover. What
+could he do?
+
+Then Ralph Newton made his way down to the Hendon villa,--asking for
+money. What should have induced Mr. Newton to come to him for money
+he could not guess;--but he did know that, of all the young men who
+came into his back shop to be measured, there was no one whose looks
+and manners and cheery voice had created so strong a feeling of
+pleasantness as had those of Mr. Ralph Newton. Mr. Neefit could not
+analyse it, but there was a kind of sunshine about the young man
+which would have made him very unwilling to press hard for payment,
+or to stop the supply of breeches. He had taken a liking to Ralph,
+and found himself thinking about the young man in his journeys
+between Hendon and Conduit Street. Was not this the sort of gentleman
+that would suit his daughter? Neefit wanted no one to tell him that
+Ralph Newton was a gentleman,--what he meant by a gentleman,--and
+that Wallop the stockbroker was not. Wallop the stockbroker spoke
+of himself as though he was a very fine fellow indeed; but to the
+thinking of Mr. Neefit, Ontario Moggs was more like a gentleman than
+Mr. Wallop. He had feared much as to his daughter, both in reference
+to the handsome gasfitter and to Ontario Moggs, but since that second
+tea-drinking he had hoped that his daughter's eyes were opened.
+
+He had made inquiry about Ralph Newton, and had found that the young
+man was undoubtedly heir to a handsome estate in Hampshire,--a place
+called Newton Priory, with a parish of Newton Peele, and lodges, and
+a gamekeeper, and a park. He knew from of old that Ralph's uncle
+would have nothing to do with his nephew's debts; but he learned now
+as a certainty that the uncle could not disinherit his nephew. And
+the debts did not seem to be very high;--and Ralph had come into some
+property from his father. Upon the whole, though of course there must
+be a sacrifice of money at first, Neefit thought that he saw his way.
+Mr. Newton, too, had been very civil to his girl,--not simply making
+to her foolish flattering little speeches, but treating her,--so
+thought Neefit,--exactly as a high-bred gentleman would treat the
+lady of his thoughts. It was a high ambition; but Neefit thought that
+there might possibly be a way to success.
+
+Mrs. Neefit had been a good helpmate to her husband,--having worked
+hard for him when hard work on her part was needed,--but was not
+altogether so happy in her disposition as her lord. He desired to
+shine only in his daughter,--and as a tradesman. She was troubled
+by the more difficult ambition of desiring to shine in her own
+person. It was she who had insisted on migrating to Hendon, and
+who had demanded also the establishment of a one-horse carriage.
+The one-horse carriage was no delight to Neefit, and hardly gave
+satisfaction to his wife after the first three months. To be driven
+along the same roads, day after day, at the rate of six miles an
+hour, though it may afford fresh air, is not an exciting amusement.
+Mrs. Neefit was not given to reading, and was debarred by a sense of
+propriety from making those beef-steak puddings for which, within her
+own small household, she had once been so famous. Hendon she found
+dull; and, though Hendon had been her own choice, she could not keep
+herself from complaining of its dulness to her husband. But she
+always told him that the fault lay with him. He ought to content
+himself with going to town four times a week, and take a six weeks'
+holiday in the autumn. That was the recognised mode of life with
+gentlemen who had made their fortunes in trade. Then she tried to
+make him believe that constant seclusion in Conduit Street was bad
+for his liver. But above all things he ought to give up measuring his
+own customers with his own hands. None of their genteel neighbours
+would call upon his wife and daughter as long as he did that. But
+Mr. Neefit was a man within whose bosom gallantry had its limits.
+He had given his wife a house at Hendon, and was contented to take
+that odious journey backwards and forwards six days a week to oblige
+her. But when she told him not to measure his own customers, "he cut
+up rough" as Polly called it. "You be blowed," he said to the wife
+of his bosom. He had said it before, and she bore it with majestic
+equanimity.
+
+Polly Neefit was, as we have said, as pretty a girl as you shall wish
+to see, in spite of a nose that was almost a pug nose, and a mouth
+that was a little large. I think, however, that she was perhaps
+prettier at seventeen, when she would run up and down Conduit Street
+on messages for her father,--who was not as yet aware that she had
+ceased to be a child,--than she became afterwards at Hendon, when she
+was twenty. In those early days her glossy black hair hung down her
+face in curls. Now, she had a thing on the back of her head, and her
+hair was manoeuvred after the usual fashion. But her laughing dark
+eyes were full of good-humour, and looked as though they could be
+filled also with feeling. Her complexion was perfect,--perfect at
+twenty, though from its nature it would be apt to be fixed, and
+perhaps rough and coarse at thirty. But at twenty it was perfect. It
+was as is the colour of a half-blown rose, in which the variations
+from white to pink, and almost to red, are so gradual and soft as
+to have no limits. And then with her there was a charm beyond that
+of the rose, for the hues would ever be changing. As she spoke or
+laughed, or became serious or sat thoughtless, or pored over her
+novel, the tint of her cheek and neck would change as this or that
+emotion, be it ever so slight, played upon the current of her
+blood. She was tall, and well made,--perhaps almost robust. She was
+good-humoured, somewhat given to frank coquetry, and certainly fond
+of young men. She had sense enough not to despise her father, and was
+good enough to endeavour to make life bearable to her mother. She was
+clever, too, in her way, and could say sprightly things. She read
+novels, and loved a love story. She meant herself to have a grand
+passion some day, but did not quite sympathise with her father's
+views about gentlemen. Not that these views were discussed between
+them, but each was gradually learning the mind of the other. It
+was very pleasant to Polly Neefit to waltz with the good-looking
+gasfitter;--and indeed to waltz with any man was a pleasure to Polly,
+for dancing was her Paradise upon earth. And she liked talking to
+Ontario Moggs, who was a clever man and had a great deal to say about
+many things. She believed that Ontario Moggs was dying for her love,
+but she had by no means made up her mind that Ontario was to be the
+hero of the great passion. The great passion was quite a necessity
+for her. She must have her romance. But Polly was aware that a great
+passion ought to be made to lead to a snug house, half a dozen
+children, and a proper, church-going, roast-mutton, duty-doing manner
+of life. Now Ontario Moggs had very wild ideas. As for the gasfitter
+he danced well and was good-looking, but he had very little to say
+for himself. When Polly saw Ralph Newton,--especially when he sat out
+on the lawn with them and smoked cigars on his second coming,--she
+thought him very nice. She had no idea of being patronised by any
+one, and she was afraid of persons whom she called "stuck-up" ladies
+and gentlemen. But Mr. Newton had not patronised her, and she had
+acknowledged that he was--very nice. Such as she was, she was the
+idol of her father's heart and the apple of his eye. If she had asked
+him to give up measuring, he might have yielded. But then his Polly
+was too wise for that.
+
+We must say a word more of Mrs. Neefit, and then we shall hope that
+our readers will know the family. She had been the daughter of a
+breeches-maker, to whom Neefit had originally been apprenticed,--and
+therefore regarded herself as the maker of the family. But in truth
+the business, such as it was now in its glory, had been constructed
+by her husband, and her own fortune had been very small. She was a
+stout, round-faced, healthy, meaningless woman, in whom ill-humour
+would not have developed itself unless idleness,--that root of all
+evil,--had fallen in her way. As it was, in the present condition of
+their lives, she did inflict much discomfort on poor Mr. Neefit. Had
+he been ill, she would have nursed him with all her care. Had he
+died, she would have mourned for him as the best of husbands. Had he
+been three parts ruined in trade, she would have gone back to Conduit
+Street and made beef-steak puddings almost without a murmur. She was
+very anxious for his Sunday dinner,--and would have considered it to
+be a sin to be without a bit of something nice for his supper. She
+took care that he always wore flannel, and would never let him stay
+away from church,--lest worse should befall him. But she couldn't let
+him be quiet. What else was there left for her to do but to nag him?
+Polly, who was with her during the long hours of the day, would not
+be nagged. "Now, mamma!" she'd say with a tone of authority that
+almost overcame mamma. And if mamma was very cross, Polly would
+escape. But during the long hours of the night the breeches-maker
+could not escape;--and in minor matters the authority lay with her.
+It was only when great matters were touched that Mr. Neefit would
+rise in his wrath and desire his wife "to be blowed."
+
+No doubt Mrs. Neefit was an unhappy woman,--more unfortunate as a
+woman than was her husband as a man. The villa at Hendon had been
+heavy upon him, but it had been doubly heavy upon her. He could
+employ himself. The legs of his customers, to him, were a blessed
+resource. But she had no resource. The indefinite idea which she had
+formed of what life would be in a pretty villa residence had been
+proved to be utterly fallacious,--though she had never acknowledged
+the fallacy either to husband or daughter. That one-horse carriage
+in which she was dragged about, was almost as odious to her as her
+own drawing-room. That had become so horrible that it was rarely
+used;--but even the dining-room was very bad. What would she do
+there, poor woman? What was there left for her to do at all in this
+world,--except to nag at her husband?
+
+Nevertheless all who knew anything about the Neefits said that they
+were very respectable people, and had done very well in the world.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+MRS. NEEFIT'S LITTLE DINNER.
+
+
+On the Sunday morning following that remarkable Saturday on which
+Miss Bonner had been taken to her new home and Ralph Newton had
+ordered three pair of breeches, Mr. Neefit made a very ambitious
+proposition. "My dear, I think I'll ask that young man to come
+and have a bit of dinner here next Sunday." This was said after
+breakfast, as Mr. Neefit was being made smart in his church-going
+coat and his Sunday hat, which were kept together in Mrs. Neefit's
+big press.
+
+"Which young man?" Now Mrs. Neefit when she asked the question knew
+very well that Mr. Newton was the young man to whom hospitality was
+to be offered. Ontario Moggs was her favourite; but Mr. Neefit would
+not have dreamed of asking Ontario Moggs to dinner.
+
+"Mr. Newton, my dear," said Mr. Neefit, with his head stuck sharply
+up, while his wife tied a bow in his Sunday neckhandkerchief.
+
+"Why should us ask him? He won't think nothing of his vittels when he
+gets 'em. He'd only turn up his nose; and as for Polly, what's the
+use of making her more saucy than she is? I don't want such as him
+here, Neefit;--that I don't. Stuck-up young men like him had better
+stay away from Alexandrina Cottage,"--that was the name of the happy
+home at Hendon. "I'm sure our Polly won't be the better for having
+the likes of him here."
+
+Nothing more was said on the subject till after the return of the
+family from church; but, during the sermon Mr. Neefit had had an
+opportunity of thinking the subject over, and had resolved that this
+was a matter in which it behoved him to be master. How was this
+marriage to be brought about if the young people were not allowed to
+see each other? Of course he might fail. He knew that. Very probably
+Mr. Newton might not accept the invitation,--might never show himself
+again at Alexandrina Cottage; but unless an effort was made there
+could not be success. "I don't see why he shouldn't eat a bit of
+dinner here," said Mr. Neefit, as soon as his pipe was lighted after
+their early dinner. "It ain't anything out of the way, as I know of."
+
+"You're thinking of Polly, Neefit?"
+
+"Why shouldn't I be thinking of her? There ain't no more of 'em.
+What's the use of working for her, if one don't think of her?"
+
+"It won't do no good, Neefit. If we had things here as we might have
+'em, indeed--!"
+
+"What's amiss?"
+
+"With nothing to drink out of, only common wine-glasses; and it's my
+belief Jemima 'd never cook a dinner as he'd look at. I know what
+they are,--them sort of young men. They're worse than a dozen ladies
+when you come to vittels."
+
+Nevertheless Mr. Neefit resolved upon having his own way, and it was
+settled that Ralph Newton should be asked to come and eat a bit of
+dinner on next Sunday. Then there arose a difficulty as to the mode
+of asking him. Neefit himself felt that it would be altogether out of
+his line to indite an invitation. In days gone by, before he kept a
+clerk for the purpose, he had written very many letters to gentlemen,
+using various strains of pressure as he called their attention to the
+little outstanding accounts which stood on his books and were thorns
+in his flesh. But of the writing of such letters as this now intended
+to be written he had no experience. As for Mrs. Neefit, her skill in
+this respect was less even than that of her husband. She could write,
+no doubt. On very rare occasions she would make some expression of
+her thoughts with pen and ink to Polly, when she and Polly were
+apart. But no one else ever saw how slight was her proficiency in
+this direction. But Polly was always writing. Polly's pothooks, as
+her father called them, were pictures in her father's eyes. She
+could dash off straight lines of writing,--line after line,--with
+sharp-pointed angles and long-tailed letters, in a manner which made
+her father proud of the money which he had spent on her education.
+So Polly was told to write the letter, and after many expressions of
+surprise, Polly wrote the letter that evening. "Mr. and Mrs. Neefit's
+compliments to Mr. Newton, and hope he will do them the honour to
+dine with them on Sunday next at five o'clock. Alexandrina Cottage,
+Sunday."
+
+"Say five sharp," said the breeches-maker.
+
+"No, father, I won't,--say anything about sharp."
+
+"Why not, Polly?"
+
+"It wouldn't look pretty. I don't suppose he'll come, and I'm sure I
+don't know why you should ask him. Dear me, I'm certain he'll know
+that I wrote it. What will he think?"
+
+"He'll think it comes from as pretty a young woman as he ever clapped
+his eyes on," said Mr. Neefit, who was not at all reticent in the
+matter of compliments to his daughter.
+
+"Laws, Neefit, how you do spoil the girl!" said his wife.
+
+"He has about finished spoiling me now, mamma; so it don't much
+signify. You always did spoil me;--didn't you, father?" Then Polly
+kissed Mr. Neefit's bald head; and Mr. Neefit, as he sat in the
+centre of his lawn, with his girdle loose around him, a glass of gin
+and water by his side, and a pipe in his mouth, felt that in truth
+there was something left in the world worth living for. But a thought
+came across his mind,--"If that chap comes I shan't be as comfortable
+next Sunday." And then there was another thought,--"If he takes my
+Polly away from me, I don't know as I shall ever be comfortable
+again." But still he did not hesitate or repent. Of course his Polly
+must have a husband.
+
+Then a dreadful proposition was made by Mrs. Neefit. "Why not have
+Moggs too?"
+
+"Oh, mamma!"
+
+"Are you going to turn your nose up at Ontario Moggs, Miss Pride?"
+
+"I don't turn my nose up at him. I'm very fond of Mr. Moggs. I think
+he's the best fun going. But I am sure that if Mr. Newton does come,
+he'd rather not have Mr. Moggs here too."
+
+"It wouldn't do at all," said Mr. Neefit. "Ontario is all very well,
+but Mr. Newton and he wouldn't suit."
+
+Mrs. Neefit was snubbed, and went to sleep on the sofa for the rest
+of the afternoon,--intending, no doubt, to let Mr. Neefit have the
+benefit of her feelings as soon as they two should be alone together.
+
+Our friend Ralph received the note, and accepted the invitation. He
+told himself that it was a lark. As the reader knows, he had already
+decided that he would not sell himself even to so pretty a girl as
+Polly Neefit for any amount of money; but not the less might it be
+agreeable to him to pass a Sunday afternoon in her company.
+
+Ralph Newton at this time occupied very comfortable bachelor's rooms
+in a small street close to St. James's Palace. He had now held these
+for the last two years, and had contrived to make his friends about
+town know that here was his home. He had declined to go into the army
+himself when he was quite young,--or rather had agreed not to go into
+the army, on condition that he should not be pressed as to any other
+profession. He lived, however, very much with military friends, many
+of whom found it convenient occasionally to breakfast with him, or
+to smoke a pipe in his chambers. He never did any work, and lived
+a useless, butterfly life,--only with this difference from other
+butterflies, that he was expected to pay for his wings.
+
+In that matter of payment was the great difficulty of Ralph Newton's
+life. He had been started at nineteen with an allowance of L250 per
+annum. When he was twenty-one he inherited a fortune from his father
+of more than double that amount; and as he was the undoubted heir to
+a property of L7,000 a year, it may be said of him that he was born
+with a golden spoon. But he had got into debt before he was twenty,
+and had never got out of it. The quarrel with his uncle was an old
+affair, arranged for him by his father before he knew how to quarrel
+on his own score, and therefore we need say no more about that at
+present. But his uncle would not pay a shilling for him, and would
+have quarrelled also with his other nephew, the clergyman, had he
+known that the younger brother assisted the elder. But up to the
+moment of which we are writing, the iron of debt had not as yet
+absolutely entered into the soul of this young man. He had, in
+his need, just borrowed L100 from his breeches-maker; and this
+perhaps was not the first time that he had gone to a tradesman for
+assistance. But hitherto money had been forthcoming, creditors had
+been indulgent, and at this moment he possessed four horses which
+were eating their heads off at the Moonbeam, at Barnfield.
+
+At five o'clock, with sufficient sharpness, Ralph Newton got out
+of a Hansom cab at the door of Alexandrina Cottage. "He's cum in a
+'Ansom," said Mrs. Neefit, looking over the blind of the drawing-room
+window. "That's three-and-six," said Neefit, with a sigh. "You
+didn't think he was going to walk, father?" said Polly. "There's the
+Underground within two miles, if the Midland didn't suit," said Mr.
+Neefit. "Nonsense, father. Of course he'd come in a cab!" said Polly.
+Mrs. Neefit was not able to add the stinging remark with which her
+tongue was laden, as Ralph Newton was already in the house. She
+smoothed her apron, crossed her hands, and uttered a deep sigh. There
+could be no more going down into the kitchen now to see whether
+the salmon was boiled, or to provide for the proper dishing of the
+lamb. "This is quite condescending of you, Mr. Newton," said the
+breeches-maker, hardly daring to shake hands with his guest,--though
+in his shop he was always free enough with his customers in this
+matter. Polly looked as though she thought there was no condescension
+whatever, held up her head, and laughed and joked, and asked some
+questions about the German at the shop, whom she declared she was
+never allowed to see now, and whose voice she swore she had never
+heard. "Is he dumb, Mr. Newton? Father never will tell me anything
+about him. You must know."
+
+"Laws, Polly, what does it matter?" said Mrs. Neefit. And they were
+the only words she had spoken. Polly, from the first, had resolved
+that she would own to the shop. If Mr. Newton came to see her, he
+should come to see a girl who was not ashamed to speak of herself as
+the daughter of a breeches-maker.
+
+"He don't talk much, does he, Mr. Newton?" said Mr. Neefit, laughing
+merrily.
+
+"Do tell me one thing," said Ralph. "I know it's a secret, but I'll
+promise not to tell it. What is his real name?"
+
+"This isn't fair," said Mr. Neefit, greatly delighted. "All trades
+have their secrets. Come, come, Mr. Newton!"
+
+"I know his name," said Polly.
+
+"Do tell me," said Ralph, coming close to her, as though he might
+hear it in a whisper.
+
+"Mr. Neefit, I wish you wouldn't talk about such things here," said
+the offended matron. "But now here's dinner." She was going to take
+her guest's arm, but Mr. Neefit arranged it otherwise.
+
+"The old uns and the young uns;--that's the way to pair them," said
+Mr. Neefit,--understanding nature better than he did precedence; and
+so they walked into the next room. Mrs. Neefit was not quite sure
+whether her husband had or had not done something improper. She had
+her doubts, and they made her uncomfortable.
+
+The dinner went off very well. Neefit told how he had gone himself to
+the fishmonger's for that bit of salmon, how troubled his wife had
+been in mind about the lamb, and how Polly had made the salad. "And
+I'll tell you what I did, Mr. Newton; I brought down that bottle of
+champagne in my pocket myself;--gave six bob for it at Palmer's, in
+Bond Street. My wife says we ain't got glasses fit to drink it out
+of."
+
+"You needn't tell Mr. Newton all that."
+
+"Mr. Newton, what I am I ain't ashamed on, nor yet what I does. Let
+me have the honour of drinking a glass of wine with you, Mr. Newton.
+You see us just as we are. I wish it was better, but it couldn't be
+welcomer. Your health, Mr. Newton."
+
+There are many men,--and men, too, not of a bad sort,--who in
+such circumstances cannot make themselves pleasant. Grant the
+circumstances, with all the desire to make the best of them,--and
+these men cannot be otherwise than stiff, disagreeable, and uneasy.
+But then, again, there are men who in almost any position can carry
+themselves as though they were to the manner born. Ralph Newton was
+one of the latter. He was not accustomed to dine with the tradesmen
+who supplied him with goods, and had probably never before
+encountered such a host as Mr. Neefit;--but he went through the
+dinner with perfect ease and satisfaction, and before the pies and
+jellies had been consumed, had won the heart of even Mrs. Neefit.
+"Laws, Mr. Newton," she said, "what can you know about custards?"
+Then Ralph Newton offered to come and make custards against her in
+her own kitchen,--providing he might have Polly to help him. "But
+you'd want the back kitchen to yourselves, I'm thinking," said Mr.
+Neefit, in high good-humour.
+
+Mr. Neefit certainly was not a delicate man. As soon as dinner was
+over, and the two ladies had eaten their strawberries and cream, he
+suggested that the port wine should be taken out into the garden. In
+the farther corner of Mr. Neefit's grounds, at a distance of about
+twenty yards from the house, was a little recess called "the arbour,"
+admonitory of earwigs, and without much pretension to comfort.
+It might hold three persons, but on this occasion Mr. Neefit was
+minded that two only should enjoy the retreat. Polly carried out the
+decanter and glasses, but did not presume to stay there for a moment.
+She followed her mother into the gorgeous drawing-room, where Mrs.
+Neefit at once went to sleep, while her daughter consoled herself
+with a novel. Mr. Neefit, as we have said, was not a delicate man.
+"That girl 'll have twenty thousand pound, down on the nail, the day
+she marries the man as I approves of. Fill your glass, Mr. Newton.
+She will;--and there's no mistake about it. There'll be more money
+too, when I'm dead,--and the old woman."
+
+It might be owned that such a speech from the father of a
+marriageable daughter to a young man who had hardly as yet shown
+himself to be enamoured, was not delicate. But it may be a question
+whether it was not sensible. He had made up his mind, and therefore
+went at once at his object. And unless he did the business in this
+way, what chance was there that it would be done at all? Mr. Newton
+could not come down to Alexandrina Cottage every other day, or meet
+the girl elsewhere, as he might do young ladies of fashion. And,
+moreover, the father knew well enough that were his girl once to tell
+him that she had set her heart upon the gasfitter, or upon Ontario
+Moggs, he would not have the power to contradict her. He desired that
+she should become a gentleman's wife; and thinking that this was the
+readiest way to accomplish his wish, he saw no reason why he should
+not follow it. When he had spoken, he chucked off his glass of wine,
+and looked into his young friend's face for an answer.
+
+"He'll be a lucky fellow that gets her," said Ralph, beginning
+unconsciously to feel that it might perhaps have been as well for him
+had he remained in his lodgings on this Sunday.
+
+"He will be a lucky fellow, Mr. Newton. She's as good as gold. And a
+well bred 'un too, though I say it as shouldn't. There's not a dirty
+drop in her. And she's that clever, she can do a'most anything. As
+for her looks, I'll say nothing about them. You've got eyes in your
+head. There ain't no mistake there, Mr. Newton; no paint; no Madame
+Rachel; no made beautiful for ever! It's human nature what you see
+there, Mr. Newton."
+
+"I'm quite sure of that."
+
+"And she has the heart of an angel." By this time Mr. Neefit
+was alternately wiping the tears from his eyes, and taking half
+glasses of port wine. "I know all about you, Mr. Newton. You are a
+gentleman;--that's what you are."
+
+"I hope so."
+
+"And if you don't get the wrong side of the post, you'll come out
+right at last. You'll have a nice property some of these days, but
+you're just a little short of cash at present."
+
+"That's about true, Mr. Neefit."
+
+"I want nobody to tell me;--I know," continued Neefit. "Now if you
+make up to her, there she is,--with twenty thousand pounds down. You
+are a gentleman, and I want that girl to be a lady. You can make her
+a lady. You can't make her no better than she is. The best man in
+England can't do that. But you can make her a lady. I don't know what
+she'll say, mind; but you can ask her,--if you please. I like you,
+and you can ask her,--if you please. What answer she'll make, that's
+her look out. But you can ask her,--if you please. Perhaps I'm a
+little too forrard; but I call that honest. I don't know what you
+call it. But this I do know;--there ain't so sweet a girl as that
+within twenty miles round London." Then Mr. Neefit, in his energy,
+dashed his hand down among the glasses on the little rustic table in
+the arbour.
+
+The reader may imagine that Ralph Newton was hardly ready with his
+answer. There are men, no doubt, who in such an emergency would have
+been able to damn the breeches-maker's impudence, and to have walked
+at once out of the house. But our young friend felt no inclination to
+punish his host in such fashion as this. He simply remarked that he
+would think of it, the matter being too grave for immediate decision,
+and that he would join the ladies.
+
+"Do, Mr. Newton," said Mr. Neefit; "go and join Polly. You'll find
+she's all I tell you. I'll sit here and have a pipe."
+
+Ralph did join the ladies; and, finding Mrs. Neefit asleep, he
+induced Polly to take a walk with him amidst the lanes of Hendon.
+When he left Alexandrina Cottage in the evening, Mr. Neefit whispered
+a word into his ear at the gate. "You know my mind. Strike while the
+iron's hot. There she is,--just what you see her."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+YOU ARE ONE OF US NOW.
+
+
+The first week after Mary Bonner's arrival at Popham Villa went by
+without much to make it remarkable, except the strangeness arising
+from the coming of a stranger. Sir Thomas did stay at home on that
+Sunday, but when the time came for going to morning church, shuffled
+out of that disagreeable duty in a manner that was satisfactory
+neither to himself nor his daughters. "Oh, papa; I thought you would
+have gone with us!" said Patience at the last moment.
+
+"I think not to-day, my dear," he said, with that sort of smile which
+betokens inward uneasiness. Patience reproached him with a look, and
+then the three girls went off together. Even Patience herself had
+offered to excuse Mary, on the score of fatigue, seasickness, and the
+like; but Mary altogether declined to be excused. She was neither
+fatigued, she said, nor sick; and of course she would go to church.
+Sir Thomas stayed at home, and thought about himself. How could he
+go to church when he knew that he could neither listen to the sermon
+nor join in the prayers? "I suppose people do," he said to himself;
+"but I can't. I'd go to church all day long, if I found that it would
+serve me."
+
+He went up to London on the Monday, and returned to the villa to
+dinner. He did the same on the Tuesday. On the Wednesday he remained
+in London. On the Thursday he came home, but dined in town. After
+that he found himself to be on sufficiently familiar terms with his
+niece to fall back into his old habits of life.
+
+Patience was very slow in speaking to their cousin of her father's
+peculiarities; but Clarissa soon told the tale. "You'll get to know
+papa soon," she said.
+
+"He has been so kind to me."
+
+"He is very good; but you must know, dear, that we are the most
+deserted and disconsolate ladies that ever lived out of a poem. Papa
+has been home now four days together; but that is for your beaux
+yeux. We are here for weeks together without seeing him;--very often
+for more than a week."
+
+"Where does he go?"
+
+"He has a place in London;--such a place! You shall go and see it
+some day, though he won't thank us a bit for taking you there. He has
+the queerest old man to wait upon him, and he never sees anybody from
+day to day."
+
+"But what does he do?"
+
+"He is writing a book. That is the great secret. He never speaks
+about it, and does not like to be asked questions. But the truth is,
+he is the most solitude-loving person in the world. He does find its
+charms, though Alexander Selkirk never could."
+
+"And does nobody come here to you?"
+
+"In the way of taking care of us? Nobody! We have to take care of
+ourselves. Of course it is dull. People do come and see us sometimes.
+Miss Spooner, for instance."
+
+"Why should you laugh at poor Miss Spooner?" asked Patience.
+
+"I don't laugh at her. We have other friends, you know; but not
+enough to make the house pleasant to you." After that, when Patience
+was not with them, she told something of Ralph Newton and his visits,
+though she said nothing to her cousin of her own cherished hopes. "I
+wonder what you'll think of Ralph Newton?" she said. Ralph Newton's
+name had been mentioned before in Mary's hearing more than once.
+
+"Why should I think anything particular of Ralph Newton?"
+
+"You'll have to think something particular about him as he is a sort
+of child of the house. Papa was his guardian, and he comes here just
+when he pleases."
+
+"Who is he, and what is he, and where is he, and why is he?"
+
+"He's a gentleman at large who does nothing. That's who he is."
+
+"He thinks ever so much of himself, then?"
+
+"No;--he doesn't. And he is nephew to an old squire down in
+Hampshire, who won't give him a penny. He oughtn't to want it,
+however, because when he came of age he had ever so much money of his
+own. But he does want it,--sometimes. He must have the property when
+his uncle dies."
+
+"Dear me;--how interesting!"
+
+"As for the where he is, and why he is,--he comes here just when it
+suits him, and because we were almost brought up together. He doesn't
+dine here, and all that kind of thing, because papa is never at home.
+Nobody ever does dine here."
+
+Then there was a short pause. "This Mr. Newton isn't a lover then?"
+asked Miss Bonner.
+
+There was another pause before Clarissa could answer the question.
+"No," she said; "no; he isn't a lover. We don't have any lovers at
+Popham Villa." "Only that's not quite true," she said, after a pause.
+"And as you are to live with us just like a sister, I'll tell you
+about Gregory Newton, Ralph's brother." Then she did tell the story
+of the clergyman's love and the clergyman's discomfiture; but she
+said not a word of Ralph's declaration and Ralph's great sin on that
+fatal evening. And the way in which she told her story about the one
+brother altogether disarmed Mary Bonner's suspicion as to the other.
+
+In truth Clarissa did not know whether it was or was not her
+privilege to regard Ralph Newton as her lover. He had not been to the
+cottage since that evening; and though the words he had spoken were
+still sweet in her ears,--so sweet that she could not endure the
+thought of abandoning their sweetness,--still she had a misgiving
+that they were in some sort rendered nugatory by his great fault. She
+had forgiven the fault;--looking back at it now over the distance
+of eight or ten days, had forgiven it with all her heart; but still
+there remained with her an undefined and unpleasant feeling that the
+spoken words, accompanied by a deed so wicked, were absorbed, and,
+as it were, drowned in the wickedness of the deed. What if the words
+as first spoken were only a prelude to the deed,--for, as she well
+remembered, they had been spoken twice,--and if the subsequent words
+were only an excuse for it! There was a painful idea in her mind that
+such might possibly be the case, and that if so, the man could never
+be forgiven, or at least ought never to be spoken to again. Acting
+on this suggestion from within, she absolutely refused to tell her
+father what had happened when Patience urged her to do so. "He'll
+come and see papa himself,--if he means anything," said Clary.
+Patience only shook her head. She thought that Sir Thomas should be
+told at once; but she could not take upon herself to divulge her
+sister's secret, which had been imparted to her in trust.
+
+Clarissa was obstinate. She would not tell her father, nor would
+she say what would be her own answer if her father were to give his
+permission for the match. As to this Patience had not much doubt. She
+saw that her sister's heart was set upon this lover. She had feared
+it before this late occurrence, and now she could hardly have a
+doubt. But if Ralph really meant it he would hardly have told her
+that he loved her, and then not waited for an answer,--not have come
+back for an answer,--not have gone to their father for an answer.
+And then, Patience thought, Sir Thomas would never consent to this
+marriage. Ralph was in debt, and a scapegrace, and quite unfit to
+undertake the management of a wife. Such was the elder sister's
+belief as to her father's mind. But she could not force upon Clary
+the necessity of taking any action in the matter. She was not strong
+enough in her position as elder to demand obedience. Clarissa's
+communication had been made in confidence; and Patience, though she
+was unhappy, would not break the trust.
+
+At last this young Lothario appeared among them again; but, as it
+happened, he came in company with Sir Thomas. Such a thing had not
+happened before since the day on which Sir Thomas had given up all
+charge of his ward's property. But it did so happen now. The two men
+had met in London, and Sir Thomas had suggested that Ralph should
+come and be introduced to the new cousin.
+
+"What are you doing now?" Sir Thomas had asked.
+
+"Nothing particular just at present."
+
+"You can get away this evening?"
+
+"Yes,--I think I can get away." It had been his intention to dine
+at his club with Captain Cox; but as he had dined at the club with
+Captain Cox on the previous day, the engagement was not felt to be
+altogether binding. "I can get away for dinner that is, but I've got
+to go out in the evening. It's a bore, but I promised to be at Lady
+McMarshal's to-night. But if I show there at twelve it will do." Thus
+it happened that Sir Thomas and Ralph Newton went down to Popham
+Villa in a cab together.
+
+It was clear, both to Patience and Clarissa, that he was much struck
+with the new cousin; but then it was quite out of the question
+that any man should not be struck with her. Her beauty was of that
+kind,--like the beauty of a picture,--which must strike even if
+it fails to charm. And Mary had a way of exciting attention with
+strangers, even by her silence. It was hardly intentional, and there
+certainly was no coquetry in it; but it was the case that she carried
+herself after a fashion which made it impossible for any stranger to
+regard her place in the room as being merely a chair with a young
+lady in it. She would speak hardly a word; but her very lack of
+speech was eloquent. At the present time she was of course in deep
+mourning, and the contrast between the brilliance of her complexion
+and the dark dress which covered her throat;--between the black
+scarf and the profusion of bright hair which fell upon it, was so
+remarkable as of itself to excite attention. Clarissa, watching
+everything, though, with feminine instinct, seeming to watch nothing,
+could see that he was amazed. But then she had known that he would be
+amazed. And of what matter would be his amazement, if he were true?
+If, indeed, he were not true,--then, then,--then nothing mattered!
+Such was the light in which Clary viewed the circumstances around her
+at the present moment.
+
+The evening did not pass very pleasantly. Ralph was introduced to the
+cousin, and asked some questions about the West Indies. Then there
+was tea. Ralph was dressed, with a black coat and white cravat, and
+Clary could not keep herself from thinking how very much nicer he was
+with a pipe in his mouth, and his neck bare, drinking soda-water and
+sherry out on the lawn. Ah,--in spite of all that had then happened,
+that was the sweetest moment in her existence, when he jumped up from
+the ground and told her that he might do a great deal better than
+marry the West Indian cousin. She thought now of his very words, and
+suggested to herself that perhaps he would never say them again.
+Nay;--might it not be possible that he would say the very reverse,
+that he would declare his wish to marry the West Indian cousin. Clary
+could not conceive but that he might have her should he so wish.
+Young ladies, when they are in love, are prone to regard their lovers
+as being prizes so valuable as to be coveted by all female comers.
+
+Before Ralph had taken his leave Sir Thomas took Mary apart to make
+some communication to her as to her own affairs. Everything was now
+settled, and Sir Thomas had purchased stock for her with her little
+fortune. "You have L20 2_s._ 4_d._ a year, quite your own," he said,
+laughing;--as he might have done to one of his own girls, had an
+unexpected legacy been left to her.
+
+"That means that I must be altogether dependent on your charity," she
+said, looking into his face through her tears.
+
+"It means nothing of the kind," he said, with almost the impetuosity
+of anger. "There shall be no such cold word as charity between you
+and me. You are one of us now, and of my cup and of my loaf it is
+your right to partake, as it is the right of those girls there. I
+shall never think of it, or speak of it again."
+
+"But I must think of it, uncle."
+
+"The less the better;--but never use that odious word again between
+you and me. It is a word for strangers. What is given as I give to
+you should be taken without even an acknowledgment. My payment is to
+be your love."
+
+"You shall be paid in full," she said as she kissed him. This was
+all very well, but still on his part there was some misgiving,--some
+misgiving, though no doubt. If he were to die what would become of
+her? He must make a new will,--which in itself was to him a terrible
+trouble; and he must take something from his own girls in order that
+he might provide for this new daughter. That question of adopting is
+very difficult. If a man have no children of his own,--none others
+that are dependent on him,--he can give all, and there is an end
+of his trouble. But a man feels that he owes his property to his
+children; and, so feeling, may he take it from them and give it to
+others? Had she been in truth his daughter, he would have felt that
+there was enough for three; but she was not his daughter, and yet he
+was telling her that she should be to him the same as a child of his
+house!
+
+In the meantime Ralph was out on the lawn with the two sisters, and
+was as awkward as men always are in such circumstances. When he spoke
+those words to Clarissa he had in truth no settled purpose in his
+mind. He had always liked her,--loved her after a fashion,--felt
+for her an affection different to that which he entertained for her
+sister. Nevertheless, most assuredly he had not come down to Fulham
+on that evening prepared to make her an offer. He had been there by
+chance, and it had been quite by chance that he found Clarissa alone.
+He knew that the words had been spoken, and he knew also that he
+had drawn down her wrath upon his head by his caress. He was man
+enough also to feel that he had no right to believe himself to have
+been forgiven, because now, in the presence of others, she did not
+receive him with a special coldness which would have demanded special
+explanation. As it was, the three were all cold. Patience half felt
+inclined to go and leave them together. She would have given a finger
+off her hand to make Clary happy;--but would it be right to make
+Clary happy in such fashion as this? She had thought at first when
+she saw her father and Ralph together, that Ralph had spoken of his
+love to Sir Thomas, and that Sir Thomas had allowed him to come; but
+she soon perceived that this was not the case: and so they walked
+about together, each knowing that their intercourse was not as it
+always had been, and each feeling powerless to resume an appearance
+of composure.
+
+"I have got to go and be at Lady McMarshal's," he said, after having
+suffered in this way for a quarter of an hour. "If I did not show
+myself there her ladyship would think that I had given over all ideas
+of propriety, and that I was a lost sheep past redemption."
+
+"Don't let us keep you if you ought to go," said Clary, with dismal
+propriety.
+
+"I think I'll be off. Good-bye, Patience. The new cousin is radiant
+in beauty. No one can doubt that. But I don't know whether she is
+exactly the sort of girl I admire most. By-the-bye, what do you mean
+to do with her?"
+
+"Do with her?" said Patience. "She will live here, of course."
+
+"Just settle down as one of the family? Then, no doubt, I shall see
+her again. Good-night, Patience. Good-bye, Clary. I'll just step in
+and make my adieux to Sir Thomas and the beauty." This he did;--but
+as he went he pressed Clary's hand in a manner that she could but
+understand. She did not return the pressure, but she did not resent
+it.
+
+"Clarissa," said Patience, when they were together that night, "dear
+Clarissa!"
+
+Clary knew that when she was called Clarissa by her sister something
+special was meant. "What is it?" she asked. "What are you going to
+say now?"
+
+"You know that I am thinking only of your happiness. My darling, he
+doesn't mean it."
+
+"How do you know? What right have you to say so? Why am I to be
+thought such a fool as not to know what I ought to do?"
+
+"Nobody thinks that you are a fool, Clary. I know how clever you
+are,--and how good. But I cannot bear that you should be unhappy.
+If he had meant it, he would have spoken to papa. If you will only
+tell me that you are not thinking of him, that he is not making you
+unhappy, I will not say a word further."
+
+"I am thinking of him, and he is making me unhappy," said Clarissa,
+bursting into tears. "But I don't know why you should say that he is
+a liar, and dishonest, and everything that is bad."
+
+"I have neither said that, nor thought it, Clary."
+
+"That is what you mean. He did say that he loved me."
+
+"And you,--you did not answer him?"
+
+"No;--I said nothing. I can't explain it, and I don't want to explain
+it. I did not say a word to him. You came; and then he went away. If
+I am to be unhappy, I can't help it. He did say that he loved me, and
+I do love him."
+
+"Will you tell papa?"
+
+"No;--I will not. It would be out of the question. He would go to
+Ralph, and there would be a row, and I would not have it for worlds."
+Then she tried to smile. "Other girls are unhappy, and I don't see
+why I'm to be better off than the rest. I know I am a fool. You'll
+never be unhappy, because you are not a fool. But, Patience, I have
+told you everything, and if you are not true to me I will never
+forgive you." Patience promised that she would be true; and then they
+embraced and were friends.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+RALPH NEWTON'S TROUBLES.
+
+
+July had come, the second week in July, and Ralph Newton had not
+as yet given any reply to that very definite proposition which had
+been made to him after the little dinner by Mr. Neefit. Now the
+proposition was one which certainly required an answer;--and all the
+effect which it had hitherto had upon our friend was to induce him
+not to include Conduit Street in any of his daily walks. It has
+already been said that before the offer was made to him, when he
+believed that Polly's fortune would be more than Mr. Neefit had been
+able to promise, he had determined that nothing should induce him
+to marry the daughter of a breeches-maker; and therefore the answer
+might have been easy. Nevertheless he made no answer, but kept out
+of Conduit Street, and allowed the three pair of breeches to be sent
+home to him without trying them on. This was very wrong; for Mr.
+Neefit, though perhaps indelicate, had at least been generous and
+trusting;--and a definite answer should have been given before the
+middle of July.
+
+Troubles were coming thick upon Ralph Newton. He had borrowed a
+hundred pounds from Mr. Neefit, but this he had done under pressure
+of a letter from his brother the parson. He owed the parson,--we
+will not say how much. He would get fifty pounds or a hundred from
+the parson every now and again, giving an assurance that it should
+be repaid in a month or six weeks. Sometimes the promise would be
+kept,--and sometimes not. The parson, as a bachelor, was undoubtedly
+a rich man. He had a living of L400 a year, and some fortune of his
+own; but he had tastes of his own, and was repairing the Church at
+Peele Newton, his parish in Hampshire. It would therefore sometimes
+happen that he was driven to ask his brother for money. The hundred
+pounds which had been borrowed from Mr. Neefit had been sent down
+to Peele Newton with a mere deduction of L25 for current expenses.
+Twenty-five pounds do not go far in current expenses in London with a
+man who is given to be expensive, and Ralph Newton was again in want
+of funds.
+
+And there were other troubles, all coming from want of money. Mr.
+Horsball, of the Moonbeam, who was generally known in the sporting
+world as a man who never did ask for his money, had remarked that
+as Mr. Newton's bill was now above a thousand, he should like a
+little cash. Mr. Newton's bill at two months for L500 would be quite
+satisfactory. "Would Mr. Newton accept the enclosed document?" Mr.
+Newton did accept the document, but he didn't like it. How was he to
+pay L500 in the beginning of September, unless indeed he got it from
+Mr. Neefit? He might raise money, no doubt, on his own interest in
+the Newton Priory estate. But that estate would never be his were he
+to die before his uncle, and he knew that assistance from the Jews on
+such security would ruin him altogether. Of his own property there
+was still a remnant left. He owned houses in London from which he
+still got some income. But they were mortgaged, and the title-deeds
+not in his possession, and his own attorney made difficulties about
+obtaining for him a further advance.
+
+He was sitting one bright July morning in his own room in St. James's
+Street, over a very late breakfast, with his two friends, Captain
+Fooks and Lieutenant Cox, when a little annoyance of a similar kind
+fell upon him;--a worse annoyance, indeed, than that which had come
+from Mr. Horsball, for Mr. Horsball had not been spiteful enough to
+call upon him. There came a knock at his door, and young Mr. Moggs
+was ushered into the room. Now Mr. Moggs was the son of Booby and
+Moggs, the well-known bootmakers of Old Bond Street; and the boots
+they had made for Ralph Newton had been infinite in number, as they
+had also, no doubt, been excellent in make and leather. But Booby and
+Moggs had of late wanted money, had written many letters, and for
+four months had not seen the face of their customer. When a gentleman
+is driven by his indebtedness to go to another tradesman, it is, so
+to say, "all up with him" in the way of credit. There is nothing the
+tradesman dislikes so much as this, as he fears that the rival is
+going to get the ready money after he has given the credit. And yet
+what is a gentleman to do when his demand for further goods at the
+old shop is met by a request for a little ready money? We know what
+Ralph Newton did at the establishment in Conduit Street. But then Mr.
+Neefit was a very peculiar man.
+
+Cox had just lighted his cigar, and Fooks was filling his pipe when
+Ontario Moggs entered the room. This rival in the regards of Polly
+Neefit was not at that time personally known to Ralph Newton; but
+the name, as mentioned by his servant, was painfully familiar to him.
+"Oh, Mr. Moggs,--ah;--it's your father, I suppose, that I know. Sit
+down, Mr. Moggs;--will you have a cup of tea;--or perhaps a glass of
+brandy? Take a cigar, Mr. Moggs." But Moggs declined all refreshment
+for the body. He was a tall, thin, young man, with long straggling
+hair, a fierce eye, very thick lips, and a flat nose,--a nose which
+seemed to be all nostril;--and then, below his mouth was a tuft of
+beard, which he called an imperial. It was the glory of Ontario
+Moggs to be a politician;--it was his ambition to be a poet;--it was
+his nature to be a lover;--it was his disgrace to be a bootmaker.
+Dependent on a stern father, and aware that it behoved him to earn
+his bread, he could not but obey; but he groaned under this servitude
+to trade, and was only happy when speaking at his debating club,
+held at the Cheshire Cheese, or when basking in the beauty of Polly
+Neefit. He was great upon Strikes,--in reference to which perilous
+subject he was altogether at variance with his father, who worshipped
+capital and hated unions. Ontario held horrible ideas about
+co-operative associations, the rights of labour, and the welfare of
+the masses. Thrice he had quarrelled with his father;--but the old
+man loved his son, and though he was stern, strove to bring the young
+man into the ways of money-making. How was he to think of marrying
+Polly Neefit,--as to the expediency of which arrangement Mr. Moggs
+senior quite agreed with Mr. Moggs junior,--unless he would show
+himself to be a man of business? Did he think that old Neefit would
+give his money to be wasted upon strikes? Ontario, who was as honest
+a fool as ever lived, told his father that he didn't care a straw for
+Neefit's money. Then Moggs the father had made a plunge against the
+counter with his sharp-pointed shoemaker's knife, which he always
+held in his hand, that had almost been fatal to himself; for the
+knife broke at the thrust, and the fragment cut his wrist. At this
+time there was no real Booby, and the firm was in truth Moggs, and
+Moggs only. The great question was whether it should become Moggs and
+Son. But what tradesman would take a partner into his firm who began
+by declaring that strikes were the safeguards of trade, and that
+he,--the proposed partner,--did not personally care for money?
+Nevertheless old Moggs persevered; and Ontario, alive to the fact
+that it was his duty to be a bootmaker, was now attempting to carry
+on his business in the manner laid down for him by his father.
+
+A worse dun,--a dun with less power of dunning,--than Ontario Moggs
+could not be conceived. His only strength lay in his helplessness.
+When he found that Mr. Newton had two friends with him, his lips were
+sealed. To ask for money at all was very painful to him, but to ask
+for it before three men was beyond his power. Ralph Newton, seeing
+something of this, felt that generosity demanded of him that he
+should sacrifice himself. "I'm afraid you've come about your bill,
+Mr. Moggs," he said. Ontario Moggs, who on the subject of Trades'
+Unions at the Cheshire Cheese could pour forth a flood of eloquence
+that would hold the room in rapt admiration, and then bring down a
+tumult of applause, now stammered out a half-expressed assent. "As
+Mr. Newton was engaged perhaps he had better call again."
+
+"Well;--thankee, yes. It would be as well. But what's the total, Mr.
+Moggs?" Ontario could not bring himself to mention the figures, but
+handed a paper to our friend. "Bless my soul! that's very bad," said
+our friend. "Over two hundred pounds for boots! How long can your
+father give me?"
+
+"He's a little pressed just at present," whispered Moggs.
+
+"Yes;--and he has my bill, which he was forced to take up at
+Christmas. It's quite true." Moggs said not a word, though he had
+been especially commissioned to instruct the debtor that his father
+would be forced to apply through his solicitor, unless he should
+receive at least half the amount due before the end of the next week.
+"Tell your father that I will certainly call within the next three
+days and tell him what I can do;--or, at least, what I can't do.
+You are sure you won't take a cigar?" Moggs was quite sure that he
+wouldn't take a cigar, and retired, thanking Ralph as though some
+excellent arrangement had been made which would altogether prevent
+further difficulties.
+
+"That's the softest chap I ever saw," said Lieutenant Cox.
+
+"I wish my fellows would treat me like that," said Captain Fooks.
+"But I never knew a fellow have the luck that Newton has. I don't
+suppose I owe a tenth of what you do."
+
+"That's your idea of luck?" said Ralph.
+
+"Well;--yes. I owe next to nothing, but I'll be hanged if I can get
+anything done for me without being dunned up to my very eyes. You
+know that chap of Neefit's? I'm blessed if he didn't ask me whether
+I meant to settle last year's bill, before he should send me home a
+couple of cords I ordered! Now I don't owe Neefit twenty pounds if
+all was told."
+
+"What did you do?" asked Lieutenant Cox.
+
+"I just walked out of the shop. Now I shall see whether they're sent
+or not. They tell me there's a fellow down at Rugby makes just as
+well as Neefit, and never bothers you at all. What do you owe Neefit,
+Newton?"
+
+"Untold sums."
+
+"But how much really?"
+
+"Don't you hear me say the sums are untold?"
+
+"Oh; d----n it; I don't understand that. I'm never dark about
+anything of that kind. I'll go bail it's more than five times what I
+do."
+
+"Very likely. If you had given your orders generously, as I have
+done, you would have been treated nobly. What good has a man in
+looking at twenty pounds on his books? Of course he must get in the
+small sums."
+
+"I suppose there's something in that," said the captain thoughtfully.
+At this moment the conversation was interrupted by the entrance of
+another emissary,--an emissary from that very establishment to which
+they were alluding. It was Ralph Newton's orders that no one should
+ever be denied to him when he was really in his rooms. He had fought
+the battle long enough to know that such denials create unnecessary
+animosity. And then, as he said, they were simply the resources of
+a coward. It was the duty of a brave man to meet his enemy face to
+face. Fortune could never give him the opportunity of doing that
+pleasantly, in the field, as might happen any day to his happy
+friends, Captain Fooks and Lieutenant Cox; but he was determined
+that he would accustom himself to stand fire;--and that, therefore,
+he would never run away from a dun. Now there slipped very slowly
+into the room, that most mysterious person who was commonly called
+Herr Bawwah,--much to the astonishment of the three young gentlemen,
+as the celebrated cutter of leather had never previously been seen
+by either of them elsewhere than standing silent at his board in
+Neefit's shop, with his knife in his hands. They looked at one
+another, and the two military gentlemen thought that Mr. Neefit was
+very much in earnest when he sent Bawwah to look for his money. Mr.
+Neefit was very much in earnest; but on this occasion his emissary
+had not come for money. "What, Herr Bawwah;--is that you?" said
+Ralph, making the best he could of the name. "Is there anything wrong
+at the shop?" The German looked slowly round the room, and then
+handed to the owner of it a little note without a word.
+
+Ralph read the note,--to himself. It was written on one of the shop
+bills, and ran as follows:--"Have you thought of what I was saying?
+If so, I should be happy to see Mr. Newton either in Conduit Street
+or at Alexandrina Cottage." There was neither signature nor date.
+Ralph knew what he was called upon to do, as well as though four
+pages of an elaborate epistle had been indited to him. And he knew,
+too, that he was bound to give an answer. He asked the "Herr" to sit
+down, and prepared to write an answer at once. He offered the Herr a
+glass of brandy, which the Herr swallowed at a gulp. He handed the
+Herr a cigar, which the Herr pocketed;--and in gratitude for the
+latter favour some inarticulate grunt of thanks was uttered. Ralph at
+once wrote his reply, while the two friends smoked, looked on, and
+wondered. "Dear Mr. Neefit,--I will be with you at eleven to-morrow
+morning. Yours most truly, RALPH NEWTON." This he handed, with
+another glass of brandy, to the Herr. The Herr swallowed the second
+glass,--as he would have done a third had it been offered to
+him,--and then took his departure.
+
+"That was another dun;--eh, Newton?" asked the lieutenant.
+
+"What a conjuror you are?" said Ralph.
+
+"I never heard of his sending Bawwah out before," said the captain.
+
+"He never does under two hundred and fifty pounds," said Ralph. "It's
+a mark of the greatest respect. If I wore nothing but brown cords,
+like you, I never should have seen the Herr here."
+
+"I never had a pair of brown cords in my life!" said the offended
+captain. After this the conversation fell away, and the two warriors
+went off to their military occupations at the Horse Guards, where, no
+doubt, the Commander-in-chief was waiting for them with impatience.
+
+Ralph Newton had much to think of, and much that required thinking of
+at once. Did he mean to make an offer to Clary Underwood? Did he mean
+to take Polly Neefit and her L20,000? Did he mean to marry at all?
+Did he mean to go to the dogs? Had he ever in his life seen anybody
+half so beautiful as Mary Bonner? What was he to say to Mr. Moggs?
+How was he to manage about that L500 which Horsball would demand of
+him in September? In what terms could he speak to Neefit of the money
+due both for breeches and the loan, in the event of his declining
+Polly? And then, generally, how was he to carry on the war? He was
+thoroughly disgusted with himself as he thought of all the evil that
+he had done, and of the good which he had omitted to do. While he was
+yet at college Sir Thomas had been anxious that he should be called
+to the Bar, and had again and again begged of him to consent to this
+as a commencement of his life in London. But Ralph had replied,--and
+had at last replied with so much decision that Sir Thomas had
+abandoned the subject,--that as it was out of the question that he
+should ever make money at the Bar, the fact of his being called would
+be useless to him. He argued that he need not waste his life because
+he was not a lawyer. It was not his intention to waste his life. He
+had a sufficient property of his own at once, and must inherit a much
+larger property later in life. He would not be called to the Bar, nor
+would he go into the army, nor would he go abroad for any lengthened
+course of travelling. He was fond of hunting, but he would keep his
+hunting within measure. Surely an English private gentleman might
+live to some profit in his own country! He would go out in honours,
+and take a degree, and then make himself happy among his books. Such
+had been his own plan for himself at twenty-one. At twenty-two he had
+quarrelled with the tutor at his college, and taken his name off the
+books without any degree. About this, too, he had argued with Sir
+Thomas, expressing a strong opinion that a university degree was in
+England, of all pretences, the most vain and hollow. At twenty-three
+he began his career at the Moonbeam with two horses,--and from that
+day to this hunting had been the chief aim of his life. During the
+last winter he had hunted six days a week,--assuring Sir Thomas,
+however, that at the end of that season his wild oats would have
+been sown as regarded that amusement, and that henceforth he should
+confine himself to two days a week. Since that he had justified the
+four horses which still remained at the Moonbeam by the alleged fact
+that horses were drugs in April, but would be pearls of price in
+November. Sir Thomas could only expostulate, and when he did so, his
+late ward and present friend, though he was always courteous, would
+always argue. Then he fell, as was natural, into intimacies with such
+men as Cox and Fooks. There was no special harm either in Cox or
+Fooks; but no one knew better than did Ralph Newton himself that they
+were not such friends as he had promised himself when he was younger.
+
+Fathers, guardians, and the race of old friends generally, hardly
+ever give sufficient credit to the remorse which young men themselves
+feel when they gradually go astray. They see the better as plainly
+as do their elders, though they so often follow the worse,--as not
+unfrequently do the elders also. Ralph Newton passed hardly a day
+of his life without a certain amount of remorse in that he had not
+managed himself better than he had done, and was now doing. He knew
+that Fortune had been very good to him, and that he had hitherto
+wasted all her gifts. And now there came the question whether it
+was as yet too late to retrieve the injury which he had done. He
+did believe,--not even as yet doubting his power to do well,--that
+everything might be made right, only that his money difficulties
+pressed him so hardly. He took pen and paper, and made out a list of
+his debts, heading the catalogue with Mr. Horsball of the Moonbeam.
+The amount, when added together, came to something over four thousand
+pounds, including a debt of three hundred to his brother the parson.
+Then he endeavoured to value his property, and calculated that if he
+sold all that was remaining to him he might pay what he owed, and
+have something about fifty pounds per annum left to live upon till he
+should inherit his uncle's property. But he doubted the accuracy even
+of this, knowing that new and unexpected debts will always crop up
+when the day of settlement arrives. Of course he could not live upon
+fifty pounds a year. It would have seemed to him to be almost equally
+impossible to live upon four times fifty pounds. He had given Sir
+Thomas a promise that he would not raise money on post-obits on his
+uncle's life, and hitherto he had kept that promise. He thought that
+he would be guilty of no breach of promise were he so to obtain
+funds, telling Sir Thomas of his purpose, and asking the lawyer's
+assistance; but he knew that if he did this all his chance of future
+high prosperity would be at an end. His uncle might live these twenty
+years, and in that time he, Ralph, might quite as readily die. Money
+might no doubt be raised, but this could only be done at a cost
+which would be utterly ruinous to him. There was one way out of his
+difficulty. He might marry a girl with money. A girl with money had
+been offered to him, and a girl, too, who was very pretty and very
+pleasant. But then, to marry the daughter of a breeches-maker!
+
+And why not? He had been teaching himself all his life to despise
+conventionalities. He had ridiculed degrees. He had laughed at
+the rank and standing of a barrister. "The rank is but the guinea
+stamp--the man's the gowd for a' that." How often had he declared to
+himself and others that that should be his motto through life. And
+might not he be as much a man, and would not his metal be as pure,
+with Polly Neefit for his wife as though he were to marry a duchess?
+As for love, he thought he could love Polly dearly. He knew that he
+had done some wrong in regard to poor Clary; but he by no means knew
+how much wrong he had done. A single word of love,--which had been
+so very much to her in her innocence,--had been so little to him who
+was not innocent. If he could allow himself to choose out of all the
+women he had ever seen, he would, he thought, instigated rather by
+the ambition of having the loveliest woman in the world for his wife
+than by any love, have endeavoured to win Mary Bonner as his own. But
+that was out of the question. Mary Bonner was as poor as himself;
+and, much as he admired her, he certainly could not tell himself
+that he loved her. Polly Neefit would pull him through all his
+difficulties. Nevertheless, he could not make up his mind to ask
+Polly Neefit to be his wife.
+
+But he must make up his mind either that he would or that he would
+not. He must see Mr. Neefit on the morrow;--and within the next few
+days he must call on Mr. Moggs, unless he broke his word. And in two
+months' time he must have L500 for Mr. Horsball. Suppose he were to
+go to Sir Thomas, tell his whole story without reserve, and ask his
+old friend's advice! Everything without reserve he could not tell.
+He could say nothing to the father of that scene on the lawn with
+Clarissa. But of his own pecuniary difficulties, and of Mr. Neefit's
+generous offer, he was sure that he could tell the entire truth.
+He did go to Southampton Buildings, and after some harsh language
+between himself and Mr. Stemm,--Sir Thomas being away at the
+time,--he managed to make an appointment for nine o'clock that
+evening at his late guardian's chambers. At nine o'clock precisely
+he found himself seated with Sir Thomas, all among the books in
+Southampton Buildings. "Perhaps you'll have a cup of tea," said Sir
+Thomas. "Stemm, give us some tea." Ralph waited till the tea was
+handed to him and Stemm was gone. Then he told his story.
+
+He told it very fairly as against himself. He brought out his little
+account and explained to the lawyer how it was that he made himself
+out to be worth fifty pounds a year, and no more. "Oh, heavens, what
+a mess you have made of it!" said the lawyer, holding up both his
+hands. "No doubt I have," said Ralph,--"a terrible mess! But as I now
+come to you for advice hear me out to the end. You can say nothing as
+to my folly which I do not know already." "Go on," said Sir Thomas.
+"Go on,--I'll hear you." It may, however, be remarked, by the way,
+that when an old gentleman in Sir Thomas's position is asked his
+advice under such circumstances, he ought to be allowed to remark
+that he had prophesied all these things beforehand. "I told you so,"
+is such a comfortable thing to say! And when an old gentleman has
+taken much fruitless trouble about a young gentleman, he ought
+at least not to be interrupted in his remarks as to that young
+gentleman's folly. But Ralph was energetic, and, knowing that he had
+a point before him, would go on with his story. "And now," he said,
+"I am coming to a way of putting these things right which has been
+suggested to me. You won't like it, I know. But it would put me on my
+legs."
+
+"Raising money on your expectations?" said Sir Thomas.
+
+"No;--that is what I must come to if this plan don't answer."
+
+"Anything will be better than that," said Sir Thomas.
+
+Then Ralph dashed at the suggestion of marriage without further
+delay. "You have heard of Mr. Neefit, the breeches-maker!" It so
+happened that Sir Thomas never had heard of Mr. Neefit. "Well;--he is
+a tradesman in Conduit Street. He has a daughter, and he will give
+her twenty thousand pounds."
+
+"You don't mean to run away with the breeches-maker's daughter?"
+ejaculated Sir Thomas.
+
+"Certainly not. I shouldn't get the twenty thousand pounds if I did."
+Then he explained it all;--how Neefit had asked him to the house, and
+offered him the girl; how the girl herself was as pretty and nice as
+a girl could be; and how he thought,--though as to that he expressed
+himself with some humility,--that, were he to propose to her, the
+girl might perhaps take him.
+
+"I dare say she would," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"Well;--now you know it all. In her way, she has been educated.
+Neefit pere is utterly illiterate and ignorant. He is an honest man,
+as vulgar as he can be,--or rather as unlike you and me, which is
+what men mean when they talk of vulgarity,--and he makes the best
+of breeches. Neefit mere is worse than the father,--being cross and
+ill-conditioned, as far as I can see. Polly is as good as gold; and
+if I put a house over my head with her money, of course her father
+and her mother will be made welcome there. Your daughters would not
+like to meet them, but I think they could put up with Polly. Now you
+know about all that I can tell you."
+
+Ralph had been so rapid, so energetic, and withal so reasonable, that
+Sir Thomas, at this period of the interview, was unable to refer to
+any of his prophecies. What advice was he to give? Should he adjure
+this young man not to marry the breeches-maker's daughter because of
+the blood of the Newtons and the expected estate, or were he to do so
+even on the score of education and general unfitness, he must suggest
+some other mode or means of living. But how could he advise the
+future Newton of Newton Priory to marry Polly Neefit? The Newtons had
+been at Newton Priory for centuries, and the men Newtons had always
+married ladies, as the women Newtons had always either married
+gentlemen or remained unmarried. Sir Thomas, too, was of his nature,
+and by all his convictions, opposed to such matches. "You have hardly
+realised," said he, "what it would be to have such a father-in-law
+and such a mother-in-law;--or probably such a wife."
+
+"Yes, I have. I have realised all that."
+
+"Of course, if you have made up your mind--"
+
+"But I have not made up my mind, Sir Thomas. I must make it up
+before eleven o'clock to-morrow morning, because I must then be with
+Neefit,--by appointment. At this moment I am so much in doubt that I
+am almost inclined to toss up."
+
+"I would sooner cut my throat!" said Sir Thomas, forgetting his
+wisdom amidst the perplexities of his position.
+
+"Not quite that, Sir Thomas. I suppose you mean to say that anything
+would be better than such a marriage?"
+
+"I don't suppose you care for the girl," said Sir Thomas, crossly.
+
+"I do not feel uneasy on that score. If I did not like her, and
+think that I could love her, I would have nothing to do with it. She
+herself is charming,--though I should lie if I were to say that she
+were a lady."
+
+"And the father offered her to you?"
+
+"Most distinctly,--and named the fortune."
+
+"Knowing your own condition as to money?"
+
+"Almost exactly;--so much so that I do not doubt he will go on with
+it when he knows everything. He had heard about my uncle's property,
+and complimented me by saying that I am a,--gentleman."
+
+"He does not deserve to have a daughter," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I don't know about that. According to his lights, he means to do the
+best he can for her. And, indeed, I think myself that he might do
+worse. She will probably become Mrs. Newton of Newton Priory if she
+marries me; and the investment of Neefit's twenty thousand pounds
+won't be so bad."
+
+"Nothing on earth can make her a lady."
+
+"I'm not so sure of that," said Ralph. "Nothing on earth can make her
+mother a lady; but of Polly I should have hopes. You, however, are
+against it?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"Then what ought I to do?" Sir Thomas rubbed the calf of his leg and
+was silent. "The only advice you have given me hitherto was to cut my
+throat," said Ralph.
+
+"No, I didn't. I don't know what you're to do. You've ruined
+yourself;--that's all."
+
+"But there is a way out of the ruin. In all emergencies there is a
+better and a worse course. What, now, is the better course?"
+
+"You don't know how to earn a shilling," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"No; I don't," said Ralph Newton.
+
+Sir Thomas rubbed his face and scratched his head; but did not know
+how to give advice. "You have made your bed, and you must lie upon
+it," he said.
+
+"Exactly;--but which way am I to get into it, and which way shall I
+get out?" Sir Thomas could only rub his face and scratch his head. "I
+thought it best to come and tell you everything," said Ralph. That
+was all very well, but Sir Thomas would not advise him to marry the
+breeches-maker's daughter.
+
+"It is a matter," Sir Thomas said at last, "in which you must be
+guided by your own feelings. I wish it were otherwise. I can say no
+more." Then Ralph took his leave, and wandered all round St. James's
+Park and the purlieus of Westminster till midnight, endeavouring to
+make up his mind, and building castles in the air, as to what he
+would do with himself, and how he would act, if he had not brought
+himself into so hopeless a mess of troubles.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+ONTARIO MOGGS.
+
+
+On the following morning Ralph Newton was in Conduit Street exactly
+at the hour named. He had not even then made up his mind;--but he
+thought that he might get an extension of the time allowed him for
+decision. After all, it was hardly a month yet since the proposition
+was made to him. He found Mr. Neefit in the back shop, measuring a
+customer. "I'll be with you in two minutes," said Mr. Neefit, just
+putting his head through the open door, and then going back to his
+work; "3--1--1/8, Waddle; Sir George isn't quite as stout as he was
+last year. Oh, no, Sir George; we won't tie you in too tight. Leave
+it to us, Sir George. The last pair too tight? Oh, no; I think not,
+Sir George. Perhaps your man isn't as careful in cleaning as he ought
+to be. Gentlemen's servants do get so careless, it quite sickens
+one!" So Mr. Neefit went on, and as Sir George was very copious in
+the instructions which he had to give,--all of which, by-the-bye,
+were absolutely thrown away,--Ralph Newton became tired of waiting.
+He remembered too that he was not there as a customer, but almost
+as a member of the family, and the idea sickened him. He bethought
+himself that on his first visit to Conduit Street he had seen his
+Polly in the shop, cutting up strips wherewith her father would
+measure gentlemen's legs. She must then have been nearly fifteen, and
+the occupation, as he felt, was not one fitting for the girl who was
+to be his wife. "Now, Mr. Newton," said Mr. Neefit, as Sir George at
+last left the little room. The day was hot, and Mr. Neefit had been
+at work in his shirt sleeves. Nor did he now put on his coat. He
+wiped his brow, put his cotton handkerchief inside his braces, and
+shook hands with our hero. "Well, Mr. Newton," he said, "what do you
+think of it? I couldn't learn much about it, but it seemed to me that
+you and Polly got on famous that night. I thought we'd have seen you
+out there again before this."
+
+"I couldn't come, Mr. Neefit, as long as there was a doubt."
+
+"Oh, as to doubts,--doubts be bothered. Of course you must run your
+chance with Polly like any other man."
+
+"Just so."
+
+"But the way to get a girl like that isn't not to come and see her
+for a month. There are others after our Polly, I can tell you;--and
+men who would take her with nothing but her smock on."
+
+"I'm quite sure of that. No one can see her without admiring her."
+
+"Then what's the good of talking of doubts? I like you because you
+are a gentleman;--and I can put you on your legs, which, from all I
+hear, is a kind of putting you want bad enough just at present. Say
+the word, and come down to tea this evening."
+
+"The fact is, Mr. Neefit, this is a very serious matter."
+
+"Serious! Twenty thousand pounds is serious. There ain't a doubt
+about that. If you mean to say you don't like the bargain,"--and
+as he said this there came a black cloud upon Mr. Neefit's
+brow,--"you've only got to say the word. Our Polly is not to be
+pressed upon any man. But don't let's have any shilly-shallying."
+
+"Tell me one thing, Mr. Neefit."
+
+"Well;--what's that?"
+
+"Have you spoken to your daughter about this?"
+
+Mr. Neefit was silent for a moment, "Well, no; I haven't," he said.
+"But, I spoke to her mother, and women is always talking. Mind,
+I don't know what our Polly would say to you, but I do think she
+expects something. There's a chap lives nigh to us who used always to
+be sneaking round; but she has snubbed him terribly this month past.
+So my wife tells me. You come and try, Mr. Newton, and then you'll
+know all about it."
+
+Ralph was aware that he had not as yet begun to explain his
+difficulty to the anxious father. "You see, Mr. Neefit," he
+said,--and then he paused. It had been much easier for him to talk to
+Sir Thomas than to the breaches-maker.
+
+"If you don't like it,--say so," said Mr. Neefit;--"and don't let us
+have no shilly-shallying."
+
+"I do like it."
+
+"Then give us your hand, and come out this evening and have a bit
+of some'at to eat and a drop of some'at hot, and pop the question.
+That's about the way to do it."
+
+"Undoubtedly;--but marriage is such a serious thing!"
+
+"So it is serious,--uncommon serious to owe a fellow a lot of money
+you can't pay him. I call that very serious."
+
+"Mr. Neefit, I owe you nothing but what I can pay you."
+
+"You're very slow about it, Mr. Newton; that's all I can say. But I
+wasn't just talking of myself. After what's passed between you and me
+I ain't going to be hard upon you."
+
+"I'll tell you what, Mr. Neefit," said Ralph at last,--"of course you
+can understand that a man may have difficulties with his family."
+
+"Because of my being a breeches-maker?" said Neefit contemptuously.
+
+"I won't say that; but there may be difficulties."
+
+"Twenty thousand pounds does away with a deal of them things."
+
+"Just so;--but as I was saying, you can understand that there may be
+family difficulties. I only say that because I ought perhaps to have
+given you an answer sooner. I won't go down with you this evening."
+
+"You won't?"
+
+"Not to-night;--but I'll be with you on Saturday evening, if that
+will suit you."
+
+"Come and have a bit of dinner again on Sunday," said Neefit. Ralph
+accepted the invitation, shook hands with Neefit, and escaped from
+the shop.
+
+When he thought of it all as he went to his rooms, he told himself
+that he had now as good as engaged himself to Polly;--as good or as
+bad. Of course, after what had passed, he could not go to the house
+again without asking her to be his wife. Were he to do so Neefit
+would be justified in insulting him. And yet when he undertook to
+make this fourth visit to the cottage, he had done so with the
+intention of allowing himself a little more time for judgment. He saw
+plainly enough that he was going to allow himself to drift into this
+marriage without any real decision of his own. He prided himself on
+being strong, and how could any man be more despicably weak than
+this? It was, indeed, true that in all the arguments he had used with
+Sir Thomas he had defended the Neefit marriage as though it was the
+best course he could adopt;--and even Sir Thomas had not ultimately
+ventured to oppose it. Would it not be as well for him to consider
+that he had absolutely made up his mind to marry Polly?
+
+On the Friday he called at Mr. Moggs's house; Mr. Moggs senior was
+there, and Mr. Moggs junior, and also a shopman. "I was sorry," said
+he, "that when your son called, I had friends with me, and could
+hardly explain circumstances."
+
+"It didn't signify at all," said Moggs junior.
+
+"But it does signify, Mr. Newton," said Moggs senior, who on this
+morning was not in a good humour with his ledger. "Two hundred and
+seventeen pounds, three shillings and four-pence is a good deal of
+money for boots, Mr. Newton, You must allow that."
+
+"Indeed it is, Mr. Moggs."
+
+"There hasn't been what you may call a settlement for years.
+Twenty-five pounds paid in the last two years!" and Mr. Moggs as he
+spoke had his finger on the fatal page. "That won't do, you know,
+Mr. Newton;--that won't do at all!" Mr. Moggs, as he looked into his
+customer's face, worked himself up into a passion. "But I suppose you
+have come to settle it now, Mr. Newton?"
+
+"Not exactly at this moment, Mr. Moggs."
+
+"It must be settled very soon, Mr. Newton;--it must indeed. My son
+can't be calling on you day after day, and all for nothing. We can't
+stand that you know, Mr. Newton. Perhaps you'll oblige me by saying
+when it will be settled." Then Ralph explained that he had called
+for that purpose, that he was making arrangements for paying all his
+creditors, and that he hoped that Mr. Moggs would have his money
+within three months at the farthest. Mr. Moggs then proposed that he
+should have his customer's bill at three months, and the interview
+ended by the due manufacture of a document to that effect. Ralph,
+when he entered the shop, had not intended to give a bill; but the
+pressure had been too great upon him, and he had yielded. It would
+matter little, however, if he married Polly Neefit. And had he not
+now accepted it as his destiny that he must marry Polly Neefit?
+
+The Saturday he passed in much trouble of spirit, and with many
+doubts; but the upshot of it all was that he would keep his
+engagement for the Sunday. His last chance of escape would have been
+to call in Conduit Street on the Saturday and tell Mr. Neefit, with
+such apologies as he might be able to make, that the marriage would
+not be suitable. While sitting at breakfast he had almost resolved to
+do this;--but when five o'clock came, after which, as he well knew,
+the breeches-maker would not be found, no such step had been taken.
+He dined that evening and went to the theatre with Lieutenant Cox.
+At twelve they were joined by Fooks and another gay spirit, and they
+eat chops and drank stout and listened to songs at Evans's till near
+two. Cox and Fooks said that they had never been so jolly in their
+lives;--but Ralph,--though he eat and drank as much and talked more
+than the others,--was far from happy. There came upon him a feeling
+that after to-morrow he would never again be able to call himself
+a gentleman. Who would associate with him after he had married
+the breeches-maker's daughter? He laid in bed late on Sunday, and
+certainly went to no place of worship. Would it not be well even yet
+to send a letter down to Neefit, telling him that the thing could not
+be? The man would be very angry with him, and would have great cause
+to be angry. But it would at least be better to do this now than
+hereafter. But when four o'clock came no letter had been sent.
+
+Punctually at five the cab set him down at Alexandrina Cottage. How
+well he seemed to know the place;--almost as well as though he were
+already one of the family. He was shown into the drawing-room, and
+whom should he see there, seated with Mr. and Mrs. and Miss Neefit,
+but Ontario Moggs. It was clear enough that each of the party was ill
+at ease. Neefit welcomed him with almost boisterous hospitality. Mrs.
+Neefit merely curtseyed and bobbed at him. Polly smiled, and shook
+hands with him, and told him that he was welcome;--but even Polly was
+a little beside herself. Ontario Moggs stood bolt upright and made
+him a low bow, but did not attempt to speak.
+
+"I hope your father is well," said Ralph, addressing himself to Moggs
+junior.
+
+"Pretty well, I thank you," said Mr. Moggs, getting up from his chair
+and bowing a second time.
+
+Mr. Neefit waited for a moment or two during which no one except
+Ralph spoke a word, and then invited his intended son-in-law to
+follow him into the garden. "The fact is," said Neefit winking, "this
+is Mrs. N.'s doing. It don't make any difference, you know."
+
+"I don't quite understand," said Ralph.
+
+"You see we've known Onty Moggs all our lives, and no doubt he has
+been sweet upon Polly. But Polly don't care for him, mind you. You
+ask her. And Mrs. N. has got it into her head that she don't want you
+for Polly. But I do, Mr. Newton;--and I'm master."
+
+"I wouldn't for the world make a family quarrel."
+
+"There won't be no quarrelling. It's I as has the purse, and it's the
+purse as makes the master, Mr. Newton. Don't you mind Moggs. Moggs is
+very well in his way, but he ain't going to have our Polly. Well;--he
+come down here to-day, just by chance;--and what did Mrs. N. do
+but ask him to stop and eat a bit of dinner! It don't make any
+difference, you know. You come in now, and just go on as though Moggs
+weren't there. You and Polly shall have it all to yourselves this
+evening."
+
+Here was a new feature added to the pleasures of his courtship! He
+had a rival,--and such a rival;--his own bootmaker, whom he could
+not pay, and whose father had insulted him a day or two since.
+Moggs junior would of course know why his customer was dining at
+Alexandrina Cottage, and would have his own feelings, too, upon the
+occasion.
+
+"Don't you mind him,--no more than nothing," said Neefit, leading the
+way back into the drawing-room, and passing at the top of the kitchen
+stairs the young woman with the bit of salmon.
+
+The dinner was not gay. In the first place, Neefit and Mrs. Neefit
+gave very explicit and very opposite directions as to the manner in
+which their guests were to walk in to dinner, the result of which
+was that Ralph was obliged to give his arm to the elder lady, while
+Ontario carried off the prize. Mrs. Neefit also gave directions as
+to the places, which were obeyed in spite of an attempt of Neefit's
+to contravene them. Ontario and Polly sat on one side of the table,
+while Ralph sat opposite to them. Neefit, when he saw that the
+arrangement was made and could not be altered, lost his temper and
+scolded his wife. "Law, papa, what does it matter?" said Polly.
+Polly's position certainly was unpleasant enough; but she made head
+against her difficulties gallantly. Ontario, who had begun to guess
+the truth, said not a word. He was not, however, long in making up
+his mind that a personal encounter with Mr. Ralph Newton might be
+good for his system. Mrs. Neefit nagged at her husband, and told
+him when he complained about the meat, that if he would look after
+the drinkables that would be quite enough for him to do. Ralph
+himself found it to be impossible even to look as though things
+were going right. Never in his life had he been in a position so
+uncomfortable,--or, as he thought, so disreputable. It was not to
+be endured that Moggs, his bootmaker, should see him sitting at the
+table of Neefit, his breeches-maker.
+
+The dinner was at last over, and the port-wine was carried out into
+the arbour;--not, on this occasion, by Polly, but by the maid. Polly
+and Mrs. Neefit went off together, while Ralph crowded into the
+little summer-house with Moggs and Neefit. In this way half an hour
+was passed,--a half hour of terrible punishment. But there was worse
+coming. "Mr. Newton," said Neefit, "I think I heard something about
+your taking a walk with our Polly. If you like to make a start of it,
+don't let us keep you. Moggs and I will have a pipe together."
+
+"I also intend to walk with Miss Neefit," said Ontario, standing up
+bravely.
+
+
+[Illustration: "I also intend to walk with Miss Neefit," said
+Ontario, standing up bravely.]
+
+
+"Two's company and three's none," said Neefit.
+
+"No doubt," said Ontario; "no doubt. I feel that myself. Mr. Newton,
+I've been attached to Miss Neefit these two years. I don't mind
+saying it out straight before her father. I love Miss Neefit! I don't
+know, sir, what your ideas are; but I love Miss Neefit! Perhaps, sir,
+your ideas may be money;--my ideas are a pure affection for that
+young lady. Now, Mr. Newton, you know what my ideas are." Mr. Moggs
+junior was standing up when he made this speech, and, when he had
+completed it, he looked round, first upon her father and then upon
+his rival.
+
+"She's never given you no encouragement," said Neefit. "How dare you
+speak in that way about my Polly?"
+
+"I do dare," said Ontario. "There!"
+
+"Will you tell Mr. Newton that she ever gave you any encouragement?"
+
+Ontario thought about it for a moment, before he replied. "No;--I
+will not," said he. "To say that of any young woman wouldn't be in
+accord with my ideas."
+
+"Because you can't. It's all gammon. She don't mean to have him, Mr.
+Newton. You may take my word for that. You go in and ask her if she
+do. A pretty thing indeed! I can't invite my friend, Mr. Newton, to
+eat a bit of dinner, and let him walk out with my Polly, but you must
+interfere. If you had her to-morrow you wouldn't have a shilling with
+her."
+
+"I don't want a shilling with her!" said Ontario, still standing upon
+his legs. "I love her. Will Mr. Newton say as fair as that?"
+
+Mr. Newton found it very difficult to say anything. Even had he been
+thoroughly intent on the design of making Polly his wife, he could
+not have brought himself to declare his love aloud, as had just
+been done by Mr. Moggs. "This is a sort of matter that shouldn't be
+discussed in public," he said at last.
+
+"Public or private, I love her!" said Ontario Moggs with his hand on
+his heart.
+
+Polly herself was certainly badly treated among them. She got no walk
+that evening, and received no assurance of undying affection either
+from one suitor or the other. It became manifest even to Neefit
+himself that the game could not be played out on this evening. He
+could not turn Moggs off the premises, because his wife would have
+interfered. Nor, had he done so, would it have been possible, after
+such an affair to induce Polly to stir from the house. She certainly
+had been badly used among them; and so she took occasion to tell her
+father when the visitors were both gone. They left the house together
+at about eight, and Polly at that time had not reappeared. Moggs went
+to the nearest station of the Midland Railway, and Ralph walked to
+the Swiss Cottage. Certainly Mr. Neefit's little dinner had been
+unsuccessful; but Ralph Newton, as he went back to London, was almost
+disposed to think that Providence had interposed to save him.
+
+"I'll tell you what it is, father," said Polly to her papa, as soon
+as the two visitors had left the house, "if that's the way you are
+going to go on, I'll never marry anybody as long as I live."
+
+"My dear, it was all your mother," said Mr. Neefit. "Now wasn't it
+all your mother? I wish she'd been blowed fust!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+SIR THOMAS IN HIS CHAMBERS.
+
+
+It will be remembered that Sir Thomas Underwood had declined to
+give his late ward any advice at that interview which took place in
+Southampton Buildings;--or rather that the only advice which he had
+given to the young man was to cut his throat. The idle word had left
+no impression on Ralph Newton;--but still it had been spoken, and
+was remembered by Sir Thomas. When he was left alone after the young
+man's departure he was very unhappy. It was not only that he had
+spoken a word so idle when he ought to have been grave and wise, but
+that he felt that he had been altogether remiss in his duty as guide,
+philosopher, and friend. There were old sorrows, too, on this score.
+In the main Sir Thomas had discharged well a most troublesome,
+thankless, and profitless duty towards the son of a man who had not
+been related to him, and with whom an accidental intimacy had been
+ripened into friendship by letter rather than by social intercourse.
+Ralph Newton's father had been the younger brother of the present
+Gregory Newton, of Newton Priory, and had been the parson of the
+parish of Peele Newton,--as was now Ralph's younger brother, Gregory.
+The present squire of Newton had been never married, and the
+property, as has before been said, had been settled on Ralph, as the
+male heir,--provided, of course, that his uncle left no legitimate
+son of his own. It had come to pass that the two brothers, Gregory
+and Ralph, had quarrelled about matters of property, and had not
+spoken for years before the death of the younger. Ralph at this time
+had been just old enough to be brought into the quarrel. There had
+been questions of cutting timber and of leases, as to which the
+parson, acting on his son's behalf, had opposed the Squire with much
+unnecessary bitterness and suspicion. And it was doubtless the case
+that the Squire resented bitterly an act done by his own father
+with the view of perpetuating the property in the true line of the
+Newtons. For when the settlement was made on the marriage of the
+younger brother, the elder was already the father of a child, whom
+he loved none the less because that child's mother had not become
+his wife. So the quarrel had been fostered, and at the time of the
+parson's death had extended itself to the young man who was his son,
+and the heir to the estate. When on his death-bed, the parson had
+asked Mr. Underwood, who had just then entered the House of Commons,
+to undertake this guardianship; and the lawyer, with many doubts,
+had consented. He had striven, but striven in vain, to reconcile the
+uncle and nephew. And, indeed, he was ill-fitted to accomplish such
+task. He could only write letters on the subject, which were very
+sensible but very cold;--in all of which he would be careful to
+explain that the steps which had been taken in regard to the property
+were in strict conformity with the law. The old Squire would have
+nothing to do with his heir,--in which resolution he was strengthened
+by the tidings which reached him of his heir's manner of living. He
+was taught to believe that everything was going to the dogs with
+the young man, and was wont to say that Newton Priory, with all its
+acres, would be found to have gone to the dogs too when his day was
+done;--unless, indeed, Ralph should fortunately kill himself by drink
+or evil living, in which case the property would go to the younger
+Gregory, the present parson. Now the present parson of Newton was his
+uncle's friend. Whether that friendship would have been continued had
+Ralph died and the young clergyman become the heir, may be matter of
+doubt.
+
+This disagreeable duty of guardianship Sir Thomas had performed with
+many scruples of conscience, and a determination to do his best;--and
+he had nearly done it well. But he was a man who could not do it
+altogether well, let his scruples of conscience be what they might.
+He had failed in obtaining a father's control over the young man;
+and even in regard to the property which had passed through his
+hands,--though he had been careful with it,--he had not been adroit.
+Even at this moment things had not been settled which should have
+been settled; and Sir Thomas had felt, when Ralph had spoken of
+selling all that remained to him and of paying his debts, that there
+would be fresh trouble, and that he might be forced to own that he
+had been himself deficient.
+
+And then he told himself,--and did so as soon as Ralph had left
+him,--that he should have given some counsel to the young man when he
+came to ask for it. "You had better cut your throat!" In his troubled
+spirit he had said that, and now his spirit was troubled the more
+because he had so spoken. He sat for hours thinking of it all. Ralph
+Newton was the undoubted heir to a very large property. He was now
+embarrassed,--but all his present debts did not amount to much
+more than half one year's income of that property which would be
+his,--probably in about ten years. The Squire might live for twenty
+years, or might die to-morrow; but his life-interest in the estate,
+according to the usual calculations, was not worth more than ten
+years' purchase. Could he, Sir Thomas, have been right to tell a
+young man, whose prospects were so good, and whose debts, after all,
+were so light, that he ought to go and cut his throat, as the only
+way of avoiding a disreputable marriage which would otherwise be
+forced upon him by the burden of his circumstances? Would not a
+guardian, with any true idea of his duty, would not a friend, whose
+friendship was in any degree real, have found a way out of such
+difficulties as these?
+
+And then as to the marriage itself,--the proposed marriage with the
+breeches-maker's daughter,--the more Sir Thomas thought of it the
+more distasteful did it become to him. He knew that Ralph was unaware
+of all the evil that would follow such a marriage;--relatives whose
+every thought and action and word would be distasteful to him;
+children whose mother would not be a lady, and whose blood would
+be polluted by an admixture so base;--and, worse still, a life's
+companion who would be deficient in all those attributes which such a
+man as Ralph Newton should look for in a wife. Sir Thomas was a man
+to magnify rather than lessen these evils. And now he allowed his
+friend,--a man for whose behalf he had bound himself to use all the
+exercise of friendship,--to go from him with an idea that nothing
+but suicide could prevent this marriage, simply because there was an
+amount of debt, which, when compared with the man's prospects, should
+hardly have been regarded as a burden! As he thought of all this Sir
+Thomas was very unhappy.
+
+Ralph had left him at about ten o'clock, and he then sat brooding
+over his misery for about an hour. It was his custom when he remained
+in his chambers to tell his clerk, Stemm, between nine and ten that
+nothing more would be wanted. Then Stemm would go, and Sir Thomas
+would sleep for a while in his chair. But the old clerk never stirred
+till thus dismissed. It was now eleven, and Sir Thomas knew very well
+that Stemm would be in his closet. He opened the door and called,
+and Stemm, aroused from his slumbers, slowly crept into the room.
+"Joseph," said his master, "I want Mr. Ralph's papers."
+
+"To-night, Sir Thomas?"
+
+"Well;--yes, to-night. I ought to have told you when he went away,
+but I was thinking of things."
+
+"So I was thinking of things," said Stemm, as he very slowly made his
+way into the other room, and, climbing up a set of steps which stood
+there, pulled down from an upper shelf a tin box,--and with it a
+world of dust. "If you'd have said before that they'd be wanted, Sir
+Thomas, there wouldn't be such a deal of dry muck," said Stemm, as he
+put down the box on a chair opposite Sir Thomas's knees.
+
+"And now where is the key?" said Sir Thomas. Stemm shook his head
+very slowly. "You know, Stemm;--where is it?"
+
+"How am I to know, Sir Thomas? I don't know, Sir Thomas. It's like
+enough in one of those drawers." Then Stemm pointed to a certain
+table, and after a while slowly followed his own finger. The drawer
+was unlocked, and under various loose papers there lay four or five
+loose keys. "Like enough it's one of these," said Stemm.
+
+"Of course you knew where it was," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I didn't know nothing at all about it," said Stemm, bobbing his head
+at his master, and making at the same time a gesture with his lips,
+whereby he intended to signify that his master was making a fool of
+himself. Stemm was hardly more than five feet high, and was a wizened
+dry old man, with a very old yellow wig. He delighted in scolding all
+the world, and his special delight was in scolding his master. But
+against all the world he would take his master's part, and had no
+care in the world except his master's comfort. When Sir Thomas passed
+an evening at Fulham, Stemm could do as he pleased with himself; but
+they were blank evenings with Stemm when Sir Thomas was away. While
+Sir Thomas was in the next room, he always felt that he was in
+company, but when Sir Thomas was away, all London, which was open to
+him, offered him no occupation. "That's the key," said Stemm, picking
+out one; "but it wasn't I as put it there; and you didn't tell me
+as it was there, and I didn't know it was there. I guessed,--just
+because you do chuck things in there, Sir Thomas."
+
+"What does it matter, Joseph?" said Sir Thomas.
+
+"It does matter when you say I knowed. I didn't know,--nor I couldn't
+know. There's the key anyhow."
+
+"You can go now, Joseph," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"Good night, Sir Thomas," said Stemm, retiring slowly, "but I didn't
+know, Sir Thomas,--nor I couldn't know." Then Sir Thomas unlocked the
+box, and gradually surrounded himself with the papers which he took
+from it. It was past one o'clock before he again began to think what
+he had better do to put Ralph Newton on his legs, and to save him
+from marrying the breeches-maker's daughter. He sat meditating on
+that and other things as they came into his mind for over an hour,
+and then he wrote the following letter to old Mr. Newton. Very many
+years had passed since he had seen Mr. Newton,--so many that the two
+men would not have known each other had they met; but there had been
+an occasional correspondence between them, and they were presumed to
+be on amicable terms with each other.
+
+
+   Southampton Buildings, 14th July, 186--.
+
+   DEAR SIR,--
+
+   I wish to consult you about the affairs of your heir and
+   my late ward, Ralph Newton. Of course I am aware of the
+   unfortunate misunderstanding which has hitherto separated
+   you from him, as to which I believe you will be willing to
+   allow that he, at least, has not been in fault. Though his
+   life has by no means been what his friends could have
+   wished it, he is a fine young fellow; and perhaps his
+   errors have arisen as much from his unfortunate position
+   as from any natural tendency to evil on his own part. He
+   has been brought up to great expectations, with the
+   immediate possession of a small fortune. These together
+   have taught him to think that a profession was unnecessary
+   for him, and he has been debarred from those occupations
+   which generally fall in the way of the heir to a large
+   landed property by the unfortunate fact of his entire
+   separation from the estate which will one day be his. Had
+   he been your son instead of your nephew, I think that his
+   life would have been prosperous and useful.
+
+   As it is, he has got into debt, and I fear that the
+   remains of his own property will not more than suffice to
+   free him from his liabilities. Of course he could raise
+   money on his interest in the Newton estate. Hitherto he
+   has not done so; and I am most anxious to save him from a
+   course so ruinous;--as you will be also, I am sure. He has
+   come to me for advice, and I grieve to say, has formed a
+   project of placing himself right again as regards money by
+   offering marriage to the daughter of a retail tradesman. I
+   have reason to believe that hitherto he has not committed
+   himself; but I think that the young woman's father would
+   accept the offer, if made. The money, I do not doubt,
+   would be forthcoming; but the result could not be
+   fortunate. He would then have allied himself with people
+   who are not fit to be his associates, and he would have
+   tied himself to a wife who, whatever may be her merits as
+   a woman, cannot be fit to be the mistress of Newton
+   Priory. But I have not known what advice to give him. I
+   have pointed out to him the miseries of such a match; and
+   I have also told him how surely his prospects for the
+   future would be ruined, were he to attempt to live on
+   money borrowed on the uncertain security of his future
+   inheritance. I have said so much as plainly as I know how
+   to say it;--but I have been unable to point out a third
+   course. I have not ventured to recommend him to make any
+   application to you.
+
+   It seems, however, to me, that I should be remiss in my
+   duty both to him and to you were I not to make you
+   acquainted with his circumstances,--so that you may
+   interfere, should you please to do so, either on his
+   behalf or on behalf of the property. Whatever offence
+   there may have been, I think there can have been none
+   personally from him to yourself. I beg you to believe that
+   I am far from being desirous to dictate to you, or to
+   point out to you this or that as your duty; but I venture
+   to think that you will be obliged to me for giving you
+   information which may lead to the protection of interests
+   which cannot but be dear to you. In conclusion, I will
+   only again say that Ralph himself is clever,
+   well-conditioned, and, as I most truly believe, a thorough
+   gentleman. Were the intercourse between you that of a
+   father and son, I think you would feel proud of the
+   relationship.
+
+   I remain, dear sir,
+   Very faithfully yours,
+
+   THOMAS UNDERWOOD.
+
+   Gregory Newton, Esq., Newton Priory.
+
+
+This was written on Friday night, and was posted on the Saturday
+morning by the faithful hand of Joseph Stemm;--who, however, did not
+hesitate to declare to himself, as he read the address, that his
+master was a fool for his pains. Stemm had never been favourable to
+the cause of young Newton, and had considered from the first that Sir
+Thomas should have declined the trust that had been imposed upon him.
+What good was to be expected from such a guardianship? And as things
+had gone on, proving Stemm's prophecies as to young Newton's career
+to be true, that trusty clerk had not failed to remind his master of
+his own misgivings. "I told you so," had been repeated by Stemm over
+and over again, in more phrases than one, until the repetition had
+made Sir Thomas very angry. Sir Thomas, when he gave the letter to
+Stemm for posting, said not a word of the contents; but Stemm knew
+something of old Mr. Gregory Newton and the Newton Priory estate.
+Stemm, moreover, could put two and two together. "He's a fool for his
+pains;--that's all," said Stemm, as he poked the letter into the box.
+
+During the whole of the next day the matter troubled Sir Thomas. What
+if Ralph should go at once to the breeches-maker's daughter,--the
+thought of whom made Sir Thomas very sick,--and commit himself before
+an answer should be received from Mr. Newton? It was only on Sunday
+that an idea struck him that he might still do something further to
+avoid the evil;--and with this object he despatched a note to Ralph,
+imploring him to wait for a few days before he would take any steps
+towards the desperate remedy of matrimony. Then he begged Ralph to
+call upon him again on the Wednesday morning. This note Ralph did not
+get till he went home on the Sunday evening;--at which time, as the
+reader knows, he had not as yet committed himself to the desperate
+remedy.
+
+On the following Tuesday Sir Thomas received the following letter
+from Mr. Newton:--
+
+
+   Newton Priory, 17th July, 186--.
+
+   DEAR SIR,--
+
+   I have received your letter respecting Mr. Ralph Newton's
+   affairs, in regard to which, as far as they concern
+   himself, I am free to say that I do not feel much
+   interest. But you are quite right in your suggestion that
+   my solicitude in respect of the family property is very
+   great. I need not trouble you by pointing out the nature
+   of my solicitude, but may as well at once make an offer to
+   you, which you, as Mr. Ralph Newton's friend, and as an
+   experienced lawyer, can consider,--and communicate to him,
+   if you think right to do so.
+
+   It seems that he will be driven to raise money on his
+   interest in this property. I have always felt that he
+   would do so, and that from the habits of his life the
+   property would be squandered before it came into his
+   possession. Why should he not sell his reversion, and why
+   should I not buy it? I write in ignorance, but I presume
+   such an arrangement would be legal and honourable on my
+   part. The sum to be given would be named without
+   difficulty by an actuary. I am now fifty-five, and, I
+   believe, in good health. You yourself will probably know
+   within a few thousand pounds what would be the value of
+   the reversion. A proper person would, however, be of
+   course employed.
+
+   I have saved money, but by no means enough for such an
+   outlay as this. I would, however, mortgage the property or
+   sell one half of it, if by doing so I could redeem the
+   other half from Mr. Ralph Newton.
+
+   You no doubt will understand exactly the nature of my
+   offer, and will let me have an answer. I do not know that
+   I can in any other way expedite Mr. Ralph Newton's course
+   in life.
+
+   I am, dear sir,
+   Faithfully yours,
+
+   GREGORY NEWTON, Senior.
+
+
+When Sir Thomas read this he was almost in greater doubt and
+difficulty than before. The measure proposed by the elder Newton was
+no doubt legal and honourable, but it could hardly be so carried
+out as to be efficacious. Ralph could only sell his share of the
+inheritance;--or rather his chance of inheriting the estate. Were he
+to die without a son before his uncle, then his brother would be the
+heir. The arrangement, however, if practicable, would at once make
+all things comfortable for Ralph, and would give him, probably, a
+large unembarrassed revenue,--so large, that the owner of it need
+certainly have recourse to no discreditable marriage as the means of
+extricating himself from present calamity. But then Sir Thomas had
+very strong ideas about a family property. Were Ralph's affairs,
+indeed, in such disorder as to make it necessary for him to abandon
+the great prospect of being Newton of Newton? If the breeches-maker's
+twenty thousand would suffice, surely the thing could be done on
+cheaper terms than those suggested by the old Squire,--and done
+without the intervention of Polly Neefit!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+NEWTON PRIORY.
+
+
+Newton Priory was at this time inhabited by two gentlemen,--old
+Gregory Newton, who for miles round was known as the Squire; and his
+son, Ralph Newton,--his son, but not his heir; a son, however, whom
+he loved as well as though he had been born with an undoubted right
+to inherit all those dearly-valued acres. A few lines will tell all
+that need be told of the Squire's early life,--and indeed of his life
+down to the present period. In very early days, immediately upon his
+leaving college, he had travelled abroad and had formed an attachment
+with a German lady, who by him became the mother of a child. He
+intended to marry her, hoping to reconcile his father to the match;
+but before either marriage or reconciliation could take place the
+young mother, whose babe's life could then only be counted by months,
+was dead. In the hope that the old man might yield in all things,
+the infant had been christened Ralph; for the old Squire's name was
+Ralph, and there had been a Ralph among the Newtons since Newton
+Priory had existed. But the old Squire had a Ralph of his own,--the
+father of our Ralph and of the present parson,--who in his time was
+rector of Peele Newton; and when the tidings of this foreign baby and
+of the proposed foreign marriage reached the old Squire,--then he
+urged his second son to marry, and made the settlement of the estate
+of which the reader has heard. The settlement was natural enough. It
+simply entailed the property on the male heir of the family in the
+second generation. It deprived the eldest son of nothing that would
+be his in accordance with the usual tenure of English primogeniture.
+Had he married and become the father of a family, his eldest son
+would have been the heir. But heretofore there had been no such
+entails in the Newton family; or, at least, he was pleased to
+think that there had been none such. And when he himself inherited
+the property early in life,--before he had reached his thirtieth
+year,--he thought that his father had injured him. His boy was as
+dear to him, as though the mother had been his honest wife. Then
+he endeavoured to come to some terms with his brother. He would do
+anything in order that his child might be Newton of Newton after
+him. But the parson would come to no terms at all, and was powerless
+to make any such terms as those which the elder brother required.
+The parson was honest, self-denying, and proud on behalf of his own
+children; but he was intrusive in regard to the property, and apt to
+claim privileges of interference beyond his right as the guardian of
+his own or of his children's future interests. And so the brothers
+had quarrelled;--and so the story of Newton Priory is told up to the
+period at which our story begins.
+
+Gregory Newton and his son Ralph had lived together at the Priory for
+the last six-and-twenty years, and the young man had grown up as a
+Newton within the knowledge of all the gentry around them. The story
+of his birth was public, and it was of course understood that he was
+not the heir. His father had been too wise on the son's behalf to
+encourage any concealment. The son was very popular, and deserved to
+be so; but it was known to all the young men round, and also to all
+the maidens, that he would not be Newton of Newton. There had been
+no ill-contrived secret, sufficient to make a difficulty, but not
+sufficient to save the lad from the pains of his position. Everybody
+knew it; and yet it can hardly be said that he was treated otherwise
+than he would have been treated had he been the heir. In the
+hunting-field there was no more popular man. A point had been
+stretched in his favour, and he was a magistrate. Mothers were kind
+to him, for it was known that his father loved him well, and that
+his father had been a prudent man. In all respects he was treated
+as though he were the heir. He managed the shooting, and was the
+trusted friend of all the tenants. Doubtless his father was the more
+indulgent to him because of the injury that had been done to him.
+After all, his life promised well as to material prosperity; for,
+though the Squire, in writing to Sir Thomas, had spoken of selling
+half the property with the view of keeping the other half for his
+son, he was already possessed of means that would enable him to
+make the proposed arrangement without such sacrifice as that. For
+twenty-four years he had felt that he was bound to make a fortune for
+his son out of his own income. And he had made a fortune, and mothers
+knew it, and everybody in the county was very civil to Ralph,--to
+that Ralph who was not the heir.
+
+But the Squire had never yet quite abandoned the hope that Ralph who
+was not the heir might yet possess the place; and when he heard of
+his nephew's doings, heard falsehood as well as truth, from day to
+day he built up new hopes. He had not expected any such overture as
+that which had come from Sir Thomas; but if, as he did expect, Ralph
+the heir should go to the Jews, why should not the Squire purchase
+the Jews' interest in his own estate? Or, if Ralph the heir should,
+more wisely, deal with some great money-lending office, why should
+not he redeem the property through the same? Ralph the heir would
+surely throw what interest he had into the market, and if so, that
+interest might be bought by the person to whom it must be of more
+value than to any other. He had said little about it even to his
+son;--but he had hoped; and now had come this letter from Sir Thomas.
+The reader knows the letter and the Squire's answer.
+
+The Squire himself was a very handsome man, tall, broad-shouldered,
+square-faced, with hair and whiskers almost snow-white already, but
+which nevertheless gave to him but little sign of age. He was very
+strong, and could sit in the saddle all day without fatigue. He was
+given much to farming, and thoroughly understood the duties of a
+country gentleman. He was hospitable, too; for, though money had been
+saved, the Priory had ever been kept as one of the pleasantest houses
+in the county. There had been no wife, no child but the one, and no
+house in London. The stables, however, had been full of hunters: and
+it was generally said that no men in Hampshire were better mounted
+than Gregory the father and Ralph the son. Of the father we will
+only further say that he was a generous, passionate, persistent,
+vindictive, and unforgiving man, a bitter enemy and a staunch friend;
+a thorough-going Tory, who, much as he loved England and Hampshire
+and Newton Priory, feared that they were all going to the dogs
+because of Mr. Disraeli and household suffrage; but who felt, in
+spite of those fears, that to make his son master of Newton Priory
+after him would be the greatest glory of his life. He had sworn to
+the young mother on her death-bed that the boy should be to him
+as though he had been born in wedlock. He had been as good as his
+word;--and we may say that he was one who had at least that virtue,
+that he was always as good as his word.
+
+The son was very like the father in face and gait and bearing,--so
+like that the parentage was marked to the glance of any observer. He
+was tall, as was his father, and broad across the chest, and strong
+and active, as his father had ever been. But his face was of a nobler
+stamp, bearing a surer impress of intellect, and in that respect
+telling certainly the truth. This Ralph Newton had been educated
+abroad, his father, with a morbid feeling which he had since done
+much to conquer, having feared to send him among other young men,
+the sons of squires and noblemen, who would have known that their
+comrade was debarred by the disgrace of his birth from inheriting
+the property of his father. But it may be doubted whether he had not
+gained as much as he had lost. German and French were the same to
+him as his native tongue; and he returned to the life of an English
+country gentleman young enough to learn to ride to hounds, and to
+live as he found others living around him.
+
+Very little was said, or indeed ever had been said, between the
+father and son as to their relative position in reference to the
+property. Ralph,--the illegitimate Ralph,--knew well enough and had
+always known, that the estate was not to be his. He had known this
+so long that he did not remember the day when he had not known it.
+Occasionally the Squire would observe with a curse that this or
+that could not be done with the property,--such a house pulled down,
+or such another built, this copse grupped up, or those trees cut
+down,--because of that reprobate up in London. As to pulling down,
+there was no probability of interference now, though there had been
+much of such interference in the life of the old rector. "Ralph,"
+he had once said to his brother the rector, "I'll marry and have a
+family yet if there is another word about the timber." "I have not
+the slightest right or even wish to object to your doing so," said
+the rector; "but as long as things are on their present footing, I
+shall continue to do my duty." Soon after that it had come to pass
+that the brothers so quarrelled that all intercourse between them was
+at an end. Such revenge, such absolute punishment as that which the
+Squire had threatened, would have been very pleasant to him;--but not
+even for such pleasure as that would he ruin the boy whom he loved.
+He did not marry, but saved money, and dreamed of buying up the
+reversion of his nephew's interest.
+
+His son was just two years older than our Ralph up in London, and
+his father was desirous that he should marry. "Your wife would be
+mistress of the house,--as long as I live, at least," he had once
+said. "There are difficulties about it," said the son. Of course
+there were difficulties. "I do not know whether it is not better that
+I should remain unmarried," he said, a few minutes later. "There are
+men whom marriage does not seem to suit,--I mean as regards their
+position." The father turned away, and groaned aloud when he was
+alone. On the evening of that day, as they were sitting together over
+their wine, the son alluded, not exactly to the same subject, but to
+the thoughts which had arisen from it within his own mind. "Father,"
+he said, "I don't know whether it wouldn't be better for you to make
+it up with my cousin, and have him down here."
+
+"What cousin?" said the Squire, turning sharply round.
+
+"With Gregory's eldest brother." The reader will perhaps remember
+that the Gregory of that day was the parson. "I believe he is a good
+fellow, and he has done you no harm."
+
+"He has done me all harm."
+
+"No; father; no. We cannot help ourselves, you know. Were he to die,
+Gregory would be in the same position. It would be better that the
+family should be kept together."
+
+"I would sooner have the devil here. No consideration on earth shall
+induce me to allow him to put his foot upon this place. No;--not
+whilst I live." The son said nothing further, and they sat together
+in silence for some quarter of an hour,--after which the elder of the
+two rose from his chair, and, coming round the table, put his hand
+on the son's shoulder, and kissed his son's brow. "Father," said
+the young man, "you think that I am troubled by things which hardly
+touch me at all." "By God, they touch me close enough!" said the
+elder. This had taken place some month or two before the date of Sir
+Thomas's letter;--but any reference to the matter of which they were
+both no doubt always thinking was very rare between them.
+
+Newton Priory was a place which a father might well wish to leave
+unimpaired to his son. It lay in the north of Hampshire, where that
+county is joined to Berkshire; and perhaps in England there is no
+prettier district, no country in which moorland and woodland and
+pasture are more daintily thrown together to please the eye, in which
+there is a sweeter air, or a more thorough seeming of English wealth
+and English beauty and English comfort. Those who know Eversley and
+Bramshill and Heckfield and Strathfieldsaye will acknowledge that
+it is so. But then how few are the Englishmen who travel to see the
+beauties of their own country! Newton Priory, or Newton Peele as the
+parish was called, lay somewhat west of these places, but was as
+charming as any of them. The entire parish belonged to Mr. Newton, as
+did portions of three or four parishes adjoining. The house itself
+was neither large nor remarkable for its architecture;--but it was
+comfortable. The rooms indeed were low, for it had been built in the
+ungainly days of Queen Anne, with additions in the equally ungainly
+time of George II., and the passages were long and narrow, and the
+bedrooms were up and down stairs, as though pains had been taken
+that no two should be on a level; and the windows were of ugly shape,
+and the whole mass was uncouth and formless,--partaking neither of
+the Gothic beauty of the Stuart architecture, nor of the palatial
+grandeur which has sprung up in our days; and it stood low, giving
+but little view from the windows. But, nevertheless, there was a
+family comfort and a warm solidity about the house, which endeared it
+to those who knew it well. There had been a time in which the present
+Squire had thought of building for himself an entirely new house, on
+another site,--on the rising brow of a hill, some quarter of a mile
+away from his present residence;--but he had remembered that as
+he could not leave his estate to his son, it behoved him to spend
+nothing on the property which duty did not demand from him.
+
+The house stood in a park of some two hundred acres, in which the
+ground was poor, indeed, but beautifully diversified by rising knolls
+and little ravines, which seemed to make the space almost unlimited.
+And then the pines which waved in the Newton woods sighed and moaned
+with a melody which, in the ears of their owner, was equalled by
+that of no other fir trees in the world. And the broom was yellower
+at Newton than elsewhere, and more plentiful; and the heather was
+sweeter;--and wild thyme on the grass more fragrant. So at least Mr.
+Newton was always ready to swear. And all this he could not leave
+behind him to his son;--but must die with the knowledge, that as soon
+as the breath was out of his body, it would become the property of
+a young man whom he hated! He might not cut down the pine woods, nor
+disturb those venerable single trees which were the glory of his
+park;--but there were moments in which he thought that he could take
+a delight in ploughing up the furze, and in stripping the hill-sides
+of the heather. Why should his estate be so beautiful for one who was
+nothing to him? Would it not be well that he should sell everything
+that was saleable in order that his own son might be the richer?
+
+On the day after he had written his reply to Sir Thomas he was
+rambling in the evening with his son through the woods. Nothing could
+be more beautiful than the park was now;--and Ralph had been speaking
+of the glory of the place. But something had occurred to make his
+father revert to the condition of a certain tenant, whose holding on
+the property was by no means satisfactory either to himself or to his
+landlord. "You know, sir," said the son, "I told you last year that
+Darvell would have to go."
+
+"Where's he to go to?"
+
+"He'll go to the workhouse if he stays here. It will be much better
+for him to be bought out while there is still something left for him
+to sell. Nothing can be worse than a man sticking on to land without
+a shilling of capital."
+
+"Of course it's bad. His father did very well there."
+
+"His father did very well there till he took to drink and died of it.
+You know where the road parts Darvell's farm and Brownriggs? Just
+look at the difference of the crops. There's a place with wheat on
+each side of you. I was looking at them before dinner."
+
+"Brownriggs is in a different parish. Brownriggs is in Bostock."
+
+"But the land is of the same quality. Of course Walker is a different
+sort of man from Darvell. I believe there are nearly four hundred
+acres in Brownriggs."
+
+"All that," said the father.
+
+"And Darvell has about seventy;--but the land should be made to bear
+the same produce per acre."
+
+The Squire paused a moment, and then asked a question. "What should
+you say if I proposed to sell Brownriggs?" Now there were two or
+three matters which made the proposition to sell Brownriggs a very
+wonderful proposition to come from the Squire. In the first place he
+couldn't sell an acre of the property at all,--of which fact his son
+was very well aware; and then, of all the farms on the estate it was,
+perhaps, the best and most prosperous. Mr. Walker, the tenant, was a
+man in very good circumstances, who hunted, and was popular, and was
+just the man of whose tenancy no landlord would be ashamed.
+
+
+[Illustration: "What should you say if I proposed to sell
+Brownriggs?"]
+
+
+"Sell Brownriggs!" said the young man. "Well, yes; I should be
+surprised. Could you sell it?"
+
+"Not at present," said the Squire.
+
+"How could it be sold at all?" They were now standing at a gate
+leading out of the park into a field held by the Squire in his own
+hands, and were both leaning on it. "Father," said the son, "I wish
+you would not trouble yourself about the estate, but let things come
+and go just as they have been arranged."
+
+"I prefer to arrange them for myself,--if I can. It comes to this,
+that it may be possible to buy the reversion of the property. I could
+not buy it all;--or if I did, must sell a portion of it to raise the
+money. I have been thinking it over and making calculations. If we
+let Walker's farm go, and Ingram's, I think I could manage the rest.
+Of course it would depend on the value of my own life."
+
+There was a long pause, during which they both were still leaning on
+the gate. "It is a phantom, sir!" the young man said at last.
+
+"What do you mean by a phantom? I don't see any phantom. A reversion
+can be bought and sold as well as any other property. And if it be
+sold in this case, I am as free to buy it as any other man."
+
+"Who says it is to be sold, sir?"
+
+"I say so. That prig of a barrister, Sir Thomas Underwood, has
+already made overtures to me to do something for that young scoundrel
+in London. He is a scoundrel, for he is spending money that is not
+his own. And he is now about to make a marriage that will disgrace
+his family." The Squire probably did not at the moment think of the
+disgrace which he had brought upon the family by not marrying. "The
+fact is, that he will have to sell all that he can sell. Why should I
+not buy it!"
+
+"If he were to die?" suggested the son.
+
+"I wish he would," said the father.
+
+"Don't say that, sir. But if he were to die, Gregory here, who is as
+good a fellow as ever lived, would come into his shoes. Ralph could
+sell no more than his own chance."
+
+"We could get Gregory to join us," said the energetic Squire. "He,
+also, could sell his right."
+
+"You had better leave it as it is, sir," said the son, after another
+pause. "I feel sure that you will only get yourself into trouble. The
+place is yours as long as you live, and you should enjoy it."
+
+"And know that it is going to the Jews after me! Not if I can help
+it. You won't marry, as things are; but you'd marry quick enough if
+you knew you would remain here after my death;--if you were sure that
+a child of yours could inherit the estate. I mean to try it on, and
+it is best that you should know. Whatever he can make over to the
+Jews he can make over to me;--and as that is what he is about, I
+shall keep my eyes open. I shall go up to London about it and see
+Carey next week. A man can do a deal if he sets himself thoroughly to
+work."
+
+"I'd leave it alone if I were you," said the young man.
+
+"I shall not leave it alone. I mayn't be able to get it all, but I'll
+do my best to secure a part of it. If any is to go, it had better
+be the land in Bostock and Twining. I think we could manage to keep
+Newton entire."
+
+His mind was always on the subject, though it was not often that he
+said a word about it to the son in whose behalf he was so anxious.
+His thoughts were always dwelling on it, so that the whole peace and
+comfort of his life were disturbed. A life-interest in a property
+is, perhaps, as much as a man desires to have when he for whose
+protection he is debarred from further privileges of ownership is
+a well-loved son;--but an entail that limits an owner's rights on
+behalf of an heir who is not loved, who is looked upon as an enemy,
+is very grievous. And in this case the man who was so limited,
+so cramped, so hedged in, and robbed of the true pleasures of
+ownership, had a son with whom he would have been willing to share
+everything,--whom it would have been his delight to consult as to
+every roof to be built, every tree to be cut, every lease to be
+granted or denied. He would dream of telling his son, with a certain
+luxury of self-abnegation, that this or that question as to the
+estate should be settled in the interest, not of the setting, but of
+the rising sun. "It is your affair rather than mine, my boy;--do as
+you like." He could picture to himself in his imagination a pleasant,
+half-mock melancholy in saying such things, and in sharing the reins
+of government between his own hands and those of his heir. As the
+sun is falling in the heavens and the evening lights come on, this
+world's wealth and prosperity afford no pleasure equal to this. It
+is this delight that enables a man to feel, up to the last moment,
+that the goods of the world are good. But of all this he was to be
+robbed,--in spite of all his prudence. It might perhaps sometimes
+occur to him that he by his own vice had brought this scourge upon
+his back;--but not the less on that account did it cause him to rebel
+against the rod. Then there would come upon him the idea that he
+might cure this evil were his energy sufficient;--and all that he
+heard of that nephew and heir, whom he hated, tended to make him
+think that the cure was within his reach. There had been moments
+in which he had planned a scheme of leading on that reprobate into
+quicker and deeper destruction, of a pretended friendship with the
+spendthrift, in order that money for speedier ruin might be lent on
+that security which the uncle himself was so anxious to possess as
+his very own. But the scheme of this iniquity, though it had been
+planned and mapped out in his brain, had never been entertained as
+a thing really to be done. There are few of us who have not allowed
+our thoughts to work on this or that villany, arranging the method of
+its performance, though the performance itself is far enough from our
+purpose. The amusement is not without its danger,--and to the Squire
+of Newton had so far been injurious that it had tended to foster his
+hatred. He would, however, do nothing that was dishonest,--nothing
+that the world would condemn,--nothing that would not bear the light.
+The argument to which he mainly trusted was this,--that if Ralph
+Newton, the heir, had anything to sell and was pleased to sell it,
+it was as open to him to buy it as to any other. If the reversion of
+the estate of Newton Priory was in the market, why should he not buy
+it?--the reversion or any part of the reversion? If such were the
+case he certainly would buy it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+MRS. BROWNLOW.
+
+
+There was a certain old Mrs. Brownlow, who inhabited a large
+old-fashioned house on the Fulham Road, just beyond the fashionable
+confines of Brompton, but nearer to town than the decidedly rural
+district of Walham Green and Parson's Green. She was deeply
+interested in the welfare of the Underwood girls, having been a first
+cousin of their paternal grandmother, and was very unhappy because
+their father would not go home and take care of them. She was an
+excellent old woman, affectionate, charitable, and religious; but
+she was rather behindhand in general matters, and did not clearly
+understand much about anything in these latter days. She had heard
+that Sir Thomas was accustomed to live away from his daughters, and
+thought it very shocking;--but she knew that Sir Thomas either was
+or had been in Parliament, and that he was a great lawyer and a
+very clever man, and therefore she made excuses. She did not quite
+understand it all, but she thought it expedient to befriend the young
+ladies. She had heard, too, that Ralph Newton, who had been entrusted
+to the care of Sir Thomas, was heir to an enormous property; and she
+thought that the young man ought to marry one of the young ladies.
+Consequently, whenever she would ask her cousins to tea, she would
+also ask Mr. Ralph Newton. Sometimes he would come. More frequently
+he would express his deep regret that a previous engagement prevented
+him from having the pleasure of accepting Mrs. Brownlow's kind
+invitation. On all these occasions Mrs. Brownlow invited Sir
+Thomas;--but Sir Thomas never came. It could hardly have been
+expected of him that he should do so. Bolsover House was the
+old-fashioned name of Mrs. Brownlow's residence; and an invitation
+for tea had been sent for a certain Tuesday in July,--Tuesday, July
+the 18th. Mrs. Brownlow had of course been informed of the arrival
+of Mary Bonner,--who was in truth as nearly related to her as the
+Underwood girls,--and the invitation was given with the express
+intention of doing honour to Mary. By the young ladies from Popham
+Villa the invitation was accepted as a matter of course.
+
+"Will he be there?" Clary said to her sister.
+
+"I hope not, Clarissa."
+
+"Why do you hope not? We are not to quarrel; are we, Patty?"
+
+"No;--we need not quarrel. But I am afraid of him. He is not good
+enough, Clary, for you to be unhappy about him. And I fear,--I fear,
+he is--"
+
+"Is what, Patty? Do speak it out. There is nothing I hate so much as
+a mystery."
+
+"I fear he is not genuine;--what people call honest. He would say
+things without quite meaning what he says."
+
+"I don't think it. I am sure he is not like that. I may have been a
+fool--" Then she stopped herself, remembering the whole scene on the
+lawn. Alas;--there had been no misunderstanding him. The crime had
+been forgiven; but the crime had been a great fact. Since that she
+had seen him only once, and then he had been so cold! But yet as he
+left her he had not been quite cold. Surely that pressure of her hand
+had meant something;--had meant something after that great crime! But
+why did he not come to her; or why,--which would have been so far,
+far better,--did he not go to her papa and tell everything to him?
+Now, however, there was the chance that she would see him at Bolsover
+House. That Mrs. Brownlow would ask him was quite a matter of course.
+
+The great event of the evening was to be the introduction of Mrs.
+Brownlow to the new cousin. They were to drink tea out in the
+old-fashioned garden behind the house, from which Mrs. Brownlow could
+retreat into her own room at the first touch of a breath of air. The
+day was one of which the world at large would declare that there was
+no breath of air, morning, noon, or night. There was to be quite a
+party. That was evident from the first to our young ladies, who knew
+the ways of the house, and who saw that the maids were very smart,
+and that an extra young woman had been brought in; but they were the
+first to come,--as was proper.
+
+"My dear Mary," said the old woman to her new guest, "I am glad to
+see you. I knew your mother and loved her well. I hope you will be
+happy, my dear." Mrs. Brownlow was a very little old woman, very
+pretty, very grey, very nicely dressed, and just a little deaf. Mary
+Bonner kissed her, and murmured some word of thanks. The old woman
+stood for a few seconds, looking at the beauty,--astounded like the
+rest of the world. "Somebody told me she was good-looking," Mrs.
+Brownlow said to Patience;--"but I did not expect to see her like
+that."
+
+"Is she not lovely?"
+
+"She is a miracle, my dear! I hope she won't steal all the nice
+young men away from you and your sister, eh? Yes;--yes. What does Mr.
+Newton say to her?" Patience, however, knew that she need not answer
+all the questions which Mrs. Brownlow asked, and she left this
+question unanswered.
+
+Two or three elderly ladies came in, and four or five young ladies,
+and an old gentleman who sat close to Mrs. Brownlow and squeezed her
+hand very often, and a middle-aged gentleman who was exceedingly
+funny, and two young gentlemen who carried the tea and cakes about,
+but did not talk much. Such were the guests, and the young ladies,
+who no doubt were accustomed to Mrs. Brownlow's parties, took it all
+as it was intended, and were not discontented. There was one young
+lady, however, who longed to ask a question, but durst not. Had Ralph
+Newton promised that he would come? Clary was sitting between the
+old gentleman who seemed to be so fond of Mrs. Brownlow's hand and
+her cousin Mary. She said not a word,--nor, indeed, was there much
+talking among the guests in general. The merry, middle-aged gentleman
+did the talking, combining with it a good deal of exhilarating
+laughter at his own wit. The ladies sat round, and sipped their tea
+and smiled. That middle-aged gentleman certainly earned his mild
+refreshment;--for the party without him must have been very dull.
+Then there came a breath of air,--or, as Mrs. Brownlow called it, a
+keen north wind; and the old lady retreated into the house. "Don't
+let me take anybody else in,--only I can't stand a wind like that."
+The old gentleman accompanied her, and then the elderly ladies. The
+young ladies came next, and the man of wit, with the silent young
+gentlemen, followed, laden with scarfs, parasols, fans, and stray
+teacups. "I don't think we used to have such cold winds in July,"
+said Mrs. Brownlow. The old gentleman pressed her hand once more, and
+whispered into her ear that there had certainly been a great change.
+
+Suddenly Ralph Newton was among them. Clarissa had not heard him
+announced, and to her it seemed as though he had come down from
+the heavens,--as would have befitted his godship. He was a great
+favourite with Mrs. Brownlow, who, having heard that he was heir
+to a very large property, thought that his extravagance became him.
+According to her views it was his duty to spend a good deal of money,
+and his duty also to marry Clarissa Underwood. As he was as yet
+unmarried to any one else, she hardly doubted that he would do his
+duty. She was a sanguine old lady, who always believed that things
+would go right. She bustled and fussed on the present occasion
+with the very evident intention of getting a seat for him next to
+Clarissa; but Clarissa was as active in avoiding such an arrangement,
+and Ralph soon found himself placed between Mary Bonner and a very
+deaf old lady, who was always present at Mrs. Brownlow's tea-parties.
+"I suppose this has all been got up in your honour," he said to Mary.
+She smiled, and shook her head. "Oh, but it has. I know the dear old
+lady's ways so well! She would never allow a new Underwood to be at
+the villa for a month without having a tea-party to consecrate the
+event."
+
+"Isn't she charming, Mr. Newton;--and so pretty?"
+
+"No end of charming, and awfully pretty. Why are we all in here
+instead of out in the garden?"
+
+"Mrs. Brownlow thought that it was cold."
+
+"With the thermometer at 80 degrees! What do you think, who ought to
+know what hot weather means? Are you chilly?"
+
+"Not in the least. We West Indians never find this climate cold
+the first year. Next year I don't doubt that I shall be full of
+rheumatism all over, and begging to be taken back to the islands."
+
+Clarissa watched them from over the way as though every word spoken
+between them had been a treason to herself. And yet she had almost
+been rude to old Mrs. Brownlow in the manner in which she had placed
+herself on one side of the circle when the old lady had begged her to
+sit on the other. Certainly, had she heard all that was said between
+her lover and her cousin, there was nothing in the words to offend
+her. She did not hear them; but she could see that Ralph looked into
+Mary's beautiful face, and that Mary smiled in a demure, silent,
+self-assured way which was already becoming odious to Clarissa.
+Clarissa herself, when Ralph looked into her face, would blush and
+turn away, and feel herself unable to bear the gaze of the god.
+
+In a few minutes there came to be a sudden move, and all the young
+people trooped back into the garden. It was Ralph Newton who did
+it, and nobody quite understood how it was done. "Certainly, my
+dears; certainly," said the old lady. "I dare say the moon is very
+beautiful. Yes; I see Mr. Ralph. You are not going to take me out,
+I can tell you. The moon is all very well, but I like to see it
+through the window. Don't mind me. Mr. Truepeny will stay with me."
+Mr. Truepeny, who was turned eighty, put out his hand and patted Mrs.
+Brownlow's arm, and assured her that he wanted nothing better than
+to stay with her for ever. The witty gentleman did not like the move,
+because it had been brought about by a newcomer, who had, as it were,
+taken the wind out of his sails. He lingered awhile, hoping to have
+weight enough to control the multitude;--in which he failed, and at
+last made one of the followers. And Clarissa lingered also, because
+Ralph had been the first to stir. Ralph had gone out with Mary
+Bonner, and therefore Clarissa had held back. So it came to pass
+that she found herself walking round the garden with the witty,
+exhilarating, middle-aged gentleman,--whom, for the present at least,
+she most cordially hated. "I am not quite sure that our dear old
+friend isn't right," said the witty man, whose name was Poojean;--"a
+chair to sit down upon, and a wall or two around one, and a few
+little knick-nacks about,--carpets and tables and those sort of
+things,--are comfortable at times."
+
+"I wonder you should leave them then," said Clarissa.
+
+"Can there be a wonder that I leave them with such temptation as
+this," said the gallant Poojean. Clarissa hated him worse than ever,
+and would not look at him, or even make the faintest sign that she
+heard him. The voice of Ralph Newton through the trees struck her
+ears; and yet the voice wasn't loud,--as it would not be if it were
+addressed with tenderness to Mary. And there was she bound by some
+indissoluble knot to,--Mr. Poojean. "That Mr. Newton is a friend of
+yours?" asked Mr. Poojean.
+
+"Yes;--a friend of ours," said Clarissa.
+
+"Then I will express my intense admiration for his wit, general
+character, and personal appearance. Had he been a stranger to you, I
+should, of course, have insinuated an opinion that he was a fool, a
+coxcomb, and the very plainest young man I had ever seen. That is the
+way of the world,--isn't it, Miss Underwood?"
+
+"I don't know," said Clarissa.
+
+"Oh, yes,--you do. That's the way we all go on. As he is your friend,
+I can't dare to begin to abuse him till after the third time round
+the garden."
+
+"I beg, then, that there may be only two turns," said Clarissa.
+But she did not know how to stop, or to get rid of her abominable
+companion.
+
+"If I mustn't abuse him after three turns, he must be a favourite,"
+said the persevering Poojean. "I suppose he is a favourite.
+By-the-bye, what a lovely girl that is with whom your favourite
+was,--shall I say flirting?"
+
+"That lady is my cousin, Mr. Poojean."
+
+"I didn't say that she was flirting, mind. I wouldn't hint such a
+thing of any young lady, let her be anybody's cousin. Young ladies
+never flirt. But young men do sometimes;--don't they? After all, it
+is the best fun going;--isn't it?"
+
+"I don't know," said Clarissa. By this time they had got round to the
+steps leading from the garden to the house. "I think I'll go in, Mr.
+Poojean." She did go in, and Mr. Poojean was left looking at the moon
+all alone, as though he had separated himself from all mirth and
+society for that melancholy but pleasing occupation. He stood there
+gazing upwards with his thumbs beneath his waistcoat. "Grand,--is it
+not?" he said to the first couple that passed him.
+
+"Awfully grand, and beautifully soft, and all the rest of it," said
+Ralph, as he went on with Mary Bonner by his side.
+
+"That fellow has got no touch of poetry in him!" said Poojean to
+himself. In the meantime Clarissa, pausing a moment as she entered
+through the open window, heard Ralph's cheery voice. How well she
+knew its tones! And she still paused, with ears erect, striving to
+catch some word from her cousin's mouth. But Mary's words, if they
+were words spoken by her, were too low and soft to be caught.
+"Oh,--if she should turn out to be sly!" Clarissa said to herself.
+Was it true that Ralph had been flirting with her,--as that odious
+man had said? And why, why, why had Ralph not come to her, if he
+really loved her, as he had twice told her that he did? Of course
+she had not thrown herself into his arms when old Mrs. Brownlow made
+that foolish fuss. But still he might have come to her. He might
+have waited for her in the garden. He might have saved her from the
+"odious vulgarity" of that "abominable old wretch." For in such
+language did Clarissa describe to herself the exertions to amuse her
+which had been made by her late companion. But had the Sydney Smith
+of the day been talking to her, he would have been dull, or the Count
+D'Orsay of the day, he would have been vulgar, while the sound of
+Ralph Newton's voice, as he walked with another girl, was reaching
+her ears. And then, before she had seated herself in Mrs. Brownlow's
+drawing-room, another idea had struck her. Could it be that Ralph did
+not come to her because she had told him that she would never forgive
+him for that crime? Was it possible that his own shame was so great
+that he was afraid of her? If so, could she not let him know that he
+was,--well, forgiven? Poor Clarissa! In the meantime the voices still
+came to her from the garden, and she still thought that she could
+distinguish Ralph's low murmurings.
+
+It may be feared that Ralph had no such deep sense of his fault as
+that suggested. He did remember well enough,--had reflected more
+than once or twice,--on those words which he had spoken to Clary.
+Having spoken them he had felt his crime to be their not unnatural
+accompaniment. At that moment, when he was on the lawn at Fulham, he
+had thought that it would be very sweet to devote himself to dear
+Clary,--that Clary was the best and prettiest girl he knew, that, in
+short, it might be well for him to love her and cherish her and make
+her his wife. Had not Patience come upon the scene, and disturbed
+them, he would probably then and there have offered to her his hand
+and heart. But Patience had come upon the scene, and the offer had
+not been, as he thought, made. Since all that, which had passed ages
+ago,--weeks and weeks ago,--there had fallen upon him the prosaic
+romance of Polly Neefit. He had actually gone down to Hendon to offer
+himself as a husband to the breeches-maker's daughter. It is true he
+had hitherto escaped in that quarter also,--or, at any rate, had not
+as yet committed himself. But the train of incidents and thoughts
+which had induced him to think seriously of marrying Polly, had
+made him aware that he could not propose marriage to Sir Thomas
+Underwood's daughter. From such delight as that he found, on calm
+reflection, that he had debarred himself by the folly of his past
+life. It was well that Patience had come upon the scene.
+
+Such being the state of affairs with him, that little episode with
+Clary being at an end,--or rather, as he thought, never having quite
+come to a beginning,--and his little arrangement as to Polly Neefit
+being in abeyance, he was free to amuse himself with this newcomer.
+Miss Bonner was certainly the most lovely girl he had ever seen. He
+could imagine no beauty to exceed hers. He knew well enough that her
+loveliness could be nothing to him;--but a woman's beauty is in one
+sense as free as the air in all Christian countries. It is a light
+shed for the delight, not of one, but of many. There could be no
+reason why he should not be among the admirers of Miss Bonner.
+"I expect, you know, to be admitted quite on the terms of an old
+friend," he said. "I shall call you Mary, and all that kind of
+thing."
+
+"I don't see your claim," said Miss Bonner.
+
+"Oh yes, you do,--and must allow it. I was almost a sort of son of
+Sir Thomas's,--till he turned me off when I came of age. And Patience
+and Clarissa are just the same as sisters to me."
+
+"You are not even a cousin, Mr. Newton."
+
+"No;--I'm not a cousin. It's more like a foster-brother, you know. Of
+course I shan't call you Mary if you tell me not. How is it to be?"
+
+"Just for the present I'll be Miss Bonner."
+
+"For a week or so?"
+
+"Say for a couple of years, and then we'll see how it is."
+
+"You'll be some lucky's fellow's wife long before that. Do you like
+living at Fulham?"
+
+"Very much. How should I not like it? They are so kind to me. And you
+know, when I first resolved to come home, I thought I should have
+to go out as a governess,--or, perhaps, as a nursery-maid, if they
+didn't think me clever enough to teach. I did not expect my uncle to
+be so good to me. I had never seen him, you know. Is it not odd that
+my uncle is so little at home?"
+
+"It is odd. He is writing a book, you see, and he finds that the air
+of Fulham doesn't suit his brains."
+
+"Oh, Mr. Newton!"
+
+"And he likes to be quite alone. There isn't a better fellow going
+than your uncle. I am sure I ought to say so. But he isn't just what
+I should call,--sociable."
+
+"I think him almost perfection;--but I do wish he was more at home
+for their sakes. We'll go in now, Mr. Newton. Patience has gone in,
+and I haven't seen Clarissa for ever so long."
+
+Soon after this the guests began to go away. Mr. Truepeny gave Mrs.
+Brownlow's hand the last squeeze, and Mr. Poojean remarked that
+all terrestrial joys must have an end. "Not but that such hours as
+these," said he, "have about them a dash of the celestial which
+almost gives them a claim to eternity." "Horrible fool!" said
+Clarissa to her sister, who was standing close to her.
+
+"Mrs. Brownlow would, perhaps, prefer going to bed," said Ralph.
+Then every one was gone except the Underwoods and Ralph Newton. The
+girls had on their hats and shawls, and all was prepared for their
+departure;--but there was some difficulty about the fly. The Fulham
+fly which had brought them, and which always took them everywhere,
+had hitherto omitted to return for them. It was ordered for half-past
+ten, and now it was eleven. "Are you sure he was told?" said Clary.
+Patience had told him herself,--twice. "Then he must be tipsy again,"
+said Clary. Mrs. Brownlow bade them to sit still and wait; but when
+the fly did not arrive by half-past eleven, it was necessary that
+something should be done. There were omnibuses on the road, but they
+might probably be full. "It is only two miles,--let us walk," said
+Clary; and so it was decided.
+
+Ralph insisted on walking with them till he should meet an omnibus or
+a cab to take him back to London. Patience did her best to save him
+from such labour, protesting that they would want no such escort. But
+he would not be gainsayed, and would go with them at least a part
+of the way. Of course he did not leave them till they had reached
+the gate of Popham Villa. But when they were starting there arose a
+difficulty as to the order in which they would marshal themselves;--a
+difficulty as to which not a word could be spoken, but which was not
+the less a difficulty. Clarissa hung back. Ralph had spoken hardly a
+word to her all the evening. It had better continue so. She was sure
+that he could not care for her. But she thought that she would be
+better contented that he should walk with Patience than with Mary
+Bonner. But Mary took the matter into her own hands, and started off
+boldly with Patience. Patience hardly approved, but there would be
+nothing so bad as seeming to disapprove. Clary's heart was in her
+mouth as she found her arm within his. He had contrived that it
+should be so, and she could not refuse. Her mind was changed again
+now, and once more she wished that she could let him know that the
+crime was forgiven.
+
+"I am so glad to have a word with you at last," he said. "How do you
+get on with the new cousin?"
+
+"Very well;--and how have you got on with her?"
+
+"You must ask her that. She is very beautiful,--what I call
+wonderfully beautiful."
+
+"Indeed she is," said Clary, withdrawing almost altogether the weight
+of her hand from his arm.
+
+"And clever, too,--very clever; but--"
+
+"But what?" asked Clary, and the softest, gentlest half-ounce of
+pressure was restored.
+
+"Well;--nothing. I like her uncommonly;--but is she not
+quite,--quite,--quite--"
+
+"She is quite everything that she ought to be, Ralph."
+
+"I'm sure of that;--an angel, you know, and all the rest of it. But
+angels are cold, you know. I don't know that I ever admired a girl
+so much in my life." The pressure was again lessened,--all but
+annihilated. "But, somehow, I should never dream of falling in love
+with your cousin."
+
+"Perhaps you may do so without dreaming," said Clary, as
+unconsciously she gave back the weight to her hand.
+
+"No;--I know very well the sort of girl that makes me spoony." This
+was not very encouraging to poor Clary, but still she presumed that
+he meant to imply that she herself was a girl of the sort that so
+acted upon him. And the conversation went on in this way throughout
+the walk. There was not much encouragement to her, and certainly she
+did not say a word to him that could make him feel that she wanted
+encouragement. But still he had been with her, and she had been
+happy; and when they parted at the gate, and he again pressed her
+hand, she thought that things had gone well. "He must know that I
+have forgiven him now!" she said to herself.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+MR. NEEFIT IS DISTURBED.
+
+
+On the morning following Mrs. Brownlow's little tea-party Ralph
+Newton was bound by appointment to call upon Sir Thomas. But before
+he started on that duty a certain friend of his called upon him.
+This friend was Mr. Neefit. But before the necessary account of Mr.
+Neefit's mission is given, the reader must be made acquainted with a
+few circumstances as they had occurred at Hendon.
+
+It will be remembered perhaps that on the Sunday evening the two
+rivals left the cottage at the same moment, one taking the road to
+the right, and the other that to the left,--so that bloodshed, for
+that occasion at least, was prevented. "Neefit," said his wife to
+him when they were alone together, "you'll be getting yourself into
+trouble." "You be blowed," said Neefit. He was very angry with his
+wife, and was considering what steps he would take to maintain his
+proper marital and parental authority. He was not going to give way
+to the weaker vessel in a matter of such paramount importance, as to
+be made a fool of in his own family. He was quite sure of this, while
+the strength of the port wine still stood to him; and though he was
+somewhat more troubled in spirit when his wife began to bully him
+on the next morning, he still had valour enough to say that Ontario
+Moggs also might be--blowed.
+
+On the Monday, when he returned home and asked for Polly, he found
+that Polly was out walking. Mrs. Neefit did not at once tell him
+that Moggs was walking with her, but such was the fact. Just at five
+o'clock Moggs had presented himself at the cottage,--knowing very
+well, sly dog that he was, the breeches-maker's hour of return, which
+took place always precisely at four minutes past six,--and boldly
+demanded an interview with Polly. "I should like to hear what she's
+got to say to me," said he, looking boldly, almost savagely, into
+Mrs. Neefit's face. According to that matron's ideas this was the
+proper way in which maidens should be wooed and won; and, though
+Polly had at first declared that she had nothing at all to say to
+Mr. Moggs, she allowed herself at last to be led forth. Till they
+had passed the railway station on the road leading away from
+London, Ontario said not a word of his purpose. Polly, feeling that
+silence was awkward, and finding that she was being hurried along
+at a tremendous pace, spoke of the weather and of the heat, and
+expostulated. "It is hot, very hot," said Ontario, taking off his hat
+and wiping his brow,--"but there are moments in a man's life when he
+can't go slow."
+
+"Then there are moments in his life when he must go on by himself,"
+said Polly. But her pluck was too good for her to desert him at such
+a moment, and, although he hardly moderated his pace till he had
+passed the railway station, she kept by his side. As things had gone
+so far it might be quite as well now that she should hear what he had
+to say. A dim, hazy idea had crossed the mind of Moggs that it would
+be as well that he should get out into the country before he began
+his task, and that the line of the railway which passed beneath the
+road about a quarter of a mile beyond Mr. Neefit's cottage, might be
+considered as the boundary which divided the town from pastoral joys.
+He waited, therefore, till the bridge was behind them, till they
+had passed the station, which was close to the bridge;--and then he
+began. "Polly," said he, "you know what brings me here."
+
+Polly did know very well, but she was not bound to confess such
+knowledge. "You've brought me here, Mr. Moggs, and that's all I
+know," she said.
+
+"Yes;--I've brought you here. Polly, what took place last night made
+me very unhappy,--very unhappy indeed."
+
+"I can't help that, Mr. Moggs."
+
+"Not that I mean to blame you."
+
+"Blame me! I should think not. Blame me, indeed! Why are you to blame
+anybody because father chooses to ask whom he pleases to dinner? A
+pretty thing indeed, if father isn't to have whom he likes in his own
+house."
+
+"Polly, you know what I mean."
+
+"I know you made a great goose of yourself last night, and I didn't
+feel a bit obliged to you."
+
+"No, I didn't. I wasn't a goose at all. I don't say but what I'm as
+big a fool as most men. I don't mean to stick up for myself. I know
+well enough that I am foolish often. But I wasn't foolish last night.
+What was he there for?"
+
+"What business have you to ask, Mr. Moggs?"
+
+"All the business in life. Love;--real love. That's why I have
+business. That young man, who is, I suppose, what you call a swell."
+
+"Don't put words into my mouth, Mr. Moggs. I don't call him anything
+of the kind."
+
+"He's a gentleman."
+
+"Yes;--he is a gentleman,--I suppose."
+
+"And I'm a tradesman,--a bootmaker."
+
+"So is father a tradesman, and if you mean to tell me that I turn
+up my nose at people the same as father is, you may just go back to
+London and think what you like about me. I won't put up with it from
+you or anybody. A tradesman to me is as good as anybody,--if he is as
+good. There."
+
+"Oh, Polly, you do look so beautiful!"
+
+"Bother!"
+
+"When you say that, and speak in that way, I think you as good as you
+are beautiful."
+
+"Remember,--I don't say a word against what you call--gentlemen. I
+take 'em just as they come. Mr. Newton is a very nice young man."
+
+"Are you going to take him, Polly?"
+
+"How can I take him when he has never asked me? You are not my
+father, Mr. Moggs, not yet my uncle. What right have you to question
+me? If I was going to take him, I shouldn't want your leave."
+
+"Polly, you ought to be honest."
+
+"I am honest."
+
+"Will you hear me, Polly?"
+
+"No, I won't."
+
+"You won't! Is that answer to go for always?"
+
+"Yes, it is. You come and tease and say uncivil things, and I don't
+choose to be bullied. What right have you to talk to me about Mr.
+Newton? Did I ever give you any right? Honest indeed! What right have
+you to talk to me about being honest?"
+
+"It's all true, dear."
+
+"Very well, then. Hold your tongue, and don't say such things. Honest
+indeed! If I were to take the young man to-morrow, that would not
+make me dishonest."
+
+"It's all true, dear, and I beg your pardon. If I have offended you,
+I will beg your pardon."
+
+"Never mind about that;--only don't say foolish things."
+
+"Is it foolish, Polly, to say that I love you? And if I love you, can
+I like to see a young fellow like Mr. Newton hanging about after you?
+He doesn't love you. He can't love you,--as I do. Your father brings
+him here because he is a gentleman."
+
+"I don't think anything of his being a gentleman."
+
+"But think of me. Of course I was unhappy, wretched,--miserable. I
+knew why he was there. You can understand, Polly, that when a man
+really loves he must be the miserablest or the happiest of human
+beings."
+
+"I don't understand anything about it."
+
+"I wish you would let me teach you."
+
+"I don't want to learn, and I doubt whether you'd make a good master.
+I really must go back now, Mr. Moggs. I came out because mother said
+I'd better. I don't know that it could do any good if we were to walk
+on to Edgeware." And so saying, Polly turned back.
+
+He walked beside her half the way home in silence, thinking that if
+he could only choose the proper words and the proper tone he might
+yet prevail; but feeling that the proper words and the proper tone
+were altogether out of his reach. On those favourite subjects, the
+ballot, or the power of strikes, he could always find the proper
+words and the proper tone when he rose upon his legs at the Cheshire
+Cheese;--and yet, much as he loved the ballot, he loved Polly Neefit
+infinitely more dearly. When at the Cheshire Cheese he was a man;
+but now, walking with the girl of his heart, he felt himself to be a
+bootmaker, and the smell of the leather depressed him. It was evident
+that she would walk the whole way home in silence, if he would permit
+it. The railway station was already again in sight, when he stopped
+her on the pathway, and made one more attempt. "You believe me, when
+I say that I love you?"
+
+"I don't know, Mr. Moggs."
+
+"Oh, Polly, you don't know!"
+
+"But it doesn't signify,--not the least. I ain't bound to take a man
+because he loves me."
+
+"You won't take Mr. Newton;--will you?"
+
+"I don't know. I won't say anything about it. Mr. Newton is nothing
+to you." Then there was a pause. "If you think, Mr. Moggs, that you
+can recommend yourself to a young woman by such tantrums as there
+were going on last night, you are very much mistaken. That's not the
+way to win me."
+
+"I wish I knew which was the way."
+
+"Mr. Newton never said a word."
+
+"Your father told him to take you out a-walking before my very eyes!
+Was I to bear that? Think of it, Polly. You mayn't care for me, and
+I don't suppose you do; but you may understand what my feelings were.
+What would you have thought of me if I'd stayed there, smoking, and
+borne it quiet,--and you going about with that young man? I'll tell
+you what it is, Polly, I couldn't bear it, and I won't. There;--and
+now you know what I mean." At this point in his speech he took off
+his hat and waved it in the air. "I won't bear it. There are things
+a man can't bear,--can't bear,--can't bear. Oh, Polly! if you could
+only be brought to understand what it is that I feel!"
+
+After all, he didn't do it so very badly. There was just a tear in
+the corner of Polly's eye, though Polly was very careful that he
+shouldn't see it. And Polly did know well enough that he was in
+earnest,--that he was, in fact, true. But then he was gawky and
+ungainly. It was not that he was a shoemaker. Could he have had his
+own wits, and danced like the gasfitter, he might have won her still,
+against Ralph Newton, with all his blood and white hands. But poor
+Ontario was, as regarded externals, so ill a subject for a great
+passion!
+
+"And where have you been, Polly?" said her father, as soon as she
+entered the house.
+
+"I have been walking with Ontario Moggs," said Polly boldly.
+
+"What have you been saying to him? I won't have you walk with Ontario
+Moggs. I and your mother 'll have to fall out if this kind of thing
+goes on."
+
+"Don't be silly, father."
+
+"What do you mean by that, miss?"
+
+"It is silly. Why shouldn't I walk with him? Haven't I known him all
+my life, and walked with him scores of times? Isn't it silly, father?
+Don't I know that if I told you I loved Ontario Moggs, you'd let me
+marry him to-morrow?"
+
+"He'd have to take you in what you stand up in."
+
+"He wouldn't desire anything better. I'll say that for him. He's true
+and honest. I'd love him if I could,--only, somehow I don't."
+
+"You've told him you didn't,--once and for all?"
+
+"I don't know about that, father. He'll come again, you may be
+sure. He's one of that sort that isn't easily said nay to. If you
+mean,--have I said yes?--I haven't. I'll never say yes to any man
+unless I love him. When I do say it I shall mean it,--whether it's
+Onty Moggs or anybody else. I'm not going to be given away, you know,
+like a birthday present, out of a shop. There's nobody can give me
+away, father,--only myself." To all which utterances of a rebellious
+spirit the breeches-maker made no answer. He knew that Polly would,
+at least, be true to him; and, as she was as yet free, the field was
+still open to his candidate. He believed thoroughly that had not his
+wife interfered, and asked the bootmaker to join that unfortunate
+dinner party, his daughter and Ralph Newton would now have been
+engaged together. And probably it might have been so. When first it
+had been whispered to Polly that that handsome and very agreeable
+young gentleman, Mr. Ralph Newton, might become a suitor for her
+hand, she had chucked up her head and declared to her mother that she
+didn't intend to take a husband of her father's choosing; but as she
+came to know Ralph a little, she did find that he was good-looking
+and agreeable,--and her heart did flutter at the idea of becoming
+the wife of a real, undoubted gentleman. She meant to have her grand
+passion, and she must be quite sure that Mr. Newton loved her. But
+she didn't see any reason why Mr. Newton shouldn't love her, and,
+upon the whole, she was inclined to obey her father rather than to
+disobey him. And it might still be that he should win her;--for he
+had done nothing to disgrace himself in her sight. But there did lurk
+within her bosom some dim idea that he should have bestirred himself
+more thoroughly on that Sunday evening, and not have allowed himself
+to be driven out of the field by Ontario Moggs. She wronged him
+there, as indeed he had had no alternative, unless he had followed
+her up to her bedroom.
+
+Mr. Neefit, when he found that no harm had as yet been done, resolved
+that he would return to the charge. It has been before observed that
+he lacked something in delicacy, but what he did so lack he made up
+in persistency. He had been unable to impute any blame to Ralph as to
+that evening. He felt that he rather owed an apology to his favourite
+candidate. He would make the apology, and inform the favourite
+candidate, at the same time, that the course was still open to him.
+With these views he left Conduit Street early on the Wednesday
+morning, and called on Ralph at his rooms. "Mr. Newton," he said,
+hastening at once upon the grand subject, "I hope you didn't think as
+I was to blame in having Moggs at our little dinner on Sunday." Ralph
+declared that he had never thought of imputing blame to any one. "But
+it was,--as awk'ard as awk'ard could be. It was my wife's doing. Of
+course you can see how it all is. That chap has been hankering after
+Polly ever since she was in her teens. But, Lord love you, Captain,
+he ain't a chance with her. He was there again o' Monday, but the
+girl wouldn't have a word to say to him." Ralph sat silent, and very
+grave. He was taken now somewhat by surprise, having felt, up to
+this moment, that he would at least have the advantage of a further
+interview with Sir Thomas, before he need say another word to Mr.
+Neefit. "What I want you to do, Captain, is just to pop it, straight
+off, to my girl. I know she'd take you, because of her way of
+looking. Not, mind, that she ever said so. Oh, no. But the way to
+find out is just to ask the question."
+
+"You see, Mr. Neefit, it wasn't very easy to ask it last Sunday,"
+said Ralph, attempting to laugh.
+
+"Moggs has been at her again," said Neefit. This argument was
+good. Had Ralph been as anxious as Moggs, he would have made his
+opportunity.
+
+"And, to tell you the truth, Mr. Neefit--"
+
+"Well, sir?"
+
+"There is nothing so disagreeable as interfering in families. I
+admire your daughter amazingly."
+
+"She's a trump, Mr. Newton."
+
+"She is indeed;--and I thoroughly appreciate the great generosity of
+your offer."
+
+"I'll be as good as my word, Mr. Newton. The money shall be all
+there,--down on the nail."
+
+"But, you see, your wife is against me."
+
+"Blow my wife. You don't think Polly 'd do what her mother tells her?
+Who's got the money-bag? That's the question. You go down and pop it
+straight. You ain't afraid of an old woman, I suppose;--nor yet of a
+young un. Don't mind waiting for more dinners, or anything of that
+kind. They likes a man to be hot about it;--that's what they likes.
+You're sure to find her any time before dinner;--that's at one, you
+know. May be she mayn't be figged out fine, but you won't mind that.
+I'll go bail you'll find the flesh and blood all right. Just you make
+your way in, and say what you've got to say. I'll make it straight
+with the old woman afterwards."
+
+Ralph Newton had hitherto rather prided himself on his happy
+management of young ladies. He was not ordinarily much afflicted by
+shyness, and conceived himself able to declare a passion, perhaps
+whether felt or feigned, as well as another. And now he was being
+taught how to go a-wooing by his breeches-maker! He did not
+altogether like it, and, as at this moment his mind was rather set
+against the Hendon matrimonial speculation, he was disposed to resent
+it. "I think you're making a little mistake, Mr. Neefit," he said.
+
+"What mistake? I don't know as I'm making any mistake. You'll be
+making a mistake, and so you'll find when the plum's gone."
+
+"It's just this, you know. When you suggested this thing to me--"
+
+"Well;--yes; I did suggest it, and I ain't ashamed of it."
+
+"I was awfully grateful. I had met your daughter once or twice, and I
+told you I admired her ever so much."
+
+"That's true;--but you didn't admire her a bit more than what she's
+entitled to."
+
+"I'm sure of that. But then I thought I ought,--just to,--know her a
+little better, you see. And then how could I presume to think she'd
+take me till she knew me a little better?"
+
+"Presume to think! Is that all you know about young women? Pop the
+question right out, and give her a buss. That's the way."
+
+Newton paused a moment before he spoke, and looked very grave. "I
+think you're driving me a little too fast, Mr. Neefit," he said at
+last.
+
+"The deuce I am! Driving you too fast. What does that mean?"
+
+"There must be a little management and deliberation in these things.
+If I were to do as you propose, I should not recommend myself to your
+daughter; and I should myself feel that, at the most important crisis
+of my life, I was allowing myself to be hurried beyond my judgment."
+These words were spoken with a slow solemnity of demeanour, and a
+tone of voice so serious that for a moment they perfectly awed the
+breeches-maker. Ralph was almost successful in reducing his proposed
+father-in-law to a state of absolute subjection. Mr. Neefit was all
+but induced to forget that he stood there with twenty thousand pounds
+in his pocket. There came a drop or two of perspiration on his brow,
+and his large saucer eyes almost quailed before those of his debtor.
+But at last he rallied himself,--though not entirely. He could not
+quite assume that self-assertion which he knew that his position
+would have warranted; but he did keep his flag up after a fashion.
+"I dare say you know your own business best, Mr. Newton;--only them's
+not my ideas; that's all. I come to you fair and honest, and I
+repeats the same. Good morning, Mr. Newton." So he went, and nothing
+had been settled.
+
+To say that Ralph had even yet made up his mind would be to give him
+praise which was not his due. He was still doubting, though in his
+doubts the idea of marrying Polly Neefit became more indistinct, and
+less alluring than ever. By this time he almost hated Mr. Neefit,
+and most unjustly regarded that man as a persecutor, who was taking
+advantage of his pecuniary ascendancy to trample on him. "He
+thinks I must take his daughter because I owe him two or three
+hundred pounds." Such were Ralph Newton's thoughts about the
+breeches-maker,--which thoughts were very unjust. Neefit was
+certainly vulgar, illiterate, and indelicate; but he was a man who
+could do a generous action, and having offered his daughter to this
+young aristocrat would have scorned to trouble him afterwards about
+his "little bill." Ralph sat trying to think for about an hour, and
+then walked to Southampton Buildings. He had not much hope as he
+went. Indeed hope hardly entered into his feelings. Sir Thomas
+would of course say unpleasant words to him, and of course he
+would be unable to answer them. There was no ground for hoping
+anything,--unless indeed he could make himself happy in a snug little
+box in a hunting country, with Polly Neefit for his wife, living on
+the interest of the breeches-maker's money. He was quite alive to the
+fact that in this position he would in truth be the most miserable
+dog in existence,--that it would be infinitely better for him to turn
+his prospects into cash, and buy sheep in Australia, or cattle in
+South America, or to grow corn in Canada. Any life would be better
+than one supported in comfortable idleness on Mr. Neefit's savings.
+Nevertheless he felt that that would most probably be his doom. The
+sheep or the cattle or the corn required an amount of energy which he
+no longer possessed. There were the four horses at the Moonbeam;--and
+he could ride them to hounds as well as any man. So much he could do,
+and would seem in doing it to be full of life. But as for selling
+the four horses, and changing altogether the mode of his life,--that
+was more than he had vitality left to perform. Such was the measure
+which he took of himself, and in taking it he despised himself
+thoroughly,--knowing well how poor a creature he was.
+
+Sir Thomas told him readily what he had done, giving him to read a
+copy of his letter to Mr. Newton and Mr. Newton's reply. "I can do
+nothing more," said Sir Thomas. "I hope you have given up the sad
+notion of marrying that young woman." Ralph sat still and listened.
+"No good, I think, can come of that," continued Sir Thomas. "If you
+are in truth compelled to part with your reversion to the Newton
+estate,--which is in itself a property of great value,--I do not
+doubt but your uncle will purchase it at its worth. It is a thousand
+pities that prospects so noble should have been dissipated by early
+imprudence."
+
+"That's quite true, Sir Thomas," said Ralph, in a loud ringing tone,
+which seemed to imply that let things be as bad as they might he
+did not mean to make a poor mouth of them. It was his mask for the
+occasion, and it sufficed to hide his misery from Sir Thomas.
+
+"If you think of selling what you have to sell," continued Sir
+Thomas, "you had better take Mr. Newton's letter and put it into the
+hands of your own attorney. It will be ten times better than going
+to the money-lending companies for advances. If I had the means of
+helping you myself, I would do it."
+
+"Oh, Sir Thomas!"
+
+"But I have not. I should be robbing my own girls, which I am sure
+you would not wish."
+
+"That is quite out of the question, Sir Thomas."
+
+"If you do resolve on selling the estate, you had better come to me
+as the thing goes on. I can't do much, but I may perhaps be able to
+see that nothing improper is proposed for you to do. Goodbye, Ralph.
+Anything will be better than marrying that what-d'ye-callem's
+daughter."
+
+Ralph, as he walked westwards towards the club, was by no means sure
+that Sir Thomas had been right in this. By marrying Polly he would,
+after all, keep the property.
+
+Just by the lions in Trafalgar Square he met Ontario Moggs. Ontario
+Moggs scowled at him, and cut him dead.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+THE REV. GREGORY NEWTON.
+
+
+It was quite at the end of July, in the very hottest days of a very
+hot summer, that Squire Newton left Newton Priory for London, intent
+upon law business, and filled with ambition to purchase the right
+of leaving his own estate to any heir whom he might himself select.
+He left his son alone at the Priory; but his son and the parson
+were sure to be together on such an occasion. Ralph,--the country
+Ralph,--dined at the Rectory on the day that his father started; and
+on every succeeding day, Gregory, the parson, dined up at the large
+house. It was a thing altogether understood at the Priory that the
+present parson Gregory was altogether exempted from the anathema
+which had been pronounced against the heir and against the memory
+of the heir's father. Gregory simply filled the place which might
+have been his had there been no crushing entail, and was, moreover,
+so sweet and gentle-hearted a fellow that it was impossible not
+to love him. He was a tall, slender man, somewhat narrow-chested,
+bright-eyed, with a kind-looking sweet mouth, a small well-cut nose,
+dark but not black hair, and a dimple on his chin. He always went
+with his hands in his pockets, walking quick, but shuffling sometimes
+in step as though with hesitation, stooping somewhat, absent
+occasionally, going about with his chin stuck out before him, as
+though he were seeking something,--he knew not what. A more generous
+fellow, who delighted more in giving, hesitated more in asking, more
+averse to begging though a friend of beggars, less self-arrogant, or
+self-seeking, or more devoted to his profession, never lived. He was
+a man with prejudices,--kindly, gentlemanlike, amiable prejudices. He
+thought that a clergyman should be a graduate from one of the three
+universities,--including Trinity, Dublin; and he thought, also,
+that a clergyman should be a gentleman. He thought that Dissenters
+were,--a great mistake. He thought that Convocation should be
+potential. He thought that the Church had certain powers and
+privileges which Parliament could not take away except by spoliation.
+He thought that a parson should always be well-dressed,--according to
+his order. He thought that the bishop of his diocese was the purest,
+best, and noblest peer in England. He thought that Newton Churchyard
+was, of all spots on earth, the most lovely. He thought very little
+of himself. And he thought that of all the delights given by God for
+the delectation of his creatures, the love of Clarissa Underwood
+would be the most delightful. In all these thinkings he was astray,
+carried away by prejudices which he was not strong enough to
+withstand. But the joint effect of so many faults in judgment was not
+disagreeable; and, as one result of that effect, Gregory Newton was
+loved and respected and believed in by all men and women, poor and
+rich, who lived within knowledge of his name. His uncle Gregory, who
+was wont to be severe in his judgment on men, would declare that the
+Rev. Gregory,--as he was called,--was perfect. But then the Squire
+was a man who was himself very much subject to prejudices.
+
+There was now, and ever had been, great freedom of discussion between
+Ralph Newton of the Priory and his cousin Gregory,--if under the
+circumstances the two young men may be called cousins,--respecting
+the affairs of the property. There was naturally much to check or to
+prevent such freedom. Their own interests in regard to the property
+were, as far as they went, adverse. The young parson might possibly
+inherit the whole of the estate, whereas he was aware that the
+present Squire would move heaven and earth to leave it, or a portion
+of it, to his own son. Gregory had always taken his brother's part
+before the Squire; and the Squire, much as he liked the parson, was
+never slow in abusing the parson's brother. It would have been no
+more than natural had the question of the property been, by tacit
+agreement, always kept out of sight between the two young men. But
+they had grown up from boyhood together as firm friends, and there
+was no reticence between them on this all-important subject. The
+Squire's son had never known his mother; and could therefore speak
+of his own position as would hardly have been possible to him had
+any memory of her form or person remained with him. And then, though
+their interests were opposite, nothing that either could say would
+much affect those interests.
+
+The two men were sitting on the lawn at the Priory after dinner,
+smoking cigars, and Ralph,--this other Ralph,--had just told the
+parson of his intention of joining his father in London. "I don't see
+that I can do any good," said Ralph, "but he wishes it, and of course
+I shall go."
+
+"You won't see my brother, I suppose?"
+
+"I should think not. You know what my father's feelings are, and
+I certainly shall not go out of my way to offend them. I have no
+animosity against Ralph; but I could do no good by opposing my
+father."
+
+"No," said the parson, "not but what I wish it were otherwise. It is
+a trouble to me that I cannot have Ralph here;--though perhaps he
+would not care to come."
+
+"I feel it hard too, that he should not be allowed to see a place
+which, in a measure, belongs to him. I wish with all my heart that
+my father did not think so much about the estate. Much as I love the
+old place, I can hardly think about it without bitterness. Had my
+father and your brother been on good terms together, there would
+have been none of that. Nothing that he could do,--no success in his
+efforts,--can make me be as I should have been had I been born his
+heir. It is a misfortune, and of course one feels it; but I think I
+should feel it less were he not so fixed in his purpose to undo what
+can never be undone."
+
+"He will never succeed," said Gregory.
+
+"Probably not;--though, for that matter, I suppose Ralph will be
+driven to raise money on his inheritance."
+
+"He will never sell the property."
+
+"It seems that he does spend money faster than he can get it."
+
+"He may have done so."
+
+"Is he not always in debt to you yourself? Is he not now thinking
+of marrying some tradesman's daughter to relieve him of his
+embarrassments? We have to own, I suppose, that Master Ralph has made
+a mess of his money matters?" The parson, who couldn't deny the fact,
+hardly knew what to say on his brother's behalf. "I protest to you,
+Greg, that if my father were to tell me that he had changed his mind,
+and paid your brother's debts out of sheer kindness and uncleship,
+and the rest of it, I should be well pleased. But he won't do that,
+and it does seem to me probable that the estate will get into the
+hands of Jews, financiers, and professional money-dealers, unless my
+father can save it. You wouldn't be glad to see some shopkeeper's
+daughter calling herself Mrs. Newton of Newton."
+
+"A shopkeeper's daughter need not necessarily be a--a--a bad sort of
+woman," said Gregory.
+
+"The chances are that a shopkeeper's daughter will not be an educated
+lady. Come, Greg;--you cannot say that it is the kind of way out of
+the mess you would approve."
+
+"I am so sorry that there should be any mess at all!"
+
+"Just so. It is a pity that there should be any mess;--is not it?
+Come, old fellow, drink your coffee, and let us take a turn across
+the park. I want to see what Larkin is doing about those sheep. I
+often feel that my coming into the world was a mess altogether;
+though, now that I am here, I must make the best of it. If I hadn't
+come, my father would have married, and had a score of children, and
+Master Ralph would have been none the better for it."
+
+"You'll go and see the Underwoods," said the parson, as they were
+walking across the park.
+
+
+[Illustration: "You'll go and see the Underwoods," said the parson,
+as they were walking across the park.]
+
+
+"If you wish it, I will."
+
+"I do wish it. They know all the history as a matter of course. It
+cannot be otherwise. And they have so often heard me talk of you. The
+girls are simply perfect. I shall write to Miss Underwood, and tell
+her that you will call. I hope, too, that you will see Sir Thomas. It
+would be so much better that he should know you."
+
+That same night Gregory Newton wrote the two following letters before
+he went to bed;--the first written was to Miss Underwood, and the
+second to his brother; but we will place the latter first;--
+
+
+   Newton, 4th August, 186--.
+
+   MY DEAR RALPH,--
+
+   No doubt you know by this time that my uncle, Gregory, is
+   in London, though you will probably not have seen him. I
+   understand that he has come up with the express purpose
+   of making some settlement in regard to the property, on
+   account of your embarrassments. I need not tell you how
+   sorry I am that the state of your affairs should make this
+   necessary. Ralph goes up also to-morrow;--and though he
+   does not purpose to hunt you up, I hope that you may meet.
+   You know what I think of him, and how much I wish that you
+   two could be friends. He is as generous as the sun, and
+   as just as he is generous. Every Newton ought to make him
+   welcome as one of the family.
+
+   As to money, I do not know what may be the state of
+   your affairs. I only hear from him what he hears from
+   his father. Sooner than that you should endanger your
+   inheritance here I will make any sacrifice,--if there be
+   anything that I can do. You are welcome to sell my share
+   of the Holborn property, and you can pay me after my
+   uncle's death. I can get on very well with my living,
+   as it is not probable that I shall marry. At any rate,
+   understand that I should infinitely prefer to lose every
+   shilling of the London property to hearing that you had
+   imperilled your position here at Newton. I do not suppose
+   that what I have can go far;--but as far as it will go it
+   is at your service. You can show this letter to Sir Thomas
+   if you think fit.
+
+   I could say ever so much more, only that you will know
+   it all without my saying it. And I cannot bear that you
+   should think that I would preach sermons to you. Never
+   mind what I said before about the money that I wanted
+   then. I can do without it now. My uncle will pay for the
+   entire repair of the chancel out of his own pocket. Ever
+   so much must be left undone till more money comes in.
+   Money does come in from this quarter or from that, by
+   God's help. As for the church rates, of course I regret
+   them. But we have to take things in a lump, and it is
+   certainly the fact that we spend ten times as much on the
+   churches as was spent fifty years ago.
+
+   Your most affectionate brother,
+
+   GREGORY NEWTON.
+
+
+The other letter was much shorter, and was addressed to Patience
+Underwood;--
+
+
+   Newton Peele Parsonage, 4th August, 186--.
+
+   MY DEAR MISS UNDERWOOD,--
+
+   My cousin, Mr. Ralph Newton, of whom you have heard me
+   speak so often, is going up to London, and I have asked
+   him to call at Popham Villa, because I am desirous that so
+   very dear a friend of mine should know other friends whom
+   I love so dearly. I am sure you will receive him kindly
+   for my sake, and that you will like him for his own. There
+   are reasons why I wish that your father should know him.
+
+   Give my most affectionate love to your sister. I can send
+   her no other message, and I do not think she will be angry
+   with me for sending that. It cannot hurt her; and she and
+   you at least know how honest and how true it is. Distance
+   and time make no difference. It is as though I were on the
+   lawn with her now.
+
+   Most sincerely yours,
+
+   GREGORY NEWTON.
+
+
+When he had written this in the little book-room of his parsonage he
+opened the window, and, crossing the garden, seated himself on a low
+brick wall, which divided his small domain from the churchyard. The
+night was bright with stars, but there was no moon in the heavens,
+and the gloom of the old ivy-coloured church tower was complete. But
+all the outlines of the place were so well known to him that he could
+trace them all in the dim light. After a while he got down among the
+graves, and with slow steps walked round and round the precincts of
+his church. Here, at least, in this spot, close to the house of God
+which was his own church, within this hallowed enclosure, which was
+his own freehold in a peculiar manner, he could, after a fashion, be
+happy, in spite of the misfortunes of himself and his family. His
+lines had been laid for him in very pleasant places. According to his
+ideas there was no position among the children of men more blessed,
+more diversified, more useful, more noble, than that which had been
+awarded to him,--if only, by God's help, he could perform with
+adequate zeal and ability the high duties which had been entrusted
+to him. Things outside were dark,--at least, so said the squires and
+parsons around him, with whom he was wont to associate. His uncle,
+Gregory, was sure that all things were going to the dogs, since a
+so-called Tory leader had become an advocate for household suffrage,
+and real Tory gentlemen had condescended to follow him. But to our
+parson it had always seemed that there was still a fresh running
+stream of water for him who would care to drink from a fresh stream.
+He heard much of unbelief, and of the professors of unbelief, both
+within and without the great Church;--but in that little church with
+which he was personally concerned there were more worshippers now
+than there had ever been before. And he heard, too, how certain
+well-esteemed preachers and prophets of the day talked loudly of
+the sins of the people, and foretold destruction such as was the
+destruction of Gomorrah;--but to him it seemed that the people of his
+village were more honest, less given to drink, and certainly better
+educated than their fathers. In all which thoughts he found matter
+for hope and encouragement in his daily life. And he set himself to
+work diligently, placing all this as a balance against his private
+sorrows, so that he might teach himself to take that world, of
+which he himself was the centre, as one whole,--and so to walk on
+rejoicing.
+
+The one great sorrow of his life, the thorn in the flesh which was
+always festering, the wound which would not be cured, the grief for
+which there was no remedy, was his love for Clarissa Underwood. He
+had asked her thrice to be his wife,--with very little interval,
+indeed, between the separate prayers,--and had been so answered that
+he entertained no hope. Had there been any faintest expectation in
+his mind that Clarissa would at last become his wife he would have
+been deterred by a sense of duty from making to his brother that
+generous offer of all the property he owned. But he had no such hope.
+Clarissa had given thrice that answer, which of all answers is the
+most grievous to the true-hearted lover. "She felt for him unbounded
+esteem, and would always regard him as a friend." A short decided
+negative, or a doubtful no, or even an indignant repulse, may
+be changed,--may give way to second convictions, or to better
+acquaintance, or to altered circumstances, or even simply to
+perseverance. But an assurance of esteem and friendship means, and
+only can mean, that the lady regards her lover as she might do some
+old uncle or patriarchal family connection, whom, after a fashion,
+she loves, but who can never be to her the one creature to be
+worshipped above all others.
+
+Such were Gregory Newton's ideas as to his own chance of success,
+and, so believing, he had resolved that he would never press his
+suit again. He endeavoured to conquer his love;--but that he found
+to be impossible. He thought that it was so impossible that he had
+determined to give up the endeavour. Though he would have advised
+others that by God's mercy all sorrows in this world could be cured,
+he told himself,--without arraigning God's mercy,--that for him this
+sorrow could not be cured. He did not scruple, therefore, to assure
+his brother that he would not marry,--nor did he hesitate, in writing
+to Patience Underwood, to assure her that his love for her sister was
+unchangeable. In saying so he urged no suit;--but it was impossible
+that he should write to the house without some message, and none
+other from him to her could be a true message. It could not hurt
+her. It would not even give her the trouble to think whether she
+had decided well. He quite understood the nature of the love he
+wanted,--a love that would have felt it to be all happiness to lean
+upon his bosom. Without this love he would not have wished to take
+her;--and with such love as that he knew he could not fill her heart.
+Therefore it was that he would satisfy himself with walking round the
+churchyard of Newton Peele, and telling himself that the pleasure of
+this world was best to be found in the pursuit of the joys of the
+next.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+CLARISSA WAITS.
+
+
+When Patience and Clarissa had got to their own room on the night
+on which they had walked back from Mrs. Brownlow's house to Popham
+Villa,--during all which long walk Clarissa's hand had lain gently
+upon Ralph Newton's arm,--the elder sister looked painfully and
+anxiously into the younger's face, in order that, if it were
+possible, she might learn without direct enquiry what had been said
+during that hour of close communion. Had Ralph meant to speak there
+could have been no time more appropriate. And Patience hardly knew
+what she herself wished,--except that she wished that her sister
+might have everything that was good and joyous and prosperous. There
+was never a look of pain came across Clary's face, but Patience
+suffered some touch of inner agony. This feeling was so strong that
+she sympathised even with Clary's follies, and with Clary's faults.
+She almost knew that it would not be well that Ralph Newton should be
+encouraged as a lover,--brilliant as were his future prospects, and
+dear, as he was personally to them all. He was a spendthrift, and
+it might be that his fine prospects would all be wasted before they
+were matured. And then their father would so probably disapprove!
+And then, again, it was so wrong that Clary's peace should have been
+disturbed and yet no word said to their father. There was much that
+was wrong;--but still so absolute was her clinging love for Clary
+that she longed above all things that Clary should be made happy.
+When Ralph's brother had declared himself as a suitor,--which he
+had done boldly to Sir Thomas, after but a short intimacy with the
+family,--Patience had given him all her sympathy. Sir Thomas, having
+looked at his circumstances, had made him welcome to the house, and
+to his daughter's hand,--if he could win her heart. The stage had
+been open to him, and Patience had been his most eager friend. But
+all that had passed away,--and Clary had been obstinate. "Patty,"
+she had said, with some little arrogance, "he has made a mistake.
+He should have fallen in love with you." "Clergymen are as fond of
+pretty girls as other men," Patty had said, with a smile. "And isn't
+my Patty as pretty and as delicate as a primrose?" Clary had said,
+embracing her sister. Pretty Patience Underwood was not;--but for
+delicacy,--that with which Patience Underwood was gifted transcended
+poor Clarissa's powers of comparison. So it was between them, and now
+there was this acknowledged passion for the spendthrift!
+
+Patience could see that her sister was not unhappy when she came in
+from her walk,--was not moody,--was not heart-broken. And yet it had
+seemed to her, before the walk began, while they were sauntering
+about Mrs. Brownlow's garden, that Ralph had devoted himself entirely
+to the new cousin, and that Clarissa had been miserable. Surely if he
+had spoken during the walk,--if he had renewed his protestations of
+love, if he were now regarded by Clary as her accepted lover, Clary
+would not keep all this as a secret! It could not be that Clary
+should have surrendered herself to a lover, and that their father
+was to be allowed to remain in ignorance that it was so! And yet
+how could it be otherwise if Clary was happy now,--Clary who had
+acknowledged that she loved this man, and had now been leaning on
+his arm for an hour beneath the moonlight? But Patience said not a
+word. She could not bring herself to speak when speech might pain her
+sister.
+
+When they had been some half hour in bed, there stole a whisper
+across the darkness of the chamber from one couch to the other;
+"Patty, are you asleep?" Patience declared that she was wide awake.
+"Then I'll come to you,"--and Clary's naked feet pattered across
+the room. "I've just something to say, and I'll say it better here."
+Patience made glad way for the intruder, and knew that now she would
+hear it all. "Patty, it is better to wait."
+
+"What do you mean, dear?"
+
+"I mean this. I think he does like me; I'm almost sure he does."
+
+"He said nothing to-night?"
+
+"He said a great deal,--of course; but nothing about that;--nothing
+about that exactly."
+
+"Oh, Clary, I'm afraid of him."
+
+"What is the good of fear? The evil is, dear, I think he likes me,
+but it may so well be that he cannot speak out. He is in debt, and
+all that;--and he must wait."
+
+"But that is so terrible. What will you do?"
+
+"I will wait too. I have thought about it, and have determined.
+What's the good of loving a man if one won't go through something for
+him? I do love him,--with all my heart. I pray God I may never have a
+husband, if I cannot be his wife." Patience shuddered in her sister's
+embrace, as these bold words were spoken with energy. "I tell you,
+Patty, just as I tell myself, because you love me so dearly."
+
+"I do love you;--oh, I do love you."
+
+"I do not think it can be unmaidenly to tell the truth to you and
+to myself. How can I help telling it to myself? There it is. I feel
+that I could kiss the very ground on which he stands. He is my
+hero, my Paladin, my heart, my soul. I have given myself to him for
+everything. How can I help myself?"
+
+"But, Clary,--you should repress this, not encourage it."
+
+"It won't be repressed,--not in my own heart. But I will never,
+never, never let him know that it has been so,--till he is all my
+own. There may be a day when,--oh,--I shall tell him everything;
+how wretched I was when he did not speak to me;--how broken-hearted
+when I heard his voice with Mary; how fluttered, and half-happy,
+and half-wretched when I found that I was to have that long walk
+with him;--and then how I determined to wait. I will tell him
+all,--perhaps,--some day. Good-night, dear, dear Patty. I could not
+sleep without letting you know everything." Then she sprang out from
+her sister's arms, and pattered back across the room to her own bed.
+In two minutes Clarissa was asleep, but Patience lay long awake, and
+before she slept her pillow was damp with her tears.
+
+In the course of the following week Ralph was again at the villa. Sir
+Thomas, as a matter of course, was away, but the three girls were at
+home; and, as it happened, Miss Spooner had also come over to take
+her tea with her friends. The hour that he spent there was passed
+half indoors and half out, and certainly Ralph's attentions were
+chiefly paid to Miss Bonner. Miss Bonner herself, however, was so
+discreet in her demeanour, that no one could have suggested that any
+approach had been made to flirtation. To tell the truth, Mary, who
+had received no confidence from her cousin,--and who was a girl slow
+to excite or give a confidence,--had seen some sign, or heard some
+word which had created on her mind a suspicion of the truth. It was
+not that she thought that Clary's heart was irrecoverably given to
+the young man, but that there seemed to be just something with which
+it might be as well that she herself should not interfere. She was
+there on sufferance,--dependent on her uncle's charity for her daily
+bread, let her uncle say what he might to the contrary. As yet she
+hardly knew her cousins, and was quite sure that she was not known by
+them. She heard that Ralph Newton was a man of fashion, and the heir
+to a large fortune. She knew herself to be utterly destitute,--but
+she knew herself to be possessed of great beauty. In her bosom,
+doubtless, there was an ambition to win by her beauty, from some man
+whom she could love, those good things of which she was so destitute.
+She did not lack ambition, and had her high hopes, grounded on the
+knowledge of her own charms. Her beauty, and a certain sufficiency
+of intellect,--of the extent of which she was in a remarkable degree
+herself aware,--were the gifts with which she had been endowed. But
+she knew when she might use them honestly and when she ought to
+refrain from using them. Ralph had looked at her as men do look who
+wish to be allowed to love. All this to her was much more clearly
+intelligible than to Clarissa, who was two years her senior. Though
+she had seen Ralph but thrice, she already felt that she might have
+him on his knees before her, if she cared so to place him. But there
+was that suspicion of something which had gone before, and a feeling
+that honour and gratitude,--perhaps, also, self-interest,--called
+upon her to be cold in her manner to Ralph Newton. She had purposely
+avoided his companionship in their walk home from Mrs. Brownlow's
+house; and now, as they wandered about the lawn and shrubberies of
+Popham Villa, she took care not to be with him out of earshot of
+the others. In all of which there was ten times more of womanly
+cleverness,--or cunning, shall we say,--than had yet come to the
+possession of Clarissa Underwood.
+
+Cunning she was;--but she did not deserve that the objectionable
+epithet should be applied to her. The circumstances of her life had
+made her cunning. She had been the mistress of her father's house
+since her fifteenth year, and for two years of her life had had a
+succession of admirers at her feet. Her father had eaten and drunk
+and laughed, and had joked with his child's lovers about his child.
+It had been through no merit of his that she had held her own among
+them all without soiling either her name or her inner self. Captains
+in West Indian regiments, and lieutenants from Queen's ships lying at
+Spanish Point, had been her admirers. Proposals to marry are as ready
+on the tongues of such men, out in the tropics, as offers to hand
+a shawl or carry a parasol. They are soft-hearted, bold to face
+the world, and very confident in circumstances. Then, too, they
+are ignorant of any other way to progress with a flirtation which
+is all-engrossing. In warm latitudes it is so natural to make an
+offer after the fifth dance. It is the way of the people in those
+latitudes, and seems to lead to no harm. Men and women do marry on
+small incomes; but they do not starve, and the world goes on wagging.
+Mary Bonner, however, whose father's rank had, at least, been higher
+than that of her adorers, and who knew that great gifts had been
+given to her, had held herself aloof from all this, and had early
+resolved to bide her time. She was still biding her time,--with
+patience sufficient to enable her to resist the glances of Ralph
+Newton.
+
+Clarissa Underwood behaved very well on this evening. She gave a
+merry glance at her sister, and devoted herself to Miss Spooner. Mary
+was so wise and so prudent that there was no cause for any great
+agony. As far as Clary could see, Ralph had quite as much to say to
+Patience as to Mary. For herself she had resolved that she would
+wait. Her manner to him was very pretty,--almost the manner of
+a sister to a brother. And then she stayed resolutely with Miss
+Spooner, while Ralph was certainly tempting Mary down by the
+river-side. It did not last long. He was soon gone, and Miss Spooner
+had soon followed him.
+
+"He is very amusing," Mary said, as soon as they were alone.
+
+"Very amusing," said Patience.
+
+"And uncommonly good-looking. Isn't he considered a very handsome man
+here?"
+
+"Yes;--I suppose he is," said Patience. "I don't know that I ever
+thought much about that."
+
+"Of course he is," said Clarissa. "Nobody can doubt about it. There
+are some people as to whom it is as absurd not to admit that they are
+handsome as it would be to say that a fine picture is not beautiful.
+Ralph is one such person,--and of course I know another."
+
+Mary would not seem to take the allusion, even by a smile. "I always
+thought Gregory much nicer looking," said Patience.
+
+"That must be because you are in love with him," said Clarissa.
+
+"There is a speaking brightness, an eloquence, in his eyes; and a
+softness of feeling in the expression of his face, which is above all
+beauty," continued Patience, with energy.
+
+"Here's poetry," said Clarissa. "Eloquence, and softness, and eyes,
+and feeling, and expressive and speaking brightness! You'd better say
+at once that he's a god."
+
+"I wish I knew him," said Mary Bonner.
+
+"You'll know him before long, I don't doubt. And when you do, you'll
+know one of the best fellows in the world. I'll admit as much as
+that; but I will not admit that he can be compared to his brother in
+regard to good looks." In all which poor Clarissa, who had nothing to
+console her but her resolve to wait with courage, bore herself well
+and gallantly.
+
+Soon after this there arrived at Popham Villa the note from Gregory
+Newton. As it happened, Sir Thomas was at home on that morning, and
+heard the tidings. "If young Mr. Newton does come, get him to dine,
+and I will take care to be at home," said Sir Thomas. Patience
+suggested that Ralph,--their own Ralph,--should be asked to meet him;
+but to this Sir Thomas would not accede. "It is not our business to
+make up a family quarrel," he said. "I have had old Mr. Newton with
+me once or twice lately, and I find that the quarrel still exists as
+strong as ever. I asked him to dine here, but he refused. His son
+chooses to come. I shall be glad to see him."
+
+Gregory's letter had not been shown to Sir Thomas, but it was, of
+course, shown to Clarissa. "How could I help it?" said she. From
+which it may be presumed that Patience had looked as though Gregory
+had been hardly treated. "One doesn't know how it is, or why it
+comes, or what it is;--or why it doesn't come. I couldn't have taken
+Gregory Newton for my husband."
+
+"And yet he had all things to recommend him."
+
+"I wish he had asked you, Patty!"
+
+"Don't say that, dear, because there is in it something that annoys
+me. I don't think of myself in such matters, but I do hope to see you
+the happy wife of some happy man."
+
+"I hope you will, with all my heart," said Clary, standing up,--"of
+one man, of one special, dearest, best, and brightest of all men. Oh
+dear! And yet I know it will never be, and I wonder at myself that I
+have been bold enough to tell you." And Patience, also, wondered at
+her sister's boldness.
+
+Ralph Newton,--Ralph from the Priory,--did come down to the villa,
+and did accept the invitation to dinner which was given to him. The
+event was so important that Patience found it necessary to go up
+to London to tell her father. Mary went with her, desirous to see
+something of the mysteries of Southampton Buildings, while Clarissa
+remained at home,--waiting. After the usual skirmishes with Stemm,
+who began by swearing that his master was not at home, they made
+their way into Sir Thomas's library. "Dear, dear, dear; this is
+a very awkward place to bring your cousin to," he said, frowning.
+Mary would have retreated at once had it not been that Patience held
+her ground so boldly. "Why shouldn't she come, papa? And I had to
+see you. Mr. Newton is to dine with us to-morrow." To-morrow was
+a Saturday, and Sir Thomas became seriously displeased. Why had a
+Saturday been chosen? Saturday was the most awkward day in the world
+for the giving and receiving of dinners. It was in vain that Patience
+explained to him that Saturday was the only day on which Mr. Newton
+could come, that Sir Thomas had given his express authority for the
+dinner, and that no bar had been raised against Saturday. "You ought
+to have known," said Sir Thomas. Nevertheless, he allowed them to
+leave the chamber with the understanding that he would preside at
+his own table on the following day. "Why is it that Saturday is so
+distasteful to him?" Mary asked as they walked across Lincoln's Inn
+Fields together.
+
+Patience was silent for awhile, not knowing how to answer the
+question, or how to leave it unanswered. But at last she preferred to
+make some reply. "He does not like going to our church, I think."
+
+"But you like it."
+
+"Yes;--and I wish papa did. But he doesn't." Then there was a pause.
+"Of course it must strike you as very odd, the way in which we live."
+
+"I hope it is not I who drive my uncle away."
+
+"Not in the least, Mary. Since mamma's death he has fallen into this
+habit, and he has got so to love solitude, that he is never happy but
+when alone. We ought to be grateful to him because it shows that he
+trusts us;--but it would be much nicer if he would come home."
+
+"He is so different from my father."
+
+"He was always with you."
+
+"Well;--yes; that is, I could be always with him,--almost always.
+He was so fond of society that he would never be alone. We had a
+great rambling house, always full of people. If he could see people
+pleasant and laughing, that was all that he wanted. It is hard to say
+what is best."
+
+"Papa is as good to us as ever he can be."
+
+"So was my papa good to me,--in his way; but, oh dear, the people
+that used to come there! Poor papa! He used to say that hospitality
+was his chief duty. I sometimes used to think that the world
+would be much pleasanter and better if there was no such thing as
+hospitality;--if people always eat and drank alone, and lived as
+uncle does, in his chambers. There would not be so much money wasted,
+at any rate."
+
+"Papa never wastes any money," said Patience,--"though there never
+was a more generous man."
+
+Ralph Newton,--Ralph of the Priory,--came to dinner, and Miss Spooner
+was asked to meet him. It might have been supposed that a party
+so composed would not have been very bright, but the party at the
+villa went off very satisfactorily. Ralph made himself popular with
+everybody. He became very popular with Sir Thomas by the frank and
+easy way in which he spoke of the family difficulties at Newton. "I
+wish my namesake knew my father," he said, when he was alone with the
+lawyer after dinner. He never spoke of either of these Newtons as his
+cousins, though to Gregory, whom he knew well and loved dearly, he
+would declare that from him he felt entitled to exact all the dues of
+cousinship.
+
+"It would be desirable," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I never give it up. You know my father, I dare say. He thought
+his brother interfered with him, and I suppose he did. But a more
+affectionate or generous man never lived. He is quite as fond of
+Gregory as he is of me, and would do anything on earth that Gregory
+told him. He is rebuilding the chancel of the church just because
+Gregory wishes it. Some day I hope they may be reconciled."
+
+"It is hard to get over money difficulties," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I don't see why there should be money difficulties," said Ralph. "As
+far as I am concerned there need be none."
+
+"Ralph Newton has made money difficulties," said Sir Thomas. "If
+he had been careful with his own fortune there would have been no
+question as to the property between him and your father."
+
+"I can understand that;--and I can understand also my father's
+anxiety, though I do not share it. It would be better that my
+namesake should have the estate. I can see into these matters quite
+well enough to know that were it to be mine there would occur exactly
+that which my father wishes to avoid. I should be the owner of Newton
+Priory, and people would call me Mr. Newton. But I shouldn't be
+Newton of Newton. It had better go to Ralph. I should live elsewhere,
+and people would not notice me then."
+
+Sir Thomas, as he looked up at the young man, leaning back in his
+arm-chair and holding his glass half full of wine in his hand, could
+not but tell himself that the greater was the pity. This off-shoot
+of the Newton stock, who declared of himself that he never could be
+Newton of Newton, was a fine, manly fellow to look at,--not handsome
+as was Ralph the heir, not marked by that singular mixture of
+gentleness, intelligence, and sweetness which was written, not only
+on the countenance, but in the demeanour and very step of Gregory;
+but he was a bigger man than either of them, with a broad chest, and
+a square brow, and was not without that bright gleam of the Newton
+blue eye, which characterised all the family. And there was so much
+of the man in him;--whereas, in manhood, Ralph the heir had certainly
+been deficient. "Ralph must lie on the bed that he has made," said
+Sir Thomas. "And you, of course, will accept the good things that
+come in your way. As far as I can see at present it will be best for
+Ralph that your father should redeem from him a portion, at least, of
+the property. The girls are waiting for us to go out, and perhaps you
+will like a cigar on the lawn."
+
+It was clear to every one there to see that this other Newton greatly
+admired the West Indian cousin. And Mary, with this newcomer, seemed
+to talk on easier terms than she had ever done before since she had
+been at Fulham. She smiled, and listened, and was gracious, and made
+those pleasant little half-affected sallies which girls do make to
+men when they know that they are admired, and are satisfied that it
+should be so. All the story had been told to her, and it might be
+that the poor orphan felt that she was better fitted to associate
+with the almost nameless one than with the true heir of the family.
+Mr. Newton, when he got up to leave them, asked permission to come
+again, and left them all with a pleasant air of intimacy. Two boats
+had passed them, racing on the river, almost close to the edge of
+their lawn, and Newton had offered to bet with Mary as to which would
+first reach the bridge. "I wish you had taken my wager, Miss Bonner,"
+he said, "because then I should have been bound to come back at once
+to pay you." "That's all very well, Mr. Newton," said Mary, "but I
+have heard of gentlemen who are never seen again when they lose."
+"Mr. Newton is unlike that, I'm sure," said Clary; "but I hope he'll
+come again at any rate." Newton promised that he would, and was fully
+determined to keep his promise when he made it.
+
+"Wouldn't it be delightful if they were to fall in love with each
+other and make a match of it?" said Clary to her sister.
+
+"I don't like to plot and plan such things," said Patience.
+
+"I don't like to scheme, but I don't see any harm in planning. He is
+ever so nice,--isn't he?"
+
+"I thought him very pleasant."
+
+"Such an open-spoken, manly, free sort of fellow. And he'll be very
+well off, you know."
+
+"I don't know;--but I dare say he will," said Patience.
+
+"Oh yes, you do. Poor Ralph, our Ralph, is a spendthrift, and I
+shouldn't wonder if this one were to have the property after all.
+And then his father is very rich. I know that because Gregory told
+me. Dear me! wouldn't it be odd if we were all three to become Mrs.
+Newtons?"
+
+"Clary, what did I tell you?"
+
+"Well; I won't. But it would be odd,--and so nice, at least I think
+so. Well;--I dare say I ought not to say it. But then I can't help
+thinking it,--and surely I may tell you what I think."
+
+"I would think it as little as I could, dear."
+
+"Ah, that's very well. A girl can be a hypocrite if she pleases,
+and perhaps she ought. Of course I shall be a hypocrite to all
+the world except you. I tell you what it is, Patty;--you make me
+tell you everything, and say that of course you and I are to tell
+everything,--and then you scold me. Don't you want me to tell you
+everything?"
+
+"Indeed I do;--and I won't scold you. Dear Clary, do I scold you?
+Wouldn't I give one of my eyes to make you happy?"
+
+"That's quite a different thing," said Clarissa.
+
+Three days afterwards Mr. Ralph Newton;--it is hoped that the reader
+may understand the attempts which are made to designate the two young
+men;--Mr. Ralph Newton appeared again at Popham Villa. He came in
+almost with the gait of an old friend, and brought some fern leaves,
+which he had already procured from Hampshire, in compliance with a
+promise which he had made to Patience Underwood. "That's what we
+call the hart's tongue," said he, "though I fancy they give them all
+different names in different places."
+
+"It's the same plant as ours, Mr. Newton,--only yours is larger."
+
+"It's the ugliest of all the ferns," said Clary.
+
+"Even that's a compliment," said Newton. "It's no use transplanting
+them in this weather, but I'll send you a basket in October. You
+should come down to Newton and see our ferns. We think we're very
+pretty, but because we're so near, nobody comes to see us." Then he
+fell a-talking with Mary Bonner, and stayed at the villa nearly all
+the afternoon. For a moment or two he was alone with Clarissa, and at
+once expressed his admiration. "I don't think I ever saw such perfect
+beauty as your cousin's," he said.
+
+"She is handsome."
+
+"And then she is so fair, whereas everybody expects to see dark eyes
+and black hair come from the West Indies."
+
+"But Mary wasn't born there."
+
+"That doesn't matter. The mind doesn't travel back as far as that.
+A negro should be black, and an American thin, and a French woman
+should have her hair dragged up by the roots, and a German should be
+broad-faced, and a Scotchman red-haired,--and a West Indian beauty
+should be dark and languishing."
+
+"I'll tell her you say so, and perhaps she'll have herself altered."
+
+"Whatever you do, don't let her be altered," said Mr. Newton. "She
+can't be changed for the better."
+
+"I am quite sure he is over head and ears in love," said Clarissa to
+Patience that evening.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+THE CHESHIRE CHEESE.
+
+
+"Labour is the salt of the earth, and Capital is the sworn foe to
+Labour." Hear, hear, hear, with the clattering of many glasses, and
+the smashing of certain pipes! Then the orator went on. "That Labour
+should be the salt of the earth has been the purpose of a beneficent
+Creator;--that Capital should be the foe to Labour has been
+man's handywork. The one is an eternal decree, which nothing can
+change,--which neither the good nor the evil done by man can affect.
+The other is an evil ordinance, the fruit of man's ignorance and
+within the scope of man's intellect to annul." Mr. Ontario Moggs
+was the orator, and he was at this moment addressing a crowd of
+sympathising friends in the large front parlour of the Cheshire
+Cheese. Of all those who were listening to Ontario Moggs there was
+not probably one who had reached a higher grade in commerce than that
+of an artizan working for weekly wages;--but Mr. Moggs was especially
+endeared to them because he was not an artizan working for weekly
+wages, but himself a capitalist. His father was a master bootmaker on
+a great scale;--for none stood much higher in the West-end trade than
+Booby and Moggs; and it was known that Ontario was the only child
+and heir, and as it were sole owner of the shoulders on which must
+some day devolve the mantle of Booby and Moggs. Booby had long been
+gathered to his fathers, and old Moggs was the stern opponent of
+strikes. What he had lost by absolutely refusing to yield a point
+during the last strike among the shoemakers of London no one could
+tell. He had professed aloud that he would sooner be ruined, sooner
+give up his country residence at Shepherd's Bush, sooner pull down
+the honoured names of Booby and Moggs from over the shop-window in
+Old Bond Street, than allow himself to be driven half an inch out
+of his course by men who were attempting to dictate to him what he
+should do with his own. In these days of strikes Moggs would look
+even upon his own workmen with the eyes of a Coriolanus glaring upon
+the disaffected populace of Rome. Mr. Moggs senior would stand at his
+shop-door, with his hand within his waistcoat, watching the men out
+on strike who were picketing the streets round his shop, and would
+feel himself every inch a patrician, ready to die for his order. Such
+was Moggs senior. And Moggs junior, who was a child of Capital, but
+whose heirship depended entirely on his father's will, harangued his
+father's workmen and other workmen at the Cheshire Cheese, telling
+them that Labour was the salt of the earth, and that Capital was
+the foe to Labour! Of course they loved him. The demagogue who
+is of all demagogues the most popular, is the demagogue who is a
+demagogue in opposition to his apparent nature. The radical Earl,
+the free-thinking parson, the squire who won't preserve, the tenant
+who defies his landlord, the capitalist with a theory for dividing
+profits, the Moggs who loves a strike,--these are the men whom the
+working men delight to follow. Ontario Moggs, who was at any rate
+honest in his philanthropy, and who did in truth believe that it was
+better that twenty real bootmakers should eat beef daily than that
+one so-called bootmaker should live in a country residence,--who
+believed this and acted on his belief, though he was himself not
+of the twenty, but rather the one so-called bootmaker who would
+suffer by the propagation of such a creed,--was beloved and almost
+worshipped by the denizens of the Cheshire Cheese. How far the real
+philanthropy of the man may have been marred by an uneasy and fatuous
+ambition; how far he was carried away by a feeling that it was better
+to make speeches at the Cheshire Cheese than to apply for payment of
+money due to his father, it would be very hard for us to decide. That
+there was an alloy even in Ontario Moggs is probable;--but of this
+alloy his hearers knew nothing. To them he was a perfect specimen of
+that combination, which is so grateful to them, of the rich man's
+position with the poor man's sympathies. Therefore they clattered
+their glasses, and broke their pipes, and swore that the words he
+uttered were the kind of stuff they wanted.
+
+"The battle has been fought since man first crawled upon the earth,"
+continued Moggs, stretching himself to his full height and pointing
+to the farthest confines of the inhabited globe;--"since man first
+crawled upon the earth." There was a sound in that word "crawl"
+typical of the abject humility to which working shoemakers were
+subjected by their employers, which specially aroused the feelings
+of the meeting. "And whence comes the battle?" The orator paused,
+and the glasses were jammed upon the table. "Yes,--whence comes the
+battle, in fighting which hecatombs of honest labourers have been
+crushed till the sides of the mountains are white with their bones,
+and the rivers run foul with their blood? From the desire of one
+man to eat the bread of two?" "That's it," said a lean, wizened,
+pale-faced little man in a corner, whose trembling hand was resting
+on a beaker of gin and water. "Yes, and to wear two men's coats and
+trousers, and to take two men's bedses and the wery witals out of two
+men's bodies. D---- them!" Ontario, who understood something of his
+trade as an orator, stood with his hand still stretched out, waiting
+till this ebullition should be over. "No, my friend," said he, "we
+will not damn them. I for one will damn no man. I will simply rebel.
+Of all the sacraments given to us, the sacrament of rebellion is the
+most holy." Hereupon the landlord of the Cheshire Cheese must have
+feared for his tables, so great was the applause and so tremendous
+the thumping;--but he knew his business, no doubt, and omitted to
+interfere. "Of Rebellion, my friends," continued Ontario, with his
+right hand now gracefully laid across his breast, "there are two
+kinds,--or perhaps we may say three. There is the rebellion of arms,
+which can avail us nothing here." "Perhaps it might tho'," said the
+little wizened man in a corner, whose gin and water apparently did
+not comfort him. To this interruption Ontario paid no attention. "And
+there is the dignified and slow rebellion of moral resistance;--too
+slow I fear for us." This point was lost upon the audience, and
+though the speaker paused, no loud cheer was given. "It's as true as
+true," said one man; but he was a vain fellow, simply desirous of
+appearing wiser than his comrades. "And then there is the rebellion
+of the Strike;" now the clamour of men's voices, and the kicking of
+men's feet, and the thumping with men's fists became more frantic
+than ever;"--the legitimate rebellion of Labour against its tyrant.
+Gentlemen, of all efforts this is the most noble. It is a sacrifice
+of self, a martyrdom, a giving up on the part of him who strikes of
+himself, his little ones, and his wife, for the sake of others who
+can only thus be rescued from the grasp of tyranny. Gentlemen, were
+it not for strikes, this would be a country in which no free man
+could live. By the aid of strikes we will make it the Paradise of
+the labourer, an Elysium of industry, an Eden of artizans." There
+was much more of it,--but the reader might be fatigued were the full
+flood of Mr. Moggs's oratory to be let loose upon him. And through
+it all there was a germ of truth and a strong dash of true, noble
+feeling;--but the speaker had omitted as yet to learn how much
+thought must be given to a germ of truth before it can be made to
+produce fruit for the multitude. And then, in speaking, grand words
+come so easily, while thoughts,--even little thoughts,--flow so
+slowly!
+
+
+[Illustration: "The battle has been fought since man first
+crawled upon the earth," continued Moggs, stretching himself
+to his full height and pointing to the farthest confines of
+the inhabited globe . . .]
+
+
+But the speech, such as it was, sufficed amply for the immediate
+wants of the denizens of the Cheshire Cheese. There were men there
+who for the half-hour believed that Ontario Moggs had been born to
+settle all the difficulties between labourers and their employers,
+and that he would do so in such a way that the labourers, at least,
+should have all that they wanted. It would be, perhaps, too much to
+say that any man thought this would come in his own day,--that he so
+believed as to put a personal trust in his own belief; but they did
+think for a while that the good time was coming, and that Ontario
+Moggs would make it come. "We'll have 'im in parl'ament any ways,"
+said a sturdy, short, dirty-looking artizan, who shook his head as
+he spoke to show that, on that matter, his mind was quite made up.
+"I dunno no good as is to cum of sending sich as him to parl'ament,"
+said another. "Parl'ament ain't the place. When it comes to the p'int
+they won't 'ave 'em. There was Odgers, and Mr. Beale. I don't b'lieve
+in parl'ament no more." "Kennington Oval's about the place," said a
+third. "Or Primrose 'ill," said a fourth. "Hyde Park!" screamed the
+little wizen man with the gin and water. "That's the ticket;--and
+down with them gold railings. We'll let' em see!" Nevertheless they
+all went away home in the quietest way in the world, and,--as there
+was no strike in hand,--got to their work punctually on the next
+morning. Of all those who had been loudest at the Cheshire Cheese
+there was not one who was not faithful, and, in a certain way, loyal
+to his employer.
+
+As soon as his speech was over and he was able to extricate himself
+from the crowd, Ontario Moggs escaped from the public-house
+and strutted off through certain narrow, dark streets in the
+neighbourhood, leaning on the arm of a faithful friend. "Mr. Moggs,
+you did pitch it rayther strong, to-night," said the faithful friend.
+
+"Pitch it rather strong;--yes. What good do you think can ever come
+from pitching any thing weak? Pitch it as strong as you will, find it
+don't amount to much."
+
+"But about rebellion, now, Mr. Moggs? Rebellion ain't a good thing,
+surely, Mr. Moggs."
+
+"Isn't it? What was Washington, what was Cromwell, what was Rienzi,
+what was,--was,--; but never mind," said Ontario, who could not at
+the moment think of the name of his favourite Pole.
+
+"And you think as the men should be rebels again' the masters?"
+
+"That depends on who the masters are, Waddle."
+
+"What good 'd cum of it if I rebelled again' Mr. Neefit, and told him
+up to his face as I wouldn't make up the books? He'd only sack me. I
+find thirty-five bob a week, with two kids and their mother to keep
+on it, tight enough, Mr. Moggs. If I 'ad the fixing on it, I should
+say forty bob wasn't over the mark;--I should indeed. But I don't see
+as I should get it."
+
+"Yes you would;--if you earned it, and stuck to your purpose. But
+you're a single stick, and it requires a faggot to do this work."
+
+"I never could see it, Mr. Moggs. All the same I do like to hear you
+talk. It stirs one up, even though one don't just go along with it.
+You won't let on, you know, to Mr. Neefit as I was there."
+
+"And why not?" said Ontario, turning sharp upon his companion.
+
+"The old gen'leman hates the very name of a strike. He's a'most as
+bad as your own father, Mr. Moggs."
+
+"You have done his work to-day. You have earned your bread. You owe
+him nothing."
+
+"That I don't, Mr. Moggs. He'll take care of that."
+
+"And yet you are to stay away from this place, or go to that, to suit
+his pleasure. Are you Neefit's slave?"
+
+"I'm just the young man in his shop,--that's all."
+
+"As long as that is all, Waddle, you are not worthy to be called a
+man."
+
+"Mr. Moggs, you're too hard. As for being a man, I am a man.
+I've a wife and two kids. I don't think more of my governor than
+another;--but if he sacked me, where 'd I get thirty-five bob
+a-week?"
+
+"I beg your pardon, Waddle;--it's true. I should not have said it.
+Perhaps you do not quite understand me, but your position is one of
+a single stick, rather than of the faggot. Ah me! She hasn't been at
+the shop lately?"
+
+"She do come sometimes. She was there the day before yesterday."
+
+"And alone?"
+
+"She come alone, and she went home with the governor."
+
+"And he?"
+
+"Mr. Newton, you mean?"
+
+"Has he been there?"
+
+"Well;--yes; he was there once last week."
+
+"Well?"
+
+"There was words;--that's what there was. It ain't going smooth, and
+he ain't been out there no more,--not as I knows on. I did say a word
+once or twice as to the precious long figure as he stands for on our
+books. Over two hundred for breeches is something quite stupendous.
+Isn't it, Mr. Moggs?"
+
+"And what did Neefit say?"
+
+"Just snarled at me. He can show his teeth, you know, and look as
+bitter as you like. It ain't off, because when I just named the very
+heavy figure in such a business as ours,--he only snarled. But it
+ain't on, Mr. Moggs. It ain't what I call,--on." After this they
+walked on in silence for a short way, when Mr. Waddle made a little
+proposition. "He's on your books, too, Mr. Moggs, pretty tight, as
+I'm told. Why ain't you down on him?"
+
+"Down on him?" said Moggs.
+
+"I wouldn't leave him an hour, if I was you."
+
+"D'you think that's the way I would be down on,--a rival?" and Moggs,
+as he walked along, worked both his fists closely in his energy. "If
+I can't be down on him other gait than that, I'll leave him alone.
+But, Waddle, by my sacred honour as a man, I'll not leave him alone!"
+Waddle started, and stood with his mouth open, looking up at his
+friend. "Base, mercenary, false-hearted loon! What is it that he
+wants?"
+
+"Old Neefit's money. That's it, you know."
+
+"He doesn't know what love means, and he'd take that fair creature,
+and drag her through the dirt, and subject her to the scorn
+of hardened aristocrats, and crush her spirits, and break her
+heart,--just because her father has scraped together a mass of gold.
+But I,--I wouldn't let the wind blow on her too harshly. I despise
+her father's money. I love her. Yes;--I'll be down upon him somehow.
+Good-night, Waddle. To come between me and the pride of my heart for
+a little dirt! Yes; I'll be down upon him." Waddle stood and admired.
+He had read of such things in books, but here it was brought home to
+him in absolute life. He had a young wife whom he loved, but there
+had been no poetry about his marriage. One didn't often come across
+real poetry in the world,--Waddle felt;--but when one did, the treat
+was great. Now Ontario Moggs was full of poetry. When he preached
+rebellion it was very grand,--though at such moments Waddle was apt
+to tell himself that he was precluded by his two kids from taking an
+active share in such poetry as that. But when Moggs was roused to
+speak of his love, poetry couldn't go beyond that. "He'll drop into
+that customer of ours," said Waddle to himself, "and he'll mean
+it when he's a doing of it. But Polly 'll never 'ave 'im." And
+then there came across Waddle's mind an idea which he could not
+express,--that of course no girl would put up with a bootmaker who
+could have a real gentleman. Real gentlemen think a good deal of
+themselves, but not half so much as is thought of them by men who
+know that they themselves are of a different order.
+
+Ontario Moggs, as he went homewards by himself, was disturbed by
+various thoughts. If it really was to be the case that Polly Neefit
+wouldn't have him, why should he stay in a country so ill-adapted to
+his manner of thinking as this? Why remain in a paltry island while
+all the starry west, with its brilliant promises, was open to him?
+Here he could only quarrel with his father, and become a rebel, and
+perhaps live to find himself in a jail. And then what could he do of
+good? He preached and preached, but nothing came of it. Would not
+the land of the starry west suit better such a heart and such a mind
+as his? But he wouldn't stir while his fate was as yet unfixed in
+reference to Polly Neefit. Strikes were dear to him, and oratory, and
+the noisy applauses of the Cheshire Cheese; but nothing was so dear
+to him as Polly Neefit. He went about the world with a great burden
+lying on his chest, and that burden was his love for Polly Neefit.
+In regard to strikes and the ballot he did in a certain way reason
+within himself and teach himself to believe that he had thought out
+those matters; but as to Polly he thought not at all. He simply loved
+her, and felt himself to be a wild, frantic man, quarrelling with his
+father, hurrying towards jails and penal settlements, rushing about
+the streets half disposed to suicide, because Polly Neefit would have
+none of him. He had been jealous, too, of the gasfitter, when he had
+seen his Polly whirling round the room in the gasfitter's arms;--but
+the gasfitter was no gentleman, and the battle had been even. In
+spite of the whirling he still had a chance against the gasfitter.
+But the introduction of the purple and fine linen element into his
+affairs was maddening to him. With all his scorn for gentry, Ontario
+Moggs in his heart feared a gentleman. He thought that he could make
+an effort to punch Ralph Newton's head if they two were ever to be
+brought together in a spot convenient for such an operation; but of
+the man's standing in the world, he was afraid. It seemed to him to
+be impossible that Polly should prefer him, or any one of his class,
+to a suitor whose hands were always clean, whose shirt was always
+white, whose words were soft and well-chosen, who carried with him
+none of the stain of work. Moggs was as true as steel in his genuine
+love of Labour,--of Labour with a great L,--of the People with a
+great P,--of Trade with a great T,--of Commerce with a great C; but
+of himself individually,--of himself, who was a man of the people,
+and a tradesman, he thought very little when he compared himself to
+a gentleman. He could not speak as they spoke; he could not walk as
+they walked; he could not eat as they ate. There was a divinity about
+a gentleman which he envied and hated.
+
+Now Polly Neefit was not subject to this idolatry. Could Moggs
+have read her mind, he might have known that success, as from the
+bootmaker against the gentleman, was by no means so hopeless an
+affair. What Polly liked was a nice young man, who would hold up his
+head and be true to her,--and who would not make a fool of himself.
+If he could waltz into the bargain, that also would Polly like.
+
+On that night Ontario walked all the way out to Alexandria Cottage,
+and spent an hour leaning upon the gate, looking up at the window
+of the breeches-maker's bedroom;--for the chamber of Polly herself
+opened backwards. When he had stood there an hour, he walked home to
+Bond Street.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+RALPH NEWTON'S DOUBTS.
+
+
+That month of August was a very sad time indeed for Ralph the heir.
+With him all months were, we may say, idle months; but, as a rule,
+August was of all the most idle. Sometimes he would affect to shoot
+grouse, but hunting, not grouse-shooting, was his passion as a
+sportsman. He would leave London, and spend perhaps a couple of days
+with Mr. Horsball looking at the nags. Then he would run down to
+some sea-side place, and flirt and laugh and waste his time upon the
+sands. Or he would go abroad as far as Dieppe, or perhaps Biarritz,
+and so would saunter through the end of the summer. It must not be
+supposed of him that he was not fully conscious that this manner of
+life was most pernicious. He knew it well, knew that it would take
+him to the dogs, made faint resolves at improvement which he hardly
+for an hour hoped to be able to keep,--and was in truth anything but
+happy. This was his usual life;--and so for the last three or four
+years had he contrived to get through this month of August. But now
+the utmost sternness of business had come upon him. He was forced to
+remain in town, found himself sitting day after day in his lawyer's
+anteroom, was compelled to seek various interviews with Sir Thomas,
+in which it was impossible that Sir Thomas should make himself very
+pleasant; and,--worst of all,--was at last told that he must make up
+his own mind!
+
+Squire Newton was also up in London; and though London was never much
+to his taste, he was in these days by no means so wretched as his
+nephew. He was intent on a certain object, and he began to hope, nay
+to think, that his object might be achieved. He had not once seen his
+nephew, having declared his conviction very strongly that it would be
+better for all parties that they should remain apart. His own lawyer
+he saw frequently, and Ralph's lawyer once, and Sir Thomas more than
+once or twice. There was considerable delay, but the Squire would
+not leave London till something was, if not settled, at any rate
+arranged, towards a settlement. And it was the expression of his will
+conveyed through the two lawyers which kept Ralph in London. What was
+the worth of Ralph's interest in the property? That was one great
+question. Would Ralph sell that interest when the price was fixed?
+That was the second question. Ralph, to whom the difficulty of giving
+an answer was as a labour of Hercules, staved off the evil day for
+awhile by declaring that he must know what was the price before he
+could say whether he would sell the article. The exact price could
+not be fixed. The lawyers combined in saying that the absolute sum
+of money to include all Ralph's interest in the estate could not be
+named that side of Christmas. It was not to be thought of that any
+actuary, or valuer, or lawyer, or conveyancer, should dispose of
+so great a matter by a month's work. But something approaching to
+a settlement might be made. A sum might be named as a minimum. And
+a compact might be made, subject to the arbitration of a sworn
+appraiser. A sum was named. The matter was carried so far, that Ralph
+was told that he could sign away all his rights by the middle of
+September,--sign away the entire property,--and have his pockets
+filled with ample funds for the Moonbeam, and all other delights. He
+might pay off Moggs and Neefit, and no longer feel that Polly,--poor
+dear Polly,--was a millstone round his neck. And he would indeed, in
+this event, be so well provided, that he did not for a moment doubt
+that, if he chose so to circumscribe himself, Clarissa Underwood
+might be his wife. All the savings of the Squire's life would be
+his,--enough, as the opposing lawyer told him with eager pressing
+words, to give him an estate of over a thousand a year at once. "And
+it may be more,--probably will be more," said the lawyer. But at the
+very least a sum approaching to thirty thousand pounds would be paid
+over to him at once. And he might do what he pleased with this. There
+was still a remnant of his own paternal property sufficient to pay
+his debts.
+
+But why should a man whose encumbrances were so trifling, sacrifice
+prospects that were so glorious? Could he not part with a portion
+of the estate,--with the reversion of half of it, so that the house
+of Newton, Newton Priory, with its grouse and paddocks and adjacent
+farms, might be left to him? If the whole were saleable, surely
+so also must be the half. The third of the money offered to him
+would more than suffice for all his wants. No doubt he might sell
+the half,--but not to the Squire, nor could he effect such sale
+immediately as he would do if the Squire bought it, nor on such
+terms as were offered by the Squire. Money he might raise at once,
+certainly; but it became by degrees as a thing certain to him, that
+if once he raised money in that way, the estate would fly from him.
+His uncle was a hale man, and people told him that his own life was
+not so much better than his uncle's. His uncle had a great object,
+and if Ralph chose to sell at all, that fact would be worth thousands
+to him. But his uncle would not buy the reversion of half or of a
+portion of the property. The Squire at last spoke his mind freely
+on this matter to Sir Thomas. "It shall never be cast in my son's
+teeth," he said, "that his next neighbour is the real man. Early in
+life I made a mistake, and I have had to pay for it ever since. I am
+paying for it now, and must pay for it to the end. But my paying for
+it will be of small service if my boy has to pay for it afterwards."
+Sir Thomas understood him and did not press the point.
+
+Ralph was nearly driven wild with the need of deciding. Moggs's bill
+at two months was coming due, and he knew that he could expect no
+mercy there. To Neefit's establishment in Conduit Street he had gone
+once, and had had words,--as Waddle had told to his rival. Neefit
+was still persistent in his wishes,--still urgent that Newton should
+go forth to Hendon like a man, and "pop" at once. "I'll tell you
+what, Captain," said he;--he had taken to calling Ralph Captain, as a
+goodly familiar name, feeling, no doubt, that Mister was cold between
+father-in-law and son-in-law, and not quite daring to drop all
+reverential title;--"if you're a little hard up, as I know you are,
+you can have three or four hundred if you want it." Ralph did want it
+sorely. "I know how you stand with old Moggs," said Neefit, "and I'll
+see you all right there." Neefit was very urgent. He too had heard
+something of these dealings among the lawyers. To have his Polly Mrs.
+Newton of Newton Priory! The prize was worth fighting for. "Don't let
+them frighten you about a little ready money, Captain. If it comes to
+that, other folk has got ready money besides them."
+
+"Your trust in me surprises me," said Ralph. "I already owe you money
+which I can't pay you."
+
+"I know where to trust, and I know where not to trust. If you'll once
+say as how you'll pop the question to Polly, fair and honest, on
+the square, you shall have five hundred;--bless me, if you shan't.
+If she don't take you after all, why then I must look for my money
+by-and-bye. If you're on the square with me, Captain, you'll never
+find me hard to deal with."
+
+"I hope I shall be on the square, at any rate."
+
+"Then you step out to her and pop." Hereupon Ralph made a long and
+intricate explanation of his affairs, the object of which was to
+prove to Mr. Neefit that a little more delay was essential. He was so
+environed by business and difficulties at the present moment that he
+could take no immediate step such as Mr. Neefit suggested,--no such
+step quite immediately. In about another fortnight, or in a month at
+the furthest, he would be able to declare his purpose. "And how about
+Moggs?" said Neefit, putting his hands into his breeches-pocket,
+pulling down the corners of his mouth, and fixing his saucer eyes
+full upon the young man's face. So he stood for some seconds, and
+then came the words of which Waddle had spoken. Neefit could not
+disentangle the intricacies of Ralph's somewhat fictitious story; but
+he had wit enough to know what it meant. "You ain't on the square,
+Captain. That's what you ain't," he said at last. It must be owned
+that the accusation was just, and it was made so loudly that Waddle
+did not at all exaggerate in saying that there had been words.
+Nevertheless, when Ralph left the shop Neefit relented. "You come to
+me, Captain, when Moggs's bit of stiff comes round."
+
+A few days after that Ralph went to Sir Thomas, with the object of
+declaring his decision;--at least Sir Thomas understood that such
+was to be the purport of the visit. According to his ideas there
+had been quite enough of delay. The Squire had been liberal in his
+offer; and though the thing to be sold was in all its bearings so
+valuable, though it carried with it a value which, in the eyes of
+Sir Thomas,--and, indeed, in the eyes of all Englishmen,--was far
+beyond all money price, though the territorial position was, for a
+legitimate heir, almost a principality; yet, when a man cannot keep a
+thing, what can he do but part with it? Ralph had made his bed, and
+he must lie upon it. Sir Thomas had done what he could, but it had
+all amounted to nothing. There was this young man a beggar,--but for
+this reversion which he had now the power of selling. As for that
+mode of extrication by marrying the breeches-maker's daughter,--that
+to Sir Thomas was infinitely the worst evil of the two. Let Ralph
+accept his uncle's offer and he would still be an English gentleman,
+free to live as such, free to marry as such, free to associate with
+friends fitting to his habits of life. And he would be a gentleman,
+too, with means sufficing for a gentleman's wants. But that escape by
+way of the breeches-maker's daughter would, in accordance with Sir
+Thomas's view of things, destroy everything.
+
+"Well, Ralph," he said, sighing, almost groaning, as his late ward
+took the now accustomed chair opposite to his own.
+
+"I wish I'd never been born," said Ralph, "and that Gregory stood in
+my place."
+
+"But you have been born, Ralph. We must take things as we find them."
+Then there was a long silence. "I think, you know, that you should
+make up your mind one way or the other. Your uncle of course feels
+that as he is ready to pay the money at once he is entitled to an
+immediate answer."
+
+"I don't see that at all," said Ralph. "I am under no obligation to
+my uncle, and I don't see why I am to be bustled by him. He is doing
+nothing for my sake."
+
+"He has, at any rate, the power of retracting."
+
+"Let him retract."
+
+"And then you'll be just where you were before,--ready to fall into
+the hands of the Jews. If you must part with your property you cannot
+do so on better terms."
+
+"It seems to me that I shall be selling L7,000 a year in land for
+about L1,200 a year in the funds."
+
+"Just so;--that's about it, I suppose. But can you tell me when the
+land will be yours,--or whether it will ever be yours at all? What is
+it that you have got to sell? But, Ralph, it is no good going over
+all that again."
+
+"I know that, Sir Thomas."
+
+"I had hoped you would have come to some decision. If you can save
+the property of course you ought to do so. If you can live on what
+pittance is left to you--"
+
+"I can save it."
+
+"Then do save it."
+
+"I can save it by--marrying."
+
+"By selling yourself to the daughter of a man who makes--breeches! I
+can give you advice on no other point; but I do advise you not to do
+that. I look upon an ill-assorted marriage as the very worst kind of
+ruin. I cannot myself conceive any misery greater than that of having
+a wife whom I could not ask my friends to meet."
+
+Ralph when he heard this blushed up to the roots of his hair. He
+remembered that when he had first mentioned to Sir Thomas his
+suggested marriage with Polly Neefit he had said that as regarded
+Polly herself he thought that Patience and Clarissa would not
+object to her. He was now being told by Sir Thomas himself that his
+daughters would certainly not consent to meet Polly Neefit, should
+Polly Neefit become Mrs. Newton. He, too, had his ideas of his own
+standing in the world, and had not been slow to assure himself
+that the woman whom he might choose for his wife would be a fit
+companion for any lady,--as long as the woman was neither vicious
+nor disagreeable. He could make any woman a lady; he could, at any
+rate, make Polly Neefit a lady. He rose from his seat, and prepared
+to leave the room in disgust. "I won't trouble you by coming here
+again," he said.
+
+"You are welcome, Ralph," said Sir Thomas. "If I could assist you,
+you would be doubly welcome."
+
+"I know I have been a great trouble to you,--a thankless, fruitless,
+worthless trouble. I shall make up my mind, no doubt, in a day or
+two, and I will just write you a line. I need not bother you by
+coming any more. Of course I think a great deal about it."
+
+"No doubt," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"Unluckily I have been brought up to know the value of what it is
+I have to throw away. It is a kind of thing that a man doesn't do
+without some regrets."
+
+"They should have come earlier," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"No doubt;--but they didn't, and it is no use saying anything more
+about it. Good-day, sir." Then he flounced out of the room, impatient
+of that single word of rebuke which had been administered to him.
+
+Sir Thomas, as soon as he was alone, applied himself at once to the
+book which he had reluctantly put aside when he was disturbed. But he
+could not divest his mind of its trouble, as quickly as his chamber
+had been divested of the presence of its troubler. He had said
+an ill-natured word, and that grieved him. And then,--was he not
+taking all this great matter too easily? If he would only put his
+shoulder to the wheel thoroughly might he not do something to save
+this friend,--this lad, who had been almost as his own son,--from
+destruction? Would it not be a burden on his conscience to the last
+day of his life that he had allowed his ward to be ruined, when by
+some sacrifice of his own means he might have saved him? He sat and
+thought of it, but did not really resolve that anything could be
+done. He was wont to think in the same way of his own children, whom
+he neglected. His conscience had been pricking him all his life, but
+it hardly pricked him sharp enough to produce consequences.
+
+During those very moments in which Ralph was leaving Southampton
+Buildings he had almost made up his mind to go at once to Alexandria
+Cottage, and to throw himself and the future fate of Newton Priory at
+the feet of Polly Neefit. Two incidents in his late interview with
+Sir Thomas tended to drive him that way. Sir Thomas had told him that
+should he marry the daughter of a man who made--breeches, no lady
+would associate with his wife. Sir Thomas also had seemed to imply
+that he must sell his property. He would show Sir Thomas that he
+could have a will and a way of his own. Polly Neefit should become
+his wife; and he would show the world that no proudest lady in the
+land was treated with more delicate consideration by her husband than
+the breeches-maker's daughter should be treated by him. And when it
+should please Providence to decide that the present squire of Newton
+had reigned long enough over that dominion, he would show the world
+that he had known something of his own position and the value of his
+own prospects. Then Polly should be queen in the Newton dominions,
+and he would see whether the ordinary world of worshippers would not
+come and worship as usual. All the same, he did not on that occasion
+go out to Alexandria Cottage.
+
+When he reached his club he found a note from his brother.
+
+
+   Newton Peele, September 8th, 186--.
+
+   MY DEAR RALPH,--
+
+   I have been sorry not to have had an answer from you to
+   the letter which I wrote to you about a month ago. Of
+   course I hear of what is going on. Ralph Newton up at the
+   house tells me everything. The Squire is still in town,
+   as, of course, you know; and there has got to be a report
+   about here that he has, as the people say, bought you out.
+   I still hope that this is not true. The very idea of it
+   is terrible to me;--that you should sell for an old song,
+   as it were, the property that has belonged to us for
+   centuries! It would not, indeed, go out of the name, but,
+   as far as you and I are concerned, that is the same. I
+   will not refuse, myself, to do anything that you may say
+   is necessary to extricate yourself from embarrassment; but
+   I ran hardly bring myself to believe that a step so fatal
+   as this can be necessary.
+
+   If I understand the matter rightly your difficulty is not
+   so much in regard to debts as in the want of means of
+   livelihood. If so, can you not bring yourself to live
+   quietly for a term of years. Of course you ought to marry,
+   and there may be a difficulty there; but almost anything
+   would be better than abandoning the property. As I told
+   you before, you are welcome to the use of the whole of my
+   share of the London property. It is very nearly L400 a
+   year. Could you not live on that till things come round?
+
+   Our cousin Ralph knows that I am writing to you, and knows
+   what my feelings are. It is not he that is so anxious for
+   the purchase. Pray write and tell me what is to be done.
+
+   Most affectionately yours,
+
+   GREGORY NEWTON.
+
+   I wouldn't lose a day in doing anything you might direct
+   about the Holborn property.
+
+
+Ralph received this at his club, and afterwards dined alone,
+considering it. Before the evening was over he thought that he had
+made up his mind that he would not, under any circumstances, give up
+his reversionary right. "They couldn't make me do it, even though I
+went to prison," he said to himself. Let him starve till he died, and
+then the property would go to Gregory! What did it matter? The thing
+that did matter was this,--that the estate should not be allowed to
+depart out of the true line of the Newton family. He sat thinking of
+it half the night, and before he left the club he wrote the following
+note to his brother;--
+
+
+   September 9th, 186--.
+
+   DEAR GREG.,--
+
+   Be sure of this,--that I will not part with my interest in
+   the property. I do not think that I can be forced, and I
+   will never do it willingly. It may be that I may be driven
+   to take advantage of your liberality and prudence. If so,
+   I can only say that you shall share the property with me
+   when it comes.
+
+   Yours always,
+
+   R. N.
+
+
+This he gave to the porter of the club as he passed out; and then, as
+he went home, he acknowledged to himself that it was tantamount to a
+decision on his part that he would forthwith marry Polly Neefit.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+WE WON'T SELL BROWNRIGGS.
+
+
+On the 10th of September the Squire was informed that Ralph Newton
+demanded another ten days for his decision, and that he had
+undertaken to communicate it by letter on the 20th. The Squire
+had growled, thinking that his nephew was unconscionable, and had
+threatened to withdraw his offer. The lawyer, with a smile, assured
+him that the matter really was progressing very quickly, that things
+of that kind could rarely be carried on so expeditiously; and that,
+in short, Mr. Newton had no fair ground of complaint. "When a man
+pays through the nose for his whistle, he ought to get it!" said the
+Squire, plainly showing that his idea as to the price fixed was very
+different from that entertained by his nephew. But he did not retract
+his offer. He was too anxious to accomplish the purchase to do that.
+He would go home, he said, and wait till the 20th. Then he would
+return to London. And he did go home.
+
+On the first evening he said very little to his son. He felt that his
+son did not quite sympathise with him, and he was sore that it should
+be so. He could not be angry with his son. He knew well that this
+want of sympathy arose from a conviction on this son's part that, let
+what might be done in regard to the property, nothing could make him,
+who was illegitimate, capable of holding the position in the country
+which of right belonged to Newton of Newton. But the presence of this
+feeling in the mind of the son was an accusation against himself
+which was very grievous to him. Almost every act of his latter
+life had been done with the object of removing the cause for such
+accusation. To make his boy such as he would have been in every
+respect had not his father sinned in his youth, had been the one
+object of the father's life. And nobody gainsayed him in this but
+that son himself. Nobody told him that all his bother about the
+estate was of no avail. Nobody dared to tell him so. Parson Gregory,
+in his letters to his brother, could express such an opinion. Sir
+Thomas, sitting alone in his chamber, could feel it. Ralph, the
+legitimate heir, with an assumed scorn, could declare to himself
+that, let what might be sold, he would still be Newton of Newton. The
+country people might know it, and the farmers might whisper it one
+to another. But nobody said a word of this to the Squire. His own
+lawyer never alluded to such a matter, though it was of course in his
+thoughts. Nevertheless, the son, whom he loved so well, would tell
+him from day to day,--indirectly, indeed, but with words that were
+plain enough,--that the thing was not to be done. Men and women
+called him Newton, because his father had chosen so to call him;--as
+they would have called him Tomkins or Montmorenci, had he first
+appeared before them with either of those names; but he was not a
+Newton, and nothing could make him Newton of Newton Priory,--not even
+the possession of the whole parish, and an habitation in the Priory
+itself. "I wish you wouldn't think about it," the son would say to
+the father;--and the expression of such a wish would contain the
+whole accusation. What other son would express a desire that the
+father would abstain from troubling himself to leave his estate
+entire to his child?
+
+On the morning after his return the necessary communication was made.
+But it was not commenced in any set form. The two were out together,
+as was usual with them, and were on the road which divided the two
+parishes, Bostock from Newton. On the left of them was Walker's farm,
+called the Brownriggs; and on the right, Darvell's farm, which was in
+their own peculiar parish of Newton. "I was talking to Darvell while
+you were away," said Ralph.
+
+"What does he say for himself?"
+
+"Nothing. It's the old story. He wants to stay, though he knows he'd
+be better away."
+
+"Then let him stay. Only I must have the place made fit to look at. A
+man should have a chance of pulling through."
+
+"Certainly, sir. I don't want him to go. I was only thinking it would
+be better for his children that there should be a change. As for
+making the place fit to look at, he hasn't the means. It's Walker's
+work, at the other side, that shames him."
+
+"One can't have Walkers on every farm," said the Squire. "No;--if
+things go, as I think they will go, we'll pull down every stick and
+stone at Brumby's,"--Brumby's was the name of Darvell's farm,--"and
+put it up all ship-shape. The house hasn't been touched these twenty
+years." Ralph said nothing. He knew well that his father would not
+talk of building unless he intended to buy before he built. Nothing
+could be more opposed to the Squire's purposes in life than the idea
+of building a house which, at his death, would become the property of
+his nephew. And, in this way, the estate was being starved. All this
+Ralph understood thoroughly; and, understanding it, had frequently
+expressed a desire that his father and the heir could act in accord
+together. But now the Squire talked of pulling down and building
+up as though the property were his own, to do as he liked with it.
+"And I think I can do it without selling Brownriggs," continued
+the Squire. "When it came to black and white, the value that he
+has in it doesn't come to so much as I thought." Still Ralph said
+nothing,--nothing, at least, as to the work that had been done
+up in London. He merely made some observation as to Darvell's
+farm;--suggesting that a clear half year's rent should be given to
+the man. "I have pretty well arranged it all in my mind," continued
+the Squire. "We could part with Twining. It don't lie so near as
+Brownriggs."
+
+Ralph felt that it would be necessary that he should say something.
+"Lord Fitzadam would be only too glad to buy it. He owns every acre
+in the parish except Ingram's farm."
+
+"There'll be no difficulty about selling it,--when we have the power
+to sell. It'll fetch thirty years' purchase. I'd give thirty years'
+purchase for it, at the present rent myself, if I had the money.
+Lord Fitzadam shall have it, if he pleases, of course. There's four
+hundred acres of it."
+
+"Four hundred and nine," said Ralph.
+
+"And it's worth over twelve thousand pounds. It would have gone
+against the grain with me to part with any of the land in Bostock;
+but I think we can squeeze through without that."
+
+"Is it arranged, sir?" asked the son at last.
+
+"Well;--no; I can't say it is. He is to give me his answer on the
+20th. But I cannot see that he has any alternative. He must pay his
+debts, and he has no other way of paying them. He must live, and he
+has nothing else to live on. A fellow like that will have money,
+if he can lay his hands on it, and he can't lay his hands on it
+elsewhere. Of course he could get money; but he couldn't get it on
+such terms as I have offered him. He is to have down thirty thousand
+pounds, and then,--after that,--I am to pay him whatever more than
+that they may think the thing is worth to him. Under no circumstances
+is he to have less. It's a large sum of money, Ralph."
+
+"Yes, indeed;--though not so much as you had expected, sir."
+
+"Well,--no; but then there are drawbacks. However, I shall only be
+too glad to have it settled. I don't think, Ralph, you have ever
+realised what it has been for me not to be able to lay out a shilling
+on the property, as to which I was not satisfied that I should see it
+back again in a year or two."
+
+"And yet, sir, I have thought much about it."
+
+"Thought! By heavens, I have thought of nothing else. As I stand
+here, the place has hardly been worth the having to me, because of
+such thinking. Your uncle, from the very first, was determined to
+make it bitter enough. I shall never forget his coming to me when I
+cut down the first tree. Was I going to build houses for a man's son
+who begrudged me the timber I wanted about the place?"
+
+"He couldn't stop you there."
+
+"But he said he could,--and he tried. And if I wanted to change a
+thing here or there, was it pleasant, do you think, to have to go to
+him? And what pleasure could there be in doing anything when another
+was to have it all? But you have never understood it, Ralph. Well;--I
+hope you'll understand it some day. If this goes right, nobody shall
+ever stop you in cutting a tree. You shall be free to do what you
+please with every sod, and every branch, and every wall, and every
+barn. I shall be happy at last, Ralph, if I think that you can enjoy
+it." Then there was again a silence, for tears were in the eyes both
+of the father and of the son. "Indeed," continued the Squire, as he
+rubbed the moisture away, "my great pleasure, while I remain, will be
+to see you active about the place. As it is now, how is it possible
+that you should care for it?"
+
+"But I do care for it, and I think I am active about it."
+
+"Yes,--making money for that idiot, who is to come after me. But I
+don't think he ever will come. I dare say he won't be ashamed to
+shoot your game and drink your claret, if you'll allow him. For the
+matter of that, when the thing is settled he may come and drink
+my wine if he pleases. I'll be his loving uncle then, if he don't
+object. But as it is now;--as it has been, I couldn't have borne
+him."
+
+Even yet there had been no clear statement as to what had been done
+between father and son. There was so much of clinging, trusting,
+perfect love in the father's words towards the son, that the latter
+could not bear to say a word that should produce sorrow. When the
+Squire declared that Ralph should have it all, free,--to do just as
+he pleased with it, with all the full glory of ownership, Ralph could
+not bring himself to throw a doubt upon the matter. And yet he did
+doubt;--more than doubted;--felt almost certain that his father was
+in error. While his father had remained alone up in town he had been
+living with Gregory, and had known what Gregory thought and believed.
+He had even seen his namesake's letter to Gregory, in which it was
+positively stated that the reversion would not be sold. Throughout
+the morning the Squire went on speaking of his hopes, and saying that
+this and that should be done the very moment that the contract was
+signed; at last Ralph spoke out, when, on some occasion, his father
+reproached him for indifference. "I do so fear that you will be
+disappointed," he said.
+
+"Why should I be disappointed?"
+
+"It is not for my own sake that I fear, for in truth the arrangement,
+as it stands, is no bar to my enjoyment of the place."
+
+"It is a most absolute bar to mine," said the Squire.
+
+"I fear it is not settled."
+
+"I know that;--but I see no reason why it should not be settled. Do
+you know any reason?"
+
+"Gregory feels sure that his brother will never consent."
+
+"Gregory is all very well. Gregory is the best fellow in the world.
+Had Gregory been in his brother's place I shouldn't have had a
+chance. But Gregory knows nothing about this kind of thing, and
+Gregory doesn't in the least understand his brother."
+
+"But Ralph has told him so."
+
+"Ralph will say anything. He doesn't mind what lies he tells."
+
+"I think you are too hard on him," said the son.
+
+"Well;--we shall see. But what is it that Ralph has said? And when
+did he say it?" Then the son told the father of the short letter
+which the parson had received from his brother, and almost repeated
+the words of it. And he told the date of the letter, only a day or
+two before the Squire's return. "Why the mischief could he not be
+honest enough to tell me the same thing, if he had made up his mind?"
+said the Squire, angrily. "Put it how you will, he is lying either
+to me or to his brother;--probably to both of us. His word either on
+one side or on the other is worth nothing. I believe he will take my
+money because he wants money, and because he likes money. As for what
+he says, it is worth nothing. When he has once written his name, he
+cannot go back from it, and there will be comfort in that." Ralph
+said nothing more. His father had talked himself into a passion, and
+was quite capable of becoming angry, even with him. So he suggested
+something about the shooting for next day, and proposed that the
+parson should be asked to join them. "He may come if he likes," said
+the Squire, "but I give you my word if this goes on much longer, I
+shall get to dislike even the sight of him." On that very day the
+parson dined with them, and early in the evening the Squire was cold,
+and silent, and then snappish. But he warmed afterwards under the
+double influence of his own port-wine, and the thorough sweetness of
+his nephew's manner. His last words as Gregory left him that night in
+the hall were as follows:--"Bother about the church. I'm half sick of
+the church. You come and shoot to-morrow. Don't let us have any new
+fads about not shooting."
+
+"There are no new fads, uncle Greg, and I'll be with you by twelve
+o'clock," said the parson.
+
+"He is very good as parsons go," said the Squire as he shut the door.
+
+"He's as good as gold," said the Squire's son.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+POLLY'S ANSWER.
+
+
+Moggs's bill became due before the 20th of September, and Ralph
+Newton received due notice,--as of course he had known that he would
+do,--that it had not been cashed at his banker's. How should it be
+cashed at his banker's, seeing that he had not had a shilling there
+for the last three months? Moggs himself, Moggs senior, came to
+Ralph, and made himself peculiarly disagreeable. He had never heard
+of such a thing on the part of a gentleman! Not to have his bill
+taken up! To have his paper dishonoured! Moggs spoke of it as
+though the heavens would fall; and he spoke of it, too, as though,
+even should the heavens not fall, the earth would be made a very
+tumultuous and unpleasant place for Mr. Newton, if Mr. Newton did not
+see at once that these two hundred and odd pounds were forthcoming.
+Moggs said so much that Ralph became very angry, turned him out of
+the room, and told him that he should have his dirty money on the
+morrow. On the morrow the dirty money was paid, Ralph having borrowed
+the amount from Mr. Neefit. Mr. Moggs was quite content. His object
+had been achieved, and, when the cash was paid, he was quite polite.
+But Ralph Newton was not happy as he made the payment. He had
+declared to himself, after writing that letter to his brother, that
+the thing was settled by the very declaration made by him therein.
+When he assured his brother that he would not sell his interest in
+the property, he did, in fact, resolve that he would make Polly
+Neefit his wife. And he did no more than follow up that resolution
+when he asked Neefit for a small additional advance. His due would
+not be given to the breeches-maker if it were not acknowledged that
+on this occasion he behaved very well. He had told Ralph to come to
+him when Moggs's "bit of stiff" came round. Moggs's "bit of stiff"
+did come round, and "the Captain" did as he had been desired to do.
+Neefit wrote out the cheque without saying a word about his daughter.
+"Do you just run across to Argyle Street, Captain," said the
+breeches-maker, "and get the stuff in notes." For Mr. Neefit's
+bankers held an establishment in Argyle Street. "There ain't no need,
+you know, to let on, Captain; is there?" said the breeches-maker.
+Ralph Newton, clearly seeing that there was no need to "let on," did
+as he was bid, and so the account was settled with Mr. Moggs. But now
+as to settling the account with Mr. Neefit? Neefit had his own idea
+of what was right between gentlemen. As the reader knows, he could
+upon an occasion make his own views very clearly intelligible. He was
+neither reticent nor particularly delicate. But there was something
+within him which made him give the cheque to Ralph without a word
+about Polly. That something, let it be what it might, was not lost
+upon Ralph.
+
+Any further doubt on his part was quite out of the question. If his
+mind had not been made up before it must, at least, be made up now.
+He had twice borrowed Mr. Neefit's money, and on this latter occasion
+had taken it on the express understanding that he was to propose to
+Mr. Neefit's daughter. And then, in this way, and in this way only,
+he could throw over his uncle and save the property. As soon as he
+had paid the money to Moggs, he went to his room and dressed himself
+for the occasion. As he arranged his dress with some small signs
+of an intention to be externally smart, he told himself that it
+signified nothing at all, that the girl was only a breeches-maker's
+daughter, and that there was hardly a need that he should take a new
+pair of gloves for such an occasion as this. In that he was probably
+right. An old pair of gloves would have done just as well, though
+Polly did like young men to look smart.
+
+He went out in a hansom of course. A man does not become economical
+because he is embarrassed. And as for embarrassment, he need not
+trouble himself with any further feelings on that score. When once
+he should be the promised husband of Polly Neefit, he would have no
+scruple about the breeches-maker's money. Why should he, when he did
+the thing with the very view of getting it? They couldn't expect him
+to be married till next spring at the earliest, and he would take
+another winter out of himself at the Moonbeam. As the sacrifice
+was to be made he might as well enjoy all that would come of the
+sacrifice. Then as he sat in the cab he took to thinking whether,
+after any fashion at all, he did love Polly Neefit. And from that
+he got to thinking,--not of poor Clary,--but of Mary Bonner. If his
+uncle could at once be translated to his fitting place among the
+immortals, oh,--what a life might be his! But his uncle was still
+mortal, and,--after all,--Polly Neefit was a very jolly girl.
+
+When he got to the house he asked boldly for Miss Neefit. He had told
+himself that no repulse could be injurious to him. If Mrs. Neefit
+were to refuse him admission into the house, the breeches-maker
+would be obliged to own that he had done his best. But there was no
+repulse. In two minutes he found himself in the parlour, with Polly
+standing up to receive him. "Dear me, Mr. Newton; how odd! You might
+have come weeks running before you'd find me here and mother out.
+She's gone to fetch father home. She don't do it,--not once a month."
+Ralph assured her that he was quite contented as it was, and that he
+did not in the least regret the absence of Mrs. Neefit. "But she'll
+be ever so unhappy. She likes to see gentlemen when they call."
+
+"And you dislike it?" asked Ralph.
+
+"Indeed I don't then," said Polly.
+
+And now in what way was he to do it? Would it be well to allude to
+her father's understanding with himself? In the ordinary way of
+love-making Ralph was quite as much at home as another. He had found
+no difficulty in saying a soft word to Clarissa Underwood, and in
+doing more than that. But with Polly the matter was different. There
+was an inappropriateness in his having to do the thing at all, which
+made it difficult to him,--unless he could preface what he did by an
+allusion to his agreement with her father. He could hardly ask Polly
+to be his wife without giving her some reason for the formation of so
+desperate a wish on his own part. "Polly," he said at last, "that was
+very awkward for us all,--that evening when Mr. Moggs was here."
+
+"Indeed it was, Mr. Newton. Poor Mr. Moggs! He shouldn't have
+stayed;--but mother asked him."
+
+"Has he been here since?"
+
+"He was then, and he and I were walking together. There isn't a
+better fellow breathing than Ontario Moggs,--in his own way. But he's
+not company for you, Mr. Newton, of course."
+
+Ralph quailed at this. To be told that his own boot-maker wasn't
+"company" for him,--and that by the young lady whom he intended to
+make his wife! "I don't think he is company for you either Polly," he
+said.
+
+"Why not, Mr. Newton? He's as good as me. What's the difference
+between him and father?" He wondered whether, when she should be his
+own, he would be able to teach her to call Mr. Neefit her papa. "Mr.
+Newton, when you know me better, you'll know that I'm not one to give
+myself airs. I've known Mr. Moggs all my life, and he's equal to me,
+anyways,--only he's a deal better."
+
+"I hope there's nothing more than friendship, Polly."
+
+"What business have you to hope?"
+
+Upon that theme he spoke, and told her in plain language that his
+reason for so hoping was that he trusted to be able to persuade her
+to become his own wife. Polly, when the word was spoken, blushed ruby
+red, and trembled a little. The thing had come to her, and, after
+all, she might be a real lady if she pleased. She blushed ruby red,
+and trembled, but she said not a word for a while. And then, having
+made his offer, he began to speak of love. In speaking of it, he was
+urgent enough, but his words had not that sort of suasiveness which
+they would have possessed had he been addressing himself to Clary
+Underwood. "Polly," he said, "I hope you can love me. I will love you
+very dearly, and do all that I can to make you happy. To me you shall
+be the first woman in the world. Do you think that you can love me,
+Polly?"
+
+Polly was, perhaps, particular. She had not quite approved of the
+manner in which Ontario had disclosed his love, though there had been
+something of the eloquence of passion even in that;--and now she
+was hardly satisfied with Ralph Newton. She had formed to herself,
+perhaps, some idea of a soft, insinuating, coaxing whisper, something
+that should be half caress and half prayer, but something that should
+at least be very gentle and very loving. Ontario was loving, but he
+was not gentle. Ralph Newton was gentle, but then she doubted whether
+he was loving. "Will you say that it shall be so?" he asked, standing
+over her, and looking down upon her with his most bewitching smile.
+
+Polly amidst her blushing and her trembling made up her mind that
+she would say nothing of the kind at this present moment. She would
+like to be a lady though she was not ashamed of being a tradesman's
+daughter;--but she would not buy the privilege of being a lady at too
+dear a price. The price would be very high indeed were she to give
+herself to a man who did not love her, and perhaps despised her. And
+then she was not quite sure that she could love this man herself,
+though she was possessed of a facility for liking nice young men.
+Ralph Newton was well enough in many ways. He was good looking, he
+could speak up for himself, he did not give himself airs,--and then,
+as she had been fully instructed by her father, he must ultimately
+inherit a large property. Were she to marry him her position would
+be absolutely that of one of the ladies of the land. But then she
+knew,--she could not but know,--that he sought her because he was in
+want of money for his present needs. To be made a lady of the land
+would be delightful; but to have a grand passion,--in regard to which
+Polly would not be satisfied unless there were as much love on one
+side as on the other,--would be more delightful. That latter was
+essentially necessary to her. The man must take an absolute pleasure
+in her company, or the whole thing would be a failure. So she blushed
+and trembled, and thought and was silent. "Dear Polly, do you mean
+that you cannot love me?" said Ralph.
+
+"I don't know," said Polly.
+
+"Will you try?" demanded Ralph.
+
+"And I don't know that you can love me."
+
+"Indeed, indeed, I can."
+
+"Ah, yes;--you can say so, I don't doubt. There's a many of them as
+can say so, and yet it's not in 'em to do it. And there's men as
+don't know hardly how to say it, and yet it's in their hearts all the
+while." Polly must have been thinking of Ontario as she made this
+latter oracular observation.
+
+"I don't know much about saying it; but I can do it, Polly."
+
+"Oh, as for talking, you can talk. You've been brought up that way.
+You've had nothing else much to do."
+
+She was very hard upon him, and so he felt it. "I think that's not
+fair, Polly. What can I say to you better than that I love you, and
+will be good to you?"
+
+"Oh, good to me! People are always good to me. Why shouldn't they?"
+
+"Nobody will be so good as I will be,--if you will take me. Tell me,
+Polly, do you not believe me when I say I love you?"
+
+"No;--I don't."
+
+"Why should I be false to you?"
+
+"Ah;--well;--why? It's not for me to say why. Father's been putting
+you up to this. That's why."
+
+"Your father could put me up to nothing of the kind if it were not
+that I really loved you."
+
+"And there's another thing, Mr. Newton."
+
+"What's that, Polly?"
+
+"I'm not at all sure that I'm so very fond of you."
+
+"That's unkind."
+
+"Better be true than to rue," said Polly. "Why, Mr. Newton, we don't
+know anything about each other,--not as yet. I may be, oh, anything
+bad, for what you know. And for anything I know you may be idle, and
+extravagant, and a regular man flirt." Polly had a way of speaking
+the truth without much respect to persons. "And then, Mr. Newton,
+I'm not going to be given away by father just as he pleases. Father
+thinks this and that, and he means it all for the best. I love father
+dearly. But I don't mean to take any body as I don't feel I'd pretty
+nigh break my heart if I wasn't to have him. I ain't come to breaking
+my heart for you yet, Mr. Newton."
+
+"I hope you never will break your heart."
+
+"I don't suppose you understand, but that's how it is. Let it just
+stand by for a year or so, Mr. Newton, and see how it is then. Maybe
+we might get to know each other. Just now, marrying you would be
+like taking a husband out of a lottery." Ralph stood looking at her,
+passing his hand over his head, and not quite knowing how to carry on
+his suit. "I'll tell father what you was saying to me and what I said
+to you," continued Polly, who seemed quite to understand that Ralph
+had done his duty by his creditor in making the offer, and that
+justice to him demanded that this should be acknowledged by the whole
+family.
+
+"And is that to be all, Polly?" asked Ralph in a melancholy voice.
+
+"All at present, Mr. Newton."
+
+Ralph, as he returned to London in his cab, felt more hurt by the
+girl's refusal of him than he would before have thought to be
+possible. He was almost disposed to resolve that he would at once
+renew the siege and carry it on as though there were no question
+of twenty thousand pounds, and of money borrowed from the
+breeches-maker. Polly had shown so much spirit in the interview,
+and had looked so well in showing it, had stood up such a perfect
+specimen of healthy, comely, honest womanhood, that he thought that
+he did love her. There was, however, one comfort clearly left to him.
+He had done his duty by old Neefit. The money due must of course
+be paid;--but he had in good faith done that which he had pledged
+himself to do in taking the money.
+
+As to the surrender of the estate there were still left to him four
+days in which to think of it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+THE CONSERVATIVES OF PERCYCROSS.
+
+
+Early in this month of September there had come a proposition to Sir
+Thomas, which had thoroughly disturbed him, and made him for a few
+days a most miserable man. By the tenth of the month, however, he
+had so far recovered himself as to have made up his mind in regard
+to the proposition with some feeling of triumphant expectation.
+On the following day he went home to Fulham, and communicated
+his determination to his eldest daughter in the following words;
+"Patience, I am going to stand for the borough of Percycross."
+
+"Papa!"
+
+"Yes. I dare say I'm a fool for my pains. It will cost me some money
+which I oughtn't to spend; and if I get in I don't know that I can do
+any good, or that it can do me any good. I suppose you think I'm very
+wrong?"
+
+"I am delighted,--and so will Clary be. I'm so much pleased! Why
+shouldn't you be in Parliament? I have always longed that you should
+go back to public life, though I have never liked to say so to you."
+
+"It is very kind of you to say it now, my dear."
+
+"And I feel it." There was no doubt of that, for, as she spoke, the
+tears were streaming from her eyes. "But will you succeed? Is there
+to be anybody against you?"
+
+"Yes, my dear; there is to be somebody against me. In fact, there
+will be three people against me; and probably I shall not succeed.
+Men such as I am do not have seats offered to them without a contest.
+But there is a chance. I was down at Percycross for two days last
+week, and now I've put out an address. There it is." Upon which he
+handed a copy of a placard to his daughter, who read it, no doubt,
+with more enthusiasm than did any of the free and independent
+electors to whom it was addressed.
+
+The story in regard to the borough of Percycross was as follows.
+There were going forward in the country at this moment preparations
+for a general election, which was to take place in October. The
+readers of this story have not as yet been troubled on this head,
+there having been no connection between that great matter and the
+small matters with which our tale has concerned itself. In the
+Parliament lately dissolved, the very old borough of Percycross,--or
+Percy St. Cross, as the place was properly called,--had displayed no
+political partiality, having been represented by two gentlemen, one
+of whom always followed the conservative leader, and the other the
+liberal leader, into the respective lobbies of the House of Commons.
+The borough had very nearly been curtailed of the privilege in regard
+to two members in the great Reform Bill which had been initiated
+and perfected and carried through as a whole by the almost unaided
+intellect and exertions of the great reformer of his age; but it had
+had its own luck, as the Irishmen say, and had been preserved intact.
+Now the wise men of Percycross, rejoicing in their salvation, and
+knowing that there might still be danger before them should they
+venture on a contest,--for bribery had not been unknown in previous
+contests at Percycross, nor petitions consequent upon bribery; and
+some men had marvelled that the borough should have escaped so
+long; and there was now supposed to be abroad a spirit of assumed
+virtue in regard to such matters under which Percycross might
+still be sacrificed if Percycross did not look very sharp after
+itself;--thinking of all this, the wise men at Percycross had
+concluded that it would be better, just for the present, to let
+things run smoothly, and to return their two old members. When the
+new broom which was to sweep up the dirt of corruption was not quite
+so new, they might return to the old game,--which was, in truth, a
+game very much loved in the old town of Percycross. So thought the
+wise men, and for a while it seemed that the wise men were to have
+their own way. But there were men at Percycross who were not wise,
+and who would have it that such an arrangement as this showed lack of
+spirit. The conservative foolish men at Percycross began by declaring
+that they could return two members for the borough if they pleased,
+and that they would do so, unless this and that were conceded to
+them. The liberal foolish men swore that they were ready for the
+battle. They would concede nothing, and would stand up and fight if
+the word concession were named to them. They would not only have one
+member, but would have half the aldermen, half the town-councillors,
+half the mayor, half the patronage in beadles, bell-ringers and
+bumbledom in general. Had the great reformer of the age given them
+household suffrage for nothing? The liberal foolish men of Percycross
+declared, and perhaps thought, that they could send two liberal
+members to Parliament. And so the borough grew hot. There was
+one very learned pundit in those parts, a pundit very learned in
+political matters, who thus prophesied to one of the proposed
+candidates;--"You'll spend a thousand pounds in the election. You
+won't get in, of course, but you'll petition. That'll be another
+thousand. You'll succeed there, and disfranchise the borough. It will
+be a great career, and no doubt you'll find it satisfactory. You
+mustn't show yourself in Percycross afterwards;--that's all." But the
+spirit was afloat, and the words of the pundit were of no avail. The
+liberal spirit had been set a going, and men went to work with the
+new lists of borough voters. By the end of August it was seen that
+there must be a contest. But who should be the new candidates?
+
+The old candidates were there,--one on each side: an old Tory and a
+young Radical. In telling our tale we will not go back to the old
+sins of the borough, or say aught but good of the past career of the
+members. Old Mr. Griffenbottom, the Tory, had been very generous with
+his purse, and was beloved, doubtless, by many in the borough. It
+is so well for a borough to have some one who is always ready with
+a fifty-pound note in this or that need! It is so comfortable in a
+borough to know that it can always have its subscription lists well
+headed! And the young Radical was popular throughout the county. No
+one could take a chair at a mechanics' meeting with better grace or
+more alacrity, or spin out his half-hour's speech with greater ease
+and volubility. And then he was a born gentleman, which is so great a
+recommendation for a Radical. So that, in fact, young Mr. Westmacott,
+though he did not spend so much money as old Griffenbottom,
+was almost as popular in the borough. There was no doubt about
+Griffenbottom and Westmacott,--if only the borough would have
+listened to its wise men and confined itself to the political
+guardianship of such excellent representatives! But the foolish men
+prevailed over the wise men, and it was decided that there should be
+a contest.
+
+It was an evil day for Griffenbottom when it was suggested to him
+that he should bring a colleague with him. Griffenbottom knew what
+this meant almost as well as the learned pundit whose words we
+have quoted. Griffenbottom had not been blessed with uncontested
+elections, and had run through many perils. He had spent what he was
+accustomed to call, when speaking of his political position among his
+really intimate friends, "a treasure" in maintaining the borough. He
+must often have considered within himself whether his whistle was
+worth the price. He had petitioned and been petitioned against, and
+had had evil things said of him, and had gone through the very heat
+of the fire of political warfare. But he had kept his seat, and now
+at last,--so he thought,--the ease and comfort of an unopposed return
+was to repay him for everything. Alas! how all this was changed; how
+his spirits sank within him, when he received that high-toned letter
+from his confidential agent, Mr. Trigger, in which he was invited
+to suggest the name of a colleague! "I'm sure you'll be rejoiced to
+hear, for the sake of the old borough," said Mr. Trigger, "that we
+feel confident of carrying the two seats." Could Mr. Trigger have
+heard the remarks which his patron made on reading that letter,
+Mr. Trigger would have thought that Mr. Griffenbottom was the most
+ungrateful member of Parliament in the world. What did not Mr.
+Griffenbottom owe to the borough of Percycross? Did he not owe all
+his position in the world, all his friends, the fact that he was
+to be seen on the staircases of Cabinet Ministers, and that he was
+called "honourable friend" by the sons of dukes,--did he not owe it
+all to the borough of Percycross? Mr. Trigger and other friends of
+his, felt secure in their conviction that they had made a man of
+Mr. Griffenbottom. Mr. Griffenbottom understood enough of all this
+to answer Mr. Trigger without inserting in his letter any of those
+anathemas which he uttered in the privacy of his own closet. He
+did, indeed, expostulate, saying, that he would of course suggest
+a colleague, if a colleague were required; but did not Mr. Trigger
+and his other friends in the dear old borough think that just at
+the present moment a pacific line of action would be best for the
+interests of the dear old borough? Mr. Trigger answered him very
+quickly, and perhaps a little sharply. The Liberals had decided upon
+having two men in the field, and therefore a pacific line of action
+was no longer possible. Mr. Griffenbottom hurried over to the dear
+old borough, still hoping,--but could do nothing. The scent of the
+battle was in the air, and the foolish men of Percycross were keen
+for blood. Mr. Griffenbottom smiled and promised, and declared to
+himself that there was no peace for the politician on this side
+the grave. He made known his desires,--or the desire rather of the
+borough,--to a certain gentleman connected with a certain club in
+London, and the gentleman in question on the following day waited
+upon Sir Thomas. Sir Thomas had always been true "to the party,"--so
+the gentleman in question was good enough to say. Everybody had
+regretted the loss of Sir Thomas from the House. The present
+opportunity of returning to it was almost unparalleled, seeing that
+thing was so nearly a certainty. Griffenbottom had always been at the
+top of the poll, and the large majority of the new voters were men in
+the employment of conservative masters. The gentleman in question was
+very clear in his explanation that there was a complete understanding
+on this matter between the employers and employed at Percycross. It
+was the nature of the Percycross artizan to vote as his master voted.
+They made boots, mustard, and paper at Percycross. The men in the
+mustard and paper trade were quite safe;--excellent men, who went
+in a line to the poll, and voted just as the master paper-makers
+and master mustard-makers desired. The gentleman from the club
+acknowledged that there was a difficulty about the boot-trade. All
+the world over, boots do affect radical sentiments. The master
+bootmakers,--there were four in the borough,--were decided; but the
+men could not be got at with any certainty.
+
+"Why should you wish to get at them?" demanded Sir Thomas.
+
+"No;--of course not; one doesn't wish to get at them," said the
+gentleman from the club,--"particularly as we are safe without them."
+Then he went into statistics, and succeeded in proving to Sir Thomas
+that there would be a hard fight. Sir Thomas, who was much pressed as
+to time, took a day to consider. "Did Mr. Griffenbottom intend to
+fight the battle with clean hands?" The gentleman from the club was
+eager in declaring that everything would be done in strict accordance
+with the law. He could give no guarantee as to expenses, but presumed
+it would be about L300,--perhaps L400,--certainly under L500. The
+other party no doubt would bribe. They always did. And on their
+behalf,--on behalf of Westmacott and Co.,--there would be treating,
+and intimidation, and subornation, and fictitious voting, and every
+sin to which an election is subject. It always was so with the
+Liberals at Percycross. But Sir Thomas might be sure that on his side
+everything would be--"serene." Sir Thomas at last consented to go
+down to Percycross, and see one or two of his proposed supporters.
+
+He did go down, and was considerably disgusted. Mr. Trigger took him
+in hand and introduced him to three or four gentlemen in the borough.
+Sir Thomas, in his first interview with Mr. Trigger, declared his
+predilection for purity. "Yes, yes; yes, yes; of course," said Mr.
+Trigger. Mr. Trigger, seeing that Sir Thomas had come among them
+as a stranger to whom had been offered the very great honour of
+standing for the borough of Percycross,--offered to him before
+he had subscribed a shilling to any of the various needs of the
+borough,--was not disposed to listen to dictation. But Sir Thomas
+insisted. "It's as well that we should understand each other at
+once," said Sir Thomas. "I should throw up the contest in the middle
+of it,--even if I were winning,--if I suspected that money was being
+spent improperly." How often has the same thing been said by a
+candidate, and what candidate ever has thrown up the sponge when he
+was winning? Mr. Trigger was at first disposed to tell Sir Thomas
+that he was interfering in things beyond his province. Had it not
+been that the day was late, and that the Liberals were supposed to
+be hard at work,--that the candidate was wanted at once, Mr. Trigger
+would have shown his spirit. As it was he could only assent with a
+growl, and say that he had supposed all that was to be taken as a
+matter of course.
+
+"But I desire to have it absolutely understood by all those who act
+with me in this matter," said Sir Thomas. "At any rate I will not be
+petitioned against."
+
+"Petitions never come to much at Percycross," said Mr. Trigger. He
+certainly ought to have known, as he had had to do with a great many
+of them. Then they started to call upon two or three of the leading
+conservative gentlemen. "If I were you, I wouldn't say anything about
+that, Sir Thomas."
+
+"About what?"
+
+"Well;--bribery and petitions, and the rest of it. Gentlemen when
+they're consulted don't like to be told of those sort of things.
+There has been a little of it, perhaps. Who can say?" Who, indeed, if
+not Mr. Trigger,--in regard to Percycross? "But it's better to let
+all that die out of itself. It never came to much in Percycross. I
+don't think there was ever more than ten shillings to be had for a
+vote. And I've known half-a-crown a piece buy fifty of 'em," he added
+emphatically. "It never was of much account, and it's best to say
+nothing about it."
+
+"It's best perhaps to make one's intentions known," said Sir Thomas
+mildly. Mr. Trigger hummed and hawed, and shook his head, and put
+his hands into his trousers pockets;--and in his heart of hearts he
+despised Sir Thomas.
+
+On that day Sir Thomas was taken to see four gentlemen of note in
+Percycross,--a mustard-maker, a paper-maker, and two bootmakers. The
+mustard-maker was very cordial in offering his support. He would do
+anything for the cause. Trigger knew him. The men were all right
+at his mills. Then Sir Thomas said a word. He was a great foe to
+intimidation;--he wouldn't for worlds have the men coerced. The
+mustard-maker laughed cheerily. "We know what all that comes to at
+Percycross; don't we, Trigger? We shall all go straight from this
+place;--shan't we, Trigger? And he needn't ask any questions;--need
+he, Trigger?" "Lord 'a mercy, no," said Trigger, who was beginning to
+be disgusted. Then they went on to the paper-maker's.
+
+The paper-maker was a very polite gentleman, who seemed to take
+great delight in shaking Sir Thomas by the hand, and who agreed
+with energy to every word Sir Thomas said. Trigger stood a little
+apart at the paper-maker's, as soon as the introduction had been
+performed,--perhaps disapproving in part of the paper-maker's
+principles. "Certainly not, Sir Thomas; not for the world, Sir
+Thomas. I'm clean against anything of that kind, Sir Thomas," said
+the paper-maker. Sir Thomas assured the paper-maker that he was glad
+to hear it;--and he was glad. As they went to the first bootmaker's,
+Mr. Trigger communicated to Sir Thomas a certain incident in the
+career of Mr. Spiveycomb, the paper-maker. "He's got a contract
+for paper from the 'Walhamshire Herald,' Sir Thomas;--the largest
+circulation anywhere in these parts. Griffenbottom gets him that; and
+if ere a man of his didn't vote as he bade 'em, he wouldn't keep 'em,
+not a day. I don't know that we've a man in Percycross so stanch as
+old Spiveycomb." This was Mr. Trigger's revenge.
+
+The first bootmaker had very little to say for himself, and hardly
+gave Sir Thomas much opportunity of preaching his doctrine of purity.
+"I hope you'll do something for our trade, Sir Thomas," said the
+first bootmaker. Sir Thomas explained that he did not at present see
+his way to the doing of anything special for the bootmakers; and then
+took his leave. "He's all right," said Mr. Trigger. "He means it.
+He's all right. And he'll say a word to his men too, though I don't
+know that much 'll come of it. They're a rum lot. If they're put out
+here to-day, they can get in there to-morrow. They're a cankery
+independent sort of chaps, are bootmakers. Now we'll go and see old
+Pile. He'll have to second one of you,--will Pile. He's a sort of
+father of the borough in the way of Conservatives. And look here, Sir
+Thomas;--let him talk. Don't you say much to him. It's no use in life
+talking to old Pile." Sir Thomas said nothing, but he determined that
+he would speak to old Pile just as freely as he had to Mr. Trigger
+himself.
+
+"Eh;--ah;"--said old Pile; "you're Sir Thomas Underwood, are you? And
+you wants to go into Parliament?"
+
+"If it please you and your townsmen to send me there."
+
+"Yes;--that's just it. But if it don't please?"
+
+"Why, then I'll go home again."
+
+"Just so;--but the people here ain't what they are at other places,
+Sir Thomas Underwood. I've seen many elections here, Sir Thomas."
+
+"No doubt you have, Mr. Pile."
+
+"Over a dozen;--haven't you, Mr. Pile?" said Trigger.
+
+"And carried on a deal better than they have been since you meddled
+with them," said Mr. Pile, turning upon Trigger. "They used to do the
+thing here as it should be done, and nobody wasn't extortionate, nor
+yet cross-grained. They're changing a deal about these things, I'm
+told; but they're changing all for the worse. They're talking of
+purity,--purity,--purity; and what does it all amount to? Men is
+getting greedier every day."
+
+"We mean to be pure at this election, Mr. Pile," said Sir Thomas. Mr.
+Pile looked him hard in the face. "At least I do, Mr. Pile. I can
+answer for myself." Mr. Pile turned away his face, and opened his
+mouth, and put his hand upon his stomach, and made a grimace, as
+though,--as though he were not quite as well as he might be. And such
+was the case with him. The idea of purity of election at Percy-cross
+did in truth make him feel very sick. It was an idea which he hated
+with his whole heart. There was to him something absolutely mean and
+ignoble in the idea of a man coming forward to represent a borough in
+Parliament without paying the regular fees. That somebody, somewhere,
+should make a noise about it,--somebody who was impalpable to him, in
+some place that was to him quite another world,--was intelligible.
+It might be all very well in Manchester and such-like disagreeable
+places. But that candidates should come down to Percycross and talk
+about purity there, was a thing abominable to him. He had nothing to
+get by bribery. To a certain extent he was willing to pay money in
+bribery himself. But that a stranger should come to the borough and
+want the seat without paying for it was to him so distasteful, that
+this assurance from the mouth of one of the candidates did make him
+very sick.
+
+"I think you'd better go back to London, Sir Thomas," said Mr. Pile,
+as soon as he recovered himself sufficiently to express his opinion.
+
+"You mean that my ideas as to standing won't suit the borough."
+
+"No, they won't, Sir Thomas. I don't suppose anybody else will tell
+you so,--but I'll do it. Why should, a poor man lose his day's wages
+for the sake of making you a Parliament man? What have you done for
+any of 'em?"
+
+"Half an hour would take a working man to the poll and back," argued
+Sir Thomas.
+
+"That's all you know about elections. That's not the way we manage
+matters here. There won't be any place of business agait that day."
+Then Mr. Trigger whispered a few words to Mr. Pile. Mr. Pile repeated
+the grimace which he had made before, and turned on his heel although
+he was in his own parlour, as though he were going to leave them.
+But he thought better of this, and turned again. "I always vote Blue
+myself," said Mr. Pile, "and I don't suppose I shall do otherwise
+this time. But I shan't take no trouble. There's a many things that I
+don't like, Sir Thomas. Good morning, Sir Thomas. It's all very well
+for Mr. Trigger. He knows where the butter lies for his bread."
+
+"A very disagreeable old man," said Sir Thomas, when they had left
+the house, thinking that as Mr. Trigger had been grossly insulted by
+the bootmaker he would probably coincide in this opinion.
+
+But Mr. Trigger knew his townsman well, and was used to him. "He's
+better than some of 'em, Sir Thomas. He'll do as much as he says, and
+more. Now there was that chap Spicer at the mustard works. They say
+Westmacott people are after him, and if they can make it worth his
+while he'll go over. There's some talk about Apothecary's Hall;--I
+don't know what it is. But you couldn't buy old Pile if you were to
+give him the Queen and all the Royal family to make boots for."
+
+This was to have been the last of Sir Thomas's preliminary visits
+among the leading Conservatives of the borough, but as they were
+going back to the "Percy Standard,"--for such was the name of the
+Blue inn in the borough,--Mr. Trigger saw a gentleman in black
+standing at an open hall door, and immediately proposed that they
+should just say a word or two to Mr. Pabsby. "Wesleyan minister,"
+whispered the Percycross bear-leader into the ear of his bear;--"and
+has a deal to say to many of the men, and more to the women. Can't
+say what he'll do;--split his vote, probably." Then he introduced
+the two men, explaining the cause of Sir Thomas's presence in the
+borough. Mr. Pabsby was delighted to make the acquaintance of Sir
+Thomas, and asked the two gentlemen into the house. In truth he was
+delighted. The hours often ran heavily with him, and here there was
+something for him to do. "You'll give us a help, Mr. Pabsby?" said
+Mr. Trigger. Mr. Pabsby smiled and rubbed his hands, and paused and
+laid his head on one side.
+
+"I hope he will," said Sir Thomas, "if he is of our way cf thinking,
+otherwise I should be sorry to ask him." Still Mr. Pabsby said
+nothing;--but he smiled very sweetly, and laid his head a little
+lower.
+
+
+[Illustration: Still Mr. Pabsby said nothing;--but he smiled
+very sweetly, and laid his head a little lower.]
+
+
+"He knows we're on the respectable side," said Mr. Trigger. "The
+Wesleyans now are most as one as the Church of England,--in the way
+of not being roughs and rowdies." Sir Thomas, who did not know Mr.
+Pabsby, was afraid that he would be offended at this; but he showed
+no sign of offence as he continued to rub his hands. Mr. Pabsby was
+meditating his speech.
+
+"We're a little hurried, Mr. Pabsby," said Mr. Trigger; "perhaps
+you'll think of it."
+
+But Mr. Pabsby was not going to let them escape in that way. It
+was not every day that he had a Sir Thomas, or a candidate for the
+borough, or even a Mr. Trigger, in that little parlour. The fact was
+that Mr. Trigger, who generally knew what he was about, had made a
+mistake. Sir Thomas, who was ready enough to depart, saw that an
+immediate escape was impossible. "Sir Thomas," began Mr. Pabsby, in
+a soft, greasy voice,--a voice made up of pretence, politeness and
+saliva,--"if you will give me three minutes to express myself on this
+subject I shall be obliged to you."
+
+"Certainly," said Sir Thomas, sitting bolt upright in his chair, and
+holding his hat as though he were determined to go directly the three
+minutes were over.
+
+"A minister of the Gospel in this town is placed in a peculiar
+position, Sir Thomas," said Mr. Pabsby very slowly, "and of all
+the ministers of religion in Percycross mine is the most peculiar.
+In this matter I would wish to be guided wholly by duty, and if I
+could see my way clearly I would at once declare it to you. But, Sir
+Thomas, I owe much to the convictions of my people."
+
+"Which way do you mean to vote?" asked Mr. Trigger.
+
+Mr. Pabsby did not even turn his face at this interruption. "A
+private man, Sir Thomas, may follow the dictates of--of--of his own
+heart, perhaps." Here he paused, expecting to be encouraged by some
+words. But Sir Thomas had acquired professionally a knowledge that
+to such a speaker as Mr. Pabsby any rejoinder or argument was like
+winding up a clock. It is better to allow such clocks to run down.
+"With me, I have to consider every possible point. What will my
+people wish? Some of them are eager in the cause of reform, Sir
+Thomas; and some others--"
+
+"We shall lose the train," said Mr. Trigger, jumping up and putting
+on his hat.
+
+"I'm afraid we shall," said Sir Thomas rising, but not putting on
+his.
+
+"Half a minute," said Mr. Pabsby pleading, but not rising from his
+chair. "Perhaps you will do me the honour of calling on me when you
+are again here in Percycross. I shall have the greatest pleasure in
+discussing a few matters with you, Sir Thomas; and then, if I can
+give you my poor help, it will give me and Mrs. Pabsby the most
+sincere pleasure." Mrs. Pabsby had now entered the room, and was
+introduced; but Trigger would not sit down again, nor take off his
+hat. He boldly marshalled the way to the door, while Sir Thomas
+followed, subject as he came to the eloquence of Mr. Pabsby. "If I
+can only see my way clearly, Sir Thomas," were the last words which
+Mr. Pabsby spoke.
+
+"He'll give one to Griffenbottom, certainly," said Mr. Trigger.
+"Westmacott 'll probably have the other. I thought perhaps your title
+might have gone down with him, but it didn't seem to take."
+
+All this was anything but promising, anything but comfortable; and
+yet before he went to bed that night Sir Thomas had undertaken to
+stand. In such circumstances it is very hard for a man to refuse. He
+feels that a certain amount of trouble has been taken on his behalf,
+that retreat will be cowardly, and that the journey for nothing will
+be personally disagreeable to his own feelings. And then, too, there
+was that renewed ambition in his breast,--an ambition which six
+months ago he would have declared to be at rest for ever,--but
+which prompted him, now as strongly as ever, to go forward and do
+something. It is so easy to go and see;--so hard to retreat when one
+has seen. He had not found Percycross to be especially congenial
+to him. He had felt himself to be out of his element there,--among
+people with whom he had no sympathies; and he felt also that he had
+been unfitted for this kind of thing by the life which he had led for
+the last few years. Still he undertook to stand.
+
+"Who is coming forward on the other side?" he asked Mr. Trigger late
+at night, when this matter had been decided in regard to himself.
+
+"Westmacott, of course," said Trigger, "and I'm told that the real
+Rads of the place have got hold of a fellow named Moggs."
+
+"Moggs!" ejaculated Sir Thomas.
+
+"Yes;--Moggs. The Young Men's Reform Association is bringing him
+forward. He's a Trades' Union man, and a Reform Leaguer, and all that
+kind of thing. I shouldn't be surprised if he got in. They say he's
+got money."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+THE LIBERALS OF PERCYCROSS.
+
+
+Yes;--Ontario Moggs was appalled, delighted, exalted, and nearly
+frightened out of his wits by an invitation, conveyed to him by
+certain eager spirits of the town, to come down and stand on the real
+radical interest for the borough of Percycross. The thing was not
+suggested to him till a day or two after Sir Thomas had been sounded,
+and he was then informed that not an hour was to be lost. The
+communication was made in the little back parlour of the Cheshire
+Cheese, and Moggs was expected to give an answer then and there. He
+stood with his hand on his brow for five minutes, and then asked that
+special question which should always come first on such occasions.
+Would it cost any money? Well;--yes. The eager spirits of Percycross
+thought that it would cost something. They were forced to admit that
+Percycross was not one of those well-arranged boroughs in which the
+expenses of an election are all defrayed by the public spirit of the
+citizens. It soon became clear that the deputation had waited upon
+Moggs, not only because Moggs was a good Radical, but because also
+Moggs was supposed to be a Radical with a command of money. Ontario
+frowned and expressed an opinion that all elections should be made
+absolutely free to the candidates. "And everybody ought to go to
+'eaven, Mr. Moggs," said the leading member of the deputation, "but
+everybody don't, 'cause things ain't as they ought to be." There was
+no answer to be made to this. Ontario could only strike his forehead
+and think. It was clear to him that he could not give an affirmative
+answer that night, and he therefore, with some difficulty, arranged
+an adjournment of the meeting till the following afternoon at 2 P.M.
+"We must go down by the 4.45 express to-morrow," said the leading
+member of the deputation, who even by that arrangement would subject
+himself to the loss of two days' wages,--for he was a foreman in the
+establishment of Mr. Spicer the mustard-maker,--and whose allowance
+for expenses would not admit of his sleeping away from home a second
+night. Ontario departed, promising to be ready with his answer by 2
+P.M. on the following day.
+
+How bright with jewels was the crown now held before his eyes, and
+yet how unapproachable, how far beyond his grasp! To be a member of
+Parliament, to speak in that august assembly instead of wasting his
+eloquence on the beery souls of those who frequented the Cheshire
+Cheese, to be somebody in the land at his early age,--something so
+infinitely superior to a maker of boots! A member of Parliament was
+by law an esquire, and therefore a gentleman. Ralph Newton was not
+a member of Parliament;--not half so great a fellow as a member of
+Parliament. Surely if he were to go to Polly Neefit as a member of
+Parliament Polly would reject him no longer! And to what might it not
+lead? He had visions before his eyes of very beautiful moments in
+his future life, in which, standing, as it were, on some well-chosen
+rostrum in that great House, he would make the burning thoughts of
+his mind, the soaring aspirations of his heart, audible to all the
+people. How had Cobden begun his career,--and Bright? Had it not
+been in this way? Why should not he be as great,--greater than
+either;--greater, because in these coming days a man of the people
+would be able to wield a power more extensive than the people had
+earned for themselves in former days? And then, as he walked alone
+through the streets, he took to making speeches,--some such speeches
+as he would make when he stood up in his place in the House of
+Commons as the member for Percycross. The honourable member for
+Percycross! There was something ravishing in the sound. Would not
+that sound be pleasant to the ears of Polly Neefit?
+
+But then, was not the thing as distant as it was glorious? How could
+he be member for Percycross, seeing that in all matters he was
+subject to his father? His father hated the very name of the Cheshire
+Cheese, and was, in every turn and feeling of his life, diametrically
+opposed to his son's sentiments. He would, nevertheless, go to his
+father and demand assistance. If on such an occasion as this his
+father should give him a stone when he asked for bread, he and his
+father must be two! "If, when such a prospect as this is held out to
+his son, he cannot see it," said Ontario, "then he can see nothing!"
+But yet he was sure that his father wouldn't see it.
+
+To his extreme astonishment Mr. Moggs senior did see it. It was some
+time before Mr. Moggs senior clearly understood the proposition which
+was made to him, but when he did he became alive to the honour,--and
+perhaps profit,--of having a member of his firm in Parliament. Of
+politics in the abstract Mr. Moggs senior knew very little. Nor,
+indeed, did he care much. In matters referring to trade he was a
+Conservative, because he was a master. He liked to be able to manage
+his people, and to pay 5_s._ 3_d._ instead of 5_s._ 8_d._ for the
+making of a pair of boots. He hated the Cheshire Cheese because his
+son went there, and because his son entertained strange and injurious
+ideas which were propagated at that low place. But if the Cheshire
+Cheese would send his son to Parliament, Mr. Moggs did not know
+but what the Cheshire Cheese might be very well. At any rate, he
+undertook to pay the bills, if Ontario, his son, were brought forward
+as a candidate for the borough. He lost his head so completely in the
+glory of the thing, that it never occurred to him to ask what might
+be the probable amount of the expenditure. "There ain't no father in
+all London as 'd do more for his son than I would, if only I see'd
+there was something in it," said Moggs senior, with a tear in his
+eye. Moggs junior was profuse in gratitude, profuse in obedience,
+profuse in love. Oh, heavens, what a golden crown was there now
+within his grasp!
+
+All this occurred between the father and son early in the morning at
+Shepherd's Bush, whither the son had gone out to the father after a
+night of feverish longing and ambition. They went into town together,
+on the top of the omnibus, and Ontario felt that he was being
+carried heavenwards. What a heaven had he before him, even in that
+fortnight's canvass which it would be his glory to undertake! What
+truths he would tell to the people, how he would lead them with him
+by political revelations that should be almost divine, how he would
+extract from them bursts of rapturous applause! To explain to them
+that labour is the salt of the earth;--that would be his mission.
+And then, how sweet to teach them the value, the inestimable value,
+of the political privilege lately accorded to them,--or, as Ontario
+would put it, lately wrested on their behalf from the hands of an
+aristocracy which was more timid even than it was selfish;--how sweet
+to explain this, and then to instruct them, afterwards, that it was
+their duty now, having got this great boon for themselves, to see
+at once that it should be extended to those below them. "Let the
+first work of household suffrage be a demand for manhood suffrage."
+This had been enunciated by Ontario Moggs with great effect at the
+Cheshire Cheese;--and now, as the result of such enunciation, he was
+going down to Percycross to stand as a candidate for the borough! He
+was almost drunk with delight as he sat upon the knife-board of the
+Shepherd's Bush omnibus, thinking of it all.
+
+He, too, went down to Percycross, making a preliminary journey,--as
+had done Sir Thomas Underwood,--timing his arrival there a day or
+two after the departure of the lawyer. Alas, he, also, met much to
+disappoint him even at that early period of the contest. The people
+whom he was taken to see were not millionaires and tradesmen in
+a large way of business, but leading young men of warm political
+temperaments. This man was president of a mechanics' institute, that
+secretary to an amalgamation of unions for general improvement, and
+a third chairman of the Young Men's Reform Association. They were
+delighted to see him, and were very civil; but he soon found that
+they were much more anxious to teach him than they were to receive
+his political lessons. When he began, as unfortunately he did very
+early in his dealings with them, to open out his own views, he soon
+found that they had views also to open out. He was to represent
+them,--that is to say, become the mouthpiece of their ideas. He had
+been selected because he was supposed to have some command of money.
+Of course he would have to address the people in the Mechanics' Hall;
+but the chairman of the Young Men's Reform Association was very
+anxious to tell him what to say on that occasion. "I am accustomed to
+addressing people," said Ontario Moggs, with a considerable accession
+of dignity.
+
+He had the satisfaction of addressing the people, and the people
+received him kindly. But he thought he observed that the applause was
+greater when the secretary of the Amalgamation-of-Improvement-Unions
+spoke, and he was sure that the enthusiasm for the Young Men's
+chairman mounted much higher than had done any ardour on his own
+behalf. And he was astonished to find that these young men were just
+as fluent as himself. He did think, indeed, that they did not go
+quite so deep into the matter as he did, that they had not thought
+out great questions so thoroughly, but they had a way of saying
+things which,--which would have told even at the Cheshire Cheese. The
+result of all this was, that at the end of three days,--though he
+was, no doubt, candidate for the borough of Percycross, and in that
+capacity a great man in Percycross,--he did not seem to himself to
+be so great as he had been when he made the journey down from London.
+There was a certain feeling that he was a cat's-paw, brought there
+for certain objects which were not his objects,--because they wanted
+money, and some one who would be fool enough to fight a losing
+battle! He did not reap all that meed of personal admiration for his
+eloquence which he expected.
+
+And, then, during these three days there arose another question, the
+discussion of which embarrassed him not a little. Mr. Westmacott was
+in the town, and there was a question whether he and Mr. Westmacott
+were to join forces. It was understood that Mr. Westmacott and Mr.
+Westmacott's leading friends objected to this; but the chairmen of
+the young men, and the presidents and the secretaries on the Radical
+side put their heads together, and declared that if Mr. Westmacott
+were proud they would run their horse alone;--they would vote for
+Moggs, and for Moggs only. Or else,--as it was whispered,--they would
+come to terms with Griffenbottom, and see that Sir Thomas was sent
+back to London. The chairmen, and the presidents, and the secretaries
+were powerful enough to get the better of Mr. Westmacott, and large
+placards were printed setting forward the joint names of Westmacott
+and Moggs. The two liberal candidates were to employ the same agent,
+and were to canvass together. This was all very well,--was the very
+thing which Moggs should have desired. But it was all arranged
+without any consultation with him, and he felt that the objection
+which had been raised was personal to himself. Worse than all, when
+he was brought face to face with Mr. Westmacott he had not a word
+to say for himself! He tried it and failed. Mr. Westmacott had been
+a member of Parliament, and was a gentleman. Ontario, for aught he
+himself knew, might have called upon Mr. Westmacott for the amount
+of Mr. Westmacott's little bill. He caught himself calling Mr.
+Westmacott, sir, and almost wished that he could bite out his own
+tongue. He felt that he was a nobody in the interview, and that the
+chairmen, the secretaries, and the presidents were regretting their
+bargain, and saying among themselves that they had done very badly in
+bringing down Ontario Moggs as a candidate for their borough. There
+were moments before he left Percycross in which he was almost tempted
+to resign.
+
+But he left the town the accepted candidate of his special friends,
+and was assured, with many parting grasps of the hand on the
+platform, that he would certainly be brought in at the top of the
+poll. Another little incident should be mentioned. He had been asked
+by the electioneering agent for a small trifle of some hundred pounds
+towards the expenses, and this, by the generosity of his father, he
+had been able to give. "We shall get along now like a house on fire,"
+said the agent, as he pocketed the cheque. Up to that moment there
+may have been doubts upon the agent's mind.
+
+As he went back to London he acknowledged to himself that he had
+failed hitherto,--he had failed in making that impression at
+Percycross which would have been becoming to him as the future member
+of Parliament for the borough; but he gallantly resolved that he
+would do better in the future. He would speak in such a way that the
+men of Percycross should listen to him and admire. He would make
+occasion for himself. He thought that he could do better than Mr.
+Westmacott,--put more stuff in what he had got to say. And, whatever
+might happen to him, he would hold up his head. Why should he not be
+as good a man as Westmacott? It was the man that was needed,--not
+the outside trappings. Then he asked himself a question whether, as
+trappings themselves were so trivial, a man was necessarily mean who
+dealt in trappings. He did not remember to have heard of a bootmaker
+in Parliament. But there should be a bootmaker in Parliament
+soon;--and thus he plucked up his courage.
+
+On his journey down to Percycross he had thought that immediately on
+his return to London he would go across to Hendon, and take advantage
+of his standing as a candidate for the borough; but as he returned he
+resolved that he would wait till the election was over. He would go
+to Polly with all his honours on his head.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+RALPH NEWTON'S DECISION.
+
+
+Ontario Moggs was at Percycross when Ralph Newton was making his
+formal offer to Polly Neefit. Ralph when he had made his offer
+returned to London with mixed feelings. He had certainly been
+oppressed at times by the conviction that he must make the offer even
+though it went against the grain with him to do so;--and at these
+moments he had not failed to remind himself that he was about to make
+himself miserable for life because he had been weak enough to take
+pecuniary assistance in the hour of his temporary necessities from
+the hands of Polly's father. Now he had made his offer; it had not
+been accepted, and he was still free. He could see his way out of
+that dilemma without dishonour. But then that dilemma became very
+much smaller to his sight when it was surmounted,--as is the nature
+with all dilemmas; and the other dilemma, which would have been
+remedied had Polly accepted him, again loomed very large. And as he
+looked back at the matrimonial dilemma which he had escaped, and
+at Polly standing before him, comely, healthy, and honest, such a
+pleasant armful, and so womanly withal,--so pleasant a girl if only
+she was not to be judged and sentenced by others beside himself,--he
+almost thought that that dilemma was one which he could have borne
+without complaint. But Polly's suggestion that they should allow a
+year to run round in order that they might learn to know each other
+was one which he could not entertain. He had but three days in which
+to give an answer to his uncle, and up to this time two alternatives
+had been open to him,--the sale of his reversion and independence, or
+Polly and the future lordship of Newton. He had thought that there
+was nothing but to choose. It had not occurred to him that Polly
+would raise any objection. He had felt neither fear nor hope in that
+direction. It followed as a consequence now that the lordship must
+go. He would not, however, make up his mind that it should go till
+the last moment.
+
+On the following morning he was thinking that he might as well go to
+the shop in Conduit Street, feeling that he could encounter Neefit
+without any qualms of conscience, when Mr. Neefit came to him. This
+was certainly a better arrangement. It was easier to talk of his
+own affairs sitting at ease in his own arm-chair, than to carry on
+the discussion among the various sporting garments which adorned Mr.
+Neefit's little back room, subject to interruption from customers,
+and possibly within the hearing of Mr. Waddle and Herr Bawwah.
+Neefit, seated at the end of the sofa in Ralph's comfortable room,
+looking out of his saucer eyes with all his energy, was in a certain
+degree degrading,--but was not quite so degrading as Neefit at his
+own barn-door in Conduit Street. "I was just coming to you," he said,
+as he made the breeches-maker welcome.
+
+"Well;--yes; but I thought I'd catch you here, Captain. Them men
+of mine has such long ears! That German who lets on that he don't
+understand only just a word or two of English, hears everything
+through a twelve-inch brick wall. Polly told me as you'd been with
+her."
+
+"I suppose so, Mr. Neefit."
+
+"Oh, she ain't one as 'd keep anything from me. She's open and
+straightforward, anyways."
+
+"So I found her."
+
+"Now look here, Captain. I've just one word to say about her.
+Stick to her." Ralph was well aware that he must explain the exact
+circumstances in which he stood to the man who was to have been his
+father-in-law, but hardly knew how to begin his explanation. "She
+ain't nowise again you," continued Mr. Neefit. "She owned as much
+when I put her through her facings. I did put her through her facings
+pretty tightly. 'What is it that you want, Miss?' said I. 'D' you
+want to have a husband, or d' you want to be an old maid?' They don't
+like that word old maid;--not as used again themselves, don't any
+young woman."
+
+"Polly will never be an old maid," said Ralph.
+
+"She owned as she didn't want that. 'I suppose I'll have to take some
+of 'em some day,' she said. Lord, how pretty she did look as she said
+it;--just laughing and crying, smiling and pouting all at once. She
+ain't a bad 'un to look at, Captain?"
+
+"Indeed she is not."
+
+"Nor yet to go. Do you stick to her. Them's my words. 'D' you want
+to have that ugly bootmaker?' said I. 'He ain't ugly,' said she. 'D'
+you want to have him, Miss?' said I. 'No, I don't,' said she. 'Well!'
+said I. 'But I do know him,' said Polly, 'and I don't know Mr. Newton
+no more than Adam!' Them were her very words, Captain. Do you stick
+to her, Captain. I'll tell you what. Let's all go down to Margate
+together for a week." That was Mr. Neefit's plan of action.
+
+Then Ralph got up from his easy-chair and began his explanation. He
+couldn't very well go down to Margate, delightful as it would be to
+sit upon the sands with Polly. He was so situated that he must at
+once decide as to the sale of his property at Newton. Mr. Neefit put
+his hands in his pockets, and sat perfectly silent, listening to his
+young friend's explanation. If Polly would have accepted him at once,
+Ralph went on to explain, everything would have been straight; but,
+as she would not do so, he must take his uncle's offer. He had no
+other means of extricating himself from his embarrassments. "Why, Mr.
+Neefit, I could not look you in the face unless I were prepared to
+pay you your money," he said.
+
+"Drat that," replied Neefit, and then again he listened.
+
+Ralph went on. He could not go on long in his present condition. His
+bill for L500 to Mr. Horsball of the Moonbeam was coming round. He
+literally had not L20 in his possession to carry on the war. His
+uncle's offer would be withdrawn if it were not accepted the day
+after to-morrow. Nobody else would give half so much. The thing must
+be done, and then;--why, then he would have nothing to offer to Polly
+worthy of her acceptance. "Bother," said Mr. Neefit, who had not once
+taken his eyes off Ralph's face. Ralph said that that might be all
+very well, but such were the facts. "You ain't that soft that you're
+going to let 'em rob you of the estate?" said the breeches-maker in
+a tone of horror. Ralph raised his hands and his eyebrows together.
+Yes;--that was what he intended to do.
+
+"There shan't be nothing of the kind," said the breeches-maker.
+"What! L7,000 a year, ain't it? All in land, ain't it? And it must
+be your own, let 'em do what they will; mustn't it?" He paused a
+moment, and Ralph nodded his head. "What you have to do is to get a
+wife,--and a son before any of 'em can say Jack Robinson. Lord bless
+you! Just spit at 'em if they talks of buying it. S'pose the old gent
+was to go off all along of apperplexy the next day, how'd you feel
+then? Like cutting your throat;--wouldn't you, Captain?"
+
+"But my uncle's life is very good."
+
+"He ain't got no receipt against kingdom come, I dare say." Ralph was
+surprised by his tradesman's eloquence and wit. "You have a chick of
+your own, and then you'll know as it'll be yours some way or other.
+If I'd the chance I'd sooner beg, borrow, starve, or die, before I'd
+sell it;--let alone working, Captain." There was satire too as well
+as eloquence in the breeches-maker. "No;--you must run your chance,
+somehow."
+
+"I don't see my way," said Ralph.
+
+"You have got something, Captain;--something of your own?"
+
+"Well;--just enough to pay my debts, if all were sold, and buy myself
+a rope to hang myself."
+
+"I'll pay your debts, Captain."
+
+"I couldn't hear of it, Mr. Neefit."
+
+"As for not hearing of it,--that's bother. You do hear of it now. And
+how much more do you want to keep you? You shall have what you want.
+You meant honest along of Polly yesterday, and you mean honest now."
+Ralph winced, but he did not deny what Neefit said, nor aught that
+was implied in the saying. "We'll bring you and Polly together, and I
+tell you she'll come round." Ralph shook his head. "Anyways you shall
+have the money;--there now. We'll have a bit of a paper, and if this
+marriage don't come off there'll be the money to come back, and five
+per cent. when the old gent dies."
+
+"But I might die first."
+
+"We'll insure your life, Captain. Only we must be upon the square."
+
+"Oh, yes," said Ralph.
+
+"I'd rather a'most lose it all than think such a chance should be
+missed. L7,000 a year, and all in land? When one knows how hard it is
+to get, to think of selling it!"
+
+Ralph made no positive promise, but when Mr. Neefit left him, there
+was,--so at least thought Mr. Neefit,--an implied understanding that
+"the Captain" would at once put an end to this transaction between
+him and his uncle. And yet Ralph didn't feel quite certain. The
+breeches-maker had been generous,--very generous, and very trusting;
+but he hated the man's generosity and confidence. The breeches-maker
+had got such a hold of him that he seemed to have lost all power of
+thinking and acting for himself. And then such a man as he was, with
+his staring round eyes, and heavy face, and dirty hands, and ugly
+bald head! There is a baldness that is handsome and noble, and a
+baldness that is peculiarly mean and despicable. Neefit's baldness
+was certainly of the latter order. Now Moggs senior, who was grey and
+not bald, was not bad looking,--at a little distance. His face when
+closely inspected was poor and greedy, but the general effect at a
+passing glance was not contemptible. Moggs might have been a banker,
+or an officer in the Commissariat, or a clerk in the Treasury. A
+son-in-law would have had hopes of Moggs. But nothing of the kind was
+possible with Neefit. One would be forced to explain that he was a
+respectable tradesman in Conduit Street in order that he might not be
+taken for a dealer in potatoes from Whitechapel. He was hopeless. And
+yet he had taken upon himself the absolute management of all Ralph
+Newton's affairs!
+
+Ralph was very unhappy, and in his misery he went to Sir Thomas's
+chambers. This was about four o'clock in the day, at which hour Sir
+Thomas was almost always in his rooms. But Stemm with much difficulty
+succeeded in making him believe that the lawyer was not at home.
+Stemm at this time was much disturbed by his master's terrible
+resolution to try the world again, to stand for a seat in Parliament,
+and to put himself once more in the way of work and possible
+promotion. Stemm had condemned the project,--but, nevertheless,
+took glory in it. What if his master should become,--should
+become anything great and magnificent. Stemm had often groaned in
+silence,--had groaned unconsciously, that his master should be
+nothing. He loved his master thoroughly,--loving no one else in
+the whole world,--and sympathised with him acutely. Still he had
+condemned the project. "There's so many of them, Sir Thomas, as
+is only wanting to put their fingers into somebody's eyes." "No
+doubt, Stemm, no doubt," said Sir Thomas; "and as well into mine as
+another's." "That's it, Sir Thomas." "But I'll just run down and
+see, Stemm." And so it had been settled. Stemm, who had always hated
+Ralph Newton, and who now regarded his master's time as more precious
+than ever, would hardly give any answer at all to Ralph's enquiries.
+His master might be at home at Fulham,--probably was. Where should
+a gentleman so likely be as at home,--that is, when he wasn't in
+chambers? "Anyways, he's not here," said Stemm, bobbing his head, and
+holding the door ready to close it. Ralph was convinced, then dined
+at his club, and afterwards went down to Fulham. He had heard nothing
+from Stemm, or elsewhere, of the intended candidature.
+
+Sir Thomas was not at Fulham, nor did the girls know aught of his
+whereabouts. But the great story was soon told. Papa was going to
+stand for Percycross. "We are so glad," said Mary Bonner, bursting
+out into enthusiasm. "We walk about the garden making speeches to the
+electors all day. Oh dear, I do wish we could do something."
+
+"Glad is no word," said Clarissa. "But if he loses it!"
+
+"The very trying for it is good," said Patience. "It is just the
+proper thing for papa."
+
+"I shall feel so proud when uncle is in Parliament again," said Mary
+Bonner. "A woman's pride is always vicarious;--but still it is
+pride."
+
+Ralph also was surprised,--so much surprised that for a few minutes
+his own affairs were turned out of his head. He, too, had thought
+that Sir Thomas would never again do anything in the world,--unless
+that book should be written of which he had so often heard
+hints,--though never yet, with any accuracy, its name or subject. Sir
+Thomas, he was told, had been at Percycross, but was not supposed
+to be there now. "Of course he was in his chambers," said Clarissa.
+"Old Stemm does know how to tell lies so well!" It was, however,
+acknowledged that, having on his hands a piece of business so very
+weighty, Sir Thomas might be almost anywhere without any fault on his
+part. A gentleman in the throes of an election for Parliament could
+not be expected to be at home. Even Patience did not feel called upon
+to regret his absence.
+
+Before he went back to town Ralph found himself alone with Mary for
+a few minutes. "Mr. Newton," she said, "why don't you stand for
+Parliament?"
+
+"I have not the means."
+
+"You have great prospects. I should have thought you were just
+the man who ought to make it the work of your life to get into
+Parliament." Ralph began to ask himself what had been the work of his
+life. "They say that to be of real use a man ought to begin young."
+
+"Nobody ought to go into the House without money," said Ralph.
+
+"That means, I suppose, that men shouldn't go in who want their time
+to earn their bread. But you haven't that to do. If I were a man such
+as you are I would always try to be something. I am sure Parliament
+was meant for men having estates such as you will have."
+
+"When I've got it, I'll think about Parliament, Miss Bonner."
+
+"Perhaps it will be too late then. Don't you know that song of
+'Excelsior,' Mr. Newton? You ought to learn to sing it."
+
+Yes;--he was learning to sing it after a fine fashion;--borrowing his
+tradesman's money, and promising to marry his tradesman's daughter!
+He was half inclined to be angry with this interference from Mary
+Bonner;--and yet he liked her for it. Could it be that she herself
+felt an interest in what concerned him? "Ah me,"--he said to
+himself,--"how much better would it have been to have learned
+something, to have fitted myself for some high work; and to have been
+able to choose some such woman as this for my wife!" And all that had
+been sacrificed to horses at the Moonbeam, and little dinners with
+Captain Fooks and Lieutenant Cox! Every now and again during his life
+Phoebus had touched his trembling ears, and had given him to know
+that to sport with the tangles of Naaera's hair was not satisfactory
+as the work of a man's life. But, alas, the god had intervened but
+to little purpose. The horses at the Moonbeam, which had been two,
+became four, and then six; and now he was pledged to marry Polly
+Neefit,--if only he could induce Polly Neefit to have him. It was too
+late in the day for him to think now of Parliament and Mary Bonner.
+
+And then, before he left them, poor Clary whispered a word into
+his ear,--a cousinly, brotherly word, such as their circumstances
+authorised her to make. "Is it settled about the property, Ralph?"
+For she, too, had heard that this question of a sale was going
+forward.
+
+"Not quite, Clary."
+
+"You won't sell it; will you?"
+
+"I don't think I shall."
+
+"Oh, don't;--pray don't. Anything will be better than that. It is so
+good to wait." She was thinking only of Ralph, and of his interests,
+but she could not forget the lesson which she was daily teaching to
+herself.
+
+"If I can help it, I shall not sell it."
+
+"Papa will help you;--will he not? If I were you they should drag
+me in pieces before I would part with my birthright;--and such a
+birthright!" It had occurred to her once that Ralph might feel that,
+after what had passed between them one night on the lawn, he was
+bound not to wait, that it was his duty so to settle his affairs that
+he might at once go to her father and say,--"Though I shall never be
+Mr. Newton of Newton, I have still such and such means of supporting
+your daughter." Ah! if he would only be open with her, and tell
+her everything, he would soon know how unnecessary it was to make
+a sacrifice for her. He pressed her hand as he left her, and said
+a word that was a word of comfort. "Clary, I cannot speak with
+certainty, but I do not think that it will be sold."
+
+"I am so glad!" she said. "Oh, Ralph, never, never part with it." And
+then she blushed, as she thought of what she had said. Could it be
+that he would think that she was speaking for her own sake;--because
+she looked forward to reigning some day as mistress of Newton Priory?
+Ah, no, Ralph would never misinterpret her thoughts in a manner so
+unmanly as that!
+
+The day came, and it was absolutely necessary that the answer should
+be given. Neefit came to prompt him again, and seemed to sit on
+the sofa with more feeling of being at home than he had displayed
+before. He brought his cheque-book with him, and laid it rather
+ostentatiously upon the table. He had good news, too, from Polly. "If
+Mr. Newton would come down to Margate, she would be ever so glad."
+That was the message as given by Mr. Neefit, but the reader will
+probably doubt that it came exactly in those words from Polly's lips.
+Ralph was angry, and shook his head in wrath. "Well, Captain, how's
+it to be?" asked Mr. Neefit.
+
+"I shall let my uncle know that I intend to keep my property," said
+Ralph, with as much dignity as he knew how to assume.
+
+The breeches-maker jumped up and crowed,--actually crowed, as might
+have crowed a cock. It was an art that he had learned in his youth.
+"That's my lad of wax," he said, slapping Ralph on the shoulder. "And
+now tell us how much it's to be," said he, opening the cheque-book.
+But Ralph declined to take money at the present moment, endeavouring
+to awe the breeches-maker back into sobriety by his manner. Neefit
+did put up his cheque-book, but was not awed back into perfect
+sobriety. "Come to me, when you want it, and you shall have
+it, Captain. Don't let that chap as 'as the 'orses be any way
+disagreeable. You tell him he can have it all when he wants it. And
+he can;--be blowed if he can't. We'll see it through, Captain. And
+now, Captain, when'll you come out and see Polly?" Ralph would give
+no definite answer to this,--on account of business, but was induced
+at last to send his love to Miss Neefit. "That man will drive me into
+a lunatic asylum at last," he said to himself, as he threw himself
+into his arm-chair when Neefit had departed.
+
+Nevertheless, he wrote his letter to his uncle's lawyer, Mr. Carey,
+as follows:--
+
+
+   ---- Club, 20 Sept., 186--.
+
+   DEAR SIR,--
+
+   After mature consideration I have resolved upon declining
+   the offer made to me by my uncle respecting the Newton
+   property.
+
+   Faithfully yours,
+
+   RALPH NEWTON.
+
+   Richard Carey, Esq.
+
+
+It was very short, but it seemed to him to contain all that there
+was to be said. He might, indeed, have expressed regret that so much
+trouble had been occasioned;--but the trouble had been taken not for
+his sake, and he was not bound to denude himself of his property
+because his uncle had taken trouble.
+
+When the letter was put into the Squire's hands in Mr. Carey's
+private room, the Squire was nearly mad with rage. In spite of all
+that his son had told him, in disregard of all his own solicitor's
+cautions, in the teeth of his nephew Gregory's certainty, he had
+felt sure that the thing would be done. The young man was penniless,
+and must sell; and he could sell nowhere else with circumstances so
+favourable. And now the young man wrote a letter as though he were
+declining to deal about a horse! "It's some sham, some falsehood,"
+said the Squire. "Some low attorney is putting him up to thinking
+that he can get more out of me."
+
+"It's possible," said Mr. Carey; "but there's nothing more to be
+done." The Squire when last in London had asserted most positively
+that he would not increase his bid.
+
+"But he's penniless," said the Squire.
+
+"There are those about him that will put him in the way of raising
+money," said the lawyer.
+
+"And so the property will go to the hammer,--and I can do nothing to
+help it!" Mr. Carey did not tell his client that a gentleman had no
+right to complain because he could not deal with effects which were
+not his own; but that was the line which his thoughts took. The
+Squire walked about the room, lashing himself in his rage. He could
+not bear to be beaten. "How much more would do it?" he said at last.
+It would be terribly bitter to him to be made to give way, to be
+driven to increase the price; but even that would be less bitter than
+failure.
+
+"I should say nothing,--just at present, if I were you," said Mr.
+Carey. The Squire still walked about the room. "If he raises money
+on the estate we shall hear of it. And so much of his rights as pass
+from him we can purchase. It will be more prudent for us to wait."
+
+"Would another L5,000 do it at once?" said the Squire.
+
+"At any rate I would not offer it," said Mr. Carey.
+
+"Ah;--you don't understand. You don't feel what it is that I want.
+What would you say if a man told you to wait while your hand was in
+the fire?"
+
+"But you are in possession, Mr. Newton."
+
+"No;--I'm not. I'm not in possession. I'm only a lodger in the place.
+I can do nothing. I cannot even build a farm-house for a tenant."
+
+"Surely you can, Mr. Gregory."
+
+"What;--for him! You think that would be one of the delights of
+possession? Put my money into the ground like seed, in order that the
+fruit may be gathered by him! I'm not a good enough Christian, Mr.
+Carey, to take much delight in that. I'll tell you what it is, Mr.
+Carey. The place is a hell upon earth to me, till I can call it my
+own." At last he left his lawyer, and went back to Newton Priory,
+having given instructions that the transaction should be re-opened
+between the two lawyers, and that additional money, to the extent of
+L5,000, should by degrees be offered.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+"I'LL BE A HYPOCRITE IF YOU CHOOSE."
+
+
+There could hardly be a more unhappy man than was the Squire on his
+journey home. He had buoyed himself up with hope till he had felt
+certain that he would return to Newton Priory its real and permanent
+owner, no longer a lodger in the place, as he had called himself to
+the lawyer, but able to look upon every tree as his own, with power
+to cut down every oak upon the property; though, as he knew very
+well, he would rather spill blood from his veins than cut down one of
+them. But in that case he would preserve the oaks,--preserve them by
+his own decision,--because they were his own, and because he could
+give them to his own son. His son should cut them down if he pleased.
+And then the power of putting up would be quite as sweet to him as
+the power of pulling down. What pleasure would he have in making
+every deficient house upon the estate efficient, when he knew that
+the stones as he laid them would not become the property of his
+enemy. He was a man who had never spent his full income. The property
+had been in his hands now for some fifteen years, and he had already
+amassed a considerable sum of money,--a sum which would have
+enabled him to buy out his nephew altogether, without selling an
+acre,--presuming the price already fixed to have been sufficient. He
+had determined to sell something, knowing that he could not do as he
+would do with the remainder if his hands were empty. He had settled
+it all in his mind;--how Ralph, his Ralph, must marry, and have a
+separate income. There would be no doubt about his Ralph's marriage
+when once it should be known that his Ralph was the heir to Newton.
+The bar sinister would matter but little then;--would be clean
+forgotten. His mind had been full of all this as he had come up
+to London. It had all been settled. He had decided upon ignoring
+altogether those cautions which his son and nephew and lawyer had
+croaked into his ears. This legitimate heir was a ruined spendthrift,
+who had no alternative but to raise money, no ambition but to spend
+money, no pursuit but to waste money. His temperament was so sanguine
+that when he entered Mr. Carey's office he had hardly doubted. Now
+everything had been upset, and he was cast down from triumph into an
+abyss of despondency by two lines from this wretched, meaningless,
+poor-spirited spendthrift! "I believe he'd take a pleasure in seeing
+the property going to the dogs, merely to spite me," said the Squire
+to his son, as soon as he reached home,--having probably forgotten
+his former idea, that his nephew was determined, with the pertinacity
+of a patient, far-sighted Jew money-lender, to wring from him the
+last possible shilling.
+
+Ralph, who was not the heir, was of his nature so just, that he could
+not hear an accusation which he did not believe to be true, without
+protesting against it. The Squire had called the heir a spiritless
+spendthrift, and a malicious evil-doer, intent upon ruining the
+estate, and a grasping Jew, all in the same breath.
+
+"I think you are hard upon him, sir," said the son to the father.
+
+"Of course you think so. At any rate you'll say so," said the Squire.
+"One would suppose I was thinking only of myself to hear you talk."
+
+"I know what you're thinking of," said Ralph slowly; "and I know how
+much I owe you."
+
+"I sometimes think that you ought to curse me," said the Squire.
+
+After this, at this moment, with such words ringing in his ears,
+Ralph found it to be impossible to expostulate with his father. He
+could only take his father's arm, and whisper a soft feminine word or
+two. He would be as happy as the day was long, if only he could see
+his father happy.
+
+"I can never be happy till I have placed you where you would have
+been," said the Squire. "The gods are just, and our pleasant vices
+make instruments to scourge us." He did not quote the line to
+himself, but the purport of it hung heavy on him. And yet he thought
+it hard that because he had money in his pocket he could not
+altogether make himself free of the scourge.
+
+On the following morning he was less vituperative and less
+unreasonable, but he was still intent upon the subject. After
+breakfast he got his son into his own room,--the room in which he did
+his magistrate's work, and added up his accounts, and kept his spuds
+and spurs,--and seriously discussed the whole matter. What would it
+be wise that they should do next? "You don't mean to tell me that you
+don't wish me to buy it?" said the Squire. No; Ralph would not say
+that. If it were in the market, to be bought, and if the money were
+forthcoming, of course such a purchase would be expedient. "The money
+is forthcoming," said the Squire. "We can make it up one way or
+another. What matter if we did sell Brownriggs? What matter if we
+sold Brownriggs and Twining as well?" Ralph quite acceded to this.
+As far as buying and selling were concerned he would have acceded
+to anything that would have made his father happy. "I won't say a
+word against this fellow, since you are so fond of him," continued
+the Squire. Ralph, though his father paused, made no reply to the
+intended sarcasm. "But you must allow that he had a reason for
+writing such a letter as he did."
+
+"Of course he had a reason," said Ralph.
+
+"Well;--we'll say that he wants to keep it."
+
+"That's not unnatural."
+
+"Not at all. Everybody likes to keep what he's got, and to get as
+much as he can. That's nature. But a man can't eat his cake and have
+it. He has been slow to learn that, no doubt; but I suppose he has
+learned it. He wouldn't have gone to Sir Thomas Underwood, in the
+way he did, crying to be helped,--if he hadn't learned it. Remember,
+Ralph, I didn't go to him first;--he came to me. You always forget
+that. What was the meaning then of Sir Thomas writing to me in that
+pitiful way,--asking me to do something for him;--and he who had I
+don't know how much, something like L800 a year, I take it, the day
+he came of age?"
+
+"Of course he has been imprudent."
+
+"He cannot eat his cake and have it. He wants to eat it, and I want
+to have it. I am sure it may be managed. I suppose you mean to go up
+and see him."
+
+"See Ralph?"
+
+"Why not? You are not afraid of him." The son smiled, but made
+no answer. "You might find out from him what it is he really
+wants;--what he will really do. Those attorneys don't understand.
+Carey isn't a bad fellow, and as for honesty, I'd trust him with
+anything. I've known him and his father all my life, and in any
+ordinary piece of business there is no one whose opinion I would take
+so soon. But he talks of my waiting, telling me that the thing will
+come round after a few years,--as if what one wanted was merely an
+investment for one's money. It isn't that."
+
+"No, sir;--it isn't that."
+
+"Not that at all. It's the feeling of the thing. Your lawyer may be
+the best man in the world to lay out your money in a speculation, but
+he doesn't dare to buy contentment for you. He doesn't see it, and
+one hardly dares to try and make him see it. I'd give the half of
+it all to have the other half, but I cannot tell him that. I'd give
+one half so long as that fellow wasn't to be the owner of the other.
+We'll have no opposition Newton in the place."
+
+The Squire's son was of course willing enough to go up to London.
+He would see the heir at any rate, and endeavour to learn what were
+the wishes of the heir. "You may say what money you like," said the
+Squire. "I hardly care what I pay, so long as it is possible to pay
+it. Go up to L10,000 more, if that will do it."
+
+"I don't think I can bargain," said the son.
+
+"But he can," said the father. "At any rate you can find out whether
+he will name a price. I'd go myself, but I know I should quarrel with
+him."
+
+Ralph prepared himself for the journey, and, as a matter of course,
+took the parson into his confidence; not telling the parson anything
+of the absolute sum named, but explaining that it was his purpose to
+become acquainted with the heir, and if possible to learn his views.
+"You'll find Ralph a very different fellow from what my uncle thinks
+him," said the parson. "I shall be much mistaken if he does not tell
+you quite openly what he intends. He is careless about money, but he
+never was greedy." And then they got to other matters. "You will of
+course see the girls at Fulham," said the parson.
+
+"Yes;--I shall manage to get down there."
+
+The story of Gregory's passion for Clarissa was well known to the
+other. Gregory, who would not for worlds have spoken of such a matter
+among his general acquaintance, who could not have brought himself to
+mention it in the presence of two hearers, had told it all to the one
+companion who was nearest and dearest to him,--"I wish I were going
+with you," said the parson.
+
+"Why not come with me then?"
+
+"And yet I don't wish it. If I were in London I doubt whether I would
+go there. There could be no use in it."
+
+"It is one of those things," said Ralph, "in which a man should never
+despair as long as there is a possibility."
+
+"Ah, yes; people say so. I don't believe in that kind of perseverance
+myself;--at any rate not with her. She knows her own mind,--as well
+as I know mine. I think I promised her that I would trouble her no
+more."
+
+"Promises like that are mere pie-crusts," said Ralph.
+
+"Give her my love;--that's all. And don't do that unless you're alone
+with her. I shall live it down some day, no doubt, but to tell the
+truth I have made up my mind not to marry. I'm half inclined to think
+that a clergyman shouldn't marry. There are some things which our
+ancestors understood pretty well, although we think they were such
+fools. I should like to see the new cousin, certainly."
+
+Ralph said nothing more about the new cousin; and was perhaps hardly
+aware how greatly the idea of again seeing the new cousin had
+enhanced the pleasure of his journey to London. About a week after
+this he started, having devoted nearly all the afternoon before
+he went to the packing of a large basket of ferns,--to each root
+or small bundle of which was appended a long name in Latin,--as an
+offering to Patience Underwood. And yet he did not care very much for
+Patience Underwood.
+
+It was just the end of September,--the last day of September, when
+he reached London. Ralph the heir was out of town, and the servant
+at his lodging professed she did not know where he was. She thought
+it probable that he was "at Mr. 'Orsball's,--Mr. 'Orsball of the
+Moonbeam, Barnfield,--a-looking after his 'orses." She suggested
+this, not from any knowledge in her possession, but because Ralph was
+always believed to go to the Moonbeam when he left town. He would,
+however, be back next week. His namesake, therefore, did not consider
+that it would be expedient for him to follow the heir down to the
+Moonbeam.
+
+But the Underwood girls would certainly be at Fulham, and he started
+at once with his ferns for Popham Villa. He found them at home, and,
+singular to say, he found Sir Thomas there also. On the very next
+morning Sir Thomas was to start for Percycross, to commence the
+actual work of his canvass. The canvass was to occupy a fortnight,
+and on Monday the sixteenth the candidates were to be nominated.
+Tuesday the seventeenth was the day of the election. The whole
+household was so full of the subject that at first there was hardly
+room for the ferns. "Oh, Mr. Newton, we are so much obliged to you.
+Papa is going to stand for Percycross." That, or nearly that, was the
+form in which the ferns were received. Newton was quite contented. An
+excuse for entering the house was what he had wanted, and his excuse
+was deemed ample. Sir Thomas, who was disposed to be very civil to
+the stranger, had not much to say about his own prospects. To a
+certain degree he was ashamed of Percycross, and had said very little
+about it even to Stemm since his personal acquaintance had been made
+with Messrs. Spiveycomb, Pile, and Pabsby. But the girls were not
+ashamed of Percycross. To them as yet Percycross was the noblest of
+all British boroughs. Had not the Conservatives of Percycross chosen
+their father to be their representative out of all British subjects?
+Sir Thomas had tried, but had tried quite in vain, to make them
+understand the real fashion of the selection. If Percycross would
+only send him to Parliament, Percycross should be divine. "What d'you
+think?" said Clary; "there's a man of the name of--. I wish you'd
+guess the name of this man who is going to stand against papa, Mr.
+Newton."
+
+"The name won't make much difference," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"Ontario Moggs!" said Clary. "Do you think it possible, Mr. Newton,
+that Percycross,--the town where one of the Percys set up a cross in
+the time of the Crusaders,--didn't he, papa?--"
+
+"I shall not consider myself bound to learn all that unless they
+elect me," said Sir Thomas; "but I don't think there were Percys in
+the days of the Crusaders."
+
+"At any rate, the proper name is Percy St. Cross," said Clary. "Could
+such a borough choose Ontario Moggs to be one of its members, Mr.
+Newton?"
+
+"I do like the name," said Mary Bonner.
+
+"Perhaps papa and Ontario Moggs may be the two members," said Clary,
+laughing. "If so, you must bring him down here, papa. Only he's a
+shoemaker."
+
+"That makes no difference in these days," said Sir Thomas.
+
+The ferns were at last unpacked, and the three girls were profuse in
+their thanks. Who does not know how large a space a basket of ferns
+will cover when it is unpacked and how large the treasure looms.
+"They'll cover the rocks on the other side," said Mary. It seemed to
+Newton that Mary Bonner was more at home than she had been when he
+had seen her before, spoke more freely of what concerned the house,
+and was beginning to become one of the family. But still she was, as
+it were, overshadowed by Clarissa. In appearance, indeed, she was the
+queen among the three, but in active social life she did not compete
+with Clary. Patience stood as a statue on a pedestal, by no means
+unobserved and ignored; beautiful in form, but colourless. Newton, as
+he looked at the three, wondered that a man so quiet and gentle as
+the young parson should have chosen such a love as Clary Underwood.
+He remained half the day at the villa, dining there at the invitation
+of Sir Thomas. "My last dinner," said Sir Thomas, "unless I am lucky
+enough to be rejected. Men when they are canvassing never dine;--and
+not often after they're elected."
+
+The guest had not much opportunity of ingratiating himself specially
+with the beauty; but the beauty did so far ingratiate herself with
+him,--unconsciously on her part,--that he half resolved that should
+his father be successful in his present enterprise, he would ask Mary
+Bonner to be the Queen of Newton Priory. His father had often urged
+him to marry,--never suggesting that any other quality beyond good
+looks would be required in his son's wife. He had never spoken of
+money, or birth, or name. "I have an idea," he had said, laughing,
+"that you'll marry a fright some day. I own I should like to have a
+pretty woman about the house. One doesn't expect much from a woman,
+but she is bound to be pretty." This woman was at any rate pretty.
+Pretty, indeed! Was it possible that any woman should be framed more
+lovely than this one? But he must bide his time. He would not ask any
+girl to marry him till he should know what position he could ask her
+to fill. But though he spoke little to Mary, he treated her as men do
+treat women whom they desire to be allowed to love. There was a tone
+in his voice, a worship in his eye, and a flush upon his face, and a
+hesitation in his manner, which told the story, at any rate to one
+of the party there. "He didn't come to bring you the ferns," said
+Clarissa to Patience.
+
+"He brought them for all of us," said Patience.
+
+"Young men don't go about with ferns for the sake of the ferns," said
+Clary. "They were merely an excuse to come and see Mary."
+
+"Why shouldn't he come and see Mary?"
+
+"He has my leave, Patty. I think it would be excellent. Isn't it odd
+that there should be two Ralph Newtons. One would be Mrs. Newton and
+the other Mrs. Ralph."
+
+"Clarissa, Clarissa!" said Patience, almost in a tone of agony.
+
+"I'll be a hypocrite if you choose, Patty," said Clarissa, "or I'll
+be true. But you can't have me both at once." Patience said nothing
+further then. The lesson of self-restraint which she desired to teach
+was very hard of teaching.
+
+There was just a word spoken between Sir Thomas and Newton about the
+property. "I intend to see Ralph Newton, if I can find him," said
+Ralph who was not the heir.
+
+"I don't think he is far from town," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"My father thinks that we might come to an understanding."
+
+"Perhaps so," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I have no strong anxiety on the subject myself," said Newton; "but
+my father thinks that if he does wish to sell his reversion--"
+
+"He doesn't wish it. How can a man wish it?"
+
+"Under the circumstances it may be desirable."
+
+"You had better see him, and I think he will tell you," said Sir
+Thomas. "You must understand that a man thinks much of such a
+position. Pray come to us again. We shall always be glad to see you
+when you are in town."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+"I FIND I MUST."
+
+
+Ralph the heir had, after all, gone to Margate. Mr. Neefit had got
+such a hold upon him that he had no help for it. He found himself
+forced to go to Margate. When he was asked the second and third time,
+with all the energy of Mr. Neefit's eloquence, he was unable to
+resist. What reason could he give that he should not go to Margate,
+seeing that it was a thing quite understood that he was to endeavour
+to persuade Polly to be his wife. Neefit came to him two mornings
+running, catching him each morning just as he was smoking his cigar
+after breakfast, and was very eloquent. He already owed Mr. Neefit
+over five hundred pounds, and the debt on the first of these mornings
+was made up to one thousand pounds, a receipt being given for
+the shop debt on one side, and a bond for the whole money, with
+5 per cent. interest, being taken in return for it. "You'd better
+pay off what little things you owes, Captain," said the generous
+breeches-maker, "and then, when the time comes, we'll settle with the
+gent about the 'orses." Neefit played his game very well. He said
+not a word about selling the horses, or as to any restriction on his
+young "Captain's" amusements. If you pull at your fish too hard you
+only break your line. Neefit had a very fine fish on his hook, and he
+meant to land it. Not a word was said about Margate on that occasion,
+till the little pecuniary transaction was completed. Then the Captain
+was informed that the Neefit family would certainly spend the next
+week at that marine Paradise, and that Polly expected "the Captain's"
+company. "Them's the places," said Neefit, "where a girl grows soft
+as butter." This he said when the door-handle was in his hand, so
+that "the Captain" had no chance of answering him. Then he came again
+the next morning, and returned to the subject as though "the Captain"
+had already consented. There was a near approach to anger on one side
+and determined opposition on the other during this interview, but
+it ended in acquiescence on the Captain's side. Then Mr. Neefit was
+once more as gracious as possible. The graciousness of such men in
+acknowledging their own inferiority is sometimes wonderful. "You
+needn't be seen about with me, you know," said Mr. Neefit. This
+was said after Ralph had positively declared that he would not go
+actually with the Neefits and occupy the same apartments. "It would
+be altogether wrong,--for Polly's sake," said Ralph, looking very
+wise and very moral. To this view Neefit assented, not being quite
+sure how far "the Captain" might be correct in his ideas of morality.
+
+"They've been and fixed young Newton for Polly," said Mr. Waddle that
+morning, to his friend Herr Bawwah, when he was told to mark off
+Ralph's account in the books as settled. "Dashed if they 'aven't,"
+the German grunted. "Old Neverfit's a-playing at 'igh game, ain't
+he?" Such was the most undeserved nickname by which this excellent
+tradesman was known in his own establishment. "I don't see nodin
+about 'igh," said the German. "He ain't got no money. I call it low."
+Waddle endeavoured to explain the circumstances, but failed. "De
+peoples should be de peoples, and de nobles should be de nobles,"
+said Herr Bawwah;--a doctrine which was again unintelligible to Mr.
+Waddle.
+
+Ralph having overcome an intense desire to throw over his engagement,
+to sell his horses, and to start for Jerusalem, did go down to
+Margate. He put himself up at an hotel there, eat his dinner, lighted
+a cigar, and went down upon the sands. It was growing dusk, and he
+thought that he should be alone,--or, at least, uninterrupted in
+a crowd. The crowd was there, and nobody in the place would know
+him,--except the Neefits. He had not been on the sands two minutes
+before he encountered Mr. Neefit and his daughter. The breeches-maker
+talked loud, and was extremely happy. Polly smiled, and was very
+pretty. In two minutes Neefit saw, or pretended to see, a friend, and
+Ralph was left with his lady-love. There never was so good-natured a
+father! "You'll bring her home to tea, Captain," said the father, as
+he walked off.
+
+On that occasion, Ralph abstained from all direct love-making,
+and Polly, when she found that it was to be so, made herself very
+pleasant. "The idea of your being at Margate, Mr. Newton," said
+Polly.
+
+"Why not I, as well as another?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know. Brighton, or some of those French places, or any
+where all about the world, would be more likely for you, I should
+think."
+
+"Margate seems to be very jolly."
+
+"Oh, I like it. But then we are not swells, you know. Have you
+heard the news? Ontario Moggs is going to stand to be 'member of
+Parliament' for Percycross."
+
+"My rival!" That was the only word he uttered approaching to the
+subject of love.
+
+"I don't know anything about that, Mr. Newton. But it's true."
+
+"Why, Sir Thomas Underwood is going to stand."
+
+"I don't know anything about anybody else, but Ontario Moggs is
+going to stand. I do so hope he'll get in. They say he speaks quite
+beautiful. Did you ever hear him?"
+
+"I never heard him."
+
+"Ah, you may laugh. But a bootmaker can make a speech sometimes as
+well as,--as well as a peer of Parliament. Father says that old Mr.
+Moggs has given him ever so much money to do it. When a man is in
+Parliament, Mr. Newton, doesn't that make him a gentleman?"
+
+"No."
+
+"What then?"
+
+"Nothing on earth can make a man a gentleman. You don't understand
+Latin, Polly?"
+
+"No. I hope that isn't necessary for a young woman."
+
+"By no means. But a poet is born, and can't be made."
+
+"I'm not talking of poets. Ontario Moggs is a poet. But I know what
+you mean. There's something better even than to be a gentleman."
+
+"One may be an angel,--as you are, Polly."
+
+"Oh,--me;--I'm not thinking of myself. I'm thinking of Ontario
+Moggs,--going into Parliament. But then he is so clever!"
+
+Ralph was not minded to be cut out by Moggs, junior, after coming all
+the way to Margate after his lady-love. The thing was to be done, and
+he would do it. But not to-night. Then he took Polly home, and eat
+prawns with Mr. and Mrs. Neefit. On the next day they all went out
+together in a boat.
+
+The week was nearly over, and Ralph had renewed his suit more than
+once, when the breeches-maker proceeded to "put him through his
+facings." "She's a-coming round, ain't she, Captain?" said Mr.
+Neefit. By this time Ralph hated the sight of Neefit so thoroughly,
+that he was hardly able to repress the feeling. Indeed, he did not
+repress it. Whether Neefit did not see it, or seeing it chose to
+ignore the matter, cannot be said. He was, at any rate, as courteous
+as ever. Mrs. Neefit, overcome partly by her husband's authority,
+and partly induced to believe that as Ontario Moggs was going into
+Parliament he was no longer to be regarded as a possible husband,
+had yielded, and was most polite to the lover. When he came in of an
+evening, she always gave him a double allowance of prawns, and hoped
+that the tea was to his liking. But she said very little more than
+this, standing somewhat in awe of him. Polly had been changeable,
+consenting to walk with him every day, but always staving the matter
+off when he asked her whether she thought that she yet knew him well
+enough to be his wife. "Oh, not half well enough," she would say.
+"And then, perhaps, you know, I'm not over fond of the half that I
+do know." And so it was up to the last evening, when the father put
+him through his facings. In respect of "the Captain's" behaviour to
+Polly, the father had no just ground of complaint, for Ralph had done
+his best. Indeed, Ralph was fond enough of Polly. And it was hard
+for a man to be much with her without becoming fond of her. "She's
+a-coming round, ain't she, Captain?" said Mr. Neefit.
+
+"I can't say that she is," said Ralph, turning upon his heel near the
+end of the pier.
+
+"You don't stick to her fast enough, Captain."
+
+This was not to be borne. "I'll tell you what it is, Mr. Neefit,"
+said Ralph, "you'd better let me alone, or else I shall be off."
+
+"You'd only have to come back, Captain, you know," said Neefit. "Not
+as I want to interfere. You're on the square, I see that. As long
+as you're on the square, there ain't nothing I won't do. I ain't
+a-blaming you,--only stick to her." "Damn it all!" said Ralph,
+turning round again in the other direction. But there was Neefit
+still confronting him. "Only stick to her, Captain, and we'll pull
+through. I'll put her through her facings to-night. She's thinking
+of that orkard lout of a fellow just because he's standing to be a
+Parl'ament gent." This did not improve matters, and Ralph absolutely
+ran away,--ran away, and escaped to his hotel. He would try again in
+the morning, would still make her his wife if she would have him! And
+then swore a solemn oath that in such case he would never see his
+father-in-law again.
+
+Polly was not at all averse to giving him opportunities. They were
+together on the sands on the next morning, and he then asked her very
+seriously whether she did not think that there had been enough of
+this, that they might make up their minds to love each other, and be
+married as it were out of hand. Her father and mother wished it, and
+what was there against it? "You cannot doubt that I am in earnest
+now, Polly?" he said.
+
+"I know you are in earnest well enough," she answered.
+
+"And you do not doubt that I love you?"
+
+"I doubt very much whether you love father," said Polly. She spoke
+this so sharp and quickly that he had no reply ready. "If you and
+I were to be married, where should we live? I should want to have
+father and mother with me. You'd mean that, I suppose?" The girl had
+read his thoughts, and he hadn't a word to say for himself. "The
+truth is, you despise father, Mr. Newton."
+
+"No, indeed."
+
+"Yes, you do. I can see it. And perhaps it's all right that you
+should. I'm not saying-- Of course, he's not like you and your
+people. How should he be? Only I'm thinking, like should marry like."
+
+"Polly, you're fit for any position in which a man could place you."
+
+"No, I'm not. I'm not fit for any place as father wouldn't be fit for
+too. I'd make a better hand at it than father, I dare say,--because
+I'm younger. But I won't go anywhere where folk is to be ashamed of
+father. I'd like to be a lady well enough;--but it'd go against the
+very grain of my heart if I had a house and he wasn't to be made
+welcome to the best of everything."
+
+"Polly, you're an angel!"
+
+"I'm a young woman who knows who's been good to me. He's to give me
+pretty nigh everything. You wouldn't be taking me if it wasn't for
+that. And then, after all, I'm to turn my back on him because he
+ain't like your people. No; never; Mr. Newton! You're well enough,
+Mr. Newton; more than good enough for me, no doubt. But I won't do
+it. I'd cut my heart out if I was turning my back upon father." She
+had spoken out with a vengeance, and Ralph didn't know that there was
+any more to be said. He couldn't bring himself to assure her that
+Mr. Neefit would be a welcome guest in his house. At this moment the
+breeches-maker was so personally distasteful to him that he had not
+force enough in him to tell a lie upon the matter. They were now
+at the entrance of the pier, at which their ways would separate.
+"Good-bye, Mr. Newton," said she. "There had better be an end of
+it;--hadn't there?" "Goodbye, Polly," he said, pressing her hand as
+he left her.
+
+Polly, walked up home with a quick step, with a tear in her eye, and
+with grave thoughts in her heart. It would have been very nice. She
+could have loved him, and she felt the attraction, and the softness,
+and the sweet-smelling delicateness of gentle associations. It would
+have been very nice. But she could not sever herself from her father.
+She could understand that he must be distasteful to such a man as
+Ralph Newton. She would not blame Ralph. But the fact that it was so,
+shut for her the door of that Elysium. She knew that she could not
+be happy were she to be taken to such a mode of life as would force
+her to accuse herself of ingratitude to her father. And so Ralph went
+back to town without again seeing the breeches-maker.
+
+The first thing he found in his lodgings was a note from his
+namesake.
+
+
+   DEAR SIR,--
+
+   I am up in town, and am very anxious to see you in respect
+   of the arrangements which have been proposed respecting
+   the property. Will you fix a meeting as soon as you are
+   back?
+
+   Yours always,
+
+   RALPH NEWTON.
+
+   Charing Cross Hotel, 2 Oct., 186--.
+
+
+Of course he would see his namesake. Why not? And why not take his
+uncle's money, and pay off Neefit, and have done with it? Neefit must
+be paid off, let the money come from where it would. He called at
+the hotel, and not finding his cousin, left a note asking him to
+breakfast on the following morning; and then he spent the remainder
+of that day in renewed doubt. He was so sick of Neefit,--whose manner
+of eating shrimps had been a great offence added to other offences!
+And yet one of his great sorrows was that he should lose Polly.
+Polly in her way was perfect, and he felt almost sure, now, that
+Polly loved him. Girls had no right to cling to their fathers after
+marriage. There was Scripture warranty against it. And yet the manner
+in which she had spoken of her father had greatly added to his
+admiration.
+
+The two Ralphs breakfasted together, not having met each other since
+they were children, and having even then scarcely known each other.
+Ralph the heir had been brought up a boy at the parsonage of Newton
+Peele, but the other Ralph had never been taken to Newton till after
+his grandfather's death. The late parson had died within twelve
+months of his father,--a wretched year, during which the Squire and
+the parson had always squabbled,--and then Ralph who was the heir
+had been transferred to the guardianship of Sir Thomas Underwood. It
+was only during the holidays of that one year that the two Ralphs
+had been together. The "Dear Sir" will probably be understood by the
+discerning reader. The Squire's son had never allowed himself to call
+even Gregory his cousin. Ralph the heir in writing back had addressed
+him as "Dear Ralph." The Squire's son thought that that was very
+well, but chose that any such term of familiarity should come first
+from him who was in truth a Newton. He felt his condition, though he
+was accustomed to make so light of it to his father.
+
+The two young men shook hands together cordially, and were soon
+at work upon their eggs and kidneys. They immediately began about
+Gregory and the parsonage and the church, and the big house. The
+heir to the property, though he had not been at Newton for fourteen
+years, remembered well its slopes, and lawns, and knolls, and little
+valleys. He asked after this tree and that, of this old man and that
+old woman, of the game, and the river fishery, and the fox coverts,
+and the otters of which three or four were reputed to be left when
+he was there. Otters it seems were gone, but the foxes were there in
+plenty. "My father would be half mad if they drew the place blank,"
+said the Squire's son.
+
+"Does my uncle hunt much?"
+
+"Every Monday and Saturday, and very often on the Wednesday."
+
+"And you?"
+
+"I call myself a three-day man, but I often make a fourth. Garth must
+be very far off if he don't see me. I don't do much with any other
+pack."
+
+"Does my uncle ride?"
+
+"Yes; he goes pretty well;--he says he don't. If he gets well away I
+think he rides as hard as ever he did. He don't like a stern chace."
+
+"No more do I," said Ralph the heir. "But I'm often driven to make
+it. What can a fellow do? An old chap turns round and goes home, and
+doesn't feel ashamed of himself; but we can't do that. That's the
+time when one ruins his horses." Then he told all about the Moonbeam
+and the B. & B., and his own stud. The morning was half gone, and not
+a word had been said about business.
+
+The Squire's son felt that it was so, and rushed at the subject all
+in a hurry. "I told you what I have come up to town about."
+
+"Oh, yes; I understand."
+
+"I suppose I may speak plainly," said the Squire's son.
+
+"Why not?" said Ralph the heir.
+
+"Well; I don't know. Of course it's best. You wrote to Carey, you
+know."
+
+"Yes; I wrote the very moment I had made up my mind."
+
+"You had made up your mind, then?"
+
+Ralph had certainly made up his mind when he wrote the letter of
+which they were speaking, but he was by no means sure but that his
+mind was not made up now in another direction. Since he had become
+so closely intimate with Mr. Neefit, and since Polly had so clearly
+explained to him her ideas as to paternal duty, his mind had veered
+round many points. "Yes," said he. "I had made up my mind."
+
+"I don't suppose it can be of any use for you and me to be bargaining
+together," said the other Ralph.
+
+"Not in the least."
+
+"Of course it's a great thing to be heir to Newton. It's a nice
+property, and all that. Only my father thought--"
+
+"He thought that I wanted money," said Ralph the heir.
+
+"Just that."
+
+"So I do. God knows I do. I would tell you everything. I would
+indeed. As to screwing a hard bargain, I'm the last man in London who
+would do it. I thought that your father might be willing to buy half
+the property."
+
+"He won't do that. You see the great thing is the house and park. We
+should both want that;--shouldn't we? Of course it must be yours; and
+I feel--I don't know how I feel in asking you whether you want to
+sell it."
+
+"You needn't mind that, Ralph."
+
+"If you don't think the sum the lawyers and those chaps fixed is
+enough,--"
+
+Then Ralph the heir, interrupting him, rose from his chair and spoke
+out. "My uncle has never understood me, and never will. He thinks
+hardly of me, and if he chooses to do so, I can't help it. He hasn't
+seen me for fourteen years, and of course he is entitled to think
+what he pleases. If he would have seen me the thing might have been
+easier."
+
+"Don't let us go back to that, Ralph," said the Squire's son.
+
+"I don't want to go back to anything. When it comes to a fellow's
+parting with such prospects as mine, it does come very hard upon
+him. Of course it's my own fault. I might have got along well
+enough;--only I haven't. I am hard up for money,--very hard up. And
+yet,--if you were in my place, you wouldn't like to part with it."
+
+"Perhaps not," said the Squire's son, not knowing what to say.
+
+"As to bargaining, and asking so much more, and all the rest of it,
+that's out of the question. Somebody fixed a price, and I suppose he
+knew what he was at."
+
+"That was a minimum price."
+
+"I understand. It was all fair, I don't doubt. It didn't seem a great
+deal; but your father might live for thirty years."
+
+"I hope he will," said the Squire's son.
+
+"As for standing off for more money, I never dreamed of such a thing.
+If your father thinks that, he has wronged me. But I believe he
+always does wrong me. And about the building, and the trees, and the
+leases, and the house, he might do just as he pleased for me. I have
+never said a word, and never shall. I must say I sometimes think he
+has been hard upon me. In fourteen years he has never asked me to set
+my foot upon the estate, that I might see the place which must one
+day be mine."
+
+This was an accusation which the Squire's son found it very difficult
+to answer. It could not be answered without a reference to his own
+birth, and it was almost impossible that he should explain his
+father's feelings on the subject. "If this were settled, we should be
+glad that you would come," he said.
+
+"Yes," said Ralph the heir; "yes,--if I consented to give up
+everything that is mine by right. Do you think that a fellow can
+bring himself to abandon all that so easily? It's like tearing a
+fellow's heart out of him. If I'll do that, my uncle will let me come
+and see what it is that I have lost! That which would induce him to
+welcome me would make it impossible that I should go there. It may be
+that I shall sell it. I suppose I shall. But I will never look at it
+afterwards." As it came to this point, the tears were streaming down
+his cheeks, and the eyes of the other Ralph were not dry.
+
+"I wish it could be made pleasant for us all," said the Squire's son.
+The wish was well enough, but the expression of it was hardly needed,
+because it must be so general.
+
+"But all this is rot and nonsense," said Ralph the heir, brushing
+the tears away from his eyes, "and I am only making an ass of myself.
+Your father wants to know whether I will sell the reversion to Newton
+Priory. I will. I find I must. I don't know whether I wouldn't sooner
+cut my throat; but unless I cut my throat I must sell it. I had a
+means of escape, but that has gone by. When I wrote that letter there
+was a means of escape. Now there's none."
+
+"Ralph," said the other.
+
+"Well; speak on. I've about said all I've got to say. Only don't
+think I want to ballyrag about the money. That's right enough, no
+doubt. If there's more to come, the people that have to look to it
+will say so. I'm not going to be a Jew about it."
+
+"Ralph; I wouldn't do anything in a hurry. I won't take your answer
+in a hurry like this."
+
+"It's no good, my dear fellow, I must do it. I must have L5,000 at
+once."
+
+"You can get that from an insurance office."
+
+"And then I should have nothing to live on. I must do it. I have no
+way out of it,--except cutting my throat."
+
+The Squire's son paused a moment, thinking. "I was told by my
+father," said he, "to offer you more money."
+
+"If it's worth more the people will say so," said Ralph the heir,
+impetuously; "I do not want to sell it for more than it's worth. Ask
+them to settle it immediately. There are people I must pay money to
+at once."
+
+And so the Squire's son had done the Squire's errand. When he
+reported his success to Mr. Carey, that gentleman asked him whether
+he had the heir's consent in writing. At this the successful buyer
+was almost disposed to be angry; but Mr. Carey softened him by an
+acknowledgment that he had done more than could have been expected.
+"I'll see his lawyer to-morrow," said Mr. Carey, "and then, unless
+he changes his mind again, we'll soon have it settled." After that
+the triumphant negotiator sent a telegram home to his father, "It is
+settled, and the purchase is made."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+"MR. GRIFFENBOTTOM."
+
+
+On Monday, the 16th of October, Sir Thomas Underwood went down
+to Percycross, and the first information given him was that Mr.
+Westmacott and Ontario Moggs had arrived on the Saturday, and were
+already at work. Mr. Griffenbottom was expected early on the Tuesday.
+"They've stolen a march on us, then," said Sir Thomas to Mr. Trigger.
+
+"Give 'em rope enough, and they'll hang themselves," replied the
+managing agent. "There was Moggs spouting to them on his own hook on
+Saturday night, and Westmacott's chaps are ready to eat him. And he
+wanted to be doing it yesterday, Sunday; only some of them got a hold
+of him and wouldn't let him loose. Moggs is a great card for us, Sir
+Thomas. There's nothing like one of them spouting fellows to overset
+the coach."
+
+"Mr. Westmacott is fond of that too," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"He understands. He's used to it. He does it in the proper place.
+Westmacott wasn't a bad member for the place;--wasn't perhaps quite
+free enough with his money, but Westmacott was very decent." Sir
+Thomas could not help feeling that Trigger spoke of it as though he
+wished that the two old members might be returned. Ah, well! had
+it been possible, Mr. Trigger would have wished it. Mr. Trigger
+understood the borough, knew well the rocks before them, and
+would have wished it,--although he had been so imperative with Mr.
+Griffenbottom as to the second conservative candidate. And now Mr.
+Griffenbottom had sent them a man who would throw all the fat in the
+fire by talking of purity of election! "And Moggs has been making a
+fool of himself in another direction," said Trigger, thinking that
+no opportunity for giving a valuable hint should be lost. "He's been
+telling the working men already that they'll be scoundrels and knaves
+if they take so much as a glass of beer without paying for it."
+
+"Scoundrel is a strong word," said Sir Thomas, "but I like him for
+that."
+
+"Percycross won't like him. Men would rather have all that left to
+their own feelings. They who want beer or money certainly won't thank
+him; and they who don't want it don't like to be suspected."
+
+"Every one will take it as addressed to his neighbour and not to
+himself."
+
+"We are very fond of our neighbours here, Sir Thomas, and that kind
+of thing won't go down." This was on the evening of the candidate's
+arrival, and the conversation was going on absolutely while Sir
+Thomas was eating his dinner. He had asked Mr. Trigger to join him,
+and Mr. Trigger had faintly alleged that he had dined at three; but
+he soon so far changed his mind as to be able to express an opinion
+that he could "pick a bit," and he did pick a bit. After which he
+drank the best part of a bottle of port,--having assured Sir Thomas
+that the port at the Percy Standard was a sort of wine that one
+didn't get every day. And as he drank his port, he continued to pour
+in lessons of wisdom. Sir Thomas employed his mind the while in
+wondering when Mr. Trigger would go away, and forecasting whether
+Mr. Trigger would desire to drink port wine at the Percy Standard
+every evening during the process of canvassing. About nine o'clock
+the waiter announced that a few gentlemen below desired to see Sir
+Thomas. "Our friends," said Mr. Trigger. "Just put chairs, and bring
+a couple of bottles of port, John. I'm glad they're come, Sir Thomas,
+because it shows that they mean to take to you." Up they were shown,
+Messrs. Spiveycomb, Spicer, Pile, Roodylands,--the bootmaker who
+has not yet been named,--Pabsby, and seven or eight others. Sir
+Thomas shook hands with them all. He observed that Mr. Trigger was
+especially cordial in his treatment of Spicer, the mustard-maker,--as
+to whose defection he had been so fearful in consequence of certain
+power which Mr. Westmacott might have in the wholesale disposal of
+mustard. "I hope you find yourself better," said Mr. Pile, opening
+the conversation. Sir Thomas assured his new friend that he was
+pretty well. "'Cause you seemed rayther down on your luck when you
+was here before," said Mr. Pile.
+
+"No need for that," said Spicer, the man of mustard. "Is there,
+Trigger?" Trigger sat a little apart, with one bottle of port wine at
+his elbow, and took no part in the conversation. He was aware that
+his opportunities were so great that the outside supporters ought to
+have their time. "Any objection to this, Sir Thomas?" he said, taking
+a cigar-case out of his pocket. Sir Thomas, who hated tobacco, of
+course gave permission. Trigger rang the bell, ordered cigars for
+the party, and then sat apart with his port wine. In ten minutes Sir
+Thomas hardly knew where he was, so dense was the cloud of smoke.
+
+"Sir Thomas," began Mr. Pabsby,--"if I could only clearly see my
+way--"
+
+"You'll see it clear enough before nomination-day," said Mr. Pile.
+
+"Any ways, after election," said a conservative grocer. Both these
+gentlemen belonged to the Established Church and delighted in
+snubbing Mr. Pabsby. Indeed, Mr. Pabsby had no business at this
+meeting, and so he had been told very plainly by one or two as he had
+joined them in the street. He explained, however, that his friend Sir
+Thomas had come to him the very first person in Percycross, and he
+carried his point in joining the party. But he was a mild man, and
+when he was interrupted he merely bided another opportunity.
+
+"I hope, Sir Thomas, your mind is made up to do something for our
+trade," said Mr. Roodylands.
+
+"What's the matter with your trade?" said Spiveycomb, the
+paper-maker.
+
+"Well;--we ain't got no jobs in it;--that's the matter," said Mr.
+Pile.
+
+"As for jobs, what's the odds?" said a big and burly loud-mouthed
+tanner. "All on us likes a good thing when it comes in our way. Stow
+that, and don't let's be told about jobs. Sir Thomas, here's your
+health, and I wish you at the top of the poll,--that is, next to
+Mr. Griffenbottom." Then they all drank to Sir Thomas's health, Mr.
+Pabsby filling himself a bumper for the occasion.
+
+It was eleven before they went away, at which time Mr. Pabsby had
+three times got as far as a declaration of his wish to see things
+clearly. Further than this he could not get; but still he went away
+in perfect good humour. He would have another opportunity, as he took
+occasion to whisper when he shook hands with the candidate. Trigger
+stayed even yet for half-an-hour. "Don't waste your time on that
+fellow, Pabsby," he said. "No, I won't," said Sir Thomas. "And be
+very civil to old Pile." "He doesn't seem disposed to return the
+compliment," said Sir Thomas. "But he doesn't want your interest
+in the borough," said Trigger, with the air of a man who had great
+truths to teach. "In electioneering, Sir Thomas, it's mostly the same
+as in other matters. Nothing's to be had for nothing. If you were a
+retail seller of boots from Manchester old Pile would be civil enough
+to you. You may snub Spicer as much as you please, because he'll
+expect to get something out of you." "He'll be very much deceived,"
+said Sir Thomas. "I'm not so sure of that," said Trigger;--"Spicer
+knows what he's about pretty well." Then, at last, Mr. Trigger went,
+assuring Sir Thomas most enthusiastically that he would be with him
+before nine the next morning.
+
+Many distressing thoughts took possession of Sir Thomas as he lay in
+bed. He had made up his mind that he would in no way break the law,
+and he didn't know whether he had not broken it already by giving
+these people tobacco and wine. And yet it would have been impossible
+for him to have refused Mr. Trigger permission to order the supply.
+Even for the sake of the seat,--even for the sake of his reputation,
+which was so much dearer to him than the seat,--he could not have
+bidden guests, who had come to him in his own room, to go elsewhere
+if they required wine. It was a thing not to be done, and yet, for
+aught he knew, Mr. Trigger might continue to order food and wine, and
+beer and tobacco, to be supplied ad libitum, and whenever he chose.
+How was he to put an end to it, otherwise than by throwing up the
+game, and going back to London? That now would be gross ill-usage to
+the Conservatives of Percycross, who by such a step would be left in
+the lurch without a candidate. And then was it to be expected that he
+should live for a week with Mr. Trigger, with no other relief than
+that which would be afforded by Messrs. Pile, Spiveycomb, and Co.
+Everything about him was reeking of tobacco. And then, when he sat
+down to breakfast at nine o'clock there would be Mr. Trigger!
+
+The next morning he was out of bed at seven, and ordered his
+breakfast at eight sharp. He would steal a march on Trigger. He went
+out into the sitting-room, and there was Trigger already seated
+in the arm-chair, studying the list of the voters of Percycross!
+Heavens, what a man! "I thought I'd look in early, and they told me
+you were coming out or I'd have just stepped into your room." Into
+his very bed-room! Sir Thomas shuddered as he heard the proposition.
+"We've a telegram from Griffenbottom," continued Trigger, "and he
+won't be here till noon. We can't begin till he comes."
+
+"Ah;--then I can just write a few letters," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I wouldn't mind letters now if I was you. If you don't mind, we'll
+go and look up the parsons. There are four or five of 'em, and they
+like to be seen;--not in the way of canvassing. They're all right, of
+course. And there's two of 'em won't leave a stone unturned in the
+outside hamlets. But they like to be seen, and their wives like it."
+Whereupon Mr. Trigger ordered breakfast,--and eat it. Sir Thomas
+reminded himself that a fortnight was after all but a short duration
+of time. He might live through a fortnight,--probably,--and then when
+Mr. Griffenbottom came it would be shared between two.
+
+At noon he returned to the Percy Standard, very tired, there to await
+the coming of Mr. Griffenbottom. Mr. Griffenbottom didn't come till
+three, and then bustled up into the sitting-room, which Sir Thomas
+had thought was his own, as though all Percycross belonged to
+him. During the last three hours supporters had been in and out
+continually, and Mr. Pabsby had made an ineffectual attempt or two to
+catch Sir Thomas alone. Trigger had been going up and down between
+the Standard and the station. Various men, friends and supporters
+of Griffenbottom and Underwood, had been brought to him. Who were
+paid agents, who were wealthy townsmen, who were canvassers and
+messengers, he did not know. There were bottles on the sideboard the
+whole time. Sir Thomas, in a speculative manner, endeavouring to
+realise to himself the individuality of this and that stranger, could
+only conceive that they who helped themselves were wealthy townsmen,
+and that they who waited till they were asked by others were paid
+canvassers and agents. But he knew nothing, and could only wish
+himself back in Southampton Buildings.
+
+At last Mr. Griffenbottom, followed by a cloud of supporters, bustled
+into the room. Trigger at once introduced the two candidates. "Very
+glad to meet you," said Griffenbottom. "So we're going to fight
+this little battle together. I remember you in the House, you know,
+and I dare say you remember me. I'm used to this kind of thing. I
+suppose you ain't. Well, Trigger, how are things looking? I suppose
+we'd better begin down Pump Lane. I know my way about the place,
+Honeywood, as well as if it was my bed-room. And so I ought,
+Trigger."
+
+"I suppose you've seen the inside of pretty nearly every house in
+Percycross," said Trigger.
+
+"There's some I don't want to see the inside of any more. I can tell
+you that. How are these new householders going to vote?"
+
+"Betwixt and between, Mr. Griffenbottom."
+
+"I never thought we should find much difference. It don't matter what
+rent a man pays, but what he does. I could tell you how nineteen out
+of twenty men here would vote, if you'd tell me what they did, and
+who they were. What's to be done about talking to 'em?"
+
+"To-morrow night we're to be in the Town Hall, Mr. Griffenbottom, and
+Thursday an open-air meeting, with a balcony in the market-place."
+
+"All right. Come along. Are you good at spinning yarns to them,
+Honeywood?"
+
+"I don't like it, if you mean that," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"It's better than canvassing. By George, anything is better than
+that. Come along. We may get Pump Lane, and Petticoat Yard, and
+those back alleys done before dinner. You've got cards, of course,
+Trigger." And the old, accustomed electioneerer led the way out to
+his work.
+
+Mr. Griffenbottom was a heavy hale man, over sixty, somewhat inclined
+to be corpulent, with a red face, and a look of assured impudence
+about him which nothing could quell or diminish. The kind of
+life which he had led was one to which impudence was essentially
+necessary. He had done nothing for the world to justify him in
+assuming the airs of a great man,--but still he could assume them,
+and many believed in him. He could boast neither birth, nor talent,
+nor wit,--nor, indeed, wealth in the ordinary sense of the word.
+Though he had worked hard all his life at the business to which he
+belonged, he was a poorer man now than he had been thirty years ago.
+It had all gone in procuring him a seat in Parliament. And he had so
+much sense that he never complained. He had known what it was that he
+wanted, and what it was that he must pay for it. He had paid for it,
+and had got it, and was, in his fashion, contented. If he could only
+have continued to have it without paying for it again, how great
+would have been the blessing! But he was a man who knew that such
+blessings were not to be expected. After the first feeling of disgust
+was over on the receipt of Trigger's letter, he put his collar to
+the work again, and was prepared to draw his purse,--intending,
+of course, that the new candidate should bear as much as possible
+of this drain. He knew well that there was a prospect before him
+of abject misery;--for life without Parliament would be such to
+him. There would be no salt left for him in the earth if he was
+ousted. And yet no man could say why he should have cared to sit in
+Parliament. He rarely spoke, and when he did no one listened to him.
+He was anxious for no political measures. He was a favourite with no
+section of a party. He spent all his evenings at the House, but it
+can hardly be imagined that those evenings were pleasantly spent.
+But he rubbed his shoulders against the shoulders of great men, and
+occasionally stood upon their staircases. At any rate, such as was
+the life, it was his life; and he had no time left to choose another.
+He considered himself on this occasion pretty nearly sure to be
+elected. He knew the borough and was sure. But then there was that
+accursed system of petitioning, which according to his idea was
+un-English, ungentlemanlike, and unpatriotic--"A stand-up fight, and
+if you're licked--take it." That was his idea of what an election
+should be.
+
+Sir Thomas, who only just remembered the appearance of the man in the
+House, at once took an extravagant dislike to him. It was abominable
+to him to be called Underwood by a man who did not know him. It was
+nauseous to him to be forced into close relations with a man who
+seemed to him to be rough and ill-mannered. And, judging from what
+he saw, he gave his colleague credit for no good qualities. Now Mr.
+Griffenbottom had good qualities. He was possessed of pluck. He was
+in the main good-natured. And though he could resent an offence with
+ferocity, he could forgive an offence with ease. "Hit him hard, and
+then have an end of it!" That was Mr. Griffenbottom's mode of dealing
+with the offenders and the offences with which he came in contact.
+
+In every house they entered Griffenbottom was at home, and Sir
+Thomas was a stranger of whom the inmates had barely heard the name.
+Griffenbottom was very good at canvassing the poorer classes. He said
+not a word to them about politics, but asked them all whether they
+didn't dislike that fellow Gladstone, who was one thing one day
+and another thing another day. "By G----, nobody knows what he is,"
+swore Mr. Griffenbottom over and over again. The women mostly said
+that they didn't know, but they liked the blue. "Blues allays was
+gallanter nor the yellow," said one of 'em. They who expressed an
+opinion at all hoped that their husbands would vote for him, "as 'd
+do most for 'em." "The big loaf;--that's what we want," said one
+mother of many children, taking Sir Thomas by the hand. There were
+some who took advantage of the occasion to pour out their tales of
+daily griefs into the ears of their visitors. To these Griffenbottom
+was rather short and hard. "What we want, my dear, is your husband's
+vote and interest. We'll hear all the rest another time." Sir Thomas
+would have lingered and listened; but Griffenbottom knew that 1,400
+voters had to be visited in ten days, and work as they would they
+could not see 140 a day. Trigger explained it all to Sir Thomas. "You
+can't work above seven hours, and you can't do twenty an hour. And
+much of the ground you must do twice over. If you stay to talk to
+them you might as well be in London. Mr. Griffenbottom understands it
+so well, you'd better keep your eye on him." There could be no object
+in the world on which Sir Thomas was less desirous of keeping his
+eye.
+
+
+[Illustration: "The big loaf;--that's what we want," said one
+mother of many children, taking Sir Thomas by the hand.]
+
+
+The men, who were much more difficult to find than the women, had
+generally less to say for themselves. Most of them understood at once
+what was wanted, and promised. For it must be understood that on this
+their first day the conservative brigade was moving among its firm
+friends. In Petticoat Yard lived paper-makers in the employment of
+Mr. Spiveycomb, and in Pump Lane the majority of the inhabitants were
+employed by Mr. Spicer, of the mustard works. The manufactories of
+both these men were visited, and there the voters were booked much
+quicker than at the rate of twenty an hour. Here and there a man
+would hold some peculiar opinion of his own. The Permissive Bill was
+asked for by an energetic teetotaller; and others, even in these
+Tory quarters, suggested the ballot. But they all,--or nearly all
+of them,--promised their votes. Now and again some sturdy fellow,
+seeming to be half ashamed of himself in opposing all those around
+him, would say shortly that he meant to vote for Moggs, and pass on.
+"You do,--do you?" Sir Thomas heard Mr. Spicer say to one such man.
+"Yes, I does," said the man. Sir Thomas heard no more, but he felt
+how perilous was the position on which a candidate stood under the
+present law.
+
+As regarded Sir Thomas himself, he felt, as the evening was coming
+on, that he had hardly done his share of the work. Mr. Griffenbottom
+had canvassed, and he had walked behind. Every now and then he had
+attempted a little conversation, but in that he had been immediately
+pulled up by the conscientious and energetic Mr. Trigger. As for
+asking for votes, he hardly knew, when he had been carried back
+into the main street through a labyrinth of alleys at the back of
+Petticoat Yard, whether he had asked any man for his vote or not.
+With the booking of the votes he had, of course, nothing to do. There
+were three men with books;--and three other men to open the doors,
+show the way, and make suggestions on the expediency of going hither
+or thither. Sir Thomas would always have been last in the procession,
+had there not been one silent, civil person, whose duty it seemed to
+be to bring up the rear. If ever Sir Thomas lingered behind to speak
+to a poor woman, there was this silent, civil person lingering too.
+The influence of the silent, civil person was so strong that Sir
+Thomas could not linger much.
+
+As they came into the main street they encountered the opposition
+party, Mr. Westmacott, Ontario Moggs, and their supporters. "I'll
+introduce you," said Mr. Griffenbottom to his colleague. "Come along.
+It's the thing to do." Then they met in the middle of the way. Poor
+Ontario was hanging behind, but holding up his head gallantly,
+and endeavouring to look as though he were equal to the occasion.
+Griffenbottom and Westmacott shook hands cordially, and complained
+with mutual sighs that household suffrage had made the work a deal
+harder than ever. "And I'm only a week up from the gout," said
+Griffenbottom. Then Sir Thomas and Westmacott were introduced, and at
+last Ontario was brought forward. He bowed and attempted to make a
+little speech; but nobody in one army or in the other seemed to care
+much for poor Ontario. He knew that it was so, but that mattered
+little to him. If he were destined to represent Percycross in
+Parliament, it must be by the free votes and unbiassed political
+aspirations of the honest working men of the borough. So remembering
+he stood aloof, stuck his hand into his breast, and held up his
+head something higher than before. Though the candidates had thus
+greeted each other at this chance meeting, the other parties in the
+contending armies had exhibited no courtesies.
+
+The weariness of Sir Thomas when this first day's canvass was over
+was so great that he was tempted to go to bed and ask for a bowl of
+gruel. Nothing kept him from doing so but amazement at the courage
+and endurance of Mr. Griffenbottom. "We could get at a few of
+those chaps who were at the works, if we went out at eight," said
+Griffenbottom. Trigger suggested that Mr. Griffenbottom would be
+very tired. Trigger himself was perhaps tired. "Oh, tired," said
+Griffenbottom; "a man has to be tired at this work." Sir Thomas
+perceived that Griffenbottom was at least ten years his senior,
+and that he was still almost lame from the gout. "You'll be ready,
+Underwood?" said Griffenbottom. Sir Thomas felt himself bound to
+undertake whatever might be thought necessary. "If we were at it
+day and night, it wouldn't be too much," said Griffenbottom, as he
+prepared to amuse himself with one of the poll-books till dinner
+should be on the table. "Didn't we see Jacob Pucky?" asked the
+energetic candidate, observing that the man's name wasn't marked. "To
+be sure we did. I was speaking to him myself. He was one of those
+who didn't know till the day came. We know what that means; eh,
+Honeywood?" Sir Thomas wasn't quite sure that he did know; but he
+presumed that it meant something dishonest. Again Mr. Trigger dined
+with them, and as soon as ever their dinner was swallowed they were
+out again at their work, Sir Thomas being dragged from door to door,
+while Griffenbottom asked for the votes.
+
+And this was to last yet for ten days more!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+MOGGS, PURITY, AND THE RIGHTS OF LABOUR.
+
+
+Mr. Trigger had hinted that Ontario Moggs would be a thorn in the
+flesh of Mr. Westmacott's supporters at Percycross, and he had
+been right. Ontario was timid, hesitating, and not unfrequently
+brow-beaten in the social part of his work at the election. Though he
+made great struggles he could neither talk, nor walk, nor eat, nor
+sit, as though he were the equal of his colleague. But when they came
+to politics and political management, there was no holding him. He
+would make speeches when speeches were not held to be desirable by
+his committee, and he was loud upon topics as to which it was thought
+that no allusion whatever should have been made. To talk about the
+ballot had from the first been conceded to Moggs. Mr. Westmacott
+was, indeed, opposed to the ballot; but it had been a matter
+of course that the candidate of the people should support that
+measure. The ballot would have been a safety-valve. But Moggs was so
+cross-grained, ill-conditioned, and uncontrollable that he would not
+let the ballot suffice him. The ballot was almost nothing to him.
+Strikes and bribery were his great subjects; the beauty of the one
+and the ugliness of the other. The right of the labourer to combine
+with his brother labourers to make his own terms for his labour, was
+the great lesson he taught. The suicidal iniquity of the labourer
+in selling that political power which he should use to protect his
+labour was the source of his burning indignation. That labour was the
+salt of the earth he told the men of Percycross very often;--and he
+told them as often that manliness and courage were necessary to make
+that salt productive. Gradually the men of Percycross,--some said
+that they were only the boys of Percycross,--clustered round him, and
+learned to like to listen to him. They came to understand something
+of the character of the man who was almost too shame-faced to speak
+to them while he was being dragged round to their homes on his
+canvas, but whom nothing could repress when he was on his legs with
+a crowd before him. It was in vain that the managing agent told him
+that he would not get a vote by his spouting and shouting. On such
+occasions he hardly answered a word to the managing agent. But the
+spouting and shouting went on just the same, and was certainly
+popular among the bootmakers and tanners. Mr. Westmacott was asked
+to interfere, and did do so once in some mild fashion; but Ontario
+replied that having been called to this sphere of action he could
+only do his duty according to his own lights. The young men's
+presidents, and secretaries, and chairmen were for awhile somewhat
+frightened, having been assured by the managing men of the liberal
+committee that the election would be lost by the furious insanity of
+their candidate. But they decided upon supporting Moggs, having found
+that they would be deposed from their seats if they discarded him. At
+last, when the futile efforts to control Moggs had been maintained
+with patience for something over a week, when it still wanted four or
+five days to the election, an actual split was made in the liberal
+camp. Moggs was turned adrift by the Westmacottian faction. Bills
+were placarded about the town explaining the cruel necessity for such
+action, and describing Moggs as a revolutionary firebrand. And now
+there were three parties in the town. Mr. Trigger rejoiced over this
+greatly with Mr. Griffenbottom. "If they haven't been and cut their
+throats now it is a wonder," he said over and over again. Even Sir
+Thomas caught something of the feeling of triumph, and began almost
+to hope that he might be successful. Nevertheless the number of men
+who could not quite make up their minds as to what duty required of
+them till the day of the election was considerable, and Mr. Pile
+triumphantly whispered into Mr. Trigger's ear his conviction that
+"after all, things weren't going to be changed at Percycross quite so
+easily as some people supposed."
+
+When Moggs was utterly discarded by the respectable leaders of the
+liberal party in the borough,--turned out of the liberal inn at
+which were the head-quarters of the party, and refused the right
+of participating in the liberal breakfasts and dinners which were
+there provided, Moggs felt himself to be a triumphant martyr. His
+portmanteau and hat-box were carried by an admiring throng down to
+the Cordwainers' Arms,--a house not, indeed, of the highest repute in
+the town,--and here a separate committee was formed. Mr. Westmacott
+did his best to avert the secession; but his supporters were
+inexorable. The liberal tradesmen of Percycross would have nothing to
+do with a candidate who declared that inasmuch as a man's mind was
+more worthy than a man's money, labour was more worthy than capital,
+and that therefore the men should dominate and rule their masters.
+That was a doctrine necessarily abominable to every master tradesman.
+The men were to decide how many hours they would work, what
+recreation they would have, in what fashion and at what rate they
+would be paid, and what proportion of profit should be allowed to the
+members, and masters, and creators of the firm! That was the doctrine
+that Moggs was preaching. The tradesmen of Percycross, whether
+liberal or conservative, did not understand much in the world of
+politics, but they did understand that such a doctrine as that, if
+carried out, would take them to a very Gehenna of revolutionary
+desolation. And so Moggs was banished from the Northern Star, the
+inn at which Mr. Westmacott was living, and was forced to set up his
+radical staff at the Cordwainers' Arms.
+
+In one respect he certainly gained much by this persecution. The
+record of his election doings would have been confined to the columns
+of the "Percycross Herald" had he carried on his candidature after
+the usual fashion; but, as it was now, his doings were blazoned in
+the London newspapers. The "Daily News" reported him, and gave him an
+article all to himself; and even the "Times" condescended to make an
+example of him, and to bring him up as evidence that revolutionary
+doctrines were distasteful to the electors of the country generally.
+The fame of Ontario Moggs certainly became more familiar to the ears
+of the world at large than it would have done had he continued to run
+in a pair with Mr. Westmacott. And that was everything to him. Polly
+Neefit must hear of him now that his name had become a household word
+in the London newspapers.
+
+And in another respect he gained much. All personal canvassing was
+now at an end for him. There could be no use in his going about from
+house to house asking for votes. Indeed, he had discovered that to do
+so was a thing iniquitous in itself, a demoralising practice tending
+to falsehood, intimidation, and corruption,--a thing to be denounced.
+And he denounced it. Let the men of Percycross hear him, question him
+in public, learn from his spoken words what were his political
+principles,--and then vote for him if they pleased. He would
+condescend to ask a vote as a favour from no man. It was for them
+rather to ask him to bestow upon them the gift of his time and such
+ability as he possessed. He took a very high tone indeed in his
+speeches, and was saved the labour of parading the streets. During
+these days he looked down from an immeasurable height on the
+truckling, mean, sordid doings of Griffenbottom, Underwood, and
+Westmacott. A huge board had been hoisted up over the somewhat low
+frontage of the Cordwainers' Arms, and on this was painted in letters
+two feet high a legend which it delighted him to read, MOGGS, PURITY,
+AND THE RIGHTS OF LABOUR. Ah, if that could only be understood, there
+was enough in it to bring back an age of gold to suffering humanity!
+No other Reform would be needed. In that short legend everything
+necessary for man was contained.
+
+Mr. Pile and Mr. Trigger stood together one evening looking at the
+legend from a distance. "Moggs and purity!" said Mr. Pile, in that
+tone of disgust, and with that peculiar action which had become
+common to him in speaking of this election.
+
+"He hasn't a ghost of a chance," said Mr. Trigger, who was always
+looking straight at the main point;--"nor yet hasn't Westmacott."
+
+"There's worse than Westmacott," said Mr. Pile.
+
+"But what can we do?" said Trigger.
+
+"Purity! Purity!" said the old man. "It makes me that sick that I
+wish there weren't such a thing as a member of Parliament. Purity and
+pickpockets is about the same. When I'm among 'em I buttons up my
+breeches-pockets."
+
+"But what can we do?" asked Mr. Trigger again, in a voice of woe. Mr.
+Trigger quite sympathised with his elder friend; but, being a younger
+man, he knew that these innovations must be endured.
+
+Then Mr. Pile made a speech, of such length that he had never been
+known to make the like before;--so that Mr. Trigger felt that things
+had become very serious, and that, not impossibly, Mr. Pile might be
+so affected by this election as never again to hold up his head in
+Percycross. "Purity! Purity!" he repeated. "They're a going on that
+way, Trigger, that the country soon won't be fit for a man to live
+in. And what's the meaning of it all? It's just this,--that folks
+wants what they wants without paying for it. I hate Purity, I do. I
+hate the very smell of it. It stinks. When I see the chaps as come
+here and talk of Purity, I know they mean that nothing ain't to be as
+it used to be. Nobody is to trust no one. There ain't to be nothing
+warm, nor friendly, nor comfortable any more. This Sir Thomas you've
+brought down is just as bad as that shoemaking chap;--worse if
+anything. I know what's a going on inside him. I can see it. If a man
+takes a glass of wine out of his bottle, he's a asking hisself if
+that ain't bribery and corruption! He's got a handle to his name, and
+money, I suppose, and comes down here without knowing a chick or a
+child. Why isn't a poor man, as can't hardly live, to have his three
+half-crowns or fifteen shillings, as things may go, for voting for a
+stranger such as him? I'll tell you what it is, Trigger, I've done
+with it. Things have come to that in the borough, that I'll meddle
+and make no more." Mr. Trigger, as he listened to this eloquence,
+could only sigh and shake his head. "I did think it would last my
+time," added Mr. Pile, almost weeping.
+
+Moggs would steal out of the house in the early morning, look up at
+the big bright red letters, and rejoice in his very heart of hearts.
+He had not lived in vain, when his name had been joined, in the
+public view of men, with words so glorious. Purity and the Rights of
+Labour! "It contains just everything," said Moggs to himself as he
+sat down to his modest, lonely breakfast. After that, sitting with
+his hands clasped upon his brow, disdaining the use of pen and paper
+for such work, he composed his speech for the evening,--a speech
+framed with the purpose of proving to his hearers that Purity and the
+Rights of Labour combined would make them as angels upon the earth.
+As for himself, Moggs, he explained in his speech,--analysing the big
+board which adorned the house,--it mattered little whether they did
+or did not return him. But let them be always persistent in returning
+on every possible occasion Purity and the Rights of Labour, and then
+all other good things would follow to them. He enjoyed at any rate
+that supreme delight which a man feels when he thoroughly believes
+his own doctrine.
+
+But the days were very long with him. When the evening came, when his
+friends were relieved from their toil, and could assemble here and
+there through the borough to hear him preach to them, he was happy
+enough. He had certainly achieved so much that they preferred him now
+to their own presidents and chairmen. There was an enthusiasm for
+Moggs among the labouring men of Percycross, and he was always happy
+while he was addressing them. But the hours in the morning were
+long, and sometimes melancholy. Though all the town was busy with
+these electioneering doings, there was nothing for him to do. His
+rivals canvassed, consulted, roamed through the town,--as he could
+see,--filching votes from him. But he, too noble for such work
+as that, sat there alone in the little upstairs parlour of the
+Cordwainers' Arms, thinking of his speech for the evening,--thinking,
+too, of Polly Neefit. And then, of a sudden, it occurred to him that
+it would be good to write a letter to Polly from Percycross. Surely
+the fact that he was waging this grand battle would have some effect
+upon her heart. So he wrote the following letter, which reached Polly
+about a week after her return home from Margate.
+
+
+   Cordwainers' Arms Inn, Percycross,
+   14 October, 186--.
+
+   MY DEAR POLLY,--
+
+   I hope you won't be angry with me for writing to you. I am
+   here in the midst of the turmoil of a contested election,
+   and I cannot refrain from writing to tell you about it.
+   Out of a full heart they say the mouth speaks, and out of
+   a very full heart I am speaking to you with my pen. The
+   honourable prospect of having a seat in the British House
+   of Parliament, which I regard as the highest dignity that
+   a Briton can enjoy, is very much to me, and fills my mind,
+   and my heart, and my soul; but it all is not so much to me
+   as your love, if only I could win that seat. If I could
+   sit there, in your heart, and be chosen by you, not for a
+   short seven years, but for life, I should be prouder and
+   happier of that honour than of any other. It ought not,
+   perhaps, to be so, but it is. I have to speak here to
+   the people very often; but I never open my mouth without
+   thinking that if I had you to hear me I could speak with
+   more energy and spirit. If I could gain your love and the
+   seat for this borough together, I should have done more
+   then than emperor, or conqueror, or high priest ever
+   accomplished.
+
+   I don't know whether you understand much about elections.
+   When I first came here I was joined with a gentleman
+   who was one of the old members;--but now I stand alone,
+   because he does not comprehend or sympathise with the
+   advanced doctrines which it is my mission to preach to the
+   people. Purity and the Rights of Labour;--those are my
+   watchwords. But there are many here who hate the very name
+   of Purity, and who know nothing of the Rights of Labour.
+   Labour, dear Polly, is the salt of the earth; and I hope
+   that some day I may have the privilege of teaching you
+   that it is so. For myself I do not see why ladies should
+   not understand politics as well as men; and I think that
+   they ought to vote. I hope you think that women ought to
+   have the franchise.
+
+   We are to be nominated on Monday, and the election will
+   take place on Tuesday. I shall be nominated and seconded
+   by two electors who are working men. I would sooner
+   have their support than that of the greatest magnate in
+   the land. But your support would be better for me than
+   anything else in the world. People here, as a rule, are
+   very lukewarm about the ballot, and they seemed to know
+   very little about strikes till I came among them. Without
+   combination and mutual support the working people must be
+   ground to powder. If I am sent to Parliament I shall feel
+   it to be my duty to insist upon this doctrine in season
+   and out of season,--whenever I can make my voice heard.
+   But, oh Polly, if I could do it with you for my wife, my
+   voice would be so much louder.
+
+   Pray give my best respects to your father and mother. I am
+   afraid I have not your father's good wishes, but perhaps
+   if he saw me filling the honourable position of member of
+   Parliament for Percycross he might relent. If you would
+   condescend to write me one word in reply I should be
+   prouder of that than of anything. I suppose I shall be
+   here till Wednesday morning. If you would say but one kind
+   word to me, I think that it would help me on the great
+   day.
+
+   I am, and ever shall be,
+   Your most affectionate admirer,
+
+   ONTARIO MOGGS.
+
+
+[Illustration: "Out of a full heart they say the mouth speaks,
+and out of a very full heart I am speaking to you with my pen."]
+
+
+Polly received this on the Monday, the day of the nomination, and
+though she did answer it at once, Ontario did not get her reply till
+the contest was over, and that great day had done its best and its
+worst for him. But Polly's letter shall be given here. To a well-bred
+young lady, living in good society, the mixture of politics and
+love which had filled Ontario's epistle might perhaps have been
+unacceptable. But Polly thought that the letter was a good letter;
+and was proud of being so noticed by a young man who was standing for
+Parliament. She sympathised with his enthusiasm; and thought that
+she should like to be taught by him that Labour was the Salt of the
+Earth,--if only he were not so awkward and long, and if his hands
+were habitually a little cleaner. She could not, however, take
+upon herself to give him any hope in that direction, and therefore
+confined her answer to the Parliamentary prospects of the hour.
+
+
+   DEAR MR. MOGGS,--[she wrote]--I was very much pleased
+   when I heard that you were going to stand for a member of
+   Parliament, and I wish with all my heart that you may be
+   successful. I shall think it a very great honour indeed
+   to know a member of Parliament, as I have known you for
+   nearly all my life. I am sure you will do a great deal of
+   good, and prevent the people from being wicked. As for
+   ladies voting, I don't think I should like that myself,
+   though if I had twenty votes I would give them to
+   you,--because I have known you so long.
+
+   Father and mother send their respects, and hope you will
+   be successful.
+
+   Yours truly,
+
+   MARYANNE NEEFIT.
+
+   Alexandra Cottage, Monday.
+
+
+When Moggs received this letter he was, not unnaturally, in a state
+of great agitation in reference to the contest through which he had
+just passed; but still he thought very much of it, and put it in his
+breast, where it would lie near his heart. Ah, if only one word of
+warmth had been allowed to escape from the writer, how happy could he
+have been. "Yes," he said scornfully,--"because she has known me all
+her life!" Nevertheless, the paper which her hand had pressed, and
+the letters which her fingers had formed, were placed close to his
+heart.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+THE MOONBEAM.
+
+
+Ralph the heir had given his answer, and the thing was settled. He
+had abandoned his property for ever, and was to be put into immediate
+possession of a large sum of money,--of a sum so large that it would
+seem at once to make him a rich man. He knew, however, that if he
+should spend this money he would be a pauper for life; and he knew
+also how great was his facility for spending. There might, however,
+be at least a thousand a year for him and for his heirs after him,
+and surely it ought to be easy for him to live upon a thousand a
+year.
+
+As he thought of this he tried to make the best of it. He had at
+any rate rescued himself out of the hands of Neefit, who had become
+intolerable to him. As for Polly, she had refused him twice. Polly
+was a very sweet girl, but he could not make it matter of regret to
+himself that he should have lost Polly. Had Polly been all alone in
+the world she would have been well enough,--but Polly with papa and
+mamma Neefit must have been a mistake. It was well for him, at any
+rate, that he was out of that trouble. As regarded the Neefits, it
+would be simply necessary that he should pay the breeches-maker the
+money that he owed them, and go no more either to Conduit Street or
+to Hendon.
+
+And then what else should he do,--or leave undone? In what other
+direction should he be active or inactive? He was well aware
+that hitherto he had utterly wasted his life. Born with glorious
+prospects, he had now so dissipated them that there was nothing left
+for him but a quiet and very unambitious mode of life. Of means he
+had sufficient, if only he could keep that sufficiency. But he knew
+himself,--he feared that he knew himself too well to trust himself
+to keep that which he had unless he altogether changed his manner of
+living. To be a hybrid at the Moonbeam for life,--half hero and half
+dupe, among grooms and stable-keepers, was not satisfactory to him.
+He could see and could appreciate better things, and could long for
+them; but he could not attain to anything better unless he were to
+alter altogether his mode of life. Would it not be well for him to
+get a wife? He was rid of Polly, who had been an incubus to him, and
+now he could choose for himself.
+
+He wrote to his brother Gregory, telling his brother what he had
+done. The writing of letters was ever a trouble to him, and on this
+occasion he told his tidings in a line or two. "Dear Greg., I have
+accepted my uncle's offer. It was better so. When I wrote to you
+before things were different. I need not tell you that my heart is
+sore for the old place. Had I stuck to it, however, I should have
+beggared you and disgraced myself. Yours affectionately, R. N." That
+was all. What more was to be said which, in the saying, could be
+serviceable to any one? The dear old place! He would never see it
+again. Nothing on earth should induce him to go there, now that it
+could under no circumstances be his own. It would still belong to a
+Newton, and he would try and take comfort in that. He might at any
+rate have done worse with it. He might have squandered his interest
+among the Jews, and so have treated his inheritance that it must have
+been sold among strangers.
+
+He was very low in spirits for two or three days, thinking of all
+this. He had been with his lawyer, and his lawyer had told him that
+it must yet be some weeks before the sale would be perfected. "Now
+that it is done, the sooner the better," said Ralph. The lawyer told
+him that if he absolutely wanted ready money for his present needs
+he could have it; but that otherwise it would be better for him to
+wait patiently,--say for a month. He was not absolutely in want of
+money, having still funds which had been supplied to him by the
+breeches-maker. But he could not remain in town. Were he to remain in
+town, Neefit would be upon him; and, in truth, though he was quite
+clear in his conscience in regard to Polly, he did not wish to have
+to explain personally to Mr. Neefit that he had sold his interest in
+Newton Priory. The moment the money was in his hands he would pay Mr.
+Neefit; and then--; why then he thought that he would be entitled
+to have Mr. Neefit told that he was not at home should Mr. Neefit
+trouble him again.
+
+He would marry and live somewhere very quietly;--perhaps take a small
+farm and keep one hunter. His means would be sufficient for that,
+even with a wife and family. Yes;--that would be the kind of life
+most suited for him. He would make a great change. He would be simple
+in his habits, domestic, and extravagant in nothing. To hunt once
+a week from his own little country house would be delightful. Who
+should be the mistress of that home? That of all questions was now
+the most important.
+
+The reader may remember a certain trifling incident which took place
+some three or four months since on the lawn at Popham Villa. It was
+an incident which Clary Underwood had certainly never forgotten. It
+is hardly too much to say that she thought of it every hour. She
+thought of it as a great sin;--but as a sin which had been forgiven,
+and, though a grievous sin, as strong evidence of that which was
+not sinful, and which if true would be so full of joy. Clary had
+never forgotten this incident;--but Ralph had forgotten it nearly
+altogether. That he had accompanied the incident by any assurance of
+his love, by any mention of love intended to mean anything, he was
+altogether unaware. He would have been ready to swear that he had
+never so committed himself. Little tender passages of course there
+had been. Such are common,--so he thought,--when young ladies and
+young gentlemen know each other well and are fond of each other's
+company. But that he owed himself to Clarissa Underwood, and that he
+would sin grievously against her should he give himself to another,
+he had no idea. It merely occurred to him that there might be some
+slight preparatory embarrassment were he to offer his hand to Mary
+Bonner. Yet he thought that of all the girls in the world Mary Bonner
+was the one to whom he would best like to offer it. It might indeed
+be possible for him to marry some young woman with money; but in his
+present frame of mind he was opposed to any such effort. Hitherto
+things with him had been all worldly, empty, useless, and at the same
+time distasteful. He was to have married Polly Neefit for her money,
+and he had been wretched ever since he had entertained the idea. Love
+and a cottage were, he knew, things incompatible; but the love and
+the cottage implied in those words were synonymous with absolute
+poverty. Love with thirty thousand pounds, even though it should have
+a cottage joined with it, need not be a poverty-stricken love. He was
+sick of the world,--of the world such as he had made it for himself,
+and he would see if he could not do something better. He would first
+get Mary Bonner, and then he would get the farm. He was so much
+delighted with the scheme which he thus made for himself, that he
+went to his club and dined there pleasantly, allowing himself a
+bottle of champagne as a sort of reward for having made up his mind
+to so much virtue. He met a friend or two, and spent a pleasant
+evening, and as he walked home to his lodgings in the evening was
+quite in love with his prospects. It was well for him to have rid
+himself of the burden of an inheritance which might perhaps not have
+been his for the next five-and-twenty years. As he undressed himself
+he considered whether it would be well for him at once to throw
+himself at Mary Bonner's feet. There were two reasons for not doing
+this quite immediately. He had been told by his lawyer that he ought
+to wait for some form of assent or agreement from the Squire before
+he took any important step as consequent upon the new arrangement
+in regard to the property, and then Sir Thomas was still among the
+electors at Percycross. He wished to do everything that was proper,
+and would wait for the return of Sir Thomas. But he must do something
+at once. To remain in his lodgings and at his club was not in accord
+with that better path in life which he had chalked out for himself.
+
+Of course he must go down to the Moonbeam. He had four horses there,
+and must sell at least three of them. One hunter he intended to allow
+himself. There were Brag, Banker, Buff, and Brewer; and he thought
+that he would keep Brag. Brag was only six years old, and might last
+him for the next seven years. In the meantime he could see a little
+cub-hunting, and live at the Moonbeam for a week at any rate as
+cheaply as he could in London. So he went down to the Moonbeam, and
+put himself under the charge of Mr. Horsball.
+
+And here he found himself in luck. Lieutenant Cox was there, and with
+the lieutenant a certain Fred Pepper, who hunted habitually with the
+B. and B. Lieutenant Cox had soon told his little tale. He had sold
+out, and had promised his family that he would go to Australia. But
+he intended to "take one more winter out of himself," as he phrased
+it. He had made a bargain to that effect with his governor. His debts
+had been paid, his commission had been sold, and he was to be shipped
+for Queensland. But he was to have one more winter with the B. and B.
+An open, good-humoured, shrewd youth was Lieutenant Cox, who suffered
+nothing from false shame, and was intelligent enough to know that
+life at the rate of L1,200 a year, with L400 to spend, must come to
+an end. Fred Pepper was a young man of about forty-five, who had
+hunted with the B. and B., and lived at the Moonbeam from a time
+beyond which the memory of Mr. Horsball's present customers went not.
+He was the father of the Moonbeam, Mr. Horsball himself having come
+there since the days in which Fred Pepper first became familiar with
+its loose boxes. No one knew how he lived or how he got his horses.
+He had, however, a very pretty knack of selling them, and certainly
+paid Mr. Horsball regularly. He was wont to vanish in April, and
+would always turn up again in October. Some people called him the
+dormouse. He was good-humoured, good-looking after a horsey fashion,
+clever, agreeable, and quite willing to submit himself to any
+nickname that could be found for him. He liked a rubber of whist, and
+was supposed to make something out of bets with bad players. He rode
+very carefully, and was altogether averse to ostentation and bluster
+in the field. But he could make a horse do anything when he wanted
+to sell him, and could on an occasion give a lead as well as any man.
+Everybody liked him, and various things were constantly said in his
+praise. He was never known to borrow a sovereign. He had been known
+to lend a horse. He did not drink. He was a very safe man in the
+field. He did not lie outrageously in selling his horses. He did not
+cheat at cards. As long as he had a drop of drink left in his flask,
+he would share it with any friend. He never boasted. He was much
+given to chaff, but his chaff was good-humoured. He was generous with
+his cigars. Such were his virtues. That he had no adequate means of
+his own and that he never earned a penny, that he lived chiefly by
+gambling, that he had no pursuit in life but pleasure, that he never
+went inside a church, that he never gave away a shilling, that he was
+of no use to any human being, and that no one could believe a word he
+said of himself,--these were specks upon his character. Taken as a
+whole Fred Pepper was certainly very popular with the gentlemen and
+ladies of the B. and B.
+
+Ralph Newton when he dropped down upon the Moonbeam was made loudly
+welcome. Mr. Horsball, whose bill for L500 had been honoured at its
+first day of maturity, not a little, perhaps, to his own surprise,
+treated Ralph almost as a hero. When Ralph made some reference to the
+remainder of the money due, Mr. Horsball expressed himself as quite
+shocked at the allusion. He had really had the greatest regret in
+asking Mr. Newton for his note of hand, and would not have done it,
+had not an unforeseen circumstance called upon him suddenly to make
+up a few thousands. He had felt very much obliged to Mr. Newton for
+his prompt kindness. There needn't be a word about the remainder,
+and if Mr. Newton wanted something specially good for the next
+season,--as of course he would,--Mr. Horsball had just the horse that
+would suit him. "You'll about want a couple more, Mr. Newton," said
+Mr. Horsball.
+
+Then Ralph told something of his plans to this Master of the
+Studs,--something, but not much. He said nothing of the sale of his
+property, and nothing quite definite as to that one horse with which
+his hunting was to be done for the future. "I'm going to turn over a
+new leaf, Horsball," he said.
+
+"Not going to be spliced, squire?"
+
+"Well;--I can't say that I am, but I won't say that I ain't. But I'm
+certainly going to make a change which will take me away from your
+fatherly care."
+
+"I'm sorry for that, squire. We think we've always taken great care
+of you here."
+
+"The very best in the world;--but a man must settle down in the world
+some day, you know. I want a nice bit of land, a hundred and fifty
+acres, or something of that sort."
+
+"To purchase, squire?"
+
+"I don't care whether I buy it or take it on lease. But it mustn't be
+in this county. I am too well known here, and should always want to
+be out when I ought to be looking after the stock."
+
+"You'll take the season out of yourself first, at any rate," said Mr.
+Horsball. Ralph shook his head, but Mr. Horsball felt nearly sure
+of his customer for the ensuing winter. It is not easy for a man to
+part with four horses, seven or eight saddles, an establishment of
+bridles, horsesheets, spurs, rollers, and bandages, a pet groom,
+a roomful of top boots, and leather breeches beyond the power of
+counting. This is a wealth which it is easy to increase, but of which
+it is very difficult to get quit.
+
+"I think I shall sell," said Ralph.
+
+"We'll talk about that in April," said Mr. Horsball.
+
+He went out cub-hunting three or four times, and spent the
+intermediate days playing dummy whist with Fred Pepper and Cox,--who
+was no longer a lieutenant. Ralph felt that this was not the sort of
+beginning for his better life which would have been most appropriate;
+but then he hardly had an opportunity of beginning that better life
+quite at once. He must wait till something more definite had been
+done about the property,--and, above all things, till Sir Thomas
+should be back from canvassing. He did, however, so far begin
+his better life as to declare that the points at whist must be
+low,--shilling points, with half-a-crown on the rubber. "Quite
+enough for this kind of thing," said Fred Pepper. "We only want just
+something to do." And Ralph, when at the end of the week he had lost
+only a matter of fifteen pounds, congratulated himself on having
+begun his better life. Cox and Fred Pepper, who divided the trifle
+between them, laughed at the bagatelle.
+
+But before he left the Moonbeam things had assumed a shape which,
+when looked at all round, was not altogether pleasant to him. Before
+he had been three days at the place he received a letter from his
+lawyer, telling him that his uncle had given his formal assent to the
+purchase, and had offered to pay the stipulated sum as soon as Ralph
+would be willing to receive it. As to any further sum that might be
+forthcoming, a valuer should be agreed upon at once. The actual deed
+of sale and transfer would be ready by the middle of November; and
+the lawyer advised Ralph to postpone his acceptance of the money till
+that deed should have been executed. It was evident from the letter
+that there was no need on his part to hurry back to town. This letter
+he found waiting for him on his return one day from hunting. There
+had been a pretty run, very fast, with a kill, as there will be
+sometimes in cub-hunting in October,--though as a rule, of all
+sports, cub-hunting is the sorriest. Ralph had ridden his favourite
+horse Brag, and Mr. Pepper had taken out,--just to try him,--a little
+animal of his that he had bought, as he said, quite at haphazard. He
+knew nothing about him, and was rather afraid that he had been done.
+But the little horse seemed to have a dash of pace about him, and in
+the evening there was some talk of the animal. Fred Pepper thought
+that the little horse was faster than Brag. Fred Pepper never praised
+his own horses loudly; and when Brag's merits were chaunted, said
+that perhaps Ralph was right. Would Ralph throw his leg over the
+little horse on Friday and try him? On the Friday Ralph did throw his
+leg over the little horse, and there was another burst. Ralph was
+obliged to confess, as they came home together in the afternoon, that
+he had never been better carried. "I can see what he is now," said
+Fred Pepper;--"he is one of those little horses that one don't get
+every day. He's up to a stone over my weight, too." Now Ralph and
+Fred Pepper each rode thirteen stone and a half.
+
+On that day they dined together, and there was much talk as to the
+future prospects of the men. Not that Fred Pepper said anything of
+his future prospects. No one ever presumed him to have a prospect, or
+suggested to him to look for one. But Cox had been very communicative
+and confidential, and Ralph had been prompted to say something of
+himself. Fred Pepper, though he had no future of his own, could
+he pleasantly interested about the future of another, and had
+quite agreed with Ralph that he ought to settle himself. The only
+difficulty was in deciding the when. Cox intended to settle himself
+too, but Cox was quite clear as to the wisdom of taking another
+season out of himself. He was prepared to prove that it would be
+sheer waste of time and money not to do so. "Here I am," said Cox,
+"and a fellow always saves money by staying where he is." There was a
+sparkle of truth in this which Ralph Newton found himself unable to
+deny.
+
+"You'll never have another chance," said Pepper.
+
+"That's another thing," said Cox. "Of course I shan't. I've turned it
+round every side, and I know what I'm about. As for horses, I believe
+they sell better in April than they do in October. Men know what they
+are then." Fred Pepper would not exactly back this opinion, but he
+ventured to suggest that there was not so much difference as some men
+supposed.
+
+"If you are to jump into the cold water," said Ralph, "you'd better
+take the plunge at once."
+
+"I'd sooner do it in summer than winter," said Fred Pepper.
+
+"Of course," said Cox. "If you must give up hunting, do it at the end
+of the season, not at the beginning. There's a time for all things.
+Ring the bell, Dormouse, and we'll have another bottle of claret
+before we go to dummy."
+
+"If I stay here for the winter," said Ralph, "I should want another
+horse. Though I might, perhaps, get through with four."
+
+"Of course you might," said Pepper, who never spoilt his own market
+by pressing.
+
+"I'd rather give up altogether than do it in a scratch way," said
+Ralph. "I've got into a fashion of having a second horse, and I like
+it."
+
+"It's the greatest luxury in the world," said Cox.
+
+"I never tried it," said Pepper; "I'm only too happy to get one." It
+was admitted by all men that Fred Pepper had the art of riding his
+horses without tiring them.
+
+They played their rubber of whist and had a little hot whisky and
+water. On this evening Mr. Horsball was admitted to their company and
+made a fourth. But he wouldn't bet. Shilling points, he said, were
+quite as much as he could afford. Through the whole evening they went
+on talking of the next season, of the absolute folly of giving up one
+thing before another was begun, and of the merits of Fred Pepper's
+little horse. "A clever little animal, Mr. Pepper," said the great
+man, "a very clever little animal; but I wish you wouldn't bring so
+many clever un's down here, Mr. Pepper."
+
+"Why not, Horsball?" asked Cox.
+
+"Because he interferes with my trade," said Mr. Horsball, laughing.
+It was supposed, nevertheless, that Mr. Horsball and Mr. Pepper quite
+understood each other. Before the evening was over, a price had been
+fixed, and Ralph had bought the little horse for L130. Why shouldn't
+he take another winter out of himself? He could not marry Mary Bonner
+and get into a farm all in a day,--nor yet all in a month. He would
+go to work honestly with the view of settling himself; but let him
+be as honest about it as he might, his winter's hunting would not
+interfere with him. So at last he assured himself. And then he had
+another argument strong in his favour. He might hunt all the winter
+and yet have this thirty thousand pounds,--nay, more than thirty
+thousand pounds at the end of it. In fact, imprudent and foolish as
+had been his hunting in all previous winters, there would not even
+be any imprudence in this winter's hunting. Fortified by all these
+unanswerable arguments he did buy Mr. Fred Pepper's little horse.
+
+On the next morning, the morning of the day on which he was to return
+to town, the arguments did not seem to be so irresistible, and he
+almost regretted what he had done. It was not that he would be ruined
+by another six months' fling at life. Situated as he now was so much
+might be allowed to him almost without injury. But then how can a man
+trust in his own resolutions before he has begun to keep them,--when,
+at the very moment of beginning, he throws them to the winds for the
+present, postponing everything for another hour? He knew as well as
+any one could tell him that he was proving himself to be unfit for
+that new life which he was proposing to himself. When one man is
+wise and another foolish, the foolish man knows generally as well
+as does the wise man in what lies wisdom and in what folly. And the
+temptation often is very slight. Ralph Newton had hardly wished to
+buy Mr. Pepper's little horse. The balance of desire during the whole
+evening had lain altogether on the other side. But there had come
+a moment in which he had yielded, and that moment governed all the
+other minutes. We may almost say that a man is only as strong as his
+weakest moment.
+
+But he returned to London very strong in his purpose. He would keep
+his establishment at the Moonbeam for this winter. He had it all laid
+out and planned in his mind. He would at once pay Mr. Horsball the
+balance of the old debt, and count on the value of his horses to
+defray the expense of the coming season. And he would, without a
+week's delay, make his offer to Mary Bonner. A dim idea of some
+feeling of disappointment on Clary's part did cross his brain,--a
+feeling which seemed to threaten some slight discomfort to himself
+as resulting from want of sympathy on her part; but he must assume
+sufficient courage to brave this. That he would in any degree be an
+evil-doer towards Clary,--that did not occur to him. Nor did it occur
+to him as at all probable that Mary Bonner would refuse his offer. In
+these days men never expect to be refused. It has gone forth among
+young men as a doctrine worthy of perfect faith, that young ladies
+are all wanting to get married,--looking out for lovers with an
+absorbing anxiety, and that few can dare to refuse any man who is
+justified in proposing to them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+THE NEW HEIR COUNTS HIS CHICKENS.
+
+
+The Squire was almost lost in joy when he received his son's letter,
+telling him that Ralph the heir had consented to sell everything.
+The one great wish of his life was to be accomplished at last! The
+property was to be his own, so that he might do what he liked with
+it, so that he might leave it entire to his own son, so that for the
+remainder of his life he might enjoy it in that community with his
+son which had always appeared to him to be the very summit of human
+bliss. From the sweet things which he had seen he had been hitherto
+cut off by the record of his own fault, and had spent the greater
+part of his life in the endurance of a bitter punishment. He had been
+torn to pieces, too, in contemplating the modes of escape from the
+position in which his father's very natural will had placed him. He
+might of course have married, and at least have expected and have
+hoped for children. But in that there would have been misery. His
+son was the one human being that was dear to him above all others,
+and by such a marriage he would have ruined his son. Early in life,
+comparatively early, he had made up his mind that he would not do
+that;--that he would save his money, and make a property for the boy
+he loved. But then it had come home to him as a fact, that he could
+be happy in preparing no other home for his son than this old family
+house of his, with all its acres, woods, and homesteads. The acres,
+woods, and homesteads gave to him no delight, feeling as he did every
+hour of his life that they were not his own for purposes of a real
+usufruct. Then by degrees he had heard of his nephew's follies, and
+the idea had come upon him that he might buy his nephew out. Ralph,
+his own Ralph, had told him that the idea was cruel; but he could not
+see the cruelty. "What a bad man loses a good man will get," he said;
+"and surely it must be better for all those who are to live by the
+property that a good man should be the master of it." He would not
+interfere, nor would he have any power of interfering, till others
+would interfere were he to keep aloof. The doings would be the doings
+of that spendthrift heir, and none of his. When Ralph would tell him
+that he was cruel, he would turn away in wrath; but hiding his wrath,
+because he loved his son. But now everything was set right, and his
+son had had the doing of it.
+
+He was nearly mad with joy throughout that day as he thought of the
+great thing which he had accomplished. He was alone in the house, for
+his son was still in London, and during the last few months guests
+had been unfrequent at the Priory. But he did not wish to have
+anybody with him now. He went out, roaming through the park, and
+realising to himself the fact that now, at length, the very trees
+were his own. He gazed at one farmhouse after another, not seeking
+the tenants, hardly speaking to them if he met them, but with his
+brain full of plans of what should be done. He saw Gregory for a
+moment, but only nodded at him smiling, and passed on. He was not in
+a humour just at present to tell his happiness to any one. He walked
+all round Darvell's premises, the desolate, half-ruined house of
+Brumbys, telling himself that very shortly it should be desolate and
+half-ruined no longer. Then he crossed into the lane, and stood with
+his eyes fixed upon Brownriggs,--Walker's farm, the pearl of all the
+farms in those parts, the land with which he thought he could have
+parted so easily when the question before him was that of becoming in
+truth the owner of any portion of the estate. But now, every acre was
+ten times dearer to him than it had been then. He would never part
+with Brownriggs. He would even save Ingram's farm, in Twining, if
+it might possibly be saved. He had not known before how dear to him
+could be every bank, every tree, every sod. Yes;--now in very truth
+he was lord and master of the property which had belonged to his
+father, and his father's fathers before him. He would borrow money,
+and save it during his lifetime. He would do anything rather than
+part with an acre of it, now that the acres were his own to leave
+behind him to his son.
+
+On the following day Ralph arrived. We must no longer call him Ralph
+who was not the heir. He would be heir to everything from the day
+that the contract was completed! The Squire, though he longed to see
+the young man as he had never longed before, would not go to the
+station to meet the welcome one. His irrepressible joy was too great
+to be exhibited before strangers. He remained at home, in his own
+room, desiring that Mr. Ralph might come to him there. He would not
+even show himself in the hall. And yet when Ralph entered the room he
+was very calm. There was a bright light in his eyes, but at first he
+spoke hardly a word. "So, you've managed that little job," he said,
+as he took his son's hand.
+
+"I managed nothing, sir," said Ralph, smiling.
+
+"Didn't you? I thought you had managed a good deal. It is done,
+anyway."
+
+"Yes, sir, it's done. At least, I suppose so." Ralph, after sending
+his telegram, had of course written to his father, giving him full
+particulars of the manner in which the arrangement had been made.
+
+"You don't mean that there is any doubt," said the Squire with almost
+an anxious tone.
+
+"Not at all, as far as I know. The lawyers seem to think that it is
+all right. Ralph is quite in earnest."
+
+"He must be in earnest," said the Squire.
+
+"He has behaved uncommonly well," said the namesake. "So well that I
+think you owe him much. We were quite mistaken in supposing that he
+wanted to drive a sharp bargain." He himself had never so supposed,
+but he found this to be the best way of speaking of that matter to
+his father.
+
+"I will forgive him everything now," said the Squire, "and will do
+anything that I can to help him."
+
+Ralph said many things in praise of his namesake. He still almost
+regretted what had been done. At any rate he could see the pity
+of it. It was that other Ralph who should have been looked to as
+the future proprietor of Newton Priory, and not he, who was hardly
+entitled to call himself a Newton. It would have been more consistent
+with the English order of things that it should be so. And then
+there was so much to say in favour of this young man who had lost
+it all, and so little to say against him! And it almost seemed to
+him for whose sake the purchase was being made, that advantage,--an
+unscrupulous if not an unfair advantage,--was being taken of the
+purchaser. He could not say all this to his father; but he spoke of
+Ralph in such a way as to make his father understand what he thought.
+"He is such a pleasant fellow," said Ralph, who was now the heir.
+
+"Let us have him down here as soon as the thing is settled."
+
+"Ah;--I don't think he'll come now. Of course he's wretched enough
+about it. It is not wonderful that he should have hesitated at
+parting with it."
+
+"Perhaps not," said the Squire, who was willing to forgive past sins;
+"but of course there was no help for it."
+
+"That was what he didn't feel so sure about when he declined your
+first offer. It was not that he objected to the price. As to the
+price he says that of course he can say nothing about it. When I
+told him that you were willing to raise your offer, he declared that
+he would take nothing in that fashion. If those who understood the
+matter said that more was coming to him, he supposed that he would
+get it. According to my ideas he behaved very well, sir."
+
+In this there was something that almost amounted to an accusation
+against the Squire. At least so the Squire felt it; and the feeling
+for the moment robbed him of something of his triumph. According to
+his own view there was no need for pity. It was plain that to his son
+the whole affair was pitiful. But he could not scold his son;--at any
+rate not now. "I feel this, Ralph," he said;--"that from this moment
+everybody connected with the property, every tenant on it and every
+labourer, will be better off than they were a month ago. I may have
+been to blame. I say nothing about that. But I do say that in all
+cases it is well that a property should go to the natural heir of the
+life-tenant. Of course it has been my fault," he added after a pause;
+"but I do feel now that I have in a great measure remedied the evil
+which I did." The tone now had become too serious to admit of further
+argument. Ralph, feeling that this was so, pressed his father's hand
+and then left him. "Gregory is coming across to dinner," said the
+Squire as Ralph was closing the door behind him.
+
+At that time Gregory had received no intimation of what had been done
+in London, his brother's note not reaching him till the following
+morning. Ralph met him before the Squire came down, and the news was
+soon told. "It is all settled," said Ralph, with a sigh.
+
+"Well?"
+
+"Your brother has agreed to sell."
+
+"No!"
+
+"I have almost more pain than pleasure in it myself, because I know
+it will make you unhappy."
+
+"He was so confident when he wrote to me!"
+
+"Yes;--but he explained all that. He had hoped then that he could
+have saved it. But the manner of saving it would have been worse than
+the loss. He will tell you everything, no doubt. No man could have
+behaved better." As it happened, there was still some little space
+of time before the Squire joined them,--a period perhaps of five
+minutes. But the parson spoke hardly a word. The news which he now
+heard confounded him. He had been quite sure that his brother had
+been in earnest, and that his uncle would fail. And then, though
+he loved the one Ralph nearly as well as he did the other,--though
+he must have known that Ralph the base-born was in all respects a
+better man than his own brother, more of a man than the legitimate
+heir,--still to his feelings that legitimacy was everything. He too
+was a Newton of Newton; but it may be truly said of him that there
+was nothing selfish in his feelings. To be the younger brother of
+Newton of Newton, and parson of the parish which bore the same name
+as themselves, was sufficient for his ambition. But things would be
+terribly astray now that the right heir was extruded. Ralph, this
+Ralph whom he loved so well, could not be the right Newton to own the
+property. The world would not so regard him. The tenants would not so
+think of him. The county would not so repute him. To the thinking of
+parson Gregory, a great misfortune had been consummated. As soon as
+he had realised it, he was silent and could speak no more.
+
+Nor did Ralph say a word. Not to triumph in what had been done on his
+behalf,--or at least not to seem to triumph,--that was the lesson
+which he had taught himself. He fully sympathised with Gregory; and
+therefore he stood silent and sad by his side. That there must have
+been some triumph in his heart it is impossible not to imagine. It
+could not be but that he should be alive to the glory of being the
+undoubted heir to Newton Priory. And he understood well that his
+birth would interfere but little now with his position. Should he
+choose to marry, as he would choose, it would of course be necessary
+that he should explain his birth; but it was not likely, he thought,
+that he should seek a wife among those who would reject him, with all
+his other advantages, because he had no just title to his father's
+name. That he should take joy in what had been done on his behalf
+was only natural; but as he stood with Gregory, waiting for his
+father to come to them, he showed no sign of joy. At last the Squire
+came. There certainly was triumph in his eye, but he did not speak
+triumphantly. It was impossible that some word should not be spoken
+between them as to the disposition of the property. "I suppose Ralph
+has told you," he said, "what he has done up in London?"
+
+"Yes;--he has told me," said Gregory.
+
+"I hope there will now be an end of all family ill-feeling among us,"
+said the uncle. "Your brother shall be as welcome at the old place
+as I trust you have always found yourself. If he likes to bring his
+horses here, we shall be delighted."
+
+The parson muttered something as to the kindness with which he had
+ever been treated, but what he said was said with an ill grace. He
+was almost broken-hearted, and thoroughly wished himself back in
+his own solitude. The Squire saw it all, and did not press him to
+talk;--said not a word more of his purchase, and tried to create some
+little interest about parish matters;--asked after the new building
+in the chancel, and was gracious about this old man and that young
+woman. But Gregory could not recover himself,--could not recall his
+old interests, or so far act a part as to make it seem that he was
+not thinking of the misfortune which had fallen upon the family. In
+every look of his eyes and every tone of his voice he was telling
+the son that he was a bastard, and the father that he was destroying
+the inheritance of the family. But yet they bore with him, and
+endeavoured to win him back to pleasantness. Soon after the cloth was
+taken away he took his leave. He had work to do at home, he said, and
+must go. His uncle went out with him into the hall, leaving Ralph
+alone in the parlour. "It will be for the best in the long run," said
+the Squire, with his hand on his nephew's shoulder.
+
+"Perhaps it may, sir. I am not pretending to say. Good night." As he
+walked home across the park, through the old trees which he had known
+since he was an infant, he told himself that it could not be for the
+best that the property should be sent adrift, out of the proper line.
+The only thing to be desired now was that neither he nor his brother
+should have a child, and that there should no longer be a proper
+line.
+
+The Squire's joy was too deep and well founded to be in any way
+damped by poor Gregory's ill-humour, and was too closely present to
+him for him to be capable of restraining it. Why should he restrain
+himself before his son? "I am sorry for Greg," he said, "because he
+has old-fashioned ideas. But of course it will be for the best. His
+brother would have squandered every acre of it." To this Ralph made
+no answer. It might probably have been as his father said. It was
+perhaps best for all who lived in and by the estate that he should be
+the heir. And gradually the feeling of exultation in his own position
+was growing upon him. It was natural that it should do so. He knew
+himself to be capable of filling with credit, and with advantage to
+all around him, the great place which was now assigned to him, and
+it was impossible that he should not be exultant. And he owed it to
+his father to show him that he appreciated all that had been done
+for him. "I think he ought to have the L35,000 at least," said the
+Squire.
+
+"Certainly," said Ralph.
+
+"I think so. As for the bulk sum, I have already written to Carey
+about that. No time ought to be lost. There is no knowing what might
+happen. He might die."
+
+"He doesn't look like dying, sir."
+
+"He might break his neck out hunting. There is no knowing. At any
+rate there should be no delay. From what I am told I don't think that
+with the timber and all they'll make it come to another L5,000; but
+he shall have that. As he has behaved well, I'll show him that I can
+behave well too. I've half a mind to go up to London, and stay till
+it's all through."
+
+"You'd only worry yourself."
+
+"I should worry myself, no doubt. And do you know, I love the place
+so much better than I did, that I can hardly bear to tear myself away
+from it. The first mark of my handiwork, now that I can work, shall
+be put upon Darvell's farm. I'll have the old place about his ears
+before I am a day older."
+
+"You'll not get it through before winter."
+
+"Yes, I will. If it costs me an extra L50 I shan't begrudge it. It
+shall be a sort of memorial building, a farmhouse of thanksgiving.
+I'll make it as snug a place as there is about the property. It has
+made me wretched for these two years."
+
+"I hope all that kind of wretchedness will be over now."
+
+"Thank God;--yes. I was looking at Brownriggs to-day,--and Ingram's.
+I don't think we'll sell either. I have a plan, and I think we can
+pull through without it. It is so much easier to sell than to buy."
+
+"You'd be more comfortable if you sold one of them."
+
+"Of course I must borrow a few thousands;--but why not? I doubt
+whether at this moment there's a property in all Hampshire so free as
+this. I have always lived on less than the income, and I can continue
+to do so easier than before. You are provided for now, old fellow."
+
+"Yes, indeed;--and why should you pinch yourself?"
+
+"I shan't be pinched. I haven't got a score of women about me, as
+you'll have before long. There's nothing in the world like having a
+wife. I am quite sure of that. But if you want to save money, the way
+to do it is not to have a nursery. You'll marry, of course, now?"
+
+"I suppose I shall some day."
+
+"The sooner the better. Take my word for it."
+
+"Perhaps you'd alter your opinion if I came upon you before Christmas
+for your sanction."
+
+"No, by Jove; that I shouldn't. I should be delighted. You don't mean
+to say you've got anybody in your eye. There's only one thing I ask,
+Ralph;--open out-and-out confidence."
+
+"You shall have it, sir."
+
+"There is somebody, then."
+
+"Well; no; there isn't anybody. It would be impudence in me to say
+there was."
+
+"Then I know there is." Upon this encouragement Ralph told his father
+that on his two last visits to London he had seen a girl whom he
+thought that he would like to ask to be his wife. He had been at
+Fulham on three or four occasions,--it was so he put it, but his
+visits had, in truth, been only three,--and he thought that this
+niece of Sir Thomas Underwood possessed every charm that a woman need
+possess,--"except money," said Ralph. "She has no fortune, if you
+care about that."
+
+"I don't care about money," said the Squire. "It is for the man to
+have that;--at any rate for one so circumstanced as you." The end
+of all this was that Ralph was authorised to please himself. If he
+really felt that he liked Miss Bonner well enough, he might ask her
+to be his wife to-morrow.
+
+"The difficulty is to get at her," said Ralph.
+
+"Ask the uncle for his permission. That's the manliest and the
+fittest way to do it. Tell him everything. Take my word for it he
+won't turn his face against you. As for me, nothing on earth would
+make me so happy as to see your children. If there were a dozen, I
+would not think them one too many. But mark you this, Ralph; it will
+be easier for us,--for you and me, if I live,--and for you without
+me if I go, to make all things clear and square and free while the
+bairns are little, than when they have to go to school and college,
+or perhaps want to get married."
+
+"Ain't we counting our chickens before they are hatched?" said Ralph
+laughing.
+
+When they parted for the night, which they did not do till after the
+Squire had slept for an hour on his chair, there was one other speech
+made,--a speech which Ralph was likely to remember to the latest day
+of his life. His father had taken his candlestick in his right hand,
+and had laid his left upon his son's collar. "Ralph," said he, "for
+the first time in my life I can look you in the face, and not feel a
+pang of remorse. You will understand it when you have a son of your
+own. Good-night, my boy." Then he hurried off without waiting to hear
+a word, if there was any word that Ralph could have spoken.
+
+On the next morning they were both out early at Darvell's farm,
+surrounded by bricklayers and carpenters, and before the week was
+over the work was in progress. Poor Darvell, half elated and half
+troubled, knew but little of the cause of this new vehemence.
+Something we suppose he did know, for the news was soon spread over
+the estate that the Squire had bought out Mr. Ralph, and that this
+other Mr. Ralph was now to be Mr. Ralph the heir. That the old butler
+should not be told,--the butler who had lived in the house when the
+present Squire was a boy,--was out of the question; and though the
+communication had been made in confidence, the confidence was not
+hermetical. The Squire after all was glad that it should be so. The
+thing had to be made known,--and why not after this fashion? Among
+the labourers and poor there was no doubt as to the joy felt. That
+other Mr. Ralph, who had always been up in town, was unknown to them,
+and this Mr. Ralph had ever been popular with them all. With the
+tenants the feeling was perhaps more doubtful. "I wish you joy, Mr.
+Newton, with all my heart," said Mr. Walker, who was the richest and
+the most intelligent among them. "The Squire has worked for you like
+a man, and I hope it will come to good."
+
+"I will do my best," said Ralph.
+
+"I am sure you will. There will be a feeling, you know. You mustn't
+be angry at that."
+
+"I understand," said Ralph.
+
+"You won't be vexed with me for just saying so." Ralph promised that
+he would not be vexed, but he thought very much of what Mr. Walker
+had said to him. After all, such a property as Newton does not in
+England belong altogether to the owner of it. Those who live upon it,
+and are closely concerned in it with reference to all that they have
+in the world, have a part property in it. They make it what it is,
+and will not make it what it should be, unless in their hearts they
+are proud of it. "You know he can't be the real squire," said one old
+farmer to Mr. Walker. "They may hugger-mugger it this way and that;
+but this Mr. Ralph can't be like t'other young gentleman."
+
+Nevertheless the Squire himself was very happy. These things were
+not said to him, and he had been successful. He took an interest in
+all things keener than he had felt for years past. One day he was in
+the stables with his son, and spoke about the hunting for the coming
+season. He had an Irish horse of which he was proud, an old hunter
+that had carried him for the last seven years, and of which he had
+often declared that under no consideration would he part with it.
+"Dear old fellow," he said, putting his hand on the animal's neck,
+"you shall work for your bread one other winter, and then you shall
+give over for the rest of your life."
+
+"I never saw him look better," said Ralph.
+
+"He's like his master;--not quite so young as he was once. He never
+made a mistake yet that I know of."
+
+Ralph when he saw how full of joy was his father, could not but
+rejoice also that the thing so ardently desired had been at last
+accomplished.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+THE ELECTION.
+
+
+The day of the nomination at Percycross came at last, and it was
+manifest to everybody that there was a very unpleasant feeling in
+the town. It was not only that party was arrayed against party. That
+would have been a state of things not held to be undesirable, and
+at any rate would have been natural. But at present things were so
+divided that there was no saying which were the existing parties.
+Moggs was separated from Westmacott quite as absolutely as was
+Westmacott from the two Conservative candidates. The old Liberals of
+the borough were full of ridicule for poor Moggs, of whom all absurd
+stories were told by them both publicly and privately. But still he
+was there, the darling of the workmen. It was, indeed, asserted by
+the members of Mr. Westmacott's committee that Moggs's popularity
+would secure for him but very few votes. A great proportion of
+the working men of Percycross were freemen of the borough,--old
+voters who were on the register by right of their birth and family
+connection in the place, independent of householdership and
+rates,--and quite accustomed to the old ways of manipulation. The
+younger of these men might be seduced into listening to Moggs. The
+excitement was pleasant to them. But they were too well trained to be
+led away on the day of election. Moggs would give them no beer, and
+they had always been accustomed to their three half-crowns a head in
+consideration for the day's work. Not a dozen freemen of the borough
+would vote for Moggs. So said Mr. Kirkham, Mr. Westmacott's managing
+man, and no man knew the borough quite so well as did Mr. Kirkham.
+"They'll fight for him at the hustings," said Mr. Kirkham; "but
+they'll take their beer and their money, and they'll vote for us and
+Griffenbottom."
+
+This might be true enough as regarded the freemen,--the men who had
+been, as it were, educated to political life;--but there was much
+doubt as to the new voters. There were about a thousand of these in
+the borough, and it had certainly not been the intention of either
+party that these men should have the half-crowns. It was from
+these men and their leaders,--the secretaries and chairmen and
+presidents,--that had come the cry for a second liberal candidate,
+and the consequent necessity of putting forward two Conservatives.
+They were equally odious to the supporters of Westmacott and of
+Griffenbottom. "They must have the half-crowns," Trigger had said
+to old Pile, the bootmaker. Pile thought that every working man was
+entitled to the three half-crowns, and said as much very clearly.
+"I suppose old Griff ain't going to turn Hunks at this time o' day,"
+said Mr. Pile. But the difficulties were endless, and were much
+better understood by Mr. Trigger than by Mr. Pile. The manner of
+conveying the half-crowns to the three hundred and twenty-four
+freemen, who would take them and vote honestly afterwards for
+Griffenbottom and Underwood, was perfectly well understood. But
+among that godless, riotous, ungoverned and ungovernable set of new
+householders, there was no knowing how to act. They would take the
+money and then vote wrong. They would take the money and then split.
+The freemen were known. Three hundred and twenty-four would take
+Griffenbottom's beer and half-crowns. Two hundred and seventy-two
+would be equally complaisant with Mr. Westmacott. But of these
+householders nothing was known. They could not be handled. Some
+thirty or forty of them would probably have the turning of the
+election at the last hour, must then be paid at their own prices, and
+after that would not be safe! Mr. Trigger, in his disgust, declared
+that things had got into so vile a form that he didn't care if he
+never had anything to do with an election in Percycross again.
+
+And then there was almost as much ill-feeling between the
+old-fashioned Griffenbottomites and the Underwooders as there was
+between Westmacott's Liberals and Moggs's Radicals. The two gentlemen
+themselves still eat their breakfasts and dinners together, and still
+paraded the streets of Percycross in each other's company. But
+Sir Thomas had made himself very odious even to Mr. Griffenbottom
+himself. He was always protesting against beer which he did see, and
+bribery which he did not see but did suspect. He swore that he would
+pay not a shilling, as to which the cause of the expenditure was not
+explained to him. Griffenbottom snarled at him, and expressed an
+opinion that Sir Thomas would of course do the same as any other
+gentleman. Mr. Trigger, with much dignity in his mien as he spoke,
+declared that the discussion of any such matter at the present moment
+was indecorous. Mr. Pile was for sending Sir Thomas back to town, and
+very strongly advocated that measure. Mr. Spicer, as to whom there
+was a story abroad in the borough in respect of a large order for
+mustard, supposed to have reached him from New York through Liverpool
+by the influence of Sir Thomas Underwood, thought that the borough
+should return the two conservative candidates. Sir Thomas might be
+a little indiscreet; but, upon the whole, his principles did him
+honour. So thought Mr. Spicer, who, perhaps, believed that the order
+for the mustard was coming. We need hardly say that the story, at any
+rate in so far as it regarded Sir Thomas Underwood, was altogether
+untrue. "Yes; principles!" said Mr. Pile. "I think we all know Sam
+Spicer's principles. All for hisself, and nothing for a poor man.
+That's Sam Spicer." Of Mr. Pile, it must be acknowledged that he was
+not a pure-minded politician. He loved bribery in his very heart.
+But it is equally true that he did not want to be bribed himself. It
+was the old-fashioned privilege of a poor man to receive some small
+consideration for his vote in Percycross, and Mr. Pile could not
+endure to think that the poor man should be robbed of his little
+comforts.
+
+In the meantime, Sir Thomas himself was in a state of great misery.
+From hour to hour he was fluctuating between a desire to run away
+from the accursed borough, and the shame of taking such a step. The
+desire for the seat which had brought him to Percycross had almost
+died out amidst the misery of his position. Among all the men of
+his party with whom he was associating, there was not one whom he
+did not dislike, and by whom he was not snubbed and contradicted.
+Griffenbottom, who went through his canvass under circumstances of
+coming gout and colchicum with a courage and pertinacity that were
+heroic, was painfully cross to every one who was not a voter. "What's
+the use of all that d----d nonsense, now?" he said to Sir Thomas the
+evening before the nomination day. There were half-a-dozen leading
+Conservatives in the room, and Sir Thomas was making a final protest
+against bribery. He rose from his chair when so addressed, and left
+the room. Never in his life before had he been so insulted. Trigger
+followed him to his bedroom, knowing well that a quarrel at this
+moment would be absolutely suicidal. "It's the gout, Sir Thomas,"
+said Mr. Trigger. "Do remember what he's going through." This was so
+true that Sir Thomas returned to the room. It was almost impossible
+not to forgive anything in a man who was suffering agonies, but could
+still wheedle a voter. There were three conservative doctors with Mr.
+Griffenbottom, each of them twice daily; and there was an opinion
+prevalent through the borough that the gout would be in his stomach
+before the election was over. Sir Thomas did return to the room,
+and sat himself down without saying a word. "Sir Thomas," said Mr.
+Griffenbottom, "a man with the gout is always allowed a little
+liberty."
+
+"I admit the claim," said Sir Thomas, bowing.
+
+"And believe me, I know this game better than you do. It's of no use
+saying these things. No man should ever foul his own nest. Give me a
+little drop more brandy, Trigger, and then I'll get myself to bed."
+When he was gone, they all sang Griffenbottom's praises. In staunch
+pluck, good humour, and manly fighting, no man was his superior.
+"Give and take,--the English bull-dog all over. I do like old
+Griffenbottom," said Spiveycomb, the paper-maker.
+
+On the day of nomination Griffenbottom was carried up on the
+hustings. This carrying did him good in the borough; but it should
+be acknowledged on his behalf that he did his best to walk. In the
+extreme agony of his attack he had to make his speech, and he made
+it. The hustings stood in the market-square, and straight in front
+of the wooden erection, standing at right angles to it, was a stout
+rail dividing the space for the distance of fifty or sixty yards, so
+that the supporters of one set of candidates might congregate on one
+side, and the supporters of the other candidates on the other side.
+In this way would the weaker part, whichever might be the weaker,
+be protected from the violence of the stronger. On the present
+occasion it seemed that the friends of Mr. Westmacott congregated
+with the Conservatives. Moggs's allies alone filled one side of
+the partition. There were a great many speeches made that day from
+the hustings,--thirteen in all. First the mayor, and then the
+four proposers and four seconders of the candidates. During these
+performances, though there was so much noise from the crowd below
+that not a word could be heard, there was no violence. When old
+Griffenbottom got up, supporting himself by an arm round one of the
+posts, he was loudly cheered from both sides. His personal popularity
+in the borough was undoubted, and his gout made him almost a
+demi-god. Nobody heard a word that he said; but then he had no desire
+to be heard. To be seen standing up there, a martyr to the gout, but
+still shouting for Percycross, was enough for his purpose. Sir Thomas
+encountered a very different reception. He was received with yells,
+apparently from the whole crowd. What he said was of no matter,
+as not a word was audible; but he did continue to inveigh against
+bribery. Before he had ceased a huge stone was thrown at him, and
+hit him heavily on the arm. He continued speaking, however, and did
+not himself know till afterwards that his arm was broken between
+the shoulder and the elbow. Mr. Westmacott was very short and
+good-humoured. He intended to be funny about poor Moggs;--and perhaps
+was funny. But his fun was of no avail. The Moggite crowd had
+determined that no men should be heard till their own candidate
+should open his mouth.
+
+At last Ontario's turn had come. At first the roar from the crowd was
+so great that it seemed that it was to be with him as it had been
+with the others. But by degrees, though there was still a roar,--as
+of the sea,--Moggs's words became audible. The voices of assent and
+dissent are very different, even though they be equally loud. Men
+desirous of interrupting, do interrupt. But cheers, though they be
+continuous and loud as thunder, are compatible with a hearing. Moggs
+by this time, too, had learned to pitch his voice for an out-of-door
+multitude. He preached his sermon, his old sermon, about the Rights
+of Labour and the Salt of the Earth, the Tyranny of Capital and
+the Majesty of the Workmen, with an enthusiasm that made him for
+the moment supremely happy. He was certainly the hero of the tour
+in Percycross, and he allowed himself to believe,--just for that
+hour,--that he was about to become the hero of a new doctrine
+throughout England. He spoke for over half an hour, while poor
+Griffenbottom, seated in a chair that had been brought to him, was
+suffering almost the pains of hell. During this speech Sir Thomas,
+who had also suffered greatly, but had at first endeavoured to
+conceal that he was suffering, discovered the extent of his
+misfortune, and allowed himself to be taken out from the hustings
+to his inn. There was an effort made to induce Mr. Griffenbottom
+to retire at the same time; but Mr. Griffenbottom, not quite
+understanding the extent of his colleague's misfortune, and thinking
+that it became him to remain and to endure, was obdurate, and would
+not be moved. He did not care for stones or threats,--did not care
+even for the gout. That was his place till after the show of hands,
+and there he would remain. The populace, seeing this commotion on
+the hustings, began to fear that there was an intention to stop the
+oratory of their popular candidate, and called loudly upon Moggs to
+go on. Moggs did go on,--and was happy.
+
+At last there came the show of hands. It was declared to be in
+favour of Moggs and Westmacott. That it was very much in favour of
+Moggs,--in favour of Moggs by five to one, there was no doubt. Among
+the other candidates there was not perhaps much to choose. A poll
+was, of course, demanded for the two Conservatives; and then the
+mayor, complimenting the people on their good behaviour,--in spite
+of poor Sir Thomas's broken arm,--begged them to go away. That was
+all very well. Of course they would go away; but not till they had
+driven their enemies from the field. In half a minute the dividing
+rail,--the rail that had divided the blue from the yellow,--was down,
+and all those who had dared to show themselves there as supporters
+of Griffenbottom and Underwood were driven ignominiously from the
+market-place. They fled at all corners, and in a few seconds not a
+streak of blue ribbon was to be seen in the square. "They'll elect
+that fellow Moggs to-morrow," said Mr. Westmacott to Kirkham.
+
+"No a bit of it," said Kirkham. "I could spot all the ringleaders in
+the row. Nine or ten of them are Griffenbottom's old men. They take
+his money regularly,--get something nearly every year, join the rads
+at the nomination, and vote for the squire at the poll. The chaps who
+hollow and throw stones always vote t'other side up."
+
+Mr. Griffenbottom kept his seat till he could be carried home
+in safety through the town, and was then put to bed. The three
+conservative doctors, who had all been setting Sir Thomas's arm, sat
+in consultation upon their old friend; and it was acknowledged on
+every side that Mr. Griffenbottom was very ill indeed. All manner of
+rumours went through the town that night. Some believed that both
+Griffenbottom and Sir Thomas were dead,--and that the mayor had now
+no choice but to declare Moggs and Westmacott elected. Then there
+arose a suspicion that the polls would be kept open on the morrow
+on behalf of two defunct candidates, so that a further election on
+behalf of the conservative party might be ensured. Men swore that
+they would break into the bedrooms of the Standard Inn, in order that
+they might satisfy themselves whether the two gentlemen were alive or
+dead. And so the town was in a hubbub.
+
+On that evening Moggs was called upon again to address his friends at
+the Mechanics' Institute, and to listen to the speeches of all the
+presidents and secretaries and chairmen; but by ten o'clock he was
+alone in his bedroom at the Cordwainers' Arms. Down-stairs men were
+shouting, singing, and drinking,--shouting in his honour, though not
+drinking at his expense. He was alone in his little comfortless room,
+but felt it to be impossible that he should lie down and rest. His
+heart was swelling with the emotions of the day, and his mind was
+full of his coming triumph. It was black night, and there was a soft
+drizzling rain;--but it was absolutely necessary for his condition
+that he should go out. It seemed to him that his very bosom would
+burst, if he confined himself in that narrow space. His thoughts were
+too big for so small a closet. He crept downstairs and out, through
+the narrow passage, into the night. Then, by the light of the
+solitary lamp that stood before the door of the public-house, he
+could still see those glorious words, "Moggs, Purity, and the Rights
+of Labour." Noble words, which had sufficed to bind to him the whole
+population of that generous-hearted borough! Purity and the Rights of
+Labour! Might it not be that with that cry, well cried, he might move
+the very world! As he walked the streets of the town he felt a great
+love for the borough grow within his bosom. What would he not owe to
+the dear place which had first recognised his worth, and had enabled
+him thus early in life to seize hold of those ploughshares which it
+would be his destiny to hold for all his coming years? He had before
+him a career such as had graced the lives of the men whom he had
+most loved and admired,--of men who had dared to be independent,
+patriotic, and philanthropical, through all the temptations of
+political life. Would he be too vain if he thought to rival a Hume
+or a Cobden? Conceit, he said to himself, will seek to justify itself.
+Who can rise but those who believe their wings strong enough for
+soaring? There might be shipwreck of course,--but he believed that he
+now saw his way. As to the difficulty of speaking in public,--that
+he had altogether overcome. Some further education as to facts,
+historical and political, might be necessary. That he acknowledged to
+himself;--but he would not spare himself in his efforts to acquire
+such education. He went pacing through the damp, muddy, dark streets,
+making speeches that were deliciously eloquent to his own ears. That
+night he was certainly the happiest man in Percycross, never doubting
+his success on the morrow,--not questioning that. Had not the whole
+town greeted him with loudest acclamation as their chosen member?
+He was deliciously happy;--while poor Sir Thomas was suffering
+the double pain of his broken arm and his dissipated hopes, and
+Griffenbottom was lying in his bed, with a doctor on one side and a
+nurse on the other, hardly able to restrain himself from cursing all
+the world in his agony.
+
+At a little after eleven a tall man, buttoned up to his chin in an
+old great coat, called at the Percy Standard, and asked after the
+health of Mr. Griffenbottom and Sir Thomas. "They ain't neither of
+them very well then," replied the waiter. "Will you say that Mr.
+Moggs called to inquire, with his compliments," said the tall man.
+The respect shown to him was immediately visible. Even the waiter at
+the Percy Standard acknowledged that for that day Mr. Moggs must be
+treated as a great man in Percycross. After that Moggs walked home
+and crept into bed;--but it may be doubted whether he slept a wink
+that night.
+
+And then there came the real day,--the day of the election. It was
+a foul, rainy, muddy, sloppy morning, without a glimmer of sun,
+with that thick, pervading, melancholy atmosphere which forces for
+the time upon imaginative men a conviction that nothing is worth
+anything. Griffenbottom was in bed in one room at the Percy Standard,
+and Underwood in the next. The three conservative doctors moving
+from one chamber to another, watching each other closely, and hardly
+leaving the hotel, had a good time of it. Mr. Trigger had already
+remarked that in one respect the breaking of Sir Thomas's arm was
+lucky, because now there would be no difficulty as to paying the
+doctors out of the common fund. Every half-hour the state of the
+poll was brought to them. Early in the morning Moggs had been in the
+ascendant. At half-past nine the numbers were as follows:--
+
+
+   Moggs          193
+   Westmacott     172
+   Griffenbottom  162
+   Underwood      147
+
+
+At ten, and at half-past ten, Moggs was equally in advance,
+but Westmacott had somewhat receded. At noon the numbers were
+considerably altered, and were as follows:--
+
+
+   Griffenbottom  892
+   Moggs          777
+   Westmacott     752
+   Underwood      678
+
+
+These at least were the numbers as they came from the conservative
+books. Westmacott was placed nearer to Moggs by his own tellers. For
+Moggs no special books were kept. He was content to abide by the
+official counting.
+
+Griffenbottom was consulted privately by Trigger and Mr. Spiveycomb
+as to what steps should be taken in this emergency. It was suggested
+in a whisper that Underwood should be thrown over altogether. There
+would be no beating Moggs,--so thought Mr. Spiveycomb,--and unless an
+effort were made it might be possible that Westmacott would creep up.
+Trigger in his heart considered that it would be impossible to get
+enough men at three half-crowns a piece to bring Sir Thomas up to a
+winning condition. But Griffenbottom, now that the fight was forward,
+was unwilling to give way a foot. "We haven't polled half the
+voters," said he.
+
+"More than half what we shall poll," answered Trigger.
+
+"They always hang back," growled Griffenbottom. "Fight it out. I
+don't believe they'll ever elect a shoemaker here." The order was
+given, and it was fought out.
+
+Moggs, early in the morning, had been radiant with triumph, when he
+saw his name at the head of the lists displayed from the two inimical
+committee rooms. As he walked the streets, with a chairman on one
+side of him and a president on the other, it seemed as though his
+feet almost disdained to touch the mud. These were two happy hours,
+during which he did not allow himself to doubt of his triumph. When
+the presidents and the chairmen spoke to him, he could hardly answer
+them, so rapt was he in contemplation of his coming greatness. His
+very soul was full of his seat in Parliament! But when Griffenbottom
+approached him on the lists, and then passed him, there came a shadow
+upon his brow. He still felt sure of his election, but he would
+lose that grand place at the top of the poll to which he had taught
+himself to look so proudly. Soon after noon a cruel speech was made
+to him. "We've about pumped our side dry," said a secretary of a
+Young Men's Association.
+
+"Do you mean we've polled all our friends?" asked Moggs.
+
+"Pretty nearly, Mr. Moggs. You see our men have nothing to wait for,
+and they came up early." Then Ontario's heart sank within him, and he
+began to think of the shop in Bond Street.
+
+The work of that afternoon in Percycross proved how correct Mr.
+Griffenbottom had been in his judgment. He kept his place at the top
+of the poll. It was soon evident that that could not be shaken. Then
+Westmacott passed by Moggs, and in the next half-hour Sir Thomas
+did so also. This was at two, when Ontario betook himself to the
+privacy of his bedroom at the Cordwainers' Arms. His pluck left him
+altogether, and he found himself unable to face the town as a losing
+candidate. Then for two hours there was a terrible struggle between
+Westmacott and Underwood, during which things were done in the
+desperation of the moment, as to which it might be so difficult to
+give an account, should any subsequent account be required. We all
+know how hard it is to sacrifice the power of winning, when during
+the heat of the contest the power of winning is within our reach. At
+four o'clock the state of the poll was as follows:--
+
+
+   Griffenbottom  1402
+   Underwood      1007
+   Westmacott      984
+   Moggs           821
+
+
+When the chairmen and presidents waited upon Moggs, telling him of
+the final result, and informing him that he must come to the hustings
+and make a speech, they endeavoured to console him by an assurance
+that he, and he alone, had fought the fight fairly. "They'll both be
+unseated, you know, as sure as eggs," said the president. "It can't
+be otherwise. They've been busy up in a little room in Petticoat
+Court all the afternoon, and the men have been getting as much as
+fifteen shillings a head!" Moggs was not consoled, but he did make
+his speech. It was poor and vapid;--but still there was just enough
+of manhood left in him for that. As soon as his speech had been
+spoken he escaped up to London by the night mail train. Westmacott
+also spoke; but announcement was made on behalf of the members of the
+borough that they were, both of them, in their beds.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+"MISS MARY IS IN LUCK."
+
+
+The election took place on a Tuesday,--Tuesday, the 17th of October.
+On the following day one of the members received a visit in his
+bedroom at the Percy Standard which was very pleasant to him. His
+daughter Patience had come down to nurse Sir Thomas and take him back
+to Fulham. Sir Thomas had refused to allow any message to be sent
+home on the day on which the accident had occurred. On the following
+morning he had telegraphed to say that his arm had been broken, but
+that he was doing very well. And on the Wednesday Patience was with
+him.
+
+In spite of the broken arm it was a pleasant meeting. For the last
+fortnight Sir Thomas had not only not seen a human being with whom he
+could sympathise, but had been constrained to associate with people
+who were detestable to him. His horror of Griffenbottom, his disgust
+at Trigger, his fear of Mr. Pabsby's explanations, and his inability
+to cope with Messrs. Spicer and Roodylands when they spoke of mustard
+and boots, had been almost too much for him. The partial seclusion
+occasioned by his broken arm had been a godsend to him. In such a
+state he was prepared to feel that his daughter's presence was an
+angel's visit. And even to him his success had something of the
+pleasure of a triumph. Of course he was pleased to have won the seat.
+And though whispers of threats as to a petition had already reached
+him, he was able in these, the first hours of his membership, to
+throw his fears on that head behind him. The man must be of a most
+cold temperament who, under such circumstances, cannot allow himself
+some short enjoyment of his new toy. It was his at least for the
+time, and he probably told himself that threatened folk lived long.
+That Patience should take glory in the victory was a matter of
+course. "Dear papa," she said, "if you can only get your arm well
+again!"
+
+"I don't suppose there is any cause for fear as to that."
+
+"But a broken arm is a great misfortune," said Patience.
+
+"Well;--yes. One can't deny that. And three Percycross doctors are
+three more misfortunes. I must get home as soon as I can."
+
+"You mustn't be rash, papa, even to escape from Percycross. But, oh,
+papa; we are so happy and so proud. It is such an excellent thing
+that you should be in Parliament again."
+
+"I don't know that, my dear."
+
+"We feel it so,--Clary and I,--and so does Mary. I can't tell you
+the sort of anxiety we were in all day yesterday. First we got the
+telegram about your arm,--and then Stemm came down at eight and told
+us that you were returned. Stemm was quite humane on the occasion."
+
+"Poor Stemm!--I don't know what he'll have to do."
+
+"It won't matter to him, papa;--will it? And then he told me another
+piece of news."
+
+"What is it?"
+
+"You won't like it, papa. We didn't like it at all."
+
+"What is it, my dear?"
+
+"Stemm says that Ralph has sold all the Newton Priory estate to his
+uncle."
+
+"It is the best thing he could do."
+
+"Really, papa?"
+
+"I think so. He must have done that or made some disreputable
+marriage."
+
+"I don't think he would have done that," said Patience.
+
+"But he was going to do it. He had half-engaged himself to some
+tailor's daughter. Indeed, up to the moment of your telling me this I
+thought he would marry her." Poor Clary! So Patience said to herself
+as she heard this. "He had got himself into such a mess that the best
+thing he could do was to sell his interest to his uncle. The estate
+will go to a better fellow, though out of the proper line."
+
+Then Patience told her father that she had brought a letter for him
+which had been given to her that morning by Stemm, who had met her at
+the station.
+
+"I think," she said, "that it comes from some of the Newton family
+because of the crest and the Basingstoke postmark." Then the letter
+was brought;--and as it concerns much the thread of our story, it
+shall be given to the reader;--
+
+
+   Newton Priory, October 17, 186--.
+
+   MY DEAR SIR THOMAS UNDERWOOD,--
+
+   I write to you with the sanction, or rather at the
+   instigation, of my father to ask your permission to become
+   a suitor to your niece, Miss Bonner. You will probably
+   have heard, or at least will hear, that my father has made
+   arrangements with his nephew Ralph, by which the reversion
+   of the Newton property will belong to my father. It is his
+   intention to leave the estate to me, and he permits me to
+   tell you that he will consent to any such settlement in
+   the case of my marriage, as would have been usual, had
+   I been his legitimate heir. I think it best to be frank
+   about this, as I should not have ventured to propose
+   such a marriage either to you or to Miss Bonner, had
+   not my father's solicitude succeeded in placing me in
+   circumstances which may, perhaps, be regarded as in part
+   compensating the great misfortune of my birth.
+
+   It may probably be right that I should add that I have
+   said no word on this subject to Miss Bonner. I have
+   hitherto felt myself constrained by the circumstances to
+   which I have alluded from acting as other men may act.
+   Should you be unwilling to concede that the advantages
+   of fortune which have now fallen in my way justify me in
+   proposing to myself such a marriage, I hope that you will
+   at least excuse my application to yourself.
+
+   Very faithfully yours,
+
+   RALPH NEWTON.
+
+
+Sir Thomas read the letter twice before he spoke a word to his
+daughter. Then, after pausing with it for a moment in his hand, he
+threw it to her across the bed. "Miss Mary is in luck," he said;--"in
+very great luck. It is a magnificent property, and as far as I can
+see, one of the finest young fellows I ever met. You understand about
+his birth?"
+
+"Yes," said Patience, almost in a whisper.
+
+"It might be a hindrance to him in some circumstances; but not here.
+It is nothing here. Did you know of this?"
+
+"No, indeed."
+
+"Nor Mary?"
+
+"It will be quite a surprise to her. I am sure it will."
+
+"You think, then, that there has been nothing said,--not a word about
+it?"
+
+"I am sure there has not, papa. Clarissa had some joke with
+Mary,--quite as a joke."
+
+"Then there has been a joke?"
+
+"It meant nothing. And as for Mr. Newton, he could not have dreamed
+of anything of the kind. We all liked him."
+
+"So did I. The property will be much better with him than with the
+other. Mary is a very lucky girl. That's all I can say. As for the
+letter, it's the best letter I ever read in my life."
+
+There was some delay before Sir Thomas could write an answer to young
+Newton. It was, indeed, his left arm that had suffered; but even
+with so much of power abstracted, writing is not an easy task. And
+this was a letter the answering of which could not be deputed to any
+secretary. On the third day after its receipt Sir Thomas did manage
+with much difficulty to get a reply written.
+
+
+   DEAR MR. NEWTON,--
+
+   I have had my left arm broken in the election here. Hence
+   the delay. I can have no objection. Your letter does you
+   infinite honour. I presume you know that my niece has no
+   fortune.
+
+   Yours, most sincerely,
+
+   THOMAS UNDERWOOD.
+
+
+"What a pity it is," said Sir Thomas, "that a man can't have a broken
+arm in answering all letters. I should have had to write ever so much
+had I been well. And yet I could not have said a word more that would
+have been of any use."
+
+Sir Thomas was kept an entire week at the Percycross Standard after
+his election was over before the three doctors and the innkeeper
+between them would allow him to be moved. During this time there was
+very much discussion between the father and daughter as to Mary's
+prospects; and a word or two was said inadvertently which almost
+opened the father's eyes as to the state of his younger daughter's
+affections. It is sometimes impossible to prevent the betrayal of a
+confidence, when the line between betrayal and non-betrayal is finely
+drawn. It was a matter of course that there should be much said about
+that other Ralph, the one now disinherited and dispossessed, who
+had so long and so intimately been known to them; and it was almost
+impossible for Patience not to show the cause of her great grief.
+It might be, as her father said, that the property would be better
+in the hands of this other young man; but Patience knew that her
+sympathies were with the spendthrift, and with the dearly-loved
+sister who loved the spendthrift. Since Clarissa had come to speak
+so openly of her love, to assert it so loudly, and to protest that
+nothing could or should shake it, Patience had been unable not to
+hope that the heir might at last prove himself worthy to be her
+sister's husband. Then they heard that his inheritance was sold.
+"It won't make the slightest difference to me," said Clary almost
+triumphantly, as she discussed the matter with Patience the evening
+before the journey to Percycross. "If he were a beggar it would be
+the same." To Patience, however, the news of the sale had been a
+great blow. And now her father told her that this young man had been
+thinking of marrying another girl, a tailor's daughter;--that such a
+marriage had been almost fixed. Surely it would be better that steps
+should be taken to wean her sister from such a passion! But yet she
+did not tell the secret. She only allowed a word to escape her, from
+which it might be half surmised that Clarissa would be a sufferer.
+"What difference will it make to Clary?" asked Sir Thomas.
+
+"I have sometimes thought that he cared for her," said Patience
+cunningly. "He would hardly have been so often at the villa, unless
+there had been something."
+
+"There must be nothing of that kind," said Sir Thomas. "He is a
+spendthrift, and quite unworthy of her. I will not have him at the
+villa. He must be told so. If you see anything of that kind, you
+must inform me. Do you understand, Patience?" Patience understood
+well enough, but knew not what reply to make. She could not tell her
+sister's secret. And if there were faults in the matter, was it not
+her father's fault? Why had he not lived with them, so that he might
+see these things with his own eyes? "There must be nothing of that
+kind," said Sir Thomas, with a look of anger in his eyes.
+
+When the week was over, the innkeeper and the doctors submitting
+with but a bad grace, the member for Percycross returned to London
+with his arm bound up in a sling. The town was by this time quite
+tranquil. The hustings had been taken down, and the artizans of the
+borough were back at their labours, almost forgetting Moggs and his
+great doctrines. That there was to be a petition was a matter of
+course. It was at least a matter of course that there should be
+threats of a petition. The threat of course reached Sir Thomas's
+ears, but nothing further was said to him. When he and his daughter
+went down to the station in the Standard fly, it almost seemed that
+he was no more to the borough than any other man might be with a
+broken arm. "I shall not speak of this to Mary," he said on his
+journey home. "Nor should you, I think, my dear."
+
+"Of course not, papa."
+
+"He should have the opportunity of changing his mind after receiving
+my letter, if he so pleases. For her sake I hope he will not."
+Patience said nothing further. She loved her cousin Mary, and
+certainly had felt no dislike for this fortunate young man. But she
+could not so quickly bring herself to sympathise with interests which
+seemed to be opposed to those of her sister.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+IT IS ALL SETTLED.
+
+
+In the last half of this month of October the Squire at Newton was
+very pressing on his lawyers up in London to settle the affairs of
+the property. He was most anxious to make a new will, but could not
+do so till his nephew had completed the sale, and till the money had
+been paid. He had expressed a desire to go up to London and remain
+there till all was done; but against this his son had expostulated,
+urging that his father could not hasten the work up in London by
+his presence, but would certainly annoy and flurry everybody in the
+lawyer's office. Mr. Carey had promised that the thing should be
+done with as little delay as possible, but Mr. Carey was not a man
+to be driven. Then again the Squire would be a miserable man up
+in London, whereas at the Priory he might be so happy among the
+new works which he had already inaugurated. The son's arguments
+prevailed,--especially that argument as to the pleasure of the
+Squire's present occupations,--and the Squire consented to remain at
+home.
+
+There seemed to be an infinity of things to be done, and to the
+Squire himself the world appeared to require more of happy activity
+than at any previous time of his life. He got up early, and was out
+about the place before breakfast. He had endless instructions to give
+to everybody about the estate. The very air of the place was sweeter
+to him than heretofore. The labourers were less melancholy at their
+work. The farmers smiled oftener. The women and children were more
+dear to him. Everything around him had now been gifted with the grace
+of established ownership. His nephew Gregory, after that last dinner
+of which mention was made, hardly came near him during the next
+fortnight. Once or twice the Squire went up to the church during
+week days that he might catch the parson, and even called at the
+parsonage. But Gregory was unhappy, and would not conceal his
+unhappiness. "I suppose it will wear off," said the Squire to his
+son.
+
+"Of course it will, sir."
+
+"It shall not be my fault if it does not. I wonder whether it would
+have made him happier to see the property parcelled out and sold to
+the highest bidder after my death."
+
+"It is not unnatural, if you think of it," said Ralph.
+
+"Perhaps not; and God forbid that I should be angry with him because
+he cannot share my triumph. I feel, however, that I have done my
+duty, and that nobody has a right to quarrel with me."
+
+And then there were the hunters. Every sportsman knows, and the
+wives and daughters of all sportsmen know, how important a month in
+the calendar is the month of October. The real campaign begins in
+November; and even for those who do not personally attend to the
+earlier work of the kennel,--or look after cub-hunting, which during
+the last ten days of October is apt to take the shape of genuine
+hunting,--October has charms of its own and peculiar duties. It is
+the busiest month in the year in regard to horses. Is physic needed?
+In the Squire's stables physic was much eschewed, and the Squire's
+horses were usually in good condition. But it is needful to know,
+down to a single line on the form, whether this or that animal wants
+more exercise,--and if so, of what nature. We hold that for hunters
+which are worked regularly throughout the season, and which live in
+loose boxes summer and winter, but little exercise is required except
+in the months of September and October. Let them have been fed on
+oats throughout the year, and a good groom will bring them into form
+in two months. Such at least was the order at the Newton stables;
+and during this autumn,--especially during these last days of
+October,--this order was obeyed with infinite alacrity, and with many
+preparations for coming joys. And there are other cares, less onerous
+indeed, but still needful. What good sportsman is too proud, or even
+too much engaged, to inspect his horse's gear,--and his own? Only
+let his horses' gear stand first in his mind! Let him be sure that
+the fit of a saddle is of more moment than the fit of a pair of
+breeches;--that in riding the length, strength, and nature of the bit
+will avail more,--should at least avail more,--than the depth, form,
+and general arrangement of the flask; that the question of boots,
+great as it certainly is, should be postponed to the question of
+shoes; that a man's seat should be guarded by his girths rather than
+by his spurs; that no run has ever been secured by the brilliancy of
+the cravat, though many a run has been lost by the insufficiency of a
+stirrup-leather. In the stables and saddle-room, and throughout the
+whole establishment of the house at Newton, all these matters were
+ever sedulously regarded; but they had never been regarded with more
+joyful zeal than was given to them during this happy month. There was
+not a stable-boy about the place who did not know and feel that their
+Mr. Ralph was now to take his place in the hunting-field as the heir
+to Newton Priory.
+
+And there were other duties at Newton of which the crowd of
+riding-men know little or nothing. Were there foxes in the coverts?
+The Squire had all his life been a staunch preserver, thinking more
+of a vixen with her young cubs than he would of any lady in the land
+with her first-born son. During the last spring and summer, however,
+things had made him uncomfortable; and he had not personally inquired
+after the well-being of each nursery in the woods as had been his
+wont. Ralph, indeed, had been on the alert, and the keepers had not
+become slack;--but there had been a whisper about the place that the
+master didn't care so much about the foxes as he used to do. They
+soon found out that he cared enough now. The head-keeper opened his
+eyes very wide when he was told that the Squire would take it as a
+personal offence if the coverts were ever drawn blank. It was to be
+understood through the county that at Newton Priory everything now
+was happy and prosperous. "We'll get up a breakfast and a meet on
+the lawn before the end of the month," said the Squire to his son.
+"I hate hunt breakfasts myself, but the farmers like them." From all
+which the reader will perceive that the Squire was in earnest.
+
+Ralph hunted all through the latter days of October, but the Squire
+himself would not go out till the first regular day of the season.
+"I like a law, and I like to stick to it," he said. "Five months
+is enough for the horses in all conscience." At last the happy day
+arrived,--Wednesday, the 2nd of November,--and the father and son
+started together for the meet in a dog-cart on four wheels with
+two horses. On such occasions the Squire always drove himself, and
+professed to go no more than eight miles an hour. The meet was over
+in the Berkshire county in the neighbourhood of Swallowfield, about
+twelve miles distant, and the Squire was in his seat precisely at
+half-past nine. Four horses had gone on in the charge of two grooms,
+for the Squire had insisted on Ralph riding with a second horse. "If
+you don't, I won't," he had said; and Ralph of course had yielded.
+Just at this time there had grown up in the young man's mind a
+feeling that his father was almost excessive in the exuberance of his
+joy,--that he was displaying too ostensibly to the world at large
+the triumph which he had effected. But the checking of this elation
+was almost impossible to the son on whose behalf it was exhibited.
+Therefore, to Ralph's own regret, the two horses had on this morning
+been sent on to Barford Heath. The Squire was not kept waiting a
+moment. Ralph lit his cigar and jumped in, and the Squire started in
+all comfort and joy. The road led them by Darvell's farm, and for a
+moment the carriage was stopped that a word might be spoken to some
+workman. "You'd better have a couple more men, Miles. It won't do to
+let the frost catch us," said the Squire. Miles touched his hat, and
+assented. "The house will look very well from here," said the Squire,
+pointing down through a line of trees. Ralph assented cheerily; and
+yet he thought that his father was spending more money than Darvell's
+house need to have cost him.
+
+They reached Barford Heath a few minutes before eleven, and there was
+a little scene upon the occasion. It was the first recognised meet of
+the season, and the Squire had not been out before. It was now known
+to almost every man there that the owner of Newton Priory had at
+last succeeded in obtaining the reversion of the estate for his own
+son; and though the matter was one which hardly admitted of open
+congratulation, still there were words spoken and looks given, and
+a little additional pressure in the shaking of hands,--all of which
+seemed to mark a triumph. That other Ralph had not been known in the
+county. This Ralph was very popular; and though of course there was
+existent some amount of inner unexpressed feeling that the proper
+line of an old family was being broken, that for the moment was kept
+in abeyance, and all men's faces wore smiles as they were turned
+upon the happy Squire. He hardly carried himself with as perfect a
+moderation as his son would have wished. He was a little loud,--not
+saying much to any one openly about the property, uttering merely
+a word or two in a low voice in answer to the kind expressions of
+one or two specially intimate friends; but in discussing other
+matters,--the appearance of the pack, the prospects of the season,
+the state of the county,--he was not quite like himself. In his
+ordinary way he was a quiet man, not often heard at much distance,
+and contented to be noted as Newton of Newton rather than as a man
+commanding attention by his conduct before other men. There certainly
+was a difference to-day, and it was of that kind which wine produces
+on some who are not habitual drinkers. The gases of his life were in
+exuberance, and he was as a balloon insufficiently freighted with
+ballast. His buoyancy, unless checked, might carry him too high among
+the clouds. All this Ralph saw, and kept himself a little aloof. If
+there were aught amiss, there was no help for it on his part; and,
+after all, what was amiss was so very little amiss.
+
+"We'll draw the small gorses first," said the old master, addressing
+himself specially to Mr. Newton, "and then we'll go into Barford
+Wood."
+
+"Just so," said the Squire; "the gorses first by all means. I
+remember when there was always a fox at Barford Gorse. Come along. I
+hate to see time wasted. You'll be glad to hear we're full of foxes
+at Newton. There were two litters bred in Bostock Spring;--two,
+by Jove! in that little place. Dan,"--Dan was his second
+horseman,--"I'll ride the young one this morning. You have Paddywhack
+fresh for me about one." Paddywhack was the old Irish horse which had
+carried him so long, and has been mentioned before. There was nothing
+remarkable in all this. There was no word spoken that might not have
+been said with a good grace by any old sportsman, who knew the men
+around him, and who had long preserved foxes for their use;--but
+still it was felt that the Squire was a little loud. Ralph the son,
+on whose behalf all this triumph was felt, was silenter than usual,
+and trotted along at the rear of the long line of horsemen.
+
+One specially intimate friend of his,--a man whom he really
+loved,--hung back with the object of congratulating him. "Ralph,"
+said George Morris, of Watheby Grove, a place about four miles from
+the Priory, "I must tell you how glad I am of all this."
+
+"All right, old fellow."
+
+"Come; you might show out a little to me. Isn't it grand? We shall
+always have you among us now. Don't tell me that you are
+indifferent."
+
+"I think enough about it, God knows, George. But it seems to me that
+the less said about it the better. My father has behaved nobly to
+me, and of course I like to feel that I've got a place in the world
+marked out for me. But--"
+
+"But what?"
+
+"You understand it all, George. There shouldn't be rejoicing in a
+family because the heir has lost his inheritance."
+
+"I can't look at it in that line."
+
+"I can't look at it in any other," said Ralph. "Mind you, I'm not
+saying that it isn't all right. What has happened to him has come of
+his own doings. I only mean that we ought to be quiet about it. My
+father's spirits are so high, that he can hardly control them."
+
+"By George, I don't wonder at it," said George Morris.
+
+There were three little bits of gorse about half-a-mile from Barford
+Wood, as to which it seemed that expectation did not run high, but
+from the last of which an old fox broke before the hounds were in
+it. It was so sudden a thing that the pack was on the scent and away
+before half-a-dozen men had seen what had happened. Our Squire had
+been riding with Cox, the huntsman, who had ventured to say how happy
+he was that the young squire was to be the Squire some day. "So am I,
+Cox; so am I," said the Squire. "And I hope he'll be a friend to you
+for many a year."
+
+"By the holy, there's Dick a-hallooing," said Cox, forgetting at
+once the comparatively unimportant affairs of Newton Priory in the
+breaking of this unexpected fox. "Golly;--if he ain't away, Squire."
+The hounds had gone at once to the whip's voice, and were in full cry
+in less time than it has taken to tell the story of "the find." Cox
+was with them, and so was the Squire. There were two or three others,
+and one of the whips. The start, indeed, was not much, but the burst
+was so sharp, and the old fox ran so straight, that it sufficed to
+enable those who had got the lead to keep it. "Tally-ho!" shouted the
+Squire, as he saw the animal making across a stubble field before the
+hounds, with only one fence between him and the quarry. "Tally-ho!"
+It was remarked afterwards that the Squire had never been known to
+halloo to a fox in that way before. "Just like one of the young
+'uns, or a fellow out of the town," said Cox, when expressing his
+astonishment.
+
+But the Squire never rode a run better in his life. He gave a lead to
+the field, and he kept it. "I wouldn't 'a spoilt him by putting my
+nose afore 'is, were it ever so," said Cox afterwards. "He went as
+straight as a schoolboy at Christmas, and the young horse he rode
+never made a mistake. Let men say what they will, a young horse will
+carry a man a brush like that better than an old one. It was very
+short. They had run their fox, pulled him down, broken him up, and
+eaten him within half an hour. Jack Graham, who is particular about
+those things, and who was, at any rate, near enough to see it all,
+said that it was exactly twenty-two minutes and a half. He might
+be right enough in that, but when he swore that they had gone over
+four miles of ground, he was certainly wrong. They killed within a
+field of Heckfield church, and Heckfield church can't be four miles
+from Barford Gorse. That they went as straight as a line everybody
+knew. Besides, they couldn't have covered the ground in the time.
+The pace was good, no doubt; but Jacky Graham is always given to
+exaggeration."
+
+The Squire was very proud of his performance, and, when Ralph came
+up, was loud in praise of the young horse. "Never was carried so well
+in my life,--never," said he. "I knew he was good, but I didn't know
+he would jump like that. I wouldn't take a couple of hundred for
+him." This was still a little loud; but the Squire at this moment had
+the sense of double triumph within, and was to be forgiven. It was
+admitted on all sides that he had ridden the run uncommonly well.
+"Just like a young man, by Jove," said Jack Graham. "Like what sort
+of a young man?" asked George Harris, who had come up at the heel of
+the hunt with Ralph.
+
+"And where were you, Master Ralph?" said the Squire to his son.
+
+"I fancy I just began to know they were running by the time you were
+killing your fox," said Ralph.
+
+"You should have your eyes better about you, my boy; shouldn't he,
+Cox?"
+
+"The young squire ain't often in the wrong box," said the huntsman.
+
+"He wasn't in the right one to-day," said the Squire. This was still
+a little loud. There was too much of that buoyancy which might have
+come from drink; but which, with the Squire, was the effect of that
+success for which he had been longing rather than hoping all his
+life.
+
+From Heckfield they trotted back to Barford Wood, the master
+resolving that he would draw his country in the manner he had
+proposed to himself in the morning. There was some little repining
+at this, partly because the distance was long, and partly because
+Barford Woods were too large to be popular. "Hunting is over for the
+day," said Jack Graham. To this view of the case the Squire, who had
+now changed his horse, objected greatly. "We shall find in Barford
+big wood as sure as the sun rises," said he. "Yes," said Jack, "and
+run into the little wood and back to the big wood, and so on till we
+hate every foot of the ground. I never knew anything from Barford
+Woods yet for which a donkey wasn't as good as a horse." The Squire
+again objected, and told the story of a run from Barford Woods twenty
+years ago which had taken them pretty nearly on to Ascot Heath.
+"Things have changed since that," said Jack Graham. "Very much for
+the better," said the Squire. Ralph was with him then, and still
+felt that his father was too loud. Whether he meant that hunting was
+better now than in the old days twenty years ago, or that things as
+regarded the Newton estate were better, was not explained; but all
+who heard him speak imagined that he was alluding to the latter
+subject.
+
+Drawing Barford Woods is a very different thing than drawing Barford
+Gorses. Anybody may see a fox found at the gorses who will simply
+take the trouble to be with the hounds when they go into the covert;
+but in the wood it becomes a great question with a sportsman whether
+he will stick to the pack or save his horse and loiter about till he
+hears that a fox has been found. The latter is certainly the commoner
+course, and perhaps the wiser. And even when the fox has been found
+it may be better for the expectant sportsman to loiter about till
+he breaks, giving some little attention to the part of the wood in
+which the work of hunting may be progressing. There are those who
+systematically stand still or roam about very slowly;--others, again,
+who ride and cease riding by spurts, just as they become weary or
+impatient;--and others who, with dogged perseverance, stick always to
+the track of the hounds. For years past the Squire was to have been
+found among the former and more prudent set of riders, but on this
+occasion he went gallantly through the thickest of the underwood,
+close at the huntsman's heels. "You'll find it rather nasty, Mr.
+Newton, among them brakes," Cox had said to him. But the Squire had
+answered that he hadn't got his Sunday face on, and had persevered.
+
+They were soon on a fox in Barford Wood;--but being on a fox in
+Barford Wood was very different from finding a fox in Barford Gorse.
+Out of the gorse a fox must go; but in the big woods he might choose
+to remain half the day. And then the chances were that he would
+either beat the hounds at last, or else be eaten in covert. "It's a
+very pretty place to ride about and smoke and drink one's friend's
+sherry." That was Jack Graham's idea of hunting in Barford Woods, and
+a great deal of that kind of thing was going on to-day. Now and then
+there was a little excitement, and cries of "away" were heard. Men
+would burst out of the wood here and there, ride about for a few
+minutes, and then go in again. Cox swore that they had thrice changed
+their fox, and was beginning to be a little short in his temper; the
+whips' horses were becoming jaded, and the master had once or twice
+answered very crossly when questioned. "How the devil do you suppose
+I'm to know," he had said to a young gentleman who had inquired,
+"where they were?" But still the Squire kept on zealously, and
+reminded Ralph that some of the best things of the season were often
+lost by men becoming slack towards evening. At that time it was
+nearly four o'clock, and Cox was clearly of opinion that he couldn't
+kill a fox in Barford Woods that day.
+
+But still the hounds were hunting. "Darned if they ain't back to the
+little wood again," said Cox to the Squire. They were at that moment
+in an extreme corner of an outlying copse, and between them and
+Barford Little Wood was a narrow strip of meadow, over which they had
+passed half-a-dozen times that day. Between the copse and the meadow
+there ran a broad ditch with a hedge,--a rotten made-up fence of
+sticks and bushes, which at the corner had been broken down by the
+constant passing of horses, till, at this hour of the day, there was
+hardly at that spot anything of a fence to be jumped. "We must cross
+with them again, Cox," said the Squire. At that moment he was nearest
+to the gap, and close to him were Ralph and George Morris, as well
+as the huntsman. But Mr. Newton's horse was standing sideways to the
+hedge, and was not facing the passage. He, nevertheless, prepared to
+pass it first, and turned his horse sharply at it; as he did so, some
+bush or stick caught the animal in the flank, and he, in order to
+escape the impediment, clambered up the bank sideways, not taking
+the gap, and then balanced himself to make his jump over the ditch.
+But he was entangled among the sticks and thorns and was on broken
+ground, and jumping short, came down into the ditch. The Squire fell
+heavily head-long on to the field, and the horse, with no further
+effort of his own, but unable to restrain himself, rolled over his
+master. It was a place as to which any horseman would say that a
+child might ride through if on a donkey without a chance of danger,
+and yet the three men who saw it knew at once that the Squire had
+had a bad fall. Ralph was first through the gap, and was off his own
+horse as the old Irish hunter, with a groan, collected himself and
+got upon his legs. In rising, the animal was very careful not to
+strike his late rider with his feet; but it was too evident to Cox
+that the beast in his attempt to rise had given a terrible squeeze to
+the prostrate Squire with his saddle.
+
+In a moment the three men were on their knees, and it was clear that
+Mr. Newton was insensible. "I'm afraid he's hurt," said Morris. Cox
+merely shook his head, as he gently attempted to raise the Squire's
+shoulder against his own. Ralph, as pale as death, held his father's
+hand in one of his own, and with the other endeavoured to feel the
+pulse of the heart. Presently, before any one else came up to them, a
+few drops of blood came from between the sufferer's lips. Cox again
+shook his head. "We'd better get him on to a gate, Mr. Ralph, and
+into a house," said the huntsman. They were quickly surrounded by
+others, and the gate was soon there, and within twenty minutes a
+surgeon was standing over our poor old friend. "No; he wasn't dead,"
+the surgeon said; "but--." "What is it?" asked Ralph, impetuously.
+The surgeon took the master of the hunt aside and whispered into his
+ear that Mr. Newton was a dead man. His spine had been so injured by
+the severity of his own fall, and by the weight of the horse rolling
+on him while he was still doubled up on the ground, that it was
+impossible that he should ever speak again. So the surgeon said, and
+Squire Newton never did speak again.
+
+
+[Illustration: In a moment the three men were on their knees,
+and it was clear that Mr. Newton was insensible.]
+
+
+He was carried home to the house of a gentleman who lived in those
+parts, in order that he might be saved the longer journey to the
+Priory;--but the length of the road mattered but little to him. He
+never spoke again, nor was he sensible for a moment. Ralph remained
+with him during the night,--of course,--and so did the surgeon.
+At five o'clock on the following morning his last breath had been
+drawn, and his life had passed away from him. George Morris also
+had remained with them,--or rather had come back to the house after
+having ridden home and changed his clothes, and it was by him that
+the tidings were at last told to the wretched son. "It is all over,
+Ralph!" "I suppose so!" said Ralph, hoarsely. "There has never been a
+doubt," said George, "since we heard of the manner of the accident."
+"I suppose not," said Ralph. The young man sat silent, and composed,
+and made no expression of his grief. He did not weep, nor did his
+face even wear that look of woe which is so common to us all when
+grief comes to us. They two were still in the room in which the
+body lay, and were standing close together over the fire. Ralph was
+leaning on his elbow upon the chimneypiece, and from time to time
+Morris would press his arm. They had been standing together thus for
+some twenty minutes when Morris asked a question.
+
+"The affair of the property had been settled, Ralph?"
+
+"Don't talk of that now," said the other angrily. Then, after
+a pause, he put up his face and spoke again. "Nothing has been
+settled," he said. "The estate belongs to my cousin Ralph. He should
+be informed at once,--at once. He should he telegraphed to, to come
+to Newton. Would you mind doing it? He should be informed at once."
+
+"There is time enough for that," said George Morris.
+
+"If you will not I must," replied Ralph.
+
+The telegram was at once sent in duplicate, addressed to that other
+Ralph,--Ralph who was declared by the Squire's son to be once more
+Ralph the heir,--addressed to him both at his lodgings in London and
+at the Moonbeam. When the messenger had been sent to the nearest
+railway station with the message, Ralph and his friend started for
+Newton Priory together. Poor Ralph still wore his boots and breeches
+and the red coat in which he had ridden on the former fatal day, and
+in which he had passed the night by the side of his dying father's
+bed. On their journey homeward they met Gregory, who had heard of the
+accident, and had at once started to see his uncle.
+
+"It is all over!" said Ralph. Gregory, who was in his gig, dropped
+the reins and sat in silence. "It is all done. Let us get on, George.
+It is horrid to me to be in this coat. Get on quickly. Yes, indeed;
+everything is done now."
+
+He had lost a father who had loved him dearly, and whom he had dearly
+loved,--a father whose opportunities of showing his active love had
+been greater even than fall to the lot of most parents. A father
+gives naturally to his son, but the Squire had been almost unnatural
+in his desire to give. There had never been a more devoted father,
+one more intensely anxious for his son's welfare;--and Ralph had
+known this, and loved his father accordingly. Nevertheless, he could
+not keep himself from remembering that he had now lost more than
+a father. The estate as to which the Squire had been so full of
+interest,--as to which he, Ralph, had so constantly endeavoured to
+protect himself from an interest that should be too absorbing,--had
+in the last moment escaped him. And now, in this sad and solemn hour,
+he could not keep himself from thinking of that loss. As he had stood
+in the room in which the dead body of his father had been lying, he
+had cautioned himself against this feeling. But still he had known
+that it had been present to him. Let him do what he would with his
+own thoughts, he could not hinder them from running back to the fact
+that by his father's sudden death he had lost the possession of the
+Newton estate. He hated himself for remembering such a fact at such a
+time, but he could not keep himself from remembering it. His father
+had fought a life-long battle to make him the heir of Newton, and had
+perished in the moment of his victory,--but before his victory was
+achieved. Ralph had borne his success well while he had thought that
+his success was certain; but now--! He knew that all such subjects
+should be absent from his mind with such cause for grief as weighed
+upon him at this moment,--but he could not drive away the reflection.
+That other Ralph Newton had won upon the post. He would endeavour to
+bear himself well, but he could not but remember that he had been
+beaten. And there was the father who had loved him so well lying
+dead!
+
+When he reached the house, George Morris was still with him. Gregory,
+to whom he had spoken hardly a word, did not come beyond the
+parsonage. Ralph could not conceal from himself, could hardly conceal
+from his outward manner, the knowledge that Gregory must be aware
+that his cause had triumphed. And yet he hated himself for thinking
+of these things, and believed himself to be brutal in that he could
+not conceal his thoughts. "I'll send over for a few things, and stay
+with you for a day or two," said George Morris. "It would be bad that
+you should be left here alone." But Ralph would not permit the visit.
+"My father's nephew will be here to-morrow," he said, "and I would
+rather that he should find me alone." In thinking of it all, he
+remembered that he must withdraw his claims to the hand of Mary
+Bonner, now that he was nobody. He could have no pretension now to
+offer his hand to any such girl as Mary Bonner!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+SIR THOMAS AT HOME.
+
+
+Sir Thomas Underwood was welcomed home at the villa with a double
+amount of sympathy and glory,--that due to him for his victory being
+added to that which came to him on the score of his broken arm. A
+hero is never so much a hero among women as when he has been wounded
+in the battle. The very weakness which throws him into female hands
+imparts a moiety of his greatness to the women who for the while
+possess him, and creates a partnership in heroism, in which the
+feminine half delights to make the most of its own share. During
+the week at Percycross and throughout the journey Patience had had
+this half all to herself; and there had arisen to her considerable
+enjoyment from it as soon as she found that her father would probably
+be none the worse for his accident after a few weeks. She saw more of
+him now than she had done for years, and was able, after a fashion,
+to work her quiet, loving, female will with him, exacting from him
+an obedience to feminine sway such as had not been exercised on him
+since his wife's death. He himself had been humbled, passive, and
+happy. He had taken his gruel, grumbled with modesty, and consoled
+himself with constantly reflecting that he was member of Parliament
+for the borough of Percycross.
+
+During their journey, although Patience was urgent in requiring from
+her father quiescence, lest he should injure himself by too much
+exertion, there were many words spoken both as to Clarissa and Mary
+Bonner. As to poor Clary, Sir Thomas was very decided that if there
+were any truth in the suspicion which had been now roused in his mind
+as to Ralph the heir, the thing must be put an end to at once. Ralph
+who had been the heir was now in possession of that mess of pottage
+for which he had sold his inheritance,--so said Sir Thomas to his
+daughter,--and would undoubtedly consume that, as he had consumed the
+other mess which should have lasted him till the inheritance was his
+own. And he told to Patience the whole story as to Polly Neefit,--the
+whole story, at least, as he had heard it. Ralph had declared to Sir
+Thomas, when discussing the expedience of his proposed marriage with
+the daughter of the breeches-maker, that he was attached to Polly
+Neefit. Sir Thomas had done all he could to dissuade the young man
+from a marriage which, in his eyes, was disgraceful; but he could
+not bring himself to look with favour on affections transferred so
+quickly from the breeches-maker's daughter to his own. There must be
+no question of a love affair between Clary and the foolish heir who
+had disinherited himself by his folly. All this was doubly painful to
+Patience. She suffered first for her sister, the violence of whose
+feelings were so well known to her, and so completely understood; and
+then on her own account she was obliged to endure the conviction that
+she was deceiving her father. Although she had allowed something of
+the truth to escape from her, she had not wilfully told her sister's
+secret. But looking at the matter from her father's point of view,
+and hearing all that her father now said, she was brought in guilty
+of hypocrisy in the court of her own conscience.
+
+In that other matter as to Mary Bonner there was much more of
+pleasantness. There could be no possible reason why that other man,
+to whom Fortune was going to be so good, should not marry Mary
+Bonner, if Mary could bring herself to take him into her good graces.
+And of course she would. Such at least was Sir Thomas's opinion.
+How was it possible that a girl like Mary, who had nothing of her
+own, should fail to like a lover who had everything to recommend
+him,--good looks, good character, good temper, and good fortune.
+Patience did make some protest against this, for the sake of her sex.
+She didn't think, she said, that Mary had ever thought of Mr. Newton
+in that light. "There must be a beginning to such thoughts, of
+course," said Sir Thomas. Patience explained that she had nothing
+to say against Mr. Newton. It would all be very nice and proper, no
+doubt,--only perhaps Mary might not care for Mr. Newton. "Psha!"
+said Sir Thomas. Sir Thomas seemed to think that the one girl was
+as much bound to fall in love as the other was to abstain from so
+doing. Patience continued her protest,--but very mildly, because her
+father's arm was in a sling. Then there arose the question whether
+Mary should be told of the young man's letter. Patience thought that
+the young man should be allowed to come and speak for himself. Sir
+Thomas made no objection to the young man's coming. The young man
+might come when he pleased. But Sir Thomas thought it would be well
+that Mary should know what the young man had written. And so they
+reached home.
+
+To be glorified by one worshipping daughter had been pleasant to the
+wounded hero, but to be glorified by two daughters and a niece was
+almost wearisome. On the first evening nothing was said about the
+love troubles or love prospects of the girls. Sir Thomas permitted to
+himself the enjoyment of his glory, with some few signs of impatience
+when the admiration became too strong. He told the whole story of
+his election, lying back among his cushions on the sofa, although
+Patience, with mild persistence, cautioned him against exertion.
+
+"It is very bad that you should have your arm broken, papa," said
+Clarissa.
+
+"It is a bore, my dear."
+
+"Of course it is,--a dreadful bore. But as it is doing so well, I am
+so glad that you went down to Percycross. It is such a great thing
+that you should be in the House again. It does give so much colour to
+our lives here."
+
+"I hope they were not colourless before."
+
+"You know what I mean. It is so nice to feel that you are in
+Parliament."
+
+"It is quite on the cards that I may lose the seat by petition."
+
+"They never can be so cruel," said Mary.
+
+"Cruelty!" said Sir Thomas laughing. "In politics men skin each other
+without the slightest feeling. I do not doubt that Mr. Westmacott
+would ruin me with the most perfect satisfaction, if by doing so he
+could bring the seat within his own reach again; and yet I believe
+Mr. Westmacott to be a kind-hearted, good sort of man. There is a
+theory among Englishmen that in politics no man need spare another.
+To wish that your opponent should fall dead upon the hustings is not
+an uncharitable wish at an election."
+
+"Oh, papa!" exclaimed Patience.
+
+"At any rate you are elected," said Clary.
+
+"And threatened folk live long, uncle," said Mary Bonner.
+
+"So they say, my dear. Well, Patience, don't look at me with so much
+reprobation in your eyes, and I will go to bed at once. Being here
+instead of at the Percy Standard does make one inclined to take a
+liberty."
+
+"Oh, papa, it is such a delight to have you," said Clary, jumping up
+and kissing her father's forehead. All this was pleasant enough, and
+the first evening came to an end very happily.
+
+The next morning Patience, when she was alone with her father, made
+a request to him with some urgency. "Papa," she said, "do not say
+anything to Clary about Ralph."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"If there is anything in it, let it die out of itself."
+
+"But is there?"
+
+"How am I to say? Think of it, papa. If I knew it, I could hardly
+tell,--even you."
+
+"Why not? If I am not to hear the truth from you who is to tell me?"
+
+"Dear papa, don't be angry. There may be a truth which had better not
+be told. What we both want is that Clary shouldn't suffer. If you
+question her she will suffer. You may be sure of this,--that she will
+obey your wishes."
+
+"How can she obey them, unless she knows them?"
+
+"She shall know them," said Patience. But Sir Thomas would give no
+promise.
+
+On that same day Sir Thomas sent for his niece into his room, and
+there read to her the letter which he had received from the Squire's
+son. It was now the last week of October,--that short blessed morsel
+of time which to the poor Squire at Newton was the happiest of his
+life. He was now cutting down trees and building farm-houses, and
+looking after his stud in all the glory of his success. Ralph had
+written his letter, and had received his answer,--and he also was
+successful and glorious. That fatal day on which the fox would not
+break from Barford Woods had not yet arrived. Mary Bonner heard the
+letter read, and listened to Sir Thomas's speech without a word,
+without a blush, and without a sign. Sir Thomas began his speech very
+well, but became rather misty towards the end, when he found himself
+unable to reduce Mary to a state of feminine confusion. "My dear," he
+began, "I have received a letter which I think it is my duty to read
+to you."
+
+"A letter, uncle?"
+
+"Yes, my dear. Sit down while I read it. I may as well tell you at
+once that it is a letter which has given me very great satisfaction.
+It is from a young gentleman;"--upon hearing this announcement Mary's
+face assumed a look of settled, collected strength, which never left
+it for a moment during the remainder of the interview,--"yes; from a
+young gentleman, and I may say that I never read a letter which I
+thought to be more honourable to the writer. It is from Mr. Ralph
+Newton,--not the Ralph with whom you have found us to be so intimate,
+but from the other who will some day be Mr. Newton of Newton Priory."
+Then Sir Thomas looked into his niece's face, hoping to see there
+something of the flutter of expectant triumph. But there was neither
+flutter nor triumph in Mary's countenance. He read the letter,
+sitting up in his bed, with his left arm in a sling, and then he
+handed it to her. "You had better look at it yourself, my dear." Mary
+took the letter, and sat as though she were reading it. It seemed
+to Sir Thomas that she was reading it with the cold accuracy of a
+cautious attorney;--but in truth her eyes did not follow a single
+word of the letter. There was neither flutter nor triumph in her
+face, or in the movement of her limbs, or in the quiet, almost
+motionless carriage of her body; but, nevertheless, the pulses of her
+heart beat so strongly, that had all depended on it she could not
+have read a word of the letter. "Well, my dear," said Sir Thomas,
+when he thought that ample time had been given for the perusal. Mary
+simply folded the paper together and returned it into his hands. "I
+have told him, as I was bound to do, my dear, that as far as I was
+concerned, I should be happy to receive him; but that for any other
+answer, I must refer him to you. Of course it will be for you to give
+him what answer your heart dictates. But I may say this,--and it
+is my duty to say it as your guardian and nearest relative;--the
+way in which he has put forward his request shows him to be a most
+honourable man; all that I have ever heard of him is in his favour;
+he is a gentleman every inch of him; and as for his prospects in
+life, they are such that they entitle him to address almost any
+lady in the land. Of course you will follow the dictates of your
+own heart, as I said; but I cannot myself fancy any greater good
+fortune that could come in the way of a young woman than the honest
+affections of such a man as this Ralph Newton." Then Sir Thomas
+paused for some reply, but Mary had none ready for him. "Of course I
+have no questions to ask," he said, and then again paused. But still
+Mary did not speak. "I dare say he will be here before long, and I
+hope that he may meet with a happy reception. I at least shall be
+glad to see him, for I hold him in great honour. And as I look upon
+marriage as the happiest lot for all women, and as I think that this
+would be a happy marriage, I do hope,--I do hope-- But as I said
+before, all that must be left to yourself. Mary, have you nothing to
+say?"
+
+"I trust, uncle, you are not tired of me."
+
+"Tired of you! Certainly not. I have not been with you since you
+have been here as much as I should have wished because,--indeed for
+various reasons. But we all like you, and nobody wants to get rid of
+you. But there is a way in which young ladies leave their own homes,
+which is generally thought to be matter of congratulation. But, as I
+said before, nobody shall press you."
+
+"Dear uncle, I am so full of thanks to you for your kindness."
+
+"But it is of course my duty as your guardian to tell you that in my
+opinion this gentleman is entitled to your esteem."
+
+After that Mary left him without another word, and taking her hat
+and cloak as she passed through the hall went at once out into the
+garden. It was a fine autumn morning, almost with a touch of summer
+in it. We do not know here that special season which across the
+Atlantic is called the Indian summer,--that last glow of the year's
+warmth which always brings with it a half melancholy conviction of
+the year's decay,--which in itself is so delightful, would be so
+full of delight, were it not for the consciousness which it seems
+to contain of being the immediate precursor of winter with all its
+horrors. There is no sufficient constancy with us of the recurrence
+of such a season, to make any special name needful. But now and
+again there comes a day, when the winds of the equinox have lulled
+themselves, and the chill of October rains have left the earth, and
+the sun gives a genial, luxurious warmth, with no power to scorch,
+with strength only to comfort. But here, as elsewhere, this luxury
+is laden with melancholy, because it tells us of decay, and is the
+harbinger of death. This was such a day, and Mary Bonner, as she
+hurried into a shrubbery walk, where she could wander unseen, felt
+both the sadness and the softness of the season. There was a path
+which ran from the front gate of the villa grounds through shrubs
+and tall evergreens down to the river, and was continued along the
+river-bank up through the flower-garden to windows opening from the
+drawing-room. Here she walked alone for more than an hour, turning as
+she came to the river in order that she might not be seen from the
+house.
+
+Mary Bonner, of whose character hitherto but little has been said,
+was, at any rate, an acute observer. Very soon after her first
+introduction to Ralph the heir,--Ralph who had for so many years been
+the intimate friend of the Underwood family,--she perceived something
+in the manner of that very attractive young man which conveyed
+to her a feeling that, if she so pleased, she might count him as
+an admirer of her own. She had heard then, as was natural, much
+of the brilliance of his prospects, and but little,--as was also
+natural,--of what he had done to mar them. And she also perceived,
+or fancied that she perceived, that her cousin Clary gave many of
+her thoughts to the heir. Now Mary Bonner understood the importance
+to herself of a prosperous marriage, as well as any girl ever did
+understand its great significance. She was an orphan, living in fact
+on the charity of her uncle. And she was aware that having come
+to her uncle's house when all the weakness and attractions of her
+childhood were passed, she could have no hold on him or his such as
+would have been hers had she grown to be a woman beneath his roof.
+There was a thoughtfulness too about her,--a thoughtfulness which
+some, perhaps, may call worldliness,--which made it impossible for
+her not to have her own condition constantly in her mind. In her
+father's lifetime she had been driven by his thoughtlessness and her
+own sterner nature to think of these things; and in the few months
+that had passed between her father's death and her acceptance in
+her uncle's house she had taught herself to regard the world as an
+arena in which she must fight a battle by her own strength with such
+weapons as God had given to her. God had, indeed, given to her many
+weapons, but she knew but of one. She did know that God had made
+her very beautiful. But she regarded her beauty after an unfeminine
+fashion,--as a thing of value, but as a chattel of which she could
+not bring herself to be proud. Might it be possible that she should
+win for herself by her beauty some position in the world less
+burdensome, more joyous than that of a governess, and less dependent
+than that of a daily recipient of her uncle's charity?
+
+She had had lovers in the West Indies,--perhaps a score of them,
+but they had been nothing to her. Her father's house had been so
+constituted that it had been impossible for her to escape the very
+plainly spoken admiration of captains, lieutenants, and Colonial
+secretaries. In the West Indies gentlemen do speak so very plainly,
+on, or without, the smallest encouragement, that ladies accept such
+speaking much as they do in England the attention of a handkerchief
+lifted or an offer for a dance. It had all meant nothing to Mary
+Bonner, who from her earliest years of girlhood had been accustomed
+to captains, lieutenants, and even to midshipmen. But, through it
+all, she had grown up with serious thoughts, and something of a
+conviction that love-making was but an ugly amusement. As far as it
+had been possible she had kept herself aloof from it, and though run
+after for her beauty, had been unpopular as being a "proud, cold,
+meaningless minx." When her father died she would speak to no one;
+and then it had been settled among the captains, lieutenants, and
+Colonial secretaries that she was a proud, cold, meaningless minx.
+And with this character she left the island. Now there came to her,
+naturally I say, this question;--What lovers might she find in
+England, and, should she find lovers, how should she deal with them?
+There are among us many who tell us that no pure-minded girl should
+think of finding a lover,--should only deal with him, when he comes,
+as truth, and circumstances, and parental control may suggest to her.
+If there be girls so pure, it certainly seems that no human being
+expects to meet them. Such was not the purity of Mary Bonner,--if
+pure she was. She did think of some coming lover,--did hope that
+there might be for her some prosperity of life as the consequence of
+the love of some worthy man whom she, in return, might worship. And
+then there had come Ralph Newton the heir.
+
+Now to Mary Bonner,--as also to Clarissa Underwood, and to Patience,
+and to old Mrs. Brownlow, and a great many others, Ralph the heir
+did not appear in quite those colours which he probably will in
+the reader's eyes. These ladies, and a great many other ladies
+and gentlemen who reckoned him among their acquaintance, were not
+accurately acquainted with his transactions with Messrs. Neefit,
+Moggs, and Horsball; nor were they thoroughly acquainted with the
+easy nature of our hero's changing convictions. To Clarissa he
+certainly was heroic; to Patience he was very dear; to old Mrs.
+Brownlow he was almost a demigod; to Mr. Poojean he was an object
+of envy. To Mary Bonner, as she first saw him, he was infinitely
+more fascinating than the captains and lieutenants of West Indian
+regiments, or than Colonial secretaries generally.
+
+It was during that evening at Mrs. Brownlow's that Mary Bonner
+resolutely made up her mind that she would be as stiff and cold to
+Ralph the heir as the nature of their acquaintance would allow. She
+had seen Clarissa without watching, and, without thinking, she had
+resolved. Mr. Newton was handsome, well to do, of good address, and
+clever;--he was also attractive; but he should not be attractive for
+her. She would not, as her first episode in her English life, rob
+a cousin of a lover. And so her mind was made up, and no word was
+spoken to any one. She had no confidences. There was no one in whom
+she could confide. Indeed, there was no need for confidence. As
+she left Mrs. Brownlow's house on that evening she slipped her arm
+through that of Patience, and the happy Clarissa was left to walk
+home with Ralph the heir,--as the reader may perhaps remember.
+
+Then that other Ralph had come, and she learned in half-pronounced
+ambiguous whispers what was the nature of his position in the world.
+She did not know,--at that time her cousins did not know,--how nearly
+successful were the efforts made to dispossess the heir of his
+inheritance in order that this other Newton might possess it. But she
+saw, or thought that she saw, that this was the gallanter man of the
+two. Then he came again, and then again, and she knew that her own
+beauty was of avail. She encouraged him not at all. It was not in her
+nature to give encouragement to a man's advances. It may, perhaps, be
+said of her that she had no power to do so. What was in her of the
+graciousness of feminine love, of the leaning, clinging, flattering
+softness of woman's nature, required some effort to extract, and had
+never hitherto been extracted. But within her own bosom she told
+herself that she thought that she could give it, if the asking for it
+were duly done. Then came the first tidings of his heirship, of his
+father's success,--and then, close upon the heels of those tidings,
+this heir's humbly expressed desire to be permitted to woo her. There
+was all the flutter of triumph in her bosom, as that letter was
+read to her, and yet there was no sign of it in her voice or in her
+countenance.
+
+Nor could it have been seen had she been met walking in the shade of
+that shrubbery. And yet she was full of triumph. Here was the man to
+whom her heart had seemed to turn almost at first sight, as it had
+never turned to man before. She had deigned to think of him as of one
+she could love;--and he loved her. As she paced the walk it was also
+much to her that this man who was so generous in her eyes should have
+provided for him so noble a place in the world. She quite understood
+what it was to be the wife of such a one as the Squire of Newton.
+She had grieved for Clary's sake when she heard that the former heir
+should be heir no longer,--suspecting Clary's secret. But she could
+not so grieve as to be insensible of her own joy. And then there was
+something in the very manner in which the man approached her, which
+gratified her pride while it touched her heart. About that other
+Ralph there was a tone of sustained self-applause, which seemed to
+declare that he had only to claim any woman and to receive her.
+There was an old-fashioned mode of wooing of which she had read and
+dreamed, that implied a homage which she knew that she desired. This
+homage her Ralph was prepared to pay.
+
+For an hour she paced the walk, not thinking, but enjoying what she
+knew. There was nothing in it requiring thought. He was to come, and
+till he should come there was nothing that she need either say or do.
+Till he should come she would do nothing and say nothing. Such was
+her determination when Clarissa's step was heard, and in a moment
+Clarissa's arm was round her waist. "Mary," she said, "you must come
+out with me. Come and walk with me. I am going to Mrs. Brownlow's.
+You must come."
+
+"To walk there and back?" said Mary, smiling.
+
+"We will return in an omnibus; but you must come. Oh, I have so much
+to say to you."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+"TELL ME AND I'LL TELL YOU."
+
+
+"Papa has told me all about it," were Clarissa's first words as soon
+as they were out of the gate on the road to Mrs. Brownlow's.
+
+"All about what, Clary?"
+
+"Oh you know;--or rather it was Patience told me, and then I asked
+papa. I am so glad."
+
+Mary had as yet hardly had time to think whether the coming of
+this letter to her uncle would or would not be communicated to her
+cousins; but had she thought, she would have been almost sure that
+Sir Thomas would be more discreet. The whole matter was to her so
+important, so secret, almost so solemn, that she could hardly imagine
+that it should be discussed among the whole household. And yet she
+felt a strong longing within herself to be able to talk of it to some
+one. Of the two cousins Clary was certainly her favourite, and had
+she been forced to consult any one, she would have consulted Clary.
+But an absolute confidence in such a matter with a chosen friend,
+the more delightful it might appear, was on that very account the
+more difficult of attainment. It was an occasion for thought, for
+doubt, and almost for dismay; and now Clary rushed into it as though
+everything could be settled in a walk from Fulham to Parson's Green!
+"It is very good of you to be glad, Clary," said the other,--hardly
+knowing why she said this, and yet meaning it. If in truth Clary was
+glad, it was good of her. For this man to whom Clary was alluding had
+won from her own lover all his inheritance.
+
+"I like him so much. You will let me talk about him; won't you?"
+
+"Oh, yes," said Mary.
+
+"Do; pray do. There are so many reasons why we should tell each other
+everything." This elicited no promise from Mary. "If I thought that
+you would care, I would tell you all."
+
+"I care about everything that concerns you, Clary."
+
+"But I didn't bring you out to talk about myself now. I want to tell
+you how much I like your Ralph Newton."
+
+"But he isn't mine."
+
+"Yes he is;--at any rate, if you like to have him. And of course you
+will like. Why should you not? He is everything that is nice and
+good;--and now he is to be the owner of all the property. What I want
+to tell you is this; I do not begrudge it to you."
+
+Why should Clarissa begrudge or not begrudge the property? Mary
+understood it all, but nothing had been said entitling her to speak
+as though she understood it. "I don't think you would begrudge me
+anything that you thought good for me," said Mary.
+
+"And I think that Mr. Ralph Newton,--this Mr. Ralph Newton, is very
+good for you. Nothing could be so good. In the first place would it
+not be very nice to have you mistress of Newton Priory? Only that
+shouldn't come properly first."
+
+"And what should come first, Clary?"
+
+"Oh,--of course that you should love him better than anything in the
+world. And you do,--don't you?"
+
+"It is too sudden to say that yet, Clary."
+
+"But I am sure you will. Don't you feel that you will? Come, Mary,
+you should tell me something."
+
+"There is so little to tell."
+
+"Then you are afraid of me. I wanted to tell you everything."
+
+"I am not afraid of you. But, remember, it is hardly more than an
+hour ago since I first heard of Mr. Newton's wishes, and up to that
+moment nothing was further from my dreams."
+
+"I was sure of it, ever so long ago," said Clarissa.
+
+"Oh, Clary!"
+
+"I was. I told Patience how it was to be. I saw it in his eyes. One
+does see these things. I knew it would be so; and I told Patience
+that we three would be three Mrs. Newtons. But that of course was
+nonsense."
+
+"Nonsense, indeed."
+
+"I mean about Patience."
+
+"And what about yourself, Clary?" Clarissa made no answer, and yet
+she was burning to tell her own story. She was most anxious to tell
+her own story, but only on the condition of reciprocal confidence.
+The very nature of her story required that the confidence should be
+reciprocal. "You said that you wanted to tell me everything," said
+Mary.
+
+"And so I do."
+
+"You know how glad I shall be to hear."
+
+"That is all very well, but,--" And then Clarissa paused.
+
+"But what, dear?"
+
+"You do mean to accept Mr. Newton?"
+
+Now it was time for Mary to pause. "If I were to tell you my whole
+heart," she said, "I should be ashamed of what I was saying; and yet
+I do not know that there is any cause for shame."
+
+"There can be none," said Clary. "I am sure of that."
+
+"My acquaintance with Mr. Newton is very, very slight. I liked
+him,--oh, so much. I thought him to be high-spirited, manly, and a
+fine gentleman. I never saw any man who so much impressed me."
+
+"Of course not," said Clarissa, making a gesture as though she
+would stop on the high road and clasp her hands together, in which,
+however, she was impeded by her parasol and her remembrance of her
+present position.
+
+"But it is so much to say that one will love a man better than all
+the world, and go to him, and belong to him, and be his wife."
+
+"Ah;--but if one does love him!"
+
+"I can hardly believe that love can grow so quickly."
+
+"Tell the truth, Mary; has it not grown?"
+
+"Indeed I cannot say. There; you shall have the whole truth. When he
+comes to me,--and I suppose he will come."
+
+"There isn't much doubt of that."
+
+"If he does come--"
+
+"Well?"
+
+"I hardly know what I shall say to him. I shall try to--to love him."
+
+"Of course you will love him,--better than all the world."
+
+"I know that he is paying me the greatest compliment that a man can
+pay to a woman. And there is no earthly reason why I should not be
+proud to accept all that he offers me. I have nothing of my own to
+bestow in return."
+
+"But you are so beautiful."
+
+Mary would make no pretence of denying this. It was true that that
+one great feminine possession did belong to her. "After all," she
+said, "how little does beauty signify! It attracts, but it can make
+no man happy. He has everything to give to a wife, and he ought to
+have much in return for what he gives."
+
+"You don't mean that a girl should refuse a rich man because she has
+no fortune of her own?"
+
+"No; not quite that. But she ought to think whether she can be of use
+to him."
+
+"Of course you will be of use, my dear;--of the greatest use in the
+world. That's his affair, and he is the best judge of what will be of
+use. You will love him, and other men will envy him, and that will be
+everything. Oh dear, I do so hope he will come soon."
+
+"And I,--I almost hope he will not. I shall be so afraid to see him.
+The first meeting will be so awful. I shall not dare to look him in
+the face."
+
+"But it is all settled."
+
+"No;--not settled, Clary."
+
+"Yes; it is settled. And now I will tell you what I mean when I say I
+do not begrudge him to you. That is--; I do not know whether you will
+care to be told."
+
+"I care very much, Clary. I should be very unhappy if you did
+begrudge me anything."
+
+"Of course you know that our Ralph Newton, as we call him, ought to
+have been the heir."
+
+"Oh, yes."
+
+"I needn't explain it all; only,--only--"
+
+"Only he is everything to you. Is it that, Clary?"
+
+"Yes; it is that. He is everything to me. I love him--. Oh, yes, I do
+love him! But, Mary, I am not such a happy girl as you are. Sometimes
+I think he hardly cares for me."
+
+"But he has asked you to care for him?"
+
+"Well;--I don't know. I think he has. He has told me, I know, that he
+loved me dearly,--better than any one."
+
+"And what answer did you make to him, Clary?"
+
+Clarissa had the whole scene on the lawn at Popham Villa so clearly
+impressed upon her memory, that an eternity of years, as she thought,
+could obliterate no one of its incidents and render doubtful no tone
+of his voice, no word that her lover had spoken. His conduct had at
+that time been so violent that she had answered him only with tears
+and protestations of undying anger. But her tears had been dried,
+and her anger had passed away;--while the love remained. Ralph, her
+Ralph, of course knew well enough that the tears were dry and the
+anger gone. She could understand that he would understand that. But
+the love which he had protested, if it were real love, would remain.
+And why should she doubt him? The very fact that he was so dear to
+her, made such doubts almost disgraceful. And yet there was so much
+cause for doubt. Patience doubted. She knew herself that she feared
+more than she hoped. She had resolved gallantly that she would be
+true to her own heart, even though by such truth she should be
+preparing for herself a life of disappointment. She had admitted
+the passion, and she would stand by it. In all her fears, too, she
+consoled herself by the reflection that her lover was hindered,
+not by want of earnestness or want of truth,--but by the state
+of his affairs. While he was still in debt, striving to save his
+inheritance, but tormented by the growing certainty that it must
+pass away from him, how could he give himself up to love-making and
+preparations for marriage? Clary made excuses for him which no one
+else would have made, and so managed to feed her hopes. "I made him
+no answer," she said at last.
+
+"And yet you knew you loved him."
+
+"Yes; I knew that. I can tell you, and I told Patience. But I could
+not tell him." She paused a moment thinking whether she could
+describe the whole scene; but she found that she could not do that.
+"I shall tell him, perhaps, when he comes again; that is, if he does
+come."
+
+"If he loves you he will come."
+
+"I don't know. He has all these troubles on him, and he will be very
+poor;--what will seem to him to be very poor. It would not be poor
+for me, but for him it would."
+
+"Would that hinder him?"
+
+"How can I say? There are so many things a girl cannot know. He
+may still be in debt, and then he has been brought up to want so
+much. But it will make no more difference in me. And now you will
+understand why I should tell you that I will never begrudge you your
+good fortune. If all should come right, you shall give us a little
+cottage near your grand house, and you will not despise us." Poor
+Clary, when she spoke of her possible future lord, and the little
+cottage on the Newton demesne, hardly understood the feelings with
+which a disinherited heir must regard the property which he has lost.
+
+"Dear, dearest Clary," said Mary Bonner, pressing her cousin's arm.
+
+They had now reached Mrs. Brownlow's house, and the old lady was
+delighted to receive them. Of course she began to discuss at once the
+great news. Sir Thomas had had his arm broken, and was now again a
+member of Parliament. Mrs. Brownlow was a thorough-going Tory, and
+was in an ecstasy of delight that her old friend should have been
+successful. The success seemed to be so much the greater in that the
+hero had suffered a broken bone. And then there were many questions
+to be asked? Would Sir Thomas again be Solicitor-General by right
+of his seat in Parliament?--for on such matters Mrs. Brownlow was
+rather hazy in her conceptions as to the working of the British
+Constitution. And would he live at home? Clarissa would not say that
+she and Patience expected such a result. All that she could suggest
+of comfort on this matter was that there would be now something of
+a fair cause for excusing their father's residence at his London
+chambers.
+
+But there was a subject more enticing to the old lady even than
+Sir Thomas's triumphs; a subject as to which there could not be
+any triumph,--only dismay; but not, on that account, the less
+interesting. Ralph Newton had sold his inheritance. "I believe it is
+all settled," said Clarissa, demurely.
+
+"Dear, dear, dear, dear!" groaned the old lady. And while she groaned
+Clarissa furtively cast a smile upon her cousin. "It is the saddest
+thing I ever knew," said Mrs. Brownlow. "And, after all, for a young
+man who never can be anybody, you know."
+
+"Oh yes," said Clarissa, "he can be somebody."
+
+"You know what I mean, my dear. I think it very shocking, and very
+wrong. Such a fine estate, too!"
+
+"We all like Mr. Newton very much indeed," said Clarissa. "Papa
+thinks he is a most charming young man. I never knew papa taken with
+any one so much. And so do we all,--Patience and I,--and Mary."
+
+"But, my dear," began Mrs. Brownlow,--Mrs. Brownlow had always
+thought that Ralph the heir would ultimately marry Clarissa
+Underwood, and that it was a manifest duty on his part to do so. She
+had fancied that Clarissa had expected it herself, and had believed
+that all the Underwoods would be broken-hearted at this transfer
+of the estate. "I don't think it can be right," said Mrs. Brownlow;
+"and I must say that it seems to me that old Mr. Newton ought to be
+ashamed of himself. Just because this young man happens to be, in a
+sort of a way, his own son, he is going to destroy the whole family.
+I think that it is very wicked." But she had not a word of censure
+for the heir who had consumed his mess of pottage.
+
+"Wasn't she grand?" said Clary, as soon as they were out again upon
+the road. "She is such a dear old woman, but she doesn't understand
+anything. I couldn't help giving you a look when she was abusing
+our friend. When she knows it all, she'll have to make you such an
+apology."
+
+"I hope she will not do that."
+
+"She will if she does not forget all about it. She does forget
+things. There is one thing I don't agree with her in at all. I don't
+see any shame in your Ralph having the property; and, as to his being
+nobody, that is all nonsense. He would be somebody, wherever he went,
+if he had not an acre of property. He will be Mr. Newton, of Newton
+Priory, just as much as anybody else could be. He has never done
+anything wrong." To all which Mary Bonner had very little to say. She
+certainly was not prepared to blame the present Squire for having so
+managed his affairs as to be able to leave the estate to his own son.
+
+The two girls were very energetic, and walked back the whole way to
+Popham Villa, regardless of a dozen omnibuses that passed them. "I
+told her all about our Ralph,--my Ralph,"--said Clary to her sister
+afterward. "I could not help telling her now."
+
+"Dear Clary," said Patience, "I wish you could help thinking of it
+always."
+
+"That's quite impossible," said Clarissa, cheerily.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+ALONE IN THE HOUSE.
+
+
+Young Newton at last found himself alone in the house at Newton
+Priory after his father's death. He had sent George Morris away,
+becoming very stern in his demand to be left to his solitude as long
+as opposition was made to him. Gregory had come down to him from the
+parsonage, and had also been dismissed. "Your brother will be here
+probably to-day," said Ralph, "and then I will send for you."
+
+"I am thinking more of you than of my brother, just now," answered
+the parson.
+
+"Yes, I know,--and though I cannot talk to you, I know how good you
+are. I want to see nobody but him. I shall be better alone." Then
+Gregory had returned to the parsonage.
+
+As soon as Ralph was alone he crept up to the room in which his
+father's body was lying, and stood silently by the bedside for above
+an hour. He was struggling to remember the loss he had had in the
+man, and to forget the loss in wealth and station. No father had ever
+been better to a son than his father had been to him. In every affair
+of life his happiness, his prosperity, and his future condition had
+given motives to his father's conduct. No lover ever worshipped a
+mistress more thoroughly than his father had idolised him. There
+had never been love to beat it, never solicitude more perfect and
+devoted. And yet, as he had been driven home that day, he had allowed
+his mind to revert to the property, and his regrets to settle
+themselves on his lost position. It should not be so any longer. He
+could not keep his mind from dwelling on the thing, but he would
+think of it as a trifle,--as of a thing which he could afford to lose
+without sorrow. Whereas he had also lost that which is of all things
+the most valuable and most impossible to replace,--a friend whose
+love was perfect.
+
+But then there was another loss. He bitterly blamed himself for
+having written that letter to Sir Thomas Underwood, before he was
+actually in a position to do as he had proposed. It must all be
+unwritten now. Every resolution hitherto taken as to his future life
+must be abandoned. He must begin again, and plan a new life for
+himself. It had all come upon him so suddenly that he was utterly
+at a loss to think what he would do with himself or with his days.
+There was nothing for him but to go away, and be utterly without
+occupation, altogether without friends. Friends, indeed, he
+had,--dear, intimate, loving friends. Gregory Newton and George
+Morris were his friends. Every tenant on the Newton property was his
+friend. There was not a man riding with the hunt, worth having as a
+friend, who was not on friendly terms with him. But all these he must
+leave altogether. In whatever spot he might find for himself a future
+residence, that spot could not be at Peele Newton. After what had
+occurred he could not remain there, now that he was not the heir. And
+then, again, his thoughts came back from his lost father to his lost
+inheritance, and he was very wretched.
+
+Between three and four o'clock he took his hat and walked out. He
+sauntered down along a small stream, which, after running through the
+gardens, bordered one of the coverts which came up near to the house.
+He took this path because he knew that he would be alone there,
+unseen. It had occurred to him already that it would be well that he
+should give orders to stop the works which his father had commenced,
+and there had been a moment in which he had almost told one of the
+servants in the house to do so. But he had felt ashamed at seeming to
+remember so small a thing. The owner would be there soon, probably
+in an hour or two, and could stop or could continue what he pleased.
+Then, as he thought of the ownership of the estate, he reflected
+that, as the sale had been in truth effected by his namesake, the
+money promised by his father would be legally due;--would not now be
+his money. As to the estate itself, that, of course, would go to his
+namesake as his father's heir. No will had been made leaving the
+estate to him, and his namesake would be the heir-at-law. Thus he
+would be utterly beggared. It was not that he actually believed that
+this would be the case; but his thoughts were morbid, and he took an
+unwholesome delight in picturing to himself circumstances in their
+blackest hue. Then he would strike the ground with his stick, in his
+wrath, because he thought of such things at all. How was it that he
+was base enough to think of them while the accident, which had robbed
+him of his father, was so recent?
+
+As the dusk grew on, he emerged out of the copse into the park, and,
+crossing at the back of the home paddocks, came out upon the road
+near to Darvell's farm. He passed a few yards up the lane, till at a
+turn he could discern the dismantled house. As far as he could see
+through the gloom of the evening, there were no workmen near the
+place. Some one, he presumed, had given directions that nothing
+further should be done on a day so sad as this. He stood for awhile
+looking and listening, and then turned round to enter the park again.
+
+It might be that the new squire was already at the house, and it
+would be thought that he ought not to be absent. The road from the
+station to the Priory was not that on which he was standing, and
+Ralph might have arrived without his knowledge. He wandered slowly
+back, but, before he could turn in at the park-gate, he was met by
+a man on the road. It was Mr. Walker, the farmer of Brownriggs, an
+old man over seventy, who had lived on the property all his life,
+succeeding his father in the same farm. Walker had known young Newton
+since he had first been brought to the Priory as a boy, and could
+speak to him with more freedom than perhaps any other tenant on the
+estate. "Oh, Mr. Ralph," he said, "this has been a dreary thing!"
+Ralph, for the first time since the accident, burst out into a flood
+of tears. "No wonder you take on, Mr. Ralph. He was a good father to
+you, and a fine gentleman, and one we all respected." Ralph still
+sobbed, but put his hand on the old man's arm and leaned upon him.
+"I hope, Mr. Ralph, that things was pretty well settled about the
+property." Ralph shook his head, but did not speak. "A bargain is a
+bargain, Mr. Ralph, and I suppose that this bargain was made. The
+lawyers would know that it had been made."
+
+"It don't matter about that, Mr. Walker," said Ralph; "but the estate
+would go to my father's nephew as his heir." The farmer started as
+though he had been shot. "You will have another landlord, Mr. Walker.
+He can hardly be better than the one you have lost."
+
+"Then, Mr. Ralph, you must bear it manly."
+
+"I think that I can say that I will do that. It is not for the
+property that I am crying. I hope you don't think that of me, Mr.
+Walker."
+
+
+[Illustration: "It is not for the property that I am crying."]
+
+
+"No, no, no."
+
+"I can bear that;--though it is hard the having to go away and live
+among strange people. I think I shall get a farm somewhere, and see
+if I can take a lesson from you. I don't know anything else that I
+can do."
+
+"You could have the Mordykes, Mr. Ralph," said Mr. Walker, naming a
+holding on the Newton property as to which there were rumours that it
+would soon be vacant.
+
+"No, Mr. Walker, it mustn't be here. I couldn't stand that. I must
+go away from this,--God knows where. I must go away from this, and I
+shall never see the old place again!"
+
+"Bear it manly, Mr. Ralph," said the farmer.
+
+"I think I shall, after a bit. Good evening, Mr. Walker. I expect my
+father's nephew every hour, and I ought to be up at the house when he
+comes. I shall see you again before I go."
+
+"Yes, yes; that's for certain," said the farmer. They were both
+thinking of the day on which they would follow the old Squire to his
+grave in Newton Peele churchyard.
+
+Ralph re-entered the park, and hurried across to the house as though
+he were afraid that he would be too late to receive the heir; but
+there had been no arrival, nor had there come any message from the
+other Ralph. Indeed up to this hour the news had not reached the
+present owner of Newton Priory. The telegram had been duly delivered
+at the Moonbeam, where the fortunate youth was staying; but he was
+hunting on this day, riding the new horse which he had bought from
+Mr. Pepper, and, up to this moment, did not know anything of that
+which chance had done for him. Nor did he get back to the Moonbeam
+till late at night, having made some engagement for dinner after the
+day's sport. It was not till noon on the following day, the Friday,
+that a message was received from him at the Priory, saying that he
+would at once hurry down to Hampshire.
+
+Ralph sat down to dinner all alone. Let what will happen to break
+hearts and ruin fortunes, dinner comes as long as the means last for
+providing it. The old butler waited upon him in absolute silence,
+fearing to speak a word, lest the word at such a time should be
+ill-spoken. No doubt the old man was thinking of the probable
+expedience of his retiring upon his savings; feeling, however, that
+it became him to show, till the last, every respect to all who bore
+the honoured name of Newton. When the meat had been eaten, the
+old servant did say a word. "Won't you come round to the fire, Mr.
+Ralph?" and he placed comfortably before the hearth one of the heavy
+arm-chairs with which the corners of the broad fire-place were
+flanked. But Ralph only shook his head, and muttered some refusal.
+There he sat, square to the table, with the customary bottle of wine
+before him, leaning back with his hands in his pockets, thinking of
+his condition in life. The loneliness of the room, the loneliness
+of the house, were horrible to him. And yet he would not that his
+solitude should be interrupted. He had been so sitting, motionless,
+almost overcome by the gloom of the big dark room, for so long a
+period that he hardly knew whether it was night or not, when a note
+was brought to him from Gregory. "Dear Ralph,--Shall I not come down
+to you for an hour?--G. N." He read the note, and sent back a verbal
+message. "Tell Mr. Gregory that I had rather not." And so he sat
+motionless till the night had really come, till the old butler
+brought him his candlestick and absolutely bade him betake himself
+to bed. He had watched during the whole of the previous night, and
+now had slumbered in his chair from time to time. But his sleeping
+had been of that painful, wakeful nature which brings with it no
+refreshment. It had been full of dreams, in all of which there had
+been some grotesque reference to the property, but in none of them
+had there been any memory of the Squire's terrible death. And yet, as
+he woke and woke and woke again, it can hardly be said that the truth
+had come back upon him as a new blow. Through such dreams there seems
+to exist a double memory, and a second identity. The misery of his
+isolated position never for a moment left him; and yet there were
+repeated to him over and over again those bungling, ill-arranged,
+impossible pictures of trivial transactions about the place, which
+the slumber of a few seconds sufficed to create in his brain. "Mr.
+Ralph, you must go to bed;--you must indeed, sir," said the old
+butler, standing over him with a candle during one of these fitful
+dreamings.
+
+"Yes, Grey;--yes, I will; directly. Put it down. Thank you. Don't
+mind sitting up," said Ralph, rousing himself in his chair.
+
+"It's past twelve," Mr. Ralph.
+
+"You can go to bed, you know, Grey."
+
+"No, sir;--no. I'll see you to bed first. It'll be better so. Why,
+Mr. Ralph, the fire's all out, and you're sitting here perished. You
+wasn't in bed last night, and you ought to be there now. Come, Mr.
+Ralph."
+
+Then Ralph rose from his chair and took the candlestick. It was true
+enough that he had better be in bed. As he shook himself, he felt
+that he had never been so cold in his life. And then as he moved
+there came upon him that terrible feeling that everything was amiss
+with him, that there was no consolation on any side. "That'll do,
+Grey; good night," he said, as the old man prepared to follow him
+up-stairs. But Grey was not to be shaken off. "I'll just see you to
+your room, Mr. Ralph." He wanted to accompany his young master past
+the door of that chamber in which was lying all that remained of the
+old master. But Ralph would open the door. "Not to-night, Mr. Ralph,"
+said Grey. But Ralph persisted, and stood again by the bedside. "He
+would have given me his flesh and blood;--his very life," said Ralph
+to the butler. "I think no father ever so loved a son. And yet, what
+has it come to?" Then he stooped down, and put his lips to the cold
+clay-blue forehead.
+
+"It ain't come to much surely," said old Grey to himself as he crept
+away to his own room; "and I don't suppose it do come to much mostly
+when folks go wrong."
+
+Ralph was out again before breakfast, wandering up and down the banks
+of the stream where the wood hid him, and then he made up his mind
+that he would at once write again to Sir Thomas Underwood. He must
+immediately make it understood that that suggestion which he had
+made in his ill-assumed pride of position must be abandoned. He
+had nothing now to offer to that queenly princess worthy of the
+acceptance of any woman. He was a base-born son, about to be turned
+out of his father's house because of the disgrace of his birth. In
+the eye of the law he was nobody. The law allowed to him not even a
+name;--certainly allowed to him the possession of no relative; denied
+to him the possibility of any family tie. His father had succeeded
+within an ace of giving him that which would have created for him
+family ties, relatives, name and all. The old Squire had understood
+well how to supersede the law, and to make the harshness of man's
+enactments of no avail. Had the Squire quite succeeded, the son would
+have stood his ground, would have called himself Newton of Newton,
+and nobody would have dared to tell him that he was a nameless
+bastard. But now he could not even wait to be told. He must tell it
+himself, and must vanish. He had failed to understand it all while
+his father was struggling and was yet alive; but he understood it
+well now. So he came in to his breakfast, resolved that he would
+write that letter at once.
+
+And then there were orders to be given;--hideous orders. And there
+was that hideous remembrance that legally he was entitled to give no
+orders. Gregory came down to him as he sat at breakfast, making his
+way into the parlour without excuse. "My brother cannot have been at
+home at either place," he said.
+
+"Perhaps not," said Ralph. "I suppose not."
+
+"The message will be sent after him, and you will hear to-day no
+doubt."
+
+"I suppose I shall," said Ralph.
+
+Then Gregory in a low voice made the suggestion in reference to which
+he had come across from the parsonage. "I think that perhaps I and
+Larkin had better go over to Basingstoke." Larkin was the steward.
+Ralph again burst out into tears, but he assented; and in this way
+those hideous orders were given.
+
+As soon as Gregory was gone he took himself to his desk, and did
+write to Sir Thomas Underwood. His letter, which was perhaps somewhat
+too punctilious, ran as follows:--
+
+
+   Newton Priory, 4th November, 186--.
+
+   MY DEAR SIR,--
+
+   I do not know whether you will have heard before this of
+   the accident which has made me fatherless. The day before
+   yesterday my father was killed by a fall from his horse in
+   the hunting-field. I should not have ventured to trouble
+   you with a letter on this subject, nor should I myself
+   have been disposed to write about it at present, were
+   it not that I feel it to be an imperative duty to refer
+   without delay to my last letter to you, and to your very
+   flattering reply. When I wrote to you it was true that
+   my father had made arrangements for purchasing on my
+   behalf the reversion to the property. That it was so you
+   doubtless were aware from your own personal knowledge
+   of the affairs of Mr. Ralph Newton. Whether that sale
+   was or was not legally completed I do not know. Probably
+   not;--and in regard to my own interests it is to be hoped
+   that it was not completed. But in any event the whole
+   Newton property will pass to your late ward, as my father
+   certainly made no such will as would convey it to me even
+   if the sale were complete.
+
+   It is a sad time for explaining all this, when the body of
+   my poor father is still lying unburied in the house, and
+   when, as you may imagine, I am ill-fitted to think of
+   matters of business; but, after what has passed between
+   us, I conceive myself bound to explain to you that I wrote
+   my last letter under a false impression, and that I can
+   make no such claim to Miss Bonner's favour as I then set
+   up. I am houseless and nameless, and for aught I yet know
+   to the contrary, absolutely penniless. The blow has hit
+   me very hard. I have lost my fortune, which I can bear;
+   I have lost whatever chance I had of gaining your niece's
+   hand, which I must learn to bear; and I have lost the
+   kindest father a man ever had,--which is unbearable.
+
+   Yours very faithfully,
+
+   RALPH NEWTON (so called).
+
+
+If it be thought that there was something in the letter which should
+have been suppressed,--the allusion, for instance, to the possible
+but most improbable loss of his father's private means, and his
+morbid denial of his own right to a name which he had always borne,
+a right which no one would deny him,--it must be remembered that
+the circumstances of the hour bore very heavily on him, and that it
+was hardly possible that he should not nurse the grievance which
+afflicted him. Had he not been alone in these hours he might have
+carried himself more bravely. As it was, he struggled hard to carry
+himself well. If no one had ever been told how nearly successful the
+Squire had been in his struggle to gain the power of leaving the
+estate to his son, had there been nothing of the triumph of victory,
+he could have left the house in which he had lived and the position
+which he had filled almost without sorrow,--certainly without
+lamentation. In the midst of calamities caused by the loss of
+fortune, it is the knowledge of what the world will say that breaks
+us down;--not regret for those enjoyments which wealth can give, and
+which had been long anticipated.
+
+At two o'clock on this day he got a telegram. "I will be at the
+parsonage this evening, and will come down at once." Ralph the heir,
+on his return home late at night, had heard the news, and early on
+the following morning had communicated with his brother and with
+his namesake. In the afternoon, after his return from Basingstoke,
+Gregory again came down to the house, desiring to know whether Ralph
+would prefer that the meeting should be at the Priory or at the
+parsonage, and on this occasion his cousin bore with him. "Why should
+not your brother come to his own house?" asked Ralph.
+
+"I suppose he feels that he should not claim it as his own."
+
+"That is nonsense. It is his own, and he knows it. Does he think that
+I am likely to raise any question against his right?"
+
+"I do not suppose that my brother has ever looked at the matter in
+that light," said the parson. "He is the last man in the world to do
+so. For the present, at any rate, you are living here and he is not.
+In such an emergency, perhaps, he feels that it would be better that
+he should come to his brother than intrude here."
+
+"It would be no intrusion. I should wish him to feel that I am
+prepared to yield to him instantly. Of course the house cannot be
+very pleasant for him as yet. He must suffer something of the misery
+of the occasion before he can enjoy his inheritance. But it will only
+be for a day or so."
+
+"Dear Ralph," said the parson, "I think you somewhat wrong my
+brother."
+
+"I endeavour not to do so. I think no ill of him, because I presume
+he should look for enjoyment from what is certainly his own. He
+and my father were not friends, and this, which has been to me so
+terrible a calamity in every way, cannot affect him with serious
+sorrow. I shall meet him as a friend; but I would sooner meet him
+here than at the parsonage."
+
+It was at last settled that the two brothers should come down to
+the great house,--both Ralph the heir, and Gregory the parson; and
+that the three young men should remain there, at any rate, till the
+funeral was over. And when this was arranged, the two who had really
+been fast friends for so many years, were able to talk to each other
+in true friendship. The solitude which he had endured had been almost
+too much for the one who had been made so desolate; but at last,
+warmed by the comfort of companionship, he resumed his manhood,
+and was able to look his affairs in the face, free from the morbid
+feeling which had oppressed him. Gregory had his own things brought
+down from the parsonage, and in order that there might be no
+hesitation on his brother's part, sent a servant with a note to the
+station desiring his brother to come at once to the Priory. They
+resolved to wait dinner for him till after the arrival of a train
+leaving London at five P.M. By that train the heir came, and between
+seven and eight he entered the house which he had not seen since he
+was a boy, and which was now his own.
+
+The receipt of the telegram at the Moonbeam had affected Ralph, who
+was now in truth the Squire, with absolute awe. He had returned late
+from a somewhat jovial dinner, in company with his friend Cox, who
+was indeed more jovial than was becoming. Ralph was not given to
+drinking more wine than he could carry decently; but his friend, who
+was determined to crowd as much enjoyment of life as was possible
+into the small time allowed him before his disappearance from the
+world that had known him, was noisy and rollicking. Perhaps it may
+be acknowledged in plain terms that he was tipsy. They both entered
+together the sitting-room which Ralph used, and Cox was already
+calling for brandy and water, when the telegram was handed to Newton.
+He read it twice before he understood it. His uncle dead!--suddenly
+dead! And the inheritance all his own! In doing him justice, however,
+we must admit that he did not at the time admit this to be the case.
+He did perceive that there must arise some question; but his first
+feeling, as regarded the property, was one of intense remorse that he
+should have sold his rights at a moment in which they would so soon
+have been realised in his own favour. But the awe which struck him
+was occasioned by the suddenness of the blow which had fallen upon
+his uncle. "What's up now, old fellow?" hiccupped Mr. Cox.
+
+I wonder whether any polite reader, into whose hands this story
+may fall, may ever have possessed a drunken friend, and have been
+struck by some solemn incident at the moment in which his friend
+is exercising the privileges of intoxication. The effect is not
+pleasant, nor conducive of good-humour. Ralph turned away in disgust,
+and leaned upon the chimney-piece, trying to think of what had
+occurred to him. "What ish it, old chap? Shomebody wants shome tin?
+I'll stand to you, old fellow."
+
+"Take him away," said Ralph. "He's drunk." Then, without waiting for
+further remonstrance from the good-natured but now indignant Cox, he
+went off to his own room.
+
+On the following morning he started for London by an early train, and
+by noon was with his lawyer. Up to that moment he believed that he
+had lost his inheritance. When he sent those two telegrams to his
+brother and to his namesake, he hardly doubted but that the entire
+property now belonged to his uncle's son. The idea had never occurred
+to him that, even were the sale complete, he might still inherit the
+property as his uncle's heir-at-law,--and that he would do so unless
+his uncle had already bequeathed it to his son. But the attorney soon
+put him right. The sale had not been yet made. He, Ralph, had not
+signed a single legal document to that effect. He had done nothing
+which would have enabled his late uncle to make a will leaving the
+Newton estate to his son. "The letters which have been written are
+all waste-paper," said the lawyer. "Even if they were to be taken
+as binding as agreements for a covenant, they would operate against
+your cousin,--not in his favour. In such case you would demand the
+specified price and still inherit."
+
+"That is out of the question," said the heir. "Quite out of the
+question," said the attorney. "No doubt Mr. Newton left a will,
+and under it his son will take whatever property the father had to
+leave."
+
+And so Ralph the heir found himself to be the owner of it all just
+at the moment in which he thought that he had lost all chance of the
+inheritance as the result of his own folly. When he walked out of the
+lawyer's office he was almost wild with amazement. This was the prize
+to which he had been taught to look forward through all his boyish
+days, and all his early manhood;--but to look forward to it, as a
+thing that must be very distant, so distant as almost to be lost in
+the vagueness of the prospect. Probably his youth would have clean
+passed from him, and he would have entered upon the downhill course
+of what is called middle life before his inheritance would come to
+him. He had been unable to wait, and had wasted everything,--nearly
+everything; had, at any rate, ruined all his hopes before he was
+seven-and-twenty; and yet, now, at seven-and-twenty, it was, as his
+lawyer assured him, all his own. How nearly had he lost it all! How
+nearly had he married the breeches-maker's daughter! How close upon
+the rocks he had been. But now all was his own, and he was in truth
+Newton of Newton, with no embarrassments of any kind which could
+impose a feather's weight upon his back.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+"SHE'LL ACCEPT YOU, OF COURSE."
+
+
+We will pass over the solemn sadness of the funeral at Newton and
+the subsequent reading of the old Squire's will. As to the latter,
+the will was as it had been made some six or seven years ago. The
+Squire had simply left all that he possessed to his illegitimate
+son Ralph Newton. There was no difficulty about the will. Nor was
+there any difficulty about the estate. The two lawyers came down to
+the funeral. Sir Thomas Underwood would have come but that he was
+prevented by the state of his arm. A statement showing all that had
+been done in the matter was prepared for him, but it was agreed on
+all sides that the sale had not been made, and that the legitimate
+heir must succeed to the property. No one was disposed to dispute the
+decision. The Squire's son had never for a moment supposed that he
+could claim the estate. Nor did Ralph the heir suppose for a moment
+that he could surrender it after the explanation which he had
+received from the lawyer in London.
+
+The funeral was over, and the will had been read, and at the end
+of November the three young men were still living together in the
+great house at Newton. The heir had gone up to London once or twice,
+instigated by the necessity of the now not difficult task of raising
+a little ready money. He must at once pay off all his debts. He
+must especially pay that which he owed to Mr. Neefit; and he must
+do so with many expressions of his gratitude,--perhaps with some
+expressions of polite regret at the hardness of Polly's heart towards
+him. But he must do so certainly without any further entreaty that
+Polly's heart might be softened. Ah,--with what marvellous good
+fortune had he escaped from that pitfall! For how much had he not to
+be thankful to some favouring goddess who must surely have watched
+over him from his birth! From what shipwrecks had he not escaped! And
+now he was Squire of Newton, with wealth and all luxuries at command,
+hampered with no wife, oppressed by no debts, free from all cares. As
+he thought of his perfect freedom in these respects, he remembered
+his former resolution as to Mary Bonner. That resolution he would
+carry out. It would be well for him now to marry a wife, and of
+all the women he had ever seen Mary Bonner was certainly the most
+beautiful. With Newton all his own, with such a string of horses as
+he would soon possess, and with such a wife at the head of his table,
+whom need he envy, and how many were there who would not envy him?
+
+Throughout November he allowed his horses to remain at the Moonbeam,
+being somewhat in doubt whether or no he would return to that
+fascinating hostelrie. He received one or two most respectful letters
+from Mr. Horsball, in which glowing accounts were given of the sport
+of the season, and the health of his horses, and offers made of most
+disinterested services. Rooms should be ready for him at a moment's
+notice if he liked at any time to run over for a week's hunting. It
+was quite evident that in the eyes of Mr. Horsball Newton of Newton
+was a great man. And there came congratulations from Mr. Cox, in
+which no allusion whatever was made to the Squire's somewhat uncivil
+conduct at their last meeting. Mr. Cox trusted that his dearest
+friend would come over and have another spell at the Moonbeam before
+he settled down for life;--and then hinted in language that was
+really delicate in the niceness of its expression, that if he, Cox,
+were but invited to spend a week or two at Newton Priory before he
+banished himself for life to Australia, he would be able to make
+his way over the briny deep with a light heart and an uncomplaining
+tongue. "You know, old fellow, how true I've always been to you,"
+wrote Cox, in language of the purest friendship. "As true as
+steel,--to sausages in the morning and brandy and soda at night,"
+said Ralph to himself as he read this.
+
+He behaved with thorough kindness to his cousin. The three men lived
+together for a month, and their intercourse was as pleasant as was
+possible under the circumstances. Of course there was no hunting
+during this month at Newton. Nor indeed did the heir see a hound till
+December, although, as the reader is aware, he was not particularly
+bound to revere his uncle's memory. He made many overtures to his
+namesake. He would be only too happy if his cousin,--he always called
+the Squire's son his cousin,--would make Newton his home for the
+next twelvemonth. It was found that the Squire had left behind him
+something like forty thousand pounds, so that the son was by no means
+to be regarded as a poor man. It was his idea at present that he
+would purchase in some pleasant county as much land as he might
+farm himself, and there set up his staff for life. "And get about
+two-and-a-half per cent. for your money," said the heir, who was
+beginning to consider himself learned in such matters, and could talk
+of land as a very serious thing in the way of a possession.
+
+"What else am I to do?" said the other. "Two-and-a-half per cent.
+with an occupation is better than five per cent. with none. I should
+make out the remainder, too, by farming the land myself. There is
+nothing else in the world that I could do."
+
+As for remaining twelve months at Newton, that was of course out of
+the question. Nevertheless, when December came he was still living in
+the house, and had consented to remain there till Christmas should
+have passed. He had already heard of a farm in Norfolk. "The worst
+county for hunting in England," the heir had said. "Then I must try
+and live without hunting," said Ralph who was not the heir. During
+all this time not a horse was sent to the meet from the Newton
+stables. The owner of Newton was contented to see the animals
+exercised in the park, and to amuse himself by schooling them over
+hurdles, and by high jumping at the bar.
+
+During the past month the young Squire had received various letters
+from Sir Thomas Underwood, and the other Ralph had received one. With
+Sir Thomas's caution, advice, and explanations to his former ward,
+the story has no immediate concern; but his letter to him who was to
+have been Mary Bonner's suitor may concern us more nearly. It was
+very short, and the reader shall have it entire.
+
+
+   Popham Villa, 10th November, 186--.
+
+   MY DEAR MR. NEWTON,--
+
+   I have delayed answering your letter for a day or two
+   in order that it may not disturb you till the last
+   sad ceremony be over. I do not presume to offer you
+   consolation in your great sorrow. Such tenders should only
+   be made by the nearest and the dearest. Perhaps you will
+   permit me to say that what little I have seen of you and
+   what further I have heard of you assure to you my most
+   perfect sympathy.
+
+   On that other matter which gave occasion for your two
+   letters to me I shall best perhaps discharge my duty by
+   telling you that I showed them both to my niece; and that
+   she feels, as do I, that they are both honourable to you,
+   and of a nature to confer honour upon her. The change
+   in your position, which I acknowledge to be most severe,
+   undoubtedly releases you, as it would have released
+   her,--had she been bound and chose to accept such release.
+
+   Whenever you may be in this neighbourhood we shall be
+   happy to see you.
+
+   The state of my arm still prevents me from writing with
+   ease.
+
+   Yours very faithfully,
+
+   THOMAS UNDERWOOD.
+
+
+Newton, when he received this letter, struggled hard to give to it
+its proper significance, but he could bring himself to no conclusion
+respecting it. Sir Thomas had acknowledged that he was released,--and
+that Mary Bonner would also have been released had she placed herself
+under any obligation; but Sir Thomas did not say a word from which
+his correspondent might gather whether in his present circumstances
+he might still be regarded as an acceptable suitor. The letter was
+most civil, most courteous, almost cordial in its expression of
+sympathy; but yet it did not contain a word of encouragement. It may
+be said that the suitor had himself so written to the lady's uncle,
+as to place himself out of the way of all further encouragement;--as
+to have put it beyond the power of his correspondent to write a word
+to him that should have in it any comfort. Certainly he had done so.
+He had clearly shown in his second letter that he had abandoned all
+idea of making the match as to which he had shown so much urgent
+desire in his first letter. He had explained that the marriage would
+now be impossible, and had spoken of himself as a ruined, broken man,
+all whose hopes were shipwrecked. Sir Thomas could hardly have told
+him in reply that Mary Bonner would still be pleased to see him. And
+yet Mary Bonner had almost said so. She had been very silent when the
+letter was read to her. The news of Mr. Newton's death had already
+reached the family at Popham Villa, and had struck them all with awe.
+How it might affect the property even Sir Thomas had not absolutely
+known at first; though he was not slow to make it understood that in
+all probability this terrible accident would be ruinous to the hopes
+which his niece had been justified in entertaining. At that hour Mary
+had spoken not a word;--nor could she be induced to speak respecting
+it either by Patience or Clarissa. Even to them she could not bring
+herself to say that if the man really loved her he would still
+come to her and say so. There was a feeling of awe upon her which
+made her mute, and stern, and altogether unplastic in the hands
+of her friends. It seemed even to Patience that Mary was struck
+by a stunning sorrow at the ruin which had come upon her lover's
+prospects. But it was not so at all. The thought wronged her utterly.
+What stunned her was this,--that she could not bring herself to
+express a passion for a man whom she had seen so seldom, with whom
+her conversation had been so slight, from whom personally she had
+received no overtures of attachment,--even though he were ruined. She
+could not bring herself to express such a passion;--but yet it was
+there. When Clarissa thought that she might obtain if not a word, at
+least a tear, Mary appeared to be dead to all feeling, though crushed
+by what she had lost. She was thinking the while whether it might be
+possible for such a one as her to send to the man and to tell him
+that that which had now occurred had of a sudden made him really dear
+to her. Thoughts of maiden boldness flitted across her mind, but she
+could not communicate them even to the girls who were her friends.
+Yet in silence and in solitude she resolved that the time should come
+in which she would be bold.
+
+Then young Newton's second letter reached the house, and that also
+had been read to her. "He is quite right," said Sir Thomas. "Of
+course it releases both of you."
+
+"There was nothing to release," said Mary, proudly.
+
+"I mean to say that having made such a proposition as was contained
+in his first letter, he was bound to explain his altered position."
+
+"I suppose so," said Mary.
+
+"Of course he was. He had made his offer believing that he could make
+you mistress of Newton Priory,--and he had made it thinking that he
+himself could marry in that position. And he would have been in that
+position had not this most unforeseen and terrible calamity have
+occurred."
+
+"I do not see that it makes any difference," said Mary, in a whisper.
+
+"What do you mean, my dear?"
+
+"I hardly know, uncle."
+
+"Try to explain yourself, Mary."
+
+"If I had accepted any man when he was rich, I should not go back
+when he was poor,--unless he wanted it." This also she said in a
+whisper.
+
+"But you had not accepted him."
+
+"No," said Mary, still in a whisper. Sir Thomas, who was perhaps not
+very good at such things, did not understand the working of her mind.
+But had she dared, she would have asked her uncle to tell Mr. Newton
+to come and see her. Sir Thomas, having some dim inkling of what
+perhaps might be the case, did add a paragraph to his letter in which
+he notified to his correspondent that a personal visit would be taken
+in good part.
+
+By the end of the first week in December things were beginning to
+settle into shape at the Priory. The three young men were still
+living together at the great house, and the tenants on the estate had
+been taught to recognise the fact that Ralph, who had ever been the
+heir, was in truth the owner. Among the labourers and poorer classes
+there was no doubt much regret, and that regret was expressed. The
+tenants, though they all liked the Squire's son, were not upon the
+whole ill-pleased. It was in proper conformity with English habits
+and English feelings that the real heir should reign. Among the
+gentry the young Squire was made as welcome as the circumstances of
+the heir would admit. According to their way of thinking, personally
+popular as was the other man, it was clearly better that a legitimate
+descendant of the old family should be installed at Newton Priory.
+The old Squire's son rode well to hounds, and was loved by all; but
+nothing that all the world could do on his behalf would make him
+Newton of Newton. If only he would remain in the neighbourhood and
+take some place suited to his income, every house would be open
+to him. He would be received with no diminution of attachment or
+respect. Overtures of this nature were made to him. This house could
+be had for him, and that farm could be made comfortable. He might
+live among them as a general favourite; but he could not under any
+circumstances have been,--Newton of Newton. Nothing, however, was
+clearer to himself than this;--that as he could not remain in the
+county as the master of Newton Priory, he would not remain in the
+county at all.
+
+As things settled down and took shape he began to feel that even
+in his present condition he might possibly make himself acceptable
+to such a girl as Mary Bonner. In respect of fortune there could
+be no reason whatever why he should not offer her his hand. He
+was in truth a rich man, whereas she had nothing, By birth he was
+nobody,--absolutely nobody; but then also would he have been nobody
+had all the lands of Newton belonged to him. When he had written
+that second letter, waiving all claim to Mary's hand because of
+the inferiority of his position, he was suffering from a morbid
+view which he had taken of his own affairs. He was telling himself
+then,--so assuring himself, though he did not in truth believe
+the assurance,--that he had lost not only the estate, but also
+his father's private fortune. At that moment he had been unstrung,
+demoralised, and unmanned,--so weak that a feather would have knocked
+him over. The blow had been so sudden, the solitude and gloom of the
+house so depressing, and his sorrow so crushing, that he was ready
+to acknowledge that there could be no hope for him in any direction.
+He had fed himself upon his own grief, till the idea of any future
+success in life was almost unpalatable to him. But things had mended
+with him now, and he would see whether there might not yet be joys
+for him in the world. He would first see whether there might not be
+that one great joy which he had promised to himself.
+
+And then there came another blow. The young Squire had resolved that
+he would not hunt before Christmas in the Newton country. It was felt
+by him and by his brother that he should abstain from doing so out of
+respect to the memory of his uncle, and he had declared his purpose.
+Of course there was neither hunting nor shooting in these days for
+the other Ralph. But at the end of a month the young Squire began to
+feel that the days went rather slowly with him, and he remembered his
+stud at the Moonbeam. He consulted Gregory; and the parson, though
+he would fain have induced his brother to remain, could not say that
+there was any real objection to a trip to the B. and B's. Ralph would
+go there on the 10th of December, and be back at his own house before
+Christmas. When Christmas was over, the other Ralph was to leave
+Newton,--perhaps for ever.
+
+The two Ralphs had become excellent friends, and when the one that
+was to go declared his intention of going with no intention of
+returning, the other pressed him warmly to think better of it, and
+to look upon the Priory at any rate as a second home. There were
+reasons why it could not be so, said the namesake; but in the close
+confidence of friendship which the giving and the declining of the
+offer generated came this further blow. They were standing together
+leaning upon a gate, and looking at the exhumation of certain vast
+roots, as to which the trees once belonging to them had been made to
+fall in consequence of the improvements going on at Darvell's farm.
+"I don't mind telling you," said Ralph the heir, "that I hope soon to
+have a mistress here."
+
+"And who is she?"
+
+"That would be mere telling;--would it not?"
+
+"Clarissa Underwood?" asked the unsuspecting Ralph.
+
+There did come some prick of conscience, some qualm, of an injury
+done, upon the young Squire as he made his answer. "No; not
+Clarissa;--though she is the dearest, sweetest girl that ever lived,
+and would make a better wife perhaps than the girl I think of."
+
+"And who is the girl you think of?"
+
+"She is to be found in the same house."
+
+"You do not mean the elder sister?" said the unfortunate one. He had
+known well that his companion had not alluded to Patience Underwood;
+but in his agony he had suggested to himself that mode of escape.
+
+"No; not Patience Underwood. Though, let me tell you, a man might do
+worse than marry Patience Underwood. I have always thought it a pity
+that Patience and Gregory would not make a match of it. He, however,
+would fall in love with Clary, and she has too much of the rake in
+her to give herself to a parson. I was thinking of Mary Bonner, who,
+to my mind, is the handsomest woman I ever saw in my life."
+
+"I think she is," said Ralph, turning away his face.
+
+"She hasn't a farthing, I fancy," continued the happy heir, "but I
+don't regard that now. A few months ago I had a mind to marry for
+money; but it isn't the sort of thing that any man should do. I have
+almost made up my mind to ask her. Indeed, when I tell you, I suppose
+I have quite made up my mind."
+
+"She'll accept you,--of course."
+
+"I can say nothing about that, you know. A man must take his chance.
+I can offer her a fine position, and a girl, I think, should have
+some regard to money when she marries, though a man should not. If
+there's nobody before me I should have a chance, I suppose."
+
+His words were not boastful, but there was a tone of triumph in his
+voice. And why should he not triumph? thought the other Ralph. Of
+course he would triumph. He had everything to recommend him. And as
+for himself,--for him, the dispossessed one,--any particle of a claim
+which he might have secured by means of that former correspondence
+had been withdrawn by his own subsequent words. "I dare say she'll
+take you," he said, with his face still averted.
+
+Ralph the heir did indeed think that he would be accepted, and he
+went on to discuss the circumstances of their future home, almost
+as though Mary Bonner were already employed in getting together her
+wedding garments. His companion said nothing further, and Ralph the
+heir did not discover that anything was amiss.
+
+On the following day Ralph the heir went across the country to the
+Moonbeam in Buckinghamshire.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+NEEFIT MEANS TO STICK TO IT.
+
+
+There was some business to be done as a matter of course before the
+young Squire could have all his affairs properly settled. There were
+debts to be paid, among which Mr. Neefit's stood certainly first. It
+was first in magnitude, and first in obligation; but it gave Ralph
+no manner of uneasiness. He had really done his best to get Polly
+to marry him, and, luckily for him,--by the direct interposition of
+some divine Providence, as it now seemed to Ralph,--Polly had twice
+refused him. It seemed to him, indeed, that divine Providence looked
+after him in a special way, breaking his uncle's neck in the very
+nick of time, and filling a breeches-maker's daughter's mind with so
+sound a sense of the propriety of things, as to induce her to decline
+the honour of being a millstone round his neck, when positively
+the offer was pressed upon her. As things stood there could be no
+difficulty with Mr. Neefit. The money would be paid, of course, with
+all adjuncts of accruing interest, and Mr. Neefit should go on making
+breeches for him to the end of the chapter. And for raising this
+money he had still a remnant of the old property which he could sell,
+so that he need not begin by laying an ounce of encumbrance on his
+paternal estates. He was very clear in his mind at this period of
+his life that there should never be any such encumbrance in his
+days. That remnant of property should be sold, and Neefit, Horsball,
+and others, should be paid. But it certainly did occur to him in
+regard to Neefit, that there had been that between them which made
+it expedient that the matter should be settled with some greater
+courtesy than would be shown by a simple transaction through his man
+of business. Therefore he wrote a few lines to Mr. Neefit on the day
+before he left the Priory,--a few lines which he thought to be very
+civil.
+
+
+   Newton, 9th December, 186--.
+
+   MY DEAR MR. NEEFIT,--
+
+   You have probably heard before this of the accident which
+   has happened in my family. My uncle has been killed by
+   a fall from his horse, and I have come into my property
+   earlier than I expected. As soon as I could begin to
+   attend to matters of business, I thought of my debt to
+   you, and of all the obligation I owe you. I think the debt
+   is L1,000; but whatever it is it can be paid now. The
+   money will be ready early in the year, if that will do for
+   you,--and I am very much obliged to you. Would you mind
+   letting Mr. Carey know how much it is, interest and all.
+   He is our family lawyer.
+
+   Remember me very kindly to Miss Polly. I hope she will
+   always think of me as a friend. Would you tell Bawwah to
+   put three pairs of breeches in hand for me,--leather.
+
+   Yours very truly,
+
+   RALPH NEWTON.
+
+
+The wrath of Mr. Neefit on receiving this letter at his shop in
+Conduit Street was almost divine. He had heard from Polly an account
+of that last interview at Ramsgate, and Polly had told her story as
+truly as she knew how to tell it. But the father had never for a
+moment allowed himself to conceive that therefore the thing was at
+an end, and had instructed Polly that she was not to look upon it
+in that light. He regarded his young customer as absolutely bound
+to him, and would not acknowledge to himself that such obligation
+could be annulled by Polly's girlish folly. And he did believe that
+young Newton intended to act, as he called it, "on the square." So
+believing, he was ready to make almost any sacrifice of himself; but
+that Newton should now go back, after having received his hard money,
+was to him a thing quite out of the question. He scolded Polly with
+some violence, and asked whether she wanted to marry such a lout as
+Moggs. Polly replied with spirit that she wouldn't marry any man till
+she found that she could love him, and that the man loved her. "Ain't
+he told you as he loves you ever so often?" said Neefit. "I know what
+I'm doing of, father," said Polly, "and I'm not going to be drove."
+Nevertheless Mr. Neefit had felt certain that if young Newton would
+still act upon the square, things would settle themselves rightly.
+There was the money due, and, as Neefit constantly said to himself,
+"money was a thing as was not to be got over."
+
+Then had come upon the tradesman the tidings of the old Squire's
+death. They were read to him out of a newspaper by his shopman,
+Waddle. "I'm blessed if he ain't been and tumbled all at once into
+his uncle's shoes," said Waddle. The paragraph in question was one
+which appeared in a weekly newspaper some two days after the Squire's
+death. Neefit, who at the moment was turning over the pages of his
+ledger, came down from his desk and stood for about ten minutes in
+the middle of his shop, while the Herr ceased from his cutting, and
+Waddle read the paragraph over and over again. Neefit stood stock
+still, with his hands in his breeches pockets, and his great staring
+eyes fixed upon vacancy. "I'm blessed if it ain't true," said Waddle,
+convinced by the repetition of his own reading. News had previously
+reached the shop that the Squire had had a fall. Tidings as to
+troubles in the hunting-field were quick in reaching Mr. Neefit's
+shop;--but there had been no idea that the accident would prove to
+be fatal. Neefit, when he went home that night, told his wife and
+daughter. "That will be the last of young Newton," said Mrs. Neefit.
+"I'm d---- if it will!" said the breeches-maker. Polly maintained a
+discreet silence as to the heir, merely remarking that it was very
+sad for the old gentleman. Polly at that time was very full of
+admiration for Moggs,--in regard, that is, to the political character
+of her lover. Moggs had lost his election, but was about to petition.
+
+Neefit was never called upon, in the way of his own trade, to make
+funereal garments. Men, when they are bereaved of their friends, do
+not ride in black breeches. But he had all a tailor's respect for a
+customer with a dead relation. He felt that it would not become him
+to make an application to the young Squire on a subject connected
+with marriage, till the tombstone over the old Squire should have
+been properly adjusted. He was a patient man, and could wait. And
+he was a man not good at writing letters. His customer and future
+son-in-law would turn up soon; or else, the expectant father-in-law
+might drop down upon him at the Moonbeam or elsewhere. As for a final
+escape, Polly Neefit's father hardly feared that any such attempt
+would be made. The young man had acted on the square, and had made
+his offer in good faith.
+
+Such was Mr. Neefit's state of mind when he received the young
+Squire's letter. The letter almost knocked him down. There was a
+decision about it, a confidence that all was over between them except
+the necessary payment of the money, an absence of all doubt as to
+"Miss Polly," which he could not endure. And then that order for
+more breeches, included in the very same paragraph with Polly,
+was most injurious. It must be owned that the letter was a cruel,
+heart-rending, bad letter. For an hour or so it nearly broke Mr.
+Neefit's heart. But he resolved that he was not going to be done.
+The young Squire should marry his daughter, or the whole transaction
+should be published to the world. He would do such things and say
+such things that the young Squire should certainly not have a good
+time of it. He said not a word to Polly of the letter that night, but
+he did speak of the young Squire. "When that young man comes again,
+Miss Polly," he said, "I shall expect you to take him."
+
+"I don't know anything about that, father," said Polly. "He's had his
+answer, and I'm thinking he won't ask for another." Upon this the
+breeches-maker looked at his daughter, but made no other reply.
+
+During the two or three following days Neefit made some inquiries,
+and found that his customer was at the Moonbeam. It was now necessary
+that he should go to work at once, and, therefore, with many
+misgivings, he took Waddle into his confidence. He could not himself
+write such a letter as then must be written;--but Waddle was perfect
+at the writing of letters. Waddle shrugged his shoulders, and clearly
+did not believe that Polly would ever get the young Squire. Waddle
+indeed went so far as to hint that his master would be lucky in
+obtaining payment of his money,--but, nevertheless, he gave his mind
+to the writing of the letter. The letter was written as follows:--
+
+
+   Conduit Street, 14th December, 186--.
+
+   DEAR SIR,--
+
+   Yours of the 9th instant has come to hand, and I beg to
+   say with compliments how shocked we were to hear of the
+   Squire's accident. It was terribly sudden, and we all felt
+   it very much; as in the way of our business we very often
+   have to.
+
+   As to the money that can stand. Between friends such
+   things needn't be mentioned. Any accommodation of that
+   kind was and always will be ready when required. As to
+   that other matter, a young gentleman like you won't think
+   that a young lady is to be taken at her first word. A
+   bargain is a bargain, and honourable is honourable, which
+   nobody knows as well as you who was always disposed to
+   be upon the square. Our Polly hasn't forgotten you,--and
+   isn't going.
+
+
+It should be acknowledged on Mr. Waddle's behalf, that that last
+assurance was inserted by the unassisted energy of Mr. Neefit
+himself.
+
+
+   We shall expect to see you without delay, here or at
+   Hendon, as may best suit; but pray remember that things
+   stand just as they was. Touching other matters, as needn't
+   be named here, orders will be attended to as usual if
+   given separate.
+
+   Yours very truly and obedient,
+
+   THOMAS NEEFIT.
+
+
+This letter duly reached the young Squire, and did not add to his
+happiness at the Moonbeam. That he should ever renew his offer to
+Polly Neefit was, he well knew, out of the question; but he could
+see before him an infinity of trouble should the breeches-maker be
+foolish enough to press him to do so. He had acted "on the square."
+In compliance with the bargain undoubtedly made by him, he had twice
+proposed to Polly, and had Polly accepted his offer on either of
+these occasions, there would,--he now acknowledged to himself,--have
+been very great difficulty in escaping from the difficulty. Polly
+had thought fit to refuse him, and of course he was free. But,
+nevertheless, there might be trouble in store for him. He had hardly
+begun to ask himself in what way this trouble might next show itself,
+when Neefit was at the Moonbeam. Three days after the receipt of
+his letter, when he rode into the Moonbeam yard on his return from
+hunting, there was Mr. Neefit waiting to receive him.
+
+He certainly had not answered Mr. Neefit's letter, having told
+himself that he might best do so by a personal visit in Conduit
+Street; but now that Neefit was there, the personal intercourse did
+not seem to him to be so easy. He greeted the breeches-maker very
+warmly, while Pepper, Cox, and Mr. Horsball, with sundry grooms and
+helpers, stood by and admired. Something of Mr. Neefit's money, and
+of Polly's charms as connected with the young Squire, had already
+reached the Moonbeam by the tongue of Rumour; and now Mr. Neefit had
+been waiting for the last four hours in the little parlour within
+the Moonbeam bar. He had eaten his mutton chop, and drunk three or
+four glasses of gin and water, but had said nothing of his mission.
+Mrs. Horsball, however, had already whispered her suspicions to her
+husband's sister, a young lady of forty, who dispensed rum, gin, and
+brandy, with very long ringlets and very small glasses.
+
+"You want to have a few words with me, old fellow," said Ralph to
+the breeches-maker, with a cheery laugh. It was a happy idea that of
+making them all around conceive that Neefit had come after his money.
+Only it was not successful. Men are not dunned so rigorously when
+they have just fallen into their fortunes. Neefit, hardly speaking
+above his breath, with that owlish, stolid look, which was always
+common to him except when he was measuring a man for a pair of
+breeches, acknowledged that he did. "Come along, old fellow,"
+said Ralph, taking him by the arm. "But what'll you take to drink
+first?" Neefit shook his head, and accompanied Ralph into the house.
+Ralph had a private sitting-room of his own, so that there was no
+difficulty on that score. "What's all this about?" he said, standing
+with his back to the fire, and still holding Neefit by the arm. He
+did it very well, but he did not as yet know the depth of Neefit's
+obstinacy.
+
+"What's it all about?" asked Neefit in disgust.
+
+"Well; yes. Have you talked to Polly herself about this, old fellow?"
+
+"No, I ain't; and I don't mean."
+
+"Twice I went to her, and twice she refused me. Come, Neefit, be
+reasonable. A man can't be running after a girl all his life, when
+she won't have anything to say to him. I did all that a man could
+do; and upon my honour I was very fond of her. But, God bless my
+soul,--there must be an end to everything."
+
+"There ain't to be no end to this, Mr. Newton."
+
+"I'm to marry the girl whether she will or not?"
+
+"Nohow," said Mr. Neefit, oracularly. "But when a young gentleman
+asks a young lady as whether she'll have him, she's not a-going to
+jump down his throat. You knows that, Mr. Newton. And as for money,
+did I ask for any settlement? I'd a' been ashamed to mention money.
+When are you a-coming to see our Polly, that's the question?"
+
+"I shall come no more, Mr. Neefit."
+
+"You won't?"
+
+"Certainly not, Mr. Neefit. I've been twice rejected."
+
+"And that's the kind of man you are; is it? You're one of them sort,
+are you?" Then he looked out of his saucer eyes upon the young Squire
+with a fishy ferocity, which was very unpleasant. It was quite
+evident that he meant war. "If that's your game, Mr. Newton, I'll be
+even with you."
+
+"Mr. Neefit, I'll pay you anything that you say I owe you."
+
+"Damn your money!" said the breeches-maker, walking out of the room.
+When he got down into the bar he told them all there that young
+Newton was engaged to his daughter, and that, by G----, he should
+marry her.
+
+"Stick to that, Neefit," said Lieutenant Cox.
+
+"I mean to stick to it," said Mr. Neefit. He then ordered another
+glass of gin and water, and was driven back to the station.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+"HE MUST MARRY HER."
+
+
+On the day following that on which Mr. Neefit made his journey to the
+Moonbeam, Sir Thomas Underwood was at his chambers in London. It was
+now eight weeks since his bone had been broken, and though he still
+carried his arm in a sling, he declared of himself that he was able
+to go about as usual;--which assertion was taken at the villa as
+meaning that he was now able to live in Southampton Buildings without
+further assistance from women. When Patience reminded him, with
+tears in her eyes, that he could not as yet put on his own coat,
+he reminded her that Stemm was the most careful of men. Up to
+London he went with a full understanding that he was not at any
+rate to be expected home on that night. He had business on hand of
+great importance, which, as he declared, made his presence in town
+imperative. Mr. Trigger, from Percycross, was to be up with reference
+to the pestilent petition which had been presented against the
+return of Griffenbottom and himself. Moggs had petitioned on his own
+behalf, and two of the Liberals of the borough had also petitioned
+in the interest of Mr. Westmacott. The two Liberal parties who
+had quarrelled during the contest had now again joined forces in
+reference to the petition, and there was no doubt that the matter
+would go on before the judge. Mr. Trigger was coming up to London
+with reference to the defence. Sir Thomas gave Stemm to understand
+that Mr. Trigger would call at one o'clock.
+
+Exactly at one o'clock the bell was rung at Sir Thomas's outside
+door, and Stemm was on the alert to give entrance to Mr. Trigger.
+When the door was opened who should present himself but our
+unfortunate friend Neefit. He humbly asked whether Sir Thomas was
+within, and received a reply which, as coming from Stemm, was
+courteous in the extreme. "Mr. Trigger, I suppose;--walk in, Mr.
+Trigger." Neefit, not at all understanding why he was called Trigger,
+did walk in. Stemm, opening the door of his master's sanctum,
+announced Mr. Trigger. Neefit advanced into the middle of the room.
+Sir Thomas, with some solicitude as to the adjustment of his arm,
+rose to greet his agent from Percy cross. "This isn't Mr. Trigger,"
+said Sir Thomas. "He told me he was, anyhow," said Stemm, "I didn't
+tell you nothing of the kind," said Neefit. "But you come from
+Percycross?" said Sir Thomas. "No I don't; I comes from Conduit
+Street," said Neefit. "You must go away," said Stemm, leaving the
+door open, and advancing into the room as though to turn the enemy's
+flank.
+
+But Neefit, having made good his point so far, did not intend to be
+dislodged without a struggle on his own part. "I've something to say
+to Sir Thomas about Mr. Newton, as I wants to say very particular."
+"You can't say it now," said Stemm. "Oh, but I can," said Neefit,
+"and it won't take three minutes." "Wouldn't another day do for
+it, as I am particularly busy now?" pleaded Sir Thomas. "Well, Sir
+Thomas;--to tell the truth, it wouldn't," said Mr. Neefit, standing
+his ground. Then there came another ring at the bell. "Ask Mr.
+Trigger to sit down in the other room for two minutes, Stemm," said
+Sir Thomas. And so Mr. Neefit had carried his point. "And now, sir,"
+said Sir Thomas, "as I am particularly engaged, I will ask you to be
+as quick as possible."
+
+"My name is Neefit," began the breeches-maker,--and then paused.
+Sir Thomas, who had heard the name from Ralph, but had forgotten
+it altogether, merely bowed his head. "I am the breeches-maker of
+Conduit Street," continued Mr. Neefit, with a proud conviction that
+he too had ascended so high in his calling as to be justified in
+presuming that he was known to mankind. Sir Thomas again bowed.
+Neefit went on with his story. "Mr. Newton is a-going to behave to me
+very bad."
+
+"If he owes you money, he can pay you now," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"He do owe me money;--a thousand pound he owe me."
+
+"A thousand pounds for breeches!"
+
+"No, Sir Thomas. It's most for money lent; but it's not along of that
+as I'd trouble you. I know how to get my money, or to put up with the
+loss if I don't. A thousand pound ain't here nor there,--not in what
+I've got to say. I wouldn't demean myself to ring at your bell, Sir
+Thomas;--not in the way of looking for a thousand pounds."
+
+"In God's name, then, what is it? Pray be quick."
+
+"He's going back from his word as he's promised to my daughter.
+That's what it is." As Neefit paused again, Sir Thomas remembered
+Ralph's proposition, made in his difficulties, as to marrying a
+tradesman's daughter for money, and at once fell to the conclusion
+that Mr. and Miss Neefit had been ill-used. "Sir Thomas," continued
+the breeches-maker, "I've been as good as a father to him. I gave him
+money when nobody else wouldn't."
+
+"Do you mean that he has had money from you?"
+
+"Yes; in course he has; ever so much. I paid for him a lot of money
+to 'Orsball, where he 'unts. Money! I should think so. Didn't I pay
+Moggs for him, the bootmaker? The very money as is rattling in his
+pocket now is my money."
+
+"And he engaged himself to your daughter?"
+
+"He engaged hisself to me to marry her. He won't say no otherwise
+himself. And he asked her twice. Why, Sir Thomas, he was all on the
+square about it till the old gentleman broke his neck. He hadn't
+nowhere else to go to for a shilling. But now the estate's come in
+like, he's for behaving dishonourable. He don't know me yet; that's
+what he don't. But I'll make him know me, Sir Thomas."
+
+Then the door was opened, and Stemm's head appeared. "Mr. Trigger
+says as he's in the greatest possible haste, Sir Thomas." The reader,
+however, may as well be informed that this was pure invention on the
+part of Mr. Stemm.
+
+Sir Thomas tore his hair and rubbed his face. He couldn't bid Neefit
+to call again, as he certainly did not desire to have a second visit.
+"What can I do for you, Mr. Neefit? I have no doubt the money will be
+paid, if owing. I will guarantee that for you."
+
+"It ain't the money. I knows how to get my money."
+
+"Then what can I do for you?"
+
+"Make him go upon the square, Sir Thomas."
+
+"How can I make him? He's twenty-six years old, and he's nothing to
+me. I don't think he should marry the young lady. He's not in her
+rank of life. If he has done her an injury, he must pay for it."
+
+"Injury!" shouted Neefit, upon whose mind the word produced an
+unintended idea. "No, no! Our Polly ain't like that. By G----, I'd
+eat him, if it was that way! There ain't a duchess in the land as 'd
+'ve guv' him his answer more ready than Polly had he ever spoke to
+her that way."
+
+"If he has given rise to hopes which through him will be
+disappointed," said Sir Thomas, gravely, "he is bound to make what
+compensation may be in his power."
+
+"Compensation be d----!" said Neefit. "He must marry her."
+
+"I don't think he will do that."
+
+"You didn't think he would take my money, I suppose; but he did.
+You didn't think he'd come and spend his Sundays out at my cottage,
+but he did. You didn't think as he'd come after our Polly down to
+Ramsgate, but he did. You didn't think as he'd give me his word to
+make her his wife, but he did." At every assertion that he made, the
+breeches-maker bobbed forward his bullet head, stretched open his
+eyes, and stuck out his under lip. During all this excited energy,
+he was not a man pleasant to the eye. "And now how is it to be, Sir
+Thomas? That's what I want to know."
+
+"Mr. Newton is nothing to me, Mr. Neefit."
+
+"Oh;--that's all. Nothing to you, ain't he? Wasn't he brought up by
+you just as a son like? And now he ain't nothing to you! Do you mean
+to say as he didn't ought to marry my girl?"
+
+"I think he ought not to marry her."
+
+"Not arter his promise?"
+
+Sir Thomas was driven very hard, whereas had the sly old
+breeches-maker told all his story, there would have been no
+difficulty at all. "I think such a marriage would lead to the
+happiness of neither party. If an injury has been done,--as I fear
+may be too probable,--I will advise my young friend to make any
+reparation in his power--short of marriage. I can say nothing
+further, Mr. Neefit."
+
+"And that's your idea of being on the square, Sir Thomas?"
+
+"I can say nothing further, Mr. Neefit. As I have an appointment
+made, I must ask you to leave me." As Sir Thomas said this, his hand
+was upon the bell.
+
+"Very well;--very well. As sure as my name's Neefit, he shall hear of
+me. And so shall you, Sir Thomas. Don't you be poking at me in that
+way, old fellow. I don't choose to be poked at." These last words
+were addressed to Stemm, who had entered the room, and was holding
+the door open for Mr. Neefit's exit with something more than the
+energy customary in speeding a parting guest. Mr. Neefit, however,
+did take his departure, and Sir Thomas joined Mr. Trigger in the
+other room.
+
+We will not be present at that interview. Sir Thomas had been in a
+great hurry to get rid of Mr. Neefit, but it may be doubted whether
+he found Mr. Trigger much better company. Mr. Trigger's business
+chiefly consisted in asking Sir Thomas for a considerable sum of
+money, and in explaining to him that the petition would certainly
+cost a large sum beyond this,--unless the expenses could be saddled
+on Westmacott and Moggs, as to which result Mr. Trigger seemed
+to have considerable doubt. But perhaps the bitterest part of Mr.
+Trigger's communication consisted in the expression of his opinion
+that Mr. Griffenbottom should be held by Sir Thomas free from any
+expense as to the petition, on the ground that Griffenbottom, had he
+stood alone, would certainly have carried one of the seats without
+any fear of a petition. "I don't think I can undertake that, Mr.
+Trigger," said Sir Thomas. Mr. Trigger simply shrugged his shoulders.
+
+Sir Thomas, when he was alone, was very uncomfortable. While at
+Percycross he had extracted from Patience an idea that Ralph the heir
+and Clarissa were attached to each other, and he had very strongly
+declared that he would not admit an engagement between them. At that
+time Ralph was supposed to have sold his inheritance, and did not
+stand well in Sir Thomas's eyes. Then had come the Squire's death and
+the altered position of his late ward. Sir Thomas would be injured,
+would be made subject to unjust reproach if it were thought of him
+that he would be willing to give his daughter to a young man simply
+because that young man owned an estate. He had no such sordid feeling
+in regard to his girls. But he did feel that all that had occurred
+at Newton had made a great difference. Ralph would now live at the
+Priory, and there would be enough even for his extravagance. Should
+the Squire of Newton ask him for his girl's hand with that girl's
+consent, he thought that he could hardly refuse it. How could he ask
+Clarissa to abandon so much seeming happiness because the man had
+failed to keep out of debt upon a small income? He could not do so.
+And then it came to pass that he was prepared to admit Ralph as a
+suitor to his child should Ralph renew his request to that effect.
+They had all loved the lad as a boy, and the property was wholly
+unencumbered. Of course he said nothing to Clarissa; but should Ralph
+come to him there could be but one answer. Such had been the state of
+his mind before Mr. Neefit's visit.
+
+But the breeches-maker's tale had altered the aspect of things very
+greatly. Under no circumstances could Sir Thomas recommend the young
+Squire to marry the daughter of the man who had been with him; but if
+Ralph Newton had really engaged himself to this girl, and had done
+so with the purport of borrowing money from the father, that might
+be a reason why, notwithstanding the splendour of his prospects, he
+should not be admitted to further intimacy at the villa. To borrow
+money from one's tradesman was, in the eyes of Sir Thomas, about
+as inexcusable an offence as a young man could commit. He was too
+much disturbed in mind to go home on the following day, but on the
+Thursday he returned to the villa. The following Sunday would be
+Christmas Day.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+FOR TWO REASONS.
+
+
+The young Squire, as soon as Neefit had left him in his own
+sitting-room at the Moonbeam, sat himself down and began to think
+over his affairs seriously. One thing was certain to him;--nothing on
+earth should induce him to offer his hand again to Polly Neefit. He
+had had a most miraculous escape, and assuredly would run no further
+risk in that direction. But though he had escaped, he could perceive
+that there was considerable trouble before him,--considerable trouble
+and perhaps some disgrace. It certainly could not be proved against
+him that he had broken any promise, as there had been no engagement;
+but it could be made public that he had twice offered himself to
+Polly, and could also be made public that he had borrowed the
+breeches-maker's money. He kept himself alone on that evening; and
+though he hunted on the following day, he was not found to be a
+lively companion either by Cox or Pepper. The lieutenant was talking
+about Neefit and Neefit's daughter all day: but Mr. Pepper, who was
+more discreet, declined to canvass the subject. "It's nothing to me
+who a man marries and who he don't," said Mr. Pepper. "What sort of
+horses he rides;--that's what I look at." During this day and the
+next Ralph did consider the state of his affairs very closely, and
+the conclusion he came to was this, that the sooner he could engage
+himself to marry Mary Bonner the better. If he were once engaged, the
+engagement would not then be broken off because of any previous folly
+with Miss Neefit; and, again, if he were once engaged to Mary Bonner,
+Neefit would see the absurdity of torturing him further in regard
+to Polly. On the Wednesday evening he went up to town, and on the
+Thursday morning he put himself into a cab and ordered the man to
+drive him to Popham Villa.
+
+It was about noon when he started from town; and though he never
+hesitated,--did not pause for a moment after he had made up his mind
+as to the thing that he would do, still he felt many misgivings as
+he was driven down to Fulham. How should he begin his story to Mary
+Bonner, and how should he look Clary Underwood in the face? And yet
+he had not an idea that he was in truth going to behave badly to
+Clarissa. There had no doubt been a sort of tenderness in the feeling
+that had existed between them,--a something just a little warmer than
+brotherly regard. They had been thrown together and had liked each
+other. And as he was driven nearer to the villa, he remembered
+distinctly that he had kissed her on the lawn. But did any one
+suppose that a man was bound to marry the first girl he kissed,--or
+if not the first, then why the second, or the third? Clarissa could
+have no fair ground of complaint against him; and yet he was uneasy
+as he reflected that she too must know the purport of his present
+visit to the villa.
+
+And he was not quite easy about Mary. The good things which he
+carried in his hand were so many that he did not conceive that Mary
+would refuse him; but yet he wished that the offer had been made, and
+had been accepted. Hitherto he had taken pleasure in his intercourse
+with young ladies, and had rather enjoyed the excitement of those
+moments which to some men are troublesome and even painful. When
+he had told Clarissa that she was dearer than any one else, he had
+been very happy while he was telling her. There had been nothing of
+embarrassment to him in the work of proposing to Polly Neefit. There
+may perhaps have been other passages in his life of the same nature,
+and he certainly had not feared them beforehand or been ashamed of
+them afterwards. But now he found himself endeavouring to think what
+words he would use to Mary Bonner, and in what attitude he would
+stand or sit as he used them. "The truth is," he said to himself, "a
+man should do these kind of things without premeditation." But not
+the less was he resolved, and at the gate he jumped out of his cab
+with a determination to have it over as soon as possible. He desired
+the cabman to wait for him at the nearest stables, remarking that
+he might be there for a few minutes, or for a few hours, and then
+turned to the gate. As he did so, he saw Sir Thomas walking from the
+direction of Fulham Bridge. Sir Thomas had come down by the railway
+on the other side of the river, and was now walking home. A sudden
+thought struck the young Squire. He would begin his work by telling
+his tale to Sir Thomas. There could be nothing so fitting as that he
+should obtain the uncle's leave to address the niece.
+
+The two men greeted each other, and there were many things to be
+said. Sir Thomas had not seen his ward since the old Squire's death,
+and Ralph had not seen Sir Thomas since the election at Percycross
+and the accident of the broken arm. Sir Thomas was by far too
+reticent, too timid, and too reflective a man to begin at once
+whatever observations he might have to make ultimately in regard to
+Miss Polly Neefit. He was somewhat slow of speech, unless specially
+aroused, and had hardly received the congratulations of his young
+friend respecting the election, and expressed with some difficult
+decency his sorrow for the old Squire's death as combined with his
+satisfaction that the estate had not been sacrificed, when Ralph
+stopped him just as they had reached the front door, and, with much
+solemnity of manner, declared his wish to make a very particular
+private communication to Sir Thomas. "Certainly," said Sir Thomas,
+"certainly. Come into my room." But there was some delay before this
+privacy could be achieved, for in the hall they were met by the
+three girls, and of course there were many things to be said by them.
+Clarissa could hardly repress the flutter of her heart. When the
+reader last saw her flutter, and last heard her words as she spoke of
+her love to her cousin, she was taking an opportunity of declaring
+to Mary Bonner that she did not begrudge the brilliance of Mary's
+present prospects,--though the grand estate which made them brilliant
+was in a measure taken from her own hopes. And she had owned at the
+same time that she did not dare to feel confidence in her own love,
+because her lover would now be too poor in his own esteem to indulge
+himself with the luxury of a wife. All this Mary had accepted from
+her, certainly with no expression of triumph, but certainly with some
+triumph in her heart. Now this was entirely changed,--and here was
+her lover, with his fortune restored to him, once more beneath her
+father's roof! She gave him her hand the first of the three. She
+could not repress herself. He took it with a smile, and pressed it
+warmly. But he turned to Patience and took hers as rapidly as he was
+able. Then came Mary's turn. "I hope you also are glad to see me once
+again?" he said. Clarissa's heart sank within her as she heard the
+words. The appreciation of a woman in such matters is as fine as the
+nose of a hound, and is all but unintelligible to a man. "Oh, yes,
+Mr. Newton," said Mary smiling. "But if he asks her, she'll take
+him." No such words as these were formed even in Clarissa's mind; but
+after some fashion such was the ejaculation of her heart. Mary's "Oh,
+yes," had meant little enough, but could Mary withstand such chances
+if they were offered to her?
+
+Sir Thomas led the way into his private room, and Ralph followed him.
+"You won't be long, papa," said Patience.
+
+"I hope not," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"Remember, Ralph, you will be keeping lunch waiting," said Patience.
+
+Then the two men were alone. Sir Thomas's mind had recurred to Neefit
+at the first moment of Ralph's request. The young man was going to
+consult him as to the best mode of getting rid of that embarrassment.
+But in the hall another idea had come upon him. He was to be asked
+for his consent regarding Clarissa. As he seated himself in one chair
+and asked Ralph to take another, he had not quite made up his mind
+as to the answer he would give. There must at any rate be some delay.
+The reader will of course remember that Sir Thomas was persuaded that
+Ralph had engaged himself to marry Polly Neefit.
+
+Ralph rushed boldly at his subject at once. "Sir Thomas," he said,
+"I am going to make a proposition, and I wish to ask you for your
+consent. I have made up my mind that the sooner I marry in my present
+condition the better." Sir Thomas smiled and assented. "And I want to
+know whether you will object to my asking Miss Bonner to be my wife."
+
+"Miss Bonner!" said Sir Thomas, throwing up both his hands.
+
+"Yes, sir;--is there any objection on your part?"
+
+Sir Thomas hardly knew how to say whether there was or was not an
+objection on his part. In the first place he had made up his mind
+that the other Ralph was to marry Mary,--that he would do so in spite
+of that disclaimer which had been made in the first moment of the
+young man's disinheritance. He, Sir Thomas, however, could have no
+right to object on that score. Nor could he raise any objection on
+the score of Clarissa. It did seem to him that all the young people
+were at cross purposes, that Patience must have been very stupid and
+Clarissa most addlepated, or else that this Ralph was abominably
+false; but still, he could say nothing respecting that. No tale had
+reached his ears which made it even possible for him to refer to
+Clarissa. But yet he was dissatisfied with the man, and was disposed
+to show it. "Perhaps I ought to tell you," said Sir Thomas, "that a
+man calling himself Neefit was with me yesterday."
+
+"Oh, yes; the breeches-maker."
+
+"I believe he said that such was his trade. He assured me that you
+had borrowed large sums of money from him."
+
+"I do owe him some money."
+
+"A thousand pounds, I think he said."
+
+"Certainly as much as that."
+
+"Not for breeches,--which I suppose would be impossible, but for
+money advanced."
+
+"Part one and part the other," said Ralph.
+
+"And he went on to tell me that you were engaged,--to marry his
+daughter."
+
+"That is untrue."
+
+"Were you never engaged to her?"
+
+"I was never engaged to her, Sir Thomas."
+
+"And it was all a lie on the part of Mr. Neefit? Was there no
+foundation for it? You had told me yourself that you thought of such
+a marriage."
+
+"There is nothing to justify him in saying that I was ever engaged
+to the young lady. The truth is that I did ask her and she,--refused
+me."
+
+"You did ask her?"
+
+"I did ask her," said Ralph.
+
+"In earnest?"
+
+"Well; yes;--certainly in earnest. At that time I thought it the only
+way to save the property. I need not tell you how wretched I was at
+the time. You will remember what you yourself had said to me. It
+is true that I asked her, and that I did so by agreement with her
+father. She refused me,--twice. She was so good, so sensible, and so
+true, that she knew she had better not make herself a party to such
+a bargain. Whatever you may think of my own conduct I shall not have
+behaved badly to Miss Neefit."
+
+Sir Thomas did think very ill of Ralph's conduct, but he believed
+him. After a while the whole truth came out, as to the money lent and
+as to Neefit's schemes. It was of course understood by both of them
+that Ralph was required neither by honesty nor by honour to renew
+his offer. And then under such circumstances was he or was he not to
+be allowed to propose to Mary Bonner? At first Ralph had been much
+dismayed at having the Neefit mine sprung on him at such a moment;
+but he collected himself very quickly, and renewed his demand as
+to Mary. Sir Thomas could not mean to say that because he had been
+foolish in regard to Polly Neefit, that therefore he was to be
+debarred from marrying! Sir Thomas did not exactly say that; but,
+nevertheless, Sir Thomas showed his displeasure. "It seems," said he,
+"particularly easy to you to transfer your affections."
+
+"My affection for Miss Neefit was not strong," said Ralph. "I did,
+and always shall, regard her as a most excellent young woman."
+
+"She showed her sense in refusing you," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I think she did," said Ralph.
+
+"And I doubt much whether my niece will not be equally--sensible."
+
+"Ah,--I can say nothing as to that."
+
+"Were she to hear this story of Miss Neefit I am sure she would
+refuse you."
+
+"But you would not tell it to her,--as yet! If all goes well with me
+I will tell it to her some day. Come, Sir Thomas, you don't mean to
+be hard upon me at last. It cannot be that you should really regret
+that I have got out of that trouble."
+
+"But I regret much that you should have borrowed a tradesman's money,
+and more that you should have offered to pay the debt by marrying his
+daughter." Through it all, however, there was a feeling present to
+Sir Thomas that he was, in truth, angry with the Squire of Newton,
+not so much for his misconduct in coming to propose to Mary so soon
+after the affair with Polly Neefit, but because he had not come to
+propose to Clarissa. And Sir Thomas knew that such a feeling, if it
+did really exist, must be overcome. Mary was entitled to her chance,
+and must make the best of it. He would not refuse his sanction to a
+marriage with his niece on account of Ralph's misconduct, when he
+would have sanctioned a marriage with his own daughter in spite of
+that misconduct. The conversation was ended by Sir Thomas leaving
+the room with a promise that Miss Bonner should be sent to fill his
+place. In five minutes Miss Bonner was there. She entered the room
+very slowly, with a countenance that was almost savage, and during
+the few minutes that she remained there she did not sit down.
+
+"Sir Thomas has told you why I am here?" he said, advancing towards
+her, and taking her hand.
+
+"No; that is;--no. He has not told me."
+
+"Mary--"
+
+"Mr. Newton, my name is Miss Bonner."
+
+"And must it between us be so cold as that?" He still had her by the
+hand, which she did not at the moment attempt to withdraw. "I have
+come to tell you, at the first moment that was possible to me after
+my uncle's death, that of all women in the world I love you the
+best."
+
+Then she withdrew her hand. "Mr. Newton, I am sorry to hear you say
+so;--very sorry."
+
+"Why should you be sorry? If you are unkind to me like this, there
+may be reason why I should be sorry. I shall, indeed, be very sorry.
+Since I first saw you, I have hoped that you would be my wife."
+
+"I never can be your wife, Mr. Newton."
+
+"Why not? Have I done anything to offend you? Being here as one of
+the family you must know enough of my affairs to feel sure,--that I
+have come to you the first moment that was possible. I did not dare
+to come when I thought that my position was one that was not worthy
+of you."
+
+"It would have been the same at any time," said Mary.
+
+"And why should you reject me,--like this; without a moment's
+thought?"
+
+"For two reasons," said Mary, slowly, and then she paused, as though
+doubting whether she would continue her speech, or give the two
+reasons which now guided her. But he stood, looking into her face,
+waiting for them. "In the first place," she said, "I think you are
+untrue to another person." Then she paused again, as though asking
+herself whether that reason would not suffice. But she resolved that
+she would be bold, and give the other. "In the next place, my heart
+is not my own to give."
+
+"Is it so?" asked Ralph.
+
+"I have said as much as can be necessary,--perhaps more, and I would
+rather go now." Then she left the room with the same slow, stately
+step, and he saw her no more on that day.
+
+Then in those short five minutes Sir Thomas had absolutely told
+her the whole story about Polly Neefit, and she had come to the
+conclusion that because in his trouble he had offered to marry a
+tradesman's daughter, therefore he was to be debarred from ever
+receiving the hand of a lady! That was the light in which he looked
+upon Mary's first announcement. As to the second announcement he was
+absolutely at a loss. There must probably, he thought, have been some
+engagement before she left Jamaica. Not the less on that account was
+it an act of unpardonable ill-nature on the part of Sir Thomas,--that
+telling of Polly Neefit's story to Mary Bonner at such a moment.
+
+He was left alone for a few minutes after Mary's departure, and then
+Patience came to him. Would he stay for dinner? Even Patience was
+very cold to him. Sir Thomas was fatigued and was lying down, but
+would see him, of course, if he wished it. "And where is Clarissa?"
+asked Ralph. Patience said that Clarissa was not very well. She also
+was lying down. "I see what it is," said Ralph, turning upon her
+angrily. "You are, all of you, determined to quarrel with me because
+of my uncle's death."
+
+"I do not see why that should make us quarrel," said Patience. "I do
+not know that any one has quarrelled with you."
+
+Of course he would not wait for dinner, nor would he have any lunch.
+He walked out on to the lawn with something of a bluster in his step,
+and stood there for three or four minutes looking up at the house and
+speaking to Patience. A young man when he has been rejected by one
+of the young ladies of a family has rather a hard time of it till he
+gets away. "Well, Patience," he said at last, "make my farewells for
+me." And then he was gone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+HORSELEECHES.
+
+
+The honour of representing the borough of Percycross in Parliament
+was very great, and Sir Thomas, no doubt, did enjoy it after a
+fashion; but it was by no means an unalloyed pleasure. While he
+was still in bed with his broken arm at the Percy Standard, many
+applications for money had been made to him. This man wanted a
+sovereign, that man a five-pound-note, and some poor starving wretch
+a half-a-crown; and they all came to him with notes from Trigger,
+or messages from Spicer or Spiveycomb, to the effect that as the
+election was now over, the money ought to be given. The landlord of
+the Percy Standard was on such occasions very hard upon him. "It
+really will do good, Sir Thomas." "It is wanted, Sir Thomas." "It
+will make a good feeling in the town, Sir Thomas, and we don't know
+how soon we may have to go to work again." Sir Thomas was too weak in
+health to refuse. He gave the sovereigns, the five-pound-notes, and
+the half-crowns, and hurried back home as quickly as he was able.
+
+But things were almost worse with him at home than at Percycross.
+The real horseleeches felt that they could hardly get a good hold
+of him while he was lying at the Percycross inn. Attacks by letter
+were, they well knew, more fatal than those made personally, and they
+waited. The first that came was from Mr. Pabsby. Mr. Pabsby had at
+last seen his way clear, and had voted for Underwood and Westmacott,
+absolutely throwing away his vote as far as the cause was concerned.
+But Mr. Pabsby had quarrelled with Griffenbottom, who once, when
+pressed hard for some favours, had answered the reverend gentleman
+somewhat roughly. "You may go and be ----," said Mr. Griffenbottom
+in his wrath, "and tell everybody in Percycross that I said so."
+Mr. Pabsby had smiled, had gone away, and had now voted for Mr.
+Westmacott. Mr. Pabsby was indeed a horseleech of the severest
+kind. There had been some outward show of reconciliation between
+Griffenbottom and Pabsby; but Pabsby had at last voted for Underwood
+and Westmacott. Sir Thomas had not been home two days before he
+received a letter from Mr. Pabsby. "It had been with infinite
+satisfaction,"--so Mr. Pabsby now said,--"that he had at length seen
+his way clearly, and found himself able to support his friend Sir
+Thomas. And he believed that he might take upon himself to say that
+when he once had seen his way clearly, he had put his shoulder to the
+wheel gallantly." In fact, it was to be inferred from the contents of
+Mr. Pabsby's letter that Sir Thomas's return had been due altogether
+to Mr. Pabsby's flock, who had, so said Mr. Pabsby, been guided in
+the matter altogether by his advice. Then he sent a list of his
+"hearers," who had voted for Sir Thomas. From this the slight
+change of subject needed to bring him to the new chapel which
+he was building, and his desire that Sir Thomas should head the
+subscription-list in so good a cause, was easy enough. It might be
+difficult to say in what Mr. Pabsby's strength lay, but it certainly
+was the case that the letter was so written as to defy neglect and
+almost to defy refusal. Such is the power of horseleeches. Sir Thomas
+sent Mr. Pabsby a cheque for twenty pounds, and received Mr. Pabsby's
+acknowledgment, thanking him for his "first" subscription. The
+thanks were not very cordial, and it was evident that Mr. Pabsby had
+expected a good deal more than twenty pounds in return for all that
+he had done.
+
+Mr. Pabsby was simply the first. Before Christmas had come, it seemed
+to Sir Thomas that there was not a place of divine worship in the
+whole of Percycross that was not falling to the ground in ruins. He
+had not observed it when he was there, but now it appeared that funds
+were wanted for almost every such edifice in the borough. And the
+schools were in a most destitute condition. He was informed that the
+sitting member had always subscribed to all the schools, and that if
+he did not continue such subscription the children would literally be
+robbed of their education. One gentleman, whose name he did not even
+remember to have heard, simply suggested to him that he would, as
+a matter of course, continue to give "the L50" towards the general
+Christmas collection on behalf of the old women of the borough. The
+sitting members had given it time out of mind. Mr. Roodylands had a
+political project of his own, which in fact, if carried out, would
+amount to a prohibition on the import of French boots, and suggested
+that Sir Thomas should bring in a bill to that effect on the meeting
+of Parliament. If Sir Thomas would not object to the trouble of
+visiting Amiens, Lille, Beauvais, and three or four other French
+towns which Mr. Roodylands mentioned, he would be able to ascertain
+how much injury had been done to Percycross by the Cobden treaty.
+Mr. Spiveycomb had his own ideas about Italian rags,--Mr. Spiveycomb
+being in the paper line,--and wrote a very long letter to Sir Thomas,
+praying the member to make himself master of a subject so vitally
+important to the borough which he represented. Mr. Spicer also
+communicated to him the astounding fact that some high official
+connected with the army was undoubtedly misbehaving himself in regard
+to mustard for the troops. The mustard contracts were not open as
+they should be open. The mustard was all supplied by a London house,
+and Mr. Spicer was very anxious that Sir Thomas should move for a
+committee to inquire of the members of that London firm as to the
+manner in which the contracts were obtained by them. Mr. Spicer was
+disposed to think that this was the most important matter that would
+be brought forward in the next session of Parliament.
+
+Mr. Pabsby had got his cheque before the other applications were
+received; but when they came in shoals, Sir Thomas thought that it
+might be well to refer them to Mr. Trigger for advice. Sir Thomas had
+not loved Griffenbottom during the election, and was not inclined to
+ask his colleague for counsel. Griffenbottom had obtained a name for
+liberality in Percycross, and had shown symptoms,--so thought Sir
+Thomas,--of an intention to use his reputation as a means of throwing
+off further burdens from his own shoulders. "I have spent a treasure
+in the borough. Let my colleague begin now." Words spoken by Mr.
+Griffenbottom in that strain had been repeated to Sir Thomas; and,
+after many such words, Sir Thomas could not go to Mr. Griffenbottom
+for advice as to what he should give, or refuse to give. He doubted
+whether better reliance could be placed on Mr. Trigger;--but to
+some one he must go for direction. Were he once to let it be known
+in Percycross that demands made would be satisfied, he might sign
+cheques to the extent of his whole fortune, during his first session.
+He did write to Mr. Trigger, enclosing the various Percycross
+applications; and Mr. Trigger duly replied to him. Mr. Trigger
+regretted that money had been given to Mr. Pabsby. Mr. Pabsby had
+been of no use, and could be of no use. Mr. Griffenbottom, who knew
+the borough better than any one else, had understood this well when
+on one occasion he had been "a little short" with Mr. Pabsby. Sir
+Thomas ought not to have sent that cheque to Mr. Pabsby. The sending
+it would do infinite harm, and cause dissensions in the borough,
+which might require a considerable expenditure to set right. As to
+the other clerical demands, it seemed to Sir Thomas that Mr. Trigger
+was of opinion that they should all be gratified. He had, in fact,
+sent his money to the only person in Percycross who ought not to have
+received money. The L50 for the old women was a matter of course,
+and would not be begrudged, as it was the only payment which was
+absolutely annual. In regard to the schools, Sir Thomas could do
+what he pleased; but the sitting members had always been liberal to
+the schools. Schools were things to which sitting members were, no
+doubt, expected to subscribe. As to the question of French boots, Mr.
+Trigger thought that there was something in it, and said that if Sir
+Thomas could devote his Christmas holidays to getting up the subject
+in Lille and Amiens, it would have a good effect in the borough, and
+show that he was in earnest. This might be the more desirable, as
+there was no knowing as yet what might be done about the petition.
+There no doubt was a strong feeling in the borough as to the Cobden
+treaty, and Sir Thomas would probably feel it to be his duty to get
+the question up. In regard to the mustard, Mr. Trigger suggested that
+though there was probably nothing in it, it might be as well to ask
+the Secretary at War a question or two on the subject. Mr. Spicer
+was, no doubt, a moving man in Percycross. Sir Thomas could at
+any rate promise that he would ask such questions, as Mr. Spicer
+certainly had friends who might be conducive to the withdrawal
+of the petition. Sir Thomas could at any rate put himself into
+correspondence with the War Office. Mr. Trigger also thought that
+Sir Thomas might judiciously study the subject of Italian rags,
+in reference to the great paper trade of the country. No doubt
+the manufacture of paper was a growing business at Percycross. Mr.
+Trigger returned all the applications, and ended his letter by
+hinting that the cheques might as well be sent at once. Mr. Trigger
+thought that "a little money about the borough," would do good at the
+present moment.
+
+It need hardly be said that this view of things was not pleasant to
+the sitting member, who was still confined to his house at Fulham
+by an arm broken in the cause. Sir Thomas had at once sent the L50
+towards the Christmas festivities for the poor of the borough, and
+had declared his purpose of considering the other matters. Then
+had come a further letter from Mr. Trigger, announcing his journey
+to London, and Mr. Trigger and Sir Thomas had their first meeting
+after the election, immediately upon Mr. Neefit's departure from the
+chambers. "And is it to be?" asked Stemm, as soon as he had closed
+the door behind Mr. Trigger's back.
+
+"Is what to be?"
+
+"Them petitions, Sir Thomas? Petitions costs a deal of money they
+tell me, Sir Thomas." Sir Thomas winced. "I suppose you must go on
+now as your hand is in," continued Stemm.
+
+"I don't know that at all," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"You'll find as you must. There ain't no way out of it;--not now as
+you are the sitting member."
+
+"I am not going to ruin myself, Stemm, for the sake of a seat in
+Parliament."
+
+"I don't know how that may be, Sir Thomas. I hope not, Sir Thomas.
+But I don't see how you're not to go on now, Sir Thomas. If it wasn't
+for petitions, one wouldn't mind."
+
+"There must be petitions, of course; and if there be good cause for
+them, they should succeed."
+
+"No doubt, Sir Thomas. They say the bribery at Percycross was
+tremenjous;--but I suppose it was on the other side."
+
+"If it was on our side, Stemm, it was not so with my knowledge. I did
+all I could to prevent it. I spoke against it whenever I opened my
+mouth. I would not have given a shilling for a single vote, though it
+would have got me the election."
+
+"But they were not all that way, Sir Thomas;--was they?"
+
+"How can I tell? No;--I know that they were not. I fear they were
+not. I cannot say that money was given, but I fear it."
+
+"You must go on now, Sir Thomas, any way," said Stemm with a groan
+that was not reassuring.
+
+"I wish I had never heard the name of Percycross," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I dare say," replied Stemm.
+
+"I went there determined to keep my hands clean."
+
+"When one puts one's hand into other people's business, they won't
+come out clean," said the judicious Stemm. "But you must go on with
+it now, any way, Sir Thomas."
+
+"I don't know what I shall do," said the unhappy member.
+
+On the next morning there came another application from Percycross.
+The postmaster in that town had died suddenly, and the competitors
+for the situation, which was worth about L150 per annum, were very
+numerous. There was a certain Mr. O'Blather, only known in Percycross
+as cousin to one Mrs. Givantake, the wife of a liberal solicitor in
+the borough. Of Mr. O'Blather the worst that could be said was that
+at the age of forty he had no income on which to support himself.
+Mrs. Givantake was attached to her cousin, and Mr. Givantake had
+become sensible of a burden. That the vacant office was just
+the thing for him appeared at a glance to all his friends. Mrs.
+Givantake, in her energy on the subject, expressed an opinion that
+the whole Cabinet should be impeached if the just claims of Mr.
+O'Blather were not conceded. But it was felt that the justice of
+the claims would not prevail without personal interest. The liberal
+party was in power, and application, hot and instant, was made to Mr.
+Westmacott. Mr. Westmacott was happy enough to have his answer ready.
+The Treasury had nothing to do with the matter. It was a Post Office
+concern; and he, simply as the late liberal member, and last liberal
+candidate for the borough, was not entitled to intrude, even in a
+matter of patronage, upon the Postmaster-General, with whom he was
+not acquainted. But Mr. Westmacott was malicious as well as secure.
+He added a postscript to his letter, in which he said that he
+believed the present sitting member, Sir Thomas Underwood, was
+intimately acquainted with the noble lord who presided at the Post
+Office. There were various interests at Percycross moved, brought
+together, weighed against each other, and balanced to a grain,
+and finally dovetailed. If Sir Thomas Underwood would prevail on
+Lord ---- to appoint Mr. O'Blather to the vacant office, then all
+the Givantake influence at Percycross should be used towards the
+withdrawal of the petition. Such was the communication now made to
+Sir Thomas by a gentleman who signed his name as Peter Piper, and who
+professed himself authorised to act on behalf of Mr. Givantake. Sir
+Thomas's answer was as follows;--
+
+
+   Southampton Buildings, December 31, 186--.
+
+   SIR,--
+
+   I can have nothing to do with Mr. O'Blather and the
+   post-office at Percycross.
+
+   I am,
+   Your obedient servant,
+
+   THOMAS UNDERWOOD.
+
+   MR. PETER PIPER, Post-office, Percycross.
+
+
+Christmas had passed,--and had passed uncomfortably enough at Popham
+Villa, in which retreat neither of the three young ladies was at
+present very happy,--when Sir Thomas was invited by Mr. Trigger
+to take further steps with reference to the petitions. It was
+thought necessary that there should be a meeting in the conservative
+interest, and it was suggested that this meeting should take place in
+Sir Thomas's chambers. Mr. Trigger in making the proposition seemed
+to imply that a great favour was thereby conferred on Sir Thomas,--as
+that country is supposed to be most honoured which is selected
+as the meeting-ground for plenipotentiaries when some important
+international point requires to be settled. Sir Thomas could not see
+the arrangement in that light, and would have shuffled out of the
+honour had it been possible. But it was not possible. At this period
+of the year Mr. Griffenbottom had no house in town, and Mr. Trigger
+explained that it was inexpedient that such meetings should take
+place at hotels. There was no place so fitting as a lawyer's
+chambers. Sir Thomas, who regarded as a desecration the entrance
+of one such man as Mr. Trigger into his private room, and who
+was particularly anxious not to fall into any intimacy with Mr.
+Griffenbottom, was driven to consent, and at one o'clock on the
+29th, Stemm was forced to admit the deputation. The deputation from
+Percycross consisted of Mr. Trigger, Mr. Spicer, and Mr. Pile; but
+with them came also the senior sitting member. At first they were all
+very grave, and Sir Thomas asked them, indiscreetly, whether they
+would take a glass of sherry. Pile and Spicer immediately acceded
+to this proposition, and sherry was perhaps efficacious in bringing
+about speedy conversation.
+
+"Well, Underwood," said Mr. Griffenbottom, "it seems that after all
+we are to have these d---- petitions." Sir Thomas lifted his left
+foot on his right knee, and nursed his leg,--but said nothing. On one
+point he was resolved;--nothing on earth should induce him to call
+his colleague Griffenbottom.
+
+"No doubt about that, Mr. Griffenbottom," said Mr. Pile, "--that is,
+unless we can make Westmacott right. T'other chap wouldn't be of much
+account."
+
+"Mr. Pile, you're going a little too fast," said Trigger.
+
+"No, I ain't," said Mr. Pile. But for the moment he allowed himself
+to be silenced.
+
+"We don't like the looks of it at Percycross," said Mr. Spicer.
+
+"And why don't we like the looks of it?" asked Sir Thomas.
+
+"I don't know what your idea of pleasure is," said Mr. Griffenbottom,
+"but I don't take delight in spending money for nothing. I have spent
+enough, I can tell you, and I don't mean to spend much more. My seat
+was as safe as the Church."
+
+"But they have petitioned against that as well as mine," said Sir
+Thomas.
+
+"Yes;--they have. And now what's to be done?"
+
+"I don't know whether Sir Thomas is willing to take the whole cost of
+the defence upon himself," said Mr. Trigger, pouring out for himself
+a second glass of sherry.
+
+"No, I am not," said Sir Thomas. Whereupon there was a pause, during
+which Pile and Spicer also took second glasses of sherry. "Why should
+I pay the cost of defending Mr. Griffenbottom's seat?"
+
+"Why should I pay it?" said Griffenbottom. "My seat was safe enough.
+The fact is, if money was paid,--as to which I know nothing,--it was
+paid to get the second seat. Everybody knows that. Why should any
+one have paid money for me? I was safe. I never have any difficulty;
+everybody knows that. I could come in for Percycross twenty times
+running, without buying a vote. Isn't that true, Trigger?"
+
+"I believe you could, Mr. Griffenbottom."
+
+"Of course I could. Look here, Underwood--"
+
+"I beg your pardon for one moment, Mr. Griffenbottom," said Sir
+Thomas. "Will you tell me, Mr. Trigger, whether votes were bought
+on my behalf?" Mr. Trigger smiled, and put his head on one side,
+but made no answer. "I wish I might be allowed to hear the truth,"
+continued Sir Thomas. Whereupon Spicer grinned, and Mr. Pile looked
+as though he were about to be sick. How was it that a set of
+gentlemen, who generally knew their business so well as did the
+political leaders at Percycross, had got themselves into the same
+boat with a man silly enough to ask such a question as that?
+
+"I shan't spend money," said Griffenbottom; "it's out of the
+question. They can't touch me. I've spent my money, and got my
+article. If others want the article, they must spend theirs."
+
+Mr. Trigger thought it might be as well to change the subject for a
+moment, or, at any rate, to pass on to another clause of the same
+bill. "I was very sorry, Sir Thomas," said he, "that you wrote that
+letter to Mr. Givantake."
+
+"I wrote no letter to Mr. Givantake. A man named Piper addressed me."
+
+"Well, well, well; that's the same thing. It was Givantake, though of
+course he isn't going to sign his name to everything. If you could
+just have written a line to your friend the Postmaster-General, I
+really think we could have squared it all."
+
+"I wouldn't have made a request so improper for all Percycross," said
+Sir Thomas.
+
+"Patronage is open to everybody," suggested Mr. Griffenbottom.
+
+"Those sort of favours are asked every day," said Trigger.
+
+"We live in a free country," said Spicer.
+
+"Givantake is a d---- scoundrel all the same," said Mr. Pile; "and
+as for his wife's Irish cousin, I should be very sorry to leave my
+letters in his hands."
+
+"It wouldn't have come off, Mr. Pile," said Trigger, "but the request
+might have been made. If Sir Thomas will allow me to say as much, the
+request ought to have been made."
+
+"I will allow nothing of the kind, Mr. Trigger," said Sir Thomas,
+with an assumption of personal dignity which caused everyone in the
+room to alter his position in his chair. "I understand these things
+are given by merit." Mr. Trigger smiled, and Mr. Griffenbottom
+laughed outright. "At any rate, they ought to be, and in this office
+I believe they are." Mr. Griffenbottom, who had had the bestowal of
+some local patronage, laughed again.
+
+"The thing is over now, at any rate," said Mr. Trigger.
+
+"I saw Givantake yesterday," said Spicer. "He won't stir a finger
+now."
+
+"He never would have stirred a finger," said Mr. Pile; "and if he'd
+stirred both his fistesses, he wouldn't have done a ha'porth of good.
+Givantake, indeed! He be blowed!" There was a species of honesty
+about Mr. Pile which almost endeared him to Sir Thomas.
+
+"Something must be settled," said Trigger.
+
+"I thought you'd got a proposition to make," said Spicer.
+
+"Well, Sir Thomas," began Mr. Trigger, as it were girding his loins
+for the task before him, "we think that your seat wouldn't stand
+the brunt. We've been putting two and two together and that's what
+we think." A very black cloud came over the brow of Sir Thomas
+Underwood, but at the moment he said nothing. "Of course it can be
+defended. If you choose to fight the battle you can defend it. It
+will cost about L1,500,--or perhaps a little more. That is, the two
+sides, for both will have to be paid." Mr. Trigger paused again, but
+still Sir Thomas said not a word. "Mr. Griffenbottom thinks that he
+should not be asked to take any part of this cost."
+
+"Not a shilling," said Mr. Griffenbottom.
+
+"Well," continued Mr. Trigger, "that being the case, of course we
+have got to see what will be our best plan of action. I suppose, Sir
+Thomas, you are not altogether indifferent about the money."
+
+"By no means," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I don't know who is. Money is money all the world over."
+
+"You may say that," put in Mr. Spicer.
+
+"Just let me go on for a moment, Mr. Spicer, till I make this thing
+clear to Sir Thomas. That's how we stand at present. It will cost
+us,--that is to say you,--about L1,500, and we should do no good. I
+really don't think we should do any good. Here are these judges, and
+you know that new brooms sweep clean. I suppose we may allow that
+there was a little money spent somewhere. They do say now that a
+glass of beer would lose a seat."
+
+Sir Thomas could not but remember all that he had said to prevent
+there being even a glass of beer, and the way in which he had
+been treated by all the party in that matter, because he had so
+endeavoured. But it was useless to refer to all that at the present
+moment. "It seems to me," he said, "that if one seat be vacated, both
+must be vacated."
+
+"It doesn't follow at all," said Mr. Griffenbottom.
+
+"Allow me just for a moment longer," continued Trigger, who rose from
+his seat as he came to the real gist of his speech. "A proposition
+has been made to us, Sir Thomas, and I am able to say that it is
+one which may be trusted. Of course our chief anxiety is for the
+party. You feel that, Sir Thomas, of course." Sir Thomas would not
+condescend to make any reply to this. "Now the Liberals will be
+content with one seat. If we go on it will lead to disfranchising the
+borough, and we none of us want that. It would be no satisfaction
+to you, Sir Thomas, to be the means of robbing the borough of its
+privilege after all that the borough has done for you."
+
+"Go on, Mr. Trigger," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"The Liberals only want one seat. If you'll undertake to accept
+the Hundreds, the petition will be withdrawn, and Mr. Westmacott
+will come forward again. In that case we shouldn't oppose. Now, Sir
+Thomas, you know what the borough thinks will be the best course for
+all of us to pursue."
+
+Sir Thomas did know. We may say that he had known for some minutes
+past. He had perceived what was coming, and various recollections had
+floated across his mind. He especially remembered that L50 for the
+poor old women which Mr. Trigger only a week since had recommended
+that he should give,--and he remembered also that he had given it.
+He recollected the sum which he had already paid for his election
+expenses, as to which Mr. Trigger had been very careful to get
+the money before this new proposition was made. He remembered Mr.
+Pabsby and his cheque for L20. He remembered his broken arm, and
+that fortnight of labour and infinite vexation in the borough. He
+remembered all his hopes, and his girls' triumph. But he remembered
+also that he had told himself a dozen times since his return that he
+wished that he might rid himself altogether of Percycross and the
+seat in Parliament. Now a proposition that would have this effect was
+made to him.
+
+"Well, Sir Thomas, what do you think of it?" asked Mr. Trigger.
+
+Sir Thomas required the passing of a few moments that he might think
+of it, and yet there was a feeling strong at his heart telling him
+that it behoved him not even to seem to doubt. He was a man not
+deficient in spirit when roused as he now was roused. He knew that he
+was being ill used. From the first moment of his entering Percycross
+he had felt that the place was not fit for him, that it required a
+method of canvassing of which he was not only ignorant, but desirous
+to remain ignorant,--that at Percycross he would only be a catspaw in
+the hands of other men. He knew that he could not safely get into the
+same boat with Mr. Griffenbottom, or trust himself to the steering of
+such a coxswain as Mr. Trigger. He had found that there could be no
+sympathy between himself and any one of those who constituted his own
+party in the borough. And yet he had persevered. He had persevered
+because in such matters it is so difficult to choose the moment in
+which to recede. He had persevered,--and had attained a measure of
+success. As far as had been possible for him to do so, he had fought
+his battle with clean hands, and now he was member of Parliament for
+Percycross. Let what end there might come to this petition,--even
+though his seat should be taken from him,--he could be subjected to
+no personal disgrace. He could himself give evidence, the truth of
+which no judge in the land would doubt, as to the purity of his own
+intentions, and as to the struggle to be pure which he had made. And
+now they asked him to give way in order that Mr. Griffenbottom might
+keep his seat!
+
+He felt that he and poor Moggs had been fools together. At this
+moment there came upon him a reflection that such men as he and Moggs
+were unable to open their mouths in such a borough as Percycross
+without having their teeth picked out of their jaws. He remembered
+well poor Moggs's legend, "Moggs, Purity, and the Rights of Labour;"
+and he remembered thinking at the time that neither Moggs nor he
+should have come to Percycross. And now he was told of all that the
+borough had done for him, and was requested to show his gratitude by
+giving up his seat,--in order that Griffenbottom might still be a
+member of Parliament, and that Percycross might not be disfranchised!
+Did he feel any gratitude to Percycross or any love to Mr.
+Griffenbottom? In his heart he desired that Mr. Griffenbottom might
+be made to retire into private life, and he knew that it would be
+well that the borough should be disfranchised.
+
+These horrid men that sat around him,--how he hated them! He could
+get rid of them now, now and for ever, by acceding to the proposition
+made to him. And he thought that in doing so he could speak a few
+words which would be very agreeable to him in the speaking. And then
+all that Mr. Trigger had said about the L1,500 had been doubtless
+true. If he defended his seat money must be spent, and he did not
+know how far he might be able to compel Mr. Griffenbottom to share
+the expense. He was not so rich but what he was bound to think of the
+money, for his children's sake. And he did believe Mr. Trigger, when
+Mr. Trigger told him that the seat could not be saved.
+
+Yet he could not bring himself to let these men have their way with
+him. To have to confess that he had been their tool went so much
+against the grain with him that anything seemed to him to be
+preferable to that. The passage across his brain of all these
+thoughts had not required many seconds, and his guests seemed to
+acknowledge by their silence that some little space of time should be
+allowed to him. Mr. Pile was leaning forward on his stick with his
+eyes fixed upon Sir Thomas's face. Mr. Spicer was amusing himself
+with a third glass of sherry. Mr. Griffenbottom had assumed a look of
+absolute indifference, and was sitting with his eyes fixed upon the
+ceiling. Mr. Trigger, with a pleasant smile on his face, was leaning
+back in his chair with his hands in his trousers pockets. He had done
+his disagreeable job of work, and upon the whole he thought that he
+had done it well.
+
+"I shall do nothing of the kind," said Sir Thomas at last.
+
+"You'll be wrong, Sir Thomas," said Mr. Trigger.
+
+"You'll disfranchise the borough," said Mr. Spicer.
+
+"You'll not be able to keep your seat," said Mr. Trigger.
+
+"And there'll be all the money to pay," said Mr. Spicer.
+
+"Sir Thomas don't mind that," said Mr. Griffenbottom.
+
+"As for paying the money, I do mind it very much," said Sir Thomas.
+"As for disfranchising the borough, I cannot say that I regard it in
+the least. As to your seat, Mr. Griffenbottom--"
+
+"My seat is quite safe," said the senior member.
+
+"As to your seat, which I am well aware must be jeopardised if mine
+be in jeopardy, it would have been matter of more regret to me, had
+I experienced from you any similar sympathy for myself. As it is, it
+seems that each of us is to do the best he can for himself, and I
+shall do the best I can for myself. Good morning."
+
+"What then do you mean to do?" said Mr. Trigger.
+
+"On that matter I shall prefer to converse with my friends."
+
+"You mean," said Mr. Trigger, "that you will put it into other
+hands."
+
+"You have made a proposition to me, Mr. Trigger, and I have given you
+my answer. I have nothing else to say. What steps I may take I do not
+even know at present."
+
+"You will let us hear from you," said Mr. Trigger.
+
+"I cannot say that I will."
+
+"This comes of bringing a gentleman learned in the law down into the
+borough," said Mr. Griffenbottom.
+
+"Gentlemen, I must ask you to leave me," said Sir Thomas, rising from
+his chair and ringing the bell.
+
+"Look here, Sir Thomas Underwood," said Mr. Griffenbottom. "This to
+me is a very important matter."
+
+"And to me also," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I do not know anything about that. Like a good many others, you may
+like to have a seat in Parliament, and may like to get it without any
+trouble and without any money. I have sat for Percycross for many
+years, and have spent a treasure, and have worked myself off my legs.
+I don't know that I care much for anything except for keeping my
+place in the House. The House is everything to me,--meat and drink;
+employment and recreation; and I can tell you I'm not going to lose
+my seat if I can help it. You came in for the second chance, Sir
+Thomas; and a very good second chance it was if you'd just have
+allowed others who knew what they were about to manage matters for
+you. That chance is over now, and according to all rules that ever I
+heard of in such matters, you ought to surrender. Isn't that so, Mr.
+Trigger?"
+
+"Certainly, Mr. Griffenbottom, according to my ideas," said Mr.
+Trigger.
+
+"That's about it," said Mr. Spicer.
+
+Sir Thomas was still standing. Indeed they were all standing now.
+"Mr. Griffenbottom," he said, "I have nothing further that I can
+say at the present moment. To the offer made to me by Mr. Trigger I
+at present positively decline to accede. I look upon that offer as
+unfriendly, and can therefore only wish you a good morning."
+
+"Unfriendly," said Mr. Griffenbottom with a sneer.
+
+"Good-bye, Sir Thomas," said Mr. Pile, putting out his hand. Sir
+Thomas shook hands with Mr. Pile cordially. "It's my opinion that
+he's right," said Mr. Pile. "I don't like his notions, but I do like
+his pluck. Good-bye, Sir Thomas." Then Mr. Pile led the way out of
+the room, and the others followed him.
+
+"Oh!" said Stemm, as soon as he had shut the door behind their backs.
+"That's a deputation from Percycross, is it, Sir Thomas? You were
+saying as how you didn't quite approve of the Percycrossians." To
+this, however, Sir Thomas vouchsafed no reply.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+
+WHAT SIR THOMAS THOUGHT ABOUT IT.
+
+
+Sir Thomas Underwood had been engaged upon a very great piece of work
+ever since he had been called to the Bar in the twenty-fifth year of
+his life. He had then devoted himself to the writing of a life of
+Lord Verulam, and had been at it ever since. But as yet he had not
+written a word. In early life, that is, up to his fortieth year,
+he had talked freely enough about his opus magnum to those of his
+compeers with whom he had been intimate; but of late Bacon's name had
+never been on his lips. Patience, at home, was aware of the name and
+nature of her father's occupation, but Clarissa had not yet learned
+to know that he who had been the great philosopher and little Lord
+Chancellor was not to be lightly mentioned. To Stemm the matter had
+become so serious, that in speaking of books, papers, and documents
+he would have recourse to any periphrasis rather than mention in his
+master's hearing the name of the fallen angel. And yet Sir Thomas was
+always talking to himself about Sir Francis Bacon, and was always
+writing his life.
+
+There are men who never dream of great work, who never realise to
+themselves the need of work so great as to demand a lifetime, but who
+themselves never fail in accomplishing those second-class tasks with
+which they satisfy their own energies. Men these are who to the world
+are very useful. Some few there are, who seeing the beauty of a great
+work and believing in its accomplishment within the years allotted
+to man, are contented to struggle for success, and struggling, fail.
+Here and there comes one who struggles and succeeds. But the men are
+many who see the beauty, who adopt the task, who promise themselves
+the triumph, and then never struggle at all. The task is never
+abandoned; but days go by and weeks; and then months and years,--and
+nothing is done. The dream of youth becomes the doubt of middle life,
+and then the despair of age. In building a summer-house it is so easy
+to plant the first stick, but one does not know where to touch the
+sod when one begins to erect a castle. So it had been with Sir Thomas
+Underwood and his life of Bacon. It would not suffice to him to
+scrape together a few facts, to indulge in some fiction, to tell a
+few anecdotes, and then to call his book a biography. Here was a man
+who had risen higher and was reported to have fallen lower,--perhaps
+than any other son of Adam. With the finest intellect ever given to
+a man, with the purest philanthropy and the most enduring energy, he
+had become a by-word for greed and injustice. Sir Thomas had resolved
+that he would tell the tale as it had never yet been told, that he
+would unravel facts that had never seen the light, that he would let
+the world know of what nature really had been this man,--and that
+he would write a book that should live. He had never abandoned his
+purpose; and now at sixty years of age, his purpose remained with
+him, but not one line of his book was written.
+
+And yet the task had divorced him in a measure from the world. He
+had not been an unsuccessful man in life. He had made money, and had
+risen nearly to the top of his profession. He had been in Parliament,
+and was even now a member. But yet he had been divorced from
+the world, and Bacon had done it. By Bacon he had justified to
+himself,--or rather had failed to justify to himself,--a seclusion
+from his family and from the world which had been intended for
+strenuous work, but had been devoted to dilettante idleness. And he
+had fallen into those mistakes which such habits and such pursuits
+are sure to engender. He thought much, but he thought nothing out,
+and was consequently at sixty still in doubt about almost everything.
+Whether Christ did or did not die to save sinners was a question
+with him so painfully obscure that he had been driven to obtain what
+comfort he might from not thinking of it. The assurance of belief
+certainly was not his to enjoy;--nor yet that absence from fear which
+may come from assured unbelief. And yet none who knew him could say
+that he was a bad man. He robbed no one. He never lied. He was not
+self-indulgent. He was affectionate. But he had spent his life in an
+intention to write the life of Lord Verulam, and not having done it,
+had missed the comfort of self-respect. He had intended to settle
+for himself a belief on subjects which are, of all, to all men the
+most important; and, having still postponed the work of inquiry, had
+never attained the security of a faith. He was for ever doubting, for
+ever intending, and for ever despising himself for his doubts and
+unaccomplished intentions. Now, at the age of sixty, he had thought
+to lessen these inward disturbances by returning to public life, and
+his most unsatisfactory alliance with Mr. Griffenbottom had been the
+result.
+
+They who know the agonies of an ambitious, indolent, doubting,
+self-accusing man,--of a man who has a skeleton in his cupboard
+as to which he can ask for sympathy from no one,--will understand
+what feelings were at work within the bosom of Sir Thomas when his
+Percycross friends left him alone in his chamber. The moment that he
+knew that he was alone he turned the lock of the door, and took from
+out a standing desk a whole heap of loose papers. These were the
+latest of his notes on the great Bacon subject. For though no line
+of the book had ever been written,--nor had his work even yet taken
+such form as to enable him to write a line,--nevertheless, he always
+had by him a large assemblage of documents, notes, queries, extracts
+innumerable, and references which in the course of years had become
+almost unintelligible to himself, upon which from time to time he
+would set himself to work. Whenever he was most wretched he would fly
+at his papers. When the qualms of his conscience became very severe,
+he would copy some passage from a dusty book, hardly in the belief
+that it might prove to be useful, but with half a hope that he might
+cheat himself into so believing. Now, in his misery, he declared
+that he would bind himself to his work and never leave it. There, if
+anywhere, might consolation be found.
+
+With rapid hands he moved about the papers, and tried to fix his eyes
+upon the words. But how was he to fix his thoughts? He could not even
+begin not to think of those scoundrels who had so misused him. It
+was not a week since they had taken L50 from him for the poor of
+Percycross, and now they came to him with a simple statement that he
+was absolutely to be thrown over! He had already paid L900 for his
+election, and was well aware that the account was not closed. And
+he was a man who could not bear to speak about money, or to make
+any complaint as to money. Even though he was being so abominably
+misused, still he must pay any further claim that might be made on
+him in respect of the election that was past. Yes;--he must pay for
+those very purchased votes, for that bribery, as to which he had so
+loudly expressed his abhorrence, and by reason of which he was now to
+lose his seat with ignominy.
+
+But the money was not the worst of it. There was a heavier sorrow
+than that arising from the loss of his money. He alone had been just
+throughout the contest at Percycross; he alone had been truthful,
+and he alone straightforward! And yet he alone must suffer! He began
+to believe that Griffenbottom would keep his seat. That he would
+certainly lose his own, he was quite convinced. He might lose it
+by undergoing an adverse petition, and paying ever so much more
+money,--or he might lose it in the manner that Mr. Trigger had
+so kindly suggested. In either way there would be disgrace, and
+contumely, and hours of the agony of self-reproach in store for him!
+
+What excuse had he for placing himself in contact with such filth? Of
+what childishness had he not been the victim when he allowed himself
+to dream that he, a pure and scrupulous man, could go among such
+impurity as he had found at Percycross, and come out, still clean
+and yet triumphant? Then he thought of Griffenbottom as a member of
+Parliament, and of that Legislation and that Constitution to which
+Griffenbottoms were thought to be essentially necessary. That there
+are always many such men in the House he had always known. He had sat
+there and had seen them. He had stood shoulder to shoulder with them
+through many a division, and had thought about them,--acknowledging
+their use. But now that he was brought into personal contact with
+such an one, his very soul was aghast. The Griffenbottoms never do
+anything in politics. They are men of whom in the lump it may be
+surmised that they take up this or that side in politics, not from
+any instructed conviction, not from faith in measures or even in men,
+nor from adherence either through reason or prejudice to this or that
+set of political theories,--but simply because on this side or on
+that there is an opening. That gradually they do grow into some shape
+of conviction from the moulds in which they are made to live, must
+be believed of them; but these convictions are convictions as to
+divisions, convictions as to patronage, convictions as to success,
+convictions as to Parliamentary management; but not convictions as
+to the political needs of the people. So said Sir Thomas to himself
+as he sat thinking of the Griffenbottoms. In former days he had told
+himself that a pudding cannot be made without suet or dough, and
+that Griffenbottoms were necessary if only for the due adherence of
+the plums. Whatever most health-bestowing drug the patient may take
+would bestow anything but health were it taken undiluted. It was
+thus in former days Sir Thomas had apologised to himself for the
+Griffenbottoms in the House;--but no such apology satisfied him now.
+This log of a man, this lump of suet, this diluting quantity of most
+impure water,--'twas thus that Mr. Griffenbottom was spoken of by Sir
+Thomas to himself as he sat there with all the Bacon documents before
+him,--this politician, whose only real political feeling consisted in
+a positive love of corruption for itself, had not only absolutely got
+the better of him, who regarded himself at any rate as a man of mind
+and thought, but had used him as a puppet, and had compelled him
+to do dirty work. Oh,--that he should have been so lost to his own
+self-respect as to have allowed himself to be dragged through the
+dirt of Percycross!
+
+But he must do something;--he must take some step. Mr. Griffenbottom
+had declared that he would put himself to no expense in defending the
+seat. Of course he, Sir Thomas, could do the same. He believed that
+it might be practicable for him to acknowledge the justice of the
+petition, to declare his belief that his own agents had betrayed him,
+and to acknowledge that his seat was indefensible. But, as he thought
+of it, he found that he was actually ignorant of the law in the
+matter. That he would make no such bargain as that suggested
+to him by Mr. Trigger,--of so much he thought that he was sure.
+At any rate he would do nothing that he himself knew to be
+dishonourable. He must consult his own attorney. That was the end
+of his self-deliberation,--that, and a conviction that under no
+circumstances could he retain his seat.
+
+Then he struggled hard for an hour to keep his mind fixed on the
+subject of his great work. He had found an unknown memoir respecting
+Bacon, written by a German pen in the Latin language, published at
+Leipzig shortly after the date of Bacon's fall. He could translate
+that. It is always easiest for the mind to work in such emergencies,
+on some matter as to which no creative struggles are demanded from
+it.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+
+A BROKEN HEART.
+
+
+It was very bad with Clarissa when Ralph Newton was closeted with
+Mary at Popham Villa. She had suspected what was about to take place,
+when Sir Thomas and Ralph went together into the room; but at that
+moment she said nothing. She endeavoured to seem to be cheerful, and
+attempted to joke with Mary. The three girls were sitting at the
+table on which lunch was spread,--a meal which no one was destined
+to eat at Popham Villa on that day,--and thus they remained till Sir
+Thomas joined them. "Mary," he had said, "Ralph Newton wishes to
+speak to you. You had better go to him."
+
+"To me, uncle?"
+
+"Yes, to you. You had better go to him."
+
+"But I had rather not."
+
+"Of course you must do as you please, but I would advise you to go to
+him." Then she had risen very slowly and had gone.
+
+All of them had understood what it meant. To Clarissa the thing
+was as certain as though she already heard the words spoken. With
+Patience even there was no doubt. Sir Thomas, though he had told
+nothing, did not pretend that the truth was to be hidden. He looked
+at his younger daughter sorrowfully, and laid his hand upon her
+head caressingly. With her there was no longer the possibility of
+retaining any secret, hardly the remembrance that there was a secret
+to retain. "Oh, papa," she said;--"oh, papa!" and burst into tears.
+
+"My dear," he said, "believe me that it is best that it should be
+so. He is unworthy." Patience said not a word, but was now holding
+Clarissa close to her bosom. "Tell Mary," continued Sir Thomas, "that
+I will see her when she is at liberty. Patience, you can ask Ralph
+whether it will suit him to stay for dinner. I am tired and will go
+up-stairs myself." And so the two girls were left together.
+
+"Patty, take me away," said Clarissa. "I must never see him
+again,--never!--nor her."
+
+"She will not accept him, Clary."
+
+"Yes, she will. I know she will. She is a sly, artful creature. And I
+have been so good to her."
+
+"No, Clary;--I think not;--but what does it matter? He is unworthy.
+He can be nothing to you now. Papa was right. He is unworthy."
+
+"I care nothing for that. I only care for him. Oh, Patty, take me
+away. I could not bear to see them when they come out."
+
+Then Patience took her sister up to their joint room, and laid the
+poor sufferer on the bed, and throwing herself on her knees beside
+the bed, wept over her sister and caressed her. That argument of
+Ralph's unworthiness was nothing to Clarissa. She did not consider
+herself to be so worthy but what she might forgive any sin, if only
+the chance of forgiving such sin were given to her. At this moment in
+her heart of hearts her anger was more against her rival than against
+the man. She had not yet taught herself to think of all his baseness
+to her,--had only as yet had time to think that that evil had come
+upon her which she had feared from the first moment of her cousin's
+arrival.
+
+Presently Patience heard the door opened of the room down-stairs
+and heard Mary's slow step as she crossed the hall. She understood
+well that some one should be below, and with another single word of
+affection to her sister, she went down-stairs. "Well, Mary," she
+said, looking into her cousin's face.
+
+"There is nothing particular to tell," said Mary, with a gentle
+smile.
+
+"Of course we all knew what he wanted."
+
+"Then of course you all knew what I should say to him."
+
+"I knew," said Patience.
+
+"I am sure that Clary knew," said Mary. "But he is all alone there,
+and will not know what to do with himself. Won't you go to him?"
+
+"You will go up to Clary?" Mary nodded her head, and then Patience
+crossed the hall to liberate the rejected suitor. Mary stood for
+awhile thinking. She already knew from what Patience had said, that
+Clarissa had suspected her, and she felt that there should have been
+no such suspicion. Clarissa had not understood, but ought to have
+understood. For a moment she was angry, and was disposed to go to
+her own room. Then she remembered all her cousin's misery, and crept
+up-stairs to the door. She had come so softly, that though the door
+was hardly closed, nothing had been heard of her approach. "May I
+come in, dear?" she said very gently.
+
+"Well, Mary; tell me all," said Clarissa.
+
+"There is nothing to tell, Clary;--only this, that I fear Mr. Newton
+is not worthy of your love."
+
+"He asked you to take him?"
+
+"Never mind, dearest. We will not talk of that. Dear, dearest Clary,
+if I only could make you happy."
+
+"But you have refused him?"
+
+"Don't you know me better than to ask me? Don't you know where my
+heart is? We will carry our burdens together, dearest, and then they
+will be lighter."
+
+"But he will come to you again;--that other one."
+
+"Clary, dear; we will not think about it. There are things which
+should not be thought of. We will not talk of it, but we will love
+each other so dearly." Clarissa, now that she was assured that her
+evil fortune was not to be aggravated by any injury done to her by
+her cousin, allowed herself to be tranquillised if not comforted.
+There was indeed something in her position that did not admit of
+comfort. All the family knew the story of her unrequited love,
+and treated her with a compassion which, while its tenderness was
+pleasant to her, was still in itself an injury. A vain attachment in
+a woman's heart must ever be a weary load, because she can take no
+step of her own towards that consummation by which the burden may be
+converted into a joy. A man may be active, may press his suit even a
+tenth time, may do something towards achieving success. A woman can
+only be still and endure. But Clarissa had so managed her affairs
+that even that privilege of being still was hardly left to her. Her
+trouble was known to them all. She doubted whether even the servants
+in the house did not know the cause of her woe. How all this had
+come to pass she could not now remember. She had told Patience,--as
+though in compliance with some compact that each should ever tell the
+other all things. And then circumstances had arisen which made it so
+natural that she should be open and candid with Mary. The two Ralphs
+were to be their two lovers. That to her had been a delightful dream
+during the last few months. He, whose inheritance at that moment was
+supposed to have been gone, had, as Clarissa thought, in plainest
+language told his love to her. "Dear, dear Clary, you know I love
+you." The words to her sense had been so all-important, had meant
+so much, had seemed to be so final, that they hardly wanted further
+corroboration. Then, indeed, had come the great fault,--the fault
+which she had doubted whether she could ever pardon; and she, because
+of the heinousness of that offence, had been unable to answer the
+question that had been asked. But the offence, such as it was, had
+not lightened the solemnity of her assurance, as far as love went,
+that Ralph ought to be her own after the speaking of such words as he
+had spoken. There were those troubles about money, but yet she was
+entitled to regard him as her own. Then had come the written offer
+from the other Ralph to Mary,--the offer written in the moment of
+his believed prosperity; and it had been so natural that Clarissa
+should tell her cousin that as regarded the splendour of position
+there should be no jealousy between them. Clarissa did not herself
+think much of a lover who wrote letters instead of coming and
+speaking,--had perhaps an idea that open speech, even though offence
+might follow, was better than formal letters; but all that was Mary's
+affair. This very respectful Ralph was Mary's lover, and if Mary were
+satisfied, she would not quarrel with the well-behaved young man. She
+would not even quarrel with him because he was taking from her own
+Ralph the inheritance which for so many years had been believed to be
+his own. Thus in the plenitude of her affection and in the serenity
+of her heart she had told everything to her cousin. And now also her
+father knew it all. How this had come to pass she did not think to
+inquire. She suspected no harm from Patience. The thing had been so
+clear, that all the world might see it. Ralph, that false one, knew
+it also. Who could know it so well as he did? Had not those very
+words been spoken by him,--been repeated by him? Now she was as one
+stricken, where wounds could not be hidden.
+
+On that day Ralph was driven back to town in his cab, in a rather
+disheartened condition, and no more was seen or heard of him for the
+present at Popham Villa. His late guardian had behaved very ill to
+him in telling Mary Bonner the story of Polly Neefit. That was his
+impression,--feeling sure that Mary had alluded to the unfortunate
+affair with the breeches-maker's daughter, of which she could have
+heard tidings only from Sir Thomas. As to Clarissa, he had not
+exactly forgotten the little affair on the lawn; but to his eyes that
+affair had been so small as to be almost overlooked amidst larger
+matters. Mary, he thought, had never looked so beautiful as she had
+done while refusing him. He did not mean to give her up. Her heart,
+she had told him, was not her own. He thought he had read of young
+ladies in similar conditions, of young ladies who had bestowed their
+hearts and had afterwards got them back again for the sake of making
+second bestowals. He was not sure but that such an object would lend
+a zest to life. There was his brother Gregory in love with Clarissa,
+and still true to her. He would be true to Mary, and would see
+whether, in spite of that far-away lover, he might not be more
+successful than his brother. At any rate he would not give her
+up,--and before he had gone to bed that night he had already
+concocted a letter to her in his brain, explaining the whole of that
+Neefit affair, and asking her whether a man should be condemned to
+misery for life because he had been led by misfortune into such a
+mistake as that. He dined very well at his club, and on the following
+morning went down to the Moonbeam by an early train, for that day's
+hunting. Thence he returned to Newton Priory in time for Christmas,
+and as he was driven up to his own house, through his own park,
+meeting one or two of his own tenants, and encountering now and then
+his own obsequious labourers, he was not an unhappy man in spite of
+Mary Bonner's cruel answer. It may be doubted whether his greatest
+trouble at this moment did not arise from his dread of Neefit. He had
+managed to stay long enough in London to give orders that Neefit's
+money should be immediately paid. He knew that Neefit could not harm
+him at law; but it would not be agreeable if the old man were to go
+about the country telling everyone that he, Ralph Newton of Newton,
+had twice offered to marry Polly. For the present we will leave him,
+although he is our hero, and will return to the girls at Popham
+Villa.
+
+"It is all very well talking, Patience, but I don't mean to try to
+change," Clarissa said. This was after that visit of the Percycross
+deputation to Sir Thomas, and after Christmas. More than a week had
+now passed by since Ralph had rushed down to Fulham with his offer,
+and the new year had commenced. Sir Thomas had been at home for
+Christmas,--for the one day,--and had then returned to London. He had
+seen his attorney respecting the petition, who was again to see Mr.
+Griffenbottom's London attorney and Mr. Trigger. In the meantime
+Sir Thomas was to remain quiet for a few days. The petition was not
+to be tried till the end of February, and there was still time for
+deliberation. Sir Thomas just now very often took out that great
+heap of Baconian papers, but still not a word of the biography was
+written. He was, alas! still very far from writing the first word.
+"It is all very well, Patience, but I do not mean to try to change,"
+said Clarissa.
+
+Poor Patience could make no answer, dreadful as was to her such an
+assertion from a young woman. "There is a man who clearly does not
+want to marry you, who has declared in the plainest way that he does
+want to marry some one else, who has grossly deceived you, and who
+never means to think of you again; and yet you say that you will
+wilfully adhere to your regard for him!" Such would have been the
+speech which Patience would have made, had she openly expressed her
+thoughts. But Clarissa was ill, and weak, and wretched; and Patience
+could not bring herself to say a word that should distress her
+sister.
+
+"If he came to me to-morrow, of course I should forgive him,"
+Clarissa said again. These conversations were never commenced by
+Patience, who would rather have omitted any mention of that base
+young man. "Of course I should. Men do do those things. Men are not
+like women. They do all manner of things and everybody forgives them.
+I don't say anything about hoping. I don't hope for anything. I am
+not happy enough to hope. I shouldn't care if I knew I were going to
+die to-morrow. But there can be no change. If you want me to be a
+hypocrite, Patience, I will; but what will be the use? The truth will
+be the same."
+
+The two girls let her have her way, never contradicted her, coaxed
+her, and tried to comfort her;--but it was in vain. At first she
+would not go out of the house, not even to church, and then she took
+to lying in bed. This lasted into the middle of January, and still
+Sir Thomas did not come home. He wrote frequently, short notes to
+Patience, sending money, making excuses, making promises, always
+expressing some word of hatred or disgust as to Percycross; but still
+he did not come. At last, when Clarissa declared that she preferred
+lying in bed to getting up, Patience went up to London and fetched
+her father home. It had gone so far with Sir Thomas now that he was
+unable even to attempt to defend himself. He humbly said that he was
+sorry that he had been away so long, and returned with Patience to
+the villa.
+
+"My dear," said Sir Thomas, seating himself by Clarissa's bedside,
+"this is very bad."
+
+"If I had known you were coming, papa, I would have got up."
+
+"If you are not well, perhaps you are better here, dear."
+
+"I don't think I am quite well, papa."
+
+"What is it, my love?" Clarissa looked at him out of her large
+tear-laden eyes, but said nothing. "Patience says that you are not
+happy."
+
+"I don't know that anybody is happy, papa."
+
+"I wish that you were with all my heart, my child. Can your father do
+anything that will make you happy?"
+
+"No, papa."
+
+"Tell me, Clary. You do not mind my asking you questions?"
+
+"No, papa."
+
+"Patience tells me that you are still thinking of Ralph Newton."
+
+"Of course I think of him."
+
+"I think of him too;--but there are different ways of thinking. We
+have known him, all of us, a long time."
+
+"Yes, papa."
+
+"I wish with all my heart that we had never seen him. He is not
+worthy of our solicitude."
+
+"You always liked him. I have heard you say you loved him dearly."
+
+"I have said so, and I did love him. In a certain way I love him
+still."
+
+"So do I, papa."
+
+"But I know him to be unworthy. Even if he had come here to offer you
+his hand I doubt whether I could have permitted an engagement. Do you
+know that within the last two months he has twice offered to marry
+another young woman, and I doubt whether he is not at this moment
+engaged to her?"
+
+"Another?" said poor Clarissa.
+
+"Yes, and that without a pretence of affection on his part, simply
+because he wanted to get money from her father."
+
+"Are you sure, papa?" asked Clarissa, who was not prepared to
+believe, and did not believe this enormity on the part of the man she
+loved.
+
+"I am quite sure. The father came to me to complain of him, and I had
+the confession from Ralph's own lips, the very day that he came here
+with his insulting offer to Mary Bonner."
+
+"Did you tell Mary?"
+
+"No. I knew that it was unnecessary. There was no danger as to Mary.
+And who do you think this girl was? The daughter of a tailor, who had
+made some money. It was not that he cared for her, Clary;--no more
+than I do! Whether he meant to marry her or not I do not know."
+
+"I'm sure he didn't, papa," said Clarissa, getting up in bed.
+
+"And will that make it better? All that he wanted was the tradesman's
+money, and to get that he was willing either to deceive the girl, or
+to sell himself to her. I don't know which would have been the baser
+mode of traffic. Is that the conduct of a gentleman, Clary?"
+
+Poor Clarissa was in terrible trouble. She hardly believed the story,
+which seemed to tell her of a degree of villany greater than ever her
+imagination had depicted to her;--and yet, if it were true, she would
+be driven to look for means of excusing it. The story as told was
+indeed hardly just to Ralph, who in the course of his transactions
+with Mr. Neefit had almost taught himself to believe that he could
+love Polly very well; but it was not in this direction that Clarissa
+looked for an apology for such conduct. "They say that men do all
+manner of things," she said, at last.
+
+"I can only tell you this," said Sir Thomas very gravely, "what men
+may do I will not say, but no gentleman can ever have acted after
+this fashion. He has shown himself to be a scoundrel."
+
+"Papa, papa; don't say that!" screamed Clarissa.
+
+"My child, I can only tell you the truth. I know it is hard to bear.
+I would save you if I could; but it is better that you should know."
+
+"Will he always be bad, papa?"
+
+"Who can say, my dear? God forbid that I should be too severe upon
+him. But he has been so bad now that I am bound to tell you that you
+should drive him from your thoughts. When he told me, all smiling,
+that he had come down here to ask your cousin Mary to be his wife, I
+was almost minded to spurn him from the door. He can have no feeling
+himself of true attachment, and cannot know what it means in others.
+He is heartless,--and unprincipled."
+
+"Oh, papa, spare him. It is done now."
+
+"And you will forget him, dearest?"
+
+"I will try, papa. But I think that I shall die. I would rather die.
+What is the good of living when nobody is to care for anybody, and
+people are so bad as that?"
+
+"My Clarissa must not say that nobody cares for her. Has any person
+ever been false to you but he? Is not your sister true to you?"
+
+"Yes, papa."
+
+"And Mary?"
+
+"Yes, papa." He was afraid to ask her whether he also had not been
+true to her? Even in that moment there arose in his mind a doubt,
+whether all this evil might not have been avoided, had he contented
+himself to live beneath the same roof with his children. He said
+nothing of himself, but she supplied the want. "I know you love me,
+papa, and have always been good to me. I did not mean that. But I
+never cared for any one but him,--in that way."
+
+Sir Thomas, in dealing with the character of his late ward, had been
+somewhat too severe. It is difficult, perhaps, to say what amount of
+misconduct does constitute a scoundrel, or justifies the critic in
+saying that this or that man is not a gentleman. There be those who
+affirm that he who owes a debt for goods which he cannot pay is no
+gentleman, and tradesmen when they cannot get their money are no
+doubt sometimes inclined to hold that opinion. But the opinion is
+changed when the money comes at last,--especially if it comes with
+interest. Ralph had never owed a shilling which he did not intend to
+pay, and had not property to cover. That borrowing of money from Mr.
+Neefit was doubtless bad. No one would like to know that his son had
+borrowed money from his tailor. But it is the borrowing of the money
+that is bad, rather than the special dealing with the tradesman. And
+as to that affair with Polly, some excuse may be made. He had meant
+to be honest to Neefit, and he had meant to be true to Neefit's
+daughter. Even Sir Thomas, high-minded as he was, would hardly have
+passed so severe a sentence, had not the great sufferer in the matter
+been his own daughter.
+
+But the words that he spoke were doubtless salutary to poor Clarissa.
+She never again said to Patience that she would not try to make a
+change, nor did she ever again declare that if Ralph came back again
+she would forgive him. On the day after the scene with her father
+she was up again, and she made an effort to employ herself about the
+house. On the next Sunday she went to church, and then they all knew
+that she was making the necessary struggle. Ralph's name was never
+mentioned, nor for a time was any allusion made to the family of the
+Newtons. "The worst of it, I think, is over," said Patience one day
+to Mary.
+
+"The worst of it is over," said Mary; "but it is not all over. It is
+hard to forget when one has loved."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII.
+
+NOT BROKEN-HEARTED.
+
+
+Christmas had come and gone at Newton Priory, and the late Squire's
+son had left the place,--protesting as he did so that he left it
+for ever. To him also life in that particular spot of earth was
+impossible, unless he could live there as the lord and master of
+all. Everybody throughout that and neighbouring parishes treated him
+not only with kindness, but with the warmest affection. The gentry,
+the farmers, and the labourers, all men who had known him in the
+hunting-field, in markets, on the bench, or at church, men, women and
+children, joined together in forming plans by means of which he could
+remain at Newton. The young Squire asked him to make the house his
+home, at any rate for the hunting season. The parson offered half the
+parsonage. His friend Morris, who was a bachelor, suggested a joint
+home and joint stables between them. But it was all of no avail. Had
+it not been for the success which had so nearly crowned the late
+Squire's efforts during the last six months, it might have been that
+his friends would have prevailed with him. But he had been too near
+being the master to be able to live at Newton in any other capacity.
+The tenants had been told that they were to be his tenants. The
+servants had been told that they were to be his servants. During a
+few short weeks, he had almost been master, so absolute had been the
+determination of the old Squire to show to all around him that his
+son, in spite of the blot upon the young man's birth, was now the
+heir in all things, and possessed of every privilege which would
+attach itself to an elder son. He himself while his father lived had
+taken these things calmly, had shown no elation, had even striven to
+moderate the vehemence of his father's efforts on his behalf;--but
+not the less had he been conscious of the value of what was being
+done for him. To be the promised future owner of the acres on which
+he had lived, of the coverts through which he had ridden, of every
+tree and bank which he had known from his boyhood, had been to him
+a source of gratified pride not the less strong because he had
+concealed it. The disappointment did hit him sorely. His dreams
+had been of Parliament, of power in the county, of pride of place,
+and popularity. He now found that they were to be no more than
+dreams;--but with this additional sorrow, that all around him knew
+that they had been dreamed. No;--he could not stay at Newton even
+for the sake of living with friends who loved him so dearly. He said
+little or nothing of this to any one. Not even to Gregory Newton or
+to his friend Morris did he tell much of his feeling. He was not
+proud of his dreamings, and it seemed to himself that his punishment
+was just. Nor could he speak to either of them or to any man of his
+past ambition, or of what hopes might remain to him in reference to
+Mary Bonner. The young Squire had gone forth with the express purpose
+of wooing her, had declared his purpose of doing so, and had returned
+to Newton at any rate without any ready tale of triumph on his
+tongue. What had been his fortune the rival would not ask; and while
+the two remained together at the priory no further word was spoken
+of Mary Bonner. He, Ralph the dispossessed one, while he believed
+himself to be the heir, had intended to bring her home as a fitting
+queen to share his throne. It might be that she would consent to be
+his without a throne to share; but in thinking of her he could not
+but remember what his ambition had been, and he could hardly bring
+himself now to offer to her that which was comparatively so little
+worth the having. To suppose that she should already "be fond of
+him," should already long for him as he longed for her, was contrary
+to his nature. Hitherto when he had been in her presence, he had
+stood there as a man whose position in life was almost contemptible;
+and though it would be unjust to him to say that he had hoped to
+win her by his acres, still he had felt that his father's success
+on his behalf might justify him in that which would otherwise be
+unjustifiable. For the present, however, he could take no steps in
+that direction. He could only suggest to himself what had already
+been her answer, or what at some future time might be the answer
+she would make to his rival. He had lost a father between whom and
+himself there had existed ties, not only of tender love, but of
+perfect friendship, and for awhile he must bewail his loss. That
+he could not bewail his lost father without thinking of his lost
+property, and of the bride that had never been won, was an agony to
+his soul.
+
+He had found a farm down in Norfolk, near to Swaffham, which he could
+take for twelve months, with the option of purchase at the expiration
+of that time, and thither he betook himself. There were about four
+hundred acres, and the place was within his means. He did not think
+it likely that Mary Bonner would choose to come and live upon a
+Norfolk farm; and yet what other work in life was there for which
+he was fit? Early in January he went down to Beamingham Hall, as
+the place was called, and there we will leave him for the present,
+consoling himself with oil-cake, and endeavouring to take a pride in
+a long row of stall-fed cattle.
+
+At this time the two brothers were living at Newton Priory. Ralph the
+heir had bought some of his uncle's horses, and had commenced hunting
+with the hounds around him; though he had not as yet withdrawn his
+stud from the Moonbeam. He was not altogether at his ease, as he
+had before the end of February received three or four letters from
+Neefit, all of them dictated by Waddle, in which his conduct was
+painted not in the most flattering colours. Neefit's money had
+been repaid, but Neefit would not understand that the young heir's
+obligations to him had by any means been acquitted by that very
+ordinary process. He had risked his money when payment was very
+doubtful, and now he intended to have something beyond cash in return
+for all that he had done. "There are debts of honour which a real
+gentleman feels himself more bound to pay than any bills," Waddle had
+written. And to such dogmatic teachings as these Neefit would always
+add something out of his own head. "There ain't nobody who shan't
+know all about it, unless you're on the square again." Ralph had
+written one reply since he had been at Newton, in which he explained
+at some length that it was impossible that he should renew his
+addresses to a young lady who had twice rejected them, and who had
+assured him that she did not love him. He professed the greatest
+respect for Miss Neefit, a respect which had, if possible, been
+heightened by her behaviour in this matter,--but it must now be
+understood that the whole affair was at an end. Neefit would not
+understand this, but Neefit's further letters, which had not been
+unfrequent, were left unanswered. Ralph had now told the whole
+story to his brother, and had written his one reply from Newton in
+conformity with his brother's advice. After that they both thought
+that no further rejoinder could be of any service.
+
+The parsonage was for the time deserted, Gregory having for the
+present consented to share his brother's house. In spite of that
+little thorn in the flesh which Neefit was, Ralph was able to enjoy
+his life very thoroughly. He went on with all the improvements about
+the place which the Squire had commenced, and was active in making
+acquaintance with every one who lived upon his land. He was not
+without good instincts, and understood thoroughly that respectability
+had many more attractions than a character for evil living. He was,
+too, easily amenable to influence from those around him; and under
+Gregory's auspices, was constant at his parish church. He told
+himself at once that he had many duties to perform, and he attempted
+to perform them. He did not ask Lieutenant Cox or Captain Fooks to
+the Priory, and quite prepared himself for the character of Henry
+V. in miniature, as he walked about his park, and rode about his
+farms, and talked with the wealthier farmers on hunting mornings. He
+had a full conception of his own dignity, and some not altogether
+inaccurate idea of the manner in which it would become him to sustain
+it. He was, perhaps, a little too self-conscious, and over-inclined
+to suppose that people were regarding his conduct because he was
+Newton of Newton;--Newton of Newton with no blot on his shield, by
+right of his birth, and subject to no man's reproach.
+
+He had failed grievously in one matter on which he had set his heart;
+but as to that he was, as the reader knows, resolved to try again. He
+had declared his passion to the other Ralph, but his rival had not
+made the confidence mutual. But hitherto he had said nothing on the
+subject to his brother. He had put it by, as it were, out of his mind
+for awhile, resolving that it should not trouble him immediately, in
+the middle of his new joys. It was a thing that would keep,--a thing,
+at any rate, that need not overshadow him night and morning. When
+Neefit continued to disturb him with threats of publicity in regard
+to Polly's wrongs, he did tell himself that in no way could he so
+effectually quiet Mr. Neefit as by marrying somebody else, and that
+he would, at some very early date, have recourse to this measure;
+but, in the meantime, he would enjoy himself without letting his
+unrequited passion lie too heavily as a burden on his heart. So
+he eat and drank, and rode and prayed, and sat with his brother
+magistrates on the bench, and never ceased to think of his good
+fortune, in that he had escaped from the troubles of his youth,
+unscathed and undegraded.
+
+Then there came a further letter from Mr. Neefit, from which there
+arose some increase of confidence among the brothers. There was
+nothing special in this letter. These letters, indeed, were very
+like to each other, and, as had now come to be observed, were always
+received on a Tuesday morning. It was manifest to them that Neefit
+spent the leisure hours of his Sundays in meditating upon the
+hardness of his position; and that, as every Monday morning came,
+he caused a new letter to be written. On this particular Tuesday,
+Ralph had left home before the post had come, and did not get the
+breeches-maker's epistle till his return from hunting. He chucked
+it across the table to Gregory when he came down to dinner, and the
+parson read it. There was no new attack in it; and as the servant was
+in the room, nothing was then said about it. But after dinner the
+subject was discussed.
+
+"I wish I knew how to stop the fellow's mouth," said the elder
+brother.
+
+"I think I should get Carey to see him," suggested Gregory. "He would
+understand a lawyer when he was told that nothing could come of it
+but trouble to himself and his daughter."
+
+"She has no hand in it, you know."
+
+"But it must injure her."
+
+"One would think so. But she is a girl whom nothing can injure. You
+can't imagine how good and how great she is;--great in her way, that
+is. She is as steady as a rock; and nobody who knows her will ever
+imagine her to be a party to her father's folly. She may pick and
+choose a husband any day she pleases. And the men about her won't
+mind this kind of thing as we should. No doubt all their friends joke
+him about it, but no one will think of blaming Polly."
+
+"It can't do her any good," said Gregory.
+
+"It cannot do her any harm. She has a strength of her own that even
+her father can't lessen."
+
+"All the same, I wish there were an end of it."
+
+"So do I, for my own sake," said Ralph. As he spoke he filled his
+glass, and passed the bottle, and then was silent for a few moments.
+"Neefit did help me," he continued, "and I don't want to speak
+against him; but he is the most pig-headed old fool that ever
+existed. Nothing will stop him but Polly's marriage, or mine."
+
+"I suppose you will marry soon now. You ought to be married," said
+Gregory, in a melancholy tone, in which was told something of the
+disappointment of his own passion.
+
+"Well;--yes. I believe I might as well tell you a little secret,
+Greg."
+
+"I suppose I can guess it," said Gregory, with still a deeper sound
+of woe.
+
+"I don't think you can. It is quite possible you may, however. You
+know Mary Bonner;--don't you?"
+
+The cloud upon the parson's brow was at once lightened. "No," said
+he. "I have heard of her, of course."
+
+"You have never seen Mary Bonner?"
+
+"I have not been up in town since she came. What should take me up?
+And if I were there, I doubt whether I should go out to Fulham. What
+is the use of going?" But still, though he spoke thus, there was
+something less of melancholy in his voice than when he had first
+spoken. Ralph did not immediately go on with his story, and his
+brother now asked a question. "But what of Mary Bonner? Is she to be
+the future mistress of the Priory?"
+
+"God only knows."
+
+"But you mean to ask her?"
+
+"I have asked her."
+
+"And you are engaged?"
+
+"By no means. I wish I were. You haven't seen her, but I suppose you
+have heard of her?"
+
+"Ralph spoke of her,--and told me that she was very lovely."
+
+"Upon my word, I don't think that even in a picture I ever saw
+anything approaching to her beauty. You've seen that thing at
+Dresden. She is more like that than anything I know. She seems almost
+too grand for a fellow to speak to, and yet she looks as if she
+didn't know it. I don't think she does know it." Gregory said not a
+word, but looked at his brother, listening. "But, by George there's
+a dignity about her, a sort of self-possession, a kind of noli me
+tangere, you understand, which makes a man almost afraid to come near
+her. She hasn't sixpence in the world."
+
+"That needn't signify to you now."
+
+"Not in the least. I only just mention it to explain. And her father
+was nobody in particular,--some old general who used to wear a cocked
+hat and keep the niggers down out in one of the colonies. She herself
+talked of coming home here to be a governess;--by Jove! yes, a
+governess. Well, to look at her, you'd think she was born a countess
+in her own right."
+
+"Is she so proud?"
+
+"No;--it's not that. I don't know what it is. It's the way her head
+is put on. Upon my word, to see her turn her neck is the grandest
+thing in the world. I never saw anything like it. I don't know that
+she's proud by nature,--though she has got a dash of that too. Don't
+you know there are some horses show their breeding at a glance? I
+don't suppose they feel it themselves; but there it is on them, like
+the Hall-mark on silver. I don't know whether you can understand a
+man being proud of his wife."
+
+"Indeed I can."
+
+"I don't mean of her personal qualities, but of the outside get up.
+Some men are proud of their wives' clothes, or their jewels, or their
+false hair. With Mary nothing of that sort could have any effect; but
+to see her step, or move her head, or lift her arm, is enough to make
+a man feel,--feel,--feel that she beats every other woman in the
+world by chalks."
+
+"And she is to be mistress here?"
+
+"Indeed she should,--to-morrow, if she'd come."
+
+"You did ask her?"
+
+"Yes,--I asked her."
+
+"And what did she say?"
+
+"Nothing that I cared to hear. She had just been told all this
+accursed story about Polly Neefit. I'll never forgive Sir
+Thomas,--never." The reader will be pleased to remember that
+Sir Thomas did not mention Miss Neefit's name, or any of the
+circumstances of the Neefit contract, to his niece.
+
+"He could hardly have wished to set her against you."
+
+"I don't know; but he must have told her. She threw it in my teeth
+that I ought to marry Polly."
+
+"Then she did not accept you?"
+
+"By George! no;--anything but that. She is one of those women who,
+as I fancy, never take a man at the first offer. It isn't that they
+mean to shilly and shally and make a fuss, but there's a sort of
+majesty about them which instinctively declines to yield itself.
+Unconsciously they feel something like offence at the suggestion that
+a man should think enough of himself to ask for such a possession.
+They come to it, after a time."
+
+"And she will come to it, after a time?"
+
+"I didn't mean to say that. I don't intend, however, to give it up."
+Ralph paused in his story, considering whether he would tell his
+brother what Mary had confessed to him as to her affection for some
+one else, but he resolved, at last, that he would say nothing of
+that. He had himself put less of confidence in that assertion than he
+did in her rebuke with reference to the other young woman to whom she
+chose to consider that he owed himself. It was his nature to think
+rather of what absolutely concerned himself, than of what related
+simply to her. "I shan't give her up. That's all I can say," he
+continued. "I'm not the sort of fellow to give things up readily." It
+did occur to Gregory at that moment that his brother had not shown
+much self-confidence on that question of giving up the property. "I'm
+pretty constant when I've set my mind on a thing. I'm not going to
+let any woman break my heart for me, but I shall stick to it."
+
+He was not going to let any woman break his heart for him! Gregory,
+as he heard this, knew that his brother regarded him as a man whose
+heart was broken, and he could not help asking himself whether or
+not it was good for a man that he should be able to suffer as he
+suffered, because a woman was fair and yet not fair for him. That his
+own heart was broken,--broken after the fashion of which his brother
+was speaking,--he was driven to confess to himself. It was not that
+he should die, or that his existence would be one long continued hour
+of misery to him. He could eat and drink, and do his duty and enjoy
+his life. And yet his heart was broken. He could not piece it so that
+it should be fit for any other woman. He could not teach himself not
+to long for that one woman who would not love him. The romance of his
+life had formed itself there, and there it must remain. In all his
+solitary walks it was of her that he still thought. Of all the bright
+castles in the air which he still continued to build, she was ever
+the mistress. And yet he knew that she would never make him happy.
+He had absolutely resolved that he would not torment her by another
+request. But he gave himself no praise for his constancy, looking
+on himself as being somewhat weak in that he could not overcome his
+longing. When Ralph declared that he would not break his heart, but
+that, nevertheless, he would stick to the girl, Gregory envied him,
+not doubting of his success, and believing that it was to men of this
+calibre that success in love is generally given. "I hope with all my
+heart that you may win her," he said.
+
+"I must run my chance like another. There's no 'Veni, vidi, vici,'
+about it, I can tell you; nor is it likely that there should be with
+such a girl as Mary Bonner. Fill your glass, old fellow. We needn't
+sit mumchance because we're thinking of our loves."
+
+"I had thought,--" began Gregory very slowly.
+
+"What did you think?"
+
+"I had thought once that you were thinking of--Clarissa."
+
+"What put that into your head?"
+
+"If you had I should never have said a word, nor fancied any wrong.
+Of course she'll marry some one. And I don't know why I should ever
+wish that it should not be you."
+
+"But what made you think of it?"
+
+"Well; I did. It was just a word that Patience said in one of her
+letters."
+
+"What sort of word?" asked Ralph, with much interest.
+
+"It was nothing, you know. I just misunderstood her. When one is
+always thinking of a thing everything turns itself that way. I got it
+into my head that she meant to hint to me that as you and Clary were
+fond of each other, I ought to forget it all. I made up my mind that
+I would;--but it is so much easier to make up one's mind than to do
+it." There came a tear in each eye as he spoke, and he turned his
+face towards the fire that his brother might not see them. And there
+they remained hot and oppressive, because he would not raise his hand
+to rub them away.
+
+"I wonder what it was she said," asked Ralph.
+
+"Oh, nothing. Don't you know how a fellow has fancies?"
+
+"There wasn't anything in it," said Ralph.
+
+"Oh;--of course not."
+
+"Patience might have imagined it," said Ralph. "That's just like such
+a sister as Patience."
+
+"She's the best woman that ever lived," said Gregory.
+
+"As good as gold," said Ralph. "I don't think, however, I shall very
+soon forgive Sir Thomas."
+
+"I don't mind saying now that I am glad it is so," said Gregory;
+"though as regards Clary that seems to be cruel. But I don't think I
+could have come much here had she become your wife."
+
+"Nothing shall ever separate us, Greg."
+
+"I hope not;--but I don't know whether I could have done it. I almost
+think that I oughtn't to live where I should see her; and I did fear
+it at one time."
+
+"She'll come to the parsonage yet, old fellow, if you'll stick to
+her," said Ralph.
+
+"Never," said Gregory. Then that conversation was over.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII.
+
+ONCE MORE.
+
+
+At the end of February Ralph declared his purpose of returning to the
+Moonbeam, for the rest of the hunting season. "I'm not going to be
+such an ass," he said to his brother, "as to keep two sets of horses
+going. I bought my uncle's because it seemed to suit just at the
+time; and there are the others at Horsball's, because I've not had
+time to settle down yet. I'll go over for March, and take a couple
+with me; and, at the end of it, I'll get rid of those I don't like.
+Then that'll be the end of the Moonbeam, as far as I am concerned."
+So he prepared to start, and on the evening before he went his
+brother declared that he would go as far as London with him. "That's
+all right," said Ralph, "but what's taking you up now?" The parson
+said that he wanted to get a few things, and to have his hair cut. He
+shouldn't stay above one night. Ralph asked no more questions, and
+the two brothers went up to London together.
+
+We fear that Patience Underwood may not have been in all respects a
+discreet preserver of her sister's secrets. But then there is nothing
+more difficult of attainment than discretion in the preservation
+of such mysteries. To keep a friend's secret well the keeper of it
+should be firmly resolved to act upon it in no way,--not even for the
+advantage of the owner of it. If it be confided to you as a secret
+that your friend is about to make his maiden speech in the House, you
+should not even invite your acquaintances to be in their places,--not
+if secrecy be the first object. In all things the knowledge should be
+to you as though you had it not. Great love is hardly capable of such
+secrecy as this. In the fulness of her love Patience had allowed her
+father to learn the secret of poor Clary's heart; and in the fulness
+of her love she had endeavoured to make things smooth at Newton.
+She had not told the young clergyman that Clarissa had given to his
+brother that which she could not give to him; but, meaning to do a
+morsel of service to both of them, if that might be possible, she had
+said a word or two, with what effect the reader will have seen from
+the conversation given in the last chapter.
+
+"She'll come to the parsonage yet," Ralph had said; and Gregory in
+one word had implied his assured conviction that any such coming was
+a thing not to be hoped for,--an event not even to be regarded as
+possible. Nevertheless, he made up his mind that he would go up to
+London,--to have his hair cut. In so making up his mind he did not
+for a moment believe that it could be of any use to him. He was not
+quite sure that when in London he would go to Popham Villa. He was
+quite sure that if he did go to Popham Villa he would make no further
+offer to Clarissa. He knew that his journey was foolish, simply
+the result of an uneasy, restless spirit,--that it would be better
+for him to remain in his parish and move about among the old women
+and bed-ridden men; but still he went. He would dine at his club,
+he said, and perhaps he might go down to Fulham on the following
+morning. And so the brothers parted. Ralph, as a man of property,
+with many weighty matters on hand, had, of course, much to do.
+He desired to inspect some agricultural implements, and a new
+carriage,--he had ever so many things to say to Carey, the lawyer,
+and wanted to order new harnesses for the horses. So he went to his
+club, and played whist all the afternoon.
+
+Gregory, as soon as he had secured a bed at a quiet inn, walked off
+to Southampton Buildings. From the direct manner in which this was
+done, it might have been argued that he had come up to London with
+the purpose of seeing Sir Thomas; but it was not so. He turned his
+steps towards the place where Clary's father was generally to be
+found, because he knew not what else to do. As he went he told
+himself that he might as well leave it alone;--but still he went.
+Stemm at once told him, with a candour that was almost marvellous,
+that Sir Thomas was out of town. The hearing of the petition was
+going on at Percycross, and Sir Thomas was there, as a matter of
+course. Stemm seemed to think it rather odd that an educated man,
+such as was the Rev. Gregory Newton, should have been unaware that
+the petition against the late election at Percycross was being
+carried on at this moment. "We've got Serjeant Burnaby, and little
+Mr. Joram down, to make a fight of it," said Mr. Stemm; "but, as
+far as I can learn, they might just as well have remained up in town.
+It's only sending good money after bad." The young parson hardly
+expressed that interest in the matter which Stemm had expected, but
+turned away, thinking whether he had not better have his hair cut at
+once, and then go home.
+
+But he did go to Popham Villa on the same afternoon, and,--such was
+his fortune,--he found Clarissa alone. Since her father had seen her
+in bed, and spoken to her of what he had called the folly of her
+love, she had not again given herself up to the life of a sick-room.
+She dressed herself and came down to breakfast of a morning, and then
+would sit with a needle in her hand till she took her book, and then
+with a book till she took her needle. She tried to work, and tried to
+read, and perhaps she did accomplish a little of each. And then, when
+Patience would tell her that exercise was necessary, she would put
+on her hat and creep out among the paths. She did make some kind of
+effort to get over the evil that had come upon her; but still no
+one could watch her and not know that she was a wounded deer. "Miss
+Clarissa is at home," said the servant, who well knew that the young
+clergyman was one of the rejected suitors. There had been hardly a
+secret in the house in reference to Gregory Newton's love. The two
+other young ladies, the girl said, had gone to London, but would be
+home to dinner. Then, with a beating heart, Gregory was ushered into
+the drawing-room. Clarissa was sitting near the window, with a novel
+in her lap, having placed herself there with the view of getting what
+was left of the light of the early spring evening; but she had not
+read a word for the last quarter of an hour. She was thinking of
+that word scoundrel, with which her father had spoken of the man she
+loved. Could it be that he was in truth so bad as that? And, if it
+were true, would she not take him, scoundrel as he was, if he would
+come to her? He might be a--scoundrel in that one thing, on that one
+occasion, and yet be good to her. He might repent his scoundrelism,
+and she certainly would forgive it. Of one thing she was quite
+sure;--he had not looked like a scoundrel when he had given her that
+assurance on the lawn! And so she thought of young men in general.
+It was very easy to call a young man a scoundrel, and yet to forgive
+him all his iniquities when it suited to do so. Young men might get
+in debt, and gamble, and make love wherever they pleased, and all at
+once,--and yet be forgiven. All these things were very bad. It might
+be just to call a man a scoundrel because he could not pay his debts,
+or because he made bets about horses. Young men did a great many
+things which would be horrid indeed were a girl to do them. Then one
+papa would call such a man a scoundrel, because he was not wanted
+to come to the house; while another papa would make him welcome,
+and give him the best of everything. Ralph Newton might be a
+scoundrel; but if so,--as Clarissa thought,--there were a great
+many good-looking scoundrels about in the world, as to whom their
+scoundrelism did very little to injure them in the esteem of all
+their friends. It was thus that Clarissa was thinking over her own
+affairs when Gregory Newton was shown into the room.
+
+The greeting on both sides was at first formal and almost cold. Clary
+had given a little start of surprise, and had then subsided into a
+most demure mode of answering questions. Yes; papa was at Percycross.
+She did not know when he was expected back. Mary and Patience were in
+London. Yes;--she was at home all alone. No; she had not seen Ralph
+since his uncle's death. The question which elicited this answer had
+been asked without any design, and Clary endeavoured to make her
+reply without emotion. If she displayed any, Gregory, who had his own
+affairs upon his mind, did not see it. No;--they had not seen the
+other Mr. Newton as he passed through town. They had all understood
+that he had been very much disturbed by his father's horrible
+accident and death. Then Gregory paused in his questions, and
+Clarissa expressed a hope that there might be no more hunting in the
+world.
+
+It was very hard work, this conversation, and Gregory was beginning
+to think that he had done no good by coming, when on a sudden he
+struck a chord from whence came a sound of music. "Ralph and I have
+been living together at the Priory," he said.
+
+"Oh;--indeed; yes;--I think I heard Patience say that you were at the
+Priory."
+
+"I suppose I shall not be telling any secret to you in talking about
+him and your cousin Mary?"
+
+Clarissa felt that she was blushing up to her brow, but she made a
+great effort to compose herself. "Oh, no," she said, "we all know of
+it."
+
+"I hope he may be successful," said Gregory.
+
+"I do not know. I cannot tell."
+
+"I never knew a man more thoroughly in love than he is."
+
+"I don't believe it," said Clarissa.
+
+"Not believe it! Indeed you may, Clary. I have never seen her, but
+from what he says of her I suppose her to be most beautiful."
+
+"She is,--very beautiful." This was said with a strong emphasis.
+
+"And why should you not believe it?"
+
+"It will not be of the slightest use, Mr. Newton; and you may tell
+him so. Though I suppose it is impossible to make a man believe
+that."
+
+"Are we both so unfortunate?" he asked.
+
+The poor girl with her wounded love, and every feeling sore within
+her, had not intended to say anything that should be cruel or
+injurious to Gregory himself, and it was not till the words were
+out of her mouth that she herself perceived their effect. "Oh, Mr.
+Newton, I was only thinking of him," she said, innocently. "I only
+meant that Ralph is one of those who always think they are to have
+everything they want."
+
+"I am not one of those, Clarissa. And yet I am one who seem never to
+be tired of asking for that which is not to be given to me. I said to
+myself when last I went from here that I would never ask again;--that
+I would never trouble you any more." She was sitting with the book in
+her hand, looking out into the gloom, and now she made no attempt to
+answer him. "And yet you see here I am," he continued. She was still
+silent, and her head was still turned away from him; but he could see
+that tears were streaming down her cheeks. "I have not the power not
+to come to you while yet there is a chance," he said. "I can live and
+work without you, but I can have no life of my own. When I first saw
+you I made a picture to myself of what my life might be, and I cannot
+get that moved from before my eyes. I am sorry, however, that my
+coming should make you weep."
+
+"Oh, Mr. Newton, I am so wretched!" she said, turning round sharply
+upon him. For a moment she had thought that she would tell him
+everything, and then she checked herself, and remembered how
+ill-placed such a confidence would be.
+
+"What should make you wretched, dearest?"
+
+"I do not know. I cannot tell. I sometimes think the world is bad
+altogether, and that I had better die. People are so cruel and so
+hard, and things are so wrong. But you may tell your brother that
+he need not think of my cousin, Mary. Nothing ever would move her.
+H--sh--. Here they are. Do not say that I was crying."
+
+He was introduced to the beauty, and as the lights came, Clarissa
+escaped. Yes;--she was indeed most lovely; but as he looked on her,
+Gregory felt that he agreed with Clarissa that nothing on earth would
+move her. He remained there for another half-hour; but Clarissa did
+not return, and then he went back to London.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIV.
+
+THE PETITION.
+
+
+The time for hearing the petition at Percycross had at length come,
+and the judge had gone down to that ancient borough. The day fixed
+was Monday, the 27th, and Parliament had then been sitting for three
+weeks. Mr. Griffenbottom had been as constant in his place as though
+there had been no sword hanging over his head; but Sir Thomas had not
+as yet even taken the oaths. He had made up his mind that he would
+not even enter the house while this bar against him as a legislator
+existed, and he had not as yet even been seen in the lobby. His
+daughters, his colleague, Mr. Trigger, and Stemm had all expostulated
+with him on the subject, assuring him that he should treat the
+petition with the greatest contempt, at any rate till it should have
+proved itself by its success to be a matter not contemptible; but to
+these counsellors he gave no ear, and when he went down to give his
+evidence before the judge at Percycross his seat had as yet availed
+him nothing.
+
+Mr. Griffenbottom had declared that he would not pay a shilling
+towards the expense of the petition, maintaining that his own seat
+was safe, and that any peril incurred had been so incurred simply
+on behalf of Sir Thomas. Nothing, according to Mr. Griffenbottom's
+views, could be more unjust than to expect that he should take any
+part in the matter. Trigger, too, had endeavoured to impress this
+upon Sir Thomas more than once or twice. But this had been all in
+vain; and Sir Thomas, acting under the advice of his own attorney,
+had at last compelled Mr. Griffenbottom to take his share in the
+matter. Mr. Griffenbottom did not scruple to say that he was very
+ill-used, and to hint that any unfair practices which might possibly
+have prevailed during the last election at Percycross, had all been
+adopted on behalf of Sir Thomas, and in conformity with Sir Thomas's
+views. It will, therefore, be understood that the two members did
+not go down to the borough in the best humour with each other. Mr.
+Trigger still nominally acted for both; but it had been almost avowed
+that Sir Thomas was to be treated as a Jonah, if by such treatment
+any salvation might be had for the ship of which Griffenbottom was to
+be regarded as the captain.
+
+Mr. Westmacott was also in Percycross,--and so was Moggs, reinstated
+in his old room at the Cordwainers' Arms. Moggs had not been
+summoned, nor was his presence there required for any purpose
+immediately connected with the inquiry to be made; but Purity and the
+Rights of Labour may always be advocated; and when better than at a
+moment in which the impurity of a borough is about to be made the
+subject of public condemnation? And Moggs, moreover, had now rankling
+in his bosom a second cause of enmity against the Tories of the
+borough. Since the election he had learned that his rival, Ralph
+Newton, was in some way connected with the sitting member, Sir
+Thomas, and he laid upon Sir Thomas's back the weight of his full
+displeasure in reference to the proposed marriage with Polly Neefit.
+He had heard that Polly had raised some difficulty,--had, indeed,
+rejected her aristocratic suitor, and was therefore not without hope;
+but he had been positively assured by Neefit himself that the match
+would be made, and was consequently armed with a double purpose in
+his desire to drive Sir Thomas ignominiously out of Percycross.
+
+Sir Thomas had had more than one interview with Serjeant Burnaby
+and little Mr. Joram, than whom two more astute barristers in such
+matters were not to be found at that time practising,--though perhaps
+at that time the astuteness of the Serjeant was on the wane; while
+that of Jacky Joram, as he was familiarly called, was daily rising
+in repute. Sir Thomas himself, barrister and senior to these two
+gentlemen, had endeavoured to hold his own with them, and to impress
+on them the conviction that he had nothing to conceal; that he had
+personally endeavoured, as best he knew how, to avoid corruption,
+and that if there had been corruption on the part of his own agents,
+he was himself ready to be a party in proclaiming it. But he found
+himself to be absolutely ignored and put out of court by his own
+counsel. They were gentlemen with whom professionally he had had no
+intercourse, as he had practised at the Chancery, and they at the
+Common Law Bar. But he had been Solicitor-General, and was a bencher
+of his Inn, whereas Serjeant Burnaby was only a Serjeant, and Jacky
+Joram still wore a stuff gown. Nevertheless, he found himself to be
+"nowhere" in discussing with them the circumstances of the election.
+Even Joram, whom he seemed to remember having seen only the other day
+as an ugly shame-faced boy about the courts, treated him, not exactly
+with indignity, but with patronising good-nature, listening with
+an air of half-attention to what he said, and then not taking the
+slightest heed of a word of it. Who does not know this transparent
+pretence of courtesies, which of all discourtesies is the most
+offensive? "Ah, just so, Sir Thomas; just so. And now, Mr. Trigger,
+I suppose Mr. Puffer's account hasn't yet been settled." Any word
+from Mr. Trigger was of infinitely greater value with Mr. Joram than
+all Sir Thomas's protestations. Sir Thomas could not keep himself
+from remembering that Jacky Joram's father was a cheesemonger at
+Gloucester, who had married the widow of a Jew with a little money.
+Twenty times Sir Thomas made up his mind to retire from the business
+altogether; but he always found himself unable to do so. When he
+mentioned the idea, Griffenbottom flung up his hands in dismay at
+such treachery on the part of an ally,--such treachery and such
+cowardice! What!--had not he, Sir Thomas, forced him, Griffenbottom,
+into all this ruinous expenditure? And now to talk of throwing up the
+sponge! It was in vain that Sir Thomas explained that he had forced
+nobody into it. It was manifestly the case that he had refused to go
+on with it by himself, and on this Mr. Griffenbottom and Mr. Trigger
+insisted so often and with so much strength that Sir Thomas felt
+himself compelled to stand to his guns, bad as he believed those guns
+to be.
+
+If Sir Thomas meant to retreat, why had he not retreated when a
+proposition to that effect was made to him at his own chambers? Of
+all the weak, vacillating, ill-conditioned men that Mr. Griffenbottom
+had ever been concerned with, Sir Thomas Underwood was the weakest,
+most vacillating, and most ill-conditioned. To have to sit in the
+same boat with such a man was the greatest misfortune that had ever
+befallen Mr. Griffenbottom in public life. Mr. Griffenbottom did not
+exactly say these hard things in the hearing of Sir Thomas, but he
+so said them that they became the common property of the Jorams,
+Triggers, Spiveycombs, and Spicers; and were repeated piecemeal to
+the unhappy second member.
+
+He had secured for himself a separate sitting-room at the "Percy
+Standard," thinking that thus he would have the advantage of being
+alone; but every one connected with his party came in and out of his
+room as though it had been specially selected as a chamber for public
+purposes. Even Griffenbottom came into it to have interviews there
+with Trigger, although at the moment Griffenbottom and Sir Thomas
+were not considered to be on speaking terms. Griffenbottom in these
+matters seemed to have the hide of a rhinoceros. He had chosen to
+quarrel with Sir Thomas. He had declared that he would not speak to a
+colleague whose Parliamentary ideas and habits were so repulsive to
+him. He had said quite aloud, that Trigger had never made a greater
+mistake in his life than in bringing Sir Thomas to the borough, and
+that, let the petition go as it would, Sir Thomas should never be
+returned for the borough again. He had spoken all these things,
+almost in the hearing of Sir Thomas. And yet he would come to Sir
+Thomas's private room, and sit there half the morning with a cigar in
+his mouth! Mr. Pile would come in, and make most unpleasant speeches.
+Mr. Spicer called continually, with his own ideas about the borough.
+The thing could be still saved if enough money were spent. If Mr.
+Givantake were properly handled, and Mr. O'Blather duly provided for,
+the two witnesses upon whom the thing really hung would not be found
+in Percycross when called upon to-morrow. That was Mr. Spicer's idea;
+and he was very eager to communicate it to Serjeant Burnaby. Trigger,
+in his energy, told Mr. Spicer to go and be ----. All this occurred
+in Sir Thomas's private room. And then Mr. Pabsby was there
+constantly, till he at last was turned out by Trigger. In his agony,
+Sir Thomas asked for another sitting-room; but was informed that the
+house was full. The room intended for the two members was occupied
+by Griffenbottom; but nobody ever suggested that the party might
+meet there when Sir Thomas's vain request was made for further
+accommodation. Griffenbottom went on with his cigar, and Mr. Pile
+sat picking his teeth before the fire, and making unpleasant little
+speeches.
+
+The judge, who had hurried into Percycross from another town, and who
+opened the commission on the Monday evening, did not really begin
+his work till the Tuesday morning. Jacky Joram had declared that the
+inquiry would last three days, he having pledged himself to be at
+another town early on the following Friday. Serjeant Burnaby, whose
+future services were not in such immediate demand, was of opinion
+that they would not get out of Percycross till Saturday night. Judge
+Crumbie, who was to try the case, and who had been trying similar
+cases ever since Christmas, was not due at his next town till the
+Monday; but it was understood by everybody that he intended if
+possible to spend his Saturday and Sunday in the bosom of his family.
+Trigger, however, had magnificent ideas. "I believe we shall carry
+them into the middle of next week," he said, "if they choose to
+go on with it." Trigger thoroughly enjoyed the petition; and even
+Griffenbottom, who was no longer troubled by gout, and was not now
+obliged to walk about the borough, did not seem to dislike it. But to
+poor Sir Thomas it was indeed a purgatory.
+
+The sitting members were of course accused, both as regarded
+themselves and their agents, of every crime known in electioneering
+tactics. Votes had been personated. Votes had been bought. Votes
+had been obtained by undue influence on the part of masters and
+landlords, and there had been treating of the most pernicious and
+corrupt description. As to the personating of votes, that according
+to Mr. Trigger, had been merely introduced as a pleasant commencing
+fiction common in Parliamentary petitions. There had been nothing
+of the kind, and nobody supposed that there had, and it did not
+signify. Of undue influence,--what purists choose to call undue
+influence,--there had of course been plenty. It was not likely that
+masters paying thousands a year in wages were going to let these men
+vote against themselves. But this influence was so much a matter
+of course that it could not be proved to the injury of the sitting
+members. Such at least was Mr. Trigger's opinion. Mr. Spicer might
+have been a little imprudent with his men; but no case could be
+brought up in which a man had been injured. Undue influence at
+Percycross was--"gammon." So said Mr. Trigger, and Jacky Joram agreed
+with Mr. Trigger. Serjeant Burnaby rubbed his hands, and would give
+no opinion till he had heard the evidence. That votes had been bought
+during the day of the election there was no doubt on earth. On this
+matter great secrecy prevailed, and Sir Thomas could not get a word
+spoken in his own hearing. It was admitted, however, that votes had
+been bought. There were a dozen men, perhaps more than a dozen,
+who would prove that one Glump had paid them ten shillings a piece
+between one and two on the day of the election. There was a general
+belief that perhaps over a hundred had been bought at that rate. But
+Trigger was ready to swear that he did not know whence Glump had got
+the money, and Glump himself was,--nobody knew where Glump was, but
+strange whispers respecting Glump were floating about the borough.
+Trigger was disposed to believe that they, on their side, could prove
+that Glump had really been employed by Westmacott's people to vitiate
+the election. He was quite sure that nothing could connect Glump
+with him as an agent on behalf of Griffenbottom and Underwood. So
+Mr. Trigger asserted with the greatest confidence; but what was in
+the bottom of Mr. Trigger's mind on this subject no one pretended
+to know. As for Glump himself he was a man who would certainly
+take payment from anybody for any dirty work. It was the general
+impression through the borough that Glump had on this occasion been
+hired by Trigger, and Trigger certainly enjoyed the prestige which
+was thus conferred upon him.
+
+As to the treating,--there could be no doubt about that. There had
+been treating. The idea of conducting an election at Percycross
+without beer seemed to be absurd to every male and female
+Percycrossian. Of course the publicans would open their taps and then
+send in their bills for beer to the electioneering agents. There was
+a prevailing feeling that any interference with so ancient a practice
+was not only un-English, but unjust also;--that it was beyond the
+power of Parliament to enforce any law so abominable and unnatural.
+Trigger was of opinion that though there had been a great deal
+of beer, no attempt would be made to prove that votes had been
+influenced by treating. There had been beer on both sides, and
+Trigger hoped sincerely that there might always be beer on both sides
+as long as Percycross was a borough.
+
+Sir Thomas found that his chance of success was now spoken of in a
+tone very different from that which had been used when the matter
+was discussed in his own chamber. He had been then told that it was
+hardly possible that he should keep his seat;--and he had in fact
+been asked to resign it. Though sick enough of Percycross, this
+he would not do in the manner then proposed to him. Now he was
+encouraged in the fight;--but the encouragement was of a nature which
+gave him no hope, which robbed him even of the wish to have a hope.
+It was all dirt from beginning to end. Whatever might be the verdict
+of the judge,--from the judge the verdict was now to come,--he should
+still believe that nothing short of absolute disfranchisement would
+meet the merits of the case.
+
+The accusation with regard to the personation of votes was
+abandoned,--Serjeant Burnaby expressing the most extreme disgust that
+any such charge should have been made without foundation,--although
+he himself at the borough which he had last left had brought forward
+the same charge on behalf of his then clients, and had abandoned it
+in the same way. Then the whole of the remaining hours of the Tuesday
+and half the Wednesday were passed in showing that Messrs. Spicer,
+Spiveycomb, and Roodylands had forced their own men to vote blue. Mr.
+Spicer had dismissed one man and Mr. Spiveycomb two men; but both
+these gentlemen swore that the men dismissed were not worth their
+salt, and had been sent adrift upon the world by no means on account
+of their politics. True: they had all voted for Moggs; but then they
+had done that simply to spite their late master. On the middle of
+Wednesday, when the matter of intimidation had been completed,--the
+result still lying in the bosom of Baron Crumbie,--Mr. Trigger
+thought that things were looking up. That was the report which he
+brought to Mr. Griffenbottom, who was smoking his midday cigar in
+Sir Thomas's arm-chair, while Sir Thomas was endeavouring to master
+the first book of Lord Verulam's later treatise "De dignitate
+scientiarum," seated in a cane-bottomed chair in a very small
+bed-room up-stairs.
+
+By consent the question of treating came next. Heaven and earth were
+being moved to find Glump. When the proposition was made that the
+treating should come before the bribery Trigger stated in court that
+he was himself doing his very best to find the man. There might yet
+be a hope, though, alas, the hope was becoming slighter every hour.
+His own idea was that Glump had been sent away to Holland by,--well,
+he did not care to name the parties by whom he believed that Glump
+had been expatriated. However, there might be a chance. The counsel
+on the other side remarked that there might, indeed, be a chance.
+Baron Crumbie expressed a hope that Mr. Glump might make his
+appearance,--for the sake of the borough, which might otherwise fare
+badly; and then the great beer question was discussed for two entire
+days.
+
+There was no doubt about the beer. Trigger, who was examined after
+some half-score of publicans, said openly that thirsty Conservative
+souls had been allowed to slake their drought at the joint expense
+of the Conservative party in the borough,--as thirsty Liberal souls
+had been encouraged to do on the other side. When reminded that any
+malpractice in that direction on the part of a beaten candidate could
+not affect the status of the elected members, he replied that all
+the beer consumed in Percycross during the election had not, to the
+best of his belief, affected a vote. The Percycrossians were not men
+to vote this way or that because of beer! He would not believe it
+even in regard to a Liberal Percycrossian. It might be so in other
+boroughs, but of other boroughs he knew absolutely nothing. Who paid
+for the beer? Mr. Trigger at once acknowledged that it was paid for
+out of the general funds provided for the election. Who provided
+those funds? There was not a small amount of fencing on this point,
+during the course of which Mr. Joram snapped very sharply and very
+frequently at the counsel on the other side,--hoping thereby somewhat
+to change the issue. But at last there came out these two facts,
+that there was a general fund, to which all Conservatives might
+subscribe, and that the only known subscribers to this fund were
+Mr. Griffenbottom, Sir Thomas Underwood, and old Mr. Pile, who had
+given a L10 note,--apparently with the view of proving that there
+was a fund. It was agreed on all hands that treating had been
+substantiated; but it was remarked by some that Baron Crumbie had
+not been hard upon treating in other boroughs. After all, the result
+would depend upon what the Baron thought about Mr. Glump. It might be
+that he would recommend further inquiry, under a special commission,
+into the practices of the borough, because of the Glump iniquities,
+and that he should, nevertheless, leave the seats to the sitting
+members. That seemed to be Mr. Trigger's belief on the evening of the
+Thursday, as he took his brandy and water in Sir Thomas's private
+sitting-room.
+
+There is nothing in the world so brisk as the ways and manners of
+lawyers when in any great case they come to that portion of it which
+they know to be the real bone of the limb and kernel of the nut. The
+doctor is very brisk when after a dozen moderately dyspeptic patients
+he comes on some unfortunate gentleman whose gastric apparatus
+is gone altogether. The parson is very brisk when he reaches the
+minatory clause in his sermon. The minister is very brisk when he
+asks the House for a vote, telling his hoped-for followers that this
+special point is absolutely essential to his government. Unless he
+can carry this, he and all those hanging on to him must vacate their
+places. The horse-dealer is very brisk when, after four or five
+indifferent lots, he bids his man bring out from the stable the
+last thorough-bred that he bought, and the very best that he ever
+put his eye on. But the briskness of none of these is equal to the
+briskness of the barrister who has just got into his hands for
+cross-examination him whom we may call the centre witness of a great
+case. He plumes himself like a bullfinch going to sing. He spreads
+himself like a peacock on a lawn. He perks himself like a sparrow on
+a paling. He crows amidst his attorneys and all the satellites of
+the court like a cock among his hens. He puts his hands this way and
+that, settling even the sunbeams as they enter, lest a moat should
+disturb his intellect or dull the edge of his subtlety. There is a
+modesty in his eye, a quiescence in his lips, a repose in his limbs,
+under which lie half-concealed,--not at all concealed from those
+who have often watched him at his work,--the glance, the tone, the
+spring, which are to tear that unfortunate witness into pieces,
+without infringing any one of those conventional rules which
+have been laid down for the guidance of successful well-mannered
+barristers.
+
+Serjeant Burnaby, though astute, was not specially brisk by nature;
+but on this Friday morning Mr. Joram was very brisk indeed. There
+was a certain Mr. Cavity, who had acted as agent for Westmacott, and
+who,--if anybody on the Westmacott side had been so guilty,--had been
+guilty in the matter of Glump's absence. Perhaps we should not do
+justice to Mr. Joram's acuteness were we to imagine him as believing
+that Glump was absent under other influence than that used on behalf
+of the conservative side; but there were subsidiary points on which
+Mr. Cavity might be made to tell tales. Of course there had been
+extensive bribery for years past in Percycross on the liberal as well
+as on the conservative side, and Mr. Joram thought that he could make
+Mr. Cavity tell a tale. And then, too, he could be very brisk in that
+affair of Glump. He was pretty nearly sure that Mr. Glump could not
+be connected by evidence with either of the sitting members or with
+any of their agents. He would prove that Glump was neutral ground,
+and that as such his services could not be traced to his friend, Mr.
+Trigger. Mr. Joram on this occasion was very brisk indeed.
+
+A score of men were brought up, ignorant, half-dumb, heavy-browed
+men, all dressed in the amphibious garb of out-o'-door town
+labourers,--of whom there exists a class of hybrids between the rural
+labourer and the artizan,--each one of whom acknowledged that after
+noon on the election day he received ten shillings, with instructions
+to vote for Griffenbottom and Underwood. And they did vote for
+Griffenbottom and Underwood. At all elections in Percycross they had,
+as they now openly acknowledged, waited till about the same hour on
+the day of election, and then somebody had bought their votes for
+somebody. On this occasion the purchase had been made by Mr. Glump.
+There was a small empty house up a little alley in the town, to which
+there was a back door opening on a vacant space in the town known
+as Grinder's Green. They entered this house by one door, leaving it
+by the other, and as they passed through, Glump gave to each man
+half a sovereign with instructions, entering their names in a small
+book;--and then they went in a body and voted for Griffenbottom and
+Underwood. Each of the twenty knew nearly all the other twenty, but
+none of them knew any other men who had been paid by Glump. Of course
+none of them had the slightest knowledge of Glump's present abode.
+It was proved that at the last election Glump had acted for the
+Liberals; but it was also proved that at the election before he had
+been active in bribing for the Conservatives. Very many things were
+proved,--if a thing be proved when supported by testimony on oath.
+Trigger proved that twenty votes alone could have been of no
+service, and would not certainly have been purchased in a manner so
+detrimental. According to Trigger's views it was as clear as daylight
+that Glump had not been paid by them. When asked whether he would
+cause Mr. Glump to be repaid that sum of ten pounds, should Mr. Glump
+send in any bill to that effect, he simply stated that Mr. Glump
+would certainly send no such bill to him. He was then asked whether
+it might not be possible that the money should be repaid by Messrs.
+Griffenbottom and Underwood through his hands, reaching Glump again
+by means of a further middleman. Mr. Trigger acknowledged that were
+such a claim made upon him by any known agent of his party, he would
+endeavour to pass the ten pounds through the accounts, as he thought
+that there should be a certain feeling of honour in these things;
+but he did not for a moment think that any one acting with him would
+have dealings with Glump. On the Saturday morning, when the case was
+still going on, to the great detriment of Baron Grumble's domestic
+happiness, Glump had not yet been caught. It seemed that the man
+had no wife, no relative, no friend. The woman at whose house he
+lodged declared that he often went and came after this fashion. The
+respect with which Glump's name was mentioned, as his persistency in
+disobeying the law and his capability for intrigue were thus proved,
+was so great, that it was a pity he could not have been there to
+enjoy it. For the hour he was a great man in Percycross,--and the
+greater because Baron Crumbie did not cease to threaten him with
+terrible penalties.
+
+Much other bribery was alleged, but none other was distinctly brought
+home to the agents of the sitting members. As to bringing bribery
+home to Mr. Griffenbottom himself;--that appeared to be out of the
+question. Nobody seemed even to wish to do that. The judge, as it
+appeared, did not contemplate any result so grave and terrible as
+that. There was a band of freemen of whom it was proved that they had
+all been treated with most excessive liberality by the corporation of
+the town; and it was proved, also, that a majority of the corporation
+were supporters of Mr. Griffenbottom. A large number of votes
+had been so secured. Such, at least, was the charge made by the
+petitioners. But this allegation Jacky Joram laughed to scorn. The
+corporation, of course, used the charities and privileges of the town
+as they thought right; and the men voted,--as they thought right. The
+only cases of bribery absolutely proved were those manipulated by
+Glump, and nothing had been adduced clearly connecting Glump and
+the Griffenbottomites. Mr. Trigger was in ecstasies; but Mr. Joram
+somewhat repressed him by referring to these oracular words which had
+fallen from the Baron in respect to the corporation. "A corporation
+may be guilty as well as an individual," the Baron had said. Jacky
+Joram had been very eager in assenting to the Baron, but in asserting
+at the same time that the bribery must be proved. "It won't be
+assumed, my lord, that a corporation has bribed because it has
+political sympathies." "It should have none," said the Baron. "Human
+nature is human nature, my lord,--even in corporations," said Jacky
+Joram. This took place just before luncheon,--which was made a solemn
+meal on all sides, as the judge had declared his intention of sitting
+till midnight, if necessary.
+
+Immediately after the solemn meal Mr. Griffenbottom was examined.
+It had been the declared purpose of the other side to turn Mr.
+Griffenbottom inside out. Mr. Griffenbottom and his conduct had on
+various former occasions been the subject of parliamentary petitions
+under the old form; but on such occasions the chief delinquent
+himself was never examined. Now Mr. Griffenbottom would be made to
+tell all that he knew, not only of his present, but of his past,
+iniquities. And yet Mr. Griffenbottom told very little; and it
+certainly did seem to the bystanders, that even the opposing counsel,
+even the judge on the bench, abstained from their prey because
+he was a member of Parliament. It was notorious to all the world
+that Griffenbottom had debased the borough; had so used its venal
+tendencies as to make that systematic which had before been too
+frequent indeed, but yet not systematized; that he had trained the
+rising generation of Percycross politicians to believe in political
+corruption;--and yet he escaped that utter turning inside out of
+which men had spoken.
+
+The borough had cost him a great deal of money certainly; but as far
+as he knew the money had been spent legally. It had at least always
+been his intention before an election was commenced that nothing
+illegal should be done. He had no doubt always afterwards paid sums
+of money the use of which he did not quite understand, and as to some
+of which he could not but fear that it had been doubtfully applied.
+The final accounts as to the last election had not reached him, but
+he did not expect to be charged with improper expenses. There no
+doubt would be something for beer, but that was unavoidable. As to
+Mr. Glump he knew literally nothing of the man,--nor had he wanted
+any such man's assistance. Twenty votes indeed! Let them look at his
+place upon the poll. There had been a time in the day when twenty
+votes this way or that might be necessary to Sir Thomas. He had been
+told that it was so. On the day of the election his own position
+on the poll had been so certain to him, that he should not have
+cared,--that is, for himself,--had he heard that Glump was buying
+votes against him. He considered it to be quite out of the question
+that Glump should have bought votes for him,--with any purpose of
+serving him. And so Mr. Griffenbottom escaped from the adverse
+counsel and from the judge.
+
+There was very little in the examination of Sir Thomas Underwood to
+interest any one. No one really suspected him of corrupt practices.
+In all such cases the singular part of the matter is that everybody,
+those who are concerned and those who are not concerned, really know
+the whole truth which is to be investigated; and yet, that which
+everybody knows cannot be substantiated. There were not five men in
+court who were not certain that Griffenbottom was corrupt, and that
+Sir Thomas was not; that the borough was rotten as a six-months-old
+egg; that Glump had acted under one of Trigger's aides-de-camp; that
+intimidation was the law of the borough; and that beer was used so
+that men drunk might not fear that which sober they had not the
+courage to encounter. All this was known to everybody; and yet, up
+to the last, it was thought by many in Percycross that corruption,
+acknowledged, transparent, egregious corruption, would prevail even
+in the presence of a judge. Mr. Trigger believed it to the last.
+
+But it was not so thought by the Jacky Jorams or by the Serjeant
+Burnabys. They made their final speeches,--the leading lawyer on each
+side, but they knew well what was coming. At half-past seven, for to
+so late an hour had the work been continued, the judge retired to
+get a cup of tea, and returned at eight to give his award. It was as
+follows:--
+
+As to the personation of votes, there should have been no allegation
+made. In regard to the charge of intimidation it appeared that the
+system prevailed to such an extent as to make it clear to him that
+Percycross was unfit to return representatives to Parliament. In the
+matter of treating he was not quite prepared to say that had no other
+charge been made he should have declared this election void, but of
+that also there had been sufficient to make him feel it to be his
+duty to recommend to the Speaker of the House of Commons that further
+inquiry should be made as to the practices of the borough. And as
+to direct bribery, though he was not prepared to say that he could
+connect the agents of the members with what had been done,--and
+certainly he could not connect either of the two members
+themselves,--still, quite enough had been proved to make it
+imperative upon him to declare the election void. This he should
+do in his report to the Speaker, and should also advise that a
+commission be held with the view of ascertaining whether the
+privilege of returning members of Parliament should remain with the
+borough. With Griffenbottom he dealt as tenderly as he did with Sir
+Thomas, sending them both forth to the world, unseated indeed, but as
+innocent, injured men.
+
+There was a night train up to London at 10 P.M., by which on that
+evening Sir Thomas Underwood travelled, shaking off from his feet as
+he entered the carriage the dust of that most iniquitous borough.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLV.
+
+"NEVER GIVE A THING UP."
+
+
+Mr. Neefit's conduct during this period of disappointment was not
+exactly what it should to have been, either in the bosom of his
+family or among his dependents in Conduit Street. Herr Bawwah, over
+a pot of beer in the public-house opposite, suggested to Mr. Waddle
+that "the governor might be ----," in a manner that affected Mr.
+Waddle greatly. It was an eloquent and energetic expression of
+opinion,--almost an expression of a settled purpose as coming from
+the German as it did come; and Waddle was bound to admit that cause
+had been given. "Fritz," said Waddle pathetically, "don't think about
+it. You can't better the wages." Herr Bawwah looked up from his pot
+of beer and muttered a German oath. He had been told that he was
+beastly, skulking, pig-headed, obstinate, drunken, with some other
+perhaps stronger epithets which may be omitted,--and he had been told
+that he was a German. In that had lain the venom. There was the word
+that rankled. He had another pot of beer, and though it was then only
+twelve o'clock on a Monday morning Herr Bawwah swore that he was
+going to make a day of it, and that old Neefit might cut out the
+stuff for himself if he pleased. As they were now at the end of
+March, which is not a busy time of the year in Mr. Neefit's trade,
+the great artist's defalcation was of less immediate importance;
+but, as Waddle knew, the German was given both to beer and obstinacy
+when aroused to wrath; and what would become of the firm should the
+obstinacy continue?
+
+"Where's that pig-headed German brute?" asked Mr. Neefit, when Mr.
+Waddle returned to the establishment. Mr. Waddle made no reply; and
+when Neefit repeated the question with a free use of the epithets
+previously omitted by us, Waddle still was dumb, leaning over his
+ledger as though in that there were matters so great as to absorb his
+powers of hearing. "The two of you may go and be ---- together!" said
+Mr. Neefit. If any order requiring immediate obedience were contained
+in this, Mr. Waddle disobeyed that order. He still bent himself over
+the ledger, and was dumb. Waddle had been trusted with his master's
+private view in the matter of the Newton marriage, and felt that on
+this account he owed a debt of forbearance to the unhappy father.
+
+The breeches-maker was in truth very unhappy. He had accused his
+German assistant of obstinacy, but the German could hardly have been
+more obstinate than his master. Mr. Neefit had set his heart upon
+making his daughter Mrs. Newton, and had persisted in declaring that
+the marriage should be made to take place. The young man had once
+given him a promise, and should be compelled to keep the promise
+so given. And in these days Mr. Neefit seemed to have lost that
+discretion for which his friends had once given him credit. On the
+occasion of his visit to the Moonbeam early in the hunting season he
+had spoken out very freely among the sportsmen there assembled; and
+from that time all reticence respecting his daughter seemed to have
+been abandoned. He had paid the debts of this young man, who was now
+lord of wide domains, when the young man hadn't "a red copper in his
+pocket,"--so did Mr. Neefit explain the matter to his friends,--and
+he didn't intend that the young man should be off his bargain.
+"No;--he wasn't going to put up with that;--not if he knew it." All
+this he declared freely to his general acquaintance. He was very
+eloquent on the subject in a personal interview which he had with Mr.
+Moggs senior, in consequence of a visit made to Hendon by Mr. Moggs
+junior, during which he feared that Polly had shown some tendency
+towards yielding to the young politician. Mr. Moggs senior might take
+this for granted;--that if Moggs junior made himself master of Polly,
+it would be of Polly pure and simple, of Polly without a shilling of
+dowry. "He'll have to take her in her smock." That was the phrase in
+which Mr. Neefit was pleased to express his resolution. To all of
+which Mr. Moggs senior answered never a word. It was on returning
+from Mr. Moggs's establishment in Bond Street to his own in Conduit
+Street that Mr. Neefit made himself so very unpleasant to the
+unfortunate German. When Ontario put on his best clothes, and took
+himself out to Hendon on the previous Sunday, he did not probably
+calculate that, as one consequence of that visit, the Herr Bawwah
+would pass a whole week of intoxication in the little back parlour of
+the public-house near St. George's Church.
+
+It may be imagined how very unpleasant all this must have been to
+Miss Neefit herself. Poor Polly indeed suffered many things; but she
+bore them with an admirable and a persistent courage. Indeed, she
+possessed a courage which greatly mitigated her sufferings. Let her
+father be as indiscreet as he might, he could not greatly lower her,
+as long as she herself was prudent. It was thus that Polly argued
+with herself. She knew her own value, and was not afraid that she
+should ever lack a lover when she wanted to find a husband. Of course
+it was not a nice thing to be thrown at a man's head, as her father
+was constantly throwing her at the head of young Newton; but such a
+man as she would give herself to at last would understand all that.
+Ontario Moggs, could she ever bring herself to accept Ontario, would
+not be less devoted to her because of her father's ill-arranged
+ambition. Polly could be obstinate too, but with her obstinacy there
+was combined a fund of feminine strength which, as we think, quite
+justified the devotion of Ontario Moggs.
+
+Amidst all these troubles Mrs. Neefit also had a bad time of it; so
+bad a time that she was extremely anxious that Ontario should at once
+carry off the prize;--Ontario, or the gasfitter, or almost anybody.
+Neefit was taking to drink in the midst of all this confusion, and
+was making himself uncommonly unpleasant in the bosom of his family.
+On the Sunday,--the Sunday before the Monday on which the Herr
+decided that his wisest course of action would be to abstain from
+work and make a beast of himself, in order that he might spite his
+master,--Mr. Neefit had dined at one o'clock, and had insisted on his
+gin-and-water and pipe immediately after his dinner. Now Mr. Neefit,
+when he took too much, did not fall into the extreme sins which
+disgraced his foreman. He simply became very cross till he fell
+asleep, very heavy while sleeping, and more cross than ever when
+again awake. While he was asleep on this Sunday afternoon Ontario
+Moggs came down to Hendon dressed in his Sunday best. Mrs. Neefit
+whispered a word to him before he was left alone with Polly. "You be
+round with her, and run your chance about the money." "Mrs. Neefit,"
+said Ontario, laying his hand upon his heart, "all the bullion in the
+Bank of England don't make a feather's weight in the balance." "You
+never was mercenary, Mr. Ontario," said the lady. "My sweetheart is
+to me more than a coined hemisphere," said Ontario. The expression
+may have been absurd, but the feeling was there.
+
+Polly was not at all coy of her presence,--was not so, though she
+had been specially ordered by her father not to have anything to
+say to that long-legged, ugly fool. "Handsome is as handsome does,"
+Polly had answered. Whereupon Mr. Neefit had shown his teeth and
+growled;--but Polly, though she loved her father, and after a fashion
+respected him, was not afraid of him; and now, when her mother left
+her alone with Ontario, she was free enough of her conversation. "Oh,
+Polly," he said, after a while, "you know why I'm here."
+
+"Yes; I know," said Polly.
+
+"I don't think you do care for that young gentleman."
+
+"I'm not going to break my heart about him, Mr. Moggs."
+
+"I'd try to be the death of him, if you did."
+
+"That would be a right down tragedy, because then you'd be hung,--and
+so there'd be an end of us all. I don't think I'd do that, Mr.
+Moggs."
+
+"Polly, I sometimes feel as though I didn't know what to do."
+
+"Tell me the whole story of how you went on down at Percycross. I was
+so anxious you should get in."
+
+"Were you now?"
+
+"Right down sick at heart about it;--that I was. Don't you think we
+should all be proud to know a member of Parliament?"
+
+"Oh; if that's all--"
+
+"I shouldn't think anything of Mr. Newton for being in Parliament.
+Whether he was in Parliament or out would be all the same. Of course
+he's a friend, and we like him very well; but his being in Parliament
+would be nothing. But if you were there--!"
+
+"I don't know what's the difference," said Moggs despondently.
+
+"Because you're one of us."
+
+"Yes; I am," said Moggs, rising to his legs and preparing himself
+for an oration on the rights of labour. "I thank my God that I am no
+aristocrat." Then there came upon him a feeling that this was not a
+time convenient for political fervour. "But, I'll tell you something,
+Polly," he said, interrupting himself.
+
+"Well;--tell me something, Mr. Moggs."
+
+"I'd sooner have a kiss from you than be Prime Minister."
+
+"Kisses mean so much, Mr. Moggs," said Polly.
+
+"I mean them to mean much," said Ontario Moggs. Whereupon Polly,
+declining further converse on that delicate subject, and certainly
+not intending to grant the request made on the occasion, changed the
+subject.
+
+"But you will get in still;--won't you, Mr. Moggs? They tell me that
+those other gentlemen ain't to be members any longer, because what
+they did was unfair. Oughtn't that to make you member?"
+
+"I think it ought, if the law was right;--but it doesn't."
+
+"Doesn't it now? But you'll try again;--won't you? Never give a thing
+up, Mr. Moggs, if you want it really." As the words left her lips she
+understood their meaning,--the meaning in which he must necessarily
+take them,--and she blushed up to her forehead. Then she laughed as
+she strove to recall the encouragement she had given him. "You know
+what I mean, Mr. Moggs. I don't mean any silly nonsense about being
+in love."
+
+"If that is silly, I am the silliest man in London."
+
+"I think you are sometimes;--so I tell you fairly."
+
+In the meantime Mr. Neefit had woke from his slumbers. He was in his
+old arm-chair in the little back room, where they had dined, while
+Polly with her lover was in the front parlour. Mrs. Neefit was seated
+opposite to Mr. Neefit, with an open Bible in her lap, which had been
+as potent for sleep with her as had been the gin-and-water with her
+husband. Neefit suddenly jumped up and growled. "Where's Polly?" he
+demanded.
+
+"She's in the parlour, I suppose," said Mrs. Neefit doubtingly.
+
+"And who is with her?"
+
+"Nobody as hadn't ought to be," said Mrs. Neefit.
+
+"Who's there, I say?" But without waiting for an answer, he stalked
+into the front room. "It's no use in life your coming here," he said,
+addressing himself at once to Ontario; "not the least. She ain't
+for you. She's for somebody else. Why can't one word be as good as
+a thousand?" Moggs stood silent, looking sheepish and confounded.
+It was not that he was afraid of the father; but that he feared to
+offend the daughter should he address the father roughly. "If she
+goes against me she'll have to walk out of the house with just what
+she's got on her back."
+
+"I should be quite contented," said Ontario.
+
+"But I shouldn't;--so you may just cut it. Anybody who wants her
+without my leave must take her in her smock."
+
+"Oh, father!" screamed Polly.
+
+"That's what I mean,--so let's have done with it. What business have
+you coming to another man's house when you're not welcome? When I
+want you I'll send for you; and till I do you have my leave to stay
+away."
+
+"Good-bye, Polly," said Ontario, offering the girl his hand.
+
+"Good-bye, Mr. Moggs," said Polly; "and mind you get into Parliament.
+You stick to it, and you'll do it."
+
+When she repeated this salutary advice, it must have been that she
+intended to apply to the double event. Moggs at any rate took it in
+that light. "I shall," said he, as he opened the door and walked
+triumphantly out of the house.
+
+"Father," said Polly, as soon as they were alone, "you've behaved
+very bad to that young man."
+
+"You be blowed," said Mr. Neefit.
+
+"You have, then. You'll go on till you get me that talked about that
+I shall be ashamed to show myself. What's the good of me trying to
+behave, if you keep going on like that?"
+
+"Why didn't you take that chap when he came after you down to
+Margate?"
+
+"Because I didn't choose. I don't care enough for him; and it's all
+no use of you going on. I wouldn't have him if he came twenty times.
+I've made up my mind, so I tell you."
+
+"You're a very grand young woman."
+
+"I'm grand enough to have a will of my own about that. I'm not going
+to be made to marry any man, I know."
+
+"And you mean to take that long-legged shoemaker's apprentice."
+
+"He's not a shoemaker's apprentice any more than I'm a
+breeches-maker's apprentice." Polly was now quite in earnest, and in
+no mood for picking her words. "He is a bootmaker by his trade; and
+I've never said anything about taking him."
+
+"You've given him a promise."
+
+"No; I've not."
+
+"And you'd better not, unless you want to walk out of this house with
+nothing but the rags on your back. Ain't I doing it all for you?
+Ain't I been sweating my life out these thirty years to make you a
+lady?" This was hard upon Polly, as she was not yet one-and-twenty.
+
+"I don't want to be a lady; no more than I am just by myself, like.
+If I can't be a lady without being made one, I won't be a lady at
+all."
+
+"You be blowed."
+
+"There are different kinds of ladies, father. I want to be such a
+one as neither you nor mother shall ever have cause to say I didn't
+behave myself."
+
+"You'd talk the figures off a milestone," said Mr. Neefit, as he
+returned to his arm-chair, to his gin-and-water, to his growlings,
+and before long to his slumbers. Throughout the whole evening he was
+very unpleasant in the bosom of his family,--which consisted on this
+occasion of his wife only, as Polly took the opportunity of going out
+to drink tea with a young lady friend. Neefit, when he heard this,
+suggested that Ontario was drinking tea at the same house, and would
+have pursued his daughter but for mingled protestations and menaces
+which his wife used for preventing such a violation of parental
+authority. "Moggs don't know from Adam where she is; and you never
+knowed her do anything of that kind. And you'll go about with your
+mad schemes and jealousies till you about ruin the poor girl; that's
+what you will. I won't have it. If you go, I'll go too, and I'll
+shame you. No; you shan't have your hat. Of course she'll be off some
+day, if you make the place that wretched that she can't live in it. I
+know I would,--with the fust man as'd ask me." By these objurgations,
+by a pertinacious refusal as to his hat, and a little yielding in the
+matter of gin-and-water, Mr. Neefit was at length persuaded to remain
+at home.
+
+On the following morning he said nothing before he left home, but as
+soon as he had opened his letters and spoken a few sharp things to
+the two men in Conduit Street, he went off to Mr. Moggs senior. Of
+the interview between Mr. Neefit and Mr. Moggs senior sufficient has
+already been told. Then it was, after his return to his own shop,
+that he so behaved as to drive the German artist into downright
+mutiny and unlimited beer. Through the whole afternoon he snarled at
+Waddle; but Waddle sat silent, bending over the ledger. One question
+Waddle did answer.
+
+"Where's that pig-headed German gone?" asked Mr. Neefit for the tenth
+time.
+
+"I believe he's cutting his throat about this time," said Mr. Waddle.
+
+"He may wait till I come and sew it up," said the breeches-maker.
+
+All this time Mr. Neefit was very unhappy. He knew, as well as did
+Mr. Waddle or Polly, that he was misbehaving himself. He was by no
+means deficient in ideas of duty to his wife, to his daughter, and to
+his dependents. Polly was the apple of his eye; his one jewel;--in
+his estimation the best girl that ever lived. He admired her in all
+her moods, even though she would sometimes oppose his wishes with
+invincible obstinacy. He knew in his heart that were she to marry
+Ontario Moggs he would forgive her on the day of her marriage. He
+could not keep himself from forgiving her though she were to marry a
+chimney-sweep. But, as he thought, a great wrong was being done him.
+He could not bring himself to believe that Polly would not marry
+the young Squire, if the young Squire would only be true to his
+undertaking; and then he could not endure that the young Squire
+should escape from him, after having been, as it were, saved from
+ruin by his money, without paying for the accommodation in some
+shape. He had some inkling of an idea that in punishing Ralph by
+making public the whole transaction, he would be injuring his
+daughter as much as he injured Ralph. But the inkling did not
+sufficiently establish itself in his mind to cause him to desist.
+Ralph Newton ought to be made to repeat his offer before all the
+world; even though he should only repeat it to be again refused. The
+whole of that evening he sat brooding over it, so that he might come
+to some great resolution.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVI.
+
+MR. NEEFIT AGAIN.
+
+
+The last few days in March and the first week in April were devoted
+by Ralph the heir to a final visit to the Moonbeam. He had resolved
+to finish the hunting season at his old quarters, and then to remove
+his stud to Newton. The distinction with which he was welcomed
+by everybody at the Moonbeam must have been very gratifying to
+him. Though he had made no response whatever to Lieutenant Cox's
+proposition as to a visit to Newton, that gentleman received him as a
+hero. Captain Fooks also had escaped from his regiment with the sole
+object of spending these last days with his dear old friend. Fred
+Pepper too was very polite, though it was not customary with Mr.
+Pepper to display friendship so enthusiastic as that which warmed the
+bosoms of the two military gentlemen. As to Mr. Horsball, one might
+have thought from his manner that he hoped to engage his customer to
+remain at the Moonbeam for the rest of his life. But it was not so.
+It was in Mr. Horsball's nature to be civil to a rich hunting country
+gentleman; and it was the fact also that Ralph had ever been popular
+with the world of the Moonbeam,--even at times when the spasmodic,
+and at length dilatory, mode of his payment must have become matter
+for thought to the master of the establishment. There was no doubt
+about the payments now, and Ralph's popularity was increased
+fourfold. Mrs. Horsball got out from some secluded nook a special
+bottle of orange-brandy in his favour,--which Lieutenant Cox would
+have consumed on the day of its opening, had not Mrs. Horsball with
+considerable acrimony declined to supply his orders. The sister with
+ringlets smiled and smirked whenever the young Squire went near the
+bar. The sister in ringlets was given to flirtations of this kind,
+would listen with sweetest complacency to compliments on her beauty,
+and would return them with interest. But she never encouraged this
+sort of intimacy with gentlemen who did not pay their bills, or with
+those whose dealings with the house were not of a profitable nature.
+The man who expected that Miss Horsball would smile upon him because
+he ordered a glass of sherry and bitters or half-a-pint of pale ale
+was very much mistaken; but the softness of her smiles for those who
+consumed the Moonbeam champagne was unbounded. Love and commerce
+with her ran together, and regulated each other in a manner that was
+exceedingly advantageous to her brother. If I were about to open such
+a house as the Moonbeam the first thing I should look for would be
+a discreet, pleasant-visaged lady to assist me in the bar department,
+not much under forty, with ringlets, having no particular leaning
+towards matrimony, who knew how to whisper little speeches while she
+made a bottle of cherry-brandy serve five-and-twenty turns at the
+least. She should be honest, patient, graceful, capable of great
+labour, grasping,--with that wonderful capability of being greedy for
+the benefit of another which belongs to women,--willing to accept
+plentiful meals and a power of saving L20 a year as sufficient
+remuneration for all hardships, with no more susceptibility than a
+milestone, and as indifferent to delicacy in language as a bargee.
+There are such women, and very valuable women they are in that trade.
+Such a one was Miss Horsball, and in these days the sweetest of her
+smiles were bestowed upon the young Squire.
+
+Ralph Newton certainly liked it, though he assumed an air of laughing
+at it all. "One would think that old Hossy thought that I am going to
+go on with this kind of thing," he said one morning to Mr. Pepper as
+the two of them were standing about near the stable doors with pipes
+in their mouths. Old Hossy was the affectionate nickname by which Mr.
+Horsball was known among the hunting men of the B. B. Mr. Pepper and
+Ralph had already breakfasted, and were dressed for hunting except
+that they had not yet put on their scarlet coats. The meet was within
+three miles of their head-quarters; the captain and the lieutenant
+were taking advantage of the occasion by prolonged slumbers; and
+Ralph had passed the morning in discussing hunting matters with Mr.
+Pepper.
+
+"He don't think that," said Mr. Pepper, taking a very convenient
+little implement out of his pocket, contrived for purposes of
+pipe-smoking accommodation. He stopped down his tobacco, and drew the
+smoke, and seemed by his manner to be giving his undivided attention
+to his pipe. But that was Mr. Pepper's manner. He was short in
+speech, but always spoke with a meaning.
+
+"Of course he doesn't really," said Ralph. "I don't suppose I shall
+ever see the old house again after next week. You see when a man has
+a place of one's own, if there be hunting there, one is bound to take
+it; if there isn't, one can go elsewhere and pick and choose."
+
+"Just so," said Mr. Pepper.
+
+"I like this kind of thing amazingly, you know."
+
+"It has its advantages."
+
+"Oh dear, yes. There is no trouble, you know. Everything done for
+you. No servants to look after,--except just the fellow who brings
+you your breeches and rides your second horse." Mr. Pepper never had
+a second horse, or a man of his own to bring him his breeches, but
+the allusion did not on that account vex him. "And then you can do
+what you like a great deal more than you can in a house of your own."
+
+"I should say so," remarked Mr. Pepper.
+
+"I tell you what it is, Fred," continued Ralph, becoming very
+confidential. "I don't mind telling you, because you are a man who
+understands things. There isn't such a great pull after all in having
+a property of your own."
+
+"I shouldn't mind trying it,--just for a year or so," said Mr.
+Pepper.
+
+"I suppose not," said Ralph, chuckling in his triumph. "And yet there
+isn't so much in it. What does it amount to when it's all told? You
+keep horses for other fellows to ride, you buy wine for other fellows
+to drink, you build a house for other fellows to live in. You've a
+deal of business to do, and if you don't mind it you go very soon to
+the dogs. You have to work like a slave, and everybody gets a pull at
+you. The chances are you never have any ready money, and become as
+stingy as an old file. You have to get married because of the family,
+and the place, and all that kind of thing. Then you have to give
+dinners to every old fogy, male and female, within twenty miles
+of you, and before you know where you are you become an old fogy
+yourself. That's about what it is."
+
+"You ought to know," said Mr. Pepper.
+
+"I've been expecting it all my life,--of course. It was what I was
+born to, and everybody has been telling me what a lucky fellow I am
+since I can remember. Now I've got it, and I don't find it comes to
+so very much. I shall always look back upon the dear old Moonbeam,
+and the B. B., and Hossy's wonderful port wine with regret. It hasn't
+been very swell, you know, but it's been uncommonly cosy. Don't you
+think so?"
+
+"You see I wasn't born to anything better," said Mr. Pepper.
+
+Just at this moment Cox and Fooks came out of the house. They had
+not as yet breakfasted, but had thought that a mouthful of air in
+the stable-yard might enable them to get through their toast and
+red herrings with an amount of appetite which had not as yet been
+vouchsafed to them. Second and third editions of that wonderful port
+had been produced on the previous evening, and the two warriors had
+played their parts with it manfully. Fooks was bearing up bravely as
+he made his way across the yard; but Cox looked as though his friends
+ought to see to his making that journey to Australia very soon if
+they intended him to make it at all. "I'm blessed if you fellows
+haven't been and breakfasted," said Captain Fooks.
+
+"That's about it," said the Squire.
+
+"You must be uncommon fond of getting up early."
+
+"Do you know who gets the worm?" asked Mr. Pepper.
+
+"Oh, bother that," said Cox.
+
+"There's nothing I hate so much as being told about that nasty worm,"
+said Captain Fooks. "I don't want a worm."
+
+"But the early birds do," said Mr. Pepper.
+
+Captain Fooks was rather given to be cross of mornings. "I think, you
+know, that when fellows say over night they'll breakfast together, it
+isn't just the sort of thing for one or two to have all the things
+brought up at any unconscionable hour they please. Eh, Cox?"
+
+"I'm sure I don't know," said Cox. "I shall just have another go of
+soda and brandy with a devilled biscuit. That's all I want."
+
+"Fooks had better go to bed again, and see if he can't get out the
+other side," said Ralph.
+
+"Chaff doesn't mean anything," said Captain Fooks.
+
+"That's as you take it," said Mr. Pepper.
+
+"I shall take it just as I please," said Captain Fooks.
+
+Just at this moment Mr. Horsball came up to them, touching his hat
+cheerily in sign of the commencement of the day. "You'll ride Mr.
+Pepper's little 'orse, I suppose, sir?" he said, addressing himself
+to the young Squire.
+
+"Certainly,--I told Larking I would."
+
+"Exactly, Mr. Newton. And Banker might as well go out as second."
+
+"I said Brewer. Banker was out on Friday."
+
+"That won't be no odds, Mr. Newton. The fact is. Brewer's legs is a
+little puffed."
+
+"All right," said the Squire.
+
+"Well, old Hossy," said Lieutenant Cox, summing up all his energy in
+an attempt at matutinal joviality as he slapped the landlord on the
+back, "how are things going with you?"
+
+Mr. Horsball knew his customers, and did not like being slapped
+on the back with more than ordinary vigour by such a customer as
+Lieutenant Cox. "Pretty well, I thank you, Mr. Cox," said he. "I
+didn't take too much last night, and I eat my breakfast 'earty this
+morning."
+
+"There is one for you, young man," said Captain Fooks. Whereupon
+the Squire laughed heartily. Mr. Horsball went on nodding his
+head, intending to signify his opinion that he had done his work
+thoroughly; Mr. Pepper, standing on one foot with the other raised
+on a horse-block, looked on without moving a muscle of his face. The
+lieutenant was disgusted, but was too weak in his inner man to be
+capable of instant raillery;--when, on a sudden, the whole aspect of
+things was changed by the appearance of Mr. Neefit in the yard.
+
+"D----tion!" exclaimed our friend Ralph. The apparition had been so
+sudden that the Squire was unable to restrain himself. Mr. Neefit, as
+the reader will perhaps remember, had been at the Moonbeam before. He
+had written letters which had been answered, and then letters,--many
+letters,--to which no reply had been given. In respect of the Neefit
+arrangements Ralph Newton felt himself to be peculiarly ill-used by
+persecutions such as these, because he had honestly done his best
+to make Polly his wife. No doubt he acknowledged that fortune had
+favoured him almost miraculously, in first saving him from so
+injurious a marriage by the action of the young lady, and then at
+once bestowing upon him his estate. But the escape was the doing of
+fortune and Polly Neefit combined, and had not come of any intrigue
+on his own part. He was in a position,--so he thought,--absolutely
+to repudiate Neefit, and to throw himself upon facts for his
+protection;--but then it was undoubtedly the case that for a year
+or two Mr. Neefit could make his life a burden to him. He would
+have bought off Neefit at a considerable price, had Neefit been
+purchaseable. But Neefit was not in this matter greedy for himself.
+He wanted to make his daughter a lady, and he thought that this
+was the readiest way to accomplish that object. The Squire, in his
+unmeasurable disgust, uttered the curse aloud; but then, remembering
+himself, walked up to the breeches-maker with his extended hand. He
+had borrowed the man's money. "What's in the wind now, Mr. Neefit?"
+he said.
+
+"What's in the wind, Captain? Oh, you know. When are you coming to
+see us at the cottage?"
+
+"I don't think my coming would do any good. I'm not in favour with
+the ladies there." Ralph was aware that all the men standing round
+him had heard the story, and that nothing was to be gained by an
+immediate attempt at concealment. It behoved him, above all things,
+to be upon his metal, to put a good face upon it, and to be at any
+rate equal to the breeches-maker in presence of mind and that kind of
+courage which he himself would have called "cheek."
+
+"My money was in favour with you, Captain, when you promised as how
+you would be on the square with me in regard to our Polly."
+
+"Mr. Neefit," said Ralph, speaking in a low voice, but still clearly,
+so that all around him could hear him, "your daughter and I can never
+be more to each other than we are at present. She has decided that.
+But I value her character and good name too highly to allow even you
+to injure them by such a discussion in a stableyard." And, having
+said this, he walked away into the house.
+
+"My Polly's character!" said the infuriated breeches-maker, turning
+round to the audience, and neglecting to follow his victim in his
+determination to vindicate his daughter. "If my girl's character
+don't stand higher nor his or any one's belonging to him I'll eat
+it!"
+
+"Mr. Newton meant to speak in favour of the young lady, not against
+her," said Mr. Pepper.
+
+"Then why don't he come out on the square? Now, gents, I'll tell you
+just the whole of it. He came down to my little box, where I, and my
+missus, and my girl lives quiet and decent, to borrow money;--and he
+borrowed it. He won't say as that wasn't so."
+
+"And he's paid you the money back again," said Mr. Pepper.
+
+"He have;--but just you listen. I know you, Mr. Pepper, and all about
+you; and do you listen. He have paid it back. But when he come there
+borrowing money, he saw my girl; and, says he,--'I've got to sell
+that 'eritance of mine for just what it 'll fetch.' 'That's bad,
+Captain,' says I. 'It is bad,' says he. Then says he again, 'Neefit,
+that girl of yours there is the sweetest girl as ever I put my eyes
+on.' And so she is,--as sweet as a rose, and as honest as the sun,
+and as good as gold. I says it as oughtn't; but she is. 'It's a pity,
+Neefit,' says he,' about the 'eritance; ain't it?' 'Captain,' says
+I,--I used to call him Captain 'cause he come down quite familiar
+like to eat his bit of salmon and drink his glass of wine. Laws,--he
+was glad enough to come then, mighty grand as he is now."
+
+"I don't think he's grand at all," said Mr. Horsball.
+
+"Well;--do you just listen, gents. 'Captain,' says I, 'that 'eritance
+of yourn mustn't be sold no how. I says so. What's the figure as is
+wanted?' Well; then he went on to say as how Polly was the sweetest
+girl he ever see;--and so we came to an understanding. He was to have
+what money he wanted at once, and then L20,000 down when he married
+Polly. He did have a thousand. And, now,--see what his little game
+is."
+
+"But the young lady wouldn't have anything to say to him," suggested
+Captain Fooks, who, even for the sake of his breakfast, could not
+omit to hear the last of so interesting a conversation.
+
+"Laws, Captain Fooks, to hear the likes of that from you, who is an
+officer and a gentleman by Act of Parliament! When you have anything
+sweet to say to a young woman, does she always jump down your throat
+the first go off?"
+
+"If she don't come at the second time of asking I always go
+elsewhere," said Captain Fooks.
+
+"Then it's my opinion you have a deal of travelling to do," said Mr.
+Neefit, "and don't get much at the end of it. It's because he's come
+in for his 'eritance, which he never would have had only for me, that
+he's demeaning himself this fashion. It ain't acting the gentleman;
+it ain't the thing; it's off the square. Only for me and my money
+there wouldn't be an acre his this blessed minute;--d----d if there
+would! I saved it for him, by my ready money,--just that I might see
+my Polly put into a station as she'd make more genteel than she found
+it. That's what she would;--she has that manners, not to talk of her
+being as pretty a girl as there is from here to,--to anywheres. He
+made me a promise, and he shall keep it. I'll worry the heart out
+of him else. Pay me back my money! Who cares for the money? I can
+tell guineas with him now, I'll be bound. I'll put it all in the
+papers,--I will. There ain't a soul shan't know it. I'll put the
+story of it into the pockets of every pair of breeches as leaves my
+shop. I'll send it to every M. F. H. in the kingdom."
+
+"You'll about destroy your trade, old fellow," said Mr. Pepper.
+
+"I don't care for the trade, Mr. Pepper. Why have I worked like a
+'orse? It's only for my girl."
+
+"I suppose she's not breaking her heart for him?" said Captain Fooks.
+
+"What she's a doing with her heart ain't no business of yours,
+Captain Fooks. I'm her father, and I know what I'm about. I'll make
+that young man's life a burden to him, if 'e ain't on the square
+with my girl. You see if I don't. Mr. 'Orsball, I want a 'orse to go
+a 'unting on to-day. You lets 'em. Just tell your man to get me a
+'orse. I'll pay for him."
+
+"I didn't know you ever did anything in that way," said Mr. Horsball.
+
+"I may begin if I please, I suppose. If I can't go no other way, I'll
+go on a donkey, and I'll tell every one that's out. Oh, 'e don't know
+me yet,--don't that young gent."
+
+Mr. Neefit did not succeed in getting any animal out of Mr.
+Horsball's stables, nor did he make further attempt to carry his last
+threat into execution on that morning. Mr. Horsball now led the way
+into the house, while Mr. Pepper mounted his nag. Captain Fooks and
+Lieutenant Cox went in to their breakfast, and the unfortunate father
+followed them. It was now nearly eleven o'clock, and it was found
+that Ralph's horses had been taken round to the other door, and that
+he had already started. He said very little to any one during the
+day, though he was somewhat comforted by information conveyed to him
+by Mr. Horsball in the course of the afternoon that Mr. Neefit had
+returned to London. "You send your lawyer to him, Squire," said Mr.
+Horsball. "Lawyers cost a deal of money, but they do make things
+straight." This suggestion had also been made to him by his brother
+Gregory.
+
+On the following day Ralph went up to London, and explained all the
+circumstances of the case to Mr. Carey. Mr. Carey undertook to do his
+best to straighten this very crooked episode in his client's life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVII.
+
+THE WAY WHICH SHOWS THAT THEY MEAN IT.
+
+
+If this kind of thing were to go on, life wouldn't be worth having.
+That was the feeling of Ralph, the squire of Newton, as he returned
+on that Saturday from London to the Moonbeam; and so far Mr. Neefit
+had been successful in carrying out his threat. Neefit had sworn
+that he would make the young man's life a burden to him, and the
+burden was already becoming unbearable. Mr. Carey had promised to do
+something. He would, at any rate, see the infatuated breeches-maker
+of Conduit Street. In the meantime he had suggested one remedy of
+which Ralph had thought before,--"If you were married to some one
+else he'd give it up," Mr. Carey had suggested. That no doubt was
+true.
+
+Ralph completed his sojourn at the Moonbeam, leaving that place at
+the end of the first week in April, took a run down to his own place,
+and then settled himself up to London for the season. His brother
+Gregory had at this time returned to the parsonage at Newton; but
+there was an understanding that he was to come up to London and be
+his brother's guest for the first fortnight in May. Ralph the heir
+had taken larger rooms, and had a spare chamber. When Ralph had given
+this invitation, he had expressed his determination of devoting his
+spring in town to an assiduous courtship of Mary Bonner. At the
+moment in which he made that assertion down at Newton, the nuisance
+of the Neefit affair was less intolerable to him than it had since
+become. He had spoken cheerily of his future prospects, declaring
+himself to be violently in love with Mary, though he declared at the
+same time that he had no idea of breaking his heart for any young
+woman. That last assertion was probably true.
+
+As for living in the great house at the Priory all alone, that he
+had declared to be impossible. Of course he would be at home for
+the hunting next winter; but he doubted whether he should be there
+much before that time, unless a certain coming event should make it
+necessary for him to go down and look after things. He thought it
+probable that he should take a run abroad in July; perhaps go to
+Norway for the fishing in June. He was already making arrangements
+with two other men for a move in August. He might be at home for
+partridge shooting about the middle of September, but he shouldn't
+"go into residence" at Newton before that. Thus he had spoken of it
+in describing his plans to his brother, putting great stress on his
+intention to devote the spring months to the lovely Mary. Gregory
+had seen nothing wrong in all this. Ralph was now a rich man, and
+was entitled to amuse himself. Gregory would have wished that his
+brother would at once make himself happy among his own tenants
+and dependents, but that, no doubt, would come soon. Ralph did
+spend two nights at Newton after the scene with Neefit in the
+Moonbeam yard,--just that he might see his nags safe in their new
+quarters,--and then went up to London. He was hardly yet strong in
+heart, because such a trouble as that which vexed him in regard to
+Polly does almost make a man's life a burden. Ralph was gifted with
+much aptitude for throwing his troubles behind, but he hardly was yet
+able to rid himself of this special trouble. That horrid tradesman
+was telling his story to everybody. Sir Thomas Underwood knew
+the story; and so, he thought, did Mary Bonner. Mary Bonner, in
+truth, did not know it; but she had thrown in Ralph's teeth, as an
+accusation against him, that he owed himself and his affections to
+another girl; and Ralph, utterly forgetful of Clarissa and that now
+long-distant scene on the lawn, had believed, and still did believe,
+that Mary had referred to Polly Neefit. On the 10th of April he
+established himself at his new rooms in Spring Gardens, and was
+careful in seeing that there was a comfortable little bed-room for
+his brother Greg. His uncle had now been dead just six months, but he
+felt as though he had been the owner of the Newton estate for years.
+If Mr. Carey could only settle for him that trouble with Mr. Neefit,
+how happy his life would be to him. He was very much in love with
+Mary Bonner, but his trouble with Mr. Neefit was of almost more
+importance to him than his love for Mary Bonner.
+
+In the meantime the girls were living, as usual, at Popham Villa, and
+Sir Thomas was living, as usual, in Southampton Buildings. He and his
+colleague had been unseated, but it had already been decided by the
+House of Commons that no new writ should be at once issued, and that
+there should be a commission appointed to make extended inquiry at
+Percycross in reference to the contemplated disfranchisement of the
+borough. There could be no possible connexion between this inquiry
+and the expediency of Sir Thomas living at home; but, after some
+fashion, he reconciled further delay to his conscience by the fact
+that the Percycross election was not even yet quite settled. No doubt
+it would be necessary that he should again go to Percycross during
+the sitting of the Commission.
+
+The reader will remember the interview between Gregory Newton and
+Clarissa, in which poor Clary had declared with so much emphasis her
+certainty that his brother's suit to Mary must be fruitless. This she
+had said, with artless energy, in no degree on her own behalf. She
+was hopeless now in that direction, and had at last taught herself to
+feel that the man was unworthy. The lesson had reached her, though
+she herself was ignorant not only of the manner of the teaching, but
+of the very fact that she had been taught. She had pleaded, more
+than once, that men did such things, and were yet held in favour and
+forgiven, let their iniquities have been what they might. She had
+hoped to move others by the doctrine; but gradually it had ceased to
+be operative, even on herself. She could not tell how it was that her
+passion faded and died away. It can hardly be said that it died away;
+but it became to herself grievous and a cause of soreness, instead of
+a joy and a triumph. She no longer said, even to herself, that he was
+to be excused. He had come there, and had made a mere plaything of
+her,--wilfully. There was no earnestness in him, no manliness, and
+hardly common honesty. A conviction that it was so had crept into
+her poor wounded heart, in spite of those repeated assertions which
+she had made to Patience as to the persistency of her own affection.
+First dismay and then wrath had come upon her when the man who ought
+to be her lover came to the very house in which she was living, and
+there offered his hand to another girl, almost in her very presence.
+Had the sin been committed elsewhere, and with any rival other than
+her own cousin, she might have still clung to that doctrine of
+forgiveness, because the sinner was a man, and because it is the way
+of the world to forgive men. But the insult had been too close for
+pardon; and now her wrath was slowly changing itself to contempt. Had
+Mary accepted the man's offer this phase of feeling would not have
+occurred. Clarissa would have hated the woman, but still might have
+loved the man. But Mary had treated him as a creature absolutely
+beneath her notice, had evidently despised him, and Mary's scorn
+communicated itself to Clarissa. The fact that Ralph was now Newton
+of Newton, absolutely in harbour after so many dangers of shipwreck,
+assisted her in this. "I would have been true to him, though
+he hadn't had a penny," she said to herself: "I would never
+have given him up though all the world had been against him."
+Debts, difficulties, an inheritance squandered, idle habits, even
+profligacy, should not have torn him from her heart, had he possessed
+the one virtue of meaning what he said when he told her that he loved
+her. She remembered the noble triumph she had felt when she declared
+to Mary that that other Ralph, who was to have been Mary's lover,
+was welcome to the fine property. Her sole ambition had been to be
+loved by this man; but the man had been incapable of loving her.
+She herself was pretty, and soft, bright on occasions, and graceful.
+She knew so much of herself; and she knew, also, that Mary was far
+prettier than herself, and more clever. This young man to whom she
+had devoted herself possessed no power of love for an individual,--no
+capability of so joining himself to another human being as to feel,
+that in spite of any superiority visible to the outside world, that
+one should be esteemed by him superior to all others,--because of
+his love. The young man had liked prettiness and softness and grace
+and feminine nicenesses; and seeing one who was prettier and more
+graceful,--all which poor Clary allowed, though she was not so sure
+about the softness and niceness,--had changed his aim without an
+effort! Ah, how different was poor Gregory!
+
+She thought much of Gregory, reminding herself that as was her sorrow
+in regard to her own crushed hopes, so were his. His hopes, too, had
+been crushed, because she had been so obdurate to him. But she had
+never been false. She had never whispered a word of love to Gregory.
+It might be that his heart was as sore, but he had not been injured
+as she had been injured. She despised the owner of Newton Priory. She
+would scorn him should he come again to her and throw himself at her
+feet. But Gregory could not despise her. She had, indeed, preferred
+the bad to the good. There had been lack of judgment. But there had
+been on her side no lack of truth. Yes;--she had been wrong in her
+choice. Her judgment had been bad. And yet how glorious he had looked
+as he lay upon the lawn, hot from his rowing, all unbraced, brown and
+bold and joyous as a young god, as he bade her go and fetch him drink
+to slake his thirst! How proud, then, she had been to be ordered by
+him, as though their mutual intimacies and confidences and loves were
+sufficient, when they too were alone together, to justify a reversal
+of those social rules by which the man is ordered to wait upon the
+woman. There is nothing in the first flush of acknowledged love that
+is sweeter to the woman than this. All the men around her are her
+servants; but in regard to this man she may have the inexpressibly
+greater pleasure of serving him herself. Clarissa had now thought
+much of these things, and had endeavoured to define to herself what
+had been those gifts belonging to Ralph which had won from her her
+heart. He was not, in truth, handsomer than his brother Gregory,
+was certainly less clever, was selfish in small things from habit,
+whereas Gregory had no thought for his own comfort. It had all come
+from this,--that a black coat and a grave manner of life and serious
+pursuits had been less alluring to her than idleness and pleasure. It
+had suited her that her young god should be joyous, unbraced, brown,
+bold, and thirsty. She did not know Pope's famous line, but it all
+lay in that. She was innocent, pure, unknowing in the ways of vice,
+simple in her tastes, conscientious in her duties, and yet she was
+a rake at heart,--till at last sorrow and disappointment taught her
+that it is not enough that a man should lie loose upon the grass with
+graceful negligence and call for soda-water with a pleasant voice.
+Gregory wore black clothes, was sombre, and was a parson;--but, oh,
+what a thing it is that a man should be true at heart!
+
+She said nothing of her changing feelings to Mary, or even to
+Patience. The household at this time was not very gay or joyous.
+Sir Thomas, after infinite vexation, had lost the seat of which
+they had all been proud. Mary Bonner's condition was not felt to be
+deplorable, as was that of poor Clary, and she certainly did not
+carry herself as a lovelorn maiden. Of Mary Bonner it may be said
+that no disappointment of that kind would affect her outward manner;
+nor would she in any strait of love be willing to make a confidence
+or to discuss her feelings. Whatever care of that kind might be
+present to her would be lightened, if not made altogether as nothing,
+by her conviction that such loads should be carried in silence, and
+without any visible sign to the world that the muscles are overtaxed.
+But it was known that the banished Ralph had, in the moment of his
+expected prosperity, declared his purpose of giving all that he had
+to give to this beauty, and it was believed that she would have
+accepted the gift. It had, therefore, come to pass that the name
+of neither Ralph could be mentioned at the cottage, and that life
+among these maidens was sober, sedate, and melancholy. At last there
+came a note from Sir Thomas to Patience. "I shall be home to dinner
+to-morrow. I found the enclosed from R. N. this morning. I suppose
+he must come. Affectionately, T. U." The enclosed note was as
+follows:--"Dear Sir Thomas, I called this morning, but old Stemm was
+as hard as granite. If you do not object I will run down to the villa
+to-morrow. If you are at home I will stay and dine. Yours ever, Ralph
+Newton."
+
+The mind of Sir Thomas when he received this had been affected
+exactly as his words described. He had supposed that Ralph must come.
+He had learned to hold his late ward in low esteem. The man was now
+beyond all likelihood of want, and sailing with propitious winds; but
+Sir Thomas, had he been able to consult his own inclinations, would
+have had no more to do with him. And yet the young Squire had not
+done anything which, as Sir Thomas thought, would justify him in
+closing his doors against one to whom he had been bound in a manner
+peculiarly intimate. However, if his niece should choose at last
+to accept Ralph, the match would be very brilliant; and the uncle
+thought that it was not his duty to interfere between her and so
+great an advantage. Sir Thomas, in truth, did not as yet understand
+Mary Bonner,--knew very little of her character; but he did know that
+it was incumbent on him to give her some opportunity of taking her
+beauty to market. He wrote a line to Ralph, saying that he himself
+would dine at home on the day indicated.
+
+"Impossible!" said Clary, when she was first told.
+
+"You may be sure he's coming," said Patience.
+
+"Then I shall go and spend the day with Mrs. Brownlow. I cannot stand
+it."
+
+"My dear, he'll know why you are away."
+
+"Let him know," said Clarissa. And she did as she said she would.
+When Sir Thomas came home at about four o'clock on the Thursday which
+Ralph had fixed,--Thursday, the fourteenth of April,--he found that
+Clarissa had flown. The fly was to be sent for her at ten, and it was
+calculated that by the time she returned, Ralph would certainly have
+taken his leave. Sir Thomas expressed neither anger nor satisfaction
+at this arrangement,--"Oh; she has gone to Mrs. Brownlow's, has she?
+Very well. I don't suppose it will make much difference to Ralph."
+"None in the least," said Patience, severely. "Nothing of that kind
+will make any difference to him." But at that time Ralph had been
+above an hour in the house.
+
+We will now return to Ralph and his adventures. He had come up to
+London with the express object of pressing his suit upon Mary Bonner;
+but during his first day or two in London had busied himself rather
+with the affairs of his other love. He had been with Mr. Carey, and
+Mr. Carey had been with Mr. Neefit. "He is the maddest old man that
+I ever saw," said Mr. Carey. "When I suggested to him that you were
+willing to make any reasonable arrangement,--meaning a thousand
+pounds, or something of that kind,--I couldn't get him to understand
+me at all."
+
+"I don't think he wants money," said Ralph.
+
+"'Let him come down and eat a bit of dinner at the cottage,' said he,
+'and we'll make it all square.' Then I offered him a thousand pounds
+down."
+
+"What did he say?"
+
+"Called to a fellow he had there with a knife in his hand, cutting
+leather, to turn me out of the shop. And the man would have done it,
+too, if I hadn't gone."
+
+This was not promising, but on the following morning Ralph received a
+letter which put him into better heart. The letter was from Polly
+herself, and was written as follows:--
+
+
+   Alexandra Cottage, Hendon,
+   April 10th, 186--.
+
+   MY DEAR SIR,
+
+   Father has been going on with all that nonsense of his,
+   and I think it most straightforward to write a letter
+   to you at once, so that things may be understood and
+   finished. Father has no right to be angry with you, anyway
+   not about me. He says somebody has come and offered him
+   money. I wish they hadn't, but perhaps you didn't send
+   them. There's no good in father talking about you and
+   me. Of course it was a great honour, and all that, but
+   I'm not at all sure that anybody should try to get above
+   themselves, not in the way of marrying. And the heart is
+   everything. So I've told father. If ever I bestow mine, I
+   think it will be to somebody in a way of business,--just
+   like father. So I thought I would just write to say that
+   there couldn't be anything between you and me, were it
+   ever so; only that I was very much honoured by your coming
+   down to Margate. I write this to you, because a very
+   particular friend advises me, and I don't mind telling you
+   at once,--it is Mr. Moggs. And I shall show it to father.
+   That is, I have written it twice, and shall keep the
+   other. It's a pity father should go on so, but he means it
+   for the best. And as to anything in the way of money,--oh,
+   Mr. Newton, he's a deal too proud for that.
+
+   Yours truly,
+
+   MARYANNE NEEFIT.
+
+
+As to which letter the little baggage was not altogether true in one
+respect. She did not keep a copy of the whole letter, but left out
+of that which she showed to her father the very material passage
+in which she referred to the advice of her particular friend, Mr.
+Moggs. Ralph, when he received this letter, felt really grateful to
+Polly, and wrote to her a pretty note, in which he acknowledged her
+kindness, and expressed his hope that she might always be as happy
+as she deserved to be. Then it was that he made up his mind to go
+down at once to Popham Villa, thinking that the Neefit nuisance
+was sufficiently abated to enable him to devote his time to a more
+pleasurable pursuit.
+
+He reached the villa between three and four, and learned from the
+gardener's wife at the lodge that Sir Thomas had not as yet returned.
+He did not learn that Clarissa was away, and was not aware of that
+fact till they all sat down to dinner at seven o'clock. Much had been
+done and much endured before that time came. He sauntered slowly up
+the road, and looked about the grounds, hoping to find the young
+ladies there, as he had so often done during his summer visits; but
+there was no one to be seen, and he was obliged to knock at the door.
+He was shown into the drawing-room, and in a few minutes Patience
+came to him. There had been no arrangement between her and Mary as
+to the manner in which he should be received. Mary on a previous
+occasion had given him an answer, and really did believe that that
+would be sufficient. He was, according to her thinking, a light,
+inconstant man, who would hardly give himself the labour necessary
+for perseverance in any suit. Patience at once began to ask him
+after his brother and the doings at the Priory. He had been so
+intimate at the house, and so dear to them all, that in spite of
+the disapprobation with which he was now regarded by them, it was
+impossible that there should not be some outer kindness. "Ah," said
+he, "I do so look forward to the time when you will all be down
+there. I have been so often welcome at your house, that it will be my
+greatest pleasure to make you welcome there."
+
+"We go so little from home," said Patience.
+
+"But I am sure you will come to me. I know you would like to see
+Greg's parsonage and Greg's church."
+
+"I should indeed."
+
+"It is the prettiest church, I think, in England, and the park is
+very nice. The whole house wants a deal of doing to, but I shall set
+about it some day. I don't know a pleasanter neighbourhood anywhere."
+It would have been so natural that Patience should tell him that he
+wanted a mistress for such a home; but she could not say the words.
+She could not find the proper words, and soon left him, muttering
+something as to directions for her father's room.
+
+He had been alone for twenty minutes when Mary came into the room.
+She knew that Patience was not there; and had retreated up-stairs.
+But there seemed to be a cowardice in such retreating, which
+displeased herself. She, at any rate, had no cause to be afraid of
+Mr. Newton. So she collected her thoughts, and arranged her gait,
+and went down, and addressed him with assumed indifference,--as
+though there had never been anything between them beyond simple
+acquaintance. "Uncle Thomas will be here soon, I suppose," she said.
+
+"I hope he will give me half-an-hour first," Ralph answered. There
+was an ease and grace always present in his intercourse with women,
+and a power of saying that which he desired to say,--which perhaps
+arose from the slightness of his purposes and the want of reality in
+his character.
+
+"We see so little of him that we hardly know his hours," said Mary.
+"Uncle Thomas is a sad truant from home."
+
+"He always was, and I declare I think that Patience and Clary have
+been the better for it. They have learned things of which they would
+have known nothing had he been with them every morning and evening. I
+don't know any girls who are so sweet as they are. You know they have
+been like sisters to me."
+
+"So I have been told."
+
+"And when you came, it would have been like another sister coming;
+only--"
+
+"Only what?" said Mary, assuming purposely a savage look.
+
+"That something else intervened."
+
+"Of course it must be very different,--and it should be different.
+You have only known me a few months."
+
+"I have known you enough to wish to know you more closely than
+anybody else for the rest of my life."
+
+"Mr. Newton, I thought you had understood me before."
+
+"So I did." This he said with an assumed tone of lachrymose
+complaint. "I did understand you,--thoroughly. I understood that I
+was rebuked, and rejected, and disdained. But a man, if he is in
+earnest, does not give over on that account. Indeed, there are things
+which he can't give over. You may tell a man that he shouldn't drink,
+or shouldn't gamble; but telling will do no good. When he has once
+begun, he'll go on with it."
+
+"What does that mean?"
+
+"That love is as strong a passion, at any rate, as drinking or
+gambling. You did tell me, and sent me away, and rebuked me because
+of that tradesman's daughter."
+
+"What tradesman's daughter?" asked Mary. "I have spoken of no
+tradesman's daughter. I gave you ample reason why you should not
+address yourself to me."
+
+"Of course there are ample reasons," said Ralph, looking into his
+hat, which he had taken from the table. "The one,--most ample of all,
+is that you do not care for me."
+
+"I do not," said Mary resolutely.
+
+"Exactly;--but that is a sort of reason which a man will do his best
+to conquer. Do not misunderstand me. I am not such a fool as to think
+that I can prevail in a day. I am not vain enough to think that I can
+prevail at all. But I can persist."
+
+"It will not be of the slightest use; indeed, it cannot be allowed. I
+will not allow it. My uncle will not allow it."
+
+"When you told me that I was untrue to another person--; I think that
+was your phrase."
+
+"Very likely."
+
+"I supposed you had heard that stupid story which had got round to my
+uncle,--about a Mr. Neefit's daughter."
+
+"I had heard no stupid story."
+
+"What then did you mean?"
+
+Mary paused a moment, thinking whether it might still be possible
+that a good turn might be done for her cousin. That Clarissa had
+loved this man with her whole heart she had herself owned to Mary.
+That the man had professed his love for Clary, Clary had also let
+her know. And Clary's love had endured even after the blow it had
+received from Ralph's offer to her cousin. All this that cousin knew;
+but she did not know how that love had now turned to simple soreness.
+"I have heard nothing of the man's daughter," said Mary.
+
+"Well then?"
+
+"But I do know that before I came here at all you had striven to gain
+the affections of my cousin."
+
+"Clarissa!"
+
+"Yes; Clarissa. Is it not so?" Then she paused, and Ralph remembered
+the scene on the lawn. In very truth it had never been forgotten.
+There had always been present with him when he thought of Mary Bonner
+a sort of remembrance of the hour in which he had played the fool
+with dear Clary. He had kissed her. Well; yes; and with some girls
+kisses mean so much,--as Polly Neefit had said to her true lover. But
+then with others they mean just nothing. "If you want to find a wife
+in this house you had better ask her. It is certainly useless that
+you should ask me."
+
+"Do you mean quite useless?" asked Ralph, beginning to be somewhat
+abashed.
+
+"Absolutely useless. Did I not tell you something else,--something
+that I would not have hinted to you, had it not been that I desired
+to prevent the possibility of a renewal of anything so vain? But you
+think nothing of that! All that can be changed with you at a moment,
+if other things suit."
+
+"That is meant to be severe, Miss Bonner, and I have not deserved it
+from you. What has brought me to you but that I admire you above all
+others?"
+
+"You shouldn't admire me above others. Is a man to change as he likes
+because he sees a girl whose hair pleases him for the moment better
+than does hers to whom he has sworn to be true?" Ralph did not forget
+at this moment to whisper to himself for his own consolation, that
+he had never sworn to be true to Clarissa. And, indeed, he did feel,
+that though there had been a kiss, the scene on the lawn was being
+used unfairly to his prejudice. "I am afraid you are very fickle, Mr.
+Newton, and that your love is not worth much."
+
+"I hope we may both live till you learn that you have wronged me."
+
+"I hope so. If my opinion be worth anything with you, go back to her
+from whom you have allowed yourself to stray in your folly. To me you
+must not address yourself again. If you do, it will be an insult."
+Then she rose up, queenly in her beauty, and slowly left the room.
+
+There must be an end of that. Such was Ralph's feeling as she
+left the room, in spite of those protestations of constancy and
+persistence which he had made to himself. "A fellow has to go on with
+it, and be refused half a dozen times by one of those proud ones," he
+had said; "but when they do knuckle under, they go in harness better
+than the others." It was thus that he had thought of Mary Bonner, but
+he did not so think of her now. No, indeed. There was an end of that.
+"There is a sort of way of doing it, which shows that they mean it."
+Such was his inward speech; and he did believe that Miss Bonner meant
+it. "By Jove, yes; if words and looks ever can mean anything." But
+how about Clarissa? If it was so, as Mary Bonner had told him, would
+it be the proper kind of thing for him to go back to Clarissa? His
+heart, too,--for he had a heart,--was very soft. He had always been
+fond of Clarissa, and would not, for worlds, that she should be
+unhappy. How pretty she was, and how soft, and how loving! And how
+proudly happy she would be to be driven about the Newton grounds by
+him as their mistress. Then he remembered what Gregory had said to
+him, and how he had encouraged Gregory to persevere. If anything of
+that kind were to happen, Gregory must put up with it. It was clear
+that Clarissa couldn't marry Gregory if she were in love with him.
+But how would he look Sir Thomas in the face? As he thought of this
+he laughed. Sir Thomas, however, would be glad enough to give his
+daughter, not to the heir but to the owner of Newton. Who could be
+that fellow whom Mary Bonner preferred to him--with all Newton to
+back his suit? Perhaps Mary Bonner did not know the meaning of being
+the mistress of Newton Priory.
+
+After a while the servant came to show him to his chamber. Sir Thomas
+had come and had gone at once to his room. So he went up-stairs and
+dressed, expecting to see Clarissa when they all assembled before
+dinner. When he went down, Sir Thomas was there, and Mary, and
+Patience,--but not Clarissa. He had summoned back his courage and
+spoke jauntily to Sir Thomas. Then he turned to Patience and asked
+after her sister. "Clarissa is spending the day with Mrs. Brownlow,"
+said Patience, "and will not be home till quite late."
+
+"Oh, how unfortunate!" exclaimed Ralph. Taking all his difficulties
+into consideration, we must admit that he did not do it badly.
+
+After dinner Sir Thomas sat longer over his wine than is at present
+usual, believing, perhaps, that the young ladies would not want to
+see much more of Ralph on the present occasion. The conversation was
+almost entirely devoted to the affairs of the late election, as to
+which Ralph was much interested and very indignant. "They cannot do
+you any harm, sir, by the investigation," he said.
+
+"No; I don't think they can hurt me."
+
+"And you will have the satisfaction of knowing that you have been the
+means of exposing corruption, and of helping to turn such a man as
+Griffenbottom out of the House. Upon my word, I think it has been
+worth while."
+
+"I am not sure that I would do it again at the same cost, and with
+the same object," said Sir Thomas.
+
+Ralph did have a cup of tea given to him in the drawing-room, and
+then left the villa before Clarissa's fly had returned.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVIII.
+
+MR. MOGGS WALKS TOWARDS EDGEWARE.
+
+
+The judge's decision in Percycross as to the late election was no
+sooner known than fresh overtures were made to Ontario Moggs by the
+Young Men's Association. A letter of triumph was addressed to him at
+the Cheshire Cheese, in which he was informed that Intimidation and
+Corruption had been trodden under foot in the infamous person of Mr.
+Griffenbottom, and that Purity and the Rights of Labour were still
+the watchwords of that wholesome party in the borough which was
+determined to send Mr. Moggs to Parliament. Did not Mr. Moggs think
+it best that he should come down at once to the borough and look
+after his interests? Now Mr. Moggs junior, when he received this
+letter, had left the borough no more than three or four days since,
+having been summoned there as a witness during the trial of the
+petition;--and such continued attendance to the political interests
+of a small and otherwise uninteresting town, without the advantage of
+a seat in Parliament, was felt by Mr. Moggs senior to be a nuisance.
+The expense in all these matters fell of course upon the shoulders
+of the father. "I don't believe in them humbugs no longer," said Mr.
+Moggs senior. Moggs junior, who had felt the enthusiasm of the young
+men of Percycross, and who had more to get and less to lose than his
+father, did believe. Although he had been so lately at Percycross,
+he went down again, and again made speeches to the young men at the
+Mechanics' Institute. Nothing could be more triumphant than his
+speeches, nothing more pleasant than his popularity; but he could
+not fail to become aware, after a further sojourn of three days at
+Percycross, of two things. The first was this,--that if the borough
+were spared there would be a compromise between the leading men on
+the two sides, and Mr. Westmacott would be returned together with a
+young Griffenbottom. The second conviction forced upon him was that
+the borough would not be spared. There was no comfort for him at
+Percycross,--other than what arose from a pure political conscience.
+On the very morning on which he left, he besought his friends, the
+young men,--though they were about to be punished, degraded, and
+disfranchised for the sins of their elders, though it might never be
+allowed to them again to stir themselves for the political welfare
+of their own borough,--still to remember that Purity and the Rights
+of Labour were the two great wants of the world, and that no man
+could make an effort, however humble, in a good cause without doing
+something towards bringing nearer to him that millennium of political
+virtue which was so much wanted, and which would certainly come
+sooner or later. He was cheered to the echo, and almost carried down
+to the station on the shoulders of a chairman, or president, and
+a secretary; but he left Percycross with the conviction that that
+borough would never confer upon him the coveted honour of a seat in
+Parliament.
+
+All this had happened early in March, previous to that Sunday on
+which Mr. Neefit behaved so rudely to him at the cottage. "I think as
+perhaps you'd better stick to business now a bit," said old Moggs. At
+that moment Ontario was sitting up at a high desk behind the ledger
+which he hated, and was sticking to business as well as he knew how
+to stick to it. "No more Cheshire Cheeses, if you please, young man,"
+said the father. This was felt by the son to be unfair, cruel, and
+even corrupt. While the election was going on, as long as there was
+a hope of success at Percycross, Moggs senior had connived at the
+Cheshire Cheese, had said little or nothing about business, had even
+consented on one occasion to hear his son make a speech advocating
+the propriety of combination among workmen. "It ain't my way of
+thinking," Moggs senior had said; "but then, perhaps, I'm old." To
+have had a member of the firm in Parliament would have been glorious
+even to old Moggs, though he hardly knew in what the glory would have
+consisted. But as soon as he found that his hopes were vain, that the
+Cheshire Cheese had been no stepping-stone to such honour, and that
+his money had been spent for nothing, his mind reverted to its old
+form. Strikes became to him the work of the devil, and unions were
+once more the bane of trade.
+
+"I suppose," said Ontario, looking up from his ledger, "if I work for
+my bread by day, I may do as I please with my evenings. At any rate
+I shall," he continued to say after pausing awhile. "It's best we
+should understand each other, father." Moggs senior growled. At a
+word his son would have been off from him, rushing about the country,
+striving to earn a crust as a political lecturer. Moggs knew his son
+well, and in truth loved him dearly. There was, too, a Miss Moggs
+at home, who would give her father no peace if Ontario were turned
+adrift. There is nothing in the world so cruel as the way in which
+sons use the natural affections of their fathers, obtaining from
+these very feelings a power of rebelling against authority! "You must
+go to the devil if you please, I suppose," said Moggs senior.
+
+"I don't know why you say that. What do I do devilish?"
+
+"Them Unions is devilish."
+
+"I think they're Godlike," said Moggs junior. After that they were
+silent for a while, during which Moggs senior was cutting his nails
+with a shoemaker's knife by the fading light of the evening, and
+Moggs junior was summing up an account against a favoured aristocrat,
+who seemed to have worn a great many boots, but who was noticeable to
+Ontario, chiefly from the fact that he represented in Parliament the
+division of the county in which Percycross was situated. "I thought
+you was going to make it all straight by marrying that girl," said
+Moggs senior.
+
+Here was a subject on which the father and the son were in
+unison;--and as to which the romantic heart of Miss Moggs, at home at
+Shepherd's Bush, always glowed with enthusiasm. That her brother was
+in love, was to her, of whom in truth it must be owned that she was
+very plain, the charm of her life. She was fond of poetry, and would
+read to her brother aloud the story of Juan and Haidee, and the
+melancholy condition of the lady who was loved by the veiled prophet.
+She sympathised with the false Queen's passion for Launcelot, and,
+being herself in truth an ugly old maid very far removed from things
+romantic, delighted in the affairs of the heart when they did not run
+smooth. "O Ontario," she would say, "be true to her;--if it's for
+twenty years." "So I will;--but I'd like to begin the twenty years
+by making her Mrs. Moggs," said Ontario. Now Mr. Moggs senior knew
+to a penny what money old Neefit could give his daughter, and placed
+not the slightest trust in that threat about the smock in which she
+stood upright. Polly would certainly get the better of her father as
+Ontario always got the better of him. Ontario made no immediate reply
+to his father, but he found himself getting all wrong among the boots
+and shoes which had been supplied to that aristocratic young member
+of Parliament. "You don't mean as it's all off?" asked Moggs senior.
+
+"No; it isn't all off."
+
+"Then why don't you go in at it?"
+
+"Why don't I go in at it?" said Ontario, closing the book in hopeless
+confusion of mind and figures. "I'd give every pair of boots in this
+place, I'd give all the business, to get a kind word from her."
+
+"Isn't she kind?"
+
+"Kind;--yes, she's kind enough in a way. She's everything just
+what she ought to be. That's what she is. Don't you go on about it,
+father. I'm as much in earnest as you can be. I shan't give it up
+till she calls somebody else her husband; and then,--; why then
+I shall just cut it, and go off to uncle in Canada. I've got my
+mind made up about all that." And so he left the shop, somewhat
+uncourteously perhaps. But he had worked his way back into his
+father's good graces by his determination to stick to Neefit's girl.
+A young man ought to be allowed to attend trades' unions, or any
+other meetings, if he will marry a girl with twenty thousand pounds.
+That evening Ontario Moggs went to the Cheshire Cheese, and was
+greater than ever.
+
+It has been already told how, on a Sunday subsequent to this, he
+managed to have himself almost closeted with Polly, and how he was
+working himself into her good graces, when he was disturbed by Mr.
+Neefit and turned out of the house. Polly's heart had been yielding
+during the whole of that interview. There had come upon her once a
+dream that it would be a fine thing to be the lady of Newton;--and
+the chance had been hers. But when she set herself to work to
+weigh it all, and to find out what it was that young Newton really
+wanted,--and what he ought to want, she shook off from herself that
+dream before it had done her any injury. She meant to be married
+certainly. As to that she had no doubt. But then Ontario Moggs was
+such a long-legged, awkward, ugly, shambling fellow, and Moggs as
+a name was certainly not euphonious. The gasfitter was handsome,
+and was called Yallolegs, which perhaps was better than Moggs. He
+had proposed to her more than once; but the gasfitter's face meant
+nothing, and the gasfitter himself hadn't much meaning in him. As to
+outside appearance, young Newton's was just what he ought to be,--but
+that was a dream which she had shaken off. Onty Moggs had some
+meaning in him, and was a man. If there was one thing, too, under the
+sun of which Polly was quite sure, it was this,--that Onty Moggs did
+really love her. She knew that in the heart, and mind, and eyes of
+Onty Moggs she possessed a divinity which made the ground she stood
+upon holy ground for him. Now that is a conviction very pleasant to a
+young woman.
+
+Ontario was very near his victory on that Sunday. When he told her
+that he would compass the death of Ralph Newton if Ralph Newton was
+to cause her to break her heart, she believed that he would do it,
+and she felt obliged to him,--although she laughed at him. When he
+declared to her that he didn't know what to do because of his love,
+she was near to telling him what he might do. When he told her that
+he would sooner have a kiss from her than be Prime Minister, she
+believed him, and almost longed to make him happy. Then she had
+tripped, giving him encouragement which she did not intend,--and had
+retreated, telling him that he was silly. But as she said so she made
+up her mind that he should be perplexed not much longer. After all,
+in spite of his ugliness, and awkwardness, and long legs, this was
+to be her man. She recognised the fact, and was happy. It is so much
+for a girl to be sure that she is really loved! And there was no word
+which fell from Ontario's mouth which Polly did not believe. Ralph
+Newton's speeches were very pretty, but they conveyed no more than
+his intention to be civil. Ontario's speeches really brought home to
+her all that the words could mean. When he told her father that he
+was quite contented to take her just as she was, without a shilling,
+she knew that he would do so with the utmost joy. Then it was that
+she resolved that he should have her, and that for the future all
+doubtings, all flirtations, all coyness, should be over. She had been
+won, and she lowered her flag. "You stick to it, and you'll do it,"
+she said;--and this time she meant it. "I shall," said Ontario;--and
+he walked all the way back to London, with his head among the clouds,
+disregarding Percycross utterly, forgetful of all the boots and
+aristocrats' accounts, regardless almost of the Cheshire Cheese, not
+even meditating a new speech in defence of the Rights of Labour. He
+believed that on that day he had gained the great victory. If so,
+life before him was one vista of triumph. That he himself was what
+the world calls romantic, he had no idea,--but he had lived now for
+months on the conviction that the only chance of personal happiness
+to himself was to come from the smiles and kindness and love of a
+certain human being whom he had chosen to beatify. To him Polly
+Neefit was divine, and round him also there would be a halo of
+divinity if this goddess would consent to say that she would become
+his wife.
+
+It was impossible that many days should be allowed to pass before he
+made an effort to learn from her own lips, positively, the meaning
+of those last words which she had spoken to him. But there was
+a difficulty. Neefit had warned him from the house, and he felt
+unwilling to knock at the door of a man in that man's absence, who,
+if present, would have refused to him the privilege of admittance.
+That Mrs. Neefit would see him, and afford him opportunity of
+pleading his cause with Polly, he did not doubt;--but some idea that
+a man's house, being his castle, should not be invaded in the owner's
+absence, restrained him. That the man's daughter might be the dearer
+and the choicer, and the more sacred castle of the two, was true
+enough; but then Polly was a castle which, as Moggs thought, ought to
+belong to him rather than to her father. And so he resolved to waylay
+Polly.
+
+His weekdays, from nine in the morning till seven in the evening,
+were at this time due to Booby and Moggs, and he was at present
+paying that debt religiously, under a conviction that his various
+absences at Percycross had been hard upon his father. For there was,
+in truth, no Booby. Moggs senior, and Moggs junior, constituted the
+whole firm;--in which, indeed, up to this moment Moggs junior had no
+recognised share,--and if one was absent, the other must be present.
+But Sunday was his own, and Polly Neefit always went to church.
+Nevertheless, on the first Sunday he failed. He failed, though he saw
+her, walking with two other ladies, and though, to the best of his
+judgment, she also saw him. On the second Sunday he was at Hendon
+from ten till three, hanging about in the lanes, sitting on gates,
+whiling away the time with a treatise on political economy which he
+had brought down in his pocket, thinking of Polly while he strove
+to confine his thoughts to the great subject of man's productive
+industry. Is there any law of Nature,--law of God, rather,--by which
+a man has a right to enough of food, enough of raiment, enough of
+shelter, and enough of recreation, if only he will work? But Polly's
+cheeks, and Polly's lips, the eager fire of Polly's eye as she would
+speak, and all the elastic beauty of Polly's gait as she would walk,
+drove the great question from his mind. Was he ever destined to hold
+Polly in his arms,--close, close to his breast? If not, then the laws
+of Nature and the laws of God, let them be what they might, would not
+have been sufficient to protect him from the cruellest wrong of all.
+
+It was as she went to afternoon church that he hoped to intercept
+her. Morning church with many is a bond. Afternoon church is a virtue
+of supererogation,--practised often because there is nothing else to
+do. It would be out of the question that he should induce her to give
+up the morning service; but if he could only come upon her in the
+afternoon, a little out of sight of others, just as she would turn
+down a lane with which he was acquainted, near to a stile leading
+across the fields towards Edgeware, it might be possible that he
+should prevail. As the hour came near, he put the useless volume into
+his pocket, and stationed himself on the spot which he had selected.
+Almost at the first moment in which he had ventured to hope for her
+presence, Polly turned into the lane. It was six months after this
+occurrence that she confessed to him that she had thought it just
+possible that he might be there. "Of course you would be there,--you
+old goose; as if Jemima hadn't told me that you'd been about all day.
+But I never should have come, if I hadn't quite made up my mind."
+Then Ontario administered to her one of those bear's hugs which were
+wont to make Polly declare that he was an ogre. It was thus that
+Polly made her confession after the six months, as they were sitting
+very close to each other on some remote point of the cliffs down
+on the Kentish coast. At that time the castle had been altogether
+transferred out of the keeping of Mr. Neefit.
+
+But Polly's conduct on this occasion was not at all of a nature to
+make it supposed that Jemima's eyes had been so sharp. "What, Mr.
+Moggs!" she said. "Dear me, what a place to find you in! Are you
+coming to church?"
+
+"I want you just to take a turn with me for a few minutes, Polly."
+
+"But I'm going to church."
+
+"You can go to church afterwards;--that is, if you like. I can't come
+to the house now, and I have got something that I must say to you."
+
+"Something that you must say to me!" And then Polly followed him over
+the stile.
+
+They had walked the length of nearly two fields before Ontario had
+commenced to tell the tale which of necessity must be told; but
+Polly, though she must have known that her chances of getting back to
+church were becoming more and more remote, waited without impatience.
+"I want to know," he said, at last, "whether you can ever learn to
+love me."
+
+"What's the use, Mr. Moggs?"
+
+"It will be all the use in the world to me."
+
+"Oh, no it won't. It can't signify so very much to anybody."
+
+"Nothing, I sometimes think, can ever be of any use to me but that."
+
+"As for learning to love a man,--I suppose I could love a man without
+any learning if I liked him."
+
+"But you don't like me, Polly?"
+
+"I never said I didn't like you. Father and mother always used to
+like you."
+
+"But you, Polly?"
+
+"Oh, I like you well enough. Don't, Mr. Moggs."
+
+"But do you love me?" Then there was a pause, as they stood leaning
+upon a gateway. "Come, Polly; tell a fellow. Do you love me?"
+
+"I don't know." Then there was another pause; but he was in a seventh
+heaven, with his arm round her waist. "I suppose I do; a little,"
+whispered Polly.
+
+"But better than anybody else?"
+
+"You don't think I mean to have two lovers;--do you?"
+
+"And I am to be your lover?"
+
+"There's father, you know. I'm not going to be anybody's wife because
+he tells me; but I wouldn't like to vex him, if we could help it."
+
+"But you'll never belong to any one else?"
+
+"Never," said she solemnly.
+
+"Then I've said what I've got to say, and I'm the happiest man in all
+the world, and you may go to church now if you like." But his arm was
+still tight round her waist.
+
+"It's too late," said Polly, in a melancholy tone,--"and it's all
+your doing."
+
+The walk was prolonged not quite to Edgeware; but so far that Mr.
+Neefit was called upon to remark that the parson was preaching a very
+long sermon. Mrs. Neefit, who perhaps had also had communication
+with Jemima, remarked that it was not to be expected, but that Polly
+should take a ramble with some of her friends. "Why can't she ramble
+where I want her to ramble?" said Mr. Neefit.
+
+Many things were settled during that walk. Within five minutes of
+the time in which she had declared that it was too late for her
+to go to church, she had brought herself to talk to him with all
+the delightful confidence of a completed engagement. She made him
+understand at once that there was no longer any doubt. "A girl must
+have time to know," she said, when he half-reproached her with the
+delay. A girl wasn't like a man, she said, who could just make up his
+mind at once,--a girl had to wait and see. But she was quite sure of
+this,--that having once said the word she would never go back from
+it. She didn't quite know when she had first begun to love him, but
+she thought it was when she heard that he had made up his mind to
+stand for Percycross. It seemed to her to be such a fine thing,--his
+going to Percycross. "Then," said Ontario, gallantly, "Percycross has
+done ten times more for me than it would have done, had it simply
+made me a member of Parliament." Once, twice, and oftener he was
+made happier than he could have been had fortune made him a Prime
+Minister. For Polly, now that she had given her heart and promised
+her hand, would not coy her lips to the man she had chosen.
+
+Many things were settled between them. Polly told her lover all her
+trouble about Ralph Newton, and it was now that she received that
+advice from her "very particular friend, Mr. Moggs," which she
+followed in writing to her late suitor. The letter was to be written
+and posted that afternoon, and then shown to her father. We know
+already that in making the copy for her father she omitted one
+clause,--having resolved that she would tell her mother of her
+engagement, and that her mother should communicate it to her father.
+As for naming any day for their marriage, "That was out of the
+question," she said. She did not wish to delay it; but all that
+she could do was to swear to her father that she would never marry
+anybody else. "And he'll believe me too," said Polly. As for eloping,
+she would not hear of it. "Just that he might have an excuse to give
+his money to somebody else," she said.
+
+"I don't care for his money," protested Moggs.
+
+"That's all very well; but money's a good thing in its way. I hate a
+man who'd sell himself; he's a mean fellow;--or a girl either. Money
+should never be first. But as for pitching it away just because
+you're in a hurry, I don't believe in that at all. I'm not going
+to be an old woman yet, and you may wait a few months very well."
+She walked with him direct up to the gate leading up to their own
+house,--so that all the world might see her, if all the world
+pleased; and then she bade him good-bye. "Some day before very long,
+no doubt," she said when, as he left her, he asked as to their next
+meeting.
+
+And so Polly had engaged herself. I do not know that the matter
+seemed to her to be of so much importance as it does to many girls.
+It was a piece of business which had to be done some day, as she had
+well known for years past; and now that it was done, she was quite
+contented with the doing of it. But there was not much of that
+ecstasy in her bosom which was at the present moment sending Ontario
+Moggs bounding up to town, talking, as he went, to himself,--to the
+amazement of passers by, and assuring himself that he had triumphed
+like an Alexander or a Caesar. She made some steady resolves to do her
+duty by him, and told herself again and again that nothing should
+ever move her now that she had decided. As for beauty in a man;--what
+did it signify? He was honest. As for awkwardness;--what did it
+matter? He was clever. And in regard to being a gentleman; she rather
+thought that she liked him better because he wasn't exactly what some
+people call a gentleman. Whatever sort of a home he would give her
+to live in, nobody would despise her in it because she was not grand
+enough for her place. She was by no means sure that a good deal of
+misery of that kind might not have fallen to her lot had she become
+the mistress of Newton Priory. "When the beggar woman became a queen,
+how the servants must have snubbed her," said Polly to herself.
+
+That evening she showed her letter to her father. "You haven't sent
+it, you minx?" said he.
+
+"Yes, father. It's in the iron box."
+
+"What business had you to write to a young man?"
+
+"Come, father. I had a business."
+
+"I believe you want to break my heart," said old Neefit.
+
+That evening her mother asked her what she had been doing that
+afternoon. "I just took a walk with Ontario Moggs," said Polly.
+
+"Well?"
+
+"And I've just engaged myself straight off, and you had better tell
+father. I mean to keep to it, mother, let anybody say anything. I
+wouldn't go back from my promise if they were to drag me. So father
+may as well know at once."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIX.
+
+AMONG THE PICTURES.
+
+
+Norfolk is a county by no means devoted to hunting, and Ralph
+Newton,--the disinherited Ralph as we may call him,--had been
+advised by some of his friends round Newton to pitch his tent
+elsewhere,--because of his love of that sport. "You'll get a bit of
+land just as cheap in the shires," Morris had said to him. "And, if
+I were you, I wouldn't go among a set of fellows who don't think of
+anything in the world except partridges." Mr. Morris, who was a very
+good fellow in his way, devoted a considerable portion of his mental
+and physical energies to the birth, rearing, education, preservation,
+and subsequent use of the fox,--thinking that in so doing he employed
+himself nobly as a country gentleman; but he thoroughly despised a
+county in which partridges were worshipped.
+
+"They do preserve foxes," pleaded Ralph.
+
+"One man does, and the next don't. You ought to know what that means.
+It's the most heart-breaking kind of thing in the world. I'd sooner
+be without foxes altogether, and ride to a drag;--I would indeed."
+This assertion Mr. Morris made in a sadly solemn tone, such as men
+use when they speak of some adversity which fate and fortune may be
+preparing for them. "I'd a deal rather die than bear it," says the
+melancholy friend; or,--"I'd much sooner put up with a crust in a
+corner." "I'd rather ride to a drag;--I would indeed," said Mr.
+Morris, with a shake of the head, and a low sigh. As for life without
+riding to hounds at all, Mr. Morris did not for a moment suppose that
+his friend contemplated such an existence.
+
+But Ralph had made up his mind that, in going out into the world to
+do something, foxes should not be his first object. He had to seek
+a home certainly, but more important than his home was the work to
+which he should give himself; and, as he had once said, he knew
+nothing useful that he could do except till the land. So he went
+down into Norfolk among the intermittent fox preservers, and took
+Beamingham Hall.
+
+Almost every place in Norfolk is a "ham," and almost every house is
+a hall. There was a parish of Beamingham, four miles from Swaffham,
+lying between Tillham, Soham, Reepham, and Grindham. It's down in
+all the maps. It's as flat as a pancake; it has a church with a
+magnificent square tower, and a new chancel; there is a resident
+parson, and there are four or five farmers in it; it is under the
+plough throughout, and is famous for its turnips; half the parish
+belongs to a big lord, who lives in the county, and who does preserve
+foxes, but not with all his heart; two other farms are owned by the
+yeomen who farm them,--men who have been brought up to shoot, and who
+hate the very name of hunting. Beamingham Hall was to be sold, and by
+the beginning of May Ralph Newton had bought it. Beamingham Little
+Wood belonged to the estate, and, as it contained about thirty acres,
+Ralph determined that he would endeavour to have a fox there.
+
+By the middle of May he had been four months in his new home. The
+house itself was not bad. It was spacious; and the rooms, though
+low, were large. And it had been built with considerable idea
+of architectural beauty. The windows were all set in stone and
+mullioned,--long, low windows, very beautiful in form, which had till
+some fifteen years back been filled with a multitude of small diamond
+panes;--but now the diamond panes had given way to plate glass. There
+were three gables to the hall, all facing an old-fashioned large
+garden, in which the fruit trees came close up to the house, and
+that which perhaps ought to have been a lawn was almost an orchard.
+But there were trim gravel walks, and trim flower-beds, and a trim
+fish-pond, and a small walled kitchen-garden, with very old peaches,
+and very old apricots, and very old plums. The plums, however, were
+at present better than the peaches or the apricots. The fault of the
+house, as a modern residence, consisted in this,--that the farm-yard,
+with all its appurtenances, was very close to the back door. Ralph
+told himself when he first saw it that Mary Bonner would never
+consent to live in a house so placed.
+
+For whom was such a house as Beamingham Hall originally built,--a
+house not grand enough for a squire's mansion, and too large for a
+farmer's homestead? Such houses throughout England are much more
+numerous than Englishmen think,--either still in good repair, as was
+Beamingham Hall, or going into decay under the lessened domestic
+wants of the present holders. It is especially so in the eastern
+counties, and may be taken as one proof among many that the
+broad-acred squire, with his throng of tenants, is comparatively a
+modern invention. The country gentleman of two hundred years ago
+farmed the land he held. As years have rolled on, the strong have
+swallowed the weak,--one strong man having eaten up half-a-dozen weak
+men. And so the squire has been made. Then the strong squire becomes
+a baronet and a lord,--till he lords it a little too much, and a
+Manchester warehouseman buys him out. The strength of the country
+probably lies in the fact that the change is ever being made, but is
+never made suddenly.
+
+To Ralph the great objection to Beamingham Hall lay in that fear,--or
+rather certainty,--that it could not be made a fitting home for Mary
+Bonner. When he first decided on taking it, and even when he decided
+on buying it, he assured himself that Mary Bonner's taste might be
+quite indifferent to him. In the first place, he had himself written
+to her uncle to withdraw his claim as soon as he found that Newton
+would never belong to him; and then he had been told by the happy
+owner of Newton that Mary was still to be asked to share the throne
+of that principality. When so told he had said nothing of his
+own ambition, but had felt that there was another reason why he
+should leave Newton and its neighbourhood. For him, as a bachelor,
+Beamingham Hall would be only too good a house. He, as a farmer, did
+not mean to be ashamed of his own dunghill.
+
+By the middle of May he had heard nothing either of his namesake
+or of Mary Bonner. He did correspond with Gregory Newton, and thus
+received tidings of the parish, of the church, of the horses,--and
+even of the foxes; but of the heir's matrimonial intentions he heard
+nothing. Gregory did write of his own visits to the metropolis, past
+and future, and Ralph knew that the young parson would again singe
+his wings in the flames that were burning at Popham Villa; but
+nothing was said of the heir. Through March and April that trouble
+respecting Polly Neefit was continued, and Gregory in his letter of
+course did not speak of the Neefits. At last May was come, and Ralph
+from Beamingham made up his mind that he also would go up to London.
+He had been hard at work during the last four months doing all those
+wonderfully attractive things with his new property which a man can
+do when he has money in his pocket,--knocking down hedges, planting
+young trees or preparing for the planting of them, buying stock,
+building or preparing to build sheds,--and the rest of it. There is
+hardly a pleasure in life equal to that of laying out money with a
+conviction that it will come back again. The conviction, alas, is
+so often ill founded,--but the pleasure is the same. In regard to
+the house itself he would do nothing, not even form a plan--as yet.
+It might be possible that some taste other than his own should be
+consulted.
+
+In the second week in May he went up to London, having heard that
+Gregory would be there at the same time; and he at once found himself
+consorting with his namesake almost as much as with the parson. It
+was now a month since the heir had been dismissed from Popham Villa,
+and he had not since that date renewed his visit. Nor from that day
+to the present had he seen Sir Thomas. It cannot be said with exact
+truth that he was afraid of Sir Thomas or ashamed to see the girls.
+He had no idea that he had behaved badly to anybody; and, if he
+had, he was almost disposed to make amends for such sin by marrying
+Clarissa; but he felt that should he ultimately make up his mind in
+Clarissa's favour, a little time should elapse for the gradual cure
+of his former passion. No doubt he placed reliance on his position
+as a man of property, feeling that by his strength in that direction
+he would be pulled through all his little difficulties; but it was
+an unconscious reliance. He believed that he was perfectly free
+from what he himself would have called the dirt and littleness of
+purse-pride--or acre-pride, and would on some occasions assert that
+he really thought nothing of himself because he was Newton of Newton.
+And he meant to be true. Nevertheless, in the bottom of his heart,
+there was a confidence that he might do this and that because of his
+acres, and among the things which might be thus done, but which could
+not otherwise have been done, was this return to Clarissa after his
+little lapse in regard to Mary Bonner.
+
+He was delighted to welcome Ralph from Norfolk to all the pleasures
+of the metropolis. Should he put down Ralph's name at the famous
+Carlton, of which he had lately become a member? Ralph already
+belonged to an old-fashioned club, of which his father had been long
+a member, and declined the new honour. As for balls, evening crushes,
+and large dinner-parties, our Norfolk Ralph thought himself to be
+unsuited for them just at present, because of his father's death. It
+was not for the nephew of the dead man to tell the son that eight
+months of mourning for a father was more than the world now required.
+He could only take the excuse, and suggest the play, and a little
+dinner at Richmond, and a small party to Maidenhead as compromises.
+"I don't know that there is any good in a fellow being so heavy in
+hand because his father is dead," the Squire said to his brother.
+
+"They were so much to each other," pleaded Gregory in return. The
+Squire accepted the excuse, and offered his namesake a horse for the
+park. Would he make one of the party for the moors in August? The
+Squire asserted that he had room for another gun, without entailing
+any additional expense upon himself. This indeed was not strictly
+true, as it had been arranged that the cost should be paid per
+gun; but there was a vacancy still, and Ralph the heir, being
+quite willing to pay for his cousin, thought no harm to cover his
+generosity under a venial falsehood. The disinherited one, however,
+declined the offer, with many thanks. "There is nothing, old fellow,
+I wouldn't do for you, if I knew how," said the happy heir. Whereupon
+the Norfolk Ralph unconsciously resolved that he would accept
+nothing,--or as little as possible,--at the hands of the Squire.
+
+All this happened during the three or four first days of his sojourn
+in London, in which, he hardly knew why, he had gone neither to the
+villa nor to Sir Thomas in Southampton Buildings. He meant to do so,
+but from day to day he put it off. As regarded the ladies at the
+villa the three young men now never spoke to each other respecting
+them. Gregory believed that his brother had failed, and so believing
+did not recur to the subject. Gregory himself had already been at
+Fulham once or twice since his arrival in town; but had nothing
+to say,--or at least did say nothing,--of what happened there. He
+intended to remain away from his parish for no more than the parson's
+normal thirteen days, and was by no means sure that he would make any
+further formal offer. When at the villa he found that Clarissa was
+sad and sober, and almost silent; and he knew that something was
+wrong. It hardly occurred to him to believe that after all he might
+perhaps cure the evil.
+
+One morning, early, Gregory and Ralph from Norfolk were together at
+the Royal Academy. Although it was not yet ten when they entered the
+gallery, the rooms were already so crowded that it was difficult to
+get near the line, and almost impossible either to get into or to
+get out of a corner. Gregory had been there before, and knew the
+pictures. He also was supposed by his friends to understand something
+of the subject; whereas Ralph did not know a Cooke from a Hook, and
+possessed no more than a dim idea that Landseer painted all the wild
+beasts, and Millais all the little children. "That's a fine picture,"
+he said, pointing up at an enormous portrait of the Master of the B.
+B., in a red coat, seated square on a seventeen-hand high horse, with
+his hat off, and the favourite hounds of his pack around him. "That's
+by Grant," said Gregory. "I don't know that I care for that kind of
+thing." "It's as like as it can stare," said Ralph, who appreciated
+the red coat, and the well-groomed horse, and the finely-shaped
+hounds. He backed a few steps to see the picture better, and found
+himself encroaching upon a lady's dress. He turned round and found
+that the lady was Mary Bonner. Together with her were both Clarissa
+and Patience Underwood.
+
+The greetings between them all were pleasant, and the girls were
+unaffectedly pleased to find friends whom they knew well enough to
+accept as guides and monitors in the room. "Now we shall be told all
+about everything," said Clarissa, as the young parson shook hands
+first with her sister and then with her. "Do take us round to the
+best dozen, Mr. Newton. That's the way I like to begin." Her tone was
+completely different from what it had been down at the villa.
+
+"That gentleman in the red coat is my cousin's favourite," said
+Gregory.
+
+"I don't care a bit about that." said Clarissa.
+
+"That's because you don't hunt," said Ralph.
+
+"I wish I hunted," said Mary Bonner.
+
+Mary, when she first saw the man, of whom she had once been told that
+he was to be her lover, and, when so told, had at least been proud
+that she was so chosen,--felt that she was blushing slightly; but
+she recovered herself instantly, and greeted him as though there
+had been no cause whatever for disturbance. He was struck almost
+dumb at seeing her, and it was her tranquillity which restored him
+to composure. After the first greetings were over he found himself
+walking by her side without any effort on her part to avoid him,
+while Gregory and the two sisters went on in advance. Poor Ralph had
+not a word to say about the pictures. "Have you been long in London?"
+she asked.
+
+"Just four days."
+
+"We heard that you were coming, and did think that perhaps you and
+your cousin might find a morning to come down and see us;--your
+cousin Gregory, I mean."
+
+"Of course I shall come."
+
+"My uncle will be so glad to see you;--only, you know, you
+can't always find him at home. And so will Patience. You are a
+great favourite with Patience. You have gone down to live in
+Norfolk,--haven't you?"
+
+"Yes--in Norfolk."
+
+"You have bought an estate there?"
+
+"Just one farm that I look after myself. It's no estate, Miss
+Bonner;--just a farm-house, with barns and stables, and a horse-pond,
+and the rest of it." This was by no means a fair account of the
+place, but it suited him so to speak of it. "My days for having an
+estate were quickly brought to a close;--were they not?" This he said
+with a little laugh, and then hated himself for having spoken so
+foolishly.
+
+"Does that make you unhappy, Mr. Newton?" she asked. He did not
+answer her at once, and she continued, "I should have thought that
+you were above being made unhappy by that."
+
+"Such disappointments carry many things with them of which people
+outside see nothing."
+
+"That is true, no doubt."
+
+"A man may be separated from every friend he has in the world by such
+a change of circumstances."
+
+"I had not thought of that. I beg your pardon," said she, looking
+into his face almost imploringly.
+
+"And there may be worse than that," he said. Of course she knew what
+he meant, but he did not know how much she knew. "It is easy to say
+that a man should stand up against reverses,--but there are some
+reverses a man cannot bear without suffering." She had quite made up
+her mind that the one reverse of which she was thinking should be
+cured; but she could take no prominent step towards curing it yet.
+But that some step should be taken sooner or later she was resolved.
+It might be taken now, indeed, if he would only speak out. But she
+quite understood that he would not speak out now because that house
+down in Norfolk was no more than a farm. "But I didn't mean to
+trouble you with all that nonsense," he said.
+
+"It doesn't trouble me at all. Of course you will tell us everything
+when you come to see us."
+
+"There is very little to tell,--unless you care for cows and pigs,
+and sheep and horses."
+
+"I do care for cows and pigs, and sheep and horses," she said.
+
+"All the same, they are not pleasant subjects of conversation. A man
+may do as much good with a single farm as he can with a large estate;
+but he can't make his affairs as interesting to other people." There
+was present to his own mind the knowledge that he and his rich
+namesake were rivals in regard to the affections of this beautiful
+girl, and he could not avoid allusions to his own inferiority. And
+yet his own words, as soon as they were spoken and had sounded in
+his ear, were recognised by himself as being mean and pitiful,--as
+whining words, and sorry plaints against the trick which fortune had
+played him. He did not know how to tell her boldly that he lamented
+this change from the estate to the farm because he had hoped that
+she would share the one with him, and did not dare even to ask her
+to share the other. She understood it all, down to the look of
+displeasure which crossed his face as he felt the possible effect of
+his own speech. She understood it all, but she could not give him
+much help,--as yet. There might perhaps come a moment in which she
+could explain to him her own ideas about farms and estates, and the
+reasons in accordance with which these might be selected and those
+rejected. "Have you seen much of Ralph Newton lately?" asked the
+other Ralph.
+
+"Of your cousin?"
+
+"Yes;--only I do not call him so. I have no right to call him my
+cousin."
+
+"No; We do not see much of him." This was said in a tone of voice
+which ought to have sufficed for curing any anxiety in Ralph's bosom
+respecting his rival. Had he not been sore and nervous, and, as it
+must be admitted, almost stupid in the matter, he could not but have
+gathered from that tone that his namesake was at least no favourite
+with Miss Bonner. "He used to be a great deal at Popham Villa," said
+Ralph.
+
+"We do not see him often now. I fancy there has been some cause of
+displeasure between him and my uncle. His brother has been with us
+once or twice. I do like Mr. Gregory Newton."
+
+"He is the best fellow that ever lived," exclaimed Ralph with energy.
+
+"So much nicer than his brother," said Mary;--"though perhaps I ought
+not to say so to you."
+
+This at any rate could not but be satisfactory to him. "I like them
+both," he said; "but I love Greg dearly. He and I have lived together
+like brothers for years, whereas it is only quite lately that I have
+known the other."
+
+"It is only lately that I have known either;--but they seem to me
+to be so different. Is not that a wonderfully beautiful picture, Mr.
+Newton? Can't, you almost fancy yourself sitting down and throwing
+stones into the river, or dabbling your feet in it?"
+
+"It is very pretty," said he, not caring a penny for the picture.
+
+"Have you any river at Beamingham?"
+
+"There's a muddy little brook that you could almost jump over. You
+wouldn't want to dabble in that."
+
+"Has it got a name?"
+
+"I think they call it the Wissey. It's not at all a river to be proud
+of,--except in the way of eels and water-rats."
+
+"Is there nothing to be proud of at Beamingham?"
+
+"There's the church tower;--that's all."
+
+"A church tower is something;--but I meant as to Beamingham Hall."
+
+"That word Hall misleads people," said Ralph. "It's a kind of
+upper-class farm-house with a lot of low rooms, and intricate
+passages, and chambers here and there, smelling of apples, and a huge
+kitchen, and an oven big enough for a small dinner-party."
+
+"I should like the oven."
+
+"And a laundry, and a dairy, and a cheese-house,--only we never make
+any cheese; and a horse-pond, and a dung-hill, and a cabbage-garden."
+
+"Is that all you can say for your new purchase, Mr. Newton?"
+
+"The house itself isn't ugly."
+
+"Come;--that's better."
+
+"And it might be made fairly comfortable, if there were any use in
+doing it."
+
+"Of course there will be use."
+
+"I don't know that there will," said Ralph. "Sometimes I think one
+thing, and sometimes another. One week I'm full of a scheme about a
+new garden and a conservatory, and a bow-window to the drawing-room;
+and then, the next week, I think that the two rooms I live in at
+present will be enough for me."
+
+"Stick to the conservatory, Mr. Newton. But here are the girls, and I
+suppose it is about time for us to go."
+
+"Mary, where have you been?" said Clarissa.
+
+"Looking at landscapes," said Mary.
+
+"Mr. Newton has shown us every picture worth seeing, and described
+everything, and we haven't had to look at the catalogue once. That's
+just what I like at the Academy. I don't know whether you've been as
+lucky."
+
+"I've had a great deal described to me too," said Mary; "but I'm
+afraid we've forgotten the particular duty that brought us here."
+Then they parted, the two men promising that they would be at the
+villa before long, and the girls preparing themselves for their
+return home.
+
+"That cousin of theirs is certainly very beautiful," said Gregory,
+after some short tribute to the merits of the two sisters.
+
+"I think she is," said Ralph.
+
+"I do not wonder that my brother has been struck with her."
+
+"Nor do I." Then after a pause he continued; "She said something
+which made me think that she and your brother haven't quite hit it
+off together."
+
+"I don't know that they have," said Gregory. "Ralph does change his
+mind sometimes. He hasn't said a word about her to me lately."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER L.
+
+ANOTHER FAILURE.
+
+
+The day after the meeting at the Academy, as Ralph, the young Squire,
+was sitting alone in his room over a late breakfast, a maid-servant
+belonging to the house opened the door and introduced Mr. Neefit.
+It was now the middle of May, and Ralph had seen nothing of the
+breeches-maker since the morning on which he had made his appearance
+in the yard of the Moonbeam. There had been messages, and Mr. Carey
+had been very busy endeavouring to persuade the father that he
+could benefit neither himself nor his daughter by persistence in so
+extravagant a scheme. Money had been offered to Mr. Neefit,--most
+unfortunately, and this offer had added to his wrongs. And he had
+been told by his wife that Polly had at last decided in regard to her
+own affections, and had accepted her old lover, Mr. Moggs. He had
+raved at Polly to her face. He had sworn at Moggs behind his back. He
+had called Mr. Carey very hard names;--and now he forced himself once
+more upon the presence of the young Squire. "Captain," he said, as
+soon as he had carefully closed the door behind him, "are you going
+to be upon the square?" Newton had given special orders that Neefit
+should not be admitted to his presence; but here he was, having made
+his way into the chamber in the temporary absence of the Squire's own
+servant.
+
+"Mr. Neefit," said Newton, "I cannot allow this."
+
+"Not allow it, Captain?"
+
+"No;--I cannot. I will not be persecuted. I have received favours
+from you--"
+
+"Yes, you have, Captain."
+
+"And I will do anything in reason to repay them."
+
+"Will you come out and see our Polly?"
+
+"No, I won't."
+
+"You won't?"
+
+"Certainly not. I don't believe your daughter wants to see me. She
+is engaged to another man." So much Mr. Carey had learned from Mrs.
+Neefit. "I have a great regard for your daughter, but I will not go
+to see her."
+
+"Engaged to another man;--is she?"
+
+"I am told so."
+
+"Oh;--that's your little game, is it? And you won't see me when I
+call,--won't you? I won't stir out of this room unless you sends
+for the police, and so we'll get it all into one of the courts of
+law. I shall just like to see how you'll look when you're being
+cross-hackled by one of them learned gents. There'll be a question or
+two about the old breeches-maker as the Squire of Newton mayn't like
+to see in the papers the next morning. I shall take the liberty of
+ringing the bell and ordering a bit of dinner here, if you don't
+mind. I shan't go when the police comes without a deal of row, and
+then we shall have it all out in the courts."
+
+This was monstrously absurd, but at the same time very annoying.
+Even though he should disregard that threat of being "cross-hackled
+by a learned gent," and of being afterwards made notorious in the
+newspapers,--which it must be confessed he did not find himself able
+to disregard,--still, independently of that feeling, he was very
+unwilling to call for brute force to remove Mr. Neefit from the
+arm-chair in which that worthy tradesman had seated himself. He
+had treated the man otherwise than as a tradesman. He had borrowed
+the man's money, and eaten the man's dinners; visited the man at
+Ramsgate, and twice offered his hand to the man's daughter. "You are
+very welcome to dine here," he said, "only I am sorry that I cannot
+dine here with you."
+
+"I won't stir from the place for a week."
+
+"That will be inconvenient," said Ralph,
+
+"Uncommon inconvenient I should say, to a gent like you,--especially
+as I shall tell everybody that I'm on a visit to my son-in-law."
+
+"I meant to yourself,--and to the business."
+
+"Never you mind the business, Captain. There'll be enough left to
+give my girl all the money I promised her, and I don't think I shall
+have to ask you to keep your father-in-law neither. Sending an
+attorney to offer me a thousand pounds! It's my belief I could buy
+you out yet, Captain, in regard to ready money."
+
+"I daresay you could, Mr. Neefit."
+
+"And I won't stir from here till you name a day to come and see me
+and my missus and Polly."
+
+"This is sheer madness, Mr. Neefit."
+
+"You think so;--do you, Captain? You'll find me madder nor you think
+for yet. I'm not agoing to be put upon by you, and nothing come
+of it. I'll have it out of you in money or marbles, as the saying
+is. Just order me a glass of sherry wine, will you? I'm a thirsty
+talking. When you came a visiting me, I always give you lashings of
+drink." This was so true that Ralph felt himself compelled to ring
+the bell, and order up some wine. "Soda and brandy let it be, Jack,"
+said Mr. Neefit to Mr. Newton's own man. "It'll be more comfortable
+like between near relations."
+
+"Soda-water and brandy for Mr. Neefit," said the young Squire,
+turning angrily to the man. "Mr. Neefit, you are perfectly welcome to
+as much brandy as you can drink, and my man will wait upon you while
+I'm away. Good morning." Whereupon Newton took up his hat and left
+the room. He had not passed into the little back room, in which he
+knew that the servant would be looking for soda-water, before he
+heard a sound as of smashed crockery, and he was convinced that Mr.
+Neefit was preparing himself for forcible eviction by breaking his
+ornaments. Let the ornaments go, and the mirror, and the clock on
+the chimney-piece, and the windows. It was a frightful nuisance, but
+anything would be better than sending for the police to take away Mr.
+Neefit. "Keep your eye on that man in the front room," said he, to
+his Swiss valet.
+
+"On Mr. Neefit, saar?"
+
+"Yes; on Mr. Neefit. He wants me to marry his daughter, and I can't
+oblige him. Let him have what he wants to eat and drink. Get rid of
+him if you can, but don't send for the police. He's smashing all the
+things, and you must save as many as you can." So saying, he hurried
+down the stairs and out of the house. But what was he to do next?
+If Mr. Neefit chose to carry out his threat by staying in the rooms,
+Mr. Neefit must be allowed to have his own way. If he chose to amuse
+himself by breaking the things, the things must be broken. If he got
+very drunk, he might probably be taken home in a cab, and deposited
+at the cottage at Hendon. But what should Ralph do at this moment?
+He sauntered sadly down St. James's Street with his hands in his
+trousers-pockets, and finding a crawling hansom at the palace-gate,
+he got into it and ordered the man to drive him down to Fulham. He
+had already made up his mind about "dear little Clary," and the thing
+might as well be done at once. None of the girls were at home. Miss
+Underwood and Miss Bonner had gone up to London to see Sir Thomas.
+Miss Clarissa was spending the day with Mrs. Brownlow. "That will
+just be right," said Ralph to himself, as he ordered the cabman to
+drive him to the old lady's house on the Brompton Road.
+
+Mrs. Brownlow had ever been a great admirer of the young Squire,
+and did not admire him less now that he had come to his squireship.
+She had always hoped that Clary would marry the real heir, and was
+sounding his praises while Ralph was knocking at her door. "He is not
+half so fine a fellow as his brother," said Clarissa.
+
+"You did not use to think so," said Mrs. Brownlow. Then the door was
+opened and Ralph was announced.
+
+With his usual easy manner,--with that unabashed grace which Clarissa
+used to think so charming,--he soon explained that he had been to
+Fulham, and had had himself driven back to Bolsover House because
+Clarissa was there. Clarissa, as she heard this, felt the blood
+tingle in her cheeks. His manner now did not seem to her to be so
+full of grace. Was it not all selfishness? Mrs. Brownlow purred
+out her applause. It was not to be supposed that he came to see
+an old woman;--but his coming to see a young woman, with adequate
+intentions, was quite the proper thing for such a young man to do!
+They were just going to take lunch. Of course he would stop and
+lunch with them. He declared that he would like nothing better.
+Mrs. Brownlow rang the bell, and gave her little orders. Clarissa's
+thoughts referred quickly to various matters,--to the scene on the
+lawn, to a certain evening on which she had walked home with him from
+this very house, to the confessions which she had made to her sister,
+to her confidence with her cousin;--and then to the offer that had
+been made to Mary, now only a few weeks since. She looked at him,
+though she did not seem to be looking at him, and told herself that
+the man was nothing to her. He had caused her unutterable sorrow,
+with which her heart was still sore;--but he was nothing to her. She
+would eat her lunch with him, and endeavour to talk to him; but the
+less she might see of him henceforth the better. He was selfish,
+heartless, weak, and unworthy.
+
+The lunch was eaten, and within three minutes afterwards, Mrs.
+Brownlow was away. As they were returning to the little parlour in
+which they had been sitting during the morning, she contrived to
+escape, and Ralph found himself alone with his "dear, darling little
+Clary." In spite of his graceful ease, the task before him was not
+without difficulty. Clarissa, of course, knew that he had proposed to
+Mary, and probably knew that he had proposed to Polly. But Mary had
+told him that Clarissa was devoted to him,--had told him at least
+that which amounted to almost as much. And then it was incumbent on
+him to do something that might put an end to the Neefit abomination.
+Clarissa would be contented to look back upon that episode with
+Mary Bonner, as a dream that meant nothing;--just as he himself was
+already learning to look at it. "Clary," he said, "I have hardly seen
+you to speak to you since the night we walked home together from this
+house."
+
+"No, indeed, Mr. Newton," she said. Hitherto she had always called
+him Ralph. He did not observe the change, having too many things of
+his own to think of at the moment.
+
+"How much has happened since that!"
+
+"Very much, indeed, Mr. Newton."
+
+"And yet it seems to be such a short time ago,--almost yesterday. My
+poor uncle was alive then."
+
+"Yes, he was."
+
+He did not seem to be getting any nearer to his object by these
+references to past events. "Clary," he said, "there are many things
+which I wish to have forgotten, and some perhaps which I would have
+forgiven."
+
+"I suppose that is so with all of us," said Clarissa.
+
+"Just so, though I don't know that any of us have ever been so
+absurdly foolish as I have,--throwing away what was of the greatest
+value in the world for the sake of something that seemed to be
+precious, just for a moment." It was very difficult, and he already
+began to feel that the nature of the girl was altered towards him.
+She had suddenly become hard, undemonstrative, and almost unkind.
+Hitherto he had always regarded her, without much conscious thought
+about it, as a soft, sweet, pleasant thing, that might at any moment
+be his for the asking. And Mary Bonner had told him that he ought to
+ask. Now he was willing to beseech her pardon, to be in very truth
+her lover, and to share with her all his prosperity. But she would
+give him no assistance in his difficulty. He was determined that she
+should speak, and, trusting to Mrs. Brownlow's absence, he sat still,
+waiting for her.
+
+"I hope you have thrown away nothing that you ought to keep," she
+said at last. "It seems to me that you have got everything."
+
+"No,--not as yet everything. I do not know whether I shall ever get
+that which I desire the most." Of course she understood him now;
+but she sat hard, and fixed, and stern,--so absolutely unlike the
+Clarissa whom he had known since they were hardly more than children
+together! "You know what I mean, Clarissa."
+
+"No;--I do not," she said.
+
+"I fear you mean that you cannot forgive me."
+
+"I have nothing to forgive."
+
+"Oh yes, you have; whether you will ever forgive me I cannot say. But
+there is much to forgive;--very much. Your cousin Mary for a short
+moment ran away with us all."
+
+"She is welcome,--for me."
+
+"What do you mean, Clarissa?"
+
+"Just what I say. She is welcome for me. She has taken nothing
+that I prize. Indeed I do not think she has condescended to take
+anything,--anything of the sort you mean. Mary and I love each other
+dearly. There is no danger of our quarrelling."
+
+"Come, Clary," he got up as he spoke, and stood over her, close to
+her shoulder, "you understand well enough what I mean. We have known
+each other so long, and I think we have loved each other so well,
+that you ought to say that you will forgive me. I have been foolish.
+I have been wrong. I have been false, if you will. Cannot you forgive
+me?"
+
+Not for a moment was there a look of forgiveness in her eye, or a
+sign of pardon in the lines of her face. But in her heart there was
+a contest. Something of the old passion remained there, though it
+was no more than the soreness it had caused. For half a moment she
+thought whether it might not be as he would have it. But if so, how
+could she again look any of her friends in the face and admit that
+she had surrendered herself to so much unworthiness? How could she
+tell Patience, who was beginning to be full of renewed hope for
+Gregory? How could she confess such a weakness to her father? How
+could she stand up before Mary Bonner? And was it possible that
+she should really give herself, her whole life, and all her future
+hopes, to one so weak and worthless as this man? "There is nothing to
+forgive," she said, "but I certainly cannot forget."
+
+"You know that I love you," he protested.
+
+"Love me;--yes, with what sort of love? But it does not matter. There
+need be no further talk about it. Your love to me can be nothing."
+
+"Clarissa!"
+
+"And to you it will be quite as little. Your heart will never suffer
+much, Ralph. How long is it since you offered your hand to my cousin?
+Only that you are just a boy playing at love, this would be an
+insult." Then she saw her old friend through the window. "Mrs.
+Brownlow," she said, "Mr. Newton is going, and I am ready for our
+walk whenever you please."
+
+"Think of it twice, Clarissa;--must this be the end of it?" pleaded
+Ralph.
+
+"As far as I am concerned it must be the end of it. When I get home I
+shall probably find that you have already made an offer to Patience."
+Then he got up, took his hat, and having shaken hands cordially with
+Mrs. Brownlow through the window, went out to his hansom cab, which
+was earning sixpence a quarter of an hour out on the road, while he
+had been so absolutely wasting his quarter of an hour within the
+house.
+
+"Has he said anything, my dear?" asked Mrs. Brownlow.
+
+"He has said a great deal."
+
+"Well, my dear?"
+
+"He is an empty, vain, inconstant man."
+
+"Is he, Clarissa?"
+
+"And yet he is so good-humoured, and so gay, and so pleasant, that I
+do not see why he should not make a very good husband to some girl."
+
+"What do you mean, Clarissa? You have not refused him?"
+
+"I did not say he had offered;--did I?"
+
+"But he has?"
+
+"If he did,--then I refused him. He is good-natured; but he has no
+more heart than a log of wood. Don't talk about it any more, dear
+Mrs. Brownlow. I dare say we shall all be friends again before long,
+and he'll almost forget everything that he said this morning."
+
+Throughout the afternoon she was gay and almost happy, and before she
+went home she had made up her mind that she would tell Patience, and
+then get rid of it from her thoughts for ever. Not to tell Patience
+would be a breach of faith between them, and would moreover render
+future sisterly intercourse between them very difficult. But had
+it been possible she would have avoided the expression of triumph
+without which it would be almost impossible for her to tell the
+story. Within her own bosom certainly there was some triumph. The man
+for whose love she had sighed and been sick had surrendered to her at
+last. The prize had been at her feet, but she had not chosen to lift
+it. "Poor Ralph," she said to herself; "he means to do as well as he
+can, but he is so feeble." She certainly would not tell Mary Bonner,
+nor would she say a word to her father. And when she should meet
+Ralph again,--as she did not doubt but that she would meet him
+shortly, she would be very careful to give no sign that she was
+thinking of his disgrace. He should still be called Ralph,--till
+he was a married man; and when it should come to pass that he was
+about to marry she would congratulate him with all the warmth of old
+friendship.
+
+That night she did tell it all to Patience. "You don't mean," she
+said, "that I have not done right?"
+
+"I am sure you have done quite right."
+
+"Then why are you so sober about it, Patty?"
+
+"Only if you do love him--! I would give my right hand, Clary, that
+you might have that which shall make you happy in life."
+
+"If you were to give your right and left hand too, a marriage with
+Ralph Newton would not make me happy. Think of it, Patty;--to both
+of us within two months! He is just like a child. How could I ever
+have respected him, or believed in him? I could never have respected
+myself again. No, Patty, I did love him dearly. I fancied that life
+without him must all be a dreary blank. I made him into a god;--but
+his feet are of the poorest clay! Kiss me, dear, and congratulate
+me;--because I have escaped."
+
+Her sister did kiss her and did congratulate her;--but still there
+was a something of regret in the sister's heart. Clarissa was, to her
+thinking, so fit to be the mistress of Newton Priory.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LI.
+
+MUSIC HAS CHARMS.
+
+
+The Commission appointed to examine into the condition of the borough
+of Percycross cannot exactly be said to have made short work of it,
+for it sat daily for many consecutive weeks, and examined half the
+voters in the town; but it made sharp work, and reported to the
+Speaker of the House such a tale of continual corruption, that all
+the world knew that the borough would be disfranchised. The glory
+of Percycross was gone, and in regard to political influence it was
+to be treated as the cities of the plain, and blotted from off the
+face of existence. The learned gentlemen who formed the Commission
+had traced home to Mr. Griffenbottom's breeches-pockets large sums
+of money which had been expended in the borough for purposes of
+systematised corruption during the whole term of his connection
+with it;--and yet they were not very hard upon Mr. Griffenbottom
+personally in their report. He had spent the money no doubt, but
+had so spent it that at every election it appeared that he had not
+expected to spend it till the bills were sent to him. He frankly
+owned that the borough had been ruinous to him; had made a poor man
+of him,--but assured the Commission at the same time that all this
+had come from his continued innocence. As every new election came
+round, he had hoped that that would at least be pure, and had been
+urgent in his instructions to his agents to that effect. He had at
+last learned, he said, that he was not a sufficient Hercules to
+cleanse so foul a stable. All this created no animosity against him
+in Percycross during the sitting of the Commission. His old friends,
+the Triggers, and Piles, and Spiveycombs, clung to him as closely as
+ever. Every man in Percycross knew that the borough was gone, and
+there really seemed at last to be something of actual gratitude
+in their farewell behaviour to the man who had treated the place
+as it liked to be treated. As the end of it all, the borough was
+undoubtedly to be disfranchised, and Mr. Griffenbottom left it,--a
+ruined man, indeed, according to his own statement,--but still with
+his colours flying, and, to a certain extent, triumphantly. So we
+will leave him, trusting,--or perhaps rather hoping,--that the days
+of Mr. Griffenbottom are nearly at an end.
+
+His colleague, Sir Thomas, on the occasion of his third visit to
+Percycross,--a visit which he was constrained to make, sorely against
+his will, in order that he might give his evidence before the
+Commission,--remained there but a very short time. But while there he
+made a clean breast of it. He had gone down to the borough with the
+most steadfast purpose to avoid corruption; and had done his best in
+that direction. But he had failed. There had been corruption, for
+which he had himself paid in part. There had been treating of the
+grossest kind. Money had been demanded from him since the election,
+as to the actual destination of which he was profoundly ignorant. He
+did not, however, doubt but that this money had been spent in the
+purchase of votes. Sir Thomas was supposed to have betrayed the
+borough in his evidence, and was hooted out of the town. On this
+occasion he only remained there one night, and left Percycross for
+ever, after giving his evidence.
+
+This happened during the second week in May. On his return to London
+he did not go down to Fulham, but remained at his chambers in a most
+unhappy frame of mind. This renewed attempt of his to enter the world
+and to go among men that he might do a man's work, had resulted in
+the loss of a great many hundred pounds, in absolute failure, and, as
+he wrongly told himself, in personal disgrace. He was almost ashamed
+to show himself at his club, and did for two days absolutely have his
+dinner brought to him in his chambers from an eating-house.
+
+"I'm sure you won't like that, Sir Thomas," Stemm had said to him,
+expostulating, and knowing very well the nature of his master's
+sufferings.
+
+"I don't know that I like anything very much," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I wouldn't go and not show my face because of other people's
+roguery," rejoined Stemm, with cruel audacity. Sir Thomas looked at
+him, but did not answer a word, and Stemm fetched the food.
+
+"Stemm," said Sir Thomas the same evening, "it's getting to be fine
+weather now."
+
+"It's fine enough," said Stemm.
+
+"Do you take your nieces down to Southend for an outing. Go down on
+Thursday and come back on Saturday. I shall be at home. There's a
+five-pound note for the expenses." Stemm slowly took the note, but
+grunted and grumbled. The girls were nuisances to him, and he didn't
+want to take them an outing. They wouldn't care to go before July,
+and he didn't care to go at all. "You can go when you please," said
+Sir Thomas. Stemm growled and grumbled, and at last left the room
+with the money.
+
+The morning afterwards Sir Thomas was sitting alone in his room
+absolutely wretched. He had so managed his life that there seemed to
+be nothing left to him in it worth the having. He had raised himself
+to public repute by his intellect and industry, and had then, almost
+at once, allowed himself to be hustled out of the throng simply
+because others had been rougher than he,--because other men had
+pushed and shouldered while he had been quiet and unpretending. Then
+he had resolved to make up for this disappointment by work of another
+kind,--by work which would, after all, be more congenial to him. He
+would go back to the dream of his youth, to the labours of former
+days, and would in truth write his Life of Bacon. He had then
+surrounded himself with his papers, had gotten his books together and
+read up his old notes, had planned chapters and sections, and settled
+divisions, had drawn up headings, and revelled in those paraphernalia
+of work which are so dear to would-be working men;--and then nothing
+had come of it. Of what use was it that he went about ever with a
+volume in his pocket, and read a page or two as he sat over his wine?
+When sitting alone in his room he did read; but when reading he knew
+that he was not working. He went, as it were, round and round the
+thing, never touching it, till the labour which he longed to commence
+became so frightful to him that he did not dare to touch it. To do
+that thing was the settled purpose of his life, and yet, from day to
+day and from month to month, it became more impossible to him even
+to make a beginning. There is a misery in this which only they who
+have endured it can understand. There are idle men who rejoice in
+idleness. Their name is legion. Idleness, even when it is ruinous, is
+delightful to them. They revel in it, look forward to it, and almost
+take a pride in it. When it can be had without pecuniary detriment,
+it is to such men a thing absolutely good in itself. But such a
+one was not Sir Thomas Underwood. And there are men who love work,
+who revel in that, who attack it daily with renewed energy, almost
+wallowing in it, greedy of work, who go to it almost as the drunkard
+goes to his bottle, or the gambler to his gaming-table. These are not
+unhappy men, though they are perhaps apt to make those around them
+unhappy. But such a one was not Sir Thomas Underwood. And again there
+are men, fewer in number, who will work though they hate it, from
+sheer conscience and from conviction that idleness will not suit them
+or make them happy. Strong men these are;--but such a one certainly
+was not Sir Thomas Underwood. Then there are they who love the idea
+of work, but want the fibre needful for the doing it. It may be that
+such a one will earn his bread as Sir Thomas Underwood had earned
+his, not flinching from routine task or even from the healthy efforts
+necessary for subsistence. But there will ever be present to the
+mind of the ambitious man the idea of something to be done over and
+above the mere earning of his bread;--and the ambition may be very
+strong, though the fibre be lacking. Such a one will endure an
+agony protracted for years, always intending, never performing,
+self-accusing through every wakeful hour, self-accusing almost
+through every sleeping hour. The work to be done is close there
+by the hand, but the tools are loathed, and the paraphernalia of
+it become hateful. And yet it can never be put aside. It is to be
+grasped to-morrow, but on every morrow the grasping of it becomes
+more difficult, more impossible, more revolting. There is no
+peace, no happiness for such a man;--and such a one was Sir Thomas
+Underwood.
+
+In this strait he had been tempted to make another effort in
+political life, and he had made it. There had been no difficulty in
+this,--only that the work itself had been so disagreeable, and that
+he had failed in it so egregiously. During his canvass, and in all
+his intercourse with the Griffenbottomites, he had told himself,
+falsely, how pleasant to him it would be to return to his books;--how
+much better for him would be a sedentary life, if he could only bring
+himself to do, or even attempt to do, the work which he had appointed
+for himself. Now he had returned to his solitude, had again dragged
+out his papers, his note-book, his memoranda, his dates, and yet he
+could not in truth get into his harness, put his neck to the collar,
+and attempt to drag the burden up the hill.
+
+He was sitting alone in his room in this condition, with a book
+in his hand of no value to his great purpose, hating himself and
+wretched, when Stemm opened his door, ushering Patience and Mary
+Bonner into his room. "Ah, my dears," he said, "what has brought
+you up to London? I did not think of seeing you here." There was
+no expression of positive displeasure in his voice, but it was
+understood by them all, by the daughter, by the cousin, by old Stemm,
+and by Sir Thomas himself, that such a visit as this was always to be
+regarded more or less as an intrusion. However, he kissed them both,
+and handed them chairs, and was more than usually civil to them.
+
+"We do so want to hear about Percycross, papa," said Patience.
+
+"There is nothing to be told about Percycross."
+
+"Are you to stand again, papa?"
+
+"Nobody will ever stand for Percycross again. It will lose its
+members altogether. The thing is settled."
+
+"And you have had all the trouble for nothing, uncle?" Mary asked.
+
+"All for nothing,--and the expense. But that is a very common thing,
+and I have no ground of complaint beyond many others."
+
+"It does seem so hard," said Patience.
+
+"So very hard," said Mary. And then they were silent. They had not
+come without a purpose; but, as is common with young ladies, they
+kept their purpose for the end of the interview.
+
+"Are you coming home, papa?" Patience asked.
+
+"Well, yes; I won't settle any day now, because I am very busy just
+at present. But I shall be home soon,--very soon."
+
+"I do so hope you'll stay some time with us, papa."
+
+"My dear, you know--" And then he stopped, having been pounced upon
+so suddenly that he had not resolved what excuse he would for the
+moment put forward. "I've got my papers and things in such confusion
+here at present,--because of Percycross and the trouble I have
+had,--that I cannot leave them just now."
+
+"But why not bring the papers with you, papa?"
+
+"My dear, you know I can't."
+
+Then there was another pause. "Papa, I think you ought," said
+Patience. "Indeed I do, for Clary's sake,--and ours." But even this
+was not the subject which had specially brought them on that morning
+to Southampton Buildings.
+
+"What is there wrong with Clary?" asked Sir Thomas.
+
+"There is nothing wrong," said Patience
+
+"What do you mean then?"
+
+"I think it would be so much more comfortable for her that you should
+see things as they are going on."
+
+"I declare I don't know what she means. Do you know what she means,
+Mary?"
+
+"Clary has not been quite herself lately," said Mary.
+
+"I suppose it's something about that scamp, Ralph Newton," said Sir
+Thomas.
+
+"No, indeed, papa; I am sure she does not think of him now." On this
+very morning, as the reader may perhaps remember, the scamp had
+gone down to Fulham, and from Fulham back to Brompton, in search of
+Clarissa; but of the scamp's energy and renewed affections, Patience
+as yet knew nothing. "Gregory has been up in London and has been down
+at Fulham once or twice. We want him to come again before he goes
+back on Saturday, and we thought if you would come home on Thursday,
+we could ask him to dinner." Sir Thomas scratched his head, and
+fidgeted in his chair. "Their cousin is in London also," continued
+Patience.
+
+"The other Ralph; he who has bought Beamingham Hall?"
+
+"Yes, papa; we saw him at the Academy. I told him how happy you would
+be to see him at Fulham."
+
+"Of course I should be glad to see him; that is, if I happened to be
+at home," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"But I could not name a day without asking you, papa."
+
+"He will have gone back by this time," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I think not, papa."
+
+"And what do you say, Mary?"
+
+"I have nothing to say at all, uncle. If Mr. Newton likes to come to
+the villa, I shall be glad to see him. Why should I not? He has done
+nothing to offend me." There was a slight smile on her face as she
+spoke, and the merest hint of a blush on her cheek.
+
+"They tell me that Beamingham Hall isn't much of a place after all,"
+said Sir Thomas.
+
+"From what Mr. Newton says, it must be a very ugly place," said Mary,
+with still the same smile and the same hint of a blush;--"only I
+don't quite credit all he tells us."
+
+"If there is anything settled you ought to tell me," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"There is nothing settled, uncle, or in any way of being settled.
+It so happened that Mr. Newton did speak to me about his new house.
+There is nothing more."
+
+"Nevertheless, papa, pray let us ask him to dinner on Thursday." It
+was for the purpose of making this request that Patience had come to
+Southampton Buildings, braving her father's displeasure. Sir Thomas
+scratched his head, and rubbed his face, and yielded. Of course he
+had no alternative but to yield, and yet he did it with a bad grace.
+Permission, however, was given, and it was understood that Patience
+would write to the two young men, Ralph of Beamingham Hall and the
+parson, asking them to dinner for the day but one following. "As
+the time is so short, I've written the notes ready," said Patience,
+producing them from her pocket. Then the bell was rung, and the two
+notes were confided to Stemm. Patience, as she was going, found a
+moment in which to be alone with her father, and to speak one more
+word to him. "Dear papa, it would be so much better for us that you
+should come and live at home. Think of those two, with nobody, as
+it were, to say a word for them." Sir Thomas groaned, and again
+scratched his head; but Patience left him before he had arranged his
+words for an answer.
+
+When they were gone, Sir Thomas sat for hours in his chair without
+moving, making the while one or two faint attempts at the book before
+him, but in truth giving up his mind to contemplation of the past
+and to conjectures as to the future, burdened by heavy regrets, and
+with hopes too weak to afford him any solace. The last words which
+Patience had spoken rang in his ears,--"Think of those two, with
+nobody, as it were, to say a word for them." He did think of them,
+and of the speaker also, and knew that he had neglected his duty. He
+could understand that such a girl as his own Clarissa did require
+some one "to say a word for her," some stalwart arm to hold her up,
+some loving strength to support her, some counsel to direct her. Of
+course those three girls were as other girls, looking forward to
+matrimony as their future lot in life, and it would not be well that
+they should be left to choose or to be chosen, or left to reject and
+be rejected, without any aid from their remaining parent. He knew
+that he had been wrong, and he almost resolved that the chambers in
+Southampton Buildings should be altogether abandoned, and his books
+removed to Popham Villa.
+
+But such men do not quite resolve. Before he could lay his hand upon
+the table and assure himself that the thing should be done, the
+volume had been taken up again, used for a few minutes, and then the
+man's mind had run away again to that vague contemplation which is
+so much easier than the forming of a steady purpose. It was one of
+those almost sultry days which do come to us occasionally amidst
+the ordinary inclemency of a London May, and he was sitting with
+his window open, though there was a fire in the grate. As he sat,
+dreaming rather than thinking, there came upon his ear the weak,
+wailing, puny sound of a distant melancholy flute. He had heard it
+often before, and had been roused by it to evil wishes, and sometimes
+even to evil words, against the musician. It was the effort of some
+youth in the direction of Staple's Inn to soothe with music the
+savageness of his own bosom. It was borne usually on the evening air,
+but on this occasion the idle swain had taken up his instrument
+within an hour or two of his early dinner. His melody was burdened
+with no peculiar tune, but consisted of a few low, wailing,
+melancholy notes, such as may be extracted from the reed by a breath
+and the slow raising and falling of the little finger, much, we
+believe, to the comfort of the player, but to the ineffable disgust
+of, too often, a large circle of hearers.
+
+Sir Thomas was affected by the sound long before he was aware that he
+was listening to it. To-whew, to-whew; to-whew, to-whew; whew-to-to,
+whew-to-to, whew, to-whew. On the present occasion the variation
+was hardly carried beyond that; but so much was repeated with a
+persistency which at last seemed to burden the whole air round
+Southampton Buildings. The little thing might have been excluded by
+the closing of the window; but Sir Thomas, though he suffered, did
+not reflect for a while whence the suffering came. Who does not know
+how such sounds may serve to enhance the bitterness of remorse, to
+add a sorrow to the present thoughts, and to rob the future of its
+hopes?
+
+There come upon us all as we grow up in years, hours in which it is
+impossible to keep down the conviction that everything is vanity,
+that the life past has been vain from folly, and that the life to
+come must be vain from impotence. It is the presence of thoughts such
+as these that needs the assurance of a heaven to save the thinker
+from madness or from suicide. It is when the feeling of this
+pervading vanity is strongest on him, that he who doubts of heaven
+most regrets his incapacity for belief. If there be nothing better
+than this on to the grave,--and nothing worse beyond the grave, why
+should I bear such fardels?
+
+Sir Thomas, as he sat there listening and thinking, unable not to
+think and not to listen, found that the fardels were very heavy. What
+good had come to him of his life,--to him or to others? And what
+further good did he dare to promise to himself? Had it not all been
+vanity? Was it not all vain to him now at the present? Was not life
+becoming to him vainer and still vainer every day? He had promised
+himself once that books should be the solace of his age, and he was
+beginning to hate his books, because he knew that he did no more than
+trifle with them. He had found himself driven to attempt to escape
+from them back into public life; but had failed, and had been
+inexpressibly dismayed in the failure. While failing, he had promised
+himself that he would rush at his work on his return to privacy and
+to quiet; but he was still as the shivering coward, who stands upon
+the brink, and cannot plunge in among the bathers. And then there was
+sadness beyond this, and even deeper than this. Why should he have
+dared to arrange for himself a life different from the life of the
+ordinary men and women who lived around him? Why had he not contented
+himself with having his children around him; walking with them to
+church on Sunday morning, taking them to the theatre on Monday
+evening, and allowing them to read him to sleep after tea on the
+Tuesday? He had not done these things, was not doing them now,
+because he had ventured to think himself capable of something that
+would justify him in leaving the common circle. He had left it, but
+was not justified. He had been in Parliament, had been in office,
+and had tried to write a book. But he was not a legislator, was
+not a statesman, and was not an author. He was simply a weak, vain,
+wretched man, who, through false conceit, had been induced to neglect
+almost every duty of life! To-whew, to-whew, to-whew, to-whew! As the
+sounds filled his ears, such were the thoughts which lay heavy on his
+bosom. So idle as he had been in thinking, so inconclusive, so frail,
+so subject to gusts of wind, so incapable of following his subject to
+the end, why had he dared to leave that Sunday-keeping, church-going,
+domestic, decent life, which would have become one of so ordinary a
+calibre as himself? There are men who may doubt, who may weigh the
+evidence, who may venture to believe or disbelieve in compliance with
+their own reasoning faculties,--who may trust themselves to think
+it out; but he, too clearly, had not been, was not, and never
+would be one of these. To walk as he saw other men walking around
+him,--because he was one of the many; to believe that to be good
+which the teachers appointed for him declared to be good; to do
+prescribed duties without much personal inquiry into the causes which
+had made them duties; to listen patiently, and to be content without
+excitement; that was the mode of living for which he should have
+known himself to be fit. But he had not known it, and had strayed
+away, and had ventured to think that he could think,--and had been
+ambitious. And now he found himself stranded in the mud of personal
+condemnation,--and that so late in life, that there remained to him
+no hope of escape. Whew-to-to; whew-to-to; whew,--to-whew. "Stemm,
+why do you let that brute go on with his cursed flute?" Stemm at that
+moment had opened the door to suggest that as he usually dined at
+one, and as it was now past three, he would go out and get a bit of
+something to eat.
+
+"He's always at it, sir," said Stemm, pausing for a moment before he
+alluded to his own wants.
+
+"Why the deuce is he always at it? Why isn't he indited for a
+nuisance? Who's to do anything with such a noise as that going on for
+hours together? He has nearly driven me mad."
+
+"It's young Wobble as has the back attic, No. 17, in the Inn," said
+Stemm.
+
+"They ought to turn him out," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"I rather like it myself," said Stemm. "It suits my disposition,
+sir." Then he made his little suggestion in regard to his own
+personal needs, and of course was blown up for not having come in
+two hours ago to remind Sir Thomas that it was dinner-time. "It's
+because I wouldn't disturb you when you has the Bacon papers out, Sir
+Thomas," said Stemm serenely. Sir Thomas winced and shook his head;
+but such scenes as this were too common to have much effect. "Stemm!"
+he called aloud, as soon as the old clerk had closed the door;
+"Stemm!" Whereupon Stemm reappeared. "Stemm, have some one here next
+week to pack all these books."
+
+"Pack all the books, Sir Thomas!"
+
+"Yes;--to pack all the books. There must be cases. Now, go and get
+your dinner."
+
+"New cases, Sir Thomas!"
+
+"That will do. Go and get your dinner." And yet his mind was not
+quite made up.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LII.
+
+GUS EARDHAM.
+
+
+Whether Mr. Neefit broke Ralph Newton's little statuette,--a
+miniature copy in porcelain of the Apollo Belvidere, which stood in a
+corner of Ralph's room, and in the possession of which he took some
+pride,--from awkwardness in his wrath or of malice prepense, was
+never known. He told the servant that he had whisked it down with
+his coat tails; but Ralph always thought that the breeches-maker had
+intended to make a general ruin, but had been cowed by the noise of
+his first attack. He did, at any rate, abstain from breaking other
+things, and when the servant entered the room, condescended to make
+some careless apology. "A trifle like that ain't nothing between me
+and your master, Jack," said Mr. Neefit, after accounting for the
+accident by his coat-tails.
+
+"I am not Jack," said the indignant valet, with a strong foreign
+accent. "I am named--Adolphe."
+
+"Adolphe, are you? I don't think much of Adolphe for a name;--but it
+ain't no difference to me. Just pick up them bits; will you?"
+
+The man turned a look of scorn on Mr. Neefit, and did pick up the
+bits. He intended to obey his master as far as might be possible,
+but was very unwilling to wait upon the breeches-maker. He felt that
+the order which had been given to him was very cruel. It was his
+duty,--and his pleasure to wait upon gentlemen; but this man he
+knew to be a tradesman who measured customers for hunting apparel
+in his own shop. It was hard upon him that his master should go
+and leave him to be insulted, ordered about, and trodden upon by
+a breeches-maker. "Get me a bit of steak, will you?" demanded
+Neefit;--"a bit of the rump, not too much done, with the gravy in
+it,--and an onion. What are you staring at? Didn't you hear what your
+master said to you?"
+
+"Onion,--and romp-steak!"
+
+"Yes; rump-steak and onion. I ain't going out of this till I've had a
+bit of grub. Your master knows all about it. I'm going to have more
+nor that out of him before I've done with him."
+
+Neefit did at last succeed, and had his rump-steak and onion,
+together with more brandy and soda-water, eating and drinking as he
+sat in Ralph's beautiful new easy chair,--not very much to his own
+comfort. A steak at the Prince's Feathers in Conduit Street would
+have been very much more pleasant to him, and he would have preferred
+half-and-half in the pewter to brandy and soda-water;--but he felt a
+pride in using his power in a fashion that would be disgraceful to
+his host. When he had done his steak he pulled his pipe out of his
+pocket, and smoked. Against this Adolphe remonstrated stoutly, but
+quite in vain. "The Captain won't mind a little baccy-smoke out of my
+pipe," he said. "He always has his smoke comfortable when he comes
+down to me." At last, about four o'clock, he did go away, assuring
+Adolphe that he would repeat his visit very soon. "I means to see
+a deal of the Captain this season," he said. At last, however, he
+retreated, and Adolphe opened the door of the house for him without
+speaking a word. "Bye, bye," said Neefit. "I'll be here again before
+long."
+
+Ralph on that afternoon came home to dress for dinner at about seven,
+in great fear lest Neefit should still be found in his rooms. "No,
+saar; he go away at last!" said Adolphe, with a melancholy shake of
+his head.
+
+"Has he done much harm?"
+
+"The Apollo gone!--and he had romp-steak,--and onions,--and a pipe.
+Vat vas I to do? I hope he vill never come again." And so also did
+Mr. Newton hope that Neefit would never come again.
+
+He was going to dine with Lady Eardham, the wife of a Berkshire
+baronet, who had three fair daughters. At this period of his life he
+found the aristocracy of Berkshire and Hampshire to be very civil to
+him; and, indeed, the world at large was disposed to smile on him.
+But there was very much in his lot to make him unhappy. He had on
+that morning been utterly rejected by Clarissa Underwood. It may,
+perhaps, be true that he was not a man to break his heart because a
+girl rejected him. He was certainly one who could have sung the old
+song, "If she be not fair for me, what care I how fair she be." And
+yet Clarissa's conduct had distressed him, and had caused him to go
+about throughout the whole afternoon with his heart almost in his
+boots. He had felt her coldness to him much more severely than he had
+that of Mary Bonner. He had taught himself to look upon that little
+episode with Mary as though it had really meant nothing. She had just
+crossed the sky of his heaven like a meteor, and for a moment had
+disturbed its serenity. And Polly also had been to him a false light,
+leading him astray for awhile under exceptional, and, as he thought,
+quite pardonable circumstances. But dear little Clary had been his
+own peculiar star,--a star that was bound to have been true to him,
+even though he might have erred for a moment in his worship,--a
+star with a sweet, soft, enduring light, that he had always assured
+himself he might call his own when he pleased. And now this soft,
+sweet star had turned upon him and scorched him. "When I get home,"
+she had said to him, "I shall find that you have already made an
+offer to Patience!" He certainly had not expected such scorn from
+her. And then he was so sure in his heart that if she would have
+accepted him, he would have been henceforth so true to her, so good
+to her! He would have had such magnanimous pleasure in showering upon
+her pretty little head all the good things at his disposal, that,
+for her own sake, the pity was great. When he had been five minutes
+in his cab, bowling back towards his club, he was almost minded to
+return and give her one more chance. She would just have suited him.
+And as for her,--would it not be a heaven on earth for her if she
+would only consent to forget that foolish, unmeaning little episode.
+Could Clary have forgotten the episode, and been content to care
+little or nothing for that easiness of feeling which made our Ralph
+what he was, she might, probably, have been happy as the mistress of
+the Priory. But she would not have forgotten, and would not have been
+content. She had made up her little heart stoutly that Ralph the heir
+should sit in it no longer, and it was well for him that he did not
+go back.
+
+He went to his club instead,--not daring to go to his rooms. The
+insanity of Neefit was becoming to him a terrible bane. It was, too,
+a cruelty which he certainly had done nothing to deserve. He could
+lay his hand on his heart and assure himself that he had treated that
+mad, pig-headed tradesman well in all respects. He knew himself to
+be the last man to make a promise, and then to break it wilfully. He
+had certainly borrowed money of Neefit;--and at the probable cost
+of all his future happiness he had, with a nobleness which he could
+not himself sufficiently admire, done his very best to keep the
+hard terms which in his distress he had allowed to be imposed upon
+himself. He had been loyal, even to the breeches-maker;--and this was
+the return which was made to him!
+
+What was he to do, should Neefit cling to his threat and remain
+permanently at his chambers? There were the police, and no doubt
+he could rid himself of his persecutor. But he understood well the
+barbarous power which some underbred, well-trained barrister would
+have of asking him questions which it would be so very disagreeable
+for him to answer! He lacked the courage to send for the police.
+Jacky Joram had just distinguished himself greatly, and nearly
+exterminated a young gentleman who had married one girl while he was
+engaged to another. Jacky Joram might ask him questions as to his
+little dinners at Alexandra Lodge, which it would nearly kill him
+to answer. He was very unhappy, and began to think that it might
+be as well that he should travel for twelve months. Neefit could
+not persecute him up the Nile, or among the Rocky Mountains. And
+perhaps Clary's ferocity would have left her were he to return after
+twelve months of glorious journeyings, still constant to his first
+affections. In the meantime he did not dare to go home till it would
+be absolutely necessary that he should dress for dinner.
+
+In the billiard-room of his club he found Lord Polperrow,--the eldest
+son of the Marquis of Megavissey,--pretty Poll, as he was called by
+many young men, and by some young ladies, about town. Lord Polperrow
+had become his fast friend since the day on which his heirship was
+established, and now encountered him with friendly intimacy. "Halloa,
+Newton," said the young lord, "have you seen old Neefit lately?"
+There were eight or ten men in the room, and suddenly there was
+silence among the cues.
+
+Ralph would have given his best horse to be able to laugh it off, but
+he found that he could not laugh. He became very hot, and knew that
+he was red in the face. "What about old Neefit?" he said.
+
+"I've just come from Conduit Street, and he says that he has been
+dining with you. He swears that you are to marry his daughter."
+
+"He be d----!" said Newton. It was a poor way of getting out of the
+scrape, and so Ralph felt.
+
+"But what's the meaning of it all? He's telling everybody about
+London that you went down to stay with him at Margate."
+
+"Neefit has gone mad lately," said Captain Fooks, with a good-natured
+determination to stand by his friend in misfortune.
+
+"But how about the girl, Newton?" asked his lordship.
+
+"You may have her yourself, Poll,--if she don't prefer a young
+shoemaker, to whom I believe she's engaged. She's very pretty, and
+has got a lot of money--which will suit you to a T." He tried to put
+a good face on it; but, nevertheless, he was very hot and red in the
+face.
+
+"I'd put a stop to this if I were you," said another friend,
+confidentially and in a whisper. "He's not only telling everybody,
+but writing letters about it."
+
+"Oh, I know," said Ralph. "How can I help what a madman does? It's a
+bore of course." Then he sauntered out again, feeling sure that his
+transactions with Mr. Neefit would form the subject of conversation
+in the club billiard-room for the next hour and a half. It would
+certainly become expedient that he should travel abroad.
+
+He felt it to be quite a relief when he found that Mr. Neefit was not
+waiting for him at his chambers. "Adolphe," he said as soon as he was
+dressed, "that man must never be allowed to put his foot inside the
+door again."
+
+"Ah;--the Apollo gone! And he did it express!"
+
+"I don't mind the figure;--but he must never be allowed to enter the
+place again. I shall not stay up long, but while we are here you must
+not leave the place till six. He won't come in the evening." Then he
+put a sovereign into the man's hand, and went out to dine at Lady
+Eardham's.
+
+Lady Eardham had three fair daughters, with pretty necks, and
+flaxen hair, and blue eyes, and pug noses, all wonderfully alike.
+They ranged from twenty-seven to twenty-one, there being sons
+between,--and it began to be desirable that they should be married.
+Since Ralph had been in town the Eardham mansion in Cavendish Square
+had been opened to him with almost maternal kindness. He had accepted
+the kindness; but being fully alive to the purposes of matronly
+intrigue, had had his little jokes in reference to the young ladies.
+He liked young ladies generally, but was well aware that a young man
+is not obliged to offer his hand and heart to every girl that is
+civil to him. He and the Eardham girls had been exceedingly intimate,
+but he had had no idea whatever of sharing Newton Priory with an
+Eardham. Now, however, in his misery he was glad to go to a house in
+which he would be received with an assured welcome.
+
+Everybody smiled upon him. Sir George in these days was very cordial,
+greeting him with that genial esoteric warmth which is always felt by
+one English country gentleman with a large estate for another equally
+blessed. Six months ago, when it was believed that Ralph had sold
+his inheritance to his uncle, Sir George when he met the young man
+addressed him in a very different fashion. As he entered the room he
+felt the warmth of the welcoming. The girls, one and all, had ever so
+many things to say to him. They all hunted, and they all wanted him
+to look at horses for them. Lady Eardham was more matronly than ever,
+and at the same time was a little fussy. She would not leave him
+among the girls, and at last succeeded in getting him off into a
+corner of the back drawing-room. "Now, Mr. Newton," she said, "I am
+going to show you that I put the greatest confidence in you."
+
+"So you may," said Ralph, wondering whether one of the girls was to
+be offered to him, out of hand. At the present moment he was so low
+in spirits that he would probably have taken either.
+
+"I have had a letter," said Lady Eardham, whispering the words into
+his ear;--and then she paused. "Such a strange letter, and very
+abominable. I've shown it to no one,--not even to Sir George. I
+wouldn't let one of the girls see it for ever so much." Then there
+was another pause. "I don't believe a word of it, Mr. Newton; but I
+think it right to show it to you,--because it's about you."
+
+"About me?" said Ralph, with his mind fixed at once upon Mr. Neefit.
+
+"Yes, indeed;--and when I tell you it refers to my girls too, you
+will see how strong is my confidence in you. If either had been
+specially named, of course I could not have shown it." Then she
+handed him the letter, which poor Ralph read, as follows:--
+
+
+   MY LADY,--I'm told as Mr. Ralph Newton, of Newton Priory,
+   is sweet upon one of your ladyship's daughters. I think
+   it my duty to tell your ladyship he's engaged to marry my
+   girl, Maryanne Neefit.
+
+   Yours most respectful,
+
+   THOMAS NEEFIT,
+   Breeches-Maker, Conduit Street.
+
+
+"It's a lie," said Ralph.
+
+"I'm sure it's a lie," said Lady Eardham, "only I thought it right to
+show it you."
+
+Ralph took Gus Eardham down to dinner, and did his very best to make
+himself agreeable. Gus was the middle one of the three, and was
+certainly a fine girl. The Eardham girls would have no money; but
+Ralph was not a greedy man,--except when he was in great need. It
+must not be supposed, however, that on this occasion he made up his
+mind to marry Gus Eardham. But, as on previous occasions, he had been
+able to hold all the Eardhams in a kind of subjection to himself,
+feeling himself to be bigger than they,--as hitherto he had been
+conscious that he was bestowing and they receiving,--so now, in his
+present misfortune, did he recognise that Gus was a little bigger
+than himself, and that it was for her to give and for him to take.
+And Gus was able to talk to him as though she also entertained the
+same conviction. Gus was very kind to him, and he felt grateful to
+her.
+
+Lady Eardham saw Gus alone in her bedroom that night. "I believe he's
+a very good young man," said Lady Eardham, "if he's managed rightly.
+And as for all this about the horrid man's daughter, it don't matter
+at all. He'd live it down in a month if he were married."
+
+"I don't think anything about that, mamma. I dare say he's had his
+fun,--just like other men."
+
+"Only, my dear, he's one of that sort that have to be fixed."
+
+"It's so hard to fix them, mamma."
+
+"It needn't be hard to fix him,--that is, if you'll only be steady.
+He's not sharp and hard and callous, like some of them. He doesn't
+mean any harm, and if he once speaks out, he isn't one that can't be
+kept to time. His manners are nice. I don't think the property is
+involved; but I'll find out from papa; and he's just the man to think
+his wife the pink of perfection." Lady Eardham had read our hero's
+character not inaccurately.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LIII.
+
+THE END OF POLLY NEEFIT.
+
+
+Rumours, well-supported rumours, as to the kind of life which Mr.
+Neefit was leading reached Alexandra Cottage, filling Mrs. Neefit's
+mind with dismay, and making Polly very angry indeed. He came home
+always somewhat the worse for drink, and would talk of punching the
+heads both of Mr. Newton and of Mr. Ontario Moggs. Waddle, who was
+very true to his master's interests, had taken an opportunity of
+seeing Mrs. Neefit, and of expressing a very distinct idea that the
+business was going to the mischief. Mrs. Neefit was of opinion that
+in this emergency the business should be sold, and that they might
+safely remove themselves to some distant country,--to Tunbridge, or
+perhaps to Ware. Polly, however, would not accede to her mother's
+views. The evil must, she thought, be cured at once. "If father goes
+on like this, I shall just walk straight out of the house, and marry
+Moggs at once," Polly said. "Father makes no account of my name, and
+so I must just look out for myself." She had not as yet communicated
+these intentions to Ontario, but she was quite sure that she would be
+supported in her views by him whenever she should choose to do so.
+
+Once or twice Ontario came down to the cottage, and when he did so,
+Mr. Neefit was always told of the visit. "I ain't going to keep
+anything from father, mother," Polly would say. "If he chooses
+to misbehave, that isn't my fault. I mean to have Mr. Moggs, and
+it's only natural I should like to see him." Neefit, when informed
+of these visits, after swearing that Moggs junior was a sneaking
+scoundrel to come to his house in his absence, would call upon Moggs
+senior, and swear with many threats that his daughter should have
+nothing but what she stood up in. Moggs senior would stand quite
+silent, cutting the skin on his hand with his shoemaker's knife, and
+would simply bid the infuriated breeches-maker good morning, when
+he left the shop. But, in truth, Mr. Moggs senior had begun to doubt.
+"I'd leave it awhile, Onty, if I was you," he said. "May be, after
+all, he'll give her nothing."
+
+"I'll take her the first day she'll come to me,--money or no money,"
+said Moggs junior.
+
+Foiled ambition had, in truth, driven the breeches-maker to madness.
+But there were moments in which he was softened, melancholy, and
+almost penitent. "Why didn't you have him when he come down to
+Margate," he said, with the tears running down his cheek, that very
+evening after eating his rump-steak in Mr. Newton's rooms. The
+soda-water and brandy, with a little gin-and-water after it, had
+reduced him to an almost maudlin condition, so that he was unable to
+support his parental authority.
+
+"Because I didn't choose, father. It wasn't his fault. He spoke fair
+enough,--though I don't suppose he ever wanted it. Why should he?"
+
+"You might have had him then. He'd 've never dared to go back. I'd a
+killed him if he had."
+
+"What good would it have done, father? He'd never have loved me, and
+he'd have despised you and mother."
+
+"I wouldn't 've minded that," said Mr. Neefit, wiping his eyes.
+
+"But I should have minded. What should I have felt with a husband
+as wouldn't have wanted me ever to have my own father in his house?
+Would that have made me happy?"
+
+"It 'd 've made me happy to know as you was there."
+
+"No, father; there would have been no happiness in it. When I came to
+see what he was I knew I should never love him. He was just willing
+to take me because of his word;--and was I going to a man like that?
+No, father;--certainly not." The poor man was at that moment too far
+gone in his misery to argue the matter further, and he lay on the
+old sofa, very much at Polly's mercy. "Drop it, father," she said.
+"It wasn't to be, and it couldn't have been. You'd better say you'll
+drop it." But, sick and uncomfortable as he was on that evening, he
+couldn't be got to say that he would drop it.
+
+Nor could he be got to drop it for some ten days after that;--but
+on a certain evening he had come home very uncomfortable from the
+effects of gin-and-water, and had been spoken to very sensibly both
+by his wife and daughter.
+
+By seven on the following morning Ontario Moggs was sitting in the
+front parlour of the house at Hendon, and Polly Neefit was sitting
+with him. He had never been there at so early an hour before, and
+it was thought afterwards by both Mr. and Mrs. Neefit that his
+appearance, so unexpected by them, had not surprised their daughter
+Polly. Could it have been possible that she had sent a message to him
+after that little scene with her father? There he was, at any rate,
+and Polly was up to receive him. "Now, Onty, that'll do. I didn't
+want to talk nonsense, but just to settle something."
+
+"But you'll tell a fellow that you're glad to see him?"
+
+"No, I won't. I won't tell a fellow anything he doesn't know already.
+You and I have got to get married."
+
+"Of course we have."
+
+"But we want father's consent. I'm not going to have him made
+unhappy, if I can help it. He's that wretched sometimes at present
+that my heart is half killed about him."
+
+"The things he says are monstrous," asserted Moggs, thinking of the
+protestation lately made by the breeches-maker in his own hearing,
+to the effect that Ralph Newton should yet be made to marry his
+daughter.
+
+"All the same I've got to think about him. There's a dozen or so
+of men as would marry me, Mr. Moggs; but I can never have another
+father."
+
+"I'll be the first of the dozen any way," said the gallant Ontario.
+
+"That depends. However, mother says so, and if father 'll consent,
+I won't go against it. I'll go to him now, before he's up, and I'll
+tell him you're here. I'll bring him to his senses if I can. I don't
+know whatever made him think so much about gentlemen."
+
+"He didn't learn it from you, Polly."
+
+"Perhaps he did, after all; and if so, that's the more reason why I'd
+forgive him." So saying, Polly went up-stairs upon her mission. On
+the landing she met her mother, and made known the fact that Ontario
+was in the parlour. "Don't you go to him, mother;--not yet," said
+Polly. Whereby it may be presumed that Mrs. Neefit had been informed
+of Mr. Moggs's visit before Polly had gone to him.
+
+Mr. Neefit was in bed, and his condition apparently was not a happy
+one. He was lying with his head between his hands, and was groaning,
+not loudly, but very bitterly. His mode of life for the last month
+had not been of a kind to make him comfortable, and his conscience,
+too, was ill at ease. He had been a hard-working man, who had loved
+respectability and been careful of his wife and child. He had been
+proud to think that nobody could say anything against him, and that
+he had always paid his way. Up to the time of this disastrous fit of
+ambition on Polly's behalf he had never made himself ridiculous, and
+had been a prosperous tradesman, well thought of by his customers.
+Suddenly he had become mad, but not so mad as to be unconscious
+of his own madness. The failure of his hopes, joined to the
+inexpressibly bitter feeling that in their joint transactions young
+Newton had received all that had been necessary to him, whereas he,
+Neefit, had got none of that for which he had bargained,--these
+together had so upset him that he had lost his balance, had travelled
+out of his usual grooves, and had made an ass of himself. He knew he
+had made an ass of himself,--and was hopelessly endeavouring to show
+himself to be less of an ass than people thought him, by some success
+in his violence. If he could only punish young Newton terribly,
+people would understand why he had done all this. But drink had been
+necessary to give him courage for his violence, and now as he lay
+miserable in bed, his courage was very low.
+
+"Father," said Polly, "shall I give you a drink?" Neefit muttered
+something, and took the cold tea that was offered to him. It was
+cold tea, with just a spoonful of brandy in it to make it acceptable.
+"Father, there ought to be an end of all this;--oughtn't there?"
+
+"I don't know about no ends. I'll be down on him yet."
+
+"No you won't, father. And why should you? He has done nothing wrong
+to you or me. I wouldn't have him if it was ever so."
+
+"It's all been your fault, Polly."
+
+"Yes;--my fault; that I wouldn't be made what you call a lady; to be
+taken away, so that I'd never see any more of you and mother!" Then
+she put her hand gently on his shoulder. "I couldn't stand that,
+father."
+
+"I'd make him let you come to us."
+
+"A wife must obey her husband, father. Mother always obeyed you."
+
+"No, she didn't. She's again me now."
+
+"Besides, I don't want to be a lady," said Polly, seeing that she had
+better leave that question of marital obedience; "and I won't be a
+lady. I won't be better than you and mother."
+
+"You've been brought up better."
+
+"I'll show my breeding, then, by being true to you, and true to the
+man I love. What would you think of your girl, if she was to give her
+hand to a--gentleman, when she'd given her heart to a--shoemaker?"
+
+"Oh, d---- the shoemaker!"
+
+"No, father, I won't have it. What is there against Ontario? He's a
+fine-hearted fellow, as isn't greedy after money,--as 'd kiss the
+very ground I stand on he's that true to me, and is a tradesman as
+yourself. If we had a little place of our own, wouldn't Ontario be
+proud to have you there, and give you the best of everything; and
+wouldn't I wait upon you, just only trying to know beforehand every
+tittle as you'd like to have. And if there was to be babies, wouldn't
+they be brought up to love you. If I'd gone with that young man down
+to his fine place, do you think it would have been like that? How 'd
+I've felt when he was too proud to let his boy know as you was my
+father?" Neefit turned on his bed and groaned. He was too ill at ease
+as to his inner man to argue the subject from a high point of view,
+or to assert that he was content to be abased himself in order that
+his child and grandchildren might be raised in the world. "Father,"
+said Polly, "you have always been kind to me. Be kind to me now."
+
+"The young 'uns is always to have their own way," said Neefit.
+
+"Hasn't my way been your way, father?"
+
+"Not when you wouldn't take the Captain when he come to Margate."
+
+"I didn't love him, father. Dear father, say the word. We haven't
+been happy lately;--have we, father?"
+
+"I ain't been very 'appy," said Neefit, bursting out into sobs.
+
+She put her face upon his brow and kissed it. "Father, let us be
+happy again. Ontario is down-stairs,--in the parlour now."
+
+"Ontario Moggs in my parlour!" said Neefit, jumping up in bed.
+
+"Yes, father; Ontario Moggs,--my husband, as will be; the man I
+honour and love; the man that will honour and love you; as true a
+fellow as ever made a young woman happy by taking her. Let me tell
+him that you will have him for a son." In truth, Neefit did not speak
+the word;--but when Polly left the room, which she presently did
+after a long embrace, Mr. Neefit was aware that his consent to the
+union would be conveyed to Ontario Moggs in less than five minutes.
+
+"And now you can name the day," said Ontario.
+
+"I cannot do any such thing," replied Polly; "and I think that quite
+enough has been settled for one morning. It's give an inch and take
+an ell with some folks."
+
+Ontario waited for breakfast, and had an interview with his future
+father-in-law. It was an hour after the scene up-stairs before Mr.
+Neefit could descend, and when he did come down he was not very
+jovial at the breakfast-table. "It isn't what I like, Moggs," was the
+first word that he spoke when the young politician rose to grasp the
+hand of his future father-in-law.
+
+"I hope you'll live to like it, Mr. Neefit," said Ontario, who, now
+that he was to have his way in regard to Polly, was prepared to
+disregard entirely any minor annoyances.
+
+"I don't know how that may be. I think my girl might have done
+better. I told her so, and I just tell you the same. She might a'
+done a deal better, but women is always restive."
+
+"We like to have our own way about our young men, father," said
+Polly, who was standing behind her father's chair.
+
+"Bother young men," said the breeches-maker. After that the interview
+passed off, if not very pleasantly, at least smoothly,--and it was
+understood that Mr. Neefit was to abandon that system of persecution
+against Ralph Newton, to which his life had been devoted for the last
+few weeks.
+
+After that there was a pretty little correspondence between Polly and
+Ralph, with which the story of Polly's maiden life may be presumed to
+be ended, and which shall be given to the reader, although by doing
+so the facts of our tale will be somewhat anticipated. Polly, with
+her father's permission, communicated the fact of her engagement to
+her former lover.
+
+
+   Hendon, Saturday.
+
+   DEAR SIR,--
+
+   Father thinks it best that I should tell you that I
+   am engaged to marry Mr. Ontario Moggs,--whom you will
+   remember. He is a most respectable tradesman, and stood
+   once for a member of Parliament, and I think he will make
+   me quite happy; and I'm quite sure that's what I'm fitted
+   for.
+
+
+Whether Polly meant that she was fitted to be made happy, or fitted
+to be the wife of a tradesman who stood for Parliament, did not
+appear quite clearly.
+
+
+   There have been things which we are very sorry for, and
+   hope you'll forgive and forget. Father bids me say how
+   sorry he is he broke a figure of a pretty little man in
+   your room. He would get another, only he would not know
+   where to go for it.
+
+   Wishing you always may be happy, believe me to remain,
+
+   Yours most respectfully,
+
+   MARYANNE NEEFIT.
+
+
+Ralph's answer was dated about a fortnight afterwards;--
+
+
+   --, Cavendish Square, 1 June, 186--.
+
+   MY DEAR POLLY,--
+
+   I hope you will allow me to call you so now for the
+   last time. I am, indeed, happy that you are going to
+   be married. I believe Mr. Moggs to be a most excellent
+   fellow. I hope I may often see him,--and sometimes you.
+   He must allow you to accept a little present which I send
+   you, and never be jealous if you wear it at your waist.
+   The pretty little man that your father broke by accident
+   in my rooms did not signify at all. Pray tell him so from
+   me.
+
+   Believe me to be your very sincere friend,
+
+   RALPH NEWTON.
+
+   I may as well tell you my own secret. I am going to be
+   married, too. The young lady lives in this house, and her
+   name is Augusta Eardham.
+
+
+This letter was sent by messenger from Cavendish Square, with a very
+handsome watch and chain. A month afterwards, when he was preparing
+to leave London for Brayboro' Park, he received a little packet, with
+a note as follows;--
+
+
+   Linton, Devonshire, Wednesday.
+
+   DEAR MR. NEWTON,--
+
+   I am so much obliged for the watch, and so is Ontario, who
+   will never be jealous, I'm sure. It is a most beautiful
+   thing, and I shall value it, oh! so much. I am very glad
+   you are going to be married, and should have answered
+   before, only I wanted to finish making with my own hand a
+   little chain which I send you. And I hope your sweetheart
+   won't be jealous either. We looked her out in a book, and
+   found she is the daughter of a great gentleman with a
+   title. That is all just as it should be. Ontario sends his
+   respects. We have come down here for the honeymoon.
+
+   I remain, yours very sincerely,
+
+   MARYANNE MOGGS.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LIV.
+
+MY MARY.
+
+
+Both the invitations sent by Patience Underwood were accepted, and
+Sir Thomas, on the day named, was at home to receive them. Nothing
+had as yet been done as to the constructing of those cases which he
+so suddenly ordered to be made for his books; and, indeed, Stemm had
+resolved to take the order as meaning nothing. It would not be for
+him to accelerate his master's departure from Southampton Buildings,
+and he knew enough of the man to be aware that he must have some very
+strong motive indeed before so great a change could be really made.
+When Sir Thomas left Southampton Buildings for Fulham, on the day
+named for the dinner, not a word further had been said about packing
+the books.
+
+There was no company at the villa besides Sir Thomas, the three
+girls, and the two young men. As to Clarissa, Patience said not a
+word, even to her father,--that must still be left till time should
+further cure the wound that had been made;--but she did venture to
+suggest, in private with Sir Thomas, that it was a pity that he who
+was certainly the more worthy of the two Ralphs should not be made
+to understand that others did not think so much of the present
+inferiority of his position in the world as he seemed to think
+himself.
+
+"You mean that Mary would take him?" asked Sir Thomas.
+
+"Why should she not, if she likes him? He is very good."
+
+"I can't tell him to offer to her, without telling him also that he
+would be accepted."
+
+"No;--I suppose not," said Patience.
+
+Nevertheless, Sir Thomas did speak to Ralph Newton before
+dinner,--stuttering and muttering, and only half finishing his
+sentence. "We had a correspondence once, Mr. Newton. I dare say you
+remember."
+
+"I remember it very well, Sir Thomas."
+
+"I only wanted to tell you;--you seem to think more about what has
+taken place,--I mean as to the property,--than we do;--that is, than
+I do."
+
+"It has made a change."
+
+"Yes; of course. But I don't know that a large place like Newton
+is sure to make a man happy. Perhaps you'd like to wash your hands
+before dinner." Gregory, in the meantime, was walking round the
+garden with Mary and Clarissa.
+
+The dinner was very quiet, but pleasant and cheerful. Sir Thomas
+talked a good deal, and so did Patience. Mary also was at her ease,
+and able to do all that was required of her. Ralph certainly was not
+gay. He was seated next to Clarissa, and spoke a few words now and
+again; but he was arranging matters in his mind; and Patience, who
+was observing them all, knew that he was pre-occupied. Clarissa,
+who now and again would forget her sorrow and revert to her former
+self,--as she had done in the picture-gallery,--could not now, under
+the eye as it were of her father, her sister, and her old lover,
+forget her troubles. She knew what was expected of her; but she
+could not do it;--she could not do it at least as yet. Nevertheless,
+Patience, who was the engineer in the present crisis, was upon the
+whole contented with the way in which things were going.
+
+The three girls sat with the gentlemen for a quarter of an hour after
+the decanters were put upon the table, and then withdrew. Sir Thomas
+immediately began to talk about Newton Priory, and to ask questions
+which might interest the parson without, as he thought, hurting the
+feelings of the disinherited Ralph. This went on for about five
+minutes, during which Gregory was very eloquent about his church and
+his people, when, suddenly, Ralph rose from his chair and withdrew.
+"Have I said anything that annoyed him?" asked Sir Thomas anxiously.
+
+"It is not that, I think," said Gregory.
+
+Ralph walked across the passage, opened the door of the drawing-room,
+in which the three girls were at work, walked up to the chair in
+which Mary Bonner was sitting, and said something in so low a voice
+that neither of the sisters heard him.
+
+"Certainly I will," said Mary, rising from her chair. Patience
+glanced round, and could see that the colour, always present in her
+cousin's face, was heightened,--ever so little indeed; but still the
+tell-tale blush had told its tale. Ralph stood for a moment while
+Mary moved away to the door, and then followed her without speaking a
+word to the other girls, or bestowing a glance on either of them.
+
+"He is going to propose to her," said Clarissa as soon as the door
+was shut.
+
+"No one can be sure," said Patience.
+
+"Only fancy,--asking a girl to go out of the room,--in that brave
+manner! I shouldn't have gone because I'm a coward; but it's just
+what Mary will like."
+
+"Let me get my hat, Mr. Newton," said Mary, taking the opportunity to
+trip up-stairs, though her hat was hanging in the hall. When she was
+in her room she merely stood upright there, for half a minute, in the
+middle of the chamber, erect and stiff, with her arms and fingers
+stretched out, thinking how she would behave herself. Half a minute
+sufficed for her to find her clue, and then she came down as quickly
+as her feet would carry her. He had opened the front door, and was
+standing outside upon the gravel, and there she joined him.
+
+"I had no other way but this of speaking to you," he said.
+
+"I don't dislike coming out at all," she answered. Then there was
+silence for a moment or two as they walked along into the gloom of
+the shrubbery. "I suppose you are going down to Norfolk soon?" she
+said.
+
+"I do not quite know. I thought of going to-morrow."
+
+"So soon as that?"
+
+"But I've got something that I want to settle. I think you must know
+what it is." Then he paused again, almost as though he expected her
+to confess that she did know. But Mary was well aware that it was not
+for her to say another word till he had fully explained in most open
+detail what it was that he desired to settle. "You know a good deal
+of my history, Miss Newton. When I thought that things were going
+well with me,--much better than I had ever allowed myself to expect
+in early days, I,--I,--became acquainted with you." Again he paused,
+but she had not a word to say. "I dare say you were not told, but I
+wrote to your uncle then, asking him whether I might have his consent
+to,--just to ask you to be my wife." Again he paused, but after that
+he hurried on, speaking the words as quickly as he could throw them
+forth from his mouth. "My father died, and of course that changed
+everything. I told your uncle that all ground for pretension
+that I might have had before was cut from under me. He knew the
+circumstances of my birth,--and I supposed that you would know it
+also."
+
+Then she did speak. "Yes, I did," she said.
+
+"Perhaps I was foolish to think that the property would make a
+difference. But the truth of it is, I have not got over the feeling,
+and shall never get over it. I love you with all my heart,--and
+though it be for no good, I must tell you so."
+
+"The property can make no difference," she said. "You ought to have
+known that, Mr. Newton."
+
+"Ah;--but it does. I tried to tell you the other day something of my
+present home."
+
+"Yes;--I know you did;--and I remember it all."
+
+"There is nothing more to be said;--only to ask you to share it with
+me."
+
+She walked on with him in silence for a minute; but he said nothing
+more to press his suit, and certainly it was her turn to speak now.
+"I will share it with you," she said, pressing her arm upon his.
+
+"My Mary!"
+
+"Yes;--your Mary,--if you please." Then he took her in his arms, and
+pressed her to his bosom, and kissed her lips and forehead, and threw
+back her hat, and put his fingers among her hair. "Why did you say
+that the property would make a difference?" she asked, in a whisper.
+To this he made no answer, but walked on silently, with his arm round
+her waist, till they came out from among the trees, and stood upon
+the bank of the river. "There are people in the boats. You must put
+your arm down," she said.
+
+"I wonder how you will like to be a farmer's wife?" he asked.
+
+"I have not an idea."
+
+"I fear so much that you'll find it rough and hard."
+
+"But I have an idea about something." She took his hand, and looked
+up into his face as she continued. "I have an idea that I shall like
+to be your wife." He was in a seventh heaven of happiness, and would
+have stood there gazing on the river with her all night, if she
+would have allowed him. At last they walked back into the house
+together,--and into the room where the others were assembled, with
+very little outward show of embarrassment. Mary was the first to
+enter the room, and though she blushed she smiled also, and every one
+knew what had taken place. There was no secret or mystery, and in
+five minutes her cousins were congratulating her. "It's all settled
+for you now," said Clarissa laughing.
+
+"Yes, it's all settled for me now, and I wouldn't have it unsettled
+for all the world."
+
+While this was being said in the drawing-room,--being said even in
+the presence of poor Gregory, who could not but have felt how hard it
+was for him to behold such bliss, Sir Thomas and Ralph had withdrawn
+into the opposite room. Ralph began to apologise for his own
+misfortunes,--his misfortune in having lost the inheritance, his
+misfortune in being illegitimate; but Sir Thomas soon cut his
+apologies short. "You think a great deal more of it than she does, or
+than I do," said Sir Thomas.
+
+"If she does not regard it, I will never think of it again," said
+Ralph. "My greatest glory in what had been promised me was in
+thinking that it might help to win her."
+
+"You have won her without such help as that," said Sir Thomas, with
+his arm on the young man's shoulder.
+
+There was another delicious hour in store for him as they sat over
+their late tea. "Do you still think of going to Norfolk to-morrow?"
+she said to him, with that composure which in her was so beautiful,
+and, at the same time, so expressive.
+
+"By an early train in the morning."
+
+"I thought that perhaps you might have stayed another day now."
+
+"I thought that perhaps you might want me to come back again," said
+Ralph;--"and, if so, I could make arrangements;--perhaps for a week
+or ten days."
+
+"Do come back," she said. "And do stay."
+
+Ralph's triumph as he returned that evening to London received
+Gregory's fullest sympathy; but still it must have been hard to bear.
+Perhaps his cousin's parting words contained for him some comfort.
+"Give her a little time, and she will be yours yet. I shall find it
+all out from Mary, and you may be sure we shall help you."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LV.
+
+COOKHAM.
+
+
+We have been obliged to anticipate in some degree the course of
+our story by the necessity which weighed upon us of completing the
+history of Polly Neefit. In regard to her we will only further
+express an opinion,--in which we believe that we shall have the
+concurrence of our readers,--that Mr. Moggs junior had chosen well.
+Her story could not be adequately told without a revelation of that
+correspondence, which, while it has explained the friendly manner in
+which the Neefit-Newton embarrassments were at last brought to an
+end, has, at the same time, disclosed the future lot in life of our
+hero,--as far as a hero's lot in life may be said to depend on his
+marriage.
+
+Mr. Neefit had been almost heart-broken, because he was not satisfied
+that his victim was really punished by any of those tortures which
+his imagination invented, and his energy executed. Even when the
+"pretty little man" was smashed, and was, in truth, smashed of malice
+prepense by a swinging blow from Neefit's umbrella, Neefit did not
+feel satisfied that he would thereby reach his victim's heart. He
+could project his own mind with sufficient force into the bosom of
+his enemy to understand that the onions and tobacco consumed in that
+luxurious chamber would cause annoyance;--but he desired more than
+annoyance;--he wanted to tear the very heart-strings of the young man
+who had, as he thought, so signally outwitted him. He did not believe
+that he was successful; but, in truth, he did make poor Ralph very
+unhappy. The heir felt himself to be wounded, and could not eat and
+drink, or walk and talk, or ride in the park, or play billiards at
+his club, in a manner befitting the owner of Newton Priory. He was
+so injured by Neefit that he became pervious to attacks which would
+otherwise have altogether failed in reaching him. Lady Eardham would
+never have prevailed against him as she did,--conquering by a quick
+repetition of small blows,--had not all his strength been annihilated
+for the time by the persecutions of the breeches-maker.
+
+Lady Eardham whispered to him as he was taking his departure on the
+evening of the dinner in Cavendish Square. "Dear Mr. Newton,--just
+one word," she said, confidentially,--"that must be a very horrid
+man,"--alluding to Mr. Neefit.
+
+"It's a horrid bore, you know, Lady Eardham."
+
+"Just so;--and it makes me feel,--as though I didn't quite know
+whether something ought not to be done. Would you mind calling at
+eleven to-morrow? Of course I shan't tell Sir George,--unless you
+think he ought to be told." Ralph promised that he would call, though
+he felt at the moment that Lady Eardham was an interfering old fool.
+Why should she want to do anything; and why should she give even a
+hint as to telling Sir George? As he walked across Hanover Square and
+down Bond Street to his rooms he did assert to himself plainly that
+the "old harridan," as he called her, was at work for her second
+girl, and he shook his head and winked his eye as he thought of
+it. But, even in his solitude, he did not feel strong against Lady
+Eardham, and he moved along the pavement oppressed by a half-formed
+conviction that her ladyship would prevail against him. He did not,
+however, think that he had any particular objection to Gus Eardham.
+There was a deal of style about the girl, a merit in which either
+Clarissa or Mary would have been sadly deficient. And there could be
+no doubt in this,--that a man in his position ought to marry in his
+own class. The proper thing for him to do was to make the daughter
+of some country gentleman,--or of some nobleman, just as it might
+happen,--mistress of the Priory. Dear little Clary would hardly have
+known how to take her place properly down in Hampshire. And then he
+thought for a moment of Polly! Perhaps, after all, fate, fashion, and
+fortune managed marriage for young men better than they could manage
+it for themselves. What a life would his have been had he really
+married Polly Neefit! Though he did call Lady Eardham a harridan, he
+resolved that he would keep his promise for the following morning.
+
+Lady Eardham when he arrived was mysterious, eulogistic, and
+beneficent. She was clearly of opinion that something should be done.
+"You know it is so horrid having these kind of things said." And yet
+she was almost equally strong in opinion that nothing could be done.
+"You know I wouldn't have my girl's name brought up for all the
+world;--though why the horrid wretch should have named her I cannot
+even guess." The horrid wretch had not, in truth, named any special
+her, though it suited Lady Eardham to presume that allusion had been
+made to that hope of the flock, that crowning glory of the Eardham
+family, that most graceful of the Graces, that Venus certain to
+be chosen by any Paris, her second daughter, Gus. She went on to
+explain that were she to tell the story to her son Marmaduke, her
+son Marmaduke would probably kill the breeches-maker. As Marmaduke
+Eardham was, of all young men about town, perhaps the most careless,
+the most indifferent, and the least ferocious, his mother was
+probably mistaken in her estimate of his resentful feelings. "As for
+Sir George, he would be for taking the law of the wretch for libel,
+and then we should be--! I don't know where we should be then; but my
+dear girl would die."
+
+Of course there was nothing done. During the whole interview Lady
+Eardham continued to press Neefit's letter under her hand upon the
+table, as though it was of all documents the most precious. She
+handled it as though to tear it would be as bad as to tear an
+original document bearing the king's signature. Before the interview
+was over she had locked it up in her desk, as though there were
+something in it by which the whole Eardham race might be blessed or
+banned. And, though she spoke no such word, she certainly gave Ralph
+to understand that by this letter he, Ralph Newton, was in some
+mysterious manner so connected with the secrets, and the interests,
+and the sanctity of the Eardham family, that, whether such connection
+might be for weal or woe, the Newtons and the Eardhams could never
+altogether free themselves from the link. "Perhaps you had better
+come and dine with us in a family way to-morrow," said Lady Eardham,
+giving her invitation as though it must necessarily be tendered, and
+almost necessarily accepted. Ralph, not thanking her, but taking it
+in the same spirit, said that he would be there at half past seven.
+"Just ourselves," said Lady Eardham, in a melancholy tone, as though
+they two were doomed to eat family dinners together for ever after.
+
+"I suppose the property is really his own?" said Lady Eardham to her
+husband that afternoon.
+
+Sir George was a stout, plethoric gentleman, with a short temper and
+many troubles. Marmaduke was expensive, and Sir George himself had
+spent money when he was young. The girls, who knew that they had no
+fortunes, expected that everything should be done for them, at least
+during the period of their natural harvest,--and they were successful
+in having their expectations realised. They demanded that there
+should be horses to ride, servants to attend them, and dresses to
+wear; and they had horses, servants, and dresses. There were also
+younger children; and Sir George was quite as anxious as Lady Eardham
+that his daughters should become wives. "His own?--of course it's his
+own. Who else should it belong to?"
+
+"There was something about that other young man."
+
+"The bastard! It was the greatest sin that ever was thought of to
+palm such a fellow as that off on the county;--but it didn't come to
+anything."
+
+"I'm told, too, he has been very extravagant. No doubt he did get
+money from the,--the tailor who wants to make him marry his
+daughter."
+
+"A flea-bite," said Sir George. "Don't you bother about that." Thus
+authorised, Lady Eardham went to the work with a clear conscience and
+a good will.
+
+On the next morning Ralph received by post an envelope from Sir
+Thomas Underwood containing a letter addressed to him from Mr.
+Neefit. "Sir,--Are you going to make your ward act honourable to me
+and my daughter?--Yours, respectful, THOMAS NEEFIT." The reader will
+understand that this was prior to Polly's triumph over her father.
+Ralph uttered a deep curse, and made up his mind that he must either
+throw himself entirely among the Eardhams, or else start at once for
+the Rocky Mountains. He dined in Cavendish Square that day, and again
+took Gus down to dinner.
+
+"I'm very glad to see you here," said Sir George, when they two
+were alone together after the ladies had left them. Sir George, who
+had been pressed upon home service because of the necessity of the
+occasion, was anxious to get off to his club.
+
+"You are very kind, Sir George," said Ralph.
+
+"We shall be delighted to see you at Brayboro', if you'll come for
+a week in September and look at the girls' horses. They say you're
+quite a pundit about horseflesh."
+
+"Oh, I don't know," said Ralph.
+
+"You'll like to go up to the girls now, I dare say, and I've got
+an engagement." Then Sir George rang the bell for a cab, and Ralph
+went up-stairs to the girls. Emily had taken herself away; Josephine
+was playing besique with her mother, and Gus was thus forced into
+conversation with the young man. "Besique is so stupid," said Gus.
+
+"Horribly stupid," said Ralph.
+
+"And what do you like, Mr. Newton?"
+
+"I like you," said Ralph. But he did not propose on that evening.
+Lady Eardham thought he ought to have done so, and was angry with
+him. It was becoming almost a matter of necessity with her that young
+men should not take much time. Emily was twenty-seven, and Josephine
+was a most difficult child to manage,--not pretty, but yet giving
+herself airs and expecting everything. She had refused a clergyman
+with a very good private fortune, greatly to her mother's sorrow. And
+Gus had already been the source of much weary labour. Four eldest
+sons had been brought to her feet and been allowed to slip away; and
+all, as Lady Eardham said, because Gus would "joke" with other young
+men, while the one man should have received all her pleasantry. Emily
+was quite of opinion that young Newton should by no means have been
+allotted to Gus. Lady Eardham, who had played besique with an energy
+against which Josephine would have mutinied but that some promise was
+made as to Marshall and Snelgrove, could see from her little table
+that young Newton was neither abject nor triumphant in his manner.
+He had not received nor had he even asked when he got up to take his
+leave. Lady Eardham could have boxed his ears; but she smiled upon
+him ineffably, pressed his hand, and in the most natural way in the
+world alluded to some former allusion about riding and the park.
+
+"I shan't ride to-morrow," said Gus, with her back turned to them.
+
+"Do," said Ralph.
+
+"No; I shan't."
+
+"You see what she says, Lady Eardham," said Ralph.
+
+"You promised you would before dinner, my dear," said Lady Eardham,
+"and you ought not to change your mind. If you'll be good-natured
+enough to come, two of them will go." Of course it was understood
+that he would come.
+
+"Nothing on earth, mamma, shall ever induce me to play besique
+again," said Josephine, yawning.
+
+"It's not worse for you than for me," said the old lady sharply.
+
+"But it isn't fair," said Josephine, who was supposed to be the
+clever one of the family. "I may have to play my besique a quarter of
+a century hence."
+
+"He's an insufferable puppy," said Emily, who had come into the room,
+and had been pretending to be reading.
+
+"That's because he don't bark at your bidding, my dear," said Gus.
+
+"It doesn't seem that he means to bark at yours," said the elder
+sister.
+
+"If you go on like that, girls, I'll tell your papa, and we'll go to
+Brayboro' at once. It's too bad, and I won't bear it."
+
+"What would you have me do?" said Gus, standing up for herself
+fiercely.
+
+Gus did ride, and so did Josephine, and there was a servant with them
+of course. It had been Emily's turn,--there being two horses for the
+three girls; but Gus had declared that no good could come if Emily
+went;--and Emily's going had been stopped by parental authority.
+"You do as you're bid," said Sir George, "or you'll get the worst of
+it." Sir George suffered much from gout, and had obtained from the
+ill-temper which his pangs produced a mastery over his daughters
+which some fathers might have envied.
+
+"You behaved badly to me last night, Mr. Newton," said Gus, on
+horseback. There was another young man riding with Josephine, so that
+the lovers were alone together.
+
+"Behaved badly to you?"
+
+"Yes, you did, and I felt it very much,--very much indeed."
+
+"How did I behave badly?"
+
+"If you do not know, I'm sure that I shall not tell you." Ralph did
+not know;--but he went home from his ride an unengaged man, and may
+perhaps have been thought to behave badly on that occasion also.
+
+But Lady Eardham, though she was sometimes despondent and often
+cross, was gifted with perseverance. A picnic party up the river
+from Maidenhead to Cookham was got up for the 30th of May, and Ralph
+Newton of course was there. Just at that time the Neefit persecution
+was at its worst. Letters directed by various hands came to him
+daily, and in all of them he was asked when he meant to be on the
+square. He knew the meaning of that picnic as well as does the
+reader,--as well as did Lady Eardham; but it had come to that with
+him that he was willing to yield. It cannot exactly be said for him
+that out of all the feminine worth that he had seen, he himself had
+chosen Gus Eardham as being the most worthy,--or even that he had
+chosen her as being to him the most charming. But it was evident
+to him that he must get married, and why not to her as well as to
+another? She had style, plenty of style; and, as he told himself,
+style for a man in his position was more than anything else. It can
+hardly be said that he had made up his mind to offer to her before
+he started for Cookham,--though doubtless through all the remaining
+years of his life he would think that his mind had been so
+fixed,--but he had concluded, that if she were thrown at his head
+very hard, he might as well take her. "I don't think he ever does
+drink champagne," said Lady Eardham, talking it all over with Gus on
+the morning of the picnic.
+
+At Cookham there is, or was, a punt,--perhaps there always will be
+one, kept there for such purposes;--and into this punt either Gus was
+tempted by Ralph, or Ralph by Gus. "My darling child, what are you
+doing?" shouted Lady Eardham from the bank.
+
+"Mr. Newton says he can take me over," said Gus, standing up in the
+punt, shaking herself with a pretty tremor.
+
+"Don't, Mr. Newton; pray don't!" cried Lady Eardham, with affected
+horror.
+
+Lunch was over, or dinner, as it might be more properly called, and
+Ralph had taken a glass or two of champagne. He was a man whom no one
+had ever seen the "worse for wine;" but on this occasion that which
+might have made others drunk had made him bold. "I will not let you
+out, Gus, till you have promised me one thing," said Ralph.
+
+"What is the one thing?"
+
+"That you will go with me everywhere, always."
+
+"You must let me out," said Gus.
+
+"But will you promise?" Then Gus promised; and Lady Eardham, with
+true triumph in her voice, was able to tell her husband on the
+following morning that the cost of the picnic had not been thrown
+away.
+
+On the next morning early Ralph was in the square. Neither when
+he went to bed at night, nor when he got up in the morning, did
+he regret what he had done. The marriage would be quite a proper
+marriage. Nobody could say that he had been mercenary, and he hated a
+mercenary feeling in marriages. Nobody could say that the match was
+beneath him, and all people were agreed that Augusta Eardham was a
+very fine girl. As to her style, there could be no doubt about it.
+There might be some little unpleasantness in communicating the fact
+to the Underwoods,--but that could be done by letter. After all, it
+would signify very little to him what Sir Thomas thought about him.
+Sir Thomas might think him feeble; but he himself knew very well that
+there had been no feebleness in it. His circumstances had been very
+peculiar, and he really believed that he had made the best of them.
+As Squire of Newton, he was doing quite the proper thing in marrying
+the daughter of a baronet out of the next county. With a light heart,
+a pleased face, and with very well got-up morning apparel, Ralph
+knocked the next morning at the door in Cavendish Square, and asked
+for Sir George Eardham. "I'll just run up-stairs for a second," said
+Ralph, when he was told that Sir George was in the small parlour.
+
+He did run up-stairs, and in three minutes had been kissed by Lady
+Eardham and all her daughters. At this moment Gus was the "dearest
+child" and the "best love of a thing" with all of them. Even Emily
+remembered how pleasant it might be to have a room at Newton Priory,
+and then success always gives a new charm.
+
+"Have you seen Sir George?" asked Lady Eardham.
+
+"Not as yet;--they said he was there, but I had to come up and see
+her first, you know."
+
+"Go down to him," said Lady Eardham, patting her prey on the back
+twice. "When you've daughters of your own, you'll expect to be
+consulted."
+
+"She couldn't have done better, my dear fellow," said Sir George,
+with kind, genial cordiality. "She couldn't have done better, to my
+thinking, even with a peerage. I like you, and I like your family,
+and I like your property; and she's yours with all my heart. A better
+girl never lived."
+
+"Thank you, Sir George."
+
+"She has no money, you know."
+
+"I don't care about money, Sir George."
+
+"My dear boy, she's yours with all my heart; and I hope you'll make
+each other happy."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LVI.
+
+RALPH NEWTON IS BOWLED AWAY.
+
+
+A day or two after his engagement, Ralph did write his letter to Sir
+Thomas, and found when the moment came that the task was difficult.
+But he wrote it. The thing had to be done, and there was nothing to
+be gained by postponing it.
+
+
+   ---- Club, June 2, 186--.
+
+   MY DEAR SIR THOMAS,--
+
+   You will, I hope, be glad to hear that I am engaged to be
+   married to Augusta Eardham, the second daughter of Sir
+   George Eardham, of Brayboro' Park, in Berkshire. Of course
+   you will know the name, and I rather think you were in
+   the House when Sir George sat for Berkshire. Augusta
+   has got no money, but I have not been placed under the
+   disagreeable necessity of looking out for a rich wife. I
+   believe we shall be married about the end of August. As
+   the ceremony will take place down at Brayboro', I fear
+   that I cannot expect that you or Patience and Clarissa
+   should come so far. Pray tell them my news, with my best
+   love.
+
+   Yours, most grateful for all your long kindness,
+
+   RALPH NEWTON.
+
+   I am very sorry that you should have been troubled by
+   letters from Mr. Neefit. The matter has been arranged at
+   last.
+
+
+The letter when done was very simple, but it took him some time, and
+much consideration. Should he or should he not allude to his former
+loves? It was certainly much easier to write his letter without any
+such allusion, and he did so.
+
+About a week after this Sir Thomas went home to Fulham, and took
+the letter with him. "Clary," he said, taking his youngest daughter
+affectionately by the waist, when he found himself alone with her.
+"I've got a piece of news for you."
+
+"For me, papa?"
+
+"Well, for all of us. Somebody is going to be married. Who do you
+think it is?"
+
+"Not Ralph Newton?" said Clarissa, with a little start.
+
+"Yes, Ralph Newton."
+
+"How quick he arranges things!" said Clarissa. There was some little
+emotion, just a quiver, and a quick rush of blood into her cheeks,
+which, however, left them just as quickly.
+
+"Yes;--he is quick."
+
+"Who is it, papa?"
+
+"A very proper sort of person,--the daughter of a Berkshire baronet."
+
+"But what is her name?"
+
+"Augusta Eardham."
+
+"Augusta Eardham. I hope he'll be happy, papa. We've known him a long
+time."
+
+"I think he will be happy;--what people call happy. He is not
+gifted,--or cursed, as it may be,--with fine feelings, and is what
+perhaps may be called thick-skinned; but he will love his own wife
+and children. I don't think he will be a spendthrift now that he has
+plenty to spend, and he is not subject to what the world calls vices.
+I shouldn't wonder if he becomes a prosperous and most respectable
+country gentleman, and quite a model to his neighbours."
+
+"It doesn't seem to matter much;--does it?" said Clarissa, when she
+told the story to Mary and Patience.
+
+"What doesn't matter?" asked Mary.
+
+"Whether a man cares for the girl he's going to marry, or doesn't
+care at all. Ralph Newton cannot care very much for Miss Eardham."
+
+"I think it matters very much," said Mary.
+
+"Perhaps, after all, he'll be just as fond of his wife, in a way,
+as though he had been making love to her,--oh, for years," said
+Clarissa. This was nearly all that was said at the villa, though, no
+doubt, poor Clary had many thoughts on the matter, in her solitary
+rambles along the river. That picture of the youth, as he lay upon
+the lawn, looking up into her eyes, and telling her that she was
+dear to him, could not easily be effaced from her memory. Sir Thomas
+before this had written his congratulations to Ralph. They had been
+very short, and in them no allusion had been made to the young ladies
+at Popham Villa.
+
+In the meantime Ralph was as happy as the day was long, and delighted
+with his lot in life. For some weeks previous to his offer he had
+been aware that Lady Eardham had been angling for him as for a fish,
+that he had been as a prey to her and to her daughter, and that it
+behoved him to amuse himself without really taking the hook between
+his gills. He had taken the hook, and now had totally forgotten all
+those former notions of his in regard to a prey, and a fish, and a
+mercenary old harridan of a mother. He had no sooner been kissed all
+round by the women, and paternally blessed by Sir George, than he
+thought that he had exercised a sound judgment, and had with true
+wisdom arranged to ally himself with just the woman most fit to be
+his wife, and the future mistress of Newton Priory. He was proud,
+indeed, of his success, when he read the paragraph in the "Morning
+Post," announcing as a fact that the alliance had been arranged, and
+was again able to walk about among his comrades as one of those who
+make circumstances subject to them, rather than become subject to
+circumstances. His comrades, no doubt, saw the matter in another
+light. "By Jove," said Pretty Poll at his club, "there's Newton been
+and got caught by old Eardham after all. The girl has been running
+ten years, and been hawked about like a second-class race-horse."
+
+"Yes, poor fellow," said Captain Fooks. "Neefit has done that
+for him. Ralph for a while was so knocked off his pins by the
+breeches-maker, that he didn't know where to look for shelter."
+
+Whether marriages should be made in heaven or on earth, must be
+a matter of doubt to observers;--whether, that is, men and women
+are best married by chance, which I take to be the real fashion of
+heaven-made marriages; or should be brought into that close link and
+loving bondage to each other by thought, selection, and decision.
+That the heavenly mode prevails the oftenest there can hardly be a
+doubt. It takes years to make a friendship; but a marriage may be
+settled in a week,--in an hour. If you desire to go into partnership
+with a man in business, it is an essential necessity that you should
+know your partner; that he be honest,--or dishonest, if such be your
+own tendency,--industrious, instructed in the skill required, and of
+habits of life fit for the work to be done. But into partnerships for
+life,--of a kind much closer than any business partnership,--men rush
+without any preliminary inquiries. Some investigation and anxiety as
+to means there may be, though in this respect the ordinary parlance
+of the world endows men with more caution, or accuses them of more
+greed than they really possess. But in other respects everything is
+taken for granted. Let the woman, if possible, be pretty;--or if
+not pretty, let her have style. Let the man, if possible, not be a
+fool; or if a fool, let him not show his folly too plainly. As for
+knowledge of character, none is possessed, and none is wanted. The
+young people meet each other in their holiday dresses, on holiday
+occasions, amidst holiday pleasures,--and the thing is arranged. Such
+matches may be said to be heaven-made.
+
+It is a fair question whether they do not answer better than those
+which have less of chance,--or less of heaven,--in their manufacture.
+If it be needful that a man and woman take five years to learn
+whether they will suit each other as husband and wife, and that then,
+at the end of the five years, they find that they will not suit, the
+freshness of the flower would be gone before it could be worn in the
+button-hole. There are some leaps which you must take in the dark, if
+you mean to jump at all. We can all understand well that a wise man
+should stand on the brink and hesitate; but we can understand also
+that a very wise man should declare to himself that with no possible
+amount of hesitation could certainty be achieved. Let him take the
+jump or not take it,--but let him not presume to think that he can
+so jump as to land himself in certain bliss. It is clearly God's
+intention that men and women should live together, and therefore let
+the leap in the dark be made.
+
+No doubt there had been very much of heaven in Ralph Newton's last
+choice. It may be acknowledged that in lieu of choosing at all, he
+had left the matter altogether to heaven. Some attempt he had made at
+choosing,--in reference to Mary Bonner; but he had found the attempt
+simply to be troublesome and futile. He had spoken soft, loving words
+to Clarissa, because she herself had been soft and lovable. Nature
+had spoken,--as she does when the birds sing to each other. Then,
+again, while suffering under pecuniary distress he had endeavoured
+to make himself believe that Polly Neefit was just the wife for him.
+Then, amidst the glories of his emancipation from thraldom, he had
+seen Mary Bonner,--and had actually, after a fashion, made a choice
+for himself. His choice had brought upon him nothing but disgrace
+and trouble. Now he had succumbed at the bidding of heaven and Lady
+Eardham, and he was about to be provided with a wife exactly suited
+for him. It may be said at the same time that Augusta Eardham was
+equally lucky. She also had gotten all that she ought to have wanted,
+had she known what to want. They were both of them incapable of what
+men and women call love when they speak of love as a passion linked
+with romance. And in one sense they were cold-hearted. Neither of
+them was endowed with the privilege of pining because another person
+had perished. But each of them was able to love a mate, when assured
+that that mate must continue to be mate, unless separation should
+come by domestic earthquake. They had hearts enough for paternal and
+maternal duties, and would probably agree in thinking that any geese
+which Providence might send them were veritable swans. Bickerings
+there might be, but they would be bickerings without effect; and
+Ralph Newton, of Newton, would probably so live with this wife of his
+bosom, that they, too, might lie at last pleasantly together in the
+family vault, with the record of their homely virtues visible to the
+survivors of the parish on the same tombstone. The means by which
+each of them would have arrived at these blessings would not redound
+to the credit of either; but the blessings would be there, and it may
+be said of their marriage, as of many such marriages, that it was
+made in heaven, and was heavenly.
+
+The marriage was to take place early in September, and the first
+week in August was passed by Sir George and Lady Eardham and their
+two younger daughters at Newton Priory. On the 14th Ralph was to be
+allowed to run down to the moors just for one week, and then he was
+to be back, passing between Newton and Brayboro', signing deeds and
+settlements, preparing for their wedding tour, and obedient in all
+things to Eardham influences. It did occur to him that it would
+be proper that he should go down to Fulham to see his old friends
+once before his marriage; but he felt that such a visit would be
+to himself very unpleasant, and therefore he assured himself, and
+moreover made himself believe, that, if he abstained from the visit,
+he would abstain because it would be unpleasant to them. He did
+abstain. But he did call at the chambers in Southampton Buildings; he
+called, however, at an hour in which he knew that Sir Thomas would
+not be visible, and made no second pressing request to Stemm for the
+privilege of entrance.
+
+He had great pride in showing his house and park and estate to the
+Eardhams, and had some delicious rambles with his Augusta through the
+shrubberies and down by the little brook. Ralph had an enjoyment in
+the prettiness of nature, and Augusta was clever enough to simulate
+the feeling. He was a little annoyed, perhaps, when he found that the
+beauty of her morning dresses did not admit of her sitting upon the
+grass or leaning against gates, and once expressed an opinion that
+she need not be so particular about her gloves in this the hour of
+their billing and cooing. Augusta altogether declined to remove her
+gloves in a place swarming, as she said, with midges, or to undergo
+any kind of embrace while adorned with that sweetest of all hats,
+which had been purchased for his especial delight. But in other
+respects she was good humoured, and tried to please him. She learned
+the names of all his horses, and was beginning to remember those
+of his tenants. She smiled upon Gregory, and behaved with a pretty
+decorum when the young parson showed her his church. Altogether her
+behaviour was much better than might have been expected from the
+training to which she had been subjected during her seven seasons in
+London. Lord Polperrow wronged her greatly when he said that she had
+been "running" for ten years.
+
+There was a little embarrassment in Ralph's first interview with
+Gregory. He had given his brother notice of his engagement by letter
+as soon as he had been accepted, feeling that any annoyance coming to
+him, might be lessened in that way. Unfortunately he had spoken to
+his brother in what he now felt to have been exaggerated terms of his
+passion for Mary Bonner, and he himself was aware that that malady
+had been quickly cured. "I suppose the news startled you?" he had
+said, with a forced laugh, as soon as he met his brother.
+
+"Well;--yes, a little. I did not know that you were so intimate with
+them."
+
+"The truth is, I had thought a deal about the matter, and I had come
+to see how essential it was for the interests of us all that I should
+marry into our own set. The moment I saw Augusta I felt that she was
+exactly the girl to make me happy. She is very handsome. Don't you
+think so?"
+
+"Certainly."
+
+"And then she has just the style which, after all, does go so far.
+There's nothing dowdy about her. A dowdy woman would have killed me.
+She attracted me from the first moment; and, by Jove, old fellow, I
+can assure you it was mutual. I am the happiest fellow alive, and
+I don't think there is anything I envy anybody." In all this Ralph
+believed that he was speaking the simple truth.
+
+"I hope you'll be happy, with all my heart," said Gregory.
+
+"I am sure I shall;--and so will you if you will ask that little puss
+once again. I believe in my heart she loves you." Gregory, though he
+had been informed of his brother's passion for Mary, had never been
+told of that other passion for Clarissa; and Ralph could therefore
+speak of ground for hope in that direction without uncomfortable
+twinges.
+
+There did occur during this fortnight one or two little matters,
+just sufficiently laden with care to ruffle the rose-leaves of our
+hero's couch. Lady Eardham thought that both the dining-room and
+drawing-room should be re-furnished, that a bow-window should be
+thrown out to the breakfast-parlour, and that a raised conservatory
+should be constructed into which Augusta's own morning sitting-room
+up-stairs might be made to open. Ralph gave way about the furniture
+with a good grace, but he thought that the bow-window would disfigure
+the house, and suggested that the raised conservatory would
+cost money. Augusta thought the bow-window was the very thing
+for the house, and Lady Eardham knew as a fact that a similar
+conservatory,--the sweetest thing in the world,--which she had seen
+at Lord Rosebud's had cost almost absolutely nothing. And if anything
+was well-known in gardening it was this, that the erection of such
+conservatories was a positive saving in garden expenses. The men
+worked under cover during the rainy days, and the hot-water served
+for domestic as well as horticultural purposes. There was some debate
+and a little heat, and the matter was at last referred to Sir George.
+He voted against Ralph on both points, and the orders were given.
+
+Then there was the more important question of the settlements. Of
+course there were to be settlements, in the arrangement of which
+Ralph was to give everything and to get nothing. With high-handed
+magnanimity he had declared that he wanted no money, and therefore
+the trifle which would have been adjudged to be due to Gus was
+retained to help her as yet less fortunate sisters. In truth
+Marmaduke at this time was so expensive that Sir George was obliged
+to be a little hard. Why, however, he should have demanded out of
+such a property as that of Newton a jointure of L4,000 a year, with
+a house to be found either in town or country as the widow might
+desire, on behalf of a penniless girl, no one acting in the Newton
+interest could understand, unless Sir George might have thought that
+the sum to be ultimately obtained might depend in some degree on that
+demanded. Had he known Mr. Carey he would probably not have subjected
+himself to the rebuke which he received.
+
+Ralph, when the sum was first named to him by Sir George's lawyer,
+who came down purposely to Newton, looked very blank, and said
+that he had not anticipated any arrangement so destructive to the
+property. The lawyer pointed out that there was unfortunately no
+dowager's house provided; that the property would not be destroyed
+as the dower would only be an annuity; that ladies now were more
+liberally treated in this matter than formerly;--and that the
+suggestion was quite the usual thing. "You don't suppose I mean my
+daughter to be starved?" said Sir George, upon whom gout was then
+coming. Ralph plucked up spirit and answered him. "Nor do I intend
+that your daughter, sir, should be starved." "Dear Ralph, do be
+liberal to the dear girl," said Lady Eardham afterwards, caressing
+our hero in the solitude of her bed-room. Mr. Carey, however,
+arranged the whole matter very quickly. The dower must be L2,000, out
+of which the widow must find her own house. Sir George must be well
+aware, said Mr. Carey, that the demand made was preposterous. Sir
+George said one or two very nasty things; but the dower as fixed by
+Mr. Carey was accepted, and then everything smiled again.
+
+When the Eardhams were leaving Newton the parting between Augusta
+and her lover was quite pretty. "Dear Gus," he said, "when next I am
+here, you will be my own, own wife," and he kissed her. "Dear Ralph,"
+she said, "when next I am here, you will be my own, own husband," and
+kissed him; "but we have Como, and Florence, and Rome, and Naples to
+do before that;--and won't that be nice?"
+
+"It will be very nice to be anywhere with you," said the lover.
+
+"And mind you have your coat made just as I told you," said Augusta.
+So they parted.
+
+Early in September they were married with great eclat at Brayboro',
+and Lady Eardham spared nothing on the occasion. It was her first
+maternal triumph, and all the country round was made to know of her
+success. The Newtons had been at Newton for--she did not know how
+many hundred years. In her zeal she declared that the estate had been
+in the same hands from long before the Conquest. "There's no title,"
+she said to her intimate friend, Lady Wiggham, "but there's that
+which is better than a title. We're mushrooms to the Newtons, you
+know. We only came into Berkshire in the reign of Henry VIII." As the
+Wigghams had only come into Buckinghamshire in the reign of George
+IV., Lady Wiggham, had she known the facts, would probably have
+reminded her dear friend that the Eardhams had in truth first been
+heard of in those parts in the time of Queen Anne,--the original
+Eardham having made his money in following Marlborough's army. But
+Lady Wiggham had not studied the history of the county gentry. The
+wedding went off very well, and the bride and bridegroom were bowled
+away to the nearest station with four grey post-horses from Reading
+in a manner that was truly delightful to Lady Eardham's motherly
+feelings.
+
+And with the same grey horses shall the happy bride and bridegroom
+be bowled out of our sight also. The writer of this story feels
+that some apology is due to his readers for having endeavoured
+to entertain them so long with the adventures of one of whom it
+certainly cannot be said that he was fit to be delineated as a hero.
+It is thought by many critics that in the pictures of imaginary life
+which novelists produce for the amusement, and possibly for the
+instruction of their readers, none should be put upon the canvas but
+the very good, who by their noble thoughts and deeds may lead others
+to nobility, or the very bad, who by their declared wickedness will
+make iniquity hideous. How can it be worth one's while, such critics
+will say,--the writer here speaks of all critical readers, and not
+of professional critics,--how can it be worth our while to waste our
+imaginations, our sympathies, and our time upon such a one as Ralph,
+the heir of the Newton property? The writer, acknowledging the force
+of these objections, and confessing that his young heroes of romance
+are but seldom heroic, makes his apology as follows.
+
+The reader of a novel,--who has doubtless taken the volume up simply
+for amusement, and who would probably lay it down did he suspect
+that instruction, like a snake in the grass, like physic beneath the
+sugar, was to be imposed upon him,--requires from his author chiefly
+this, that he shall be amused by a narrative in which elevated
+sentiment prevails, and gratified by being made to feel that the
+elevated sentiments described are exactly his own. When the heroine
+is nobly true to her lover, to her friend, or to her duty, through
+all persecution, the girl who reads declares to herself that she also
+would have been a Jeannie Deans had Fate and Fortune given her an
+Effie as a sister. The bald-headed old lawyer,--for bald-headed old
+lawyers do read novels,--who interests himself in the high-minded,
+self-devoting chivalry of a Colonel Newcombe, believes he would have
+acted as did the Colonel had he been so tried. What youth in his
+imagination cannot be as brave, and as loving, though as hopeless
+in his love, as Harry Esmond? Alas, no one will wish to be as
+was Ralph Newton! But for one Harry Esmond, there are fifty Ralph
+Newtons,--five hundred and fifty of them; and the very youth whose
+bosom glows with admiration as he reads of Harry,--who exults in the
+idea that as Harry did, so would he have done,--lives as Ralph lived,
+is less noble, less persistent, less of a man even than was Ralph
+Newton.
+
+It is the test of a novel writer's art that he conceals his
+snake-in-the-grass; but the reader may be sure that it is always
+there. No man or woman with a conscience,--no man or woman with
+intellect sufficient to produce amusement, can go on from year
+to year spinning stories without the desire of teaching; with no
+ambition of influencing readers for their good. Gentle readers, the
+physic is always beneath the sugar, hidden or unhidden. In writing
+novels we novelists preach to you from our pulpits, and are keenly
+anxious that our sermons shall not be inefficacious. Inefficacious
+they are not, unless they be too badly preached to obtain attention.
+Injurious they will be unless the lessons taught be good lessons.
+
+What a world this would be if every man were a Harry Esmond, or every
+woman a Jeannie Deans! But then again, what a world if every woman
+were a Beckie Sharp and every man a Varney or a Barry Lyndon! Of
+Varneys and Harry Esmonds there are very few. Human nature, such as
+it is, does not often produce them. The portraits of such virtues
+and such vices serve no doubt to emulate and to deter. But are no
+other portraits necessary? Should we not be taught to see the men
+and women among whom we really live,--men and women such as we are
+ourselves,--in order that we should know what are the exact failings
+which oppress ourselves, and thus learn to hate, and if possible
+to avoid in life the faults of character which in life are hardly
+visible, but which in portraiture of life can be made to be so
+transparent.
+
+Ralph Newton did nothing, gentle reader, which would have caused
+thee greatly to grieve for him, nothing certainly which would have
+caused thee to repudiate him, had he been thy brother. And gentlest,
+sweetest reader, had he come to thee as thy lover, with sufficient
+protest of love, and with all his history written in his hand, would
+that have caused thee to reject his suit? Had he been thy neighbour,
+thou well-to-do reader, with a house in the country, would he not
+have been welcome to thy table? Wouldst thou have avoided him at
+his club, thou reader from the West-end? Has he not settled himself
+respectably, thou grey-haired, novel-reading paterfamilias, thou
+materfamilias, with daughters of thine own to be married? In life
+would he have been held to have disgraced himself,--except in the
+very moment in which he seemed to be in danger? Nevertheless, the
+faults of a Ralph Newton, and not the vices of a Varney or a Barry
+Lyndon are the evils against which men should in these days be taught
+to guard themselves;--which women also should be made to hate. Such
+is the writer's apology for his very indifferent hero, Ralph the
+Heir.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LVII.
+
+CLARISSA'S FATE.
+
+
+In the following October, while Newton of Newton and his bride
+were making themselves happy amidst the glories of Florence, she
+with her finery from Paris, and he with a newly-acquired taste for
+Michael Angelo and the fine arts generally, Gregory the parson again
+went up to London. He had, of course, "assisted" at his brother's
+marriage,--in which the heavy burden of the ceremony was imposed
+on the shoulders of a venerable dean, who was related to Lady
+Eardham,--and had since that time been all alone at his parsonage.
+Occasionally he had heard of the Underwoods from Ralph Newton of
+Beamingham, whose wedding had been postponed till Beamingham Hall had
+been made fit for its mistress; and from what he had heard Gregory
+was induced,--hardly to hope,--but to dream it to be possible
+that even yet he might prevail in love. An idea had grown upon
+him, springing from various sources, that Clarissa had not been
+indifferent to his brother, and that this feeling on her part had
+marred, and must continue to mar, his own happiness. He never
+believed that there had been fault on his brother's part; but still,
+if Clarissa had been so wounded,--he could hardly hope,--and perhaps
+should not even wish,--that she would consent to share with him his
+parsonage in the close neighbourhood of his brother's house. During
+all that September he told himself that the thing should be over, and
+he began to teach himself,--to try to teach himself,--that celibacy
+was the state in which a clergyman might best live and do his duty.
+But the lesson had not gone far with him before he shook himself, and
+determined that he would try yet once again. If there had been such
+a wound, why should not the wound be cured? Clarissa was at any rate
+true. She would not falsely promise him a heart, when it was beyond
+her power to give it. In October, therefore, he went again up to
+London.
+
+The cases for packing the books had not even yet been made, and Sir
+Thomas was found in Southampton Buildings. The first words had, of
+course, reference to the absent Squire. The squire of one's parish,
+the head of one's family, and one's elder brother, when the three
+are united in the same personage, will become important to one, even
+though the personage himself be not heroic. Ralph had written home
+twice, and everything was prospering with him. Sir Thomas, who had
+become tired of his late ward, and who had thought worse of the
+Eardham marriage than the thing deserved, was indifferent to the joys
+of the Italian honeymoon. "They'll do very well, no doubt," said Sir
+Thomas. "I was delighted to learn that Augusta bore her journey so
+well," said Gregory. "Augustas always do bear their journeys well,"
+said Sir Thomas; "though sometimes, I fancy, they find the days a
+little too long."
+
+But his tone was very different when Gregory asked his leave to make
+one more attempt at Popham Villa. "I only hope you may succeed,--for
+her sake, as well as for your own," said Sir Thomas. But when he was
+asked as to the parson's chance of success, he declared that he could
+say nothing. "She is changed, I think, from what she used to be,--is
+more thoughtful, perhaps, and less giddy. It may be that such
+change will turn her towards you." "I would not have her changed in
+anything," said Gregory,--"except in her feelings towards myself."
+
+He had been there twice or thrice before he found what he thought to
+be an opportunity fit for the work that he had on hand. And yet both
+Patience and Mary did for him and for her all that they knew how
+to do. But in such a matter it is so hard to act without seeming
+to act! She who can manoeuvre on such a field without displaying
+her manoeuvres is indeed a general! No man need ever attempt the
+execution of a task so delicate. Mary and Patience put their heads
+together, and resolved that they would say nothing. Nor did they
+manifestly take steps to leave the two alone together. It was a
+question with them, especially with Patience, whether the lover had
+not come too soon.
+
+But Clarissa at last attacked her sister. "Patience," she said, "why
+do you not speak to me?"
+
+"Not speak to you, Clary?"
+
+"Not a word,--about that which is always on my mind. You have not
+mentioned Ralph Newton's name once since his marriage."
+
+"I have thought it better not to mention it. Why should I mention
+it?"
+
+"If you think that it would pain me, you are mistaken. It pains me
+more that you should think that I could not bear it. He was welcome
+to his wife."
+
+"I know you wish him well, Clary."
+
+"Well! Oh, yes, I wish him well. No doubt he will be happy with her.
+She is fit for him, and I was not. He did quite right."
+
+"He is not half so good as his brother," said Patience.
+
+"Certainly he is not so good as his brother. Men, of course, will be
+different. But it is not always the best man that one likes the best.
+It ought to be so, perhaps."
+
+"I know which I like the best," said Patience. "Oh, Clary, if you
+could but bring yourself to love him."
+
+"How is one to change like that? And I do not know that he cares for
+me now."
+
+"Ah;--I think he cares for you."
+
+"Why should he? Is a man to be sacrificed for always because a girl
+will not take him? His heart is changed. He takes care to show me so
+when he comes here. I am glad that it should be changed. Dear Patty,
+if papa would but come and live at home, I should want nothing else."
+
+"I want something else," said Patience.
+
+"I want nothing but that you should love me;--and that papa should be
+with us. But, Patty, do not make me feel that you are afraid to speak
+to me."
+
+On the day following Gregory was again at Fulham, and he had come
+thither fully determined that he would now for the last time ask that
+question, on the answer to which, as it now seemed to him, all his
+future happiness must depend. He had told himself that he would shake
+off this too human longing for a sweet face to be ever present with
+him at his board, for a sweet heart to cherish him with its love, for
+a dear head to lie upon his bosom. But he had owned to himself that
+it could not be shaken off, and having so owned, was more sick than
+ever with desire. Mary and Clarissa were both out when he arrived,
+and he was closeted for a while with Patience. "How tired you must be
+of seeing me," he said.
+
+"Tired of seeing you? Oh no!"
+
+"I feel myself to be going about like a phantom, and I am ashamed of
+myself. My brother is successful and happy, and has all that he
+desires."
+
+"He is easily satisfied," said Patience, with something of sarcasm in
+her voice.
+
+"And my cousin Ralph is happy and triumphant. I ought not to pine,
+but in truth I am so weak that I am always pining. Tell me at
+once,--is there a chance for me?"
+
+Did it occur to him to think that she to whom he was speaking, ever
+asked herself why it was not given to her to have even a hope of that
+joy for which he was craving? Did she ever pine because, when others
+were mating round her, flying off in pairs to their warm mutual
+nests, there came to her no such question of mating and flying off
+to love and happiness? If there was such pining, it was all inward,
+hidden from her friends so that their mirth should not be lessened by
+her want of mirth, not expressed either by her eye or mouth because
+she knew that on the expression of her face depended somewhat of the
+comfort of those who loved her. A homely brow, and plain features,
+and locks of hair that have not been combed by Love's attendant
+nymphs into soft and winning tresses, seems to tell us that Love is
+not wanted by the bosom that owns them. We teach ourselves to regard
+such a one, let her be ever so good, with ever so sweet temper, ever
+so generous in heart, ever so affectionate among her friends, as
+separated alike from the perils and the privileges of that passion
+without which they who are blessed or banned with beauty would regard
+life but as a charred and mutilated existence. It is as though we
+should believe that passion springs from the rind, which is fair
+or foul to the eye, and not in the heart, which is often fairest,
+freshest, and most free, when the skin is dark and the cheeks are
+rough. This young parson expected Patience to sympathise with him, to
+greet for him, to aid him if there might be aid, and to understand
+that for him the world would be blank and wretched unless he could
+get for himself a soft sweet mate to sing when he sang, and to wail
+when he wailed. The only mate that Patience had was this very girl
+that was to be thus taken from her. But she did sympathise with him,
+did greet for him, did give him all her aid. Knowing what she was
+herself and how God had formed her, she had learned to bury self
+absolutely and to take all her earthly joy from the joys of others.
+Shall it not come to pass that, hereafter, she too shall have a lover
+among the cherubim? "What can I say to you?" replied Patience to the
+young man's earnest entreaty. "If she were mine to give, I would give
+her to you instantly."
+
+"Then you think there is no chance. If I thought that, why should I
+trouble her again?"
+
+"I do not say so. Do you not know, Mr. Newton, that in such matters
+even sisters can hardly tell their thoughts to each other? How can
+they when they do not even know their own wishes?"
+
+"She does not hate me then?"
+
+"Hate you! no;--she does not hate you. But there are so many degrees
+between hating and that kind of love which you want from her! You may
+be sure of this, that she so esteems you that your persistence cannot
+lessen you in her regard."
+
+He was still pleading his case with the elder sister,--very uselessly
+indeed, as he was aware; but having fallen on the subject of his love
+it was impossible for him to change it for any other,--when Clarissa
+came into the room swinging her hat in her hand. She had been over
+at Miss Spooner's house and was full of Miss Spooner's woes and
+complaints. As soon as she had shaken hands with her lover and spoken
+the few words of courtesy which the meeting demanded of her, she
+threw herself into the affairs of Miss Spooner as though they were of
+vital interest. "She is determined to be unhappy, Patty, and it is no
+use trying to make her not so. She says that Jane robs her, which I
+don't believe is true, and that Sarah has a lover,--and why shouldn't
+Sarah have a lover? But as for curing her grievances, it would be
+the cruellest thing in the world. She lives upon her grievances.
+Something has happened to the chimney-pot, and the landlord hasn't
+sent a mason. She is revelling in her chimney-pot."
+
+"Poor dear Miss Spooner," said Patience, getting up and leaving the
+room as though it were her duty to look at once after her old friend
+in the midst of these troubles.
+
+Clarissa had not intended this. "She's asleep now," said Clarissa.
+But Patience went all the same. It might be that Miss Spooner would
+require to be watched in her slumbers. When Patience was gone Gregory
+Newton got up from his seat and walked to the window. He stood
+there for what seemed to be an endless number of seconds before he
+returned, and Clarissa had time to determine that she would escape.
+"I told Mary that I would go to her," she said, "you won't mind being
+left alone for a few minutes, Mr. Newton."
+
+"Do not go just now, Clarissa."
+
+"Only that I said I would," she answered, pleading that she must keep
+a promise which she had never made.
+
+"Mary can spare you,--and I cannot. Mary is staying with you, and I
+shall be gone,--almost immediately. I go back to Newton to-morrow,
+and who can say when I shall see you again?"
+
+"You will be coming up to London, of course."
+
+"I am here now at any rate," he said smiling, "and will take what
+advantage of it I can. It is the old story, Clarissa;--so old that I
+know you must be sick of it."
+
+"If you think so, you should not tell it again."
+
+"Do not be ill-natured to me. I don't know why it is but a man gets
+to be ashamed of himself, as though he were doing something mean
+and paltry, when he loves with persistence, as I do." Had it been
+possible that she should give him so much encouragement she would
+have told him that the mean man, and paltry, was he who could love or
+pretend to love with no capacity for persistency. She could not fail
+to draw a comparison between him and his brother, in which there was
+so much of meanness on the part of him who had at one time been as a
+god to her, and so much nobility in him to whom she was and ever had
+been as a goddess. "I suppose a man should take an answer and have
+done with it," he continued. "But how is a man to have done with it,
+when his heart remains the same?"
+
+"A man should master his heart."
+
+"I am, then, to understand that that which you have said so often
+before must be said again?" He had never knelt to her, and he did not
+kneel now; but he leaned over her so that she hardly knew whether
+he was on his knees or still seated on his chair. And she herself,
+though she answered him briskly,--almost with impertinence,--was so
+little mistress of herself that she knew not what she said. She would
+take him now,--if only she knew how to take him without disgracing
+herself in her own estimation. "Dear Clary, think of it. Try to love
+me. I need not tell you again how true is my love for you." He had
+hold of her hand, and she did not withdraw it, and he ought to have
+known that the battle was won. But he knew nothing. He hardly knew
+that her hand was in his. "Clary, you are all the world to me. Must I
+go back heart-laden, but empty-handed, with no comfort?"
+
+"If you knew all!" she said, rising suddenly from her chair.
+
+"All what?"
+
+"If you knew all, you would not take me though I offered myself."
+He stood staring at her, not at all comprehending her words, and
+she perceived in the midst of her distress that it was needful that
+she should explain herself. "I have loved Ralph always;--yes, your
+brother."
+
+"And he?"
+
+"I will not accuse him in anything. He is married now, and it is
+past."
+
+"And you can never love again?"
+
+"Who would take such a heart as that? It would not be worth the
+giving or worth the taking. Oh--how I loved him!" Then he left her
+side, and went back to the window, while she sank back upon her
+chair, and, burying her face in her hands, gave way to tears and
+sobs. He stood there perhaps for a minute, and then returning to her,
+so gently that she did not hear him, he did kneel at her side. He
+knelt, and putting his hand upon her arm, he kissed the sleeve of her
+gown. "You had better go from me now," she said, amidst her sobs.
+
+"I will never go from you again," he answered. "God's mercy can cure
+also that wound, and I will be his minister in healing it. Clarissa,
+I am so glad that you have told me all. Looking back I can understand
+it now. I once thought that it was so."
+
+"Yes," she said, "yes; it was so."
+
+Gradually one hand of hers fell into his, and though no word of
+acceptance had been spoken he knew that he was at last accepted. "My
+own Clary," he said. "I may call you my own?" There was no answer,
+but he knew that it was so. "Nothing shall be done to trouble
+you;--nothing shall be said to press you. You may be sure of this, if
+it be good to be loved,--that no woman was ever loved more tenderly
+than you are."
+
+"I do know it," she said, through her tears.
+
+Then he rose and stood again at the window, looking out upon the lawn
+and the river. She was still weeping, but he hardly heeded her tears.
+It was better for her that she should weep than restrain them. And,
+as to himself and his own feelings,--he tried to question himself,
+whether, in truth, was he less happy in this great possession, which
+he had at last gained, because his brother had for a while interfered
+with him in gaining it? That she would be as true to him now, as
+tender and as loving, as though Ralph had never crossed her path,
+he did not for a moment doubt. That she would be less sweet to him
+because her sweetness had been offered to another he would not admit
+to himself,--even though the question were asked. She would be all
+his own, and was she not the one thing in the world which he coveted?
+He did think that for such a one as his Clarissa he would be a better
+mate than would have been his brother, and he was sure that she
+herself would learn to know that it was so. He stood there long
+enough to resolve that this which had been told him should be no
+drawback upon his bliss. "Clary," he said, returning to her, "it is
+settled?" She made him no answer. "My darling, I am as happy now
+as though Ralph had never seen your sweet face, or heard your dear
+voice. Look up at me once." Slowly she looked up into his eyes, and
+then stood before him almost as a suppliant, and gave him her face to
+be kissed. So at last they became engaged as man and wife;--though
+it may be doubted whether she spoke another word before he left the
+room.
+
+It was, however, quite understood that they were engaged; and, though
+he did not see Clarissa again, he received the congratulations both
+of Patience and Mary Bonner before he left the house; and that very
+night succeeded in hunting down Sir Thomas, so that he might tell the
+father that the daughter had at last consented to become his wife.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LVIII.
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+
+Clarissa had found it hard to change the object of her love, so hard,
+that for a time she had been unwilling even to make the effort;--and
+she had been ashamed that those around her should think that she
+would make it; but when the thing was done, her second hero was
+dearer to her than ever had been the first. He at least was true.
+With him there was no need of doubt. His assurances were not conveyed
+in words so light that they might mean much or little. This second
+lover was a lover, indeed, who thought no pains too great to show her
+that she was ever growing in his heart of hearts. For a while,--for
+a week or two,--she restrained her tongue; but when once she had
+accustomed herself to the coaxing kindness of her sister and her
+cousin, then her eloquence was loosened, and Gregory Newton was a
+god indeed. In the course of time she got a very pretty note from
+Ralph, congratulating her, as he also had congratulated Polly, and
+expressing a fear that he might not be home in time to be present
+at the wedding. Augusta was so fond of Rome that they did not mean
+to leave it till the late spring. Then, after a while, there came
+to her, also, a watch and chain, twice as costly as those given to
+Polly,--which, however, no persuasion from Gregory would ever induce
+Clarissa to wear. In after time Ralph never noticed that the trinkets
+were not worn.
+
+The winter at Popham Villa went on very much as other winters had
+gone, except that two of the girls living there were full of future
+hopes, and preparing for future cares, while the third occupied her
+heart and mind with the cares and hopes of the other two. Patience,
+however, had one other task in hand, a task upon the performance of
+which her future happiness much depended, and in respect to which she
+now ventured to hope for success. Wherever her future home might be,
+it would be terrible to her if her father would not consent to occupy
+it with her. It had been settled that both the marriages should take
+place early in April,--both on the same day, and, as a matter of
+course, the weddings would be celebrated at Fulham. Christmas had
+come and gone, and winter was going, before Sir Thomas had absolutely
+promised to renew that order for the making of the packing-cases for
+his books. "You won't go back, papa, after they are married,"
+Patience said to her father, early in March.
+
+"If I do it shall not be for long."
+
+"Not for a day, papa! Surely you will not leave me alone? There will
+be plenty of room now. The air of Fulham will be better for your work
+than those stuffy, dark, dingy lawyers' chambers."
+
+"My dear, all the work of my life that was worth doing was done in
+those stuffy, dingy rooms." That was all that Sir Thomas said, but
+the accusation conveyed to him by his daughter's words was very
+heavy. For years past he had sat intending to work, purposing to
+achieve a great task which he set for himself, and had done--almost
+nothing. Might it be yet possible that that purer air of which
+Patty spoke should produce new energy, and lead to better results?
+The promise of it did at least produce new resolutions. It was
+impossible, as Patience had said, that his child should be left to
+dwell alone, while yet she had a father living.
+
+"Stemm," he said, "I told you to get some packing-cases made."
+
+"Packing-cases, Sir Thomas?"
+
+"Yes;--packing-cases for the books. It was months ago. Are they
+ready?"
+
+"No, Sir Thomas. They ain't ready."
+
+"Why not?"
+
+"Well, Sir Thomas;--they ain't; that's all." Then the order was
+repeated in a manner so formal, as to make Stemm understand that it
+was intended for a fact. "You are going away from this; are you, Sir
+Thomas?"
+
+"I believe that I shall give the chambers up altogether at midsummer.
+At any rate, I mean to have the books packed at once."
+
+"Very well, Sir Thomas." Then there was a pause, during which Stemm
+did not leave the room. Nor did Sir Thomas dismiss him, feeling that
+there might well be other things which would require discussion. "And
+about me, Sir Thomas?" said Stemm.
+
+"I have been thinking about that, Stemm."
+
+"So have I, Sir Thomas,--more nor once."
+
+"You can come to Fulham if you like,--only you must not scold the
+maids."
+
+"Very well, Sir Thomas," said Stemm, with hardly any variation in his
+voice, but still with less of care upon his brow.
+
+"Mind, I will not have you scolding them at the villa."
+
+"Not unless they deserve it, Sir Thomas," said Stemm. Sir Thomas
+could say nothing further. For our own part we fear that the maidens
+at the villa will not be the better in conduct, as they certainly
+will not be more comfortable in their lives, in consequence of this
+change.
+
+And the books were moved in large packing-cases, not one of which had
+yet been opened when the two brides returned to Popham Villa after
+their wedding tours, to see Patience just for a day before they were
+taken to their new homes. Nevertheless, let us hope that the change
+of air and of scene may tend to future diligence, and that the magnus
+opus may yet be achieved. We have heard of editions of Aristophanes,
+of Polybius, of the Iliad, of Ovid, and what not, which have ever
+been forthcoming under the hands of notable scholars, who have grown
+grey amidst the renewed promises which have been given. And some of
+these works have come forth, belying the prophecies of incredulous
+friends. Let us hope that the great Life of Bacon may yet be written.
+
+
+
+
+
+      *      *      *      *      *      *
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's note:
+
+   Trollope was sometimes inconsistent with names of people or places.
+   In the early pages of this novel the name of Mr. Neefit's home was
+   Alexandrina Cottage. In the middle of the book it became Alexandria
+   Cottage, and in later pages it was Alexandra Cottage. The names have
+   been transcribed as they were in the original.
+
+
+
+***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK RALPH THE HEIR***
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+Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for
+eBook #25579 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25579)