diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 35943-8.txt | 6837 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 35943-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 138272 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 35943-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 141371 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 35943-h/35943-h.htm | 7055 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 35943.txt | 6837 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 35943.zip | bin | 0 -> 138203 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
9 files changed, 20745 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/35943-8.txt b/35943-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..91b1a92 --- /dev/null +++ b/35943-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6837 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of That Unfortunate Marriage, Vol. 1(of 3), by +Frances Eleanor Trollope + +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: That Unfortunate Marriage, Vol. 1(of 3) + +Author: Frances Eleanor Trollope + +Release Date: April 24, 2011 [EBook #35943] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THAT UNFORTUNATE MARRIAGE *** + + + + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THAT UNFORTUNATE MARRIAGE. + + BY FRANCES ELEANOR TROLLOPE + +AUTHOR OF "AUNT MARGARET'S TROUBLE," "A CHARMING FELLOW," "LIKE SHIPS +UPON THE SEA," ETC. + + + _IN THREE VOLUMES._ + VOL. I. + + LONDON: + RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON + + Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen. + + 1888. + + (_All rights reserved._) + + + + +THAT UNFORTUNATE MARRIAGE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +Augustus Cheffington had made an unfortunate marriage. That was admitted +on all hands. When he was a Cornet in a cavalry regiment quartered in +the ancient Cathedral City of Oldchester, he ran away with pretty Susan +Dobbs, the daughter of his landlady. Augustus's friends and family--all +the Cheffingtons, the Dormer-Smiths, the Castlecombes--deplored this +rash step. It was never mentioned, either at the time or afterwards, +without expressions of deep commiseration for him. + +Nevertheless, from one point of view there were compensations. This +unfortunate marriage was made responsible for a great many shortcomings, +which would otherwise have been attributed more directly to Augustus +Cheffington himself. For example, it was said to account for his failure +in his profession. He had chosen it chiefly because he very much liked +the brilliant uniform of a certain crack regiment (it was in the days +before competitive examinations); and he had no other aptitude for it +than a showy seat on horseback, and a person well calculated to set off +the works of the regimental tailor. But when years had passed, and he +had remained undistinguished, his friends said, "What could one expect +after Augustus's unfortunate marriage?" + +After a time he sold out of the Army, and went to live on the Continent, +where very shortly he had squandered nearly all his money, and fallen +into shady paths of life; and again there was a chorus of "I told you +so!" and a general sense that all this was due to the unfortunate +marriage. + +Finally, his wife died, leaving him with one little girl, the sole +survivor of five children; and he came to England with the idea of +securing some place which should be suited to his birth, his abilities, +his habits, and his inclinations. No such place was found. Several +members of the Peerage were applied to, to exert their influence with +"Government" on behalf of so well-connected a personage as Augustus +Cheffington. But "Government" behaved very badly, "Government" was +insensible to his claims. His claims, it is true, were not small. They +required a maximum of remuneration for a minimum of labour. He was +unable, also, to furnish any proofs of his fitness for one or two posts +which happened to be vacant, except the undeniable fact of his +cousinship with all the Cheffingtons and Castlecombes in England; and to +this kind of qualification "Government," it appeared, attached no +importance at all. + +He paid a round of visits at country houses, and renewed his +long-disused acquaintance with a score of more or less distant +relations. But he was not popular. It has been observed that +unsuccessful men very often are not popular. "Gus Cheffington has +dropped out of the running," men said. "A fellow naturally gets +forgotten when he has kept out of sight for years--and besides, he makes +himself so deuced disagreeable! He's always grumbling." + +This latter accusation was true. If England had shown no maternal +affection for her long-absent son, the son returned her hard-heartedness +with interest. Indeed, in his case, it turned into active resentment. He +got tired of country houses and town mansions where he was received but +coolly. He was sarcastic and bitter on the failure of his connections to +procure him a lucrative sinecure. He considered that the country was +travelling downhill at break-neck speed, and, for his part, he did not +feel inclined to move his little finger to impede that fatal course. +Moreover, the black coffee was, nine times out of ten, utterly +undrinkable. One day he shook the dust of England's inhospitable shores +from off his feet, and returned to his shady haunts on the +Continent--its irresponsibility, its _cafés_, its boulevards, and its +billiards. And when he was fairly gone, all the Cheffingtons, and the +Dormer-Smiths, and the Castlecombes were softened into sympathy; and +with much shrugging of shoulders and shaking of heads declared that it +was a heartrending spectacle to behold such a man as Augustus +Cheffington ruined, crushed, eclipsed, destroyed by his unfortunate +marriage. + +When he went back to Belgium, he left behind him at school in Brighton +his little motherless girl Miranda, familiarly called May. The +Honourable Mrs. Cheffington, Augustus's mother, had advised her son to +give the little girl a first-rate education, so as to mitigate as far as +possible one disastrous effect of the unfortunate marriage, which was, +that May had a plebeian mother. Mrs. Cheffington, known throughout all +the ramifications of the family as "the dowager," was a hard-featured, +selfish old woman, with a black wig, a pale yellow skin, and frowning +eyebrows. She lived on a pension which would cease at her death, and she +was supposed by some of her relations to be making a purse. They thought +it would turn out that the dowager had considerable savings to leave +behind her; and they founded this supposition on her never giving away +anything during her lifetime. Mrs. Dormer-Smith, Augustus Cheffington's +sister, declared that her mother made one exception to her rule of +refusing assistance to any of them. She believed that Augustus, who had +always been her favourite child, profited by the dowager's indulgence, +and managed to extract some money from her tightly-closed purse. And it +certainly was true that the old lady had paid May's school bills--so far +as they had been paid at all. + +But one day the Honourable Anne Miranda Cheffington took off her black +wig for the last time, and relaxed her frowning eyebrows. The +announcement of her death appeared in the first column of the _Times_, +there was a brief obituary notice in a fashionable journal, and her +place knew her no more. + +Augustus hastened home to England on the receipt of a telegram from his +sister. That is to say, he said he hastened; but he did not arrive in +town until some hours after the funeral was over. Mr. Dormer-Smith was +somewhat irritated by this tardiness, and observed to his wife that it +was just like Augustus to keep out of the way while there was any +trouble to be taken, and only arrive in time to be present at the +reading of the will. Any expectations that Augustus might have founded +on his mother's reluctance to give during her lifetime were quite +disappointed. The dowager had no money to bequeath. She had spent nearly +the last shilling of her quarter's income. In fact, there was not enough +to cover the expenses of the funeral, which were finally paid several +months afterwards by Mr. Dormer-Smith. + +It seemed almost superfluous, under the circumstances, to have made a +will at all. But the will was there. The chief item in it was a quantity +of yellow old lace, extremely dirty, and much in need of mending, which +was solemnly bequeathed by Mrs. Cheffington to her daughter, Pauline +Augusta Clarissa Dormer-Smith. It was set forth at some length how that +the lace, being an heirloom of the Cheffingtons, should have descended +in due course to the wife of the eldest son, or, failing that, to the +eldest daughter of the eldest son; and how this tradition was +disregarded in the present case by reason of peculiar and unprecedented +family circumstances. This was the dowager's Parthian dart at the +unfortunate marriage. There was little other property, except the dingy +old furniture of Mrs. Cheffington's house at Richmond, and a few books, +treating chiefly of fortification and gunnery, which had belonged to +Lieutenant-General the Honourable Augustus Vane Cheffington, the +dowager's long-deceased husband. + +"What the----What on earth my mother did with her money _I_ can't +conjecture!" exclaimed Augustus, staring out of the window of his +brother-in-law's drawing-room the day after the funeral. + +"She didn't give it to us, Augustus," returned Mrs. Dormer-Smith +plaintively. "Even when my boy Cyril went to see her at the end of the +holidays, just before returning to Harrow, she never tipped him. Once I +think she gave him five shillings. But it's a long time ago; he was a +little fellow in petticoats." + +"Then what _did_ she do with her money?" repeated Augustus, with an +increasingly gloomy scowl at the gardens of the Kensington square on +which his eyes rested. + +"I believe that, with the exception of what she paid for May's +schooling, she spent it on herself." + +"Spent it on herself? That's impossible! It was a very good income +indeed for a solitary woman, and she lived very quietly." + +"You may get through a good deal of money even living quietly, when you +don't deny yourself anything you can get. For instance, she never would +drive one horse; she had been accustomed to a pair all her life." + +Augustus checked an oath on his very lips, and, instead of swearing +according to his first impulse, observed with solemnity that he knew not +how his mother had been able to reconcile such selfishness with her +conscience, and hoped her last moments had not been troubled by remorse. + +"Oh, I don't think mamma felt anything of that kind," said Mrs. +Dormer-Smith in her slow, gentle tones; "she was always complaining of +other people's unreasonable expectations." + +The brother and sister fell silent for a while after this, each being +immersed in private meditation. That very morning a circumstance had +occurred which had put the last touch to Augustus's disappointment and +exasperation. The Brighton schoolmistress had sent Miss Miranda +Cheffington to London in the charge of a maid-servant, and the little +girl had arrived at her aunt's house in a cab with her worldly +possessions, namely, a small black trunk full of clothes, and a +canary-bird in a cage. The schoolmistress wrote civilly, but firmly, to +the effect that, after the lamented decease of the Honourable Mrs. +Cheffington, she could not undertake to keep May any longer; feeling +sure, by repeated experience, that all applications for payment made to +Captain Cheffington would be in vain, and understanding that Mrs. +Dormer-Smith declined to charge herself with her niece's education. +Captain Cheffington had been violently angry, and had denounced the +schoolmistress--Mrs. Drax--as an insolent, grasping, vulgar harpy. But +Mrs. Drax was out of his reach, and there was May, thirteen years old, +with a healthy appetite, and limbs rapidly outgrowing her clothes. + +Augustus continued to glare moodily at the square for some minutes. His +sister leaned her cheek on her hand, and looked at the fire. At length +Augustus, composing his face to a less savage expression, turned away +from the window, sat down opposite to his sister, and said, pensively-- + +"We must arrange something for May, Pauline." + +"You must, indeed, Augustus." + +"We ought to consider her future." + +"Yes; I think you ought, Augustus." + +"The girl is at a hobbledehoy age. It's a perplexing position. So +difficult to know what to do with her." + +"There is no age at which it is so awkward to dress a girl. I have +sometimes regretted not having daughters; but upon my word there must be +a dreadful amount of harass about their clothes between twelve and +fifteen--or in some cases sixteen." + +"It's impossible for me to have her with me in Brussels. The way I +live--am obliged to live _malgré moi_--she'd upset all my arrangements +and habits. In short, you can see for yourself, Pauline, that it would +be out of the question." + +"No doubt it would be very bad for the girl." + +"Of course! That's what I mean. Wouldn't it be the best plan after all, +Pauline, to leave her here with you? She could have private masters----" + +Mrs. Dormer-Smith shook her head. + +"At my expense, of course," added Augustus. "I must screw and scrape and +make some sacrifices no doubt, but----" + +"It really won't do, Augustus. I assure you it won't do. Frederick will +_not_ have it. He talked to me after luncheon. It isn't the least use." + +Mrs. Dormer-Smith continued plaintively to shake her head as she spoke, +and to look with gentle melancholy at the fire. + +"H'm! Frederick is very kind. But let us discuss the thing in a friendly +spirit. If I pay for her clothing and education, surely the expense of +her board wouldn't ruin you and Frederick!" + +"No; but the butcher and the baker are the least part of the matter. It +isn't as if May were the daughter of one's housekeeper or one's +governess. She is a Cheffington, you know. So many things are required +for a girl with her connections; and as to your paying for her masters, +of course we know you wouldn't, Augustus." + +"Upon my soul you are civil and sisterly!" + +"Well, I dare say you would mean to pay, but you wouldn't. It would be +sure to turn out so, don't you know? Things always have been like that +with you, Augustus." + +"Then what the devil do you think I'm to do?" + +"Pray don't be violent! I really cannot bear any display of violence. +You should remember that it is scarcely a week since poor mamma was +taken from us." + +"I don't see what that has to do with it. Miranda hasn't been taken from +us; that's the point." + +Mrs. Dormer-Smith making no answer, her brother continued, after a +moment or two-- + +"You are fertile in objections, but you don't seem to have any plan to +suggest." + +"Well, an idea did occur to me. I don't know whether you would like it." + +"Like it! Probably not. But I am used to sacrifice my inclinations." + +"Well, I thought that you might put May into a school in France or +Germany, or somewhere, letting her give lessons in English in return for +her board and so on. There are plenty of schools where they do that sort +of thing. It wouldn't so much matter abroad, because people wouldn't +know who she was. You might tide over a year or two in that way." + +Augustus got up from his chair. "My daughter a drudge in a Continental +school?" he exclaimed indignantly. + +"If you chose a place little frequented by English, I don't think people +would know." + +There was a short silence. Then Augustus said angrily, "I'll take the +girl back with me. She must share my home, such as it is. We will +neither of us trouble you or Frederick much longer. I shall start for +Ostend by the morning mail to-morrow." And he dashed out of the room +emitting a muffled roll of oaths, and jarring the door in a way which +made Mrs. Dormer-Smith clasp her forehead with both hands, and lean back +shrinkingly in her chair. + +But when the morrow came, Captain Cheffington and his daughter did not +go to Ostend. When they had got out of sight of the Dormer-Smiths' +house, he ordered the cabman to drive to the Great Western Railway +Station, and started by an express train for Oldchester. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Amongst the minor grievances reckoned up by the deceased dowager as +accruing from Augustus's unfortunate marriage was the fact that his wife +had borne the plebeian name of Dobbs. One of her most frequent +complaints against poor little May was that the child was "a thorough +Dobbs." And when she was out of temper--which was very often--she would +prefer this charge as indignantly as though Dobbs were synonymous with +the most disgraceful epithets in the English language. + +And yet the sound of it awoke very different associations in the city of +Oldchester, where Augustus's mother-in-law had lived all her life. Mrs. +Dobbs was the widow of a tradesman. The ironmonger's business, which her +husband had carried on, had long passed into other hands; but his name +still met the eyes of his fellow-townsmen in the inscription, "J. Brown, +late Dobbs," painted over the shop. + +Oldchester is a city in which two streams of life run side by side, +mingling but little with each other. At a certain point in the existence +of Oldchester, its ancient course of civil and ecclesiastical history +had received a new tributary--a strong and ever-growing current of +commerce. Commerce built wide suburbs, with villa residences in various +stages of "detachment" and "semi-detachment" from one another. Commerce +strewed the pleasant country paths and lanes with coal-dust, and +blackened the air with smoke. Commerce set up Art schools, founded +hospitals (and furnished patients for them), multiplied railways for +miles round, and scored all the new streets, and some of the old, with +tramway lines. Commerce bought estates in the neighbourhood, was +conveyed to public worship in splendid equipages, sent its sons to Eton, +and married its daughters into the Peerage. But, for all that, the fame +of Oldchester continued to rest on its character as a cathedral city. +The old current surpassed the new one in length and dignity, if in +nothing else. The gray cathedral towers rose up majestically above the +din and turmoil of forge and loom and factory, with a noble aspiration +towards something above and beyond these; while the vibrations of their +mellow chimes shed down sweet suggestions of peace and goodwill among +the homes of the toilers. + +Mrs. Dobbs particularly loved the sounds of the cathedral chimes; and +she sat with closed eyes listening to them in the twilight of a certain +autumn evening. Her house was in a narrow street, called Friar's Row, +which turned out of the High Street. A monastery had once stood on the +site of it, but all trace of the ancient conventual buildings had long +since disappeared. The houses were solid brick dwellings, from one to +two hundred years old. Mrs. Dobbs's husband had bequeathed her a long +lease of that which she occupied. Most of the other houses in Friar's +Row were used as offices or warehouses, the wealthier kind of +tradespeople who once lived in them having migrated to the suburbs. On +her husband's death some of Mrs. Dobbs's friends had urged her to remove +to a newer and more cheerful part of the town, but she had resisted the +suggestion with some contempt. + +"I know what suits me," she would say. "And that's a knowledge the Lord +doesn't bestow on all and sundry. This house suits me. It's +weather-proof for one thing. And you needn't be afraid of putting your +foot through the floor if you walk a little heavy, as I do. When I go to +see the Simpsons in that bandbox they call Laurel Villa, I daren't lean +my umbrella against the wall, for fear of bringing the whole concern +down like a pack of cards." + +She might easily have increased her income by letting her house and +removing to one in the suburbs; for its position was central, and the +tenements in Friar's Row were in great request for business purposes. +But she resisted this temptation. There were reasons of a more +impalpable kind than the solidity of its floors and roofs, which made +Mrs. Dobbs constant to her old home. She had lived there all the days of +her married life. Her daughter had been born there. Her husband had died +there. The somewhat narrow and dingy street had in her eyes the familiar +aspect of a friendly face. She loved to hear the rattle and bustle of +the High Street, slightly softened by distance. Those common sounds were +full of voices from the past: the common sights around were associated +with all the joys and sorrows of her life. Mrs. Dobbs never said +anything to this effect, but she felt it. And so she stayed in Friar's +Row. + +The parlour in which she sat was comfortably and substantially +furnished. A competent observer would have perceived evidences of +permanence and respectability in the solid, old-fashioned chairs and +tables, the prints after Morland on the walls, and the corner cupboard +full of fine old china. The bookshelves which filled one end of the room +contained the accumulations of successive generations. There was a +square pianoforte with a pile of old music-books on the top of it; and a +big family Bible in massive binding had a place of honour all to itself +on a side-table covered with green baize. On this special autumn +evening, owing to the hour, and partly to the narrowness of the street, +which shut out some of the lingering daylight, the parlour was very dim. +A red fire glowed in the grate, a large tabby cat blinked and purred on +the hearthrug, and in a spacious easy-chair at one side of the fireplace +sat Mrs. Dobbs, listening with closed eyes to the cathedral chimes. + +Presently the door was softly opened, and there came into the room Mrs. +Dobbs's life-long friend and crony, Mr. Joseph Weatherhead. This person +was her brother-in-law, and a childless widower. He had carried on the +trade of bookseller and stationer in Birmingham for many years; but had +sold his business on the death of his wife, and come to live in +Oldchester, near the Dobbs's. Mr. Weatherhead was a tall, lean man, with +a benevolent, bald forehead, and mild eyes. The only remarkable feature +in his face was the nose, which was large, slightly aquiline, brownish +red in colour, and protruded from his face at a peculiar angle. The +forehead above, and the chin below, sloped away from it rather rapidly. +The nose had thus a singularly inquisitive air of being eagerly in the +van, as though it thrust itself forward in quest of news. + +As he closed the door behind him, Mrs. Dobbs opened her eyes. + +"I thought you were asleep, Sarah," said Mr. Weatherhead. + +"Asleep!" ejaculated Mrs. Dobbs, with all the indignation which that +accusation is so apt mysteriously to excite. "Nothing of the kind! I was +listening to the chimes. They always make me think----" + +"Of poor Susy," interrupted Mr. Weatherhead, nodding. "Ah! And so they +do me. Poor Susy! How pretty she was!" + +"She had better have been less pretty for her own happiness. The great +misfortune of her life wouldn't have happened but for her pretty face." + +Mr. Weatherhead nodded again, and sat down opposite to Mrs. Dobbs in a +corresponding armchair to her own. He then took from his pocket a black +leather case, and from the case a meerschaum pipe, which he proceeded to +fill and light and smoke. + +"What an infatuation!" sighed Mrs. Dobbs, pursuing her own meditations. +"To think of Susy throwing herself away on that extravagant, selfish, +good-for-nothing fellow without any principles to speak of, when she +might have had an honest tradesman in a first-rate way of business! She +had only to pick and choose." + +"Humph! Honest tradesmen are not as plentiful as blackberries, though," +observed Mr. Weatherhead, reflectively. + +Mrs. Dobbs ignored this parenthesis, and went on: "It was a bad day for +me and mine when he first came swaggering into this house." + +From which speech it will be seen that the Dobbs side of the family +coincided with the Cheffingtons in considering Augustus's to have been +an unfortunate marriage; only each party arrived at the same conclusion +by a different road. + +"Have you heard from him lately, Sarah?" asked Mr. Weatherhead, after a +pause. + +"From my precious son-in-law? Not I!" + +"Oh!" + +"Not a word from him till he wants something. You may take your oath of +that, Jo Weatherhead." + +"Oh, I thought you might have heard from him, because----" + +"Well?" (very sharply). + +"Well, because I see something has been putting old times into your +head; and I thought it might be that." + +"Something been putting old times into my head? I should like to know +when they're out of my head! Much you know about it!" + +Mr. Weatherhead apparently did know something about it; for after +another long silence, during which he puffed at his pipe and stared into +the fire, Mrs. Dobbs justified his penetration by saying-- + +"The truth is, I _have_ been turning things over in my mind a good deal +since yesterday." + +Mr. Weatherhead was too wary to expose himself to another snub, so he +merely nodded two or three times in an oracular manner. + +"I'm worried out of my mind about that child. She went off yesterday as +bright and happy as possible, and looking so pretty and genteel--fit for +any company in the land." + +"Ah! She went off, you say, to----?" + +"To the Hadlows'. She is to stay there over Sunday." + +"Oh! But I don't quite see----" + +"Go on! What is it that you don't quite see?" + +"I don't quite see what there is to worry you in that. The Hadlows are +very good sort of people." + +"I should think they _were_ very good sort of people! Canon Hadlow is +one of the best men in Oldchester; or in all England, for the matter of +that. And he's a gentleman to the marrow of his bones. But what sort of +a position has my grand-daughter among the Hadlows and their +belongings?" + +"A very nice position, I should say." + +"A very nice position!" exclaimed Mrs. Dobbs, who seemed determined to +repeat all poor Mr. Weatherhead's speeches in a tone of disdainful +irony. "That's so like you, Jo! _She_ thinks it a very nice position, +too, poor lamb. She knows nothing of the world, bless her innocent +heart. And, for all her seventeen years, she is the merest child in some +things. But you might know better. You are not seventeen years old, Jo +Weatherhead." + +"Certainly not," assented he emphatically. + +"The fact of the matter is that, whether by good luck or bad luck, May +does not belong to my sphere or my class. She's a Cheffington. She has +the ways of a lady, and the education of a lady, and she has a right to +the position of a lady. If that father of hers gives her nothing else he +might give her that; and he shall, if I can make him." + +"Perhaps it might have been better, after all, if you had not sent the +child back to her old school, but just brought her up here, under your +own eye, in a plain sort of way. It would have been better for _you_, +anyhow." + +"I don't know that." + +"Why, you'd have been spared a good many sacrifices. There's not another +woman in England would have done what you've done, Sarah." + +"Nonsense; there are plenty of women in England as big fools as me. Even +that wooden old figurehead of a dowager--Lord forgive me, she's dead and +gone!--had the grace to pay the child's schooling as long as she lived." + +"She!" exclaimed Jo Weatherhead, firing up suddenly, and tapping his +meerschaum sharply against the hob. "That's a very different pair of +shoes. She could afford it a precious sight better than you. What did +_she_ ever deprive herself of? I say there's not another woman in +England would have done what you've done, and it's no good your +contradicting." + +"There, bless the man! Don't let us quarrel about it." + +"But I shall quarrel about it, unless you give in. Here's the case +fairly put:--A young spark runs away with your only daughter, and pretty +well breaks your heart. He takes her wandering about into foreign parts, +and you only get news of her now and then, and never good news. He's too +fine a gentleman to do a stroke of work for his family, but as soon as +he has run through his bit of money he's not too fine a gentleman to +fall into disreputable ways of life, nor yet to let who will look after +his motherless little girl, and feed, and clothe, and educate her. When +his own mother dies--leaving two quarters' school-bills unpaid, which +you have to settle, by-the-by--the rest of the family, including his own +sister, refuse to advance a sixpence to save the child from the +workhouse." + +"I say, Jo, that's putting it a little too strong, my friend! There was +no talk of the workhouse." + +"Let me finish summing up the case. I say they wouldn't spend sixpence +to save that child from _starvation_--there, now! When the dowager is +dead, and the rest of them button up their breeches' pockets, and the +schoolmistress sends away the poor little girl because she can't afford +to keep her and teach her for nothing, what does my gentleman do? Does +he try in any one way to do his duty by his only child? Not he. He +coolly shuffles off all trouble and responsibility on other folks' +shoulders. He hasn't taken any notice of you for years, except writing +once to borrow fifty pounds----" + +"Which he didn't get, Jo." + +"Which he didn't get because an over-ruling Providence had ordained that +you shouldn't have it to lend him. Well, after years of silence and +neglect, he turns up in Oldchester one fine morning, and walks into your +house bringing his little girl 'on a visit to her dear grandmother.' +Talk of brass! What sort of a material do you suppose that man's +features are composed of?" + +"Gutta percha, very likely," returned Mrs. Dobbs, who now sat resting +her head against the cushions of her chair, and listening to Mr. +Weatherhead's eloquence with a half-humorous resignation; "that's a +good, tough, elastic kind of stuff." + +"Tough! He had need have some toughness of countenance to come into this +house as he did. And that's not the end. He swaggers about Oldchester +for a week or two, using your house as an inn, neither more nor +less--except that there's no bill;--and then one day he starts off for +the Continent, leaving little May here, and promising to send for her as +soon as he gets settled. From that day to this, and it's four years ago, +you have had the child on your hands, and her precious father has never +contributed one shilling towards her support. You sent the child back to +school. You pinched, and saved, and denied yourself many little comforts +to keep her there. You have never let her feel or guess that she has +been a burthen on you in your old age. And I say again, Sarah Dobbs, +that, considering all the circumstances of the case, there's not another +woman in England would have done what you've done. No, nor in Europe!" + +"Well, having come to that, I hope you've finished, Jo Weatherhead." + +"I hope I have," returned Mr. Weatherhead, mopping his flushed face with +a very large red pocket-handkerchief. "I hope I have, for the present. +But if you attempt to contradict a word of what I have been saying, I'll +begin again and go still further!" + +"There, there, then that's settled. But I am thinking of the future. +Supposing I died to-morrow, what's to become of May? I have nothing to +leave her. My bit of property goes back to Dobbs's family, and all right +and fair, too. I've nothing to say against my husband's will. But people +like the Hadlows, who invite May, and make much of her, have no idea +that she has no one to look to but me. I don't say they'd give her the +cold shoulder if they did know it; but it would make a difference. As it +is, they talk to her about her aunt, Mrs. Dormer-Smith, and her cousin, +Lord This, and her connection, Lady T'other, and a kind of a--what shall +I say?--a sort of atmosphere of high folks hangs about her. She's Miss +Miranda Cheffington, with fifty relations in the peerage. If she was +known only as the grandchild of Mrs. Dobbs, the ironmonger's widow, she +would seem mightily changed in a good many eyes. Sometimes it comes over +me as if I was letting May go on under false pretences." + +"Why, she _has_ got fifty relations in the peerage, hasn't she?" + +"A hundred, for all I know. But folks are not aware that her father's +family take no notice of her. She hardly knows it herself." + +"But her aunt, Mrs. Dormer-Smith, writes to her, doesn't she?" + +"Oh, a line once in a blue moon, to say she's glad to hear May is well, +and to complain of the great expense of living in London." + +"The selfish meanness of that woman is beyond belief." + +"Well--I don't know, Jo. She's a poor creature, certainly. But I feel +more a sort of pity for her than anything else." + +"_Do_ you? It's only out of contradiction, then." + +"Not altogether," said Mrs. Dobbs, laughing good-humouredly. "I made her +out pretty well that time I took May up to London before she went back +to school." + +"Ah! I remember. You tried if the aunt would do anything to help." + +"Yes, I tried. It was right to try. But I very soon saw that there was +nothing to be hoped for from that quarter. Mrs. Dormer-Smith has been +brought up to live for the world and the world's ways. To be sure her +world is a funny, artificial little affair compared with God Almighty's: +pretty much as though one should take a teaspoonful of Epsom salts for +the sea. But, at any rate, I do believe she sincerely thinks it ought to +be worshipped and bowed down to. It's no use to tell such a woman that +she could do without this or that useless finery, and spend the money +better. She'll answer you with tears in her eyes that it's _impossible_; +and, what's more, she'll believe it. Why, if some Tomnoddy or other, +belonging to what she calls "the best people," was to ordain to-morrow +that nobody should eat his dinner unless he was waited on by a man with +a long pigtail, that poor creature would know no peace, nor her meat +would have no relish until a man with a pigtail stood behind her chair. +That's Mrs. Dormer-Smith, Jo Weatherhead." + +Mr. Weatherhead drew up his lips into the form of a round O, as his +manner was when considering any matter of interest, and appeared to +meditate a reply. But the reply was never spoken; for a brisk ring at +the street door gave a new turn to his thoughts and those of his +sister-in-law. + +"Dear me!" exclaimed Mrs. Dobbs, putting up her hands to settle her cap, +and stretching out her feet with a sudden movement which made the old +tabby on the hearthrug arch her back indignantly. "Why, that must be the +Simpsons! I didn't think it was so late. Just light the candles, will +you, Jo? I hope Martha has remembered the roasted potatoes." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +The Simpsons were old friends of Mrs. Dobbs. Mr. Simpson was organist of +the largest parish church in Oldchester, where his father had been +organist before him. To this circumstance he owed his singular Christian +name. The elder Simpson, whose musical enthusiasm had run all into one +channel, insisted on naming his son Sebastian Bach. Some men would have +felt this to be a disadvantage for the profession of organist and +music-teacher, as involving a suggestion of ridicule. But Mr. Sebastian +Bach Simpson was not apt to be diffident about any distinguishing +characteristic of his own. His wife had been a governess, and still gave +daily lessons in sundry respectable Oldchester families. By an +arrangement begun during her late husband's lifetime, this couple came +every Saturday evening to sup with Mrs. Dobbs, and to play a game of +whist for penny points before the meal. + +The two guests entered the parlour just as Mr. Weatherhead was lighting +the candles. + +"Dear me," exclaimed Mrs. Simpson, "are we too early? I had no idea! +Surely the choir practice was not over earlier than usual, Bassy?" + +She was a large stout woman of forty, with a pink-and-white complexion +and filmy brown curls; and she wore spectacles. She had once been very +slim and pretty, and still retained a certain girlishness of demeanour. +It has been said that a man is as old as he feels, and a woman as old as +she looks. Mrs. Simpson had innocently usurped the masculine privilege; +and, not feeling herself to be either wiser or less trivial than she was +at eighteen, had never thought of trying to bring her manners into +harmony with her appearance. Her husband was a short, dark man, with +quick black eyes, and thick, stubby, black hair. His voice was +singularly rasping and dissonant, which seemed an unfortunate +incongruity in a professor of music. Such as he was, however, his wife +had a great admiration for him, and considered his talents to be +remarkable. Her marriage, she was fond of saying, had been a love-match, +and she had never got beyond the romantic stage of her attachment. + +"Good evening, Mrs. Dobbs," said the organist, advancing to shake hands, +and taking no notice of his wife's inquiry. + +"How are you, Weatherhead? I suppose you were napping--having forty +winks in the twilight, eh?" + +"No, Mr. Weatherhead and I were chatting," said Mrs. Dobbs. + +"Chatting in this kind of blind man's holiday, were you? I should have +thought you could hardly see to talk!" + +"See to talk! Oh, Bassy, what an expression! You do say the drollest +things!" exclaimed Mrs. Simpson with a giggle. "Doesn't he, Mrs. Dobbs? +Did you ever hear----?" + +Mrs. Dobbs, for all reply, hospitably stirred the fire until it blazed, +helped Mrs. Simpson to remove her bonnet and cloak, and placed her in a +chair near her own. Mr. Simpson took his accustomed seat, and the four +persons drew round the fire, whilst Martha, Mrs. Dobbs's middle-aged +servant, set out a little card-table, and disposed the candles on it in +two old-fashioned, spindle-shanked, silver candlesticks. It was all done +according to long-established custom, which was seldom deviated from in +any particular. + +"And how are you, dear Mrs. Dobbs?" asked Mrs. Simpson, taking her +hostess's hand between both her own. "And dear May--where's May?" + +"May has been away from home on a visit since yesterday morning. She +won't come back before Monday." + +"And may one ask where she is? It is not, I presume, a Mystery of +Udolpho!" + +"She is at the Hadlows'." + +"The Hadlows'? Canon Hadlow's?" cried Mrs. Simpson, clasping her hands +with a gesture of amazement. Then she added rather inconsistently, +"Well, I'm not surprised. I know they have lately taken a great deal of +notice of her. Miss Hadlow and she having been at school together, of +course created an intimacy which--ah, the friendships of early youth, +where they _are_ genuine, have a warmth, a charm----" + +"_Now_, Amelia!" interposed her husband's rasping voice. (This +ejaculation was his habitual manner of recalling Mrs. Simpson's +attention to the matter in hand, whatever it might be; for the good +lady's mind was discursive.) "If you'll be kind enough to leave off your +nonsense, we can begin our game. Come and cut for partners." + +An earnest whist player would have been outraged by the performances of +the four persons who met weekly in Mrs. Dobbs's parlour. They chatted, +they misdealt, they even revoked sometimes; and they overlooked each +other's misdemeanours with unscrupulous laxity. In a word, they regarded +the noble game of whist merely as a means and not as an end, and were +scandalously bent on amusing themselves regardless of Hoyle. The only +one of the party who had any pretensions to play tolerably was Mr. +Weatherhead. But even his attention was always to be diverted from his +cards by a new piece of gossip. And perhaps, it was as well that he did +not take the game too much to heart--especially on the present occasion; +for the fair Amelia fell to his lot as a partner, and her performances +with the cards were calculated to drive a zealous player into a nervous +fever. + +The first hand or two proceeded in decorous silence. But by degrees the +players began to talk, throwing out first detached sentences, and at +last boldly entering into general conversation. + +"Bassy had a great deal of trouble with the choir this evening," said +Mrs. Simpson plaintively. "The sopranos were _so_ inattentive! And +inattention is so particularly--oh dear, I beg pardon, I _have_ a +diamond! Well, it does not much matter, for we couldn't have made the +odd trick in any case." + +"A nice business at Sheffield with those Trades Unions," said Mr. +Weatherhead. "Some severe measures ought to be taken; but they won't be. +That's what your precious Liberalism comes to!--Your lead, Simpson." + +"Nonsense about Liberalism, Jo Weatherhead," replied Mrs. Dobbs. "I +believe you'd like to accuse the Liberals of the bad weather. +There!--Did you ever see such a hand? One trump! and that fell. Mrs. +Simpson playing out her knave misled me." + +"Oh, if you reckon on Amelia's having any sufficient motive for playing +one card more than another----" exclaimed Amelia's husband. "Have you +heard, Mrs. Dobbs, that Mr. Bransby is getting better?" + +"What Bransby is that?" asked Mr. Weatherhead, thrusting his head +forward inquiringly. + +"Cadell and Bransby, Solicitors to the Dean and Chapter." + +"Oh-o! He has been ill, then?" + +"Very ill. But I hear he was pronounced out of danger on Wednesday." + +"Is it not good news?" cried Mrs. Simpson. "Such a misfortune for his +young family! I mean if he had died, you know." + +"But I suppose he's a warm man, isn't he? Cadell and Bransby--it's a +fine business, isn't it?" asked Mr. Weatherhead. + +"It had need be," rejoined the organist, "to maintain that tribe of boys +and girls, and an extravagant young wife into the bargain." + +"Oh, Bassy, but they are such pretty children! And Mrs. Bransby is so +truly elegant and interesting. All her bonnets come from Paris, I am +told. And indeed there is a certain style----Eh? You _don't_ mean to say +that spades are trumps? What a disappointment! I thought I had all four +honours." + +This ingenuous speech might have called forth some remonstrance from +Mrs. Simpson's partner, but that the latter was too much interested in +the subject of the Bransbys to attend to it. + +"The eldest son is provided for by his mother's fortune, isn't he?" he +inquired. + +"Well--'provided for;' I don't know that it is very much. But it was all +tightly settled. Otherwise Bransby's second marriage would have been a +greater misfortune for the young man than it is," replied the organist. + +"I don't see that it is any misfortune at all," observed Mrs. Dobbs. +"Theodore Bransby is quite well enough off for a young fellow. And why +shouldn't his father marry again if he liked it?" + +"He is an extremely gentleman-like young man, is Mr. Theodore Bransby," +said Mrs. Simpson. "I have been imparting daily instruction to the +younger children, and I saw him rather frequently when he was at home +during the University vacation. He is now reading for the Bar, you know, +and I believe----Was that _your_ knave, Mr. Weatherhead? Really! Then I +have thrown away my queen. However," smiling amiably, "one can but take +the trick. I believe that Mr. Theodore Bransby means to go into +Parliament later. There is really something of the statesman about him +already, _I_ think--a way of buttoning his coat to the chin, don't you +know?" + +"Is Theodore Bransby in Oldchester now?" asked Mrs. Dobbs, sorting her +cards. + +"Oh yes," replied Mr. Simpson. "I wonder you didn't know, for he is a +great deal at Canon Hadlow's. They say he's making up to Miss Hadlow." + +"O-ho! But there's Mrs. Hadlow's nephew, young Rivers," put in Mr. +Weatherhead. "_He's_ supposed to be dangling after his cousin, isn't +he?" + +"I should think young Rivers had better dangle after an employment that +will give him bread and cheese. Miss Constance Hadlow won't have a +penny." + +"Oh, Bassy, but where there's real affection mercenary considerations +must give way. True love--true love is above all!" As she uttered these +words with great fervour, Mrs. Simpson flourished her arm +enthusiastically, and in so doing swept off the table several coins +which had served as counters to register her opponent's score. The +silver discs rolled swiftly away into various inaccessible corners of +the room, with the perversity usually observed in such cases. +Fortunately the game had just come to an end, and Martha had announced +that the supper was ready. This circumstance, and the fact that her +husband was a winner, spared Mrs. Simpson a sharp reprimand. + +Mr. Simpson uttered, indeed, a few sarcastic croaks. "_Now_, Amelia! +There you go! Always up to some nonsense or other." But he watched Mr. +Weatherhead and Martha as they crawled about on hands and knees to +recover the missing shillings and sixpences, with considerable +equanimity; merely observing that Amelia ought to be ashamed of herself +for giving so much trouble. + +When the supper was set on the table, three of the party, at least, were +in high good humour, and disposed to enjoy it. Mr. Simpson had won, and +was content. Mr. Weatherhead paid his losses without a murmur, +conscious, no doubt, that they were due as much to his own wandering +attention as to his partner's aberrations. As for Mrs. Simpson, the +sweetness of her disposition was proof against far more souring +circumstances than having spoiled Jo Weatherhead's game. She was not the +least out of humour with him. Mrs. Dobbs alone was a little more silent +and a little less genial than usual. The talk that evening with her old +friend had awakened painful thoughts of the past and anxieties for the +future. She very rarely mentioned her son-in-law's name, even to Mr. +Weatherhead, who was thoroughly in her confidence; and, whenever she did +speak of him, the result was invariably to irritate and depress her. +However, her hospitable instincts roused her to shake off her cares in +some degree, and to make her friends welcome to the fare set before +them. + +When the more substantial part of the supper was disposed of, and a jug +of hot punch steamed on the board, Mrs. Simpson, delicately tapping with +her teaspoon on the edge of her tumbler, observed, with an air at once +penetrating and amiable---- + +"Well, I'm sure it will be very gratifying to Mrs. Dormer-Smith when she +hears that dear May has been invited to the Hadlows'." + +"H'm! I don't think Mrs. Dormer-Smith will lose her wits with joy," +answered Mrs. Dobbs drily. + +"No? Oh, but surely----! She _must_ feel it agreeable that her niece +should be noticed by persons of such eminent gentility." + +Mrs. Dobbs would have dismissed the subject with a smile and a shake of +the head, avoiding, as she always did, any discussion or even mention of +her son-in-law's family; but Mr. Simpson interposed magisterially-- + +"If Mrs. Dormer-Smith isn't gratified, it must be because she is +ignorant of the position held by Canon Hadlow's family in Oldchester." + +Mrs. Dobbs faced about upon this, and said bluntly, "My dear good man, +all the best society of Oldchester put together would seem mighty small +beer to Mrs. Dormer-Smith." + +"Oh, really!" returned Mr. Simpson, mortified and incredulous. "Such a +very fine lady, is she? Well, 'Dormer-Smith' doesn't _sound_ very +aristocratic; but it may be, of course." + +"Mrs. Dormer-Smith _is_ a fine lady, and accustomed to mix with still +finer ladies. It's no use shutting one's eyes to facts. If we won't look +at them, we only bump up against them, because they're there, all the +same. As to opinions, that's different. I suppose I needn't say anything +about mine at this time of day. I'm a staunch Radical--always was, and +always will be." + +"Pooh, pooh! Call yourself a Radical!" said Mr. Weatherhead, laughing +his peculiar laugh, which consisted of a series of guttural _ho, ho, +ho's_. "You're convicted out of your own mouth of not being one. Whoever +heard of a Radical that cared about facts?" + +Mrs. Simpson put out her hand, and tapped him on the shoulder. "Now, +now; that's very naughty of you," she exclaimed. "Politics are strictly +forbidden on Saturday evenings by the ancient statutes of our society. +Isn't it so, Mr. Dobbs? I appeal to the chair." And she threatened Mr. +Weatherhead playfully with her forefinger, at the same time casting an +arch look through her spectacles. Glasses are not favourable to any +effective play of the eyes, and usually screen the most expressive of +glances behind a ghastly glitter, void of all speculation. But of this +consideration Mrs. Simpson was habitually oblivious. Then, by way of +turning the conversation into more agreeable channels, she continued, +"And, _ŕpropos_ of May, dear Mrs. Dobbs, when did you last hear from her +papa?" + +This simple inquiry startled the company into absolute silence for a few +moments. Mrs. Dobbs's resolute reserve on the subject of her son-in-law +was so well known that none of her friends for several years past had +ventured to mention him to her. Some refrained because they did not wish +to hurt her; and many because they were afraid she might hurt them: for +Mrs. Dobbs's uncompromising frankness of speech and force of character +made her a hard hitter, when she did hit. But the specific levity of +Mrs. Simpson's mind gave her a certain immunity from hard retorts--the +immunity of a fly from a cannon ball. On the present occasion, however, +she received no rebuke; for greatly to Jo Weatherhead's surprise, and +somewhat to Mr. Simpson's, Mrs. Dobbs, after a brief pause, answered-- + +"I have not heard lately from Captain Cheffington. He is a bad +correspondent. But we shall soon be obliged to communicate with each +other. May is seventeen, and various arrangements will have to be made +about her future." + +"Goodness!" exclaimed Mrs. Simpson, clasping her hands. "You don't mean +to say that May isn't to remain with you?" + +"That will depend on what is agreed on in the family. May must take her +place in the world as Miss Cheffington, you know, and not as my +grand-daughter." + +The Simpsons exchanged a glance of surprise. This was the first time +they had heard Mrs. Dobbs assume any such position for her grandchild. +Sebastian was inclined to resist her doing so now. But something in Mrs. +Dobbs's manner checked him from expressing this feeling. It is generally +found easier to criticize our friends' shortcomings when we are free +from the disturbing element of their presence. The short remainder of +the evening was passed in talking of other things. But on their way home +Mr. and Mrs. Simpson discussed this new turn of affairs with some +eagerness. + +The organist considered that the notion of the Hadlows not being good +enough company for the Dormer-Smiths was preposterous; and he feared +that Mrs. Dobbs was giving herself airs. In reply to his wife's +observations that Mrs. Dobbs was a "dear old soul," he pointed out that, +dear and good though she might be, yet her husband had kept an +ironmonger's shop, and publicly sold hardware therein behind his +counter, to the knowledge of all Oldchester. This retort depended for +its cogency on the understanding of an ellipsis; which, however, Mrs. +Simpson was perfectly able to supply, for she answered immediately-- + +"Oh, I'm sure, Bassy, Mrs. Dobbs would never undervalue your position as +a professional man. She knows very well that the Arts rank superior to +trade." + +On the other hand, when Mrs. Simpson proceeded to opine that if May were +taken up by her father's family she would become quite a grand +personage, Mr. Simpson declared, with a good deal of heat, that for his +part he thought Mrs. Dobbs quite as good any day as the Cheffingtons, +about whom nothing certain was known in Oldchester except that they were +shabby in their dealings and "stuck-up" in their pretensions. + +Mr. Weatherhead lingered behind the organist and his wife, to say a word +to Mrs. Dobbs after their departure. + +"I can tell you one thing, Sarah; what you said about May will be all +over Oldchester by Monday." + +"So I guess." + +"O-ho! Then you mean it to be talked about?" + +"I mean it to be known that May is to take her place in the world as +Miss Cheffington." + +"But _is_ she? That's more than you can say, Sarah." + +"I shall have a try for it, Jo." + +Now whenever Mrs. Dobbs had said in that emphatic manner that she would +"have a try" for anything, that thing, so far as Jo Weatherhead's +experience went, had infallibly come to pass. But with all his faith in +his old friend, he could not help doubting her success in the present +case. He was eagerly curious to know how she intended to proceed; but +Mrs. Dobbs refused to say any more on the subject, declaring that she +must think things over quietly. + +"I don't see it," said Mr. Weatherhead to himself, poking forward his +nose, and pursing up his lips as he walked homeward. "Sarah Dobbs is a +wonderful woman, but even she can't gather grapes from thorns. And in +respect of justice or generosity--not to mention common honesty--I'm +afraid all the Cheffingtons are rather thorny." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +Among other features peculiar to itself, Oldchester possesses a +quadrangular building with an inner cloister, commonly called College +Quad. It is in the immediate neighbourhood of the cathedral, and is +divided into small tenements inhabited by clergy forming part of the +cathedral body. At the back of the houses on the south side of the +quadrangle, pleasant gardens slope down towards the river Wend. The +cloister is a very beautiful piece of Gothic work, with fretted roof and +springing pillars. Peace and quiet reign within it. In summer there +comes a sleepy sound of rooks from the Bishop's garden close at hand; +and, towards sunrise and sunset, the chirp of innumerable sparrows +mingled with the richer notes of thrush, blackbird, and nightingale in +their season. At certain times of the day, too, the stillness is broken +by the thrilling freshness of children's voices, as the scholars of the +ancient Grammar School scatter themselves over the Cathedral Green, +shouting and calling in the shrill silvery treble of boyhood. But these +sounds are softened and subdued by distance and thick masonry before +they penetrate within the precincts of College Quad. In autumn and +winter there is a chill dampness on the greenish-gray paving-stones of +the cloister, and the rain drips heavily from carven capitals into the +resounding court. The very order and cleanliness of the place--its +decorous, clerical, smooth-shaven air--seem sometimes under a watery +sky, and when the winds are moaning and complaining, or thrumming like +ghostly fingers on the fine resonant Gothic fret-work, to fill the mind +with melancholy. + +A rich contrasting note is seldom wanting:--firelight and the glimpse of +a crimson curtain seen through lozenge-shaped window-panes; or an open +door sending out a gush of warmth and spicy smells from the kitchen, and +the sound of friendly voices. Yet even within doors there seems to be a +haunting sense of the old, old times when hands long crumbled into dust +built up that dainty cloister, and when patient monkish feet, long +stilled for ever, paced its stones. It is not a wholly sad feeling. It +may even give zest to the glance of living eyes, and the warm pressure +of dear hands. But it has a peculiar pathos:--a pathos which, perhaps, +is felt peculiarly by northern people, as the sad-sweet twilight belongs +to northern climates, and which many of those, to the manner born, would +not exchange for the unbroken garishness of golden-blue days and +silver-blue nights. + +The habitations on the south side of College Quad are considered the +most desirable of all, by reason of the gardens before-mentioned running +down to the Wend, although one or two houses on the west side may be a +trifle larger. Canon Hadlow's family of three persons inhabited one of +these coveted southern houses, and found it roomy enough for their +needs; yet it was a small--a very small--dwelling. The front door opened +on to the beautiful cloister. Immediately on entering the house you +found yourself in a tiny entrance-hall, to the left of which a steep and +narrow staircase of dark oak conducted to the one upper story. On the +right, a massive oaken-door gave access to a long, low parlour, whose +three latticed windows--darkened somewhat by a drooping fringe of +jessamine and virginia-creeper--looked across the garden and the river +to wide meadows. Opposite to the front door, a glass one, which in +summer stood wide open all day long, led into the garden. In winter, +swinging double-doors, covered with dark baize, shut out the cold air +and the chill, damp mist which sometimes crept up from the river. + +The exterior of the houses in College Quad was coeval with the Gothic +cloister; within, the passing centuries had somewhat modified their +aspect. The main features, however, were ancient, and most of the +inhabitants had chosen to preserve this general air of antiquity. Only +in some few cases had disastrous attempts at modernizing been made with +paint and French wall-papers. It would have been needless to tell any +Oldchester person that no such sacrilegious innovations deformed the +fine oak beams and wainscoting in Canon Hadlow's house. There was a dark +tone all through it, which, however, was not chill. It was rather the +rich darkness of Rembrandt's shadows, which seem to have a latent glow +in the heart of them. A deep red curtain here and there, or a well-worn +Turkey carpet, with its kaleidoscope of subdued tints, relieved the +general sombreness. Flowers in all manner of receptacles--from a +precious old china punch-bowl to the cheapest of glass goblets--adorned +every room in the house throughout the year. Even in winter there was +ivy to be had, and red-berried holly, and the coral clusters of the +mountain ash, and pale chrysanthemums. The garden furnished an ample +supply of stocks, roses, carnations, holly-hocks, china asters, +sweetwilliams, wallflowers, and the like old-fashioned blossoms with +homely names. But as Mrs. Hadlow herself quaintly remarked, she cared +more for the sight and smell of a flower than its sound. + +One sacrifice the flowers cost; the Hadlows had no lawn-tennis ground. +Mrs. Hadlow declared she could not spare the space. Her neighbours to +the right and left boasted of lawns which, with their white lines, +looked like tables chalked on the pavement for the popular street game +of hop-scotch--and were very little bigger. But the Hadlows' garden was +a mosaic of box-bordered flower-beds. Only quite at the lower end, where +a clipped hedge divided it from a footpath on the river bank, there was +a strip of green sward like a velvet carpet, spread completely across +the garden. At one angle stood a yew-tree of fabulous age, and in its +shadow were a garden bench and table, and a few rustic chairs. This was +Mrs. Hadlow's drawing-room whenever the weather permitted her to be +out-of-doors. There she sewed, and read, and received visits. The oak +parlour, which served also as a dining-room, was the ordinary family +living room. There was a small room called the study, lined with books +from floor to ceiling; but drawing-room, properly so-called, there was +none at all. Constance Hadlow was the only one of the family who +regretted this circumstance. The canon was perfectly content with his +abode. And as to Mrs. Hadlow, no one who valued her good opinion would +have ventured to hint to her that her house lacked anything to make it +convenient and delightful. An ill-advised stranger had once opined in +her presence that the near neighbourhood of the river must make the +south side of the College Quad damp and unhealthy during the autumn and +winter, and Mrs. Hadlow's indignation had been boundless. That it was +sometimes cold in College Quad she was willing to admit--just as it was +sometimes cold on the Riviera or in Cairo. But that it could, under any +circumstances, or for the shortest space of time, be damp, was what she +would never be brought to acknowledge. As to the Wend, if any +exhalations did arise from that gentle stream, they could not, she was +sure, be unwholesome--_above bridge_. It was important to bear in mind +this limitation, since below bridge, where the factories were, and where +the poorer dwellings stood in crowded ranks, and the streets vibrated to +the rumble of heavy waggons and tramway cars, the Wend must naturally +incur such corruption of its good manners as came from evil +communications. Mrs. Hadlow loved and admired Oldchester with +enthusiasm. But Oldchester, in her mind, meant the cathedral and its +immediate surroundings. Her admiration was bounded by the cathedral +precincts; and, to judge from her words, so was her love also. But her +heart was not to be imprisoned within any such confines. Prejudice might +rule her speech, and warp her judgments, but her warm human sympathies +went out towards those unfortunates who dwelt beyond the pale, even +under the shadow of Bragg's factory chimney; nay, even in those vulgar +suburban villas, with fine names, which were particularly abhorrent to +Mrs. Hadlow's soul. + +The sun shone brightly on a group of persons assembled in Mrs. Hadlow's +garden on the Monday forenoon after Mrs. Dobbs's supper-party. It was a +sun more bright than warm; and a little crisp breeze fluttered now and +then among the scarlet and gold leaves of the virginia-creeper which +draped the back of the house. Constance Hadlow, wrapped in a fleecy +shawl, and sitting in a patch of sunshine outside the shadow of the +yew-tree, declared it was "bitterly cold." Her opinion was evidently +shared by a black-and-tan terrier that shivered convulsively at +intervals with a sort of ostentation, as though to hint to the less +sensitive bipeds that it was high time to retire to the shelter of a +roof and the comforts of the hearthrug. Mrs. Hadlow's round, rosy face +seemed to shed a glow around it like a terrestrial sun, as she beamed +from behind a great basket piled with grey woollen socks belonging to +the canon: which socks were never darned by any other than his wife's +fingers. Her nephew, Owen Rivers, lounged on the bench beside her. +Seated on a low chair, May Cheffington was winding a ball of grey +worsted for the socks; and standing opposite to her, with his shoulder +against the trunk of the yew-tree, was Mr. Theodore Bransby. This young +gentleman had just said something which had startled the assembled +company. He was not given to saying startling things. He would probably +have pronounced it "bad form" to do so:--a phrase which, to his mind, +carried with it the severest condemnation. He had merely observed, "You +will all be sorry to lose Miss Cheffington, shall you not, Mrs. Hadlow?" +quite unconscious of saying anything to cause surprise. Surprise, +however, was plainly expressed on every countenance, including that of +Miss Cheffington herself. + +The fact was that rumour, speaking by the voices of Mr. and Mrs. +Simpson, had already announced in Oldchester that May Cheffington was +going away to live with her grand relations in London. The report had +not yet penetrated College Quad, but it had been brought to the +Bransbys' house that morning by Mrs. Simpson when she came to give her +daily lesson to the children. + +"Lose her! What do you mean?" asked Mrs. Hadlow. + +"You're not going to be married, are you, May?" cried Miss Constance, +dropping her parasol in order to look full at the other girl; while Mr. +Rivers, on the other hand, raised himself on his elbow and stared at +young Bransby. + +May laughed and coloured at her friend's question. "Certainly not that I +know of, Constance," she answered. + +"Are you going away, then?" + +"You must ask Mr. Bransby. He seems to know; I don't." + +As she spoke, May turned a pair of bright hazel eyes full on the young +gentleman in question, and smiled. The admixture of Dobbs blood with the +noble strain of Cheffington had certainly not produced any physical +deterioration of the race. Yet the dowager had been discontented with +her grand-daughter's appearance, and had particularly lamented the +absence of the Cheffington profile. Now the Cheffington profile was +handsome enough in its way, in certain subjects and at a certain time of +life; but with advancing years it was apt to resemble the profile of an +owl: the nose being beaky, and the orbit of the eyes very large, with +eyebrows nearly semi-circular; while the chin tended to disappear in +hanging folds and creases of throat. The Cheffingtons, moreover, were +sallow and dark-haired. May inherited her mother's fair skin and soft +brown hair. Her slender young figure, not yet fully grown, was rather +below than above the middle height. She had the healthy, though +delicate, freshness of a field-flower; but, like the field-flower, she +might easily pass unnoticed. There was nothing of high or dazzling +beauty about May Cheffington, but she had that subtle attraction which +does not always belong to beauty. A great many persons, however, thought +she did not bear comparison with Constance Hadlow, her friend and +schoolfellow. Besides a firm faith in her own beauty--which is a more +powerful assistance to its recognition by others than is generally +supposed--Miss Hadlow possessed a pair of fine dark eyes and eyebrows, a +clear, pale skin, regular features, and white teeth. Those who were +disposed to be critical observed that her face and head were rather too +massive for her height; and that her figure, sufficiently plump at +present, threatened to become too fat as she approached middle life. But +at twenty years of age that would have appeared a very remote +contingency to Constance Hadlow, supposing her to have ever thought +about it. Although circumstances often prevented her from being dressed +after the latest fashion, her hair--dark, wavy, and abundant--was always +skilfully arranged in the prevalent mode, whatever that might be. It +happened just then to be a becoming one to Miss Hadlow's head and face. +The crimson colour of the shawl wrapped round her made a fine contrast +with the creamy pallor of her skin and the vivid darkness of her eyes. +Altogether, she looked handsome enough to excuse Owen Rivers for finding +it difficult to remove himself from her society, supposing Mr. Simpson's +statement to be true that the young man was "dangling after his cousin +instead of minding his business." + +Theodore Bransby, on being called upon to explain himself, answered that +he understood Miss Cheffington was shortly going to London to reside +with her aunt, Mrs. Dormer-Smith. + +"Oh no, I'm not," said May promptly, before any one else could speak. +"That is quite a mistake." + +"Indeed!" + +"Oh yes, indeed it is. I'm going to stay with granny." + +"Indeed!" said Theodore Bransby once more. Then he added, "Are you quite +sure? Because I had it from a person who had it from Mrs. Dobbs +herself." + +"From granny?" In her astonishment May let fall the ball of worsted. It +rolled across the grass under the very nose of the toy terrier, who +snapped at it, and then shivered more strongly than ever with an added +sense of injury. + +"Very likely nothing is positively settled yet," continued Theodore. +"Mrs. Dobbs was speaking of family arrangements for the future." + +"Then I suppose," said May, with an anxious look, "that she has heard +from papa?" + +"Yes, I believe so; something was said about a communication from +Captain Cheffington." + +There was a little pause. Then Mrs. Hadlow said, "Well, of course we +shall be sorry to lose you, my dear, as Theodore says. But it is quite +right that you should be amongst your own people, and be properly +introduced." + +"Granny is my own people," returned May in a low voice. + +"Of course; and a most kind and excellent grandmother she is. But I +mean--in short, since it is Mrs. Dobbs's own plan, we must suppose she +thinks it best for you to go to town; and I must say I agree with her." + +"It is obviously necessary," said young Bransby. "Miss Cheffington will +have, of course, to be presented." + +"Why, you look quite glum, May!" cried Constance laughing. "Oh, you +little goose! I only wish I had the chance of going to town to be +presented." + +Owen Rivers, who had hitherto been silent, now addressed May, and asked +her if she disliked her aunt. + +"Dislike Aunt Pauline? Oh no; I don't dislike her at all. But I--I don't +know her very well." + +"I thought," said Bransby, "that you had been in the habit of staying +with Mrs. Dormer-Smith during the school vacations?" + +"No; before Grandmamma Cheffington died I used to go to Richmond, and I +only saw Aunt Pauline now and then. Since that time I haven't seen her +at all, for I've spent all my holidays with dear granny." + +Constance began to question young Bransby as to who had given him the +news about May's departure; what it was that had been said; whether the +time of her going away were positively fixed; and so forth. May rose, +and, under cover of picking up her ball of worsted, walked away out of +earshot. + +"Are you that phenomenon, a young lady devoid of curiosity, Miss +Cheffington?" asked Owen Rivers, as she passed near him. + +"Oh, there's nothing to be curious about," returned the girl, flushing a +little. "Granny and I shall talk it all over together this evening. I +need not trouble myself about what other people may say or guess." + +Miss Hadlow had apparently forgotten that it was "bitterly cold:" for +she continued to sit on the lawn talking with Theodore after the others +had gone into the house. She moved at length from her seat at the +summons of the luncheon-bell. Fox the terrier, more consistent, had +availed himself of the breaking-up of the little party to hasten indoors +and establish himself on the dining-room hearthrug:--a step which +nothing but his unconquerable dislike to being alone, had prevented him +from taking long ago. + +When the two loiterers at length entered the dining-room, Mrs. Hadlow +announced that May had gone home. Her grandmother had sent the servant +for her a little earlier than usual, and May had refused to remain for +luncheon. The young girl's absence gave an opportunity for discussing +her and her prospects; and they were discussed accordingly, as the party +sat at table. + +Mrs. Hadlow expressed great satisfaction at hearing that May was to be +received and accepted "as a Cheffington;" Constance inclined to think +that May would not duly appreciate her good fortune; and Theodore +Bransby observed stiffly, that Miss Cheffington's removal to town had +always been inevitable, and that the date of it alone could have been +matter for uncertainty to persons who knew anything of the Cheffington +family. + +"Well," said Rivers, "I suppose Constance is the only one of us here +present who possesses that knowledge." + +"No; I never knew much of them," answered his cousin. "I saw them +occasionally when I was at school. Sometimes the dowager came down to +stay at Brighton, and she used, now and then, to call for May in her +carriage; but she never entered the doors. And once or twice Mrs. +Dormer-Smith came. I remember we girls used to make game of old Mrs. +Cheffington with her black wig and her airs." + +"She was thoroughly _grande dame_, I believe," said Theodore Bransby. + +"Very likely. The servants used to say she was dreadfully stingy, and +call her an old cat. Mrs. Dormer-Smith had nice manners, and was always +beautifully dressed." + +"Your information is somewhat sketchy, my dear Constance; but no doubt +the outline is correct as far as it goes," observed Rivers. + +"Decidedly sketchy!" said Mrs. Hadlow, who was helping her guests to +minced mutton. + +"Miss Hadlow, however, is _not_ the only one of us who knows anything +about the Cheffingtons," said young Bransby, with his grave air. + +"Oh, dear me, I had forgotten!" interposed Mrs. Hadlow, after a quick +glance at the young man's face. "To be sure, Theodore has visited the +family in town. The fact is, Theodore has been a stranger himself so +long, that we have had no opportunity of hearing his report. Tell us +what the Dormer-Smiths are like, Theodore, since you know them." + +"Like? They are like people who move in the best society--like +thoroughbred people," returned Theodore, drawing himself up, stiffly. + +"Poor little May!" said Mrs. Hadlow, thoughtfully. "She's a sweet little +thing. I hope they'll be kind to her." + +"Do you know anything of Mrs. Dobbs, Aunt Jane?" asked Rivers. "I mean," +he added, "of course, you know _of_ her. But do you know her?" + +"Oh yes. Once, many years ago, the canon had a tough battle with Mrs. +Dobbs, when he was helping to canvas for the city member. We couldn't +get her husband's vote for the right side. But he was a worthy man, and +sold very good ironmongery. When Constance first asked leave to invite +her schoolfellow here, I had an interview with Mrs. Dobbs. She came to +the point at once. She said, 'Mrs. Hadlow, you need not be uneasy. My +friends and equals are not yours; but neither are they my +grand-daughter's. She belongs by her father's family to a different +class. As for me, I am too old to make any mistakes about my place in +the world, and too proud to wish to change it." + +"Too proud!" repeated Bransby, with raised eyebrows. + +"I thought it was very well said," answered Mrs. Hadlow. "I only wish +all the people of her class had the same honest pride. But Mrs. Dobbs is +a woman of great good sense, and of the highest integrity. All the same, +of course, now that May is grown up, the girl's position in that house +is too anomalous. Captain Cheffington no doubt feels that. He probably +left his daughter there so long out of tenderness to Mrs. Dobbs's +feelings; and perhaps also to help out the old lady's income. But now, +naturally, it must come to an end. He can't sacrifice May's future. That +is how I explain the state of the case; and it seems to me to be +creditable to all concerned." + +"At all events, it is creditable to Mrs. Dobbs, Aunt Jane," said Rivers. + +"And why not, pray, to Captain Cheffington too?" asked Constance. "But +Captain Cheffington has the misfortune to be born a gentleman, so, of +course, Owen disapproves of him." + +"Not at all, 'of course.' But I agree with you as to the misfortune--for +the other gentlemen, at all events!" + +"I think you're a little mistaken about Captain Cheffington, Rivers," +said Theodore. "He's a friend of mine." + +"In that case I'm very sorry," answered Owen drily. + +Mrs. Hadlow here interposed, rising from the table with a show of +cheerful bustle. "Come," said she, "you children must not loiter here +all day. The canon comes home from Wendhurst by the three-forty train, +and I am going to meet him; Constance has an engagement with the +Burtons; and as for you two boys, I shall turn you out without +ceremony." + +The kind lady's intention had been to break off the discourse between +the two young men, which threatened to become disagreeable. But as +Bransby and Rivers walked away side by side through the fretted cloister +of College Quad, the former, with a certain quiet doggedness which +belonged to him, returned to the subject. + +"You must understand," he said, "that I am not very intimate with +Captain Cheffington; but I know him, and am his debtor for some +courteous attentions. And I think you are a little--rash, if you don't +mind my saying so, in condemning him." + +"I don't at all mind your saying so." + +"You see, there are a great many circumstances to be taken into account, +in judging of Captain Cheffington's career. In the first place, there +was his unfortunate marriage." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +When Augustus Cheffington had paid that sudden visit to his +mother-in-law which resulted in leaving May on her hands, Theodore +Bransby happened to be at home during a University vacation, and was +flattered by Captain Cheffington's notice. The fact was that Augustus +found himself greatly bored and out of his element in Oldchester, and +was glad to accept a dinner or two from Mr. Bransby, the solicitor to +the Dean and Chapter; for Mr. Bransby's port wine was unimpeachable. He +had also condescended to play several games of billiards with Theodore +upon a somewhat mangy old table in the Green Dragon Hotel; and to smoke +that young gentleman's cigars without stint; and to hold forth about +himself in the handsomest terms, pleased to be accepted, apparently, +pretty much at his own valuation. Theodore Bransby was no fool. But he +was young, and he had his illusions. These were not of a high-flown, +ideal cast. He would have shrugged his shoulders at any one who should +set up for philanthropy, or poetry, or socialism, or chivalry. But he +was subdued by a display of nonchalant disdain for all the things and +persons which he had been accustomed to look up to, from childhood. Mr. +Bragg, the great tin-tack manufacturer, his father's wealthiest client, +was dismissed by Augustus Cheffington in two words: "Damned snob!" and +even the bishop he pronounced to be a "prosin' old prig," and spoke of +the bishop's wife as "that vulgar fat woman." These indications of +superiority, together with many references to the noble and honourable +Castlecombes and Cheffingtons who composed Augustus's kith and kin, had +greatly fascinated Theodore. And Augustus had completed his conquest +over the young man by giving him a letter of introduction to his sister, +Mrs. Dormer-Smith, which letter was delivered when young Bransby went to +London to read for the Bar. + +Although the brother and sister had parted not on the best terms with +each other, yet Augustus had not hesitated to give the introduction. He +believed that his sister would be willing to honour his recommendation +by showing civilities which cost her nothing; and, moreover, he was +quite indifferent (being then on the point of saying a long farewell to +Oldchester) as to whether the Dormer-Smiths snubbed young Bransby or +not. They did not snub him. Mrs. Dormer-Smith rather approved of his +manners; and it was quite clear that he wanted neither for means nor +friends. She was therefore inclined to receive him with something more +than politeness. And, in justice to Pauline, it must be said that she +was really glad of the opportunity to please her brother. She was not +without fraternal sentiments; and she strongly felt that an introduction +from a Cheffington to a Cheffington was not a document to be lightly +dishonoured. As for Mr. Dormer-Smith, although his feelings towards his +brother-in-law--never very cordial--had been exacerbated by having to +pay the bill for the dowager's funeral expenses, yet his resentment had +been to some degree soothed by Augustus's abrupt departure, and by his +withdrawal of May from her aunt's house. For many years past the +attachment of Augustus's relations for him had increased in direct +proportion to the distance which divided him from them. In Belgium he +was tolerated and pitied; had he gone to the Antipodes he would +doubtless have been warmly sympathized with; and it might safely be +prophesied that, when he should finally emigrate from this planet +altogether, the surviving members of the family would be penetrated by a +glow of affection. + +"I think he's rather nice, Frederick," said Mrs. Dormer-Smith, with a +little sigh of relief after young Bransby's first visit. + +"We may be thankful," returned her husband, "that Augustus has sent us a +possible person. One never can reckon on what he may choose to do." + +"Mr. Bransby is quite possible. Indeed, I think he is nice. He shall +have a card for my Thursdays." + +In this way Theodore had been received by Mrs. Dormer-Smith, and had +established himself in her good opinion on further acquaintance. "He +was," she said, "so quiet and so safe." At this time May Cheffington was +still at school, being maintained there, as has been recorded, by her +grandmother Dobbs; and Pauline would occasionally speak of her niece to +young Bransby. She always spoke kindly, though plaintively, of the girl, +over whom there hung the shadow of the unfortunate marriage. + +Theodore Bransby was an Oldchester person, and could not, therefore, be +supposed to be ignorant of that lamentable event. The fact was, however, +that he had never heard a word about it until he made Captain +Cheffington's acquaintance in his native city. It had taken place before +he was born; and, indeed, Oldchester had been less agitated by the +marriage, even at the time when it happened, than any Cheffington or +Castlecombe would have believed possible. But Pauline found young +Bransby's sentiments on the subject all that they should be. No one +could have expressed himself more shocked at the idea of a gentleman's +marrying a person in Susan Dobbs's rank of life than did this +solicitor's son. And Mrs. Dormer-Smith had not the least suspicion that +he would have considered such a marriage quite as shocking a +_mésalliance_ for himself as for Captain Cheffington. "Misunderstanding" +is used as a synonym for "discord;" but, perhaps, a great deal of social +harmony depends on misunderstandings. + +Theodore could not, of course, have the slightest personal interest in a +schoolgirl whom he had never seen; but his sympathies were so entirely +with the Cheffingtons on the question of the unfortunate marriage as to +inspire him with an odd feeling of antagonism against Mrs. Dobbs, and a +sense that she ought to be firmly kept in her place. He secretly thought +Mrs. Dormer-Smith weakly indulgent in allowing Miss Cheffington to +associate so freely with her grandmother, and was indignant at the idea +of that plebeian exercising any authority over Lord Castlecombe's +grand-niece. However, all that would doubtless come to an end when the +girl left school, and was introduced into society under her aunt's +protection. Theodore flattered himself that he thoroughly understood the +position. As for Viscount Castlecombe, he certainly knew all about +_him_--or, at least, what was chiefly worth knowing; for he had read +about him in the Peerage. + +Primed with this varied knowledge, young Bransby held forth to Owen +Rivers as they walked together through College Quad, across the open +green beyond it, and up to the house of Mr. Bransby, senior, in the +Cathedral Close. Here they parted. Rivers declined a polite invitation +from the other to enter, and pursued his way alone towards the High +Street; and Bransby, as he waited for the door to be opened, stood +looking after him for a few moments. + +The two young men had known each other more or less all their lives, but +theirs was a familiarity without real intimacy. The years had not made +them more congenial to each other. People began to say that they were +rivals in Constance Hadlow's good graces. But, whether this were so or +not, the latent antagonism between them had existed long before they +grew to be men. They had never quarrelled. The air is always still +enough in a frost. They did not even know how much they disliked one +another. As Theodore watched Owen's retreating figure, the thought +uppermost in his mind was that his friend's shooting-coat was badly cut, +and that he did not remember ever to have seen him wear gloves. + +The home of Mr. Martin Bransby, of the old-established firm of Cadell +and Bransby, was a luxurious one. The house was an ancient substantial +stone building, with a spacious walled garden behind it, contiguous to +the bishop's. The present occupant had made considerable additions to +it. It is perhaps needless to say that he had been severely criticized +for doing so, there being no point on which it is more difficult to +content public opinion than the expenditure of one's own money. Several +of Mr. Bransby's acquaintances were unable to reconcile themselves to +the fact that he was not satisfied with that which had satisfied his +father and grandfather (for Martin Bransby was the third of his family +who had successively held that house and the business of solicitor to +the Dean and Chapter of Oldchester). It would have been better, they +opined, if, instead of building new rooms, he had saved his money to +provide for the young family rising around him. If it were observed to +this irreconcilable party that the presence of a numerous family +necessitated more space to lodge them in than the original house +afforded, they would triumphantly retort, "Very well, then, what +business had Martin Bransby to marry a second time? Or, if he must +marry, why did he choose a young girl without a penny instead of some +person nearer his own age and with a little property?" Martin Bransby, +however, marrying rather to please himself than to earn the approval of +his friends, had chosen a remarkably pretty girl of twenty, a Miss +Louisa Lutyer, of a good Shropshire family, whom he had met in London. +They had now been married twelve years, during which time five children +had been born to them, and they had lived together in the utmost +harmony. Those persons who disapproved of the match (solely in Mr. +Bransby's interests, of course) could find nothing worse to say than +that Martin was absurdly in love with his wife, and treated her with +weak indulgence. In short, the irreconcilables were driven, year by +year, to put off the date at which their unfavourable judgments were to +be corroborated by facts, much as sundry popular preachers have been +compelled by circumstances over which they had no control, to postpone +the end of the world. + +Latterly they had had the mournful satisfaction of observing that Martin +Bransby was looking far from well--harassed and aged. And when he was +attacked by the severe illness which threatened his life, they solemnly +hinted that the malady had been aggravated by anxiety about his young +family; for although Martin had made, and was making, a great deal of +money, yet, with three boys to put out in the world, two daughters to +provide for, and an extravagant wife to maintain, even the excellent +business of Cadell and Bransby _must_ be somewhat strained to supply his +needs. + +At any rate, the evidences of wealth and comfort were as abundant as +ever in the home which Theodore entered when he parted from his friend. +There was plenty of solid furniture, dating from the dark ages before +modern ćstheticism had arisen to reform upholstery and teach us the +original sinfulness of the prismatic colours. But these relics of the +earlier part of the century were not to be found in the two spacious +drawing-rooms, which had been arranged by the fashionablest of +fashionable house-decorators from London. These rooms, together with a +tiny cabinet behind them, which was styled "The Boudoir," were Mrs. +Bransby's special domain. And here Theodore found her seated by the +fireside. A book lay on her knees; but she was not reading it. She was +resting in a position of complete repose, with her head leaning against +the back of the chair, her hands carelessly crossed on her lap, and her +feet supported on a cushion. She was enjoying the sense of bodily and +mental rest which comes from the removal of a keen-edged anxiety; for +during several weeks Mrs. Bransby had been the most devoted of +sick-nurses, and had scarcely left her husband's room. But now the +doctors had pronounced all danger to be over; the children's active feet +and shrill voices were no longer hushed down by warning fingers; the +housemaid sang over her brooms and dusters; and the mistress of the +house had unpacked and put on a new "tea-gown," which had lain neglected +for more than a fortnight in its brown-paper wrappings. From the +golden-brown clusters of hair on her forehead to the tip of her dainty +shoe every detail of her appearance was cared for minutely. Yet there +was nothing of stiffness or affectation. She reminded one of an +exquisitely-tended hothouse flower, and carried her beauty and her +toilet with as perfect an air of unconscious refinement as the flower +itself. Certainly Oldchester held no more lovely and graceful figure +than Mrs. Bransby presented to the eyes of her stepson. Yet the eyes of +her stepson rested on her with a glance of cool disapprobation. His +manner of addressing her, however, was not more chilly than his manner +of addressing most other persons--perhaps rather less so; and he was +scrupulously polite. + +"Did Hatch give a good account of my father this morning?" he asked, +seating himself by the fire opposite to Mrs. Bransby. + +"Excellent, thank goodness! He is to drive out on Wednesday, if the +weather is favourable. I felt so soothed and comforted by Dr. Hatch's +report, that I thought I would indulge myself with half an hour of +perfect laziness," added Mrs. Bransby, with a deprecating glance at +Theodore. She constantly reproved herself for assuming an apologetic +attitude towards her stepson, but constantly recurred to it; she was so +keenly conscious of his--always unexpressed--criticism. + +"Mrs. Hadlow desired to send word that the canon means to call on my +father this afternoon, if he is well enough to see him." + +"Oh yes; a talk with Canon Hadlow will do him good." Then, after an +instant's pause, Mrs. Bransby asked, "Have you been in College Quad, +then?" + +"I lunched with Mrs. Hadlow. Rivers was there; I parted from him just +now. And Miss Cheffington." + +"Oh, really? Mrs. Hadlow is very kind to that little May Cheffington." + +Theodore made no answer, but looked stiffly at the fire. + +Mrs. Bransby went on: "I saw her in the cathedral at afternoon service +yesterday, with the Hadlows. It struck me she was growing quite pretty. +Don't you think so?" + +"I should not call her _pretty_----" began Theodore slowly. + +Mrs. Bransby broke in: "Well, of course, she is eclipsed by Constance. +Constance is so very handsome. But still----" + +"I should not describe Miss Cheffington as _pretty_," pursued Theodore, +in an inflexible kind of way. "She is something more than pretty. She +looks thoroughbred." + +"But that's exactly what she is _not_, isn't it?" exclaimed Mrs. Bransby +impulsively. + +"I am not sure that I apprehend you." + +"I mean her mother was quite a common person, was she not?" + +"A woman takes her husband's rank." + +"Yes; but she doesn't inherit his ancestors. Besides, one really doesn't +know much about the father, for that matter. To be sure, Simmy was +making a great flourish about May's grand relations in London this +morning. But then all poor dear Simmy's geese are swans." (The name of +"Simmy" had been bestowed on Mrs. Simpson by the youngest little Bransby +but one; and although the elder children were reproved for using it, the +appellation had come to be that by which she was most familiarly known +in the Bransby family.) + +"Mrs. Simpson is a silly person, but her information happens, in this +case, to be correct," returned Theodore. "The relations with whom Miss +Cheffington is going to live in London are friends of mine." + +"Oh! Then what Simmy said is true?" said Mrs. Bransby simply. + +Theodore proceeded, with a scarcely perceptible hesitation, "I think you +might invite Miss Cheffington here before she goes to town. I--I should +be obliged to you for the opportunity of showing her some attention, in +return for the Dormer-Smiths' kindness to me in London." + +"Yes, I can ask the girl if you like," answered Mrs. Bransby, not quite +as warmly as Theodore thought she ought to have answered such a +suggestion from him; "but it will be rather stupid for her, I'm afraid. +At the Hadlows' there is a young girl near her own age; but here, unless +she likes to play with the children, I don't see how we are to amuse +her." + +"I did not contemplate Miss Cheffington's playing with the children. I +meant that you should invite her to a dinner-party, or something of that +sort." + +"Invite May Cheffington to a dinner-party!" repeated Mrs. Bransby, +opening her soft, brown eyes in astonishment. + +"My father spoke of giving a dinner before I go back to the Temple, and +he said he thought he should be well enough to see his friends by the +end of next week." + +"Yes. He talked of inviting the Pipers, and the Hadlows, and perhaps Mr. +Bragg." + +"Could you not include Miss Cheffington? Perhaps if you allowed me to +see your list I might help to arrange it." + +"Oh, I suppose one _could_; but wouldn't it seem a very strange thing to +do?" + +A little colour came into Theodore's pale fair face, and his chin grew +visibly more rigid above his cravat, as he answered, "I don't know. But +the social _convenances_ are not to be measured by Oldchester's +provincial ideas as to their strangeness. And--pardon me--I don't think +you quite understand Miss Cheffington's position." + +And then he entered on an explanation of the "position," much as he had +explained it to Owen Rivers; with only such suppressions and variations +(chiefly regarding the private history of Augustus Cheffington) as he +thought the difference between his hearers demanded. + +"Well, I'm sure if your father has no objection, I have none," said Mrs. +Bransby at length. And so Theodore got his own way. It was a matter of +course that he should get his own way so far as his step-mother was +concerned. Mrs. Bransby had, indeed, successfully resisted him on many +occasions; but always through the medium of her husband. If Theodore +attacked her face to face, she never had the courage to oppose him. Not +that in the present case she very much wished to oppose him. Nor, in +truth, had their wills ever clashed seriously. But the secret +consciousness of her weakness and timidity was mortifying: for Mrs. +Bransby, although too gentle to fight, was not too gentle to wish she +could fight. And after Theodore had left the room, she sat for some time +imagining to herself various neat and pointed speeches which would +doubtless have brought down her stepson's sententious, supercilious +tone, if she had only had the presence of mind to utter them. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +May Cheffington went back to her grand-mother's house, very eager to +understand the origin of the rumours about herself which she had heard +at the Hadlows'. Mrs. Dobbs had not calculated on this, and would have +preferred to break the project to May herself, and in her own fashion. +However, as it had been mentioned, she spoke of it openly. She merely +cautioned her grand-daughter against rashly jumping at any conclusions: +the future being very vague and unsettled. + +"There's one conclusion I _have_ jumped at, granny," said the girl, "and +that is, that I don't mean to give you up for any aunts, or uncles, or +cousins of them all. They are strangers to me, and I don't care a straw +about them--how should I?--whilst _you_ are--granny!" + +"There is no question of giving me up, May. Perhaps I should not like +that much better than you would. But if your father should think it +right for you to stay for a while with his family, we mustn't oppose +him. And I must tell you that I should think it right, too." + +"Oh, if it's only staying 'for a while'----!" + +"Well, at all events we needn't look beyond a 'while' and a short while, +for the present." + +Mrs. Dobbs found it more difficult than she had anticipated to put +before May the prospect of being removed from Oldchester altogether, +and, now that the idea of losing May out of her daily life fully +presented itself, she felt a grip at the heart which frightened her. But +she had one of those strong characters whose instinct it is to hide +their wounds and suffer silently; and she resolutely put aside her own +pain at this prospect--or rather, put it off to the solitary hours to +come. + +During the four years since her father had left her at Oldchester, May's +life had been passed between her school at Brighton and her holidays in +Oldchester. These had certainly been the happiest years she could +remember in all her young life. Her grand-mother's house had been the +first real home she had ever known. Her recollections of their life on +the Continent were dim and melancholy. She remembered fragmentary scenes +and incidents in certain dull Flemish towns; their strong-smelling +gutters, their toppling gables, the _carillons_ sounding high up in some +ancient cathedral belfry. She had a vision of her mother's face, very +pale and thin, with large bright eyes, and streaks of gray in the brown +hair. May, as the youngest of Susan Cheffington's children, had come in +for the worst part of their Continental life. The earlier years, when +there was still some money to spend, and fewer debts to be run away +from, had not been quite devoid of brightness. But poor little May's +conscious observation had little to take note of at home save poverty, +sickness, domestic dissensions, and frequent migrations from one shabby +lodging to another. Then her mother died, and some six or eight months +afterwards she was brought to England, and--Fate and the dowager so +willing it--was sent to school to Mrs. Drax in Brighton. The choice of +this school proved to be a very fortunate one for the little motherless +stranger. And perhaps the credit of it ought fairly to be assigned +rather to Destiny than the dowager. The latter would have selected a +more fashionable, pretentious, and expensive establishment had she +consulted merely her idea of what was becoming and suitable for Miss +Miranda Cheffington. But she soon found out that whatever was paid for +that young lady's schooling must, sooner or later, come out of her own +pocket, and she therefore preferred to honour Mrs. Drax with her +patronage, rather than Madame Liebrecht, who had been governess for +years in a noble family, and was supposed to accept no pupil who could +not show sixteen quarterings; or, of course, their equivalent in cash. + +The choice made was, as has been said, very fortunate for May. Mrs. Drax +had the manners of a gentlewoman, and more amiability than could perhaps +have been reasonably expected to survive a long struggle with her +special world--a world of parents and guardians, who held, for the most +part, a liberal view of her duties and a niggardly one of her rights. +Here little May Cheffington remained as a pupil for nearly eight years. +During the first half of that time she sometimes spent her holidays with +the dowager at Richmond, and sometimes in Brighton under the care of +Mrs. Drax. She preferred the latter. Old Mrs. Cheffington did not treat +the child with any active unkindness; but she showed her no tenderness. +The little girl was usually left to the care of her grand-mother's +maid--an elderly woman, to whom this young creature was merely an extra +burthen not considered in her wages. The child passed many a lonely hour +in the garden, or beside the dining-room fire with a book, unheeded. Her +aunt Pauline she only saw at rare intervals. She had a confused sense of +innocently causing much sorrow to Mrs. Dormer-Smith, who seemed always +to be afflicted (why, May did not for several years understand) by the +sight of her clothes; and who used to complain softly to the dowager +that "the poor dear child was lamentably dressed." But, on the whole, +she retained a rather agreeable impression of her aunt, as being pretty +and gentle, and kissing her kindly when they met. + +Then came the dowager's death, the sudden journey to Oldchester, and the +first acquaintance with that unknown Grandmother Dobbs, whose very name +she had heard uttered only in a reproachful tone by the dowager, or in a +hushed voice by the dowager's elderly maid, speaking as one who names a +hereditary malady. And to this _taboo_ Grandmother Dobbs the neglected +child soon gave the warm love of a very grateful and affectionate +nature. May did not know or guess that she was a burthen on her +grand-mother's means, nor would the knowledge have increased her +gratitude at that time. It was the fostering affection which the child +was thankful for. She nestled in it like a half-fledged bird in the warm +shelter of the mother's wing. She was not timid or reserved by +temperament; but the circumstances of her life had given her a certain +repressed air. That disappeared now like hoar-frost in the sunshine. She +was like a young plant whose growth had been arrested by a too chilly +atmosphere. She burgeoned and bloomed into the natural joyousness of +childhood, which needs, above all things, the warmth of love, and cannot +be healthily nurtured by any artificial heat. + +In her school there was no influence tending to diminish May's +attachment to her grandmother, or her perfect contentment with the +simple _bourgeois_ home in Oldchester. Plain Mrs. Dobbs, who paid her +bills punctually, and listened to reason, stood far higher in the +schoolmistress's esteem than the Honourable Mrs. Cheffington, who was +never contented, and required to be dunned for the payment of her just +debts. As to her noble relations, May had no acquaintance with them, and +never sighed to make it. She was ignorant of the very existence of many +of them. When, at seventeen years of age, she was removed from school, +she looked forward to living in the old house in Friar's Row, and she +certainly desired no better home. Mrs. Drax, it has been said, had the +manners of a gentlewoman, and she had not vulgarized May's natural +refinement of mind by misdirecting her admiration towards ignoble +things. The provincialisms in her grand-mother's speech, and the homely +style of her grand-mother's household--although she clearly perceived +both--neither shocked nor mortified May. On the other hand, she accepted +it as a quite natural thing that she should be invited to Canon Hadlow's +house as a guest on equal terms. As Mrs. Dobbs had said to Jo +Weatherhead, May was very much of a child still, and understood nothing +of the world. Her unquestioning acceptance of the situation as her +grandmother presented it to her had something very child-like. She did +not inquire how it came to pass that her aunt Pauline, who had taken +very little notice of her during the past four years, should now desire +to have her as an inmate of her home. She did not ask why her father, +after so long a torpor on the subject, had suddenly awakened to the +necessity of asserting his daughter's position in the world; neither did +she, even in her private thoughts, reproach him for having delegated all +the care and responsibility of her education to "granny." A +healthy-minded young creature has deep well-springs of unquestioning +faith in its parents, or those who stand in the place of parents. + +But there was one person not so easily contented with the first +statement offered; and that person was Mr. Joseph Weatherhead. Mr. +Weatherhead was very fond of May, and admired her very much. His social +and political theories ought logically to have made him regard her with +peculiar interest and consideration as coming of such very blue +blood--at least on one side of the house. But it so happened that these +theories had nothing on earth to do with his attachment to May. That +arose, firstly, from her being Sarah Dobbs's grandchild (Jo would have +loved and championed any creature, biped or quadruped, that belonged to +Sarah Dobbs), and, secondly, from her being very lovable. The poor man +was often embarrassed by the conflict between his curiosity and his +principles. His curiosity, which was as insatiable and omnivorous as the +appetite of a pigeon, would have led him to cross-question May minutely +about all she knew or guessed respecting her own future, and the +probable behaviour of her father's family towards her; but his +conscience told him that it would not be right to put doubts and +suspicions into the girl's trusting young soul. Certainly he himself +cherished many doubts and suspicions as to the future conduct of May's +papa. He questioned Mrs. Dobbs, indeed; but there was neither sport nor +exercise for his sharp inquisitiveness in that. When Mrs. Dobbs did not +choose to answer him, she said so roundly, and there was an end. She had +told him that she was in correspondence with Captain Cheffington, and +that she believed he would share her views about his daughter. Jo, +however, entertained a rooted disbelief as to Captain Cheffington's +holding any "views" which had not himself for their supreme object. + +"And this Mrs. Dormer-Smith, now, Sarah," said he. "What reason have you +to suppose that she will be willing to take charge of her niece now, +when she would have nothing to say to her before?" + +"A pretty girl of seventeen is a different charge from a lanky child of +twelve, Jo. Mrs. Dormer-Smith couldn't have taken a schoolgirl in short +frocks out into the world with her." + +"Humph! You don't _know_ that she will take May out into the world with +her?" + +"I have written. I shall have an answer in a few days, I dare say. I +don't expect matters to be settled like a flash of greased lightning, as +Mr. Simpson says. There's a deal to be considered. Hold your tongue, +now; here's May." + +Similar conversations took place between them nearly every day. And when +they were not interrupted by any external circumstance, Mrs. Dobbs would +resolutely put an end to them by declining to pursue the subject. + +One afternoon, about a week after May's return from her visit to the +Hadlows', the young girl was seated at the old-fashioned square +pianoforte, singing snatches of ballads in a fresh, untrained voice; Mr. +Weatherhead had just taken his accustomed seat by the fireside; and Mrs. +Dobbs was opposite to him in her own armchair, with the old tabby +purring in the firelight at her feet, when Martha opened the parlour +door softly, shut it quickly after her, and announced, with a slight +tone of excitement in her usually quiet voice, that there was a +gentleman in the passage asking for Miss May. + +"For me, Martha?" exclaimed May, turning round at the sound of her own +name, with one hand still on the keys of the pianoforte. "Who is he?" + +"He said 'Miss Cheffington.' I don't know him, not by sight. But here's +his card." + +Mrs. Dobbs took the card from the servant, and put on her spectacles, +bending down to read the name by the firelight. "Bun--Brun--oh, Bransby! +Mr. Theodore Bransby. Ask the gentleman to walk in, Martha." + +As Martha left the room, Mr. Weatherhead pointed to the door with one +thumb, and whispered, "Wonder what _he_ wants!" To which Mrs. Dobbs +replied by lifting her shoulders and slightly shaking her head, as much +as to say, "I'm sure I can't guess." The next moment Mr. Theodore +Bransby was ushered into the parlour. + +The room was rather dim, and Theodore did not immediately perceive May, +who still sat at the piano. "Miss Cheffington?" he said interrogatively, +with a stiff little gesture of the head towards Mrs. Dobbs, which might +pass for a bow. + +Mrs. Dobbs had risen from her chair, and now motioned her visitor to be +seated. "My grand-daughter is here. Pray sit down, Mr. Theodore +Bransby," she said. Then May got up, and came forward, and shook hands +with him. + +"I don't think you know my grandmother, Mrs. Dobbs," she said, +presenting him. + +Theodore, upon this, began to hold out his hand rather slowly; but, as +Mrs. Dobbs made no answering gesture, but merely pointed again to a +chair, he was fain to bow once more--a good deal more distinctly, this +time--and to sit down with the sense of having received a little check. + +"I hope I have not interrupted you, Miss Cheffington?" said he, clearing +his throat and settling his chin in his shirt-collar. "You were +singing." + +"Oh no; you haven't interrupted me at all. And, even if you had, it +wouldn't matter. My singing is not worth much." + +"Pardon me if I decline to believe that. From some sounds which reached +me through the door, I am sure you sing charmingly." + +May laughed. "Ah," said she, "the other side of the door is the most +favourable position for hearing me. I really don't know how to sing. Ask +granny." + +"No; May doesn't know how to sing," said Mrs. Dobbs quietly, but very +decisively. (For she had caught an expression on Mr. Theodore Bransby's +pale, smooth face, which seemed to wonder superciliously what on earth +_she_ could know about it.) Whereupon his pale, smooth eyebrows raised +themselves a hair's breadth more, but he said nothing. + +"My grandmother is a great judge of singing, you must know," went on May +innocently. "She has heard all the best singers at the Oldchester +Musical Festivals for years and years past, and she used to sing herself +in the choruses of the oratorios." + +"Oh, I see!" said Theodore, with a little contemptuous air of +enlightenment. + +Jo Weatherhead looked across at him uneasily. He had a half-formed +suspicion that this young spark with the smooth, rather closely-cropped +blonde head, severe shirt-collar, faultlessly-fitting coat, and slightly +pedantic utterance, showed a tendency to treat Mrs. Dobbs with +impertinence. But he checked the suspicion, for, he argued with himself, +young Bransby had had the training of a gentleman. And what gentleman +would be impertinent to a worthy and respected woman, and in her own +house, too? He thought, as he looked at him, that Theodore bore very +little resemblance to his father, Martin Bransby, who was altogether of +a different and more massive type. + +"You don't favour your father much, sir," said Jo blandly. + +The young man turned his pale blue eyes upon him with a look studiously +devoid of all expression. "I had the honour of knowing your worthy +father well, some five-and-twenty--or it may be thirty--years ago." + +Theodore, continuing to stare at him stonily, said, "Oh, really?" in a +low monotone. + +"Yes; I knew him in the way of business. He was a customer of mine when +I was in the bookselling business at Brummagem, as we called it. Your +father was, even at that time, very highly thought of by some of the +leading legal luminaries. We had no assizes at Birmingham, as no doubt +you're aware; but I used to go over to Warwick Assizes pretty reg'larly +in those days, having some dealings there in the stationery line--which +I afterwards gave up altogether, though that isn't to the point--and I +used to frequent a good deal of legal company. Mr. Martin Bransby was +thought a good deal of, among 'em, I can tell you, and was taken a great +deal of notice of by some of the county families--quite the real old +gentry," added Mr. Weatherhead, pursing up his mouth and nodding his +head emphatically, like a man enforcing a statement which his hearers +might reasonably hesitate to accept. + +"Oh, how is Mr. Bransby?" asked May. + +"Thanks; my father is going on very well indeed. He has driven out +twice, and, in fact, is nearly himself again. He purposes asking some +friends to dine with him next week. Indeed, that furnishes the object of +my visit here. I--Mrs. Bransby--of course, you understand that my +father's long illness has given her a great deal to do." + +"Truly it must!" broke in Mrs. Dobbs, thinking at once sympathetically +of the wife and mother threatened with so cruel a bereavement, and now +almost suddenly relieved from overwhelming anxiety. "I'm sure most folks +in Oldchester have been feeling greatly for Mrs. Bransby." + +"And so," continued Theodore, addressing himself exclusively to May, +"she has not really been--been able to see as much of you as she would +have liked, Miss Cheffington." + +May looked at him in surprise. "Why of course?" said she. "Mrs. Bransby +hasn't been thinking about _me_! How should she?" + +"That is the reason--I mean my father's illness, and all the occupations +resulting from it--which has induced Mrs. Bransby to make me her +ambassador on this occasion." + +As he spoke, Theodore took a little note from his pocket-book, and +handed it to May. She glanced at it, and exclaimed with open +astonishment, "It's an invitation to dinner! Look, granny!" + +Mr. Weatherhead poked forward his head to see. It was, in fact, a formal +card requesting the pleasure of Miss Cheffington's company at dinner on +the following Saturday. Mrs. Dobbs once more put on her spectacles and +read the card. + +"I hope you will be disengaged," said Theodore, severely ignoring +"granny." + +"Oh, I couldn't go to a grand dinner-party. It would be ridiculous!" + +"May! That's not a gracious fashion of receiving an invitation, anyhow," +said Mrs. Dobbs, smiling a little. + +"It's very kind indeed of Mr. and Mrs. Bransby, but I would much rather +not, please," said May, endeavouring to amend her phrase. + +"Oh, that's dreadfully cruel, Miss Cheffington!" + +"You don't think I ought to go, do you, granny?" + +"That," replied Mrs. Dobbs, "depends on circumstances." + +"I assure you," said Theodore, turning round with his most imposing air, +"that it would be quite proper for Miss Cheffington to accept the +invitation. I should certainly not urge her to do so unless that were +the case." + +Jo Weatherhead's suspicions as to this young spark's tendency to +impertinence were rather vividly revived by this speech, and his +forehead flushed as dark a red as his nose. But Mrs. Dobbs, looking at +Theodore's fair young face made up into an expression of solemn +importance, smiled a broad smile of motherly toleration, and answered in +a soothing tone-- + +"No, no; to be sure, you mean to do what's right and proper; only young +folks don't look at everything as has to be considered. But youth has +the best of it in so many ways, it can afford to be not quite so wise as +its elders." + +This glimpse of himself, as Mrs. Dobbs saw him, was so totally +unexpected as completely to dumfounder Theodore for a moment. Never, +since he left off round jackets, had he been so addressed: for the +behaviour of our acquaintances towards us in daily life is generally +modified by their idea of what we think of ourselves. + +"I--I can assure you," he stammered; and then stopped, at a loss for +words, in most unaccustomed embarrassment. + +"There, there, we ain't bound to say yes or no all in a minute," pursued +Mrs. Dobbs. "Any way, we couldn't think of making you postman. That's +all very well for your step-mother, of course; but May must send her +answer in a proper way. Meanwhile, will you stay and have a cup of tea, +Mr. Bransby? It's just our teatime. The tray will be here in a minute." + +Theodore had risen as if to go. He now stood hesitating, and looking at +May, who certainly gave no answering look of encouragement. She wanted +him gone, that she might "talk over" the invitation with her +grandmother. + +With a pleasant clinking sound, Martha now brought in the tea-tray; and +in another minute had fetched the kettle and placed it on the hob, +where, after a brief interval of wheezing and sputtering, consequent on +its sudden removal from the kitchen fire, it resumed its gurgling sound, +and made itself cheerfully at home. + +If Mrs. Dobbs had urged him by another word,--if she had shown by any +look or tone that she thought it would be a condescension in him to +remain, Theodore would have refused. But she began placidly to scoop out +the tea from the caddy, and awaited his reply with unfeigned equanimity. +There was an unacknowledged feeling in his heart that, to go away then +and so, would be to make a flat kind of exit disagreeable to think of. +He would like to leave this obtuse old woman impressed with a sense of +his superiority; and apparently it would still require some little time +before that impression was made. + +"Thanks," he said. "If I am not disturbing you----" + +"Dear no! How could it disturb me? Martha, bring another cup and +saucer." + +And then Theodore, laying aside his hat and gloves, drew a chair up to +the table and accepted the proffered hospitality. + +Having found the method of supercilious reserve rather a failure, the +young man now adopted a different treatment for the purpose of awaking +Mrs. Dobbs, and that objectionably familiar person with the red nose, to +a sense of his social distinction and general merits. He talked--not +volubly, indeed: for that would have been out of his power, even had he +wished it, but he talked--in a succession of short speeches, beginning +for the most part with "I." His efforts were not, however, exclusively +aimed at Mrs. Dobbs and Jo Weatherhead. He watched May a good deal, and +spoke to her of the Dormer-Smiths as though that were a topic between +themselves, from which the profane vulgar (especially profane +ex-booksellers, with red noses) were necessarily excluded. As the others +said very little--with the exception of an occasional question from Jo +Weatherhead--Theodore's talk assumed the form of a monologue spoken to a +dull audience. + +He was conscious, as he walked away from Friar's Row, of being a little +surprised at his own conversational efforts, and half-repentant of his +condescension. He had been obliged to take his leave without obtaining +any definite answer to the dinner invitation. But, perhaps, the feeling +uppermost in his mind was irritation at May's perfectly simple +acceptance of her position as Mrs. Dobbs's grand-daughter, and her +perfectly filial attachment to her grandmother. "It is really too bad! +Cheffington ought never to have allowed his daughter to be got hold of +by those people. Mrs. Dormer-Smith cannot have the least idea what sort +of a _milieu_ her niece lives in!" he said to himself. + +The worst was that May was so evidently contented! If she had been at +all distressed by her surroundings, Theodore could have better borne to +see her there. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +Persons like the Simpsons, who knew Mrs. Dobbs intimately, allowed her +to have a strong judgment, and asserted her to have a still stronger +will. She was far too bent on her own way ever to take advice, they +said. It certainly did not happen that she took theirs. But Mrs. Dobbs's +judgment was stronger than they knew. It was strong enough to show her +on what points other people were likely to know better than she did. She +would undoubtedly have followed Amelia Simpson's counsels as to the best +way of dressing the hair in filmy ringlets--if she had chanced to +require that information. + +On the morning after Theodore Bransby's visit to her house, Mrs. Dobbs +put on her bonnet and set off betimes to College Quad. There she had an +interview with Mrs. Hadlow, who, it appeared, was going to the Bransbys' +dinner-party, and willingly promised to take charge of May. + +"It seemed to me it wouldn't be the right thing for my grand-daughter to +go alone to a regular formal party," said Mrs. Dobbs. "But, as I don't +pretend to be much of an authority on such matters, I ventured to ask +you to tell me." + +"Of course you were quite right, Mrs. Dobbs." + +"And you think she had better accept the invitation? She doesn't much +want to do so herself, being shy of going amongst strangers. But, to be +sure, if she may be under your wing, and in company with Miss Hadlow, +that would make a vast difference." + +"Oh yes, let her go, Mrs. Dobbs. Sooner or later she will have to go +into the world, and it may be well to begin amongst people she is used +to. Is it true that she is to go to her aunt's house in London very +soon?" + +"Nothing is settled yet. If there had been, you and Canon Hadlow should +have been the first to know it--as it would be only my duty to tell you, +after all your kindness to the child. Nothing is settled. But I am in +favour of her going myself." + +"You take the sensible view, Mrs. Dobbs, as I think you always +do--except at election time," added Mrs. Hadlow, smiling. + +The elder woman smiled back, with a little resolute setting of the lips, +and begged her best respects to the canon as she took her leave. The +canon was a great favourite with Mrs. Dobbs; and, on his part, their +political struggle in that long past election had inspired him with a +British respect for his adversary's pluck and fair play. + +The prospect of going with Mrs. Hadlow and Constance greatly reconciled +May to the idea of the dinner-party. But she did not look forward to it +with anticipations of enjoyment. + +"I would much rather dine in the nursery with the children," she said, +unconsciously echoing Mrs. Bransby's suggestion. + +Mr. Weatherhead, who was present, took her up on this, and said, "Why, +now, May, you will enjoy being in good society! Mr. Bransby is a very +agreeable man, and used to some of the best company in the county. Mrs. +Bransby, too, is very pleasant and very pretty; a Miss Lutyer she was, a +regular beauty, and belonging to a good old Shropshire family. And young +Theodore----" Jo Weatherhead pausing here, and hesitating for a moment, +May broke in, "Come now, Uncle Jo," she exclaimed, "you can't say that +_he's_ pretty or pleasant!" + +"He's not bad-looking," returned Mr. Weatherhead, rather doubtfully. +"Though, to be sure, he isn't so fine a man as his father." + +"No; this lad is like his mother's family," said Mrs. Dobbs. "I remember +his grandfather and grandmother very well." + +"Do you? Do you, Sarah? Who were they? What sort of people, now, eh?" + +"Common sort of people; Rabbitt, their name was. Old Rabbitt kept the +Castlecombe Arms, a roadside inn over towards Gloucester way. He ran a +coach between his own market-town and Gloucester before the branch +railway was made, and they say he did a good deal of money-lending; any +way, he scraped together a goodish bit, and his wife came in for a slice +of luck by a legacy. So altogether their daughter--the first Mrs. Martin +Bransby that was--had a nice fortune of her own. She was sent to a good +school and well educated, and she was a very good sort of girl; but she +had just the same smooth, light hair, and smooth, pale face as this +young Theodore. Martin Bransby had money with his first wife--he's got +beauty with his second." + +"O-ho!" exclaimed Jo Weatherhead, eager and attentive. "Rabbitt, eh? I +never knew before who the first Mrs. Bransby was." + +"Not a many folks in Oldchester now do know. I happened to know from +being often over at Gloucester, visiting Dobbs's family, when I was a +girl. Many a day we've driven past the Castlecombe Arms in the chaise. +Dear, dear, how far off it all seems, and yet so plain and distinct! I +couldn't help thinking of those old times when the lad was here the +other day; he _has_ such a look of old Rabbitt!" + +Thus Mrs. Dobbs, rather dreamily, with her eyes fixed on the opposite +houses of Friar's Row--or as much of them as could be seen above a wire +window-blind--and her fingers mechanically busy with her knitting. But +she saw neither the quaint gables nor the gray stone-walls. Her mind was +transported into the past. She was bowling along a smooth highroad in an +old-fashioned chaise. A girl friend sat in the little seat behind her, +and leaned over her shoulder from time to time to whisper some saucy +joke. Beside her was the girl-friend's brother, young Isaac Dobbs:--A +personable young fellow, who drove the old pony humanely, and seemed in +no hurry to get home to Gloucester. She could feel the moist, sweet air +of a showery summer evening on her cheek, and smell the scent of a +branch of sweetbriar which Isaac had gallantly cut for her from the +hedge. + +Theodore Bransby did not guess that Mrs. Dobbs had treated him with +forbearance and indulgence; still less did he imagine that the +forbearance and indulgence had been due to reminiscences of her +girlhood, wherein his maternal grandfather figured as "Old Rabbit." + +The question of May's dress for the dinner-party gave rise to no debate. +Mrs. Dobbs had been brought up in the faith that the proper garb for a +young girl on all festive occasions was white muslin; and in white +muslin May was arrayed accordingly. The delicate fairness of her arms +and neck was not marred by the trying juxtaposition of that dead white +material. It served only to give value to the soft flesh tints, and to +the sunny brownness of her hair. When she had driven off in the roomy +old fly with Mrs. Hadlow and the canon and Constance, who called to +fetch her, Mrs. Dobbs and Mr. Weatherhead agreed that she looked lovely, +and must excite general admiration. But the truth was that May's +appearance did not seem to dazzle anybody. Mrs. Hadlow gave her a +comprehensive and approving glance when she took her cloak off in the +well-lighted hall of Mr. Bransby's house, and said, "Very neat. Very +nice. Couldn't be better, May." Canon Hadlow--a white-haired venerable +figure, with the mildest of blue eyes, and a sensitive mouth--smiled on +her, and nodded in confirmation of his wife's verdict. Constance, +brilliant in amber, with damask roses at her breast and in her hair, +thought her friend looked very school-girlish, and wanting in style. But +she had the good-nature to pay the one compliment which she sincerely +thought was merited, and to say, "Your complexion stands even that +blue-white book muslin, May. I should look absolutely mahogany-coloured +in it!" + +May felt somewhat excited and nervous as she followed Mrs. Hadlow up the +softly carpeted stairs to the drawing-room. But she had a wholesome +conviction of her own unimportance on this occasion, and comforted +herself with the hope of being left to look on without more notice from +any one than mere courtesy demanded. Her first impression was one of +eager admiration; for just within the drawing-room door stood Mrs. +Bransby, looking radiantly handsome. May thought her the loveliest +person she had ever beheld; and her dress struck even May's +inexperienced eyes as being supremely elegant. Constance Hadlow's +attire, with its unrelieved breadth of bright colour and its stiff +outline, suddenly appeared as crude as a cheap chromo-lithograph beside +a Venetian masterpiece. Behind his wife, seated in an easy-chair, was +Martin Bransby, a fine, powerfully built man of sixty, with dark eyes +and eyebrows, and a shock of grizzled hair. His naturally ruddy +complexion was pallid from recent illness, and the lines under his eyes +and round his mouth had deepened perceptibly during the last two months. +Theodore stood near his father, stiffly upright, and with a cravat and +shirt-front so faultlessly smooth and white as to look as though they +had been cast in plaster of Paris. Standing with his back to the fire, +was Dr. Hatch:--a familiar figure to May, as to most eyes in Oldchester. +He was a short man, rather too broad for his height; with benevolent +brown eyes, a wide, low forehead, and a wide, firm mouth, singularly +expressive of humour when he smiled. No other guest had arrived when the +Hadlows entered the drawing-room. + +After the first greetings, the party fell into little groups: the canon +and Mr. Bransby, who were very old friends, conversing together in a low +voice, whilst Theodore advanced to entertain Mrs. Hadlow with grave +politeness, and Constance made a minute and admiring inspection of Mrs. +Bransby's dress. + +May thus found herself a little apart from the rest, and sat down in a +corner half hidden by the protruding mantelpiece of carved oak, which +rose nearly to the ceiling; an elaborate erection of richly carved +pillars, and shelves and niches holding blue-and-white china, in the +most approved style. + +"Well, Miss May, and how are you?" asked Dr. Hatch, moving a little +nearer to her, as he stood on the hearthrug. + +"Quite well, thank you, Dr. Hatch," said May, looking up with her bright +young smile. + +"That's right! But don't mention to any member of the Faculty that I +said so. There's a professional etiquette in these matters; and I +shouldn't like to be quoted as having given any encouragement to rude +health." + +"I'll take care," returned May, falling into his humour, and assuming a +grave look. "And I will always bear witness for you that you gave me +some _very_ nasty medicine when I had the measles, Dr. Hatch. I'm sure +the other doctors would approve of that, wouldn't they?" + +"Nice child," murmured Dr. Hatch. "Understands a joke. It would be as +much as my practice is worth to talk in that way to some young ladies I +could mention. Well, and so this is your first entrance into the gay and +festive scene, eh?" + +"Yes; I have never been to a regular dinner-party before. I am so glad +Mr. Bransby is quite well again," said May, looking across the room at +their host. + +"Are you? Well, I believe you are glad. Yes; it is much to be desired +that he should be quite well again." Dr. Hatch's eyes had followed the +girl's, and rested on Martin Bransby with a thoughtful look. Then, after +a minute's pause, he went on: "Now, as you are not quite familiar here, +I'll give you a map of the country, as the French say. Do you know who +that is who has just come in? No? That is Mr. Bragg. He makes millions +and billions of tin-tacks every week. You've heard of him, of course?" +May nodded. "Of course you have. Couldn't live long in Oldchester +without hearing of Mr. Bragg. That handsome, elderly man, now bowing to +Mrs. Bransby, is Major Mitton, of the Engineers. Ever hear of _him_? Ah, +well; I suppose not. He's a very good-natured, kindly gentleman, and an +excellent soldier, who distinguished himself greatly in the Crimea. But +no one will ever hear him say a word about that. What he _is_ proud of +is his reputation as an amateur actor. I have known more reprehensible +vanities. Ah, and here come the Pipers, Miss Polly and Miss Patty; and I +think that makes up our number." + +Dr. Hatch did not think of asking May whether she had ever heard of the +Miss Pipers. The fact was she had heard of them very often. They were +Oldchester celebrities quite as much as Mr. Bragg was. But their fame +had not extended beyond Oldchester; whereas Bragg's tin-tacks were daily +hammered into the consciousness of the civilized world. + +Miss Mary and Miss Martha Piper (invariably called Polly and Patty) were +old maids between fifty and sixty years old. They were not rich; they +had never been handsome; they were not, even in the opinion of their +most partial friends, brilliantly clever. What, then, was the cause of +the distinction they undoubtedly enjoyed in Oldchester society? The +cause was Miss Polly Piper's musical talent--or at least her reputation +for musical talent, which, for social purposes, was the same thing. Miss +Piper had once upon a time, no matter how many years ago, composed an +oratorio, and offered it to the Committee of a great Musical Festival, +for performance. It was not accepted--for reasons which Miss Piper was +at no loss to perceive. The reader is implored not to conclude rashly +that the oratorio was rejected because it failed to reach the requisite +high standard. Miss Piper knew a great deal better than that. She had +been accustomed to mix with the musical world from an early age. Her +father, an amiable Oldchester clergyman, rector of the church in which +Mr. Sebastian Bach Simpson was organist, was considered the best amateur +violoncello player in the Midland Counties. When the great music meeting +brought vocal and instrumental artists to Oldchester, the Reverend +Reuben Piper's house was always open to several of them; and Miss Polly +had poured out tea for more than one great English tenor, great German +basso, and great Scandinavian soprano. So that, as she often said, she +was clearly quite behind the scenes of the artistic world, and +thoroughly understood its intrigues, its ambitions, and its jealousies. +Thus she was less mortified and discouraged by the rejection of her +oratorio than she would have been had she supposed it due to honest +disapproval. The work, which was entitled "Esther," was played and sung, +however;--not indeed by the great English tenor, German basso, and +Scandinavian soprano, but by very competent performers. It was performed +in the large room in Oldchester, used for concerts and lectures, and +called Mercers' Hall. Admission was by invitation, and the hall was +quite full, which, as Miss Patty triumphantly observed, was a very +gratifying tribute on the part of the town and county. Miss Polly did +not conduct her own music. Ladies had not yet wielded the conductor's +_bâton_ in those days. But she sat in a front row, with her father on +one side of her and her sister Patty on the other, and bowed her +acknowledgments to the executants at the end of each piece. + +It was a great day for the Piper family, and that one solitary fact (for +the oratorio was never repeated) flavoured the rest of their lives with +an odour of artistic glory, as one Tonquin bean will perfume a whole +chest full of miscellaneous articles. Truly, the triumph was not cheap. +The rehearsals and the performance had to be paid for, and it was said +at the time that the Reverend Reuben had been obliged to sell some +excellent Canal Shares in order to meet the expenses, and had thereby +diminished his income by so many pounds sterling for evermore. But at +least the expenditure purchased a great deal of happiness; and that is +more than can be said of most investments which the world would consider +wiser. From that day forth, Miss Polly held the position of a musical +authority in certain circles. Long after a younger generation had grown +up, to whom that famous performance of "Esther" was as vague an +historical fact as the Heptarchy, people continued to speak of Miss +Polly Piper as a successful composer. The lives of the two sisters were +shaped by this tradition. They went every year to London for a month +during the season; and, for a longer or shorter time, to some +Continental city,--Leipsic, Frankfort, or Brussels: once, even, as far +as Vienna,--whence they came back bringing with them the latest _dicta_ +in musical fashions, just as Mrs. Clarkson, the chief Oldchester +milliner, announced every year her return from Paris with a large and +varied assortment of bonnets in the newest styles. It has been written +that "_they_" brought back with them the newest _dicta_ on musical +matters; but it must not be supposed that Miss Patty set up to interpret +the law on such points. She was, as to things musical, merely her +sister's echo and mouthpiece. But sincerity, that best salt for all +human communications, preserved Miss Patty's subservience from any taint +of humbug. However extravagant might be her estimate of Polly's artistic +gifts and attainments, you could not doubt that it was genuine. + +These circumstances were, broadly speaking, known to every one present. +But May was acquainted with another aspect of the legend of Miss Piper's +oratorio: a seamy side which the poor good lady did not even suspect. +That famous oratorio had been a fertile source of mirth at the time to +all the performers engaged in it. There were all sorts of stories +current as to the amazing things Miss Piper did with her +instrumentation: the impossible efforts she expected from the "wind," +and the anomalous sounds she elicited from the "wood." These were +retailed with much gusto by Jo Weatherhead, who, in virtue of a high +nasal voice, and a power (common enough in those parts) of reading music +at sight, had sung with the tenors through many a Festival chorus, and +known many professional musicians during his sojourn in Birmingham. One +favourite anecdote was of a trombone player who at rehearsal, in the +very climax and stress of the overture, when he was to have come in with +a powerful effect, stretched out his arm at full length, and produced +the most hideous and unearthly noise ever heard; and who, on being +rebuked by the conductor, handed up his part for inspection, observing, +amid the unrestrained laughter of the band, that that was the nearest +_he_ could come to the note Miss Piper had written for him, which was +some half octave below the usual compass of his instrument. Of this, and +many another similar story, Miss Piper and Miss Piper's friends knew +nothing. But May, remembering them, looked at the two old ladies as they +marched into the room with an interest not so wholly reverential as +might have been wished. + +They were both short, fat, snub-nosed little women, with wide smiling +mouths, and double chins. Miss Patty was rather shorter, rather fatter, +and rather more snub-nosed than her gifted sister. But the chief +difference between the two, which struck one at first sight, was that +whereas Miss Piper's own grey locks were disposed in a thick kind of +curl, like a plethoric sausage, on each side of her face, Miss Patty +wore a pale, gingerbread-coloured wig. Why, having all the wigmaker's +stores to choose from, she should have chosen just that particular hue, +May secretly wondered as she looked at her. But so it was. And if she +had worn a blue wig, it could scarcely have been more innocent of any +attempt to deceive the beholder. Both ladies wore good substantial silk +gowns, and little lace caps with artificial flowers in them. But the +remarkable feature in their attire was the extraordinary number of +chains, beads, and bracelets with which they had festooned themselves. +And, moreover, these were of a severely mineralogical character. Round +Miss Patty's fat, deeply-creased throat, May counted three +necklaces:--One of coral, one of cornelian, and the third a long string +of grey pebble beads which dangled nearly to her waist. Miss Polly +wore--besides a variety of other nondescript adornments which rattled +and jingled as she moved--a set of ornaments made apparently of red +marble, cut into polygonal fragments of irregular length. Their rings +too, which were numerous, seemed to be composed for the most part of +building materials; and each sister wore a mosaic brooch which looked, +May thought, like a bit out of the tesselated pavement of the smart new +Corn Exchange in the High Street. + +It did not take that young lady's quick perception long to make all the +foregoing observations. Indeed, she had completed them within the minute +and a half which elapsed between the Miss Pipers' arrival, and the +announcement of dinner. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +The order of the procession to the dining-room had been pre-arranged not +without some difficulty. Mrs. Bransby had pointed out to Theodore that +his whim of inviting Miss Cheffington must cause a solecism somewhere in +marshalling their guests. + +"Constance will, of course, expect you to take her," said Mrs. Bransby, +"and then what is to be done with little Miss Cheffington? I really +think I had better invite two more people, and get some young man to +take her in to dinner. Perhaps Mr. Rivers would come." + +But Theodore utterly opposed this suggestion, and said that the simple +and obvious course was for him to give his arm to Miss Cheffington, and +for Dr. Hatch to escort Miss Hadlow. + +"Oh, well, if you don't mind," said Mrs. Bransby, looking a little +surprised. And so it was settled. But at the last moment, in arranging +her table and disposing the cards with the guest's name before each +cover, Mrs. Bransby found that it would be necessary, for the sake of +symmetrically alternating a lady and gentleman, to divide one couple, +and place them on opposite sides of the table. She decided that Dr. +Hatch and Miss Hadlow would endure this sort of divorce with equanimity; +and thus it came to pass that when Theodore took his seat at table he +found himself in the enviable and unexpected position of sitting between +the two young ladies of the party--Constance and May. + +Mr. Bransby led out Mrs. Hadlow, the hostess bringing up the rear with +Canon Hadlow. Major Mitton had the honour of escorting Miss Piper, while +Miss Patty fell to Mr. Bragg. There was, as is usual on such occasions, +very little conversation while the soup and fish were being eaten. Miss +Piper, indeed, who was constitutionally loquacious, talked all the while +to Major Mitton, though in a comparatively low tone of voice; but the +rest of the company devoted themselves mainly to their plates; or at +least said only a fragmentary sentence now and then. But by degrees the +desultory talk swelled into a continuous murmur, across which bursts of +laughter were wafted at intervals. May had the satisfaction she had +hoped for, of being allowed to be quiet; for her neighbour on the one +hand was the canon, who contented himself with smiling on her silently, +whilst Theodore was greatly occupied by _his_ neighbour, Miss Hadlow. +Being seated between him and Major Mitton, she monopolized the younger +gentleman's attention with the undoubting conviction that he enjoyed +being monopolized. + +Mr. Bragg, a heavy, melancholy-looking man, found Miss Patty Piper a +congenial companion on a topic which interested him a good +deal--cookery. Not that he was a _gastronome_. He had a grand French +cook; but he confided to Miss Patty that he never tasted anything +nowadays which he relished so much as he had relished a certain +beef-steak pudding that his deceased "missis" used to make for him +thirty years ago, and better. Miss Patty had, as it happened, some +peculiar and special views as to the composition of a beef-steak +pudding; and Mr. Bragg--borne backwards by the tide of memory to those +distant days when his missis and he lodged in one room, and before he +had learned the secret of transmuting tin-tacks into luxury and French +cooks--enjoyed his reminiscences in a slow, sad, ruminating way. + +Presently, when the dessert was on the table, there came a little lull +in the general conversation, and the husky contralto voice of Miss Piper +was heard saying, "My dear Major, I tell you it was the same woman. You +say you heard her at Malta fifteen years ago. Very well. That's no +reason; for she might have been only sixteen or seventeen then. These +Italians are so precocious." + +"More like six or seven-and-twenty, Miss Piper. Bless you, she +had long outgrown short frocks and pinafores in those days. +Fourteen--fifteen--yes; it must be fully fifteen years ago. It was the +season that we got up the 'Honeymoon' for the garrison theatricals. I +played the Duke. It has been one of my best parts ever since. And there +was a scratch company of Italian opera-singers doing wretched business. +We got up a subscription for them, poor things. But fancy 'La Bianca' +still singing Rosina in the 'Barber!'" + +"She looked charming, I can tell you. I don't say that her voice may not +be a little worn in the upper notes----" + +"I wonder there's a rag of it left," put in the Major. + +"Yes; a little worn. But she knows how to sing. If one must listen to +such trivial, florid music, that's the only way to sing it." + +"Ah, there we shan't agree, Miss Piper! No, no; I always stand up for +Rossini. I don't pretend to be a great swell at music, but I have an +ear, and I like a toon. Give me a toon that I can remember and whistle, +and I'll make you a present of Wagner and the other fellows, all +howlings and growlings." + +"Major, Major," called out Dr. Hatch from the opposite side of the +table, "this is terribly obsolete doctrine! We shall have you confessing +next that you like sugar in your tea, and prefer a rose to a sunflower!" + +Mr. Bransby, wishing to avert any unpleasant shock of opinions on such +high themes, here interposed. He turned the conversation back to the +Italian singer, who could be abused without ruffling anybody's _amour +proper_. + +"But who is this _prima donna_ you're talking of, Major?" said he. + +Miss Piper struck in before Major Mitton could reply. "It's a certain +Moretti:--Bianca Moretti. We heard her last summer in a minor theatre at +Brussels, with a strolling Italian Opera Company. Don't you remember, +Patty?" + +"Moretti?" said Miss Patty, instantly breaking off in the middle of a +sentence addressed to Mr. Bragg, at the sound of her sister's voice. + +"The woman with the fine eyes? Oh yes. I remember her particularly, +because of the awful scandal there was afterwards about her and that +Englishman." + +Several heads at the table were now turned towards Miss Patty, who shook +her ginger-bread-coloured wig with a knowing air. + +"I was just telling the Major," said Miss Piper. "We might never have +known of it, if it had not been for the Italian Consul, who was a friend +of ours. It was quite a sensation! A bit out of a French novel, eh?--Oh +yes; quite ready, Mrs. Bransby." + +The last words had reference to a telegraphic signal from the hostess, +who immediately rose. Mrs. Hadlow had been looking across at her rather +uneasily during the last minute or so. The fact was that the Miss Pipers +were reputed in Oldchester to have a somewhat unconsidered and free way +of talking. Some persons attributed this to their annual visit to the +Continent: others thought it connected rather with Miss Piper's artistic +experiences, which in some mysterious way were supposed to have had a +tendency to make her "a little masculine." The implication would seem to +be that to be "masculine" involves a lax government of the tongue. But +as no Oldchester gentleman was ever known to protest against this +imputation, it is not necessary to examine it here more particularly. +"When she began to talk about a French novel, my dear, there was no +knowing what she might say next," said Mrs. Hadlow afterwards to Mrs. +Bransby. So the latter hurried the departure of the ladies as we have +seen. + +When they rose to go away, May, of course, went out last; Theodore +holding the door open with his air of superior politeness. + +"Who is that pretty little girl? I don't think I know her face," said +Major Mitton, when the young man had resumed his seat, and the chairs +were drawn closer together. + +"That is Miss Miranda Cheffington." + +"Cheffington? I knew a Cheffington once--a terrible black sheep. Very +likely it's not the same family, though. What Cheffingtons does this +young lady belong to?" + +"The family of Viscount Castlecombe." + +"The man I knew was a nephew of old Castlecombe. Gus Cheffington his +name was, I remember now." + +Theodore moved a little uneasily on his seat, and, after a moment's +reflection, said gravely, "Captain Augustus Cheffington is this young +lady's father; he is a friend of mine. Miss Cheffington is going to town +to be presented next season by her aunt, Mrs. Dormer-Smith. She is a +very thoroughbred woman. Do you know the Dormer-Smiths, Major Mitton? +They are in the best set." + +The Major did not know the Dormer-Smiths, and had no interest in +pursuing the subject. He turned to join in the conversation going on +between Mr. Bransby, the canon, and Dr. Hatch, and then Theodore slipped +out of his place and went to sit nearer to Mr. Bragg, who was looking a +little solitary. Mr. Bragg had a great many good qualities, but he was +usually considered to be heavy in hand from a conversational point of +view. Theodore, however, did not find him dull. He talked to Mr. Bragg +with an agreeable sense of making an excellent figure in the eyes of +that millionaire. Theodore had a strong memory, considerable powers of +application, and had read a great many solid books. He favoured Mr. +Bragg now with a speech on the subject of the currency, about which he +had read all the most modern theories up to date. The currency, he felt, +must be a peculiarly interesting subject to a man who sold millions and +billions of tin-tacks in all the markets of the world. Mr. Bragg drank +his wine, keeping his eyes on the table, and listened with silent +attention. Theodore, warmed by a mental vision of himself speaking in a +breathless House of Commons, rose to parliamentary heights of eloquence. +He had already addressed Mr. Bragg as "Sir," and had sternly inquired +what he supposed would be the consequence if the present movement in +favour of bimetallism should be still further developed in the United +States, when he was interrupted by his father's voice saying-- + +"Come, shall we ask Mrs. Bransby for a cup of coffee?" + +Mr. Bragg lifted his eyes and rose from his chair, and Theodore and he +moved towards the door side by side. + +"It ought to be boiled in a basin, oughtn't it?" said Mr. Bragg +thoughtfully. "Ah, no; it wasn't you. I remember now, it was Miss Patty +Piper who was mentioning--I'll ask her again when we get upstairs." + +Meanwhile the elder ladies had been deep in the discussion of Miss +Piper's interrupted story. Constance and May had got close together near +the pianoforte, and Mrs. Bransby asked Constance to play something "soft +and pretty." Constance opened the instrument and ran her fingers over +the keys in a desultory manner, playing scraps of waltzes or whatever +came into her head, and continuing her chat with May to that running +accompaniment. Mrs. Bransby, Mrs. Hadlow, and the Miss Pipers grouped +themselves near the fireplace at the other end of the room, and carried +on their talk also under cover of the music. + +"It was odd enough that on my happening to mention the name of the +Moretti to Major Mitton he should remember her at Malta so many years +ago," began Miss Piper. + +"Yes; and you see now that I was right, and she can't be so young as you +thought her, Polly," said her sister. + +"Lord, what does that matter? I only said she looked young, and so she +did. And besides, I dare say the Major exaggerates her age. When a woman +becomes a celebrity, or comes before the public in any way, her age is +sure to be exaggerated. Many people who only know me through my works +suppose me to be eighty, I dare say. They never imagine a woman so young +as I was at the time composing a serious work like 'Esther.'" + +"Is she handsome, this Signora Moretti?" asked Mrs. Bransby, who was +always interested in, and attracted by, beauty. + +"Very handsome--in that Italian style. Great black eyes, and black +eyebrows, and a fine profile. Too thin, though. But, oh yes; extremely +handsome. And a very clever singer." + +"And a very worthless hussey," added Miss Patty severely. + +"What a pity!" exclaimed Mrs. Hadlow. "It does seem so sad when one +finds great gifts, like talent and beauty, without goodness!" + +"Well, I don't know that she was so very bad either," replied Miss +Piper. + +"Goodness, Polly! How can you talk so!" cried her sister. "Why, she was +living openly with that Englishman!" + +"Some people said she was married to him, you know, Patty." + +"Stuff and nonsense!" returned Miss Patty, who, whilst undoubtedly +accepting her sister's views about music, tenaciously reserved the right +of private judgment as to the character of its professors, and was, +moreover, chronically incredulous of the virtue of foreigners in +general. "No sensible person could believe that. And as to her 'not +being so very bad'--what do you make of that nice story of the gambling, +and the police, and all the rest of it?" + +"The police!" echoed Mrs. Hadlow, in a low shocked voice. + +"What was that?" asked Mrs. Bransby. + +"Now, just let me tell it, Patty," said the elder sister. "If I am wrong +you can correct me afterwards. But I believe I know more about it than +you do. Well, there was an Italian Opera Company singing in a minor +theatre of Brussels when we were there, and doing very well; for the +_prima donna_, Bianca Moretti, was a great favourite. They had +previously been making a tour through Belgium. One night we were in the +theatre with some friends, expecting to hear her for the second time in +the 'Barbiere,' when, some time after the curtain ought to have risen, a +man came on to the stage, and announced that the Signora Moretti had +been suddenly taken ill, and there would be no performance. But the next +day we learned that the story of the Moretti's illness was only an +excuse--or, at least, that if she was ill, it was only from the nervous +shock of having her house searched by the police." + +"I think that was quite enough to make her ill! But why did they search +her house?" said Mrs. Bransby. + +"Well, you see, it was in this way," continued Miss Piper, lowering her +voice, and drawing a little nearer to her hostess, while Mrs. Hadlow +cast a glance over her shoulder to assure herself that the girls were +occupied with their own conversation. "It seems that a set of men were +in the habit of meeting every night after the opera in her apartment to +play cards. There was the Englishman, and a young Russian belonging to a +grand family, and a Servian, or a Roumanian, or a Bulgarian, or +something," said Miss Piper, whose ideas as to the national distinctions +between the younger members of the European family were decidedly vague, +"and others besides. Now this man, the--the Bulgarian, we may as well +call him, was a thorough blackleg, and bore the worst of characters. He +led on the Russian to play for very high stakes, and won large sums from +him. Well, to make a long story short, one night there was a terrible +scene. The Russian accused the other man of cheating. They came to +blows, I believe, and there was a regular _esclandre_. And next day the +Bulgarian was missing. He had got away with a good deal of plunder." + +"How shocking and disgraceful!" exclaimed Mrs. Hadlow, in whom this +gossip excited far more disgust than interest; and who thought Polly +Piper showed very bad taste in selecting such a topic. + +"But why did the police search the Italian singer's apartment? It was +not _her_ fault, was it?" asked Mrs. Bransby. + +"Why, you see, the gambling had gone on in her rooms. And the Bulgarian +turning out to be connected with a regular gang of swindlers, the search +was made for any letters or papers of his that might be there. We were +told that the Russian ambassador had something to say to it; for the +young Russian was connected with _very_ high people indeed. Nothing was +found, however." + +"Nothing was found that could be laid hold of," put in Miss Patty. "But +there could be no question what sort of a person that woman was after +all that!" + +"Well, really, Patty," said her sister, "it seems to me that the +Englishman was a deal more to blame. Nobody pretended that the Moretti +wanted to gamble for her own amusement, or profit either! It was the +ruin of her in Brussels; at any rate for that season. There was a party +made up to hiss her whenever she appeared; and there were disturbances +in the theatre; and, in short, the performances had to cease. I was +sorry for her." + +"Upon my word, Polly, I don't see why you should be," cried Miss Patty. +"She deserved all she got. I have no patience with bestowing pity and +sympathy on such creatures. If she had been an ugly washerwoman, instead +of a painted opera-singer, nobody would have had a soft word for her." + +"Oh, surely there are plenty of people who would be gentle to an ugly +washerwoman, if she needed gentleness," put in Mrs. Hadlow. "And you +know, my dear Miss Patty, we are taught to pity all those who stray from +the right path." + +"As to that, I hope I can pity error as well as my neighbours--in a +_religious_ sense," returned Miss Patty with some sharpness. "But this +is different. I was speaking as a member of society." + +"And the Englishman--was he implicated?" asked Mrs. Bransby, rather from +a desire to divert the conversation from a direction fraught with danger +to the general harmony than from any special curiosity on the subject. + +"No; not exactly implicated," replied Miss Piper. "That is to say, he +was not suspected of any unfair play, or anything of that sort; but it +was considered disgraceful for him to have been mixed up in these +gambling transactions; especially as he was a much older man than the +others. And then----" + +"And then," continued Miss Patty, "it was not considered exactly +creditable, I believe--although perhaps Polly thinks it was; I'm sure I +don't know,--it wasn't, most people would say, exactly creditable for a +man of family, an English _gentleman_, to be strolling about the world +with a parcel of foreign singers. And he had been doing just that. We +heard of his being at Antwerp, and Ghent, and Ostend with them." + +"A man of family, do you say? A really well-born man?" said Mrs. Hadlow, +sitting suddenly very upright in the energy of her feelings. "How +shocking! That really seems to be the worst of all!" + +"Well, I suppose we must pity _his_ errors," observed Miss Patty, with +some causticity. But Mrs. Hadlow was insensible to the sarcasm; or, at +all events, her sense of it was swallowed up by a stronger feeling. "I +do think it's a public misfortune," she went on, "when a person on whom +Providence has bestowed gentle birth derogates from his rank and forgets +his duties. It grieves me." + +"You must suffer a good deal in these days, I'm afraid," said Miss +Patty, grimly. + +"Not on that account," replied Mrs. Hadlow. "No; truly not. There may be +exceptions--I won't deny that there are some. But, on the whole, I +thoroughly believe that _bon sang ne peut mentir_." + +"Well, perhaps Mr. Cheffington's blood is not so good as he says it is; +that's all," said Miss Patty, with a short laugh. + +Mrs. Hadlow and Mrs. Bransby uttered a simultaneous exclamation of +amazement; and then the former said in a breathless whisper, "Hush, +hush, my dear, for mercy's sake! Did you say Cheffington? That +is--Cheffington is the name of that girl! Don't turn your head." + +"Oh, it can't be the same!" said Mrs. Bransby, nervously. + +"No, no; I dare say not. But the name--it must, I fear, be a member of +the family," answered Mrs. Hadlow. + +"How lucky it wasn't mentioned in her hearing," said Miss Piper. "Poor +little thing, I wouldn't for the world----! She's very pretty and +bright-looking. I don't think I ever saw her before." + +Mrs. Bransby hurriedly explained how May came to be there, and as much +of her story as she was acquainted with--which was, in truth, very +little. The Miss Pipers listened eagerly, and Mrs. Hadlow sat by with a +cloud of anxious perplexity on her usually beaming face. They all +admitted that of course the person spoken of _might_ be no relation of +May's at all; but it was evident that no one believed that hypothesis. +To the Miss Pipers the whole matter was simply a relishing morsel of +gossip. They dwelt with _gusto_ on "the extraordinary coincidence" of +Miss Cheffington's being there just that very evening, and "the singular +circumstance" that Major Mitton should remember Bianca Moretti, and +enjoyed it all very much. Mrs. Bransby's prevalent feeling was one of +annoyance, and resentment against Theodore, who had brought this girl +into the house. Mrs. Bransby detested a "fuss" of any sort; and shrank, +with a sort of amiable indolence, from the conflict of provincial feuds +and the excitement of provincial gossip. And now, she reflected, this +story would be spread all over Oldchester, and she would be "worried to +death" by questions on a subject about which she knew very little, and +cared less. + +"We won't say another word about this horrid story," she said, looking +appealingly at the Miss Pipers. "Silence is the only thing under the +circumstances. Don't you think so? It would be so dreadful if the girl +should overhear anything, and make a scene; wouldn't it?" + +Miss Polly and Miss Patty readily promised to be most guardedly +silent--for that evening, and so long as May should be present; +declaring quite sincerely that they would not for the world risk hurting +the poor child's feelings. And then Mrs. Bransby began to flatter +herself that the subject was done with, so far as she was concerned. But +Fate had decided otherwise. + +When the gentlemen came into the drawing-room, Miss Hadlow was playing +one of her most brilliant pieces, to which Miss Polly Piper was +listening with an air of responsible attention, and gently nodding her +head from time to time in an encouraging manner; Miss Patty Piper and +May were looking over a large album full of photographs together; while +Mrs. Bransby was narrating to Mrs. Hadlow, Bobby's latest witticisms, +and Billy's extraordinary progress in the art of spelling:--these +juvenile prodigies being her two younger children. + +Constance did not interrupt her performance on the entrance of the +gentlemen, and Major Mitton went to stand beside the pianoforte, +gallantly turning over the music leaves at the wrong moment, with the +best intentions. Canon Hadlow sat down near Miss Piper; the host with +Dr. Hatch crossed the room to speak to Mrs. Hadlow, and Mr. Bragg and +Theodore approached the table, at which Miss Patty and May Cheffington +were seated. Mr. Bragg drew up a chair close to Miss Patty at once, and +began to talk with her in a low voice, and with more appearance of +animation than his manner usually displayed. Theodore, as he observed +this, remembered with satisfaction that his friend Captain Cheffington +had formerly pronounced old Bragg to be a d----d snob. A man must indeed +be on a low level who could prefer Miss Patty Piper's culinary +conversation to a luminous exposition of the currency question as set +forth by Mr. Theodore Bransby. He bent over May, who was still turning +the leaves of the photograph book, and said, "I'm afraid you are not +having a very amusing evening, Miss Cheffington." + +"Oh yes, thank you," returned May, making the queerest little grimace in +her effort not to yawn. "I am very fond of looking at photographs." + +"I don't suppose there are many portraits there that you would +recognize. A little out of your set," said Theodore. "In fact, I don't +know many of them myself, I have been so much away. By the way, have you +any commands for your people in town? I go up the day after to-morrow." + +"Shall you see Aunt Pauline?" + +"Certainly. I suppose Lord Castlecombe is not likely to be in town at +this season?" went on Theodore, raising his tone a little so as to be +heard by the others. Constance's playing had now come to an end, and +there was a general lowering of voices, occasioned by the cessation of +that pianoforte accompaniment. + +"I don't know, I'm sure. I don't know where he lives," answered May +innocently. + +"Ahem! He is at this season, in all probability, at Combe Park, his +place in Gloucestershire." + +May had never heard of her great-uncle's place in Gloucestershire; but +now, when Theodore said the words, her thought flashed through a chain +of associations to Mrs. Dobbs's mention of the Castlecombe Arms on the +Gloucester Road, kept by "Old Rabbitt," and she blushed as though she +had done something to be ashamed of. + +"The last time I had the pleasure of seeing your father, he was talking +to me about Combe Park," continued Theodore, with a complacent sense of +superiority to the rest of the company in these manifestations of +familiar intercourse with members of the Castlecombe family. Lord +Castlecombe was a very important personage in those parts. As May did +not speak, Theodore went on: "Grand old place, Combe Park, isn't it?" + +"Is it?" returned May absently. She was looking with great interest at +the portrait of a superb lace dress, surmounted by a distorted image of +Mrs. Bransby's head and face, which were quite out of focus. But the +lace flounces had "come out splendidly," as the photographer remarked. +And, if the truth must be told, May admired them greatly. + +"Is it?" repeated Theodore, with a little smile. "But you have lived so +long abroad, that you are quite a stranger to all these ancestral +glories. I hope, however, that you have not the same preference for the +Continent that your father has?" + +"Oh, I'm sure I should always love England best. But I don't know the +most beautiful parts of the Continent--Switzerland or Italy. We were +always in Belgium, and Belgium isn't beautiful. At least I don't +remember any beautiful country." + +Thus May, with perfect simplicity, still turning over the photographs, +and all unconscious that the Miss Pipers had simultaneously interrupted +their own conversation, and were staring at her. + +"No; Belgium is not beautiful--except architecturally," replied +Theodore. "But there is very nice society in Brussels, and a pleasant +Court, I believe. No doubt that's one reason why Captain Cheffington +likes it." + +"Is Brussels your home, then? Do you live there?" asked Miss Patty, +leaning eagerly forward. + +May looked up, and perceived all at once that every one was gazing at +her. The Miss Pipers' sudden attention to what she was saying had +attracted the attention of the others--as one may collect a crowd in the +street by fixedly regarding the most familiar object. In her +inexperience she feared she had committed some breach of the etiquette +proper to be observed at a "grown-up dinner party." Perhaps she ought +not to have devoted so much attention to the photographs! She closed the +book hurriedly as she answered-- + +"No, _I_ don't live in Brussels, but papa does--at least, generally." + +Mrs. Bransby rose from her chair, and came rather quickly across the +room. "My dear," she said, "I want to present our old friend, Major +Mitton, to you;" and taking May by the arm, she led her away towards the +pianoforte. + +Theodore observed this proceeding with a cool smile, and sense of inward +triumph. Mrs. Bransby began to understand, then, what a very highly +connected young lady this was, and was endeavouring, although a little +late, to show her proper attention. Another time Mrs. Bransby would +receive _his_ introduction and recommendation with more respect. In the +same way, he felt gratification in the eager questions with which Miss +Patty plied him. Miss Patty left the millionaire Mr. Bragg in the lurch, +and began to catechize Theodore on the subject of the Cheffington +family. + +That fastidious young gentleman said within himself that the snobbery of +these Oldchester people was really too absurd; and mentally resolved to +cut a great many of them, as he gained a firmer footing in the best +London circles. Nevertheless he did not check Miss Patty's inquiries. On +the contrary, he condescendingly gave her a great deal of information +about his friends the Dormer-Smiths, the late lamented Dowager, the +present Viscount Castlecombe, his two sons, the Honourable George and +the Honourable Lucius, as well as some details respecting the more +distant branch of the Cheffington family, who had intermarried with the +Scotch Clishmaclavers, and were thus, not remotely, connected with the +great ducal house of M'Brose. + +This was all very well; but Miss Patty was far more interested in +getting some information about Captain Cheffington which would identify +him with the hero of the Brussels story, than of following the genealogy +of the noble head of the family into its remotest ramifications. And, +notwithstanding that Theodore was much more reticent about the Captain, +she did manage to find out that the latter had lived abroad for many +years--chiefly in Belgium--and that his pecuniary circumstances were not +flourishing. + +"I'm quite convinced it's the same man, Polly," she said afterwards to +her sister. And, indeed, all the inquiries they made in Oldchester +confirmed this idea. The Simpsons gave anything but a good character of +May's absentee parent. And subsequent conversation with Major Mitton +elicited the fact that Augustus Cheffington had been looked upon as a +"black sheep" even by not very fastidious or strait-laced circles many +years ago. The story of the Brussels scandal was not long in reaching +the ears of every one in Oldchester who had any knowledge, even by +hearsay, of the parties concerned. + +Theodore Bransby, who left Oldchester on the Monday following the +dinner-party, and spent the intervening Sunday at home, was one of the +few in the above-named category who did not hear of it. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +The correspondence between Mrs. Dobbs and Mrs. Dormer-Smith on the +subject of May's removal to London was not voluminous. It consisted of +three letters: number one, written by Mrs. Dobbs; number two, written by +Mrs. Dormer-Smith; and number three, Mrs. Dobbs's reply to that. Mrs. +Dobbs always went straight to the point, both with tongue and pen; and +Mrs. Dormer-Smith, although by no means so forcibly direct in her +dealings, had a dislike to letter-writing, which caused her to put her +meaning tolerably clearly on this occasion, so as to avoid the necessity +of writing again. + +Mrs. Dobbs had proposed that May should become an inmate of her aunt's +house in London--at all events for a time--in consideration of an annual +sum to be paid for her board and dress. The said sum was to be +guaranteed by Mrs. Dobbs, and was so ample as to make Pauline say +plaintively to her husband, "Just fancy, Frederick, how deplorably +imprudent Augustus has been in offending and neglecting this old woman +as he has done! You see she has plenty of money. I had no idea what her +means were; but it is clear that, for a person in her rank of life, she +may be called rich. And Augustus might have obtained solid pecuniary +assistance from her, I've no doubt, if he had played his cards with +ordinary prudence. But there never was any one so reckless of his own +interests as Augustus--beginning with that unfortunate marriage." + +Whereunto Mr. Frederick Dormer-Smith thus made reply, "I don't know what +you may call 'solid pecuniary assistance,' but it seems to me pretty +solid to keep Augustus's daughter, and clothe her, and pay for her +schooling, for four years and upwards. As to Augustus's disregard of his +own interests, it does not at any rate lie in the direction of +refraining from borrowing money, or remembering to pay it back; that +much I can vouch for." + +Pauline put a corner of her handkerchief to her eyes. "Oh, Frederick," +she said, "it pains me to hear you speak so harshly. Remember, Augustus +is my only brother." + +"Mercifully! By George, if there was another of 'em I don't know what +_would_ become of us." + +Mrs. Dormer-Smith declined to consider this hypothesis, but contented +herself with saying that she should like to do something for poor +Augustus's girl, and asking her husband if he didn't think they could +manage to receive her. Mr. Dormer-Smith thought they could on the terms +proposed, which, he frankly said, were handsome. And Pauline added +softly-- + +"Yes; and it is satisfactory that she offers to keep the arrangement +strictly secret. It would scarcely do to let it be known that Mrs. Dobbs +pays for May. It would be _inconvenable_. People would ask all sorts of +questions. It would put the girl herself in an awkward position. +'Grandmother!' people would say. 'What grandmother?' and the whole story +of that wretched marriage would be raked up again. But, on the +conditions proposed, I do think, Frederick, it could do no harm to +receive May. I am glad you consent. It will be a comfort to me to feel +that I am doing something for poor Augustus's girl, and acting as mamma +would have wished." + +So a favourable reply was dispatched to Mrs. Dobbs's application. Mrs. +Dormer-Smith suggested that May should come to town a little before the +beginning of the season, so as to give time for preparing her +wardrobe--a task to which her aunt looked forward with _dilettante_ +relish. And in answer to that, Mrs. Dobbs wrote the third and last +letter of the series, assenting to the date proposed for May's arrival, +and entering into a few minor details. + +She had also, meanwhile, received a letter from Captain Cheffington, +elicited, after a long delay, by three successive urgent appeals for an +immediate answer. It was a scrawl in a hasty, sprawling hand, and ran +thus: + + "Brussels, Nov. 1, 18--. + + "DEAR MRS. DOBBS, + + "I think it would be very desirable for Miranda to be presented + by her aunt, if she is to be presented at all, and to be + brought out properly. I have no doubt that my sister will + introduce her in the best possible way. Since you seem to press + for my consent, you have it herewith, although I hardly feel + that I can have much voice in the matter, being separated, as I + have been for years, from my country, my family, and my only + surviving child. I am a mere exile. It is not a brilliant + existence for a man born and brought up as I have been. + However, I must make the best of it. + + "Yours always, + + "A. C." + +This was sufficient for Mrs. Dobbs. She had made a point of obtaining +Augustus's authority for his daughter's removal to town; not because she +relied on his judgment, but because she knew him well enough to fear +some trick, or sudden turn of feigned indignation, if, from any motive +of his own, he thought fit to disapprove the step. As to the tone of his +reply, that neither troubled nor surprised her. But Mr. Weatherhead was +moved to great wrath by it. Mrs. Dobbs had tossed the note to him one +day, saying-- + +"There; there's my son-in-law's consent to May's going to town, in black +and white. That's a document." + +Mr. Weatherhead eagerly pounced on it. "What a disgusting production!" +he exclaimed, looking up over the rim of the double eyeglass which he +had set astride his nose to read the note. + +"Is it?" returned Mrs. Dobbs carelessly. + +"Is it? Why, Sarah, you surprise me, taking it in that cool way. It is +the most thankless, unfeeling, selfish production I ever read in my +life." + +"Oh, is that all? Well, but that's just Augustus Cheffington. We know +what _he_ is at this time of day, Jo Weatherhead. It 'ud be a deal +stranger if he wrote thankfully, and feelingly, and unselfishly." + +But Mr. Weatherhead refused to dismiss the matter thus easily. He +belonged to that numerous category of persons who, having established +and proclaimed a conviction, appear to be immensely astonished at each +confirmation of it. He had years ago pronounced Augustus Cheffington to +be a heartless scoundrel. Nevertheless he was shocked and amazed +whenever Augustus Cheffington did anything to corroborate that opinion. + +The letter from Mrs. Dormer-Smith was not shown to him. Mrs. Dobbs meant +to keep the amount she was to pay for May a secret even from her +faithful and trusted friend Jo. He might guess what he pleased, but she +would not tell him. The means, too, by which she meant to raise the +money would not, she knew, meet with his approval. And, since she had +resolved to use those means, she thought it best to avoid vain +discussion beforehand, and therefore said nothing about them. + +Accident, however, revealed a part of the secret in this way: + +Mr. Weatherhead, calling one afternoon at Laurel Villa to see Mrs. +Simpson, who had been kept at home by a cold, found other visitors +there. Miss Polly and Miss Patty Piper were drinking tea out of Mrs. +Simpson's best cups and saucers, and chatting away with their usual +cheerfulness and volubility. The Miss Pipers, as they would themselves +have expressed it, "moved in a superior sphere" to that of the +music-teacher and his wife; but they did not consider that they +derogated from their gentility by occasionally drinking tea and having a +chat with the Simpsons. They liked to condescend a little, and +opportunities for condescension were rather rare. Then, too, they had a +certain interest in Sebastian Bach Simpson, inherited from the long-ago +days when Sebastian Bach's father played the organ in their father's +church, and Miss Polly and Miss Patty wore white frocks and blue sashes +at evening parties, and were the objects of a good deal of attention +from the Reverend Reuben's curates. Besides the sisters there was +present Dr. Hatch, who had come to pay a professional visit to Mrs. +Simpson, and who was just going away. It was a peculiarity of Dr. Hatch +to be always just going away. He had a very large practice, and was wont +to aver that his professional duties scarcely left him time to eat or +sleep. Yet Dr. Hatch's horses stood waiting through many a quarter of an +hour during which their master was engaged in conversation not of a +strictly professional nature. + +When Mr. Weatherhead entered the best parlour of Laurel Villa, Dr. Hatch +had a cup of tea in one hand, and his watch in the other, and greeted +the new arrival with a friendly nod, and the assurance that he was "just +off." Mrs. Simpson shook hands with Mr. Weatherhead, and the Miss Pipers +graciously bowed to him. He, too, was connected in their minds with old +times. Miss Polly specially remembered seeing him on her visits to the +Birmingham Musical Festivals, when her father would take the opportunity +of turning over Weatherhead's stock of books, and making a few +purchases. And once the Pipers had lodged during a Festival week in the +rooms over Weatherhead's shop. + +"Glad to see you better, Mrs. Simpson," said Jo, taking a seat after +having saluted the company. + +"Oh yes, thank you, I'm quite well now. I know Dr. Hatch will scold me +if he hears me say so"--(with an arch glance baulked of its effect by +the unsympathetic spectacles)--"because he tells me I still need great +care. But my cough is gone. It is, really!" + +Mrs. Simpson girlishly shook back her curls, and proceeded to pour out a +cup of tea for Mr. Weatherhead. + +"And how is Simpson?" asked the latter. + +"Bassy is very well, only immensely busy. He has three new pupils for +pianoforte and harmony; the daughters of Colonel ----,--tut, I forget +his name,--recommended by that kind Major Mitton. Or at least it would +be more proper to say that Major Mitton recommended Bassy to them! Not +very polite to say that the young ladies were recommended--oh dear! I +beg pardon. I'm afraid I've over-sweetened your tea?" + +She had, in fact, put in half a dozen lumps, one after the other. But +Mr. Weatherhead fished the greater part of them out again with his +teaspoon, and deposited them in the saucer, saying it was of no +consequence. + +"I am so sadly absent-minded!" said Mrs. Simpson, smiling sweetly. +"Bassy would scold me if he were here." + +"Serve you right, if he did!" said Dr. Hatch, rising from the table. +"You should pay attention to what you're doing. I expect to hear that +you have swallowed the embrocation and anointed your throat with syrup +of squills." + +"Oh, doctor! You do say the drollest things!" exclaimed the amiable +Amelia, with an enjoying giggle. + +"Ah, no; not the drollest! Thank Heaven, I hear a great many droller +things than I say! That's what mainly supports me in my day's practice." + +Mrs. Simpson, not in the least understanding him, giggled again. Dr. +Hatch had the reputation of being a wag; and Amelia Simpson was not the +woman to defraud him of a laugh on any such selfish ground as not seeing +the point of his joke. + +"Well, Mr. Weatherhead," said Miss Patty Piper, blandly, "so we are to +have your sister-in-law for a neighbour, I hear." + +Jo poked his nose forward, and pursed up his mouth. "O-ho! my +sister-in-law, Mrs. Dobbs? How do you mean, ma'am, 'as a neighbour'?" + +"We understand that Mrs. Dobbs has been looking after Jessamine Cottage; +the little white house with a garden on the Gloucester Road," returned +Miss Patty. Dr. Hatch paused with his hand on the latch of the parlour +door to hear. + +"Oh dear no," said Jo Weatherhead decisively. "Quite a mistake. Sarah +Dobbs is too wedded to her old home. Nothing would induce her to leave +Friar's Row. You must have been misinformed, ma'am." + +"As to leaving Friar's Row," put in Miss Polly, "she must do that in any +case; for she has let the premises as offices; and at a high rent, too, +I hear. Friar's Row is considered a choice position for business +purposes." + +Jo had opened his mouth to protest once more, when a sudden idea made +him shut it again without speaking. "Oh!" he gasped, and then made a +little pause before proceeding. "Ah, well--she--it wasn't quite settled +when I heard last. Would you mind stating your authority, ma'am?" + +"The best--Mr. Bragg told us himself. His managing man at the works has +made the arrangement. Mr. Bragg has been looking out for a more central +office for some time." + +"I told Mrs. Dobbs long ago that she was living at an extravagant rental +by sticking to Friar's Row," observed Dr. Hatch, turning the handle of +the door. "Depend on it, she has let it at a swinging rent; and quite +right, too. Now I really _am_ off." + +Jo Weatherhead sat very still after the doctor's departure, with his cup +of tea in his hand, and a pondering expression of face. The Miss Pipers +were not sufficiently interested in him to observe his demeanour very +closely. If they did chance to notice that he was unusually silent, that +was accounted for by his sense of the superior company he found himself +in. They always spoke of him as "a good, odd creature, with sound +principles--a very respectable man, who knew his station." As for Amelia +Simpson, she was habitually unobservant, with an inconvenient faculty, +however, of suddenly making clear-sighted remarks when they were least +expected. + +"I'm sure this is very good news for us!" she exclaimed. "Jessamine +Cottage is so near! At least, it _was_ quite close to us when we lived +in Marlborough Terrace." + +"It will be a good move for Mrs. Dobbs. The air in our neighbourhood is +so much better than in her part of the town," said Miss Patty, with a +certain complacency, as who should say, "The merit of this atmospheric +superiority is all our own; but we are not proud." + +"And yet I am surprised, too, at Mrs. Dobbs moving," replied Amelia. +"She always declared that she hated the suburbs, with their little +slight-built houses." + +"That cannot apply to _our_ house," said Miss Polly. "Garnet Lodge stood +in its own ground many a long year before those new houses sprung up +between Greenhill Road and the Gloucester Road." + +"But Mrs. Dobbs isn't going to live in Garnet Lodge!" returned Amelia, +with one of her sudden illuminations of common sense. "And Jessamine +Cottage is a mere bandbox." + +"I remember Mrs. Dobbs among the trebles in 'Esther,'" observed Miss +Polly. "She had a fine clear voice, and could take the B flat in alt +with perfect ease." + +"And her husband sold capital ironmongery. We have a coal-scuttle in the +kitchen now which was bought at his shop--a thoroughly solid article," +added Miss Patty. + +These appreciative words about the Dobbses, which at another time would +have gratified Jo Weatherhead, now fell on an unheeding ear. He took his +leave very shortly, and walked straight to Friar's Row. + +"Well, Sarah Dobbs," said he, on entering the parlour, "I didn't think +you would steal a march on me like this! I did believe you'd have +trusted me sooner than a parcel of strangers, after all these years!" + +He did not sit down in his usual place by the fireside, but remained +standing opposite to his old friend, looking at her with a troubled +countenance. Mrs. Dobbs gave him one quick, keen glance, and then said-- + +"So you've heard it, Jo? Well, I didn't mean that you should hear it +from any one but me. But who shall stop chattering tongues? They rage +like a fire in the stubble. And the poorer and lighter the fuel, the +bigger blaze it makes. It was settled only this very morning, too." + +"It _is_ true, then, Sarah? I had a kind of a hankering hope that it +might be only trash and chit-chat." + +"You mean about my letting my house, don't you? Yes; that's true." + +"And me never to know a word of it!--To hear it from strangers!" + +"Now look here, Jo; let us talk sensibly. Sit down, can't you?" + +But Jo would not sit down; and after a minute's pause, Mrs. Dobbs went +on-- + +"I'll tell you the truth. I didn't say a word to you of my plan +beforehand, because I was afraid to--there!" + +"Afraid! You, Sarah Dobbs, afraid of _me_! That's a good one!" But his +face relaxed a little from its pained, fixed look. + +"Yes; afraid of what you'd say. I knew you wouldn't approve, and I knew +why. You wouldn't approve for my sake. But, thinks I, when once it's +done, Jo may scold a little, but he'll forgive his old friend. And I +never thought of chattering jackdaws cawing the matter from the +house-tops. I meant to tell you myself this very afternoon; I did +indeed, Jo." + +Jo drew a little nearer to his accustomed chair, and put his hand on the +back of it, keeping his face turned away from Mrs. Dobbs. "Of course, +you're the mistress to do what you like with your own property," he +muttered. + +"Nobody's mistress, or master either, to do what's wrong with their own +property. I mean to do what's right if I can. I was never one to heed +much what outside folks think of me; but I do heed what you think, Jo, +and reason good. And I want you to know my feeling about the matter once +for all, and then we can leave it alone." + +Mr. Weatherhead here slid quietly into the armchair, and sat with his +face still turned towards the fire. + +"You know," continued Mrs. Dobbs, "I told you some weeks ago that I was +troubled about the child's position here. She is a real lady, and ought +to be acknowledged as such. That's the only good that can come now from +poor Susy's marriage, and I do hold to it. There was only one way, that +I could see, of managing what I wanted. I could do it at a +sacrifice--after all, a very small sacrifice." + +Jo Weatherhead shook his head emphatically. + +"Yes, really and truly a very small sacrifice," persisted Mrs. Dobbs. "I +don't see why I shouldn't be just as happy and comfortable in Jessamine +Cottage as here--provided, of course, that my old friends don't cut me +and sulk with me. I shall be lonely enough when once the child's gone; +and you and me'll have to cheer each other up, and keep each other +company, as well as we can. You won't refuse to do that, will you, Jo? +Come, shake hands on it!" + +Jo slowly put out his hand and grasped her proffered one. He then took +out, filled, and lighted his meerschaum, and smoked in silence for some +quarter of an hour, Mrs. Dobbs, meanwhile, knitting in equal silence. +All at once she said-- + +"Hark! There's May's step coming downstairs. Now you'll please to +understand that when my moving from this house is mentioned to the +child, it's because I find Friar's Row too noisy, and think the air in +Greenhill Road will agree better with my health. I trust you for that, +Jo Weatherhead, mind!" + +May at this moment came gaily into the room, and Mr. Weatherhead thus +solemnly addressed her: "Miranda Cheffington, you have been to a +first-rate school, and have read your Roman history and all that, +haven't you?" + +"Not much, I'm afraid, Uncle Jo." + +"You have read about Lucretia, and Portia, and the mother of the +Gracchi" (pronounced "Gratch-I;" for Jo's instruction had been chiefly +taken in by the eye rather than the ear, in the shape of miscellaneous +gleanings from his own stock-in-trade), "and other distinguished women +of classical times, whose virtues were, in my opinion, not wholly +unconnected with bounce?" + +Mary laughed and nodded. + +"Well, allow me to tell you that there are Englishwomen at the present +day whom I consider far superior, in all that makes a real good woman, +to any Roman or Grecian of them all. Englishwomen to whom bounce in +every form is foreign and obnoxious. Englishwomen who do good by stealth +and never blush to find it Fame, because Fame is a great deal too busy +with rascals and hussies ever to trouble herself about _them_! Your +grandmother, Mrs. Sarah Dobbs, whom I'm proud to call my friend, is one +of those women. And what's more--and I'll have you bear it in mind, +Miranda Cheffington--I believe you'd be puzzled to find her equal in +Europe, Asia, Africa, or America--not to mention Australasia and the +'ole of the islands in the Pacific Ocean." + +With that, Mr. Weatherhead walked gravely out; his nose somewhat redder +than usual, and his eyes glistening. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +About a year before that dinner-party at which May Cheffington had made +her _début_ in Oldchester society, Mrs. Hadlow had begun to think it +probable that Theodore Bransby might wish to marry her daughter, and to +consider the desirability of his doing so. On the whole she did not +disapprove the prospect. Constance was very handsome, but she was also +very poor. Her ambition might not be satisfied by a match with Martin +Bransby's son; but on the other hand, Theodore was a young man of good +abilities, and apt to rise in the world. Moreover, he had sufficient +property of his own to facilitate his rising--a little ballast of that +sort being as useful in the _melée_ of this world as the lead in a toy +tumbler, and enabling a man, if not to strike the stars with his sublime +head, at least to keep right side uppermost. + +Certainly Theodore had appeared much attracted by Miss Hadlow. Not only +her beauty but her self-assertion approved itself to him; for a man's +wife should be able to justify his taste; and there would be no +distinction in winning a woman whose meekness made it doubtful whether +she could have had the heart to say "No" to an inferior suitor. They had +been playfellows in childhood, but school and Cambridge had separated +them. But after Theodore began to read for the Bar, and, during the two +last vacations, which he had spent chiefly at home, a great intimacy had +sprung up between the young people. Theodore's frequent visits to the +old house in College Quad did not pass unobserved. One or two persons +thought his partiality for the Hadlows--especially when contrasted with +the lukewarm politeness he bestowed on other families, such as Raynes +the brewer, or the Burtons who lived in a park, and had had nothing to +do with retail for two generations--was creditable to Theodore's heart. +"He was not one to neglect old friends," said they, candidly confessing +at the same time that it was more than they should have expected of him. +But the majority felt sure that nothing short of being in love with +Constance Hadlow could induce young Bransby to prefer the canon's +old-fashioned parlour to Mrs. Raynes's red and gold drawing-room, or the +Burtons' ćsthetic upholstery. Oldchester folks did not guess that +Theodore intended to frequent a style of society in which neither the +Rayneses nor the Burtons would be able to make any figure, nor did they +know that he set a considerable value on Mrs. Hadlow's connections. That +lady had been a Miss Rivers, and her family ranked among the oldest +landed gentry in the kingdom. There were not many Oldchester magnates to +whom Theodore Bransby thought it worth while to be more than coolly +civil. Mr. Bragg was an exception, but then Mr. Bragg was a man of very +great wealth; and as mere size is held in certain cases to be an element +of grandeur, so money, Theodore thought, is capable in certain cases of +inspiring veneration--that is to say, when there is enough of it. + +As to Miss Constance's state of mind about young Bransby, it was too +complex to be described in a word. She liked Theodore, and thought him a +superior person; if not quite so superior as he thought himself. She had +faith, too, in his future. It would be agreeable to be the wife of a +distinguished M.P. or Q.C., or perhaps of both combined in one person. +Theodore would certainly settle nowhere but in London, and to live in +London had been Constance's dream ever since she was fifteen. Her +visions of what her life would be if she married Theodore Bransby +concerned themselves chiefly with their joint-entry into some +fashionable drawing-room, her presentation at Court, her name in the +_Morning Post_, herself exquisitely dressed driving Theodore down to the +House in a neat victoria, and returning the salutations of distinguished +acquaintances as they passed along Whitehall. All more serious questions +regarding their married life Constance set at rest by a few formulas. Of +course, she should do her duty. Of course, Theodore would always behave +like a gentleman. Of course, they should never condescend to vulgar +wrangling. Of course, her husband would give way to her in any +difference of opinion;--particularly since she was pretty sure to be +always right. And then Constance knew herself to be so very charming, +that a man of taste could not fail to delight in her society. + +Yet it must not be supposed that she had fully made up her mind to marry +Theodore. That Theodore would be very glad to marry her she did not +doubt at all. There had been a time--nay, there were moments still--when +her visions of herself as Mrs. Theodore Bransby had been blurred by the +disturbing element of her cousin Owen's presence. He had shown an +attractive appreciation of her attractions; and had, to use Mr. +Simpson's phrase, "dangled after his cousin" a good deal. Owen Rivers +had reached the age of three and twenty without ever having earned a +dinner, and without any serious preparation to enable him to earn one. +He had had an expensive education, and had done fairly well at Oxford. +His mother had died in his infancy; and his father, a country clergyman, +had allowed the young man to lounge away his life at the parsonage, +under the specious pretext of taking time to make up his mind what +career he would follow. Owen had fished, and shot, and walked, and +boated, and cricketed; but he had also read a good deal, having an +intellectual appetite at once robust and discriminating. His friends and +relatives agreed in thinking him very clever; and, when they reproached +him with wasting his fine abilities and leading a purposeless existence, +he would answer jestingly that he should be sorry to belie their +judgment by subjecting his talents to the dangerous touchstone of +action. His father died before he had determined on a profession. But, +fortunately as he thought, and unfortunately as was thought by some +other persons, including his Aunt Jane, he inherited wherewithal to live +without working, and, with a hundred and fifty pounds per annum, could +not lack bread and cheese. On his father's death he went to travel on +the Continent. He walked wherever walking was possible, carrying his own +knapsack, spending little, and seeing much. After more than two years' +absence, he returned to England and made his way to Oldchester to see +his Aunt Jane, with whom he had maintained an intermittent +correspondence. There he found Constance, whom he last remembered as a +sallow, self-sufficient schoolgirl, grown to a beautiful young woman. +Her sallowness had turned into a creamy pallor, and her self-sufficiency +was mitigated, to the masculine judgment, by the depth and softness of a +pair of fine dark eyes. Owen, on his part, made a decidedly favourable +impression on his cousin. He was not handsome--which mattered +little--nor fashionably dressed--which mattered more; but he was well +made, and had the grace which belongs to youthful health and strength. +And he had, too, that indefinable tone of manner which ensured his +recognition as an English gentleman. Constance was by no means +insensible to this attraction. If she had not the sentiments which +originate the finest manners, she had the perceptions which recognize +them. When Mary Raynes and the Burnet girls criticized the roughness of +Owen's demeanour, comparing it with Theodore Bransby's "polish," she +knew they were wrong. Theodore always behaved with the greatest +propriety; but between his manners and Owen's there was the same sort of +difference as between a native and a foreigner speaking the same +language. The foreigner may often be more accurately correct of the two +on minor points, but it is an affair of conscious acquirement, and must +inevitably break down now and then; whereas the native talks as +naturally as he breathes, and can no more make certain mistakes than an +oak tree can put forth willow leaves. Then Owen was very amusing company +when he chose to be so,--and he usually did choose to be so when at his +Aunt Jane's; and he had good old blood in his veins. This latter fact +gave a certain piquancy, in Constance's opinion, to his political +theories, which were opposed to the staunch Tory traditions of his +family. Constance frequently took her cousin to task on this subject; +but with the comfortable conviction to sweeten their controversy that a +Rivers could afford to indulge in a little democratic heresy, just as +Lord Castlecombe could afford to wear a shabbier coat than any of his +tenants. + +All these considerations, together with the crowning circumstance that +he evidently admired her a good deal, caused Owen to fill a large place +in his cousin's mind. She even asked herself seriously more than once if +she were in love with Owen, but failed to answer the question +decisively. She did, however, arrive at the conviction that falling in +love lay much more in one's own power than was commonly supposed; and +that no Romeo-and-Juliet destiny could ever inspire _her_ with an +ungovernable passion for a man who possessed but a hundred and fifty +pounds a year. Mrs. Hadlow had at one time felt some uneasiness--nearly +as much on Owen's account as on her daughter's, to say the truth. But +she had satisfied herself that there was nothing more than a fraternal +kind of regard between the young people--wherein she was wrong; and that +there was no danger of their imprudently marrying--wherein she was +right. + +Mrs. Hadlow had, indeed, made up her mind that Constance would accept +Theodore Bransby whenever he should offer himself; and she privately +thought it high time that the offer were made. What did Theodore wait +for? His means (according to Mrs. Hadlow's estimate of things) were +sufficient to allow him to marry at once. But even supposing that he did +not choose to marry until he had fairly entered on his career as a +barrister, still there ought to be at least some clear understanding +between him and Constance. All Oldchester expected to hear of their +engagement, and it was not fair to the girl to leave matters in their +present uncertain condition. When, at the end of the vacation, young +Bransby left Oldchester again without having made any declaration, Mrs. +Hadlow was not only surprised, but uneasy; and she opened her mind to +her husband on the subject, invading his study at an unusual hour for +that purpose. + +"Edward," said Mrs. Hadlow, "don't you think that Theodore Barnsby ought +to have spoken before he went to town this last time?" + +"Spoken, my dear?" + +"To Constance; or to us about Constance." + +The canon leaned his head on his hand, keeping the thumb of the other +hand inserted between the pages of his Plato as a marker, and looked +absently at his wife. + +"Well? Don't you think he ought?" she repeated impatiently. + +The good canon meditated for a few moments. Then he said-- + +"I--I don't feel quite sure that I understand. What ought he to have +said, Jane?" + +"Said! Goodness, Edward! He ought to have declared his intentions, of +course. It is high time that something was understood clearly." + +The canon's gentle blue eyes lost their abstracted look, and a little +sparkle came into them as he answered, "I hope--nay, I am sure--Jane, +that you would not think of taking any step, or saying any word, which +might compromise our dear child's dignity. Let it not appear that you +are eager to put this interpretation on the young man's visits." + +"My dear Edward, Theodore has been paying Conny marked attentions for +more than a year past; but during this last summer and autumn he has +been in our house morning, noon, and night. He doesn't come for _our +beaux yeux_." + +"H'm, h'm, h'm! But, Jane, an attachment of that sort between two young +creatures should be treated with the greatest delicacy. It is shy and +sensitive. Let us beware of pulling up our flower by the roots to see if +it is growing." + +This trope by no means corresponded with Mrs. Hadlow's conception of the +relations between Theodore Bransby and her daughter. She was an +affectionate mother, but she did not delude herself into thinking +Constance peculiarly sensitive or romantic. In fact, she was wont to say +that her daughter was twenty years older than herself on some points. +But the canon erroneously attributed to his daughter a quite poetical +refinement of feeling. His views on most subjects were romantic and +unworldly, and his ideas about women were peculiarly chivalrous. They +frequently irked Constance. She was not without respect as well as +affection for her father; and it was sometimes difficult to bring these +sentiments into harmony with her deep-seated admiration for herself. +However, she usually reconciled all discrepancies between what he +expected of her and what she knew to be the fact, by declaring that +"Papa was so old-fashioned!" + +"Tell me, Jane," said the canon, after a little pause, "do you think +Conny's feelings are seriously engaged? Do you think this matter is +likely to make her unhappy?" + +"Unhappy? Well, no; I hope not unhappy," answered Mrs. Hadlow slowly. + +"Then all is well. We will not let our spirits be troubled." + +"But, Edward, although she may not break her heart----" + +"Heaven forbid! Break her heart, Jane?" + +"Well, I say of course there's no fear of that; but it _is_ detrimental +to a girl to have an affair of this kind dragging on in a vague sort of +way. It might spoil her chance in other directions; and people will +talk, you know." + +"Tut, tut! As to 'spoiling her chance'--which is a phrase very +distasteful to me in this connection--if you mean that any eligible +suitor would be discouraged from wooing Conny because another man is +supposed to admire her too, that's all nonsense. Do you think I should +have been frightened away from trying to win you, Jenny, by any such +impalpable figment of a rival?" + +"You?" exclaimed Mrs. Hadlow, with a sudden flush and a proud smile. +"Oh, that's a _very_ different matter, Edward. I don't see any young men +nowadays to compare with what you were." + +The canon laughed softly. "Thank you, my dear. No doubt your grandmother +said much the same sort of thing once upon a time; and I hope your +grand-daughter may say it too, some day. But set your heart at rest as +to this matter. That Theodore Bransby, whom we have known from his +birth, should be a frequent guest in our house, can surprise no one. +There is youthful society to be found here. Without reckoning Constance, +there's Owen Rivers, the Burton girls, little May--we may reasonably +suppose this to be attractive to a young man who has no companions of +his own age at home, without attributing to him any such intentions as +you speak off. In fact," added the canon simply, "we must believe you +are mistaken; since, if Theodore loved our daughter, there's nothing to +prevent his saying so!" + +Of all which speech, two words chiefly arrested Mrs. Hadlow's attention +and stuck in her memory--"little May." It was true, now she came to +think of it, that the increased frequency of Theodore's visits coincided +with May Cheffington's presence in Oldchester. Then she suddenly +remembered it was by Theodore's influence that May had been invited to +Mrs. Bransby's dinner-party, and many words and ways of his with +reference to Miss Cheffington occurred to her in a new light. But then, +again, came a revulsion, and she told herself that the idea was absurd. +It was out of the question that Theodore Bransby, with his social +ambition, should think seriously of marrying insignificant little May +Cheffington, who was not even handsome (when compared with Constance), +who had childish manners, no fortune--and, worst of all, was Mrs. +Dobbs's grand-daughter! "Besides," said Mrs. Hadlow to herself, "he +_must_ be fond of Conny. It's quite an old attachment; and, though +Theodore may not have very ardent feelings, I don't believe he is +fickle." + +Nevertheless, she was not entirely reassured. After Theodore's departure +from Oldchester she observed her daughter solicitously for some time; +but she finally convinced herself that Conny's peace of mind was in no +danger. She had sometimes been provoked by Conny's matter-of-fact +coolness, and had felt that young lady's worldly wisdom to be an +anachronism. But she admitted that in the present case these gifts had +their advantage; for, when Oldchester friends showed their interest or +curiosity by hints and allusions to Theodore, which made Mrs. Hadlow +quite hot and uncomfortable, Constance met them all with perfect +calmness, and she discussed the young man's prospects with an almost +patronizing air that puzzled people. + +In a few weeks more May Cheffington departed for London; Owen Rivers +also went away, and life in the dark old house in College Quad resumed +its usual quiet routine. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +It was a raw, gusty afternoon towards the end of March when May and her +grandmother arrived in London. There had been some difficulty about the +journey, arising from Mrs. Dormer-Smith's objection to her niece's +travelling alone, and insisting on her being properly attended. In reply +to a suggestion that May would be quite safe in a ladies' carriage, and +under the care of the guard, she wrote:--"It is not that I doubt her +being safe; but I _cannot_ let my servants see her arrive alone when I +meet her at the station. Why not send a maid with her?" To which Mrs. +Dobbs made answer that she could not send a maid, having only one +servant-of-all-work, but that she herself would bring her grand-daughter +to London. "I shall go up by one train, and come down by the next," said +she to Jo Weatherhead. And when he remonstrated against her incurring +that expense and fatigue, she answered, "Oh, we won't spoil the ship for +a ha'porth of tar. If I make up my mind to part with the child, I'll +start her as well as I can." + +The travellers found Mrs. Dormer-Smith awaiting them at the +railway station. She greeted May affectionately, and Mrs. Dobbs +amiably. "My servant has a cab here for the luggage," she said. +"But"--hesitatingly--"how shall we manage about----? I'm afraid the +brougham is too small for three." Mrs. Dobbs settled the question by +declaring that she did not purpose going to Mrs. Dormer-Smith's house. +She would get some dinner at the station, and return to Oldchester by an +evening train. "Oh dear, I'm afraid that will be very uncomfortable for +you!" said Pauline, politely trying to conceal her satisfaction at this +arrangement. "Will you not come and--and lunch with us?" But Mrs. Dobbs +stuck to her own plan. + +While the footman was superintending the placing of May's luggage on the +cab, her grandmother drew her into the waiting-room to say "good-bye." +"God bless you, my dear, dear child! Write to me often, keep well, and +be happy!" she said, folding the girl in her arms. Mrs. Dormer-Smith +stood by, not unsympathetic, but at the same time relieved to know James +was busy with the luggage, so that he could not witness the parting, nor +hear May's exclamation, "Darling granny! darling granny!" Indeed, it +might be hoped that he would never know the relationship between this +stout, common-looking old woman and Miss Cheffington; nor be able to +report it in the servants' hall. She felt that Mrs. Dobbs was behaving +very properly, and said with gracious sweetness, "I'm sure we ought all +to be very much obliged to you for the care you have taken of my niece. +It was most good of you to undertake this tiresome journey." + +Mrs. Dobbs looked up with a flash in her eyes. "I only hope," she +returned hotly, "that you will take as good care of my grandchild as I +have taken of your niece." The next moment she repented of her retort, +and said quite humbly, "You will be kind to her, won't you? Poor +motherless lamb! You will be kind to her, I'm sure!" + +"Indeed I will," answered Mrs. Dormer-Smith, with unruffled gentleness. +"I have always wished for a daughter, and she shall be like my own +daughter to me." And, with a motherly caress, she drew May to her side. + +"Don't be afraid for me, granny dear!" said May, smiling with tearful +eyes. "I shall be very happy with Aunt Pauline. Besides, I shall see you +again very soon." + +Mrs. Dobbs laid her hand on the girl's shoulder and pushed her gently, +but firmly, out of the waiting-room, standing herself in the doorway +until May and her aunt had disappeared. Then she sat down by the fire, +untied her bonnet-strings, pulled out her handkerchief, and sobbed +unrestrainedly. The waiting-room attendant looked at her curiously; for +she had noticed that Mrs. Dobbs did not belong to the same class as that +elegantly dressed lady, attended by a servant in livery, with whom the +young girl had gone away. Presently she drew near, on pretence of poking +the fire, and said-- + +"You're very fond of the young lady, ain't you? But don't take on so. +You'll see her again very soon, I dare say. Don't cry, poor dear!" + +"I _have_ cried," said Mrs. Dobbs, getting up and drying her eyes +resolutely. "I have cried, and it's done me good. And now I'll go and +get a bit of food." + +But she only trifled with the modest dinner set before her; and, as she +sat in a corner of the second-class carriage which conveyed her back to +Oldchester, her handkerchief was soaked with silent tears. + +To May the separation naturally seemed far less terrible than it did to +Mrs. Dobbs. She had no idea that it was to be a long, much less a +permanent, one. She found it agreeable to sit in the well-hung, neatly +appointed brougham, with a cushion at her back and a hot-water tin under +her feet, and to look through the clear glasses at the bustle and +movement of London. Her aunt Pauline was very pleasant and sympathetic. +May thought that she might come to love her father's sister very dearly. +She admired her already. Mrs. Dormer-Smith's gentle manner, her soft, +low voice, the quiet elegance of her dress, and even the delicate +perfume of violets which hung about her, were all appreciated by May. + +"My cousin is not at home, is he, Aunt Pauline?" she asked after a +little silence. + +"No; Cyril is at Harrow. There are only the children." + +"Oh, children!" cried May, with brightening eyes. "I'm so glad! I love +children. I didn't know you had any children besides Cyril." + +Mrs. Dormer-Smith laughed her peculiar little guttural laugh, consisting +of several ha, ha, ha's, slowly and softly uttered, and made no answer. + +"Are they boys or girls? How many are there? How old are they?" +questioned May eagerly. + +"Two little boys. Harold is--let me see--Harold is six, and Wilfred +five. It is very awkward having two little things in the nursery so many +years younger than their elder brother. Cyril is turned fifteen. It is +like beginning all one's troubles over again," said Pauline plaintively. +The birth of these two children was, indeed, a standing grievance with +her. + +May thought this an odd way of talking, and said no more on the subject +of her little cousins. But she looked forward to seeing them with +pleasant expectation. + +The sight of the house in Kensington brought back vividly to her mind +the day after the dowager's funeral, when she had arrived there from +school, feeling very strange and forlorn. She remembered, too, the +abrupt departure next morning with her father, and her impression that +the Dormer-Smiths had not behaved well, and that her father was very +angry with them. May was shown into a bedroom at the back of the house, +overlooking some gardens. The maid, having asked if she could do +anything for Miss Cheffington, and having mentioned that the +luncheon-gong would sound in ten minutes, withdrew, and left May alone. +She examined the room with girlish interest. It was very pretty, she +thought. Perhaps, in point of solid comfort, the old-fashioned furniture +of her room in Friar's Row might be superior; but in Friar's Row there +was no such ample provision of looking-glasses as there was here. She +was still contemplating herself from head to foot in a long swing +mirror, which stood in a good light near the window, when the gong +sounded. + +May ran downstairs, and in the dining-room she found her aunt and a +heavy-looking man with grizzled, sandy hair, and dull blue eyes, who +asked her how she did, and supposed she would hardly recognize him. + +"Oh yes, I do, Uncle Frederick!" she answered. + +And again an uncomfortable recollection of her father's angry departure +from that house came over her. But whatever quarrels there might have +been in those days, her aunt and uncle appeared to have forgotten all +about them. Mr. Dormer-Smith told May more than once that he was pleased +to see her. + +"You're not a bit like your father, my dear," said he, with an approving +air not altogether flattering to Augustus. + +"Oh yes, Frederick!" interposed his wife. "There is a family +expression." + +"It's an expression I have never seen on your brother's face. No, nor +any approach to it." + +Mrs. Dormer-Smith laughed the soft little laugh which was habitual with +her when embarrassed or disconcerted, and changed the conversation. "I +hope you like your room, May?" she said. + +"Oh yes, very much indeed, thank you, Aunt Pauline." + +"I wish I could have come upstairs with you. But I am obliged to +_ménager_ my strength as much as possible." + +"Are you not well, Aunt Pauline?" asked May with ready sympathy. + +"I am not _strong_, dear." + +"You would be better if you exerted yourself more," said Mr. +Dormer-Smith. "Your system gets into a sluggish state from sheer +inactivity." + +"Ah, you don't understand, Frederick," answered his wife, with a +plaintive smile. + +And May felt indignant at her uncle's want of feeling. But the next +minute she relented towards him when he said, as he rose from table-- + +"I'll go round to the chemist's myself for Willy's medicine, and bring +it back with me, as I suppose you will be wanting James to go out again +with the carriage by-and-by." + +"Is one of the little boys ill?" asked May. + +This time it was her aunt who replied calmly, "Oh no. The child has a +little nervous cough; it is really more a trick than anything else." + +"Huggins doesn't think so lightly of it, I can assure you. He tells me +great care is needed," said Mr. Dormer-Smith. + +"Can I--would you mind--might I see my little cousins?" asked May, with +some hesitation. She was puzzled by these discrepancies of opinion +between husband and wife. + +Mr. Dormer-Smith turned round with a look almost of animation. "Come +now, if you like. Come with me," he said. And May followed him out of +the room, disregarding her aunt's suggestion that it would be better for +her to lie down and rest after her journey. + +The nursery was a large room--in fact, an attic--at the top of the +house. May noticed how rapidly the elegance and costliness of the +furniture and appointments decreased as they mounted. If the dining-room +and drawing-rooms represented tropical luxury, the bedrooms cooled down +into a temperate zone; and the top region of all was arctic in its +barrenness. The nursery looked very forlorn and comfortless, with its +bare floor, cheap wall-paper dotted with coarse, coloured prints, and +its small grate with a small fire in it, which had exhausted its +energies in smoking furiously, as the smell in the room testified. At a +table in the middle of the room sat a hard-featured young woman, with +high cheek-bones, and a complexion like that of a varnished wooden doll, +mending a heap of linen; and in one corner, where stood a battered old +rocking-horse and a top-heavy Noah's Ark, two little boys were kneeling +on the floor, building houses with wooden bricks. On their father's +entrance, they looked up languidly; but when they saw who it was, they +scrambled to their feet with some show of pleasure, and came to stand +one on each side of him, holding his hands. They were both like him, +blue-eyed and sandy-haired, and both looked pale and sickly. Harold, the +elder, seemed the stronger of the two. Wilfred was a meagre, +frail-looking little creature, with a half-timid, half-sullen expression +of face. Their father kissed them both, and, sitting down, drew the +younger child on his knee, whilst Harold stood pressing close against +his shoulder. + +"Well, do you know who this is?" asked Mr. Dormer-Smith, pointing to +May. + +Apparently they had no wish to know, for they nestled closer to their +father, and sulkily rejected May's proffered caresses. + +"Oh, come, you mustn't be shy," said their father. "This is your cousin +May; kiss her, and say, 'How d'ye do?'" + +But nothing would induce either of the boys to give May his hand, nor +even to look at her; and at length she begged her uncle not to trouble +himself, and hoped they would all be very good friends presently. + +"And how do we get on with our lessons, ma'amselle?" asked Mr. +Dormer-Smith of the hard-featured young woman, who, beyond rising from +her chair when they came in, had hitherto taken no notice of them. + +"We haven't had no lessons to-day," put in Harold, with a lowering look +at "ma'amselle." + +"No, monsieur, it has been impossible till now; I have had so much +sewing to do for madame. See!" and she pointed to the heap of linen. +"But we will have our lessons in the afternoon." + +"I don't want lessons; I want to go out with papa. Take me with you, +papa," cried Harold. Whereupon little Wilfred lisped out that he too +would go out with papa, and set up a peevish whine. + +"It is too cold for you, my man," said the father. "The sharp wind would +make you cough. Harold will stay with you, and you can play together, +and do your lessons afterwards, like good boys." + +But the children only wailed and cried the louder, whilst mademoiselle, +with her eyes on her needlework, monotonously repeated in her +Swiss-French, "What is this? Be good, my children," and apparently +thought she was doing all that she was called upon to do under the +circumstances. + +May thought her little cousins peculiarly disagreeable children; but she +could not help feeling sorry for them and for their father, who looked +quite helpless and distressed. "Would you like me to tell you a story?" +she said. "I know some very pretty stories." + +A wail from Wilfred and a scowl from Harold were all the answer she +received from them. But her uncle caught at the suggestion eagerly. + +"Oh, that would be very kind of Cousin May," he said. "A pretty story! +You'll like that, won't you?" + +"No, I shan't! I want to go with papa," grumbled Harold. + +"I want to go wis papa," sobbed Wilfred. + +"It is always so when monsieur comes to the nursery," said the Swiss, +coolly going on with her sewing. "The children are so fond of monsieur." + +"Poor little fellows!" cried May. + +Then kneeling down beside her uncle, she began softly to stroke +Wilfred's hair, and to speak to him coaxingly. After a while, the child +glanced shyly into her face, and ceased to sob. Presently he allowed +himself to be transferred from his father's knee to May's. The Noah's +Ark was brought into requisition. May ranged its inmates--all more or +less dilapidated--on the floor, and began to perform a drama with them, +making each animal's utterances in an appropriate voice. A smile dawned +on Wilfred's pale little face, and Harold drew near to look and listen +with evident interest. + +"Now, Uncle Frederick, if you have to go out, I will stay and play with +the children, until lesson-time. They are going to be very good now; +ain't you, boys?" + +"Ve'y good now," assented Wilfred, his attention still absorbed by the +Noah's Ark animals. + +"Well, if you'll make the pig grunt again, I will be good," said Harold, +with a Bismarckian mastery of the _do ut des_ principle. + +Mr. Dormer-Smith's face beamed with satisfaction. "It's very good of +you, my dear," said he. "If you don't mind, it would be very kind to +stay with them a little while; that is, if you are not too tired by your +journey?" And as he went away, he repeated, "It's very good of you, my +dear; very good of you!" + +But May found that her aunt took a different view. + +"_Dear_ May," said she, when she learned where her niece had been +spending the two hours after luncheon, "this is very imprudent! You +should have lain down and taken a thorough rest instead of exerting +yourself in that way." + +"Oh, I'm not in the least tired, Aunt Pauline." + +"Dear child, you may not think so; but a railway journey of three or +four hours jars the nerves terribly." + +"Oh, I was very glad to amuse the children, Aunt Pauline. They were +crying to go out with their father, so I tried to comfort them. They got +quite merry before I left them." + +Mrs. Dormer-Smith slowly shook her head and smiled. "You will find them +extremely tiresome, poor things!" said she placidly. "They are by no +means engaging children. Cyril was very different at their age." + +"Oh, Aunt Pauline! I think they might be made--I mean I think we shall +come to be great friends. I couldn't bear to see them cry, poor mites!" + +"That is all very sweet in you, dear May, but I fancy it is best to +leave their nursery governess to manage them. Her French is not all that +I could wish. But a pure accent is not so vitally important for boys. It +is much if an Englishman can speak French even decently. And Cecile +makes herself very useful with her needle." + +Pauline then announced that she would not go out again that afternoon, +but would devote herself to the inspection of May's wardrobe. "Of course +you have no evening dresses fit to wear," she said; "but we will see +whether we cannot manage to make use of some of your clothes. Smithson, +my maid, is very clever." + +"Why, of course granny would not have sent me without proper clothes!" +protested May, opening her eyes in astonishment. "And I _have_ an +evening frock--a very pretty white muslin, quite new." + +To this speech Aunt Pauline vouchsafed no answer beyond a vague smile. +She scarcely heard it, in fact. Her mind was preoccupied with weighty +considerations. As she seated herself in the one easy-chair in May's +room, and watched her niece kneeling down, keys in hand, before her +travelling trunk, she observed with heartfelt thankfulness that the +girl's figure was naturally graceful, and calculated to set off well-cut +garments to advantage. + +"Oh!" exclaimed May suddenly, turning round and letting the keys fall +with a clash as she clasped her hands, "above everything I must not miss +the post! I want to send off a letter, so that granny may have it at +breakfast time to-morrow for a surprise. Have I plenty of time, Aunt +Pauline?" + +"No doubt," answered her aunt absently. She was debating whether the +circumference of May's waist might not be reduced an inch or so by +judicious lacing. + +"Perhaps I had better get my letter written first, Aunt Pauline. I +wouldn't miss writing to granny for the world, and any time will do for +the clothes." + +To which her aunt replied with solemnity, and with an appearance of +energy which May had never witnessed in her before, "Your wardrobe, May, +demands very serious consideration. April is just upon us. You are to be +presented at the second Drawing-room. Dress is an important social duty, +and we must not lose time in trifling." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +It was a great comfort to Mrs. Dormer-Smith to find her niece so pretty +("not a beauty," as she said to herself, "but extremely pleasing, and +with capital points"), and so entirely free from vulgarisms of speech or +manner. In fact, May's outward demeanour needed but very few polishing +touches to make it all her aunt could desire. But a more intimate +acquaintance revealed traits of character which troubled Mrs. +Dormer-Smith a good deal. + +"I suppose," she observed to her husband, with a sigh, "one had no right +to expect that poor Augustus's unfortunate marriage should have left no +trace in his children. But it is dreadfully disheartening to come every +now and then upon some absolutely middle-class prejudice or scruple in +May. Now, Augustus, whatever his faults may be, always had such a +thoroughbred way of looking at things." + +"Certainly, no one can accuse your brother of having scruples," said +Frederick. + +"Besides, it is terribly bad form in a girl of her age to set up for a +moralist." + +"It doesn't seem much like May to set up for anything: she is always so +childish and unpretending." + +"Oh yes; and that _ingénue_ air is delicious: it goes so perfectly with +her _physique_. But there are so many things which one cannot teach in +words, but which girls brought up in a certain _monde_ learn by +instinct." + +"What sort of things do you mean?" asked her husband after a little +pause. + +"Well, on Thursday, for instance, I was awfully annoyed. Mrs. Griffin +was here, and seemed pleased with May, and talked to her a good deal. +You know that is very important, because the duchess invites people or +leaves them out pretty much as her mother dictates. So I was naturally +very much gratified to see May making a good impression. In fact, Mrs. +Griffin whispered to me, 'Charming! So fresh.' Presently Lady Burlington +came in, and they began talking of those new people, the Aaronssohns, +who have a million and a half a year. Lady Burlington had been at a big +dinner there the night before, and she told us the most astonishing +things of their vulgarity and their pushing ways. When she was gone Mrs. +Griffin said, 'I do like Lady Burlington,' and began praising her +manners and her air of _grande dame_. And, very kindly turning to May, +she said, 'Do you know, little one, that that is one of the proudest +women in England?' 'Is she?' said May. 'I should never have guessed that +she was proud.' Something in her way of saying it caught Mrs. Griffin's +attention; and she pressed her and cross-questioned her, until May +blurted out that she thought it despicable to accept vulgar people's +hospitality only because they were rich, and then to ridicule them for +being vulgar. I never was so shocked; for, you know, the duchess and +Mrs. Griffin both went to the Aaronssohns' ball last season. Now you +know," pursued Mrs. Dormer-Smith almost tearfully, "that kind of thing +will never do. You must allow that it will never do, Frederick." + +"It would be awkward," assented Frederick, looking grave. "Couldn't you +tell her?" + +"Of course, I spoke to her after Mrs. Griffin had gone away. But she +only said, 'What could I do, Aunt Pauline? The old lady insisted on my +answering her, and I couldn't tell her a story.' You see what a +difficult kind of thing it will be to manage, Frederick." + +Mr. Dormer-Smith had become a great partisan of May's. He was genuinely +grateful for her kindness to his children, and would willingly have +taken her part had it been possible. But he felt that his wife was +right; it would really never do to carry into society an _enfant +terrible_ of such uncompromising truthfulness. And this feeling was much +strengthened by the recollection of sundry remarks which May had +innocently made to himself--remarks indicating an inconvenient +assumption on her part that one's principles must naturally regulate +one's practice. However, as he told his wife, they must trust to time +and experience to correct this crudeness. + +"She is but a schoolgirl, after all," he said. + +Pauline did not pursue the subject, but she reflected within herself +that there are schoolgirls and schoolgirls. + +There had been some discussion as to who should present May. Mrs. +Dormer-Smith was of opinion that had there been a Viscountess +Castlecombe, the office would properly have devolved on her ladyship; +but old Lord Castlecombe had been a widower for many years. At length it +was decided that May should be presented by her aunt. + +"I know it is a great risk for me to go out _décolletée_ on an English +spring day," said that devoted woman. "And Lady Burlington would do it +if I asked her. But I wish to carry out the duty I have undertaken +towards Augustus's daughter, as thoroughly as my strength will allow. +Under all the circumstances of the case, it is important that she should +be publicly acknowledged, and, as it were, identified with the family. +Of course, I shall feel justified in buying my gown out of May's money." + +"May's money" had come to be the phrase by which the Dormer-Smiths spoke +of the payment made by Mrs. Dobbs for her grand-daughter. + +But besides the comforting sense of duty fulfilled, there were other +compensations in store for Mrs. Dormer-Smith. May's presentation dress +was pronounced exquisite, and was ready in good time; and May herself +profited satisfactorily by the instructions of a fashionable professor +of deportment, in the difficult art of walking and curtsying in a train. +To be sure, she had alarmed her aunt at first, by going into fits of +laughter when describing Madame Melnotte's lessons, and imitating the +impressive gravity with which the dancing-mistress went through the dumb +show of a presentation at Court. But she did what she was told to do, +not only with docility, but with an unaffected simplicity which Aunt +Pauline's good taste perceived to be infinitely charming. And she said +to her husband that she really began to hope May would be "a great +success." + +The great day of the Drawing-room came and went, as do all days, great +or small. But whether she had been a success or a failure, in her aunt's +sense of the words, May had not the remotest idea. Indeed, the various +feelings on the subject of her presentation which had filled her breast +beforehand (including a genuine delight in her own appearance as she +stood before the big looking-glass, while Smithson put the finishing +touches to her head-dress), were all swallowed up in the supreme feeling +of thankfulness that it was over; and that she had not disgraced herself +by tumbling over her train, or otherwise shocking the eyes of august +personages. Also, in a minor degree, she was thankful that Aunt +Pauline's antique lace-flounce--a portion of the dowager's legacy lent +for the occasion--had escaped destruction. On their drive homeward, she +sat silent, trying to extricate some definite image from her confused +impressions of the ceremony, and finding that her most distinct +recollection recorded the pressure of a persistent and ruthless elbow +against her ribs. Mrs. Dormer-Smith, too, was too much exhausted to say +much. She leaned back in the carriage with closed eyes, wrapping her +furs round her, and sniffing at a bottle of salts. + +But when refreshed by a glass of wine, and seated in a well-cushioned +chair before a blazing fire, Mrs. Dormer-Smith felt very well satisfied +with the result of the day. Mrs. Griffin had been there, and had nodded +approvingly across a struggling crowd of bare shoulders; and Mrs. +Griffin's approbation was worth having. Mr. Dormer-Smith came home from +his club a full hour earlier than usual, in order to hear the report--a +proof of interest which May, not being a whist-player, was unable fully +to appreciate. + +"Well," said Pauline, with a kind of pious serenity, "we have +accomplished this somewhat trying social duty." + +"Trying, indeed," exclaimed May. "I'm afraid you are dreadfully tired, +Aunt Pauline. And the crowd and closeness made your head ache, I saw. +How is your head now?" + +"It is better, dear, much better." + +"Well?" said Mr. Dormer-Smith, looking interrogatively with raised +eyebrows at his wife. + +"Oh yes, Frederick; very nice indeed, very satisfactory. I was very much +pleased. I _had_ been a little anxious about the effect of the +_corsage_, but Amélie has done herself great credit. And, mercifully, +white suits our dear child to perfection. She really looked very well." + +"Did I, Aunt Pauline? Well, I'm sure it didn't much matter how I +looked." + +"Didn't matter!" echoed Mrs. Dormer-Smith in a shocked tone. + +"Oh, come, May!" cried her uncle. "I thought you were above that sort of +nonsense. Do you mean to tell me that you don't care about looking +pretty?" + +"Oh no! I mean--well, I did think my dress was lovely when I looked at +myself in the big glass upstairs; but in that crush who could see it? +And I was awfully afraid that Aunt Pauline's lace flounce would be torn +completely off the skirt." + +Her uncle laughed. "You don't appear to have altogether enjoyed your +first appearance as a courtier," said he. + +"Enjoyed! Oh, who _could_ enjoy it?" Then, fearful of seeming +ungrateful, she added, "It was very, very kind of Aunt Pauline to take +so much trouble, and to get me that beautiful dress." + +May had not been accustomed to think about ways and means. It had seemed +a matter of course that her daily wants should be supplied, and she had +hitherto bestowed no more thought on the matter than a young bird in the +nest. But it was impossible for her to live as a member of the +Dormer-Smiths' family without having the question of money brought +forcibly to her mind. There were small pinchings and savings of a kind +utterly unknown in Friar's Row; elaborate calculations were made as to +the possibility of this or that expenditure; Aunt Pauline frequently +lamented her poverty; and yet, withal, there was kept up an appearance +of wealth and elegance. May was not long in discovering the seamy side +of all the luxury which surrounded her; and it amazed her. Why should +her aunt so arrange her life as to derive very little comfort from very +strenuous effort? And what puzzled her most of all at first was the air +of conscious virtue with which this was done: the strange way in which +Aunt Pauline would mention some piece of meanness or insincerity as +though it were an act of loftiest duty. On one or two occasions May had +innocently suggested a straightforward way out of some social +difficulty; such as wearing an old gown when a new one could not be +afforded, or refusing an invitation which could only be accepted at the +cost of much bodily and mental harass. But these childish suggestions +had been met by an indulgent smile; and she had been told that such and +such things must be done or endured in order to keep up the family's +position in society. Once May had asked, "Then why _should_ we keep up +our position in society?" But her aunt had shown such genuine +consternation at this impious inquiry, that the girl did not venture to +repeat it. + +Another question, however, soon forced itself upon May--namely, how it +came to pass that, under all the circumstances, so much money was spent +on her dress. Besides the court train and petticoat, her aunt had +provided for her a wardrobe which, to the young girl's inexperienced +eyes, appeared absolutely splendid (for Pauline's conscience, although +cramped and squeezed into artificial shape like a Chinese lady's foot, +was alive and sentient; and she would on no account have failed to +expend "May's money" for May's advantage): and yet all the while there +were the two little boys in their comfortless nursery, wearing coarse +clothing and shabby shoes; and there was Cecile toiling at needlework +instead of attending to the children, in order that the cost of a +seamstress might be saved! On this subject May felt that she had a right +to interrogate her aunt; and accordingly she took courage to do so. Mrs. +Dormer-Smith was considerably embarrassed, and made an attempt to fence +off the subject. But May persisted. + +"It's very, very good of you and Uncle Frederick to do so much for me," +she said; "but I can't bear to take it all." + +"Nonsense, May! Remember you are a Cheffington. You _must_ appear in the +world properly equipped." + +"But, Aunt Pauline, it isn't fair to Harold and Wilfred!" + +"Harold and Wilfred?" echoed her aunt, opening wide her soft dark eyes. +"What _do_ you mean, May?" + +May coloured hotly, but stuck to her point. "Well," she said, "you know +Uncle Frederick was saying the other day that Willy ought to have change +of air; and you said you couldn't afford to send him to the seaside just +now; and--and I think Cecile thinks they ought to have new walking +suits; and all the while I have so many expensive new frocks. I can't +bear it. It isn't really fair." + +Then Mrs. Dormer-Smith found herself compelled to assure her niece that +no penny of the cost of her toilet came out of Uncle Frederick's pocket, +and reading a further question in the girl's face, she hastened to +anticipate it by adding, "The arrangements made for you here, May, are +in entire accordance with your father's wishes. There has been a +correspondence with him on the subject, and he wrote quite distinctly; +otherwise your uncle and I would not have undertaken to bring you out." + +"I hope," said May, "that papa does not deprive himself of anything for +me. He used not to be at all well off, I know. I can remember when I was +a little thing in Bruges." + +"Augustus deprives himself of _nothing_," answered Mrs. Dormer-Smith +softly, but emphatically. "Pray say no more on the subject, my dear. +This sort of thing makes my head ache." + +Her conscience being thus relieved, May accepted and enjoyed her new +finery and her new life. She found that "taking up one's position in +society" involved pleasanter things than being presented at a +Drawing-room. It was delightful to be tastefully and becomingly dressed. +It was agreeable to be sure of plenty of partners at every dance. It was +satisfactory to have so admirable a chaperon as Aunt Pauline. One could +no more form a fair judgment of that lady from knowing her only in +domestic life, than one could fully appreciate a swan from seeing it on +dry land. In the congenial element of "society," her merits were +exhibited to the utmost advantage. They were, indeed, greater than May +had any idea of; Mrs. Dormer-Smith's tact in warding off ineligible +partners, and securing as far as possible eligible ones for her niece, +was masterly. But May admired her aunt's unruffled temper and gentle +grace. She had been quick to find out--with some astonishment, but +beyond the possibility of doubt--that fine people can be exceedingly +rude on occasion; and she observed with pride that Aunt Pauline was +never rude. Moreover, Aunt Pauline's softness of manner was a far more +effectual protection against impertinence, than the _brusquerie_ +affected by sundry ladies who forgot the wisdom embodied in the homely +saying, that "those who play at bowls must look out for rubbers;" and +who were always liable to be vanquished by greater insolence than their +own. + +May soon began to be reticent of her real sentiments and opinions in +speaking to her aunt and uncle. She felt that nine times out of ten she +was not understood; or, which was worse, was misunderstood. But in +writing to her dear granny, she frankly and fully poured out all her +heart. These letters were the joy and consolation of Mrs. Dobbs's life. +Every minutest detail interested her. She laughed over May's description +of the Drawing-room, and read it out aloud to Jo Weatherhead by way of a +wholesome corrective to his Tory prejudices. + +But at the same time she secretly treasured a copy of the _Morning Post_ +containing Miss Miranda Cheffington's name, and a description of Miss +Miranda Cheffington's toilet on that occasion. And she listened, with a +complacency of which she was more than half ashamed, to Mrs. Simpson's +ecstasies on the subject; and to the scraps of information which the +good-natured Amelia quoted--generally incorrectly--from social gossip +setting forth how Mrs. Dormer-Smith and her niece, Miss Miranda +Cheffington, had been present at this or that grand entertainment. These +things might appear frivolous; but was it not for this end, to put May +in her right place in the world, to give her her birthright, that Mrs. +Dobbs had made a great sacrifice? Jo Weatherhead understood this so +well, that the "fashionable intelligence" in the local newspapers +assumed a quite pathetic interest in his eyes. When he went to drink tea +with his old friend in the parlour of her new abode with its trashy, +stuccoed ceiling, miserably thin walls, and squeezed little fireplace, +he felt it to be a positive comfort to pull from his pocket a copy of +the _Court Journal_ or other equally polite print, and read aloud to +Sarah some paragraph in which May's name occurred. It was a consolation, +too, to let himself be lectured and laughed at by Sarah for his absurd +admiration of the aristocracy. And he took every opportunity of +combating her Radicalism, in order that she might victoriously vindicate +the steadfastness of her political principles. + +Meanwhile, Captain Cheffington saw the accounts of his daughter's +appearance in the fashionable world, and began to think that he had been +too easy in giving his consent to it. He had got nothing by it; and +perhaps something might have been got. He wrote twice to Pauline, +urgently requiring her to tell him what was the exact sum which Mrs. +Dobbs paid for her grand-daughter's maintenance. That it was handsome he +did not doubt; knowing by experience that the Dormer-Smiths would not +contribute a shilling. Pauline had replied evasively to the first +letter, and not at all to the second, with the result that Augustus's +imagination absurdly exaggerated Mrs. Dobbs's wealth. The old woman must +be rolling in money after all! Had May's allowance been a small one, his +sister would not have hesitated to tell him the exact sum. It was clear +to his mind that the Dormer-Smiths were making an uncommonly good thing +of it, and he was decidedly disinclined to leave all the profit to them. +He wrote off to Oldchester a demand for money on his own account. It was +refused; and his anger was very bitter. He even began to cherish a +grudge against May. Why should she be surrounded by luxury, enjoying all +the gaieties of London, and taking a social position to which her only +claim was the fact of being _his_ daughter, whilst he lived the life of +an outcast? He went so far as to threaten to come to England and bring +away his daughter: having some idea that Mrs. Dobbs might ransom May, +and pension him off. But the energy which might once upon a time have +enabled Augustus Cheffington to take this strong step had waned long +ago. He had grown inert. And, above all, the circumstances of his +private life rendered such independent action difficult, if not +impossible. + +It presently began to be reported amongst Mrs. Dormer-Smith's +acquaintance, with other items of tea-table gossip, that "little May +Cheffington had a rich old grandmother somewhere down in the country." +Theodore Bransby, who was admitted as a familiar visitor at the +Dormer-Smiths', and who made a parade of his intimacy with the +Cheffingtons, was interrogated on the subject. He maintained a cautious +reserve in his replies:--"He really could say nothing; he had no idea +what the old lady's means might be; he could scarcely, in fact, be said +to know her at all." Wishing, as he did, completely to ignore that +objectionable old ironmonger's widow, it was irritating to find her +existence known, and her means discussed, in London. To be sure, no one +troubled himself to inquire "Who is she?" general interest being +exclusively concentrated on the question, "What has she?" Theodore's +reticence was by no means attributed to its real cause. People said that +young Bransby was looking after the girl himself, and wanted to choke +off possible rivals. Theodore did, indeed, push himself as far as +possible into every house which May frequented. There were some still +inaccessible to him; but he had patience and perseverance. And he was +constantly meeting May in the course of the season. She was far more +pleased to see him in London than she had ever been in Oldchester. He +was associated with persons whom she loved: and on many occasions when +ball-room lookers-on pronounced Miss Cheffington and young Bransby to be +"spooning awfully," May was talking with animation of his half-brothers, +Bobby and Billy, of the dear old canon and her friend Constance, or even +of Mr. and Mrs. Sebastian Bach Simpson. Theodore had no relish for these +topics; but it was better to talk with May of them, than not to talk +with her at all. And to the girl, he seemed the only link between her +present life and the dear Oldchester days. + +At the beginning of June, however, he ceased to have this exclusive +claim on her attention. One fine day Aunt Pauline, returning from an +afternoon drive with her niece, found a large visiting card with "The +Misses Piper" engraved on it with many elaborate flourishes, whilst +underneath was written in pencil "Miss Hadlow." + +"Piper!" said Pauline, languidly dropping her eyeglass, and looking +round at May. "What can this mean?" + +"Oh, it means Miss Polly and Miss Patty and my schoolfellow Constance +Hadlow!" cried May, clapping her hands. "Fancy Conny being in town! I +dare say the Pipers invited her on a visit. I'm so glad!" + +Mrs. Dormer-Smith's countenance expressed anything but gladness; and she +privately informed May that it would be impossible to do more than send +cards to these ladies by the servant. "I _can't_ have them here on my +Thursdays, you know, May," she said plaintively, and with an injured +air. + +Three months ago May would have indignantly protested against this tone, +and would have pointed out that it would be unfeeling and ungrateful on +her part to slight her old friends. But she had by this time learned to +understand how unavailing were all such representations to convince Aunt +Pauline, in whose code personal sentiments of goodwill towards one's +neighbour had to yield to the higher law of duty towards "Society." + +"Perhaps," said May, after a pause, "if you cannot go yourself, Uncle +Frederick would take me to Miss Piper's some Sunday after church, when +we go for a walk with the children. You see they have written 'Sundays' +on the corner of their card." + +"Oh, do you think they would be satisfied with that sort of thing?" +asked her aunt. + +"They are most kind, good-natured old ladies," pursued May. "They +wouldn't mind the children at all. Indeed, they like children. And as to +coming to your Thursdays, Aunt Pauline, I really don't think they would +care to do it. Music is their great passion--at least, Miss Polly's +great passion--and when they are in London I think they go to concerts +morning, noon, and night. Miss Hadlow is different. Her grandpapa was a +Rivers," added May, blushing at her own wiliness, "and she is very +handsome, and sure to be asked out a great deal." + +But May's profound strategy did not end here. She coaxed Uncle Frederick +by representing what a treat it would be to Harold and Wilfred to go out +visiting with papa. Those young gentlemen, privately incited by hints of +possible plum-cake, were soon all eagerness to go; and when, on the very +next Sunday, May set off with her uncle and cousins to walk to Miss +Piper's lodgings, she felt that she had achieved a diplomatic triumph. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +Those Oldchester persons who considered Miss Piper's artistic tendencies +responsible for her occasional freedom of speech would have been +confirmed in their opinion as to the demoralizing tendency of Art and +Continental travel had they known how the daughters of the late Reverend +Reuben Piper employed Sunday afternoon in London. Miss Patty herself had +been startled at first by the idea of not only receiving callers, but +listening to profane music on that day; and the sisters had had some +discussion about it. When Patty demurred to the suggestion, Polly +inquired whether she truly and conscientiously considered that there was +anything more intrinsically wrong in seeing one's friends and opening +one's piano on a Sunday than on a Monday. + +"No; of course not _that_," answered Patty. "If I thought it wrong, I +shouldn't discuss it even with you. I should simply refuse to have +anything to do with it." + +"I know that, Patty," said her sister. "And I hope I am not altogether +without a conscience either." + +"No, Polly; but would you do this in Oldchester?" + +"Certainly not." + +"Then that's what I say. We ought not to have two weights and two +measures. If a thing is objectionable in Oldchester, it is objectionable +in London." + +"Not at all. Circumstances alter cases. I may think it a good thing to +take a sponge-bath every morning; but I should not take it in public." + +"Polly! How can you?" + +"What I mean is, that, so long as we are not a stumbling-block of +offence to other people, we have a right to please ourselves in this +matter." + +So Miss Polly's will prevailed, as it prevailed with her sister upon +most occasions; and the Sunday receptions became an established custom. + +The house in which the Miss Pipers lodged when they came to London was +in a street leading out of Hanover Square. The lower part of it was +occupied by a fashionable tailor--a tailor so genteel and exclusive that +he scorned any appeal to the general public, and merely had the word +"Groll" (which was his name) woven into the wire blind that shaded his +parlour window. The rooms above were sufficiently spacious, and were, +moreover, lofty--a great point in Miss Polly's opinion, as being good +for sound. They were furnished comfortably, albeit rather dingily. But a +few flower-pots, photographic albums, and bits of crochet-work, +scattered here and there, answered the purpose--if not of decoration, at +least of showing decorative intention. A grand pianoforte, bestriding a +large tract of carpet in the very middle of the front drawing-room, +conspicuously asserted its importance over all the rest of the +furniture. + +May and her uncle, accompanied by the two little boys, were shown +upstairs, and, the door of the drawing-room being thrown open, they +found themselves confronted by a rather numerous assembly. The last bars +of a pianoforte-piece were being performed amidst the profound silence +of the auditors, and the newly arrived party stood still near the door, +waiting until the music should come to an end. + +At the piano sat a smooth-faced young gentleman playing a series of +incoherent discords with an air of calm resolve. Immediately behind him +stood an elderly man of gentleman-like appearance, whom May found +herself watching, as one watches a person swallowing something nauseous, +and involuntarily expecting him to "make a face" as each new dissonance +was crashed out close to his ear. But his amiable countenance remained +so serene and satisfied, that the doubt crossed her mind whether he +might not possibly be deaf. In the embrasure of a window stood a very +tall, thin man, whose bald head was encircled by a fringe of grizzled +red hair, and whose eyes were fast shut. But as he stood up perfectly +erect, with his hands folded in a prayerful attitude on his waistcoat, +it was obvious that he was not asleep. Miss Piper was seated with her +back towards the door and her face towards the pianist, so that May +could not see it. But the composer of "Esther" nodded her head +approvingly at every fresh harmonic catastrophe which convulsed the +keyboard. Her satisfaction seemed to be shared by a stout lady of +majestic mien, who sat near her and fired off exclamations of eulogium, +such as "Charming!" "Wonderful modulation!" "Intensely wrought out," and +so on--like minute guns; and with a certain air of suppressed +exasperation, as though she suspected that there _might_ be persons who +didn't like it, and was ready to defy them to the death. A dark-eyed +girl, very plainly dressed, and holding a little leather music-roll in +her hand, occupied a modest place behind this lady. Sitting close to the +dark-eyed girl was a man of about thirty-five years old, well-featured, +short in stature, and with reddish blonde hair and moustaches. This +personage's countenance expressed a singular mixture of audacity and +servility. His smile was at once impudent and false, and he listened to +the music with a pretentious air of knowledge and authority. The rest of +the company, with Miss Patty, were relegated, during the performance, to +the back drawing-room, where tea was served; and the folding-doors were +closed, lest the clink of a teaspoon, or the sibillation of a whisper, +should penetrate to the music-room. But, in truth, nothing less than a +crash of all the crockery on the table, and a simultaneous bellow from +all the guests, could have competed successfully with the +pianoforte-piece then in progress. + +At length, with one final bang, it came to an end, and there was a +general stir and movement among the company. The amiable-looking elderly +man advanced towards Miss Piper with a most beaming smile, and said, in +a soft refined voice-- + +"That is the right way, isn't it? One knows the sort of thing said by +people who don't understand this school of music, the only music, in +fact; but I have long been sure that this is the right way." + +"Of course, it is the right way," exclaimed the stout lady, breathing +indignation, not loud but deep, against all heretics and schismatics. + +"We are so very, very much obliged to you, Mr. Turner," said the +hostess. "That new composition of yours is really wonderful!" (And so, +indeed, it was.) + +As Miss Piper went up to the young gentleman who had been playing the +piano, and who remained quite cool and unmoved by the demonstrations of +his audience, she caught sight of the group near the door, and hastened +to welcome them. May was received with enthusiasm, and her uncle with +one of Miss Piper's best old-fashioned curtsies. Mr. Dormer-Smith began +to apologize for bringing his little boys, and to explain that he had +not expected to find so numerous an assembly; but Miss Piper cut him +short with hearty assurances that they were very welcome, and that her +sister in particular was very fond of children. Then, the doors being by +this time reopened, she ushered them all into the back room, crying-- + +"Patty! Patty! Who do you think is here? May Cheffington!" and then Miss +Patty added her welcome to that of her sister. + +Harold and Wilfred had been shyly dumb hitherto, although once or twice +during the pianoforte-playing Wilfred had only saved himself from +breaking into a shrill wail and begging to be taken home, by burying his +face in the skirts of May's dress; but on beholding plum-cake and other +good things set forth on the tea-table, they felt that life had +compensations still. They took a fancy also to the Miss Pipers, finding +their eccentric ornaments a mine of interest; and before three minutes +had elapsed Harold was devouring a liberal slice of cake, and Wilfred, +seated close to kind Miss Patty, was diversifying his enjoyment of the +cake by a close and curious inspection of that lady's bracelet, taken +off for his amusement, and endeavouring to count the various geological +specimens of which it was composed. + +As soon as May appeared in the back drawing-room, Constance Hadlow rose +from her seat in a corner behind the tea-table, and greeted her. + +"Dear Conny," cried May, "I am so glad to see you! Then you are staying +with the Miss Pipers! I guessed you were." + +Mr. Dormer-Smith was then duly presented to Miss Hadlow. Constance was +in very good looks, and her beauty and the quiet ease of her manner made +a very favourable impression on May's uncle. + +Miss Hadlow found a seat for him near herself; and then turned again to +May, saying, "There is another Oldchester friend whom you have not yet +spoken to. You remember my cousin Owen?" + +May's experience of society had not yet toned down her manner to "that +repose which stamps the caste of Vere de Vere." She heartily shook hands +with the young man, exclaiming, "This is a day of joyful surprises. I +didn't expect to see you, Mr. Rivers. Now, if we only had the dear +canon, and Mrs. Hadlow, and granny, I think I should be _quite_ happy." + +"You are not a bit changed," said Owen Rivers, giving May his chair, and +standing beside her in the lounging attitude so familiar to her in the +garden at College Quad. + +"Changed! What should change me?" + +"The world." + +"What nonsense!" cried May, with her old schoolgirl bluntness. "As if I +had not been living in the world all my life!" + +Mr. Rivers raised his eyebrows with an amused smile. + +"Well, _isn't_ it nonsense," pursued May, "to talk as if a few hundred +or thousand persons in one town--though that town is London--made up the +world?" + +"It is a phrase which every one uses, and every one understands." + +"But every one does not understand it alike." + +"Perhaps not." + +"What did you mean by it, just now?" + +"What could I mean but the world of fashion, _the_ world par excellence? +Rightly so-called, no doubt, since it affords the best field for the +exercise of the higher and nobler human faculties. Those who are not in +it exist, indeed; but with a half-developed, inferior kind of life, like +a jelly-fish." + +May laughed her frank young laugh. + +"You're not changed either!" she said emphatically. + +"Did you enjoy the performance with which that young gentleman has been +obliging us?" asked Rivers. + +"I only heard the end of it." + +"Very diplomatically answered." + +"Are you fond of music, Mr. Rivers?" + +"Yes, of _music_--very fond." + +"So am I; but I know very little about it. Granny is a good musician." + +"How fond you are of Mrs. Dobbs!" said Rivers. + +"I am very proud of her, too," answered May quickly. + +Owen Rivers looked at her with a singular expression, half-admiring, +half-tenderly, pitying--as one might look at a child whose innocent +candour is as yet "unspotted from the world." + +"I suppose you know all the people here," said May, looking round on the +assembly. + +"I know who they are, most of them." + +"That gentleman who was standing by himself at the window--the tall +gentleman--who is he?" + +"Mr. Jawler, a great musical critic." + +"And the pleasant-faced man who seemed so delighted with the playing?" + +"Mr. Sweeting. He is an enthusiastic admirer and patron of young +Cleveland Turner, the pianist: a very kindly, amiable, courteous +gentleman, with much money and leisure, as I am told." + +"That stout lady talking to Miss Piper seems to be musical also?" + +"That is Lady Moppett: a very good sort of woman, I dare say, but +fanatical. She would bowstring all us dogs of Christians who believe in +melody." + +"And who is that disagreeable little man in the corner?" + +"Disagreeable----?" + +"The little man with moustaches. There. Close to the nice-looking, +dark-eyed girl." + +"Oh, that man? But he is not considered disagreeable by the world in +general, Miss Cheffington! He is by way of being a rather fascinating +individual: Signor Vincenzo Valli, singing-master, and composer of +songs. I wonder why he condescends to favour Miss Piper with his +presence." + +"Is it a condescension?" + +"A great condescension. Signor Valli is nothing, if not aristocratic." + +At this moment there was a general movement in the other room. The young +pianist seated himself once more at the instrument. The various groups +of talkers dispersed, and took their places to listen. May whispered +nervously to Miss Patty, that perhaps she and her uncle had better go, +and take away the children before the music commenced. + +"I am so afraid," she said naďvely, "that Willy may cry if that +gentleman plays again." + +Miss Patty found a way out of the difficulty by taking the children away +to her own room. It was no deprivation to her, she said, not to hear Mr. +Turner play. + +So the two little boys, laden with good things, and further enticed by +the promise of picture-books, trotted off very contentedly under Miss +Patty's wing. Mr. Dormer-Smith had passed into the front drawing-room, +where he was chatting with Lady Moppett, who proved to be an old +acquaintance of his. May was following her uncle to explain to him about +the children, when Miss Piper hurried up to her with an anxious and +important mien. + +"Sit down, my dear," she said; "sit down. Cleveland Turner is going to +play that fine Beethoven, the one in F minor, the opera 57, you know. +Mr. Jawler particularly wishes to hear him perform it." + +May glanced round, and seeing no place vacant near at hand, returned to +the other room, and took a seat close to the folding-doors, which were +now left open. + +"What is our sentence?" asked Rivers. + +"Do you mean what is he going to play? A piece of Beethoven's." + +"Ah! Well, at least he will have something to say this time. Remains to +be seen whether he can say it." + +Mr. Cleveland Turner performed the _sonata appassionata_ correctly, +although coldly, and with a certain hardness of style and touch. But the +beauty of the composition made itself irresistibly felt, and when the +piece was finished there was a murmur of applause. Mr. Jawler opened his +eyes, inclined his head, opened his eyes again, and said, apparently to +himself, "Yes, yes--oh yes!" which seemed to be interpreted as an +expression of approval; for Miss Piper looked radiant, and even the icy +demeanour of Mr. Cleveland Turner thawed half a degree or so. Signor +Valli had applauded in a peculiar fashion--opening his arms wide, and +bringing his gloved hands together with apparent force, but so as to +produce no sound whatever. And as he went through this dumb show of +applause, he was talking all the time to the dark-eyed girl near him, +with a sneering smile on his face. + +Miss Piper bustled up to them. "Dear Miss Bertram," she said, "you must +let us hear your charming voice. Mr. Jawler has heard of you. He would +like you to sing something. Signor Valli," with clasped hands, "_might_ +I entreat you to accompany Miss Bertram in one of your own exquisite +compositions? It would be such a treat--such a musical feast, I may +say!" + +Miss Bertram unrolled her music-case in a business-like way, and spread +its contents before the singing-master. + +"What are you going to sing, Clara?" asked Lady Moppett, turning her +head over her shoulder. + +"Signor Valli will choose," answered the young lady quietly. + +Valli selected a song and offered his arm to Miss Bertram to lead her to +the piano. She did not accept it instantly, being occupied in replacing +the rest of her music in its case; and with a sudden, impatient gesture, +Valli wheeled round and walked to the piano alone. Miss Bertram followed +him composedly, and took her place beside him. May looked at her with +interest, as she stood there during the few bars of introduction to the +song. + +Clara Bertram was not beautiful, but she had a singularly attractive +face. Her dark eyes were not nearly so large, nor so finely set, as +Constance Hadlow's, but they were infinitely more expressive, and her +rather wide mouth revealed a magnificent set of teeth when she smiled or +sang. The song selected for her was one of those compositions which, if +ill-sung, or even only tolerably sung, would pass unnoticed. But Miss +Bertram sang it to perfection. Her voice was very beautiful, with +something peculiarly pathetic in its vibrating tones, and she pronounced +the Italian words with a pure, unaffected, and finished accent. + +"Oh, how lovely!" exclaimed May, under her breath, when the song was +over. + +"Isn't it?" said Miss Piper, who happened to be near enough to catch the +words. "I am so glad you are pleased with her! Do you think Mrs. +Dormer-Smith would like her to sing now and then at a _soirée_? She +wants to get known in really good houses." + +Before May could answer the little woman had hurried off again, and in +another minute was leading Miss Bertram up to Mr. Jawler, who spoke to +the young singer with evident affability, keeping his eyes open for a +full minute at a time. + +Meanwhile Valli was left alone at the piano, and an ugly look came into +his face as he glanced round and saw himself neglected. But his +expression changed in an instant with curious suddenness when Miss +Hadlow drew near, and, leaning on the instrument, addressed some words +of compliment to him. + +"Will you not let us hear you sing, Signor Valli?" she said presently. + +Valli merely shook his head in answer, keeping his eyes fixed on Miss +Hadlow's face with a look of bold admiration, and letting his fingers +stray softly over the keys. + +"Oh, that is a terrible disappointment!" + +"I don't think so," replied the singing-master, speaking very good +English. + +"It is, indeed." + +Again he shook his head. + +"It is to me, at all events." + +"Well, I shall sing for you; a little song _sotto voce_, all to +ourselves." + +"Oh, but that would be too selfish on my part, to enjoy your singing all +to myself." + +"It is a very good plan to be selfish," returned Valli; and forthwith he +began a little Neapolitan love-song--murmuring, rather than singing +it--and still keeping his eyes fixed on Miss Hadlow. + +At the first sound of his voice, low and subdued though it was, Miss +Piper held up her finger to bespeak silence. There was a general hush. +Every one looked towards the piano, against which Constance was still +leaning, with her back to the rest of the company. She made a little +movement to withdraw to a seat, but Valli immediately ceased singing, +and, under cover of a noisy _ritournelle_ which he played on the piano, +said to her, "I am singing for you. If you go away, my song will go away +too." + +"But I can't stand here by myself, Signor Valli," protested Constance, +by no means displeased. At this moment Miss Piper approached to implore +the _maestro_ to continue, and Constance whispered to her in a few words +the state of the case. + +"Caprices of genius, my dear," said the little woman. "When you have +seen as much of professional people as I have, you will not be +astonished." Then to Valli, "Will you not continue that exquisite air? +We are all dying to hear it." + +"Yes; on condition that you both stay there and inspire me," answered +he, with an unconcealed sneer. + +Miss Piper, however, took him at his word, and, linking her arm in +Constance's, remained standing close to the instrument. Valli, upon +this, resumed his song. He gave it now at the full pitch of his voice, +addressing it ostentatiously to Miss Hadlow, and throwing an exaggerated +amount of expression into the love passages. Miss Piper was enchanted, +and led off the applause enthusiastically. Valli was soon surrounded by +a group of admirers, Mr. Dormer-Smith among them. May was conscious of a +painful impression, which destroyed any pleasure she might have had in +the song. And that Owen Rivers shared this impression was proved by his +walking up to the piano, and unceremoniously putting his cousin's hand +on his arm to lead her away. + +"Oh, don't take Conny away, Mr. Rivers," cried Miss Piper. "Signor Valli +is going to favour us with some more of his delicious national airs." + +"Come and sit down, Constance," said Owen authoritatively. "Let me get +you a seat also, Miss Piper," he added. "It can scarcely be necessary +for the due exhibition of this gentleman's national airs to keep two +ladies standing." + +"Oh no, no; please don't mind me. I'm quite comfortable," said Miss +Piper, with a shade of vexation on her good-humoured round face. + +Constance remained perfectly calm and self-possessed; only a faint smile +and a sparkle in her eyes revealed a gratified vanity as she took the +chair near May, to which her cousin conducted her. + +Miss Piper shrugged up her shoulders and pursed up her mouth. "He has no +idea what artists are," she whispered in Lady Moppett's ear. "And, +besides, poor dear young man, he's so desperately in love with his +cousin that he can't bear her to be even looked at. I only hope Signor +Valli won't take offence." + +But Valli, finding himself now the object of general attention, was very +gracious. He sang song after song without the inspiration of Miss +Hadlow's handsome face opposite to him; and he sang far better than +before;--with less exaggeration, and managing his naturally defective +voice with singular skill and _finesse_. But the praise and flattery +which his hearers poured forth unstintingly did not seem quite to +satisfy him. His glance wandered restlessly, as though in search of +something; and finally, after a very clever rendering of an old air by +Carissimi, he addressed himself suddenly to Miss Bertram, who was +standing somewhat apart in the background, and asked, in Italian-- + +"Is the Signorina content?" + +"I always like your singing of that aria," she answered, in a quiet, +matter-of-fact tone. + +"Like it, indeed!" exclaimed Lady Moppett, with her severest manner. "I +should think you did like it, Clara! And you ought to profit by it. To +hear singing so finished--of such a perfect school--is a lesson for +you." + +Valli, upon this, made a low bow to Lady Moppett--a bow so low as to +seem almost burlesque. As he raised his face again he turned it towards +Miss Bertram with a subtle smile, saying, "Miladi is such a judge! Her +praise is very precious." Clara, however, kept an impassive countenance, +and declined to meet the glance he shot at her. Then Valli made a second +and equally low bow to the hostess, and, cutting short her ecstatic +compliments and thanks, left the room without further ceremony. + +The party now broke up. Lady Moppett departed with Miss Bertram and Mr. +Jawler, to whom she offered a seat in her carriage. Mr. Cleveland Turner +and his patron, Mr. Sweeting, went away together. In a few minutes there +remained Mr. Dormer-Smith, with his niece, and Owen Rivers. Miss Patty +bustled in with the two children. + +"Dear me," said she. "Is the music all over? Well, now let us be +comfortable." + +But Mr. Dormer-Smith declared he must reluctantly bring his visit to an +end. "I don't know how to thank you," said he to Miss Patty, "for your +kindness to my children. I hope you will forgive me for bringing them." + +Miss Patty heartily assured him that there was nothing to forgive, and +that she hoped he would bring them again. She had gathered from the +artless utterances of Harold and Wilfred an idea of their home life, +which made her feel compassionately towards them. + +As for Miss Polly, she was in the highest spirits. Mr. Jawler and Signor +Valli, both stars of considerable magnitude in the musical world, had +shone for her with unclouded lustre. It had been, she thought, a highly +successful afternoon. So also thought Harold and Wilfred. And perhaps +these were the only three persons who had enjoyed themselves thoroughly +and unaffectedly. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +The London season proceeded with its usual accumulation of engagements, +its usual breathless chase after half-hours that have got too long a +start ever to be recaptured, its usual fleeting satisfactions and +abiding disappointments, its snubs, sneers, smiles, follies, falsehoods, +and flirtations. The rushing current of fashionable life in London +carried little May Cheffington on its surface, together with many brazen +vessels of a very different kind. Constance Hadlow observed +half-enviously to her friend that she was thoroughly "in the swim," a +phrase which May found singularly inappropriate in her own case, feeling +that there was no more question of a swim than in shooting Niagara! To +her, especially, the whirl of society was confusing, phantasmagoric, and +unreal. All the faces were new to her, most of the names awoke no +associations in her mind. On the other hand, this peculiar inexperience +gave freshness to her impressions and keenness to her insight. She had +none of those social traditions which, nine times out of ten, supply the +place of private judgment. She found her impression of many personages +startlingly at variance with the label which the world had agreed to +affix to them. It is possible to be at once simple and shrewd, just as +it is possible to be both _rusé_ and dull-witted. + +May's simplicity was not of the blundering thick-skinned type; and her +ingenuous freshness was admired by a great many persons, among whom was +Mrs. Griffin. Far from being offended by May's moral indignation against +those who accepted the hospitality of vulgar people, and then ridiculed +them for being vulgar, Mrs. Griffin entirely approved her sentiments. +Mrs. Griffin herself deplored, as she often said, "the servility towards +mere money, which was degrading the tone of society." And whenever any +new instance of it came to her knowledge, she would shake her head, and +exclaim, softly, "Oh, Mammon, Mammon!" But this did not, of course, +apply to her daughter the duchess, who sometimes went to the +Aaronssohns'. Her daughter was so very great a lady as to be above +ordinary restrictions. Other people worshipped Mammon; the duchess only +patronized Mammon--which was, surely, a very different thing! + +Aunt Pauline, however, derived no gratification from May's +unconventional frankness. It was, on the contrary, a source of constant +anxiety to her; and she felt daily more and more that it would be a +relief to get May off her hands. Introducing her niece into +society--even although the niece was a pretty girl, and a Cheffington to +boot--had not proved so pleasing a task as she had anticipated. There +was, to her thinking, a strange perversity in the girl's character, +which made her callous where she should be sensitive, and sensitive +where she might well be indifferent. For instance, she showed culpable +coolness about her great-uncle Castlecombe and his family, and provoking +warmth about her Oldchester friends. Not that May was apt to speak much +of her life in Oldchester. In the natural course of things she would +have talked freely and eagerly about her dear granny; but very soon +after her arrival in London, her affectionate loquacity on this subject +received a check. Aunt Pauline had hinted, with her usual mild +politeness, that it would be desirable not to speak of Mrs. Dobbs before +Smithson or any of the servants. Seeing the startled look in May's eyes, +and the indignant flush on May's cheeks, her aunt added diplomatically, +"Your father would not like it, May. I am trying to carry out his +expressed wishes. That ought to be enough for you." + +It was enough, at all events, to close May's lips. Her love and pride +combined to make her silent. She tried to persuade herself that her +father, at all events, had some good and reasonable motive for this +prohibition, and that he, at least, was not ashamed of Mrs. +Dobbs--ashamed of granny! The very thought made her hot with anger. But +that Aunt Pauline was ashamed of her was too clear to May's honest mind. +Painful as this conviction was, however, she came by degrees to hold it +rather in sorrow than in anger, and to regard her aunt with something of +the same indulgent toleration that Mrs. Dobbs had once expressed to Jo +Weatherhead. For Mrs. Dormer-Smith's worldliness was not at all of a +cynical sort. It was rather in the nature of a deep-rooted superstition +conscientiously held. + +To some points of her worldly creed Pauline clung with religious +fervour. One of these was the duty incumbent on a dowerless young lady +to marry well. To marry _very_ well was to marry a man with birth and +money; but to secure a husband with money only--provided there were +enough of it--she allowed to be marrying well. She did not look at the +matter with vulgar flippancy. It was, no doubt, a sacrifice for a +well-born woman to become the wife of an underbred man, however wealthy. +But well-born women were no less called upon than their humbler sisters +to make sacrifices in a good cause. + +None of the Castlecombes much frequented fashionable society, and Mrs. +Dormer-Smith had hitherto resigned herself, without much difficulty, to +seeing very little of her noble kinsfolk. But when May was introduced, +her aunt thought it desirable to cultivate them. Lord Castlecombe's big, +gloomy, family mansion in town had been let ever since his wife's death +many years ago; and whenever his lordship came to London to give his +vote in the House of Peers--which was almost the sole object that had +power to bring him up from the country--he occupied furnished lodgings. +Of his two sons, both bachelors, the elder was governor of a colony on +the other side of the globe, and the younger held a permanent post under +Government. This Lucius Cheffington occasionally met Mr. Dormer-Smith at +the club, and exchanged a few words with him. Captain Cheffington, on +his penultimate visit to England, when his ungrateful country declined +to provide for him, had quarrelled with all the Castlecombes, and had +made himself particularly obnoxious to Lucius; for Lucius, whom his +cousin considered a solemn ass, held a lucrative place, whilst Augustus, +who knew himself to be a remarkably clever fellow, with immense +knowledge of the world, was relegated to poverty and obscurity. But +Pauline had not quarrelled with them. She would not willingly have +quarrelled with any one, least of all with her Uncle Castlecombe and his +family. And as to Mr. Dormer-Smith, it chanced that the one point of +sympathy between himself and his cousin-in-law Lucius was the latter's +cordial dislike to Gus. Nevertheless, the dislike did not descend to +Gus's daughter. Lucius was pleased to approve of his young kinswoman, +none the less, perhaps, that it was evident her father troubled himself +little about her. + +Mr. Dormer-Smith knew very well that the most effectual way of winning +Lord Castlecombe's goodwill for his grand-niece was to assure his +lordship that he would not be called upon to do anything for her. He, +therefore, confidentially informed Lucius that the girl's grandmother in +Oldchester was defraying her expenses, and would, no doubt, eventually +provide for her altogether. The sagacity of this course was proved soon +afterwards, when Lucius announced that his father would come and dine +with Pauline the next time he should be in town, and make Miranda's +acquaintance. + +This was well. And even as to May's Oldchester friends matters turned +out better than her aunt could have hoped. In the first place, the +Misses Piper showed no disposition whatever to force themselves on Mrs. +Dormer-Smith. That being the case, there was no objection to May's going +to see them every Sunday with her uncle and the children. To Harold and +Wilfred these Sunday visits were such a delightful break in the dull +routine of their lives that their father would have endured considerable +boredom and discomfort rather than deprive them of it. But, in fact, he +was not bored. Whenever the music became too severe, he could withdraw +into the tea-room, where he always found some one to chat with. Possibly +he, too, felt these Sundays to be a break in the monotony of his daily +life. There was a cordial, hearty tone about the hostesses which was +decidedly pleasant, although he was aware that Pauline would pronounce +it sadly underbred. But Pauline was not there to be shocked, and there +were some red drops in Mr. Dormer-Smith's veins (he was not quite so +blue-blooded as his wife) which warmed to this plebeian kindness. +Sometimes even the moisture would come into his eyes when he watched his +little boys clinging familiarly about Miss Patty as they never clung +about their mother. The good-natured old maid had won the children's +hearts completely. They were overheard one day in a lively discussion as +to which was the prettier, Miss Patty or Cousin May: Wilfred inclining, +on the whole, to award the palm of beauty to his cousin, but Harold +powerfully arguing in favour of Miss Patty that she had such "beautiful +curls" (an ingenuous, and probably unique, tribute to the ginger-bread +coloured wig!) and a "shiny brooch like a butterfly." + +Then Constance Hadlow, whom Mrs. Dormer-Smith had unwillingly invited to +lunch one day with her former schoolfellow, proved to be in every +respect "most presentable," as Aunt Pauline herself candidly admitted. +So presentable was she in fact, so handsome, self-possessed, and even +(on the mother's side) well connected, that there might have arisen +objections of a different sort against receiving her, as being a +dangerous competitor for that solemn duty of marrying well. But a chance +word of May's to the effect that young Bransby had long been an admirer +of Constance, and that they were supposed by many persons in Oldchester +to be engaged to each other, relieved Aunt Pauline's mind on that score. + +"It would be very suitable," she said approvingly. "I think Mr. Bransby +a very nice person; so quiet." + +The subject of this glowing eulogium had not appeared at Mrs. +Dormer-Smith's receptions for some time. He had been ordered into the +country, to cure a violent cold by change of air; and although he much +disliked leaving town at that moment, he never thought of neglecting his +physician's advice. Theodore's mother had been consumptive; and the fear +that he inherited her constitution made him anxiously careful of his +health. Immediately on his return to London he presented himself, about +half-past five o'clock one Thursday afternoon, in Mrs. Dormer-Smith's +drawing-room, and experienced a shock of disagreeable surprise on +finding Constance Hadlow seated near May at the tea-table. May, +innocently supposing that she was doing him a good turn, gave him her +place, and went to another part of the room. But Constance coolly +greeted him with a "How d'ye do, Theodore?" in a tone of the politest +insipidity, which he sincerely approved of. Nevertheless, he would +rather not have found her there. On glancing round he was struck by +several innovations. In the first place, the pianoforte--usually a dumb +piece of furniture in Mrs. Dormer-Smith's house--stood open, with some +loose sheets of music lying on it; and Signor Vincenzo Valli sat, teacup +in hand, smiling his false smile beside Mrs. Griffin. Theodore knew +perfectly well who Signor Valli was; and it needed not Mrs. Griffin's +gracious demeanour to instruct this rising young man that Valli was +sufficiently the fashion to be worth being civil to. But he was +surprised to find him there. His surprises, however, were not at an end; +for whom should he behold in familiar conversation with a gentleman at +the opposite side of the room but Owen Rivers? And near them was--he +could hardly believe his eyes--Mr. Bragg! It seemed to Theodore as if +there had been a conspiracy amongst his acquaintance to make all sorts +of fresh combinations on the social chess-board during his brief +absence. He felt that it was necessary for him to take an accurate +survey of the new positions. But he saw no immediate opportunity of +doing so; for there was no one at hand to interrogate, except Constance +Hadlow, who, of course, knew nothing. She must be spoken to, however; +but he would cut the conversation as short as possible. + +Thoughts--even the weighty thoughts of a diplomatically-minded young +gentleman--move quickly, and there was scarcely any perceptible pause +between Constance's greeting and his gravely polite remark that it was +quite an unexpected pleasure to see her there. + +"Yes; I came up a few weeks ago with the Pipers." + +"Oh! you are staying with _them_?" (This with a strong flavour of his +superior manner; for the Pipers were really nobodies.) + +"And what have you been doing with yourself? I haven't seen you +anywhere," said Constance coolly. + +"I have been out of town. But in any case we might possibly not have +met. Have you been going out much?" + +"Oh, as much as most people, I suppose. I was at the Aaronssohns' dance +last night." + +"The Aaronssohns!" exclaimed Theodore. (This time he was so astonished +that he spoke quite naturally.) "I didn't know that you knew them." + +"Oh, I don't know them." + +"Then how did you get--I mean----" + +"How did I get there? Dear me, Theodore, your visit to the country has +given you a refreshing buttercup-and-daisy kind of air! Do you suppose +that the Aaronssohns' ball-room was filled with their personal friends +and acquaintances? Mrs. Griffin got me an invitation." + +Now to be presented to Mrs. Griffin and to be invited to the +Aaronssohns' were pet objects of Theodore Bransby's social ambition, and +he had not yet compassed either of them. + +"Oh, indeed!" said he, struggling, under the disadvantage of conscious +ill-humour, to maintain that air of indifference to all things in heaven +and earth which he imagined to be the completest manifestation of high +breeding. "I suppose that was achieved through Mrs. Dormer-Smith's +influence." + +"Not altogether. It was May Cheffington who first introduced me to Mrs. +Griffin. She's just the same dear little thing as ever--I don't mean +Mrs. Griffin! But Mrs. Griffin found out that she had known my +grandfather Rivers. I believe they were sweethearts in their pinafores a +hundred years ago; so she has been awfully nice to me." + +While Constance was speaking, Theodore's eye lighted on Mr. Bragg, solid +and solemn, wearing that look of melancholy respectability which is +associated with the British workman in his Sunday clothes. + +"Oh, and Mr. Bragg was at the Aaronssohns', too," said Constance, +following the young man's glance. "Fancy Mr. Bragg at a ball!" + +"Did Mrs. Griffin know _his_ grandfather?" asked Theodore, with a sneer. + +It was clear to Constance that he had quite lost his temper. Otherwise +he would not, she felt sure, have said anything in such bad taste. But +she replied calmly-- + +"I don't think Mr. Bragg ever had a grandfather. But he is rich enough +to do without one. It is poor persons like you and me who find +grandfathers necessary--or, at all events, useful." + +Theodore understood the sarcasm of this quiet speech, and it helped him +to master his growing irritation. There are some natures on which a +moral buffet acts as a sedative. + +"Was it your friend Miss Piper who brought Mr. Bragg here?" he asked, +showing no sign of having felt the blow, except a slight increase of +pallor. + +"Oh dear, no! The Pipers have never been here themselves, except to +leave a card at the door. This is not the kind of society they care for, +you know. I saw Mr. Bragg come in to-day with May's cousin, Mr. Lucius +Cheffington, but I can't say whether he first introduced him or not." + +"Is that Mr. Lucius Cheffington?" + +"That man talking to Owen?--Yes." + +"Mrs. Dormer-Smith has rather a mixed collection this afternoon. I see +Valli over there. You know who I mean? That short, foreign man near----" + +"Oh yes; Signor Valli is a great ally of mine. He's delightful, I think. +His airs and graces are so amusing. I can tell you how _he_ comes to be +here, if you like," returned Constance placidly. She was secretly +enjoying Theodore's discomfiture. He had expected to play the part of +town mouse, and to patronize and instruct her. "The fact is," she +continued, "that Lady Moppett begged Mr. Dormer-Smith to induce his wife +to have her _protégée_, Miss Bertram, to sing here on Thursday +afternoons, promising, as a kind of bait, to get Valli to come too. I +don't think Mrs. Dormer-Smith particularly wished to have Miss Bertram; +but she thought it would be nice to have Valli, who is run after by the +best people, and is very difficult to get hold of. So the negotiation +succeeded. It is too funny how one has to _ménager_ and coax these +professional people. If you don't want any more information just now, I +think I will go and speak to Mrs. Griffin." Whereupon Constance glided +away, self-possessed and graceful, and with a becoming touch of +animation bestowed by the consciousness that she had been mistress of +the situation. + +Theodore looked decidedly blank for the moment. No one bestowed any +attention on him. As he sat watching, he was struck by the evidently +familiar way in which Owen Rivers and Mr. Cheffington were talking +together. He himself particularly desired to be introduced to Lucius +Cheffington, but a secret, grudging feeling made him unwilling to owe +the introduction to Rivers. Presently Rivers moved away to join May and +Miss Bertram, who were turning over some music together, and Mr. Bragg +took his place near Mr. Cheffington. This was the opportunity which +Theodore had wished for. He at once rose and walked up to them. +Theodore's manner was never servile, but there was an added gravity in +his demeanour towards certain persons, intended to show that he thought +them worth taking seriously; and this tribute he rendered to Mr. Bragg. +For, although the young man had by no means forgotten Mr. Bragg's +deplorable insensibility to an enlightened view of the currency +question, yet he prided himself on thoroughly understanding that the +great tin-tack maker's claims to consideration rested on a solid basis +quite apart from culture or intelligence. + +"I wish," said Theodore, after the first salutations, "that you would do +me the favour to make me known to Mr. Lucius Cheffington. I know so many +members of his family, but I have not the pleasure of his personal +acquaintance." + +Mr. Bragg eyed him with his usual heavy deliberation. "Oh," said he +slowly, "this is Mr.--I don't call to mind your Christian name--eh? Oh +yes--Mr. Theodore Bransby." + +Mr. Lucius Cheffington made an unusually low bow, his pride being of the +sort which manifests itself in the most ceremonious politeness. + +He was a small, lean man, with a pale face deeply lined by ill-health +and a fretful temperament. He had closely shaven cheeks and chin; heavy, +grizzled moustaches; and very thick, grizzled hair, which he wore rather +long. His voice was harsh, though subdued, and he spoke very slowly, +making such long pauses as occasionally tempted unwary strangers to +finish his sentences for him. A double eyeglass with tortoise-shell rims +was set astride his nose; and behind the glasses two dark, near-sighted +eyes looked out, somewhat superciliously, upon a world which fell sadly +short of what a Cheffington had a right to expect. + +"I have the pleasure of knowing your cousin, Captain Augustus +Cheffington, very well indeed," said Theodore. + +Lucius bowed again and adjusted his eyeglass. A shade of surprise and +annoyance passed over his face. His Cousin Augustus had been a sore +subject with the family for years; and latterly such rumours as had +reached England about him had not made the subject more agreeable. + +"I have often thought," pursued Theodore, quite unaware that his +listener was regarding him with a mixture of astonishment and disfavour, +"that it is a great pity a man of Captain Cheffington's abilities and +accomplishments should live out of England; unless, indeed, he held some +diplomatic appointment abroad. In my opinion these are times in which +the great old families should hold fast by the public service. As I +ventured to say to one of our county members the other day----" And so +on, and so on. Having thus happily launched himself, Theodore proceeded +in his best Parliamentary style: holding forth with a power of +self-complacent and steady boredom beyond his years. A sensitive person +would have been petrified by the unsympathizing stare from behind those +tortoise-shell-rimmed glasses; but Theodore was not sensitive to such +influences: being fortified by the _ŕ priori_ conviction that he must +naturally make a favourable impression. And since Lucius Cheffington +could not, compatibly with his own dignity, plainly tell him that he +considered him a presumptuous young ass, there was nothing to check his +flow of eloquence. + +But at length the cold stare was softened, and the pale, peevish, +furrowed face turned to Theodore with a faint show of interest. Some +casual word of this intrusive young man's seemed to show that he came +from Oldchester. + +"Do you know--a--Mrs.--a--Dobbs?" asked Lucius, speaking for the first +time, and edging in this point-blank question between two of Theodore's +neatly-turned sentences setting forth a political parallel between the +late Lord Tweedledum and the present Right Honourable Tweedledee. + +It was a shock; but Theodore bore it stoically. + +"Not exactly. I have spoken with her. Mrs. Dobbs is not precisely----in +our set," he answered, with a slight smile at one corner of his mouth, +intended to demolish Mrs. Dobbs. + +"I thought that, being a native of Oldchester, you might--a--be----" +begun Mr. Cheffington in his low, harsh tones. + +"Be acquainted with her? Really----" + +"I thought that, being a native of Oldchester, you might--a--be able to +tell me something about her." + +"Not much, I fear," replied Theodore. He felt tempted to add that in +Oldchester there were natives and natives. + +"She's--a--rich, isn't she?" pursued Mr. Cheffington. + +"Not that I know of," answered Theodore, staring a little. + +"Rich is, perhaps, too much to say. At any rate, she is--a--quite +well----" + +"Well off? Oh, as to that----" + +"At any rate, she is quite well-to-do, I presume!" + +Theodore had never considered the question, but he said, "Oh yes," at a +venture; and then suddenly a light flashed upon his mind. Perhaps Mrs. +Dobbs _was_ rich, after all. Though she lived in so humble a style she +might, perhaps, have laid by money. + +"She appears to be a person of--a--great--good sense," said Mr. Lucius +Cheffington, remembering how Mrs. Dormer-Smith had stated that she +declined to give any money-assistance to Augustus. And after that he +made a second very low bow, and brought the interview to an end. + +Little had Theodore Bransby expected to hear Mrs. Dobbs discussed and +approved by a member of the noble house of Castlecombe. He had noticed +that Mrs. Dormer-Smith systematically avoided any mention of the vulgar +old woman. But then Mrs. Dormer-Smith was a person of the very finest +taste. And, to be sure, it could scarcely be expected that Mr. Lucius +Cheffington should feel Augustus's _mésalliance_ as acutely as it was +felt by Augustus's own sister. Besides, if, as really seemed possible, +the ironmonger's widow turned out to be a moneyed person----! But it +must be recorded of Theodore, that not even the idea of her having money +reconciled him to Mrs. Dobbs. He said to himself afterwards, when he was +meditating on what he had heard, that nothing so convincingly proved how +much he was in love with Miss Cheffington, as his being ready to forgive +her even her grandmother! + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +George Frederick Cheffington, fifth Viscount Castlecombe, was, in many +ways, a very clever old man. He was extremely ignorant of most things +which can be taught by books. But he had a thorough acquaintance with +practical agriculture, considerable keenness in finance, and a quick eye +to detect the weaknesses of his fellow men. On the other hand, his +overweening self-esteem led him to think that what he knew comprised +what was chiefly, if not solely, worth knowing, and his avarice +occasionally overrode his native talent for business. In his youth he +had been idle and extravagant. The former vice gave him the reputation +of a dunce at school and college, and, by a reaction which belonged to +his character, made him defiantly contemptuous of bookish men, with one +single exception, presently to be noted. As to his extravagance, that +was effectually cured by the death of his father. From the moment that +he came into possession of the family estates, which he did at about +thirty years of age, his income was administered with sagacious economy, +and by the time his two sons arrived at manhood Lord Castlecombe was a +very rich man. + +If he had a soft place in his heart, it was for his son Lucius, who +resembled his dead mother in features, and also, unfortunately, in the +delicacy of his constitution. George, his heir, was like +himself--strong, tough, and hardy. Lord Castlecombe secretly admired +Lucius's talents very much, and had been highly gratified when his +second son took honours at his University. That this success had not +been followed by any particularly brilliant results later, and that +Lucius had, as it were, stuck fast in his career, had even decidedly +failed in Parliament, and had finally been shelved in a Government post +which, although lucrative, was inglorious, his lordship attributed to +the increase of folly, incapacity, and roguery which he had observed in +the world during the last twenty years or so. That a Cheffington of such +abilities as Lucius should remain undistinguished was part of the +general decadence. In politics Lord Castlecombe was a Whig of the old +school; and though he continued to vote with his party, yet the only +point on which he was thoroughly in sympathy with the Liberals--a word, +by the way, which he had come greatly to dislike, as covering far too +wide a field--was that they fought the Tories. + +The person whom Lord Castlecombe most detested in all the world was his +nephew Augustus. He disliked his extravagance, his poverty, and the +biting insolence of his tongue. This antipathy had latterly added +poignancy to the old man's desire that his son should marry, and +transmit the Castlecombe title and estates in the direct line; for +Augustus was the next heir after his two cousins. It was true that the +contingency of Captain Cheffington succeeding seemed remote enough. +George Cheffington was only his senior by a couple of years, and Lucius +was his junior. But neither of them had married; and they were well on +in middle life. Lucius, indeed, seemed to have settled down into +incorrigible old bachelorhood. And although George, in answer to his +father's exhortations on the subject, always replied that he really +would think seriously of looking for a wife on his next visit to England +(persons suitable for that dignity not being to be found, it appeared, +in the particular portion of the globe where his official duties lay), +yet the years went by, and still there came no daughter-in-law, no +grandson to inherit the coronet and enjoy the broad acres of +Castlecombe. The idea that Augustus Cheffington might ever come to enjoy +them was gall and wormwood to their present owner. But he had never +breathed a word on this subject to any human being. + +Mrs. Dormer-Smith was gratified by her uncle's gracious acceptance of an +invitation to dine with her, soon after his arrival in town, about the +middle of June. Lord Castlecombe did not visit her often; but that was +from no ill-will on his part. In fact, he was rather fond of Pauline. He +considered her a bit of a goose. But he thought it by no means +unbecoming in a woman to be a bit of a goose. And she had thoroughbred +manners, a gentle voice, and was still agreeable to look upon. The old +lord disliked ugly women, and maintained that the sight of them +disagreed with him like bad wine. + +This consideration influenced Pauline in the choice of her guests to +meet her uncle. It was understood there was to be no large party. It had +been agreed that they should invite Mr. Bragg, who had bought a good +deal of land in Lord Castlecombe's county, was director of a company of +which the noble viscount was chairman, and of whom his lordship was +known to entertain a favourable opinion, as being a man who made no +disguise about his humble origin, and was free from the offensive +pretensions of many _nouveaux riches_. For, although Lord Castlecombe +willingly admitted that money could buy everything on which most people +valued themselves, he greatly disliked the notion that it could be +supposed to buy the things on which _he_ most valued himself. + +"Well, then, Frederick," said Mrs. Dormer-Smith, "that makes four men: +my uncle, Lucius, Mr. Bragg, and yourself. Then May and I; and I thought +of having that handsome Miss Hadlow. Uncle George likes to see pretty +faces. We want another woman, but really I don't know who there is +available at this moment. There are so few odd women who ain't frights," +pursued the anxious hostess plaintively. "If it were a man, now----There +are plenty of odd men to be had." Then, struck by a sudden inspiration, +she said, "Why shouldn't we have an odd man instead of another woman? +Uncle George gives me his arm, of course. You take Miss Hadlow, Mr. +Bragg takes May, and Lucius and the odd man go in together. Positively, +I think it would be the best arrangement of all." + +"I suppose Lucius wouldn't mind, eh?" + +"It certainly would be the best arrangement for _me_, at all events; for +if there are only those two girls, I can simply put my feet up on a sofa +when we go into the drawing-room, shut my eyes, and be quiet for half an +hour, which, of course, would be out of the question if there was any +woman who required to have civilities paid her; and in all probability I +shall be in a state of nervous prostration by Friday. This season with +May has tried me severely." + +Mr. Dormer-Smith offering no objection, there only remained to make +choice of the "odd man," and, after a moment's reflection, Pauline +decided on young Bransby. + +"Bransby!" exclaimed Mr. Dormer-Smith. "He's a dreadful prig." + +"I think he's very nice, Frederick. But really that is not the point. +He's engaged, or wants to be engaged, or something of the sort, to Miss +Hadlow, so of course----" + +"What? You don't mean to say that handsome girl would have such an +insignificant fellow as Bransby?" + +"I mean to say nothing about it. The subject has only a faint interest +for me, Frederick. But what _is_ important is that, in any case, _he +will help to take her off_." + +Mr. Dormer-Smith stared; he understood his wife's phrase, but not her +allusion. "Why, you don't suppose there's any danger of her setting her +cap at Lucius?" said he. + +"I should have no objection to her doing so." + +"Well, there's nobody else." + +"We need not discuss it, Frederick. Please give your best attention to +the wine; you know that Uncle George is terribly fastidious about his +wine, and the worst is that if he is discontented, he will not hesitate +to say so before everybody." + +That really did seem to her the worst. Most of the evils of life, she +thought, might be more endurable if people would but be discreet, and +say nothing about them. + +The evil of Uncle George's public reprobation of her wine did not, +however, befall her. Lord Castlecombe was content with his dinner, and +looked round him approvingly as he sat on his niece's right hand. + +"A couple of uncommonly pretty girls those," said his lordship. "They've +got on pretty frocks, too; I like a good bright colour." + +Pauline had begged Miss Hadlow beforehand not to wear black, or any +sombre hue, her uncle having a special dislike to such; and Constance, +perfectly willing to please Lord Castlecombe by looking as brilliant as +she could, had arrayed herself in her favourite maize-colour. + +"You have a very nice gown on, too, Pauline," added his lordship +graciously. + +Mrs. Dormer-Smith privately thought her own toilette detestable. It was +a gaily-flowered brocade (a gift from her husband soon after Wilfrid's +birth), which had been hidden from the light for several years. But she +had self-denyingly caused Smithson to furbish it up for the present +occasion, and was gratified that her virtue did not go unrewarded. + +"I knew you liked vivid colours, Uncle George," said she softly. + +"Of course I do. Everybody does, that has the use of his eyes. Don't +believe the humbugs who tell you otherwise. Your upholsterer now will +show you some wretched washed-out rag of a thing, and try to persuade +you to cover your chairs with it, because it's _ćsthetic_! Parcel of +fools! Not that the fellows who sell the things are fools. They know +very well which side their bread is buttered." Then glancing across the +table with his keen, sunken, black eyes, he continued, "That little +Miranda--what is it you call her? May? Well, May is a very good name for +her--is remarkably fresh and pretty. Good frank forehead. Not a bit like +her father. Different type. But the other girl is the beauty. Uncommonly +handsome, really." + +"I'm glad you think May nice," said Mrs. Dormer-Smith. "Of course I was +anxious that you should like her. She is poor Augustus's only +child--only surviving child. You know there were five or six of them, +but the others all died in babyhood." + +Lord Castlecombe did know it, and remembered it now with grim +satisfaction. At least Augustus had no male heir to come after him. + +"Ah! Gus made a pretty hash of it altogether," said the old man. + +But he did not say it unkindly. He would not willingly have been harsh +or brutal towards Pauline. She really was a very sweet creature, and +had, he thought, almost every quality that he could desire in the women +of his blood. For, it must be observed, Lord Castlecombe did not know +that Pauline admired ćsthetic furniture, nor that she considered +Augustus to have been rather hardly treated by the Castlecombes. + +"Of course," replied that gentle lady. "My poor brother's unfortunate +marriage----" + +"Oh! Ah! Yes. But that, at all events, seems to have turned out better +than could have been expected. Lucius tells me there is a grandmother +who has money, and is generous." + +"Not to Augustus, Uncle George; Mrs. Dobbs positively refuses to assist +Augustus." + +"H'm!" grunted Uncle George, his opinion of Mrs. Dobbs's good sense +taking a sudden leap upward. "Well, my dear, people have to think of +their own interests, you know." Then, in a louder tone, "Frederick, send +me that white Hermitage. It's a very fair wine, as times go--a very fair +wine indeed." + +When the ladies had left the table, young Bransby felt what he would +have called, in speaking of any one else, "a little out of it." My lord +talked with Mr. Bragg, Lucius and Frederick were discussing some item of +club politics, in the midst of which the host would now and again +interpolate some parenthetical observations addressed to young Bransby, +obviously as a matter of duty. At length, in declining the claret which +Mr. Dormer-Smith pushed towards him, Theodore took the opportunity to +say-- + +"Do you think I might venture to go upstairs? I have a message for Mrs. +Dormer-Smith about a little commission with which she entrusted me." + +"No more wine, really? Oh, my wife will be charmed to see you," replied +Frederick, with alacrity. And, thereupon, the young man quietly left the +room. + +It was true that he had undertaken a commission for Mrs. Dormer-Smith; +but he would not have prematurely withdrawn himself from the company of +a peer and a millionaire, on that account. He was moved by a far +weightier purpose. He had made up his mind to propose to Miss +Cheffington; and, if the Fates favoured him, he might do it that very +evening. For some time past--before May left Oldchester--Theodore had +been sure that he wished to marry her. There were drawbacks. She had no +money (or at all events he had not reckoned on her having any money), +and she had connections of a very objectionable kind. But he rather +dwelt on these things, as proving the disinterested nature of his +attachment. He was so much in love with May, that he liked to fancy +himself making some sacrifices on her account. As to her feelings +towards him, he was not without misgivings. But he watched her in +society at every opportunity, and had convinced himself that she was, at +all events, fancy-free. She did not even flirt; but enjoyed herself with +child-like openness:--or was bored with equal simplicity and sincerity. +As to her aunt, Theodore did not doubt that his suit would be favourably +received by Mrs. Dormer-Smith. She must, long ago, have perceived his +intentions; and he felt that his being invited to that intimate little +dinner--almost a family dinner--was strong encouragement. + +Theodore was fortifying himself with this reflection as he mounted the +stairs to the drawing-room. His foot fell more and more lingeringly on +the soft, soundless carpet as he neared the door. He was on an errand +which can scarcely be undertaken with cool self-possession, even by a +young gentleman holding the most favourable view of his own merits and +prospects. One can never certainly reckon on one's soundest views being +shared. A servant carrying coffee, preceded him, and opened the +drawing-room door just as he arrived on the landing; and Theodore felt +positively grateful to the man for, as it were, covering his entrance, +and relieving him from the embarrassment of walking in alone. He entered +close behind the footman, and was, for a few moments, unperceived by the +ladies. + +The room was a little dim; all the lamps being shaded with rose-colour. +Mrs. Dormer-Smith was reclining on a sofa, with closed eyes. But she was +not asleep; for beside her in a low lounging-chair, and talking to her +in a subdued voice, sat Constance Hadlow. May was at the other side of +the room, leaning with both elbows on a little table which stood in a +recess between the fireplace and a window, and apparently absorbed in a +book. Theodore thought she made a charming picture, with the soft light +falling on her fair young face and white dress; and his pulse, which had +been beating a little quicker than usual all the way upstairs, became +suddenly still more accelerated. + +May looked up. + +"Is that you?" she said. "Where are the others?" + +It was not a very warm or flattering welcome; but Theodore was scarcely +conscious of her words. He was thinking what a fortunate chance it was +which left May isolated, so far away from the other ladies as to be out +of earshot, if one spoke in a suitably low tone. At the sound of her +niece's voice Mrs. Dormer-Smith languidly turned her head. + +"Oh, please don't move, Mrs. Dormer-Smith," said Theodore, speaking in a +quick, confused way, very different from his accustomed manner. "If I am +to disturb you, I must go away at once. But I--I don't take much wine, +and he said--Mr. Dormer-Smith said he thought I might--if you don't mind +my preceding the other men by a few minutes, I will be as quiet as a +mouse." + +He crossed the room and sat down by May in the shadow of a heavy +window-curtain. + +The hostess murmured a gracious word or two and then closed her eyes +again. She had been a little vexed by the young man's premature arrival; +but if he was content to be quiet, and whisper to May, she need not +stand on ceremony with him. The fact was, she was listening with great +interest to Constance's account of a feud which had arisen between Lady +Burlington and Mrs. Griffin's daughter, the duchess. Constance had the +details at first hand, from Mrs. Griffin herself, on the one side, and +from Miss Polly Piper on the other: for the feud had arisen about Signor +Vincenzo Valli. The fashionable singing-master had thrown over one of +the great ladies for the other, on the occasion of some _soirée +musicale_; and the quarrel had been espoused by various personages of +distinction, whose sayings and doings with regard to it Mrs. +Dormer-Smith considered to be at once important and entertaining. She +mentally contrasted with a sigh the intelligence, tact, and correctness +of judgment which Constance brought to bear on this matter, with the +nonchalance--not to say downright levity and indifference--displayed by +May. It was impossible to get May to interest herself in the bearings of +the case. In fact, she had abandoned the discussion, and gone away to +her book; whereas this provincial girl, with not one quarter of May's +advantages, understood it perfectly, remembered the names of all the +people concerned, had a very sufficient knowledge of their relative +importance, and was able to impart to her hostess a variety of minute +circumstances, narrated in a low, quiet tone, free from emphasis or +emotion, which was delightfully soothing. + +May, for her part, was by no means pleased to have her reading +interrupted; but politeness, and the sense that she was, in her degree, +responsible for the hospitality of the house, impelled her to close her +book at once, and to turn a good-humoured countenance towards her +companion. + +"Isn't Uncle Frederick coming?" she asked, finding nothing better to say +at the moment. + +"Presently. Are you in a great hurry to see him?" returned Theodore. + +"Oh no; I was amusing myself very well." + +"Are you angry with me, for interrupting you?" + +"Oh no," answered May again. But this second "Oh no" was not quite so +hearty as the first. + +"May I see what you have been reading?" + +She pushed the book towards him. + +"'Mansfield Park.' Whose is it?" + +"Good gracious! You don't mean to say that you don't know?" + +"I don't read novels," said Theodore loftily, but not severely. It was +all very well for women to have that weakness. + +"But this is an English classic! Mr. Rivers says so. You really ought to +know who wrote 'Mansfield Park,' even if you have never read it. It is +one of Jane Austen's works." + +"Ah! Do you--do you like it?" said Theodore, scarcely knowing what he +said. He was playing nervously with a little ivory paper-knife which lay +on the table, and his whole aspect and manner--had not both been to some +extent concealed by the shadow of the velvet curtain--would have +betrayed to the most indifferent observer that he was agitated and +unlike himself. He felt that the precious minutes of this chance +_tęte-ŕ-tęte_ were passing swiftly; he longed to profit by them; and +yet, now that the moment had come, he feared to stand the hazard of the +die, and kept deferring it by idle words. + +"Oh yes! I like it, of course," answered May. "Not so much, perhaps, as +'Emma,' or 'Pride and Prejudice.' Mr. Rivers advised me to read it." + +It was the second time she had mentioned Rivers's name, and this fact +stung Theodore unaccountably. It acted like a touch of the spur to a +lagging horse. He burst out, still speaking almost in a whisper, but +with some heat-- + +"Rivers is a happy fellow! What would I give if you cared enough about +me to follow my advice!" + +"You have only to advise me to do something which I like as much as +reading Jane Austen," replied May archly. But his tone had struck her +disagreeably. She peered at him furtively as he sat in the shadow, +trying in vain to see his countenance clearly. The idea crossed her mind +that he might have taken too much wine at dinner. But it was so +repulsive an idea to her, that she felt she ought not to entertain it +without better foundation. + +"It is a most fortunate chance for me to have this--this blessed +opportunity," pursued Theodore. (He had hesitated for the epithet, and +was not by any means satisfied with it when he had got it). "I have long +been wanting to speak to you." + +"To me? Well, that need not have been very difficult," answered May, +edging a little away, and trying to obtain a good view of his face. + +"Pardon me. It is not easy to have the privilege of a private word with +Miss Cheffington. When we meet in society, you are surrounded, as is but +too natural. And latterly, in your own home, you have been a good deal +engrossed. I could not say what I have to say before----" + +He glanced over at Constance Hadlow as he spoke. This was an immense +relief to May who had been growing more and more uncomfortable, and +vaguely apprehensive. She thought she understood it all now. Conny had +been treating him with coolness and neglect. She herself had noticed +this, and now he wanted to enlist the sympathies of Conny's friend. + +"Oh, I see!" she exclaimed. "It's something about Constance that you +wish to say to me." + +"About Constance? Ah, May, you are cruel! You know too well your power!" +he said, endeavouring to give a pathetic intonation to his voice, but +producing only an odd, croaking, throaty sound. Then May decided, in her +own mind, that he _had_ been taking too much wine; and, angry and +disgusted, she tried to rise from her chair and leave him. But she was +hemmed in by the little table, and on her first movement, Theodore took +hold of the skirt of her dress to detain her. May turned round upon him +with a pale, indignant face, and flashing eyes. + +"Don't touch my dress, if you please. I wish to go away." + +"Miss Cheffington--May--you must hear what I have to say now. You must +know it without my saying, for I have loved you so long and so +devotedly. But I have a right to be heard." + +May was thunderstruck. But she perceived in a moment that she had, in +one sense, done him injustice--he had not drunk too much wine. But +this----! This was worse! How far easier it would have been to forgive +Theodore if he had even got tipsy--just a little tipsy--instead of +making such a declaration! She supposed she had no right to be +disgusted; she had heard that properly behaved young ladies always took +an offer of marriage to be a great honour. But she was disgusted, +nevertheless; and so far from feeling honoured, she was conscious of a +distressing sense of humiliation. She tried, however, to keep up her +dignity, and at the same time to say what was right to this--this +dreadful young man, who had suddenly presented himself in the odious +light of wanting to make love to her. + +"Oh, please don't say any more. I'm very much obliged to you. I mean I'm +extremely sorry. But I beg you won't say another word, and forget all +about it as quickly as possible." + +"Forget it! Nay, that is out of the question. I could not if I would." + +Theodore began to recover his self-command as May lost hers. She was +agitated and trembling. Well, he would not have had her listen to his +words unmoved. She was very young and inexperienced. And he had, it +seemed, taken her by surprise. + +"Is it possible," he continued softly, "that you were quite unprepared +to hear----" + +"Quite unprepared. But that makes no difference. And you really must +allow me to go away. I'm very sorry, indeed, but I can't stay here +another moment." + +"Am I so repulsive?" said he, with a sentimental beseeching glance. But +he met an expression in her face which made him add quickly, in quite +another tone, "Well, well, I will prefer your wishes to my own," at the +same time drawing himself and his chair to one side. + +She had looked almost capable of leaping over the table to escape. May +brushed past him, and darted away out of the room without another word. + +Theodore seized hold of the book she had left behind her, and bent his +head over it. He saw not one word on the printed page beneath his eyes, +but it saved him from appearing as confused as he felt. Had he been +rejected? And, if so, was it a rejection which he was bound to consider +final? Or had he received no real answer at all? Gradually, as his +throat grew less dry, his head less hot, and his brain more clear, he +arrived at the conclusion that he had virtually had no answer. May was +little more than a child, and he had startled her. Then he remembered +that word of May's, "It is about Constance you wish to speak to me." +Could she be under any misapprehension as to his position with regard to +Constance? The idea was fraught with comfort. That, at least, he could +set right, and without delay. He rose and walked across the room at once +to Mrs. Dormer-Smith's sofa. + +At this moment the procession of men, headed by Lord Castlecombe, +arrived from the dining-room. Constance glided away, leaving her vacant +chair for Theodore, who immediately occupied it, thus cutting off Mrs. +Dormer-Smith from the rest of the company. That lady looked anxiously +across his shoulder. + +"_Would_ you," she said to Theodore, "would you be so very good as to +ask my husband to inquire where Miss Cheffington is? My uncle would like +to talk to her, I know; and----Oh, there she is! Thanks. Don't trouble +yourself." + +May had returned to the drawing-room; but instead of going near her +noble grand-uncle, she perversely seated herself in a remote nook beside +Mr. Bragg, with whom she presently began a conversation, keeping her +face persistently turned away from every one else. Her noble grand-uncle +did not seem to care. His lordship marched straight up to Miss Hadlow, +and stood before her, coffee-cup in hand, with his curious air of +perfectly knowing how to behave like a fine gentleman whenever he should +think it worth while. Lucius and Frederick were continuing their club +discussion, which possessed the advantage--for persons of leisure--of +having neither beginning nor end, and of being indefinitely elastic. +Pauline took in the whole room with one comprehensive glance, and then +leant back against her cushions with a sigh, which, if not contented, +was resigned. She made no effort to recall May to her duty towards Lord +Castlecombe. + +"You must forgive me, Mr. Bransby," she said graciously, "if I have been +selfish in engrossing Miss Hadlow. If you don't take care, my uncle will +do the same! Lord Castlecombe admires her very much." + +Theodore cleared his throat, settled his cravat with a rather unsteady +hand, and looked at her as solemnly as if he were about to commence an +oration. But all he managed to say was-- + +"There has been a mistake, Mrs. Dormer-Smith." + +"A mistake?" + +"Yes. I have some reason to believe that you are under a wrong +impression about me." + +His hostess faintly raised her eyebrows, and answered with a smile, "I +hope not: for all my impressions of you are very pleasant." + +Theodore bowed gravely. "You are very kind," said he. "It is important +to me to set this matter right. You perhaps imagine--some one may have +told you that I and Miss Hadlow--there has been, I believe, some idle +gossip coupling our names together." + +"Not very unnaturally," said Mrs. Dormer-Smith, still smiling. But she +began to wonder what he could be driving at. + +"Well, I do think it hard that one cannot be on friendly terms with a +person one has known all one's life without being supposed to be engaged +to her." + +"Or him," put in Pauline quietly. + +"Of course. I mean, of course, that it is particularly unfair to the +lady. But it puts a man in a false position too. I have just been +speaking to May----" + +Then, in an instant, the true state of the case flashed on Mrs. +Dormer-Smith, to her unspeakable consternation. This, then, was her +model young man, whom she had pronounced to be so "nice" and so "quiet;" +and who, moreover, had always expressed the most proper sentiments on +the subject of unequal marriages! She felt herself to be of all ladies +the most persecuted by fate. + +"Oh," she said, coldly interrupting him; "it was scarcely necessary to +say anything to Miss Cheffington on the subject." + +But Theodore was beyond taking heed of any snub or check of that kind. +"One moment," he said, breathing quickly. "If you will allow me to +finish what I was saying, you will see----I am, as you must have +perceived, deeply attached to your niece." + +"No, no," protested Mrs. Dormer-Smith faintly. "I never perceived it." + +"Then that must have been because you were looking in a wrong direction. +You were misled about Constance Hadlow; otherwise, the nature of my +attentions could scarcely have escaped you." + +"And you say that you have been speaking to--to my niece?" + +"I have this evening told her how devotedly I love her." + +"Good heavens!" whispered Mrs. Dormer-Smith, letting her head sink back +among the sofa-cushions. "And what was her reply?" + +"Her reply was--well, practically, it was no reply at all. May was +agitated and startled, and I think she had believed that foolish gossip +about my engagement to Miss Hadlow. But I trust to you to explain----" + +"Pray, Mr. Bransby, say no more. I regret extremely that this should +have happened." + +"Oh, but I don't know that I have any reason to despair," he answered +naďvely. + +This was almost more than Pauline could endure. She got up from the +sofa, and plaintively murmuring, "Say no more; pray say no more. I +really am not equal to it at present," fairly walked away from him. + +That night when the guests were gone, Mrs. Dormer-Smith sent for her +husband to her dressing-room, and revealed to him what young Bransby had +said. His indignation at the young man's presumption was equal to her +own: although not wholly on the same grounds. + +"You will have to talk to him, Frederick," she said. "When he went away +he said something about requesting an early interview. _I_ cannot stand +any more of it. It upsets me too frightfully. Of course, you won't +quarrel with him. Just give him politely to understand that it is out of +the question. Fortunately, May appears to have been as much _outrée_ by +this preposterous proposal as I could desire. May behaved very nicely +to-night altogether. I was pleased with her." + +"H'm! Oh yes; but I thought she might have paid a little more attention +to your uncle. She never went near him after we came upstairs. I think +she talked to old Bragg more than to any one else." + +"Frederick," said his wife slowly, "do you know that Lady Hautenville is +making a dead set at Mr. Bragg for Felicia?" + +"Is she?" + +"Yes. Mrs. Griffin told me all about it. They are moving heaven and +earth to catch him." + +"Really? Well, _bonne chance_!" + +"It would be _mauvaise chance_ for him, poor man! Felicia has a +frightful temper, and incredibly extravagant habits. She must be over +her eyebrows in debt. But I fancy Mr. Bragg has better taste." + +Her meaning tone made her husband look at her with sudden earnestness. +"What do you mean?" he asked brusquely. + +Mrs. Dormer-Smith put her hand to her forehead. "Let me entreat you not +to raise your voice!" she said. "I have had quite enough to try my +nerves this evening. I mean that I think Mr. Bragg is interested in May. +It would be a splendid match for her." + +"_What?_" cried Frederick, disregarding his wife's request, and raising +his voice considerably. "Old Bragg!" + +Pauline turned on him impressively. "Frederick," she said, speaking with +patient mildness, as one imparting higher lore to some untutored savage, +"Mr. Bragg is barely fifty-four; and his income--entirely within his own +control--is over sixty thousand a year." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +Theodore did not take his rejection meekly. In his interview with Mr. +Dormer-Smith he pressed hard to see May again, and insinuated that she +was under undue influence. Moreover, he conveyed, with stiff civility, +that he considered himself to have been badly treated by the whole +family, who had first encouraged his attentions and then rejected them. + +"He really is a fearful young man!" said May to her aunt on hearing the +report of the interview. "What does he mean by insisting on 'an answer +from my own lips'? Could he not believe what Uncle Frederick said? +Besides, he has had his answer from me. The truth is, he is so +outrageously conceited that he can't believe any young woman would +refuse him of her own free will." + +"The idea of his dreaming for an instant that _I_ encouraged him is too +preposterous," said Mrs. Dormer-Smith, shaking her head languidly. "I am +sadly disappointed. I thought him quite a nice person. I fancied he had +sufficient _savoir vivre_ to understand----However, it is one more proof +that one can never reckon on half-bred people who don't know the world." + +It was privately a great relief to May to know that her aunt took her +part in this affair. Aunt Pauline's motives and views were still very +mysterious to May on many points. She did not even now fully understand +the grounds of her aunt's virtuous indignation against Theodore Bransby, +although she was thankful for it. "Aunt Pauline thought him good enough +for Conny," said May to herself innocently; "and Conny is so beautiful, +and so much admired!" + +It was true that--thanks, in the first place, to Mrs. Griffin--Constance +had enjoyed a more brilliant season than she had ever ventured to dream +of. Fashionable houses, of which she had read in the newspapers, but +which had appeared to her as unattainable as though they were in another +planet, had opened their doors to her; and old connections of her +mother's family, finding her in the aforesaid houses, discovered that +she was a charming girl, and were delighted to open _their_ doors to +her. She had accepted several invitations to country houses, and would +probably not be at home again until late in the autumn. + +Mrs. Griffin watched this young lady's progress with considerable +interest. She opined that Miss Hadlow was a shining instance of the +advantages of "race." + +"In spite of having been brought up in the pokiest way in some +provincial town, as I understand, that girl has a thoroughbred +self-possession quite remarkable," said Mrs. Griffin. "She never makes a +blunder. You are never nervous about her. She has no trace of that loud, +bouncing style, which I detest, and which so many underbred-people take +up nowadays, mistakenly imagining it to be the proper thing. She doesn't +'go in' for anything. And," added Mrs. Griffin musingly, "there's a +wonderful look of her grandfather, poor Charley Rivers, about the brow +and eyes." + +The season was rapidly drawing to a close when Mrs. Dobbs received two +letters; one from her grand-daughter, and the other from Mrs. +Dormer-Smith. Jo Weatherhead, arriving one evening at his usual hour in +Jessamine Cottage, was told by his old friend that she had had a letter +from May, and that she meant to read him a portion of it. No proposition +could have been more welcome to Mr. Weatherhead. He drew his chair up to +the grate--filled now with fresh boughs instead of hot coals; but Jo +kept his place in the chimney-corner winter and summer--and prepared to +listen. + +Mrs. Dobbs read as follows:--"You must know, dear granny, that I told +Aunt Pauline yesterday that I really must go home at the end of this +season. She has been very kind and so has Uncle Frederick; but granny is +granny, and home is home." + +Here Mr. Weatherhead slapped his leg with his hand, and took his pipe +out of his mouth as though about to speak; but on Mrs. Dobbs holding up +her hand for silence, he put his pipe back again, and slowly drew his +forefinger and thumb down the not inconsiderable length of his nose. + +Mrs. Dobbs read on: "To my amazement, Aunt Pauline answered that it was +my father's wish that I should remain with her altogether! That is not +my wish. And it isn't yours--is it, granny dear? And if we two are +agreed, I cannot think my father would object. I mean to write to him +about it. I should have done so already, but I have not his address, and +Aunt Pauline can't or won't give it to me. Please send it. I shall tell +my father just what I feel. I don't care for what Aunt Pauline calls +Society. I was happy enough as long as it was only like being at the +play, with the prospect of going home when it was over, and living my +real life. But to go on with this sort of thing and nothing else, year +in, year out--it would be like being expected to live on wax fruit, or +those glazed wooden turkeys I remember in a box of toys you gave me long +ago. Please answer directly, directly. There's an invitation for me to +go in August to a place in the Highlands, where Mrs. Griffin's daughter +has a shooting-box. At least, I suppose it is Mrs. Griffin's daughter's +husband who has the shooting-box. Only nobody talks much about the duke, +and everybody talks a great deal about the duchess." ("Fancy our Miranda +among the dukes and duchesses!" put in Jo Weatherhead, softly. And he +smacked his lips as though the very sound of the words had a relish for +him.) "Aunt Pauline wants to go to Carlsbad; Uncle Frederick is to join +a fishing-party in Norway; the children are to be sent to a farmhouse; +and Mrs. Griffin has offered to take care of me in the Highlands. But I +would far, _far_ rather come back to dear Oldchester, and be amongst +people who know me, and care for me, and whom I love with all my heart. +Do write and ask for me back, granny darling! And mind you give me +papa's address. I am resolved to write to him, whatever Aunt Pauline may +say. He is _my_ father, and I have a right to tell him my feelings." + +"That's all of any consequence," said Mrs. Dobbs, slowly refolding the +letter. "Oh, of course she writes at the end 'Love to Uncle Jo.' She +never forgets that." + +There was a brief silence. Mr. Weatherhead, who was very tender-hearted, +blew his nose and wiped his eyes unaffectedly. "Of course you'll have +the child down, Sarah," said he; "anyway, for a time. She's pining, +that's where it is; she's pining for a sight of you." + +Mrs. Dobbs sat choking down her emotion. She had cried privately over +that letter herself, but she was resolved to discuss it now with +judicial calmness; and it was provoking that Jo endangered her judicial +tone of mind by that foolish, soft-hearted way of his, which was +terribly catching. But she loved Jo for it, nevertheless, and scolded +him so as to let him know that she loved him. + +"It's a good thing your feelings are righter and kinder than most +folks', Jo Weatherhead, for you're sadly led by 'em, my friend. If you'd +wait and hear the whole case, you might help me with your advice." Then +Mrs. Dobbs pulled another letter from her pocket, and handed it to her +brother-in-law. This second epistle was from Mrs. Dormer-Smith, and ran +thus:-- + + "DEAR MRS. DOBBS, + + "I think it right to let you know how very important it is for + May not to miss her visit to Glengowrie. There will be among + the guests there a gentleman who has been paying her a good + deal of attention--a man of princely fortune. I have some + reason to think that May is disposed to look favourably on this + gentleman; but he must be allowed time and opportunity to + declare himself. No better opportunity could possibly be found + than at Glengowrie; and I may tell you, _in confidence_, that + the duchess has, at my friend Mrs. Griffin's request, invited + them both _on purpose_. I trust, therefore, that, in my niece's + interests, you will induce her not to relinquish this chance. + As to her writing to her father, it is absurd, and would only + irritate my brother after his giving me _carte blanche_ to do + the best I can for her. If the visit to Glengowrie turns out as + we hope, I shall have procured for her a settlement which many + a peer's daughter will envy. My husband and I have such + confidence in your good sense, that we are sure you will second + our efforts as far as you can. Of course you will consider this + letter _strictly private_, and will not, above all, mention it + to May. + + "I am, dear Mrs. Dobbs, + + "Yours very truly, + + "P. DORMER-SMITH." + +"You see that alters the case, Jo," said Mrs. Dobbs, when he had +finished reading the letter. + +Jo nodded thoughtfully, and rubbed his nose. "Of course, what you want, +Sarah, is for the child to be happy. That's the main thing," said he. + +"Of course I want her to be happy. And I want her to have her rights," +answered Mrs. Dobbs, setting her lips firmly. + +"Ah! Yes, to be sure! Her rights, eh?" + +"My son-in-law brought no good to any of us in himself. If his name can +do any good to his daughter, she ought to have the benefit of it--and +she shall." + +"Ay, ay. Her rights, eh? To be sure. Only--only it ain't always quite +easy to know what a person's rights are, is it?" + +"I know well enough what May's rights are," answered Mrs. Dobbs sharply. + +"Nor yet it ain't quite easy to be sure whether they'd enjoy their +rights when they got 'em," pursued Jo, with a thoughtful air. "Everybody +likes to be happy. There can be no manner of doubt about _that_. And +somehow the dukes and duchesses don't seem to be enough to make Miranda +quite--not _quite_ happy, humph?" + +"I wonder you should confess so much of your dear aristocracy!" returned +Mrs. Dobbs with some heat. + +"Why, you see, Sarah, it may be--I only say it _may_ be--that the way +Miranda has been brought up, living here in the holidays in such a +simple kind of style, and all that, makes her feel not altogether at +home among these tip-top folks." + +"If you mean she isn't good enough for them, that's nonsense; downright +nonsense. And I wonder at a man with your brains talking such stuff! If +you mean they're not good enough for her, that's another pair of shoes. +As to manners--why, do you imagine that that aunt of hers, who--though +she _is_ a fool, is a well-born fool, and a well-bred one--would be +taking May about, presenting her at Court, and introducing her to the +grandest society, if the child didn't do her credit? Not she! I'm +astonished at you, Jo! I thought you knew the world a little bit better +than that." + +Mrs. Dobbs leant back in her chair, and fanned her flushed face with her +handkerchief. Mr. Weatherhead, having smoked his pipe out, put it in its +case, and then sat silent, slowly stroking his nose, and casting +deprecating glances at his hostess. At length the latter resumed, in a +calmer tone, "But May's future is what I've got to think of. I'm an old +woman. I can leave her next to nothing when I die. I want her to marry. +All women ought to marry. Nobody in my own walk of life would suit her. +And what gentleman fit to match with her was ever likely to come and +look for her in my parlour in Friar's Lane? You ought to know all about +it, Jo Weatherhead. We've gone over the whole ground together often +enough." + +They had done so. But Jo Weatherhead understood very well that his old +friend was talking now, not to convince him, but herself. "Well, Sarah," +he said, "there seems a good chance for May to marry well, according to +this good lady. 'Princely fortune,' she says. That sounds grand, don't +it?" + +"Ah! And it isn't a few thousands that Mrs. Dormer-Smith would call a +princely fortune." + +"Not a few thousands you think, eh, Sarah? Tens of thousands I shouldn't +wonder, humph?" And Mr. Weatherhead pursed up his mouth, and poked +forward his nose eagerly. + +"Not a doubt of it." + +"Bless my stars! To think of our little Miranda!--and her aunt says that +May is disposed to look favourably on the gentleman." + +"So she says. But I can tell you that May doesn't care a button for him +at present." + +"Lord! How do you know, Sarah?" + +"How do I know? That's so like a man! No girl in love would give up the +chance of meeting her lover, as May wants to give it up. If she'd rather +come to Oldchester than go to Scotland, it is because--so far, at any +rate--she doesn't care a button for him." + +"I never thought of that. But perhaps, Sarah, she doesn't know that he +is to be invited." + +Mrs. Dobbs seemed struck by this remark. "Well now, that's an idea, Jo!" +said she, nodding her head. "It may be so. They seem to have had the +sense not to talk to her about the matter. May's just the kind of girl +to fling up her heels and break away, if she suspected any scheming to +make a fine match for her. But she might come to care for him in time. +There's no reason in nature why a rich man shouldn't be nice enough to +be fallen in love with. And by his taking to May--and she without a +penny--I'm inclined to think well of the young man." + +After some further consideration it was agreed that Mrs. Dobbs should +write and propose a middle term: in the interval between her aunt's +departure for Carlsbad, and the date of her invitation to Glengowrie, +May should come down to Oldchester, on condition that she afterwards +paid her visit to the Duchess. This arrangement would be a joy to Mrs. +Dobbs, would satisfy May's affectionate longing, and could not prejudice +the girl's future prospects. A letter to May was written, as well as one +to Mrs. Dormer-Smith. This letter was very short, and may as well be +given. + + "DEAR MRS. DORMER-SMITH, + + "I have to acknowledge yours of the 5th. I agree with you that + it would be a pity for my grand-daughter not to accept the + invitation you speak of. Some good may come of it, and I do not + think that any harm can come. If May spends the three or four + weeks with me after you start for the Continent, I will + undertake for her to meet the lady who is to take charge of her + to Scotland, at any place that may be agreed upon. I wrote to + May by this post, and she will tell you what I propose. With + regard to her father's address, I have had none for some time + past, except, 'Post-Office, Brussels.' This much I shall tell + her, as I think she has a right to know it. You need not + disturb yourself about her writing to her father, as I think, + from what I know of Captain Cheffington, that he is not likely + to answer her letter. + + "I am, dear Mrs. Dormer-Smith, + + "Yours truly, + + "SARAH DOBBS." + +The proposal was accepted, and within a fortnight after the despatch of +this letter, May Cheffington was in Oldchester once more. + + +END OF VOL. I. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of That Unfortunate Marriage, Vol. 1(of 3), by +Frances Eleanor Trollope + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THAT UNFORTUNATE MARRIAGE *** + +***** This file should be named 35943-8.txt or 35943-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/9/4/35943/ + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/35943-8.zip b/35943-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e6b956f --- /dev/null +++ b/35943-8.zip diff --git a/35943-h.zip b/35943-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..74f6db0 --- /dev/null +++ b/35943-h.zip diff --git a/35943-h/35943-h.htm b/35943-h/35943-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..72ef710 --- /dev/null +++ b/35943-h/35943-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,7055 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> +<!-- $Id: header.txt 236 2009-12-07 18:57:00Z vlsimpson $ --> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" xml:lang="en" lang="en"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Style-Type" content="text/css" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of That Unfortunate Marriage, by FRANCES ELEANOR TROLLOPE. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + +body { + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; +} + +p { + margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; +} + +hr { + width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; +} + +table { + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; +} + +.pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; +} /* page numbers */ + +.linenum { + position: absolute; + top: auto; + left: 4%; +} /* poetry number */ + +.blockquot { + margin-left: 5%; + margin-right: 10%; +} + +.sidenote { + width: 20%; + padding-bottom: .5em; + padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; + padding-right: .5em; + margin-left: 1em; + float: right; + clear: right; + margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; + color: black; + background: #eeeeee; + border: dashed 1px; +} + +.bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + +.bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + +.bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + +.br {border-right: solid 2px;} + +.bbox {border: solid 2px;} + +.center {text-align: center;} + +.smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + +.u {text-decoration: underline;} + +.caption {font-weight: bold;} + +/* Images */ +.figcenter { + margin: auto; + text-align: center; +} + +.figleft { + float: left; + clear: left; + margin-left: 0; + margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 1em; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +.figright { + float: right; + clear: right; + margin-left: 1em; + margin-bottom: + 1em; + margin-top: 1em; + margin-right: 0; + padding: 0; + text-align: center; +} + +/* Footnotes */ +.footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + +.footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + +.footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + +.fnanchor { + vertical-align: super; + font-size: .8em; + text-decoration: + none; +} + +/* Poetry */ +.poem { + margin-left:10%; + margin-right:10%; + text-align: left; +} + +.poem br {display: none;} + +.poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + +.poem span.i0 { + display: block; + margin-left: 0em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poem span.i2 { + display: block; + margin-left: 2em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + +.poem span.i4 { + display: block; + margin-left: 4em; + padding-left: 3em; + text-indent: -3em; +} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of That Unfortunate Marriage, Vol. 1(of 3), by +Frances Eleanor Trollope + +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: That Unfortunate Marriage, Vol. 1(of 3) + +Author: Frances Eleanor Trollope + +Release Date: April 24, 2011 [EBook #35943] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THAT UNFORTUNATE MARRIAGE *** + + + + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<h1>THAT UNFORTUNATE MARRIAGE.</h1> + +<h2>BY FRANCES ELEANOR TROLLOPE</h2> + +<h3>AUTHOR OF "AUNT MARGARET'S TROUBLE," "A CHARMING FELLOW," "LIKE SHIPS +UPON THE SEA," ETC.</h3> + + +<h3><i>IN THREE VOLUMES.</i><br /> +VOL. I.</h3> + +<h3>LONDON:<br /> +RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON</h3> + +<h3>Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen.</h3> + +<h3>1888.</h3> + +<h3>(<i>All rights reserved.</i>)</h3> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> +<!-- Autogenerated TOC. Modify or delete as required. --> +<p> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII">CHAPTER VIII.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX">CHAPTER IX.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X">CHAPTER X.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI">CHAPTER XI.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII">CHAPTER XII.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIII">CHAPTER XIII.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XIV">CHAPTER XIV.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XV">CHAPTER XV.</a><br /> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XVI">CHAPTER XVI.</a><br /> +</p> +<!-- End Autogenerated TOC. --> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THAT UNFORTUNATE MARRIAGE.</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + + +<p>Augustus Cheffington had made an unfortunate marriage. That was admitted +on all hands. When he was a Cornet in a cavalry regiment quartered in +the ancient Cathedral City of Oldchester, he ran away with pretty Susan +Dobbs, the daughter of his landlady. Augustus's friends and family—all +the Cheffingtons, the Dormer-Smiths, the Castlecombes—deplored this +rash step. It was never mentioned, either at the time or afterwards, +without expressions of deep commiseration for him.</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, from one point of view there were compensations. This +unfortunate marriage was made responsible for a great many shortcomings, +which would otherwise have been attributed more directly to Augustus +Cheffington himself. For example, it was said to account for his failure +in his profession. He had chosen it chiefly because he very much liked +the brilliant uniform of a certain crack regiment (it was in the days +before competitive examinations); and he had no other aptitude for it +than a showy seat on horseback, and a person well calculated to set off +the works of the regimental tailor. But when years had passed, and he +had remained undistinguished, his friends said, "What could one expect +after Augustus's unfortunate marriage?"</p> + +<p>After a time he sold out of the Army, and went to live on the Continent, +where very shortly he had squandered nearly all his money, and fallen +into shady paths of life; and again there was a chorus of "I told you +so!" and a general sense that all this was due to the unfortunate +marriage.</p> + +<p>Finally, his wife died, leaving him with one little girl, the sole +survivor of five children; and he came to England with the idea of +securing some place which should be suited to his birth, his abilities, +his habits, and his inclinations. No such place was found. Several +members of the Peerage were applied to, to exert their influence with +"Government" on behalf of so well-connected a personage as Augustus +Cheffington. But "Government" behaved very badly, "Government" was +insensible to his claims. His claims, it is true, were not small. They +required a maximum of remuneration for a minimum of labour. He was +unable, also, to furnish any proofs of his fitness for one or two posts +which happened to be vacant, except the undeniable fact of his +cousinship with all the Cheffingtons and Castlecombes in England; and to +this kind of qualification "Government," it appeared, attached no +importance at all.</p> + +<p>He paid a round of visits at country houses, and renewed his +long-disused acquaintance with a score of more or less distant +relations. But he was not popular. It has been observed that +unsuccessful men very often are not popular. "Gus Cheffington has +dropped out of the running," men said. "A fellow naturally gets +forgotten when he has kept out of sight for years—and besides, he makes +himself so deuced disagreeable! He's always grumbling."</p> + +<p>This latter accusation was true. If England had shown no maternal +affection for her long-absent son, the son returned her hard-heartedness +with interest. Indeed, in his case, it turned into active resentment. He +got tired of country houses and town mansions where he was received but +coolly. He was sarcastic and bitter on the failure of his connections to +procure him a lucrative sinecure. He considered that the country was +travelling downhill at break-neck speed, and, for his part, he did not +feel inclined to move his little finger to impede that fatal course. +Moreover, the black coffee was, nine times out of ten, utterly +undrinkable. One day he shook the dust of England's inhospitable shores +from off his feet, and returned to his shady haunts on the +Continent—its irresponsibility, its <i>cafés</i>, its boulevards, and its +billiards. And when he was fairly gone, all the Cheffingtons, and the +Dormer-Smiths, and the Castlecombes were softened into sympathy; and +with much shrugging of shoulders and shaking of heads declared that it +was a heartrending spectacle to behold such a man as Augustus +Cheffington ruined, crushed, eclipsed, destroyed by his unfortunate +marriage.</p> + +<p>When he went back to Belgium, he left behind him at school in Brighton +his little motherless girl Miranda, familiarly called May. The +Honourable Mrs. Cheffington, Augustus's mother, had advised her son to +give the little girl a first-rate education, so as to mitigate as far as +possible one disastrous effect of the unfortunate marriage, which was, +that May had a plebeian mother. Mrs. Cheffington, known throughout all +the ramifications of the family as "the dowager," was a hard-featured, +selfish old woman, with a black wig, a pale yellow skin, and frowning +eyebrows. She lived on a pension which would cease at her death, and she +was supposed by some of her relations to be making a purse. They thought +it would turn out that the dowager had considerable savings to leave +behind her; and they founded this supposition on her never giving away +anything during her lifetime. Mrs. Dormer-Smith, Augustus Cheffington's +sister, declared that her mother made one exception to her rule of +refusing assistance to any of them. She believed that Augustus, who had +always been her favourite child, profited by the dowager's indulgence, +and managed to extract some money from her tightly-closed purse. And it +certainly was true that the old lady had paid May's school bills—so far +as they had been paid at all.</p> + +<p>But one day the Honourable Anne Miranda Cheffington took off her black +wig for the last time, and relaxed her frowning eyebrows. The +announcement of her death appeared in the first column of the <i>Times</i>, +there was a brief obituary notice in a fashionable journal, and her +place knew her no more.</p> + +<p>Augustus hastened home to England on the receipt of a telegram from his +sister. That is to say, he said he hastened; but he did not arrive in +town until some hours after the funeral was over. Mr. Dormer-Smith was +somewhat irritated by this tardiness, and observed to his wife that it +was just like Augustus to keep out of the way while there was any +trouble to be taken, and only arrive in time to be present at the +reading of the will. Any expectations that Augustus might have founded +on his mother's reluctance to give during her lifetime were quite +disappointed. The dowager had no money to bequeath. She had spent nearly +the last shilling of her quarter's income. In fact, there was not enough +to cover the expenses of the funeral, which were finally paid several +months afterwards by Mr. Dormer-Smith.</p> + +<p>It seemed almost superfluous, under the circumstances, to have made a +will at all. But the will was there. The chief item in it was a quantity +of yellow old lace, extremely dirty, and much in need of mending, which +was solemnly bequeathed by Mrs. Cheffington to her daughter, Pauline +Augusta Clarissa Dormer-Smith. It was set forth at some length how that +the lace, being an heirloom of the Cheffingtons, should have descended +in due course to the wife of the eldest son, or, failing that, to the +eldest daughter of the eldest son; and how this tradition was +disregarded in the present case by reason of peculiar and unprecedented +family circumstances. This was the dowager's Parthian dart at the +unfortunate marriage. There was little other property, except the dingy +old furniture of Mrs. Cheffington's house at Richmond, and a few books, +treating chiefly of fortification and gunnery, which had belonged to +Lieutenant-General the Honourable Augustus Vane Cheffington, the +dowager's long-deceased husband.</p> + +<p>"What the——What on earth my mother did with her money <i>I</i> can't +conjecture!" exclaimed Augustus, staring out of the window of his +brother-in-law's drawing-room the day after the funeral.</p> + +<p>"She didn't give it to us, Augustus," returned Mrs. Dormer-Smith +plaintively. "Even when my boy Cyril went to see her at the end of the +holidays, just before returning to Harrow, she never tipped him. Once I +think she gave him five shillings. But it's a long time ago; he was a +little fellow in petticoats."</p> + +<p>"Then what <i>did</i> she do with her money?" repeated Augustus, with an +increasingly gloomy scowl at the gardens of the Kensington square on +which his eyes rested.</p> + +<p>"I believe that, with the exception of what she paid for May's +schooling, she spent it on herself."</p> + +<p>"Spent it on herself? That's impossible! It was a very good income +indeed for a solitary woman, and she lived very quietly."</p> + +<p>"You may get through a good deal of money even living quietly, when you +don't deny yourself anything you can get. For instance, she never would +drive one horse; she had been accustomed to a pair all her life."</p> + +<p>Augustus checked an oath on his very lips, and, instead of swearing +according to his first impulse, observed with solemnity that he knew not +how his mother had been able to reconcile such selfishness with her +conscience, and hoped her last moments had not been troubled by remorse.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't think mamma felt anything of that kind," said Mrs. +Dormer-Smith in her slow, gentle tones; "she was always complaining of +other people's unreasonable expectations."</p> + +<p>The brother and sister fell silent for a while after this, each being +immersed in private meditation. That very morning a circumstance had +occurred which had put the last touch to Augustus's disappointment and +exasperation. The Brighton schoolmistress had sent Miss Miranda +Cheffington to London in the charge of a maid-servant, and the little +girl had arrived at her aunt's house in a cab with her worldly +possessions, namely, a small black trunk full of clothes, and a +canary-bird in a cage. The schoolmistress wrote civilly, but firmly, to +the effect that, after the lamented decease of the Honourable Mrs. +Cheffington, she could not undertake to keep May any longer; feeling +sure, by repeated experience, that all applications for payment made to +Captain Cheffington would be in vain, and understanding that Mrs. +Dormer-Smith declined to charge herself with her niece's education. +Captain Cheffington had been violently angry, and had denounced the +schoolmistress—Mrs. Drax—as an insolent, grasping, vulgar harpy. But +Mrs. Drax was out of his reach, and there was May, thirteen years old, +with a healthy appetite, and limbs rapidly outgrowing her clothes.</p> + +<p>Augustus continued to glare moodily at the square for some minutes. His +sister leaned her cheek on her hand, and looked at the fire. At length +Augustus, composing his face to a less savage expression, turned away +from the window, sat down opposite to his sister, and said, pensively—</p> + +<p>"We must arrange something for May, Pauline."</p> + +<p>"You must, indeed, Augustus."</p> + +<p>"We ought to consider her future."</p> + +<p>"Yes; I think you ought, Augustus."</p> + +<p>"The girl is at a hobbledehoy age. It's a perplexing position. So +difficult to know what to do with her."</p> + +<p>"There is no age at which it is so awkward to dress a girl. I have +sometimes regretted not having daughters; but upon my word there must be +a dreadful amount of harass about their clothes between twelve and +fifteen—or in some cases sixteen."</p> + +<p>"It's impossible for me to have her with me in Brussels. The way I +live—am obliged to live <i>malgré moi</i>—she'd upset all my arrangements +and habits. In short, you can see for yourself, Pauline, that it would +be out of the question."</p> + +<p>"No doubt it would be very bad for the girl."</p> + +<p>"Of course! That's what I mean. Wouldn't it be the best plan after all, +Pauline, to leave her here with you? She could have private masters——"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dormer-Smith shook her head.</p> + +<p>"At my expense, of course," added Augustus. "I must screw and scrape and +make some sacrifices no doubt, but——"</p> + +<p>"It really won't do, Augustus. I assure you it won't do. Frederick will +<i>not</i> have it. He talked to me after luncheon. It isn't the least use."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dormer-Smith continued plaintively to shake her head as she spoke, +and to look with gentle melancholy at the fire.</p> + +<p>"H'm! Frederick is very kind. But let us discuss the thing in a friendly +spirit. If I pay for her clothing and education, surely the expense of +her board wouldn't ruin you and Frederick!"</p> + +<p>"No; but the butcher and the baker are the least part of the matter. It +isn't as if May were the daughter of one's housekeeper or one's +governess. She is a Cheffington, you know. So many things are required +for a girl with her connections; and as to your paying for her masters, +of course we know you wouldn't, Augustus."</p> + +<p>"Upon my soul you are civil and sisterly!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I dare say you would mean to pay, but you wouldn't. It would be +sure to turn out so, don't you know? Things always have been like that +with you, Augustus."</p> + +<p>"Then what the devil do you think I'm to do?"</p> + +<p>"Pray don't be violent! I really cannot bear any display of violence. +You should remember that it is scarcely a week since poor mamma was +taken from us."</p> + +<p>"I don't see what that has to do with it. Miranda hasn't been taken from +us; that's the point."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dormer-Smith making no answer, her brother continued, after a +moment or two—</p> + +<p>"You are fertile in objections, but you don't seem to have any plan to +suggest."</p> + +<p>"Well, an idea did occur to me. I don't know whether you would like it."</p> + +<p>"Like it! Probably not. But I am used to sacrifice my inclinations."</p> + +<p>"Well, I thought that you might put May into a school in France or +Germany, or somewhere, letting her give lessons in English in return for +her board and so on. There are plenty of schools where they do that sort +of thing. It wouldn't so much matter abroad, because people wouldn't +know who she was. You might tide over a year or two in that way."</p> + +<p>Augustus got up from his chair. "My daughter a drudge in a Continental +school?" he exclaimed indignantly.</p> + +<p>"If you chose a place little frequented by English, I don't think people +would know."</p> + +<p>There was a short silence. Then Augustus said angrily, "I'll take the +girl back with me. She must share my home, such as it is. We will +neither of us trouble you or Frederick much longer. I shall start for +Ostend by the morning mail to-morrow." And he dashed out of the room +emitting a muffled roll of oaths, and jarring the door in a way which +made Mrs. Dormer-Smith clasp her forehead with both hands, and lean back +shrinkingly in her chair.</p> + +<p>But when the morrow came, Captain Cheffington and his daughter did not +go to Ostend. When they had got out of sight of the Dormer-Smiths' +house, he ordered the cabman to drive to the Great Western Railway +Station, and started by an express train for Oldchester.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + + +<p>Amongst the minor grievances reckoned up by the deceased dowager as +accruing from Augustus's unfortunate marriage was the fact that his wife +had borne the plebeian name of Dobbs. One of her most frequent +complaints against poor little May was that the child was "a thorough +Dobbs." And when she was out of temper—which was very often—she would +prefer this charge as indignantly as though Dobbs were synonymous with +the most disgraceful epithets in the English language.</p> + +<p>And yet the sound of it awoke very different associations in the city of +Oldchester, where Augustus's mother-in-law had lived all her life. Mrs. +Dobbs was the widow of a tradesman. The ironmonger's business, which her +husband had carried on, had long passed into other hands; but his name +still met the eyes of his fellow-townsmen in the inscription, "J. Brown, +late Dobbs," painted over the shop.</p> + +<p>Oldchester is a city in which two streams of life run side by side, +mingling but little with each other. At a certain point in the existence +of Oldchester, its ancient course of civil and ecclesiastical history +had received a new tributary—a strong and ever-growing current of +commerce. Commerce built wide suburbs, with villa residences in various +stages of "detachment" and "semi-detachment" from one another. Commerce +strewed the pleasant country paths and lanes with coal-dust, and +blackened the air with smoke. Commerce set up Art schools, founded +hospitals (and furnished patients for them), multiplied railways for +miles round, and scored all the new streets, and some of the old, with +tramway lines. Commerce bought estates in the neighbourhood, was +conveyed to public worship in splendid equipages, sent its sons to Eton, +and married its daughters into the Peerage. But, for all that, the fame +of Oldchester continued to rest on its character as a cathedral city. +The old current surpassed the new one in length and dignity, if in +nothing else. The gray cathedral towers rose up majestically above the +din and turmoil of forge and loom and factory, with a noble aspiration +towards something above and beyond these; while the vibrations of their +mellow chimes shed down sweet suggestions of peace and goodwill among +the homes of the toilers.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dobbs particularly loved the sounds of the cathedral chimes; and +she sat with closed eyes listening to them in the twilight of a certain +autumn evening. Her house was in a narrow street, called Friar's Row, +which turned out of the High Street. A monastery had once stood on the +site of it, but all trace of the ancient conventual buildings had long +since disappeared. The houses were solid brick dwellings, from one to +two hundred years old. Mrs. Dobbs's husband had bequeathed her a long +lease of that which she occupied. Most of the other houses in Friar's +Row were used as offices or warehouses, the wealthier kind of +tradespeople who once lived in them having migrated to the suburbs. On +her husband's death some of Mrs. Dobbs's friends had urged her to remove +to a newer and more cheerful part of the town, but she had resisted the +suggestion with some contempt.</p> + +<p>"I know what suits me," she would say. "And that's a knowledge the Lord +doesn't bestow on all and sundry. This house suits me. It's +weather-proof for one thing. And you needn't be afraid of putting your +foot through the floor if you walk a little heavy, as I do. When I go to +see the Simpsons in that bandbox they call Laurel Villa, I daren't lean +my umbrella against the wall, for fear of bringing the whole concern +down like a pack of cards."</p> + +<p>She might easily have increased her income by letting her house and +removing to one in the suburbs; for its position was central, and the +tenements in Friar's Row were in great request for business purposes. +But she resisted this temptation. There were reasons of a more +impalpable kind than the solidity of its floors and roofs, which made +Mrs. Dobbs constant to her old home. She had lived there all the days of +her married life. Her daughter had been born there. Her husband had died +there. The somewhat narrow and dingy street had in her eyes the familiar +aspect of a friendly face. She loved to hear the rattle and bustle of +the High Street, slightly softened by distance. Those common sounds were +full of voices from the past: the common sights around were associated +with all the joys and sorrows of her life. Mrs. Dobbs never said +anything to this effect, but she felt it. And so she stayed in Friar's +Row.</p> + +<p>The parlour in which she sat was comfortably and substantially +furnished. A competent observer would have perceived evidences of +permanence and respectability in the solid, old-fashioned chairs and +tables, the prints after Morland on the walls, and the corner cupboard +full of fine old china. The bookshelves which filled one end of the room +contained the accumulations of successive generations. There was a +square pianoforte with a pile of old music-books on the top of it; and a +big family Bible in massive binding had a place of honour all to itself +on a side-table covered with green baize. On this special autumn +evening, owing to the hour, and partly to the narrowness of the street, +which shut out some of the lingering daylight, the parlour was very dim. +A red fire glowed in the grate, a large tabby cat blinked and purred on +the hearthrug, and in a spacious easy-chair at one side of the fireplace +sat Mrs. Dobbs, listening with closed eyes to the cathedral chimes.</p> + +<p>Presently the door was softly opened, and there came into the room Mrs. +Dobbs's life-long friend and crony, Mr. Joseph Weatherhead. This person +was her brother-in-law, and a childless widower. He had carried on the +trade of bookseller and stationer in Birmingham for many years; but had +sold his business on the death of his wife, and come to live in +Oldchester, near the Dobbs's. Mr. Weatherhead was a tall, lean man, with +a benevolent, bald forehead, and mild eyes. The only remarkable feature +in his face was the nose, which was large, slightly aquiline, brownish +red in colour, and protruded from his face at a peculiar angle. The +forehead above, and the chin below, sloped away from it rather rapidly. +The nose had thus a singularly inquisitive air of being eagerly in the +van, as though it thrust itself forward in quest of news.</p> + +<p>As he closed the door behind him, Mrs. Dobbs opened her eyes.</p> + +<p>"I thought you were asleep, Sarah," said Mr. Weatherhead.</p> + +<p>"Asleep!" ejaculated Mrs. Dobbs, with all the indignation which that +accusation is so apt mysteriously to excite. "Nothing of the kind! I was +listening to the chimes. They always make me think——"</p> + +<p>"Of poor Susy," interrupted Mr. Weatherhead, nodding. "Ah! And so they +do me. Poor Susy! How pretty she was!"</p> + +<p>"She had better have been less pretty for her own happiness. The great +misfortune of her life wouldn't have happened but for her pretty face."</p> + +<p>Mr. Weatherhead nodded again, and sat down opposite to Mrs. Dobbs in a +corresponding armchair to her own. He then took from his pocket a black +leather case, and from the case a meerschaum pipe, which he proceeded to +fill and light and smoke.</p> + +<p>"What an infatuation!" sighed Mrs. Dobbs, pursuing her own meditations. +"To think of Susy throwing herself away on that extravagant, selfish, +good-for-nothing fellow without any principles to speak of, when she +might have had an honest tradesman in a first-rate way of business! She +had only to pick and choose."</p> + +<p>"Humph! Honest tradesmen are not as plentiful as blackberries, though," +observed Mr. Weatherhead, reflectively.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dobbs ignored this parenthesis, and went on: "It was a bad day for +me and mine when he first came swaggering into this house."</p> + +<p>From which speech it will be seen that the Dobbs side of the family +coincided with the Cheffingtons in considering Augustus's to have been +an unfortunate marriage; only each party arrived at the same conclusion +by a different road.</p> + +<p>"Have you heard from him lately, Sarah?" asked Mr. Weatherhead, after a +pause.</p> + +<p>"From my precious son-in-law? Not I!"</p> + +<p>"Oh!"</p> + +<p>"Not a word from him till he wants something. You may take your oath of +that, Jo Weatherhead."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I thought you might have heard from him, because——"</p> + +<p>"Well?" (very sharply).</p> + +<p>"Well, because I see something has been putting old times into your +head; and I thought it might be that."</p> + +<p>"Something been putting old times into my head? I should like to know +when they're out of my head! Much you know about it!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Weatherhead apparently did know something about it; for after +another long silence, during which he puffed at his pipe and stared into +the fire, Mrs. Dobbs justified his penetration by saying—</p> + +<p>"The truth is, I <i>have</i> been turning things over in my mind a good deal +since yesterday."</p> + +<p>Mr. Weatherhead was too wary to expose himself to another snub, so he +merely nodded two or three times in an oracular manner.</p> + +<p>"I'm worried out of my mind about that child. She went off yesterday as +bright and happy as possible, and looking so pretty and genteel—fit for +any company in the land."</p> + +<p>"Ah! She went off, you say, to——?"</p> + +<p>"To the Hadlows'. She is to stay there over Sunday."</p> + +<p>"Oh! But I don't quite see——"</p> + +<p>"Go on! What is it that you don't quite see?"</p> + +<p>"I don't quite see what there is to worry you in that. The Hadlows are +very good sort of people."</p> + +<p>"I should think they <i>were</i> very good sort of people! Canon Hadlow is +one of the best men in Oldchester; or in all England, for the matter of +that. And he's a gentleman to the marrow of his bones. But what sort of +a position has my grand-daughter among the Hadlows and their +belongings?"</p> + +<p>"A very nice position, I should say."</p> + +<p>"A very nice position!" exclaimed Mrs. Dobbs, who seemed determined to +repeat all poor Mr. Weatherhead's speeches in a tone of disdainful +irony. "That's so like you, Jo! <i>She</i> thinks it a very nice position, +too, poor lamb. She knows nothing of the world, bless her innocent +heart. And, for all her seventeen years, she is the merest child in some +things. But you might know better. You are not seventeen years old, Jo +Weatherhead."</p> + +<p>"Certainly not," assented he emphatically.</p> + +<p>"The fact of the matter is that, whether by good luck or bad luck, May +does not belong to my sphere or my class. She's a Cheffington. She has +the ways of a lady, and the education of a lady, and she has a right to +the position of a lady. If that father of hers gives her nothing else he +might give her that; and he shall, if I can make him."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it might have been better, after all, if you had not sent the +child back to her old school, but just brought her up here, under your +own eye, in a plain sort of way. It would have been better for <i>you</i>, +anyhow."</p> + +<p>"I don't know that."</p> + +<p>"Why, you'd have been spared a good many sacrifices. There's not another +woman in England would have done what you've done, Sarah."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense; there are plenty of women in England as big fools as me. Even +that wooden old figurehead of a dowager—Lord forgive me, she's dead and +gone!—had the grace to pay the child's schooling as long as she lived."</p> + +<p>"She!" exclaimed Jo Weatherhead, firing up suddenly, and tapping his +meerschaum sharply against the hob. "That's a very different pair of +shoes. She could afford it a precious sight better than you. What did +<i>she</i> ever deprive herself of? I say there's not another woman in +England would have done what you've done, and it's no good your +contradicting."</p> + +<p>"There, bless the man! Don't let us quarrel about it."</p> + +<p>"But I shall quarrel about it, unless you give in. Here's the case +fairly put:—A young spark runs away with your only daughter, and pretty +well breaks your heart. He takes her wandering about into foreign parts, +and you only get news of her now and then, and never good news. He's too +fine a gentleman to do a stroke of work for his family, but as soon as +he has run through his bit of money he's not too fine a gentleman to +fall into disreputable ways of life, nor yet to let who will look after +his motherless little girl, and feed, and clothe, and educate her. When +his own mother dies—leaving two quarters' school-bills unpaid, which +you have to settle, by-the-by—the rest of the family, including his own +sister, refuse to advance a sixpence to save the child from the +workhouse."</p> + +<p>"I say, Jo, that's putting it a little too strong, my friend! There was +no talk of the workhouse."</p> + +<p>"Let me finish summing up the case. I say they wouldn't spend sixpence +to save that child from <i>starvation</i>—there, now! When the dowager is +dead, and the rest of them button up their breeches' pockets, and the +schoolmistress sends away the poor little girl because she can't afford +to keep her and teach her for nothing, what does my gentleman do? Does +he try in any one way to do his duty by his only child? Not he. He +coolly shuffles off all trouble and responsibility on other folks' +shoulders. He hasn't taken any notice of you for years, except writing +once to borrow fifty pounds——"</p> + +<p>"Which he didn't get, Jo."</p> + +<p>"Which he didn't get because an over-ruling Providence had ordained that +you shouldn't have it to lend him. Well, after years of silence and +neglect, he turns up in Oldchester one fine morning, and walks into your +house bringing his little girl 'on a visit to her dear grandmother.' +Talk of brass! What sort of a material do you suppose that man's +features are composed of?"</p> + +<p>"Gutta percha, very likely," returned Mrs. Dobbs, who now sat resting +her head against the cushions of her chair, and listening to Mr. +Weatherhead's eloquence with a half-humorous resignation; "that's a +good, tough, elastic kind of stuff."</p> + +<p>"Tough! He had need have some toughness of countenance to come into this +house as he did. And that's not the end. He swaggers about Oldchester +for a week or two, using your house as an inn, neither more nor +less—except that there's no bill;—and then one day he starts off for +the Continent, leaving little May here, and promising to send for her as +soon as he gets settled. From that day to this, and it's four years ago, +you have had the child on your hands, and her precious father has never +contributed one shilling towards her support. You sent the child back to +school. You pinched, and saved, and denied yourself many little comforts +to keep her there. You have never let her feel or guess that she has +been a burthen on you in your old age. And I say again, Sarah Dobbs, +that, considering all the circumstances of the case, there's not another +woman in England would have done what you've done. No, nor in Europe!"</p> + +<p>"Well, having come to that, I hope you've finished, Jo Weatherhead."</p> + +<p>"I hope I have," returned Mr. Weatherhead, mopping his flushed face with +a very large red pocket-handkerchief. "I hope I have, for the present. +But if you attempt to contradict a word of what I have been saying, I'll +begin again and go still further!"</p> + +<p>"There, there, then that's settled. But I am thinking of the future. +Supposing I died to-morrow, what's to become of May? I have nothing to +leave her. My bit of property goes back to Dobbs's family, and all right +and fair, too. I've nothing to say against my husband's will. But people +like the Hadlows, who invite May, and make much of her, have no idea +that she has no one to look to but me. I don't say they'd give her the +cold shoulder if they did know it; but it would make a difference. As it +is, they talk to her about her aunt, Mrs. Dormer-Smith, and her cousin, +Lord This, and her connection, Lady T'other, and a kind of a—what shall +I say?—a sort of atmosphere of high folks hangs about her. She's Miss +Miranda Cheffington, with fifty relations in the peerage. If she was +known only as the grandchild of Mrs. Dobbs, the ironmonger's widow, she +would seem mightily changed in a good many eyes. Sometimes it comes over +me as if I was letting May go on under false pretences."</p> + +<p>"Why, she <i>has</i> got fifty relations in the peerage, hasn't she?"</p> + +<p>"A hundred, for all I know. But folks are not aware that her father's +family take no notice of her. She hardly knows it herself."</p> + +<p>"But her aunt, Mrs. Dormer-Smith, writes to her, doesn't she?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, a line once in a blue moon, to say she's glad to hear May is well, +and to complain of the great expense of living in London."</p> + +<p>"The selfish meanness of that woman is beyond belief."</p> + +<p>"Well—I don't know, Jo. She's a poor creature, certainly. But I feel +more a sort of pity for her than anything else."</p> + +<p>"<i>Do</i> you? It's only out of contradiction, then."</p> + +<p>"Not altogether," said Mrs. Dobbs, laughing good-humouredly. "I made her +out pretty well that time I took May up to London before she went back +to school."</p> + +<p>"Ah! I remember. You tried if the aunt would do anything to help."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I tried. It was right to try. But I very soon saw that there was +nothing to be hoped for from that quarter. Mrs. Dormer-Smith has been +brought up to live for the world and the world's ways. To be sure her +world is a funny, artificial little affair compared with God Almighty's: +pretty much as though one should take a teaspoonful of Epsom salts for +the sea. But, at any rate, I do believe she sincerely thinks it ought to +be worshipped and bowed down to. It's no use to tell such a woman that +she could do without this or that useless finery, and spend the money +better. She'll answer you with tears in her eyes that it's <i>impossible</i>; +and, what's more, she'll believe it. Why, if some Tomnoddy or other, +belonging to what she calls "the best people," was to ordain to-morrow +that nobody should eat his dinner unless he was waited on by a man with +a long pigtail, that poor creature would know no peace, nor her meat +would have no relish until a man with a pigtail stood behind her chair. +That's Mrs. Dormer-Smith, Jo Weatherhead."</p> + +<p>Mr. Weatherhead drew up his lips into the form of a round O, as his +manner was when considering any matter of interest, and appeared to +meditate a reply. But the reply was never spoken; for a brisk ring at +the street door gave a new turn to his thoughts and those of his +sister-in-law.</p> + +<p>"Dear me!" exclaimed Mrs. Dobbs, putting up her hands to settle her cap, +and stretching out her feet with a sudden movement which made the old +tabby on the hearthrug arch her back indignantly. "Why, that must be the +Simpsons! I didn't think it was so late. Just light the candles, will +you, Jo? I hope Martha has remembered the roasted potatoes."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + + +<p>The Simpsons were old friends of Mrs. Dobbs. Mr. Simpson was organist of +the largest parish church in Oldchester, where his father had been +organist before him. To this circumstance he owed his singular Christian +name. The elder Simpson, whose musical enthusiasm had run all into one +channel, insisted on naming his son Sebastian Bach. Some men would have +felt this to be a disadvantage for the profession of organist and +music-teacher, as involving a suggestion of ridicule. But Mr. Sebastian +Bach Simpson was not apt to be diffident about any distinguishing +characteristic of his own. His wife had been a governess, and still gave +daily lessons in sundry respectable Oldchester families. By an +arrangement begun during her late husband's lifetime, this couple came +every Saturday evening to sup with Mrs. Dobbs, and to play a game of +whist for penny points before the meal.</p> + +<p>The two guests entered the parlour just as Mr. Weatherhead was lighting +the candles.</p> + +<p>"Dear me," exclaimed Mrs. Simpson, "are we too early? I had no idea! +Surely the choir practice was not over earlier than usual, Bassy?"</p> + +<p>She was a large stout woman of forty, with a pink-and-white complexion +and filmy brown curls; and she wore spectacles. She had once been very +slim and pretty, and still retained a certain girlishness of demeanour. +It has been said that a man is as old as he feels, and a woman as old as +she looks. Mrs. Simpson had innocently usurped the masculine privilege; +and, not feeling herself to be either wiser or less trivial than she was +at eighteen, had never thought of trying to bring her manners into +harmony with her appearance. Her husband was a short, dark man, with +quick black eyes, and thick, stubby, black hair. His voice was +singularly rasping and dissonant, which seemed an unfortunate +incongruity in a professor of music. Such as he was, however, his wife +had a great admiration for him, and considered his talents to be +remarkable. Her marriage, she was fond of saying, had been a love-match, +and she had never got beyond the romantic stage of her attachment.</p> + +<p>"Good evening, Mrs. Dobbs," said the organist, advancing to shake hands, +and taking no notice of his wife's inquiry.</p> + +<p>"How are you, Weatherhead? I suppose you were napping—having forty +winks in the twilight, eh?"</p> + +<p>"No, Mr. Weatherhead and I were chatting," said Mrs. Dobbs.</p> + +<p>"Chatting in this kind of blind man's holiday, were you? I should have +thought you could hardly see to talk!"</p> + +<p>"See to talk! Oh, Bassy, what an expression! You do say the drollest +things!" exclaimed Mrs. Simpson with a giggle. "Doesn't he, Mrs. Dobbs? +Did you ever hear——?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dobbs, for all reply, hospitably stirred the fire until it blazed, +helped Mrs. Simpson to remove her bonnet and cloak, and placed her in a +chair near her own. Mr. Simpson took his accustomed seat, and the four +persons drew round the fire, whilst Martha, Mrs. Dobbs's middle-aged +servant, set out a little card-table, and disposed the candles on it in +two old-fashioned, spindle-shanked, silver candlesticks. It was all done +according to long-established custom, which was seldom deviated from in +any particular.</p> + +<p>"And how are you, dear Mrs. Dobbs?" asked Mrs. Simpson, taking her +hostess's hand between both her own. "And dear May—where's May?"</p> + +<p>"May has been away from home on a visit since yesterday morning. She +won't come back before Monday."</p> + +<p>"And may one ask where she is? It is not, I presume, a Mystery of +Udolpho!"</p> + +<p>"She is at the Hadlows'."</p> + +<p>"The Hadlows'? Canon Hadlow's?" cried Mrs. Simpson, clasping her hands +with a gesture of amazement. Then she added rather inconsistently, +"Well, I'm not surprised. I know they have lately taken a great deal of +notice of her. Miss Hadlow and she having been at school together, of +course created an intimacy which—ah, the friendships of early youth, +where they <i>are</i> genuine, have a warmth, a charm——"</p> + +<p>"<i>Now</i>, Amelia!" interposed her husband's rasping voice. (This +ejaculation was his habitual manner of recalling Mrs. Simpson's +attention to the matter in hand, whatever it might be; for the good +lady's mind was discursive.) "If you'll be kind enough to leave off your +nonsense, we can begin our game. Come and cut for partners."</p> + +<p>An earnest whist player would have been outraged by the performances of +the four persons who met weekly in Mrs. Dobbs's parlour. They chatted, +they misdealt, they even revoked sometimes; and they overlooked each +other's misdemeanours with unscrupulous laxity. In a word, they regarded +the noble game of whist merely as a means and not as an end, and were +scandalously bent on amusing themselves regardless of Hoyle. The only +one of the party who had any pretensions to play tolerably was Mr. +Weatherhead. But even his attention was always to be diverted from his +cards by a new piece of gossip. And perhaps, it was as well that he did +not take the game too much to heart—especially on the present occasion; +for the fair Amelia fell to his lot as a partner, and her performances +with the cards were calculated to drive a zealous player into a nervous +fever.</p> + +<p>The first hand or two proceeded in decorous silence. But by degrees the +players began to talk, throwing out first detached sentences, and at +last boldly entering into general conversation.</p> + +<p>"Bassy had a great deal of trouble with the choir this evening," said +Mrs. Simpson plaintively. "The sopranos were <i>so</i> inattentive! And +inattention is so particularly—oh dear, I beg pardon, I <i>have</i> a +diamond! Well, it does not much matter, for we couldn't have made the +odd trick in any case."</p> + +<p>"A nice business at Sheffield with those Trades Unions," said Mr. +Weatherhead. "Some severe measures ought to be taken; but they won't be. +That's what your precious Liberalism comes to!—Your lead, Simpson."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense about Liberalism, Jo Weatherhead," replied Mrs. Dobbs. "I +believe you'd like to accuse the Liberals of the bad weather. +There!—Did you ever see such a hand? One trump! and that fell. Mrs. +Simpson playing out her knave misled me."</p> + +<p>"Oh, if you reckon on Amelia's having any sufficient motive for playing +one card more than another——" exclaimed Amelia's husband. "Have you +heard, Mrs. Dobbs, that Mr. Bransby is getting better?"</p> + +<p>"What Bransby is that?" asked Mr. Weatherhead, thrusting his head +forward inquiringly.</p> + +<p>"Cadell and Bransby, Solicitors to the Dean and Chapter."</p> + +<p>"Oh-o! He has been ill, then?"</p> + +<p>"Very ill. But I hear he was pronounced out of danger on Wednesday."</p> + +<p>"Is it not good news?" cried Mrs. Simpson. "Such a misfortune for his +young family! I mean if he had died, you know."</p> + +<p>"But I suppose he's a warm man, isn't he? Cadell and Bransby—it's a +fine business, isn't it?" asked Mr. Weatherhead.</p> + +<p>"It had need be," rejoined the organist, "to maintain that tribe of boys +and girls, and an extravagant young wife into the bargain."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bassy, but they are such pretty children! And Mrs. Bransby is so +truly elegant and interesting. All her bonnets come from Paris, I am +told. And indeed there is a certain style——Eh? You <i>don't</i> mean to say +that spades are trumps? What a disappointment! I thought I had all four +honours."</p> + +<p>This ingenuous speech might have called forth some remonstrance from +Mrs. Simpson's partner, but that the latter was too much interested in +the subject of the Bransbys to attend to it.</p> + +<p>"The eldest son is provided for by his mother's fortune, isn't he?" he +inquired.</p> + +<p>"Well—'provided for;' I don't know that it is very much. But it was all +tightly settled. Otherwise Bransby's second marriage would have been a +greater misfortune for the young man than it is," replied the organist.</p> + +<p>"I don't see that it is any misfortune at all," observed Mrs. Dobbs. +"Theodore Bransby is quite well enough off for a young fellow. And why +shouldn't his father marry again if he liked it?"</p> + +<p>"He is an extremely gentleman-like young man, is Mr. Theodore Bransby," +said Mrs. Simpson. "I have been imparting daily instruction to the +younger children, and I saw him rather frequently when he was at home +during the University vacation. He is now reading for the Bar, you know, +and I believe——Was that <i>your</i> knave, Mr. Weatherhead? Really! Then I +have thrown away my queen. However," smiling amiably, "one can but take +the trick. I believe that Mr. Theodore Bransby means to go into +Parliament later. There is really something of the statesman about him +already, <i>I</i> think—a way of buttoning his coat to the chin, don't you +know?"</p> + +<p>"Is Theodore Bransby in Oldchester now?" asked Mrs. Dobbs, sorting her +cards.</p> + +<p>"Oh yes," replied Mr. Simpson. "I wonder you didn't know, for he is a +great deal at Canon Hadlow's. They say he's making up to Miss Hadlow."</p> + +<p>"O-ho! But there's Mrs. Hadlow's nephew, young Rivers," put in Mr. +Weatherhead. "<i>He's</i> supposed to be dangling after his cousin, isn't +he?"</p> + +<p>"I should think young Rivers had better dangle after an employment that +will give him bread and cheese. Miss Constance Hadlow won't have a +penny."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bassy, but where there's real affection mercenary considerations +must give way. True love—true love is above all!" As she uttered these +words with great fervour, Mrs. Simpson flourished her arm +enthusiastically, and in so doing swept off the table several coins +which had served as counters to register her opponent's score. The +silver discs rolled swiftly away into various inaccessible corners of +the room, with the perversity usually observed in such cases. +Fortunately the game had just come to an end, and Martha had announced +that the supper was ready. This circumstance, and the fact that her +husband was a winner, spared Mrs. Simpson a sharp reprimand.</p> + +<p>Mr. Simpson uttered, indeed, a few sarcastic croaks. "<i>Now</i>, Amelia! +There you go! Always up to some nonsense or other." But he watched Mr. +Weatherhead and Martha as they crawled about on hands and knees to +recover the missing shillings and sixpences, with considerable +equanimity; merely observing that Amelia ought to be ashamed of herself +for giving so much trouble.</p> + +<p>When the supper was set on the table, three of the party, at least, were +in high good humour, and disposed to enjoy it. Mr. Simpson had won, and +was content. Mr. Weatherhead paid his losses without a murmur, +conscious, no doubt, that they were due as much to his own wandering +attention as to his partner's aberrations. As for Mrs. Simpson, the +sweetness of her disposition was proof against far more souring +circumstances than having spoiled Jo Weatherhead's game. She was not the +least out of humour with him. Mrs. Dobbs alone was a little more silent +and a little less genial than usual. The talk that evening with her old +friend had awakened painful thoughts of the past and anxieties for the +future. She very rarely mentioned her son-in-law's name, even to Mr. +Weatherhead, who was thoroughly in her confidence; and, whenever she did +speak of him, the result was invariably to irritate and depress her. +However, her hospitable instincts roused her to shake off her cares in +some degree, and to make her friends welcome to the fare set before +them.</p> + +<p>When the more substantial part of the supper was disposed of, and a jug +of hot punch steamed on the board, Mrs. Simpson, delicately tapping with +her teaspoon on the edge of her tumbler, observed, with an air at once +penetrating and amiable——</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm sure it will be very gratifying to Mrs. Dormer-Smith when she +hears that dear May has been invited to the Hadlows'."</p> + +<p>"H'm! I don't think Mrs. Dormer-Smith will lose her wits with joy," +answered Mrs. Dobbs drily.</p> + +<p>"No? Oh, but surely——! She <i>must</i> feel it agreeable that her niece +should be noticed by persons of such eminent gentility."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dobbs would have dismissed the subject with a smile and a shake of +the head, avoiding, as she always did, any discussion or even mention of +her son-in-law's family; but Mr. Simpson interposed magisterially—</p> + +<p>"If Mrs. Dormer-Smith isn't gratified, it must be because she is +ignorant of the position held by Canon Hadlow's family in Oldchester."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dobbs faced about upon this, and said bluntly, "My dear good man, +all the best society of Oldchester put together would seem mighty small +beer to Mrs. Dormer-Smith."</p> + +<p>"Oh, really!" returned Mr. Simpson, mortified and incredulous. "Such a +very fine lady, is she? Well, 'Dormer-Smith' doesn't <i>sound</i> very +aristocratic; but it may be, of course."</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Dormer-Smith <i>is</i> a fine lady, and accustomed to mix with still +finer ladies. It's no use shutting one's eyes to facts. If we won't look +at them, we only bump up against them, because they're there, all the +same. As to opinions, that's different. I suppose I needn't say anything +about mine at this time of day. I'm a staunch Radical—always was, and +always will be."</p> + +<p>"Pooh, pooh! Call yourself a Radical!" said Mr. Weatherhead, laughing +his peculiar laugh, which consisted of a series of guttural <i>ho, ho, +ho's</i>. "You're convicted out of your own mouth of not being one. Whoever +heard of a Radical that cared about facts?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Simpson put out her hand, and tapped him on the shoulder. "Now, +now; that's very naughty of you," she exclaimed. "Politics are strictly +forbidden on Saturday evenings by the ancient statutes of our society. +Isn't it so, Mr. Dobbs? I appeal to the chair." And she threatened Mr. +Weatherhead playfully with her forefinger, at the same time casting an +arch look through her spectacles. Glasses are not favourable to any +effective play of the eyes, and usually screen the most expressive of +glances behind a ghastly glitter, void of all speculation. But of this +consideration Mrs. Simpson was habitually oblivious. Then, by way of +turning the conversation into more agreeable channels, she continued, +"And, <i>ŕpropos</i> of May, dear Mrs. Dobbs, when did you last hear from her +papa?"</p> + +<p>This simple inquiry startled the company into absolute silence for a few +moments. Mrs. Dobbs's resolute reserve on the subject of her son-in-law +was so well known that none of her friends for several years past had +ventured to mention him to her. Some refrained because they did not wish +to hurt her; and many because they were afraid she might hurt them: for +Mrs. Dobbs's uncompromising frankness of speech and force of character +made her a hard hitter, when she did hit. But the specific levity of +Mrs. Simpson's mind gave her a certain immunity from hard retorts—the +immunity of a fly from a cannon ball. On the present occasion, however, +she received no rebuke; for greatly to Jo Weatherhead's surprise, and +somewhat to Mr. Simpson's, Mrs. Dobbs, after a brief pause, answered—</p> + +<p>"I have not heard lately from Captain Cheffington. He is a bad +correspondent. But we shall soon be obliged to communicate with each +other. May is seventeen, and various arrangements will have to be made +about her future."</p> + +<p>"Goodness!" exclaimed Mrs. Simpson, clasping her hands. "You don't mean +to say that May isn't to remain with you?"</p> + +<p>"That will depend on what is agreed on in the family. May must take her +place in the world as Miss Cheffington, you know, and not as my +grand-daughter."</p> + +<p>The Simpsons exchanged a glance of surprise. This was the first time +they had heard Mrs. Dobbs assume any such position for her grandchild. +Sebastian was inclined to resist her doing so now. But something in Mrs. +Dobbs's manner checked him from expressing this feeling. It is generally +found easier to criticize our friends' shortcomings when we are free +from the disturbing element of their presence. The short remainder of +the evening was passed in talking of other things. But on their way home +Mr. and Mrs. Simpson discussed this new turn of affairs with some +eagerness.</p> + +<p>The organist considered that the notion of the Hadlows not being good +enough company for the Dormer-Smiths was preposterous; and he feared +that Mrs. Dobbs was giving herself airs. In reply to his wife's +observations that Mrs. Dobbs was a "dear old soul," he pointed out that, +dear and good though she might be, yet her husband had kept an +ironmonger's shop, and publicly sold hardware therein behind his +counter, to the knowledge of all Oldchester. This retort depended for +its cogency on the understanding of an ellipsis; which, however, Mrs. +Simpson was perfectly able to supply, for she answered immediately—</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm sure, Bassy, Mrs. Dobbs would never undervalue your position as +a professional man. She knows very well that the Arts rank superior to +trade."</p> + +<p>On the other hand, when Mrs. Simpson proceeded to opine that if May were +taken up by her father's family she would become quite a grand +personage, Mr. Simpson declared, with a good deal of heat, that for his +part he thought Mrs. Dobbs quite as good any day as the Cheffingtons, +about whom nothing certain was known in Oldchester except that they were +shabby in their dealings and "stuck-up" in their pretensions.</p> + +<p>Mr. Weatherhead lingered behind the organist and his wife, to say a word +to Mrs. Dobbs after their departure.</p> + +<p>"I can tell you one thing, Sarah; what you said about May will be all +over Oldchester by Monday."</p> + +<p>"So I guess."</p> + +<p>"O-ho! Then you mean it to be talked about?"</p> + +<p>"I mean it to be known that May is to take her place in the world as +Miss Cheffington."</p> + +<p>"But <i>is</i> she? That's more than you can say, Sarah."</p> + +<p>"I shall have a try for it, Jo."</p> + +<p>Now whenever Mrs. Dobbs had said in that emphatic manner that she would +"have a try" for anything, that thing, so far as Jo Weatherhead's +experience went, had infallibly come to pass. But with all his faith in +his old friend, he could not help doubting her success in the present +case. He was eagerly curious to know how she intended to proceed; but +Mrs. Dobbs refused to say any more on the subject, declaring that she +must think things over quietly.</p> + +<p>"I don't see it," said Mr. Weatherhead to himself, poking forward his +nose, and pursing up his lips as he walked homeward. "Sarah Dobbs is a +wonderful woman, but even she can't gather grapes from thorns. And in +respect of justice or generosity—not to mention common honesty—I'm +afraid all the Cheffingtons are rather thorny."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + + +<p>Among other features peculiar to itself, Oldchester possesses a +quadrangular building with an inner cloister, commonly called College +Quad. It is in the immediate neighbourhood of the cathedral, and is +divided into small tenements inhabited by clergy forming part of the +cathedral body. At the back of the houses on the south side of the +quadrangle, pleasant gardens slope down towards the river Wend. The +cloister is a very beautiful piece of Gothic work, with fretted roof and +springing pillars. Peace and quiet reign within it. In summer there +comes a sleepy sound of rooks from the Bishop's garden close at hand; +and, towards sunrise and sunset, the chirp of innumerable sparrows +mingled with the richer notes of thrush, blackbird, and nightingale in +their season. At certain times of the day, too, the stillness is broken +by the thrilling freshness of children's voices, as the scholars of the +ancient Grammar School scatter themselves over the Cathedral Green, +shouting and calling in the shrill silvery treble of boyhood. But these +sounds are softened and subdued by distance and thick masonry before +they penetrate within the precincts of College Quad. In autumn and +winter there is a chill dampness on the greenish-gray paving-stones of +the cloister, and the rain drips heavily from carven capitals into the +resounding court. The very order and cleanliness of the place—its +decorous, clerical, smooth-shaven air—seem sometimes under a watery +sky, and when the winds are moaning and complaining, or thrumming like +ghostly fingers on the fine resonant Gothic fret-work, to fill the mind +with melancholy.</p> + +<p>A rich contrasting note is seldom wanting:—firelight and the glimpse of +a crimson curtain seen through lozenge-shaped window-panes; or an open +door sending out a gush of warmth and spicy smells from the kitchen, and +the sound of friendly voices. Yet even within doors there seems to be a +haunting sense of the old, old times when hands long crumbled into dust +built up that dainty cloister, and when patient monkish feet, long +stilled for ever, paced its stones. It is not a wholly sad feeling. It +may even give zest to the glance of living eyes, and the warm pressure +of dear hands. But it has a peculiar pathos:—a pathos which, perhaps, +is felt peculiarly by northern people, as the sad-sweet twilight belongs +to northern climates, and which many of those, to the manner born, would +not exchange for the unbroken garishness of golden-blue days and +silver-blue nights.</p> + +<p>The habitations on the south side of College Quad are considered the +most desirable of all, by reason of the gardens before-mentioned running +down to the Wend, although one or two houses on the west side may be a +trifle larger. Canon Hadlow's family of three persons inhabited one of +these coveted southern houses, and found it roomy enough for their +needs; yet it was a small—a very small—dwelling. The front door opened +on to the beautiful cloister. Immediately on entering the house you +found yourself in a tiny entrance-hall, to the left of which a steep and +narrow staircase of dark oak conducted to the one upper story. On the +right, a massive oaken-door gave access to a long, low parlour, whose +three latticed windows—darkened somewhat by a drooping fringe of +jessamine and virginia-creeper—looked across the garden and the river +to wide meadows. Opposite to the front door, a glass one, which in +summer stood wide open all day long, led into the garden. In winter, +swinging double-doors, covered with dark baize, shut out the cold air +and the chill, damp mist which sometimes crept up from the river.</p> + +<p>The exterior of the houses in College Quad was coeval with the Gothic +cloister; within, the passing centuries had somewhat modified their +aspect. The main features, however, were ancient, and most of the +inhabitants had chosen to preserve this general air of antiquity. Only +in some few cases had disastrous attempts at modernizing been made with +paint and French wall-papers. It would have been needless to tell any +Oldchester person that no such sacrilegious innovations deformed the +fine oak beams and wainscoting in Canon Hadlow's house. There was a dark +tone all through it, which, however, was not chill. It was rather the +rich darkness of Rembrandt's shadows, which seem to have a latent glow +in the heart of them. A deep red curtain here and there, or a well-worn +Turkey carpet, with its kaleidoscope of subdued tints, relieved the +general sombreness. Flowers in all manner of receptacles—from a +precious old china punch-bowl to the cheapest of glass goblets—adorned +every room in the house throughout the year. Even in winter there was +ivy to be had, and red-berried holly, and the coral clusters of the +mountain ash, and pale chrysanthemums. The garden furnished an ample +supply of stocks, roses, carnations, holly-hocks, china asters, +sweetwilliams, wallflowers, and the like old-fashioned blossoms with +homely names. But as Mrs. Hadlow herself quaintly remarked, she cared +more for the sight and smell of a flower than its sound.</p> + +<p>One sacrifice the flowers cost; the Hadlows had no lawn-tennis ground. +Mrs. Hadlow declared she could not spare the space. Her neighbours to +the right and left boasted of lawns which, with their white lines, +looked like tables chalked on the pavement for the popular street game +of hop-scotch—and were very little bigger. But the Hadlows' garden was +a mosaic of box-bordered flower-beds. Only quite at the lower end, where +a clipped hedge divided it from a footpath on the river bank, there was +a strip of green sward like a velvet carpet, spread completely across +the garden. At one angle stood a yew-tree of fabulous age, and in its +shadow were a garden bench and table, and a few rustic chairs. This was +Mrs. Hadlow's drawing-room whenever the weather permitted her to be +out-of-doors. There she sewed, and read, and received visits. The oak +parlour, which served also as a dining-room, was the ordinary family +living room. There was a small room called the study, lined with books +from floor to ceiling; but drawing-room, properly so-called, there was +none at all. Constance Hadlow was the only one of the family who +regretted this circumstance. The canon was perfectly content with his +abode. And as to Mrs. Hadlow, no one who valued her good opinion would +have ventured to hint to her that her house lacked anything to make it +convenient and delightful. An ill-advised stranger had once opined in +her presence that the near neighbourhood of the river must make the +south side of the College Quad damp and unhealthy during the autumn and +winter, and Mrs. Hadlow's indignation had been boundless. That it was +sometimes cold in College Quad she was willing to admit—just as it was +sometimes cold on the Riviera or in Cairo. But that it could, under any +circumstances, or for the shortest space of time, be damp, was what she +would never be brought to acknowledge. As to the Wend, if any +exhalations did arise from that gentle stream, they could not, she was +sure, be unwholesome—<i>above bridge</i>. It was important to bear in mind +this limitation, since below bridge, where the factories were, and where +the poorer dwellings stood in crowded ranks, and the streets vibrated to +the rumble of heavy waggons and tramway cars, the Wend must naturally +incur such corruption of its good manners as came from evil +communications. Mrs. Hadlow loved and admired Oldchester with +enthusiasm. But Oldchester, in her mind, meant the cathedral and its +immediate surroundings. Her admiration was bounded by the cathedral +precincts; and, to judge from her words, so was her love also. But her +heart was not to be imprisoned within any such confines. Prejudice might +rule her speech, and warp her judgments, but her warm human sympathies +went out towards those unfortunates who dwelt beyond the pale, even +under the shadow of Bragg's factory chimney; nay, even in those vulgar +suburban villas, with fine names, which were particularly abhorrent to +Mrs. Hadlow's soul.</p> + +<p>The sun shone brightly on a group of persons assembled in Mrs. Hadlow's +garden on the Monday forenoon after Mrs. Dobbs's supper-party. It was a +sun more bright than warm; and a little crisp breeze fluttered now and +then among the scarlet and gold leaves of the virginia-creeper which +draped the back of the house. Constance Hadlow, wrapped in a fleecy +shawl, and sitting in a patch of sunshine outside the shadow of the +yew-tree, declared it was "bitterly cold." Her opinion was evidently +shared by a black-and-tan terrier that shivered convulsively at +intervals with a sort of ostentation, as though to hint to the less +sensitive bipeds that it was high time to retire to the shelter of a +roof and the comforts of the hearthrug. Mrs. Hadlow's round, rosy face +seemed to shed a glow around it like a terrestrial sun, as she beamed +from behind a great basket piled with grey woollen socks belonging to +the canon: which socks were never darned by any other than his wife's +fingers. Her nephew, Owen Rivers, lounged on the bench beside her. +Seated on a low chair, May Cheffington was winding a ball of grey +worsted for the socks; and standing opposite to her, with his shoulder +against the trunk of the yew-tree, was Mr. Theodore Bransby. This young +gentleman had just said something which had startled the assembled +company. He was not given to saying startling things. He would probably +have pronounced it "bad form" to do so:—a phrase which, to his mind, +carried with it the severest condemnation. He had merely observed, "You +will all be sorry to lose Miss Cheffington, shall you not, Mrs. Hadlow?" +quite unconscious of saying anything to cause surprise. Surprise, +however, was plainly expressed on every countenance, including that of +Miss Cheffington herself.</p> + +<p>The fact was that rumour, speaking by the voices of Mr. and Mrs. +Simpson, had already announced in Oldchester that May Cheffington was +going away to live with her grand relations in London. The report had +not yet penetrated College Quad, but it had been brought to the +Bransbys' house that morning by Mrs. Simpson when she came to give her +daily lesson to the children.</p> + +<p>"Lose her! What do you mean?" asked Mrs. Hadlow.</p> + +<p>"You're not going to be married, are you, May?" cried Miss Constance, +dropping her parasol in order to look full at the other girl; while Mr. +Rivers, on the other hand, raised himself on his elbow and stared at +young Bransby.</p> + +<p>May laughed and coloured at her friend's question. "Certainly not that I +know of, Constance," she answered.</p> + +<p>"Are you going away, then?"</p> + +<p>"You must ask Mr. Bransby. He seems to know; I don't."</p> + +<p>As she spoke, May turned a pair of bright hazel eyes full on the young +gentleman in question, and smiled. The admixture of Dobbs blood with the +noble strain of Cheffington had certainly not produced any physical +deterioration of the race. Yet the dowager had been discontented with +her grand-daughter's appearance, and had particularly lamented the +absence of the Cheffington profile. Now the Cheffington profile was +handsome enough in its way, in certain subjects and at a certain time of +life; but with advancing years it was apt to resemble the profile of an +owl: the nose being beaky, and the orbit of the eyes very large, with +eyebrows nearly semi-circular; while the chin tended to disappear in +hanging folds and creases of throat. The Cheffingtons, moreover, were +sallow and dark-haired. May inherited her mother's fair skin and soft +brown hair. Her slender young figure, not yet fully grown, was rather +below than above the middle height. She had the healthy, though +delicate, freshness of a field-flower; but, like the field-flower, she +might easily pass unnoticed. There was nothing of high or dazzling +beauty about May Cheffington, but she had that subtle attraction which +does not always belong to beauty. A great many persons, however, thought +she did not bear comparison with Constance Hadlow, her friend and +schoolfellow. Besides a firm faith in her own beauty—which is a more +powerful assistance to its recognition by others than is generally +supposed—Miss Hadlow possessed a pair of fine dark eyes and eyebrows, a +clear, pale skin, regular features, and white teeth. Those who were +disposed to be critical observed that her face and head were rather too +massive for her height; and that her figure, sufficiently plump at +present, threatened to become too fat as she approached middle life. But +at twenty years of age that would have appeared a very remote +contingency to Constance Hadlow, supposing her to have ever thought +about it. Although circumstances often prevented her from being dressed +after the latest fashion, her hair—dark, wavy, and abundant—was always +skilfully arranged in the prevalent mode, whatever that might be. It +happened just then to be a becoming one to Miss Hadlow's head and face. +The crimson colour of the shawl wrapped round her made a fine contrast +with the creamy pallor of her skin and the vivid darkness of her eyes. +Altogether, she looked handsome enough to excuse Owen Rivers for finding +it difficult to remove himself from her society, supposing Mr. Simpson's +statement to be true that the young man was "dangling after his cousin +instead of minding his business."</p> + +<p>Theodore Bransby, on being called upon to explain himself, answered that +he understood Miss Cheffington was shortly going to London to reside +with her aunt, Mrs. Dormer-Smith.</p> + +<p>"Oh no, I'm not," said May promptly, before any one else could speak. +"That is quite a mistake."</p> + +<p>"Indeed!"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, indeed it is. I'm going to stay with granny."</p> + +<p>"Indeed!" said Theodore Bransby once more. Then he added, "Are you quite +sure? Because I had it from a person who had it from Mrs. Dobbs +herself."</p> + +<p>"From granny?" In her astonishment May let fall the ball of worsted. It +rolled across the grass under the very nose of the toy terrier, who +snapped at it, and then shivered more strongly than ever with an added +sense of injury.</p> + +<p>"Very likely nothing is positively settled yet," continued Theodore. +"Mrs. Dobbs was speaking of family arrangements for the future."</p> + +<p>"Then I suppose," said May, with an anxious look, "that she has heard +from papa?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, I believe so; something was said about a communication from +Captain Cheffington."</p> + +<p>There was a little pause. Then Mrs. Hadlow said, "Well, of course we +shall be sorry to lose you, my dear, as Theodore says. But it is quite +right that you should be amongst your own people, and be properly +introduced."</p> + +<p>"Granny is my own people," returned May in a low voice.</p> + +<p>"Of course; and a most kind and excellent grandmother she is. But I +mean—in short, since it is Mrs. Dobbs's own plan, we must suppose she +thinks it best for you to go to town; and I must say I agree with her."</p> + +<p>"It is obviously necessary," said young Bransby. "Miss Cheffington will +have, of course, to be presented."</p> + +<p>"Why, you look quite glum, May!" cried Constance laughing. "Oh, you +little goose! I only wish I had the chance of going to town to be +presented."</p> + +<p>Owen Rivers, who had hitherto been silent, now addressed May, and asked +her if she disliked her aunt.</p> + +<p>"Dislike Aunt Pauline? Oh no; I don't dislike her at all. But I—I don't +know her very well."</p> + +<p>"I thought," said Bransby, "that you had been in the habit of staying +with Mrs. Dormer-Smith during the school vacations?"</p> + +<p>"No; before Grandmamma Cheffington died I used to go to Richmond, and I +only saw Aunt Pauline now and then. Since that time I haven't seen her +at all, for I've spent all my holidays with dear granny."</p> + +<p>Constance began to question young Bransby as to who had given him the +news about May's departure; what it was that had been said; whether the +time of her going away were positively fixed; and so forth. May rose, +and, under cover of picking up her ball of worsted, walked away out of +earshot.</p> + +<p>"Are you that phenomenon, a young lady devoid of curiosity, Miss +Cheffington?" asked Owen Rivers, as she passed near him.</p> + +<p>"Oh, there's nothing to be curious about," returned the girl, flushing a +little. "Granny and I shall talk it all over together this evening. I +need not trouble myself about what other people may say or guess."</p> + +<p>Miss Hadlow had apparently forgotten that it was "bitterly cold:" for +she continued to sit on the lawn talking with Theodore after the others +had gone into the house. She moved at length from her seat at the +summons of the luncheon-bell. Fox the terrier, more consistent, had +availed himself of the breaking-up of the little party to hasten indoors +and establish himself on the dining-room hearthrug:—a step which +nothing but his unconquerable dislike to being alone, had prevented him +from taking long ago.</p> + +<p>When the two loiterers at length entered the dining-room, Mrs. Hadlow +announced that May had gone home. Her grandmother had sent the servant +for her a little earlier than usual, and May had refused to remain for +luncheon. The young girl's absence gave an opportunity for discussing +her and her prospects; and they were discussed accordingly, as the party +sat at table.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Hadlow expressed great satisfaction at hearing that May was to be +received and accepted "as a Cheffington;" Constance inclined to think +that May would not duly appreciate her good fortune; and Theodore +Bransby observed stiffly, that Miss Cheffington's removal to town had +always been inevitable, and that the date of it alone could have been +matter for uncertainty to persons who knew anything of the Cheffington +family.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Rivers, "I suppose Constance is the only one of us here +present who possesses that knowledge."</p> + +<p>"No; I never knew much of them," answered his cousin. "I saw them +occasionally when I was at school. Sometimes the dowager came down to +stay at Brighton, and she used, now and then, to call for May in her +carriage; but she never entered the doors. And once or twice Mrs. +Dormer-Smith came. I remember we girls used to make game of old Mrs. +Cheffington with her black wig and her airs."</p> + +<p>"She was thoroughly <i>grande dame</i>, I believe," said Theodore Bransby.</p> + +<p>"Very likely. The servants used to say she was dreadfully stingy, and +call her an old cat. Mrs. Dormer-Smith had nice manners, and was always +beautifully dressed."</p> + +<p>"Your information is somewhat sketchy, my dear Constance; but no doubt +the outline is correct as far as it goes," observed Rivers.</p> + +<p>"Decidedly sketchy!" said Mrs. Hadlow, who was helping her guests to +minced mutton.</p> + +<p>"Miss Hadlow, however, is <i>not</i> the only one of us who knows anything +about the Cheffingtons," said young Bransby, with his grave air.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear me, I had forgotten!" interposed Mrs. Hadlow, after a quick +glance at the young man's face. "To be sure, Theodore has visited the +family in town. The fact is, Theodore has been a stranger himself so +long, that we have had no opportunity of hearing his report. Tell us +what the Dormer-Smiths are like, Theodore, since you know them."</p> + +<p>"Like? They are like people who move in the best society—like +thoroughbred people," returned Theodore, drawing himself up, stiffly.</p> + +<p>"Poor little May!" said Mrs. Hadlow, thoughtfully. "She's a sweet little +thing. I hope they'll be kind to her."</p> + +<p>"Do you know anything of Mrs. Dobbs, Aunt Jane?" asked Rivers. "I mean," +he added, "of course, you know <i>of</i> her. But do you know her?"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes. Once, many years ago, the canon had a tough battle with Mrs. +Dobbs, when he was helping to canvas for the city member. We couldn't +get her husband's vote for the right side. But he was a worthy man, and +sold very good ironmongery. When Constance first asked leave to invite +her schoolfellow here, I had an interview with Mrs. Dobbs. She came to +the point at once. She said, 'Mrs. Hadlow, you need not be uneasy. My +friends and equals are not yours; but neither are they my +grand-daughter's. She belongs by her father's family to a different +class. As for me, I am too old to make any mistakes about my place in +the world, and too proud to wish to change it."</p> + +<p>"Too proud!" repeated Bransby, with raised eyebrows.</p> + +<p>"I thought it was very well said," answered Mrs. Hadlow. "I only wish +all the people of her class had the same honest pride. But Mrs. Dobbs is +a woman of great good sense, and of the highest integrity. All the same, +of course, now that May is grown up, the girl's position in that house +is too anomalous. Captain Cheffington no doubt feels that. He probably +left his daughter there so long out of tenderness to Mrs. Dobbs's +feelings; and perhaps also to help out the old lady's income. But now, +naturally, it must come to an end. He can't sacrifice May's future. That +is how I explain the state of the case; and it seems to me to be +creditable to all concerned."</p> + +<p>"At all events, it is creditable to Mrs. Dobbs, Aunt Jane," said Rivers.</p> + +<p>"And why not, pray, to Captain Cheffington too?" asked Constance. "But +Captain Cheffington has the misfortune to be born a gentleman, so, of +course, Owen disapproves of him."</p> + +<p>"Not at all, 'of course.' But I agree with you as to the misfortune—for +the other gentlemen, at all events!"</p> + +<p>"I think you're a little mistaken about Captain Cheffington, Rivers," +said Theodore. "He's a friend of mine."</p> + +<p>"In that case I'm very sorry," answered Owen drily.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Hadlow here interposed, rising from the table with a show of +cheerful bustle. "Come," said she, "you children must not loiter here +all day. The canon comes home from Wendhurst by the three-forty train, +and I am going to meet him; Constance has an engagement with the +Burtons; and as for you two boys, I shall turn you out without +ceremony."</p> + +<p>The kind lady's intention had been to break off the discourse between +the two young men, which threatened to become disagreeable. But as +Bransby and Rivers walked away side by side through the fretted cloister +of College Quad, the former, with a certain quiet doggedness which +belonged to him, returned to the subject.</p> + +<p>"You must understand," he said, "that I am not very intimate with +Captain Cheffington; but I know him, and am his debtor for some +courteous attentions. And I think you are a little—rash, if you don't +mind my saying so, in condemning him."</p> + +<p>"I don't at all mind your saying so."</p> + +<p>"You see, there are a great many circumstances to be taken into account, +in judging of Captain Cheffington's career. In the first place, there +was his unfortunate marriage."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + + +<p>When Augustus Cheffington had paid that sudden visit to his +mother-in-law which resulted in leaving May on her hands, Theodore +Bransby happened to be at home during a University vacation, and was +flattered by Captain Cheffington's notice. The fact was that Augustus +found himself greatly bored and out of his element in Oldchester, and +was glad to accept a dinner or two from Mr. Bransby, the solicitor to +the Dean and Chapter; for Mr. Bransby's port wine was unimpeachable. He +had also condescended to play several games of billiards with Theodore +upon a somewhat mangy old table in the Green Dragon Hotel; and to smoke +that young gentleman's cigars without stint; and to hold forth about +himself in the handsomest terms, pleased to be accepted, apparently, +pretty much at his own valuation. Theodore Bransby was no fool. But he +was young, and he had his illusions. These were not of a high-flown, +ideal cast. He would have shrugged his shoulders at any one who should +set up for philanthropy, or poetry, or socialism, or chivalry. But he +was subdued by a display of nonchalant disdain for all the things and +persons which he had been accustomed to look up to, from childhood. Mr. +Bragg, the great tin-tack manufacturer, his father's wealthiest client, +was dismissed by Augustus Cheffington in two words: "Damned snob!" and +even the bishop he pronounced to be a "prosin' old prig," and spoke of +the bishop's wife as "that vulgar fat woman." These indications of +superiority, together with many references to the noble and honourable +Castlecombes and Cheffingtons who composed Augustus's kith and kin, had +greatly fascinated Theodore. And Augustus had completed his conquest +over the young man by giving him a letter of introduction to his sister, +Mrs. Dormer-Smith, which letter was delivered when young Bransby went to +London to read for the Bar.</p> + +<p>Although the brother and sister had parted not on the best terms with +each other, yet Augustus had not hesitated to give the introduction. He +believed that his sister would be willing to honour his recommendation +by showing civilities which cost her nothing; and, moreover, he was +quite indifferent (being then on the point of saying a long farewell to +Oldchester) as to whether the Dormer-Smiths snubbed young Bransby or +not. They did not snub him. Mrs. Dormer-Smith rather approved of his +manners; and it was quite clear that he wanted neither for means nor +friends. She was therefore inclined to receive him with something more +than politeness. And, in justice to Pauline, it must be said that she +was really glad of the opportunity to please her brother. She was not +without fraternal sentiments; and she strongly felt that an introduction +from a Cheffington to a Cheffington was not a document to be lightly +dishonoured. As for Mr. Dormer-Smith, although his feelings towards his +brother-in-law—never very cordial—had been exacerbated by having to +pay the bill for the dowager's funeral expenses, yet his resentment had +been to some degree soothed by Augustus's abrupt departure, and by his +withdrawal of May from her aunt's house. For many years past the +attachment of Augustus's relations for him had increased in direct +proportion to the distance which divided him from them. In Belgium he +was tolerated and pitied; had he gone to the Antipodes he would +doubtless have been warmly sympathized with; and it might safely be +prophesied that, when he should finally emigrate from this planet +altogether, the surviving members of the family would be penetrated by a +glow of affection.</p> + +<p>"I think he's rather nice, Frederick," said Mrs. Dormer-Smith, with a +little sigh of relief after young Bransby's first visit.</p> + +<p>"We may be thankful," returned her husband, "that Augustus has sent us a +possible person. One never can reckon on what he may choose to do."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Bransby is quite possible. Indeed, I think he is nice. He shall +have a card for my Thursdays."</p> + +<p>In this way Theodore had been received by Mrs. Dormer-Smith, and had +established himself in her good opinion on further acquaintance. "He +was," she said, "so quiet and so safe." At this time May Cheffington was +still at school, being maintained there, as has been recorded, by her +grandmother Dobbs; and Pauline would occasionally speak of her niece to +young Bransby. She always spoke kindly, though plaintively, of the girl, +over whom there hung the shadow of the unfortunate marriage.</p> + +<p>Theodore Bransby was an Oldchester person, and could not, therefore, be +supposed to be ignorant of that lamentable event. The fact was, however, +that he had never heard a word about it until he made Captain +Cheffington's acquaintance in his native city. It had taken place before +he was born; and, indeed, Oldchester had been less agitated by the +marriage, even at the time when it happened, than any Cheffington or +Castlecombe would have believed possible. But Pauline found young +Bransby's sentiments on the subject all that they should be. No one +could have expressed himself more shocked at the idea of a gentleman's +marrying a person in Susan Dobbs's rank of life than did this +solicitor's son. And Mrs. Dormer-Smith had not the least suspicion that +he would have considered such a marriage quite as shocking a +<i>mésalliance</i> for himself as for Captain Cheffington. "Misunderstanding" +is used as a synonym for "discord;" but, perhaps, a great deal of social +harmony depends on misunderstandings.</p> + +<p>Theodore could not, of course, have the slightest personal interest in a +schoolgirl whom he had never seen; but his sympathies were so entirely +with the Cheffingtons on the question of the unfortunate marriage as to +inspire him with an odd feeling of antagonism against Mrs. Dobbs, and a +sense that she ought to be firmly kept in her place. He secretly thought +Mrs. Dormer-Smith weakly indulgent in allowing Miss Cheffington to +associate so freely with her grandmother, and was indignant at the idea +of that plebeian exercising any authority over Lord Castlecombe's +grand-niece. However, all that would doubtless come to an end when the +girl left school, and was introduced into society under her aunt's +protection. Theodore flattered himself that he thoroughly understood the +position. As for Viscount Castlecombe, he certainly knew all about +<i>him</i>—or, at least, what was chiefly worth knowing; for he had read +about him in the Peerage.</p> + +<p>Primed with this varied knowledge, young Bransby held forth to Owen +Rivers as they walked together through College Quad, across the open +green beyond it, and up to the house of Mr. Bransby, senior, in the +Cathedral Close. Here they parted. Rivers declined a polite invitation +from the other to enter, and pursued his way alone towards the High +Street; and Bransby, as he waited for the door to be opened, stood +looking after him for a few moments.</p> + +<p>The two young men had known each other more or less all their lives, but +theirs was a familiarity without real intimacy. The years had not made +them more congenial to each other. People began to say that they were +rivals in Constance Hadlow's good graces. But, whether this were so or +not, the latent antagonism between them had existed long before they +grew to be men. They had never quarrelled. The air is always still +enough in a frost. They did not even know how much they disliked one +another. As Theodore watched Owen's retreating figure, the thought +uppermost in his mind was that his friend's shooting-coat was badly cut, +and that he did not remember ever to have seen him wear gloves.</p> + +<p>The home of Mr. Martin Bransby, of the old-established firm of Cadell +and Bransby, was a luxurious one. The house was an ancient substantial +stone building, with a spacious walled garden behind it, contiguous to +the bishop's. The present occupant had made considerable additions to +it. It is perhaps needless to say that he had been severely criticized +for doing so, there being no point on which it is more difficult to +content public opinion than the expenditure of one's own money. Several +of Mr. Bransby's acquaintances were unable to reconcile themselves to +the fact that he was not satisfied with that which had satisfied his +father and grandfather (for Martin Bransby was the third of his family +who had successively held that house and the business of solicitor to +the Dean and Chapter of Oldchester). It would have been better, they +opined, if, instead of building new rooms, he had saved his money to +provide for the young family rising around him. If it were observed to +this irreconcilable party that the presence of a numerous family +necessitated more space to lodge them in than the original house +afforded, they would triumphantly retort, "Very well, then, what +business had Martin Bransby to marry a second time? Or, if he must +marry, why did he choose a young girl without a penny instead of some +person nearer his own age and with a little property?" Martin Bransby, +however, marrying rather to please himself than to earn the approval of +his friends, had chosen a remarkably pretty girl of twenty, a Miss +Louisa Lutyer, of a good Shropshire family, whom he had met in London. +They had now been married twelve years, during which time five children +had been born to them, and they had lived together in the utmost +harmony. Those persons who disapproved of the match (solely in Mr. +Bransby's interests, of course) could find nothing worse to say than +that Martin was absurdly in love with his wife, and treated her with +weak indulgence. In short, the irreconcilables were driven, year by +year, to put off the date at which their unfavourable judgments were to +be corroborated by facts, much as sundry popular preachers have been +compelled by circumstances over which they had no control, to postpone +the end of the world.</p> + +<p>Latterly they had had the mournful satisfaction of observing that Martin +Bransby was looking far from well—harassed and aged. And when he was +attacked by the severe illness which threatened his life, they solemnly +hinted that the malady had been aggravated by anxiety about his young +family; for although Martin had made, and was making, a great deal of +money, yet, with three boys to put out in the world, two daughters to +provide for, and an extravagant wife to maintain, even the excellent +business of Cadell and Bransby <i>must</i> be somewhat strained to supply his +needs.</p> + +<p>At any rate, the evidences of wealth and comfort were as abundant as +ever in the home which Theodore entered when he parted from his friend. +There was plenty of solid furniture, dating from the dark ages before +modern ćstheticism had arisen to reform upholstery and teach us the +original sinfulness of the prismatic colours. But these relics of the +earlier part of the century were not to be found in the two spacious +drawing-rooms, which had been arranged by the fashionablest of +fashionable house-decorators from London. These rooms, together with a +tiny cabinet behind them, which was styled "The Boudoir," were Mrs. +Bransby's special domain. And here Theodore found her seated by the +fireside. A book lay on her knees; but she was not reading it. She was +resting in a position of complete repose, with her head leaning against +the back of the chair, her hands carelessly crossed on her lap, and her +feet supported on a cushion. She was enjoying the sense of bodily and +mental rest which comes from the removal of a keen-edged anxiety; for +during several weeks Mrs. Bransby had been the most devoted of +sick-nurses, and had scarcely left her husband's room. But now the +doctors had pronounced all danger to be over; the children's active feet +and shrill voices were no longer hushed down by warning fingers; the +housemaid sang over her brooms and dusters; and the mistress of the +house had unpacked and put on a new "tea-gown," which had lain neglected +for more than a fortnight in its brown-paper wrappings. From the +golden-brown clusters of hair on her forehead to the tip of her dainty +shoe every detail of her appearance was cared for minutely. Yet there +was nothing of stiffness or affectation. She reminded one of an +exquisitely-tended hothouse flower, and carried her beauty and her +toilet with as perfect an air of unconscious refinement as the flower +itself. Certainly Oldchester held no more lovely and graceful figure +than Mrs. Bransby presented to the eyes of her stepson. Yet the eyes of +her stepson rested on her with a glance of cool disapprobation. His +manner of addressing her, however, was not more chilly than his manner +of addressing most other persons—perhaps rather less so; and he was +scrupulously polite.</p> + +<p>"Did Hatch give a good account of my father this morning?" he asked, +seating himself by the fire opposite to Mrs. Bransby.</p> + +<p>"Excellent, thank goodness! He is to drive out on Wednesday, if the +weather is favourable. I felt so soothed and comforted by Dr. Hatch's +report, that I thought I would indulge myself with half an hour of +perfect laziness," added Mrs. Bransby, with a deprecating glance at +Theodore. She constantly reproved herself for assuming an apologetic +attitude towards her stepson, but constantly recurred to it; she was so +keenly conscious of his—always unexpressed—criticism.</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Hadlow desired to send word that the canon means to call on my +father this afternoon, if he is well enough to see him."</p> + +<p>"Oh yes; a talk with Canon Hadlow will do him good." Then, after an +instant's pause, Mrs. Bransby asked, "Have you been in College Quad, +then?"</p> + +<p>"I lunched with Mrs. Hadlow. Rivers was there; I parted from him just +now. And Miss Cheffington."</p> + +<p>"Oh, really? Mrs. Hadlow is very kind to that little May Cheffington."</p> + +<p>Theodore made no answer, but looked stiffly at the fire.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bransby went on: "I saw her in the cathedral at afternoon service +yesterday, with the Hadlows. It struck me she was growing quite pretty. +Don't you think so?"</p> + +<p>"I should not call her <i>pretty</i>——" began Theodore slowly.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bransby broke in: "Well, of course, she is eclipsed by Constance. +Constance is so very handsome. But still——"</p> + +<p>"I should not describe Miss Cheffington as <i>pretty</i>," pursued Theodore, +in an inflexible kind of way. "She is something more than pretty. She +looks thoroughbred."</p> + +<p>"But that's exactly what she is <i>not</i>, isn't it?" exclaimed Mrs. Bransby +impulsively.</p> + +<p>"I am not sure that I apprehend you."</p> + +<p>"I mean her mother was quite a common person, was she not?"</p> + +<p>"A woman takes her husband's rank."</p> + +<p>"Yes; but she doesn't inherit his ancestors. Besides, one really doesn't +know much about the father, for that matter. To be sure, Simmy was +making a great flourish about May's grand relations in London this +morning. But then all poor dear Simmy's geese are swans." (The name of +"Simmy" had been bestowed on Mrs. Simpson by the youngest little Bransby +but one; and although the elder children were reproved for using it, the +appellation had come to be that by which she was most familiarly known +in the Bransby family.)</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Simpson is a silly person, but her information happens, in this +case, to be correct," returned Theodore. "The relations with whom Miss +Cheffington is going to live in London are friends of mine."</p> + +<p>"Oh! Then what Simmy said is true?" said Mrs. Bransby simply.</p> + +<p>Theodore proceeded, with a scarcely perceptible hesitation, "I think you +might invite Miss Cheffington here before she goes to town. I—I should +be obliged to you for the opportunity of showing her some attention, in +return for the Dormer-Smiths' kindness to me in London."</p> + +<p>"Yes, I can ask the girl if you like," answered Mrs. Bransby, not quite +as warmly as Theodore thought she ought to have answered such a +suggestion from him; "but it will be rather stupid for her, I'm afraid. +At the Hadlows' there is a young girl near her own age; but here, unless +she likes to play with the children, I don't see how we are to amuse +her."</p> + +<p>"I did not contemplate Miss Cheffington's playing with the children. I +meant that you should invite her to a dinner-party, or something of that +sort."</p> + +<p>"Invite May Cheffington to a dinner-party!" repeated Mrs. Bransby, +opening her soft, brown eyes in astonishment.</p> + +<p>"My father spoke of giving a dinner before I go back to the Temple, and +he said he thought he should be well enough to see his friends by the +end of next week."</p> + +<p>"Yes. He talked of inviting the Pipers, and the Hadlows, and perhaps Mr. +Bragg."</p> + +<p>"Could you not include Miss Cheffington? Perhaps if you allowed me to +see your list I might help to arrange it."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I suppose one <i>could</i>; but wouldn't it seem a very strange thing to +do?"</p> + +<p>A little colour came into Theodore's pale fair face, and his chin grew +visibly more rigid above his cravat, as he answered, "I don't know. But +the social <i>convenances</i> are not to be measured by Oldchester's +provincial ideas as to their strangeness. And—pardon me—I don't think +you quite understand Miss Cheffington's position."</p> + +<p>And then he entered on an explanation of the "position," much as he had +explained it to Owen Rivers; with only such suppressions and variations +(chiefly regarding the private history of Augustus Cheffington) as he +thought the difference between his hearers demanded.</p> + +<p>"Well, I'm sure if your father has no objection, I have none," said Mrs. +Bransby at length. And so Theodore got his own way. It was a matter of +course that he should get his own way so far as his step-mother was +concerned. Mrs. Bransby had, indeed, successfully resisted him on many +occasions; but always through the medium of her husband. If Theodore +attacked her face to face, she never had the courage to oppose him. Not +that in the present case she very much wished to oppose him. Nor, in +truth, had their wills ever clashed seriously. But the secret +consciousness of her weakness and timidity was mortifying: for Mrs. +Bransby, although too gentle to fight, was not too gentle to wish she +could fight. And after Theodore had left the room, she sat for some time +imagining to herself various neat and pointed speeches which would +doubtless have brought down her stepson's sententious, supercilious +tone, if she had only had the presence of mind to utter them.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + + +<p>May Cheffington went back to her grand-mother's house, very eager to +understand the origin of the rumours about herself which she had heard +at the Hadlows'. Mrs. Dobbs had not calculated on this, and would have +preferred to break the project to May herself, and in her own fashion. +However, as it had been mentioned, she spoke of it openly. She merely +cautioned her grand-daughter against rashly jumping at any conclusions: +the future being very vague and unsettled.</p> + +<p>"There's one conclusion I <i>have</i> jumped at, granny," said the girl, "and +that is, that I don't mean to give you up for any aunts, or uncles, or +cousins of them all. They are strangers to me, and I don't care a straw +about them—how should I?—whilst <i>you</i> are—granny!"</p> + +<p>"There is no question of giving me up, May. Perhaps I should not like +that much better than you would. But if your father should think it +right for you to stay for a while with his family, we mustn't oppose +him. And I must tell you that I should think it right, too."</p> + +<p>"Oh, if it's only staying 'for a while'——!"</p> + +<p>"Well, at all events we needn't look beyond a 'while' and a short while, +for the present."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dobbs found it more difficult than she had anticipated to put +before May the prospect of being removed from Oldchester altogether, +and, now that the idea of losing May out of her daily life fully +presented itself, she felt a grip at the heart which frightened her. But +she had one of those strong characters whose instinct it is to hide +their wounds and suffer silently; and she resolutely put aside her own +pain at this prospect—or rather, put it off to the solitary hours to +come.</p> + +<p>During the four years since her father had left her at Oldchester, May's +life had been passed between her school at Brighton and her holidays in +Oldchester. These had certainly been the happiest years she could +remember in all her young life. Her grand-mother's house had been the +first real home she had ever known. Her recollections of their life on +the Continent were dim and melancholy. She remembered fragmentary scenes +and incidents in certain dull Flemish towns; their strong-smelling +gutters, their toppling gables, the <i>carillons</i> sounding high up in some +ancient cathedral belfry. She had a vision of her mother's face, very +pale and thin, with large bright eyes, and streaks of gray in the brown +hair. May, as the youngest of Susan Cheffington's children, had come in +for the worst part of their Continental life. The earlier years, when +there was still some money to spend, and fewer debts to be run away +from, had not been quite devoid of brightness. But poor little May's +conscious observation had little to take note of at home save poverty, +sickness, domestic dissensions, and frequent migrations from one shabby +lodging to another. Then her mother died, and some six or eight months +afterwards she was brought to England, and—Fate and the dowager so +willing it—was sent to school to Mrs. Drax in Brighton. The choice of +this school proved to be a very fortunate one for the little motherless +stranger. And perhaps the credit of it ought fairly to be assigned +rather to Destiny than the dowager. The latter would have selected a +more fashionable, pretentious, and expensive establishment had she +consulted merely her idea of what was becoming and suitable for Miss +Miranda Cheffington. But she soon found out that whatever was paid for +that young lady's schooling must, sooner or later, come out of her own +pocket, and she therefore preferred to honour Mrs. Drax with her +patronage, rather than Madame Liebrecht, who had been governess for +years in a noble family, and was supposed to accept no pupil who could +not show sixteen quarterings; or, of course, their equivalent in cash.</p> + +<p>The choice made was, as has been said, very fortunate for May. Mrs. Drax +had the manners of a gentlewoman, and more amiability than could perhaps +have been reasonably expected to survive a long struggle with her +special world—a world of parents and guardians, who held, for the most +part, a liberal view of her duties and a niggardly one of her rights. +Here little May Cheffington remained as a pupil for nearly eight years. +During the first half of that time she sometimes spent her holidays with +the dowager at Richmond, and sometimes in Brighton under the care of +Mrs. Drax. She preferred the latter. Old Mrs. Cheffington did not treat +the child with any active unkindness; but she showed her no tenderness. +The little girl was usually left to the care of her grand-mother's +maid—an elderly woman, to whom this young creature was merely an extra +burthen not considered in her wages. The child passed many a lonely hour +in the garden, or beside the dining-room fire with a book, unheeded. Her +aunt Pauline she only saw at rare intervals. She had a confused sense of +innocently causing much sorrow to Mrs. Dormer-Smith, who seemed always +to be afflicted (why, May did not for several years understand) by the +sight of her clothes; and who used to complain softly to the dowager +that "the poor dear child was lamentably dressed." But, on the whole, +she retained a rather agreeable impression of her aunt, as being pretty +and gentle, and kissing her kindly when they met.</p> + +<p>Then came the dowager's death, the sudden journey to Oldchester, and the +first acquaintance with that unknown Grandmother Dobbs, whose very name +she had heard uttered only in a reproachful tone by the dowager, or in a +hushed voice by the dowager's elderly maid, speaking as one who names a +hereditary malady. And to this <i>taboo</i> Grandmother Dobbs the neglected +child soon gave the warm love of a very grateful and affectionate +nature. May did not know or guess that she was a burthen on her +grand-mother's means, nor would the knowledge have increased her +gratitude at that time. It was the fostering affection which the child +was thankful for. She nestled in it like a half-fledged bird in the warm +shelter of the mother's wing. She was not timid or reserved by +temperament; but the circumstances of her life had given her a certain +repressed air. That disappeared now like hoar-frost in the sunshine. She +was like a young plant whose growth had been arrested by a too chilly +atmosphere. She burgeoned and bloomed into the natural joyousness of +childhood, which needs, above all things, the warmth of love, and cannot +be healthily nurtured by any artificial heat.</p> + +<p>In her school there was no influence tending to diminish May's +attachment to her grandmother, or her perfect contentment with the +simple <i>bourgeois</i> home in Oldchester. Plain Mrs. Dobbs, who paid her +bills punctually, and listened to reason, stood far higher in the +schoolmistress's esteem than the Honourable Mrs. Cheffington, who was +never contented, and required to be dunned for the payment of her just +debts. As to her noble relations, May had no acquaintance with them, and +never sighed to make it. She was ignorant of the very existence of many +of them. When, at seventeen years of age, she was removed from school, +she looked forward to living in the old house in Friar's Row, and she +certainly desired no better home. Mrs. Drax, it has been said, had the +manners of a gentlewoman, and she had not vulgarized May's natural +refinement of mind by misdirecting her admiration towards ignoble +things. The provincialisms in her grand-mother's speech, and the homely +style of her grand-mother's household—although she clearly perceived +both—neither shocked nor mortified May. On the other hand, she accepted +it as a quite natural thing that she should be invited to Canon Hadlow's +house as a guest on equal terms. As Mrs. Dobbs had said to Jo +Weatherhead, May was very much of a child still, and understood nothing +of the world. Her unquestioning acceptance of the situation as her +grandmother presented it to her had something very child-like. She did +not inquire how it came to pass that her aunt Pauline, who had taken +very little notice of her during the past four years, should now desire +to have her as an inmate of her home. She did not ask why her father, +after so long a torpor on the subject, had suddenly awakened to the +necessity of asserting his daughter's position in the world; neither did +she, even in her private thoughts, reproach him for having delegated all +the care and responsibility of her education to "granny." A +healthy-minded young creature has deep well-springs of unquestioning +faith in its parents, or those who stand in the place of parents.</p> + +<p>But there was one person not so easily contented with the first +statement offered; and that person was Mr. Joseph Weatherhead. Mr. +Weatherhead was very fond of May, and admired her very much. His social +and political theories ought logically to have made him regard her with +peculiar interest and consideration as coming of such very blue +blood—at least on one side of the house. But it so happened that these +theories had nothing on earth to do with his attachment to May. That +arose, firstly, from her being Sarah Dobbs's grandchild (Jo would have +loved and championed any creature, biped or quadruped, that belonged to +Sarah Dobbs), and, secondly, from her being very lovable. The poor man +was often embarrassed by the conflict between his curiosity and his +principles. His curiosity, which was as insatiable and omnivorous as the +appetite of a pigeon, would have led him to cross-question May minutely +about all she knew or guessed respecting her own future, and the +probable behaviour of her father's family towards her; but his +conscience told him that it would not be right to put doubts and +suspicions into the girl's trusting young soul. Certainly he himself +cherished many doubts and suspicions as to the future conduct of May's +papa. He questioned Mrs. Dobbs, indeed; but there was neither sport nor +exercise for his sharp inquisitiveness in that. When Mrs. Dobbs did not +choose to answer him, she said so roundly, and there was an end. She had +told him that she was in correspondence with Captain Cheffington, and +that she believed he would share her views about his daughter. Jo, +however, entertained a rooted disbelief as to Captain Cheffington's +holding any "views" which had not himself for their supreme object.</p> + +<p>"And this Mrs. Dormer-Smith, now, Sarah," said he. "What reason have you +to suppose that she will be willing to take charge of her niece now, +when she would have nothing to say to her before?"</p> + +<p>"A pretty girl of seventeen is a different charge from a lanky child of +twelve, Jo. Mrs. Dormer-Smith couldn't have taken a schoolgirl in short +frocks out into the world with her."</p> + +<p>"Humph! You don't <i>know</i> that she will take May out into the world with +her?"</p> + +<p>"I have written. I shall have an answer in a few days, I dare say. I +don't expect matters to be settled like a flash of greased lightning, as +Mr. Simpson says. There's a deal to be considered. Hold your tongue, +now; here's May."</p> + +<p>Similar conversations took place between them nearly every day. And when +they were not interrupted by any external circumstance, Mrs. Dobbs would +resolutely put an end to them by declining to pursue the subject.</p> + +<p>One afternoon, about a week after May's return from her visit to the +Hadlows', the young girl was seated at the old-fashioned square +pianoforte, singing snatches of ballads in a fresh, untrained voice; Mr. +Weatherhead had just taken his accustomed seat by the fireside; and Mrs. +Dobbs was opposite to him in her own armchair, with the old tabby +purring in the firelight at her feet, when Martha opened the parlour +door softly, shut it quickly after her, and announced, with a slight +tone of excitement in her usually quiet voice, that there was a +gentleman in the passage asking for Miss May.</p> + +<p>"For me, Martha?" exclaimed May, turning round at the sound of her own +name, with one hand still on the keys of the pianoforte. "Who is he?"</p> + +<p>"He said 'Miss Cheffington.' I don't know him, not by sight. But here's +his card."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dobbs took the card from the servant, and put on her spectacles, +bending down to read the name by the firelight. "Bun—Brun—oh, Bransby! +Mr. Theodore Bransby. Ask the gentleman to walk in, Martha."</p> + +<p>As Martha left the room, Mr. Weatherhead pointed to the door with one +thumb, and whispered, "Wonder what <i>he</i> wants!" To which Mrs. Dobbs +replied by lifting her shoulders and slightly shaking her head, as much +as to say, "I'm sure I can't guess." The next moment Mr. Theodore +Bransby was ushered into the parlour.</p> + +<p>The room was rather dim, and Theodore did not immediately perceive May, +who still sat at the piano. "Miss Cheffington?" he said interrogatively, +with a stiff little gesture of the head towards Mrs. Dobbs, which might +pass for a bow.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dobbs had risen from her chair, and now motioned her visitor to be +seated. "My grand-daughter is here. Pray sit down, Mr. Theodore +Bransby," she said. Then May got up, and came forward, and shook hands +with him.</p> + +<p>"I don't think you know my grandmother, Mrs. Dobbs," she said, +presenting him.</p> + +<p>Theodore, upon this, began to hold out his hand rather slowly; but, as +Mrs. Dobbs made no answering gesture, but merely pointed again to a +chair, he was fain to bow once more—a good deal more distinctly, this +time—and to sit down with the sense of having received a little check.</p> + +<p>"I hope I have not interrupted you, Miss Cheffington?" said he, clearing +his throat and settling his chin in his shirt-collar. "You were +singing."</p> + +<p>"Oh no; you haven't interrupted me at all. And, even if you had, it +wouldn't matter. My singing is not worth much."</p> + +<p>"Pardon me if I decline to believe that. From some sounds which reached +me through the door, I am sure you sing charmingly."</p> + +<p>May laughed. "Ah," said she, "the other side of the door is the most +favourable position for hearing me. I really don't know how to sing. Ask +granny."</p> + +<p>"No; May doesn't know how to sing," said Mrs. Dobbs quietly, but very +decisively. (For she had caught an expression on Mr. Theodore Bransby's +pale, smooth face, which seemed to wonder superciliously what on earth +<i>she</i> could know about it.) Whereupon his pale, smooth eyebrows raised +themselves a hair's breadth more, but he said nothing.</p> + +<p>"My grandmother is a great judge of singing, you must know," went on May +innocently. "She has heard all the best singers at the Oldchester +Musical Festivals for years and years past, and she used to sing herself +in the choruses of the oratorios."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I see!" said Theodore, with a little contemptuous air of +enlightenment.</p> + +<p>Jo Weatherhead looked across at him uneasily. He had a half-formed +suspicion that this young spark with the smooth, rather closely-cropped +blonde head, severe shirt-collar, faultlessly-fitting coat, and slightly +pedantic utterance, showed a tendency to treat Mrs. Dobbs with +impertinence. But he checked the suspicion, for, he argued with himself, +young Bransby had had the training of a gentleman. And what gentleman +would be impertinent to a worthy and respected woman, and in her own +house, too? He thought, as he looked at him, that Theodore bore very +little resemblance to his father, Martin Bransby, who was altogether of +a different and more massive type.</p> + +<p>"You don't favour your father much, sir," said Jo blandly.</p> + +<p>The young man turned his pale blue eyes upon him with a look studiously +devoid of all expression. "I had the honour of knowing your worthy +father well, some five-and-twenty—or it may be thirty—years ago."</p> + +<p>Theodore, continuing to stare at him stonily, said, "Oh, really?" in a +low monotone.</p> + +<p>"Yes; I knew him in the way of business. He was a customer of mine when +I was in the bookselling business at Brummagem, as we called it. Your +father was, even at that time, very highly thought of by some of the +leading legal luminaries. We had no assizes at Birmingham, as no doubt +you're aware; but I used to go over to Warwick Assizes pretty reg'larly +in those days, having some dealings there in the stationery line—which +I afterwards gave up altogether, though that isn't to the point—and I +used to frequent a good deal of legal company. Mr. Martin Bransby was +thought a good deal of, among 'em, I can tell you, and was taken a great +deal of notice of by some of the county families—quite the real old +gentry," added Mr. Weatherhead, pursing up his mouth and nodding his +head emphatically, like a man enforcing a statement which his hearers +might reasonably hesitate to accept.</p> + +<p>"Oh, how is Mr. Bransby?" asked May.</p> + +<p>"Thanks; my father is going on very well indeed. He has driven out +twice, and, in fact, is nearly himself again. He purposes asking some +friends to dine with him next week. Indeed, that furnishes the object of +my visit here. I—Mrs. Bransby—of course, you understand that my +father's long illness has given her a great deal to do."</p> + +<p>"Truly it must!" broke in Mrs. Dobbs, thinking at once sympathetically +of the wife and mother threatened with so cruel a bereavement, and now +almost suddenly relieved from overwhelming anxiety. "I'm sure most folks +in Oldchester have been feeling greatly for Mrs. Bransby."</p> + +<p>"And so," continued Theodore, addressing himself exclusively to May, +"she has not really been—been able to see as much of you as she would +have liked, Miss Cheffington."</p> + +<p>May looked at him in surprise. "Why of course?" said she. "Mrs. Bransby +hasn't been thinking about <i>me</i>! How should she?"</p> + +<p>"That is the reason—I mean my father's illness, and all the occupations +resulting from it—which has induced Mrs. Bransby to make me her +ambassador on this occasion."</p> + +<p>As he spoke, Theodore took a little note from his pocket-book, and +handed it to May. She glanced at it, and exclaimed with open +astonishment, "It's an invitation to dinner! Look, granny!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Weatherhead poked forward his head to see. It was, in fact, a formal +card requesting the pleasure of Miss Cheffington's company at dinner on +the following Saturday. Mrs. Dobbs once more put on her spectacles and +read the card.</p> + +<p>"I hope you will be disengaged," said Theodore, severely ignoring +"granny."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I couldn't go to a grand dinner-party. It would be ridiculous!"</p> + +<p>"May! That's not a gracious fashion of receiving an invitation, anyhow," +said Mrs. Dobbs, smiling a little.</p> + +<p>"It's very kind indeed of Mr. and Mrs. Bransby, but I would much rather +not, please," said May, endeavouring to amend her phrase.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that's dreadfully cruel, Miss Cheffington!"</p> + +<p>"You don't think I ought to go, do you, granny?"</p> + +<p>"That," replied Mrs. Dobbs, "depends on circumstances."</p> + +<p>"I assure you," said Theodore, turning round with his most imposing air, +"that it would be quite proper for Miss Cheffington to accept the +invitation. I should certainly not urge her to do so unless that were +the case."</p> + +<p>Jo Weatherhead's suspicions as to this young spark's tendency to +impertinence were rather vividly revived by this speech, and his +forehead flushed as dark a red as his nose. But Mrs. Dobbs, looking at +Theodore's fair young face made up into an expression of solemn +importance, smiled a broad smile of motherly toleration, and answered in +a soothing tone—</p> + +<p>"No, no; to be sure, you mean to do what's right and proper; only young +folks don't look at everything as has to be considered. But youth has +the best of it in so many ways, it can afford to be not quite so wise as +its elders."</p> + +<p>This glimpse of himself, as Mrs. Dobbs saw him, was so totally +unexpected as completely to dumfounder Theodore for a moment. Never, +since he left off round jackets, had he been so addressed: for the +behaviour of our acquaintances towards us in daily life is generally +modified by their idea of what we think of ourselves.</p> + +<p>"I—I can assure you," he stammered; and then stopped, at a loss for +words, in most unaccustomed embarrassment.</p> + +<p>"There, there, we ain't bound to say yes or no all in a minute," pursued +Mrs. Dobbs. "Any way, we couldn't think of making you postman. That's +all very well for your step-mother, of course; but May must send her +answer in a proper way. Meanwhile, will you stay and have a cup of tea, +Mr. Bransby? It's just our teatime. The tray will be here in a minute."</p> + +<p>Theodore had risen as if to go. He now stood hesitating, and looking at +May, who certainly gave no answering look of encouragement. She wanted +him gone, that she might "talk over" the invitation with her +grandmother.</p> + +<p>With a pleasant clinking sound, Martha now brought in the tea-tray; and +in another minute had fetched the kettle and placed it on the hob, +where, after a brief interval of wheezing and sputtering, consequent on +its sudden removal from the kitchen fire, it resumed its gurgling sound, +and made itself cheerfully at home.</p> + +<p>If Mrs. Dobbs had urged him by another word,—if she had shown by any +look or tone that she thought it would be a condescension in him to +remain, Theodore would have refused. But she began placidly to scoop out +the tea from the caddy, and awaited his reply with unfeigned equanimity. +There was an unacknowledged feeling in his heart that, to go away then +and so, would be to make a flat kind of exit disagreeable to think of. +He would like to leave this obtuse old woman impressed with a sense of +his superiority; and apparently it would still require some little time +before that impression was made.</p> + +<p>"Thanks," he said. "If I am not disturbing you——"</p> + +<p>"Dear no! How could it disturb me? Martha, bring another cup and +saucer."</p> + +<p>And then Theodore, laying aside his hat and gloves, drew a chair up to +the table and accepted the proffered hospitality.</p> + +<p>Having found the method of supercilious reserve rather a failure, the +young man now adopted a different treatment for the purpose of awaking +Mrs. Dobbs, and that objectionably familiar person with the red nose, to +a sense of his social distinction and general merits. He talked—not +volubly, indeed: for that would have been out of his power, even had he +wished it, but he talked—in a succession of short speeches, beginning +for the most part with "I." His efforts were not, however, exclusively +aimed at Mrs. Dobbs and Jo Weatherhead. He watched May a good deal, and +spoke to her of the Dormer-Smiths as though that were a topic between +themselves, from which the profane vulgar (especially profane +ex-booksellers, with red noses) were necessarily excluded. As the others +said very little—with the exception of an occasional question from Jo +Weatherhead—Theodore's talk assumed the form of a monologue spoken to a +dull audience.</p> + +<p>He was conscious, as he walked away from Friar's Row, of being a little +surprised at his own conversational efforts, and half-repentant of his +condescension. He had been obliged to take his leave without obtaining +any definite answer to the dinner invitation. But, perhaps, the feeling +uppermost in his mind was irritation at May's perfectly simple +acceptance of her position as Mrs. Dobbs's grand-daughter, and her +perfectly filial attachment to her grandmother. "It is really too bad! +Cheffington ought never to have allowed his daughter to be got hold of +by those people. Mrs. Dormer-Smith cannot have the least idea what sort +of a <i>milieu</i> her niece lives in!" he said to himself.</p> + +<p>The worst was that May was so evidently contented! If she had been at +all distressed by her surroundings, Theodore could have better borne to +see her there.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + + +<p>Persons like the Simpsons, who knew Mrs. Dobbs intimately, allowed her +to have a strong judgment, and asserted her to have a still stronger +will. She was far too bent on her own way ever to take advice, they +said. It certainly did not happen that she took theirs. But Mrs. Dobbs's +judgment was stronger than they knew. It was strong enough to show her +on what points other people were likely to know better than she did. She +would undoubtedly have followed Amelia Simpson's counsels as to the best +way of dressing the hair in filmy ringlets—if she had chanced to +require that information.</p> + +<p>On the morning after Theodore Bransby's visit to her house, Mrs. Dobbs +put on her bonnet and set off betimes to College Quad. There she had an +interview with Mrs. Hadlow, who, it appeared, was going to the Bransbys' +dinner-party, and willingly promised to take charge of May.</p> + +<p>"It seemed to me it wouldn't be the right thing for my grand-daughter to +go alone to a regular formal party," said Mrs. Dobbs. "But, as I don't +pretend to be much of an authority on such matters, I ventured to ask +you to tell me."</p> + +<p>"Of course you were quite right, Mrs. Dobbs."</p> + +<p>"And you think she had better accept the invitation? She doesn't much +want to do so herself, being shy of going amongst strangers. But, to be +sure, if she may be under your wing, and in company with Miss Hadlow, +that would make a vast difference."</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, let her go, Mrs. Dobbs. Sooner or later she will have to go +into the world, and it may be well to begin amongst people she is used +to. Is it true that she is to go to her aunt's house in London very +soon?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing is settled yet. If there had been, you and Canon Hadlow should +have been the first to know it—as it would be only my duty to tell you, +after all your kindness to the child. Nothing is settled. But I am in +favour of her going myself."</p> + +<p>"You take the sensible view, Mrs. Dobbs, as I think you always +do—except at election time," added Mrs. Hadlow, smiling.</p> + +<p>The elder woman smiled back, with a little resolute setting of the lips, +and begged her best respects to the canon as she took her leave. The +canon was a great favourite with Mrs. Dobbs; and, on his part, their +political struggle in that long past election had inspired him with a +British respect for his adversary's pluck and fair play.</p> + +<p>The prospect of going with Mrs. Hadlow and Constance greatly reconciled +May to the idea of the dinner-party. But she did not look forward to it +with anticipations of enjoyment.</p> + +<p>"I would much rather dine in the nursery with the children," she said, +unconsciously echoing Mrs. Bransby's suggestion.</p> + +<p>Mr. Weatherhead, who was present, took her up on this, and said, "Why, +now, May, you will enjoy being in good society! Mr. Bransby is a very +agreeable man, and used to some of the best company in the county. Mrs. +Bransby, too, is very pleasant and very pretty; a Miss Lutyer she was, a +regular beauty, and belonging to a good old Shropshire family. And young +Theodore——" Jo Weatherhead pausing here, and hesitating for a moment, +May broke in, "Come now, Uncle Jo," she exclaimed, "you can't say that +<i>he's</i> pretty or pleasant!"</p> + +<p>"He's not bad-looking," returned Mr. Weatherhead, rather doubtfully. +"Though, to be sure, he isn't so fine a man as his father."</p> + +<p>"No; this lad is like his mother's family," said Mrs. Dobbs. "I remember +his grandfather and grandmother very well."</p> + +<p>"Do you? Do you, Sarah? Who were they? What sort of people, now, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Common sort of people; Rabbitt, their name was. Old Rabbitt kept the +Castlecombe Arms, a roadside inn over towards Gloucester way. He ran a +coach between his own market-town and Gloucester before the branch +railway was made, and they say he did a good deal of money-lending; any +way, he scraped together a goodish bit, and his wife came in for a slice +of luck by a legacy. So altogether their daughter—the first Mrs. Martin +Bransby that was—had a nice fortune of her own. She was sent to a good +school and well educated, and she was a very good sort of girl; but she +had just the same smooth, light hair, and smooth, pale face as this +young Theodore. Martin Bransby had money with his first wife—he's got +beauty with his second."</p> + +<p>"O-ho!" exclaimed Jo Weatherhead, eager and attentive. "Rabbitt, eh? I +never knew before who the first Mrs. Bransby was."</p> + +<p>"Not a many folks in Oldchester now do know. I happened to know from +being often over at Gloucester, visiting Dobbs's family, when I was a +girl. Many a day we've driven past the Castlecombe Arms in the chaise. +Dear, dear, how far off it all seems, and yet so plain and distinct! I +couldn't help thinking of those old times when the lad was here the +other day; he <i>has</i> such a look of old Rabbitt!"</p> + +<p>Thus Mrs. Dobbs, rather dreamily, with her eyes fixed on the opposite +houses of Friar's Row—or as much of them as could be seen above a wire +window-blind—and her fingers mechanically busy with her knitting. But +she saw neither the quaint gables nor the gray stone-walls. Her mind was +transported into the past. She was bowling along a smooth highroad in an +old-fashioned chaise. A girl friend sat in the little seat behind her, +and leaned over her shoulder from time to time to whisper some saucy +joke. Beside her was the girl-friend's brother, young Isaac Dobbs:—A +personable young fellow, who drove the old pony humanely, and seemed in +no hurry to get home to Gloucester. She could feel the moist, sweet air +of a showery summer evening on her cheek, and smell the scent of a +branch of sweetbriar which Isaac had gallantly cut for her from the +hedge.</p> + +<p>Theodore Bransby did not guess that Mrs. Dobbs had treated him with +forbearance and indulgence; still less did he imagine that the +forbearance and indulgence had been due to reminiscences of her +girlhood, wherein his maternal grandfather figured as "Old Rabbit."</p> + +<p>The question of May's dress for the dinner-party gave rise to no debate. +Mrs. Dobbs had been brought up in the faith that the proper garb for a +young girl on all festive occasions was white muslin; and in white +muslin May was arrayed accordingly. The delicate fairness of her arms +and neck was not marred by the trying juxtaposition of that dead white +material. It served only to give value to the soft flesh tints, and to +the sunny brownness of her hair. When she had driven off in the roomy +old fly with Mrs. Hadlow and the canon and Constance, who called to +fetch her, Mrs. Dobbs and Mr. Weatherhead agreed that she looked lovely, +and must excite general admiration. But the truth was that May's +appearance did not seem to dazzle anybody. Mrs. Hadlow gave her a +comprehensive and approving glance when she took her cloak off in the +well-lighted hall of Mr. Bransby's house, and said, "Very neat. Very +nice. Couldn't be better, May." Canon Hadlow—a white-haired venerable +figure, with the mildest of blue eyes, and a sensitive mouth—smiled on +her, and nodded in confirmation of his wife's verdict. Constance, +brilliant in amber, with damask roses at her breast and in her hair, +thought her friend looked very school-girlish, and wanting in style. But +she had the good-nature to pay the one compliment which she sincerely +thought was merited, and to say, "Your complexion stands even that +blue-white book muslin, May. I should look absolutely mahogany-coloured +in it!"</p> + +<p>May felt somewhat excited and nervous as she followed Mrs. Hadlow up the +softly carpeted stairs to the drawing-room. But she had a wholesome +conviction of her own unimportance on this occasion, and comforted +herself with the hope of being left to look on without more notice from +any one than mere courtesy demanded. Her first impression was one of +eager admiration; for just within the drawing-room door stood Mrs. +Bransby, looking radiantly handsome. May thought her the loveliest +person she had ever beheld; and her dress struck even May's +inexperienced eyes as being supremely elegant. Constance Hadlow's +attire, with its unrelieved breadth of bright colour and its stiff +outline, suddenly appeared as crude as a cheap chromo-lithograph beside +a Venetian masterpiece. Behind his wife, seated in an easy-chair, was +Martin Bransby, a fine, powerfully built man of sixty, with dark eyes +and eyebrows, and a shock of grizzled hair. His naturally ruddy +complexion was pallid from recent illness, and the lines under his eyes +and round his mouth had deepened perceptibly during the last two months. +Theodore stood near his father, stiffly upright, and with a cravat and +shirt-front so faultlessly smooth and white as to look as though they +had been cast in plaster of Paris. Standing with his back to the fire, +was Dr. Hatch:—a familiar figure to May, as to most eyes in Oldchester. +He was a short man, rather too broad for his height; with benevolent +brown eyes, a wide, low forehead, and a wide, firm mouth, singularly +expressive of humour when he smiled. No other guest had arrived when the +Hadlows entered the drawing-room.</p> + +<p>After the first greetings, the party fell into little groups: the canon +and Mr. Bransby, who were very old friends, conversing together in a low +voice, whilst Theodore advanced to entertain Mrs. Hadlow with grave +politeness, and Constance made a minute and admiring inspection of Mrs. +Bransby's dress.</p> + +<p>May thus found herself a little apart from the rest, and sat down in a +corner half hidden by the protruding mantelpiece of carved oak, which +rose nearly to the ceiling; an elaborate erection of richly carved +pillars, and shelves and niches holding blue-and-white china, in the +most approved style.</p> + +<p>"Well, Miss May, and how are you?" asked Dr. Hatch, moving a little +nearer to her, as he stood on the hearthrug.</p> + +<p>"Quite well, thank you, Dr. Hatch," said May, looking up with her bright +young smile.</p> + +<p>"That's right! But don't mention to any member of the Faculty that I +said so. There's a professional etiquette in these matters; and I +shouldn't like to be quoted as having given any encouragement to rude +health."</p> + +<p>"I'll take care," returned May, falling into his humour, and assuming a +grave look. "And I will always bear witness for you that you gave me +some <i>very</i> nasty medicine when I had the measles, Dr. Hatch. I'm sure +the other doctors would approve of that, wouldn't they?"</p> + +<p>"Nice child," murmured Dr. Hatch. "Understands a joke. It would be as +much as my practice is worth to talk in that way to some young ladies I +could mention. Well, and so this is your first entrance into the gay and +festive scene, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; I have never been to a regular dinner-party before. I am so glad +Mr. Bransby is quite well again," said May, looking across the room at +their host.</p> + +<p>"Are you? Well, I believe you are glad. Yes; it is much to be desired +that he should be quite well again." Dr. Hatch's eyes had followed the +girl's, and rested on Martin Bransby with a thoughtful look. Then, after +a minute's pause, he went on: "Now, as you are not quite familiar here, +I'll give you a map of the country, as the French say. Do you know who +that is who has just come in? No? That is Mr. Bragg. He makes millions +and billions of tin-tacks every week. You've heard of him, of course?" +May nodded. "Of course you have. Couldn't live long in Oldchester +without hearing of Mr. Bragg. That handsome, elderly man, now bowing to +Mrs. Bransby, is Major Mitton, of the Engineers. Ever hear of <i>him</i>? Ah, +well; I suppose not. He's a very good-natured, kindly gentleman, and an +excellent soldier, who distinguished himself greatly in the Crimea. But +no one will ever hear him say a word about that. What he <i>is</i> proud of +is his reputation as an amateur actor. I have known more reprehensible +vanities. Ah, and here come the Pipers, Miss Polly and Miss Patty; and I +think that makes up our number."</p> + +<p>Dr. Hatch did not think of asking May whether she had ever heard of the +Miss Pipers. The fact was she had heard of them very often. They were +Oldchester celebrities quite as much as Mr. Bragg was. But their fame +had not extended beyond Oldchester; whereas Bragg's tin-tacks were daily +hammered into the consciousness of the civilized world.</p> + +<p>Miss Mary and Miss Martha Piper (invariably called Polly and Patty) were +old maids between fifty and sixty years old. They were not rich; they +had never been handsome; they were not, even in the opinion of their +most partial friends, brilliantly clever. What, then, was the cause of +the distinction they undoubtedly enjoyed in Oldchester society? The +cause was Miss Polly Piper's musical talent—or at least her reputation +for musical talent, which, for social purposes, was the same thing. Miss +Piper had once upon a time, no matter how many years ago, composed an +oratorio, and offered it to the Committee of a great Musical Festival, +for performance. It was not accepted—for reasons which Miss Piper was +at no loss to perceive. The reader is implored not to conclude rashly +that the oratorio was rejected because it failed to reach the requisite +high standard. Miss Piper knew a great deal better than that. She had +been accustomed to mix with the musical world from an early age. Her +father, an amiable Oldchester clergyman, rector of the church in which +Mr. Sebastian Bach Simpson was organist, was considered the best amateur +violoncello player in the Midland Counties. When the great music meeting +brought vocal and instrumental artists to Oldchester, the Reverend +Reuben Piper's house was always open to several of them; and Miss Polly +had poured out tea for more than one great English tenor, great German +basso, and great Scandinavian soprano. So that, as she often said, she +was clearly quite behind the scenes of the artistic world, and +thoroughly understood its intrigues, its ambitions, and its jealousies. +Thus she was less mortified and discouraged by the rejection of her +oratorio than she would have been had she supposed it due to honest +disapproval. The work, which was entitled "Esther," was played and sung, +however;—not indeed by the great English tenor, German basso, and +Scandinavian soprano, but by very competent performers. It was performed +in the large room in Oldchester, used for concerts and lectures, and +called Mercers' Hall. Admission was by invitation, and the hall was +quite full, which, as Miss Patty triumphantly observed, was a very +gratifying tribute on the part of the town and county. Miss Polly did +not conduct her own music. Ladies had not yet wielded the conductor's +<i>bâton</i> in those days. But she sat in a front row, with her father on +one side of her and her sister Patty on the other, and bowed her +acknowledgments to the executants at the end of each piece.</p> + +<p>It was a great day for the Piper family, and that one solitary fact (for +the oratorio was never repeated) flavoured the rest of their lives with +an odour of artistic glory, as one Tonquin bean will perfume a whole +chest full of miscellaneous articles. Truly, the triumph was not cheap. +The rehearsals and the performance had to be paid for, and it was said +at the time that the Reverend Reuben had been obliged to sell some +excellent Canal Shares in order to meet the expenses, and had thereby +diminished his income by so many pounds sterling for evermore. But at +least the expenditure purchased a great deal of happiness; and that is +more than can be said of most investments which the world would consider +wiser. From that day forth, Miss Polly held the position of a musical +authority in certain circles. Long after a younger generation had grown +up, to whom that famous performance of "Esther" was as vague an +historical fact as the Heptarchy, people continued to speak of Miss +Polly Piper as a successful composer. The lives of the two sisters were +shaped by this tradition. They went every year to London for a month +during the season; and, for a longer or shorter time, to some +Continental city,—Leipsic, Frankfort, or Brussels: once, even, as far +as Vienna,—whence they came back bringing with them the latest <i>dicta</i> +in musical fashions, just as Mrs. Clarkson, the chief Oldchester +milliner, announced every year her return from Paris with a large and +varied assortment of bonnets in the newest styles. It has been written +that "<i>they</i>" brought back with them the newest <i>dicta</i> on musical +matters; but it must not be supposed that Miss Patty set up to interpret +the law on such points. She was, as to things musical, merely her +sister's echo and mouthpiece. But sincerity, that best salt for all +human communications, preserved Miss Patty's subservience from any taint +of humbug. However extravagant might be her estimate of Polly's artistic +gifts and attainments, you could not doubt that it was genuine.</p> + +<p>These circumstances were, broadly speaking, known to every one present. +But May was acquainted with another aspect of the legend of Miss Piper's +oratorio: a seamy side which the poor good lady did not even suspect. +That famous oratorio had been a fertile source of mirth at the time to +all the performers engaged in it. There were all sorts of stories +current as to the amazing things Miss Piper did with her +instrumentation: the impossible efforts she expected from the "wind," +and the anomalous sounds she elicited from the "wood." These were +retailed with much gusto by Jo Weatherhead, who, in virtue of a high +nasal voice, and a power (common enough in those parts) of reading music +at sight, had sung with the tenors through many a Festival chorus, and +known many professional musicians during his sojourn in Birmingham. One +favourite anecdote was of a trombone player who at rehearsal, in the +very climax and stress of the overture, when he was to have come in with +a powerful effect, stretched out his arm at full length, and produced +the most hideous and unearthly noise ever heard; and who, on being +rebuked by the conductor, handed up his part for inspection, observing, +amid the unrestrained laughter of the band, that that was the nearest +<i>he</i> could come to the note Miss Piper had written for him, which was +some half octave below the usual compass of his instrument. Of this, and +many another similar story, Miss Piper and Miss Piper's friends knew +nothing. But May, remembering them, looked at the two old ladies as they +marched into the room with an interest not so wholly reverential as +might have been wished.</p> + +<p>They were both short, fat, snub-nosed little women, with wide smiling +mouths, and double chins. Miss Patty was rather shorter, rather fatter, +and rather more snub-nosed than her gifted sister. But the chief +difference between the two, which struck one at first sight, was that +whereas Miss Piper's own grey locks were disposed in a thick kind of +curl, like a plethoric sausage, on each side of her face, Miss Patty +wore a pale, gingerbread-coloured wig. Why, having all the wigmaker's +stores to choose from, she should have chosen just that particular hue, +May secretly wondered as she looked at her. But so it was. And if she +had worn a blue wig, it could scarcely have been more innocent of any +attempt to deceive the beholder. Both ladies wore good substantial silk +gowns, and little lace caps with artificial flowers in them. But the +remarkable feature in their attire was the extraordinary number of +chains, beads, and bracelets with which they had festooned themselves. +And, moreover, these were of a severely mineralogical character. Round +Miss Patty's fat, deeply-creased throat, May counted three +necklaces:—One of coral, one of cornelian, and the third a long string +of grey pebble beads which dangled nearly to her waist. Miss Polly +wore—besides a variety of other nondescript adornments which rattled +and jingled as she moved—a set of ornaments made apparently of red +marble, cut into polygonal fragments of irregular length. Their rings +too, which were numerous, seemed to be composed for the most part of +building materials; and each sister wore a mosaic brooch which looked, +May thought, like a bit out of the tesselated pavement of the smart new +Corn Exchange in the High Street.</p> + +<p>It did not take that young lady's quick perception long to make all the +foregoing observations. Indeed, she had completed them within the minute +and a half which elapsed between the Miss Pipers' arrival, and the +announcement of dinner.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII" id="CHAPTER_VIII"></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + + +<p>The order of the procession to the dining-room had been pre-arranged not +without some difficulty. Mrs. Bransby had pointed out to Theodore that +his whim of inviting Miss Cheffington must cause a solecism somewhere in +marshalling their guests.</p> + +<p>"Constance will, of course, expect you to take her," said Mrs. Bransby, +"and then what is to be done with little Miss Cheffington? I really +think I had better invite two more people, and get some young man to +take her in to dinner. Perhaps Mr. Rivers would come."</p> + +<p>But Theodore utterly opposed this suggestion, and said that the simple +and obvious course was for him to give his arm to Miss Cheffington, and +for Dr. Hatch to escort Miss Hadlow.</p> + +<p>"Oh, well, if you don't mind," said Mrs. Bransby, looking a little +surprised. And so it was settled. But at the last moment, in arranging +her table and disposing the cards with the guest's name before each +cover, Mrs. Bransby found that it would be necessary, for the sake of +symmetrically alternating a lady and gentleman, to divide one couple, +and place them on opposite sides of the table. She decided that Dr. +Hatch and Miss Hadlow would endure this sort of divorce with equanimity; +and thus it came to pass that when Theodore took his seat at table he +found himself in the enviable and unexpected position of sitting between +the two young ladies of the party—Constance and May.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bransby led out Mrs. Hadlow, the hostess bringing up the rear with +Canon Hadlow. Major Mitton had the honour of escorting Miss Piper, while +Miss Patty fell to Mr. Bragg. There was, as is usual on such occasions, +very little conversation while the soup and fish were being eaten. Miss +Piper, indeed, who was constitutionally loquacious, talked all the while +to Major Mitton, though in a comparatively low tone of voice; but the +rest of the company devoted themselves mainly to their plates; or at +least said only a fragmentary sentence now and then. But by degrees the +desultory talk swelled into a continuous murmur, across which bursts of +laughter were wafted at intervals. May had the satisfaction she had +hoped for, of being allowed to be quiet; for her neighbour on the one +hand was the canon, who contented himself with smiling on her silently, +whilst Theodore was greatly occupied by <i>his</i> neighbour, Miss Hadlow. +Being seated between him and Major Mitton, she monopolized the younger +gentleman's attention with the undoubting conviction that he enjoyed +being monopolized.</p> + +<p>Mr. Bragg, a heavy, melancholy-looking man, found Miss Patty Piper a +congenial companion on a topic which interested him a good +deal—cookery. Not that he was a <i>gastronome</i>. He had a grand French +cook; but he confided to Miss Patty that he never tasted anything +nowadays which he relished so much as he had relished a certain +beef-steak pudding that his deceased "missis" used to make for him +thirty years ago, and better. Miss Patty had, as it happened, some +peculiar and special views as to the composition of a beef-steak +pudding; and Mr. Bragg—borne backwards by the tide of memory to those +distant days when his missis and he lodged in one room, and before he +had learned the secret of transmuting tin-tacks into luxury and French +cooks—enjoyed his reminiscences in a slow, sad, ruminating way.</p> + +<p>Presently, when the dessert was on the table, there came a little lull +in the general conversation, and the husky contralto voice of Miss Piper +was heard saying, "My dear Major, I tell you it was the same woman. You +say you heard her at Malta fifteen years ago. Very well. That's no +reason; for she might have been only sixteen or seventeen then. These +Italians are so precocious."</p> + +<p>"More like six or seven-and-twenty, Miss Piper. Bless you, she +had long outgrown short frocks and pinafores in those days. +Fourteen—fifteen—yes; it must be fully fifteen years ago. It was the +season that we got up the 'Honeymoon' for the garrison theatricals. I +played the Duke. It has been one of my best parts ever since. And there +was a scratch company of Italian opera-singers doing wretched business. +We got up a subscription for them, poor things. But fancy 'La Bianca' +still singing Rosina in the 'Barber!'"</p> + +<p>"She looked charming, I can tell you. I don't say that her voice may not +be a little worn in the upper notes——"</p> + +<p>"I wonder there's a rag of it left," put in the Major.</p> + +<p>"Yes; a little worn. But she knows how to sing. If one must listen to +such trivial, florid music, that's the only way to sing it."</p> + +<p>"Ah, there we shan't agree, Miss Piper! No, no; I always stand up for +Rossini. I don't pretend to be a great swell at music, but I have an +ear, and I like a toon. Give me a toon that I can remember and whistle, +and I'll make you a present of Wagner and the other fellows, all +howlings and growlings."</p> + +<p>"Major, Major," called out Dr. Hatch from the opposite side of the +table, "this is terribly obsolete doctrine! We shall have you confessing +next that you like sugar in your tea, and prefer a rose to a sunflower!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Bransby, wishing to avert any unpleasant shock of opinions on such +high themes, here interposed. He turned the conversation back to the +Italian singer, who could be abused without ruffling anybody's <i>amour +proper</i>.</p> + +<p>"But who is this <i>prima donna</i> you're talking of, Major?" said he.</p> + +<p>Miss Piper struck in before Major Mitton could reply. "It's a certain +Moretti:—Bianca Moretti. We heard her last summer in a minor theatre at +Brussels, with a strolling Italian Opera Company. Don't you remember, +Patty?"</p> + +<p>"Moretti?" said Miss Patty, instantly breaking off in the middle of a +sentence addressed to Mr. Bragg, at the sound of her sister's voice.</p> + +<p>"The woman with the fine eyes? Oh yes. I remember her particularly, +because of the awful scandal there was afterwards about her and that +Englishman."</p> + +<p>Several heads at the table were now turned towards Miss Patty, who shook +her ginger-bread-coloured wig with a knowing air.</p> + +<p>"I was just telling the Major," said Miss Piper. "We might never have +known of it, if it had not been for the Italian Consul, who was a friend +of ours. It was quite a sensation! A bit out of a French novel, eh?—Oh +yes; quite ready, Mrs. Bransby."</p> + +<p>The last words had reference to a telegraphic signal from the hostess, +who immediately rose. Mrs. Hadlow had been looking across at her rather +uneasily during the last minute or so. The fact was that the Miss Pipers +were reputed in Oldchester to have a somewhat unconsidered and free way +of talking. Some persons attributed this to their annual visit to the +Continent: others thought it connected rather with Miss Piper's artistic +experiences, which in some mysterious way were supposed to have had a +tendency to make her "a little masculine." The implication would seem to +be that to be "masculine" involves a lax government of the tongue. But +as no Oldchester gentleman was ever known to protest against this +imputation, it is not necessary to examine it here more particularly. +"When she began to talk about a French novel, my dear, there was no +knowing what she might say next," said Mrs. Hadlow afterwards to Mrs. +Bransby. So the latter hurried the departure of the ladies as we have +seen.</p> + +<p>When they rose to go away, May, of course, went out last; Theodore +holding the door open with his air of superior politeness.</p> + +<p>"Who is that pretty little girl? I don't think I know her face," said +Major Mitton, when the young man had resumed his seat, and the chairs +were drawn closer together.</p> + +<p>"That is Miss Miranda Cheffington."</p> + +<p>"Cheffington? I knew a Cheffington once—a terrible black sheep. Very +likely it's not the same family, though. What Cheffingtons does this +young lady belong to?"</p> + +<p>"The family of Viscount Castlecombe."</p> + +<p>"The man I knew was a nephew of old Castlecombe. Gus Cheffington his +name was, I remember now."</p> + +<p>Theodore moved a little uneasily on his seat, and, after a moment's +reflection, said gravely, "Captain Augustus Cheffington is this young +lady's father; he is a friend of mine. Miss Cheffington is going to town +to be presented next season by her aunt, Mrs. Dormer-Smith. She is a +very thoroughbred woman. Do you know the Dormer-Smiths, Major Mitton? +They are in the best set."</p> + +<p>The Major did not know the Dormer-Smiths, and had no interest in +pursuing the subject. He turned to join in the conversation going on +between Mr. Bransby, the canon, and Dr. Hatch, and then Theodore slipped +out of his place and went to sit nearer to Mr. Bragg, who was looking a +little solitary. Mr. Bragg had a great many good qualities, but he was +usually considered to be heavy in hand from a conversational point of +view. Theodore, however, did not find him dull. He talked to Mr. Bragg +with an agreeable sense of making an excellent figure in the eyes of +that millionaire. Theodore had a strong memory, considerable powers of +application, and had read a great many solid books. He favoured Mr. +Bragg now with a speech on the subject of the currency, about which he +had read all the most modern theories up to date. The currency, he felt, +must be a peculiarly interesting subject to a man who sold millions and +billions of tin-tacks in all the markets of the world. Mr. Bragg drank +his wine, keeping his eyes on the table, and listened with silent +attention. Theodore, warmed by a mental vision of himself speaking in a +breathless House of Commons, rose to parliamentary heights of eloquence. +He had already addressed Mr. Bragg as "Sir," and had sternly inquired +what he supposed would be the consequence if the present movement in +favour of bimetallism should be still further developed in the United +States, when he was interrupted by his father's voice saying—</p> + +<p>"Come, shall we ask Mrs. Bransby for a cup of coffee?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Bragg lifted his eyes and rose from his chair, and Theodore and he +moved towards the door side by side.</p> + +<p>"It ought to be boiled in a basin, oughtn't it?" said Mr. Bragg +thoughtfully. "Ah, no; it wasn't you. I remember now, it was Miss Patty +Piper who was mentioning—I'll ask her again when we get upstairs."</p> + +<p>Meanwhile the elder ladies had been deep in the discussion of Miss +Piper's interrupted story. Constance and May had got close together near +the pianoforte, and Mrs. Bransby asked Constance to play something "soft +and pretty." Constance opened the instrument and ran her fingers over +the keys in a desultory manner, playing scraps of waltzes or whatever +came into her head, and continuing her chat with May to that running +accompaniment. Mrs. Bransby, Mrs. Hadlow, and the Miss Pipers grouped +themselves near the fireplace at the other end of the room, and carried +on their talk also under cover of the music.</p> + +<p>"It was odd enough that on my happening to mention the name of the +Moretti to Major Mitton he should remember her at Malta so many years +ago," began Miss Piper.</p> + +<p>"Yes; and you see now that I was right, and she can't be so young as you +thought her, Polly," said her sister.</p> + +<p>"Lord, what does that matter? I only said she looked young, and so she +did. And besides, I dare say the Major exaggerates her age. When a woman +becomes a celebrity, or comes before the public in any way, her age is +sure to be exaggerated. Many people who only know me through my works +suppose me to be eighty, I dare say. They never imagine a woman so young +as I was at the time composing a serious work like 'Esther.'"</p> + +<p>"Is she handsome, this Signora Moretti?" asked Mrs. Bransby, who was +always interested in, and attracted by, beauty.</p> + +<p>"Very handsome—in that Italian style. Great black eyes, and black +eyebrows, and a fine profile. Too thin, though. But, oh yes; extremely +handsome. And a very clever singer."</p> + +<p>"And a very worthless hussey," added Miss Patty severely.</p> + +<p>"What a pity!" exclaimed Mrs. Hadlow. "It does seem so sad when one +finds great gifts, like talent and beauty, without goodness!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't know that she was so very bad either," replied Miss +Piper.</p> + +<p>"Goodness, Polly! How can you talk so!" cried her sister. "Why, she was +living openly with that Englishman!"</p> + +<p>"Some people said she was married to him, you know, Patty."</p> + +<p>"Stuff and nonsense!" returned Miss Patty, who, whilst undoubtedly +accepting her sister's views about music, tenaciously reserved the right +of private judgment as to the character of its professors, and was, +moreover, chronically incredulous of the virtue of foreigners in +general. "No sensible person could believe that. And as to her 'not +being so very bad'—what do you make of that nice story of the gambling, +and the police, and all the rest of it?"</p> + +<p>"The police!" echoed Mrs. Hadlow, in a low shocked voice.</p> + +<p>"What was that?" asked Mrs. Bransby.</p> + +<p>"Now, just let me tell it, Patty," said the elder sister. "If I am wrong +you can correct me afterwards. But I believe I know more about it than +you do. Well, there was an Italian Opera Company singing in a minor +theatre of Brussels when we were there, and doing very well; for the +<i>prima donna</i>, Bianca Moretti, was a great favourite. They had +previously been making a tour through Belgium. One night we were in the +theatre with some friends, expecting to hear her for the second time in +the 'Barbiere,' when, some time after the curtain ought to have risen, a +man came on to the stage, and announced that the Signora Moretti had +been suddenly taken ill, and there would be no performance. But the next +day we learned that the story of the Moretti's illness was only an +excuse—or, at least, that if she was ill, it was only from the nervous +shock of having her house searched by the police."</p> + +<p>"I think that was quite enough to make her ill! But why did they search +her house?" said Mrs. Bransby.</p> + +<p>"Well, you see, it was in this way," continued Miss Piper, lowering her +voice, and drawing a little nearer to her hostess, while Mrs. Hadlow +cast a glance over her shoulder to assure herself that the girls were +occupied with their own conversation. "It seems that a set of men were +in the habit of meeting every night after the opera in her apartment to +play cards. There was the Englishman, and a young Russian belonging to a +grand family, and a Servian, or a Roumanian, or a Bulgarian, or +something," said Miss Piper, whose ideas as to the national distinctions +between the younger members of the European family were decidedly vague, +"and others besides. Now this man, the—the Bulgarian, we may as well +call him, was a thorough blackleg, and bore the worst of characters. He +led on the Russian to play for very high stakes, and won large sums from +him. Well, to make a long story short, one night there was a terrible +scene. The Russian accused the other man of cheating. They came to +blows, I believe, and there was a regular <i>esclandre</i>. And next day the +Bulgarian was missing. He had got away with a good deal of plunder."</p> + +<p>"How shocking and disgraceful!" exclaimed Mrs. Hadlow, in whom this +gossip excited far more disgust than interest; and who thought Polly +Piper showed very bad taste in selecting such a topic.</p> + +<p>"But why did the police search the Italian singer's apartment? It was +not <i>her</i> fault, was it?" asked Mrs. Bransby.</p> + +<p>"Why, you see, the gambling had gone on in her rooms. And the Bulgarian +turning out to be connected with a regular gang of swindlers, the search +was made for any letters or papers of his that might be there. We were +told that the Russian ambassador had something to say to it; for the +young Russian was connected with <i>very</i> high people indeed. Nothing was +found, however."</p> + +<p>"Nothing was found that could be laid hold of," put in Miss Patty. "But +there could be no question what sort of a person that woman was after +all that!"</p> + +<p>"Well, really, Patty," said her sister, "it seems to me that the +Englishman was a deal more to blame. Nobody pretended that the Moretti +wanted to gamble for her own amusement, or profit either! It was the +ruin of her in Brussels; at any rate for that season. There was a party +made up to hiss her whenever she appeared; and there were disturbances +in the theatre; and, in short, the performances had to cease. I was +sorry for her."</p> + +<p>"Upon my word, Polly, I don't see why you should be," cried Miss Patty. +"She deserved all she got. I have no patience with bestowing pity and +sympathy on such creatures. If she had been an ugly washerwoman, instead +of a painted opera-singer, nobody would have had a soft word for her."</p> + +<p>"Oh, surely there are plenty of people who would be gentle to an ugly +washerwoman, if she needed gentleness," put in Mrs. Hadlow. "And you +know, my dear Miss Patty, we are taught to pity all those who stray from +the right path."</p> + +<p>"As to that, I hope I can pity error as well as my neighbours—in a +<i>religious</i> sense," returned Miss Patty with some sharpness. "But this +is different. I was speaking as a member of society."</p> + +<p>"And the Englishman—was he implicated?" asked Mrs. Bransby, rather from +a desire to divert the conversation from a direction fraught with danger +to the general harmony than from any special curiosity on the subject.</p> + +<p>"No; not exactly implicated," replied Miss Piper. "That is to say, he +was not suspected of any unfair play, or anything of that sort; but it +was considered disgraceful for him to have been mixed up in these +gambling transactions; especially as he was a much older man than the +others. And then——"</p> + +<p>"And then," continued Miss Patty, "it was not considered exactly +creditable, I believe—although perhaps Polly thinks it was; I'm sure I +don't know,—it wasn't, most people would say, exactly creditable for a +man of family, an English <i>gentleman</i>, to be strolling about the world +with a parcel of foreign singers. And he had been doing just that. We +heard of his being at Antwerp, and Ghent, and Ostend with them."</p> + +<p>"A man of family, do you say? A really well-born man?" said Mrs. Hadlow, +sitting suddenly very upright in the energy of her feelings. "How +shocking! That really seems to be the worst of all!"</p> + +<p>"Well, I suppose we must pity <i>his</i> errors," observed Miss Patty, with +some causticity. But Mrs. Hadlow was insensible to the sarcasm; or, at +all events, her sense of it was swallowed up by a stronger feeling. "I +do think it's a public misfortune," she went on, "when a person on whom +Providence has bestowed gentle birth derogates from his rank and forgets +his duties. It grieves me."</p> + +<p>"You must suffer a good deal in these days, I'm afraid," said Miss +Patty, grimly.</p> + +<p>"Not on that account," replied Mrs. Hadlow. "No; truly not. There may be +exceptions—I won't deny that there are some. But, on the whole, I +thoroughly believe that <i>bon sang ne peut mentir</i>."</p> + +<p>"Well, perhaps Mr. Cheffington's blood is not so good as he says it is; +that's all," said Miss Patty, with a short laugh.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Hadlow and Mrs. Bransby uttered a simultaneous exclamation of +amazement; and then the former said in a breathless whisper, "Hush, +hush, my dear, for mercy's sake! Did you say Cheffington? That +is—Cheffington is the name of that girl! Don't turn your head."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it can't be the same!" said Mrs. Bransby, nervously.</p> + +<p>"No, no; I dare say not. But the name—it must, I fear, be a member of +the family," answered Mrs. Hadlow.</p> + +<p>"How lucky it wasn't mentioned in her hearing," said Miss Piper. "Poor +little thing, I wouldn't for the world——! She's very pretty and +bright-looking. I don't think I ever saw her before."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bransby hurriedly explained how May came to be there, and as much +of her story as she was acquainted with—which was, in truth, very +little. The Miss Pipers listened eagerly, and Mrs. Hadlow sat by with a +cloud of anxious perplexity on her usually beaming face. They all +admitted that of course the person spoken of <i>might</i> be no relation of +May's at all; but it was evident that no one believed that hypothesis. +To the Miss Pipers the whole matter was simply a relishing morsel of +gossip. They dwelt with <i>gusto</i> on "the extraordinary coincidence" of +Miss Cheffington's being there just that very evening, and "the singular +circumstance" that Major Mitton should remember Bianca Moretti, and +enjoyed it all very much. Mrs. Bransby's prevalent feeling was one of +annoyance, and resentment against Theodore, who had brought this girl +into the house. Mrs. Bransby detested a "fuss" of any sort; and shrank, +with a sort of amiable indolence, from the conflict of provincial feuds +and the excitement of provincial gossip. And now, she reflected, this +story would be spread all over Oldchester, and she would be "worried to +death" by questions on a subject about which she knew very little, and +cared less.</p> + +<p>"We won't say another word about this horrid story," she said, looking +appealingly at the Miss Pipers. "Silence is the only thing under the +circumstances. Don't you think so? It would be so dreadful if the girl +should overhear anything, and make a scene; wouldn't it?"</p> + +<p>Miss Polly and Miss Patty readily promised to be most guardedly +silent—for that evening, and so long as May should be present; +declaring quite sincerely that they would not for the world risk hurting +the poor child's feelings. And then Mrs. Bransby began to flatter +herself that the subject was done with, so far as she was concerned. But +Fate had decided otherwise.</p> + +<p>When the gentlemen came into the drawing-room, Miss Hadlow was playing +one of her most brilliant pieces, to which Miss Polly Piper was +listening with an air of responsible attention, and gently nodding her +head from time to time in an encouraging manner; Miss Patty Piper and +May were looking over a large album full of photographs together; while +Mrs. Bransby was narrating to Mrs. Hadlow, Bobby's latest witticisms, +and Billy's extraordinary progress in the art of spelling:—these +juvenile prodigies being her two younger children.</p> + +<p>Constance did not interrupt her performance on the entrance of the +gentlemen, and Major Mitton went to stand beside the pianoforte, +gallantly turning over the music leaves at the wrong moment, with the +best intentions. Canon Hadlow sat down near Miss Piper; the host with +Dr. Hatch crossed the room to speak to Mrs. Hadlow, and Mr. Bragg and +Theodore approached the table, at which Miss Patty and May Cheffington +were seated. Mr. Bragg drew up a chair close to Miss Patty at once, and +began to talk with her in a low voice, and with more appearance of +animation than his manner usually displayed. Theodore, as he observed +this, remembered with satisfaction that his friend Captain Cheffington +had formerly pronounced old Bragg to be a d——d snob. A man must indeed +be on a low level who could prefer Miss Patty Piper's culinary +conversation to a luminous exposition of the currency question as set +forth by Mr. Theodore Bransby. He bent over May, who was still turning +the leaves of the photograph book, and said, "I'm afraid you are not +having a very amusing evening, Miss Cheffington."</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, thank you," returned May, making the queerest little grimace in +her effort not to yawn. "I am very fond of looking at photographs."</p> + +<p>"I don't suppose there are many portraits there that you would +recognize. A little out of your set," said Theodore. "In fact, I don't +know many of them myself, I have been so much away. By the way, have you +any commands for your people in town? I go up the day after to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"Shall you see Aunt Pauline?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly. I suppose Lord Castlecombe is not likely to be in town at +this season?" went on Theodore, raising his tone a little so as to be +heard by the others. Constance's playing had now come to an end, and +there was a general lowering of voices, occasioned by the cessation of +that pianoforte accompaniment.</p> + +<p>"I don't know, I'm sure. I don't know where he lives," answered May +innocently.</p> + +<p>"Ahem! He is at this season, in all probability, at Combe Park, his +place in Gloucestershire."</p> + +<p>May had never heard of her great-uncle's place in Gloucestershire; but +now, when Theodore said the words, her thought flashed through a chain +of associations to Mrs. Dobbs's mention of the Castlecombe Arms on the +Gloucester Road, kept by "Old Rabbitt," and she blushed as though she +had done something to be ashamed of.</p> + +<p>"The last time I had the pleasure of seeing your father, he was talking +to me about Combe Park," continued Theodore, with a complacent sense of +superiority to the rest of the company in these manifestations of +familiar intercourse with members of the Castlecombe family. Lord +Castlecombe was a very important personage in those parts. As May did +not speak, Theodore went on: "Grand old place, Combe Park, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Is it?" returned May absently. She was looking with great interest at +the portrait of a superb lace dress, surmounted by a distorted image of +Mrs. Bransby's head and face, which were quite out of focus. But the +lace flounces had "come out splendidly," as the photographer remarked. +And, if the truth must be told, May admired them greatly.</p> + +<p>"Is it?" repeated Theodore, with a little smile. "But you have lived so +long abroad, that you are quite a stranger to all these ancestral +glories. I hope, however, that you have not the same preference for the +Continent that your father has?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm sure I should always love England best. But I don't know the +most beautiful parts of the Continent—Switzerland or Italy. We were +always in Belgium, and Belgium isn't beautiful. At least I don't +remember any beautiful country."</p> + +<p>Thus May, with perfect simplicity, still turning over the photographs, +and all unconscious that the Miss Pipers had simultaneously interrupted +their own conversation, and were staring at her.</p> + +<p>"No; Belgium is not beautiful—except architecturally," replied +Theodore. "But there is very nice society in Brussels, and a pleasant +Court, I believe. No doubt that's one reason why Captain Cheffington +likes it."</p> + +<p>"Is Brussels your home, then? Do you live there?" asked Miss Patty, +leaning eagerly forward.</p> + +<p>May looked up, and perceived all at once that every one was gazing at +her. The Miss Pipers' sudden attention to what she was saying had +attracted the attention of the others—as one may collect a crowd in the +street by fixedly regarding the most familiar object. In her +inexperience she feared she had committed some breach of the etiquette +proper to be observed at a "grown-up dinner party." Perhaps she ought +not to have devoted so much attention to the photographs! She closed the +book hurriedly as she answered—</p> + +<p>"No, <i>I</i> don't live in Brussels, but papa does—at least, generally."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Bransby rose from her chair, and came rather quickly across the +room. "My dear," she said, "I want to present our old friend, Major +Mitton, to you;" and taking May by the arm, she led her away towards the +pianoforte.</p> + +<p>Theodore observed this proceeding with a cool smile, and sense of inward +triumph. Mrs. Bransby began to understand, then, what a very highly +connected young lady this was, and was endeavouring, although a little +late, to show her proper attention. Another time Mrs. Bransby would +receive <i>his</i> introduction and recommendation with more respect. In the +same way, he felt gratification in the eager questions with which Miss +Patty plied him. Miss Patty left the millionaire Mr. Bragg in the lurch, +and began to catechize Theodore on the subject of the Cheffington +family.</p> + +<p>That fastidious young gentleman said within himself that the snobbery of +these Oldchester people was really too absurd; and mentally resolved to +cut a great many of them, as he gained a firmer footing in the best +London circles. Nevertheless he did not check Miss Patty's inquiries. On +the contrary, he condescendingly gave her a great deal of information +about his friends the Dormer-Smiths, the late lamented Dowager, the +present Viscount Castlecombe, his two sons, the Honourable George and +the Honourable Lucius, as well as some details respecting the more +distant branch of the Cheffington family, who had intermarried with the +Scotch Clishmaclavers, and were thus, not remotely, connected with the +great ducal house of M'Brose.</p> + +<p>This was all very well; but Miss Patty was far more interested in +getting some information about Captain Cheffington which would identify +him with the hero of the Brussels story, than of following the genealogy +of the noble head of the family into its remotest ramifications. And, +notwithstanding that Theodore was much more reticent about the Captain, +she did manage to find out that the latter had lived abroad for many +years—chiefly in Belgium—and that his pecuniary circumstances were not +flourishing.</p> + +<p>"I'm quite convinced it's the same man, Polly," she said afterwards to +her sister. And, indeed, all the inquiries they made in Oldchester +confirmed this idea. The Simpsons gave anything but a good character of +May's absentee parent. And subsequent conversation with Major Mitton +elicited the fact that Augustus Cheffington had been looked upon as a +"black sheep" even by not very fastidious or strait-laced circles many +years ago. The story of the Brussels scandal was not long in reaching +the ears of every one in Oldchester who had any knowledge, even by +hearsay, of the parties concerned.</p> + +<p>Theodore Bransby, who left Oldchester on the Monday following the +dinner-party, and spent the intervening Sunday at home, was one of the +few in the above-named category who did not hear of it.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + + +<p>The correspondence between Mrs. Dobbs and Mrs. Dormer-Smith on the +subject of May's removal to London was not voluminous. It consisted of +three letters: number one, written by Mrs. Dobbs; number two, written by +Mrs. Dormer-Smith; and number three, Mrs. Dobbs's reply to that. Mrs. +Dobbs always went straight to the point, both with tongue and pen; and +Mrs. Dormer-Smith, although by no means so forcibly direct in her +dealings, had a dislike to letter-writing, which caused her to put her +meaning tolerably clearly on this occasion, so as to avoid the necessity +of writing again.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dobbs had proposed that May should become an inmate of her aunt's +house in London—at all events for a time—in consideration of an annual +sum to be paid for her board and dress. The said sum was to be +guaranteed by Mrs. Dobbs, and was so ample as to make Pauline say +plaintively to her husband, "Just fancy, Frederick, how deplorably +imprudent Augustus has been in offending and neglecting this old woman +as he has done! You see she has plenty of money. I had no idea what her +means were; but it is clear that, for a person in her rank of life, she +may be called rich. And Augustus might have obtained solid pecuniary +assistance from her, I've no doubt, if he had played his cards with +ordinary prudence. But there never was any one so reckless of his own +interests as Augustus—beginning with that unfortunate marriage."</p> + +<p>Whereunto Mr. Frederick Dormer-Smith thus made reply, "I don't know what +you may call 'solid pecuniary assistance,' but it seems to me pretty +solid to keep Augustus's daughter, and clothe her, and pay for her +schooling, for four years and upwards. As to Augustus's disregard of his +own interests, it does not at any rate lie in the direction of +refraining from borrowing money, or remembering to pay it back; that +much I can vouch for."</p> + +<p>Pauline put a corner of her handkerchief to her eyes. "Oh, Frederick," +she said, "it pains me to hear you speak so harshly. Remember, Augustus +is my only brother."</p> + +<p>"Mercifully! By George, if there was another of 'em I don't know what +<i>would</i> become of us."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dormer-Smith declined to consider this hypothesis, but contented +herself with saying that she should like to do something for poor +Augustus's girl, and asking her husband if he didn't think they could +manage to receive her. Mr. Dormer-Smith thought they could on the terms +proposed, which, he frankly said, were handsome. And Pauline added +softly—</p> + +<p>"Yes; and it is satisfactory that she offers to keep the arrangement +strictly secret. It would scarcely do to let it be known that Mrs. Dobbs +pays for May. It would be <i>inconvenable</i>. People would ask all sorts of +questions. It would put the girl herself in an awkward position. +'Grandmother!' people would say. 'What grandmother?' and the whole story +of that wretched marriage would be raked up again. But, on the +conditions proposed, I do think, Frederick, it could do no harm to +receive May. I am glad you consent. It will be a comfort to me to feel +that I am doing something for poor Augustus's girl, and acting as mamma +would have wished."</p> + +<p>So a favourable reply was dispatched to Mrs. Dobbs's application. Mrs. +Dormer-Smith suggested that May should come to town a little before the +beginning of the season, so as to give time for preparing her +wardrobe—a task to which her aunt looked forward with <i>dilettante</i> +relish. And in answer to that, Mrs. Dobbs wrote the third and last +letter of the series, assenting to the date proposed for May's arrival, +and entering into a few minor details.</p> + +<p>She had also, meanwhile, received a letter from Captain Cheffington, +elicited, after a long delay, by three successive urgent appeals for an +immediate answer. It was a scrawl in a hasty, sprawling hand, and ran +thus:</p> + +<blockquote> +<p>"Brussels, Nov. 1, 18—.</p> +<p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Mrs. Dobbs</span></p> + + +<p>"I think it would be very desirable for Miranda to be presented +by her aunt, if she is to be presented at all, and to be +brought out properly. I have no doubt that my sister will +introduce her in the best possible way. Since you seem to press +for my consent, you have it herewith, although I hardly feel +that I can have much voice in the matter, being separated, as I +have been for years, from my country, my family, and my only +surviving child. I am a mere exile. It is not a brilliant +existence for a man born and brought up as I have been. +However, I must make the best of it.</p> + +<p>"Yours always,</p> + +<p>"A. C."</p></blockquote> + +<p>This was sufficient for Mrs. Dobbs. She had made a point of obtaining +Augustus's authority for his daughter's removal to town; not because she +relied on his judgment, but because she knew him well enough to fear +some trick, or sudden turn of feigned indignation, if, from any motive +of his own, he thought fit to disapprove the step. As to the tone of his +reply, that neither troubled nor surprised her. But Mr. Weatherhead was +moved to great wrath by it. Mrs. Dobbs had tossed the note to him one +day, saying—</p> + +<p>"There; there's my son-in-law's consent to May's going to town, in black +and white. That's a document."</p> + +<p>Mr. Weatherhead eagerly pounced on it. "What a disgusting production!" +he exclaimed, looking up over the rim of the double eyeglass which he +had set astride his nose to read the note.</p> + +<p>"Is it?" returned Mrs. Dobbs carelessly.</p> + +<p>"Is it? Why, Sarah, you surprise me, taking it in that cool way. It is +the most thankless, unfeeling, selfish production I ever read in my +life."</p> + +<p>"Oh, is that all? Well, but that's just Augustus Cheffington. We know +what <i>he</i> is at this time of day, Jo Weatherhead. It 'ud be a deal +stranger if he wrote thankfully, and feelingly, and unselfishly."</p> + +<p>But Mr. Weatherhead refused to dismiss the matter thus easily. He +belonged to that numerous category of persons who, having established +and proclaimed a conviction, appear to be immensely astonished at each +confirmation of it. He had years ago pronounced Augustus Cheffington to +be a heartless scoundrel. Nevertheless he was shocked and amazed +whenever Augustus Cheffington did anything to corroborate that opinion.</p> + +<p>The letter from Mrs. Dormer-Smith was not shown to him. Mrs. Dobbs meant +to keep the amount she was to pay for May a secret even from her +faithful and trusted friend Jo. He might guess what he pleased, but she +would not tell him. The means, too, by which she meant to raise the +money would not, she knew, meet with his approval. And, since she had +resolved to use those means, she thought it best to avoid vain +discussion beforehand, and therefore said nothing about them.</p> + +<p>Accident, however, revealed a part of the secret in this way:</p> + +<p>Mr. Weatherhead, calling one afternoon at Laurel Villa to see Mrs. +Simpson, who had been kept at home by a cold, found other visitors +there. Miss Polly and Miss Patty Piper were drinking tea out of Mrs. +Simpson's best cups and saucers, and chatting away with their usual +cheerfulness and volubility. The Miss Pipers, as they would themselves +have expressed it, "moved in a superior sphere" to that of the +music-teacher and his wife; but they did not consider that they +derogated from their gentility by occasionally drinking tea and having a +chat with the Simpsons. They liked to condescend a little, and +opportunities for condescension were rather rare. Then, too, they had a +certain interest in Sebastian Bach Simpson, inherited from the long-ago +days when Sebastian Bach's father played the organ in their father's +church, and Miss Polly and Miss Patty wore white frocks and blue sashes +at evening parties, and were the objects of a good deal of attention +from the Reverend Reuben's curates. Besides the sisters there was +present Dr. Hatch, who had come to pay a professional visit to Mrs. +Simpson, and who was just going away. It was a peculiarity of Dr. Hatch +to be always just going away. He had a very large practice, and was wont +to aver that his professional duties scarcely left him time to eat or +sleep. Yet Dr. Hatch's horses stood waiting through many a quarter of an +hour during which their master was engaged in conversation not of a +strictly professional nature.</p> + +<p>When Mr. Weatherhead entered the best parlour of Laurel Villa, Dr. Hatch +had a cup of tea in one hand, and his watch in the other, and greeted +the new arrival with a friendly nod, and the assurance that he was "just +off." Mrs. Simpson shook hands with Mr. Weatherhead, and the Miss Pipers +graciously bowed to him. He, too, was connected in their minds with old +times. Miss Polly specially remembered seeing him on her visits to the +Birmingham Musical Festivals, when her father would take the opportunity +of turning over Weatherhead's stock of books, and making a few +purchases. And once the Pipers had lodged during a Festival week in the +rooms over Weatherhead's shop.</p> + +<p>"Glad to see you better, Mrs. Simpson," said Jo, taking a seat after +having saluted the company.</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, thank you, I'm quite well now. I know Dr. Hatch will scold me +if he hears me say so"—(with an arch glance baulked of its effect by +the unsympathetic spectacles)—"because he tells me I still need great +care. But my cough is gone. It is, really!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Simpson girlishly shook back her curls, and proceeded to pour out a +cup of tea for Mr. Weatherhead.</p> + +<p>"And how is Simpson?" asked the latter.</p> + +<p>"Bassy is very well, only immensely busy. He has three new pupils for +pianoforte and harmony; the daughters of Colonel ——,—tut, I forget +his name,—recommended by that kind Major Mitton. Or at least it would +be more proper to say that Major Mitton recommended Bassy to them! Not +very polite to say that the young ladies were recommended—oh dear! I +beg pardon. I'm afraid I've over-sweetened your tea?"</p> + +<p>She had, in fact, put in half a dozen lumps, one after the other. But +Mr. Weatherhead fished the greater part of them out again with his +teaspoon, and deposited them in the saucer, saying it was of no +consequence.</p> + +<p>"I am so sadly absent-minded!" said Mrs. Simpson, smiling sweetly. +"Bassy would scold me if he were here."</p> + +<p>"Serve you right, if he did!" said Dr. Hatch, rising from the table. +"You should pay attention to what you're doing. I expect to hear that +you have swallowed the embrocation and anointed your throat with syrup +of squills."</p> + +<p>"Oh, doctor! You do say the drollest things!" exclaimed the amiable +Amelia, with an enjoying giggle.</p> + +<p>"Ah, no; not the drollest! Thank Heaven, I hear a great many droller +things than I say! That's what mainly supports me in my day's practice."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Simpson, not in the least understanding him, giggled again. Dr. +Hatch had the reputation of being a wag; and Amelia Simpson was not the +woman to defraud him of a laugh on any such selfish ground as not seeing +the point of his joke.</p> + +<p>"Well, Mr. Weatherhead," said Miss Patty Piper, blandly, "so we are to +have your sister-in-law for a neighbour, I hear."</p> + +<p>Jo poked his nose forward, and pursed up his mouth. "O-ho! my +sister-in-law, Mrs. Dobbs? How do you mean, ma'am, 'as a neighbour'?"</p> + +<p>"We understand that Mrs. Dobbs has been looking after Jessamine Cottage; +the little white house with a garden on the Gloucester Road," returned +Miss Patty. Dr. Hatch paused with his hand on the latch of the parlour +door to hear.</p> + +<p>"Oh dear no," said Jo Weatherhead decisively. "Quite a mistake. Sarah +Dobbs is too wedded to her old home. Nothing would induce her to leave +Friar's Row. You must have been misinformed, ma'am."</p> + +<p>"As to leaving Friar's Row," put in Miss Polly, "she must do that in any +case; for she has let the premises as offices; and at a high rent, too, +I hear. Friar's Row is considered a choice position for business +purposes."</p> + +<p>Jo had opened his mouth to protest once more, when a sudden idea made +him shut it again without speaking. "Oh!" he gasped, and then made a +little pause before proceeding. "Ah, well—she—it wasn't quite settled +when I heard last. Would you mind stating your authority, ma'am?"</p> + +<p>"The best—Mr. Bragg told us himself. His managing man at the works has +made the arrangement. Mr. Bragg has been looking out for a more central +office for some time."</p> + +<p>"I told Mrs. Dobbs long ago that she was living at an extravagant rental +by sticking to Friar's Row," observed Dr. Hatch, turning the handle of +the door. "Depend on it, she has let it at a swinging rent; and quite +right, too. Now I really <i>am</i> off."</p> + +<p>Jo Weatherhead sat very still after the doctor's departure, with his cup +of tea in his hand, and a pondering expression of face. The Miss Pipers +were not sufficiently interested in him to observe his demeanour very +closely. If they did chance to notice that he was unusually silent, that +was accounted for by his sense of the superior company he found himself +in. They always spoke of him as "a good, odd creature, with sound +principles—a very respectable man, who knew his station." As for Amelia +Simpson, she was habitually unobservant, with an inconvenient faculty, +however, of suddenly making clear-sighted remarks when they were least +expected.</p> + +<p>"I'm sure this is very good news for us!" she exclaimed. "Jessamine +Cottage is so near! At least, it <i>was</i> quite close to us when we lived +in Marlborough Terrace."</p> + +<p>"It will be a good move for Mrs. Dobbs. The air in our neighbourhood is +so much better than in her part of the town," said Miss Patty, with a +certain complacency, as who should say, "The merit of this atmospheric +superiority is all our own; but we are not proud."</p> + +<p>"And yet I am surprised, too, at Mrs. Dobbs moving," replied Amelia. +"She always declared that she hated the suburbs, with their little +slight-built houses."</p> + +<p>"That cannot apply to <i>our</i> house," said Miss Polly. "Garnet Lodge stood +in its own ground many a long year before those new houses sprung up +between Greenhill Road and the Gloucester Road."</p> + +<p>"But Mrs. Dobbs isn't going to live in Garnet Lodge!" returned Amelia, +with one of her sudden illuminations of common sense. "And Jessamine +Cottage is a mere bandbox."</p> + +<p>"I remember Mrs. Dobbs among the trebles in 'Esther,'" observed Miss +Polly. "She had a fine clear voice, and could take the B flat in alt +with perfect ease."</p> + +<p>"And her husband sold capital ironmongery. We have a coal-scuttle in the +kitchen now which was bought at his shop—a thoroughly solid article," +added Miss Patty.</p> + +<p>These appreciative words about the Dobbses, which at another time would +have gratified Jo Weatherhead, now fell on an unheeding ear. He took his +leave very shortly, and walked straight to Friar's Row.</p> + +<p>"Well, Sarah Dobbs," said he, on entering the parlour, "I didn't think +you would steal a march on me like this! I did believe you'd have +trusted me sooner than a parcel of strangers, after all these years!"</p> + +<p>He did not sit down in his usual place by the fireside, but remained +standing opposite to his old friend, looking at her with a troubled +countenance. Mrs. Dobbs gave him one quick, keen glance, and then said—</p> + +<p>"So you've heard it, Jo? Well, I didn't mean that you should hear it +from any one but me. But who shall stop chattering tongues? They rage +like a fire in the stubble. And the poorer and lighter the fuel, the +bigger blaze it makes. It was settled only this very morning, too."</p> + +<p>"It <i>is</i> true, then, Sarah? I had a kind of a hankering hope that it +might be only trash and chit-chat."</p> + +<p>"You mean about my letting my house, don't you? Yes; that's true."</p> + +<p>"And me never to know a word of it!—To hear it from strangers!"</p> + +<p>"Now look here, Jo; let us talk sensibly. Sit down, can't you?"</p> + +<p>But Jo would not sit down; and after a minute's pause, Mrs. Dobbs went +on—</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you the truth. I didn't say a word to you of my plan +beforehand, because I was afraid to—there!"</p> + +<p>"Afraid! You, Sarah Dobbs, afraid of <i>me</i>! That's a good one!" But his +face relaxed a little from its pained, fixed look.</p> + +<p>"Yes; afraid of what you'd say. I knew you wouldn't approve, and I knew +why. You wouldn't approve for my sake. But, thinks I, when once it's +done, Jo may scold a little, but he'll forgive his old friend. And I +never thought of chattering jackdaws cawing the matter from the +house-tops. I meant to tell you myself this very afternoon; I did +indeed, Jo."</p> + +<p>Jo drew a little nearer to his accustomed chair, and put his hand on the +back of it, keeping his face turned away from Mrs. Dobbs. "Of course, +you're the mistress to do what you like with your own property," he +muttered.</p> + +<p>"Nobody's mistress, or master either, to do what's wrong with their own +property. I mean to do what's right if I can. I was never one to heed +much what outside folks think of me; but I do heed what you think, Jo, +and reason good. And I want you to know my feeling about the matter once +for all, and then we can leave it alone."</p> + +<p>Mr. Weatherhead here slid quietly into the armchair, and sat with his +face still turned towards the fire.</p> + +<p>"You know," continued Mrs. Dobbs, "I told you some weeks ago that I was +troubled about the child's position here. She is a real lady, and ought +to be acknowledged as such. That's the only good that can come now from +poor Susy's marriage, and I do hold to it. There was only one way, that +I could see, of managing what I wanted. I could do it at a +sacrifice—after all, a very small sacrifice."</p> + +<p>Jo Weatherhead shook his head emphatically.</p> + +<p>"Yes, really and truly a very small sacrifice," persisted Mrs. Dobbs. "I +don't see why I shouldn't be just as happy and comfortable in Jessamine +Cottage as here—provided, of course, that my old friends don't cut me +and sulk with me. I shall be lonely enough when once the child's gone; +and you and me'll have to cheer each other up, and keep each other +company, as well as we can. You won't refuse to do that, will you, Jo? +Come, shake hands on it!"</p> + +<p>Jo slowly put out his hand and grasped her proffered one. He then took +out, filled, and lighted his meerschaum, and smoked in silence for some +quarter of an hour, Mrs. Dobbs, meanwhile, knitting in equal silence. +All at once she said—</p> + +<p>"Hark! There's May's step coming downstairs. Now you'll please to +understand that when my moving from this house is mentioned to the +child, it's because I find Friar's Row too noisy, and think the air in +Greenhill Road will agree better with my health. I trust you for that, +Jo Weatherhead, mind!"</p> + +<p>May at this moment came gaily into the room, and Mr. Weatherhead thus +solemnly addressed her: "Miranda Cheffington, you have been to a +first-rate school, and have read your Roman history and all that, +haven't you?"</p> + +<p>"Not much, I'm afraid, Uncle Jo."</p> + +<p>"You have read about Lucretia, and Portia, and the mother of the +Gracchi" (pronounced "Gratch-I;" for Jo's instruction had been chiefly +taken in by the eye rather than the ear, in the shape of miscellaneous +gleanings from his own stock-in-trade), "and other distinguished women +of classical times, whose virtues were, in my opinion, not wholly +unconnected with bounce?"</p> + +<p>Mary laughed and nodded.</p> + +<p>"Well, allow me to tell you that there are Englishwomen at the present +day whom I consider far superior, in all that makes a real good woman, +to any Roman or Grecian of them all. Englishwomen to whom bounce in +every form is foreign and obnoxious. Englishwomen who do good by stealth +and never blush to find it Fame, because Fame is a great deal too busy +with rascals and hussies ever to trouble herself about <i>them</i>! Your +grandmother, Mrs. Sarah Dobbs, whom I'm proud to call my friend, is one +of those women. And what's more—and I'll have you bear it in mind, +Miranda Cheffington—I believe you'd be puzzled to find her equal in +Europe, Asia, Africa, or America—not to mention Australasia and the +'ole of the islands in the Pacific Ocean."</p> + +<p>With that, Mr. Weatherhead walked gravely out; his nose somewhat redder +than usual, and his eyes glistening.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + + +<p>About a year before that dinner-party at which May Cheffington had made +her <i>début</i> in Oldchester society, Mrs. Hadlow had begun to think it +probable that Theodore Bransby might wish to marry her daughter, and to +consider the desirability of his doing so. On the whole she did not +disapprove the prospect. Constance was very handsome, but she was also +very poor. Her ambition might not be satisfied by a match with Martin +Bransby's son; but on the other hand, Theodore was a young man of good +abilities, and apt to rise in the world. Moreover, he had sufficient +property of his own to facilitate his rising—a little ballast of that +sort being as useful in the <i>melée</i> of this world as the lead in a toy +tumbler, and enabling a man, if not to strike the stars with his sublime +head, at least to keep right side uppermost.</p> + +<p>Certainly Theodore had appeared much attracted by Miss Hadlow. Not only +her beauty but her self-assertion approved itself to him; for a man's +wife should be able to justify his taste; and there would be no +distinction in winning a woman whose meekness made it doubtful whether +she could have had the heart to say "No" to an inferior suitor. They had +been playfellows in childhood, but school and Cambridge had separated +them. But after Theodore began to read for the Bar, and, during the two +last vacations, which he had spent chiefly at home, a great intimacy had +sprung up between the young people. Theodore's frequent visits to the +old house in College Quad did not pass unobserved. One or two persons +thought his partiality for the Hadlows—especially when contrasted with +the lukewarm politeness he bestowed on other families, such as Raynes +the brewer, or the Burtons who lived in a park, and had had nothing to +do with retail for two generations—was creditable to Theodore's heart. +"He was not one to neglect old friends," said they, candidly confessing +at the same time that it was more than they should have expected of him. +But the majority felt sure that nothing short of being in love with +Constance Hadlow could induce young Bransby to prefer the canon's +old-fashioned parlour to Mrs. Raynes's red and gold drawing-room, or the +Burtons' ćsthetic upholstery. Oldchester folks did not guess that +Theodore intended to frequent a style of society in which neither the +Rayneses nor the Burtons would be able to make any figure, nor did they +know that he set a considerable value on Mrs. Hadlow's connections. That +lady had been a Miss Rivers, and her family ranked among the oldest +landed gentry in the kingdom. There were not many Oldchester magnates to +whom Theodore Bransby thought it worth while to be more than coolly +civil. Mr. Bragg was an exception, but then Mr. Bragg was a man of very +great wealth; and as mere size is held in certain cases to be an element +of grandeur, so money, Theodore thought, is capable in certain cases of +inspiring veneration—that is to say, when there is enough of it.</p> + +<p>As to Miss Constance's state of mind about young Bransby, it was too +complex to be described in a word. She liked Theodore, and thought him a +superior person; if not quite so superior as he thought himself. She had +faith, too, in his future. It would be agreeable to be the wife of a +distinguished M.P. or Q.C., or perhaps of both combined in one person. +Theodore would certainly settle nowhere but in London, and to live in +London had been Constance's dream ever since she was fifteen. Her +visions of what her life would be if she married Theodore Bransby +concerned themselves chiefly with their joint-entry into some +fashionable drawing-room, her presentation at Court, her name in the +<i>Morning Post</i>, herself exquisitely dressed driving Theodore down to the +House in a neat victoria, and returning the salutations of distinguished +acquaintances as they passed along Whitehall. All more serious questions +regarding their married life Constance set at rest by a few formulas. Of +course, she should do her duty. Of course, Theodore would always behave +like a gentleman. Of course, they should never condescend to vulgar +wrangling. Of course, her husband would give way to her in any +difference of opinion;—particularly since she was pretty sure to be +always right. And then Constance knew herself to be so very charming, +that a man of taste could not fail to delight in her society.</p> + +<p>Yet it must not be supposed that she had fully made up her mind to marry +Theodore. That Theodore would be very glad to marry her she did not +doubt at all. There had been a time—nay, there were moments still—when +her visions of herself as Mrs. Theodore Bransby had been blurred by the +disturbing element of her cousin Owen's presence. He had shown an +attractive appreciation of her attractions; and had, to use Mr. +Simpson's phrase, "dangled after his cousin" a good deal. Owen Rivers +had reached the age of three and twenty without ever having earned a +dinner, and without any serious preparation to enable him to earn one. +He had had an expensive education, and had done fairly well at Oxford. +His mother had died in his infancy; and his father, a country clergyman, +had allowed the young man to lounge away his life at the parsonage, +under the specious pretext of taking time to make up his mind what +career he would follow. Owen had fished, and shot, and walked, and +boated, and cricketed; but he had also read a good deal, having an +intellectual appetite at once robust and discriminating. His friends and +relatives agreed in thinking him very clever; and, when they reproached +him with wasting his fine abilities and leading a purposeless existence, +he would answer jestingly that he should be sorry to belie their +judgment by subjecting his talents to the dangerous touchstone of +action. His father died before he had determined on a profession. But, +fortunately as he thought, and unfortunately as was thought by some +other persons, including his Aunt Jane, he inherited wherewithal to live +without working, and, with a hundred and fifty pounds per annum, could +not lack bread and cheese. On his father's death he went to travel on +the Continent. He walked wherever walking was possible, carrying his own +knapsack, spending little, and seeing much. After more than two years' +absence, he returned to England and made his way to Oldchester to see +his Aunt Jane, with whom he had maintained an intermittent +correspondence. There he found Constance, whom he last remembered as a +sallow, self-sufficient schoolgirl, grown to a beautiful young woman. +Her sallowness had turned into a creamy pallor, and her self-sufficiency +was mitigated, to the masculine judgment, by the depth and softness of a +pair of fine dark eyes. Owen, on his part, made a decidedly favourable +impression on his cousin. He was not handsome—which mattered +little—nor fashionably dressed—which mattered more; but he was well +made, and had the grace which belongs to youthful health and strength. +And he had, too, that indefinable tone of manner which ensured his +recognition as an English gentleman. Constance was by no means +insensible to this attraction. If she had not the sentiments which +originate the finest manners, she had the perceptions which recognize +them. When Mary Raynes and the Burnet girls criticized the roughness of +Owen's demeanour, comparing it with Theodore Bransby's "polish," she +knew they were wrong. Theodore always behaved with the greatest +propriety; but between his manners and Owen's there was the same sort of +difference as between a native and a foreigner speaking the same +language. The foreigner may often be more accurately correct of the two +on minor points, but it is an affair of conscious acquirement, and must +inevitably break down now and then; whereas the native talks as +naturally as he breathes, and can no more make certain mistakes than an +oak tree can put forth willow leaves. Then Owen was very amusing company +when he chose to be so,—and he usually did choose to be so when at his +Aunt Jane's; and he had good old blood in his veins. This latter fact +gave a certain piquancy, in Constance's opinion, to his political +theories, which were opposed to the staunch Tory traditions of his +family. Constance frequently took her cousin to task on this subject; +but with the comfortable conviction to sweeten their controversy that a +Rivers could afford to indulge in a little democratic heresy, just as +Lord Castlecombe could afford to wear a shabbier coat than any of his +tenants.</p> + +<p>All these considerations, together with the crowning circumstance that +he evidently admired her a good deal, caused Owen to fill a large place +in his cousin's mind. She even asked herself seriously more than once if +she were in love with Owen, but failed to answer the question +decisively. She did, however, arrive at the conviction that falling in +love lay much more in one's own power than was commonly supposed; and +that no Romeo-and-Juliet destiny could ever inspire <i>her</i> with an +ungovernable passion for a man who possessed but a hundred and fifty +pounds a year. Mrs. Hadlow had at one time felt some uneasiness—nearly +as much on Owen's account as on her daughter's, to say the truth. But +she had satisfied herself that there was nothing more than a fraternal +kind of regard between the young people—wherein she was wrong; and that +there was no danger of their imprudently marrying—wherein she was +right.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Hadlow had, indeed, made up her mind that Constance would accept +Theodore Bransby whenever he should offer himself; and she privately +thought it high time that the offer were made. What did Theodore wait +for? His means (according to Mrs. Hadlow's estimate of things) were +sufficient to allow him to marry at once. But even supposing that he did +not choose to marry until he had fairly entered on his career as a +barrister, still there ought to be at least some clear understanding +between him and Constance. All Oldchester expected to hear of their +engagement, and it was not fair to the girl to leave matters in their +present uncertain condition. When, at the end of the vacation, young +Bransby left Oldchester again without having made any declaration, Mrs. +Hadlow was not only surprised, but uneasy; and she opened her mind to +her husband on the subject, invading his study at an unusual hour for +that purpose.</p> + +<p>"Edward," said Mrs. Hadlow, "don't you think that Theodore Barnsby ought +to have spoken before he went to town this last time?"</p> + +<p>"Spoken, my dear?"</p> + +<p>"To Constance; or to us about Constance."</p> + +<p>The canon leaned his head on his hand, keeping the thumb of the other +hand inserted between the pages of his Plato as a marker, and looked +absently at his wife.</p> + +<p>"Well? Don't you think he ought?" she repeated impatiently.</p> + +<p>The good canon meditated for a few moments. Then he said—</p> + +<p>"I—I don't feel quite sure that I understand. What ought he to have +said, Jane?"</p> + +<p>"Said! Goodness, Edward! He ought to have declared his intentions, of +course. It is high time that something was understood clearly."</p> + +<p>The canon's gentle blue eyes lost their abstracted look, and a little +sparkle came into them as he answered, "I hope—nay, I am sure—Jane, +that you would not think of taking any step, or saying any word, which +might compromise our dear child's dignity. Let it not appear that you +are eager to put this interpretation on the young man's visits."</p> + +<p>"My dear Edward, Theodore has been paying Conny marked attentions for +more than a year past; but during this last summer and autumn he has +been in our house morning, noon, and night. He doesn't come for <i>our +beaux yeux</i>."</p> + +<p>"H'm, h'm, h'm! But, Jane, an attachment of that sort between two young +creatures should be treated with the greatest delicacy. It is shy and +sensitive. Let us beware of pulling up our flower by the roots to see if +it is growing."</p> + +<p>This trope by no means corresponded with Mrs. Hadlow's conception of the +relations between Theodore Bransby and her daughter. She was an +affectionate mother, but she did not delude herself into thinking +Constance peculiarly sensitive or romantic. In fact, she was wont to say +that her daughter was twenty years older than herself on some points. +But the canon erroneously attributed to his daughter a quite poetical +refinement of feeling. His views on most subjects were romantic and +unworldly, and his ideas about women were peculiarly chivalrous. They +frequently irked Constance. She was not without respect as well as +affection for her father; and it was sometimes difficult to bring these +sentiments into harmony with her deep-seated admiration for herself. +However, she usually reconciled all discrepancies between what he +expected of her and what she knew to be the fact, by declaring that +"Papa was so old-fashioned!"</p> + +<p>"Tell me, Jane," said the canon, after a little pause, "do you think +Conny's feelings are seriously engaged? Do you think this matter is +likely to make her unhappy?"</p> + +<p>"Unhappy? Well, no; I hope not unhappy," answered Mrs. Hadlow slowly.</p> + +<p>"Then all is well. We will not let our spirits be troubled."</p> + +<p>"But, Edward, although she may not break her heart——"</p> + +<p>"Heaven forbid! Break her heart, Jane?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I say of course there's no fear of that; but it <i>is</i> detrimental +to a girl to have an affair of this kind dragging on in a vague sort of +way. It might spoil her chance in other directions; and people will +talk, you know."</p> + +<p>"Tut, tut! As to 'spoiling her chance'—which is a phrase very +distasteful to me in this connection—if you mean that any eligible +suitor would be discouraged from wooing Conny because another man is +supposed to admire her too, that's all nonsense. Do you think I should +have been frightened away from trying to win you, Jenny, by any such +impalpable figment of a rival?"</p> + +<p>"You?" exclaimed Mrs. Hadlow, with a sudden flush and a proud smile. +"Oh, that's a <i>very</i> different matter, Edward. I don't see any young men +nowadays to compare with what you were."</p> + +<p>The canon laughed softly. "Thank you, my dear. No doubt your grandmother +said much the same sort of thing once upon a time; and I hope your +grand-daughter may say it too, some day. But set your heart at rest as +to this matter. That Theodore Bransby, whom we have known from his +birth, should be a frequent guest in our house, can surprise no one. +There is youthful society to be found here. Without reckoning Constance, +there's Owen Rivers, the Burton girls, little May—we may reasonably +suppose this to be attractive to a young man who has no companions of +his own age at home, without attributing to him any such intentions as +you speak off. In fact," added the canon simply, "we must believe you +are mistaken; since, if Theodore loved our daughter, there's nothing to +prevent his saying so!"</p> + +<p>Of all which speech, two words chiefly arrested Mrs. Hadlow's attention +and stuck in her memory—"little May." It was true, now she came to +think of it, that the increased frequency of Theodore's visits coincided +with May Cheffington's presence in Oldchester. Then she suddenly +remembered it was by Theodore's influence that May had been invited to +Mrs. Bransby's dinner-party, and many words and ways of his with +reference to Miss Cheffington occurred to her in a new light. But then, +again, came a revulsion, and she told herself that the idea was absurd. +It was out of the question that Theodore Bransby, with his social +ambition, should think seriously of marrying insignificant little May +Cheffington, who was not even handsome (when compared with Constance), +who had childish manners, no fortune—and, worst of all, was Mrs. +Dobbs's grand-daughter! "Besides," said Mrs. Hadlow to herself, "he +<i>must</i> be fond of Conny. It's quite an old attachment; and, though +Theodore may not have very ardent feelings, I don't believe he is +fickle."</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, she was not entirely reassured. After Theodore's departure +from Oldchester she observed her daughter solicitously for some time; +but she finally convinced herself that Conny's peace of mind was in no +danger. She had sometimes been provoked by Conny's matter-of-fact +coolness, and had felt that young lady's worldly wisdom to be an +anachronism. But she admitted that in the present case these gifts had +their advantage; for, when Oldchester friends showed their interest or +curiosity by hints and allusions to Theodore, which made Mrs. Hadlow +quite hot and uncomfortable, Constance met them all with perfect +calmness, and she discussed the young man's prospects with an almost +patronizing air that puzzled people.</p> + +<p>In a few weeks more May Cheffington departed for London; Owen Rivers +also went away, and life in the dark old house in College Quad resumed +its usual quiet routine.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + + +<p>It was a raw, gusty afternoon towards the end of March when May and her +grandmother arrived in London. There had been some difficulty about the +journey, arising from Mrs. Dormer-Smith's objection to her niece's +travelling alone, and insisting on her being properly attended. In reply +to a suggestion that May would be quite safe in a ladies' carriage, and +under the care of the guard, she wrote:—"It is not that I doubt her +being safe; but I <i>cannot</i> let my servants see her arrive alone when I +meet her at the station. Why not send a maid with her?" To which Mrs. +Dobbs made answer that she could not send a maid, having only one +servant-of-all-work, but that she herself would bring her grand-daughter +to London. "I shall go up by one train, and come down by the next," said +she to Jo Weatherhead. And when he remonstrated against her incurring +that expense and fatigue, she answered, "Oh, we won't spoil the ship for +a ha'porth of tar. If I make up my mind to part with the child, I'll +start her as well as I can."</p> + +<p>The travellers found Mrs. Dormer-Smith awaiting them at the +railway station. She greeted May affectionately, and Mrs. Dobbs +amiably. "My servant has a cab here for the luggage," she said. +"But"—hesitatingly—"how shall we manage about——? I'm afraid the +brougham is too small for three." Mrs. Dobbs settled the question by +declaring that she did not purpose going to Mrs. Dormer-Smith's house. +She would get some dinner at the station, and return to Oldchester by an +evening train. "Oh dear, I'm afraid that will be very uncomfortable for +you!" said Pauline, politely trying to conceal her satisfaction at this +arrangement. "Will you not come and—and lunch with us?" But Mrs. Dobbs +stuck to her own plan.</p> + +<p>While the footman was superintending the placing of May's luggage on the +cab, her grandmother drew her into the waiting-room to say "good-bye." +"God bless you, my dear, dear child! Write to me often, keep well, and +be happy!" she said, folding the girl in her arms. Mrs. Dormer-Smith +stood by, not unsympathetic, but at the same time relieved to know James +was busy with the luggage, so that he could not witness the parting, nor +hear May's exclamation, "Darling granny! darling granny!" Indeed, it +might be hoped that he would never know the relationship between this +stout, common-looking old woman and Miss Cheffington; nor be able to +report it in the servants' hall. She felt that Mrs. Dobbs was behaving +very properly, and said with gracious sweetness, "I'm sure we ought all +to be very much obliged to you for the care you have taken of my niece. +It was most good of you to undertake this tiresome journey."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dobbs looked up with a flash in her eyes. "I only hope," she +returned hotly, "that you will take as good care of my grandchild as I +have taken of your niece." The next moment she repented of her retort, +and said quite humbly, "You will be kind to her, won't you? Poor +motherless lamb! You will be kind to her, I'm sure!"</p> + +<p>"Indeed I will," answered Mrs. Dormer-Smith, with unruffled gentleness. +"I have always wished for a daughter, and she shall be like my own +daughter to me." And, with a motherly caress, she drew May to her side.</p> + +<p>"Don't be afraid for me, granny dear!" said May, smiling with tearful +eyes. "I shall be very happy with Aunt Pauline. Besides, I shall see you +again very soon."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dobbs laid her hand on the girl's shoulder and pushed her gently, +but firmly, out of the waiting-room, standing herself in the doorway +until May and her aunt had disappeared. Then she sat down by the fire, +untied her bonnet-strings, pulled out her handkerchief, and sobbed +unrestrainedly. The waiting-room attendant looked at her curiously; for +she had noticed that Mrs. Dobbs did not belong to the same class as that +elegantly dressed lady, attended by a servant in livery, with whom the +young girl had gone away. Presently she drew near, on pretence of poking +the fire, and said—</p> + +<p>"You're very fond of the young lady, ain't you? But don't take on so. +You'll see her again very soon, I dare say. Don't cry, poor dear!"</p> + +<p>"I <i>have</i> cried," said Mrs. Dobbs, getting up and drying her eyes +resolutely. "I have cried, and it's done me good. And now I'll go and +get a bit of food."</p> + +<p>But she only trifled with the modest dinner set before her; and, as she +sat in a corner of the second-class carriage which conveyed her back to +Oldchester, her handkerchief was soaked with silent tears.</p> + +<p>To May the separation naturally seemed far less terrible than it did to +Mrs. Dobbs. She had no idea that it was to be a long, much less a +permanent, one. She found it agreeable to sit in the well-hung, neatly +appointed brougham, with a cushion at her back and a hot-water tin under +her feet, and to look through the clear glasses at the bustle and +movement of London. Her aunt Pauline was very pleasant and sympathetic. +May thought that she might come to love her father's sister very dearly. +She admired her already. Mrs. Dormer-Smith's gentle manner, her soft, +low voice, the quiet elegance of her dress, and even the delicate +perfume of violets which hung about her, were all appreciated by May.</p> + +<p>"My cousin is not at home, is he, Aunt Pauline?" she asked after a +little silence.</p> + +<p>"No; Cyril is at Harrow. There are only the children."</p> + +<p>"Oh, children!" cried May, with brightening eyes. "I'm so glad! I love +children. I didn't know you had any children besides Cyril."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dormer-Smith laughed her peculiar little guttural laugh, consisting +of several ha, ha, ha's, slowly and softly uttered, and made no answer.</p> + +<p>"Are they boys or girls? How many are there? How old are they?" +questioned May eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Two little boys. Harold is—let me see—Harold is six, and Wilfred +five. It is very awkward having two little things in the nursery so many +years younger than their elder brother. Cyril is turned fifteen. It is +like beginning all one's troubles over again," said Pauline plaintively. +The birth of these two children was, indeed, a standing grievance with +her.</p> + +<p>May thought this an odd way of talking, and said no more on the subject +of her little cousins. But she looked forward to seeing them with +pleasant expectation.</p> + +<p>The sight of the house in Kensington brought back vividly to her mind +the day after the dowager's funeral, when she had arrived there from +school, feeling very strange and forlorn. She remembered, too, the +abrupt departure next morning with her father, and her impression that +the Dormer-Smiths had not behaved well, and that her father was very +angry with them. May was shown into a bedroom at the back of the house, +overlooking some gardens. The maid, having asked if she could do +anything for Miss Cheffington, and having mentioned that the +luncheon-gong would sound in ten minutes, withdrew, and left May alone. +She examined the room with girlish interest. It was very pretty, she +thought. Perhaps, in point of solid comfort, the old-fashioned furniture +of her room in Friar's Row might be superior; but in Friar's Row there +was no such ample provision of looking-glasses as there was here. She +was still contemplating herself from head to foot in a long swing +mirror, which stood in a good light near the window, when the gong +sounded.</p> + +<p>May ran downstairs, and in the dining-room she found her aunt and a +heavy-looking man with grizzled, sandy hair, and dull blue eyes, who +asked her how she did, and supposed she would hardly recognize him.</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, I do, Uncle Frederick!" she answered.</p> + +<p>And again an uncomfortable recollection of her father's angry departure +from that house came over her. But whatever quarrels there might have +been in those days, her aunt and uncle appeared to have forgotten all +about them. Mr. Dormer-Smith told May more than once that he was pleased +to see her.</p> + +<p>"You're not a bit like your father, my dear," said he, with an approving +air not altogether flattering to Augustus.</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, Frederick!" interposed his wife. "There is a family +expression."</p> + +<p>"It's an expression I have never seen on your brother's face. No, nor +any approach to it."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dormer-Smith laughed the soft little laugh which was habitual with +her when embarrassed or disconcerted, and changed the conversation. "I +hope you like your room, May?" she said.</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, very much indeed, thank you, Aunt Pauline."</p> + +<p>"I wish I could have come upstairs with you. But I am obliged to +<i>ménager</i> my strength as much as possible."</p> + +<p>"Are you not well, Aunt Pauline?" asked May with ready sympathy.</p> + +<p>"I am not <i>strong</i>, dear."</p> + +<p>"You would be better if you exerted yourself more," said Mr. +Dormer-Smith. "Your system gets into a sluggish state from sheer +inactivity."</p> + +<p>"Ah, you don't understand, Frederick," answered his wife, with a +plaintive smile.</p> + +<p>And May felt indignant at her uncle's want of feeling. But the next +minute she relented towards him when he said, as he rose from table—</p> + +<p>"I'll go round to the chemist's myself for Willy's medicine, and bring +it back with me, as I suppose you will be wanting James to go out again +with the carriage by-and-by."</p> + +<p>"Is one of the little boys ill?" asked May.</p> + +<p>This time it was her aunt who replied calmly, "Oh no. The child has a +little nervous cough; it is really more a trick than anything else."</p> + +<p>"Huggins doesn't think so lightly of it, I can assure you. He tells me +great care is needed," said Mr. Dormer-Smith.</p> + +<p>"Can I—would you mind—might I see my little cousins?" asked May, with +some hesitation. She was puzzled by these discrepancies of opinion +between husband and wife.</p> + +<p>Mr. Dormer-Smith turned round with a look almost of animation. "Come +now, if you like. Come with me," he said. And May followed him out of +the room, disregarding her aunt's suggestion that it would be better for +her to lie down and rest after her journey.</p> + +<p>The nursery was a large room—in fact, an attic—at the top of the +house. May noticed how rapidly the elegance and costliness of the +furniture and appointments decreased as they mounted. If the dining-room +and drawing-rooms represented tropical luxury, the bedrooms cooled down +into a temperate zone; and the top region of all was arctic in its +barrenness. The nursery looked very forlorn and comfortless, with its +bare floor, cheap wall-paper dotted with coarse, coloured prints, and +its small grate with a small fire in it, which had exhausted its +energies in smoking furiously, as the smell in the room testified. At a +table in the middle of the room sat a hard-featured young woman, with +high cheek-bones, and a complexion like that of a varnished wooden doll, +mending a heap of linen; and in one corner, where stood a battered old +rocking-horse and a top-heavy Noah's Ark, two little boys were kneeling +on the floor, building houses with wooden bricks. On their father's +entrance, they looked up languidly; but when they saw who it was, they +scrambled to their feet with some show of pleasure, and came to stand +one on each side of him, holding his hands. They were both like him, +blue-eyed and sandy-haired, and both looked pale and sickly. Harold, the +elder, seemed the stronger of the two. Wilfred was a meagre, +frail-looking little creature, with a half-timid, half-sullen expression +of face. Their father kissed them both, and, sitting down, drew the +younger child on his knee, whilst Harold stood pressing close against +his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Well, do you know who this is?" asked Mr. Dormer-Smith, pointing to +May.</p> + +<p>Apparently they had no wish to know, for they nestled closer to their +father, and sulkily rejected May's proffered caresses.</p> + +<p>"Oh, come, you mustn't be shy," said their father. "This is your cousin +May; kiss her, and say, 'How d'ye do?'"</p> + +<p>But nothing would induce either of the boys to give May his hand, nor +even to look at her; and at length she begged her uncle not to trouble +himself, and hoped they would all be very good friends presently.</p> + +<p>"And how do we get on with our lessons, ma'amselle?" asked Mr. +Dormer-Smith of the hard-featured young woman, who, beyond rising from +her chair when they came in, had hitherto taken no notice of them.</p> + +<p>"We haven't had no lessons to-day," put in Harold, with a lowering look +at "ma'amselle."</p> + +<p>"No, monsieur, it has been impossible till now; I have had so much +sewing to do for madame. See!" and she pointed to the heap of linen. +"But we will have our lessons in the afternoon."</p> + +<p>"I don't want lessons; I want to go out with papa. Take me with you, +papa," cried Harold. Whereupon little Wilfred lisped out that he too +would go out with papa, and set up a peevish whine.</p> + +<p>"It is too cold for you, my man," said the father. "The sharp wind would +make you cough. Harold will stay with you, and you can play together, +and do your lessons afterwards, like good boys."</p> + +<p>But the children only wailed and cried the louder, whilst mademoiselle, +with her eyes on her needlework, monotonously repeated in her +Swiss-French, "What is this? Be good, my children," and apparently +thought she was doing all that she was called upon to do under the +circumstances.</p> + +<p>May thought her little cousins peculiarly disagreeable children; but she +could not help feeling sorry for them and for their father, who looked +quite helpless and distressed. "Would you like me to tell you a story?" +she said. "I know some very pretty stories."</p> + +<p>A wail from Wilfred and a scowl from Harold were all the answer she +received from them. But her uncle caught at the suggestion eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that would be very kind of Cousin May," he said. "A pretty story! +You'll like that, won't you?"</p> + +<p>"No, I shan't! I want to go with papa," grumbled Harold.</p> + +<p>"I want to go wis papa," sobbed Wilfred.</p> + +<p>"It is always so when monsieur comes to the nursery," said the Swiss, +coolly going on with her sewing. "The children are so fond of monsieur."</p> + +<p>"Poor little fellows!" cried May.</p> + +<p>Then kneeling down beside her uncle, she began softly to stroke +Wilfred's hair, and to speak to him coaxingly. After a while, the child +glanced shyly into her face, and ceased to sob. Presently he allowed +himself to be transferred from his father's knee to May's. The Noah's +Ark was brought into requisition. May ranged its inmates—all more or +less dilapidated—on the floor, and began to perform a drama with them, +making each animal's utterances in an appropriate voice. A smile dawned +on Wilfred's pale little face, and Harold drew near to look and listen +with evident interest.</p> + +<p>"Now, Uncle Frederick, if you have to go out, I will stay and play with +the children, until lesson-time. They are going to be very good now; +ain't you, boys?"</p> + +<p>"Ve'y good now," assented Wilfred, his attention still absorbed by the +Noah's Ark animals.</p> + +<p>"Well, if you'll make the pig grunt again, I will be good," said Harold, +with a Bismarckian mastery of the <i>do ut des</i> principle.</p> + +<p>Mr. Dormer-Smith's face beamed with satisfaction. "It's very good of +you, my dear," said he. "If you don't mind, it would be very kind to +stay with them a little while; that is, if you are not too tired by your +journey?" And as he went away, he repeated, "It's very good of you, my +dear; very good of you!"</p> + +<p>But May found that her aunt took a different view.</p> + +<p>"<i>Dear</i> May," said she, when she learned where her niece had been +spending the two hours after luncheon, "this is very imprudent! You +should have lain down and taken a thorough rest instead of exerting +yourself in that way."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm not in the least tired, Aunt Pauline."</p> + +<p>"Dear child, you may not think so; but a railway journey of three or +four hours jars the nerves terribly."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I was very glad to amuse the children, Aunt Pauline. They were +crying to go out with their father, so I tried to comfort them. They got +quite merry before I left them."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dormer-Smith slowly shook her head and smiled. "You will find them +extremely tiresome, poor things!" said she placidly. "They are by no +means engaging children. Cyril was very different at their age."</p> + +<p>"Oh, Aunt Pauline! I think they might be made—I mean I think we shall +come to be great friends. I couldn't bear to see them cry, poor mites!"</p> + +<p>"That is all very sweet in you, dear May, but I fancy it is best to +leave their nursery governess to manage them. Her French is not all that +I could wish. But a pure accent is not so vitally important for boys. It +is much if an Englishman can speak French even decently. And Cecile +makes herself very useful with her needle."</p> + +<p>Pauline then announced that she would not go out again that afternoon, +but would devote herself to the inspection of May's wardrobe. "Of course +you have no evening dresses fit to wear," she said; "but we will see +whether we cannot manage to make use of some of your clothes. Smithson, +my maid, is very clever."</p> + +<p>"Why, of course granny would not have sent me without proper clothes!" +protested May, opening her eyes in astonishment. "And I <i>have</i> an +evening frock—a very pretty white muslin, quite new."</p> + +<p>To this speech Aunt Pauline vouchsafed no answer beyond a vague smile. +She scarcely heard it, in fact. Her mind was preoccupied with weighty +considerations. As she seated herself in the one easy-chair in May's +room, and watched her niece kneeling down, keys in hand, before her +travelling trunk, she observed with heartfelt thankfulness that the +girl's figure was naturally graceful, and calculated to set off well-cut +garments to advantage.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" exclaimed May suddenly, turning round and letting the keys fall +with a clash as she clasped her hands, "above everything I must not miss +the post! I want to send off a letter, so that granny may have it at +breakfast time to-morrow for a surprise. Have I plenty of time, Aunt +Pauline?"</p> + +<p>"No doubt," answered her aunt absently. She was debating whether the +circumference of May's waist might not be reduced an inch or so by +judicious lacing.</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I had better get my letter written first, Aunt Pauline. I +wouldn't miss writing to granny for the world, and any time will do for +the clothes."</p> + +<p>To which her aunt replied with solemnity, and with an appearance of +energy which May had never witnessed in her before, "Your wardrobe, May, +demands very serious consideration. April is just upon us. You are to be +presented at the second Drawing-room. Dress is an important social duty, +and we must not lose time in trifling."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + + +<p>It was a great comfort to Mrs. Dormer-Smith to find her niece so pretty +("not a beauty," as she said to herself, "but extremely pleasing, and +with capital points"), and so entirely free from vulgarisms of speech or +manner. In fact, May's outward demeanour needed but very few polishing +touches to make it all her aunt could desire. But a more intimate +acquaintance revealed traits of character which troubled Mrs. +Dormer-Smith a good deal.</p> + +<p>"I suppose," she observed to her husband, with a sigh, "one had no right +to expect that poor Augustus's unfortunate marriage should have left no +trace in his children. But it is dreadfully disheartening to come every +now and then upon some absolutely middle-class prejudice or scruple in +May. Now, Augustus, whatever his faults may be, always had such a +thoroughbred way of looking at things."</p> + +<p>"Certainly, no one can accuse your brother of having scruples," said +Frederick.</p> + +<p>"Besides, it is terribly bad form in a girl of her age to set up for a +moralist."</p> + +<p>"It doesn't seem much like May to set up for anything: she is always so +childish and unpretending."</p> + +<p>"Oh yes; and that <i>ingénue</i> air is delicious: it goes so perfectly with +her <i>physique</i>. But there are so many things which one cannot teach in +words, but which girls brought up in a certain <i>monde</i> learn by +instinct."</p> + +<p>"What sort of things do you mean?" asked her husband after a little +pause.</p> + +<p>"Well, on Thursday, for instance, I was awfully annoyed. Mrs. Griffin +was here, and seemed pleased with May, and talked to her a good deal. +You know that is very important, because the duchess invites people or +leaves them out pretty much as her mother dictates. So I was naturally +very much gratified to see May making a good impression. In fact, Mrs. +Griffin whispered to me, 'Charming! So fresh.' Presently Lady Burlington +came in, and they began talking of those new people, the Aaronssohns, +who have a million and a half a year. Lady Burlington had been at a big +dinner there the night before, and she told us the most astonishing +things of their vulgarity and their pushing ways. When she was gone Mrs. +Griffin said, 'I do like Lady Burlington,' and began praising her +manners and her air of <i>grande dame</i>. And, very kindly turning to May, +she said, 'Do you know, little one, that that is one of the proudest +women in England?' 'Is she?' said May. 'I should never have guessed that +she was proud.' Something in her way of saying it caught Mrs. Griffin's +attention; and she pressed her and cross-questioned her, until May +blurted out that she thought it despicable to accept vulgar people's +hospitality only because they were rich, and then to ridicule them for +being vulgar. I never was so shocked; for, you know, the duchess and +Mrs. Griffin both went to the Aaronssohns' ball last season. Now you +know," pursued Mrs. Dormer-Smith almost tearfully, "that kind of thing +will never do. You must allow that it will never do, Frederick."</p> + +<p>"It would be awkward," assented Frederick, looking grave. "Couldn't you +tell her?"</p> + +<p>"Of course, I spoke to her after Mrs. Griffin had gone away. But she +only said, 'What could I do, Aunt Pauline? The old lady insisted on my +answering her, and I couldn't tell her a story.' You see what a +difficult kind of thing it will be to manage, Frederick."</p> + +<p>Mr. Dormer-Smith had become a great partisan of May's. He was genuinely +grateful for her kindness to his children, and would willingly have +taken her part had it been possible. But he felt that his wife was +right; it would really never do to carry into society an <i>enfant +terrible</i> of such uncompromising truthfulness. And this feeling was much +strengthened by the recollection of sundry remarks which May had +innocently made to himself—remarks indicating an inconvenient +assumption on her part that one's principles must naturally regulate +one's practice. However, as he told his wife, they must trust to time +and experience to correct this crudeness.</p> + +<p>"She is but a schoolgirl, after all," he said.</p> + +<p>Pauline did not pursue the subject, but she reflected within herself +that there are schoolgirls and schoolgirls.</p> + +<p>There had been some discussion as to who should present May. Mrs. +Dormer-Smith was of opinion that had there been a Viscountess +Castlecombe, the office would properly have devolved on her ladyship; +but old Lord Castlecombe had been a widower for many years. At length it +was decided that May should be presented by her aunt.</p> + +<p>"I know it is a great risk for me to go out <i>décolletée</i> on an English +spring day," said that devoted woman. "And Lady Burlington would do it +if I asked her. But I wish to carry out the duty I have undertaken +towards Augustus's daughter, as thoroughly as my strength will allow. +Under all the circumstances of the case, it is important that she should +be publicly acknowledged, and, as it were, identified with the family. +Of course, I shall feel justified in buying my gown out of May's money."</p> + +<p>"May's money" had come to be the phrase by which the Dormer-Smiths spoke +of the payment made by Mrs. Dobbs for her grand-daughter.</p> + +<p>But besides the comforting sense of duty fulfilled, there were other +compensations in store for Mrs. Dormer-Smith. May's presentation dress +was pronounced exquisite, and was ready in good time; and May herself +profited satisfactorily by the instructions of a fashionable professor +of deportment, in the difficult art of walking and curtsying in a train. +To be sure, she had alarmed her aunt at first, by going into fits of +laughter when describing Madame Melnotte's lessons, and imitating the +impressive gravity with which the dancing-mistress went through the dumb +show of a presentation at Court. But she did what she was told to do, +not only with docility, but with an unaffected simplicity which Aunt +Pauline's good taste perceived to be infinitely charming. And she said +to her husband that she really began to hope May would be "a great +success."</p> + +<p>The great day of the Drawing-room came and went, as do all days, great +or small. But whether she had been a success or a failure, in her aunt's +sense of the words, May had not the remotest idea. Indeed, the various +feelings on the subject of her presentation which had filled her breast +beforehand (including a genuine delight in her own appearance as she +stood before the big looking-glass, while Smithson put the finishing +touches to her head-dress), were all swallowed up in the supreme feeling +of thankfulness that it was over; and that she had not disgraced herself +by tumbling over her train, or otherwise shocking the eyes of august +personages. Also, in a minor degree, she was thankful that Aunt +Pauline's antique lace-flounce—a portion of the dowager's legacy lent +for the occasion—had escaped destruction. On their drive homeward, she +sat silent, trying to extricate some definite image from her confused +impressions of the ceremony, and finding that her most distinct +recollection recorded the pressure of a persistent and ruthless elbow +against her ribs. Mrs. Dormer-Smith, too, was too much exhausted to say +much. She leaned back in the carriage with closed eyes, wrapping her +furs round her, and sniffing at a bottle of salts.</p> + +<p>But when refreshed by a glass of wine, and seated in a well-cushioned +chair before a blazing fire, Mrs. Dormer-Smith felt very well satisfied +with the result of the day. Mrs. Griffin had been there, and had nodded +approvingly across a struggling crowd of bare shoulders; and Mrs. +Griffin's approbation was worth having. Mr. Dormer-Smith came home from +his club a full hour earlier than usual, in order to hear the report—a +proof of interest which May, not being a whist-player, was unable fully +to appreciate.</p> + +<p>"Well," said Pauline, with a kind of pious serenity, "we have +accomplished this somewhat trying social duty."</p> + +<p>"Trying, indeed," exclaimed May. "I'm afraid you are dreadfully tired, +Aunt Pauline. And the crowd and closeness made your head ache, I saw. +How is your head now?"</p> + +<p>"It is better, dear, much better."</p> + +<p>"Well?" said Mr. Dormer-Smith, looking interrogatively with raised +eyebrows at his wife.</p> + +<p>"Oh yes, Frederick; very nice indeed, very satisfactory. I was very much +pleased. I <i>had</i> been a little anxious about the effect of the +<i>corsage</i>, but Amélie has done herself great credit. And, mercifully, +white suits our dear child to perfection. She really looked very well."</p> + +<p>"Did I, Aunt Pauline? Well, I'm sure it didn't much matter how I +looked."</p> + +<p>"Didn't matter!" echoed Mrs. Dormer-Smith in a shocked tone.</p> + +<p>"Oh, come, May!" cried her uncle. "I thought you were above that sort of +nonsense. Do you mean to tell me that you don't care about looking +pretty?"</p> + +<p>"Oh no! I mean—well, I did think my dress was lovely when I looked at +myself in the big glass upstairs; but in that crush who could see it? +And I was awfully afraid that Aunt Pauline's lace flounce would be torn +completely off the skirt."</p> + +<p>Her uncle laughed. "You don't appear to have altogether enjoyed your +first appearance as a courtier," said he.</p> + +<p>"Enjoyed! Oh, who <i>could</i> enjoy it?" Then, fearful of seeming +ungrateful, she added, "It was very, very kind of Aunt Pauline to take +so much trouble, and to get me that beautiful dress."</p> + +<p>May had not been accustomed to think about ways and means. It had seemed +a matter of course that her daily wants should be supplied, and she had +hitherto bestowed no more thought on the matter than a young bird in the +nest. But it was impossible for her to live as a member of the +Dormer-Smiths' family without having the question of money brought +forcibly to her mind. There were small pinchings and savings of a kind +utterly unknown in Friar's Row; elaborate calculations were made as to +the possibility of this or that expenditure; Aunt Pauline frequently +lamented her poverty; and yet, withal, there was kept up an appearance +of wealth and elegance. May was not long in discovering the seamy side +of all the luxury which surrounded her; and it amazed her. Why should +her aunt so arrange her life as to derive very little comfort from very +strenuous effort? And what puzzled her most of all at first was the air +of conscious virtue with which this was done: the strange way in which +Aunt Pauline would mention some piece of meanness or insincerity as +though it were an act of loftiest duty. On one or two occasions May had +innocently suggested a straightforward way out of some social +difficulty; such as wearing an old gown when a new one could not be +afforded, or refusing an invitation which could only be accepted at the +cost of much bodily and mental harass. But these childish suggestions +had been met by an indulgent smile; and she had been told that such and +such things must be done or endured in order to keep up the family's +position in society. Once May had asked, "Then why <i>should</i> we keep up +our position in society?" But her aunt had shown such genuine +consternation at this impious inquiry, that the girl did not venture to +repeat it.</p> + +<p>Another question, however, soon forced itself upon May—namely, how it +came to pass that, under all the circumstances, so much money was spent +on her dress. Besides the court train and petticoat, her aunt had +provided for her a wardrobe which, to the young girl's inexperienced +eyes, appeared absolutely splendid (for Pauline's conscience, although +cramped and squeezed into artificial shape like a Chinese lady's foot, +was alive and sentient; and she would on no account have failed to +expend "May's money" for May's advantage): and yet all the while there +were the two little boys in their comfortless nursery, wearing coarse +clothing and shabby shoes; and there was Cecile toiling at needlework +instead of attending to the children, in order that the cost of a +seamstress might be saved! On this subject May felt that she had a right +to interrogate her aunt; and accordingly she took courage to do so. Mrs. +Dormer-Smith was considerably embarrassed, and made an attempt to fence +off the subject. But May persisted.</p> + +<p>"It's very, very good of you and Uncle Frederick to do so much for me," +she said; "but I can't bear to take it all."</p> + +<p>"Nonsense, May! Remember you are a Cheffington. You <i>must</i> appear in the +world properly equipped."</p> + +<p>"But, Aunt Pauline, it isn't fair to Harold and Wilfred!"</p> + +<p>"Harold and Wilfred?" echoed her aunt, opening wide her soft dark eyes. +"What <i>do</i> you mean, May?"</p> + +<p>May coloured hotly, but stuck to her point. "Well," she said, "you know +Uncle Frederick was saying the other day that Willy ought to have change +of air; and you said you couldn't afford to send him to the seaside just +now; and—and I think Cecile thinks they ought to have new walking +suits; and all the while I have so many expensive new frocks. I can't +bear it. It isn't really fair."</p> + +<p>Then Mrs. Dormer-Smith found herself compelled to assure her niece that +no penny of the cost of her toilet came out of Uncle Frederick's pocket, +and reading a further question in the girl's face, she hastened to +anticipate it by adding, "The arrangements made for you here, May, are +in entire accordance with your father's wishes. There has been a +correspondence with him on the subject, and he wrote quite distinctly; +otherwise your uncle and I would not have undertaken to bring you out."</p> + +<p>"I hope," said May, "that papa does not deprive himself of anything for +me. He used not to be at all well off, I know. I can remember when I was +a little thing in Bruges."</p> + +<p>"Augustus deprives himself of <i>nothing</i>," answered Mrs. Dormer-Smith +softly, but emphatically. "Pray say no more on the subject, my dear. +This sort of thing makes my head ache."</p> + +<p>Her conscience being thus relieved, May accepted and enjoyed her new +finery and her new life. She found that "taking up one's position in +society" involved pleasanter things than being presented at a +Drawing-room. It was delightful to be tastefully and becomingly dressed. +It was agreeable to be sure of plenty of partners at every dance. It was +satisfactory to have so admirable a chaperon as Aunt Pauline. One could +no more form a fair judgment of that lady from knowing her only in +domestic life, than one could fully appreciate a swan from seeing it on +dry land. In the congenial element of "society," her merits were +exhibited to the utmost advantage. They were, indeed, greater than May +had any idea of; Mrs. Dormer-Smith's tact in warding off ineligible +partners, and securing as far as possible eligible ones for her niece, +was masterly. But May admired her aunt's unruffled temper and gentle +grace. She had been quick to find out—with some astonishment, but +beyond the possibility of doubt—that fine people can be exceedingly +rude on occasion; and she observed with pride that Aunt Pauline was +never rude. Moreover, Aunt Pauline's softness of manner was a far more +effectual protection against impertinence, than the <i>brusquerie</i> +affected by sundry ladies who forgot the wisdom embodied in the homely +saying, that "those who play at bowls must look out for rubbers;" and +who were always liable to be vanquished by greater insolence than their +own.</p> + +<p>May soon began to be reticent of her real sentiments and opinions in +speaking to her aunt and uncle. She felt that nine times out of ten she +was not understood; or, which was worse, was misunderstood. But in +writing to her dear granny, she frankly and fully poured out all her +heart. These letters were the joy and consolation of Mrs. Dobbs's life. +Every minutest detail interested her. She laughed over May's description +of the Drawing-room, and read it out aloud to Jo Weatherhead by way of a +wholesome corrective to his Tory prejudices.</p> + +<p>But at the same time she secretly treasured a copy of the <i>Morning Post</i> +containing Miss Miranda Cheffington's name, and a description of Miss +Miranda Cheffington's toilet on that occasion. And she listened, with a +complacency of which she was more than half ashamed, to Mrs. Simpson's +ecstasies on the subject; and to the scraps of information which the +good-natured Amelia quoted—generally incorrectly—from social gossip +setting forth how Mrs. Dormer-Smith and her niece, Miss Miranda +Cheffington, had been present at this or that grand entertainment. These +things might appear frivolous; but was it not for this end, to put May +in her right place in the world, to give her her birthright, that Mrs. +Dobbs had made a great sacrifice? Jo Weatherhead understood this so +well, that the "fashionable intelligence" in the local newspapers +assumed a quite pathetic interest in his eyes. When he went to drink tea +with his old friend in the parlour of her new abode with its trashy, +stuccoed ceiling, miserably thin walls, and squeezed little fireplace, +he felt it to be a positive comfort to pull from his pocket a copy of +the <i>Court Journal</i> or other equally polite print, and read aloud to +Sarah some paragraph in which May's name occurred. It was a consolation, +too, to let himself be lectured and laughed at by Sarah for his absurd +admiration of the aristocracy. And he took every opportunity of +combating her Radicalism, in order that she might victoriously vindicate +the steadfastness of her political principles.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile, Captain Cheffington saw the accounts of his daughter's +appearance in the fashionable world, and began to think that he had been +too easy in giving his consent to it. He had got nothing by it; and +perhaps something might have been got. He wrote twice to Pauline, +urgently requiring her to tell him what was the exact sum which Mrs. +Dobbs paid for her grand-daughter's maintenance. That it was handsome he +did not doubt; knowing by experience that the Dormer-Smiths would not +contribute a shilling. Pauline had replied evasively to the first +letter, and not at all to the second, with the result that Augustus's +imagination absurdly exaggerated Mrs. Dobbs's wealth. The old woman must +be rolling in money after all! Had May's allowance been a small one, his +sister would not have hesitated to tell him the exact sum. It was clear +to his mind that the Dormer-Smiths were making an uncommonly good thing +of it, and he was decidedly disinclined to leave all the profit to them. +He wrote off to Oldchester a demand for money on his own account. It was +refused; and his anger was very bitter. He even began to cherish a +grudge against May. Why should she be surrounded by luxury, enjoying all +the gaieties of London, and taking a social position to which her only +claim was the fact of being <i>his</i> daughter, whilst he lived the life of +an outcast? He went so far as to threaten to come to England and bring +away his daughter: having some idea that Mrs. Dobbs might ransom May, +and pension him off. But the energy which might once upon a time have +enabled Augustus Cheffington to take this strong step had waned long +ago. He had grown inert. And, above all, the circumstances of his +private life rendered such independent action difficult, if not +impossible.</p> + +<p>It presently began to be reported amongst Mrs. Dormer-Smith's +acquaintance, with other items of tea-table gossip, that "little May +Cheffington had a rich old grandmother somewhere down in the country." +Theodore Bransby, who was admitted as a familiar visitor at the +Dormer-Smiths', and who made a parade of his intimacy with the +Cheffingtons, was interrogated on the subject. He maintained a cautious +reserve in his replies:—"He really could say nothing; he had no idea +what the old lady's means might be; he could scarcely, in fact, be said +to know her at all." Wishing, as he did, completely to ignore that +objectionable old ironmonger's widow, it was irritating to find her +existence known, and her means discussed, in London. To be sure, no one +troubled himself to inquire "Who is she?" general interest being +exclusively concentrated on the question, "What has she?" Theodore's +reticence was by no means attributed to its real cause. People said that +young Bransby was looking after the girl himself, and wanted to choke +off possible rivals. Theodore did, indeed, push himself as far as +possible into every house which May frequented. There were some still +inaccessible to him; but he had patience and perseverance. And he was +constantly meeting May in the course of the season. She was far more +pleased to see him in London than she had ever been in Oldchester. He +was associated with persons whom she loved: and on many occasions when +ball-room lookers-on pronounced Miss Cheffington and young Bransby to be +"spooning awfully," May was talking with animation of his half-brothers, +Bobby and Billy, of the dear old canon and her friend Constance, or even +of Mr. and Mrs. Sebastian Bach Simpson. Theodore had no relish for these +topics; but it was better to talk with May of them, than not to talk +with her at all. And to the girl, he seemed the only link between her +present life and the dear Oldchester days.</p> + +<p>At the beginning of June, however, he ceased to have this exclusive +claim on her attention. One fine day Aunt Pauline, returning from an +afternoon drive with her niece, found a large visiting card with "The +Misses Piper" engraved on it with many elaborate flourishes, whilst +underneath was written in pencil "Miss Hadlow."</p> + +<p>"Piper!" said Pauline, languidly dropping her eyeglass, and looking +round at May. "What can this mean?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, it means Miss Polly and Miss Patty and my schoolfellow Constance +Hadlow!" cried May, clapping her hands. "Fancy Conny being in town! I +dare say the Pipers invited her on a visit. I'm so glad!"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dormer-Smith's countenance expressed anything but gladness; and she +privately informed May that it would be impossible to do more than send +cards to these ladies by the servant. "I <i>can't</i> have them here on my +Thursdays, you know, May," she said plaintively, and with an injured +air.</p> + +<p>Three months ago May would have indignantly protested against this tone, +and would have pointed out that it would be unfeeling and ungrateful on +her part to slight her old friends. But she had by this time learned to +understand how unavailing were all such representations to convince Aunt +Pauline, in whose code personal sentiments of goodwill towards one's +neighbour had to yield to the higher law of duty towards "Society."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps," said May, after a pause, "if you cannot go yourself, Uncle +Frederick would take me to Miss Piper's some Sunday after church, when +we go for a walk with the children. You see they have written 'Sundays' +on the corner of their card."</p> + +<p>"Oh, do you think they would be satisfied with that sort of thing?" +asked her aunt.</p> + +<p>"They are most kind, good-natured old ladies," pursued May. "They +wouldn't mind the children at all. Indeed, they like children. And as to +coming to your Thursdays, Aunt Pauline, I really don't think they would +care to do it. Music is their great passion—at least, Miss Polly's +great passion—and when they are in London I think they go to concerts +morning, noon, and night. Miss Hadlow is different. Her grandpapa was a +Rivers," added May, blushing at her own wiliness, "and she is very +handsome, and sure to be asked out a great deal."</p> + +<p>But May's profound strategy did not end here. She coaxed Uncle Frederick +by representing what a treat it would be to Harold and Wilfred to go out +visiting with papa. Those young gentlemen, privately incited by hints of +possible plum-cake, were soon all eagerness to go; and when, on the very +next Sunday, May set off with her uncle and cousins to walk to Miss +Piper's lodgings, she felt that she had achieved a diplomatic triumph.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + + +<p>Those Oldchester persons who considered Miss Piper's artistic tendencies +responsible for her occasional freedom of speech would have been +confirmed in their opinion as to the demoralizing tendency of Art and +Continental travel had they known how the daughters of the late Reverend +Reuben Piper employed Sunday afternoon in London. Miss Patty herself had +been startled at first by the idea of not only receiving callers, but +listening to profane music on that day; and the sisters had had some +discussion about it. When Patty demurred to the suggestion, Polly +inquired whether she truly and conscientiously considered that there was +anything more intrinsically wrong in seeing one's friends and opening +one's piano on a Sunday than on a Monday.</p> + +<p>"No; of course not <i>that</i>," answered Patty. "If I thought it wrong, I +shouldn't discuss it even with you. I should simply refuse to have +anything to do with it."</p> + +<p>"I know that, Patty," said her sister. "And I hope I am not altogether +without a conscience either."</p> + +<p>"No, Polly; but would you do this in Oldchester?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly not."</p> + +<p>"Then that's what I say. We ought not to have two weights and two +measures. If a thing is objectionable in Oldchester, it is objectionable +in London."</p> + +<p>"Not at all. Circumstances alter cases. I may think it a good thing to +take a sponge-bath every morning; but I should not take it in public."</p> + +<p>"Polly! How can you?"</p> + +<p>"What I mean is, that, so long as we are not a stumbling-block of +offence to other people, we have a right to please ourselves in this +matter."</p> + +<p>So Miss Polly's will prevailed, as it prevailed with her sister upon +most occasions; and the Sunday receptions became an established custom.</p> + +<p>The house in which the Miss Pipers lodged when they came to London was +in a street leading out of Hanover Square. The lower part of it was +occupied by a fashionable tailor—a tailor so genteel and exclusive that +he scorned any appeal to the general public, and merely had the word +"Groll" (which was his name) woven into the wire blind that shaded his +parlour window. The rooms above were sufficiently spacious, and were, +moreover, lofty—a great point in Miss Polly's opinion, as being good +for sound. They were furnished comfortably, albeit rather dingily. But a +few flower-pots, photographic albums, and bits of crochet-work, +scattered here and there, answered the purpose—if not of decoration, at +least of showing decorative intention. A grand pianoforte, bestriding a +large tract of carpet in the very middle of the front drawing-room, +conspicuously asserted its importance over all the rest of the +furniture.</p> + +<p>May and her uncle, accompanied by the two little boys, were shown +upstairs, and, the door of the drawing-room being thrown open, they +found themselves confronted by a rather numerous assembly. The last bars +of a pianoforte-piece were being performed amidst the profound silence +of the auditors, and the newly arrived party stood still near the door, +waiting until the music should come to an end.</p> + +<p>At the piano sat a smooth-faced young gentleman playing a series of +incoherent discords with an air of calm resolve. Immediately behind him +stood an elderly man of gentleman-like appearance, whom May found +herself watching, as one watches a person swallowing something nauseous, +and involuntarily expecting him to "make a face" as each new dissonance +was crashed out close to his ear. But his amiable countenance remained +so serene and satisfied, that the doubt crossed her mind whether he +might not possibly be deaf. In the embrasure of a window stood a very +tall, thin man, whose bald head was encircled by a fringe of grizzled +red hair, and whose eyes were fast shut. But as he stood up perfectly +erect, with his hands folded in a prayerful attitude on his waistcoat, +it was obvious that he was not asleep. Miss Piper was seated with her +back towards the door and her face towards the pianist, so that May +could not see it. But the composer of "Esther" nodded her head +approvingly at every fresh harmonic catastrophe which convulsed the +keyboard. Her satisfaction seemed to be shared by a stout lady of +majestic mien, who sat near her and fired off exclamations of eulogium, +such as "Charming!" "Wonderful modulation!" "Intensely wrought out," and +so on—like minute guns; and with a certain air of suppressed +exasperation, as though she suspected that there <i>might</i> be persons who +didn't like it, and was ready to defy them to the death. A dark-eyed +girl, very plainly dressed, and holding a little leather music-roll in +her hand, occupied a modest place behind this lady. Sitting close to the +dark-eyed girl was a man of about thirty-five years old, well-featured, +short in stature, and with reddish blonde hair and moustaches. This +personage's countenance expressed a singular mixture of audacity and +servility. His smile was at once impudent and false, and he listened to +the music with a pretentious air of knowledge and authority. The rest of +the company, with Miss Patty, were relegated, during the performance, to +the back drawing-room, where tea was served; and the folding-doors were +closed, lest the clink of a teaspoon, or the sibillation of a whisper, +should penetrate to the music-room. But, in truth, nothing less than a +crash of all the crockery on the table, and a simultaneous bellow from +all the guests, could have competed successfully with the +pianoforte-piece then in progress.</p> + +<p>At length, with one final bang, it came to an end, and there was a +general stir and movement among the company. The amiable-looking elderly +man advanced towards Miss Piper with a most beaming smile, and said, in +a soft refined voice—</p> + +<p>"That is the right way, isn't it? One knows the sort of thing said by +people who don't understand this school of music, the only music, in +fact; but I have long been sure that this is the right way."</p> + +<p>"Of course, it is the right way," exclaimed the stout lady, breathing +indignation, not loud but deep, against all heretics and schismatics.</p> + +<p>"We are so very, very much obliged to you, Mr. Turner," said the +hostess. "That new composition of yours is really wonderful!" (And so, +indeed, it was.)</p> + +<p>As Miss Piper went up to the young gentleman who had been playing the +piano, and who remained quite cool and unmoved by the demonstrations of +his audience, she caught sight of the group near the door, and hastened +to welcome them. May was received with enthusiasm, and her uncle with +one of Miss Piper's best old-fashioned curtsies. Mr. Dormer-Smith began +to apologize for bringing his little boys, and to explain that he had +not expected to find so numerous an assembly; but Miss Piper cut him +short with hearty assurances that they were very welcome, and that her +sister in particular was very fond of children. Then, the doors being by +this time reopened, she ushered them all into the back room, crying—</p> + +<p>"Patty! Patty! Who do you think is here? May Cheffington!" and then Miss +Patty added her welcome to that of her sister.</p> + +<p>Harold and Wilfred had been shyly dumb hitherto, although once or twice +during the pianoforte-playing Wilfred had only saved himself from +breaking into a shrill wail and begging to be taken home, by burying his +face in the skirts of May's dress; but on beholding plum-cake and other +good things set forth on the tea-table, they felt that life had +compensations still. They took a fancy also to the Miss Pipers, finding +their eccentric ornaments a mine of interest; and before three minutes +had elapsed Harold was devouring a liberal slice of cake, and Wilfred, +seated close to kind Miss Patty, was diversifying his enjoyment of the +cake by a close and curious inspection of that lady's bracelet, taken +off for his amusement, and endeavouring to count the various geological +specimens of which it was composed.</p> + +<p>As soon as May appeared in the back drawing-room, Constance Hadlow rose +from her seat in a corner behind the tea-table, and greeted her.</p> + +<p>"Dear Conny," cried May, "I am so glad to see you! Then you are staying +with the Miss Pipers! I guessed you were."</p> + +<p>Mr. Dormer-Smith was then duly presented to Miss Hadlow. Constance was +in very good looks, and her beauty and the quiet ease of her manner made +a very favourable impression on May's uncle.</p> + +<p>Miss Hadlow found a seat for him near herself; and then turned again to +May, saying, "There is another Oldchester friend whom you have not yet +spoken to. You remember my cousin Owen?"</p> + +<p>May's experience of society had not yet toned down her manner to "that +repose which stamps the caste of Vere de Vere." She heartily shook hands +with the young man, exclaiming, "This is a day of joyful surprises. I +didn't expect to see you, Mr. Rivers. Now, if we only had the dear +canon, and Mrs. Hadlow, and granny, I think I should be <i>quite</i> happy."</p> + +<p>"You are not a bit changed," said Owen Rivers, giving May his chair, and +standing beside her in the lounging attitude so familiar to her in the +garden at College Quad.</p> + +<p>"Changed! What should change me?"</p> + +<p>"The world."</p> + +<p>"What nonsense!" cried May, with her old schoolgirl bluntness. "As if I +had not been living in the world all my life!"</p> + +<p>Mr. Rivers raised his eyebrows with an amused smile.</p> + +<p>"Well, <i>isn't</i> it nonsense," pursued May, "to talk as if a few hundred +or thousand persons in one town—though that town is London—made up the +world?"</p> + +<p>"It is a phrase which every one uses, and every one understands."</p> + +<p>"But every one does not understand it alike."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps not."</p> + +<p>"What did you mean by it, just now?"</p> + +<p>"What could I mean but the world of fashion, <i>the</i> world par excellence? +Rightly so-called, no doubt, since it affords the best field for the +exercise of the higher and nobler human faculties. Those who are not in +it exist, indeed; but with a half-developed, inferior kind of life, like +a jelly-fish."</p> + +<p>May laughed her frank young laugh.</p> + +<p>"You're not changed either!" she said emphatically.</p> + +<p>"Did you enjoy the performance with which that young gentleman has been +obliging us?" asked Rivers.</p> + +<p>"I only heard the end of it."</p> + +<p>"Very diplomatically answered."</p> + +<p>"Are you fond of music, Mr. Rivers?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, of <i>music</i>—very fond."</p> + +<p>"So am I; but I know very little about it. Granny is a good musician."</p> + +<p>"How fond you are of Mrs. Dobbs!" said Rivers.</p> + +<p>"I am very proud of her, too," answered May quickly.</p> + +<p>Owen Rivers looked at her with a singular expression, half-admiring, +half-tenderly, pitying—as one might look at a child whose innocent +candour is as yet "unspotted from the world."</p> + +<p>"I suppose you know all the people here," said May, looking round on the +assembly.</p> + +<p>"I know who they are, most of them."</p> + +<p>"That gentleman who was standing by himself at the window—the tall +gentleman—who is he?"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Jawler, a great musical critic."</p> + +<p>"And the pleasant-faced man who seemed so delighted with the playing?"</p> + +<p>"Mr. Sweeting. He is an enthusiastic admirer and patron of young +Cleveland Turner, the pianist: a very kindly, amiable, courteous +gentleman, with much money and leisure, as I am told."</p> + +<p>"That stout lady talking to Miss Piper seems to be musical also?"</p> + +<p>"That is Lady Moppett: a very good sort of woman, I dare say, but +fanatical. She would bowstring all us dogs of Christians who believe in +melody."</p> + +<p>"And who is that disagreeable little man in the corner?"</p> + +<p>"Disagreeable——?"</p> + +<p>"The little man with moustaches. There. Close to the nice-looking, +dark-eyed girl."</p> + +<p>"Oh, that man? But he is not considered disagreeable by the world in +general, Miss Cheffington! He is by way of being a rather fascinating +individual: Signor Vincenzo Valli, singing-master, and composer of +songs. I wonder why he condescends to favour Miss Piper with his +presence."</p> + +<p>"Is it a condescension?"</p> + +<p>"A great condescension. Signor Valli is nothing, if not aristocratic."</p> + +<p>At this moment there was a general movement in the other room. The young +pianist seated himself once more at the instrument. The various groups +of talkers dispersed, and took their places to listen. May whispered +nervously to Miss Patty, that perhaps she and her uncle had better go, +and take away the children before the music commenced.</p> + +<p>"I am so afraid," she said naďvely, "that Willy may cry if that +gentleman plays again."</p> + +<p>Miss Patty found a way out of the difficulty by taking the children away +to her own room. It was no deprivation to her, she said, not to hear Mr. +Turner play.</p> + +<p>So the two little boys, laden with good things, and further enticed by +the promise of picture-books, trotted off very contentedly under Miss +Patty's wing. Mr. Dormer-Smith had passed into the front drawing-room, +where he was chatting with Lady Moppett, who proved to be an old +acquaintance of his. May was following her uncle to explain to him about +the children, when Miss Piper hurried up to her with an anxious and +important mien.</p> + +<p>"Sit down, my dear," she said; "sit down. Cleveland Turner is going to +play that fine Beethoven, the one in F minor, the opera 57, you know. +Mr. Jawler particularly wishes to hear him perform it."</p> + +<p>May glanced round, and seeing no place vacant near at hand, returned to +the other room, and took a seat close to the folding-doors, which were +now left open.</p> + +<p>"What is our sentence?" asked Rivers.</p> + +<p>"Do you mean what is he going to play? A piece of Beethoven's."</p> + +<p>"Ah! Well, at least he will have something to say this time. Remains to +be seen whether he can say it."</p> + +<p>Mr. Cleveland Turner performed the <i>sonata appassionata</i> correctly, +although coldly, and with a certain hardness of style and touch. But the +beauty of the composition made itself irresistibly felt, and when the +piece was finished there was a murmur of applause. Mr. Jawler opened his +eyes, inclined his head, opened his eyes again, and said, apparently to +himself, "Yes, yes—oh yes!" which seemed to be interpreted as an +expression of approval; for Miss Piper looked radiant, and even the icy +demeanour of Mr. Cleveland Turner thawed half a degree or so. Signor +Valli had applauded in a peculiar fashion—opening his arms wide, and +bringing his gloved hands together with apparent force, but so as to +produce no sound whatever. And as he went through this dumb show of +applause, he was talking all the time to the dark-eyed girl near him, +with a sneering smile on his face.</p> + +<p>Miss Piper bustled up to them. "Dear Miss Bertram," she said, "you must +let us hear your charming voice. Mr. Jawler has heard of you. He would +like you to sing something. Signor Valli," with clasped hands, "<i>might</i> +I entreat you to accompany Miss Bertram in one of your own exquisite +compositions? It would be such a treat—such a musical feast, I may +say!"</p> + +<p>Miss Bertram unrolled her music-case in a business-like way, and spread +its contents before the singing-master.</p> + +<p>"What are you going to sing, Clara?" asked Lady Moppett, turning her +head over her shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Signor Valli will choose," answered the young lady quietly.</p> + +<p>Valli selected a song and offered his arm to Miss Bertram to lead her to +the piano. She did not accept it instantly, being occupied in replacing +the rest of her music in its case; and with a sudden, impatient gesture, +Valli wheeled round and walked to the piano alone. Miss Bertram followed +him composedly, and took her place beside him. May looked at her with +interest, as she stood there during the few bars of introduction to the +song.</p> + +<p>Clara Bertram was not beautiful, but she had a singularly attractive +face. Her dark eyes were not nearly so large, nor so finely set, as +Constance Hadlow's, but they were infinitely more expressive, and her +rather wide mouth revealed a magnificent set of teeth when she smiled or +sang. The song selected for her was one of those compositions which, if +ill-sung, or even only tolerably sung, would pass unnoticed. But Miss +Bertram sang it to perfection. Her voice was very beautiful, with +something peculiarly pathetic in its vibrating tones, and she pronounced +the Italian words with a pure, unaffected, and finished accent.</p> + +<p>"Oh, how lovely!" exclaimed May, under her breath, when the song was +over.</p> + +<p>"Isn't it?" said Miss Piper, who happened to be near enough to catch the +words. "I am so glad you are pleased with her! Do you think Mrs. +Dormer-Smith would like her to sing now and then at a <i>soirée</i>? She +wants to get known in really good houses."</p> + +<p>Before May could answer the little woman had hurried off again, and in +another minute was leading Miss Bertram up to Mr. Jawler, who spoke to +the young singer with evident affability, keeping his eyes open for a +full minute at a time.</p> + +<p>Meanwhile Valli was left alone at the piano, and an ugly look came into +his face as he glanced round and saw himself neglected. But his +expression changed in an instant with curious suddenness when Miss +Hadlow drew near, and, leaning on the instrument, addressed some words +of compliment to him.</p> + +<p>"Will you not let us hear you sing, Signor Valli?" she said presently.</p> + +<p>Valli merely shook his head in answer, keeping his eyes fixed on Miss +Hadlow's face with a look of bold admiration, and letting his fingers +stray softly over the keys.</p> + +<p>"Oh, that is a terrible disappointment!"</p> + +<p>"I don't think so," replied the singing-master, speaking very good +English.</p> + +<p>"It is, indeed."</p> + +<p>Again he shook his head.</p> + +<p>"It is to me, at all events."</p> + +<p>"Well, I shall sing for you; a little song <i>sotto voce</i>, all to +ourselves."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but that would be too selfish on my part, to enjoy your singing all +to myself."</p> + +<p>"It is a very good plan to be selfish," returned Valli; and forthwith he +began a little Neapolitan love-song—murmuring, rather than singing +it—and still keeping his eyes fixed on Miss Hadlow.</p> + +<p>At the first sound of his voice, low and subdued though it was, Miss +Piper held up her finger to bespeak silence. There was a general hush. +Every one looked towards the piano, against which Constance was still +leaning, with her back to the rest of the company. She made a little +movement to withdraw to a seat, but Valli immediately ceased singing, +and, under cover of a noisy <i>ritournelle</i> which he played on the piano, +said to her, "I am singing for you. If you go away, my song will go away +too."</p> + +<p>"But I can't stand here by myself, Signor Valli," protested Constance, +by no means displeased. At this moment Miss Piper approached to implore +the <i>maestro</i> to continue, and Constance whispered to her in a few words +the state of the case.</p> + +<p>"Caprices of genius, my dear," said the little woman. "When you have +seen as much of professional people as I have, you will not be +astonished." Then to Valli, "Will you not continue that exquisite air? +We are all dying to hear it."</p> + +<p>"Yes; on condition that you both stay there and inspire me," answered +he, with an unconcealed sneer.</p> + +<p>Miss Piper, however, took him at his word, and, linking her arm in +Constance's, remained standing close to the instrument. Valli, upon +this, resumed his song. He gave it now at the full pitch of his voice, +addressing it ostentatiously to Miss Hadlow, and throwing an exaggerated +amount of expression into the love passages. Miss Piper was enchanted, +and led off the applause enthusiastically. Valli was soon surrounded by +a group of admirers, Mr. Dormer-Smith among them. May was conscious of a +painful impression, which destroyed any pleasure she might have had in +the song. And that Owen Rivers shared this impression was proved by his +walking up to the piano, and unceremoniously putting his cousin's hand +on his arm to lead her away.</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't take Conny away, Mr. Rivers," cried Miss Piper. "Signor Valli +is going to favour us with some more of his delicious national airs."</p> + +<p>"Come and sit down, Constance," said Owen authoritatively. "Let me get +you a seat also, Miss Piper," he added. "It can scarcely be necessary +for the due exhibition of this gentleman's national airs to keep two +ladies standing."</p> + +<p>"Oh no, no; please don't mind me. I'm quite comfortable," said Miss +Piper, with a shade of vexation on her good-humoured round face.</p> + +<p>Constance remained perfectly calm and self-possessed; only a faint smile +and a sparkle in her eyes revealed a gratified vanity as she took the +chair near May, to which her cousin conducted her.</p> + +<p>Miss Piper shrugged up her shoulders and pursed up her mouth. "He has no +idea what artists are," she whispered in Lady Moppett's ear. "And, +besides, poor dear young man, he's so desperately in love with his +cousin that he can't bear her to be even looked at. I only hope Signor +Valli won't take offence."</p> + +<p>But Valli, finding himself now the object of general attention, was very +gracious. He sang song after song without the inspiration of Miss +Hadlow's handsome face opposite to him; and he sang far better than +before;—with less exaggeration, and managing his naturally defective +voice with singular skill and <i>finesse</i>. But the praise and flattery +which his hearers poured forth unstintingly did not seem quite to +satisfy him. His glance wandered restlessly, as though in search of +something; and finally, after a very clever rendering of an old air by +Carissimi, he addressed himself suddenly to Miss Bertram, who was +standing somewhat apart in the background, and asked, in Italian—</p> + +<p>"Is the Signorina content?"</p> + +<p>"I always like your singing of that aria," she answered, in a quiet, +matter-of-fact tone.</p> + +<p>"Like it, indeed!" exclaimed Lady Moppett, with her severest manner. "I +should think you did like it, Clara! And you ought to profit by it. To +hear singing so finished—of such a perfect school—is a lesson for +you."</p> + +<p>Valli, upon this, made a low bow to Lady Moppett—a bow so low as to +seem almost burlesque. As he raised his face again he turned it towards +Miss Bertram with a subtle smile, saying, "Miladi is such a judge! Her +praise is very precious." Clara, however, kept an impassive countenance, +and declined to meet the glance he shot at her. Then Valli made a second +and equally low bow to the hostess, and, cutting short her ecstatic +compliments and thanks, left the room without further ceremony.</p> + +<p>The party now broke up. Lady Moppett departed with Miss Bertram and Mr. +Jawler, to whom she offered a seat in her carriage. Mr. Cleveland Turner +and his patron, Mr. Sweeting, went away together. In a few minutes there +remained Mr. Dormer-Smith, with his niece, and Owen Rivers. Miss Patty +bustled in with the two children.</p> + +<p>"Dear me," said she. "Is the music all over? Well, now let us be +comfortable."</p> + +<p>But Mr. Dormer-Smith declared he must reluctantly bring his visit to an +end. "I don't know how to thank you," said he to Miss Patty, "for your +kindness to my children. I hope you will forgive me for bringing them."</p> + +<p>Miss Patty heartily assured him that there was nothing to forgive, and +that she hoped he would bring them again. She had gathered from the +artless utterances of Harold and Wilfred an idea of their home life, +which made her feel compassionately towards them.</p> + +<p>As for Miss Polly, she was in the highest spirits. Mr. Jawler and Signor +Valli, both stars of considerable magnitude in the musical world, had +shone for her with unclouded lustre. It had been, she thought, a highly +successful afternoon. So also thought Harold and Wilfred. And perhaps +these were the only three persons who had enjoyed themselves thoroughly +and unaffectedly.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + + +<p>The London season proceeded with its usual accumulation of engagements, +its usual breathless chase after half-hours that have got too long a +start ever to be recaptured, its usual fleeting satisfactions and +abiding disappointments, its snubs, sneers, smiles, follies, falsehoods, +and flirtations. The rushing current of fashionable life in London +carried little May Cheffington on its surface, together with many brazen +vessels of a very different kind. Constance Hadlow observed +half-enviously to her friend that she was thoroughly "in the swim," a +phrase which May found singularly inappropriate in her own case, feeling +that there was no more question of a swim than in shooting Niagara! To +her, especially, the whirl of society was confusing, phantasmagoric, and +unreal. All the faces were new to her, most of the names awoke no +associations in her mind. On the other hand, this peculiar inexperience +gave freshness to her impressions and keenness to her insight. She had +none of those social traditions which, nine times out of ten, supply the +place of private judgment. She found her impression of many personages +startlingly at variance with the label which the world had agreed to +affix to them. It is possible to be at once simple and shrewd, just as +it is possible to be both <i>rusé</i> and dull-witted.</p> + +<p>May's simplicity was not of the blundering thick-skinned type; and her +ingenuous freshness was admired by a great many persons, among whom was +Mrs. Griffin. Far from being offended by May's moral indignation against +those who accepted the hospitality of vulgar people, and then ridiculed +them for being vulgar, Mrs. Griffin entirely approved her sentiments. +Mrs. Griffin herself deplored, as she often said, "the servility towards +mere money, which was degrading the tone of society." And whenever any +new instance of it came to her knowledge, she would shake her head, and +exclaim, softly, "Oh, Mammon, Mammon!" But this did not, of course, +apply to her daughter the duchess, who sometimes went to the +Aaronssohns'. Her daughter was so very great a lady as to be above +ordinary restrictions. Other people worshipped Mammon; the duchess only +patronized Mammon—which was, surely, a very different thing!</p> + +<p>Aunt Pauline, however, derived no gratification from May's +unconventional frankness. It was, on the contrary, a source of constant +anxiety to her; and she felt daily more and more that it would be a +relief to get May off her hands. Introducing her niece into +society—even although the niece was a pretty girl, and a Cheffington to +boot—had not proved so pleasing a task as she had anticipated. There +was, to her thinking, a strange perversity in the girl's character, +which made her callous where she should be sensitive, and sensitive +where she might well be indifferent. For instance, she showed culpable +coolness about her great-uncle Castlecombe and his family, and provoking +warmth about her Oldchester friends. Not that May was apt to speak much +of her life in Oldchester. In the natural course of things she would +have talked freely and eagerly about her dear granny; but very soon +after her arrival in London, her affectionate loquacity on this subject +received a check. Aunt Pauline had hinted, with her usual mild +politeness, that it would be desirable not to speak of Mrs. Dobbs before +Smithson or any of the servants. Seeing the startled look in May's eyes, +and the indignant flush on May's cheeks, her aunt added diplomatically, +"Your father would not like it, May. I am trying to carry out his +expressed wishes. That ought to be enough for you."</p> + +<p>It was enough, at all events, to close May's lips. Her love and pride +combined to make her silent. She tried to persuade herself that her +father, at all events, had some good and reasonable motive for this +prohibition, and that he, at least, was not ashamed of Mrs. +Dobbs—ashamed of granny! The very thought made her hot with anger. But +that Aunt Pauline was ashamed of her was too clear to May's honest mind. +Painful as this conviction was, however, she came by degrees to hold it +rather in sorrow than in anger, and to regard her aunt with something of +the same indulgent toleration that Mrs. Dobbs had once expressed to Jo +Weatherhead. For Mrs. Dormer-Smith's worldliness was not at all of a +cynical sort. It was rather in the nature of a deep-rooted superstition +conscientiously held.</p> + +<p>To some points of her worldly creed Pauline clung with religious +fervour. One of these was the duty incumbent on a dowerless young lady +to marry well. To marry <i>very</i> well was to marry a man with birth and +money; but to secure a husband with money only—provided there were +enough of it—she allowed to be marrying well. She did not look at the +matter with vulgar flippancy. It was, no doubt, a sacrifice for a +well-born woman to become the wife of an underbred man, however wealthy. +But well-born women were no less called upon than their humbler sisters +to make sacrifices in a good cause.</p> + +<p>None of the Castlecombes much frequented fashionable society, and Mrs. +Dormer-Smith had hitherto resigned herself, without much difficulty, to +seeing very little of her noble kinsfolk. But when May was introduced, +her aunt thought it desirable to cultivate them. Lord Castlecombe's big, +gloomy, family mansion in town had been let ever since his wife's death +many years ago; and whenever his lordship came to London to give his +vote in the House of Peers—which was almost the sole object that had +power to bring him up from the country—he occupied furnished lodgings. +Of his two sons, both bachelors, the elder was governor of a colony on +the other side of the globe, and the younger held a permanent post under +Government. This Lucius Cheffington occasionally met Mr. Dormer-Smith at +the club, and exchanged a few words with him. Captain Cheffington, on +his penultimate visit to England, when his ungrateful country declined +to provide for him, had quarrelled with all the Castlecombes, and had +made himself particularly obnoxious to Lucius; for Lucius, whom his +cousin considered a solemn ass, held a lucrative place, whilst Augustus, +who knew himself to be a remarkably clever fellow, with immense +knowledge of the world, was relegated to poverty and obscurity. But +Pauline had not quarrelled with them. She would not willingly have +quarrelled with any one, least of all with her Uncle Castlecombe and his +family. And as to Mr. Dormer-Smith, it chanced that the one point of +sympathy between himself and his cousin-in-law Lucius was the latter's +cordial dislike to Gus. Nevertheless, the dislike did not descend to +Gus's daughter. Lucius was pleased to approve of his young kinswoman, +none the less, perhaps, that it was evident her father troubled himself +little about her.</p> + +<p>Mr. Dormer-Smith knew very well that the most effectual way of winning +Lord Castlecombe's goodwill for his grand-niece was to assure his +lordship that he would not be called upon to do anything for her. He, +therefore, confidentially informed Lucius that the girl's grandmother in +Oldchester was defraying her expenses, and would, no doubt, eventually +provide for her altogether. The sagacity of this course was proved soon +afterwards, when Lucius announced that his father would come and dine +with Pauline the next time he should be in town, and make Miranda's +acquaintance.</p> + +<p>This was well. And even as to May's Oldchester friends matters turned +out better than her aunt could have hoped. In the first place, the +Misses Piper showed no disposition whatever to force themselves on Mrs. +Dormer-Smith. That being the case, there was no objection to May's going +to see them every Sunday with her uncle and the children. To Harold and +Wilfred these Sunday visits were such a delightful break in the dull +routine of their lives that their father would have endured considerable +boredom and discomfort rather than deprive them of it. But, in fact, he +was not bored. Whenever the music became too severe, he could withdraw +into the tea-room, where he always found some one to chat with. Possibly +he, too, felt these Sundays to be a break in the monotony of his daily +life. There was a cordial, hearty tone about the hostesses which was +decidedly pleasant, although he was aware that Pauline would pronounce +it sadly underbred. But Pauline was not there to be shocked, and there +were some red drops in Mr. Dormer-Smith's veins (he was not quite so +blue-blooded as his wife) which warmed to this plebeian kindness. +Sometimes even the moisture would come into his eyes when he watched his +little boys clinging familiarly about Miss Patty as they never clung +about their mother. The good-natured old maid had won the children's +hearts completely. They were overheard one day in a lively discussion as +to which was the prettier, Miss Patty or Cousin May: Wilfred inclining, +on the whole, to award the palm of beauty to his cousin, but Harold +powerfully arguing in favour of Miss Patty that she had such "beautiful +curls" (an ingenuous, and probably unique, tribute to the ginger-bread +coloured wig!) and a "shiny brooch like a butterfly."</p> + +<p>Then Constance Hadlow, whom Mrs. Dormer-Smith had unwillingly invited to +lunch one day with her former schoolfellow, proved to be in every +respect "most presentable," as Aunt Pauline herself candidly admitted. +So presentable was she in fact, so handsome, self-possessed, and even +(on the mother's side) well connected, that there might have arisen +objections of a different sort against receiving her, as being a +dangerous competitor for that solemn duty of marrying well. But a chance +word of May's to the effect that young Bransby had long been an admirer +of Constance, and that they were supposed by many persons in Oldchester +to be engaged to each other, relieved Aunt Pauline's mind on that score.</p> + +<p>"It would be very suitable," she said approvingly. "I think Mr. Bransby +a very nice person; so quiet."</p> + +<p>The subject of this glowing eulogium had not appeared at Mrs. +Dormer-Smith's receptions for some time. He had been ordered into the +country, to cure a violent cold by change of air; and although he much +disliked leaving town at that moment, he never thought of neglecting his +physician's advice. Theodore's mother had been consumptive; and the fear +that he inherited her constitution made him anxiously careful of his +health. Immediately on his return to London he presented himself, about +half-past five o'clock one Thursday afternoon, in Mrs. Dormer-Smith's +drawing-room, and experienced a shock of disagreeable surprise on +finding Constance Hadlow seated near May at the tea-table. May, +innocently supposing that she was doing him a good turn, gave him her +place, and went to another part of the room. But Constance coolly +greeted him with a "How d'ye do, Theodore?" in a tone of the politest +insipidity, which he sincerely approved of. Nevertheless, he would +rather not have found her there. On glancing round he was struck by +several innovations. In the first place, the pianoforte—usually a dumb +piece of furniture in Mrs. Dormer-Smith's house—stood open, with some +loose sheets of music lying on it; and Signor Vincenzo Valli sat, teacup +in hand, smiling his false smile beside Mrs. Griffin. Theodore knew +perfectly well who Signor Valli was; and it needed not Mrs. Griffin's +gracious demeanour to instruct this rising young man that Valli was +sufficiently the fashion to be worth being civil to. But he was +surprised to find him there. His surprises, however, were not at an end; +for whom should he behold in familiar conversation with a gentleman at +the opposite side of the room but Owen Rivers? And near them was—he +could hardly believe his eyes—Mr. Bragg! It seemed to Theodore as if +there had been a conspiracy amongst his acquaintance to make all sorts +of fresh combinations on the social chess-board during his brief +absence. He felt that it was necessary for him to take an accurate +survey of the new positions. But he saw no immediate opportunity of +doing so; for there was no one at hand to interrogate, except Constance +Hadlow, who, of course, knew nothing. She must be spoken to, however; +but he would cut the conversation as short as possible.</p> + +<p>Thoughts—even the weighty thoughts of a diplomatically-minded young +gentleman—move quickly, and there was scarcely any perceptible pause +between Constance's greeting and his gravely polite remark that it was +quite an unexpected pleasure to see her there.</p> + +<p>"Yes; I came up a few weeks ago with the Pipers."</p> + +<p>"Oh! you are staying with <i>them</i>?" (This with a strong flavour of his +superior manner; for the Pipers were really nobodies.)</p> + +<p>"And what have you been doing with yourself? I haven't seen you +anywhere," said Constance coolly.</p> + +<p>"I have been out of town. But in any case we might possibly not have +met. Have you been going out much?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, as much as most people, I suppose. I was at the Aaronssohns' dance +last night."</p> + +<p>"The Aaronssohns!" exclaimed Theodore. (This time he was so astonished +that he spoke quite naturally.) "I didn't know that you knew them."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I don't know them."</p> + +<p>"Then how did you get—I mean——"</p> + +<p>"How did I get there? Dear me, Theodore, your visit to the country has +given you a refreshing buttercup-and-daisy kind of air! Do you suppose +that the Aaronssohns' ball-room was filled with their personal friends +and acquaintances? Mrs. Griffin got me an invitation."</p> + +<p>Now to be presented to Mrs. Griffin and to be invited to the +Aaronssohns' were pet objects of Theodore Bransby's social ambition, and +he had not yet compassed either of them.</p> + +<p>"Oh, indeed!" said he, struggling, under the disadvantage of conscious +ill-humour, to maintain that air of indifference to all things in heaven +and earth which he imagined to be the completest manifestation of high +breeding. "I suppose that was achieved through Mrs. Dormer-Smith's +influence."</p> + +<p>"Not altogether. It was May Cheffington who first introduced me to Mrs. +Griffin. She's just the same dear little thing as ever—I don't mean +Mrs. Griffin! But Mrs. Griffin found out that she had known my +grandfather Rivers. I believe they were sweethearts in their pinafores a +hundred years ago; so she has been awfully nice to me."</p> + +<p>While Constance was speaking, Theodore's eye lighted on Mr. Bragg, solid +and solemn, wearing that look of melancholy respectability which is +associated with the British workman in his Sunday clothes.</p> + +<p>"Oh, and Mr. Bragg was at the Aaronssohns', too," said Constance, +following the young man's glance. "Fancy Mr. Bragg at a ball!"</p> + +<p>"Did Mrs. Griffin know <i>his</i> grandfather?" asked Theodore, with a sneer.</p> + +<p>It was clear to Constance that he had quite lost his temper. Otherwise +he would not, she felt sure, have said anything in such bad taste. But +she replied calmly—</p> + +<p>"I don't think Mr. Bragg ever had a grandfather. But he is rich enough +to do without one. It is poor persons like you and me who find +grandfathers necessary—or, at all events, useful."</p> + +<p>Theodore understood the sarcasm of this quiet speech, and it helped him +to master his growing irritation. There are some natures on which a +moral buffet acts as a sedative.</p> + +<p>"Was it your friend Miss Piper who brought Mr. Bragg here?" he asked, +showing no sign of having felt the blow, except a slight increase of +pallor.</p> + +<p>"Oh dear, no! The Pipers have never been here themselves, except to +leave a card at the door. This is not the kind of society they care for, +you know. I saw Mr. Bragg come in to-day with May's cousin, Mr. Lucius +Cheffington, but I can't say whether he first introduced him or not."</p> + +<p>"Is that Mr. Lucius Cheffington?"</p> + +<p>"That man talking to Owen?—Yes."</p> + +<p>"Mrs. Dormer-Smith has rather a mixed collection this afternoon. I see +Valli over there. You know who I mean? That short, foreign man near——"</p> + +<p>"Oh yes; Signor Valli is a great ally of mine. He's delightful, I think. +His airs and graces are so amusing. I can tell you how <i>he</i> comes to be +here, if you like," returned Constance placidly. She was secretly +enjoying Theodore's discomfiture. He had expected to play the part of +town mouse, and to patronize and instruct her. "The fact is," she +continued, "that Lady Moppett begged Mr. Dormer-Smith to induce his wife +to have her <i>protégée</i>, Miss Bertram, to sing here on Thursday +afternoons, promising, as a kind of bait, to get Valli to come too. I +don't think Mrs. Dormer-Smith particularly wished to have Miss Bertram; +but she thought it would be nice to have Valli, who is run after by the +best people, and is very difficult to get hold of. So the negotiation +succeeded. It is too funny how one has to <i>ménager</i> and coax these +professional people. If you don't want any more information just now, I +think I will go and speak to Mrs. Griffin." Whereupon Constance glided +away, self-possessed and graceful, and with a becoming touch of +animation bestowed by the consciousness that she had been mistress of +the situation.</p> + +<p>Theodore looked decidedly blank for the moment. No one bestowed any +attention on him. As he sat watching, he was struck by the evidently +familiar way in which Owen Rivers and Mr. Cheffington were talking +together. He himself particularly desired to be introduced to Lucius +Cheffington, but a secret, grudging feeling made him unwilling to owe +the introduction to Rivers. Presently Rivers moved away to join May and +Miss Bertram, who were turning over some music together, and Mr. Bragg +took his place near Mr. Cheffington. This was the opportunity which +Theodore had wished for. He at once rose and walked up to them. +Theodore's manner was never servile, but there was an added gravity in +his demeanour towards certain persons, intended to show that he thought +them worth taking seriously; and this tribute he rendered to Mr. Bragg. +For, although the young man had by no means forgotten Mr. Bragg's +deplorable insensibility to an enlightened view of the currency +question, yet he prided himself on thoroughly understanding that the +great tin-tack maker's claims to consideration rested on a solid basis +quite apart from culture or intelligence.</p> + +<p>"I wish," said Theodore, after the first salutations, "that you would do +me the favour to make me known to Mr. Lucius Cheffington. I know so many +members of his family, but I have not the pleasure of his personal +acquaintance."</p> + +<p>Mr. Bragg eyed him with his usual heavy deliberation. "Oh," said he +slowly, "this is Mr.—I don't call to mind your Christian name—eh? Oh +yes—Mr. Theodore Bransby."</p> + +<p>Mr. Lucius Cheffington made an unusually low bow, his pride being of the +sort which manifests itself in the most ceremonious politeness.</p> + +<p>He was a small, lean man, with a pale face deeply lined by ill-health +and a fretful temperament. He had closely shaven cheeks and chin; heavy, +grizzled moustaches; and very thick, grizzled hair, which he wore rather +long. His voice was harsh, though subdued, and he spoke very slowly, +making such long pauses as occasionally tempted unwary strangers to +finish his sentences for him. A double eyeglass with tortoise-shell rims +was set astride his nose; and behind the glasses two dark, near-sighted +eyes looked out, somewhat superciliously, upon a world which fell sadly +short of what a Cheffington had a right to expect.</p> + +<p>"I have the pleasure of knowing your cousin, Captain Augustus +Cheffington, very well indeed," said Theodore.</p> + +<p>Lucius bowed again and adjusted his eyeglass. A shade of surprise and +annoyance passed over his face. His Cousin Augustus had been a sore +subject with the family for years; and latterly such rumours as had +reached England about him had not made the subject more agreeable.</p> + +<p>"I have often thought," pursued Theodore, quite unaware that his +listener was regarding him with a mixture of astonishment and disfavour, +"that it is a great pity a man of Captain Cheffington's abilities and +accomplishments should live out of England; unless, indeed, he held some +diplomatic appointment abroad. In my opinion these are times in which +the great old families should hold fast by the public service. As I +ventured to say to one of our county members the other day——" And so +on, and so on. Having thus happily launched himself, Theodore proceeded +in his best Parliamentary style: holding forth with a power of +self-complacent and steady boredom beyond his years. A sensitive person +would have been petrified by the unsympathizing stare from behind those +tortoise-shell-rimmed glasses; but Theodore was not sensitive to such +influences: being fortified by the <i>ŕ priori</i> conviction that he must +naturally make a favourable impression. And since Lucius Cheffington +could not, compatibly with his own dignity, plainly tell him that he +considered him a presumptuous young ass, there was nothing to check his +flow of eloquence.</p> + +<p>But at length the cold stare was softened, and the pale, peevish, +furrowed face turned to Theodore with a faint show of interest. Some +casual word of this intrusive young man's seemed to show that he came +from Oldchester.</p> + +<p>"Do you know—a—Mrs.—a—Dobbs?" asked Lucius, speaking for the first +time, and edging in this point-blank question between two of Theodore's +neatly-turned sentences setting forth a political parallel between the +late Lord Tweedledum and the present Right Honourable Tweedledee.</p> + +<p>It was a shock; but Theodore bore it stoically.</p> + +<p>"Not exactly. I have spoken with her. Mrs. Dobbs is not precisely——in +our set," he answered, with a slight smile at one corner of his mouth, +intended to demolish Mrs. Dobbs.</p> + +<p>"I thought that, being a native of Oldchester, you might—a—be——" +begun Mr. Cheffington in his low, harsh tones.</p> + +<p>"Be acquainted with her? Really——"</p> + +<p>"I thought that, being a native of Oldchester, you might—a—be able to +tell me something about her."</p> + +<p>"Not much, I fear," replied Theodore. He felt tempted to add that in +Oldchester there were natives and natives.</p> + +<p>"She's—a—rich, isn't she?" pursued Mr. Cheffington.</p> + +<p>"Not that I know of," answered Theodore, staring a little.</p> + +<p>"Rich is, perhaps, too much to say. At any rate, she is—a—quite +well——"</p> + +<p>"Well off? Oh, as to that——"</p> + +<p>"At any rate, she is quite well-to-do, I presume!"</p> + +<p>Theodore had never considered the question, but he said, "Oh yes," at a +venture; and then suddenly a light flashed upon his mind. Perhaps Mrs. +Dobbs <i>was</i> rich, after all. Though she lived in so humble a style she +might, perhaps, have laid by money.</p> + +<p>"She appears to be a person of—a—great—good sense," said Mr. Lucius +Cheffington, remembering how Mrs. Dormer-Smith had stated that she +declined to give any money-assistance to Augustus. And after that he +made a second very low bow, and brought the interview to an end.</p> + +<p>Little had Theodore Bransby expected to hear Mrs. Dobbs discussed and +approved by a member of the noble house of Castlecombe. He had noticed +that Mrs. Dormer-Smith systematically avoided any mention of the vulgar +old woman. But then Mrs. Dormer-Smith was a person of the very finest +taste. And, to be sure, it could scarcely be expected that Mr. Lucius +Cheffington should feel Augustus's <i>mésalliance</i> as acutely as it was +felt by Augustus's own sister. Besides, if, as really seemed possible, +the ironmonger's widow turned out to be a moneyed person——! But it +must be recorded of Theodore, that not even the idea of her having money +reconciled him to Mrs. Dobbs. He said to himself afterwards, when he was +meditating on what he had heard, that nothing so convincingly proved how +much he was in love with Miss Cheffington, as his being ready to forgive +her even her grandmother!</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + + +<p>George Frederick Cheffington, fifth Viscount Castlecombe, was, in many +ways, a very clever old man. He was extremely ignorant of most things +which can be taught by books. But he had a thorough acquaintance with +practical agriculture, considerable keenness in finance, and a quick eye +to detect the weaknesses of his fellow men. On the other hand, his +overweening self-esteem led him to think that what he knew comprised +what was chiefly, if not solely, worth knowing, and his avarice +occasionally overrode his native talent for business. In his youth he +had been idle and extravagant. The former vice gave him the reputation +of a dunce at school and college, and, by a reaction which belonged to +his character, made him defiantly contemptuous of bookish men, with one +single exception, presently to be noted. As to his extravagance, that +was effectually cured by the death of his father. From the moment that +he came into possession of the family estates, which he did at about +thirty years of age, his income was administered with sagacious economy, +and by the time his two sons arrived at manhood Lord Castlecombe was a +very rich man.</p> + +<p>If he had a soft place in his heart, it was for his son Lucius, who +resembled his dead mother in features, and also, unfortunately, in the +delicacy of his constitution. George, his heir, was like +himself—strong, tough, and hardy. Lord Castlecombe secretly admired +Lucius's talents very much, and had been highly gratified when his +second son took honours at his University. That this success had not +been followed by any particularly brilliant results later, and that +Lucius had, as it were, stuck fast in his career, had even decidedly +failed in Parliament, and had finally been shelved in a Government post +which, although lucrative, was inglorious, his lordship attributed to +the increase of folly, incapacity, and roguery which he had observed in +the world during the last twenty years or so. That a Cheffington of such +abilities as Lucius should remain undistinguished was part of the +general decadence. In politics Lord Castlecombe was a Whig of the old +school; and though he continued to vote with his party, yet the only +point on which he was thoroughly in sympathy with the Liberals—a word, +by the way, which he had come greatly to dislike, as covering far too +wide a field—was that they fought the Tories.</p> + +<p>The person whom Lord Castlecombe most detested in all the world was his +nephew Augustus. He disliked his extravagance, his poverty, and the +biting insolence of his tongue. This antipathy had latterly added +poignancy to the old man's desire that his son should marry, and +transmit the Castlecombe title and estates in the direct line; for +Augustus was the next heir after his two cousins. It was true that the +contingency of Captain Cheffington succeeding seemed remote enough. +George Cheffington was only his senior by a couple of years, and Lucius +was his junior. But neither of them had married; and they were well on +in middle life. Lucius, indeed, seemed to have settled down into +incorrigible old bachelorhood. And although George, in answer to his +father's exhortations on the subject, always replied that he really +would think seriously of looking for a wife on his next visit to England +(persons suitable for that dignity not being to be found, it appeared, +in the particular portion of the globe where his official duties lay), +yet the years went by, and still there came no daughter-in-law, no +grandson to inherit the coronet and enjoy the broad acres of +Castlecombe. The idea that Augustus Cheffington might ever come to enjoy +them was gall and wormwood to their present owner. But he had never +breathed a word on this subject to any human being.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dormer-Smith was gratified by her uncle's gracious acceptance of an +invitation to dine with her, soon after his arrival in town, about the +middle of June. Lord Castlecombe did not visit her often; but that was +from no ill-will on his part. In fact, he was rather fond of Pauline. He +considered her a bit of a goose. But he thought it by no means +unbecoming in a woman to be a bit of a goose. And she had thoroughbred +manners, a gentle voice, and was still agreeable to look upon. The old +lord disliked ugly women, and maintained that the sight of them +disagreed with him like bad wine.</p> + +<p>This consideration influenced Pauline in the choice of her guests to +meet her uncle. It was understood there was to be no large party. It had +been agreed that they should invite Mr. Bragg, who had bought a good +deal of land in Lord Castlecombe's county, was director of a company of +which the noble viscount was chairman, and of whom his lordship was +known to entertain a favourable opinion, as being a man who made no +disguise about his humble origin, and was free from the offensive +pretensions of many <i>nouveaux riches</i>. For, although Lord Castlecombe +willingly admitted that money could buy everything on which most people +valued themselves, he greatly disliked the notion that it could be +supposed to buy the things on which <i>he</i> most valued himself.</p> + +<p>"Well, then, Frederick," said Mrs. Dormer-Smith, "that makes four men: +my uncle, Lucius, Mr. Bragg, and yourself. Then May and I; and I thought +of having that handsome Miss Hadlow. Uncle George likes to see pretty +faces. We want another woman, but really I don't know who there is +available at this moment. There are so few odd women who ain't frights," +pursued the anxious hostess plaintively. "If it were a man, now——There +are plenty of odd men to be had." Then, struck by a sudden inspiration, +she said, "Why shouldn't we have an odd man instead of another woman? +Uncle George gives me his arm, of course. You take Miss Hadlow, Mr. +Bragg takes May, and Lucius and the odd man go in together. Positively, +I think it would be the best arrangement of all."</p> + +<p>"I suppose Lucius wouldn't mind, eh?"</p> + +<p>"It certainly would be the best arrangement for <i>me</i>, at all events; for +if there are only those two girls, I can simply put my feet up on a sofa +when we go into the drawing-room, shut my eyes, and be quiet for half an +hour, which, of course, would be out of the question if there was any +woman who required to have civilities paid her; and in all probability I +shall be in a state of nervous prostration by Friday. This season with +May has tried me severely."</p> + +<p>Mr. Dormer-Smith offering no objection, there only remained to make +choice of the "odd man," and, after a moment's reflection, Pauline +decided on young Bransby.</p> + +<p>"Bransby!" exclaimed Mr. Dormer-Smith. "He's a dreadful prig."</p> + +<p>"I think he's very nice, Frederick. But really that is not the point. +He's engaged, or wants to be engaged, or something of the sort, to Miss +Hadlow, so of course——"</p> + +<p>"What? You don't mean to say that handsome girl would have such an +insignificant fellow as Bransby?"</p> + +<p>"I mean to say nothing about it. The subject has only a faint interest +for me, Frederick. But what <i>is</i> important is that, in any case, <i>he +will help to take her off</i>."</p> + +<p>Mr. Dormer-Smith stared; he understood his wife's phrase, but not her +allusion. "Why, you don't suppose there's any danger of her setting her +cap at Lucius?" said he.</p> + +<p>"I should have no objection to her doing so."</p> + +<p>"Well, there's nobody else."</p> + +<p>"We need not discuss it, Frederick. Please give your best attention to +the wine; you know that Uncle George is terribly fastidious about his +wine, and the worst is that if he is discontented, he will not hesitate +to say so before everybody."</p> + +<p>That really did seem to her the worst. Most of the evils of life, she +thought, might be more endurable if people would but be discreet, and +say nothing about them.</p> + +<p>The evil of Uncle George's public reprobation of her wine did not, +however, befall her. Lord Castlecombe was content with his dinner, and +looked round him approvingly as he sat on his niece's right hand.</p> + +<p>"A couple of uncommonly pretty girls those," said his lordship. "They've +got on pretty frocks, too; I like a good bright colour."</p> + +<p>Pauline had begged Miss Hadlow beforehand not to wear black, or any +sombre hue, her uncle having a special dislike to such; and Constance, +perfectly willing to please Lord Castlecombe by looking as brilliant as +she could, had arrayed herself in her favourite maize-colour.</p> + +<p>"You have a very nice gown on, too, Pauline," added his lordship +graciously.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dormer-Smith privately thought her own toilette detestable. It was +a gaily-flowered brocade (a gift from her husband soon after Wilfrid's +birth), which had been hidden from the light for several years. But she +had self-denyingly caused Smithson to furbish it up for the present +occasion, and was gratified that her virtue did not go unrewarded.</p> + +<p>"I knew you liked vivid colours, Uncle George," said she softly.</p> + +<p>"Of course I do. Everybody does, that has the use of his eyes. Don't +believe the humbugs who tell you otherwise. Your upholsterer now will +show you some wretched washed-out rag of a thing, and try to persuade +you to cover your chairs with it, because it's <i>ćsthetic</i>! Parcel of +fools! Not that the fellows who sell the things are fools. They know +very well which side their bread is buttered." Then glancing across the +table with his keen, sunken, black eyes, he continued, "That little +Miranda—what is it you call her? May? Well, May is a very good name for +her—is remarkably fresh and pretty. Good frank forehead. Not a bit like +her father. Different type. But the other girl is the beauty. Uncommonly +handsome, really."</p> + +<p>"I'm glad you think May nice," said Mrs. Dormer-Smith. "Of course I was +anxious that you should like her. She is poor Augustus's only +child—only surviving child. You know there were five or six of them, +but the others all died in babyhood."</p> + +<p>Lord Castlecombe did know it, and remembered it now with grim +satisfaction. At least Augustus had no male heir to come after him.</p> + +<p>"Ah! Gus made a pretty hash of it altogether," said the old man.</p> + +<p>But he did not say it unkindly. He would not willingly have been harsh +or brutal towards Pauline. She really was a very sweet creature, and +had, he thought, almost every quality that he could desire in the women +of his blood. For, it must be observed, Lord Castlecombe did not know +that Pauline admired ćsthetic furniture, nor that she considered +Augustus to have been rather hardly treated by the Castlecombes.</p> + +<p>"Of course," replied that gentle lady. "My poor brother's unfortunate +marriage——"</p> + +<p>"Oh! Ah! Yes. But that, at all events, seems to have turned out better +than could have been expected. Lucius tells me there is a grandmother +who has money, and is generous."</p> + +<p>"Not to Augustus, Uncle George; Mrs. Dobbs positively refuses to assist +Augustus."</p> + +<p>"H'm!" grunted Uncle George, his opinion of Mrs. Dobbs's good sense +taking a sudden leap upward. "Well, my dear, people have to think of +their own interests, you know." Then, in a louder tone, "Frederick, send +me that white Hermitage. It's a very fair wine, as times go—a very fair +wine indeed."</p> + +<p>When the ladies had left the table, young Bransby felt what he would +have called, in speaking of any one else, "a little out of it." My lord +talked with Mr. Bragg, Lucius and Frederick were discussing some item of +club politics, in the midst of which the host would now and again +interpolate some parenthetical observations addressed to young Bransby, +obviously as a matter of duty. At length, in declining the claret which +Mr. Dormer-Smith pushed towards him, Theodore took the opportunity to +say—</p> + +<p>"Do you think I might venture to go upstairs? I have a message for Mrs. +Dormer-Smith about a little commission with which she entrusted me."</p> + +<p>"No more wine, really? Oh, my wife will be charmed to see you," replied +Frederick, with alacrity. And, thereupon, the young man quietly left the +room.</p> + +<p>It was true that he had undertaken a commission for Mrs. Dormer-Smith; +but he would not have prematurely withdrawn himself from the company of +a peer and a millionaire, on that account. He was moved by a far +weightier purpose. He had made up his mind to propose to Miss +Cheffington; and, if the Fates favoured him, he might do it that very +evening. For some time past—before May left Oldchester—Theodore had +been sure that he wished to marry her. There were drawbacks. She had no +money (or at all events he had not reckoned on her having any money), +and she had connections of a very objectionable kind. But he rather +dwelt on these things, as proving the disinterested nature of his +attachment. He was so much in love with May, that he liked to fancy +himself making some sacrifices on her account. As to her feelings +towards him, he was not without misgivings. But he watched her in +society at every opportunity, and had convinced himself that she was, at +all events, fancy-free. She did not even flirt; but enjoyed herself with +child-like openness:—or was bored with equal simplicity and sincerity. +As to her aunt, Theodore did not doubt that his suit would be favourably +received by Mrs. Dormer-Smith. She must, long ago, have perceived his +intentions; and he felt that his being invited to that intimate little +dinner—almost a family dinner—was strong encouragement.</p> + +<p>Theodore was fortifying himself with this reflection as he mounted the +stairs to the drawing-room. His foot fell more and more lingeringly on +the soft, soundless carpet as he neared the door. He was on an errand +which can scarcely be undertaken with cool self-possession, even by a +young gentleman holding the most favourable view of his own merits and +prospects. One can never certainly reckon on one's soundest views being +shared. A servant carrying coffee, preceded him, and opened the +drawing-room door just as he arrived on the landing; and Theodore felt +positively grateful to the man for, as it were, covering his entrance, +and relieving him from the embarrassment of walking in alone. He entered +close behind the footman, and was, for a few moments, unperceived by the +ladies.</p> + +<p>The room was a little dim; all the lamps being shaded with rose-colour. +Mrs. Dormer-Smith was reclining on a sofa, with closed eyes. But she was +not asleep; for beside her in a low lounging-chair, and talking to her +in a subdued voice, sat Constance Hadlow. May was at the other side of +the room, leaning with both elbows on a little table which stood in a +recess between the fireplace and a window, and apparently absorbed in a +book. Theodore thought she made a charming picture, with the soft light +falling on her fair young face and white dress; and his pulse, which had +been beating a little quicker than usual all the way upstairs, became +suddenly still more accelerated.</p> + +<p>May looked up.</p> + +<p>"Is that you?" she said. "Where are the others?"</p> + +<p>It was not a very warm or flattering welcome; but Theodore was scarcely +conscious of her words. He was thinking what a fortunate chance it was +which left May isolated, so far away from the other ladies as to be out +of earshot, if one spoke in a suitably low tone. At the sound of her +niece's voice Mrs. Dormer-Smith languidly turned her head.</p> + +<p>"Oh, please don't move, Mrs. Dormer-Smith," said Theodore, speaking in a +quick, confused way, very different from his accustomed manner. "If I am +to disturb you, I must go away at once. But I—I don't take much wine, +and he said—Mr. Dormer-Smith said he thought I might—if you don't mind +my preceding the other men by a few minutes, I will be as quiet as a +mouse."</p> + +<p>He crossed the room and sat down by May in the shadow of a heavy +window-curtain.</p> + +<p>The hostess murmured a gracious word or two and then closed her eyes +again. She had been a little vexed by the young man's premature arrival; +but if he was content to be quiet, and whisper to May, she need not +stand on ceremony with him. The fact was, she was listening with great +interest to Constance's account of a feud which had arisen between Lady +Burlington and Mrs. Griffin's daughter, the duchess. Constance had the +details at first hand, from Mrs. Griffin herself, on the one side, and +from Miss Polly Piper on the other: for the feud had arisen about Signor +Vincenzo Valli. The fashionable singing-master had thrown over one of +the great ladies for the other, on the occasion of some <i>soirée +musicale</i>; and the quarrel had been espoused by various personages of +distinction, whose sayings and doings with regard to it Mrs. +Dormer-Smith considered to be at once important and entertaining. She +mentally contrasted with a sigh the intelligence, tact, and correctness +of judgment which Constance brought to bear on this matter, with the +nonchalance—not to say downright levity and indifference—displayed by +May. It was impossible to get May to interest herself in the bearings of +the case. In fact, she had abandoned the discussion, and gone away to +her book; whereas this provincial girl, with not one quarter of May's +advantages, understood it perfectly, remembered the names of all the +people concerned, had a very sufficient knowledge of their relative +importance, and was able to impart to her hostess a variety of minute +circumstances, narrated in a low, quiet tone, free from emphasis or +emotion, which was delightfully soothing.</p> + +<p>May, for her part, was by no means pleased to have her reading +interrupted; but politeness, and the sense that she was, in her degree, +responsible for the hospitality of the house, impelled her to close her +book at once, and to turn a good-humoured countenance towards her +companion.</p> + +<p>"Isn't Uncle Frederick coming?" she asked, finding nothing better to say +at the moment.</p> + +<p>"Presently. Are you in a great hurry to see him?" returned Theodore.</p> + +<p>"Oh no; I was amusing myself very well."</p> + +<p>"Are you angry with me, for interrupting you?"</p> + +<p>"Oh no," answered May again. But this second "Oh no" was not quite so +hearty as the first.</p> + +<p>"May I see what you have been reading?"</p> + +<p>She pushed the book towards him.</p> + +<p>"'Mansfield Park.' Whose is it?"</p> + +<p>"Good gracious! You don't mean to say that you don't know?"</p> + +<p>"I don't read novels," said Theodore loftily, but not severely. It was +all very well for women to have that weakness.</p> + +<p>"But this is an English classic! Mr. Rivers says so. You really ought to +know who wrote 'Mansfield Park,' even if you have never read it. It is +one of Jane Austen's works."</p> + +<p>"Ah! Do you—do you like it?" said Theodore, scarcely knowing what he +said. He was playing nervously with a little ivory paper-knife which lay +on the table, and his whole aspect and manner—had not both been to some +extent concealed by the shadow of the velvet curtain—would have +betrayed to the most indifferent observer that he was agitated and +unlike himself. He felt that the precious minutes of this chance +<i>tęte-ŕ-tęte</i> were passing swiftly; he longed to profit by them; and +yet, now that the moment had come, he feared to stand the hazard of the +die, and kept deferring it by idle words.</p> + +<p>"Oh yes! I like it, of course," answered May. "Not so much, perhaps, as +'Emma,' or 'Pride and Prejudice.' Mr. Rivers advised me to read it."</p> + +<p>It was the second time she had mentioned Rivers's name, and this fact +stung Theodore unaccountably. It acted like a touch of the spur to a +lagging horse. He burst out, still speaking almost in a whisper, but +with some heat—</p> + +<p>"Rivers is a happy fellow! What would I give if you cared enough about +me to follow my advice!"</p> + +<p>"You have only to advise me to do something which I like as much as +reading Jane Austen," replied May archly. But his tone had struck her +disagreeably. She peered at him furtively as he sat in the shadow, +trying in vain to see his countenance clearly. The idea crossed her mind +that he might have taken too much wine at dinner. But it was so +repulsive an idea to her, that she felt she ought not to entertain it +without better foundation.</p> + +<p>"It is a most fortunate chance for me to have this—this blessed +opportunity," pursued Theodore. (He had hesitated for the epithet, and +was not by any means satisfied with it when he had got it). "I have long +been wanting to speak to you."</p> + +<p>"To me? Well, that need not have been very difficult," answered May, +edging a little away, and trying to obtain a good view of his face.</p> + +<p>"Pardon me. It is not easy to have the privilege of a private word with +Miss Cheffington. When we meet in society, you are surrounded, as is but +too natural. And latterly, in your own home, you have been a good deal +engrossed. I could not say what I have to say before——"</p> + +<p>He glanced over at Constance Hadlow as he spoke. This was an immense +relief to May who had been growing more and more uncomfortable, and +vaguely apprehensive. She thought she understood it all now. Conny had +been treating him with coolness and neglect. She herself had noticed +this, and now he wanted to enlist the sympathies of Conny's friend.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I see!" she exclaimed. "It's something about Constance that you +wish to say to me."</p> + +<p>"About Constance? Ah, May, you are cruel! You know too well your power!" +he said, endeavouring to give a pathetic intonation to his voice, but +producing only an odd, croaking, throaty sound. Then May decided, in her +own mind, that he <i>had</i> been taking too much wine; and, angry and +disgusted, she tried to rise from her chair and leave him. But she was +hemmed in by the little table, and on her first movement, Theodore took +hold of the skirt of her dress to detain her. May turned round upon him +with a pale, indignant face, and flashing eyes.</p> + +<p>"Don't touch my dress, if you please. I wish to go away."</p> + +<p>"Miss Cheffington—May—you must hear what I have to say now. You must +know it without my saying, for I have loved you so long and so +devotedly. But I have a right to be heard."</p> + +<p>May was thunderstruck. But she perceived in a moment that she had, in +one sense, done him injustice—he had not drunk too much wine. But +this——! This was worse! How far easier it would have been to forgive +Theodore if he had even got tipsy—just a little tipsy—instead of +making such a declaration! She supposed she had no right to be +disgusted; she had heard that properly behaved young ladies always took +an offer of marriage to be a great honour. But she was disgusted, +nevertheless; and so far from feeling honoured, she was conscious of a +distressing sense of humiliation. She tried, however, to keep up her +dignity, and at the same time to say what was right to this—this +dreadful young man, who had suddenly presented himself in the odious +light of wanting to make love to her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, please don't say any more. I'm very much obliged to you. I mean I'm +extremely sorry. But I beg you won't say another word, and forget all +about it as quickly as possible."</p> + +<p>"Forget it! Nay, that is out of the question. I could not if I would."</p> + +<p>Theodore began to recover his self-command as May lost hers. She was +agitated and trembling. Well, he would not have had her listen to his +words unmoved. She was very young and inexperienced. And he had, it +seemed, taken her by surprise.</p> + +<p>"Is it possible," he continued softly, "that you were quite unprepared +to hear——"</p> + +<p>"Quite unprepared. But that makes no difference. And you really must +allow me to go away. I'm very sorry, indeed, but I can't stay here +another moment."</p> + +<p>"Am I so repulsive?" said he, with a sentimental beseeching glance. But +he met an expression in her face which made him add quickly, in quite +another tone, "Well, well, I will prefer your wishes to my own," at the +same time drawing himself and his chair to one side.</p> + +<p>She had looked almost capable of leaping over the table to escape. May +brushed past him, and darted away out of the room without another word.</p> + +<p>Theodore seized hold of the book she had left behind her, and bent his +head over it. He saw not one word on the printed page beneath his eyes, +but it saved him from appearing as confused as he felt. Had he been +rejected? And, if so, was it a rejection which he was bound to consider +final? Or had he received no real answer at all? Gradually, as his +throat grew less dry, his head less hot, and his brain more clear, he +arrived at the conclusion that he had virtually had no answer. May was +little more than a child, and he had startled her. Then he remembered +that word of May's, "It is about Constance you wish to speak to me." +Could she be under any misapprehension as to his position with regard to +Constance? The idea was fraught with comfort. That, at least, he could +set right, and without delay. He rose and walked across the room at once +to Mrs. Dormer-Smith's sofa.</p> + +<p>At this moment the procession of men, headed by Lord Castlecombe, +arrived from the dining-room. Constance glided away, leaving her vacant +chair for Theodore, who immediately occupied it, thus cutting off Mrs. +Dormer-Smith from the rest of the company. That lady looked anxiously +across his shoulder.</p> + +<p>"<i>Would</i> you," she said to Theodore, "would you be so very good as to +ask my husband to inquire where Miss Cheffington is? My uncle would like +to talk to her, I know; and——Oh, there she is! Thanks. Don't trouble +yourself."</p> + +<p>May had returned to the drawing-room; but instead of going near her +noble grand-uncle, she perversely seated herself in a remote nook beside +Mr. Bragg, with whom she presently began a conversation, keeping her +face persistently turned away from every one else. Her noble grand-uncle +did not seem to care. His lordship marched straight up to Miss Hadlow, +and stood before her, coffee-cup in hand, with his curious air of +perfectly knowing how to behave like a fine gentleman whenever he should +think it worth while. Lucius and Frederick were continuing their club +discussion, which possessed the advantage—for persons of leisure—of +having neither beginning nor end, and of being indefinitely elastic. +Pauline took in the whole room with one comprehensive glance, and then +leant back against her cushions with a sigh, which, if not contented, +was resigned. She made no effort to recall May to her duty towards Lord +Castlecombe.</p> + +<p>"You must forgive me, Mr. Bransby," she said graciously, "if I have been +selfish in engrossing Miss Hadlow. If you don't take care, my uncle will +do the same! Lord Castlecombe admires her very much."</p> + +<p>Theodore cleared his throat, settled his cravat with a rather unsteady +hand, and looked at her as solemnly as if he were about to commence an +oration. But all he managed to say was—</p> + +<p>"There has been a mistake, Mrs. Dormer-Smith."</p> + +<p>"A mistake?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I have some reason to believe that you are under a wrong +impression about me."</p> + +<p>His hostess faintly raised her eyebrows, and answered with a smile, "I +hope not: for all my impressions of you are very pleasant."</p> + +<p>Theodore bowed gravely. "You are very kind," said he. "It is important +to me to set this matter right. You perhaps imagine—some one may have +told you that I and Miss Hadlow—there has been, I believe, some idle +gossip coupling our names together."</p> + +<p>"Not very unnaturally," said Mrs. Dormer-Smith, still smiling. But she +began to wonder what he could be driving at.</p> + +<p>"Well, I do think it hard that one cannot be on friendly terms with a +person one has known all one's life without being supposed to be engaged +to her."</p> + +<p>"Or him," put in Pauline quietly.</p> + +<p>"Of course. I mean, of course, that it is particularly unfair to the +lady. But it puts a man in a false position too. I have just been +speaking to May——"</p> + +<p>Then, in an instant, the true state of the case flashed on Mrs. +Dormer-Smith, to her unspeakable consternation. This, then, was her +model young man, whom she had pronounced to be so "nice" and so "quiet;" +and who, moreover, had always expressed the most proper sentiments on +the subject of unequal marriages! She felt herself to be of all ladies +the most persecuted by fate.</p> + +<p>"Oh," she said, coldly interrupting him; "it was scarcely necessary to +say anything to Miss Cheffington on the subject."</p> + +<p>But Theodore was beyond taking heed of any snub or check of that kind. +"One moment," he said, breathing quickly. "If you will allow me to +finish what I was saying, you will see——I am, as you must have +perceived, deeply attached to your niece."</p> + +<p>"No, no," protested Mrs. Dormer-Smith faintly. "I never perceived it."</p> + +<p>"Then that must have been because you were looking in a wrong direction. +You were misled about Constance Hadlow; otherwise, the nature of my +attentions could scarcely have escaped you."</p> + +<p>"And you say that you have been speaking to—to my niece?"</p> + +<p>"I have this evening told her how devotedly I love her."</p> + +<p>"Good heavens!" whispered Mrs. Dormer-Smith, letting her head sink back +among the sofa-cushions. "And what was her reply?"</p> + +<p>"Her reply was—well, practically, it was no reply at all. May was +agitated and startled, and I think she had believed that foolish gossip +about my engagement to Miss Hadlow. But I trust to you to explain——"</p> + +<p>"Pray, Mr. Bransby, say no more. I regret extremely that this should +have happened."</p> + +<p>"Oh, but I don't know that I have any reason to despair," he answered +naďvely.</p> + +<p>This was almost more than Pauline could endure. She got up from the +sofa, and plaintively murmuring, "Say no more; pray say no more. I +really am not equal to it at present," fairly walked away from him.</p> + +<p>That night when the guests were gone, Mrs. Dormer-Smith sent for her +husband to her dressing-room, and revealed to him what young Bransby had +said. His indignation at the young man's presumption was equal to her +own: although not wholly on the same grounds.</p> + +<p>"You will have to talk to him, Frederick," she said. "When he went away +he said something about requesting an early interview. <i>I</i> cannot stand +any more of it. It upsets me too frightfully. Of course, you won't +quarrel with him. Just give him politely to understand that it is out of +the question. Fortunately, May appears to have been as much <i>outrée</i> by +this preposterous proposal as I could desire. May behaved very nicely +to-night altogether. I was pleased with her."</p> + +<p>"H'm! Oh yes; but I thought she might have paid a little more attention +to your uncle. She never went near him after we came upstairs. I think +she talked to old Bragg more than to any one else."</p> + +<p>"Frederick," said his wife slowly, "do you know that Lady Hautenville is +making a dead set at Mr. Bragg for Felicia?"</p> + +<p>"Is she?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Mrs. Griffin told me all about it. They are moving heaven and +earth to catch him."</p> + +<p>"Really? Well, <i>bonne chance</i>!"</p> + +<p>"It would be <i>mauvaise chance</i> for him, poor man! Felicia has a +frightful temper, and incredibly extravagant habits. She must be over +her eyebrows in debt. But I fancy Mr. Bragg has better taste."</p> + +<p>Her meaning tone made her husband look at her with sudden earnestness. +"What do you mean?" he asked brusquely.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dormer-Smith put her hand to her forehead. "Let me entreat you not +to raise your voice!" she said. "I have had quite enough to try my +nerves this evening. I mean that I think Mr. Bragg is interested in May. +It would be a splendid match for her."</p> + +<p>"<i>What?</i>" cried Frederick, disregarding his wife's request, and raising +his voice considerably. "Old Bragg!"</p> + +<p>Pauline turned on him impressively. "Frederick," she said, speaking with +patient mildness, as one imparting higher lore to some untutored savage, +"Mr. Bragg is barely fifty-four; and his income—entirely within his own +control—is over sixty thousand a year."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + + +<p>Theodore did not take his rejection meekly. In his interview with Mr. +Dormer-Smith he pressed hard to see May again, and insinuated that she +was under undue influence. Moreover, he conveyed, with stiff civility, +that he considered himself to have been badly treated by the whole +family, who had first encouraged his attentions and then rejected them.</p> + +<p>"He really is a fearful young man!" said May to her aunt on hearing the +report of the interview. "What does he mean by insisting on 'an answer +from my own lips'? Could he not believe what Uncle Frederick said? +Besides, he has had his answer from me. The truth is, he is so +outrageously conceited that he can't believe any young woman would +refuse him of her own free will."</p> + +<p>"The idea of his dreaming for an instant that <i>I</i> encouraged him is too +preposterous," said Mrs. Dormer-Smith, shaking her head languidly. "I am +sadly disappointed. I thought him quite a nice person. I fancied he had +sufficient <i>savoir vivre</i> to understand——However, it is one more proof +that one can never reckon on half-bred people who don't know the world."</p> + +<p>It was privately a great relief to May to know that her aunt took her +part in this affair. Aunt Pauline's motives and views were still very +mysterious to May on many points. She did not even now fully understand +the grounds of her aunt's virtuous indignation against Theodore Bransby, +although she was thankful for it. "Aunt Pauline thought him good enough +for Conny," said May to herself innocently; "and Conny is so beautiful, +and so much admired!"</p> + +<p>It was true that—thanks, in the first place, to Mrs. Griffin—Constance +had enjoyed a more brilliant season than she had ever ventured to dream +of. Fashionable houses, of which she had read in the newspapers, but +which had appeared to her as unattainable as though they were in another +planet, had opened their doors to her; and old connections of her +mother's family, finding her in the aforesaid houses, discovered that +she was a charming girl, and were delighted to open <i>their</i> doors to +her. She had accepted several invitations to country houses, and would +probably not be at home again until late in the autumn.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Griffin watched this young lady's progress with considerable +interest. She opined that Miss Hadlow was a shining instance of the +advantages of "race."</p> + +<p>"In spite of having been brought up in the pokiest way in some +provincial town, as I understand, that girl has a thoroughbred +self-possession quite remarkable," said Mrs. Griffin. "She never makes a +blunder. You are never nervous about her. She has no trace of that loud, +bouncing style, which I detest, and which so many underbred-people take +up nowadays, mistakenly imagining it to be the proper thing. She doesn't +'go in' for anything. And," added Mrs. Griffin musingly, "there's a +wonderful look of her grandfather, poor Charley Rivers, about the brow +and eyes."</p> + +<p>The season was rapidly drawing to a close when Mrs. Dobbs received two +letters; one from her grand-daughter, and the other from Mrs. +Dormer-Smith. Jo Weatherhead, arriving one evening at his usual hour in +Jessamine Cottage, was told by his old friend that she had had a letter +from May, and that she meant to read him a portion of it. No proposition +could have been more welcome to Mr. Weatherhead. He drew his chair up to +the grate—filled now with fresh boughs instead of hot coals; but Jo +kept his place in the chimney-corner winter and summer—and prepared to +listen.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dobbs read as follows:—"You must know, dear granny, that I told +Aunt Pauline yesterday that I really must go home at the end of this +season. She has been very kind and so has Uncle Frederick; but granny is +granny, and home is home."</p> + +<p>Here Mr. Weatherhead slapped his leg with his hand, and took his pipe +out of his mouth as though about to speak; but on Mrs. Dobbs holding up +her hand for silence, he put his pipe back again, and slowly drew his +forefinger and thumb down the not inconsiderable length of his nose.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dobbs read on: "To my amazement, Aunt Pauline answered that it was +my father's wish that I should remain with her altogether! That is not +my wish. And it isn't yours—is it, granny dear? And if we two are +agreed, I cannot think my father would object. I mean to write to him +about it. I should have done so already, but I have not his address, and +Aunt Pauline can't or won't give it to me. Please send it. I shall tell +my father just what I feel. I don't care for what Aunt Pauline calls +Society. I was happy enough as long as it was only like being at the +play, with the prospect of going home when it was over, and living my +real life. But to go on with this sort of thing and nothing else, year +in, year out—it would be like being expected to live on wax fruit, or +those glazed wooden turkeys I remember in a box of toys you gave me long +ago. Please answer directly, directly. There's an invitation for me to +go in August to a place in the Highlands, where Mrs. Griffin's daughter +has a shooting-box. At least, I suppose it is Mrs. Griffin's daughter's +husband who has the shooting-box. Only nobody talks much about the duke, +and everybody talks a great deal about the duchess." ("Fancy our Miranda +among the dukes and duchesses!" put in Jo Weatherhead, softly. And he +smacked his lips as though the very sound of the words had a relish for +him.) "Aunt Pauline wants to go to Carlsbad; Uncle Frederick is to join +a fishing-party in Norway; the children are to be sent to a farmhouse; +and Mrs. Griffin has offered to take care of me in the Highlands. But I +would far, <i>far</i> rather come back to dear Oldchester, and be amongst +people who know me, and care for me, and whom I love with all my heart. +Do write and ask for me back, granny darling! And mind you give me +papa's address. I am resolved to write to him, whatever Aunt Pauline may +say. He is <i>my</i> father, and I have a right to tell him my feelings."</p> + +<p>"That's all of any consequence," said Mrs. Dobbs, slowly refolding the +letter. "Oh, of course she writes at the end 'Love to Uncle Jo.' She +never forgets that."</p> + +<p>There was a brief silence. Mr. Weatherhead, who was very tender-hearted, +blew his nose and wiped his eyes unaffectedly. "Of course you'll have +the child down, Sarah," said he; "anyway, for a time. She's pining, +that's where it is; she's pining for a sight of you."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dobbs sat choking down her emotion. She had cried privately over +that letter herself, but she was resolved to discuss it now with +judicial calmness; and it was provoking that Jo endangered her judicial +tone of mind by that foolish, soft-hearted way of his, which was +terribly catching. But she loved Jo for it, nevertheless, and scolded +him so as to let him know that she loved him.</p> + +<p>"It's a good thing your feelings are righter and kinder than most +folks', Jo Weatherhead, for you're sadly led by 'em, my friend. If you'd +wait and hear the whole case, you might help me with your advice." Then +Mrs. Dobbs pulled another letter from her pocket, and handed it to her +brother-in-law. This second epistle was from Mrs. Dormer-Smith, and ran +thus:—</p> + +<blockquote><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Mrs. Dobbs</span>,</p> + +<p>"I think it right to let you know how very important it is for +May not to miss her visit to Glengowrie. There will be among +the guests there a gentleman who has been paying her a good +deal of attention—a man of princely fortune. I have some +reason to think that May is disposed to look favourably on this +gentleman; but he must be allowed time and opportunity to +declare himself. No better opportunity could possibly be found +than at Glengowrie; and I may tell you, <i>in confidence</i>, that +the duchess has, at my friend Mrs. Griffin's request, invited +them both <i>on purpose</i>. I trust, therefore, that, in my niece's +interests, you will induce her not to relinquish this chance. +As to her writing to her father, it is absurd, and would only +irritate my brother after his giving me <i>carte blanche</i> to do +the best I can for her. If the visit to Glengowrie turns out as +we hope, I shall have procured for her a settlement which many +a peer's daughter will envy. My husband and I have such +confidence in your good sense, that we are sure you will second +our efforts as far as you can. Of course you will consider this +letter <i>strictly private</i>, and will not, above all, mention it +to May.</p> + +<p>"I am, dear Mrs. Dobbs,</p> + +<p>"Yours very truly,</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">P. Dormer-Smith</span>."</p></blockquote> + +<p>"You see that alters the case, Jo," said Mrs. Dobbs, when he had +finished reading the letter.</p> + +<p>Jo nodded thoughtfully, and rubbed his nose. "Of course, what you want, +Sarah, is for the child to be happy. That's the main thing," said he.</p> + +<p>"Of course I want her to be happy. And I want her to have her rights," +answered Mrs. Dobbs, setting her lips firmly.</p> + +<p>"Ah! Yes, to be sure! Her rights, eh?"</p> + +<p>"My son-in-law brought no good to any of us in himself. If his name can +do any good to his daughter, she ought to have the benefit of it—and +she shall."</p> + +<p>"Ay, ay. Her rights, eh? To be sure. Only—only it ain't always quite +easy to know what a person's rights are, is it?"</p> + +<p>"I know well enough what May's rights are," answered Mrs. Dobbs sharply.</p> + +<p>"Nor yet it ain't quite easy to be sure whether they'd enjoy their +rights when they got 'em," pursued Jo, with a thoughtful air. "Everybody +likes to be happy. There can be no manner of doubt about <i>that</i>. And +somehow the dukes and duchesses don't seem to be enough to make Miranda +quite—not <i>quite</i> happy, humph?"</p> + +<p>"I wonder you should confess so much of your dear aristocracy!" returned +Mrs. Dobbs with some heat.</p> + +<p>"Why, you see, Sarah, it may be—I only say it <i>may</i> be—that the way +Miranda has been brought up, living here in the holidays in such a +simple kind of style, and all that, makes her feel not altogether at +home among these tip-top folks."</p> + +<p>"If you mean she isn't good enough for them, that's nonsense; downright +nonsense. And I wonder at a man with your brains talking such stuff! If +you mean they're not good enough for her, that's another pair of shoes. +As to manners—why, do you imagine that that aunt of hers, who—though +she <i>is</i> a fool, is a well-born fool, and a well-bred one—would be +taking May about, presenting her at Court, and introducing her to the +grandest society, if the child didn't do her credit? Not she! I'm +astonished at you, Jo! I thought you knew the world a little bit better +than that."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dobbs leant back in her chair, and fanned her flushed face with her +handkerchief. Mr. Weatherhead, having smoked his pipe out, put it in its +case, and then sat silent, slowly stroking his nose, and casting +deprecating glances at his hostess. At length the latter resumed, in a +calmer tone, "But May's future is what I've got to think of. I'm an old +woman. I can leave her next to nothing when I die. I want her to marry. +All women ought to marry. Nobody in my own walk of life would suit her. +And what gentleman fit to match with her was ever likely to come and +look for her in my parlour in Friar's Lane? You ought to know all about +it, Jo Weatherhead. We've gone over the whole ground together often +enough."</p> + +<p>They had done so. But Jo Weatherhead understood very well that his old +friend was talking now, not to convince him, but herself. "Well, Sarah," +he said, "there seems a good chance for May to marry well, according to +this good lady. 'Princely fortune,' she says. That sounds grand, don't +it?"</p> + +<p>"Ah! And it isn't a few thousands that Mrs. Dormer-Smith would call a +princely fortune."</p> + +<p>"Not a few thousands you think, eh, Sarah? Tens of thousands I shouldn't +wonder, humph?" And Mr. Weatherhead pursed up his mouth, and poked +forward his nose eagerly.</p> + +<p>"Not a doubt of it."</p> + +<p>"Bless my stars! To think of our little Miranda!—and her aunt says that +May is disposed to look favourably on the gentleman."</p> + +<p>"So she says. But I can tell you that May doesn't care a button for him +at present."</p> + +<p>"Lord! How do you know, Sarah?"</p> + +<p>"How do I know? That's so like a man! No girl in love would give up the +chance of meeting her lover, as May wants to give it up. If she'd rather +come to Oldchester than go to Scotland, it is because—so far, at any +rate—she doesn't care a button for him."</p> + +<p>"I never thought of that. But perhaps, Sarah, she doesn't know that he +is to be invited."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Dobbs seemed struck by this remark. "Well now, that's an idea, Jo!" +said she, nodding her head. "It may be so. They seem to have had the +sense not to talk to her about the matter. May's just the kind of girl +to fling up her heels and break away, if she suspected any scheming to +make a fine match for her. But she might come to care for him in time. +There's no reason in nature why a rich man shouldn't be nice enough to +be fallen in love with. And by his taking to May—and she without a +penny—I'm inclined to think well of the young man."</p> + +<p>After some further consideration it was agreed that Mrs. Dobbs should +write and propose a middle term: in the interval between her aunt's +departure for Carlsbad, and the date of her invitation to Glengowrie, +May should come down to Oldchester, on condition that she afterwards +paid her visit to the Duchess. This arrangement would be a joy to Mrs. +Dobbs, would satisfy May's affectionate longing, and could not prejudice +the girl's future prospects. A letter to May was written, as well as one +to Mrs. Dormer-Smith. This letter was very short, and may as well be +given.</p> + +<blockquote><p>"<span class="smcap">Dear Mrs. Dormer-Smith</span>,</p> + +<p>"I have to acknowledge yours of the 5th. I agree with you that +it would be a pity for my grand-daughter not to accept the +invitation you speak of. Some good may come of it, and I do not +think that any harm can come. If May spends the three or four +weeks with me after you start for the Continent, I will +undertake for her to meet the lady who is to take charge of her +to Scotland, at any place that may be agreed upon. I wrote to +May by this post, and she will tell you what I propose. With +regard to her father's address, I have had none for some time +past, except, 'Post-Office, Brussels.' This much I shall tell +her, as I think she has a right to know it. You need not +disturb yourself about her writing to her father, as I think, +from what I know of Captain Cheffington, that he is not likely +to answer her letter.</p> + +<p>"I am, dear Mrs. Dormer-Smith,</p> + +<p>"Yours truly,</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">Sarah Dobbs</span>."</p></blockquote> + +<p>The proposal was accepted, and within a fortnight after the despatch of +this letter, May Cheffington was in Oldchester once more.</p> + + +<h3>END OF VOL. I.</h3> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of That Unfortunate Marriage, Vol. 1(of 3), by +Frances Eleanor Trollope + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THAT UNFORTUNATE MARRIAGE *** + +***** This file should be named 35943-h.htm or 35943-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/9/4/35943/ + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> diff --git a/35943.txt b/35943.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..079c3b2 --- /dev/null +++ b/35943.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6837 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of That Unfortunate Marriage, Vol. 1(of 3), by +Frances Eleanor Trollope + +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: That Unfortunate Marriage, Vol. 1(of 3) + +Author: Frances Eleanor Trollope + +Release Date: April 24, 2011 [EBook #35943] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THAT UNFORTUNATE MARRIAGE *** + + + + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + + + + + + + + + THAT UNFORTUNATE MARRIAGE. + + BY FRANCES ELEANOR TROLLOPE + +AUTHOR OF "AUNT MARGARET'S TROUBLE," "A CHARMING FELLOW," "LIKE SHIPS +UPON THE SEA," ETC. + + + _IN THREE VOLUMES._ + VOL. I. + + LONDON: + RICHARD BENTLEY AND SON + + Publishers in Ordinary to Her Majesty the Queen. + + 1888. + + (_All rights reserved._) + + + + +THAT UNFORTUNATE MARRIAGE. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + + +Augustus Cheffington had made an unfortunate marriage. That was admitted +on all hands. When he was a Cornet in a cavalry regiment quartered in +the ancient Cathedral City of Oldchester, he ran away with pretty Susan +Dobbs, the daughter of his landlady. Augustus's friends and family--all +the Cheffingtons, the Dormer-Smiths, the Castlecombes--deplored this +rash step. It was never mentioned, either at the time or afterwards, +without expressions of deep commiseration for him. + +Nevertheless, from one point of view there were compensations. This +unfortunate marriage was made responsible for a great many shortcomings, +which would otherwise have been attributed more directly to Augustus +Cheffington himself. For example, it was said to account for his failure +in his profession. He had chosen it chiefly because he very much liked +the brilliant uniform of a certain crack regiment (it was in the days +before competitive examinations); and he had no other aptitude for it +than a showy seat on horseback, and a person well calculated to set off +the works of the regimental tailor. But when years had passed, and he +had remained undistinguished, his friends said, "What could one expect +after Augustus's unfortunate marriage?" + +After a time he sold out of the Army, and went to live on the Continent, +where very shortly he had squandered nearly all his money, and fallen +into shady paths of life; and again there was a chorus of "I told you +so!" and a general sense that all this was due to the unfortunate +marriage. + +Finally, his wife died, leaving him with one little girl, the sole +survivor of five children; and he came to England with the idea of +securing some place which should be suited to his birth, his abilities, +his habits, and his inclinations. No such place was found. Several +members of the Peerage were applied to, to exert their influence with +"Government" on behalf of so well-connected a personage as Augustus +Cheffington. But "Government" behaved very badly, "Government" was +insensible to his claims. His claims, it is true, were not small. They +required a maximum of remuneration for a minimum of labour. He was +unable, also, to furnish any proofs of his fitness for one or two posts +which happened to be vacant, except the undeniable fact of his +cousinship with all the Cheffingtons and Castlecombes in England; and to +this kind of qualification "Government," it appeared, attached no +importance at all. + +He paid a round of visits at country houses, and renewed his +long-disused acquaintance with a score of more or less distant +relations. But he was not popular. It has been observed that +unsuccessful men very often are not popular. "Gus Cheffington has +dropped out of the running," men said. "A fellow naturally gets +forgotten when he has kept out of sight for years--and besides, he makes +himself so deuced disagreeable! He's always grumbling." + +This latter accusation was true. If England had shown no maternal +affection for her long-absent son, the son returned her hard-heartedness +with interest. Indeed, in his case, it turned into active resentment. He +got tired of country houses and town mansions where he was received but +coolly. He was sarcastic and bitter on the failure of his connections to +procure him a lucrative sinecure. He considered that the country was +travelling downhill at break-neck speed, and, for his part, he did not +feel inclined to move his little finger to impede that fatal course. +Moreover, the black coffee was, nine times out of ten, utterly +undrinkable. One day he shook the dust of England's inhospitable shores +from off his feet, and returned to his shady haunts on the +Continent--its irresponsibility, its _cafes_, its boulevards, and its +billiards. And when he was fairly gone, all the Cheffingtons, and the +Dormer-Smiths, and the Castlecombes were softened into sympathy; and +with much shrugging of shoulders and shaking of heads declared that it +was a heartrending spectacle to behold such a man as Augustus +Cheffington ruined, crushed, eclipsed, destroyed by his unfortunate +marriage. + +When he went back to Belgium, he left behind him at school in Brighton +his little motherless girl Miranda, familiarly called May. The +Honourable Mrs. Cheffington, Augustus's mother, had advised her son to +give the little girl a first-rate education, so as to mitigate as far as +possible one disastrous effect of the unfortunate marriage, which was, +that May had a plebeian mother. Mrs. Cheffington, known throughout all +the ramifications of the family as "the dowager," was a hard-featured, +selfish old woman, with a black wig, a pale yellow skin, and frowning +eyebrows. She lived on a pension which would cease at her death, and she +was supposed by some of her relations to be making a purse. They thought +it would turn out that the dowager had considerable savings to leave +behind her; and they founded this supposition on her never giving away +anything during her lifetime. Mrs. Dormer-Smith, Augustus Cheffington's +sister, declared that her mother made one exception to her rule of +refusing assistance to any of them. She believed that Augustus, who had +always been her favourite child, profited by the dowager's indulgence, +and managed to extract some money from her tightly-closed purse. And it +certainly was true that the old lady had paid May's school bills--so far +as they had been paid at all. + +But one day the Honourable Anne Miranda Cheffington took off her black +wig for the last time, and relaxed her frowning eyebrows. The +announcement of her death appeared in the first column of the _Times_, +there was a brief obituary notice in a fashionable journal, and her +place knew her no more. + +Augustus hastened home to England on the receipt of a telegram from his +sister. That is to say, he said he hastened; but he did not arrive in +town until some hours after the funeral was over. Mr. Dormer-Smith was +somewhat irritated by this tardiness, and observed to his wife that it +was just like Augustus to keep out of the way while there was any +trouble to be taken, and only arrive in time to be present at the +reading of the will. Any expectations that Augustus might have founded +on his mother's reluctance to give during her lifetime were quite +disappointed. The dowager had no money to bequeath. She had spent nearly +the last shilling of her quarter's income. In fact, there was not enough +to cover the expenses of the funeral, which were finally paid several +months afterwards by Mr. Dormer-Smith. + +It seemed almost superfluous, under the circumstances, to have made a +will at all. But the will was there. The chief item in it was a quantity +of yellow old lace, extremely dirty, and much in need of mending, which +was solemnly bequeathed by Mrs. Cheffington to her daughter, Pauline +Augusta Clarissa Dormer-Smith. It was set forth at some length how that +the lace, being an heirloom of the Cheffingtons, should have descended +in due course to the wife of the eldest son, or, failing that, to the +eldest daughter of the eldest son; and how this tradition was +disregarded in the present case by reason of peculiar and unprecedented +family circumstances. This was the dowager's Parthian dart at the +unfortunate marriage. There was little other property, except the dingy +old furniture of Mrs. Cheffington's house at Richmond, and a few books, +treating chiefly of fortification and gunnery, which had belonged to +Lieutenant-General the Honourable Augustus Vane Cheffington, the +dowager's long-deceased husband. + +"What the----What on earth my mother did with her money _I_ can't +conjecture!" exclaimed Augustus, staring out of the window of his +brother-in-law's drawing-room the day after the funeral. + +"She didn't give it to us, Augustus," returned Mrs. Dormer-Smith +plaintively. "Even when my boy Cyril went to see her at the end of the +holidays, just before returning to Harrow, she never tipped him. Once I +think she gave him five shillings. But it's a long time ago; he was a +little fellow in petticoats." + +"Then what _did_ she do with her money?" repeated Augustus, with an +increasingly gloomy scowl at the gardens of the Kensington square on +which his eyes rested. + +"I believe that, with the exception of what she paid for May's +schooling, she spent it on herself." + +"Spent it on herself? That's impossible! It was a very good income +indeed for a solitary woman, and she lived very quietly." + +"You may get through a good deal of money even living quietly, when you +don't deny yourself anything you can get. For instance, she never would +drive one horse; she had been accustomed to a pair all her life." + +Augustus checked an oath on his very lips, and, instead of swearing +according to his first impulse, observed with solemnity that he knew not +how his mother had been able to reconcile such selfishness with her +conscience, and hoped her last moments had not been troubled by remorse. + +"Oh, I don't think mamma felt anything of that kind," said Mrs. +Dormer-Smith in her slow, gentle tones; "she was always complaining of +other people's unreasonable expectations." + +The brother and sister fell silent for a while after this, each being +immersed in private meditation. That very morning a circumstance had +occurred which had put the last touch to Augustus's disappointment and +exasperation. The Brighton schoolmistress had sent Miss Miranda +Cheffington to London in the charge of a maid-servant, and the little +girl had arrived at her aunt's house in a cab with her worldly +possessions, namely, a small black trunk full of clothes, and a +canary-bird in a cage. The schoolmistress wrote civilly, but firmly, to +the effect that, after the lamented decease of the Honourable Mrs. +Cheffington, she could not undertake to keep May any longer; feeling +sure, by repeated experience, that all applications for payment made to +Captain Cheffington would be in vain, and understanding that Mrs. +Dormer-Smith declined to charge herself with her niece's education. +Captain Cheffington had been violently angry, and had denounced the +schoolmistress--Mrs. Drax--as an insolent, grasping, vulgar harpy. But +Mrs. Drax was out of his reach, and there was May, thirteen years old, +with a healthy appetite, and limbs rapidly outgrowing her clothes. + +Augustus continued to glare moodily at the square for some minutes. His +sister leaned her cheek on her hand, and looked at the fire. At length +Augustus, composing his face to a less savage expression, turned away +from the window, sat down opposite to his sister, and said, pensively-- + +"We must arrange something for May, Pauline." + +"You must, indeed, Augustus." + +"We ought to consider her future." + +"Yes; I think you ought, Augustus." + +"The girl is at a hobbledehoy age. It's a perplexing position. So +difficult to know what to do with her." + +"There is no age at which it is so awkward to dress a girl. I have +sometimes regretted not having daughters; but upon my word there must be +a dreadful amount of harass about their clothes between twelve and +fifteen--or in some cases sixteen." + +"It's impossible for me to have her with me in Brussels. The way I +live--am obliged to live _malgre moi_--she'd upset all my arrangements +and habits. In short, you can see for yourself, Pauline, that it would +be out of the question." + +"No doubt it would be very bad for the girl." + +"Of course! That's what I mean. Wouldn't it be the best plan after all, +Pauline, to leave her here with you? She could have private masters----" + +Mrs. Dormer-Smith shook her head. + +"At my expense, of course," added Augustus. "I must screw and scrape and +make some sacrifices no doubt, but----" + +"It really won't do, Augustus. I assure you it won't do. Frederick will +_not_ have it. He talked to me after luncheon. It isn't the least use." + +Mrs. Dormer-Smith continued plaintively to shake her head as she spoke, +and to look with gentle melancholy at the fire. + +"H'm! Frederick is very kind. But let us discuss the thing in a friendly +spirit. If I pay for her clothing and education, surely the expense of +her board wouldn't ruin you and Frederick!" + +"No; but the butcher and the baker are the least part of the matter. It +isn't as if May were the daughter of one's housekeeper or one's +governess. She is a Cheffington, you know. So many things are required +for a girl with her connections; and as to your paying for her masters, +of course we know you wouldn't, Augustus." + +"Upon my soul you are civil and sisterly!" + +"Well, I dare say you would mean to pay, but you wouldn't. It would be +sure to turn out so, don't you know? Things always have been like that +with you, Augustus." + +"Then what the devil do you think I'm to do?" + +"Pray don't be violent! I really cannot bear any display of violence. +You should remember that it is scarcely a week since poor mamma was +taken from us." + +"I don't see what that has to do with it. Miranda hasn't been taken from +us; that's the point." + +Mrs. Dormer-Smith making no answer, her brother continued, after a +moment or two-- + +"You are fertile in objections, but you don't seem to have any plan to +suggest." + +"Well, an idea did occur to me. I don't know whether you would like it." + +"Like it! Probably not. But I am used to sacrifice my inclinations." + +"Well, I thought that you might put May into a school in France or +Germany, or somewhere, letting her give lessons in English in return for +her board and so on. There are plenty of schools where they do that sort +of thing. It wouldn't so much matter abroad, because people wouldn't +know who she was. You might tide over a year or two in that way." + +Augustus got up from his chair. "My daughter a drudge in a Continental +school?" he exclaimed indignantly. + +"If you chose a place little frequented by English, I don't think people +would know." + +There was a short silence. Then Augustus said angrily, "I'll take the +girl back with me. She must share my home, such as it is. We will +neither of us trouble you or Frederick much longer. I shall start for +Ostend by the morning mail to-morrow." And he dashed out of the room +emitting a muffled roll of oaths, and jarring the door in a way which +made Mrs. Dormer-Smith clasp her forehead with both hands, and lean back +shrinkingly in her chair. + +But when the morrow came, Captain Cheffington and his daughter did not +go to Ostend. When they had got out of sight of the Dormer-Smiths' +house, he ordered the cabman to drive to the Great Western Railway +Station, and started by an express train for Oldchester. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + + +Amongst the minor grievances reckoned up by the deceased dowager as +accruing from Augustus's unfortunate marriage was the fact that his wife +had borne the plebeian name of Dobbs. One of her most frequent +complaints against poor little May was that the child was "a thorough +Dobbs." And when she was out of temper--which was very often--she would +prefer this charge as indignantly as though Dobbs were synonymous with +the most disgraceful epithets in the English language. + +And yet the sound of it awoke very different associations in the city of +Oldchester, where Augustus's mother-in-law had lived all her life. Mrs. +Dobbs was the widow of a tradesman. The ironmonger's business, which her +husband had carried on, had long passed into other hands; but his name +still met the eyes of his fellow-townsmen in the inscription, "J. Brown, +late Dobbs," painted over the shop. + +Oldchester is a city in which two streams of life run side by side, +mingling but little with each other. At a certain point in the existence +of Oldchester, its ancient course of civil and ecclesiastical history +had received a new tributary--a strong and ever-growing current of +commerce. Commerce built wide suburbs, with villa residences in various +stages of "detachment" and "semi-detachment" from one another. Commerce +strewed the pleasant country paths and lanes with coal-dust, and +blackened the air with smoke. Commerce set up Art schools, founded +hospitals (and furnished patients for them), multiplied railways for +miles round, and scored all the new streets, and some of the old, with +tramway lines. Commerce bought estates in the neighbourhood, was +conveyed to public worship in splendid equipages, sent its sons to Eton, +and married its daughters into the Peerage. But, for all that, the fame +of Oldchester continued to rest on its character as a cathedral city. +The old current surpassed the new one in length and dignity, if in +nothing else. The gray cathedral towers rose up majestically above the +din and turmoil of forge and loom and factory, with a noble aspiration +towards something above and beyond these; while the vibrations of their +mellow chimes shed down sweet suggestions of peace and goodwill among +the homes of the toilers. + +Mrs. Dobbs particularly loved the sounds of the cathedral chimes; and +she sat with closed eyes listening to them in the twilight of a certain +autumn evening. Her house was in a narrow street, called Friar's Row, +which turned out of the High Street. A monastery had once stood on the +site of it, but all trace of the ancient conventual buildings had long +since disappeared. The houses were solid brick dwellings, from one to +two hundred years old. Mrs. Dobbs's husband had bequeathed her a long +lease of that which she occupied. Most of the other houses in Friar's +Row were used as offices or warehouses, the wealthier kind of +tradespeople who once lived in them having migrated to the suburbs. On +her husband's death some of Mrs. Dobbs's friends had urged her to remove +to a newer and more cheerful part of the town, but she had resisted the +suggestion with some contempt. + +"I know what suits me," she would say. "And that's a knowledge the Lord +doesn't bestow on all and sundry. This house suits me. It's +weather-proof for one thing. And you needn't be afraid of putting your +foot through the floor if you walk a little heavy, as I do. When I go to +see the Simpsons in that bandbox they call Laurel Villa, I daren't lean +my umbrella against the wall, for fear of bringing the whole concern +down like a pack of cards." + +She might easily have increased her income by letting her house and +removing to one in the suburbs; for its position was central, and the +tenements in Friar's Row were in great request for business purposes. +But she resisted this temptation. There were reasons of a more +impalpable kind than the solidity of its floors and roofs, which made +Mrs. Dobbs constant to her old home. She had lived there all the days of +her married life. Her daughter had been born there. Her husband had died +there. The somewhat narrow and dingy street had in her eyes the familiar +aspect of a friendly face. She loved to hear the rattle and bustle of +the High Street, slightly softened by distance. Those common sounds were +full of voices from the past: the common sights around were associated +with all the joys and sorrows of her life. Mrs. Dobbs never said +anything to this effect, but she felt it. And so she stayed in Friar's +Row. + +The parlour in which she sat was comfortably and substantially +furnished. A competent observer would have perceived evidences of +permanence and respectability in the solid, old-fashioned chairs and +tables, the prints after Morland on the walls, and the corner cupboard +full of fine old china. The bookshelves which filled one end of the room +contained the accumulations of successive generations. There was a +square pianoforte with a pile of old music-books on the top of it; and a +big family Bible in massive binding had a place of honour all to itself +on a side-table covered with green baize. On this special autumn +evening, owing to the hour, and partly to the narrowness of the street, +which shut out some of the lingering daylight, the parlour was very dim. +A red fire glowed in the grate, a large tabby cat blinked and purred on +the hearthrug, and in a spacious easy-chair at one side of the fireplace +sat Mrs. Dobbs, listening with closed eyes to the cathedral chimes. + +Presently the door was softly opened, and there came into the room Mrs. +Dobbs's life-long friend and crony, Mr. Joseph Weatherhead. This person +was her brother-in-law, and a childless widower. He had carried on the +trade of bookseller and stationer in Birmingham for many years; but had +sold his business on the death of his wife, and come to live in +Oldchester, near the Dobbs's. Mr. Weatherhead was a tall, lean man, with +a benevolent, bald forehead, and mild eyes. The only remarkable feature +in his face was the nose, which was large, slightly aquiline, brownish +red in colour, and protruded from his face at a peculiar angle. The +forehead above, and the chin below, sloped away from it rather rapidly. +The nose had thus a singularly inquisitive air of being eagerly in the +van, as though it thrust itself forward in quest of news. + +As he closed the door behind him, Mrs. Dobbs opened her eyes. + +"I thought you were asleep, Sarah," said Mr. Weatherhead. + +"Asleep!" ejaculated Mrs. Dobbs, with all the indignation which that +accusation is so apt mysteriously to excite. "Nothing of the kind! I was +listening to the chimes. They always make me think----" + +"Of poor Susy," interrupted Mr. Weatherhead, nodding. "Ah! And so they +do me. Poor Susy! How pretty she was!" + +"She had better have been less pretty for her own happiness. The great +misfortune of her life wouldn't have happened but for her pretty face." + +Mr. Weatherhead nodded again, and sat down opposite to Mrs. Dobbs in a +corresponding armchair to her own. He then took from his pocket a black +leather case, and from the case a meerschaum pipe, which he proceeded to +fill and light and smoke. + +"What an infatuation!" sighed Mrs. Dobbs, pursuing her own meditations. +"To think of Susy throwing herself away on that extravagant, selfish, +good-for-nothing fellow without any principles to speak of, when she +might have had an honest tradesman in a first-rate way of business! She +had only to pick and choose." + +"Humph! Honest tradesmen are not as plentiful as blackberries, though," +observed Mr. Weatherhead, reflectively. + +Mrs. Dobbs ignored this parenthesis, and went on: "It was a bad day for +me and mine when he first came swaggering into this house." + +From which speech it will be seen that the Dobbs side of the family +coincided with the Cheffingtons in considering Augustus's to have been +an unfortunate marriage; only each party arrived at the same conclusion +by a different road. + +"Have you heard from him lately, Sarah?" asked Mr. Weatherhead, after a +pause. + +"From my precious son-in-law? Not I!" + +"Oh!" + +"Not a word from him till he wants something. You may take your oath of +that, Jo Weatherhead." + +"Oh, I thought you might have heard from him, because----" + +"Well?" (very sharply). + +"Well, because I see something has been putting old times into your +head; and I thought it might be that." + +"Something been putting old times into my head? I should like to know +when they're out of my head! Much you know about it!" + +Mr. Weatherhead apparently did know something about it; for after +another long silence, during which he puffed at his pipe and stared into +the fire, Mrs. Dobbs justified his penetration by saying-- + +"The truth is, I _have_ been turning things over in my mind a good deal +since yesterday." + +Mr. Weatherhead was too wary to expose himself to another snub, so he +merely nodded two or three times in an oracular manner. + +"I'm worried out of my mind about that child. She went off yesterday as +bright and happy as possible, and looking so pretty and genteel--fit for +any company in the land." + +"Ah! She went off, you say, to----?" + +"To the Hadlows'. She is to stay there over Sunday." + +"Oh! But I don't quite see----" + +"Go on! What is it that you don't quite see?" + +"I don't quite see what there is to worry you in that. The Hadlows are +very good sort of people." + +"I should think they _were_ very good sort of people! Canon Hadlow is +one of the best men in Oldchester; or in all England, for the matter of +that. And he's a gentleman to the marrow of his bones. But what sort of +a position has my grand-daughter among the Hadlows and their +belongings?" + +"A very nice position, I should say." + +"A very nice position!" exclaimed Mrs. Dobbs, who seemed determined to +repeat all poor Mr. Weatherhead's speeches in a tone of disdainful +irony. "That's so like you, Jo! _She_ thinks it a very nice position, +too, poor lamb. She knows nothing of the world, bless her innocent +heart. And, for all her seventeen years, she is the merest child in some +things. But you might know better. You are not seventeen years old, Jo +Weatherhead." + +"Certainly not," assented he emphatically. + +"The fact of the matter is that, whether by good luck or bad luck, May +does not belong to my sphere or my class. She's a Cheffington. She has +the ways of a lady, and the education of a lady, and she has a right to +the position of a lady. If that father of hers gives her nothing else he +might give her that; and he shall, if I can make him." + +"Perhaps it might have been better, after all, if you had not sent the +child back to her old school, but just brought her up here, under your +own eye, in a plain sort of way. It would have been better for _you_, +anyhow." + +"I don't know that." + +"Why, you'd have been spared a good many sacrifices. There's not another +woman in England would have done what you've done, Sarah." + +"Nonsense; there are plenty of women in England as big fools as me. Even +that wooden old figurehead of a dowager--Lord forgive me, she's dead and +gone!--had the grace to pay the child's schooling as long as she lived." + +"She!" exclaimed Jo Weatherhead, firing up suddenly, and tapping his +meerschaum sharply against the hob. "That's a very different pair of +shoes. She could afford it a precious sight better than you. What did +_she_ ever deprive herself of? I say there's not another woman in +England would have done what you've done, and it's no good your +contradicting." + +"There, bless the man! Don't let us quarrel about it." + +"But I shall quarrel about it, unless you give in. Here's the case +fairly put:--A young spark runs away with your only daughter, and pretty +well breaks your heart. He takes her wandering about into foreign parts, +and you only get news of her now and then, and never good news. He's too +fine a gentleman to do a stroke of work for his family, but as soon as +he has run through his bit of money he's not too fine a gentleman to +fall into disreputable ways of life, nor yet to let who will look after +his motherless little girl, and feed, and clothe, and educate her. When +his own mother dies--leaving two quarters' school-bills unpaid, which +you have to settle, by-the-by--the rest of the family, including his own +sister, refuse to advance a sixpence to save the child from the +workhouse." + +"I say, Jo, that's putting it a little too strong, my friend! There was +no talk of the workhouse." + +"Let me finish summing up the case. I say they wouldn't spend sixpence +to save that child from _starvation_--there, now! When the dowager is +dead, and the rest of them button up their breeches' pockets, and the +schoolmistress sends away the poor little girl because she can't afford +to keep her and teach her for nothing, what does my gentleman do? Does +he try in any one way to do his duty by his only child? Not he. He +coolly shuffles off all trouble and responsibility on other folks' +shoulders. He hasn't taken any notice of you for years, except writing +once to borrow fifty pounds----" + +"Which he didn't get, Jo." + +"Which he didn't get because an over-ruling Providence had ordained that +you shouldn't have it to lend him. Well, after years of silence and +neglect, he turns up in Oldchester one fine morning, and walks into your +house bringing his little girl 'on a visit to her dear grandmother.' +Talk of brass! What sort of a material do you suppose that man's +features are composed of?" + +"Gutta percha, very likely," returned Mrs. Dobbs, who now sat resting +her head against the cushions of her chair, and listening to Mr. +Weatherhead's eloquence with a half-humorous resignation; "that's a +good, tough, elastic kind of stuff." + +"Tough! He had need have some toughness of countenance to come into this +house as he did. And that's not the end. He swaggers about Oldchester +for a week or two, using your house as an inn, neither more nor +less--except that there's no bill;--and then one day he starts off for +the Continent, leaving little May here, and promising to send for her as +soon as he gets settled. From that day to this, and it's four years ago, +you have had the child on your hands, and her precious father has never +contributed one shilling towards her support. You sent the child back to +school. You pinched, and saved, and denied yourself many little comforts +to keep her there. You have never let her feel or guess that she has +been a burthen on you in your old age. And I say again, Sarah Dobbs, +that, considering all the circumstances of the case, there's not another +woman in England would have done what you've done. No, nor in Europe!" + +"Well, having come to that, I hope you've finished, Jo Weatherhead." + +"I hope I have," returned Mr. Weatherhead, mopping his flushed face with +a very large red pocket-handkerchief. "I hope I have, for the present. +But if you attempt to contradict a word of what I have been saying, I'll +begin again and go still further!" + +"There, there, then that's settled. But I am thinking of the future. +Supposing I died to-morrow, what's to become of May? I have nothing to +leave her. My bit of property goes back to Dobbs's family, and all right +and fair, too. I've nothing to say against my husband's will. But people +like the Hadlows, who invite May, and make much of her, have no idea +that she has no one to look to but me. I don't say they'd give her the +cold shoulder if they did know it; but it would make a difference. As it +is, they talk to her about her aunt, Mrs. Dormer-Smith, and her cousin, +Lord This, and her connection, Lady T'other, and a kind of a--what shall +I say?--a sort of atmosphere of high folks hangs about her. She's Miss +Miranda Cheffington, with fifty relations in the peerage. If she was +known only as the grandchild of Mrs. Dobbs, the ironmonger's widow, she +would seem mightily changed in a good many eyes. Sometimes it comes over +me as if I was letting May go on under false pretences." + +"Why, she _has_ got fifty relations in the peerage, hasn't she?" + +"A hundred, for all I know. But folks are not aware that her father's +family take no notice of her. She hardly knows it herself." + +"But her aunt, Mrs. Dormer-Smith, writes to her, doesn't she?" + +"Oh, a line once in a blue moon, to say she's glad to hear May is well, +and to complain of the great expense of living in London." + +"The selfish meanness of that woman is beyond belief." + +"Well--I don't know, Jo. She's a poor creature, certainly. But I feel +more a sort of pity for her than anything else." + +"_Do_ you? It's only out of contradiction, then." + +"Not altogether," said Mrs. Dobbs, laughing good-humouredly. "I made her +out pretty well that time I took May up to London before she went back +to school." + +"Ah! I remember. You tried if the aunt would do anything to help." + +"Yes, I tried. It was right to try. But I very soon saw that there was +nothing to be hoped for from that quarter. Mrs. Dormer-Smith has been +brought up to live for the world and the world's ways. To be sure her +world is a funny, artificial little affair compared with God Almighty's: +pretty much as though one should take a teaspoonful of Epsom salts for +the sea. But, at any rate, I do believe she sincerely thinks it ought to +be worshipped and bowed down to. It's no use to tell such a woman that +she could do without this or that useless finery, and spend the money +better. She'll answer you with tears in her eyes that it's _impossible_; +and, what's more, she'll believe it. Why, if some Tomnoddy or other, +belonging to what she calls "the best people," was to ordain to-morrow +that nobody should eat his dinner unless he was waited on by a man with +a long pigtail, that poor creature would know no peace, nor her meat +would have no relish until a man with a pigtail stood behind her chair. +That's Mrs. Dormer-Smith, Jo Weatherhead." + +Mr. Weatherhead drew up his lips into the form of a round O, as his +manner was when considering any matter of interest, and appeared to +meditate a reply. But the reply was never spoken; for a brisk ring at +the street door gave a new turn to his thoughts and those of his +sister-in-law. + +"Dear me!" exclaimed Mrs. Dobbs, putting up her hands to settle her cap, +and stretching out her feet with a sudden movement which made the old +tabby on the hearthrug arch her back indignantly. "Why, that must be the +Simpsons! I didn't think it was so late. Just light the candles, will +you, Jo? I hope Martha has remembered the roasted potatoes." + + + + +CHAPTER III. + + +The Simpsons were old friends of Mrs. Dobbs. Mr. Simpson was organist of +the largest parish church in Oldchester, where his father had been +organist before him. To this circumstance he owed his singular Christian +name. The elder Simpson, whose musical enthusiasm had run all into one +channel, insisted on naming his son Sebastian Bach. Some men would have +felt this to be a disadvantage for the profession of organist and +music-teacher, as involving a suggestion of ridicule. But Mr. Sebastian +Bach Simpson was not apt to be diffident about any distinguishing +characteristic of his own. His wife had been a governess, and still gave +daily lessons in sundry respectable Oldchester families. By an +arrangement begun during her late husband's lifetime, this couple came +every Saturday evening to sup with Mrs. Dobbs, and to play a game of +whist for penny points before the meal. + +The two guests entered the parlour just as Mr. Weatherhead was lighting +the candles. + +"Dear me," exclaimed Mrs. Simpson, "are we too early? I had no idea! +Surely the choir practice was not over earlier than usual, Bassy?" + +She was a large stout woman of forty, with a pink-and-white complexion +and filmy brown curls; and she wore spectacles. She had once been very +slim and pretty, and still retained a certain girlishness of demeanour. +It has been said that a man is as old as he feels, and a woman as old as +she looks. Mrs. Simpson had innocently usurped the masculine privilege; +and, not feeling herself to be either wiser or less trivial than she was +at eighteen, had never thought of trying to bring her manners into +harmony with her appearance. Her husband was a short, dark man, with +quick black eyes, and thick, stubby, black hair. His voice was +singularly rasping and dissonant, which seemed an unfortunate +incongruity in a professor of music. Such as he was, however, his wife +had a great admiration for him, and considered his talents to be +remarkable. Her marriage, she was fond of saying, had been a love-match, +and she had never got beyond the romantic stage of her attachment. + +"Good evening, Mrs. Dobbs," said the organist, advancing to shake hands, +and taking no notice of his wife's inquiry. + +"How are you, Weatherhead? I suppose you were napping--having forty +winks in the twilight, eh?" + +"No, Mr. Weatherhead and I were chatting," said Mrs. Dobbs. + +"Chatting in this kind of blind man's holiday, were you? I should have +thought you could hardly see to talk!" + +"See to talk! Oh, Bassy, what an expression! You do say the drollest +things!" exclaimed Mrs. Simpson with a giggle. "Doesn't he, Mrs. Dobbs? +Did you ever hear----?" + +Mrs. Dobbs, for all reply, hospitably stirred the fire until it blazed, +helped Mrs. Simpson to remove her bonnet and cloak, and placed her in a +chair near her own. Mr. Simpson took his accustomed seat, and the four +persons drew round the fire, whilst Martha, Mrs. Dobbs's middle-aged +servant, set out a little card-table, and disposed the candles on it in +two old-fashioned, spindle-shanked, silver candlesticks. It was all done +according to long-established custom, which was seldom deviated from in +any particular. + +"And how are you, dear Mrs. Dobbs?" asked Mrs. Simpson, taking her +hostess's hand between both her own. "And dear May--where's May?" + +"May has been away from home on a visit since yesterday morning. She +won't come back before Monday." + +"And may one ask where she is? It is not, I presume, a Mystery of +Udolpho!" + +"She is at the Hadlows'." + +"The Hadlows'? Canon Hadlow's?" cried Mrs. Simpson, clasping her hands +with a gesture of amazement. Then she added rather inconsistently, +"Well, I'm not surprised. I know they have lately taken a great deal of +notice of her. Miss Hadlow and she having been at school together, of +course created an intimacy which--ah, the friendships of early youth, +where they _are_ genuine, have a warmth, a charm----" + +"_Now_, Amelia!" interposed her husband's rasping voice. (This +ejaculation was his habitual manner of recalling Mrs. Simpson's +attention to the matter in hand, whatever it might be; for the good +lady's mind was discursive.) "If you'll be kind enough to leave off your +nonsense, we can begin our game. Come and cut for partners." + +An earnest whist player would have been outraged by the performances of +the four persons who met weekly in Mrs. Dobbs's parlour. They chatted, +they misdealt, they even revoked sometimes; and they overlooked each +other's misdemeanours with unscrupulous laxity. In a word, they regarded +the noble game of whist merely as a means and not as an end, and were +scandalously bent on amusing themselves regardless of Hoyle. The only +one of the party who had any pretensions to play tolerably was Mr. +Weatherhead. But even his attention was always to be diverted from his +cards by a new piece of gossip. And perhaps, it was as well that he did +not take the game too much to heart--especially on the present occasion; +for the fair Amelia fell to his lot as a partner, and her performances +with the cards were calculated to drive a zealous player into a nervous +fever. + +The first hand or two proceeded in decorous silence. But by degrees the +players began to talk, throwing out first detached sentences, and at +last boldly entering into general conversation. + +"Bassy had a great deal of trouble with the choir this evening," said +Mrs. Simpson plaintively. "The sopranos were _so_ inattentive! And +inattention is so particularly--oh dear, I beg pardon, I _have_ a +diamond! Well, it does not much matter, for we couldn't have made the +odd trick in any case." + +"A nice business at Sheffield with those Trades Unions," said Mr. +Weatherhead. "Some severe measures ought to be taken; but they won't be. +That's what your precious Liberalism comes to!--Your lead, Simpson." + +"Nonsense about Liberalism, Jo Weatherhead," replied Mrs. Dobbs. "I +believe you'd like to accuse the Liberals of the bad weather. +There!--Did you ever see such a hand? One trump! and that fell. Mrs. +Simpson playing out her knave misled me." + +"Oh, if you reckon on Amelia's having any sufficient motive for playing +one card more than another----" exclaimed Amelia's husband. "Have you +heard, Mrs. Dobbs, that Mr. Bransby is getting better?" + +"What Bransby is that?" asked Mr. Weatherhead, thrusting his head +forward inquiringly. + +"Cadell and Bransby, Solicitors to the Dean and Chapter." + +"Oh-o! He has been ill, then?" + +"Very ill. But I hear he was pronounced out of danger on Wednesday." + +"Is it not good news?" cried Mrs. Simpson. "Such a misfortune for his +young family! I mean if he had died, you know." + +"But I suppose he's a warm man, isn't he? Cadell and Bransby--it's a +fine business, isn't it?" asked Mr. Weatherhead. + +"It had need be," rejoined the organist, "to maintain that tribe of boys +and girls, and an extravagant young wife into the bargain." + +"Oh, Bassy, but they are such pretty children! And Mrs. Bransby is so +truly elegant and interesting. All her bonnets come from Paris, I am +told. And indeed there is a certain style----Eh? You _don't_ mean to say +that spades are trumps? What a disappointment! I thought I had all four +honours." + +This ingenuous speech might have called forth some remonstrance from +Mrs. Simpson's partner, but that the latter was too much interested in +the subject of the Bransbys to attend to it. + +"The eldest son is provided for by his mother's fortune, isn't he?" he +inquired. + +"Well--'provided for;' I don't know that it is very much. But it was all +tightly settled. Otherwise Bransby's second marriage would have been a +greater misfortune for the young man than it is," replied the organist. + +"I don't see that it is any misfortune at all," observed Mrs. Dobbs. +"Theodore Bransby is quite well enough off for a young fellow. And why +shouldn't his father marry again if he liked it?" + +"He is an extremely gentleman-like young man, is Mr. Theodore Bransby," +said Mrs. Simpson. "I have been imparting daily instruction to the +younger children, and I saw him rather frequently when he was at home +during the University vacation. He is now reading for the Bar, you know, +and I believe----Was that _your_ knave, Mr. Weatherhead? Really! Then I +have thrown away my queen. However," smiling amiably, "one can but take +the trick. I believe that Mr. Theodore Bransby means to go into +Parliament later. There is really something of the statesman about him +already, _I_ think--a way of buttoning his coat to the chin, don't you +know?" + +"Is Theodore Bransby in Oldchester now?" asked Mrs. Dobbs, sorting her +cards. + +"Oh yes," replied Mr. Simpson. "I wonder you didn't know, for he is a +great deal at Canon Hadlow's. They say he's making up to Miss Hadlow." + +"O-ho! But there's Mrs. Hadlow's nephew, young Rivers," put in Mr. +Weatherhead. "_He's_ supposed to be dangling after his cousin, isn't +he?" + +"I should think young Rivers had better dangle after an employment that +will give him bread and cheese. Miss Constance Hadlow won't have a +penny." + +"Oh, Bassy, but where there's real affection mercenary considerations +must give way. True love--true love is above all!" As she uttered these +words with great fervour, Mrs. Simpson flourished her arm +enthusiastically, and in so doing swept off the table several coins +which had served as counters to register her opponent's score. The +silver discs rolled swiftly away into various inaccessible corners of +the room, with the perversity usually observed in such cases. +Fortunately the game had just come to an end, and Martha had announced +that the supper was ready. This circumstance, and the fact that her +husband was a winner, spared Mrs. Simpson a sharp reprimand. + +Mr. Simpson uttered, indeed, a few sarcastic croaks. "_Now_, Amelia! +There you go! Always up to some nonsense or other." But he watched Mr. +Weatherhead and Martha as they crawled about on hands and knees to +recover the missing shillings and sixpences, with considerable +equanimity; merely observing that Amelia ought to be ashamed of herself +for giving so much trouble. + +When the supper was set on the table, three of the party, at least, were +in high good humour, and disposed to enjoy it. Mr. Simpson had won, and +was content. Mr. Weatherhead paid his losses without a murmur, +conscious, no doubt, that they were due as much to his own wandering +attention as to his partner's aberrations. As for Mrs. Simpson, the +sweetness of her disposition was proof against far more souring +circumstances than having spoiled Jo Weatherhead's game. She was not the +least out of humour with him. Mrs. Dobbs alone was a little more silent +and a little less genial than usual. The talk that evening with her old +friend had awakened painful thoughts of the past and anxieties for the +future. She very rarely mentioned her son-in-law's name, even to Mr. +Weatherhead, who was thoroughly in her confidence; and, whenever she did +speak of him, the result was invariably to irritate and depress her. +However, her hospitable instincts roused her to shake off her cares in +some degree, and to make her friends welcome to the fare set before +them. + +When the more substantial part of the supper was disposed of, and a jug +of hot punch steamed on the board, Mrs. Simpson, delicately tapping with +her teaspoon on the edge of her tumbler, observed, with an air at once +penetrating and amiable---- + +"Well, I'm sure it will be very gratifying to Mrs. Dormer-Smith when she +hears that dear May has been invited to the Hadlows'." + +"H'm! I don't think Mrs. Dormer-Smith will lose her wits with joy," +answered Mrs. Dobbs drily. + +"No? Oh, but surely----! She _must_ feel it agreeable that her niece +should be noticed by persons of such eminent gentility." + +Mrs. Dobbs would have dismissed the subject with a smile and a shake of +the head, avoiding, as she always did, any discussion or even mention of +her son-in-law's family; but Mr. Simpson interposed magisterially-- + +"If Mrs. Dormer-Smith isn't gratified, it must be because she is +ignorant of the position held by Canon Hadlow's family in Oldchester." + +Mrs. Dobbs faced about upon this, and said bluntly, "My dear good man, +all the best society of Oldchester put together would seem mighty small +beer to Mrs. Dormer-Smith." + +"Oh, really!" returned Mr. Simpson, mortified and incredulous. "Such a +very fine lady, is she? Well, 'Dormer-Smith' doesn't _sound_ very +aristocratic; but it may be, of course." + +"Mrs. Dormer-Smith _is_ a fine lady, and accustomed to mix with still +finer ladies. It's no use shutting one's eyes to facts. If we won't look +at them, we only bump up against them, because they're there, all the +same. As to opinions, that's different. I suppose I needn't say anything +about mine at this time of day. I'm a staunch Radical--always was, and +always will be." + +"Pooh, pooh! Call yourself a Radical!" said Mr. Weatherhead, laughing +his peculiar laugh, which consisted of a series of guttural _ho, ho, +ho's_. "You're convicted out of your own mouth of not being one. Whoever +heard of a Radical that cared about facts?" + +Mrs. Simpson put out her hand, and tapped him on the shoulder. "Now, +now; that's very naughty of you," she exclaimed. "Politics are strictly +forbidden on Saturday evenings by the ancient statutes of our society. +Isn't it so, Mr. Dobbs? I appeal to the chair." And she threatened Mr. +Weatherhead playfully with her forefinger, at the same time casting an +arch look through her spectacles. Glasses are not favourable to any +effective play of the eyes, and usually screen the most expressive of +glances behind a ghastly glitter, void of all speculation. But of this +consideration Mrs. Simpson was habitually oblivious. Then, by way of +turning the conversation into more agreeable channels, she continued, +"And, _apropos_ of May, dear Mrs. Dobbs, when did you last hear from her +papa?" + +This simple inquiry startled the company into absolute silence for a few +moments. Mrs. Dobbs's resolute reserve on the subject of her son-in-law +was so well known that none of her friends for several years past had +ventured to mention him to her. Some refrained because they did not wish +to hurt her; and many because they were afraid she might hurt them: for +Mrs. Dobbs's uncompromising frankness of speech and force of character +made her a hard hitter, when she did hit. But the specific levity of +Mrs. Simpson's mind gave her a certain immunity from hard retorts--the +immunity of a fly from a cannon ball. On the present occasion, however, +she received no rebuke; for greatly to Jo Weatherhead's surprise, and +somewhat to Mr. Simpson's, Mrs. Dobbs, after a brief pause, answered-- + +"I have not heard lately from Captain Cheffington. He is a bad +correspondent. But we shall soon be obliged to communicate with each +other. May is seventeen, and various arrangements will have to be made +about her future." + +"Goodness!" exclaimed Mrs. Simpson, clasping her hands. "You don't mean +to say that May isn't to remain with you?" + +"That will depend on what is agreed on in the family. May must take her +place in the world as Miss Cheffington, you know, and not as my +grand-daughter." + +The Simpsons exchanged a glance of surprise. This was the first time +they had heard Mrs. Dobbs assume any such position for her grandchild. +Sebastian was inclined to resist her doing so now. But something in Mrs. +Dobbs's manner checked him from expressing this feeling. It is generally +found easier to criticize our friends' shortcomings when we are free +from the disturbing element of their presence. The short remainder of +the evening was passed in talking of other things. But on their way home +Mr. and Mrs. Simpson discussed this new turn of affairs with some +eagerness. + +The organist considered that the notion of the Hadlows not being good +enough company for the Dormer-Smiths was preposterous; and he feared +that Mrs. Dobbs was giving herself airs. In reply to his wife's +observations that Mrs. Dobbs was a "dear old soul," he pointed out that, +dear and good though she might be, yet her husband had kept an +ironmonger's shop, and publicly sold hardware therein behind his +counter, to the knowledge of all Oldchester. This retort depended for +its cogency on the understanding of an ellipsis; which, however, Mrs. +Simpson was perfectly able to supply, for she answered immediately-- + +"Oh, I'm sure, Bassy, Mrs. Dobbs would never undervalue your position as +a professional man. She knows very well that the Arts rank superior to +trade." + +On the other hand, when Mrs. Simpson proceeded to opine that if May were +taken up by her father's family she would become quite a grand +personage, Mr. Simpson declared, with a good deal of heat, that for his +part he thought Mrs. Dobbs quite as good any day as the Cheffingtons, +about whom nothing certain was known in Oldchester except that they were +shabby in their dealings and "stuck-up" in their pretensions. + +Mr. Weatherhead lingered behind the organist and his wife, to say a word +to Mrs. Dobbs after their departure. + +"I can tell you one thing, Sarah; what you said about May will be all +over Oldchester by Monday." + +"So I guess." + +"O-ho! Then you mean it to be talked about?" + +"I mean it to be known that May is to take her place in the world as +Miss Cheffington." + +"But _is_ she? That's more than you can say, Sarah." + +"I shall have a try for it, Jo." + +Now whenever Mrs. Dobbs had said in that emphatic manner that she would +"have a try" for anything, that thing, so far as Jo Weatherhead's +experience went, had infallibly come to pass. But with all his faith in +his old friend, he could not help doubting her success in the present +case. He was eagerly curious to know how she intended to proceed; but +Mrs. Dobbs refused to say any more on the subject, declaring that she +must think things over quietly. + +"I don't see it," said Mr. Weatherhead to himself, poking forward his +nose, and pursing up his lips as he walked homeward. "Sarah Dobbs is a +wonderful woman, but even she can't gather grapes from thorns. And in +respect of justice or generosity--not to mention common honesty--I'm +afraid all the Cheffingtons are rather thorny." + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + + +Among other features peculiar to itself, Oldchester possesses a +quadrangular building with an inner cloister, commonly called College +Quad. It is in the immediate neighbourhood of the cathedral, and is +divided into small tenements inhabited by clergy forming part of the +cathedral body. At the back of the houses on the south side of the +quadrangle, pleasant gardens slope down towards the river Wend. The +cloister is a very beautiful piece of Gothic work, with fretted roof and +springing pillars. Peace and quiet reign within it. In summer there +comes a sleepy sound of rooks from the Bishop's garden close at hand; +and, towards sunrise and sunset, the chirp of innumerable sparrows +mingled with the richer notes of thrush, blackbird, and nightingale in +their season. At certain times of the day, too, the stillness is broken +by the thrilling freshness of children's voices, as the scholars of the +ancient Grammar School scatter themselves over the Cathedral Green, +shouting and calling in the shrill silvery treble of boyhood. But these +sounds are softened and subdued by distance and thick masonry before +they penetrate within the precincts of College Quad. In autumn and +winter there is a chill dampness on the greenish-gray paving-stones of +the cloister, and the rain drips heavily from carven capitals into the +resounding court. The very order and cleanliness of the place--its +decorous, clerical, smooth-shaven air--seem sometimes under a watery +sky, and when the winds are moaning and complaining, or thrumming like +ghostly fingers on the fine resonant Gothic fret-work, to fill the mind +with melancholy. + +A rich contrasting note is seldom wanting:--firelight and the glimpse of +a crimson curtain seen through lozenge-shaped window-panes; or an open +door sending out a gush of warmth and spicy smells from the kitchen, and +the sound of friendly voices. Yet even within doors there seems to be a +haunting sense of the old, old times when hands long crumbled into dust +built up that dainty cloister, and when patient monkish feet, long +stilled for ever, paced its stones. It is not a wholly sad feeling. It +may even give zest to the glance of living eyes, and the warm pressure +of dear hands. But it has a peculiar pathos:--a pathos which, perhaps, +is felt peculiarly by northern people, as the sad-sweet twilight belongs +to northern climates, and which many of those, to the manner born, would +not exchange for the unbroken garishness of golden-blue days and +silver-blue nights. + +The habitations on the south side of College Quad are considered the +most desirable of all, by reason of the gardens before-mentioned running +down to the Wend, although one or two houses on the west side may be a +trifle larger. Canon Hadlow's family of three persons inhabited one of +these coveted southern houses, and found it roomy enough for their +needs; yet it was a small--a very small--dwelling. The front door opened +on to the beautiful cloister. Immediately on entering the house you +found yourself in a tiny entrance-hall, to the left of which a steep and +narrow staircase of dark oak conducted to the one upper story. On the +right, a massive oaken-door gave access to a long, low parlour, whose +three latticed windows--darkened somewhat by a drooping fringe of +jessamine and virginia-creeper--looked across the garden and the river +to wide meadows. Opposite to the front door, a glass one, which in +summer stood wide open all day long, led into the garden. In winter, +swinging double-doors, covered with dark baize, shut out the cold air +and the chill, damp mist which sometimes crept up from the river. + +The exterior of the houses in College Quad was coeval with the Gothic +cloister; within, the passing centuries had somewhat modified their +aspect. The main features, however, were ancient, and most of the +inhabitants had chosen to preserve this general air of antiquity. Only +in some few cases had disastrous attempts at modernizing been made with +paint and French wall-papers. It would have been needless to tell any +Oldchester person that no such sacrilegious innovations deformed the +fine oak beams and wainscoting in Canon Hadlow's house. There was a dark +tone all through it, which, however, was not chill. It was rather the +rich darkness of Rembrandt's shadows, which seem to have a latent glow +in the heart of them. A deep red curtain here and there, or a well-worn +Turkey carpet, with its kaleidoscope of subdued tints, relieved the +general sombreness. Flowers in all manner of receptacles--from a +precious old china punch-bowl to the cheapest of glass goblets--adorned +every room in the house throughout the year. Even in winter there was +ivy to be had, and red-berried holly, and the coral clusters of the +mountain ash, and pale chrysanthemums. The garden furnished an ample +supply of stocks, roses, carnations, holly-hocks, china asters, +sweetwilliams, wallflowers, and the like old-fashioned blossoms with +homely names. But as Mrs. Hadlow herself quaintly remarked, she cared +more for the sight and smell of a flower than its sound. + +One sacrifice the flowers cost; the Hadlows had no lawn-tennis ground. +Mrs. Hadlow declared she could not spare the space. Her neighbours to +the right and left boasted of lawns which, with their white lines, +looked like tables chalked on the pavement for the popular street game +of hop-scotch--and were very little bigger. But the Hadlows' garden was +a mosaic of box-bordered flower-beds. Only quite at the lower end, where +a clipped hedge divided it from a footpath on the river bank, there was +a strip of green sward like a velvet carpet, spread completely across +the garden. At one angle stood a yew-tree of fabulous age, and in its +shadow were a garden bench and table, and a few rustic chairs. This was +Mrs. Hadlow's drawing-room whenever the weather permitted her to be +out-of-doors. There she sewed, and read, and received visits. The oak +parlour, which served also as a dining-room, was the ordinary family +living room. There was a small room called the study, lined with books +from floor to ceiling; but drawing-room, properly so-called, there was +none at all. Constance Hadlow was the only one of the family who +regretted this circumstance. The canon was perfectly content with his +abode. And as to Mrs. Hadlow, no one who valued her good opinion would +have ventured to hint to her that her house lacked anything to make it +convenient and delightful. An ill-advised stranger had once opined in +her presence that the near neighbourhood of the river must make the +south side of the College Quad damp and unhealthy during the autumn and +winter, and Mrs. Hadlow's indignation had been boundless. That it was +sometimes cold in College Quad she was willing to admit--just as it was +sometimes cold on the Riviera or in Cairo. But that it could, under any +circumstances, or for the shortest space of time, be damp, was what she +would never be brought to acknowledge. As to the Wend, if any +exhalations did arise from that gentle stream, they could not, she was +sure, be unwholesome--_above bridge_. It was important to bear in mind +this limitation, since below bridge, where the factories were, and where +the poorer dwellings stood in crowded ranks, and the streets vibrated to +the rumble of heavy waggons and tramway cars, the Wend must naturally +incur such corruption of its good manners as came from evil +communications. Mrs. Hadlow loved and admired Oldchester with +enthusiasm. But Oldchester, in her mind, meant the cathedral and its +immediate surroundings. Her admiration was bounded by the cathedral +precincts; and, to judge from her words, so was her love also. But her +heart was not to be imprisoned within any such confines. Prejudice might +rule her speech, and warp her judgments, but her warm human sympathies +went out towards those unfortunates who dwelt beyond the pale, even +under the shadow of Bragg's factory chimney; nay, even in those vulgar +suburban villas, with fine names, which were particularly abhorrent to +Mrs. Hadlow's soul. + +The sun shone brightly on a group of persons assembled in Mrs. Hadlow's +garden on the Monday forenoon after Mrs. Dobbs's supper-party. It was a +sun more bright than warm; and a little crisp breeze fluttered now and +then among the scarlet and gold leaves of the virginia-creeper which +draped the back of the house. Constance Hadlow, wrapped in a fleecy +shawl, and sitting in a patch of sunshine outside the shadow of the +yew-tree, declared it was "bitterly cold." Her opinion was evidently +shared by a black-and-tan terrier that shivered convulsively at +intervals with a sort of ostentation, as though to hint to the less +sensitive bipeds that it was high time to retire to the shelter of a +roof and the comforts of the hearthrug. Mrs. Hadlow's round, rosy face +seemed to shed a glow around it like a terrestrial sun, as she beamed +from behind a great basket piled with grey woollen socks belonging to +the canon: which socks were never darned by any other than his wife's +fingers. Her nephew, Owen Rivers, lounged on the bench beside her. +Seated on a low chair, May Cheffington was winding a ball of grey +worsted for the socks; and standing opposite to her, with his shoulder +against the trunk of the yew-tree, was Mr. Theodore Bransby. This young +gentleman had just said something which had startled the assembled +company. He was not given to saying startling things. He would probably +have pronounced it "bad form" to do so:--a phrase which, to his mind, +carried with it the severest condemnation. He had merely observed, "You +will all be sorry to lose Miss Cheffington, shall you not, Mrs. Hadlow?" +quite unconscious of saying anything to cause surprise. Surprise, +however, was plainly expressed on every countenance, including that of +Miss Cheffington herself. + +The fact was that rumour, speaking by the voices of Mr. and Mrs. +Simpson, had already announced in Oldchester that May Cheffington was +going away to live with her grand relations in London. The report had +not yet penetrated College Quad, but it had been brought to the +Bransbys' house that morning by Mrs. Simpson when she came to give her +daily lesson to the children. + +"Lose her! What do you mean?" asked Mrs. Hadlow. + +"You're not going to be married, are you, May?" cried Miss Constance, +dropping her parasol in order to look full at the other girl; while Mr. +Rivers, on the other hand, raised himself on his elbow and stared at +young Bransby. + +May laughed and coloured at her friend's question. "Certainly not that I +know of, Constance," she answered. + +"Are you going away, then?" + +"You must ask Mr. Bransby. He seems to know; I don't." + +As she spoke, May turned a pair of bright hazel eyes full on the young +gentleman in question, and smiled. The admixture of Dobbs blood with the +noble strain of Cheffington had certainly not produced any physical +deterioration of the race. Yet the dowager had been discontented with +her grand-daughter's appearance, and had particularly lamented the +absence of the Cheffington profile. Now the Cheffington profile was +handsome enough in its way, in certain subjects and at a certain time of +life; but with advancing years it was apt to resemble the profile of an +owl: the nose being beaky, and the orbit of the eyes very large, with +eyebrows nearly semi-circular; while the chin tended to disappear in +hanging folds and creases of throat. The Cheffingtons, moreover, were +sallow and dark-haired. May inherited her mother's fair skin and soft +brown hair. Her slender young figure, not yet fully grown, was rather +below than above the middle height. She had the healthy, though +delicate, freshness of a field-flower; but, like the field-flower, she +might easily pass unnoticed. There was nothing of high or dazzling +beauty about May Cheffington, but she had that subtle attraction which +does not always belong to beauty. A great many persons, however, thought +she did not bear comparison with Constance Hadlow, her friend and +schoolfellow. Besides a firm faith in her own beauty--which is a more +powerful assistance to its recognition by others than is generally +supposed--Miss Hadlow possessed a pair of fine dark eyes and eyebrows, a +clear, pale skin, regular features, and white teeth. Those who were +disposed to be critical observed that her face and head were rather too +massive for her height; and that her figure, sufficiently plump at +present, threatened to become too fat as she approached middle life. But +at twenty years of age that would have appeared a very remote +contingency to Constance Hadlow, supposing her to have ever thought +about it. Although circumstances often prevented her from being dressed +after the latest fashion, her hair--dark, wavy, and abundant--was always +skilfully arranged in the prevalent mode, whatever that might be. It +happened just then to be a becoming one to Miss Hadlow's head and face. +The crimson colour of the shawl wrapped round her made a fine contrast +with the creamy pallor of her skin and the vivid darkness of her eyes. +Altogether, she looked handsome enough to excuse Owen Rivers for finding +it difficult to remove himself from her society, supposing Mr. Simpson's +statement to be true that the young man was "dangling after his cousin +instead of minding his business." + +Theodore Bransby, on being called upon to explain himself, answered that +he understood Miss Cheffington was shortly going to London to reside +with her aunt, Mrs. Dormer-Smith. + +"Oh no, I'm not," said May promptly, before any one else could speak. +"That is quite a mistake." + +"Indeed!" + +"Oh yes, indeed it is. I'm going to stay with granny." + +"Indeed!" said Theodore Bransby once more. Then he added, "Are you quite +sure? Because I had it from a person who had it from Mrs. Dobbs +herself." + +"From granny?" In her astonishment May let fall the ball of worsted. It +rolled across the grass under the very nose of the toy terrier, who +snapped at it, and then shivered more strongly than ever with an added +sense of injury. + +"Very likely nothing is positively settled yet," continued Theodore. +"Mrs. Dobbs was speaking of family arrangements for the future." + +"Then I suppose," said May, with an anxious look, "that she has heard +from papa?" + +"Yes, I believe so; something was said about a communication from +Captain Cheffington." + +There was a little pause. Then Mrs. Hadlow said, "Well, of course we +shall be sorry to lose you, my dear, as Theodore says. But it is quite +right that you should be amongst your own people, and be properly +introduced." + +"Granny is my own people," returned May in a low voice. + +"Of course; and a most kind and excellent grandmother she is. But I +mean--in short, since it is Mrs. Dobbs's own plan, we must suppose she +thinks it best for you to go to town; and I must say I agree with her." + +"It is obviously necessary," said young Bransby. "Miss Cheffington will +have, of course, to be presented." + +"Why, you look quite glum, May!" cried Constance laughing. "Oh, you +little goose! I only wish I had the chance of going to town to be +presented." + +Owen Rivers, who had hitherto been silent, now addressed May, and asked +her if she disliked her aunt. + +"Dislike Aunt Pauline? Oh no; I don't dislike her at all. But I--I don't +know her very well." + +"I thought," said Bransby, "that you had been in the habit of staying +with Mrs. Dormer-Smith during the school vacations?" + +"No; before Grandmamma Cheffington died I used to go to Richmond, and I +only saw Aunt Pauline now and then. Since that time I haven't seen her +at all, for I've spent all my holidays with dear granny." + +Constance began to question young Bransby as to who had given him the +news about May's departure; what it was that had been said; whether the +time of her going away were positively fixed; and so forth. May rose, +and, under cover of picking up her ball of worsted, walked away out of +earshot. + +"Are you that phenomenon, a young lady devoid of curiosity, Miss +Cheffington?" asked Owen Rivers, as she passed near him. + +"Oh, there's nothing to be curious about," returned the girl, flushing a +little. "Granny and I shall talk it all over together this evening. I +need not trouble myself about what other people may say or guess." + +Miss Hadlow had apparently forgotten that it was "bitterly cold:" for +she continued to sit on the lawn talking with Theodore after the others +had gone into the house. She moved at length from her seat at the +summons of the luncheon-bell. Fox the terrier, more consistent, had +availed himself of the breaking-up of the little party to hasten indoors +and establish himself on the dining-room hearthrug:--a step which +nothing but his unconquerable dislike to being alone, had prevented him +from taking long ago. + +When the two loiterers at length entered the dining-room, Mrs. Hadlow +announced that May had gone home. Her grandmother had sent the servant +for her a little earlier than usual, and May had refused to remain for +luncheon. The young girl's absence gave an opportunity for discussing +her and her prospects; and they were discussed accordingly, as the party +sat at table. + +Mrs. Hadlow expressed great satisfaction at hearing that May was to be +received and accepted "as a Cheffington;" Constance inclined to think +that May would not duly appreciate her good fortune; and Theodore +Bransby observed stiffly, that Miss Cheffington's removal to town had +always been inevitable, and that the date of it alone could have been +matter for uncertainty to persons who knew anything of the Cheffington +family. + +"Well," said Rivers, "I suppose Constance is the only one of us here +present who possesses that knowledge." + +"No; I never knew much of them," answered his cousin. "I saw them +occasionally when I was at school. Sometimes the dowager came down to +stay at Brighton, and she used, now and then, to call for May in her +carriage; but she never entered the doors. And once or twice Mrs. +Dormer-Smith came. I remember we girls used to make game of old Mrs. +Cheffington with her black wig and her airs." + +"She was thoroughly _grande dame_, I believe," said Theodore Bransby. + +"Very likely. The servants used to say she was dreadfully stingy, and +call her an old cat. Mrs. Dormer-Smith had nice manners, and was always +beautifully dressed." + +"Your information is somewhat sketchy, my dear Constance; but no doubt +the outline is correct as far as it goes," observed Rivers. + +"Decidedly sketchy!" said Mrs. Hadlow, who was helping her guests to +minced mutton. + +"Miss Hadlow, however, is _not_ the only one of us who knows anything +about the Cheffingtons," said young Bransby, with his grave air. + +"Oh, dear me, I had forgotten!" interposed Mrs. Hadlow, after a quick +glance at the young man's face. "To be sure, Theodore has visited the +family in town. The fact is, Theodore has been a stranger himself so +long, that we have had no opportunity of hearing his report. Tell us +what the Dormer-Smiths are like, Theodore, since you know them." + +"Like? They are like people who move in the best society--like +thoroughbred people," returned Theodore, drawing himself up, stiffly. + +"Poor little May!" said Mrs. Hadlow, thoughtfully. "She's a sweet little +thing. I hope they'll be kind to her." + +"Do you know anything of Mrs. Dobbs, Aunt Jane?" asked Rivers. "I mean," +he added, "of course, you know _of_ her. But do you know her?" + +"Oh yes. Once, many years ago, the canon had a tough battle with Mrs. +Dobbs, when he was helping to canvas for the city member. We couldn't +get her husband's vote for the right side. But he was a worthy man, and +sold very good ironmongery. When Constance first asked leave to invite +her schoolfellow here, I had an interview with Mrs. Dobbs. She came to +the point at once. She said, 'Mrs. Hadlow, you need not be uneasy. My +friends and equals are not yours; but neither are they my +grand-daughter's. She belongs by her father's family to a different +class. As for me, I am too old to make any mistakes about my place in +the world, and too proud to wish to change it." + +"Too proud!" repeated Bransby, with raised eyebrows. + +"I thought it was very well said," answered Mrs. Hadlow. "I only wish +all the people of her class had the same honest pride. But Mrs. Dobbs is +a woman of great good sense, and of the highest integrity. All the same, +of course, now that May is grown up, the girl's position in that house +is too anomalous. Captain Cheffington no doubt feels that. He probably +left his daughter there so long out of tenderness to Mrs. Dobbs's +feelings; and perhaps also to help out the old lady's income. But now, +naturally, it must come to an end. He can't sacrifice May's future. That +is how I explain the state of the case; and it seems to me to be +creditable to all concerned." + +"At all events, it is creditable to Mrs. Dobbs, Aunt Jane," said Rivers. + +"And why not, pray, to Captain Cheffington too?" asked Constance. "But +Captain Cheffington has the misfortune to be born a gentleman, so, of +course, Owen disapproves of him." + +"Not at all, 'of course.' But I agree with you as to the misfortune--for +the other gentlemen, at all events!" + +"I think you're a little mistaken about Captain Cheffington, Rivers," +said Theodore. "He's a friend of mine." + +"In that case I'm very sorry," answered Owen drily. + +Mrs. Hadlow here interposed, rising from the table with a show of +cheerful bustle. "Come," said she, "you children must not loiter here +all day. The canon comes home from Wendhurst by the three-forty train, +and I am going to meet him; Constance has an engagement with the +Burtons; and as for you two boys, I shall turn you out without +ceremony." + +The kind lady's intention had been to break off the discourse between +the two young men, which threatened to become disagreeable. But as +Bransby and Rivers walked away side by side through the fretted cloister +of College Quad, the former, with a certain quiet doggedness which +belonged to him, returned to the subject. + +"You must understand," he said, "that I am not very intimate with +Captain Cheffington; but I know him, and am his debtor for some +courteous attentions. And I think you are a little--rash, if you don't +mind my saying so, in condemning him." + +"I don't at all mind your saying so." + +"You see, there are a great many circumstances to be taken into account, +in judging of Captain Cheffington's career. In the first place, there +was his unfortunate marriage." + + + + +CHAPTER V. + + +When Augustus Cheffington had paid that sudden visit to his +mother-in-law which resulted in leaving May on her hands, Theodore +Bransby happened to be at home during a University vacation, and was +flattered by Captain Cheffington's notice. The fact was that Augustus +found himself greatly bored and out of his element in Oldchester, and +was glad to accept a dinner or two from Mr. Bransby, the solicitor to +the Dean and Chapter; for Mr. Bransby's port wine was unimpeachable. He +had also condescended to play several games of billiards with Theodore +upon a somewhat mangy old table in the Green Dragon Hotel; and to smoke +that young gentleman's cigars without stint; and to hold forth about +himself in the handsomest terms, pleased to be accepted, apparently, +pretty much at his own valuation. Theodore Bransby was no fool. But he +was young, and he had his illusions. These were not of a high-flown, +ideal cast. He would have shrugged his shoulders at any one who should +set up for philanthropy, or poetry, or socialism, or chivalry. But he +was subdued by a display of nonchalant disdain for all the things and +persons which he had been accustomed to look up to, from childhood. Mr. +Bragg, the great tin-tack manufacturer, his father's wealthiest client, +was dismissed by Augustus Cheffington in two words: "Damned snob!" and +even the bishop he pronounced to be a "prosin' old prig," and spoke of +the bishop's wife as "that vulgar fat woman." These indications of +superiority, together with many references to the noble and honourable +Castlecombes and Cheffingtons who composed Augustus's kith and kin, had +greatly fascinated Theodore. And Augustus had completed his conquest +over the young man by giving him a letter of introduction to his sister, +Mrs. Dormer-Smith, which letter was delivered when young Bransby went to +London to read for the Bar. + +Although the brother and sister had parted not on the best terms with +each other, yet Augustus had not hesitated to give the introduction. He +believed that his sister would be willing to honour his recommendation +by showing civilities which cost her nothing; and, moreover, he was +quite indifferent (being then on the point of saying a long farewell to +Oldchester) as to whether the Dormer-Smiths snubbed young Bransby or +not. They did not snub him. Mrs. Dormer-Smith rather approved of his +manners; and it was quite clear that he wanted neither for means nor +friends. She was therefore inclined to receive him with something more +than politeness. And, in justice to Pauline, it must be said that she +was really glad of the opportunity to please her brother. She was not +without fraternal sentiments; and she strongly felt that an introduction +from a Cheffington to a Cheffington was not a document to be lightly +dishonoured. As for Mr. Dormer-Smith, although his feelings towards his +brother-in-law--never very cordial--had been exacerbated by having to +pay the bill for the dowager's funeral expenses, yet his resentment had +been to some degree soothed by Augustus's abrupt departure, and by his +withdrawal of May from her aunt's house. For many years past the +attachment of Augustus's relations for him had increased in direct +proportion to the distance which divided him from them. In Belgium he +was tolerated and pitied; had he gone to the Antipodes he would +doubtless have been warmly sympathized with; and it might safely be +prophesied that, when he should finally emigrate from this planet +altogether, the surviving members of the family would be penetrated by a +glow of affection. + +"I think he's rather nice, Frederick," said Mrs. Dormer-Smith, with a +little sigh of relief after young Bransby's first visit. + +"We may be thankful," returned her husband, "that Augustus has sent us a +possible person. One never can reckon on what he may choose to do." + +"Mr. Bransby is quite possible. Indeed, I think he is nice. He shall +have a card for my Thursdays." + +In this way Theodore had been received by Mrs. Dormer-Smith, and had +established himself in her good opinion on further acquaintance. "He +was," she said, "so quiet and so safe." At this time May Cheffington was +still at school, being maintained there, as has been recorded, by her +grandmother Dobbs; and Pauline would occasionally speak of her niece to +young Bransby. She always spoke kindly, though plaintively, of the girl, +over whom there hung the shadow of the unfortunate marriage. + +Theodore Bransby was an Oldchester person, and could not, therefore, be +supposed to be ignorant of that lamentable event. The fact was, however, +that he had never heard a word about it until he made Captain +Cheffington's acquaintance in his native city. It had taken place before +he was born; and, indeed, Oldchester had been less agitated by the +marriage, even at the time when it happened, than any Cheffington or +Castlecombe would have believed possible. But Pauline found young +Bransby's sentiments on the subject all that they should be. No one +could have expressed himself more shocked at the idea of a gentleman's +marrying a person in Susan Dobbs's rank of life than did this +solicitor's son. And Mrs. Dormer-Smith had not the least suspicion that +he would have considered such a marriage quite as shocking a +_mesalliance_ for himself as for Captain Cheffington. "Misunderstanding" +is used as a synonym for "discord;" but, perhaps, a great deal of social +harmony depends on misunderstandings. + +Theodore could not, of course, have the slightest personal interest in a +schoolgirl whom he had never seen; but his sympathies were so entirely +with the Cheffingtons on the question of the unfortunate marriage as to +inspire him with an odd feeling of antagonism against Mrs. Dobbs, and a +sense that she ought to be firmly kept in her place. He secretly thought +Mrs. Dormer-Smith weakly indulgent in allowing Miss Cheffington to +associate so freely with her grandmother, and was indignant at the idea +of that plebeian exercising any authority over Lord Castlecombe's +grand-niece. However, all that would doubtless come to an end when the +girl left school, and was introduced into society under her aunt's +protection. Theodore flattered himself that he thoroughly understood the +position. As for Viscount Castlecombe, he certainly knew all about +_him_--or, at least, what was chiefly worth knowing; for he had read +about him in the Peerage. + +Primed with this varied knowledge, young Bransby held forth to Owen +Rivers as they walked together through College Quad, across the open +green beyond it, and up to the house of Mr. Bransby, senior, in the +Cathedral Close. Here they parted. Rivers declined a polite invitation +from the other to enter, and pursued his way alone towards the High +Street; and Bransby, as he waited for the door to be opened, stood +looking after him for a few moments. + +The two young men had known each other more or less all their lives, but +theirs was a familiarity without real intimacy. The years had not made +them more congenial to each other. People began to say that they were +rivals in Constance Hadlow's good graces. But, whether this were so or +not, the latent antagonism between them had existed long before they +grew to be men. They had never quarrelled. The air is always still +enough in a frost. They did not even know how much they disliked one +another. As Theodore watched Owen's retreating figure, the thought +uppermost in his mind was that his friend's shooting-coat was badly cut, +and that he did not remember ever to have seen him wear gloves. + +The home of Mr. Martin Bransby, of the old-established firm of Cadell +and Bransby, was a luxurious one. The house was an ancient substantial +stone building, with a spacious walled garden behind it, contiguous to +the bishop's. The present occupant had made considerable additions to +it. It is perhaps needless to say that he had been severely criticized +for doing so, there being no point on which it is more difficult to +content public opinion than the expenditure of one's own money. Several +of Mr. Bransby's acquaintances were unable to reconcile themselves to +the fact that he was not satisfied with that which had satisfied his +father and grandfather (for Martin Bransby was the third of his family +who had successively held that house and the business of solicitor to +the Dean and Chapter of Oldchester). It would have been better, they +opined, if, instead of building new rooms, he had saved his money to +provide for the young family rising around him. If it were observed to +this irreconcilable party that the presence of a numerous family +necessitated more space to lodge them in than the original house +afforded, they would triumphantly retort, "Very well, then, what +business had Martin Bransby to marry a second time? Or, if he must +marry, why did he choose a young girl without a penny instead of some +person nearer his own age and with a little property?" Martin Bransby, +however, marrying rather to please himself than to earn the approval of +his friends, had chosen a remarkably pretty girl of twenty, a Miss +Louisa Lutyer, of a good Shropshire family, whom he had met in London. +They had now been married twelve years, during which time five children +had been born to them, and they had lived together in the utmost +harmony. Those persons who disapproved of the match (solely in Mr. +Bransby's interests, of course) could find nothing worse to say than +that Martin was absurdly in love with his wife, and treated her with +weak indulgence. In short, the irreconcilables were driven, year by +year, to put off the date at which their unfavourable judgments were to +be corroborated by facts, much as sundry popular preachers have been +compelled by circumstances over which they had no control, to postpone +the end of the world. + +Latterly they had had the mournful satisfaction of observing that Martin +Bransby was looking far from well--harassed and aged. And when he was +attacked by the severe illness which threatened his life, they solemnly +hinted that the malady had been aggravated by anxiety about his young +family; for although Martin had made, and was making, a great deal of +money, yet, with three boys to put out in the world, two daughters to +provide for, and an extravagant wife to maintain, even the excellent +business of Cadell and Bransby _must_ be somewhat strained to supply his +needs. + +At any rate, the evidences of wealth and comfort were as abundant as +ever in the home which Theodore entered when he parted from his friend. +There was plenty of solid furniture, dating from the dark ages before +modern aestheticism had arisen to reform upholstery and teach us the +original sinfulness of the prismatic colours. But these relics of the +earlier part of the century were not to be found in the two spacious +drawing-rooms, which had been arranged by the fashionablest of +fashionable house-decorators from London. These rooms, together with a +tiny cabinet behind them, which was styled "The Boudoir," were Mrs. +Bransby's special domain. And here Theodore found her seated by the +fireside. A book lay on her knees; but she was not reading it. She was +resting in a position of complete repose, with her head leaning against +the back of the chair, her hands carelessly crossed on her lap, and her +feet supported on a cushion. She was enjoying the sense of bodily and +mental rest which comes from the removal of a keen-edged anxiety; for +during several weeks Mrs. Bransby had been the most devoted of +sick-nurses, and had scarcely left her husband's room. But now the +doctors had pronounced all danger to be over; the children's active feet +and shrill voices were no longer hushed down by warning fingers; the +housemaid sang over her brooms and dusters; and the mistress of the +house had unpacked and put on a new "tea-gown," which had lain neglected +for more than a fortnight in its brown-paper wrappings. From the +golden-brown clusters of hair on her forehead to the tip of her dainty +shoe every detail of her appearance was cared for minutely. Yet there +was nothing of stiffness or affectation. She reminded one of an +exquisitely-tended hothouse flower, and carried her beauty and her +toilet with as perfect an air of unconscious refinement as the flower +itself. Certainly Oldchester held no more lovely and graceful figure +than Mrs. Bransby presented to the eyes of her stepson. Yet the eyes of +her stepson rested on her with a glance of cool disapprobation. His +manner of addressing her, however, was not more chilly than his manner +of addressing most other persons--perhaps rather less so; and he was +scrupulously polite. + +"Did Hatch give a good account of my father this morning?" he asked, +seating himself by the fire opposite to Mrs. Bransby. + +"Excellent, thank goodness! He is to drive out on Wednesday, if the +weather is favourable. I felt so soothed and comforted by Dr. Hatch's +report, that I thought I would indulge myself with half an hour of +perfect laziness," added Mrs. Bransby, with a deprecating glance at +Theodore. She constantly reproved herself for assuming an apologetic +attitude towards her stepson, but constantly recurred to it; she was so +keenly conscious of his--always unexpressed--criticism. + +"Mrs. Hadlow desired to send word that the canon means to call on my +father this afternoon, if he is well enough to see him." + +"Oh yes; a talk with Canon Hadlow will do him good." Then, after an +instant's pause, Mrs. Bransby asked, "Have you been in College Quad, +then?" + +"I lunched with Mrs. Hadlow. Rivers was there; I parted from him just +now. And Miss Cheffington." + +"Oh, really? Mrs. Hadlow is very kind to that little May Cheffington." + +Theodore made no answer, but looked stiffly at the fire. + +Mrs. Bransby went on: "I saw her in the cathedral at afternoon service +yesterday, with the Hadlows. It struck me she was growing quite pretty. +Don't you think so?" + +"I should not call her _pretty_----" began Theodore slowly. + +Mrs. Bransby broke in: "Well, of course, she is eclipsed by Constance. +Constance is so very handsome. But still----" + +"I should not describe Miss Cheffington as _pretty_," pursued Theodore, +in an inflexible kind of way. "She is something more than pretty. She +looks thoroughbred." + +"But that's exactly what she is _not_, isn't it?" exclaimed Mrs. Bransby +impulsively. + +"I am not sure that I apprehend you." + +"I mean her mother was quite a common person, was she not?" + +"A woman takes her husband's rank." + +"Yes; but she doesn't inherit his ancestors. Besides, one really doesn't +know much about the father, for that matter. To be sure, Simmy was +making a great flourish about May's grand relations in London this +morning. But then all poor dear Simmy's geese are swans." (The name of +"Simmy" had been bestowed on Mrs. Simpson by the youngest little Bransby +but one; and although the elder children were reproved for using it, the +appellation had come to be that by which she was most familiarly known +in the Bransby family.) + +"Mrs. Simpson is a silly person, but her information happens, in this +case, to be correct," returned Theodore. "The relations with whom Miss +Cheffington is going to live in London are friends of mine." + +"Oh! Then what Simmy said is true?" said Mrs. Bransby simply. + +Theodore proceeded, with a scarcely perceptible hesitation, "I think you +might invite Miss Cheffington here before she goes to town. I--I should +be obliged to you for the opportunity of showing her some attention, in +return for the Dormer-Smiths' kindness to me in London." + +"Yes, I can ask the girl if you like," answered Mrs. Bransby, not quite +as warmly as Theodore thought she ought to have answered such a +suggestion from him; "but it will be rather stupid for her, I'm afraid. +At the Hadlows' there is a young girl near her own age; but here, unless +she likes to play with the children, I don't see how we are to amuse +her." + +"I did not contemplate Miss Cheffington's playing with the children. I +meant that you should invite her to a dinner-party, or something of that +sort." + +"Invite May Cheffington to a dinner-party!" repeated Mrs. Bransby, +opening her soft, brown eyes in astonishment. + +"My father spoke of giving a dinner before I go back to the Temple, and +he said he thought he should be well enough to see his friends by the +end of next week." + +"Yes. He talked of inviting the Pipers, and the Hadlows, and perhaps Mr. +Bragg." + +"Could you not include Miss Cheffington? Perhaps if you allowed me to +see your list I might help to arrange it." + +"Oh, I suppose one _could_; but wouldn't it seem a very strange thing to +do?" + +A little colour came into Theodore's pale fair face, and his chin grew +visibly more rigid above his cravat, as he answered, "I don't know. But +the social _convenances_ are not to be measured by Oldchester's +provincial ideas as to their strangeness. And--pardon me--I don't think +you quite understand Miss Cheffington's position." + +And then he entered on an explanation of the "position," much as he had +explained it to Owen Rivers; with only such suppressions and variations +(chiefly regarding the private history of Augustus Cheffington) as he +thought the difference between his hearers demanded. + +"Well, I'm sure if your father has no objection, I have none," said Mrs. +Bransby at length. And so Theodore got his own way. It was a matter of +course that he should get his own way so far as his step-mother was +concerned. Mrs. Bransby had, indeed, successfully resisted him on many +occasions; but always through the medium of her husband. If Theodore +attacked her face to face, she never had the courage to oppose him. Not +that in the present case she very much wished to oppose him. Nor, in +truth, had their wills ever clashed seriously. But the secret +consciousness of her weakness and timidity was mortifying: for Mrs. +Bransby, although too gentle to fight, was not too gentle to wish she +could fight. And after Theodore had left the room, she sat for some time +imagining to herself various neat and pointed speeches which would +doubtless have brought down her stepson's sententious, supercilious +tone, if she had only had the presence of mind to utter them. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + + +May Cheffington went back to her grand-mother's house, very eager to +understand the origin of the rumours about herself which she had heard +at the Hadlows'. Mrs. Dobbs had not calculated on this, and would have +preferred to break the project to May herself, and in her own fashion. +However, as it had been mentioned, she spoke of it openly. She merely +cautioned her grand-daughter against rashly jumping at any conclusions: +the future being very vague and unsettled. + +"There's one conclusion I _have_ jumped at, granny," said the girl, "and +that is, that I don't mean to give you up for any aunts, or uncles, or +cousins of them all. They are strangers to me, and I don't care a straw +about them--how should I?--whilst _you_ are--granny!" + +"There is no question of giving me up, May. Perhaps I should not like +that much better than you would. But if your father should think it +right for you to stay for a while with his family, we mustn't oppose +him. And I must tell you that I should think it right, too." + +"Oh, if it's only staying 'for a while'----!" + +"Well, at all events we needn't look beyond a 'while' and a short while, +for the present." + +Mrs. Dobbs found it more difficult than she had anticipated to put +before May the prospect of being removed from Oldchester altogether, +and, now that the idea of losing May out of her daily life fully +presented itself, she felt a grip at the heart which frightened her. But +she had one of those strong characters whose instinct it is to hide +their wounds and suffer silently; and she resolutely put aside her own +pain at this prospect--or rather, put it off to the solitary hours to +come. + +During the four years since her father had left her at Oldchester, May's +life had been passed between her school at Brighton and her holidays in +Oldchester. These had certainly been the happiest years she could +remember in all her young life. Her grand-mother's house had been the +first real home she had ever known. Her recollections of their life on +the Continent were dim and melancholy. She remembered fragmentary scenes +and incidents in certain dull Flemish towns; their strong-smelling +gutters, their toppling gables, the _carillons_ sounding high up in some +ancient cathedral belfry. She had a vision of her mother's face, very +pale and thin, with large bright eyes, and streaks of gray in the brown +hair. May, as the youngest of Susan Cheffington's children, had come in +for the worst part of their Continental life. The earlier years, when +there was still some money to spend, and fewer debts to be run away +from, had not been quite devoid of brightness. But poor little May's +conscious observation had little to take note of at home save poverty, +sickness, domestic dissensions, and frequent migrations from one shabby +lodging to another. Then her mother died, and some six or eight months +afterwards she was brought to England, and--Fate and the dowager so +willing it--was sent to school to Mrs. Drax in Brighton. The choice of +this school proved to be a very fortunate one for the little motherless +stranger. And perhaps the credit of it ought fairly to be assigned +rather to Destiny than the dowager. The latter would have selected a +more fashionable, pretentious, and expensive establishment had she +consulted merely her idea of what was becoming and suitable for Miss +Miranda Cheffington. But she soon found out that whatever was paid for +that young lady's schooling must, sooner or later, come out of her own +pocket, and she therefore preferred to honour Mrs. Drax with her +patronage, rather than Madame Liebrecht, who had been governess for +years in a noble family, and was supposed to accept no pupil who could +not show sixteen quarterings; or, of course, their equivalent in cash. + +The choice made was, as has been said, very fortunate for May. Mrs. Drax +had the manners of a gentlewoman, and more amiability than could perhaps +have been reasonably expected to survive a long struggle with her +special world--a world of parents and guardians, who held, for the most +part, a liberal view of her duties and a niggardly one of her rights. +Here little May Cheffington remained as a pupil for nearly eight years. +During the first half of that time she sometimes spent her holidays with +the dowager at Richmond, and sometimes in Brighton under the care of +Mrs. Drax. She preferred the latter. Old Mrs. Cheffington did not treat +the child with any active unkindness; but she showed her no tenderness. +The little girl was usually left to the care of her grand-mother's +maid--an elderly woman, to whom this young creature was merely an extra +burthen not considered in her wages. The child passed many a lonely hour +in the garden, or beside the dining-room fire with a book, unheeded. Her +aunt Pauline she only saw at rare intervals. She had a confused sense of +innocently causing much sorrow to Mrs. Dormer-Smith, who seemed always +to be afflicted (why, May did not for several years understand) by the +sight of her clothes; and who used to complain softly to the dowager +that "the poor dear child was lamentably dressed." But, on the whole, +she retained a rather agreeable impression of her aunt, as being pretty +and gentle, and kissing her kindly when they met. + +Then came the dowager's death, the sudden journey to Oldchester, and the +first acquaintance with that unknown Grandmother Dobbs, whose very name +she had heard uttered only in a reproachful tone by the dowager, or in a +hushed voice by the dowager's elderly maid, speaking as one who names a +hereditary malady. And to this _taboo_ Grandmother Dobbs the neglected +child soon gave the warm love of a very grateful and affectionate +nature. May did not know or guess that she was a burthen on her +grand-mother's means, nor would the knowledge have increased her +gratitude at that time. It was the fostering affection which the child +was thankful for. She nestled in it like a half-fledged bird in the warm +shelter of the mother's wing. She was not timid or reserved by +temperament; but the circumstances of her life had given her a certain +repressed air. That disappeared now like hoar-frost in the sunshine. She +was like a young plant whose growth had been arrested by a too chilly +atmosphere. She burgeoned and bloomed into the natural joyousness of +childhood, which needs, above all things, the warmth of love, and cannot +be healthily nurtured by any artificial heat. + +In her school there was no influence tending to diminish May's +attachment to her grandmother, or her perfect contentment with the +simple _bourgeois_ home in Oldchester. Plain Mrs. Dobbs, who paid her +bills punctually, and listened to reason, stood far higher in the +schoolmistress's esteem than the Honourable Mrs. Cheffington, who was +never contented, and required to be dunned for the payment of her just +debts. As to her noble relations, May had no acquaintance with them, and +never sighed to make it. She was ignorant of the very existence of many +of them. When, at seventeen years of age, she was removed from school, +she looked forward to living in the old house in Friar's Row, and she +certainly desired no better home. Mrs. Drax, it has been said, had the +manners of a gentlewoman, and she had not vulgarized May's natural +refinement of mind by misdirecting her admiration towards ignoble +things. The provincialisms in her grand-mother's speech, and the homely +style of her grand-mother's household--although she clearly perceived +both--neither shocked nor mortified May. On the other hand, she accepted +it as a quite natural thing that she should be invited to Canon Hadlow's +house as a guest on equal terms. As Mrs. Dobbs had said to Jo +Weatherhead, May was very much of a child still, and understood nothing +of the world. Her unquestioning acceptance of the situation as her +grandmother presented it to her had something very child-like. She did +not inquire how it came to pass that her aunt Pauline, who had taken +very little notice of her during the past four years, should now desire +to have her as an inmate of her home. She did not ask why her father, +after so long a torpor on the subject, had suddenly awakened to the +necessity of asserting his daughter's position in the world; neither did +she, even in her private thoughts, reproach him for having delegated all +the care and responsibility of her education to "granny." A +healthy-minded young creature has deep well-springs of unquestioning +faith in its parents, or those who stand in the place of parents. + +But there was one person not so easily contented with the first +statement offered; and that person was Mr. Joseph Weatherhead. Mr. +Weatherhead was very fond of May, and admired her very much. His social +and political theories ought logically to have made him regard her with +peculiar interest and consideration as coming of such very blue +blood--at least on one side of the house. But it so happened that these +theories had nothing on earth to do with his attachment to May. That +arose, firstly, from her being Sarah Dobbs's grandchild (Jo would have +loved and championed any creature, biped or quadruped, that belonged to +Sarah Dobbs), and, secondly, from her being very lovable. The poor man +was often embarrassed by the conflict between his curiosity and his +principles. His curiosity, which was as insatiable and omnivorous as the +appetite of a pigeon, would have led him to cross-question May minutely +about all she knew or guessed respecting her own future, and the +probable behaviour of her father's family towards her; but his +conscience told him that it would not be right to put doubts and +suspicions into the girl's trusting young soul. Certainly he himself +cherished many doubts and suspicions as to the future conduct of May's +papa. He questioned Mrs. Dobbs, indeed; but there was neither sport nor +exercise for his sharp inquisitiveness in that. When Mrs. Dobbs did not +choose to answer him, she said so roundly, and there was an end. She had +told him that she was in correspondence with Captain Cheffington, and +that she believed he would share her views about his daughter. Jo, +however, entertained a rooted disbelief as to Captain Cheffington's +holding any "views" which had not himself for their supreme object. + +"And this Mrs. Dormer-Smith, now, Sarah," said he. "What reason have you +to suppose that she will be willing to take charge of her niece now, +when she would have nothing to say to her before?" + +"A pretty girl of seventeen is a different charge from a lanky child of +twelve, Jo. Mrs. Dormer-Smith couldn't have taken a schoolgirl in short +frocks out into the world with her." + +"Humph! You don't _know_ that she will take May out into the world with +her?" + +"I have written. I shall have an answer in a few days, I dare say. I +don't expect matters to be settled like a flash of greased lightning, as +Mr. Simpson says. There's a deal to be considered. Hold your tongue, +now; here's May." + +Similar conversations took place between them nearly every day. And when +they were not interrupted by any external circumstance, Mrs. Dobbs would +resolutely put an end to them by declining to pursue the subject. + +One afternoon, about a week after May's return from her visit to the +Hadlows', the young girl was seated at the old-fashioned square +pianoforte, singing snatches of ballads in a fresh, untrained voice; Mr. +Weatherhead had just taken his accustomed seat by the fireside; and Mrs. +Dobbs was opposite to him in her own armchair, with the old tabby +purring in the firelight at her feet, when Martha opened the parlour +door softly, shut it quickly after her, and announced, with a slight +tone of excitement in her usually quiet voice, that there was a +gentleman in the passage asking for Miss May. + +"For me, Martha?" exclaimed May, turning round at the sound of her own +name, with one hand still on the keys of the pianoforte. "Who is he?" + +"He said 'Miss Cheffington.' I don't know him, not by sight. But here's +his card." + +Mrs. Dobbs took the card from the servant, and put on her spectacles, +bending down to read the name by the firelight. "Bun--Brun--oh, Bransby! +Mr. Theodore Bransby. Ask the gentleman to walk in, Martha." + +As Martha left the room, Mr. Weatherhead pointed to the door with one +thumb, and whispered, "Wonder what _he_ wants!" To which Mrs. Dobbs +replied by lifting her shoulders and slightly shaking her head, as much +as to say, "I'm sure I can't guess." The next moment Mr. Theodore +Bransby was ushered into the parlour. + +The room was rather dim, and Theodore did not immediately perceive May, +who still sat at the piano. "Miss Cheffington?" he said interrogatively, +with a stiff little gesture of the head towards Mrs. Dobbs, which might +pass for a bow. + +Mrs. Dobbs had risen from her chair, and now motioned her visitor to be +seated. "My grand-daughter is here. Pray sit down, Mr. Theodore +Bransby," she said. Then May got up, and came forward, and shook hands +with him. + +"I don't think you know my grandmother, Mrs. Dobbs," she said, +presenting him. + +Theodore, upon this, began to hold out his hand rather slowly; but, as +Mrs. Dobbs made no answering gesture, but merely pointed again to a +chair, he was fain to bow once more--a good deal more distinctly, this +time--and to sit down with the sense of having received a little check. + +"I hope I have not interrupted you, Miss Cheffington?" said he, clearing +his throat and settling his chin in his shirt-collar. "You were +singing." + +"Oh no; you haven't interrupted me at all. And, even if you had, it +wouldn't matter. My singing is not worth much." + +"Pardon me if I decline to believe that. From some sounds which reached +me through the door, I am sure you sing charmingly." + +May laughed. "Ah," said she, "the other side of the door is the most +favourable position for hearing me. I really don't know how to sing. Ask +granny." + +"No; May doesn't know how to sing," said Mrs. Dobbs quietly, but very +decisively. (For she had caught an expression on Mr. Theodore Bransby's +pale, smooth face, which seemed to wonder superciliously what on earth +_she_ could know about it.) Whereupon his pale, smooth eyebrows raised +themselves a hair's breadth more, but he said nothing. + +"My grandmother is a great judge of singing, you must know," went on May +innocently. "She has heard all the best singers at the Oldchester +Musical Festivals for years and years past, and she used to sing herself +in the choruses of the oratorios." + +"Oh, I see!" said Theodore, with a little contemptuous air of +enlightenment. + +Jo Weatherhead looked across at him uneasily. He had a half-formed +suspicion that this young spark with the smooth, rather closely-cropped +blonde head, severe shirt-collar, faultlessly-fitting coat, and slightly +pedantic utterance, showed a tendency to treat Mrs. Dobbs with +impertinence. But he checked the suspicion, for, he argued with himself, +young Bransby had had the training of a gentleman. And what gentleman +would be impertinent to a worthy and respected woman, and in her own +house, too? He thought, as he looked at him, that Theodore bore very +little resemblance to his father, Martin Bransby, who was altogether of +a different and more massive type. + +"You don't favour your father much, sir," said Jo blandly. + +The young man turned his pale blue eyes upon him with a look studiously +devoid of all expression. "I had the honour of knowing your worthy +father well, some five-and-twenty--or it may be thirty--years ago." + +Theodore, continuing to stare at him stonily, said, "Oh, really?" in a +low monotone. + +"Yes; I knew him in the way of business. He was a customer of mine when +I was in the bookselling business at Brummagem, as we called it. Your +father was, even at that time, very highly thought of by some of the +leading legal luminaries. We had no assizes at Birmingham, as no doubt +you're aware; but I used to go over to Warwick Assizes pretty reg'larly +in those days, having some dealings there in the stationery line--which +I afterwards gave up altogether, though that isn't to the point--and I +used to frequent a good deal of legal company. Mr. Martin Bransby was +thought a good deal of, among 'em, I can tell you, and was taken a great +deal of notice of by some of the county families--quite the real old +gentry," added Mr. Weatherhead, pursing up his mouth and nodding his +head emphatically, like a man enforcing a statement which his hearers +might reasonably hesitate to accept. + +"Oh, how is Mr. Bransby?" asked May. + +"Thanks; my father is going on very well indeed. He has driven out +twice, and, in fact, is nearly himself again. He purposes asking some +friends to dine with him next week. Indeed, that furnishes the object of +my visit here. I--Mrs. Bransby--of course, you understand that my +father's long illness has given her a great deal to do." + +"Truly it must!" broke in Mrs. Dobbs, thinking at once sympathetically +of the wife and mother threatened with so cruel a bereavement, and now +almost suddenly relieved from overwhelming anxiety. "I'm sure most folks +in Oldchester have been feeling greatly for Mrs. Bransby." + +"And so," continued Theodore, addressing himself exclusively to May, +"she has not really been--been able to see as much of you as she would +have liked, Miss Cheffington." + +May looked at him in surprise. "Why of course?" said she. "Mrs. Bransby +hasn't been thinking about _me_! How should she?" + +"That is the reason--I mean my father's illness, and all the occupations +resulting from it--which has induced Mrs. Bransby to make me her +ambassador on this occasion." + +As he spoke, Theodore took a little note from his pocket-book, and +handed it to May. She glanced at it, and exclaimed with open +astonishment, "It's an invitation to dinner! Look, granny!" + +Mr. Weatherhead poked forward his head to see. It was, in fact, a formal +card requesting the pleasure of Miss Cheffington's company at dinner on +the following Saturday. Mrs. Dobbs once more put on her spectacles and +read the card. + +"I hope you will be disengaged," said Theodore, severely ignoring +"granny." + +"Oh, I couldn't go to a grand dinner-party. It would be ridiculous!" + +"May! That's not a gracious fashion of receiving an invitation, anyhow," +said Mrs. Dobbs, smiling a little. + +"It's very kind indeed of Mr. and Mrs. Bransby, but I would much rather +not, please," said May, endeavouring to amend her phrase. + +"Oh, that's dreadfully cruel, Miss Cheffington!" + +"You don't think I ought to go, do you, granny?" + +"That," replied Mrs. Dobbs, "depends on circumstances." + +"I assure you," said Theodore, turning round with his most imposing air, +"that it would be quite proper for Miss Cheffington to accept the +invitation. I should certainly not urge her to do so unless that were +the case." + +Jo Weatherhead's suspicions as to this young spark's tendency to +impertinence were rather vividly revived by this speech, and his +forehead flushed as dark a red as his nose. But Mrs. Dobbs, looking at +Theodore's fair young face made up into an expression of solemn +importance, smiled a broad smile of motherly toleration, and answered in +a soothing tone-- + +"No, no; to be sure, you mean to do what's right and proper; only young +folks don't look at everything as has to be considered. But youth has +the best of it in so many ways, it can afford to be not quite so wise as +its elders." + +This glimpse of himself, as Mrs. Dobbs saw him, was so totally +unexpected as completely to dumfounder Theodore for a moment. Never, +since he left off round jackets, had he been so addressed: for the +behaviour of our acquaintances towards us in daily life is generally +modified by their idea of what we think of ourselves. + +"I--I can assure you," he stammered; and then stopped, at a loss for +words, in most unaccustomed embarrassment. + +"There, there, we ain't bound to say yes or no all in a minute," pursued +Mrs. Dobbs. "Any way, we couldn't think of making you postman. That's +all very well for your step-mother, of course; but May must send her +answer in a proper way. Meanwhile, will you stay and have a cup of tea, +Mr. Bransby? It's just our teatime. The tray will be here in a minute." + +Theodore had risen as if to go. He now stood hesitating, and looking at +May, who certainly gave no answering look of encouragement. She wanted +him gone, that she might "talk over" the invitation with her +grandmother. + +With a pleasant clinking sound, Martha now brought in the tea-tray; and +in another minute had fetched the kettle and placed it on the hob, +where, after a brief interval of wheezing and sputtering, consequent on +its sudden removal from the kitchen fire, it resumed its gurgling sound, +and made itself cheerfully at home. + +If Mrs. Dobbs had urged him by another word,--if she had shown by any +look or tone that she thought it would be a condescension in him to +remain, Theodore would have refused. But she began placidly to scoop out +the tea from the caddy, and awaited his reply with unfeigned equanimity. +There was an unacknowledged feeling in his heart that, to go away then +and so, would be to make a flat kind of exit disagreeable to think of. +He would like to leave this obtuse old woman impressed with a sense of +his superiority; and apparently it would still require some little time +before that impression was made. + +"Thanks," he said. "If I am not disturbing you----" + +"Dear no! How could it disturb me? Martha, bring another cup and +saucer." + +And then Theodore, laying aside his hat and gloves, drew a chair up to +the table and accepted the proffered hospitality. + +Having found the method of supercilious reserve rather a failure, the +young man now adopted a different treatment for the purpose of awaking +Mrs. Dobbs, and that objectionably familiar person with the red nose, to +a sense of his social distinction and general merits. He talked--not +volubly, indeed: for that would have been out of his power, even had he +wished it, but he talked--in a succession of short speeches, beginning +for the most part with "I." His efforts were not, however, exclusively +aimed at Mrs. Dobbs and Jo Weatherhead. He watched May a good deal, and +spoke to her of the Dormer-Smiths as though that were a topic between +themselves, from which the profane vulgar (especially profane +ex-booksellers, with red noses) were necessarily excluded. As the others +said very little--with the exception of an occasional question from Jo +Weatherhead--Theodore's talk assumed the form of a monologue spoken to a +dull audience. + +He was conscious, as he walked away from Friar's Row, of being a little +surprised at his own conversational efforts, and half-repentant of his +condescension. He had been obliged to take his leave without obtaining +any definite answer to the dinner invitation. But, perhaps, the feeling +uppermost in his mind was irritation at May's perfectly simple +acceptance of her position as Mrs. Dobbs's grand-daughter, and her +perfectly filial attachment to her grandmother. "It is really too bad! +Cheffington ought never to have allowed his daughter to be got hold of +by those people. Mrs. Dormer-Smith cannot have the least idea what sort +of a _milieu_ her niece lives in!" he said to himself. + +The worst was that May was so evidently contented! If she had been at +all distressed by her surroundings, Theodore could have better borne to +see her there. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + + +Persons like the Simpsons, who knew Mrs. Dobbs intimately, allowed her +to have a strong judgment, and asserted her to have a still stronger +will. She was far too bent on her own way ever to take advice, they +said. It certainly did not happen that she took theirs. But Mrs. Dobbs's +judgment was stronger than they knew. It was strong enough to show her +on what points other people were likely to know better than she did. She +would undoubtedly have followed Amelia Simpson's counsels as to the best +way of dressing the hair in filmy ringlets--if she had chanced to +require that information. + +On the morning after Theodore Bransby's visit to her house, Mrs. Dobbs +put on her bonnet and set off betimes to College Quad. There she had an +interview with Mrs. Hadlow, who, it appeared, was going to the Bransbys' +dinner-party, and willingly promised to take charge of May. + +"It seemed to me it wouldn't be the right thing for my grand-daughter to +go alone to a regular formal party," said Mrs. Dobbs. "But, as I don't +pretend to be much of an authority on such matters, I ventured to ask +you to tell me." + +"Of course you were quite right, Mrs. Dobbs." + +"And you think she had better accept the invitation? She doesn't much +want to do so herself, being shy of going amongst strangers. But, to be +sure, if she may be under your wing, and in company with Miss Hadlow, +that would make a vast difference." + +"Oh yes, let her go, Mrs. Dobbs. Sooner or later she will have to go +into the world, and it may be well to begin amongst people she is used +to. Is it true that she is to go to her aunt's house in London very +soon?" + +"Nothing is settled yet. If there had been, you and Canon Hadlow should +have been the first to know it--as it would be only my duty to tell you, +after all your kindness to the child. Nothing is settled. But I am in +favour of her going myself." + +"You take the sensible view, Mrs. Dobbs, as I think you always +do--except at election time," added Mrs. Hadlow, smiling. + +The elder woman smiled back, with a little resolute setting of the lips, +and begged her best respects to the canon as she took her leave. The +canon was a great favourite with Mrs. Dobbs; and, on his part, their +political struggle in that long past election had inspired him with a +British respect for his adversary's pluck and fair play. + +The prospect of going with Mrs. Hadlow and Constance greatly reconciled +May to the idea of the dinner-party. But she did not look forward to it +with anticipations of enjoyment. + +"I would much rather dine in the nursery with the children," she said, +unconsciously echoing Mrs. Bransby's suggestion. + +Mr. Weatherhead, who was present, took her up on this, and said, "Why, +now, May, you will enjoy being in good society! Mr. Bransby is a very +agreeable man, and used to some of the best company in the county. Mrs. +Bransby, too, is very pleasant and very pretty; a Miss Lutyer she was, a +regular beauty, and belonging to a good old Shropshire family. And young +Theodore----" Jo Weatherhead pausing here, and hesitating for a moment, +May broke in, "Come now, Uncle Jo," she exclaimed, "you can't say that +_he's_ pretty or pleasant!" + +"He's not bad-looking," returned Mr. Weatherhead, rather doubtfully. +"Though, to be sure, he isn't so fine a man as his father." + +"No; this lad is like his mother's family," said Mrs. Dobbs. "I remember +his grandfather and grandmother very well." + +"Do you? Do you, Sarah? Who were they? What sort of people, now, eh?" + +"Common sort of people; Rabbitt, their name was. Old Rabbitt kept the +Castlecombe Arms, a roadside inn over towards Gloucester way. He ran a +coach between his own market-town and Gloucester before the branch +railway was made, and they say he did a good deal of money-lending; any +way, he scraped together a goodish bit, and his wife came in for a slice +of luck by a legacy. So altogether their daughter--the first Mrs. Martin +Bransby that was--had a nice fortune of her own. She was sent to a good +school and well educated, and she was a very good sort of girl; but she +had just the same smooth, light hair, and smooth, pale face as this +young Theodore. Martin Bransby had money with his first wife--he's got +beauty with his second." + +"O-ho!" exclaimed Jo Weatherhead, eager and attentive. "Rabbitt, eh? I +never knew before who the first Mrs. Bransby was." + +"Not a many folks in Oldchester now do know. I happened to know from +being often over at Gloucester, visiting Dobbs's family, when I was a +girl. Many a day we've driven past the Castlecombe Arms in the chaise. +Dear, dear, how far off it all seems, and yet so plain and distinct! I +couldn't help thinking of those old times when the lad was here the +other day; he _has_ such a look of old Rabbitt!" + +Thus Mrs. Dobbs, rather dreamily, with her eyes fixed on the opposite +houses of Friar's Row--or as much of them as could be seen above a wire +window-blind--and her fingers mechanically busy with her knitting. But +she saw neither the quaint gables nor the gray stone-walls. Her mind was +transported into the past. She was bowling along a smooth highroad in an +old-fashioned chaise. A girl friend sat in the little seat behind her, +and leaned over her shoulder from time to time to whisper some saucy +joke. Beside her was the girl-friend's brother, young Isaac Dobbs:--A +personable young fellow, who drove the old pony humanely, and seemed in +no hurry to get home to Gloucester. She could feel the moist, sweet air +of a showery summer evening on her cheek, and smell the scent of a +branch of sweetbriar which Isaac had gallantly cut for her from the +hedge. + +Theodore Bransby did not guess that Mrs. Dobbs had treated him with +forbearance and indulgence; still less did he imagine that the +forbearance and indulgence had been due to reminiscences of her +girlhood, wherein his maternal grandfather figured as "Old Rabbit." + +The question of May's dress for the dinner-party gave rise to no debate. +Mrs. Dobbs had been brought up in the faith that the proper garb for a +young girl on all festive occasions was white muslin; and in white +muslin May was arrayed accordingly. The delicate fairness of her arms +and neck was not marred by the trying juxtaposition of that dead white +material. It served only to give value to the soft flesh tints, and to +the sunny brownness of her hair. When she had driven off in the roomy +old fly with Mrs. Hadlow and the canon and Constance, who called to +fetch her, Mrs. Dobbs and Mr. Weatherhead agreed that she looked lovely, +and must excite general admiration. But the truth was that May's +appearance did not seem to dazzle anybody. Mrs. Hadlow gave her a +comprehensive and approving glance when she took her cloak off in the +well-lighted hall of Mr. Bransby's house, and said, "Very neat. Very +nice. Couldn't be better, May." Canon Hadlow--a white-haired venerable +figure, with the mildest of blue eyes, and a sensitive mouth--smiled on +her, and nodded in confirmation of his wife's verdict. Constance, +brilliant in amber, with damask roses at her breast and in her hair, +thought her friend looked very school-girlish, and wanting in style. But +she had the good-nature to pay the one compliment which she sincerely +thought was merited, and to say, "Your complexion stands even that +blue-white book muslin, May. I should look absolutely mahogany-coloured +in it!" + +May felt somewhat excited and nervous as she followed Mrs. Hadlow up the +softly carpeted stairs to the drawing-room. But she had a wholesome +conviction of her own unimportance on this occasion, and comforted +herself with the hope of being left to look on without more notice from +any one than mere courtesy demanded. Her first impression was one of +eager admiration; for just within the drawing-room door stood Mrs. +Bransby, looking radiantly handsome. May thought her the loveliest +person she had ever beheld; and her dress struck even May's +inexperienced eyes as being supremely elegant. Constance Hadlow's +attire, with its unrelieved breadth of bright colour and its stiff +outline, suddenly appeared as crude as a cheap chromo-lithograph beside +a Venetian masterpiece. Behind his wife, seated in an easy-chair, was +Martin Bransby, a fine, powerfully built man of sixty, with dark eyes +and eyebrows, and a shock of grizzled hair. His naturally ruddy +complexion was pallid from recent illness, and the lines under his eyes +and round his mouth had deepened perceptibly during the last two months. +Theodore stood near his father, stiffly upright, and with a cravat and +shirt-front so faultlessly smooth and white as to look as though they +had been cast in plaster of Paris. Standing with his back to the fire, +was Dr. Hatch:--a familiar figure to May, as to most eyes in Oldchester. +He was a short man, rather too broad for his height; with benevolent +brown eyes, a wide, low forehead, and a wide, firm mouth, singularly +expressive of humour when he smiled. No other guest had arrived when the +Hadlows entered the drawing-room. + +After the first greetings, the party fell into little groups: the canon +and Mr. Bransby, who were very old friends, conversing together in a low +voice, whilst Theodore advanced to entertain Mrs. Hadlow with grave +politeness, and Constance made a minute and admiring inspection of Mrs. +Bransby's dress. + +May thus found herself a little apart from the rest, and sat down in a +corner half hidden by the protruding mantelpiece of carved oak, which +rose nearly to the ceiling; an elaborate erection of richly carved +pillars, and shelves and niches holding blue-and-white china, in the +most approved style. + +"Well, Miss May, and how are you?" asked Dr. Hatch, moving a little +nearer to her, as he stood on the hearthrug. + +"Quite well, thank you, Dr. Hatch," said May, looking up with her bright +young smile. + +"That's right! But don't mention to any member of the Faculty that I +said so. There's a professional etiquette in these matters; and I +shouldn't like to be quoted as having given any encouragement to rude +health." + +"I'll take care," returned May, falling into his humour, and assuming a +grave look. "And I will always bear witness for you that you gave me +some _very_ nasty medicine when I had the measles, Dr. Hatch. I'm sure +the other doctors would approve of that, wouldn't they?" + +"Nice child," murmured Dr. Hatch. "Understands a joke. It would be as +much as my practice is worth to talk in that way to some young ladies I +could mention. Well, and so this is your first entrance into the gay and +festive scene, eh?" + +"Yes; I have never been to a regular dinner-party before. I am so glad +Mr. Bransby is quite well again," said May, looking across the room at +their host. + +"Are you? Well, I believe you are glad. Yes; it is much to be desired +that he should be quite well again." Dr. Hatch's eyes had followed the +girl's, and rested on Martin Bransby with a thoughtful look. Then, after +a minute's pause, he went on: "Now, as you are not quite familiar here, +I'll give you a map of the country, as the French say. Do you know who +that is who has just come in? No? That is Mr. Bragg. He makes millions +and billions of tin-tacks every week. You've heard of him, of course?" +May nodded. "Of course you have. Couldn't live long in Oldchester +without hearing of Mr. Bragg. That handsome, elderly man, now bowing to +Mrs. Bransby, is Major Mitton, of the Engineers. Ever hear of _him_? Ah, +well; I suppose not. He's a very good-natured, kindly gentleman, and an +excellent soldier, who distinguished himself greatly in the Crimea. But +no one will ever hear him say a word about that. What he _is_ proud of +is his reputation as an amateur actor. I have known more reprehensible +vanities. Ah, and here come the Pipers, Miss Polly and Miss Patty; and I +think that makes up our number." + +Dr. Hatch did not think of asking May whether she had ever heard of the +Miss Pipers. The fact was she had heard of them very often. They were +Oldchester celebrities quite as much as Mr. Bragg was. But their fame +had not extended beyond Oldchester; whereas Bragg's tin-tacks were daily +hammered into the consciousness of the civilized world. + +Miss Mary and Miss Martha Piper (invariably called Polly and Patty) were +old maids between fifty and sixty years old. They were not rich; they +had never been handsome; they were not, even in the opinion of their +most partial friends, brilliantly clever. What, then, was the cause of +the distinction they undoubtedly enjoyed in Oldchester society? The +cause was Miss Polly Piper's musical talent--or at least her reputation +for musical talent, which, for social purposes, was the same thing. Miss +Piper had once upon a time, no matter how many years ago, composed an +oratorio, and offered it to the Committee of a great Musical Festival, +for performance. It was not accepted--for reasons which Miss Piper was +at no loss to perceive. The reader is implored not to conclude rashly +that the oratorio was rejected because it failed to reach the requisite +high standard. Miss Piper knew a great deal better than that. She had +been accustomed to mix with the musical world from an early age. Her +father, an amiable Oldchester clergyman, rector of the church in which +Mr. Sebastian Bach Simpson was organist, was considered the best amateur +violoncello player in the Midland Counties. When the great music meeting +brought vocal and instrumental artists to Oldchester, the Reverend +Reuben Piper's house was always open to several of them; and Miss Polly +had poured out tea for more than one great English tenor, great German +basso, and great Scandinavian soprano. So that, as she often said, she +was clearly quite behind the scenes of the artistic world, and +thoroughly understood its intrigues, its ambitions, and its jealousies. +Thus she was less mortified and discouraged by the rejection of her +oratorio than she would have been had she supposed it due to honest +disapproval. The work, which was entitled "Esther," was played and sung, +however;--not indeed by the great English tenor, German basso, and +Scandinavian soprano, but by very competent performers. It was performed +in the large room in Oldchester, used for concerts and lectures, and +called Mercers' Hall. Admission was by invitation, and the hall was +quite full, which, as Miss Patty triumphantly observed, was a very +gratifying tribute on the part of the town and county. Miss Polly did +not conduct her own music. Ladies had not yet wielded the conductor's +_baton_ in those days. But she sat in a front row, with her father on +one side of her and her sister Patty on the other, and bowed her +acknowledgments to the executants at the end of each piece. + +It was a great day for the Piper family, and that one solitary fact (for +the oratorio was never repeated) flavoured the rest of their lives with +an odour of artistic glory, as one Tonquin bean will perfume a whole +chest full of miscellaneous articles. Truly, the triumph was not cheap. +The rehearsals and the performance had to be paid for, and it was said +at the time that the Reverend Reuben had been obliged to sell some +excellent Canal Shares in order to meet the expenses, and had thereby +diminished his income by so many pounds sterling for evermore. But at +least the expenditure purchased a great deal of happiness; and that is +more than can be said of most investments which the world would consider +wiser. From that day forth, Miss Polly held the position of a musical +authority in certain circles. Long after a younger generation had grown +up, to whom that famous performance of "Esther" was as vague an +historical fact as the Heptarchy, people continued to speak of Miss +Polly Piper as a successful composer. The lives of the two sisters were +shaped by this tradition. They went every year to London for a month +during the season; and, for a longer or shorter time, to some +Continental city,--Leipsic, Frankfort, or Brussels: once, even, as far +as Vienna,--whence they came back bringing with them the latest _dicta_ +in musical fashions, just as Mrs. Clarkson, the chief Oldchester +milliner, announced every year her return from Paris with a large and +varied assortment of bonnets in the newest styles. It has been written +that "_they_" brought back with them the newest _dicta_ on musical +matters; but it must not be supposed that Miss Patty set up to interpret +the law on such points. She was, as to things musical, merely her +sister's echo and mouthpiece. But sincerity, that best salt for all +human communications, preserved Miss Patty's subservience from any taint +of humbug. However extravagant might be her estimate of Polly's artistic +gifts and attainments, you could not doubt that it was genuine. + +These circumstances were, broadly speaking, known to every one present. +But May was acquainted with another aspect of the legend of Miss Piper's +oratorio: a seamy side which the poor good lady did not even suspect. +That famous oratorio had been a fertile source of mirth at the time to +all the performers engaged in it. There were all sorts of stories +current as to the amazing things Miss Piper did with her +instrumentation: the impossible efforts she expected from the "wind," +and the anomalous sounds she elicited from the "wood." These were +retailed with much gusto by Jo Weatherhead, who, in virtue of a high +nasal voice, and a power (common enough in those parts) of reading music +at sight, had sung with the tenors through many a Festival chorus, and +known many professional musicians during his sojourn in Birmingham. One +favourite anecdote was of a trombone player who at rehearsal, in the +very climax and stress of the overture, when he was to have come in with +a powerful effect, stretched out his arm at full length, and produced +the most hideous and unearthly noise ever heard; and who, on being +rebuked by the conductor, handed up his part for inspection, observing, +amid the unrestrained laughter of the band, that that was the nearest +_he_ could come to the note Miss Piper had written for him, which was +some half octave below the usual compass of his instrument. Of this, and +many another similar story, Miss Piper and Miss Piper's friends knew +nothing. But May, remembering them, looked at the two old ladies as they +marched into the room with an interest not so wholly reverential as +might have been wished. + +They were both short, fat, snub-nosed little women, with wide smiling +mouths, and double chins. Miss Patty was rather shorter, rather fatter, +and rather more snub-nosed than her gifted sister. But the chief +difference between the two, which struck one at first sight, was that +whereas Miss Piper's own grey locks were disposed in a thick kind of +curl, like a plethoric sausage, on each side of her face, Miss Patty +wore a pale, gingerbread-coloured wig. Why, having all the wigmaker's +stores to choose from, she should have chosen just that particular hue, +May secretly wondered as she looked at her. But so it was. And if she +had worn a blue wig, it could scarcely have been more innocent of any +attempt to deceive the beholder. Both ladies wore good substantial silk +gowns, and little lace caps with artificial flowers in them. But the +remarkable feature in their attire was the extraordinary number of +chains, beads, and bracelets with which they had festooned themselves. +And, moreover, these were of a severely mineralogical character. Round +Miss Patty's fat, deeply-creased throat, May counted three +necklaces:--One of coral, one of cornelian, and the third a long string +of grey pebble beads which dangled nearly to her waist. Miss Polly +wore--besides a variety of other nondescript adornments which rattled +and jingled as she moved--a set of ornaments made apparently of red +marble, cut into polygonal fragments of irregular length. Their rings +too, which were numerous, seemed to be composed for the most part of +building materials; and each sister wore a mosaic brooch which looked, +May thought, like a bit out of the tesselated pavement of the smart new +Corn Exchange in the High Street. + +It did not take that young lady's quick perception long to make all the +foregoing observations. Indeed, she had completed them within the minute +and a half which elapsed between the Miss Pipers' arrival, and the +announcement of dinner. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + + +The order of the procession to the dining-room had been pre-arranged not +without some difficulty. Mrs. Bransby had pointed out to Theodore that +his whim of inviting Miss Cheffington must cause a solecism somewhere in +marshalling their guests. + +"Constance will, of course, expect you to take her," said Mrs. Bransby, +"and then what is to be done with little Miss Cheffington? I really +think I had better invite two more people, and get some young man to +take her in to dinner. Perhaps Mr. Rivers would come." + +But Theodore utterly opposed this suggestion, and said that the simple +and obvious course was for him to give his arm to Miss Cheffington, and +for Dr. Hatch to escort Miss Hadlow. + +"Oh, well, if you don't mind," said Mrs. Bransby, looking a little +surprised. And so it was settled. But at the last moment, in arranging +her table and disposing the cards with the guest's name before each +cover, Mrs. Bransby found that it would be necessary, for the sake of +symmetrically alternating a lady and gentleman, to divide one couple, +and place them on opposite sides of the table. She decided that Dr. +Hatch and Miss Hadlow would endure this sort of divorce with equanimity; +and thus it came to pass that when Theodore took his seat at table he +found himself in the enviable and unexpected position of sitting between +the two young ladies of the party--Constance and May. + +Mr. Bransby led out Mrs. Hadlow, the hostess bringing up the rear with +Canon Hadlow. Major Mitton had the honour of escorting Miss Piper, while +Miss Patty fell to Mr. Bragg. There was, as is usual on such occasions, +very little conversation while the soup and fish were being eaten. Miss +Piper, indeed, who was constitutionally loquacious, talked all the while +to Major Mitton, though in a comparatively low tone of voice; but the +rest of the company devoted themselves mainly to their plates; or at +least said only a fragmentary sentence now and then. But by degrees the +desultory talk swelled into a continuous murmur, across which bursts of +laughter were wafted at intervals. May had the satisfaction she had +hoped for, of being allowed to be quiet; for her neighbour on the one +hand was the canon, who contented himself with smiling on her silently, +whilst Theodore was greatly occupied by _his_ neighbour, Miss Hadlow. +Being seated between him and Major Mitton, she monopolized the younger +gentleman's attention with the undoubting conviction that he enjoyed +being monopolized. + +Mr. Bragg, a heavy, melancholy-looking man, found Miss Patty Piper a +congenial companion on a topic which interested him a good +deal--cookery. Not that he was a _gastronome_. He had a grand French +cook; but he confided to Miss Patty that he never tasted anything +nowadays which he relished so much as he had relished a certain +beef-steak pudding that his deceased "missis" used to make for him +thirty years ago, and better. Miss Patty had, as it happened, some +peculiar and special views as to the composition of a beef-steak +pudding; and Mr. Bragg--borne backwards by the tide of memory to those +distant days when his missis and he lodged in one room, and before he +had learned the secret of transmuting tin-tacks into luxury and French +cooks--enjoyed his reminiscences in a slow, sad, ruminating way. + +Presently, when the dessert was on the table, there came a little lull +in the general conversation, and the husky contralto voice of Miss Piper +was heard saying, "My dear Major, I tell you it was the same woman. You +say you heard her at Malta fifteen years ago. Very well. That's no +reason; for she might have been only sixteen or seventeen then. These +Italians are so precocious." + +"More like six or seven-and-twenty, Miss Piper. Bless you, she +had long outgrown short frocks and pinafores in those days. +Fourteen--fifteen--yes; it must be fully fifteen years ago. It was the +season that we got up the 'Honeymoon' for the garrison theatricals. I +played the Duke. It has been one of my best parts ever since. And there +was a scratch company of Italian opera-singers doing wretched business. +We got up a subscription for them, poor things. But fancy 'La Bianca' +still singing Rosina in the 'Barber!'" + +"She looked charming, I can tell you. I don't say that her voice may not +be a little worn in the upper notes----" + +"I wonder there's a rag of it left," put in the Major. + +"Yes; a little worn. But she knows how to sing. If one must listen to +such trivial, florid music, that's the only way to sing it." + +"Ah, there we shan't agree, Miss Piper! No, no; I always stand up for +Rossini. I don't pretend to be a great swell at music, but I have an +ear, and I like a toon. Give me a toon that I can remember and whistle, +and I'll make you a present of Wagner and the other fellows, all +howlings and growlings." + +"Major, Major," called out Dr. Hatch from the opposite side of the +table, "this is terribly obsolete doctrine! We shall have you confessing +next that you like sugar in your tea, and prefer a rose to a sunflower!" + +Mr. Bransby, wishing to avert any unpleasant shock of opinions on such +high themes, here interposed. He turned the conversation back to the +Italian singer, who could be abused without ruffling anybody's _amour +proper_. + +"But who is this _prima donna_ you're talking of, Major?" said he. + +Miss Piper struck in before Major Mitton could reply. "It's a certain +Moretti:--Bianca Moretti. We heard her last summer in a minor theatre at +Brussels, with a strolling Italian Opera Company. Don't you remember, +Patty?" + +"Moretti?" said Miss Patty, instantly breaking off in the middle of a +sentence addressed to Mr. Bragg, at the sound of her sister's voice. + +"The woman with the fine eyes? Oh yes. I remember her particularly, +because of the awful scandal there was afterwards about her and that +Englishman." + +Several heads at the table were now turned towards Miss Patty, who shook +her ginger-bread-coloured wig with a knowing air. + +"I was just telling the Major," said Miss Piper. "We might never have +known of it, if it had not been for the Italian Consul, who was a friend +of ours. It was quite a sensation! A bit out of a French novel, eh?--Oh +yes; quite ready, Mrs. Bransby." + +The last words had reference to a telegraphic signal from the hostess, +who immediately rose. Mrs. Hadlow had been looking across at her rather +uneasily during the last minute or so. The fact was that the Miss Pipers +were reputed in Oldchester to have a somewhat unconsidered and free way +of talking. Some persons attributed this to their annual visit to the +Continent: others thought it connected rather with Miss Piper's artistic +experiences, which in some mysterious way were supposed to have had a +tendency to make her "a little masculine." The implication would seem to +be that to be "masculine" involves a lax government of the tongue. But +as no Oldchester gentleman was ever known to protest against this +imputation, it is not necessary to examine it here more particularly. +"When she began to talk about a French novel, my dear, there was no +knowing what she might say next," said Mrs. Hadlow afterwards to Mrs. +Bransby. So the latter hurried the departure of the ladies as we have +seen. + +When they rose to go away, May, of course, went out last; Theodore +holding the door open with his air of superior politeness. + +"Who is that pretty little girl? I don't think I know her face," said +Major Mitton, when the young man had resumed his seat, and the chairs +were drawn closer together. + +"That is Miss Miranda Cheffington." + +"Cheffington? I knew a Cheffington once--a terrible black sheep. Very +likely it's not the same family, though. What Cheffingtons does this +young lady belong to?" + +"The family of Viscount Castlecombe." + +"The man I knew was a nephew of old Castlecombe. Gus Cheffington his +name was, I remember now." + +Theodore moved a little uneasily on his seat, and, after a moment's +reflection, said gravely, "Captain Augustus Cheffington is this young +lady's father; he is a friend of mine. Miss Cheffington is going to town +to be presented next season by her aunt, Mrs. Dormer-Smith. She is a +very thoroughbred woman. Do you know the Dormer-Smiths, Major Mitton? +They are in the best set." + +The Major did not know the Dormer-Smiths, and had no interest in +pursuing the subject. He turned to join in the conversation going on +between Mr. Bransby, the canon, and Dr. Hatch, and then Theodore slipped +out of his place and went to sit nearer to Mr. Bragg, who was looking a +little solitary. Mr. Bragg had a great many good qualities, but he was +usually considered to be heavy in hand from a conversational point of +view. Theodore, however, did not find him dull. He talked to Mr. Bragg +with an agreeable sense of making an excellent figure in the eyes of +that millionaire. Theodore had a strong memory, considerable powers of +application, and had read a great many solid books. He favoured Mr. +Bragg now with a speech on the subject of the currency, about which he +had read all the most modern theories up to date. The currency, he felt, +must be a peculiarly interesting subject to a man who sold millions and +billions of tin-tacks in all the markets of the world. Mr. Bragg drank +his wine, keeping his eyes on the table, and listened with silent +attention. Theodore, warmed by a mental vision of himself speaking in a +breathless House of Commons, rose to parliamentary heights of eloquence. +He had already addressed Mr. Bragg as "Sir," and had sternly inquired +what he supposed would be the consequence if the present movement in +favour of bimetallism should be still further developed in the United +States, when he was interrupted by his father's voice saying-- + +"Come, shall we ask Mrs. Bransby for a cup of coffee?" + +Mr. Bragg lifted his eyes and rose from his chair, and Theodore and he +moved towards the door side by side. + +"It ought to be boiled in a basin, oughtn't it?" said Mr. Bragg +thoughtfully. "Ah, no; it wasn't you. I remember now, it was Miss Patty +Piper who was mentioning--I'll ask her again when we get upstairs." + +Meanwhile the elder ladies had been deep in the discussion of Miss +Piper's interrupted story. Constance and May had got close together near +the pianoforte, and Mrs. Bransby asked Constance to play something "soft +and pretty." Constance opened the instrument and ran her fingers over +the keys in a desultory manner, playing scraps of waltzes or whatever +came into her head, and continuing her chat with May to that running +accompaniment. Mrs. Bransby, Mrs. Hadlow, and the Miss Pipers grouped +themselves near the fireplace at the other end of the room, and carried +on their talk also under cover of the music. + +"It was odd enough that on my happening to mention the name of the +Moretti to Major Mitton he should remember her at Malta so many years +ago," began Miss Piper. + +"Yes; and you see now that I was right, and she can't be so young as you +thought her, Polly," said her sister. + +"Lord, what does that matter? I only said she looked young, and so she +did. And besides, I dare say the Major exaggerates her age. When a woman +becomes a celebrity, or comes before the public in any way, her age is +sure to be exaggerated. Many people who only know me through my works +suppose me to be eighty, I dare say. They never imagine a woman so young +as I was at the time composing a serious work like 'Esther.'" + +"Is she handsome, this Signora Moretti?" asked Mrs. Bransby, who was +always interested in, and attracted by, beauty. + +"Very handsome--in that Italian style. Great black eyes, and black +eyebrows, and a fine profile. Too thin, though. But, oh yes; extremely +handsome. And a very clever singer." + +"And a very worthless hussey," added Miss Patty severely. + +"What a pity!" exclaimed Mrs. Hadlow. "It does seem so sad when one +finds great gifts, like talent and beauty, without goodness!" + +"Well, I don't know that she was so very bad either," replied Miss +Piper. + +"Goodness, Polly! How can you talk so!" cried her sister. "Why, she was +living openly with that Englishman!" + +"Some people said she was married to him, you know, Patty." + +"Stuff and nonsense!" returned Miss Patty, who, whilst undoubtedly +accepting her sister's views about music, tenaciously reserved the right +of private judgment as to the character of its professors, and was, +moreover, chronically incredulous of the virtue of foreigners in +general. "No sensible person could believe that. And as to her 'not +being so very bad'--what do you make of that nice story of the gambling, +and the police, and all the rest of it?" + +"The police!" echoed Mrs. Hadlow, in a low shocked voice. + +"What was that?" asked Mrs. Bransby. + +"Now, just let me tell it, Patty," said the elder sister. "If I am wrong +you can correct me afterwards. But I believe I know more about it than +you do. Well, there was an Italian Opera Company singing in a minor +theatre of Brussels when we were there, and doing very well; for the +_prima donna_, Bianca Moretti, was a great favourite. They had +previously been making a tour through Belgium. One night we were in the +theatre with some friends, expecting to hear her for the second time in +the 'Barbiere,' when, some time after the curtain ought to have risen, a +man came on to the stage, and announced that the Signora Moretti had +been suddenly taken ill, and there would be no performance. But the next +day we learned that the story of the Moretti's illness was only an +excuse--or, at least, that if she was ill, it was only from the nervous +shock of having her house searched by the police." + +"I think that was quite enough to make her ill! But why did they search +her house?" said Mrs. Bransby. + +"Well, you see, it was in this way," continued Miss Piper, lowering her +voice, and drawing a little nearer to her hostess, while Mrs. Hadlow +cast a glance over her shoulder to assure herself that the girls were +occupied with their own conversation. "It seems that a set of men were +in the habit of meeting every night after the opera in her apartment to +play cards. There was the Englishman, and a young Russian belonging to a +grand family, and a Servian, or a Roumanian, or a Bulgarian, or +something," said Miss Piper, whose ideas as to the national distinctions +between the younger members of the European family were decidedly vague, +"and others besides. Now this man, the--the Bulgarian, we may as well +call him, was a thorough blackleg, and bore the worst of characters. He +led on the Russian to play for very high stakes, and won large sums from +him. Well, to make a long story short, one night there was a terrible +scene. The Russian accused the other man of cheating. They came to +blows, I believe, and there was a regular _esclandre_. And next day the +Bulgarian was missing. He had got away with a good deal of plunder." + +"How shocking and disgraceful!" exclaimed Mrs. Hadlow, in whom this +gossip excited far more disgust than interest; and who thought Polly +Piper showed very bad taste in selecting such a topic. + +"But why did the police search the Italian singer's apartment? It was +not _her_ fault, was it?" asked Mrs. Bransby. + +"Why, you see, the gambling had gone on in her rooms. And the Bulgarian +turning out to be connected with a regular gang of swindlers, the search +was made for any letters or papers of his that might be there. We were +told that the Russian ambassador had something to say to it; for the +young Russian was connected with _very_ high people indeed. Nothing was +found, however." + +"Nothing was found that could be laid hold of," put in Miss Patty. "But +there could be no question what sort of a person that woman was after +all that!" + +"Well, really, Patty," said her sister, "it seems to me that the +Englishman was a deal more to blame. Nobody pretended that the Moretti +wanted to gamble for her own amusement, or profit either! It was the +ruin of her in Brussels; at any rate for that season. There was a party +made up to hiss her whenever she appeared; and there were disturbances +in the theatre; and, in short, the performances had to cease. I was +sorry for her." + +"Upon my word, Polly, I don't see why you should be," cried Miss Patty. +"She deserved all she got. I have no patience with bestowing pity and +sympathy on such creatures. If she had been an ugly washerwoman, instead +of a painted opera-singer, nobody would have had a soft word for her." + +"Oh, surely there are plenty of people who would be gentle to an ugly +washerwoman, if she needed gentleness," put in Mrs. Hadlow. "And you +know, my dear Miss Patty, we are taught to pity all those who stray from +the right path." + +"As to that, I hope I can pity error as well as my neighbours--in a +_religious_ sense," returned Miss Patty with some sharpness. "But this +is different. I was speaking as a member of society." + +"And the Englishman--was he implicated?" asked Mrs. Bransby, rather from +a desire to divert the conversation from a direction fraught with danger +to the general harmony than from any special curiosity on the subject. + +"No; not exactly implicated," replied Miss Piper. "That is to say, he +was not suspected of any unfair play, or anything of that sort; but it +was considered disgraceful for him to have been mixed up in these +gambling transactions; especially as he was a much older man than the +others. And then----" + +"And then," continued Miss Patty, "it was not considered exactly +creditable, I believe--although perhaps Polly thinks it was; I'm sure I +don't know,--it wasn't, most people would say, exactly creditable for a +man of family, an English _gentleman_, to be strolling about the world +with a parcel of foreign singers. And he had been doing just that. We +heard of his being at Antwerp, and Ghent, and Ostend with them." + +"A man of family, do you say? A really well-born man?" said Mrs. Hadlow, +sitting suddenly very upright in the energy of her feelings. "How +shocking! That really seems to be the worst of all!" + +"Well, I suppose we must pity _his_ errors," observed Miss Patty, with +some causticity. But Mrs. Hadlow was insensible to the sarcasm; or, at +all events, her sense of it was swallowed up by a stronger feeling. "I +do think it's a public misfortune," she went on, "when a person on whom +Providence has bestowed gentle birth derogates from his rank and forgets +his duties. It grieves me." + +"You must suffer a good deal in these days, I'm afraid," said Miss +Patty, grimly. + +"Not on that account," replied Mrs. Hadlow. "No; truly not. There may be +exceptions--I won't deny that there are some. But, on the whole, I +thoroughly believe that _bon sang ne peut mentir_." + +"Well, perhaps Mr. Cheffington's blood is not so good as he says it is; +that's all," said Miss Patty, with a short laugh. + +Mrs. Hadlow and Mrs. Bransby uttered a simultaneous exclamation of +amazement; and then the former said in a breathless whisper, "Hush, +hush, my dear, for mercy's sake! Did you say Cheffington? That +is--Cheffington is the name of that girl! Don't turn your head." + +"Oh, it can't be the same!" said Mrs. Bransby, nervously. + +"No, no; I dare say not. But the name--it must, I fear, be a member of +the family," answered Mrs. Hadlow. + +"How lucky it wasn't mentioned in her hearing," said Miss Piper. "Poor +little thing, I wouldn't for the world----! She's very pretty and +bright-looking. I don't think I ever saw her before." + +Mrs. Bransby hurriedly explained how May came to be there, and as much +of her story as she was acquainted with--which was, in truth, very +little. The Miss Pipers listened eagerly, and Mrs. Hadlow sat by with a +cloud of anxious perplexity on her usually beaming face. They all +admitted that of course the person spoken of _might_ be no relation of +May's at all; but it was evident that no one believed that hypothesis. +To the Miss Pipers the whole matter was simply a relishing morsel of +gossip. They dwelt with _gusto_ on "the extraordinary coincidence" of +Miss Cheffington's being there just that very evening, and "the singular +circumstance" that Major Mitton should remember Bianca Moretti, and +enjoyed it all very much. Mrs. Bransby's prevalent feeling was one of +annoyance, and resentment against Theodore, who had brought this girl +into the house. Mrs. Bransby detested a "fuss" of any sort; and shrank, +with a sort of amiable indolence, from the conflict of provincial feuds +and the excitement of provincial gossip. And now, she reflected, this +story would be spread all over Oldchester, and she would be "worried to +death" by questions on a subject about which she knew very little, and +cared less. + +"We won't say another word about this horrid story," she said, looking +appealingly at the Miss Pipers. "Silence is the only thing under the +circumstances. Don't you think so? It would be so dreadful if the girl +should overhear anything, and make a scene; wouldn't it?" + +Miss Polly and Miss Patty readily promised to be most guardedly +silent--for that evening, and so long as May should be present; +declaring quite sincerely that they would not for the world risk hurting +the poor child's feelings. And then Mrs. Bransby began to flatter +herself that the subject was done with, so far as she was concerned. But +Fate had decided otherwise. + +When the gentlemen came into the drawing-room, Miss Hadlow was playing +one of her most brilliant pieces, to which Miss Polly Piper was +listening with an air of responsible attention, and gently nodding her +head from time to time in an encouraging manner; Miss Patty Piper and +May were looking over a large album full of photographs together; while +Mrs. Bransby was narrating to Mrs. Hadlow, Bobby's latest witticisms, +and Billy's extraordinary progress in the art of spelling:--these +juvenile prodigies being her two younger children. + +Constance did not interrupt her performance on the entrance of the +gentlemen, and Major Mitton went to stand beside the pianoforte, +gallantly turning over the music leaves at the wrong moment, with the +best intentions. Canon Hadlow sat down near Miss Piper; the host with +Dr. Hatch crossed the room to speak to Mrs. Hadlow, and Mr. Bragg and +Theodore approached the table, at which Miss Patty and May Cheffington +were seated. Mr. Bragg drew up a chair close to Miss Patty at once, and +began to talk with her in a low voice, and with more appearance of +animation than his manner usually displayed. Theodore, as he observed +this, remembered with satisfaction that his friend Captain Cheffington +had formerly pronounced old Bragg to be a d----d snob. A man must indeed +be on a low level who could prefer Miss Patty Piper's culinary +conversation to a luminous exposition of the currency question as set +forth by Mr. Theodore Bransby. He bent over May, who was still turning +the leaves of the photograph book, and said, "I'm afraid you are not +having a very amusing evening, Miss Cheffington." + +"Oh yes, thank you," returned May, making the queerest little grimace in +her effort not to yawn. "I am very fond of looking at photographs." + +"I don't suppose there are many portraits there that you would +recognize. A little out of your set," said Theodore. "In fact, I don't +know many of them myself, I have been so much away. By the way, have you +any commands for your people in town? I go up the day after to-morrow." + +"Shall you see Aunt Pauline?" + +"Certainly. I suppose Lord Castlecombe is not likely to be in town at +this season?" went on Theodore, raising his tone a little so as to be +heard by the others. Constance's playing had now come to an end, and +there was a general lowering of voices, occasioned by the cessation of +that pianoforte accompaniment. + +"I don't know, I'm sure. I don't know where he lives," answered May +innocently. + +"Ahem! He is at this season, in all probability, at Combe Park, his +place in Gloucestershire." + +May had never heard of her great-uncle's place in Gloucestershire; but +now, when Theodore said the words, her thought flashed through a chain +of associations to Mrs. Dobbs's mention of the Castlecombe Arms on the +Gloucester Road, kept by "Old Rabbitt," and she blushed as though she +had done something to be ashamed of. + +"The last time I had the pleasure of seeing your father, he was talking +to me about Combe Park," continued Theodore, with a complacent sense of +superiority to the rest of the company in these manifestations of +familiar intercourse with members of the Castlecombe family. Lord +Castlecombe was a very important personage in those parts. As May did +not speak, Theodore went on: "Grand old place, Combe Park, isn't it?" + +"Is it?" returned May absently. She was looking with great interest at +the portrait of a superb lace dress, surmounted by a distorted image of +Mrs. Bransby's head and face, which were quite out of focus. But the +lace flounces had "come out splendidly," as the photographer remarked. +And, if the truth must be told, May admired them greatly. + +"Is it?" repeated Theodore, with a little smile. "But you have lived so +long abroad, that you are quite a stranger to all these ancestral +glories. I hope, however, that you have not the same preference for the +Continent that your father has?" + +"Oh, I'm sure I should always love England best. But I don't know the +most beautiful parts of the Continent--Switzerland or Italy. We were +always in Belgium, and Belgium isn't beautiful. At least I don't +remember any beautiful country." + +Thus May, with perfect simplicity, still turning over the photographs, +and all unconscious that the Miss Pipers had simultaneously interrupted +their own conversation, and were staring at her. + +"No; Belgium is not beautiful--except architecturally," replied +Theodore. "But there is very nice society in Brussels, and a pleasant +Court, I believe. No doubt that's one reason why Captain Cheffington +likes it." + +"Is Brussels your home, then? Do you live there?" asked Miss Patty, +leaning eagerly forward. + +May looked up, and perceived all at once that every one was gazing at +her. The Miss Pipers' sudden attention to what she was saying had +attracted the attention of the others--as one may collect a crowd in the +street by fixedly regarding the most familiar object. In her +inexperience she feared she had committed some breach of the etiquette +proper to be observed at a "grown-up dinner party." Perhaps she ought +not to have devoted so much attention to the photographs! She closed the +book hurriedly as she answered-- + +"No, _I_ don't live in Brussels, but papa does--at least, generally." + +Mrs. Bransby rose from her chair, and came rather quickly across the +room. "My dear," she said, "I want to present our old friend, Major +Mitton, to you;" and taking May by the arm, she led her away towards the +pianoforte. + +Theodore observed this proceeding with a cool smile, and sense of inward +triumph. Mrs. Bransby began to understand, then, what a very highly +connected young lady this was, and was endeavouring, although a little +late, to show her proper attention. Another time Mrs. Bransby would +receive _his_ introduction and recommendation with more respect. In the +same way, he felt gratification in the eager questions with which Miss +Patty plied him. Miss Patty left the millionaire Mr. Bragg in the lurch, +and began to catechize Theodore on the subject of the Cheffington +family. + +That fastidious young gentleman said within himself that the snobbery of +these Oldchester people was really too absurd; and mentally resolved to +cut a great many of them, as he gained a firmer footing in the best +London circles. Nevertheless he did not check Miss Patty's inquiries. On +the contrary, he condescendingly gave her a great deal of information +about his friends the Dormer-Smiths, the late lamented Dowager, the +present Viscount Castlecombe, his two sons, the Honourable George and +the Honourable Lucius, as well as some details respecting the more +distant branch of the Cheffington family, who had intermarried with the +Scotch Clishmaclavers, and were thus, not remotely, connected with the +great ducal house of M'Brose. + +This was all very well; but Miss Patty was far more interested in +getting some information about Captain Cheffington which would identify +him with the hero of the Brussels story, than of following the genealogy +of the noble head of the family into its remotest ramifications. And, +notwithstanding that Theodore was much more reticent about the Captain, +she did manage to find out that the latter had lived abroad for many +years--chiefly in Belgium--and that his pecuniary circumstances were not +flourishing. + +"I'm quite convinced it's the same man, Polly," she said afterwards to +her sister. And, indeed, all the inquiries they made in Oldchester +confirmed this idea. The Simpsons gave anything but a good character of +May's absentee parent. And subsequent conversation with Major Mitton +elicited the fact that Augustus Cheffington had been looked upon as a +"black sheep" even by not very fastidious or strait-laced circles many +years ago. The story of the Brussels scandal was not long in reaching +the ears of every one in Oldchester who had any knowledge, even by +hearsay, of the parties concerned. + +Theodore Bransby, who left Oldchester on the Monday following the +dinner-party, and spent the intervening Sunday at home, was one of the +few in the above-named category who did not hear of it. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + + +The correspondence between Mrs. Dobbs and Mrs. Dormer-Smith on the +subject of May's removal to London was not voluminous. It consisted of +three letters: number one, written by Mrs. Dobbs; number two, written by +Mrs. Dormer-Smith; and number three, Mrs. Dobbs's reply to that. Mrs. +Dobbs always went straight to the point, both with tongue and pen; and +Mrs. Dormer-Smith, although by no means so forcibly direct in her +dealings, had a dislike to letter-writing, which caused her to put her +meaning tolerably clearly on this occasion, so as to avoid the necessity +of writing again. + +Mrs. Dobbs had proposed that May should become an inmate of her aunt's +house in London--at all events for a time--in consideration of an annual +sum to be paid for her board and dress. The said sum was to be +guaranteed by Mrs. Dobbs, and was so ample as to make Pauline say +plaintively to her husband, "Just fancy, Frederick, how deplorably +imprudent Augustus has been in offending and neglecting this old woman +as he has done! You see she has plenty of money. I had no idea what her +means were; but it is clear that, for a person in her rank of life, she +may be called rich. And Augustus might have obtained solid pecuniary +assistance from her, I've no doubt, if he had played his cards with +ordinary prudence. But there never was any one so reckless of his own +interests as Augustus--beginning with that unfortunate marriage." + +Whereunto Mr. Frederick Dormer-Smith thus made reply, "I don't know what +you may call 'solid pecuniary assistance,' but it seems to me pretty +solid to keep Augustus's daughter, and clothe her, and pay for her +schooling, for four years and upwards. As to Augustus's disregard of his +own interests, it does not at any rate lie in the direction of +refraining from borrowing money, or remembering to pay it back; that +much I can vouch for." + +Pauline put a corner of her handkerchief to her eyes. "Oh, Frederick," +she said, "it pains me to hear you speak so harshly. Remember, Augustus +is my only brother." + +"Mercifully! By George, if there was another of 'em I don't know what +_would_ become of us." + +Mrs. Dormer-Smith declined to consider this hypothesis, but contented +herself with saying that she should like to do something for poor +Augustus's girl, and asking her husband if he didn't think they could +manage to receive her. Mr. Dormer-Smith thought they could on the terms +proposed, which, he frankly said, were handsome. And Pauline added +softly-- + +"Yes; and it is satisfactory that she offers to keep the arrangement +strictly secret. It would scarcely do to let it be known that Mrs. Dobbs +pays for May. It would be _inconvenable_. People would ask all sorts of +questions. It would put the girl herself in an awkward position. +'Grandmother!' people would say. 'What grandmother?' and the whole story +of that wretched marriage would be raked up again. But, on the +conditions proposed, I do think, Frederick, it could do no harm to +receive May. I am glad you consent. It will be a comfort to me to feel +that I am doing something for poor Augustus's girl, and acting as mamma +would have wished." + +So a favourable reply was dispatched to Mrs. Dobbs's application. Mrs. +Dormer-Smith suggested that May should come to town a little before the +beginning of the season, so as to give time for preparing her +wardrobe--a task to which her aunt looked forward with _dilettante_ +relish. And in answer to that, Mrs. Dobbs wrote the third and last +letter of the series, assenting to the date proposed for May's arrival, +and entering into a few minor details. + +She had also, meanwhile, received a letter from Captain Cheffington, +elicited, after a long delay, by three successive urgent appeals for an +immediate answer. It was a scrawl in a hasty, sprawling hand, and ran +thus: + + "Brussels, Nov. 1, 18--. + + "DEAR MRS. DOBBS, + + "I think it would be very desirable for Miranda to be presented + by her aunt, if she is to be presented at all, and to be + brought out properly. I have no doubt that my sister will + introduce her in the best possible way. Since you seem to press + for my consent, you have it herewith, although I hardly feel + that I can have much voice in the matter, being separated, as I + have been for years, from my country, my family, and my only + surviving child. I am a mere exile. It is not a brilliant + existence for a man born and brought up as I have been. + However, I must make the best of it. + + "Yours always, + + "A. C." + +This was sufficient for Mrs. Dobbs. She had made a point of obtaining +Augustus's authority for his daughter's removal to town; not because she +relied on his judgment, but because she knew him well enough to fear +some trick, or sudden turn of feigned indignation, if, from any motive +of his own, he thought fit to disapprove the step. As to the tone of his +reply, that neither troubled nor surprised her. But Mr. Weatherhead was +moved to great wrath by it. Mrs. Dobbs had tossed the note to him one +day, saying-- + +"There; there's my son-in-law's consent to May's going to town, in black +and white. That's a document." + +Mr. Weatherhead eagerly pounced on it. "What a disgusting production!" +he exclaimed, looking up over the rim of the double eyeglass which he +had set astride his nose to read the note. + +"Is it?" returned Mrs. Dobbs carelessly. + +"Is it? Why, Sarah, you surprise me, taking it in that cool way. It is +the most thankless, unfeeling, selfish production I ever read in my +life." + +"Oh, is that all? Well, but that's just Augustus Cheffington. We know +what _he_ is at this time of day, Jo Weatherhead. It 'ud be a deal +stranger if he wrote thankfully, and feelingly, and unselfishly." + +But Mr. Weatherhead refused to dismiss the matter thus easily. He +belonged to that numerous category of persons who, having established +and proclaimed a conviction, appear to be immensely astonished at each +confirmation of it. He had years ago pronounced Augustus Cheffington to +be a heartless scoundrel. Nevertheless he was shocked and amazed +whenever Augustus Cheffington did anything to corroborate that opinion. + +The letter from Mrs. Dormer-Smith was not shown to him. Mrs. Dobbs meant +to keep the amount she was to pay for May a secret even from her +faithful and trusted friend Jo. He might guess what he pleased, but she +would not tell him. The means, too, by which she meant to raise the +money would not, she knew, meet with his approval. And, since she had +resolved to use those means, she thought it best to avoid vain +discussion beforehand, and therefore said nothing about them. + +Accident, however, revealed a part of the secret in this way: + +Mr. Weatherhead, calling one afternoon at Laurel Villa to see Mrs. +Simpson, who had been kept at home by a cold, found other visitors +there. Miss Polly and Miss Patty Piper were drinking tea out of Mrs. +Simpson's best cups and saucers, and chatting away with their usual +cheerfulness and volubility. The Miss Pipers, as they would themselves +have expressed it, "moved in a superior sphere" to that of the +music-teacher and his wife; but they did not consider that they +derogated from their gentility by occasionally drinking tea and having a +chat with the Simpsons. They liked to condescend a little, and +opportunities for condescension were rather rare. Then, too, they had a +certain interest in Sebastian Bach Simpson, inherited from the long-ago +days when Sebastian Bach's father played the organ in their father's +church, and Miss Polly and Miss Patty wore white frocks and blue sashes +at evening parties, and were the objects of a good deal of attention +from the Reverend Reuben's curates. Besides the sisters there was +present Dr. Hatch, who had come to pay a professional visit to Mrs. +Simpson, and who was just going away. It was a peculiarity of Dr. Hatch +to be always just going away. He had a very large practice, and was wont +to aver that his professional duties scarcely left him time to eat or +sleep. Yet Dr. Hatch's horses stood waiting through many a quarter of an +hour during which their master was engaged in conversation not of a +strictly professional nature. + +When Mr. Weatherhead entered the best parlour of Laurel Villa, Dr. Hatch +had a cup of tea in one hand, and his watch in the other, and greeted +the new arrival with a friendly nod, and the assurance that he was "just +off." Mrs. Simpson shook hands with Mr. Weatherhead, and the Miss Pipers +graciously bowed to him. He, too, was connected in their minds with old +times. Miss Polly specially remembered seeing him on her visits to the +Birmingham Musical Festivals, when her father would take the opportunity +of turning over Weatherhead's stock of books, and making a few +purchases. And once the Pipers had lodged during a Festival week in the +rooms over Weatherhead's shop. + +"Glad to see you better, Mrs. Simpson," said Jo, taking a seat after +having saluted the company. + +"Oh yes, thank you, I'm quite well now. I know Dr. Hatch will scold me +if he hears me say so"--(with an arch glance baulked of its effect by +the unsympathetic spectacles)--"because he tells me I still need great +care. But my cough is gone. It is, really!" + +Mrs. Simpson girlishly shook back her curls, and proceeded to pour out a +cup of tea for Mr. Weatherhead. + +"And how is Simpson?" asked the latter. + +"Bassy is very well, only immensely busy. He has three new pupils for +pianoforte and harmony; the daughters of Colonel ----,--tut, I forget +his name,--recommended by that kind Major Mitton. Or at least it would +be more proper to say that Major Mitton recommended Bassy to them! Not +very polite to say that the young ladies were recommended--oh dear! I +beg pardon. I'm afraid I've over-sweetened your tea?" + +She had, in fact, put in half a dozen lumps, one after the other. But +Mr. Weatherhead fished the greater part of them out again with his +teaspoon, and deposited them in the saucer, saying it was of no +consequence. + +"I am so sadly absent-minded!" said Mrs. Simpson, smiling sweetly. +"Bassy would scold me if he were here." + +"Serve you right, if he did!" said Dr. Hatch, rising from the table. +"You should pay attention to what you're doing. I expect to hear that +you have swallowed the embrocation and anointed your throat with syrup +of squills." + +"Oh, doctor! You do say the drollest things!" exclaimed the amiable +Amelia, with an enjoying giggle. + +"Ah, no; not the drollest! Thank Heaven, I hear a great many droller +things than I say! That's what mainly supports me in my day's practice." + +Mrs. Simpson, not in the least understanding him, giggled again. Dr. +Hatch had the reputation of being a wag; and Amelia Simpson was not the +woman to defraud him of a laugh on any such selfish ground as not seeing +the point of his joke. + +"Well, Mr. Weatherhead," said Miss Patty Piper, blandly, "so we are to +have your sister-in-law for a neighbour, I hear." + +Jo poked his nose forward, and pursed up his mouth. "O-ho! my +sister-in-law, Mrs. Dobbs? How do you mean, ma'am, 'as a neighbour'?" + +"We understand that Mrs. Dobbs has been looking after Jessamine Cottage; +the little white house with a garden on the Gloucester Road," returned +Miss Patty. Dr. Hatch paused with his hand on the latch of the parlour +door to hear. + +"Oh dear no," said Jo Weatherhead decisively. "Quite a mistake. Sarah +Dobbs is too wedded to her old home. Nothing would induce her to leave +Friar's Row. You must have been misinformed, ma'am." + +"As to leaving Friar's Row," put in Miss Polly, "she must do that in any +case; for she has let the premises as offices; and at a high rent, too, +I hear. Friar's Row is considered a choice position for business +purposes." + +Jo had opened his mouth to protest once more, when a sudden idea made +him shut it again without speaking. "Oh!" he gasped, and then made a +little pause before proceeding. "Ah, well--she--it wasn't quite settled +when I heard last. Would you mind stating your authority, ma'am?" + +"The best--Mr. Bragg told us himself. His managing man at the works has +made the arrangement. Mr. Bragg has been looking out for a more central +office for some time." + +"I told Mrs. Dobbs long ago that she was living at an extravagant rental +by sticking to Friar's Row," observed Dr. Hatch, turning the handle of +the door. "Depend on it, she has let it at a swinging rent; and quite +right, too. Now I really _am_ off." + +Jo Weatherhead sat very still after the doctor's departure, with his cup +of tea in his hand, and a pondering expression of face. The Miss Pipers +were not sufficiently interested in him to observe his demeanour very +closely. If they did chance to notice that he was unusually silent, that +was accounted for by his sense of the superior company he found himself +in. They always spoke of him as "a good, odd creature, with sound +principles--a very respectable man, who knew his station." As for Amelia +Simpson, she was habitually unobservant, with an inconvenient faculty, +however, of suddenly making clear-sighted remarks when they were least +expected. + +"I'm sure this is very good news for us!" she exclaimed. "Jessamine +Cottage is so near! At least, it _was_ quite close to us when we lived +in Marlborough Terrace." + +"It will be a good move for Mrs. Dobbs. The air in our neighbourhood is +so much better than in her part of the town," said Miss Patty, with a +certain complacency, as who should say, "The merit of this atmospheric +superiority is all our own; but we are not proud." + +"And yet I am surprised, too, at Mrs. Dobbs moving," replied Amelia. +"She always declared that she hated the suburbs, with their little +slight-built houses." + +"That cannot apply to _our_ house," said Miss Polly. "Garnet Lodge stood +in its own ground many a long year before those new houses sprung up +between Greenhill Road and the Gloucester Road." + +"But Mrs. Dobbs isn't going to live in Garnet Lodge!" returned Amelia, +with one of her sudden illuminations of common sense. "And Jessamine +Cottage is a mere bandbox." + +"I remember Mrs. Dobbs among the trebles in 'Esther,'" observed Miss +Polly. "She had a fine clear voice, and could take the B flat in alt +with perfect ease." + +"And her husband sold capital ironmongery. We have a coal-scuttle in the +kitchen now which was bought at his shop--a thoroughly solid article," +added Miss Patty. + +These appreciative words about the Dobbses, which at another time would +have gratified Jo Weatherhead, now fell on an unheeding ear. He took his +leave very shortly, and walked straight to Friar's Row. + +"Well, Sarah Dobbs," said he, on entering the parlour, "I didn't think +you would steal a march on me like this! I did believe you'd have +trusted me sooner than a parcel of strangers, after all these years!" + +He did not sit down in his usual place by the fireside, but remained +standing opposite to his old friend, looking at her with a troubled +countenance. Mrs. Dobbs gave him one quick, keen glance, and then said-- + +"So you've heard it, Jo? Well, I didn't mean that you should hear it +from any one but me. But who shall stop chattering tongues? They rage +like a fire in the stubble. And the poorer and lighter the fuel, the +bigger blaze it makes. It was settled only this very morning, too." + +"It _is_ true, then, Sarah? I had a kind of a hankering hope that it +might be only trash and chit-chat." + +"You mean about my letting my house, don't you? Yes; that's true." + +"And me never to know a word of it!--To hear it from strangers!" + +"Now look here, Jo; let us talk sensibly. Sit down, can't you?" + +But Jo would not sit down; and after a minute's pause, Mrs. Dobbs went +on-- + +"I'll tell you the truth. I didn't say a word to you of my plan +beforehand, because I was afraid to--there!" + +"Afraid! You, Sarah Dobbs, afraid of _me_! That's a good one!" But his +face relaxed a little from its pained, fixed look. + +"Yes; afraid of what you'd say. I knew you wouldn't approve, and I knew +why. You wouldn't approve for my sake. But, thinks I, when once it's +done, Jo may scold a little, but he'll forgive his old friend. And I +never thought of chattering jackdaws cawing the matter from the +house-tops. I meant to tell you myself this very afternoon; I did +indeed, Jo." + +Jo drew a little nearer to his accustomed chair, and put his hand on the +back of it, keeping his face turned away from Mrs. Dobbs. "Of course, +you're the mistress to do what you like with your own property," he +muttered. + +"Nobody's mistress, or master either, to do what's wrong with their own +property. I mean to do what's right if I can. I was never one to heed +much what outside folks think of me; but I do heed what you think, Jo, +and reason good. And I want you to know my feeling about the matter once +for all, and then we can leave it alone." + +Mr. Weatherhead here slid quietly into the armchair, and sat with his +face still turned towards the fire. + +"You know," continued Mrs. Dobbs, "I told you some weeks ago that I was +troubled about the child's position here. She is a real lady, and ought +to be acknowledged as such. That's the only good that can come now from +poor Susy's marriage, and I do hold to it. There was only one way, that +I could see, of managing what I wanted. I could do it at a +sacrifice--after all, a very small sacrifice." + +Jo Weatherhead shook his head emphatically. + +"Yes, really and truly a very small sacrifice," persisted Mrs. Dobbs. "I +don't see why I shouldn't be just as happy and comfortable in Jessamine +Cottage as here--provided, of course, that my old friends don't cut me +and sulk with me. I shall be lonely enough when once the child's gone; +and you and me'll have to cheer each other up, and keep each other +company, as well as we can. You won't refuse to do that, will you, Jo? +Come, shake hands on it!" + +Jo slowly put out his hand and grasped her proffered one. He then took +out, filled, and lighted his meerschaum, and smoked in silence for some +quarter of an hour, Mrs. Dobbs, meanwhile, knitting in equal silence. +All at once she said-- + +"Hark! There's May's step coming downstairs. Now you'll please to +understand that when my moving from this house is mentioned to the +child, it's because I find Friar's Row too noisy, and think the air in +Greenhill Road will agree better with my health. I trust you for that, +Jo Weatherhead, mind!" + +May at this moment came gaily into the room, and Mr. Weatherhead thus +solemnly addressed her: "Miranda Cheffington, you have been to a +first-rate school, and have read your Roman history and all that, +haven't you?" + +"Not much, I'm afraid, Uncle Jo." + +"You have read about Lucretia, and Portia, and the mother of the +Gracchi" (pronounced "Gratch-I;" for Jo's instruction had been chiefly +taken in by the eye rather than the ear, in the shape of miscellaneous +gleanings from his own stock-in-trade), "and other distinguished women +of classical times, whose virtues were, in my opinion, not wholly +unconnected with bounce?" + +Mary laughed and nodded. + +"Well, allow me to tell you that there are Englishwomen at the present +day whom I consider far superior, in all that makes a real good woman, +to any Roman or Grecian of them all. Englishwomen to whom bounce in +every form is foreign and obnoxious. Englishwomen who do good by stealth +and never blush to find it Fame, because Fame is a great deal too busy +with rascals and hussies ever to trouble herself about _them_! Your +grandmother, Mrs. Sarah Dobbs, whom I'm proud to call my friend, is one +of those women. And what's more--and I'll have you bear it in mind, +Miranda Cheffington--I believe you'd be puzzled to find her equal in +Europe, Asia, Africa, or America--not to mention Australasia and the +'ole of the islands in the Pacific Ocean." + +With that, Mr. Weatherhead walked gravely out; his nose somewhat redder +than usual, and his eyes glistening. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + + +About a year before that dinner-party at which May Cheffington had made +her _debut_ in Oldchester society, Mrs. Hadlow had begun to think it +probable that Theodore Bransby might wish to marry her daughter, and to +consider the desirability of his doing so. On the whole she did not +disapprove the prospect. Constance was very handsome, but she was also +very poor. Her ambition might not be satisfied by a match with Martin +Bransby's son; but on the other hand, Theodore was a young man of good +abilities, and apt to rise in the world. Moreover, he had sufficient +property of his own to facilitate his rising--a little ballast of that +sort being as useful in the _melee_ of this world as the lead in a toy +tumbler, and enabling a man, if not to strike the stars with his sublime +head, at least to keep right side uppermost. + +Certainly Theodore had appeared much attracted by Miss Hadlow. Not only +her beauty but her self-assertion approved itself to him; for a man's +wife should be able to justify his taste; and there would be no +distinction in winning a woman whose meekness made it doubtful whether +she could have had the heart to say "No" to an inferior suitor. They had +been playfellows in childhood, but school and Cambridge had separated +them. But after Theodore began to read for the Bar, and, during the two +last vacations, which he had spent chiefly at home, a great intimacy had +sprung up between the young people. Theodore's frequent visits to the +old house in College Quad did not pass unobserved. One or two persons +thought his partiality for the Hadlows--especially when contrasted with +the lukewarm politeness he bestowed on other families, such as Raynes +the brewer, or the Burtons who lived in a park, and had had nothing to +do with retail for two generations--was creditable to Theodore's heart. +"He was not one to neglect old friends," said they, candidly confessing +at the same time that it was more than they should have expected of him. +But the majority felt sure that nothing short of being in love with +Constance Hadlow could induce young Bransby to prefer the canon's +old-fashioned parlour to Mrs. Raynes's red and gold drawing-room, or the +Burtons' aesthetic upholstery. Oldchester folks did not guess that +Theodore intended to frequent a style of society in which neither the +Rayneses nor the Burtons would be able to make any figure, nor did they +know that he set a considerable value on Mrs. Hadlow's connections. That +lady had been a Miss Rivers, and her family ranked among the oldest +landed gentry in the kingdom. There were not many Oldchester magnates to +whom Theodore Bransby thought it worth while to be more than coolly +civil. Mr. Bragg was an exception, but then Mr. Bragg was a man of very +great wealth; and as mere size is held in certain cases to be an element +of grandeur, so money, Theodore thought, is capable in certain cases of +inspiring veneration--that is to say, when there is enough of it. + +As to Miss Constance's state of mind about young Bransby, it was too +complex to be described in a word. She liked Theodore, and thought him a +superior person; if not quite so superior as he thought himself. She had +faith, too, in his future. It would be agreeable to be the wife of a +distinguished M.P. or Q.C., or perhaps of both combined in one person. +Theodore would certainly settle nowhere but in London, and to live in +London had been Constance's dream ever since she was fifteen. Her +visions of what her life would be if she married Theodore Bransby +concerned themselves chiefly with their joint-entry into some +fashionable drawing-room, her presentation at Court, her name in the +_Morning Post_, herself exquisitely dressed driving Theodore down to the +House in a neat victoria, and returning the salutations of distinguished +acquaintances as they passed along Whitehall. All more serious questions +regarding their married life Constance set at rest by a few formulas. Of +course, she should do her duty. Of course, Theodore would always behave +like a gentleman. Of course, they should never condescend to vulgar +wrangling. Of course, her husband would give way to her in any +difference of opinion;--particularly since she was pretty sure to be +always right. And then Constance knew herself to be so very charming, +that a man of taste could not fail to delight in her society. + +Yet it must not be supposed that she had fully made up her mind to marry +Theodore. That Theodore would be very glad to marry her she did not +doubt at all. There had been a time--nay, there were moments still--when +her visions of herself as Mrs. Theodore Bransby had been blurred by the +disturbing element of her cousin Owen's presence. He had shown an +attractive appreciation of her attractions; and had, to use Mr. +Simpson's phrase, "dangled after his cousin" a good deal. Owen Rivers +had reached the age of three and twenty without ever having earned a +dinner, and without any serious preparation to enable him to earn one. +He had had an expensive education, and had done fairly well at Oxford. +His mother had died in his infancy; and his father, a country clergyman, +had allowed the young man to lounge away his life at the parsonage, +under the specious pretext of taking time to make up his mind what +career he would follow. Owen had fished, and shot, and walked, and +boated, and cricketed; but he had also read a good deal, having an +intellectual appetite at once robust and discriminating. His friends and +relatives agreed in thinking him very clever; and, when they reproached +him with wasting his fine abilities and leading a purposeless existence, +he would answer jestingly that he should be sorry to belie their +judgment by subjecting his talents to the dangerous touchstone of +action. His father died before he had determined on a profession. But, +fortunately as he thought, and unfortunately as was thought by some +other persons, including his Aunt Jane, he inherited wherewithal to live +without working, and, with a hundred and fifty pounds per annum, could +not lack bread and cheese. On his father's death he went to travel on +the Continent. He walked wherever walking was possible, carrying his own +knapsack, spending little, and seeing much. After more than two years' +absence, he returned to England and made his way to Oldchester to see +his Aunt Jane, with whom he had maintained an intermittent +correspondence. There he found Constance, whom he last remembered as a +sallow, self-sufficient schoolgirl, grown to a beautiful young woman. +Her sallowness had turned into a creamy pallor, and her self-sufficiency +was mitigated, to the masculine judgment, by the depth and softness of a +pair of fine dark eyes. Owen, on his part, made a decidedly favourable +impression on his cousin. He was not handsome--which mattered +little--nor fashionably dressed--which mattered more; but he was well +made, and had the grace which belongs to youthful health and strength. +And he had, too, that indefinable tone of manner which ensured his +recognition as an English gentleman. Constance was by no means +insensible to this attraction. If she had not the sentiments which +originate the finest manners, she had the perceptions which recognize +them. When Mary Raynes and the Burnet girls criticized the roughness of +Owen's demeanour, comparing it with Theodore Bransby's "polish," she +knew they were wrong. Theodore always behaved with the greatest +propriety; but between his manners and Owen's there was the same sort of +difference as between a native and a foreigner speaking the same +language. The foreigner may often be more accurately correct of the two +on minor points, but it is an affair of conscious acquirement, and must +inevitably break down now and then; whereas the native talks as +naturally as he breathes, and can no more make certain mistakes than an +oak tree can put forth willow leaves. Then Owen was very amusing company +when he chose to be so,--and he usually did choose to be so when at his +Aunt Jane's; and he had good old blood in his veins. This latter fact +gave a certain piquancy, in Constance's opinion, to his political +theories, which were opposed to the staunch Tory traditions of his +family. Constance frequently took her cousin to task on this subject; +but with the comfortable conviction to sweeten their controversy that a +Rivers could afford to indulge in a little democratic heresy, just as +Lord Castlecombe could afford to wear a shabbier coat than any of his +tenants. + +All these considerations, together with the crowning circumstance that +he evidently admired her a good deal, caused Owen to fill a large place +in his cousin's mind. She even asked herself seriously more than once if +she were in love with Owen, but failed to answer the question +decisively. She did, however, arrive at the conviction that falling in +love lay much more in one's own power than was commonly supposed; and +that no Romeo-and-Juliet destiny could ever inspire _her_ with an +ungovernable passion for a man who possessed but a hundred and fifty +pounds a year. Mrs. Hadlow had at one time felt some uneasiness--nearly +as much on Owen's account as on her daughter's, to say the truth. But +she had satisfied herself that there was nothing more than a fraternal +kind of regard between the young people--wherein she was wrong; and that +there was no danger of their imprudently marrying--wherein she was +right. + +Mrs. Hadlow had, indeed, made up her mind that Constance would accept +Theodore Bransby whenever he should offer himself; and she privately +thought it high time that the offer were made. What did Theodore wait +for? His means (according to Mrs. Hadlow's estimate of things) were +sufficient to allow him to marry at once. But even supposing that he did +not choose to marry until he had fairly entered on his career as a +barrister, still there ought to be at least some clear understanding +between him and Constance. All Oldchester expected to hear of their +engagement, and it was not fair to the girl to leave matters in their +present uncertain condition. When, at the end of the vacation, young +Bransby left Oldchester again without having made any declaration, Mrs. +Hadlow was not only surprised, but uneasy; and she opened her mind to +her husband on the subject, invading his study at an unusual hour for +that purpose. + +"Edward," said Mrs. Hadlow, "don't you think that Theodore Barnsby ought +to have spoken before he went to town this last time?" + +"Spoken, my dear?" + +"To Constance; or to us about Constance." + +The canon leaned his head on his hand, keeping the thumb of the other +hand inserted between the pages of his Plato as a marker, and looked +absently at his wife. + +"Well? Don't you think he ought?" she repeated impatiently. + +The good canon meditated for a few moments. Then he said-- + +"I--I don't feel quite sure that I understand. What ought he to have +said, Jane?" + +"Said! Goodness, Edward! He ought to have declared his intentions, of +course. It is high time that something was understood clearly." + +The canon's gentle blue eyes lost their abstracted look, and a little +sparkle came into them as he answered, "I hope--nay, I am sure--Jane, +that you would not think of taking any step, or saying any word, which +might compromise our dear child's dignity. Let it not appear that you +are eager to put this interpretation on the young man's visits." + +"My dear Edward, Theodore has been paying Conny marked attentions for +more than a year past; but during this last summer and autumn he has +been in our house morning, noon, and night. He doesn't come for _our +beaux yeux_." + +"H'm, h'm, h'm! But, Jane, an attachment of that sort between two young +creatures should be treated with the greatest delicacy. It is shy and +sensitive. Let us beware of pulling up our flower by the roots to see if +it is growing." + +This trope by no means corresponded with Mrs. Hadlow's conception of the +relations between Theodore Bransby and her daughter. She was an +affectionate mother, but she did not delude herself into thinking +Constance peculiarly sensitive or romantic. In fact, she was wont to say +that her daughter was twenty years older than herself on some points. +But the canon erroneously attributed to his daughter a quite poetical +refinement of feeling. His views on most subjects were romantic and +unworldly, and his ideas about women were peculiarly chivalrous. They +frequently irked Constance. She was not without respect as well as +affection for her father; and it was sometimes difficult to bring these +sentiments into harmony with her deep-seated admiration for herself. +However, she usually reconciled all discrepancies between what he +expected of her and what she knew to be the fact, by declaring that +"Papa was so old-fashioned!" + +"Tell me, Jane," said the canon, after a little pause, "do you think +Conny's feelings are seriously engaged? Do you think this matter is +likely to make her unhappy?" + +"Unhappy? Well, no; I hope not unhappy," answered Mrs. Hadlow slowly. + +"Then all is well. We will not let our spirits be troubled." + +"But, Edward, although she may not break her heart----" + +"Heaven forbid! Break her heart, Jane?" + +"Well, I say of course there's no fear of that; but it _is_ detrimental +to a girl to have an affair of this kind dragging on in a vague sort of +way. It might spoil her chance in other directions; and people will +talk, you know." + +"Tut, tut! As to 'spoiling her chance'--which is a phrase very +distasteful to me in this connection--if you mean that any eligible +suitor would be discouraged from wooing Conny because another man is +supposed to admire her too, that's all nonsense. Do you think I should +have been frightened away from trying to win you, Jenny, by any such +impalpable figment of a rival?" + +"You?" exclaimed Mrs. Hadlow, with a sudden flush and a proud smile. +"Oh, that's a _very_ different matter, Edward. I don't see any young men +nowadays to compare with what you were." + +The canon laughed softly. "Thank you, my dear. No doubt your grandmother +said much the same sort of thing once upon a time; and I hope your +grand-daughter may say it too, some day. But set your heart at rest as +to this matter. That Theodore Bransby, whom we have known from his +birth, should be a frequent guest in our house, can surprise no one. +There is youthful society to be found here. Without reckoning Constance, +there's Owen Rivers, the Burton girls, little May--we may reasonably +suppose this to be attractive to a young man who has no companions of +his own age at home, without attributing to him any such intentions as +you speak off. In fact," added the canon simply, "we must believe you +are mistaken; since, if Theodore loved our daughter, there's nothing to +prevent his saying so!" + +Of all which speech, two words chiefly arrested Mrs. Hadlow's attention +and stuck in her memory--"little May." It was true, now she came to +think of it, that the increased frequency of Theodore's visits coincided +with May Cheffington's presence in Oldchester. Then she suddenly +remembered it was by Theodore's influence that May had been invited to +Mrs. Bransby's dinner-party, and many words and ways of his with +reference to Miss Cheffington occurred to her in a new light. But then, +again, came a revulsion, and she told herself that the idea was absurd. +It was out of the question that Theodore Bransby, with his social +ambition, should think seriously of marrying insignificant little May +Cheffington, who was not even handsome (when compared with Constance), +who had childish manners, no fortune--and, worst of all, was Mrs. +Dobbs's grand-daughter! "Besides," said Mrs. Hadlow to herself, "he +_must_ be fond of Conny. It's quite an old attachment; and, though +Theodore may not have very ardent feelings, I don't believe he is +fickle." + +Nevertheless, she was not entirely reassured. After Theodore's departure +from Oldchester she observed her daughter solicitously for some time; +but she finally convinced herself that Conny's peace of mind was in no +danger. She had sometimes been provoked by Conny's matter-of-fact +coolness, and had felt that young lady's worldly wisdom to be an +anachronism. But she admitted that in the present case these gifts had +their advantage; for, when Oldchester friends showed their interest or +curiosity by hints and allusions to Theodore, which made Mrs. Hadlow +quite hot and uncomfortable, Constance met them all with perfect +calmness, and she discussed the young man's prospects with an almost +patronizing air that puzzled people. + +In a few weeks more May Cheffington departed for London; Owen Rivers +also went away, and life in the dark old house in College Quad resumed +its usual quiet routine. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + + +It was a raw, gusty afternoon towards the end of March when May and her +grandmother arrived in London. There had been some difficulty about the +journey, arising from Mrs. Dormer-Smith's objection to her niece's +travelling alone, and insisting on her being properly attended. In reply +to a suggestion that May would be quite safe in a ladies' carriage, and +under the care of the guard, she wrote:--"It is not that I doubt her +being safe; but I _cannot_ let my servants see her arrive alone when I +meet her at the station. Why not send a maid with her?" To which Mrs. +Dobbs made answer that she could not send a maid, having only one +servant-of-all-work, but that she herself would bring her grand-daughter +to London. "I shall go up by one train, and come down by the next," said +she to Jo Weatherhead. And when he remonstrated against her incurring +that expense and fatigue, she answered, "Oh, we won't spoil the ship for +a ha'porth of tar. If I make up my mind to part with the child, I'll +start her as well as I can." + +The travellers found Mrs. Dormer-Smith awaiting them at the +railway station. She greeted May affectionately, and Mrs. Dobbs +amiably. "My servant has a cab here for the luggage," she said. +"But"--hesitatingly--"how shall we manage about----? I'm afraid the +brougham is too small for three." Mrs. Dobbs settled the question by +declaring that she did not purpose going to Mrs. Dormer-Smith's house. +She would get some dinner at the station, and return to Oldchester by an +evening train. "Oh dear, I'm afraid that will be very uncomfortable for +you!" said Pauline, politely trying to conceal her satisfaction at this +arrangement. "Will you not come and--and lunch with us?" But Mrs. Dobbs +stuck to her own plan. + +While the footman was superintending the placing of May's luggage on the +cab, her grandmother drew her into the waiting-room to say "good-bye." +"God bless you, my dear, dear child! Write to me often, keep well, and +be happy!" she said, folding the girl in her arms. Mrs. Dormer-Smith +stood by, not unsympathetic, but at the same time relieved to know James +was busy with the luggage, so that he could not witness the parting, nor +hear May's exclamation, "Darling granny! darling granny!" Indeed, it +might be hoped that he would never know the relationship between this +stout, common-looking old woman and Miss Cheffington; nor be able to +report it in the servants' hall. She felt that Mrs. Dobbs was behaving +very properly, and said with gracious sweetness, "I'm sure we ought all +to be very much obliged to you for the care you have taken of my niece. +It was most good of you to undertake this tiresome journey." + +Mrs. Dobbs looked up with a flash in her eyes. "I only hope," she +returned hotly, "that you will take as good care of my grandchild as I +have taken of your niece." The next moment she repented of her retort, +and said quite humbly, "You will be kind to her, won't you? Poor +motherless lamb! You will be kind to her, I'm sure!" + +"Indeed I will," answered Mrs. Dormer-Smith, with unruffled gentleness. +"I have always wished for a daughter, and she shall be like my own +daughter to me." And, with a motherly caress, she drew May to her side. + +"Don't be afraid for me, granny dear!" said May, smiling with tearful +eyes. "I shall be very happy with Aunt Pauline. Besides, I shall see you +again very soon." + +Mrs. Dobbs laid her hand on the girl's shoulder and pushed her gently, +but firmly, out of the waiting-room, standing herself in the doorway +until May and her aunt had disappeared. Then she sat down by the fire, +untied her bonnet-strings, pulled out her handkerchief, and sobbed +unrestrainedly. The waiting-room attendant looked at her curiously; for +she had noticed that Mrs. Dobbs did not belong to the same class as that +elegantly dressed lady, attended by a servant in livery, with whom the +young girl had gone away. Presently she drew near, on pretence of poking +the fire, and said-- + +"You're very fond of the young lady, ain't you? But don't take on so. +You'll see her again very soon, I dare say. Don't cry, poor dear!" + +"I _have_ cried," said Mrs. Dobbs, getting up and drying her eyes +resolutely. "I have cried, and it's done me good. And now I'll go and +get a bit of food." + +But she only trifled with the modest dinner set before her; and, as she +sat in a corner of the second-class carriage which conveyed her back to +Oldchester, her handkerchief was soaked with silent tears. + +To May the separation naturally seemed far less terrible than it did to +Mrs. Dobbs. She had no idea that it was to be a long, much less a +permanent, one. She found it agreeable to sit in the well-hung, neatly +appointed brougham, with a cushion at her back and a hot-water tin under +her feet, and to look through the clear glasses at the bustle and +movement of London. Her aunt Pauline was very pleasant and sympathetic. +May thought that she might come to love her father's sister very dearly. +She admired her already. Mrs. Dormer-Smith's gentle manner, her soft, +low voice, the quiet elegance of her dress, and even the delicate +perfume of violets which hung about her, were all appreciated by May. + +"My cousin is not at home, is he, Aunt Pauline?" she asked after a +little silence. + +"No; Cyril is at Harrow. There are only the children." + +"Oh, children!" cried May, with brightening eyes. "I'm so glad! I love +children. I didn't know you had any children besides Cyril." + +Mrs. Dormer-Smith laughed her peculiar little guttural laugh, consisting +of several ha, ha, ha's, slowly and softly uttered, and made no answer. + +"Are they boys or girls? How many are there? How old are they?" +questioned May eagerly. + +"Two little boys. Harold is--let me see--Harold is six, and Wilfred +five. It is very awkward having two little things in the nursery so many +years younger than their elder brother. Cyril is turned fifteen. It is +like beginning all one's troubles over again," said Pauline plaintively. +The birth of these two children was, indeed, a standing grievance with +her. + +May thought this an odd way of talking, and said no more on the subject +of her little cousins. But she looked forward to seeing them with +pleasant expectation. + +The sight of the house in Kensington brought back vividly to her mind +the day after the dowager's funeral, when she had arrived there from +school, feeling very strange and forlorn. She remembered, too, the +abrupt departure next morning with her father, and her impression that +the Dormer-Smiths had not behaved well, and that her father was very +angry with them. May was shown into a bedroom at the back of the house, +overlooking some gardens. The maid, having asked if she could do +anything for Miss Cheffington, and having mentioned that the +luncheon-gong would sound in ten minutes, withdrew, and left May alone. +She examined the room with girlish interest. It was very pretty, she +thought. Perhaps, in point of solid comfort, the old-fashioned furniture +of her room in Friar's Row might be superior; but in Friar's Row there +was no such ample provision of looking-glasses as there was here. She +was still contemplating herself from head to foot in a long swing +mirror, which stood in a good light near the window, when the gong +sounded. + +May ran downstairs, and in the dining-room she found her aunt and a +heavy-looking man with grizzled, sandy hair, and dull blue eyes, who +asked her how she did, and supposed she would hardly recognize him. + +"Oh yes, I do, Uncle Frederick!" she answered. + +And again an uncomfortable recollection of her father's angry departure +from that house came over her. But whatever quarrels there might have +been in those days, her aunt and uncle appeared to have forgotten all +about them. Mr. Dormer-Smith told May more than once that he was pleased +to see her. + +"You're not a bit like your father, my dear," said he, with an approving +air not altogether flattering to Augustus. + +"Oh yes, Frederick!" interposed his wife. "There is a family +expression." + +"It's an expression I have never seen on your brother's face. No, nor +any approach to it." + +Mrs. Dormer-Smith laughed the soft little laugh which was habitual with +her when embarrassed or disconcerted, and changed the conversation. "I +hope you like your room, May?" she said. + +"Oh yes, very much indeed, thank you, Aunt Pauline." + +"I wish I could have come upstairs with you. But I am obliged to +_menager_ my strength as much as possible." + +"Are you not well, Aunt Pauline?" asked May with ready sympathy. + +"I am not _strong_, dear." + +"You would be better if you exerted yourself more," said Mr. +Dormer-Smith. "Your system gets into a sluggish state from sheer +inactivity." + +"Ah, you don't understand, Frederick," answered his wife, with a +plaintive smile. + +And May felt indignant at her uncle's want of feeling. But the next +minute she relented towards him when he said, as he rose from table-- + +"I'll go round to the chemist's myself for Willy's medicine, and bring +it back with me, as I suppose you will be wanting James to go out again +with the carriage by-and-by." + +"Is one of the little boys ill?" asked May. + +This time it was her aunt who replied calmly, "Oh no. The child has a +little nervous cough; it is really more a trick than anything else." + +"Huggins doesn't think so lightly of it, I can assure you. He tells me +great care is needed," said Mr. Dormer-Smith. + +"Can I--would you mind--might I see my little cousins?" asked May, with +some hesitation. She was puzzled by these discrepancies of opinion +between husband and wife. + +Mr. Dormer-Smith turned round with a look almost of animation. "Come +now, if you like. Come with me," he said. And May followed him out of +the room, disregarding her aunt's suggestion that it would be better for +her to lie down and rest after her journey. + +The nursery was a large room--in fact, an attic--at the top of the +house. May noticed how rapidly the elegance and costliness of the +furniture and appointments decreased as they mounted. If the dining-room +and drawing-rooms represented tropical luxury, the bedrooms cooled down +into a temperate zone; and the top region of all was arctic in its +barrenness. The nursery looked very forlorn and comfortless, with its +bare floor, cheap wall-paper dotted with coarse, coloured prints, and +its small grate with a small fire in it, which had exhausted its +energies in smoking furiously, as the smell in the room testified. At a +table in the middle of the room sat a hard-featured young woman, with +high cheek-bones, and a complexion like that of a varnished wooden doll, +mending a heap of linen; and in one corner, where stood a battered old +rocking-horse and a top-heavy Noah's Ark, two little boys were kneeling +on the floor, building houses with wooden bricks. On their father's +entrance, they looked up languidly; but when they saw who it was, they +scrambled to their feet with some show of pleasure, and came to stand +one on each side of him, holding his hands. They were both like him, +blue-eyed and sandy-haired, and both looked pale and sickly. Harold, the +elder, seemed the stronger of the two. Wilfred was a meagre, +frail-looking little creature, with a half-timid, half-sullen expression +of face. Their father kissed them both, and, sitting down, drew the +younger child on his knee, whilst Harold stood pressing close against +his shoulder. + +"Well, do you know who this is?" asked Mr. Dormer-Smith, pointing to +May. + +Apparently they had no wish to know, for they nestled closer to their +father, and sulkily rejected May's proffered caresses. + +"Oh, come, you mustn't be shy," said their father. "This is your cousin +May; kiss her, and say, 'How d'ye do?'" + +But nothing would induce either of the boys to give May his hand, nor +even to look at her; and at length she begged her uncle not to trouble +himself, and hoped they would all be very good friends presently. + +"And how do we get on with our lessons, ma'amselle?" asked Mr. +Dormer-Smith of the hard-featured young woman, who, beyond rising from +her chair when they came in, had hitherto taken no notice of them. + +"We haven't had no lessons to-day," put in Harold, with a lowering look +at "ma'amselle." + +"No, monsieur, it has been impossible till now; I have had so much +sewing to do for madame. See!" and she pointed to the heap of linen. +"But we will have our lessons in the afternoon." + +"I don't want lessons; I want to go out with papa. Take me with you, +papa," cried Harold. Whereupon little Wilfred lisped out that he too +would go out with papa, and set up a peevish whine. + +"It is too cold for you, my man," said the father. "The sharp wind would +make you cough. Harold will stay with you, and you can play together, +and do your lessons afterwards, like good boys." + +But the children only wailed and cried the louder, whilst mademoiselle, +with her eyes on her needlework, monotonously repeated in her +Swiss-French, "What is this? Be good, my children," and apparently +thought she was doing all that she was called upon to do under the +circumstances. + +May thought her little cousins peculiarly disagreeable children; but she +could not help feeling sorry for them and for their father, who looked +quite helpless and distressed. "Would you like me to tell you a story?" +she said. "I know some very pretty stories." + +A wail from Wilfred and a scowl from Harold were all the answer she +received from them. But her uncle caught at the suggestion eagerly. + +"Oh, that would be very kind of Cousin May," he said. "A pretty story! +You'll like that, won't you?" + +"No, I shan't! I want to go with papa," grumbled Harold. + +"I want to go wis papa," sobbed Wilfred. + +"It is always so when monsieur comes to the nursery," said the Swiss, +coolly going on with her sewing. "The children are so fond of monsieur." + +"Poor little fellows!" cried May. + +Then kneeling down beside her uncle, she began softly to stroke +Wilfred's hair, and to speak to him coaxingly. After a while, the child +glanced shyly into her face, and ceased to sob. Presently he allowed +himself to be transferred from his father's knee to May's. The Noah's +Ark was brought into requisition. May ranged its inmates--all more or +less dilapidated--on the floor, and began to perform a drama with them, +making each animal's utterances in an appropriate voice. A smile dawned +on Wilfred's pale little face, and Harold drew near to look and listen +with evident interest. + +"Now, Uncle Frederick, if you have to go out, I will stay and play with +the children, until lesson-time. They are going to be very good now; +ain't you, boys?" + +"Ve'y good now," assented Wilfred, his attention still absorbed by the +Noah's Ark animals. + +"Well, if you'll make the pig grunt again, I will be good," said Harold, +with a Bismarckian mastery of the _do ut des_ principle. + +Mr. Dormer-Smith's face beamed with satisfaction. "It's very good of +you, my dear," said he. "If you don't mind, it would be very kind to +stay with them a little while; that is, if you are not too tired by your +journey?" And as he went away, he repeated, "It's very good of you, my +dear; very good of you!" + +But May found that her aunt took a different view. + +"_Dear_ May," said she, when she learned where her niece had been +spending the two hours after luncheon, "this is very imprudent! You +should have lain down and taken a thorough rest instead of exerting +yourself in that way." + +"Oh, I'm not in the least tired, Aunt Pauline." + +"Dear child, you may not think so; but a railway journey of three or +four hours jars the nerves terribly." + +"Oh, I was very glad to amuse the children, Aunt Pauline. They were +crying to go out with their father, so I tried to comfort them. They got +quite merry before I left them." + +Mrs. Dormer-Smith slowly shook her head and smiled. "You will find them +extremely tiresome, poor things!" said she placidly. "They are by no +means engaging children. Cyril was very different at their age." + +"Oh, Aunt Pauline! I think they might be made--I mean I think we shall +come to be great friends. I couldn't bear to see them cry, poor mites!" + +"That is all very sweet in you, dear May, but I fancy it is best to +leave their nursery governess to manage them. Her French is not all that +I could wish. But a pure accent is not so vitally important for boys. It +is much if an Englishman can speak French even decently. And Cecile +makes herself very useful with her needle." + +Pauline then announced that she would not go out again that afternoon, +but would devote herself to the inspection of May's wardrobe. "Of course +you have no evening dresses fit to wear," she said; "but we will see +whether we cannot manage to make use of some of your clothes. Smithson, +my maid, is very clever." + +"Why, of course granny would not have sent me without proper clothes!" +protested May, opening her eyes in astonishment. "And I _have_ an +evening frock--a very pretty white muslin, quite new." + +To this speech Aunt Pauline vouchsafed no answer beyond a vague smile. +She scarcely heard it, in fact. Her mind was preoccupied with weighty +considerations. As she seated herself in the one easy-chair in May's +room, and watched her niece kneeling down, keys in hand, before her +travelling trunk, she observed with heartfelt thankfulness that the +girl's figure was naturally graceful, and calculated to set off well-cut +garments to advantage. + +"Oh!" exclaimed May suddenly, turning round and letting the keys fall +with a clash as she clasped her hands, "above everything I must not miss +the post! I want to send off a letter, so that granny may have it at +breakfast time to-morrow for a surprise. Have I plenty of time, Aunt +Pauline?" + +"No doubt," answered her aunt absently. She was debating whether the +circumference of May's waist might not be reduced an inch or so by +judicious lacing. + +"Perhaps I had better get my letter written first, Aunt Pauline. I +wouldn't miss writing to granny for the world, and any time will do for +the clothes." + +To which her aunt replied with solemnity, and with an appearance of +energy which May had never witnessed in her before, "Your wardrobe, May, +demands very serious consideration. April is just upon us. You are to be +presented at the second Drawing-room. Dress is an important social duty, +and we must not lose time in trifling." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + + +It was a great comfort to Mrs. Dormer-Smith to find her niece so pretty +("not a beauty," as she said to herself, "but extremely pleasing, and +with capital points"), and so entirely free from vulgarisms of speech or +manner. In fact, May's outward demeanour needed but very few polishing +touches to make it all her aunt could desire. But a more intimate +acquaintance revealed traits of character which troubled Mrs. +Dormer-Smith a good deal. + +"I suppose," she observed to her husband, with a sigh, "one had no right +to expect that poor Augustus's unfortunate marriage should have left no +trace in his children. But it is dreadfully disheartening to come every +now and then upon some absolutely middle-class prejudice or scruple in +May. Now, Augustus, whatever his faults may be, always had such a +thoroughbred way of looking at things." + +"Certainly, no one can accuse your brother of having scruples," said +Frederick. + +"Besides, it is terribly bad form in a girl of her age to set up for a +moralist." + +"It doesn't seem much like May to set up for anything: she is always so +childish and unpretending." + +"Oh yes; and that _ingenue_ air is delicious: it goes so perfectly with +her _physique_. But there are so many things which one cannot teach in +words, but which girls brought up in a certain _monde_ learn by +instinct." + +"What sort of things do you mean?" asked her husband after a little +pause. + +"Well, on Thursday, for instance, I was awfully annoyed. Mrs. Griffin +was here, and seemed pleased with May, and talked to her a good deal. +You know that is very important, because the duchess invites people or +leaves them out pretty much as her mother dictates. So I was naturally +very much gratified to see May making a good impression. In fact, Mrs. +Griffin whispered to me, 'Charming! So fresh.' Presently Lady Burlington +came in, and they began talking of those new people, the Aaronssohns, +who have a million and a half a year. Lady Burlington had been at a big +dinner there the night before, and she told us the most astonishing +things of their vulgarity and their pushing ways. When she was gone Mrs. +Griffin said, 'I do like Lady Burlington,' and began praising her +manners and her air of _grande dame_. And, very kindly turning to May, +she said, 'Do you know, little one, that that is one of the proudest +women in England?' 'Is she?' said May. 'I should never have guessed that +she was proud.' Something in her way of saying it caught Mrs. Griffin's +attention; and she pressed her and cross-questioned her, until May +blurted out that she thought it despicable to accept vulgar people's +hospitality only because they were rich, and then to ridicule them for +being vulgar. I never was so shocked; for, you know, the duchess and +Mrs. Griffin both went to the Aaronssohns' ball last season. Now you +know," pursued Mrs. Dormer-Smith almost tearfully, "that kind of thing +will never do. You must allow that it will never do, Frederick." + +"It would be awkward," assented Frederick, looking grave. "Couldn't you +tell her?" + +"Of course, I spoke to her after Mrs. Griffin had gone away. But she +only said, 'What could I do, Aunt Pauline? The old lady insisted on my +answering her, and I couldn't tell her a story.' You see what a +difficult kind of thing it will be to manage, Frederick." + +Mr. Dormer-Smith had become a great partisan of May's. He was genuinely +grateful for her kindness to his children, and would willingly have +taken her part had it been possible. But he felt that his wife was +right; it would really never do to carry into society an _enfant +terrible_ of such uncompromising truthfulness. And this feeling was much +strengthened by the recollection of sundry remarks which May had +innocently made to himself--remarks indicating an inconvenient +assumption on her part that one's principles must naturally regulate +one's practice. However, as he told his wife, they must trust to time +and experience to correct this crudeness. + +"She is but a schoolgirl, after all," he said. + +Pauline did not pursue the subject, but she reflected within herself +that there are schoolgirls and schoolgirls. + +There had been some discussion as to who should present May. Mrs. +Dormer-Smith was of opinion that had there been a Viscountess +Castlecombe, the office would properly have devolved on her ladyship; +but old Lord Castlecombe had been a widower for many years. At length it +was decided that May should be presented by her aunt. + +"I know it is a great risk for me to go out _decolletee_ on an English +spring day," said that devoted woman. "And Lady Burlington would do it +if I asked her. But I wish to carry out the duty I have undertaken +towards Augustus's daughter, as thoroughly as my strength will allow. +Under all the circumstances of the case, it is important that she should +be publicly acknowledged, and, as it were, identified with the family. +Of course, I shall feel justified in buying my gown out of May's money." + +"May's money" had come to be the phrase by which the Dormer-Smiths spoke +of the payment made by Mrs. Dobbs for her grand-daughter. + +But besides the comforting sense of duty fulfilled, there were other +compensations in store for Mrs. Dormer-Smith. May's presentation dress +was pronounced exquisite, and was ready in good time; and May herself +profited satisfactorily by the instructions of a fashionable professor +of deportment, in the difficult art of walking and curtsying in a train. +To be sure, she had alarmed her aunt at first, by going into fits of +laughter when describing Madame Melnotte's lessons, and imitating the +impressive gravity with which the dancing-mistress went through the dumb +show of a presentation at Court. But she did what she was told to do, +not only with docility, but with an unaffected simplicity which Aunt +Pauline's good taste perceived to be infinitely charming. And she said +to her husband that she really began to hope May would be "a great +success." + +The great day of the Drawing-room came and went, as do all days, great +or small. But whether she had been a success or a failure, in her aunt's +sense of the words, May had not the remotest idea. Indeed, the various +feelings on the subject of her presentation which had filled her breast +beforehand (including a genuine delight in her own appearance as she +stood before the big looking-glass, while Smithson put the finishing +touches to her head-dress), were all swallowed up in the supreme feeling +of thankfulness that it was over; and that she had not disgraced herself +by tumbling over her train, or otherwise shocking the eyes of august +personages. Also, in a minor degree, she was thankful that Aunt +Pauline's antique lace-flounce--a portion of the dowager's legacy lent +for the occasion--had escaped destruction. On their drive homeward, she +sat silent, trying to extricate some definite image from her confused +impressions of the ceremony, and finding that her most distinct +recollection recorded the pressure of a persistent and ruthless elbow +against her ribs. Mrs. Dormer-Smith, too, was too much exhausted to say +much. She leaned back in the carriage with closed eyes, wrapping her +furs round her, and sniffing at a bottle of salts. + +But when refreshed by a glass of wine, and seated in a well-cushioned +chair before a blazing fire, Mrs. Dormer-Smith felt very well satisfied +with the result of the day. Mrs. Griffin had been there, and had nodded +approvingly across a struggling crowd of bare shoulders; and Mrs. +Griffin's approbation was worth having. Mr. Dormer-Smith came home from +his club a full hour earlier than usual, in order to hear the report--a +proof of interest which May, not being a whist-player, was unable fully +to appreciate. + +"Well," said Pauline, with a kind of pious serenity, "we have +accomplished this somewhat trying social duty." + +"Trying, indeed," exclaimed May. "I'm afraid you are dreadfully tired, +Aunt Pauline. And the crowd and closeness made your head ache, I saw. +How is your head now?" + +"It is better, dear, much better." + +"Well?" said Mr. Dormer-Smith, looking interrogatively with raised +eyebrows at his wife. + +"Oh yes, Frederick; very nice indeed, very satisfactory. I was very much +pleased. I _had_ been a little anxious about the effect of the +_corsage_, but Amelie has done herself great credit. And, mercifully, +white suits our dear child to perfection. She really looked very well." + +"Did I, Aunt Pauline? Well, I'm sure it didn't much matter how I +looked." + +"Didn't matter!" echoed Mrs. Dormer-Smith in a shocked tone. + +"Oh, come, May!" cried her uncle. "I thought you were above that sort of +nonsense. Do you mean to tell me that you don't care about looking +pretty?" + +"Oh no! I mean--well, I did think my dress was lovely when I looked at +myself in the big glass upstairs; but in that crush who could see it? +And I was awfully afraid that Aunt Pauline's lace flounce would be torn +completely off the skirt." + +Her uncle laughed. "You don't appear to have altogether enjoyed your +first appearance as a courtier," said he. + +"Enjoyed! Oh, who _could_ enjoy it?" Then, fearful of seeming +ungrateful, she added, "It was very, very kind of Aunt Pauline to take +so much trouble, and to get me that beautiful dress." + +May had not been accustomed to think about ways and means. It had seemed +a matter of course that her daily wants should be supplied, and she had +hitherto bestowed no more thought on the matter than a young bird in the +nest. But it was impossible for her to live as a member of the +Dormer-Smiths' family without having the question of money brought +forcibly to her mind. There were small pinchings and savings of a kind +utterly unknown in Friar's Row; elaborate calculations were made as to +the possibility of this or that expenditure; Aunt Pauline frequently +lamented her poverty; and yet, withal, there was kept up an appearance +of wealth and elegance. May was not long in discovering the seamy side +of all the luxury which surrounded her; and it amazed her. Why should +her aunt so arrange her life as to derive very little comfort from very +strenuous effort? And what puzzled her most of all at first was the air +of conscious virtue with which this was done: the strange way in which +Aunt Pauline would mention some piece of meanness or insincerity as +though it were an act of loftiest duty. On one or two occasions May had +innocently suggested a straightforward way out of some social +difficulty; such as wearing an old gown when a new one could not be +afforded, or refusing an invitation which could only be accepted at the +cost of much bodily and mental harass. But these childish suggestions +had been met by an indulgent smile; and she had been told that such and +such things must be done or endured in order to keep up the family's +position in society. Once May had asked, "Then why _should_ we keep up +our position in society?" But her aunt had shown such genuine +consternation at this impious inquiry, that the girl did not venture to +repeat it. + +Another question, however, soon forced itself upon May--namely, how it +came to pass that, under all the circumstances, so much money was spent +on her dress. Besides the court train and petticoat, her aunt had +provided for her a wardrobe which, to the young girl's inexperienced +eyes, appeared absolutely splendid (for Pauline's conscience, although +cramped and squeezed into artificial shape like a Chinese lady's foot, +was alive and sentient; and she would on no account have failed to +expend "May's money" for May's advantage): and yet all the while there +were the two little boys in their comfortless nursery, wearing coarse +clothing and shabby shoes; and there was Cecile toiling at needlework +instead of attending to the children, in order that the cost of a +seamstress might be saved! On this subject May felt that she had a right +to interrogate her aunt; and accordingly she took courage to do so. Mrs. +Dormer-Smith was considerably embarrassed, and made an attempt to fence +off the subject. But May persisted. + +"It's very, very good of you and Uncle Frederick to do so much for me," +she said; "but I can't bear to take it all." + +"Nonsense, May! Remember you are a Cheffington. You _must_ appear in the +world properly equipped." + +"But, Aunt Pauline, it isn't fair to Harold and Wilfred!" + +"Harold and Wilfred?" echoed her aunt, opening wide her soft dark eyes. +"What _do_ you mean, May?" + +May coloured hotly, but stuck to her point. "Well," she said, "you know +Uncle Frederick was saying the other day that Willy ought to have change +of air; and you said you couldn't afford to send him to the seaside just +now; and--and I think Cecile thinks they ought to have new walking +suits; and all the while I have so many expensive new frocks. I can't +bear it. It isn't really fair." + +Then Mrs. Dormer-Smith found herself compelled to assure her niece that +no penny of the cost of her toilet came out of Uncle Frederick's pocket, +and reading a further question in the girl's face, she hastened to +anticipate it by adding, "The arrangements made for you here, May, are +in entire accordance with your father's wishes. There has been a +correspondence with him on the subject, and he wrote quite distinctly; +otherwise your uncle and I would not have undertaken to bring you out." + +"I hope," said May, "that papa does not deprive himself of anything for +me. He used not to be at all well off, I know. I can remember when I was +a little thing in Bruges." + +"Augustus deprives himself of _nothing_," answered Mrs. Dormer-Smith +softly, but emphatically. "Pray say no more on the subject, my dear. +This sort of thing makes my head ache." + +Her conscience being thus relieved, May accepted and enjoyed her new +finery and her new life. She found that "taking up one's position in +society" involved pleasanter things than being presented at a +Drawing-room. It was delightful to be tastefully and becomingly dressed. +It was agreeable to be sure of plenty of partners at every dance. It was +satisfactory to have so admirable a chaperon as Aunt Pauline. One could +no more form a fair judgment of that lady from knowing her only in +domestic life, than one could fully appreciate a swan from seeing it on +dry land. In the congenial element of "society," her merits were +exhibited to the utmost advantage. They were, indeed, greater than May +had any idea of; Mrs. Dormer-Smith's tact in warding off ineligible +partners, and securing as far as possible eligible ones for her niece, +was masterly. But May admired her aunt's unruffled temper and gentle +grace. She had been quick to find out--with some astonishment, but +beyond the possibility of doubt--that fine people can be exceedingly +rude on occasion; and she observed with pride that Aunt Pauline was +never rude. Moreover, Aunt Pauline's softness of manner was a far more +effectual protection against impertinence, than the _brusquerie_ +affected by sundry ladies who forgot the wisdom embodied in the homely +saying, that "those who play at bowls must look out for rubbers;" and +who were always liable to be vanquished by greater insolence than their +own. + +May soon began to be reticent of her real sentiments and opinions in +speaking to her aunt and uncle. She felt that nine times out of ten she +was not understood; or, which was worse, was misunderstood. But in +writing to her dear granny, she frankly and fully poured out all her +heart. These letters were the joy and consolation of Mrs. Dobbs's life. +Every minutest detail interested her. She laughed over May's description +of the Drawing-room, and read it out aloud to Jo Weatherhead by way of a +wholesome corrective to his Tory prejudices. + +But at the same time she secretly treasured a copy of the _Morning Post_ +containing Miss Miranda Cheffington's name, and a description of Miss +Miranda Cheffington's toilet on that occasion. And she listened, with a +complacency of which she was more than half ashamed, to Mrs. Simpson's +ecstasies on the subject; and to the scraps of information which the +good-natured Amelia quoted--generally incorrectly--from social gossip +setting forth how Mrs. Dormer-Smith and her niece, Miss Miranda +Cheffington, had been present at this or that grand entertainment. These +things might appear frivolous; but was it not for this end, to put May +in her right place in the world, to give her her birthright, that Mrs. +Dobbs had made a great sacrifice? Jo Weatherhead understood this so +well, that the "fashionable intelligence" in the local newspapers +assumed a quite pathetic interest in his eyes. When he went to drink tea +with his old friend in the parlour of her new abode with its trashy, +stuccoed ceiling, miserably thin walls, and squeezed little fireplace, +he felt it to be a positive comfort to pull from his pocket a copy of +the _Court Journal_ or other equally polite print, and read aloud to +Sarah some paragraph in which May's name occurred. It was a consolation, +too, to let himself be lectured and laughed at by Sarah for his absurd +admiration of the aristocracy. And he took every opportunity of +combating her Radicalism, in order that she might victoriously vindicate +the steadfastness of her political principles. + +Meanwhile, Captain Cheffington saw the accounts of his daughter's +appearance in the fashionable world, and began to think that he had been +too easy in giving his consent to it. He had got nothing by it; and +perhaps something might have been got. He wrote twice to Pauline, +urgently requiring her to tell him what was the exact sum which Mrs. +Dobbs paid for her grand-daughter's maintenance. That it was handsome he +did not doubt; knowing by experience that the Dormer-Smiths would not +contribute a shilling. Pauline had replied evasively to the first +letter, and not at all to the second, with the result that Augustus's +imagination absurdly exaggerated Mrs. Dobbs's wealth. The old woman must +be rolling in money after all! Had May's allowance been a small one, his +sister would not have hesitated to tell him the exact sum. It was clear +to his mind that the Dormer-Smiths were making an uncommonly good thing +of it, and he was decidedly disinclined to leave all the profit to them. +He wrote off to Oldchester a demand for money on his own account. It was +refused; and his anger was very bitter. He even began to cherish a +grudge against May. Why should she be surrounded by luxury, enjoying all +the gaieties of London, and taking a social position to which her only +claim was the fact of being _his_ daughter, whilst he lived the life of +an outcast? He went so far as to threaten to come to England and bring +away his daughter: having some idea that Mrs. Dobbs might ransom May, +and pension him off. But the energy which might once upon a time have +enabled Augustus Cheffington to take this strong step had waned long +ago. He had grown inert. And, above all, the circumstances of his +private life rendered such independent action difficult, if not +impossible. + +It presently began to be reported amongst Mrs. Dormer-Smith's +acquaintance, with other items of tea-table gossip, that "little May +Cheffington had a rich old grandmother somewhere down in the country." +Theodore Bransby, who was admitted as a familiar visitor at the +Dormer-Smiths', and who made a parade of his intimacy with the +Cheffingtons, was interrogated on the subject. He maintained a cautious +reserve in his replies:--"He really could say nothing; he had no idea +what the old lady's means might be; he could scarcely, in fact, be said +to know her at all." Wishing, as he did, completely to ignore that +objectionable old ironmonger's widow, it was irritating to find her +existence known, and her means discussed, in London. To be sure, no one +troubled himself to inquire "Who is she?" general interest being +exclusively concentrated on the question, "What has she?" Theodore's +reticence was by no means attributed to its real cause. People said that +young Bransby was looking after the girl himself, and wanted to choke +off possible rivals. Theodore did, indeed, push himself as far as +possible into every house which May frequented. There were some still +inaccessible to him; but he had patience and perseverance. And he was +constantly meeting May in the course of the season. She was far more +pleased to see him in London than she had ever been in Oldchester. He +was associated with persons whom she loved: and on many occasions when +ball-room lookers-on pronounced Miss Cheffington and young Bransby to be +"spooning awfully," May was talking with animation of his half-brothers, +Bobby and Billy, of the dear old canon and her friend Constance, or even +of Mr. and Mrs. Sebastian Bach Simpson. Theodore had no relish for these +topics; but it was better to talk with May of them, than not to talk +with her at all. And to the girl, he seemed the only link between her +present life and the dear Oldchester days. + +At the beginning of June, however, he ceased to have this exclusive +claim on her attention. One fine day Aunt Pauline, returning from an +afternoon drive with her niece, found a large visiting card with "The +Misses Piper" engraved on it with many elaborate flourishes, whilst +underneath was written in pencil "Miss Hadlow." + +"Piper!" said Pauline, languidly dropping her eyeglass, and looking +round at May. "What can this mean?" + +"Oh, it means Miss Polly and Miss Patty and my schoolfellow Constance +Hadlow!" cried May, clapping her hands. "Fancy Conny being in town! I +dare say the Pipers invited her on a visit. I'm so glad!" + +Mrs. Dormer-Smith's countenance expressed anything but gladness; and she +privately informed May that it would be impossible to do more than send +cards to these ladies by the servant. "I _can't_ have them here on my +Thursdays, you know, May," she said plaintively, and with an injured +air. + +Three months ago May would have indignantly protested against this tone, +and would have pointed out that it would be unfeeling and ungrateful on +her part to slight her old friends. But she had by this time learned to +understand how unavailing were all such representations to convince Aunt +Pauline, in whose code personal sentiments of goodwill towards one's +neighbour had to yield to the higher law of duty towards "Society." + +"Perhaps," said May, after a pause, "if you cannot go yourself, Uncle +Frederick would take me to Miss Piper's some Sunday after church, when +we go for a walk with the children. You see they have written 'Sundays' +on the corner of their card." + +"Oh, do you think they would be satisfied with that sort of thing?" +asked her aunt. + +"They are most kind, good-natured old ladies," pursued May. "They +wouldn't mind the children at all. Indeed, they like children. And as to +coming to your Thursdays, Aunt Pauline, I really don't think they would +care to do it. Music is their great passion--at least, Miss Polly's +great passion--and when they are in London I think they go to concerts +morning, noon, and night. Miss Hadlow is different. Her grandpapa was a +Rivers," added May, blushing at her own wiliness, "and she is very +handsome, and sure to be asked out a great deal." + +But May's profound strategy did not end here. She coaxed Uncle Frederick +by representing what a treat it would be to Harold and Wilfred to go out +visiting with papa. Those young gentlemen, privately incited by hints of +possible plum-cake, were soon all eagerness to go; and when, on the very +next Sunday, May set off with her uncle and cousins to walk to Miss +Piper's lodgings, she felt that she had achieved a diplomatic triumph. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + + +Those Oldchester persons who considered Miss Piper's artistic tendencies +responsible for her occasional freedom of speech would have been +confirmed in their opinion as to the demoralizing tendency of Art and +Continental travel had they known how the daughters of the late Reverend +Reuben Piper employed Sunday afternoon in London. Miss Patty herself had +been startled at first by the idea of not only receiving callers, but +listening to profane music on that day; and the sisters had had some +discussion about it. When Patty demurred to the suggestion, Polly +inquired whether she truly and conscientiously considered that there was +anything more intrinsically wrong in seeing one's friends and opening +one's piano on a Sunday than on a Monday. + +"No; of course not _that_," answered Patty. "If I thought it wrong, I +shouldn't discuss it even with you. I should simply refuse to have +anything to do with it." + +"I know that, Patty," said her sister. "And I hope I am not altogether +without a conscience either." + +"No, Polly; but would you do this in Oldchester?" + +"Certainly not." + +"Then that's what I say. We ought not to have two weights and two +measures. If a thing is objectionable in Oldchester, it is objectionable +in London." + +"Not at all. Circumstances alter cases. I may think it a good thing to +take a sponge-bath every morning; but I should not take it in public." + +"Polly! How can you?" + +"What I mean is, that, so long as we are not a stumbling-block of +offence to other people, we have a right to please ourselves in this +matter." + +So Miss Polly's will prevailed, as it prevailed with her sister upon +most occasions; and the Sunday receptions became an established custom. + +The house in which the Miss Pipers lodged when they came to London was +in a street leading out of Hanover Square. The lower part of it was +occupied by a fashionable tailor--a tailor so genteel and exclusive that +he scorned any appeal to the general public, and merely had the word +"Groll" (which was his name) woven into the wire blind that shaded his +parlour window. The rooms above were sufficiently spacious, and were, +moreover, lofty--a great point in Miss Polly's opinion, as being good +for sound. They were furnished comfortably, albeit rather dingily. But a +few flower-pots, photographic albums, and bits of crochet-work, +scattered here and there, answered the purpose--if not of decoration, at +least of showing decorative intention. A grand pianoforte, bestriding a +large tract of carpet in the very middle of the front drawing-room, +conspicuously asserted its importance over all the rest of the +furniture. + +May and her uncle, accompanied by the two little boys, were shown +upstairs, and, the door of the drawing-room being thrown open, they +found themselves confronted by a rather numerous assembly. The last bars +of a pianoforte-piece were being performed amidst the profound silence +of the auditors, and the newly arrived party stood still near the door, +waiting until the music should come to an end. + +At the piano sat a smooth-faced young gentleman playing a series of +incoherent discords with an air of calm resolve. Immediately behind him +stood an elderly man of gentleman-like appearance, whom May found +herself watching, as one watches a person swallowing something nauseous, +and involuntarily expecting him to "make a face" as each new dissonance +was crashed out close to his ear. But his amiable countenance remained +so serene and satisfied, that the doubt crossed her mind whether he +might not possibly be deaf. In the embrasure of a window stood a very +tall, thin man, whose bald head was encircled by a fringe of grizzled +red hair, and whose eyes were fast shut. But as he stood up perfectly +erect, with his hands folded in a prayerful attitude on his waistcoat, +it was obvious that he was not asleep. Miss Piper was seated with her +back towards the door and her face towards the pianist, so that May +could not see it. But the composer of "Esther" nodded her head +approvingly at every fresh harmonic catastrophe which convulsed the +keyboard. Her satisfaction seemed to be shared by a stout lady of +majestic mien, who sat near her and fired off exclamations of eulogium, +such as "Charming!" "Wonderful modulation!" "Intensely wrought out," and +so on--like minute guns; and with a certain air of suppressed +exasperation, as though she suspected that there _might_ be persons who +didn't like it, and was ready to defy them to the death. A dark-eyed +girl, very plainly dressed, and holding a little leather music-roll in +her hand, occupied a modest place behind this lady. Sitting close to the +dark-eyed girl was a man of about thirty-five years old, well-featured, +short in stature, and with reddish blonde hair and moustaches. This +personage's countenance expressed a singular mixture of audacity and +servility. His smile was at once impudent and false, and he listened to +the music with a pretentious air of knowledge and authority. The rest of +the company, with Miss Patty, were relegated, during the performance, to +the back drawing-room, where tea was served; and the folding-doors were +closed, lest the clink of a teaspoon, or the sibillation of a whisper, +should penetrate to the music-room. But, in truth, nothing less than a +crash of all the crockery on the table, and a simultaneous bellow from +all the guests, could have competed successfully with the +pianoforte-piece then in progress. + +At length, with one final bang, it came to an end, and there was a +general stir and movement among the company. The amiable-looking elderly +man advanced towards Miss Piper with a most beaming smile, and said, in +a soft refined voice-- + +"That is the right way, isn't it? One knows the sort of thing said by +people who don't understand this school of music, the only music, in +fact; but I have long been sure that this is the right way." + +"Of course, it is the right way," exclaimed the stout lady, breathing +indignation, not loud but deep, against all heretics and schismatics. + +"We are so very, very much obliged to you, Mr. Turner," said the +hostess. "That new composition of yours is really wonderful!" (And so, +indeed, it was.) + +As Miss Piper went up to the young gentleman who had been playing the +piano, and who remained quite cool and unmoved by the demonstrations of +his audience, she caught sight of the group near the door, and hastened +to welcome them. May was received with enthusiasm, and her uncle with +one of Miss Piper's best old-fashioned curtsies. Mr. Dormer-Smith began +to apologize for bringing his little boys, and to explain that he had +not expected to find so numerous an assembly; but Miss Piper cut him +short with hearty assurances that they were very welcome, and that her +sister in particular was very fond of children. Then, the doors being by +this time reopened, she ushered them all into the back room, crying-- + +"Patty! Patty! Who do you think is here? May Cheffington!" and then Miss +Patty added her welcome to that of her sister. + +Harold and Wilfred had been shyly dumb hitherto, although once or twice +during the pianoforte-playing Wilfred had only saved himself from +breaking into a shrill wail and begging to be taken home, by burying his +face in the skirts of May's dress; but on beholding plum-cake and other +good things set forth on the tea-table, they felt that life had +compensations still. They took a fancy also to the Miss Pipers, finding +their eccentric ornaments a mine of interest; and before three minutes +had elapsed Harold was devouring a liberal slice of cake, and Wilfred, +seated close to kind Miss Patty, was diversifying his enjoyment of the +cake by a close and curious inspection of that lady's bracelet, taken +off for his amusement, and endeavouring to count the various geological +specimens of which it was composed. + +As soon as May appeared in the back drawing-room, Constance Hadlow rose +from her seat in a corner behind the tea-table, and greeted her. + +"Dear Conny," cried May, "I am so glad to see you! Then you are staying +with the Miss Pipers! I guessed you were." + +Mr. Dormer-Smith was then duly presented to Miss Hadlow. Constance was +in very good looks, and her beauty and the quiet ease of her manner made +a very favourable impression on May's uncle. + +Miss Hadlow found a seat for him near herself; and then turned again to +May, saying, "There is another Oldchester friend whom you have not yet +spoken to. You remember my cousin Owen?" + +May's experience of society had not yet toned down her manner to "that +repose which stamps the caste of Vere de Vere." She heartily shook hands +with the young man, exclaiming, "This is a day of joyful surprises. I +didn't expect to see you, Mr. Rivers. Now, if we only had the dear +canon, and Mrs. Hadlow, and granny, I think I should be _quite_ happy." + +"You are not a bit changed," said Owen Rivers, giving May his chair, and +standing beside her in the lounging attitude so familiar to her in the +garden at College Quad. + +"Changed! What should change me?" + +"The world." + +"What nonsense!" cried May, with her old schoolgirl bluntness. "As if I +had not been living in the world all my life!" + +Mr. Rivers raised his eyebrows with an amused smile. + +"Well, _isn't_ it nonsense," pursued May, "to talk as if a few hundred +or thousand persons in one town--though that town is London--made up the +world?" + +"It is a phrase which every one uses, and every one understands." + +"But every one does not understand it alike." + +"Perhaps not." + +"What did you mean by it, just now?" + +"What could I mean but the world of fashion, _the_ world par excellence? +Rightly so-called, no doubt, since it affords the best field for the +exercise of the higher and nobler human faculties. Those who are not in +it exist, indeed; but with a half-developed, inferior kind of life, like +a jelly-fish." + +May laughed her frank young laugh. + +"You're not changed either!" she said emphatically. + +"Did you enjoy the performance with which that young gentleman has been +obliging us?" asked Rivers. + +"I only heard the end of it." + +"Very diplomatically answered." + +"Are you fond of music, Mr. Rivers?" + +"Yes, of _music_--very fond." + +"So am I; but I know very little about it. Granny is a good musician." + +"How fond you are of Mrs. Dobbs!" said Rivers. + +"I am very proud of her, too," answered May quickly. + +Owen Rivers looked at her with a singular expression, half-admiring, +half-tenderly, pitying--as one might look at a child whose innocent +candour is as yet "unspotted from the world." + +"I suppose you know all the people here," said May, looking round on the +assembly. + +"I know who they are, most of them." + +"That gentleman who was standing by himself at the window--the tall +gentleman--who is he?" + +"Mr. Jawler, a great musical critic." + +"And the pleasant-faced man who seemed so delighted with the playing?" + +"Mr. Sweeting. He is an enthusiastic admirer and patron of young +Cleveland Turner, the pianist: a very kindly, amiable, courteous +gentleman, with much money and leisure, as I am told." + +"That stout lady talking to Miss Piper seems to be musical also?" + +"That is Lady Moppett: a very good sort of woman, I dare say, but +fanatical. She would bowstring all us dogs of Christians who believe in +melody." + +"And who is that disagreeable little man in the corner?" + +"Disagreeable----?" + +"The little man with moustaches. There. Close to the nice-looking, +dark-eyed girl." + +"Oh, that man? But he is not considered disagreeable by the world in +general, Miss Cheffington! He is by way of being a rather fascinating +individual: Signor Vincenzo Valli, singing-master, and composer of +songs. I wonder why he condescends to favour Miss Piper with his +presence." + +"Is it a condescension?" + +"A great condescension. Signor Valli is nothing, if not aristocratic." + +At this moment there was a general movement in the other room. The young +pianist seated himself once more at the instrument. The various groups +of talkers dispersed, and took their places to listen. May whispered +nervously to Miss Patty, that perhaps she and her uncle had better go, +and take away the children before the music commenced. + +"I am so afraid," she said naively, "that Willy may cry if that +gentleman plays again." + +Miss Patty found a way out of the difficulty by taking the children away +to her own room. It was no deprivation to her, she said, not to hear Mr. +Turner play. + +So the two little boys, laden with good things, and further enticed by +the promise of picture-books, trotted off very contentedly under Miss +Patty's wing. Mr. Dormer-Smith had passed into the front drawing-room, +where he was chatting with Lady Moppett, who proved to be an old +acquaintance of his. May was following her uncle to explain to him about +the children, when Miss Piper hurried up to her with an anxious and +important mien. + +"Sit down, my dear," she said; "sit down. Cleveland Turner is going to +play that fine Beethoven, the one in F minor, the opera 57, you know. +Mr. Jawler particularly wishes to hear him perform it." + +May glanced round, and seeing no place vacant near at hand, returned to +the other room, and took a seat close to the folding-doors, which were +now left open. + +"What is our sentence?" asked Rivers. + +"Do you mean what is he going to play? A piece of Beethoven's." + +"Ah! Well, at least he will have something to say this time. Remains to +be seen whether he can say it." + +Mr. Cleveland Turner performed the _sonata appassionata_ correctly, +although coldly, and with a certain hardness of style and touch. But the +beauty of the composition made itself irresistibly felt, and when the +piece was finished there was a murmur of applause. Mr. Jawler opened his +eyes, inclined his head, opened his eyes again, and said, apparently to +himself, "Yes, yes--oh yes!" which seemed to be interpreted as an +expression of approval; for Miss Piper looked radiant, and even the icy +demeanour of Mr. Cleveland Turner thawed half a degree or so. Signor +Valli had applauded in a peculiar fashion--opening his arms wide, and +bringing his gloved hands together with apparent force, but so as to +produce no sound whatever. And as he went through this dumb show of +applause, he was talking all the time to the dark-eyed girl near him, +with a sneering smile on his face. + +Miss Piper bustled up to them. "Dear Miss Bertram," she said, "you must +let us hear your charming voice. Mr. Jawler has heard of you. He would +like you to sing something. Signor Valli," with clasped hands, "_might_ +I entreat you to accompany Miss Bertram in one of your own exquisite +compositions? It would be such a treat--such a musical feast, I may +say!" + +Miss Bertram unrolled her music-case in a business-like way, and spread +its contents before the singing-master. + +"What are you going to sing, Clara?" asked Lady Moppett, turning her +head over her shoulder. + +"Signor Valli will choose," answered the young lady quietly. + +Valli selected a song and offered his arm to Miss Bertram to lead her to +the piano. She did not accept it instantly, being occupied in replacing +the rest of her music in its case; and with a sudden, impatient gesture, +Valli wheeled round and walked to the piano alone. Miss Bertram followed +him composedly, and took her place beside him. May looked at her with +interest, as she stood there during the few bars of introduction to the +song. + +Clara Bertram was not beautiful, but she had a singularly attractive +face. Her dark eyes were not nearly so large, nor so finely set, as +Constance Hadlow's, but they were infinitely more expressive, and her +rather wide mouth revealed a magnificent set of teeth when she smiled or +sang. The song selected for her was one of those compositions which, if +ill-sung, or even only tolerably sung, would pass unnoticed. But Miss +Bertram sang it to perfection. Her voice was very beautiful, with +something peculiarly pathetic in its vibrating tones, and she pronounced +the Italian words with a pure, unaffected, and finished accent. + +"Oh, how lovely!" exclaimed May, under her breath, when the song was +over. + +"Isn't it?" said Miss Piper, who happened to be near enough to catch the +words. "I am so glad you are pleased with her! Do you think Mrs. +Dormer-Smith would like her to sing now and then at a _soiree_? She +wants to get known in really good houses." + +Before May could answer the little woman had hurried off again, and in +another minute was leading Miss Bertram up to Mr. Jawler, who spoke to +the young singer with evident affability, keeping his eyes open for a +full minute at a time. + +Meanwhile Valli was left alone at the piano, and an ugly look came into +his face as he glanced round and saw himself neglected. But his +expression changed in an instant with curious suddenness when Miss +Hadlow drew near, and, leaning on the instrument, addressed some words +of compliment to him. + +"Will you not let us hear you sing, Signor Valli?" she said presently. + +Valli merely shook his head in answer, keeping his eyes fixed on Miss +Hadlow's face with a look of bold admiration, and letting his fingers +stray softly over the keys. + +"Oh, that is a terrible disappointment!" + +"I don't think so," replied the singing-master, speaking very good +English. + +"It is, indeed." + +Again he shook his head. + +"It is to me, at all events." + +"Well, I shall sing for you; a little song _sotto voce_, all to +ourselves." + +"Oh, but that would be too selfish on my part, to enjoy your singing all +to myself." + +"It is a very good plan to be selfish," returned Valli; and forthwith he +began a little Neapolitan love-song--murmuring, rather than singing +it--and still keeping his eyes fixed on Miss Hadlow. + +At the first sound of his voice, low and subdued though it was, Miss +Piper held up her finger to bespeak silence. There was a general hush. +Every one looked towards the piano, against which Constance was still +leaning, with her back to the rest of the company. She made a little +movement to withdraw to a seat, but Valli immediately ceased singing, +and, under cover of a noisy _ritournelle_ which he played on the piano, +said to her, "I am singing for you. If you go away, my song will go away +too." + +"But I can't stand here by myself, Signor Valli," protested Constance, +by no means displeased. At this moment Miss Piper approached to implore +the _maestro_ to continue, and Constance whispered to her in a few words +the state of the case. + +"Caprices of genius, my dear," said the little woman. "When you have +seen as much of professional people as I have, you will not be +astonished." Then to Valli, "Will you not continue that exquisite air? +We are all dying to hear it." + +"Yes; on condition that you both stay there and inspire me," answered +he, with an unconcealed sneer. + +Miss Piper, however, took him at his word, and, linking her arm in +Constance's, remained standing close to the instrument. Valli, upon +this, resumed his song. He gave it now at the full pitch of his voice, +addressing it ostentatiously to Miss Hadlow, and throwing an exaggerated +amount of expression into the love passages. Miss Piper was enchanted, +and led off the applause enthusiastically. Valli was soon surrounded by +a group of admirers, Mr. Dormer-Smith among them. May was conscious of a +painful impression, which destroyed any pleasure she might have had in +the song. And that Owen Rivers shared this impression was proved by his +walking up to the piano, and unceremoniously putting his cousin's hand +on his arm to lead her away. + +"Oh, don't take Conny away, Mr. Rivers," cried Miss Piper. "Signor Valli +is going to favour us with some more of his delicious national airs." + +"Come and sit down, Constance," said Owen authoritatively. "Let me get +you a seat also, Miss Piper," he added. "It can scarcely be necessary +for the due exhibition of this gentleman's national airs to keep two +ladies standing." + +"Oh no, no; please don't mind me. I'm quite comfortable," said Miss +Piper, with a shade of vexation on her good-humoured round face. + +Constance remained perfectly calm and self-possessed; only a faint smile +and a sparkle in her eyes revealed a gratified vanity as she took the +chair near May, to which her cousin conducted her. + +Miss Piper shrugged up her shoulders and pursed up her mouth. "He has no +idea what artists are," she whispered in Lady Moppett's ear. "And, +besides, poor dear young man, he's so desperately in love with his +cousin that he can't bear her to be even looked at. I only hope Signor +Valli won't take offence." + +But Valli, finding himself now the object of general attention, was very +gracious. He sang song after song without the inspiration of Miss +Hadlow's handsome face opposite to him; and he sang far better than +before;--with less exaggeration, and managing his naturally defective +voice with singular skill and _finesse_. But the praise and flattery +which his hearers poured forth unstintingly did not seem quite to +satisfy him. His glance wandered restlessly, as though in search of +something; and finally, after a very clever rendering of an old air by +Carissimi, he addressed himself suddenly to Miss Bertram, who was +standing somewhat apart in the background, and asked, in Italian-- + +"Is the Signorina content?" + +"I always like your singing of that aria," she answered, in a quiet, +matter-of-fact tone. + +"Like it, indeed!" exclaimed Lady Moppett, with her severest manner. "I +should think you did like it, Clara! And you ought to profit by it. To +hear singing so finished--of such a perfect school--is a lesson for +you." + +Valli, upon this, made a low bow to Lady Moppett--a bow so low as to +seem almost burlesque. As he raised his face again he turned it towards +Miss Bertram with a subtle smile, saying, "Miladi is such a judge! Her +praise is very precious." Clara, however, kept an impassive countenance, +and declined to meet the glance he shot at her. Then Valli made a second +and equally low bow to the hostess, and, cutting short her ecstatic +compliments and thanks, left the room without further ceremony. + +The party now broke up. Lady Moppett departed with Miss Bertram and Mr. +Jawler, to whom she offered a seat in her carriage. Mr. Cleveland Turner +and his patron, Mr. Sweeting, went away together. In a few minutes there +remained Mr. Dormer-Smith, with his niece, and Owen Rivers. Miss Patty +bustled in with the two children. + +"Dear me," said she. "Is the music all over? Well, now let us be +comfortable." + +But Mr. Dormer-Smith declared he must reluctantly bring his visit to an +end. "I don't know how to thank you," said he to Miss Patty, "for your +kindness to my children. I hope you will forgive me for bringing them." + +Miss Patty heartily assured him that there was nothing to forgive, and +that she hoped he would bring them again. She had gathered from the +artless utterances of Harold and Wilfred an idea of their home life, +which made her feel compassionately towards them. + +As for Miss Polly, she was in the highest spirits. Mr. Jawler and Signor +Valli, both stars of considerable magnitude in the musical world, had +shone for her with unclouded lustre. It had been, she thought, a highly +successful afternoon. So also thought Harold and Wilfred. And perhaps +these were the only three persons who had enjoyed themselves thoroughly +and unaffectedly. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + + +The London season proceeded with its usual accumulation of engagements, +its usual breathless chase after half-hours that have got too long a +start ever to be recaptured, its usual fleeting satisfactions and +abiding disappointments, its snubs, sneers, smiles, follies, falsehoods, +and flirtations. The rushing current of fashionable life in London +carried little May Cheffington on its surface, together with many brazen +vessels of a very different kind. Constance Hadlow observed +half-enviously to her friend that she was thoroughly "in the swim," a +phrase which May found singularly inappropriate in her own case, feeling +that there was no more question of a swim than in shooting Niagara! To +her, especially, the whirl of society was confusing, phantasmagoric, and +unreal. All the faces were new to her, most of the names awoke no +associations in her mind. On the other hand, this peculiar inexperience +gave freshness to her impressions and keenness to her insight. She had +none of those social traditions which, nine times out of ten, supply the +place of private judgment. She found her impression of many personages +startlingly at variance with the label which the world had agreed to +affix to them. It is possible to be at once simple and shrewd, just as +it is possible to be both _ruse_ and dull-witted. + +May's simplicity was not of the blundering thick-skinned type; and her +ingenuous freshness was admired by a great many persons, among whom was +Mrs. Griffin. Far from being offended by May's moral indignation against +those who accepted the hospitality of vulgar people, and then ridiculed +them for being vulgar, Mrs. Griffin entirely approved her sentiments. +Mrs. Griffin herself deplored, as she often said, "the servility towards +mere money, which was degrading the tone of society." And whenever any +new instance of it came to her knowledge, she would shake her head, and +exclaim, softly, "Oh, Mammon, Mammon!" But this did not, of course, +apply to her daughter the duchess, who sometimes went to the +Aaronssohns'. Her daughter was so very great a lady as to be above +ordinary restrictions. Other people worshipped Mammon; the duchess only +patronized Mammon--which was, surely, a very different thing! + +Aunt Pauline, however, derived no gratification from May's +unconventional frankness. It was, on the contrary, a source of constant +anxiety to her; and she felt daily more and more that it would be a +relief to get May off her hands. Introducing her niece into +society--even although the niece was a pretty girl, and a Cheffington to +boot--had not proved so pleasing a task as she had anticipated. There +was, to her thinking, a strange perversity in the girl's character, +which made her callous where she should be sensitive, and sensitive +where she might well be indifferent. For instance, she showed culpable +coolness about her great-uncle Castlecombe and his family, and provoking +warmth about her Oldchester friends. Not that May was apt to speak much +of her life in Oldchester. In the natural course of things she would +have talked freely and eagerly about her dear granny; but very soon +after her arrival in London, her affectionate loquacity on this subject +received a check. Aunt Pauline had hinted, with her usual mild +politeness, that it would be desirable not to speak of Mrs. Dobbs before +Smithson or any of the servants. Seeing the startled look in May's eyes, +and the indignant flush on May's cheeks, her aunt added diplomatically, +"Your father would not like it, May. I am trying to carry out his +expressed wishes. That ought to be enough for you." + +It was enough, at all events, to close May's lips. Her love and pride +combined to make her silent. She tried to persuade herself that her +father, at all events, had some good and reasonable motive for this +prohibition, and that he, at least, was not ashamed of Mrs. +Dobbs--ashamed of granny! The very thought made her hot with anger. But +that Aunt Pauline was ashamed of her was too clear to May's honest mind. +Painful as this conviction was, however, she came by degrees to hold it +rather in sorrow than in anger, and to regard her aunt with something of +the same indulgent toleration that Mrs. Dobbs had once expressed to Jo +Weatherhead. For Mrs. Dormer-Smith's worldliness was not at all of a +cynical sort. It was rather in the nature of a deep-rooted superstition +conscientiously held. + +To some points of her worldly creed Pauline clung with religious +fervour. One of these was the duty incumbent on a dowerless young lady +to marry well. To marry _very_ well was to marry a man with birth and +money; but to secure a husband with money only--provided there were +enough of it--she allowed to be marrying well. She did not look at the +matter with vulgar flippancy. It was, no doubt, a sacrifice for a +well-born woman to become the wife of an underbred man, however wealthy. +But well-born women were no less called upon than their humbler sisters +to make sacrifices in a good cause. + +None of the Castlecombes much frequented fashionable society, and Mrs. +Dormer-Smith had hitherto resigned herself, without much difficulty, to +seeing very little of her noble kinsfolk. But when May was introduced, +her aunt thought it desirable to cultivate them. Lord Castlecombe's big, +gloomy, family mansion in town had been let ever since his wife's death +many years ago; and whenever his lordship came to London to give his +vote in the House of Peers--which was almost the sole object that had +power to bring him up from the country--he occupied furnished lodgings. +Of his two sons, both bachelors, the elder was governor of a colony on +the other side of the globe, and the younger held a permanent post under +Government. This Lucius Cheffington occasionally met Mr. Dormer-Smith at +the club, and exchanged a few words with him. Captain Cheffington, on +his penultimate visit to England, when his ungrateful country declined +to provide for him, had quarrelled with all the Castlecombes, and had +made himself particularly obnoxious to Lucius; for Lucius, whom his +cousin considered a solemn ass, held a lucrative place, whilst Augustus, +who knew himself to be a remarkably clever fellow, with immense +knowledge of the world, was relegated to poverty and obscurity. But +Pauline had not quarrelled with them. She would not willingly have +quarrelled with any one, least of all with her Uncle Castlecombe and his +family. And as to Mr. Dormer-Smith, it chanced that the one point of +sympathy between himself and his cousin-in-law Lucius was the latter's +cordial dislike to Gus. Nevertheless, the dislike did not descend to +Gus's daughter. Lucius was pleased to approve of his young kinswoman, +none the less, perhaps, that it was evident her father troubled himself +little about her. + +Mr. Dormer-Smith knew very well that the most effectual way of winning +Lord Castlecombe's goodwill for his grand-niece was to assure his +lordship that he would not be called upon to do anything for her. He, +therefore, confidentially informed Lucius that the girl's grandmother in +Oldchester was defraying her expenses, and would, no doubt, eventually +provide for her altogether. The sagacity of this course was proved soon +afterwards, when Lucius announced that his father would come and dine +with Pauline the next time he should be in town, and make Miranda's +acquaintance. + +This was well. And even as to May's Oldchester friends matters turned +out better than her aunt could have hoped. In the first place, the +Misses Piper showed no disposition whatever to force themselves on Mrs. +Dormer-Smith. That being the case, there was no objection to May's going +to see them every Sunday with her uncle and the children. To Harold and +Wilfred these Sunday visits were such a delightful break in the dull +routine of their lives that their father would have endured considerable +boredom and discomfort rather than deprive them of it. But, in fact, he +was not bored. Whenever the music became too severe, he could withdraw +into the tea-room, where he always found some one to chat with. Possibly +he, too, felt these Sundays to be a break in the monotony of his daily +life. There was a cordial, hearty tone about the hostesses which was +decidedly pleasant, although he was aware that Pauline would pronounce +it sadly underbred. But Pauline was not there to be shocked, and there +were some red drops in Mr. Dormer-Smith's veins (he was not quite so +blue-blooded as his wife) which warmed to this plebeian kindness. +Sometimes even the moisture would come into his eyes when he watched his +little boys clinging familiarly about Miss Patty as they never clung +about their mother. The good-natured old maid had won the children's +hearts completely. They were overheard one day in a lively discussion as +to which was the prettier, Miss Patty or Cousin May: Wilfred inclining, +on the whole, to award the palm of beauty to his cousin, but Harold +powerfully arguing in favour of Miss Patty that she had such "beautiful +curls" (an ingenuous, and probably unique, tribute to the ginger-bread +coloured wig!) and a "shiny brooch like a butterfly." + +Then Constance Hadlow, whom Mrs. Dormer-Smith had unwillingly invited to +lunch one day with her former schoolfellow, proved to be in every +respect "most presentable," as Aunt Pauline herself candidly admitted. +So presentable was she in fact, so handsome, self-possessed, and even +(on the mother's side) well connected, that there might have arisen +objections of a different sort against receiving her, as being a +dangerous competitor for that solemn duty of marrying well. But a chance +word of May's to the effect that young Bransby had long been an admirer +of Constance, and that they were supposed by many persons in Oldchester +to be engaged to each other, relieved Aunt Pauline's mind on that score. + +"It would be very suitable," she said approvingly. "I think Mr. Bransby +a very nice person; so quiet." + +The subject of this glowing eulogium had not appeared at Mrs. +Dormer-Smith's receptions for some time. He had been ordered into the +country, to cure a violent cold by change of air; and although he much +disliked leaving town at that moment, he never thought of neglecting his +physician's advice. Theodore's mother had been consumptive; and the fear +that he inherited her constitution made him anxiously careful of his +health. Immediately on his return to London he presented himself, about +half-past five o'clock one Thursday afternoon, in Mrs. Dormer-Smith's +drawing-room, and experienced a shock of disagreeable surprise on +finding Constance Hadlow seated near May at the tea-table. May, +innocently supposing that she was doing him a good turn, gave him her +place, and went to another part of the room. But Constance coolly +greeted him with a "How d'ye do, Theodore?" in a tone of the politest +insipidity, which he sincerely approved of. Nevertheless, he would +rather not have found her there. On glancing round he was struck by +several innovations. In the first place, the pianoforte--usually a dumb +piece of furniture in Mrs. Dormer-Smith's house--stood open, with some +loose sheets of music lying on it; and Signor Vincenzo Valli sat, teacup +in hand, smiling his false smile beside Mrs. Griffin. Theodore knew +perfectly well who Signor Valli was; and it needed not Mrs. Griffin's +gracious demeanour to instruct this rising young man that Valli was +sufficiently the fashion to be worth being civil to. But he was +surprised to find him there. His surprises, however, were not at an end; +for whom should he behold in familiar conversation with a gentleman at +the opposite side of the room but Owen Rivers? And near them was--he +could hardly believe his eyes--Mr. Bragg! It seemed to Theodore as if +there had been a conspiracy amongst his acquaintance to make all sorts +of fresh combinations on the social chess-board during his brief +absence. He felt that it was necessary for him to take an accurate +survey of the new positions. But he saw no immediate opportunity of +doing so; for there was no one at hand to interrogate, except Constance +Hadlow, who, of course, knew nothing. She must be spoken to, however; +but he would cut the conversation as short as possible. + +Thoughts--even the weighty thoughts of a diplomatically-minded young +gentleman--move quickly, and there was scarcely any perceptible pause +between Constance's greeting and his gravely polite remark that it was +quite an unexpected pleasure to see her there. + +"Yes; I came up a few weeks ago with the Pipers." + +"Oh! you are staying with _them_?" (This with a strong flavour of his +superior manner; for the Pipers were really nobodies.) + +"And what have you been doing with yourself? I haven't seen you +anywhere," said Constance coolly. + +"I have been out of town. But in any case we might possibly not have +met. Have you been going out much?" + +"Oh, as much as most people, I suppose. I was at the Aaronssohns' dance +last night." + +"The Aaronssohns!" exclaimed Theodore. (This time he was so astonished +that he spoke quite naturally.) "I didn't know that you knew them." + +"Oh, I don't know them." + +"Then how did you get--I mean----" + +"How did I get there? Dear me, Theodore, your visit to the country has +given you a refreshing buttercup-and-daisy kind of air! Do you suppose +that the Aaronssohns' ball-room was filled with their personal friends +and acquaintances? Mrs. Griffin got me an invitation." + +Now to be presented to Mrs. Griffin and to be invited to the +Aaronssohns' were pet objects of Theodore Bransby's social ambition, and +he had not yet compassed either of them. + +"Oh, indeed!" said he, struggling, under the disadvantage of conscious +ill-humour, to maintain that air of indifference to all things in heaven +and earth which he imagined to be the completest manifestation of high +breeding. "I suppose that was achieved through Mrs. Dormer-Smith's +influence." + +"Not altogether. It was May Cheffington who first introduced me to Mrs. +Griffin. She's just the same dear little thing as ever--I don't mean +Mrs. Griffin! But Mrs. Griffin found out that she had known my +grandfather Rivers. I believe they were sweethearts in their pinafores a +hundred years ago; so she has been awfully nice to me." + +While Constance was speaking, Theodore's eye lighted on Mr. Bragg, solid +and solemn, wearing that look of melancholy respectability which is +associated with the British workman in his Sunday clothes. + +"Oh, and Mr. Bragg was at the Aaronssohns', too," said Constance, +following the young man's glance. "Fancy Mr. Bragg at a ball!" + +"Did Mrs. Griffin know _his_ grandfather?" asked Theodore, with a sneer. + +It was clear to Constance that he had quite lost his temper. Otherwise +he would not, she felt sure, have said anything in such bad taste. But +she replied calmly-- + +"I don't think Mr. Bragg ever had a grandfather. But he is rich enough +to do without one. It is poor persons like you and me who find +grandfathers necessary--or, at all events, useful." + +Theodore understood the sarcasm of this quiet speech, and it helped him +to master his growing irritation. There are some natures on which a +moral buffet acts as a sedative. + +"Was it your friend Miss Piper who brought Mr. Bragg here?" he asked, +showing no sign of having felt the blow, except a slight increase of +pallor. + +"Oh dear, no! The Pipers have never been here themselves, except to +leave a card at the door. This is not the kind of society they care for, +you know. I saw Mr. Bragg come in to-day with May's cousin, Mr. Lucius +Cheffington, but I can't say whether he first introduced him or not." + +"Is that Mr. Lucius Cheffington?" + +"That man talking to Owen?--Yes." + +"Mrs. Dormer-Smith has rather a mixed collection this afternoon. I see +Valli over there. You know who I mean? That short, foreign man near----" + +"Oh yes; Signor Valli is a great ally of mine. He's delightful, I think. +His airs and graces are so amusing. I can tell you how _he_ comes to be +here, if you like," returned Constance placidly. She was secretly +enjoying Theodore's discomfiture. He had expected to play the part of +town mouse, and to patronize and instruct her. "The fact is," she +continued, "that Lady Moppett begged Mr. Dormer-Smith to induce his wife +to have her _protegee_, Miss Bertram, to sing here on Thursday +afternoons, promising, as a kind of bait, to get Valli to come too. I +don't think Mrs. Dormer-Smith particularly wished to have Miss Bertram; +but she thought it would be nice to have Valli, who is run after by the +best people, and is very difficult to get hold of. So the negotiation +succeeded. It is too funny how one has to _menager_ and coax these +professional people. If you don't want any more information just now, I +think I will go and speak to Mrs. Griffin." Whereupon Constance glided +away, self-possessed and graceful, and with a becoming touch of +animation bestowed by the consciousness that she had been mistress of +the situation. + +Theodore looked decidedly blank for the moment. No one bestowed any +attention on him. As he sat watching, he was struck by the evidently +familiar way in which Owen Rivers and Mr. Cheffington were talking +together. He himself particularly desired to be introduced to Lucius +Cheffington, but a secret, grudging feeling made him unwilling to owe +the introduction to Rivers. Presently Rivers moved away to join May and +Miss Bertram, who were turning over some music together, and Mr. Bragg +took his place near Mr. Cheffington. This was the opportunity which +Theodore had wished for. He at once rose and walked up to them. +Theodore's manner was never servile, but there was an added gravity in +his demeanour towards certain persons, intended to show that he thought +them worth taking seriously; and this tribute he rendered to Mr. Bragg. +For, although the young man had by no means forgotten Mr. Bragg's +deplorable insensibility to an enlightened view of the currency +question, yet he prided himself on thoroughly understanding that the +great tin-tack maker's claims to consideration rested on a solid basis +quite apart from culture or intelligence. + +"I wish," said Theodore, after the first salutations, "that you would do +me the favour to make me known to Mr. Lucius Cheffington. I know so many +members of his family, but I have not the pleasure of his personal +acquaintance." + +Mr. Bragg eyed him with his usual heavy deliberation. "Oh," said he +slowly, "this is Mr.--I don't call to mind your Christian name--eh? Oh +yes--Mr. Theodore Bransby." + +Mr. Lucius Cheffington made an unusually low bow, his pride being of the +sort which manifests itself in the most ceremonious politeness. + +He was a small, lean man, with a pale face deeply lined by ill-health +and a fretful temperament. He had closely shaven cheeks and chin; heavy, +grizzled moustaches; and very thick, grizzled hair, which he wore rather +long. His voice was harsh, though subdued, and he spoke very slowly, +making such long pauses as occasionally tempted unwary strangers to +finish his sentences for him. A double eyeglass with tortoise-shell rims +was set astride his nose; and behind the glasses two dark, near-sighted +eyes looked out, somewhat superciliously, upon a world which fell sadly +short of what a Cheffington had a right to expect. + +"I have the pleasure of knowing your cousin, Captain Augustus +Cheffington, very well indeed," said Theodore. + +Lucius bowed again and adjusted his eyeglass. A shade of surprise and +annoyance passed over his face. His Cousin Augustus had been a sore +subject with the family for years; and latterly such rumours as had +reached England about him had not made the subject more agreeable. + +"I have often thought," pursued Theodore, quite unaware that his +listener was regarding him with a mixture of astonishment and disfavour, +"that it is a great pity a man of Captain Cheffington's abilities and +accomplishments should live out of England; unless, indeed, he held some +diplomatic appointment abroad. In my opinion these are times in which +the great old families should hold fast by the public service. As I +ventured to say to one of our county members the other day----" And so +on, and so on. Having thus happily launched himself, Theodore proceeded +in his best Parliamentary style: holding forth with a power of +self-complacent and steady boredom beyond his years. A sensitive person +would have been petrified by the unsympathizing stare from behind those +tortoise-shell-rimmed glasses; but Theodore was not sensitive to such +influences: being fortified by the _a priori_ conviction that he must +naturally make a favourable impression. And since Lucius Cheffington +could not, compatibly with his own dignity, plainly tell him that he +considered him a presumptuous young ass, there was nothing to check his +flow of eloquence. + +But at length the cold stare was softened, and the pale, peevish, +furrowed face turned to Theodore with a faint show of interest. Some +casual word of this intrusive young man's seemed to show that he came +from Oldchester. + +"Do you know--a--Mrs.--a--Dobbs?" asked Lucius, speaking for the first +time, and edging in this point-blank question between two of Theodore's +neatly-turned sentences setting forth a political parallel between the +late Lord Tweedledum and the present Right Honourable Tweedledee. + +It was a shock; but Theodore bore it stoically. + +"Not exactly. I have spoken with her. Mrs. Dobbs is not precisely----in +our set," he answered, with a slight smile at one corner of his mouth, +intended to demolish Mrs. Dobbs. + +"I thought that, being a native of Oldchester, you might--a--be----" +begun Mr. Cheffington in his low, harsh tones. + +"Be acquainted with her? Really----" + +"I thought that, being a native of Oldchester, you might--a--be able to +tell me something about her." + +"Not much, I fear," replied Theodore. He felt tempted to add that in +Oldchester there were natives and natives. + +"She's--a--rich, isn't she?" pursued Mr. Cheffington. + +"Not that I know of," answered Theodore, staring a little. + +"Rich is, perhaps, too much to say. At any rate, she is--a--quite +well----" + +"Well off? Oh, as to that----" + +"At any rate, she is quite well-to-do, I presume!" + +Theodore had never considered the question, but he said, "Oh yes," at a +venture; and then suddenly a light flashed upon his mind. Perhaps Mrs. +Dobbs _was_ rich, after all. Though she lived in so humble a style she +might, perhaps, have laid by money. + +"She appears to be a person of--a--great--good sense," said Mr. Lucius +Cheffington, remembering how Mrs. Dormer-Smith had stated that she +declined to give any money-assistance to Augustus. And after that he +made a second very low bow, and brought the interview to an end. + +Little had Theodore Bransby expected to hear Mrs. Dobbs discussed and +approved by a member of the noble house of Castlecombe. He had noticed +that Mrs. Dormer-Smith systematically avoided any mention of the vulgar +old woman. But then Mrs. Dormer-Smith was a person of the very finest +taste. And, to be sure, it could scarcely be expected that Mr. Lucius +Cheffington should feel Augustus's _mesalliance_ as acutely as it was +felt by Augustus's own sister. Besides, if, as really seemed possible, +the ironmonger's widow turned out to be a moneyed person----! But it +must be recorded of Theodore, that not even the idea of her having money +reconciled him to Mrs. Dobbs. He said to himself afterwards, when he was +meditating on what he had heard, that nothing so convincingly proved how +much he was in love with Miss Cheffington, as his being ready to forgive +her even her grandmother! + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + + +George Frederick Cheffington, fifth Viscount Castlecombe, was, in many +ways, a very clever old man. He was extremely ignorant of most things +which can be taught by books. But he had a thorough acquaintance with +practical agriculture, considerable keenness in finance, and a quick eye +to detect the weaknesses of his fellow men. On the other hand, his +overweening self-esteem led him to think that what he knew comprised +what was chiefly, if not solely, worth knowing, and his avarice +occasionally overrode his native talent for business. In his youth he +had been idle and extravagant. The former vice gave him the reputation +of a dunce at school and college, and, by a reaction which belonged to +his character, made him defiantly contemptuous of bookish men, with one +single exception, presently to be noted. As to his extravagance, that +was effectually cured by the death of his father. From the moment that +he came into possession of the family estates, which he did at about +thirty years of age, his income was administered with sagacious economy, +and by the time his two sons arrived at manhood Lord Castlecombe was a +very rich man. + +If he had a soft place in his heart, it was for his son Lucius, who +resembled his dead mother in features, and also, unfortunately, in the +delicacy of his constitution. George, his heir, was like +himself--strong, tough, and hardy. Lord Castlecombe secretly admired +Lucius's talents very much, and had been highly gratified when his +second son took honours at his University. That this success had not +been followed by any particularly brilliant results later, and that +Lucius had, as it were, stuck fast in his career, had even decidedly +failed in Parliament, and had finally been shelved in a Government post +which, although lucrative, was inglorious, his lordship attributed to +the increase of folly, incapacity, and roguery which he had observed in +the world during the last twenty years or so. That a Cheffington of such +abilities as Lucius should remain undistinguished was part of the +general decadence. In politics Lord Castlecombe was a Whig of the old +school; and though he continued to vote with his party, yet the only +point on which he was thoroughly in sympathy with the Liberals--a word, +by the way, which he had come greatly to dislike, as covering far too +wide a field--was that they fought the Tories. + +The person whom Lord Castlecombe most detested in all the world was his +nephew Augustus. He disliked his extravagance, his poverty, and the +biting insolence of his tongue. This antipathy had latterly added +poignancy to the old man's desire that his son should marry, and +transmit the Castlecombe title and estates in the direct line; for +Augustus was the next heir after his two cousins. It was true that the +contingency of Captain Cheffington succeeding seemed remote enough. +George Cheffington was only his senior by a couple of years, and Lucius +was his junior. But neither of them had married; and they were well on +in middle life. Lucius, indeed, seemed to have settled down into +incorrigible old bachelorhood. And although George, in answer to his +father's exhortations on the subject, always replied that he really +would think seriously of looking for a wife on his next visit to England +(persons suitable for that dignity not being to be found, it appeared, +in the particular portion of the globe where his official duties lay), +yet the years went by, and still there came no daughter-in-law, no +grandson to inherit the coronet and enjoy the broad acres of +Castlecombe. The idea that Augustus Cheffington might ever come to enjoy +them was gall and wormwood to their present owner. But he had never +breathed a word on this subject to any human being. + +Mrs. Dormer-Smith was gratified by her uncle's gracious acceptance of an +invitation to dine with her, soon after his arrival in town, about the +middle of June. Lord Castlecombe did not visit her often; but that was +from no ill-will on his part. In fact, he was rather fond of Pauline. He +considered her a bit of a goose. But he thought it by no means +unbecoming in a woman to be a bit of a goose. And she had thoroughbred +manners, a gentle voice, and was still agreeable to look upon. The old +lord disliked ugly women, and maintained that the sight of them +disagreed with him like bad wine. + +This consideration influenced Pauline in the choice of her guests to +meet her uncle. It was understood there was to be no large party. It had +been agreed that they should invite Mr. Bragg, who had bought a good +deal of land in Lord Castlecombe's county, was director of a company of +which the noble viscount was chairman, and of whom his lordship was +known to entertain a favourable opinion, as being a man who made no +disguise about his humble origin, and was free from the offensive +pretensions of many _nouveaux riches_. For, although Lord Castlecombe +willingly admitted that money could buy everything on which most people +valued themselves, he greatly disliked the notion that it could be +supposed to buy the things on which _he_ most valued himself. + +"Well, then, Frederick," said Mrs. Dormer-Smith, "that makes four men: +my uncle, Lucius, Mr. Bragg, and yourself. Then May and I; and I thought +of having that handsome Miss Hadlow. Uncle George likes to see pretty +faces. We want another woman, but really I don't know who there is +available at this moment. There are so few odd women who ain't frights," +pursued the anxious hostess plaintively. "If it were a man, now----There +are plenty of odd men to be had." Then, struck by a sudden inspiration, +she said, "Why shouldn't we have an odd man instead of another woman? +Uncle George gives me his arm, of course. You take Miss Hadlow, Mr. +Bragg takes May, and Lucius and the odd man go in together. Positively, +I think it would be the best arrangement of all." + +"I suppose Lucius wouldn't mind, eh?" + +"It certainly would be the best arrangement for _me_, at all events; for +if there are only those two girls, I can simply put my feet up on a sofa +when we go into the drawing-room, shut my eyes, and be quiet for half an +hour, which, of course, would be out of the question if there was any +woman who required to have civilities paid her; and in all probability I +shall be in a state of nervous prostration by Friday. This season with +May has tried me severely." + +Mr. Dormer-Smith offering no objection, there only remained to make +choice of the "odd man," and, after a moment's reflection, Pauline +decided on young Bransby. + +"Bransby!" exclaimed Mr. Dormer-Smith. "He's a dreadful prig." + +"I think he's very nice, Frederick. But really that is not the point. +He's engaged, or wants to be engaged, or something of the sort, to Miss +Hadlow, so of course----" + +"What? You don't mean to say that handsome girl would have such an +insignificant fellow as Bransby?" + +"I mean to say nothing about it. The subject has only a faint interest +for me, Frederick. But what _is_ important is that, in any case, _he +will help to take her off_." + +Mr. Dormer-Smith stared; he understood his wife's phrase, but not her +allusion. "Why, you don't suppose there's any danger of her setting her +cap at Lucius?" said he. + +"I should have no objection to her doing so." + +"Well, there's nobody else." + +"We need not discuss it, Frederick. Please give your best attention to +the wine; you know that Uncle George is terribly fastidious about his +wine, and the worst is that if he is discontented, he will not hesitate +to say so before everybody." + +That really did seem to her the worst. Most of the evils of life, she +thought, might be more endurable if people would but be discreet, and +say nothing about them. + +The evil of Uncle George's public reprobation of her wine did not, +however, befall her. Lord Castlecombe was content with his dinner, and +looked round him approvingly as he sat on his niece's right hand. + +"A couple of uncommonly pretty girls those," said his lordship. "They've +got on pretty frocks, too; I like a good bright colour." + +Pauline had begged Miss Hadlow beforehand not to wear black, or any +sombre hue, her uncle having a special dislike to such; and Constance, +perfectly willing to please Lord Castlecombe by looking as brilliant as +she could, had arrayed herself in her favourite maize-colour. + +"You have a very nice gown on, too, Pauline," added his lordship +graciously. + +Mrs. Dormer-Smith privately thought her own toilette detestable. It was +a gaily-flowered brocade (a gift from her husband soon after Wilfrid's +birth), which had been hidden from the light for several years. But she +had self-denyingly caused Smithson to furbish it up for the present +occasion, and was gratified that her virtue did not go unrewarded. + +"I knew you liked vivid colours, Uncle George," said she softly. + +"Of course I do. Everybody does, that has the use of his eyes. Don't +believe the humbugs who tell you otherwise. Your upholsterer now will +show you some wretched washed-out rag of a thing, and try to persuade +you to cover your chairs with it, because it's _aesthetic_! Parcel of +fools! Not that the fellows who sell the things are fools. They know +very well which side their bread is buttered." Then glancing across the +table with his keen, sunken, black eyes, he continued, "That little +Miranda--what is it you call her? May? Well, May is a very good name for +her--is remarkably fresh and pretty. Good frank forehead. Not a bit like +her father. Different type. But the other girl is the beauty. Uncommonly +handsome, really." + +"I'm glad you think May nice," said Mrs. Dormer-Smith. "Of course I was +anxious that you should like her. She is poor Augustus's only +child--only surviving child. You know there were five or six of them, +but the others all died in babyhood." + +Lord Castlecombe did know it, and remembered it now with grim +satisfaction. At least Augustus had no male heir to come after him. + +"Ah! Gus made a pretty hash of it altogether," said the old man. + +But he did not say it unkindly. He would not willingly have been harsh +or brutal towards Pauline. She really was a very sweet creature, and +had, he thought, almost every quality that he could desire in the women +of his blood. For, it must be observed, Lord Castlecombe did not know +that Pauline admired aesthetic furniture, nor that she considered +Augustus to have been rather hardly treated by the Castlecombes. + +"Of course," replied that gentle lady. "My poor brother's unfortunate +marriage----" + +"Oh! Ah! Yes. But that, at all events, seems to have turned out better +than could have been expected. Lucius tells me there is a grandmother +who has money, and is generous." + +"Not to Augustus, Uncle George; Mrs. Dobbs positively refuses to assist +Augustus." + +"H'm!" grunted Uncle George, his opinion of Mrs. Dobbs's good sense +taking a sudden leap upward. "Well, my dear, people have to think of +their own interests, you know." Then, in a louder tone, "Frederick, send +me that white Hermitage. It's a very fair wine, as times go--a very fair +wine indeed." + +When the ladies had left the table, young Bransby felt what he would +have called, in speaking of any one else, "a little out of it." My lord +talked with Mr. Bragg, Lucius and Frederick were discussing some item of +club politics, in the midst of which the host would now and again +interpolate some parenthetical observations addressed to young Bransby, +obviously as a matter of duty. At length, in declining the claret which +Mr. Dormer-Smith pushed towards him, Theodore took the opportunity to +say-- + +"Do you think I might venture to go upstairs? I have a message for Mrs. +Dormer-Smith about a little commission with which she entrusted me." + +"No more wine, really? Oh, my wife will be charmed to see you," replied +Frederick, with alacrity. And, thereupon, the young man quietly left the +room. + +It was true that he had undertaken a commission for Mrs. Dormer-Smith; +but he would not have prematurely withdrawn himself from the company of +a peer and a millionaire, on that account. He was moved by a far +weightier purpose. He had made up his mind to propose to Miss +Cheffington; and, if the Fates favoured him, he might do it that very +evening. For some time past--before May left Oldchester--Theodore had +been sure that he wished to marry her. There were drawbacks. She had no +money (or at all events he had not reckoned on her having any money), +and she had connections of a very objectionable kind. But he rather +dwelt on these things, as proving the disinterested nature of his +attachment. He was so much in love with May, that he liked to fancy +himself making some sacrifices on her account. As to her feelings +towards him, he was not without misgivings. But he watched her in +society at every opportunity, and had convinced himself that she was, at +all events, fancy-free. She did not even flirt; but enjoyed herself with +child-like openness:--or was bored with equal simplicity and sincerity. +As to her aunt, Theodore did not doubt that his suit would be favourably +received by Mrs. Dormer-Smith. She must, long ago, have perceived his +intentions; and he felt that his being invited to that intimate little +dinner--almost a family dinner--was strong encouragement. + +Theodore was fortifying himself with this reflection as he mounted the +stairs to the drawing-room. His foot fell more and more lingeringly on +the soft, soundless carpet as he neared the door. He was on an errand +which can scarcely be undertaken with cool self-possession, even by a +young gentleman holding the most favourable view of his own merits and +prospects. One can never certainly reckon on one's soundest views being +shared. A servant carrying coffee, preceded him, and opened the +drawing-room door just as he arrived on the landing; and Theodore felt +positively grateful to the man for, as it were, covering his entrance, +and relieving him from the embarrassment of walking in alone. He entered +close behind the footman, and was, for a few moments, unperceived by the +ladies. + +The room was a little dim; all the lamps being shaded with rose-colour. +Mrs. Dormer-Smith was reclining on a sofa, with closed eyes. But she was +not asleep; for beside her in a low lounging-chair, and talking to her +in a subdued voice, sat Constance Hadlow. May was at the other side of +the room, leaning with both elbows on a little table which stood in a +recess between the fireplace and a window, and apparently absorbed in a +book. Theodore thought she made a charming picture, with the soft light +falling on her fair young face and white dress; and his pulse, which had +been beating a little quicker than usual all the way upstairs, became +suddenly still more accelerated. + +May looked up. + +"Is that you?" she said. "Where are the others?" + +It was not a very warm or flattering welcome; but Theodore was scarcely +conscious of her words. He was thinking what a fortunate chance it was +which left May isolated, so far away from the other ladies as to be out +of earshot, if one spoke in a suitably low tone. At the sound of her +niece's voice Mrs. Dormer-Smith languidly turned her head. + +"Oh, please don't move, Mrs. Dormer-Smith," said Theodore, speaking in a +quick, confused way, very different from his accustomed manner. "If I am +to disturb you, I must go away at once. But I--I don't take much wine, +and he said--Mr. Dormer-Smith said he thought I might--if you don't mind +my preceding the other men by a few minutes, I will be as quiet as a +mouse." + +He crossed the room and sat down by May in the shadow of a heavy +window-curtain. + +The hostess murmured a gracious word or two and then closed her eyes +again. She had been a little vexed by the young man's premature arrival; +but if he was content to be quiet, and whisper to May, she need not +stand on ceremony with him. The fact was, she was listening with great +interest to Constance's account of a feud which had arisen between Lady +Burlington and Mrs. Griffin's daughter, the duchess. Constance had the +details at first hand, from Mrs. Griffin herself, on the one side, and +from Miss Polly Piper on the other: for the feud had arisen about Signor +Vincenzo Valli. The fashionable singing-master had thrown over one of +the great ladies for the other, on the occasion of some _soiree +musicale_; and the quarrel had been espoused by various personages of +distinction, whose sayings and doings with regard to it Mrs. +Dormer-Smith considered to be at once important and entertaining. She +mentally contrasted with a sigh the intelligence, tact, and correctness +of judgment which Constance brought to bear on this matter, with the +nonchalance--not to say downright levity and indifference--displayed by +May. It was impossible to get May to interest herself in the bearings of +the case. In fact, she had abandoned the discussion, and gone away to +her book; whereas this provincial girl, with not one quarter of May's +advantages, understood it perfectly, remembered the names of all the +people concerned, had a very sufficient knowledge of their relative +importance, and was able to impart to her hostess a variety of minute +circumstances, narrated in a low, quiet tone, free from emphasis or +emotion, which was delightfully soothing. + +May, for her part, was by no means pleased to have her reading +interrupted; but politeness, and the sense that she was, in her degree, +responsible for the hospitality of the house, impelled her to close her +book at once, and to turn a good-humoured countenance towards her +companion. + +"Isn't Uncle Frederick coming?" she asked, finding nothing better to say +at the moment. + +"Presently. Are you in a great hurry to see him?" returned Theodore. + +"Oh no; I was amusing myself very well." + +"Are you angry with me, for interrupting you?" + +"Oh no," answered May again. But this second "Oh no" was not quite so +hearty as the first. + +"May I see what you have been reading?" + +She pushed the book towards him. + +"'Mansfield Park.' Whose is it?" + +"Good gracious! You don't mean to say that you don't know?" + +"I don't read novels," said Theodore loftily, but not severely. It was +all very well for women to have that weakness. + +"But this is an English classic! Mr. Rivers says so. You really ought to +know who wrote 'Mansfield Park,' even if you have never read it. It is +one of Jane Austen's works." + +"Ah! Do you--do you like it?" said Theodore, scarcely knowing what he +said. He was playing nervously with a little ivory paper-knife which lay +on the table, and his whole aspect and manner--had not both been to some +extent concealed by the shadow of the velvet curtain--would have +betrayed to the most indifferent observer that he was agitated and +unlike himself. He felt that the precious minutes of this chance +_tete-a-tete_ were passing swiftly; he longed to profit by them; and +yet, now that the moment had come, he feared to stand the hazard of the +die, and kept deferring it by idle words. + +"Oh yes! I like it, of course," answered May. "Not so much, perhaps, as +'Emma,' or 'Pride and Prejudice.' Mr. Rivers advised me to read it." + +It was the second time she had mentioned Rivers's name, and this fact +stung Theodore unaccountably. It acted like a touch of the spur to a +lagging horse. He burst out, still speaking almost in a whisper, but +with some heat-- + +"Rivers is a happy fellow! What would I give if you cared enough about +me to follow my advice!" + +"You have only to advise me to do something which I like as much as +reading Jane Austen," replied May archly. But his tone had struck her +disagreeably. She peered at him furtively as he sat in the shadow, +trying in vain to see his countenance clearly. The idea crossed her mind +that he might have taken too much wine at dinner. But it was so +repulsive an idea to her, that she felt she ought not to entertain it +without better foundation. + +"It is a most fortunate chance for me to have this--this blessed +opportunity," pursued Theodore. (He had hesitated for the epithet, and +was not by any means satisfied with it when he had got it). "I have long +been wanting to speak to you." + +"To me? Well, that need not have been very difficult," answered May, +edging a little away, and trying to obtain a good view of his face. + +"Pardon me. It is not easy to have the privilege of a private word with +Miss Cheffington. When we meet in society, you are surrounded, as is but +too natural. And latterly, in your own home, you have been a good deal +engrossed. I could not say what I have to say before----" + +He glanced over at Constance Hadlow as he spoke. This was an immense +relief to May who had been growing more and more uncomfortable, and +vaguely apprehensive. She thought she understood it all now. Conny had +been treating him with coolness and neglect. She herself had noticed +this, and now he wanted to enlist the sympathies of Conny's friend. + +"Oh, I see!" she exclaimed. "It's something about Constance that you +wish to say to me." + +"About Constance? Ah, May, you are cruel! You know too well your power!" +he said, endeavouring to give a pathetic intonation to his voice, but +producing only an odd, croaking, throaty sound. Then May decided, in her +own mind, that he _had_ been taking too much wine; and, angry and +disgusted, she tried to rise from her chair and leave him. But she was +hemmed in by the little table, and on her first movement, Theodore took +hold of the skirt of her dress to detain her. May turned round upon him +with a pale, indignant face, and flashing eyes. + +"Don't touch my dress, if you please. I wish to go away." + +"Miss Cheffington--May--you must hear what I have to say now. You must +know it without my saying, for I have loved you so long and so +devotedly. But I have a right to be heard." + +May was thunderstruck. But she perceived in a moment that she had, in +one sense, done him injustice--he had not drunk too much wine. But +this----! This was worse! How far easier it would have been to forgive +Theodore if he had even got tipsy--just a little tipsy--instead of +making such a declaration! She supposed she had no right to be +disgusted; she had heard that properly behaved young ladies always took +an offer of marriage to be a great honour. But she was disgusted, +nevertheless; and so far from feeling honoured, she was conscious of a +distressing sense of humiliation. She tried, however, to keep up her +dignity, and at the same time to say what was right to this--this +dreadful young man, who had suddenly presented himself in the odious +light of wanting to make love to her. + +"Oh, please don't say any more. I'm very much obliged to you. I mean I'm +extremely sorry. But I beg you won't say another word, and forget all +about it as quickly as possible." + +"Forget it! Nay, that is out of the question. I could not if I would." + +Theodore began to recover his self-command as May lost hers. She was +agitated and trembling. Well, he would not have had her listen to his +words unmoved. She was very young and inexperienced. And he had, it +seemed, taken her by surprise. + +"Is it possible," he continued softly, "that you were quite unprepared +to hear----" + +"Quite unprepared. But that makes no difference. And you really must +allow me to go away. I'm very sorry, indeed, but I can't stay here +another moment." + +"Am I so repulsive?" said he, with a sentimental beseeching glance. But +he met an expression in her face which made him add quickly, in quite +another tone, "Well, well, I will prefer your wishes to my own," at the +same time drawing himself and his chair to one side. + +She had looked almost capable of leaping over the table to escape. May +brushed past him, and darted away out of the room without another word. + +Theodore seized hold of the book she had left behind her, and bent his +head over it. He saw not one word on the printed page beneath his eyes, +but it saved him from appearing as confused as he felt. Had he been +rejected? And, if so, was it a rejection which he was bound to consider +final? Or had he received no real answer at all? Gradually, as his +throat grew less dry, his head less hot, and his brain more clear, he +arrived at the conclusion that he had virtually had no answer. May was +little more than a child, and he had startled her. Then he remembered +that word of May's, "It is about Constance you wish to speak to me." +Could she be under any misapprehension as to his position with regard to +Constance? The idea was fraught with comfort. That, at least, he could +set right, and without delay. He rose and walked across the room at once +to Mrs. Dormer-Smith's sofa. + +At this moment the procession of men, headed by Lord Castlecombe, +arrived from the dining-room. Constance glided away, leaving her vacant +chair for Theodore, who immediately occupied it, thus cutting off Mrs. +Dormer-Smith from the rest of the company. That lady looked anxiously +across his shoulder. + +"_Would_ you," she said to Theodore, "would you be so very good as to +ask my husband to inquire where Miss Cheffington is? My uncle would like +to talk to her, I know; and----Oh, there she is! Thanks. Don't trouble +yourself." + +May had returned to the drawing-room; but instead of going near her +noble grand-uncle, she perversely seated herself in a remote nook beside +Mr. Bragg, with whom she presently began a conversation, keeping her +face persistently turned away from every one else. Her noble grand-uncle +did not seem to care. His lordship marched straight up to Miss Hadlow, +and stood before her, coffee-cup in hand, with his curious air of +perfectly knowing how to behave like a fine gentleman whenever he should +think it worth while. Lucius and Frederick were continuing their club +discussion, which possessed the advantage--for persons of leisure--of +having neither beginning nor end, and of being indefinitely elastic. +Pauline took in the whole room with one comprehensive glance, and then +leant back against her cushions with a sigh, which, if not contented, +was resigned. She made no effort to recall May to her duty towards Lord +Castlecombe. + +"You must forgive me, Mr. Bransby," she said graciously, "if I have been +selfish in engrossing Miss Hadlow. If you don't take care, my uncle will +do the same! Lord Castlecombe admires her very much." + +Theodore cleared his throat, settled his cravat with a rather unsteady +hand, and looked at her as solemnly as if he were about to commence an +oration. But all he managed to say was-- + +"There has been a mistake, Mrs. Dormer-Smith." + +"A mistake?" + +"Yes. I have some reason to believe that you are under a wrong +impression about me." + +His hostess faintly raised her eyebrows, and answered with a smile, "I +hope not: for all my impressions of you are very pleasant." + +Theodore bowed gravely. "You are very kind," said he. "It is important +to me to set this matter right. You perhaps imagine--some one may have +told you that I and Miss Hadlow--there has been, I believe, some idle +gossip coupling our names together." + +"Not very unnaturally," said Mrs. Dormer-Smith, still smiling. But she +began to wonder what he could be driving at. + +"Well, I do think it hard that one cannot be on friendly terms with a +person one has known all one's life without being supposed to be engaged +to her." + +"Or him," put in Pauline quietly. + +"Of course. I mean, of course, that it is particularly unfair to the +lady. But it puts a man in a false position too. I have just been +speaking to May----" + +Then, in an instant, the true state of the case flashed on Mrs. +Dormer-Smith, to her unspeakable consternation. This, then, was her +model young man, whom she had pronounced to be so "nice" and so "quiet;" +and who, moreover, had always expressed the most proper sentiments on +the subject of unequal marriages! She felt herself to be of all ladies +the most persecuted by fate. + +"Oh," she said, coldly interrupting him; "it was scarcely necessary to +say anything to Miss Cheffington on the subject." + +But Theodore was beyond taking heed of any snub or check of that kind. +"One moment," he said, breathing quickly. "If you will allow me to +finish what I was saying, you will see----I am, as you must have +perceived, deeply attached to your niece." + +"No, no," protested Mrs. Dormer-Smith faintly. "I never perceived it." + +"Then that must have been because you were looking in a wrong direction. +You were misled about Constance Hadlow; otherwise, the nature of my +attentions could scarcely have escaped you." + +"And you say that you have been speaking to--to my niece?" + +"I have this evening told her how devotedly I love her." + +"Good heavens!" whispered Mrs. Dormer-Smith, letting her head sink back +among the sofa-cushions. "And what was her reply?" + +"Her reply was--well, practically, it was no reply at all. May was +agitated and startled, and I think she had believed that foolish gossip +about my engagement to Miss Hadlow. But I trust to you to explain----" + +"Pray, Mr. Bransby, say no more. I regret extremely that this should +have happened." + +"Oh, but I don't know that I have any reason to despair," he answered +naively. + +This was almost more than Pauline could endure. She got up from the +sofa, and plaintively murmuring, "Say no more; pray say no more. I +really am not equal to it at present," fairly walked away from him. + +That night when the guests were gone, Mrs. Dormer-Smith sent for her +husband to her dressing-room, and revealed to him what young Bransby had +said. His indignation at the young man's presumption was equal to her +own: although not wholly on the same grounds. + +"You will have to talk to him, Frederick," she said. "When he went away +he said something about requesting an early interview. _I_ cannot stand +any more of it. It upsets me too frightfully. Of course, you won't +quarrel with him. Just give him politely to understand that it is out of +the question. Fortunately, May appears to have been as much _outree_ by +this preposterous proposal as I could desire. May behaved very nicely +to-night altogether. I was pleased with her." + +"H'm! Oh yes; but I thought she might have paid a little more attention +to your uncle. She never went near him after we came upstairs. I think +she talked to old Bragg more than to any one else." + +"Frederick," said his wife slowly, "do you know that Lady Hautenville is +making a dead set at Mr. Bragg for Felicia?" + +"Is she?" + +"Yes. Mrs. Griffin told me all about it. They are moving heaven and +earth to catch him." + +"Really? Well, _bonne chance_!" + +"It would be _mauvaise chance_ for him, poor man! Felicia has a +frightful temper, and incredibly extravagant habits. She must be over +her eyebrows in debt. But I fancy Mr. Bragg has better taste." + +Her meaning tone made her husband look at her with sudden earnestness. +"What do you mean?" he asked brusquely. + +Mrs. Dormer-Smith put her hand to her forehead. "Let me entreat you not +to raise your voice!" she said. "I have had quite enough to try my +nerves this evening. I mean that I think Mr. Bragg is interested in May. +It would be a splendid match for her." + +"_What?_" cried Frederick, disregarding his wife's request, and raising +his voice considerably. "Old Bragg!" + +Pauline turned on him impressively. "Frederick," she said, speaking with +patient mildness, as one imparting higher lore to some untutored savage, +"Mr. Bragg is barely fifty-four; and his income--entirely within his own +control--is over sixty thousand a year." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + + +Theodore did not take his rejection meekly. In his interview with Mr. +Dormer-Smith he pressed hard to see May again, and insinuated that she +was under undue influence. Moreover, he conveyed, with stiff civility, +that he considered himself to have been badly treated by the whole +family, who had first encouraged his attentions and then rejected them. + +"He really is a fearful young man!" said May to her aunt on hearing the +report of the interview. "What does he mean by insisting on 'an answer +from my own lips'? Could he not believe what Uncle Frederick said? +Besides, he has had his answer from me. The truth is, he is so +outrageously conceited that he can't believe any young woman would +refuse him of her own free will." + +"The idea of his dreaming for an instant that _I_ encouraged him is too +preposterous," said Mrs. Dormer-Smith, shaking her head languidly. "I am +sadly disappointed. I thought him quite a nice person. I fancied he had +sufficient _savoir vivre_ to understand----However, it is one more proof +that one can never reckon on half-bred people who don't know the world." + +It was privately a great relief to May to know that her aunt took her +part in this affair. Aunt Pauline's motives and views were still very +mysterious to May on many points. She did not even now fully understand +the grounds of her aunt's virtuous indignation against Theodore Bransby, +although she was thankful for it. "Aunt Pauline thought him good enough +for Conny," said May to herself innocently; "and Conny is so beautiful, +and so much admired!" + +It was true that--thanks, in the first place, to Mrs. Griffin--Constance +had enjoyed a more brilliant season than she had ever ventured to dream +of. Fashionable houses, of which she had read in the newspapers, but +which had appeared to her as unattainable as though they were in another +planet, had opened their doors to her; and old connections of her +mother's family, finding her in the aforesaid houses, discovered that +she was a charming girl, and were delighted to open _their_ doors to +her. She had accepted several invitations to country houses, and would +probably not be at home again until late in the autumn. + +Mrs. Griffin watched this young lady's progress with considerable +interest. She opined that Miss Hadlow was a shining instance of the +advantages of "race." + +"In spite of having been brought up in the pokiest way in some +provincial town, as I understand, that girl has a thoroughbred +self-possession quite remarkable," said Mrs. Griffin. "She never makes a +blunder. You are never nervous about her. She has no trace of that loud, +bouncing style, which I detest, and which so many underbred-people take +up nowadays, mistakenly imagining it to be the proper thing. She doesn't +'go in' for anything. And," added Mrs. Griffin musingly, "there's a +wonderful look of her grandfather, poor Charley Rivers, about the brow +and eyes." + +The season was rapidly drawing to a close when Mrs. Dobbs received two +letters; one from her grand-daughter, and the other from Mrs. +Dormer-Smith. Jo Weatherhead, arriving one evening at his usual hour in +Jessamine Cottage, was told by his old friend that she had had a letter +from May, and that she meant to read him a portion of it. No proposition +could have been more welcome to Mr. Weatherhead. He drew his chair up to +the grate--filled now with fresh boughs instead of hot coals; but Jo +kept his place in the chimney-corner winter and summer--and prepared to +listen. + +Mrs. Dobbs read as follows:--"You must know, dear granny, that I told +Aunt Pauline yesterday that I really must go home at the end of this +season. She has been very kind and so has Uncle Frederick; but granny is +granny, and home is home." + +Here Mr. Weatherhead slapped his leg with his hand, and took his pipe +out of his mouth as though about to speak; but on Mrs. Dobbs holding up +her hand for silence, he put his pipe back again, and slowly drew his +forefinger and thumb down the not inconsiderable length of his nose. + +Mrs. Dobbs read on: "To my amazement, Aunt Pauline answered that it was +my father's wish that I should remain with her altogether! That is not +my wish. And it isn't yours--is it, granny dear? And if we two are +agreed, I cannot think my father would object. I mean to write to him +about it. I should have done so already, but I have not his address, and +Aunt Pauline can't or won't give it to me. Please send it. I shall tell +my father just what I feel. I don't care for what Aunt Pauline calls +Society. I was happy enough as long as it was only like being at the +play, with the prospect of going home when it was over, and living my +real life. But to go on with this sort of thing and nothing else, year +in, year out--it would be like being expected to live on wax fruit, or +those glazed wooden turkeys I remember in a box of toys you gave me long +ago. Please answer directly, directly. There's an invitation for me to +go in August to a place in the Highlands, where Mrs. Griffin's daughter +has a shooting-box. At least, I suppose it is Mrs. Griffin's daughter's +husband who has the shooting-box. Only nobody talks much about the duke, +and everybody talks a great deal about the duchess." ("Fancy our Miranda +among the dukes and duchesses!" put in Jo Weatherhead, softly. And he +smacked his lips as though the very sound of the words had a relish for +him.) "Aunt Pauline wants to go to Carlsbad; Uncle Frederick is to join +a fishing-party in Norway; the children are to be sent to a farmhouse; +and Mrs. Griffin has offered to take care of me in the Highlands. But I +would far, _far_ rather come back to dear Oldchester, and be amongst +people who know me, and care for me, and whom I love with all my heart. +Do write and ask for me back, granny darling! And mind you give me +papa's address. I am resolved to write to him, whatever Aunt Pauline may +say. He is _my_ father, and I have a right to tell him my feelings." + +"That's all of any consequence," said Mrs. Dobbs, slowly refolding the +letter. "Oh, of course she writes at the end 'Love to Uncle Jo.' She +never forgets that." + +There was a brief silence. Mr. Weatherhead, who was very tender-hearted, +blew his nose and wiped his eyes unaffectedly. "Of course you'll have +the child down, Sarah," said he; "anyway, for a time. She's pining, +that's where it is; she's pining for a sight of you." + +Mrs. Dobbs sat choking down her emotion. She had cried privately over +that letter herself, but she was resolved to discuss it now with +judicial calmness; and it was provoking that Jo endangered her judicial +tone of mind by that foolish, soft-hearted way of his, which was +terribly catching. But she loved Jo for it, nevertheless, and scolded +him so as to let him know that she loved him. + +"It's a good thing your feelings are righter and kinder than most +folks', Jo Weatherhead, for you're sadly led by 'em, my friend. If you'd +wait and hear the whole case, you might help me with your advice." Then +Mrs. Dobbs pulled another letter from her pocket, and handed it to her +brother-in-law. This second epistle was from Mrs. Dormer-Smith, and ran +thus:-- + + "DEAR MRS. DOBBS, + + "I think it right to let you know how very important it is for + May not to miss her visit to Glengowrie. There will be among + the guests there a gentleman who has been paying her a good + deal of attention--a man of princely fortune. I have some + reason to think that May is disposed to look favourably on this + gentleman; but he must be allowed time and opportunity to + declare himself. No better opportunity could possibly be found + than at Glengowrie; and I may tell you, _in confidence_, that + the duchess has, at my friend Mrs. Griffin's request, invited + them both _on purpose_. I trust, therefore, that, in my niece's + interests, you will induce her not to relinquish this chance. + As to her writing to her father, it is absurd, and would only + irritate my brother after his giving me _carte blanche_ to do + the best I can for her. If the visit to Glengowrie turns out as + we hope, I shall have procured for her a settlement which many + a peer's daughter will envy. My husband and I have such + confidence in your good sense, that we are sure you will second + our efforts as far as you can. Of course you will consider this + letter _strictly private_, and will not, above all, mention it + to May. + + "I am, dear Mrs. Dobbs, + + "Yours very truly, + + "P. DORMER-SMITH." + +"You see that alters the case, Jo," said Mrs. Dobbs, when he had +finished reading the letter. + +Jo nodded thoughtfully, and rubbed his nose. "Of course, what you want, +Sarah, is for the child to be happy. That's the main thing," said he. + +"Of course I want her to be happy. And I want her to have her rights," +answered Mrs. Dobbs, setting her lips firmly. + +"Ah! Yes, to be sure! Her rights, eh?" + +"My son-in-law brought no good to any of us in himself. If his name can +do any good to his daughter, she ought to have the benefit of it--and +she shall." + +"Ay, ay. Her rights, eh? To be sure. Only--only it ain't always quite +easy to know what a person's rights are, is it?" + +"I know well enough what May's rights are," answered Mrs. Dobbs sharply. + +"Nor yet it ain't quite easy to be sure whether they'd enjoy their +rights when they got 'em," pursued Jo, with a thoughtful air. "Everybody +likes to be happy. There can be no manner of doubt about _that_. And +somehow the dukes and duchesses don't seem to be enough to make Miranda +quite--not _quite_ happy, humph?" + +"I wonder you should confess so much of your dear aristocracy!" returned +Mrs. Dobbs with some heat. + +"Why, you see, Sarah, it may be--I only say it _may_ be--that the way +Miranda has been brought up, living here in the holidays in such a +simple kind of style, and all that, makes her feel not altogether at +home among these tip-top folks." + +"If you mean she isn't good enough for them, that's nonsense; downright +nonsense. And I wonder at a man with your brains talking such stuff! If +you mean they're not good enough for her, that's another pair of shoes. +As to manners--why, do you imagine that that aunt of hers, who--though +she _is_ a fool, is a well-born fool, and a well-bred one--would be +taking May about, presenting her at Court, and introducing her to the +grandest society, if the child didn't do her credit? Not she! I'm +astonished at you, Jo! I thought you knew the world a little bit better +than that." + +Mrs. Dobbs leant back in her chair, and fanned her flushed face with her +handkerchief. Mr. Weatherhead, having smoked his pipe out, put it in its +case, and then sat silent, slowly stroking his nose, and casting +deprecating glances at his hostess. At length the latter resumed, in a +calmer tone, "But May's future is what I've got to think of. I'm an old +woman. I can leave her next to nothing when I die. I want her to marry. +All women ought to marry. Nobody in my own walk of life would suit her. +And what gentleman fit to match with her was ever likely to come and +look for her in my parlour in Friar's Lane? You ought to know all about +it, Jo Weatherhead. We've gone over the whole ground together often +enough." + +They had done so. But Jo Weatherhead understood very well that his old +friend was talking now, not to convince him, but herself. "Well, Sarah," +he said, "there seems a good chance for May to marry well, according to +this good lady. 'Princely fortune,' she says. That sounds grand, don't +it?" + +"Ah! And it isn't a few thousands that Mrs. Dormer-Smith would call a +princely fortune." + +"Not a few thousands you think, eh, Sarah? Tens of thousands I shouldn't +wonder, humph?" And Mr. Weatherhead pursed up his mouth, and poked +forward his nose eagerly. + +"Not a doubt of it." + +"Bless my stars! To think of our little Miranda!--and her aunt says that +May is disposed to look favourably on the gentleman." + +"So she says. But I can tell you that May doesn't care a button for him +at present." + +"Lord! How do you know, Sarah?" + +"How do I know? That's so like a man! No girl in love would give up the +chance of meeting her lover, as May wants to give it up. If she'd rather +come to Oldchester than go to Scotland, it is because--so far, at any +rate--she doesn't care a button for him." + +"I never thought of that. But perhaps, Sarah, she doesn't know that he +is to be invited." + +Mrs. Dobbs seemed struck by this remark. "Well now, that's an idea, Jo!" +said she, nodding her head. "It may be so. They seem to have had the +sense not to talk to her about the matter. May's just the kind of girl +to fling up her heels and break away, if she suspected any scheming to +make a fine match for her. But she might come to care for him in time. +There's no reason in nature why a rich man shouldn't be nice enough to +be fallen in love with. And by his taking to May--and she without a +penny--I'm inclined to think well of the young man." + +After some further consideration it was agreed that Mrs. Dobbs should +write and propose a middle term: in the interval between her aunt's +departure for Carlsbad, and the date of her invitation to Glengowrie, +May should come down to Oldchester, on condition that she afterwards +paid her visit to the Duchess. This arrangement would be a joy to Mrs. +Dobbs, would satisfy May's affectionate longing, and could not prejudice +the girl's future prospects. A letter to May was written, as well as one +to Mrs. Dormer-Smith. This letter was very short, and may as well be +given. + + "DEAR MRS. DORMER-SMITH, + + "I have to acknowledge yours of the 5th. I agree with you that + it would be a pity for my grand-daughter not to accept the + invitation you speak of. Some good may come of it, and I do not + think that any harm can come. If May spends the three or four + weeks with me after you start for the Continent, I will + undertake for her to meet the lady who is to take charge of her + to Scotland, at any place that may be agreed upon. I wrote to + May by this post, and she will tell you what I propose. With + regard to her father's address, I have had none for some time + past, except, 'Post-Office, Brussels.' This much I shall tell + her, as I think she has a right to know it. You need not + disturb yourself about her writing to her father, as I think, + from what I know of Captain Cheffington, that he is not likely + to answer her letter. + + "I am, dear Mrs. Dormer-Smith, + + "Yours truly, + + "SARAH DOBBS." + +The proposal was accepted, and within a fortnight after the despatch of +this letter, May Cheffington was in Oldchester once more. + + +END OF VOL. I. + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of That Unfortunate Marriage, Vol. 1(of 3), by +Frances Eleanor Trollope + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THAT UNFORTUNATE MARRIAGE *** + +***** This file should be named 35943.txt or 35943.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/5/9/4/35943/ + +Produced by Delphine Lettau, Mary Meehan and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +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 + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/35943.zip b/35943.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e1dc7d6 --- /dev/null +++ b/35943.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f089e9f --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #35943 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/35943) |