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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/2815-0.txt b/2815-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..64e7d7c --- /dev/null +++ b/2815-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7564 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Democracy, An American Novel, by Henry Adams + +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: Democracy, An American Novel + +Author: Henry Adams + +Posting Date: December 13, 2008 [EBook #2815] +Release Date: September, 2001 +Last Updated: March 14, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEMOCRACY AN AMERICAN NOVEL *** + + + + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer + + + + + +DEMOCRACY AN AMERICAN NOVEL + +By Henry Adams + + + + +First published anonymously, March 1880, and soon in various +unauthorized editions. It wasn't until the 1925 edition that Adams +was listed as author. Henry Adams remarked (ironically as usual), +“The wholesale piracy of Democracy was the single real triumph of my +life.”--it was very popular, as readers tried to guess who the author +was and who the characters really were. Chapters XII and XIII were +originally misnumbered. + + + + +Chapter I + + +FOR reasons which many persons thought ridiculous, Mrs. Lightfoot Lee +decided to pass the winter in Washington. She was in excellent health, +but she said that the climate would do her good. In New York she had +troops of friends, but she suddenly became eager to see again the very +small number of those who lived on the Potomac. It was only to her +closest intimates that she honestly acknowledged herself to be tortured +by ennui. Since her husband's death, five years before, she had lost +her taste for New York society; she had felt no interest in the price +of stocks, and very little in the men who dealt in them; she had become +serious. What was it all worth, this wilderness of men and women as +monotonous as the brown stone houses they lived in? In her despair +she had resorted to desperate measures. She had read philosophy in the +original German, and the more she read, the more she was disheartened +that so much culture should lead to nothing--nothing. + +After talking of Herbert Spencer for an entire evening with a very +literary transcendental commission-merchant, she could not see that her +time had been better employed than when in former days she had passed it +in flirting with a very agreeable young stock-broker; indeed, there +was an evident proof to the contrary, for the flirtation might lead to +something--had, in fact, led to marriage; while the philosophy could +lead to nothing, unless it were perhaps to another evening of the +same kind, because transcendental philosophers are mostly elderly men, +usually married, and, when engaged in business, somewhat apt to be +sleepy towards evening. Nevertheless Mrs. Lee did her best to turn her +study to practical use. She plunged into philanthropy, visited prisons, +inspected hospitals, read the literature of pauperism and crime, +saturated herself with the statistics of vice, until her mind had nearly +lost sight of virtue. At last it rose in rebellion against her, and +she came to the limit of her strength. This path, too, seemed to lead +nowhere. She declared that she had lost the sense of duty, and that, so +far as concerned her, all the paupers and criminals in New York might +henceforward rise in their majesty and manage every railway on the +continent. Why should she care? What was the city to her? She could +find nothing in it that seemed to demand salvation. What gave peculiar +sanctity to numbers? Why were a million people, who all resembled each +other, any way more interesting than one person? What aspiration could +she help to put into the mind of this great million-armed monster that +would make it worth her love or respect? Religion? A thousand powerful +churches were doing their best, and she could see no chance for a +new faith of which she was to be the inspired prophet. Ambition? High +popular ideals? Passion for whatever is lofty and pure? The very words +irritated her. Was she not herself devoured by ambition, and was she not +now eating her heart out because she could find no one object worth a +sacrifice? + +Was it ambition--real ambition--or was it mere restlessness that +made Mrs. Lightfoot Lee so bitter against New York and Philadelphia, +Baltimore and Boston, American life in general and all life in +particular? What did she want? Not social position, for she herself was +an eminently respectable Philadelphian by birth; her father a famous +clergyman; and her husband had been equally irreproachable, a descendant +of one branch of the Virginia Lees, which had drifted to New York in +search of fortune, and had found it, or enough of it to keep the young +man there. His widow had her own place in society which no one disputed. +Though not brighter than her neighbours, the world persisted in classing +her among clever women; she had wealth, or at least enough of it to give +her all that money can give by way of pleasure to a sensible woman in an +American city; she had her house and her carriage; she dressed well; her +table was good, and her furniture was never allowed to fall behind the +latest standard of decorative art. She had travelled in Europe, and +after several visits, covering some years of time, had returned home, +carrying in one hand, as it were, a green-grey landscape, a remarkably +pleasing specimen of Corot, and in the other some bales of Persian and +Syrian rugs and embroideries, Japanese bronzes and porcelain. With this +she declared Europe to be exhausted, and she frankly avowed that she was +American to the tips of her fingers; she neither knew nor greatly cared +whether America or Europe were best to live in; she had no violent love +for either, and she had no objection to abusing both; but she meant to +get all that American life had to offer, good or bad, and to drink it +down to the dregs, fully determined that whatever there was in it +she would have, and that whatever could be made out of it she would +manufacture. “I know,” said she, “that America produces petroleum and +pigs; I have seen both on the steamers; and I am told it produces silver +and gold. There is choice enough for any woman.” + +Yet, as has been already said, Mrs. Lee's first experience was not a +success. She soon declared that New York might represent the petroleum +or the pigs, but the gold of life was not to be discovered there by her +eyes. + +Not but that there was variety enough; a variety of people, occupations, +aims, and thoughts; but that all these, after growing to a certain +height, stopped short. They found nothing to hold them up. She knew, +more or less intimately, a dozen men whose fortunes ranged between one +million and forty millions. What did they do with their money? What +could they do with it that was different from what other men did? After +all, it is absurd to spend more money than is enough to satisfy all +one's wants; it is vulgar to live in two houses in the same street, and +to drive six horses abreast. Yet, after setting aside a certain income +sufficient for all one's wants, what was to be done with the rest? To +let it accumulate was to own one's failure; Mrs. Lee's great grievance +was that it did accumulate, without changing or improving the quality +of its owners. To spend it in charity and public works was doubtless +praiseworthy, but was it wise? Mrs. Lee had read enough political +economy and pauper reports to be nearly convinced that public work +should be public duty, and that great benefactions do harm as well as +good. + +And even supposing it spent on these objects, how could it do more than +increase and perpetuate that same kind of human nature which was her +great grievance? Her New York friends could not meet this question +except by falling back upon their native commonplaces, which she +recklessly trampled upon, averring that, much as she admired the genius +of the famous traveller, Mr. Gulliver, she never had been able, since +she became a widow, to accept the Brobdingnagian doctrine that he who +made two blades of grass grow where only one grew before deserved better +of mankind than the whole race of politicians. She would not find fault +with the philosopher had he required that the grass should be of an +improved quality; “but,” said she, “I cannot honestly pretend that I +should be pleased to see two New York men where I now see one; the idea +is too ridiculous; more than one and a half would be fatal to me.” + +Then came her Boston friends, who suggested that higher education was +precisely what she wanted; she should throw herself into a crusade for +universities and art-schools. Mrs. Lee turned upon them with a sweet +smile; “Do you know,” said she, “that we have in New York already the +richest university in America, and that its only trouble has always been +that it can get no scholars even by paying for them? Do you want me to +go out into the streets and waylay boys? If the heathen refuse to be +converted, can you give me power over the stake and the sword to compel +them to come in? And suppose you can? Suppose I march all the boys in +Fifth Avenue down to the university and have them all properly taught +Greek and Latin, English literature, ethics, and German philosophy. +What then? You do it in Boston. Now tell me honestly what comes of it. I +suppose you have there a brilliant society; numbers of poets, scholars, +philosophers, statesmen, all up and down Beacon Street. Your evenings +must be sparkling. Your press must scintillate. How is it that we New +Yorkers never hear of it? We don't go much into your society; but when +we do, it doesn't seem so very much better than our own. You are just +like the rest of us. You grow six inches high, and then you stop. Why +will not somebody grow to be a tree and cast a shadow?” + +The average member of New York society, although not unused to this +contemptuous kind of treatment from his leaders, retaliated in his +blind, common-sense way. “What does the woman want?” he said. “Is her +head turned with the Tulieries and Marlborough House? Does she think +herself made for a throne? Why does she not lecture for women's rights? +Why not go on the stage? If she cannot be contented like other people, +what need is there for abusing us just because she feels herself no +taller than we are? What does she expect to get from her sharp tongue? +What does she know, any way?” + +Mrs. Lee certainly knew very little. She had read voraciously and +promiscuously one subject after another. Ruskin and Taine had danced +merrily through her mind, hand in hand with Darwin and Stuart Mill, +Gustave Droz and Algernon Swinburne. She had even laboured over the +literature of her own country. She was perhaps, the only woman in New +York who knew something of American history. Certainly she could not +have repeated the list of Presidents in their order, but she knew that +the Constitution divided the government into Executive, Legislative, and +Judiciary; she was aware that the President, the Speaker, and the +Chief Justice were important personages, and instinctively she wondered +whether they might not solve her problem; whether they were the shade +trees which she saw in her dreams. + +Here, then, was the explanation of her restlessness, discontent, +ambition,--call it what you will. It was the feeling of a passenger on +an ocean steamer whose mind will not give him rest until he has been in +the engine-room and talked with the engineer. She wanted to see with her +own eyes the action of primary forces; to touch with her own hand the +massive machinery of society; to measure with her own mind the capacity +of the motive power. She was bent upon getting to the heart of the great +American mystery of democracy and government. She cared little where +her pursuit might lead her, for she put no extravagant value upon life, +having already, as she said, exhausted at least two lives, and being +fairly hardened to insensibility in the process. “To lose a husband and +a baby,” said she, “and keep one's courage and reason, one must become +very hard or very soft. I am now pure steel. You may beat my heart with +a trip-hammer and it will beat the trip-hammer back again.” + +Perhaps after exhausting the political world she might try again +elsewhere; she did not pretend to say where she might then go, or what +she should do; but at present she meant to see what amusement there +might be in politics. + +Her friends asked what kind of amusement she expected to find among +the illiterate swarm of ordinary people who in Washington represented +constituencies so dreary that in comparison New York was a New +Jerusalem, and Broad Street a grove of Academe. She replied that if +Washington society were so bad as this, she should have gained all she +wanted, for it would be a pleasure to return,--precisely the feeling she +longed for. In her own mind, however, she frowned on the idea of +seeking for men. What she wished to see, she thought, was the clash +of interests, the interests of forty millions of people and a whole +continent, centering at Washington; guided, restrained, controlled, +or unrestrained and uncontrollable, by men of ordinary mould; the +tremendous forces of government, and the machinery of society, at work. +What she wanted, was POWER. + +Perhaps the force of the engine was a little confused in her mind with +that of the engineer, the power with the men who wielded it. Perhaps the +human interest of politics was after all what really attracted her, and, +however strongly she might deny it, the passion for exercising power, +for its own sake, might dazzle and mislead a woman who had exhausted all +the ordinary feminine resources. But why speculate about her motives? +The stage was before her, the curtain was rising, the actors were ready +to enter; she had only to go quietly on among the supernumeraries and +see how the play was acted and the stage effects were produced; how the +great tragedians mouthed, and the stage-manager swore. + + + +Chapter II + +ON the first of December, Mrs. Lee took the train for Washington, and +before five o'clock that evening she was entering her newly hired +house on Lafayette Square. She shrugged her shoulders with a mingled +expression of contempt and grief at the curious barbarism of the +curtains and the wall-papers, and her next two days were occupied with +a life-and-death struggle to get the mastery over her surroundings. In +this awful contest the interior of the doomed house suffered as though +a demon were in it; not a chair, not a mirror, not a carpet, was left +untouched, and in the midst of the worst confusion the new mistress sat, +calm as the statue of Andrew Jackson in the square under her eyes, and +issued her orders with as much decision as that hero had ever shown. +Towards the close of the second day, victory crowned her forehead. A +new era, a nobler conception of duty and existence, had dawned upon +that benighted and heathen residence. The wealth of Syria and Persia was +poured out upon the melancholy Wilton carpets; embroidered comets and +woven gold from Japan and Teheran depended from and covered over every +sad stuff-curtain; a strange medley of sketches, paintings, fans, +embroideries, and porcelain was hung, nailed, pinned, or stuck against +the wall; finally the domestic altarpiece, the mystical Corot landscape, +was hoisted to its place over the parlour fire, and then all was over. +The setting sun streamed softly in at the windows, and peace reigned in +that redeemed house and in the heart of its mistress. + +“I think it will do now, Sybil,” said she, surveying the scene. + +“It must,” replied Sybil. “You haven't a plate or a fan or coloured +scarf left. You must send out and buy some of these old negro-women's +bandannas if you are going to cover anything else. What is the use? Do +you suppose any human being in Washington will like it? They will think +you demented.” + +“There is such a thing as self-respect,” replied her sister, calmly. + +Sybil--Miss Sybil Ross--was Madeleine Lee's sister. The keenest +psychologist could not have detected a single feature quality which they +had in common, and for that reason they were devoted friends. Madeleine +was thirty, Sybil twenty-four. Madeleine was indescribable; Sybil was +transparent. Madeleine was of medium height with a graceful figure, +a well-set head, and enough golden-brown hair to frame a face full of +varying expression. Her eyes were never for two consecutive hours of the +same shade, but were more often blue than grey. People who envied her +smile said that she cultivated a sense of humour in order to show her +teeth. Perhaps they were right; but there was no doubt that her habit +of talking with gesticulation would never have grown upon her unless +she had known that her hands were not only beautiful but expressive. +She dressed as skilfully as New York women do, but in growing older +she began to show symptoms of dangerous unconventionality. She had been +heard to express a low opinion of her countrywomen who blindly fell down +before the golden calf of Mr. Worth, and she had even fought a battle +of great severity, while it lasted, with one of her best-dressed +friends who had been invited--and had gone--to Mr. Worth's afternoon +tea-parties. The secret was that Mrs. Lee had artistic tendencies, and +unless they were checked in time, there was no knowing what might be +the consequence. But as yet they had done no harm; indeed, they rather +helped to give her that sort of atmosphere which belongs only to certain +women; as indescribable as the afterglow; as impalpable as an Indian +summer mist; and non-existent except to people who feel rather than +reason. Sybil had none of it. The imagination gave up all attempts +to soar where she came. A more straightforward, downright, gay, +sympathetic, shallow, warm-hearted, sternly practical young woman has +rarely touched this planet. Her mind had room for neither grave-stones +nor guide-books; she could not have lived in the past or the future if +she had spent her days in churches and her nights in tombs. “She was +not clever, like Madeleine, thank Heaven.” Madeleine was not an orthodox +member of the church; sermons bored her, and clergymen never failed to +irritate every nerve in her excitable system. Sybil was a simple and +devout worshipper at the ritualistic altar; she bent humbly before the +Paulist fathers. When she went to a ball she always had the best partner +in the room, and took it as a matter of course; but then, she always +prayed for one; somehow it strengthened her faith. Her sister took care +never to laugh at her on this score, or to shock her religious opinions. +“Time enough,” said she, “for her to forget religion when religion +fails her.” As for regular attendance at church, Madeleine was able to +reconcile their habits without trouble. She herself had not entered a +church for years; she said it gave her unchristian feelings; but Sybil +had a voice of excellent quality, well trained and cultivated: +Madeleine insisted that she should sing in the choir, and by this +little manoeuvre, the divergence of their paths was made less evident. +Madeleine did not sing, and therefore could not go to church with Sybil. +This outrageous fallacy seemed perfectly to answer its purpose, and +Sybil accepted it, in good faith, as a fair working principle which +explained itself. + +Madeleine was sober in her tastes. She wasted no money. She made no +display. + +She walked rather than drove, and wore neither diamonds nor brocades. +But the general impression she made was nevertheless one of luxury. On +the other hand, her sister had her dresses from Paris, and wore them +and her ornaments according to all the formulas; she was good-naturedly +correct, and bent her round white shoulders to whatever burden the +Parisian autocrat chose to put upon them. Madeleine never interfered, +and always paid the bills. + +Before they had been ten days in Washington, they fell gently into their +place and were carried along without an effort on the stream of social +life. + +Society was kind; there was no reason for its being otherwise. Mrs. Lee +and her sister had no enemies, held no offices, and did their best to +make themselves popular. Sybil had not passed summers at Newport and +winters in New York in vain; and neither her face nor her figure, her +voice nor her dancing, needed apology. Politics were not her strong +point. She was induced to go once to the Capitol and to sit ten minutes +in the gallery of the Senate. No one ever knew what her impressions +were; with feminine tact she managed not to betray herself But, in +truth, her notion of legislative bodies was vague, floating between her +experience at church and at the opera, so that the idea of a performance +of some kind was never out of her head. To her mind the Senate was a +place where people went to recite speeches, and she naively assumed that +the speeches were useful and had a purpose, but as they did not interest +her she never went again. This is a very common conception of Congress; +many Congressmen share it. + +Her sister was more patient and bolder. She went to the Capitol nearly +every day for at least two weeks. At the end of that time her interest +began to flag, and she thought it better to read the debates every +morning in the Congressional Record. Finding this a laborious and not +always an instructive task, she began to skip the dull parts; and in +the absence of any exciting question, she at last resigned herself +to skipping the whole. Nevertheless she still had energy to visit the +Senate gallery occasionally when she was told that a splendid orator +was about to speak on a question of deep interest to his country. +She listened with a little disposition to admire, if she could; and, +whenever she could, she did admire. She said nothing, but she listened +sharply. She wanted to learn how the machinery of government worked, +and what was the quality of the men who controlled it. One by one, she +passed them through her crucibles, and tested them by acids and by fire. + +A few survived her tests and came out alive, though more or less +disfigured, where she had found impurities. Of the whole number, only +one retained under this process enough character to interest her. + +In these early visits to Congress, Mrs. Lee sometimes had the company +of John Carrington, a Washington lawyer about forty years old, who, by +virtue of being a Virginian and a distant connection of her husband, +called himself a cousin, and took a tone of semi-intimacy, which Mrs. +Lee accepted because Carrington was a man whom she liked, and because +he was one whom life had treated hardly. He was of that unfortunate +generation in the south which began existence with civil war, and he was +perhaps the more unfortunate because, like most educated Virginians of +the old Washington school, he had seen from the first that, whatever +issue the war took, Virginia and he must be ruined. At twenty-two he had +gone into the rebel army as a private and carried his musket modestly +through a campaign or two, after which he slowly rose to the rank of +senior captain in his regiment, and closed his services on the staff of +a major-general, always doing scrupulously enough what he conceived to +be his duty, and never doing it with enthusiasm. When the rebel armies +surrendered, he rode away to his family plantation--not a difficult +thing to do, for it was only a few miles from Appomatox--and at once +began to study law; then, leaving his mother and sisters to do what +they could with the worn-out plantation, he began the practice of law +in Washington, hoping thus to support himself and them. He had succeeded +after a fashion, and for the first time the future seemed not absolutely +dark. Mrs. Lee's house was an oasis to him, and he found himself, to +his surprise, almost gay in her company. The gaiety was of a very quiet +kind, and Sybil, while friendly with him, averred that he was certainly +dull; but this dulness had a fascination for Madeleine, who, having +tasted many more kinds of the wine of life than Sybil, had learned to +value certain delicacies of age and flavour that were lost upon younger +and coarser palates. He talked rather slowly and almost with effort, but +he had something of the dignity--others call it stiffness--of the +old Virginia school, and twenty years of constant responsibility +and deferred hope had added a touch of care that bordered closely on +sadness. His great attraction was that he never talked or seemed to +think of himself. Mrs. Lee trusted in him by instinct. “He is a type!” + said she; “he is my idea of George Washington at thirty.” + +One morning in December, Carrington entered Mrs. Lee's parlour towards +noon, and asked if she cared to visit the Capitol. + +“You will have a chance of hearing to-day what may be the last great +speech of our greatest statesman,” said he; “you should come.” + +“A splendid sample of our native raw material, sir?” asked she, +fresh from a reading of Dickens, and his famous picture of American +statesmanship. + +“Precisely so,” said Carrington; “the Prairie Giant of Peonia, the +Favourite Son of Illinois; the man who came within three votes of +getting the party nomination for the Presidency last spring, and was +only defeated because ten small intriguers are sharper than one big one. +The Honourable Silas P. Ratcliffe, Senator from Illinois; he will be run +for the Presidency yet.” + +“What does the P. stand for?” asked Sybil. + +“I don't remember ever to have heard his middle name,” said Carrington. + +“Perhaps it is Peonia or Prairie; I can't say.” + +“He is the man whose appearance struck me so much when we were in the +Senate last week, is he not? A great, ponderous man, over six feet +high, very senatorial and dignified, with a large head and rather good +features?” inquired Mrs. Lee. + +“The same,” replied Carrington. “By all means hear him speak. He is +the stumbling-block of the new President, who is to be allowed no peace +unless he makes terms with Ratcliffe; and so every one thinks that the +Prairie Giant of Peonia will have the choice of the State or Treasury +Department. If he takes either it will be the Treasury, for he is a +desperate political manager, and will want the patronage for the next +national convention.” + +Mrs. Lee was delighted to hear the debate, and Carrington was delighted +to sit through it by her side, and to exchange running comments with her +on the speeches and the speakers. + +“Have you ever met the Senator?” asked she. + +“I have acted several times as counsel before his committees. He is an +excellent chairman, always attentive and generally civil.” + +“Where was he born?” + +“The family is a New England one, and I believe respectable. He came, I +think, from some place in the Connecticut Valley, but whether Vermont, +New Hampshire, or Massachusetts, I don't know.” + +“Is he an educated man?” + +“He got a kind of classical education at one of the country colleges +there. I suspect he has as much education as is good for him. But he +went West very soon after leaving college, and being then young and +fresh from that hot-bed of abolition, he threw himself into the +anti-slavery movement in Illinois, and after a long struggle he rose +with the wave. He would not do the same thing now.” + +“Why not?” + +“He is older, more experienced, and not so wise. Besides, he has no +longer the time to wait. Can you see his eyes from here? I call them +Yankee eyes.” + +“Don't abuse the Yankees,” said Mrs. Lee; “I am half Yankee myself.” + +“Is that abuse? Do you mean to deny that they have eyes?” + +“I concede that there may be eyes among them; but Virginians are not +fair judges of their expression.” + +“Cold eyes,” he continued; “steel grey, rather small, not unpleasant in +good-humour, diabolic in a passion, but worst when a little suspicious; +then they watch you as though you were a young rattle-snake, to be +killed when convenient.” + +“Does he not look you in the face?” + +“Yes; but not as though he liked you. His eyes only seem to ask the +possible uses you might be put to. Ah, the vice-president has given him +the floor; now we shall have it. Hard voice, is it not? like his eyes. +Hard manner, like his voice. Hard all through.” + +“What a pity he is so dreadfully senatorial!” said Mrs. Lee; “otherwise +I rather admire him.” + +“Now he is settling down to his work,” continued Carrington. “See how he +dodges all the sharp issues. What a thing it is to be a Yankee! What a +genius the fellow has for leading a party! Do you see how well it is all +done? The new President flattered and conciliated, the party united and +given a strong lead. And now we shall see how the President will deal +with him. Ten to one on Ratcliffe. Come, there is that stupid ass from +Missouri getting up. Let us go.” + +As they passed down the steps and out into the Avenue, Mrs. Lee turned +to Carrington as though she had been reflecting deeply and had at length +reached a decision. + +“Mr. Carrington,” said she, “I want to know Senator Ratcliffe.” + +“You will meet him to-morrow evening,” replied Carrington, “at your +senatorial dinner.” + +The Senator from New York, the Honourable Schuyler Clinton, was an old +admirer of Mrs. Lee, and his wife was a cousin of hers, more or less +distant. They had lost no time in honouring the letter of credit she +thus had upon them, and invited her and her sister to a solemn dinner, +as imposing as political dignity could make it. Mr. Carrington, as a +connection of hers, was one of the party, and almost the only one among +the twenty persons at table who had neither an office, nor a title, nor +a constituency. + +Senator Clinton received Mrs. Lee and her sister with tender enthusiasm, +for they were attractive specimens of his constituents. He pressed their +hands and evidently restrained himself only by an effort from embracing +them, for the Senator had a marked regard for pretty women, and had made +love to every girl with any pretensions to beauty that had appeared +in the State of New York for fully half a century. At the same time +he whispered an apology in her ear; he regretted so much that he was +obliged to forego the pleasure of taking her to dinner; Washington was +the only city in America where this could have happened, but it was a +fact that ladies here were very great stickiers for etiquette; on the +other hand he had the sad consolation that she would be the gainer, +for he had allotted to her Lord Skye, the British Minister, “a most +agreeable man and not married, as I have the misfortune to be;” and on +the other side “I have ventured to place Senator Ratcliffe, of Illinois, +whose admirable speech I saw you listening to with such rapt attention +yesterday. I thought you might like to know him. Did I do right?” + +Madeleine assured him that he had divined her inmost wishes, and he +turned with even more warmth of affection to her sister: “As for you, my +dear--dear Sybil, what can I do to make your dinner agreeable? If I give +your sister a coronet, I am only sorry not to have a diadem for you. But +I have done everything in my power. The first Secretary of the Russian +Legation, Count Popoff, will take you in; a charming young man, my dear +Sybil; and on your other side I have placed the Assistant Secretary of +State, whom you know.” + +And so, after the due delay, the party settled themselves at the +dinner-table, and Mrs. Lee found Senator Ratcliffe's grey eyes resting +on her face for a moment as they sat down. + +Lord Skye was very agreeable, and, at almost any other moment of her +life, Mrs. Lee would have liked nothing better than to talk with him +from the beginning to the end of her dinner. Tall, slender, bald-headed, +awkward, and stammering with his elaborate British stammer whenever it +suited his convenience to do so; a sharp observer who had wit which he +commonly concealed; a humourist who was satisfied to laugh silently at +his own humour; a diplomatist who used the mask of frankness with great +effect; Lord Skye was one of the most popular men in Washington. Every +one knew that he was a ruthless critic of American manners, but he had +the art to combine ridicule with good-humour, and he was all the more +popular accordingly. He was an outspoken admirer of American women +in everything except their voices, and he did not even shrink from +occasionally quizzing a little the national peculiarities of his own +countrywomen; a sure piece of flattery to their American cousins. He +would gladly have devoted himself to Mrs. Lee, but decent civility +required that he should pay some attention to his hostess, and he was +too good a diplomatist not to be attentive to a hostess who was the wife +of a Senator, and that Senator the chairman of the committee of foreign +relations. + +The moment his head was turned, Mrs. Lee dashed at her Peonia Giant, who +was then consuming his fish, and wishing he understood why the British +Minister had worn no gloves, while he himself had sacrificed his +convictions by wearing the largest and whitest pair of French kids that +could be bought for money on Pennsylvania Avenue. There was a little +touch of mortification in the idea that he was not quite at home among +fashionable people, and at this instant he felt that true happiness was +only to be found among the simple and honest sons and daughters of toil. +A certain secret jealousy of the British Minister is always lurking in +the breast of every American Senator, if he is truly democratic; for +democracy, rightly understood, is the government of the people, by the +people, for the benefit of Senators, and there is always a danger that +the British Minister may not understand this political principle as he +should. Lord Skye had run the risk of making two blunders; of offending +the Senator from New York by neglecting his wife, and the Senator from +Illinois by engrossing the attention of Mrs. Lee. A young Englishman +would have done both, but Lord Skye had studied the American +constitution. The wife of the Senator from New York now thought him most +agreeable, and at the same moment the Senator from Illinois awoke to the +conviction that after all, even in frivolous and fashionable circles, +true dignity is in no danger of neglect; an American Senator +represents a sovereign state; the great state of Illinois is as big +as England--with the convenient omission of Wales, Scotland, Ireland, +Canada, India, Australia, and a few other continents and islands; and in +short, it was perfectly clear that Lord Skye was not formidable to him, +even in light society; had not Mrs. Lee herself as good as said that no +position equalled that of an American Senator? + +In ten minutes Mrs. Lee had this devoted statesman at her feet. She had +not studied the Senate without a purpose. She had read with unerring +instinct one general characteristic of all Senators, a boundless +and guileless thirst for flattery, engendered by daily draughts from +political friends or dependents, then becoming a necessity like a dram, +and swallowed with a heavy smile of ineffable content. A single glance +at Mr. Ratcliffe's face showed Madeleine that she need not be afraid +of flattering too grossly; her own self-respect, not his, was the only +restraint upon her use of this feminine bait. + +She opened upon him with an apparent simplicity and gravity, a quiet +repose of manner, and an evident consciousness of her own strength, +which meant that she was most dangerous. + +“I heard your speech yesterday, Mr. Ratcliffe. I am glad to have a +chance of telling you how much I was impressed by it. It seemed to me +masterly. Do you not find that it has had a great effect?” + +“I thank you, madam. I hope it will help to unite the party, but as yet +we have had no time to measure its results. That will require several +days more.” The Senator spoke in his senatorial manner, elaborate, +condescending, and a little on his guard. + +“Do you know,” said Mrs. Lee, turning towards him as though he were a +valued friend, and looking deep into his eyes, “Do you know that every +one told me I should be shocked by the falling off in political ability +at Washington? I did not believe them, and since hearing your speech I +am sure they are mistaken. Do you yourself think there is less ability +in Congress than there used to be?” + +“Well, madam, it is difficult to answer that question. Government is not +so easy now as it was formerly. There are different customs. There are +many men of fair abilities in public life; many more than there used to +be; and there is sharper criticism and more of it.” + +“Was I right in thinking that you have a strong resemblance to Daniel +Webster in your way of speaking? You come from the same neighbourhood, +do you not?” + +Mrs. Lee here hit on Ratcliffe's weak point; the outline of his head +had, in fact, a certain resemblance to that of Webster, and he prided +himself upon it, and on a distant relationship to the Expounder of the +Constitution; he began to think that Mrs. Lee was a very intelligent +person. His modest admission of the resemblance gave her the opportunity +to talk of Webster's oratory, and the conversation soon spread to a +discussion of the merits of Clay and Calhoun. The Senator found that his +neighbour--a fashionable New York woman, exquisitely dressed, and with +a voice and manner seductively soft and gentle--had read the speeches of +Webster and Calhoun. She did not think it necessary to tell him that she +had persuaded the honest Carrington to bring her the volumes and to mark +such passages as were worth her reading; but she took care to lead the +conversation, and she criticised with some skill and more humour the +weak points in Websterian oratory, saying with a little laugh and a +glance into his delighted eyes: + +“My judgment may not be worth much, Mr. Senator, but it does seem to me +that our fathers thought too much of themselves, and till you teach +me better I shall continue to think that the passage in your speech +of yesterday which began with, 'Our strength lies in this twisted and +tangled mass of isolated principles, the hair of the half-sleeping giant +of Party,' is both for language and imagery quite equal to anything of +Webster's.” + +The Senator from Illinois rose to this gaudy fly like a huge, +two-hundred-pound salmon; his white waistcoat gave out a mild silver +reflection as he slowly came to the surface and gorged the hook. He made +not even a plunge, not one perceptible effort to tear out the barbed +weapon, but, floating gently to her feet, allowed himself to be landed +as though it were a pleasure. Only miserable casuists will ask whether +this was fair play on Madeleine's part; whether flattery so gross +cost her conscience no twinge, and whether any woman can without +self-abasement be guilty of such shameless falsehood. She, however, +scorned the idea of falsehood. She would have defended herself by saying +that she had not so much praised Ratcliffe as depreciated Webster, +and that she was honest in her opinion of the old-fashioned American +oratory. But she could not deny that she had wilfully allowed the +Senator to draw conclusions very different from any she actually held. +She could not deny that she had intended to flatter him to the extent +necessary for her purpose, and that she was pleased at her success. +Before they rose from table the Senator had quite unbent himself; he +was talking naturally, shrewdly, and with some humour; he had told her +Illinois stories; spoken with extraordinary freedom about his political +situation; and expressed the wish to call upon Mrs. Lee, if he could +ever hope to find her at home. + +“I am always at home on Sunday evenings,” said she. + +To her eyes he was the high-priest of American politics; he was charged +with the meaning of the mysteries, the clue to political hieroglyphics. +Through him she hoped to sound the depths of statesmanship and to +bring up from its oozy bed that pearl of which she was in search; the +mysterious gem which must lie hidden somewhere in politics. She wanted +to understand this man; to turn him inside out; to experiment on him and +use him as young physiologists use frogs and kittens. If there was good +or bad in him, she meant to find its meaning. + +And he was a western widower of fifty; his quarters in Washington were +in gaunt boarding-house rooms, furnished only with public documents and +enlivened by western politicians and office-seekers. In the summer he +retired to a solitary, white framehouse with green blinds, surrounded +by a few feet of uncared-for grass and a white fence; its interior more +dreary still, with iron stoves, oil-cloth carpets, cold white walls, and +one large engraving of Abraham Lincoln in the parlour; all in Peonia, +Illinois! What equality was there between these two combatants? what +hope for him? what risk for her? And yet Madeleine Lee had fully her +match in Mr. Silas P. Ratcliffe. + + + +Chapter III + +MRS. Lee soon became popular. Her parlour was a favourite haunt of +certain men and women who had the art of finding its mistress at home; +an art which seemed not to be within the powers of everybody. Carrington +was apt to be there more often than any one else, so that he was looked +on as almost a part of the family, and if Madeleine wanted a book from +the library, or an extra man at her dinner-table, Carrington was pretty +certain to help her to the one or the other. Old Baron Jacobi, the +Bulgarian minister, fell madly in love with both sisters, as he commonly +did with every pretty face and neat figure. He was a witty, cynical, +broken-down Parisian roué, kept in Washington for years past by his +debts and his salary; always grumbling because there was no opera, and +mysteriously disappearing on visits to New York; a voracious devourer of +French and German literature, especially of novels; a man who seemed to +have met every noted or notorious personage of the century, and whose +mind was a magazine of amusing information; an excellent musical critic, +who was not afraid to criticise Sybil's singing; a connoisseur in +bric-à-brac, who laughed at Madeleine's display of odds and ends, and +occasionally brought her a Persian plate or a bit of embroidery, which +he said was good and would do her credit. This old sinner believed in +everything that was perverse and wicked, but he accepted the prejudices +of Anglo-Saxon society, and was too clever to obtrude his opinions upon +others. + +He would have married both sisters at once more willingly than either +alone, but as he feelingly said, “If I were forty years younger, +mademoiselle, you should not sing to me so calmly.” His friend +Popoff, an intelligent, vivacious Russian, with very Calmuck features, +susceptible as a girl, and passionately fond of music, hung over Sybil's +piano by the hour; he brought Russian airs which he taught her to sing, +and, if the truth were known, he bored Madeleine desperately, for she +undertook to act the part of duenna to her younger sister. + +A very different visitor was Mr. C. C. French, a young member of +Congress from Connecticut, who aspired to act the part of the educated +gentleman in politics, and to purify the public tone. He had reform +principles and an unfortunately conceited maimer; he was rather wealthy, +rather clever, rather well-educated, rather honest, and rather vulgar. +His allegiance was divided between Mrs. Lee and her sister, whom he +infuriated by addressing as “Miss Sybil” with patronising familiarity. +He was particularly strong in what he called “badinaige,” and his +playful but ungainly attempts at wit drove Mrs. + +Lee beyond the bounds of patience. When in a solemn mood, he talked as +though he were practising for the ear of a college debating society, +and with a still worse effect on the patience; but with all this he was +useful, always bubbling with the latest political gossip, and deeply +interested in the fate of party stakes. Quite another sort of person was +Mr. Hartbeest Schneidekoupon, a citizen of Philadelphia, though commonly +resident in New York, where he had fallen a victim to Sybil's charms, +and made efforts to win her young affections by instructing her in the +mysteries of currency and protection, to both which subjects he was +devoted. To forward these two interests and to watch over Miss Ross's +welfare, he made periodical visits to Washington, where he closeted +himself with committee-men and gave expensive dinners to members of +Congress. Mr. Schneidekoupon was rich, and about thirty years old, tall +and thin, with bright eyes and smooth face, elaborate manners and +much loquacity. He had the reputation of turning rapid intellectual +somersaults, partly to amuse himself and partly to startle society. At +one moment he was artistic, and discoursed scientifically about his +own paintings; at another he was literary, and wrote a book on “Noble +Living,” with a humanitarian purpose; at another he was devoted to +sport, rode a steeplechase, played polo, and set up a four-in-hand; his +last occupation was to establish in Philadelphia the Protective Review, +a periodical in the interests of American industry, which he edited +himself, as a stepping-stone to Congress, the Cabinet, and the +Presidency. At about the same time he bought a yacht, and heavy bets +were pending among his sporting friends whether he would manage to +sink first his Review or his yacht. But he was an amiable and excellent +fellow through all his eccentricities, and he brought to Mrs. Lee the +simple outpourings of the amateur politician. + +A much higher type of character was Mr. Nathan Gore, of Massachusetts, +a handsome man with a grey beard, a straight, sharply cut nose, and a +fine, penetrating eye; in his youth a successful poet whose satires made +a noise in their day, and are still remembered for the pungency and wit +of a few verses; then a deep student in Europe for many years, until his +famous “History of Spain in America” placed him instantly at the head of +American historians, and made him minister at Madrid, where he remained +four years to his entire satisfaction, this being the nearest approach +to a patent of nobility and a government pension which the American +citizen can attain. A change of administration had reduced him to +private life again, and after some years of retirement he was now in +Washington, willing to be restored to his old mission. Every President +thinks it respectable to have at least one literary man in his pay, and +Mr. Gore's prospects were fair for obtaining his object, as he had the +active support of a majority of the Massachusetts delegation. He was +abominably selfish, colossally egoistic, and not a little vain; but +he was shrewd; he knew how to hold his tongue; he could flatter +dexterously, and he had learned to eschew satire. Only in confidence and +among friends he would still talk freely, but Mrs. Lee was not yet on +those terms with him. These were all men, and there was no want of women +in Mrs. + +Lee's parlour; but, after all, they are able to describe themselves +better than any poor novelist can describe them. Generally two currents +of conversation ran on together--one round Sybil, the other about +Madeleine. + +“Mees Ross,” said Count Popoff, leading in a handsome young foreigner, +“I have your permission to present to you my friend Count Orsini, +Secretary of the Italian Legation. Are you at home this afternoon? Count +Orsini sings also.” + +“We are charmed to see Count Orsini. It is well you came so late, for I +have this moment come in from making Cabinet calls. They were so queer! +I have been crying with laughter for an hour past.” “Do you find these +calls amusing?” asked Popoff, gravely and diplomatically. “Indeed I +do! I went with Julia Schneidekoupon, you know, Madeleine; the +Schneidekoupons are descended from all the Kings of Israel, and are +prouder than Solomon in his glory. And when we got into the house of +some dreadful woman from Heaven knows where, imagine my feelings at +overhearing this conversation: 'What may be your family name, ma'am?' +'Schneidekoupon is my name,' replies Julia, very tall and straight. +'Have you any friends whom I should likely know?' 'I think not,' says +Julia, severely. 'Wal! I don't seem to remember of ever having heerd the +name. But I s'pose it's all right. I like to know who calls.' I almost +had hysterics when we got into the street, but Julia could not see the +joke at all.” + +Count Orsini was not quite sure that he himself saw the joke, so he only +smiled becomingly and showed his teeth. For simple, childlike vanity and +self-consciousness nothing equals an Italian Secretary of Legation at +twenty-five. Yet conscious that the effect of his personal beauty +would perhaps be diminished by permanent silence, he ventured to murmur +presently: + +“Do you not find it very strange, this society in America?” + +“Society!” laughed Sybil with gay contempt. “There are no snakes in +America, any more than in Norway.” + +“Snakes, mademoiselle!” repeated Orsini, with the doubtful expression of +one who is not quite certain whether he shall risk walking on thin ice, +and decides to go softly: “Snakes! Indeed they would rather be doves I +would call them.” + +A kind laugh from Sybil strengthened into conviction his hope that +he had made a joke in this unknown tongue. His face brightened, his +confidence returned; once or twice he softly repeated to himself: “Not +snakes; they would be doves!” But Mrs. Lee's sensitive ear had caught +Sybil's remark, and detected in it a certain tone of condescension which +was not to her taste. + +The impassive countenances of these bland young Secretaries of Legation +seemed to acquiesce far too much as a matter of course in the idea +that there was no society except in the old world. She broke into the +conversation with an emphasis that fluttered the dove-cote: + +“Society in America? Indeed there is society in America, and very +good society too; but it has a code of its own, and new-comers seldom +understand it. I will tell you what it is, Mr. Orsini, and you will +never be in danger of making any mistake. 'Society' in America means all +the honest, kindly-mannered, pleasant-voiced women, and all the good, +brave, unassuming men, between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Each +of these has a free pass in every city and village, 'good for this +generation only,' and it depends on each to make use of this pass or +not as it may happen to suit his or her fancy. To this rule there are +no exceptions, and those who say 'Abraham is our father' will surely +furnish food for that humour which is the staple product of our +country.” + +The alarmed youths, who did not in the least understand the meaning of +this demonstration, looked on with a feeble attempt at acquiescence, +while Mrs. + +Lee brandished her sugar-tongs in the act of transferring a lump of +sugar to her cup, quite unconscious of the slight absurdity of the +gesture, while Sybil stared in amazement, for it was not often that +her sister waved the stars and stripes so energetically. Whatever their +silent criticisms might be, however, Mrs. Lee was too much in earnest to +be conscious of them, or, indeed, to care for anything but what she +was saying. There was a moment's pause when she came to the end of her +speech, and then the thread of talk was quietly taken up again where +Sybil's incipient sneer had broken it. + +Carrington came in. “What have you been doing at the Capitol?” asked +Madeleine. + +“Lobbying!” was the reply, given in the semi-serious tone of +Carrington's humour. + +“So soon, and Congress only two days old?” exclaimed Mrs. Lee. + +“Madam,” rejoined Carrington, with his quietest malice, “Congressmen are +like birds of the air, which are caught only by the early worm.” “Good +afternoon, Mrs. Lee. Miss Sybil, how do you do again? Which of these +gentlemen's hearts are you feeding upon now?” This was the refined style +of Mr. French, indulging in what he was pleased to term “badinaige.” He, +too, was on his way from the Capitol, and had come in for a cup of tea +and a little human society. Sybil made a face which plainly expressed a +longing to inflict on Mr. French some grievous personal wrong, but she +pretended not to hear. He sat down by Madeleine, and asked, “Did you see +Ratcliffe yesterday?” + +“Yes,” said Madeleine; “he was here last evening with Mr. Carrington and +one or two others.” + +“Did he say anything about politics?” + +“Not a word. We talked mostly about books.” + +“Books! What does he know about books?” + +“You must ask him.” + +“Well, this is the most ridiculous situation we are all in. No one +knows anything about the new President. You could take your oath that +everybody is in the dark. Ratcliffe says he knows as little as the rest +of us, but it can't be true; he is too old a politician not to have +wires in his hand; and only to-day one of the pages of the Senate told +my colleague Cutter that a letter sent off by him yesterday was directed +to Sam Grimes, of North Bend, who, as every one knows, belongs to the +President's particular crowd.--Why, Mr. Schneidekoupon! How do you do? +When did you come on?” + +“Thank you; this morning,” replied Mr. Schneidekoupon, just entering the +room. “So glad to see you again, Mrs. Lee. How do you and your sister +like Washington? Do you know I have brought Julia on for a visit? I +thought I should find her here. + +“She has just gone. She has been all the afternoon with Sybil, making +calls. She says you want her here to lobby for you, Mr. Schneidekoupon. +Is it true?” + +“So I did,” replied he, with a laugh, “but she is precious little use. +So I've come to draft you into the service.” + +“Me!” + +“Yes; you know we all expect Senator Ratcliffe to be Secretary of the +Treasury, and it is very important for us to keep him straight on the +currency and the tariff. So I have come on to establish more intimate +relations with him, as they say in diplomacy. I want to get him to dine +with me at Welckley's, but as I know he keeps very shy of politics I +thought my only chance was to make it a ladies' dinner, so I brought on +Julia. I shall try and get Mrs. Schuyler Clinton, and I depend upon you +and your sister to help Julia out.” + +“Me! at a lobby dinner! Is that proper?” + +“Why not? You shall choose the guests.” + +“I never heard of such a thing; but it would certainly be amusing. Sybil +must not go, but I might.” “Excuse me; Julia depends upon Miss Ross, and +will not go to table without her.” + +“Well,” assented Mrs. Lee, hesitatingly, “perhaps if you get Mrs. +Clinton, and if your sister is there And who else?” + +“Choose your own company.” + +“I know no one.” + +“Oh yes; here is French, not quite sound on the tariff, but good for +what we want just now. Then we can get Mr. Gore; he has his little +hatchet to grind too, and will be glad to help grind ours. We only want +two or three more, and I will have an extra man or so to fill up.” + +“Do ask the Speaker. I want to know him.” + +“I will, and Carrington, and my Pennsylvania Senator. That will do +nobly. Remember, Welckley's, Saturday at seven.” + +Meanwhile Sybil had been at the piano, and when she had sung for a time, +Orsini was induced to take her place, and show that it was possible +to sing without injury to one's beauty. Baron Jacobi came in and found +fault with them both. Little Miss Dare--commonly known among her male +friends as little Daredevil--who was always absorbed in some flirtation +with a Secretary of Legation, came in, quite unaware that Popoff was +present, and retired with him into a corner, while Orsini and Jacobi +bullied poor Sybil, and fought with each other at the piano; everybody +was talking with very little reference to any reply, when at last Mrs. +Lee drove them all out of the room: “We are quiet people,” said she, +“and we dine at half-past six.” + +Senator Ratcliffe had not failed to make his Sunday evening call upon +Mrs. + +Lee. Perhaps it was not strictly correct to say that they had talked +books all the evening, but whatever the conversation was, it had +only confirmed Mr. Ratcliffe's admiration for Mrs. Lee, who, without +intending to do so, had acted a more dangerous part than if she had been +the most accomplished of coquettes. Nothing could be more fascinating +to the weary politician in his solitude than the repose of Mrs. Lee's +parlour, and when Sybil sang for him one or two simple airs--she +said they were foreign hymns, the Senator being, or being considered, +orthodox--Mr. Ratcliffe's heart yearned toward the charming girl quite +with the sensations of a father, or even of an elder brother. + +His brother senators very soon began to remark that the Prairie Giant +had acquired a trick of looking up to the ladies' gallery. One day Mr. +Jonathan Andrews, the special correspondent of the New York Sidereal +System, a very friendly organ, approached Senator Schuyler Clinton with +a puzzled look on his face. + +“Can you tell me,” said he, “what has happened to Silas P. Ratcliffe? +Only a moment ago I was talking with him at his seat on a very important +subject, about which I must send his opinions off to New York to-night, +when, in the middle of a sentence, he stopped short, got up without +looking at me, and left the Senate Chamber, and now I see him in the +gallery talking with a lady whose face I don't know.” + +Senator Clinton slowly adjusted his gold eye-glasses and looked up at +the place indicated: “Ah! Mrs. Lightfoot Lee! I think I will say a word +to her myself;” and turning his back on the special correspondent, he +skipped away with youthful agility after the Senator from Illinois. + +“Devil!” muttered Mr. Andrews; “what has got into the old fools?” and in +a still less audible murmur as he looked up to Mrs. Lee, then in close +conversation with Ratcliffe: “Had I better make an item of that?” + +When young Mr. Schneidekoupon called upon Senator Ratcliffe to invite +him to the dinner at Welckley's, he found that gentleman overwhelmed +with work, as he averred, and very little disposed to converse. No! he +did not now go out to dinner. In the present condition of the public +business he found it impossible to spare the time for such amusements. +He regretted to decline Mr. Schneidekoupon's civility, but there were +imperative reasons why he should abstain for the present from social +entertainments; he had made but one exception to his rule, and only at +the pressing request of his old friend Senator Clinton, and on a very +special occasion. + +Mr. Schneidekoupon was deeply vexed--the more, he said, because he had +meant to beg Mr. and Mrs. Clinton to be of the party, as well as a very +charming lady who rarely went into society, but who had almost consented +to come. + +“Who is that?” inquired the Senator. + +“A Mrs. Lightfoot Lee, of New York. Probably you do not know her well +enough to admire her as I do; but I think her quite the most intelligent +woman I ever met.” + +The Senator's cold eyes rested for a moment on the young man's open face +with a peculiar expression of distrust. Then he solemnly said, in his +deepest senatorial tones: + +“My young friend, at my time of life men have other things to occupy +them than women, however intelligent they may be. Who else is to be of +your party?” + +Mr. Schneidekoupon named his list. + +“And for Saturday evening at seven, did you say?” + +“Saturday at seven.” + +“I fear there is little chance of my attending, but I will not +absolutely decline. Perhaps when the moment arrives, I may find myself +able to be there. But do not count upon me--do not count upon me. Good +day, Mr. Schneidekoupon.” + +Schneidekoupon was rather a simple-minded young man, who saw no deeper +than his neighbours into the secrets of the universe, and he went off +swearing roundly at “the infernal airs these senators give themselves.” + He told Mrs. + +Lee all the conversation, as indeed he was compelled to do under penalty +of bringing her to his party under false pretences. + +“Just my luck,” said he; “here I am forced to ask no end of people to +meet a man, who at the same time says he shall probably not come. Why, +under the stars, couldn't he say, like other people, whether he was +coming or not? I've known dozens of senators, Mrs. Lee, and they're all +like that. They never think of any one but themselves.” + +Mrs. Lee smiled rather a forced smile, and soothed his wounded feelings; +she had no doubt the dinner would be very agreeable whether the Senator +were there or not; at any rate she would do all she could to carry it +off well, and Sybil should wear her newest dress. Still she was a little +grave, and Mr. Schneidekoupon could only declare that she was a trump; +that he had told Ratcliffe she was the cleverest woman he ever met, and +he might have added the most obliging, and Ratcliffe had only looked +at him as though he were a green ape. At all which Mrs. Lee laughed +good-naturedly, and sent him away as soon as she could. + +When he was gone, she walked up and down the room and thought. She saw +the meaning of Ratcliffe's sudden change in tone. She had no more doubt +of his coming to the dinner than she had of the reason why he came. +And was it possible that she was being drawn into something very near +a flirtation with a man twenty years her senior; a politician from +Illinois; a huge, ponderous, grey-eyed, bald senator, with a Websterian +head, who lived in Peonia? The idea was almost too absurd to be +credited; but on the whole the thing itself was rather amusing. “I +suppose senators can look out for themselves like other men,” was her +final conclusion. She thought only of his danger, and she felt a sort +of compassion for him as she reflected on the possible consequences of a +great, absorbing love at his time of life. + +Her conscience was a little uneasy; but of herself she never thought. +Yet it is a historical fact that elderly senators have had a curious +fascination for young and handsome women. Had they looked out for +themselves too? And which parties most needed to be looked after? + +When Madeleine and her sister arrived at Welckley's 's the next Saturday +evening, they found poor Schneidekoupon in a temper very unbecoming a +host. + +“He won't come! I told you he wouldn't come!” said he to Madeleine, as +he handed her into the house. “If I ever turn communist, it will be for +the fun of murdering a senator.” + +Madeleine consoled him gently, but he continued to use, behind Mr. +Clinton's back, language the most offensive and improper towards the +Senate, and at last, ringing the bell, he sharply ordered the head +waiter to serve dinner. + +At that very moment the door opened, and Senator Ratcliffe's stately +figure appeared on the threshold. His eye instantly caught Madeleine's, +and she almost laughed aloud, for she saw that the Senator was dressed +with very unsenatorial neatness; that he had actually a flower in his +burton-hole and no gloves! + +After the enthusiastic description which Schneidekoupon had given of +Mrs. + +Lee's charms, he could do no less than ask Senator Ratcliffe to take her +in to dinner, which he did without delay. Either this, or the champagne, +or some occult influence, had an extraordinary effect upon him. He +appeared ten years younger than usual; his face was illuminated; his +eyes glowed; he seemed bent on proving his kinship to the immortal +Webster by rivalling his convivial powers. He dashed into the +conversation; laughed, jested, and ridiculed; told stories in Yankee +and Western dialect; gave sharp little sketches of amusing political +experiences. + +“Never was more surprised in my life,” whispered Senator Krebs, of +Pennsylvania, across the table to Schneidekoupon. “Hadn't an idea that +Ratcliffe was so entertaining.” + +And Mr. Clinton, who sat by Madeleine on the other side, whispered low +into her ear: “I am afraid, my dear Mrs. Lee, that you are responsible +for this. He never talks so to the Senate.” + +Nay, he even rose to a higher flight, and told the story of President +Lincoln's death-bed with a degree of feeling that brought tears into +their eyes. The other guests made no figure at all. The Speaker consumed +his solitary duck and his lonely champagne in a corner without giving a +sign. + +Even Mr. Gore, who was not wont to hide his light under any kind of +extinguisher, made no attempt to claim the floor, and applauded with +enthusiasm the conversation of his opposite neighbour. Ill-natured +people might say that Mr. Gore saw in Senator Ratcliffe a possible +Secretary of State; be this as it may, he certainly said to Mrs. +Clinton, in an aside that was perfectly audible to every one at the +table: “How brilliant! what an original mind! what a sensation he would +make abroad!” And it was quite true, apart from the mere momentary +effect of dinner-table talk, that there was a certain bigness about +the man; a keen practical sagacity; a bold freedom of self-assertion; a +broad way of dealing with what he knew. + +Carrington was the only person at table who looked on with a perfectly +cool head, and who criticised in a hostile spirit. Carrington's +impression of Ratcliffe was perhaps beginning to be warped by a shade +of jealousy, for he was in a peculiarly bad temper this evening, and his +irritation was not wholly concealed. + +“If one only had any confidence in the man!” he muttered to French, who +sat by him. + +This unlucky remark set French to thinking how he could draw +Ratcliffe out, and accordingly, with his usual happy manner, combining +self-conceit and high principles, he began to attack the Senator with +some “badinaige” on the delicate subject of Civil Service Reform, a +subject almost as dangerous in political conversation at Washington as +slavery itself in old days before the war. French was a reformer, and +lost no occasion of impressing his views; but unluckily he was a very +light weight, and his manner was a little ridiculous, so that even Mrs. +Lee, who was herself a warm reformer, sometimes went over to the other +side when he talked. No sooner had he now shot his little arrow at the +Senator, than that astute man saw his opportunity, and promised himself +the pleasure of administering to Mr. + +French punishment such as he knew would delight the company. Reformer +as Mrs. Lee was, and a little alarmed at the roughness of Ratcliffe's +treatment, she could not blame the Prairie Giant, as she ought, who, +after knocking poor French down, rolled him over and over in the mud. + +“Are you financier enough, Mr. French, to know what are the most famous +products of Connecticut?” + +Mr. French modestly suggested that he thought its statesmen best +answered that description. + +“No, sir! even there you're wrong. The showmen beat you on your own +ground. But every child in the union knows that the most famous products +of Connecticut are Yankee notions, nutmegs made of wood and clocks that +won't go. Now, your Civil Service Reform is just such another Yankee +notion; it's a wooden nutmeg; it's a clock with a show case and sham +works. And you know it! You are precisely the old-school Connecticut +peddler. You have gone about peddling your wooden nutmegs until you have +got yourself into Congress, and now you pull them out of your pockets +and not only want us to take them at your own price, but you lecture us +on our sins if we don't. Well! we don't mind your doing that at home. +Abuse us as much as you like to your constituents. Get as many votes as +you can. But don't electioneer here, because we know you intimately, and +we've all been a little in the wooden nutmeg business ourselves.” + +Senator Clinton and Senator Krebs chuckled high approval over this +punishment of poor French, which was on the level of their idea of wit. +They were all in the nutmeg business, as Ratcliffe said. The victim +tried to make head against them; he protested that his nutmegs were +genuine; he sold no goods that he did not guarantee; and that this +particular article was actually guaranteed by the national conventions +of both political parties. + +“Then what you want, Mr. French, is a common school education. You +need a little study of the alphabet. Or if you won't believe me, ask my +brother senators here what chance there is for your Reforms so long +as the American citizen is what he is.” + +“You'll not get much comfort in my State, Mr. French,” growled the +senator from Pennsylvania, with a sneer; “suppose you come and try.” + +“Well, well!” said the benevolent Mr. Schuyler Clinton, gleaming +benignantly through his gold spectacles; “don't be too hard on French. +He means well. Perhaps he's not very wise, but he does good. I know more +about it than any of you, and I don't deny that the thing is all bad. +Only, as Mr. Ratcliffe says, the difficulty is in the people, not in us. +Go to work on them, French, and let us alone.” + +French repented of his attack, and contented himself by muttering to +Carrington: “What a set of damned old reprobates they are!” + +“They are right, though, in one thing,” was Carrington's reply: “their +advice is good. Never ask one of them to reform anything; if you do, you +will be reformed yourself.” + +The dinner ended as brilliantly as it began, and Schneidekoupon was +delighted with his success. He had made himself particularly agreeable +to Sybil by confiding in her all his hopes and fears about the tariff +and the finances. When the ladies left the table, Ratcliffe could not +stay for a cigar; he must get back to his rooms, where he knew several +men were waiting for him; he would take his leave of the ladies and +hurry away. But when the gentlemen came up nearly an hour afterwards +they found Ratcliffe still taking his leave of the ladies, who were +delighted at his entertaining conversation; and when at last he really +departed, he said to Mrs. Lee, as though it were quite a matter of +course: “You are at home as usual to-morrow evening?” Madeleine smiled, +bowed, and he went his way. + +As the two sisters drove home that night, Madeleine was unusually +silent. + +Sybil yawned convulsively and then apologized: + +“Mr. Schneidekoupon is very nice and good-natured, but a whole evening +of him goes a long way; and that horrid Senator Krebs would not say a +word, and drank a great deal too much wine, though it couldn't make him +any more stupid than he is. I don't think I care for senators.” Then, +wearily, after a pause: “Well, Maude, I do hope you've got what you +wanted. I'm sure you must have had politics enough. Haven't you got to +the heart of your great American mystery yet?” + +“Pretty near it, I think,” said Madeleine, half to herself. + + + +Chapter IV + +SUNDAY evening was stormy, and some enthusiasm was required to make one +face its perils for the sake of society. Nevertheless, a few intimates +made their appearance as usual at Mrs. Lee's. The faithful Popoff was +there, and Miss Dare also ran in to pass an hour with her dear Sybil; +but as she passed the whole evening in a corner with Popoff, she must +have been disappointed in her object. Carrington came, and Baron Jacobi. +Schneidekoupon and his sister dined with Mrs. Lee, and remained after +dinner, while Sybil and Julia Schneidekoupon compared conclusions about +Washington society. The happy idea also occurred to Mr. Gore that, +inasmuch as Mrs. Lee's house was but a step from his hotel, he might as +well take the chance of amusement there as the certainty of solitude +in his rooms. Finally, Senator Ratcliffe duly made his appearance, and, +having established himself with a cup of tea by Madeleine's side, was +soon left to enjoy a quiet talk with her, the rest of the party by +common consent occupying themselves with each other. Under cover of +the murmur of conversation in the room, Mr. Ratcliffe quickly became +confidential. + +“I came to suggest that, if you want to hear an interesting debate, +you should come up to the Senate to-morrow. I am told that Garrard, of +Louisiana, means to attack my last speech, and I shall probably in that +case have to answer him. With you for a critic I shall speak better.” + +“Am I such an amiable critic?” asked Madeleine. + +“I never heard that amiable critics were the best,” said he; “justice is +the soul of good criticism, and it is only justice that I ask and expect +from you.” + +“What good does this speaking do?” inquired she. “Are you any nearer the +end of your difficulties by means of your speeches?” + +“I hardly know yet. Just now we are in dead water; but this can't last +long. In fact, I am not afraid to tell you, though of course you will +not repeat it to any human being, that we have taken measures to force +an issue. Certain gentlemen, myself among the rest, have written letters +meant for the President's eye, though not addressed directly to him, and +intended to draw out an expression of some sort that will show us what +to expect.” + +“Oh!” laughed Madeleine, “I knew about that a week ago.” + +“About what?” + +“About your letter to Sam Grimes, of North Bend.” + +“What have you heard about my letter to Sam Grimes, of North Bend?” + ejaculated Ratcliffe, a little abruptly. + +“Oh, you do not know how admirably I have organised my secret service +bureau,” said she. “Representative Cutter cross-questioned one of the +Senate pages, and obliged him to confess that he had received from you a +letter to be posted, which letter was addressed to Mr. Grimes, of North +Bend.” + +“And, of course, he told this to French, and French told you,” said +Ratcliffe; “I see. If I had known this I would not have let French off +so gently last night, for I prefer to tell you my own story without his +embellishments. But it was my fault. I should not have trusted a page. +Nothing is a secret here long. But one thing that Mr. Cutter did not +find out was that several other gentlemen wrote letters at the same +time, for the same purpose. Your friend, Mr. Clinton, wrote; Krebs +wrote; and one or two members.” + +“I suppose I must not ask what you said?” + +“You may. We agreed that it was best to be very mild and conciliatory, +and to urge the President only to give us some indication of his +intentions, in order that we might not run counter to them. I drew a +strong picture of the effect of the present situation on the party, and +hinted that I had no personal wishes to gratify.” + +“And what do you think will be the result?” + +“I think we shall somehow manage to straighten things out,” said +Ratcliffe. + +“The difficulty is only that the new President has little experience, +and is suspicious. He thinks we shall intrigue to tie his hands, and he +means to tie ours in advance. I don't know him personally, but those +who do, and who are fair judges, say that, though rather narrow and +obstinate, he is honest enough, and will come round. I have no doubt +I could settle it all with him in an hour's talk, but it is out of the +question for me to go to him unless I am asked, and to ask me to come +would be itself a settlement.” + +“What, then, is the danger you fear?” + +“That he will offend all the important party leaders in order to +conciliate unimportant ones, perhaps sentimental ones, like your friend +French; that he will make foolish appointments without taking advice. By +the way, have you seen French to-day?” + +“No,” replied Madeleine; “I think he must be sore at your treatment of +him last evening. You were very rude to him.” + +“Not a bit,” said Ratcliffe; “these reformers need it. His attack on me +was meant for a challenge. I saw it in his manner. + +“But is reform really so impossible as you describe it? Is it quite +hopeless?” + +“Reform such as he wants is utterly hopeless, and not even desirable.” + +Mrs. Lee, with much earnestness of manner, still pressed her question: + +“Surely something can be done to check corruption. Are we for ever to +be at the mercy of thieves and ruffians? Is a respectable government +impossible in a democracy?” + +Her warmth attracted Jacobi's attention, and he spoke across the room. +“What is that you say, Mrs. Lee? What is it about corruption?” + +All the gentlemen began to listen and gather about them. + +“I am asking Senator Ratcliffe,” said she, “what is to become of us if +corruption is allowed to go unchecked.” + +“And may I venture to ask permission to hear Mr. Ratcliffe's reply?” + asked the baron. + +“My reply,” said Ratcliffe, “is that no representative government can +long be much better or much worse than the society it represents. Purify +society and you purify the government. But try to purify the government +artificially and you only aggravate failure.” + +“A very statesmanlike reply,” said Baron Jacobi, with a formal bow, but +his tone had a shade of mockery. Carrington, who had listened with +a darkening face, suddenly turned to the baron and asked him what +conclusion he drew from the reply. + +“Ah!” exclaimed the baron, with his wickedest leer, “what for is my +conclusion good? You Americans believe yourselves to be excepted from +the operation of general laws. You care not for experience. I have lived +seventy-five years, and all that time in the midst of corruption. I am +corrupt myself, only I do have courage to proclaim it, and you others +have it not. Rome, Paris, Vienna, Petersburg, London, all are corrupt; +only Washington is pure! Well, I declare to you that in all my +experience I have found no society which has had elements of corruption +like the United States. The children in the street are corrupt, and know +how to cheat me. The cities are all corrupt, and also the towns and the +counties and the States' legislatures and the judges. Everywhere men +betray trusts both public and private, steal money, run away with public +funds. Only in the Senate men take no money. And you gentlemen in the +Senate very well declare that your great United States, which is the +head of the civilized world, can never learn anything from the example +of corrupt Europe. You are right--quite right! The great United States +needs not an example. I do much regret that I have not yet one hundred +years to live. If I could then come back to this city, I should find +myself very content--much more than now. I am always content where there +is much corruption, and ma parole d'honneur!” broke out the old man with +fire and gesture, “the United States will then be more corrupt than Rome +under Caligula; more corrupt than the Church under Leo X.; more corrupt +than France under the Regent!” + +As the baron closed his little harangue, which he delivered directly at +the senator sitting underneath him, he had the satisfaction to see that +every one was silent and listening with deep attention. He seemed to +enjoy annoying the senator, and he had the satisfaction of seeing that +the senator was visibly annoyed. Ratcliffe looked sternly at the baron +and said, with some curtness, that he saw no reason to accept such +conclusions. + +Conversation flagged, and all except the baron were relieved when Sybil, +at Schneidekoupon's request, sat down at the piano to sing what she +called a hymn. So soon as the song was over, Ratcliffe, who seemed to +have been curiously thrown off his balance by Jacobi's harangue, pleaded +urgent duties at his rooms, and retired. The others soon afterwards went +off in a body, leaving only Carrington and Gore, who had seated himself +by Madeleine, and was at once dragged by her into a discussion of the +subject which perplexed her, and for the moment threw over her mind a +net of irresistible fascination. + +“The baron discomfited the senator,” said Gore, with a certain +hesitation. + +“Why did Ratcliffe let himself be trampled upon in that manner?” + +“I wish you would explain why,” replied Mrs. Lee; “tell me, +Mr. Gore--you who represent cultivation and literary taste +hereabouts--please tell me what to think about Baron Jacobi's speech. +Who and what is to be believed? Mr. Ratcliffe seems honest and wise. Is +he a corruptionist? He believes in the people, or says he does. Is he +telling the truth or not?” + +Gore was too experienced in politics to be caught in such a trap as +this. He evaded the question. “Mr. Ratcliffe has a practical piece of +work to do; his business is to make laws and advise the President; +he does it extremely well. We have no other equally good practical +politician; it is unfair to require him to be a crusader besides.” + +“No!” interposed Carrington, curtly; “but he need not obstruct crusades. +He need not talk virtue and oppose the punishment of vice.” + +“He is a shrewd practical politician,” replied Gore, “and he feels first +the weak side of any proposed political tactics.” + +With a sigh of despair Madeleine went on: “Who, then, is right? How can +we all be right? Half of our wise men declare that the world is going +straight to perdition; the other half that it is fast becoming perfect. +Both cannot be right. There is only one thing in life,” she went on, +laughing, “that I must and will have before I die. I must know whether +America is right or wrong. Just now this question is a very practical +one, for I really want to know whether to believe in Mr. Ratcliffe. If I +throw him overboard, everything must go, for he is only a specimen.” + +“Why not believe in Mr. Ratcliffe?” said Gore; “I believe in him myself, +and am not afraid to say so.” + +Carrington, to whom Ratcliffe now began to represent the spirit of evil, +interposed here, and observed that he imagined Mr. Gore had other +guides besides, and steadier ones than Ratcliffe, to believe in; while +Madeleine, with a certain feminine perspicacity, struck at a much weaker +point in Mr. + +Gore's armour, and asked point-blank whether he believed also in +what Ratcliffe represented: “Do you yourself think democracy the best +government, and universal suffrage a success?” + +Mr. Gore saw himself pinned to the wall, and he turned at bay with +almost the energy of despair: + +“These are matters about which I rarely talk in society; they are like +the doctrine of a personal God; of a future life; of revealed religion; +subjects which one naturally reserves for private reflection. But since +you ask for my political creed, you shall have it. I only condition that +it shall be for you alone, never to be repeated or quoted as mine. I +believe in democracy. I accept it. I will faithfully serve and defend +it. I believe in it because it appears to me the inevitable consequence +of what has gone before it. Democracy asserts the fact that the masses +are now raised to a higher intelligence than formerly. All our +civilisation aims at this mark. We want to do what we can to help it. I +myself want to see the result. I grant it is an experiment, but it is +the only direction society can take that is worth its taking; the only +conception of its duty large enough to satisfy its instincts; the only +result that is worth an effort or a risk. Every other possible step is +backward, and I do not care to repeat the past. I am glad to see society +grapple with issues in which no one can afford to be neutral.” + +“And supposing your experiment fails,” said Mrs. Lee; “suppose society +destroys itself with universal suffrage, corruption, and communism.” + +“I wish, Mrs. Lee, you would visit the Observatory with me some evening, +and look at Sirius. Did you ever make the acquaintance of a fixed star? +I believe astronomers reckon about twenty millions of them in sight, and +an infinite possibility of invisible millions, each one of which is a +sun, like ours, and may have satellites like our planet. Suppose you see +one of these fixed stars suddenly increase in brightness, and are +told that a satellite has fallen into it and is burning up, its career +finished, its capacities exhausted? Curious, is it not; but what does it +matter? Just as much as the burning up of a moth at your candle.” + +Madeleine shuddered a little. “I cannot get to the height of your +philosophy,” said she. “You are wandering among the infinites, and I am +finite.” + +“Not at all! But I have faith; not perhaps in the old dogmas, but in the +new ones; faith in human nature; faith in science; faith in the survival +of the fittest. Let us be true to our time, Mrs. Lee! If our age is to +be beaten, let us die in the ranks. If it is to be victorious, let us be +first to lead the column. Anyway, let us not be skulkers or grumblers. +There! have I repeated my catechism correctly? You would have it! Now +oblige me by forgetting it. I should lose my character at home if it got +out. Good night!” + +Mrs. Lee duly appeared at the Capitol the next day, as she could not but +do after Senator Ratcliffe's pointed request. She went alone, for Sybil +had positively refused to go near the Capitol again, and Madeleine +thought that on the whole this was not an occasion for enrolling +Carrington in her service. But Ratcliffe did not speak. The debate was +unexpectedly postponed. + +He joined Mrs. Lee in the gallery, however, sat with her as long as she +would allow, and became still more confidential, telling her that he had +received the expected reply from Grimes, of North Bend, and that it had +enclosed a letter written by the President-elect to Mr. Grimes in regard +to the advances made by Mr. Ratcliffe and his friends. + +“It is not a handsome letter,” said he; “indeed, a part of it is +positively insulting. I would like to read you one extract from it, and +hear your opinion as to how it should be treated.” Taking the letter +from his pocket, he sought out the passage, and read as follows: “'I +cannot lose sight, too, of the consideration that these three Senators' +(he means Clinton, Krebs, and me) are popularly considered to be the +most influential members of that so-called senatorial ring, which has +acquired such general notoriety. While I shall always receive their +communications with all due respect, I must continue to exercise +complete freedom of action in consulting other political advisers as +well as these, and I must in all cases make it my first object to follow +the wishes of the people, not always most truly represented by their +nominal representatives.' What say you to that precious piece of +presidential manners?” + +“At least I like his courage,” said Mrs. Lee. + +“Courage is one thing; common sense is another. This letter is a studied +insult. He has knocked me off the track once. He means to do it again. +It is a declaration of war. What ought I to do?” + +“Whatever is most for the public good.” said Madeleine, gravely. + +Ratcliffe looked into her face with such undisguised delight--there was +so little possibility of mistaking or ignoring the expression of his +eyes, that she shrank back with a certain shock. She was not prepared +for so open a demonstration. He hardened his features at once, and went +on: + +“But what is most for the public good?” + +“That you know better than I,” said Madeleine; “only one thing is clear +to me. If you let yourself be ruled by your private feelings, you will +make a greater mistake than he. Now I must go, for I have visits to +make. The next time I come, Mr. Ratcliffe, you must keep your word +better.” + +When they next met, Ratcliffe read to her a part of his reply to Mr. +Grimes, which ran thus: “It is the lot of every party leader to suffer +from attacks and to commit errors. It is true, as the President says, +that I have been no exception to this law. Believing as I do that great +results can only be accomplished by great parties, I have uniformly +yielded my own personal opinions where they have failed to obtain +general assent. I shall continue to follow this course, and the +President may with perfect confidence count upon my disinterested +support of all party measures, even though I may not be consulted in +originating them.” + +Mrs. Lee listened attentively, and then said: “Have you never refused to +go with your party?” + +“Never!” was Ratcliffe's firm reply. + +Madeleine still more thoughtfully inquired again: “Is nothing more +powerful than party allegiance?” + +“Nothing, except national allegiance,” replied Ratcliffe, still more +firmly. + + + +Chapter V + +TO tie a prominent statesman to her train and to lead him about like a +tame bear, is for a young and vivacious woman a more certain amusement +than to tie herself to him and to be dragged about like an Indian +squaw. This fact was Madeleine Lee's first great political discovery in +Washington, and it was worth to her all the German philosophy she had +ever read, with even a complete edition of Herbert Spencer's works into +the bargain. There could be no doubt that the honours and dignities of +a public career were no fair consideration for its pains. She made a +little daily task for herself of reading in succession the lives and +letters of the American Presidents, and of their wives, when she could +find that there was a trace of the latter's existence. What a melancholy +spectacle it was, from George Washington down to the last incumbent; +what vexations, what disappointments, what grievous mistakes, what very +objectionable manners! Not one of them, who had aimed at high purpose, +but had been thwarted, beaten, and habitually insulted! What a gloom lay +on the features of those famous chieftains, Calhoun, Clay, and Webster; +what varied expression of defeat and unsatisfied desire; what a sense +of self-importance and senatorial magniloquence; what a craving for +flattery; what despair at the sentence of fate! And what did they amount +to, after all? + +They were practical men, these! they had no great problems of thought to +settle, no questions that rose above the ordinary rules of common +morals and homely duty. How they had managed to befog the subject! +What elaborate show-structures they had built up, with no result but +to obscure the horizon! Would not the country have done better without +them? Could it have done worse? What deeper abyss could have opened +under the nation's feet, than that to whose verge they brought it? + +Madeleine's mind wearied with the monotony of the story. She discussed +the subject with Ratcliffe, who told her frankly that the pleasure of +politics lay in the possession of power. He agreed that the country +would do very well without him. “But here I am,” said he, “and here I +mean to stay.” He had very little sympathy for thin moralising, and a +statesmanlike contempt for philosophical politics. He loved power, and +he meant to be President. + +That was enough. + +Sometimes the tragic and sometimes the comic side was uppermost in her +mind, and sometimes she did not herself know whether to cry or to laugh. + +Washington more than any other city in the world swarms with +simple-minded exhibitions of human nature; men and women curiously out +of place, whom it would be cruel to ridicule and ridiculous to weep +over. The sadder exhibitions are fortunately seldom seen by respectable +people; only the little social accidents come under their eyes. One +evening Mrs. Lee went to the President's first evening reception. As +Sybil flatly refused to face the crowd, and Carrington mildly said that +he feared he was not sufficiently reconstructed to appear at home in +that august presence, Mrs. Lee accepted Mr. French for an escort, and +walked across the Square with him to join the throng that was pouring +into the doors of the White House. They took their places in the line +of citizens and were at last able to enter the reception-room. There +Madeleine found herself before two seemingly mechanical figures, which +might be wood or wax, for any sign they showed of life. These two +figures were the President and his wife; they stood stiff and awkward by +the door, both their faces stripped of every sign of intelligence, while +the right hands of both extended themselves to the column of visitors +with the mechanical action of toy dolls. Mrs. Lee for a moment began +to laugh, but the laugh died on her lips. To the President and his +wife this was clearly no laughing matter. There they stood, automata, +representatives of the society which streamed past them. Madeleine +seized Mr. French by the arm. + +“Take me somewhere at once,” said she, “where I can look at it. Here! in +the corner. I had no conception how shocking it was!” + +Mr. French supposed she was thinking of the queer-looking men and women +who were swarming through the rooms, and he made, after his own delicate +notion of humour, some uncouth jests on those who passed by. Mrs. Lee, +however, was in no humour to explain or even to listen. She stopped him +short:-- + +“There, Mr. French! Now go away and leave me. I want to be alone for +half an hour. Please come for me then.” And there she stood, with her +eyes fixed on the President and his wife, while the endless stream of +humanity passed them, shaking hands. + +What a strange and solemn spectacle it was, and how the deadly +fascination of it burned the image in upon her mind! What a horrid +warning to ambition! + +And in all that crowd there was no one besides herself who felt the +mockery of this exhibition. To all the others this task was a regular +part of the President's duty, and there was nothing ridiculous about +it. They thought it a democratic institution, this droll a ping of +monarchical forms. To them the deadly dulness of the show was as natural +and proper as ever to the courtiers of the Philips and Charleses seemed +the ceremonies of the Escurial. To her it had the effect of a nightmare, +or of an opium-eater's vision, She felt a sudden conviction that this +was to be the end of American society; its realisation and dream at +once. She groaned in spirit. + +“Yes! at last I have reached the end! We shall grow to be wax images, +and our talk will be like the squeaking of toy dolls. We shall all +wander round and round the earth and shake hands. No one will have +any object in this world, and there will be no other. It is worse than +anything in the 'Inferno.' What an awful vision of eternity!” + +Suddenly, as through a mist, she saw the melancholy face of Lord Skye +approaching. He came to her side, and his voice recalled her to reality. + +“Does it amuse you, this sort of thing?” he asked in a vague way. + +“We take our amusement sadly, after the manner of our people,” she +replied; “but it certainly interests me.” + +They stood for a time in silence, watching the slowly eddying dance of +Democracy, until he resumed: + +“Whom do you take that man to be--the long, lean one, with a long woman +on each arm?” + +“That man,” she replied, “I take to be a Washington department-clerk, or +perhaps a member of Congress from Iowa, with a wife and wife's sister. +Do they shock your nobility?” + +He looked at her with comical resignation. “You mean to tell me +that they are quite as good as dowager-countesses. I grant it. My +aristocratic spirit is broken, Mrs. Lee. I will even ask them to dinner +if you bid me, and if you will come to meet them. But the last time I +asked a member of Congress to dine, he sent me back a note in pencil on +my own envelope that he would bring two of his friends with him, very +respectable constituents from Yahoo city, or some such place; nature's +noblemen, he said.” + +“You should have welcomed them.” + +“I did. I wanted to see two of nature's noblemen, and I knew they would +probably be pleasanter company than their representative. They came; +very respectable persons, one with a blue necktie, the other with a red +one: both had diamond pins in their shirts, and were carefully brushed +in respect to their hair. They said nothing, ate little, drank less, +and were much better behaved than I am. When they went away, they +unanimously asked me to stay with them when I visited Yahoo city.” + +“You will not want guests if you always do that.” + +“I don't know. I think it was pure ignorance on their part. They knew +no better, and they seemed modest enough. My only complaint was that I +could get nothing out of them. I wonder whether their wives would have +been more amusing.” + +“Would they be so in England, Lord Skye?” + +He looked down at her with half-shut eyes, and drawled: “You know my +countrywomen?” + +“Hardly at all.” + +“Then let us discuss some less serious subject.” + +“Willingly. I have waited for you to explain to me why you have to-night +an expression of such melancholy.” + +“Is that quite friendly, Mrs. Lee? Do I really look melancholy?” + +“Unutterably, as I feel. I am consumed with curiosity to know the +reason.” + +The British minister coolly took a complete survey of the whole room, +ending with a prolonged stare at the President and his wife, who were +still mechanically shaking hands; then he looked back into her face, and +said never a word. + +She insisted: “I must have this riddle answered. It suffocates me. I +should not be sad at seeing these same people at work or at play, if +they ever do play; or in a church or a lecture-room. Why do they weigh +on me like a horrid phantom here?” + +“I see no riddle, Mrs. Lee. You have answered your own question; they +are neither at work nor at play.” + +“Then please take me home at once. I shall have hysterics. The sight of +those two suffering images at the door is too mournful to be borne. I am +dizzy with looking at these stalking figures. I don't believe they're +real. I wish the house would take fire. I want an earthquake. I wish +some one would pinch the President, or pull his wife's hair.” + +Mrs. Lee did not repeat the experiment of visiting the White House, and +indeed for some time afterwards she spoke with little enthusiasm of the +presidential office. To Senator Ratcliffe she expressed her opinions +strongly. The Senator tried in vain to argue that the people had a right +to call upon their chief magistrate, and that he was bound to receive +them; this being so, there was no less objectionable way of proceeding +than the one which had been chosen. “Who gave the people any such +right?” asked Mrs. Lee. “Where does it come from? What do they want it +for? You know better, Mr. Ratcliffe! Our chief magistrate is a citizen +like any one else. What puts it into his foolish head to cease being a +citizen and to ape royalty? Our governors never make themselves +ridiculous. Why cannot the wretched being content himself with living +like the rest of us, and minding his own business? Does he know what a +figure of fun he is?” And Mrs. Lee went so far as to declare that she +would like to be the President's wife only to put an end to this folly; +nothing should ever induce her to go through such a performance; and if +the public did not approve of this, Congress might impeach her, and +remove her from office; all she demanded was the right to be heard +before the Senate in her own defence. + +Nevertheless, there was a very general impression in Washington that +Mrs. + +Lee would like nothing better than to be in the White House. Known +to comparatively few people, and rarely discussing even with them the +subjects which deeply interested her, Madeleine passed for a clever, +intriguing woman who had her own objects to gain. True it is, beyond +peradventure, that all residents of Washington may be assumed to be in +office or candidates for office; unless they avow their object, they are +guilty of an attempt--and a stupid one--to deceive; yet there is a small +class of apparent exceptions destined at last to fall within the rule. +Mrs. Lee was properly assumed to be a candidate for office. To the +Washingtonians it was a matter of course that Mrs. Lee should marry +Silas P. Ratcliffe. That he should be glad to get a fashionable and +intelligent wife, with twenty or thirty thousand dollars a year, was not +surprising. That she should accept the first public man of the day, with +a flattering chance for the Presidency--a man still comparatively +young and not without good looks--was perfectly natural, and in her +undertaking she had the sympathy of all well-regulated Washington women +who were not possible rivals; for to them the President's wife is of +more consequence than the President; and, indeed, if America only knew +it, they are not very far from the truth. + +Some there were, however, who did not assent to this good-natured though +worldly view of the proposed match. These ladies were severe in their +comments upon Mrs. Lee's conduct, and did not hesitate to declare their +opinion that she was the calmest and most ambitious minx who had ever +come within their observation. Unfortunately it happened that the +respectable and proper Mrs. Schuyler Clinton took this view of the case, +and made little attempt to conceal her opinion. She was justly indignant +at her cousin's gross worldliness, and possible promotion in rank. + +“If Madeleine Ross marries that coarse, horrid old Illinois politician,” + said she to her husband, “I never will forgive her so long as I live.” + +Mr. Clinton tried to excuse Madeleine, and even went so far as to +suggest that the difference of age was no greater than in their own +case; but his wife trampled ruthlessly on his argument. + +“At any rate,” said she, “I never came to Washington as a widow on +purpose to set my cap for the first candidate for the Presidency, and +I never made a public spectacle of my indecent eagerness in the very +galleries of the Senate; and Mrs. Lee ought to be ashamed of herself. +She is a cold-blooded, heartless, unfeminine cat.” + +Little Victoria Dare, who babbled like the winds and streams, with utter +indifference as to what she said or whom she addressed, used to bring +choice bits of this gossip to Mrs. Lee. She always affected a little +stammer when she said anything uncommonly impudent, and put on a manner +of languid simplicity. She felt keenly the satisfaction of seeing +Madeleine charged with her own besetting sins. For years all Washington +had agreed that Victoria was little better than one of the wicked; she +had done nothing but violate every rule of propriety and scandalise +every well-regulated family in the city, and there was no good in her. +Yet it could not be denied that Victoria was amusing, and had a sort of +irregular fascination; consequently she was universally tolerated. To +see Mrs. Lee thrust down to her own level was an unmixed pleasure to +her, and she carefully repeated to Madeleine the choice bits of dialogue +which she picked up in her wanderings. + +“Your cousin, Mrs. Clinton, says you are a ca-ca-cat, Mrs. Lee.” + +“I don't believe it, Victoria. Mrs. Clinton never said anything of the +sort.” + +“Mrs. Marston says it is because you have caught a ra-ra-rat, and +Senator Clinton was only a m-m-mouse!” + +Naturally all this unexpected publicity irritated Mrs. Lee not a little, +especially when short and vague paragraphs, soon followed by longer +and more positive ones, in regard to Senator Ratcliffe's matrimonial +prospects, began to appear in newspapers, along with descriptions of +herself from the pens of enterprising female correspondents for the +press, who had never so much as seen her. At the first sight of one of +these newspaper articles, Madeleine fairly cried with mortification and +anger. She wanted to leave Washington the next day, and she hated the +very thought of Ratcliffe. There was something in the newspaper style so +inscrutably vulgar, something so inexplicably revolting to the sense of +feminine decency, that she shrank under it as though it were a poisonous +spider. But after the first acute shame had passed, her temper was +roused, and she vowed that she would pursue her own path just as she +had begun, without regard to all the malignity and vulgarity in the wide +United States. She did not care to marry Senator Ratcliffe; she liked +his society and was flattered by his confidence; she rather hoped to +prevent him from ever making a formal offer, and if not, she would at +least push it off to the last possible moment; but she was not to be +frightened from marrying him by any amount of spitefulness or gossip, +and she did not mean to refuse him except for stronger reasons than +these. She even went so far in her desperate courage as to laugh at her +cousin, Mrs. + +Clinton, whose venerable husband she allowed and even encouraged to pay +her such public attention and to express sentiments of such youthful +ardour as she well knew would inflame and exasperate the excellent lady +his wife. + +Carrington was the person most unpleasantly affected by the course which +this affair had taken. He could no longer conceal from himself the fact +that he was as much m love as a dignified Virginian could be. With +him, at all events, she had shown no coquetry, nor had she ever either +flattered or encouraged him. But Carrington, m his solitary struggle +against fate, had found her a warm friend; always ready to assist where +assistance was needed, generous with her money in any cause which he +was willing to vouch for, full of sympathy where sympathy was more than +money, and full of resource and suggestion where money and sympathy +failed. Carrington knew her better than she knew herself. He selected +her books; he brought the last speech or the last report from the +Capitol or the departments; he knew her doubts and her vagaries, and as +far as he understood them at all, helped her to solve them. + +Carrington was too modest, and perhaps too shy, to act the part of a +declared lover, and he was too proud to let it be thought that he wanted +to exchange his poverty for her wealth. But he was all the more anxious +when he saw the evident attraction which Ratcliffe's strong will and +unscrupulous energy exercised over her. He saw that Ratcliffe was +steadily pushing his advances; that he flattered all Mrs. Lee's +weaknesses by the confidence and deference with which he treated her; +and that in a very short time, Madeleine must either marry him or find +herself looked upon as a heartless coquette. He had his own reasons for +thinking ill of Senator Ratcliffe, and he meant to prevent a marriage; +but he had an enemy to deal with not easily driven from the path, and +quite capable of routing any number of rivals. + +Ratcliffe was afraid of no one. He had not fought his own way in +life for nothing, and he knew all the value of a cold head and dogged +self-assurance. + +Nothing but this robust Americanism and his strong will carried him +safely through the snares and pitfalls of Mrs. Lee's society, where +rivals and enemies beset him on every hand. He was little better than a +schoolboy, when he ventured on their ground, but when he could draw +them over upon his own territory of practical life he rarely failed to +trample on his assailants. + +It was this practical sense and cool will that won over Mrs. Lee, who +was woman enough to assume that all the graces were well enough +employed in decorating her, and it was enough if the other sex felt her +superiority. Men were valuable only in proportion to their strength and +their appreciation of women. If the senator had only been strong enough +always to control his temper, he would have done very well, but his +temper was under a great strain in these times, and his incessant effort +to control it in politics made him less watchful in private life. +Mrs. Lee's tacit assumption of superior refinement irritated him, +and sometimes made him show his teeth like a bull-dog, at the cost of +receiving from Mrs. Lee a quick stroke in return such as a well-bred +tortoise-shell cat administers to check over-familiarity; innocent to +the eye, but drawing blood. One evening when he was more than commonly +out of sorts, after sitting some time in moody silence, he roused +himself, and, taking up a book that lay on her table, he glanced at its +title and turned over the leaves. It happened by ill luck to be a volume +of Darwin that Mrs. Lee had just borrowed from the library of Congress. + +“Do you understand this sort of thing?” asked the Senator abruptly, in a +tone that suggested a sneer. + +“Not very well,” replied Mrs. Lee, rather curtly. + +“Why do you want to understand it?” persisted the Senator. “What good +will it do you?” + +“Perhaps it will teach us to be modest,” answered Madeleine, quite equal +to the occasion. + +“Because it says we descend from monkeys?” rejoined the Senator, +roughly. + +“Do you think you are descended from monkeys?” + +“Why not?” said Madeleine. + +“Why not?” repeated Ratcliffe, laughing harshly. “I don't like the +connection. Do you mean to introduce your distant relations into +society?” + +“They would bring more amusement into it than most of its present +members,” rejoined Mrs. Lee, with a gentle smile that threatened +mischief. But Ratcliffe would not be warned; on the contrary, the only +effect of Mrs. Lee's defiance was to exasperate his ill-temper, and +whenever he lost his temper he became senatorial and Websterian. “Such +books,” he began, “disgrace our civilization; they degrade and stultify +our divine nature; they are only suited for Asiatic despotisms where men +are reduced to the level of brutes; that they should be accepted by a +man like Baron Jacobi, I can understand; he and his masters have nothing +to do in the world but to trample on human rights. Mr. Carrington, of +course, would approve those ideas; he believes in the divine doctrine +of flogging negroes; but that you, who profess philanthropy and free +principles, should go with them, is astonishing; it is incredible; it is +unworthy of you.” + +“You are very hard on the monkeys,” replied Madeleine, rather sternly, +when the Senator's oration was ended. “The monkeys never did you any +harm; they are not in public life; they are not even voters; if they +were, you would be enthusiastic about their intelligence and virtue. +After all, we ought to be grateful to them, for what would men do +in this melancholy world if they had not inherited gaiety from the +monkeys--as well as oratory.” + +Ratcliffe, to do him justice, took punishment well, at least when +it came from Mrs. Lee's hands, and his occasional outbursts of +insubordination were sure to be followed by improved discipline; but if +he allowed Mrs. Lee to correct his faults, he had no notion of letting +himself be instructed by her friends, and he lost no chance of telling +them so. But to do this was not always enough. Whether it were that he +had few ideas outside of his own experience, or that he would not +trust himself on doubtful ground, he seemed compelled to bring every +discussion down to his own level. Madeleine puzzled herself in vain to +find out whether he did this because he knew no better, or because he +meant to cover his own ignorance. + +“The Baron has amused me very much with his account of Bucharest +society,” Mrs. Lee would say: “I had no idea it was so gay.” + +“I would like to show him our society in Peonia,” was Ratcliffe's reply; +“he would find a very brilliant circle there of nature's true noblemen.” + +“The Baron says their politicians are precious sharp chaps,” added Mr. + +French. + +“Oh, there are politicians in Bulgaria, are there?” asked the Senator, +whose ideas of the Roumanian and Bulgarian neighbourhood were vague, +and who had a general notion that all such people lived in tents, +wore sheepskins with the wool inside, and ate curds: “Oh, they have +politicians there! I would like to see them try their sharpness in the +west.” + +“Really!” said Mrs. Lee. “Think of Attila and his hordes running an +Indiana caucus?” + +“Anyhow,” cried French with a loud laugh, “the Baron said that a set of +bigger political scoundrels than his friends couldn't be found in all +Illinois.” + +“Did he say that?” exclaimed Ratcliffe angrily. + +“Didn't he, Mrs. Lee? but I don't believe it; do you? What's your candid +opinion, Ratcliffe? What you don't know about Illinois politics isn't +worth knowing; do you really think those Bulgrascals couldn't run an +Illinois state convention?” + +Ratcliffe did not like to be chaffed, especially on this subject, but he +could not resent French's liberty which was only a moderate return +for the wooden nutmeg. To get the conversation away from Europe, from +literature, from art, was his great object, and chaff was a way of +escape. + +Carrington was very well aware that the weak side of the Senator lay in +his blind ignorance of morals. He flattered himself that Mrs. Lee must +see this and be shocked by it sooner or later, so that nothing more was +necessary than to let Ratcliffe expose himself. Without talking very +much, Carrington always aimed at drawing him out. He soon found, +however, that Ratcliffe understood such tactics perfectly, and instead +of injuring, he rather improved his position. At times the man's +audacity was startling, and even when Carrington thought him hopelessly +entangled, he would sweep away all the hunter's nets with a sheer effort +of strength, and walk off bolder and more dangerous than ever. + +When Mrs. Lee pressed him too closely, he frankly admitted her charges. + +“What you say is in great part true. There is much in politics that +disgusts and disheartens; much that is coarse and bad. I grant you there +is dishonesty and corruption. We must try to make the amount as small as +possible.” + +“You should be able to tell Mrs. Lee how she must go to work,” said +Carrington; “you have had experience. I have heard, it seems to me, that +you were once driven to very hard measures against corruption.” + +Ratcliffe looked ill-pleased at this compliment, and gave Carrington one +of his cold glances that meant mischief. But he took up the challenge on +the spot:-- + +“Yes, I was, and am very sorry for it. The story is this, Mrs. Lee; +and it is well-known to every man, woman, and child in the State of +Illinois, so that I have no reason for softening it. In the worst days +of the war there was almost a certainty that my State would be carried +by the peace party, by fraud, as we thought, although, fraud or not, we +were bound to save it. Had Illinois been lost then, we should certainly +have lost the Presidential election, and with it probably the Union. At +any rate, I believed the fate of the war to depend on the result. I +was then Governor, and upon me the responsibility rested. We had entire +control of the northern counties and of their returns. We ordered the +returning officers in a certain number of counties to make no returns +until they heard from us, and when we had received the votes of all the +southern counties and learned the precise number of votes we needed to +give us a majority, we telegraphed to our northern returning officers +to make the vote of their districts such and such, thereby overbalancing +the adverse returns and giving the State to us. This was done, and as I +am now senator I have a right to suppose that what I did was approved. I +am not proud of the transaction, but I would do it again, and worse than +that, if I thought it would save this country from disunion. But of +course I did not expect Mr. Carrington to approve it. I believe he was +then carrying out his reform principles by bearing arms against the +government.” + +“Yes!” said Carrington drily; “you got the better of me, too. Like the +old Scotchman, you didn't care who made the people's wars provided you +made its ballots.” + +Carrington had missed his point. The man who has committed a murder for +his country, is a patriot and not an assassin, even when he receives a +seat in the Senate as his share of the plunder. Women cannot be expected +to go behind the motives of that patriot who saves his country and his +election in times of revolution. + +Carrington's hostility to Ratcliffe was, however, mild, when compared +with that felt by old Baron Jacobi. Why the baron should have taken so +violent a prejudice it is not easy to explain, but a diplomatist and a +senator are natural enemies, and Jacobi, as an avowed admirer of +Mrs. Lee, found Ratcliffe in his way. This prejudiced and immoral old +diplomatist despised and loathed an American senator as the type +which, to his bleared European eyes, combined the utmost pragmatical +self-assurance and overbearing temper with the narrowest education and +the meanest personal experience that ever existed in any considerable +government. As Baron Jacobi's country had no special relations with that +of the United States, and its Legation at Washington was a mere job to +create a place for Jacobi to fill, he had no occasion to disguise his +personal antipathies, and he considered himself in some degree as having +a mission to express that diplomatic contempt for the Senate which his +colleagues, if they felt it, were obliged to conceal. He performed his +duties with conscientious precision. He never missed an opportunity to +thrust the sharp point of his dialectic rapier through the joints of the +clumsy and hide-bound senatorial self-esteem. He delighted in skilfully +exposing to Madeleine's eyes some new side of Ratcliffe's ignorance. +His conversation at such times sparkled with historical allusions, +quotations in half a dozen different languages, references to well-known +facts which an old man's memory could not recall with precision in all +their details, but with which the Honourable Senator was familiarly +acquainted, and which he could readily supply. And his Voltairian +face leered politely as he listened to Ratcliffe's reply, which showed +invariable ignorance of common literature, art, and history. The climax +of his triumph came one evening when Ratcliffe unluckily, tempted by +some allusion to Molière which he thought he understood, made reference +to the unfortunate influence of that great man on the religious opinions +of his time. Jacobi, by a flash of inspiration, divined that he had +confused Molière with Voltaire, and assuming a manner of extreme +suavity, he put his victim on the rack, and tortured him with affected +explanations and interrogations, until Madeleine was in a manner forced +to interrupt and end the scene. But even when the senator was not to be +lured into a trap, he could not escape assault. The baron in such a +case would cross the lines and attack him on his own ground, as on one +occasion, when Ratcliffe was defending his doctrine of party allegiance, +Jacobi silenced him by sneering somewhat thus: + +“Your principle is quite correct, Mr. Senator. I, too, like yourself, +was once a good party man: my party was that of the Church; I was +ultramontane. Your party system is one of your thefts from our Church; +your National Convention is our OEcumenic Council; you abdicate reason, +as we do, before its decisions; and you yourself, Mr. Ratcliffe, you are +a Cardinal. They are able men, those cardinals; I have known many; they +were our best friends, but they were not reformers. Are you a reformer, +Mr. Senator?” + +Ratcliffe grew to dread and hate the old man, but all his ordinary +tactics were powerless against this impenetrable eighteenth century +cynic. If he resorted to his Congressional practise of browbeating +and dogmatism, the Baron only smiled and turned his back, or made some +remark in French which galled his enemy all the more, because, while +he did not understand it, he knew well that Madeleine did, and that she +tried to repress her smile. + +Ratcliffe's grey eyes grew colder and stonier than ever as he gradually +perceived that Baron Jacobi was carrying on a set scheme with malignant +ingenuity, to drive him out of Madeleine's house, and he swore +a terrible oath that he would not be beaten by that monkey-faced +foreigner. On the other hand Jacobi had little hope of success: “What +can an old man do?” said he with perfect sincerity to Carrington; “If +I were forty years younger, that great oaf should not have his own way. +Ah! I wish I were young again and we were in Vienna!” From which it was +rightly inferred by Carrington that the venerable diplomatist would, if +such acts were still in fashion, have coolly insulted the Senator, and +put a bullet through his heart. + + + +Chapter VI + +IN February the weather became warmer and summer-like. In Virginia there +comes often at this season a deceptive gleam of summer, slipping in +between heavy storm-clouds of sleet and snow; days and sometimes weeks +when the temperature is like June; when the earliest plants begin to +show their hardy flowers, and when the bare branches of the forest trees +alone protest against the conduct of the seasons. Then men and women are +languid; life seems, as in Italy, sensuous and glowing with colour; one +is conscious of walking in an atmosphere that is warm, palpable, radiant +with possibilities; a delicate haze hangs over Arlington, and softens +even the harsh white glare of the Capitol; the struggle of existence +seems to abate; Lent throws its calm shadow over society; and youthful +diplomatists, unconscious of their danger, are lured into asking foolish +girls to marry them; the blood thaws in the heart and flows out into the +veins, like the rills of sparkling water that trickle from every lump +of ice or snow, as though all the ice and snow on earth, and all the +hardness of heart, all the heresy and schism, all the works of the +devil, had yielded to the force of love and to the fresh warmth of +innocent, lamb-like, confiding virtue. In such a world there should be +no guile--but there is a great deal of it notwithstanding. Indeed, at +no other season is there so much. This is the moment when the two whited +sepulchres at either end of the Avenue reek with the thick atmosphere of +bargain and sale. The old is going; the new is coming. Wealth, office, +power are at auction. Who bids highest? who hates with most venom? who +intrigues with most skill? who has done the dirtiest, the meanest, the +darkest, and the most, political work? He shall have his reward. + +Senator Ratcliffe was absorbed and ill at ease. A swarm of applicants +for office dogged his steps and beleaguered his rooms in quest of his +endorsement of their paper characters. The new President was to arrive +on Monday. Intrigues and combinations, of which the Senator was the +soul, were all alive, awaiting this arrival. Newspaper correspondents +pestered him with questions. Brother senators called him to conferences. +His mind was pre-occupied with his own interests. One might have +supposed that, at this instant, nothing could have drawn him away from +the political gaming-table, and yet when Mrs. Lee remarked that she was +going to Mount Vernon on Saturday with a little party, including the +British Minister and an Irish gentleman staying as a guest at the +British Legation, the Senator surprised her by expressing a strong wish +to join them. He explained that, as the political lead was no longer +in his hands, the chances were nine in ten that if he stirred at all +he should make a blunder; that his friends expected him to do something +when, in fact, nothing could be done; that every preparation had already +been made, and that for him to go on an excursion to Mount Vernon, at +this moment, with the British Minister, was, on the whole, about the +best use he could make of his time, since it would hide him for one day +at least. + +Lord Skye had fallen into the habit of consulting Mrs. Lee when his own +social resources were low, and it was she who had suggested this party +to Mount Vernon, with Carrington for a guide and Mr. Gore for variety, +to occupy the time of the Irish friend whom Lord Skye was bravely +entertaining. + +This gentleman, who bore the title of Dunbeg, was a dilapidated peer, +neither wealthy nor famous. Lord Skye brought him to call on Mrs. Lee, +and in some sort put him under her care. He was young, not ill-looking, +quite intelligent, rather too fond of facts, and not quick at humour. +He was given to smiling in a deprecatory way, and when he talked, he +was either absent or excited; he made vague blunders, and then smiled +in deprecation of offence, or his words blocked their own path in their +rush. Perhaps his manner was a little ridiculous, but he had a good +heart, a good head, and a title. He found favour in the eyes of Sybil +and Victoria Dare, who declined to admit other women to the party, +although they offered no objection to Mr. + +Ratcliffe's admission. As for Lord Dunbeg, he was an enthusiastic +admirer of General Washington, and, as he privately intimated, eager to +study phases of American society. He was delighted to go with a small +party, and Miss Dare secretly promised herself that she would show him a +phase. + +The morning was warm, the sky soft, the little steamer lay at the quiet +wharf with a few negroes lazily watching her preparations for departure. + +Carrington, with Mrs. Lee and the young ladies, arrived first, and stood +leaning against the rail, waiting the arrival of their companions. Then +came Mr. Gore, neatly attired and gloved, with a light spring overcoat; +for Mr. + +Gore was very careful of his personal appearance, and not a little vain +of his good looks. Then a pretty woman, with blue eyes and blonde hair, +dressed in black, and leading a little girl by the hand, came on board, +and Carrington went to shake hands with her. On his return to Mrs. Lee's +side, she asked about his new acquaintance, and he replied with a +half-laugh, as though he were not proud of her, that she was a client, +a pretty widow, well known in Washington. “Any one at the Capitol would +tell you all about her. She was the wife of a noted lobbyist, who died +about two years ago. Congressmen can refuse nothing to a pretty face, +and she was their idea of feminine perfection. Yet she is a silly little +woman, too. Her husband died after a very short illness, and, to my +great surprise, made me executor under his will. I think he had an idea +that he could trust me with his papers, which were important and +compromising, for he seems to have had no time to go over them and +destroy what were best out of the way. So, you see, I am left with his +widow and child to look after. Luckily, they are well provided for.” + +“Still you have not told me her name.” + +“Her name is Baker--Mrs. Sam Baker. But they are casting off, and Mr. +Ratcliffe will be left behind. I'll ask the captain to wait.” About a +dozen passengers had arrived, among them the two Earls, with a footman +carrying a promising lunch-basket, and the planks were actually hauled +in when a carriage dashed up to the wharf, and Mr. Ratcliffe leaped out +and hurried on board. “Off with you as quick as you can!” said he to +the negro-hands, and in another moment the little steamer had begun her +journey, pounding the muddy waters of the Potomac and sending up its +small column of smoke as though it were a newly invented incense-burner +approaching the temple of the national deity. Ratcliffe explained in +great glee how he had barely managed to escape his visitors by telling +them that the British Minister was waiting for him, and that he would +be back again presently. “If they had known where I was going,” said +he, “you would have seen the boat swamped with office-seekers. Illinois +alone would have brought you to a watery grave.” He was in high spirits, +bent upon enjoying his holiday, and as they passed the arsenal with +its solitary sentry, and the navy-yard, with its one unseaworthy wooden +war-steamer, he pointed out these evidences of national grandeur to Lord +Skye, threatening, as the last terror of diplomacy, to send him home in +an American frigate. They were thus indulging in senatorial humour on +one side of the boat, while Sybil and Victoria, with the aid of Mr. Gore +and Carrington, were improving Lord Dunbeg's mind on the other. + +Miss Dare, finding for herself at last a convenient seat where she could +repose and be mistress of the situation, put on a more than usually +demure expression and waited with gravity until her noble neighbour +should give her an opportunity to show those powers which, as she +believed, would supply a phase in his existence. Miss Dare was one of +those young persons, sometimes to be found in America, who seem to have +no object in life, and while apparently devoted to men, care nothing +about them, but find happiness only in violating rules; she made no +parade of whatever virtues she had, and her chief pleasure was to make +fun of all the world and herself. + +“What a noble river!” remarked Lord Dunbeg, as the boat passed out upon +the wide stream; “I suppose you often sail on it?” + +“I never was here in my life till now,” replied the untruthful Miss +Dare; “we don't think much of it; it s too small; we're used to so much +larger rivers.” + +“I am afraid you would not like our English rivers then; they are mere +brooks compared with this.” + +“Are they indeed?” said Victoria, with an appearance of vague surprise; +“how curious! I don't think I care to be an Englishwoman then. I could +not live without big rivers.” + +Lord Dunbeg stared, and hinted that this was almost unreasonable. + +“Unless I were a Countess!” continued Victoria, meditatively, looking +at Alexandria, and paying no attention to his lordship; “I think I could +manage if I were a C-c-countess. It is such a pretty title!” + +“Duchess is commonly thought a prettier one,” stammered Dunbeg, much +embarrassed. The young man was not used to chaff from women. + +“I should be satisfied with Countess. It sounds well. I am surprised +that you don't like it.” Dunbeg looked about him uneasily for some means +of escape but he was barred in. “I should think you would feel an awful +responsibility in selecting a Countess. How do you do it?” + +Lord Dunbeg nervously joined in the general laughter as Sybil +ejaculated: + +“Oh, Victoria!” but Miss Dare continued without a smile or any elevation +of her monotonous voice: + +“Now, Sybil, don't interrupt me, please. I am deeply interested in Lord +Dunbeg's conversation. He understands that my interest is purely +scientific, but my happiness requires that I should know how Countesses +are selected. Lord Dunbeg, how would you recommend a friend to choose a +Countess?” + +Lord Dunbeg began to be amused by her impudence, and he even tried to +lay down for her satisfaction one or two rules for selecting Countesses, +but long before he had invented his first rule, Victoria had darted off +to a new subject. + +“Which would you rather be, Lord Dunbeg? an Earl or George Washington?” + +“George Washington, certainly,” was the Earl's courteous though rather +bewildered reply. + +“Really?” she asked with a languid affectation of surprise; “it is +awfully kind of you to say so, but of course you can't mean it. + +“Indeed I do mean it.” + +“Is it possible? I never should have thought it.” + +“Why not, Miss Dare?” + +“You have not the air of wishing to be George Washington.” + +“May I again ask, why not?” + +“Certainly. Did you ever see George Washington?” + +“Of course not. He died fifty years before I was born.” + +“I thought so. You see you don't know him. Now, will you give us an idea +of what you imagine General Washington to have looked like?” + +Dunbeg gave accordingly a flattering description of General Washington, +compounded of Stuart's portrait and Greenough's statue of Olympian Jove +with Washington's features, in the Capitol Square. Miss Dare listened +with an expression of superiority not unmixed with patience, and then +she enlightened him as follows: + +“All you have been saying is perfect stuff--excuse the vulgarity of the +expression. When I am a Countess I will correct my language. The +truth is that General Washington was a raw-boned country farmer, very +hard-featured, very awkward, very illiterate and very dull; very bad +tempered, very profane, and generally tipsy after dinner.” + +“You shock me, Miss Dare!” exclaimed Dunbeg. + +“Oh! I know all about General Washington. My grandfather knew him +intimately, and often stayed at Mount Vernon for weeks together. You +must not believe what you read, and not a word of what Mr. Carrington +will say. He is a Virginian and will tell you no end of fine stories and +not a syllable of truth in one of them. We are all patriotic about +Washington and like to hide his faults. If I weren't quite sure you +would never repeat it, I would not tell you this. The truth is that even +when George Washington was a small boy, his temper was so violent that +no one could do anything with him. He once cut down all his father's +fruit-trees in a fit of passion, and then, just because they wanted to +flog him, he threatened to brain his father with the hatchet. His aged +wife suffered agonies from him. My grandfather often told me how he had +seen the General pinch and swear at her till the poor creature left the +room in tears; and how once at Mount Vernon he saw Washington, when +quite an old man, suddenly rush at an unoffending visitor, and chase him +off the place, beating him all the time over the head with a great stick +with knots in it, and all just because he heard the poor man stammer; he +never could abide s-s-stammering.” + +Carrington and Gore burst into shouts of laughter over this description +of the Father of his country, but Victoria continued in her gentle drawl +to enlighten Lord Dunbeg in regard to other subjects with information +equally mendacious, until he decided that she was quite the most +eccentric person he had ever met. The boat arrived at Mount Vernon while +she was still engaged in a description of the society and manners of +America, and especially of the rules which made an offer of marriage +necessary. According to her, Lord Dunbeg was in imminent peril; +gentlemen, and especially foreigners, were expected, in all the States +south of the Potomac, to offer themselves to at least one young lady in +every city: “and I had only yesterday,” said Victoria, “a letter from a +lovely girl in North Carolina, a dear friend of mine, who wrote me that +she was right put out because her brothers had called on a young English +visitor with shot guns, and she was afraid he wouldn't recover, and, +after all, she says she should have refused him.” + +Meanwhile Madeleine, on the other side of the boat, undisturbed by the +laughter that surrounded Miss Dare, chatted soberly and seriously with +Lord Skye and Senator Ratcliffe. Lord Skye, too, a little intoxicated +by the brilliancy of the morning, broke out into admiration of the noble +river, and accused Americans of not appreciating the beauties of their +own country. + +“Your national mind,” said he, “has no eyelids. It requires a broad +glare and a beaten road. It prefers shadows which you can cut out with a +knife. It doesn't know the beauty of this Virginia winter softness.” + +Mrs. Lee resented the charge. America, she maintained, had not worn her +feelings threadbare like Europe. She had still her story to tell; she +was waiting for her Burns and Scott, her Wordsworth and Byron, her +Hogarth and Turner. “You want peaches in spring,” said she. “Give us +our thousand years of summer, and then complain, if you please, that our +peach is not as mellow as yours. Even our voices may be soft then,” she +added, with a significant look at Lord Skye. + +“We are at a disadvantage in arguing with Mrs. Lee,” said he to +Ratcliffe; “when she ends as counsel, she begins as witness. The famous +Duchess of Devonshire's lips were not half as convincing as Mrs. Lee's +voice.” + +Ratcliffe listened carefully, assenting whenever he saw that Mrs. Lee +wished it. He wished he understood precisely what tones and half-tones, +colours and harmonies, were. + +They arrived and strolled up the sunny path. At the tomb they halted, +as all good Americans do, and Mr. Gore, in a tone of subdued sorrow, +delivered a short address-- + +“It might be much worse if they improved it,” he said, surveying its +proportions with the æsthetic eye of a cultured Bostonian. “As it +stands, this tomb is a simple misfortune which might befall any of us; +we should not grieve over it too much. What would our feelings be if +a Congressional committee reconstructed it of white marble with Gothic +pepper-pots, and gilded it inside on machine-moulded stucco!” + +Madeleine, however, insisted that the tomb, as it stood, was the only +restless spot about the quiet landscape, and that it contradicted all +her ideas about repose in the grave. Ratcliffe wondered what she meant. + +They passed on, wandering across the lawn, and through the house. Their +eyes, weary of the harsh colours and forms of the city, took pleasure in +the worn wainscots and the stained walls. Some of the rooms were still +occupied; fires were burning in the wide fire-places. All were tolerably +furnished, and there was no uncomfortable sense of repair or newness. +They mounted the stairs, and Mrs. Lee fairly laughed when she was shown +the room in which General Washington slept, and where he died. + +Carrington smiled too. “Our old Virginia houses were mostly like this,” + said he; “suites of great halls below, and these gaunt barracks above. +The Virginia house was a sort of hotel. When there was a race or a +wedding, or a dance, and the house was full, they thought nothing of +packing half a dozen people in one room, and if the room was large, they +stretched a sheet a cross to separate the men from the women. As for +toilet, those were not the mornings of cold baths. With our ancestors a +little washing went a long way.” + +“Do you still live so in Virginia?” asked Madeleine. + +“Oh no, it is quite gone. We live now like other country people, and try +to pay our debts, which that generation never did. They lived from hand +to mouth. They kept a stable-full of horses. The young men were always +riding about the country, betting on horse-races, gambling, drinking, +fighting, and making love. No one knew exactly what he was worth until +the crash came about fifty years ago, and the whole thing ran out.” + +“Just what happened in Ireland!” said Lord Dunbeg, much interested and +full of his article in the Quarterly; “the resemblance is perfect, even +down to the houses.” + +Mrs. Lee asked Carrington bluntly whether he regretted the destruction +of this old social arrangement. + +“One can't help regretting,” said he, “whatever it was that produced +George Washington, and a crowd of other men like him. But I think we +might produce the men still if we had the same field for them.” + +“And would you bring the old society back again if you could?” asked +she. + +“What for? It could not hold itself up. General Washington himself could +not save it. Before he died he had lost his hold on Virginia, and his +power was gone.” + +The party for a while separated, and Mrs. Lee found herself alone in the +great drawing-room. Presently the blonde Mrs. Baker entered, with her +child, who ran about making more noise than Mrs. Washington would have +permitted. + +Madeleine, who had the usual feminine love of children, called the girl +to her and pointed out the shepherds and shepherdesses carved on the +white Italian marble of the fireplace; she invented a little story +about them to amuse the child, while the mother stood by and at the end +thanked the story-teller with more enthusiasm than seemed called for. +Mrs. Lee did not fancy her effusive manner, or her complexion, and was +glad when Dunbeg appeared at the doorway. + +“How do you like General Washington at home?” asked she. + +“Really, I assure you I feel quite at home myself,” replied Dunbeg, with +a more beaming smile than ever. “I am sure General Washington was an +Irishman. I know it from the look of the place. I mean to look it up and +write an article about it.” + +“Then if you have disposed of him,” said Madeleine, “I think we will +have luncheon, and I have taken the liberty to order it to be served +outside.” + +There a table had been improvised, and Miss Dare was inspecting the +lunch, and making comments upon Lord Skye's cuisine and cellar. + +“I hope it is very dry champagne,” said she, “the taste for sweet +champagne is quite awfully shocking.” + +The young woman knew no more about dry and sweet champagne than of the +wine of Ulysses, except that she drank both with equal satisfaction, but +she was mimicking a Secretary of the British Legation who had provided +her with supper at her last evening party. Lord Skye begged her to try +it, which she did, and with great gravity remarked that it was about +five per cent. she presumed. This, too, was caught from her Secretary, +though she knew no more what it meant than if she had been a parrot. + +The luncheon was very lively and very good. When it was over, the +gentlemen were allowed to smoke, and conversation fell into a sober +strain, which at last threatened to become serious. + +“You want half-tones!” said Madeleine to Lord Skye: “are there not +half-tones enough to suit you on the walls of this house?” + +Lord Skye suggested that this was probably owing to the fact that +Washington, belonging, as he did, to the universe, was in his taste an +exception to local rules. + +“Is not the sense of rest here captivating?” she continued. “Look at +that quaint garden, and this ragged lawn, and the great river in front, +and the superannuated fort beyond the river! Everything is peaceful, +even down to the poor old General's little bed-room. One would like to +lie down in it and sleep a century or two. And yet that dreadful Capitol +and its office-seekers are only ten miles off.” + +“No! that is more than I can bear!” broke in Miss Victoria in a stage +whisper, “that dreadful Capitol! Why, not one of us would be here +without that dreadful Capitol! except, perhaps, myself.” + +“You would appear very well as Mrs. Washington, Victoria.” + +“Miss Dare has been so very obliging as to give us her views of General +Washington's character this morning,” said Dunbeg, “but I have not yet +had time to ask Mr. Carrington for his.” + +“Whatever Miss Dare says is valuable,” replied Carrington, “but her +strong point is facts.” + +“Never flatter! Mr. Carrington,” drawled Miss Dare; “I do not need it, +and it does not become your style. Tell me, Lord Dunbeg, is not Mr. +Carrington a little your idea of General Washington restored to us in +his prime?” + +“After your account of General Washington, Miss Dare, how can I agree +with you?” + +“After all,” said Lord Skye, “I think we must agree that Miss Dare is in +the main right about the charms of Mount Vernon. Even Mrs. Lee, on the +way up, agreed that the General, who is the only permanent resident +here, has the air of being confoundedly bored in his tomb. I don't +myself love your dreadful Capitol yonder, but I prefer it to a bucolic +life here. And I account in this way for my want of enthusiasm for your +great General. He liked no kind of life but this. He seems to have been +greater in the character of a home-sick Virginia planter than as General +or President. I forgive him his inordinate dulness, for he was not a +diplomatist and it was not his business to lie, but he might once in a +way have forgotten Mount Vernon.” + +Dunbeg here burst in with an excited protest; all his words seemed to +shove each other aside in their haste to escape first. “All our greatest +Englishmen have been home-sick country squires. I am a home-sick country +squire myself.” + +“How interesting!” said Miss Dare under her breath. + +Mr. Gore here joined in: “It is all very well for you gentlemen to +measure General Washington according to your own private twelve-inch +carpenter's rule. But what will you say to us New Englanders who never +were country gentlemen at all, and never had any liking for Virginia? +What did Washington ever do for us? He never even pretended to like us. +He never was more than barely civil to us. I'm not finding fault with +him; everybody knows that he never cared for anything but Mount Vernon. +For all that, we idolize him. To us he is Morality, Justice, Duty, +Truth; half a dozen Roman gods with capital letters. He is austere, +solitary, grand; he ought to be deified. I hardly feel easy, eating, +drinking, smoking here on his portico without his permission, taking +liberties with his house, criticising his bedrooms in his absence. +Suppose I heard his horse now trotting up on the other side, and he +suddenly appeared at this door and looked at us. I should abandon you to +his indignation. I should run away and hide myself on the steamer. The +mere thought unmans me.” + +Ratcliffe seemed amused at Gore's half-serious notions. “You recall +to me,” said he, “my own feelings when I was a boy and was made by my +father to learn the Farewell Address by heart. In those days General +Washington was a sort of American Jehovah. But the West is a poor +school for Reverence. Since coming to Congress I have learned more about +General Washington, and have been surprised to find what a narrow +base his reputation rests on. A fair military officer, who made many +blunders, and who never had more men than would make a full army-corps +under his command, he got an enormous reputation in Europe because he +did not make himself king, as though he ever had a chance of doing it. +A respectable, painstaking President, he was treated by the Opposition +with an amount of deference that would have made government easy to a +baby, but it worried him to death. His official papers are fairly done, +and contain good average sense such as a hundred thousand men in the +United States would now write. I suspect that half of his attachment to +this spot rose from his consciousness of inferior powers and his dread +of responsibility. This government can show to-day a dozen men of equal +abilities, but we don't deify them. What I most wonder at in him is +not his military or political genius at all, for I doubt whether he +had much, but a curious Yankee shrewdness in money matters. He thought +himself a very rich man, yet he never spent a dollar foolishly. He was +almost the only Virginian I ever heard of, in public life, who did not +die insolvent.” + +During this long speech, Carrington glanced across at Madeleine, and +caught her eye. Ratcliffe's criticism was not to her taste. Carrington +could see that she thought it unworthy of him, and he knew that it would +irritate her. + +“I will lay a little trap for Mr. Ratcliffe,” thought he to himself; +“we will see whether he gets out of it.” So Carrington began, and all +listened closely, for, as a Virginian, he was supposed to know much +about the subject, and his family had been deep in the confidence of +Washington himself. + +“The neighbours hereabout had for many years, and may have still, some +curious stories about General Washington's closeness in money matters. +They said he never bought anything by weight but he had it weighed over +again, nor by tale but he had it counted, and if the weight or number +were not exact, he sent it back. Once, during his absence, his steward +had a room plastered, and paid the plasterer's bill. On the General's +return, he measured the room, and found that the plasterer had charged +fifteen shillings too much. Meanwhile the man had died, and the General +made a claim of fifteen shillings on his estate, which was paid. Again, +one of his tenants brought him the rent. The exact change of fourpence +was required. The man tendered a dollar, and asked the General to credit +him with the balance against the next year's rent. The General refused +and made him ride nine miles to Alexandria and back for the fourpence. +On the other hand, he sent to a shoemaker in Alexandria to come and +measure him for shoes. The man returned word that he did not go to any +one's house to take measures, and the General mounted his horse and rode +the nine miles to him. One of his rules was to pay at taverns the same +sum for his servants' meals as for his own. An inn-keeper brought him a +bill of three-and-ninepence for his own breakfast, and three shillings +for his servant. He insisted upon adding the extra ninepence, as he did +not doubt that the servant had eaten as much as he. What do you say to +these anecdotes? Was this meanness or not?” + +Ratcliffe was amused. “The stories are new to me,” he said. “It is just +as I thought. These are signs of a man who thinks much of trifles; one +who fusses over small matters. We don't do things in that way now that +we no longer have to get crops from granite, as they used to do in New +Hampshire when I was a boy.” + +Carrington replied that it was unlucky for Virginians that they had not +done things in that way then: if they had, they would not have gone to +the dogs. + +Gore shook his head seriously; “Did I not tell you so?” said he. “Was +not this man an abstract virtue? I give you my word I stand in awe +before him, and I feel ashamed to pry into these details of his life. +What is it to us how he thought proper to apply his principles to +nightcaps and feather dusters? We are not his body servants, and we +care nothing about his infirmities. It is enough for us to know that he +carried his rules of virtue down to a pin's point, and that we ought, +one and all, to be on our knees before his tomb.” + +Dunbeg, pondering deeply, at length asked Carrington whether all this +did not make rather a clumsy politician of the father of his country. + +“Mr. Ratcliffe knows more about politics than I. Ask him,” said +Carrington. + +“Washington was no politician at all, as we understand the word,” + replied Ratcliffe abruptly. “He stood outside of politics. The thing +couldn't be done to-day. The people don't like that sort of royal airs.” + +“I don't understand!” said Mrs. Lee. “Why could you not do it now?” + +“Because I should make a fool of myself;” replied Ratcliffe, pleased to +think that Mrs. Lee should put him on a level with Washington. She had +only meant to ask why the thing could not be done, and this little touch +of Ratcliffe's vanity was inimitable. + +“Mr. Ratcliffe means that Washington was too respectable for our time,” + interposed Carrington. + +This was deliberately meant to irritate Ratcliffe, and it did so all +the more because Mrs. Lee turned to Carrington, and said, with some +bitterness: + +“Was he then the only honest public man we ever had?” + +“Oh no!” replied Carrington cheerfully; “there have been one or two +others.” + +“If the rest of our Presidents had been like him,” said Gore, “we should +have had fewer ugly blots on our short history.” + +Ratcliffe was exasperated at Carrington's habit of drawing discussion to +this point. He felt the remark as a personal insult, and he knew it to +be intended. “Public men,” he broke out, “cannot be dressing themselves +to-day in Washington's old clothes. If Washington were President now, he +would have to learn our ways or lose his next election. Only fools and +theorists imagine that our society can be handled with gloves or long +poles. One must make one's self a part of it. If virtue won't answer our +purpose, we must use vice, or our opponents will put us out of office, +and this was as true in Washington's day as it is now, and always will +be.” + +“Come,” said Lord Skye, who was beginning to fear an open quarrel; “the +conversation verges on treason, and I am accredited to this government. +Why not examine the grounds?” + +A kind of natural sympathy led Lord Dunbeg to wander by the side of Miss +Dare through the quaint old garden. His mind being much occupied by the +effort of stowing away the impressions he had just received, he was more +than usually absent in his manner, and this want of attention irritated +the young lady. She made some comments on flowers; she invented some +new species with startling names; she asked whether these were known in +Ireland; but Lord Dunbeg was for the moment so vague in his answers that +she saw her case was perilous. + +“Here is an old sun-dial. Do you have sun-dials in Ireland, Lord +Dunbeg?” + +“Yes; oh, certainly! What! sun-dials? Oh, yes! I assure you there are a +great many sun-dials in Ireland, Miss Dare.” + +“I am so glad. But I suppose they are only for ornament. Here it is just +the other way. Look at this one! they all behave like that. The wear and +tear of our sun is too much for them; they don't last. My uncle, who has +a place at Long Branch, had five sun-dials in ten years.” + +“How very odd! But really now, Miss Dare, I don't see how a sun--dial +could wear out.” + +“Don't you? How strange! Don't you see, they get soaked with sunshine so +that they can't hold shadow. It's like me, you know. I have such a +good time all the time that I can't be unhappy. Do you ever read the +Burlington Hawkeye, Lord Dunbeg?” + +“I don't remember; I think not. Is it an American serial?” gasped +Dunbeg, trying hard to keep pace with Miss Dare in her reckless dashes +across country. + +“No, not serial at all!” replied Virginia; “but I am afraid you would +find it very hard reading. I shouldn't try.” + +“Do you read it much, Miss Dare?” + +“Oh, always! I am not really as light as I seem. But then I have an +advantage over you because I know the language.” + +By this time Dunbeg was awake again, and Miss Dare, satisfied with her +success, allowed herself to become more reasonable, until a slight shade +of sentiment began to flicker about their path. + +The scattered party, however, soon had to unite again. The boat rang +its bell for return, they filed down the paths and settled themselves +in their old places. As they steamed away, Mrs. Lee watched the sunny +hill-side and the peaceful house above, until she could see them no +more, and the longer she looked, the less she was pleased with herself. +Was it true, as Victoria Dare said, that she could not live in so pure +an air? Did she really need the denser fumes of the city? Was she, +unknown to herself; gradually becoming tainted with the life about her? +or was Ratcliffe right in accepting the good and the bad together, and +in being of his time since he was in it? Why was it, she said bitterly +to herself; that everything Washington touched, he purified, even down +to the associations of his house? and why is it that everything we touch +seems soiled? Why do I feel unclean when I look at Mount Vernon? In +spite of Mr. Ratcliffe, is it not better to be a child and to cry for +the moon and stars? + +The little Baker girl came up to her where she stood, and began playing +with her parasol. + +“Who is your little friend?” asked Ratcliffe. + +Mrs. Lee rather vaguely replied that she was the daughter of that pretty +woman in black; she believed her name was Baker. + +“Baker, did you say?” repeated Ratcliffe. + +“Baker--Mrs. Sam Baker; at least so Mr. Carrington told me; he said she +was a client of his.” + +In fact Ratcliffe soon saw Carrington go up to her and remain by her +side during the rest of the trip. Ratcliffe watched them sharply and +grew more and more absorbed in his own thoughts as the boat drew nearer +and nearer the shore. + +Carrington was in high spirits. He thought he had played his cards with +unusual success. Even Miss Dare deigned to acknowledge his charms that +day. + +She declared herself to be the moral image of Martha Washington, and she +started a discussion whether Carrington or Lord Dunbeg would best suit +her in the rôle of the General. + +“Mr. Carrington is exemplary,” she said, “but oh, what joy to be Martha +Washington and a Countess too!” + + + +Chapter VII + +WHEN he reached his rooms that afternoon, Senator Ratcliffe found +there, as he expected, a choice company of friends and admirers, who had +beguiled their leisure hours since noon by cursing him in every variety +of profane language that experience could suggest and impatience +stimulate. On his part, had he consulted his own feelings only, he would +then and there have turned them out, and locked the doors behind them. +So far as silent maledictions were concerned, no profanity of theirs +could hold its own against the intensity and deliberation with which, +as he found himself approaching his own door, he expressed between his +teeth his views in respect to their eternal interests. Nothing could be +less suited to his present humour than the society which awaited him in +his rooms. He groaned in spirit as he sat down at his writing-table and +looked about him. Dozens of office-seekers were besieging the house; +men whose patriotic services in the last election called loudly for +recognition from a grateful country. + +They brought their applications to the Senator with an entreaty that he +would endorse and take charge of them. Several members and senators who +felt that Ratcliffe had no reason for existence except to fight their +battle for patronage, were lounging about his room, reading newspapers, +or beguiling their time with tobacco in various forms; at long +intervals making dull remarks, as though they were more weary than their +constituents of the atmosphere that surrounds the grandest government +the sun ever shone upon. + +Several newspaper correspondents, eager to barter their news for +Ratcliffe's hints or suggestions, appeared from time to time on the +scene, and, dropping into a chair by Ratcliffe's desk, whispered with +him in mysterious tones. + +Thus the Senator worked on, hour after hour, mechanically doing what was +required of him, signing papers without reading them, answering remarks +without hearing them, hardly looking up from his desk, and appearing +immersed in labour. This was his protection against curiosity and +garrulity. + +The pretence of work was the curtain he drew between himself and the +world. + +Behind this curtain his mental operations went on, undisturbed by what +was about him, while he heard all that was said, and said little or +nothing himself. His followers respected this privacy, and left him +alone. He was their prophet, and had a right to seclusion. He was their +chieftain, and while he sat in his monosyllabic solitude, his ragged +tail reclined in various attitudes about him, and occasionally one man +spoke, or another swore. Newspapers and tobacco were their resource in +periods of absolute silence. + +A shade of depression rested on the faces and the voices of Clan +Ratcliffe that evening, as is not unusual with forces on the eve of +battle. Their remarks came at longer intervals, and were more pointless +and random than usual. There was a want of elasticity in their bearing +and tone, partly coming from sympathy with the evident depression of +their chief; partly from the portents of the time. The President was to +arrive within forty-eight hours, and as yet there was no sign that +he properly appreciated their services; there were signs only too +unmistakeable that he was painfully misled and deluded, that his +countenance was turned wholly in another direction, and that all their +sacrifices were counted as worthless. There was reason to believe that +he came with a deliberate purpose of making war upon Ratcliffe and +breaking him down; of refusing to bestow patronage on them, and of +bestowing it wherever it would injure them most deeply. At the thought +that their honestly earned harvest of foreign missions and consulates, +department-bureaus, custom-house and revenue offices, postmasterships, +Indian agencies, and army and navy contracts, might now be wrung from +their grasp by the selfish greed of a mere accidental intruder--a man +whom nobody wanted and every one ridiculed--their natures rebelled, and +they felt that such things must not be; that there could be no more hope +for democratic government if such things were possible. At this point +they invariably became excited, lost their equanimity, and swore. Then +they fell back on their faith in Ratcliffe: if any man could pull them +through, he could; after all, the President must first reckon with him, +and he was an uncommon tough customer to tackle. + +Perhaps, however, even their faith in Ratcliffe might have been shaken, +could they at that moment have looked into his mind and understood what +was passing there. Ratcliffe was a man vastly their superior, and he +knew it. He lived in a world of his own and had instincts of refinement. +Whenever his affairs went unfavourably, these instincts revived, and for +the time swept all his nature with them. He was now filled with disgust +and cynical contempt for every form of politics. During long years +he had done his best for his party; he had sold himself to the devil, +coined his heart's blood, toiled with a dogged persistence that no +day-labourer ever conceived; and all for what? To be rejected as its +candidate; to be put under the harrow of a small Indiana farmer who +made no secret of the intention to “corral” him, and, as he elegantly +expressed it, to “take his hide and tallow.” Ratcliffe had no great fear +of losing his hide, but he felt aggrieved that he should be called +upon to defend it, and that this should be the result of twenty years' +devotion. Like most men in the same place, he did not stop to cast +up both columns of his account with the party, nor to ask himself the +question that lay at the heart of his grievance: How far had he served +his party and how far himself? He was in no humour for self-analysis: +this requires more repose of mind than he could then command. As for +the President, from whom he had not heard a whisper since the insolent +letter to Grimes, which he had taken care not to show, the Senator felt +only a strong impulse to teach him better sense and better manners. But +as for political life, the events of the last six months were calculated +to make any man doubt its value. He was quite out of sympathy with it. +He hated the sight of his tobacco-chewing, newspaper-reading satellites, +with their hats tipped at every angle except the right one, and their +feet everywhere except on the floor. Their conversation bored him and +their presence was a nuisance. He would not submit to this slavery +longer. He would have given his Senatorship for a civilized house like +Mrs. Lee's, with a woman like Mrs. Lee at its head, and twenty thousand +a year for life. He smiled his only smile that evening when he thought +how rapidly she would rout every man Jack of his political following out +of her parlours, and how meekly they would submit to banishment into a +back-office with an oil-cloth carpet and two cane chairs. + +He felt that Mrs. Lee was more necessary to him than the Presidency +itself; he could not go on without her; he needed human companionship; +some Christian comfort for his old age; some avenue of communication +with that social world, which made his present surroundings look cold +and foul; some touch of that refinement of mind and morals beside which +his own seemed coarse. He felt unutterably lonely. He wished Mrs. +Lee had asked him home to dinner; but Mrs. Lee had gone to bed with a +headache. He should not see her again for a week. Then his mind turned +back upon their morning at Mount Vernon, and bethinking himself of Mrs. +Sam Baker, he took a sheet of note-paper, and wrote a line to Wilson +Keen, Esq., at Georgetown, requesting him to call, if possible, the +next morning towards one o'clock at the Senator's rooms on a matter +of business. Wilson Keen was chief of the Secret Service Bureau in the +Treasury Department, and, as the depositary of all secrets, was often +called upon for assistance which he was very good-natured in furnishing +to senators, especially if they were likely to be Secretaries of the +Treasury. + +This note despatched, Mr. Ratcliffe fell back into his reflective mood, +which led him apparently into still lower depths of discontent until, +with a muttered oath, he swore he could “stand no more of this,” and, +suddenly rising, he informed his visitors that he was sorry to leave +them, but he felt rather poorly and was going to bed; and to bed he +went, while his guests departed, each as his business or desires might +point him, some to drink whiskey and some to repose. + +On Sunday morning Mr. Ratcliffe, as usual, went to church. He always +attended morning service--at the Methodist Episcopal Church--not wholly +on the ground of religious conviction, but because a large number of his +constituents were church-going people and he would not willingly shock +their principles so long as he needed their votes. In church, he kept +his eyes closely fixed upon the clergyman, and at the end of the sermon +he could say with truth that he had not heard a word of it, although the +respectable minister was gratified by the attention his discourse had +received from the Senator from Illinois, an attention all the more +praiseworthy because of the engrossing public cares which must at +that moment have distracted the Senator's mind. In this last idea, +the minister was right. Mr. Ratcliffe's mind was greatly distracted by +public cares, and one of his strongest reasons for going to church at +all was that he might get an hour or two of undisturbed reflection. +During the entire service he was absorbed in carrying on a series +of imaginary conversations with the new President. He brought up in +succession every form of proposition which the President might make to +him; every trap which could be laid for him; every sort of treatment he +might expect, so that he could not be taken by surprise, and his frank, +simple nature could never be at a loss. One object, however, long +escaped him. Supposing, what was more than probable, that the +President's opposition to Ratcliffe's declared friends made it +impossible to force any of them into office; it would then be necessary +to try some new man, not obnoxious to the President, as a candidate for +the Cabinet. Who should this be? Ratcliffe pondered long and deeply, +searching out a man who combined the most powerful interests, with the +fewest enmities. This subject was still uppermost at the moment when +service ended. Ratcliffe pondered over it as he walked back to his +rooms. Not until he reached his own door did he come to a conclusion: + +Carson would do; Carson of Pennsylvania; the President had probably +never heard of him. + +Mr. Wilson Keen was waiting the Senator's return, a heavy man with a +square face, and good-natured, active blue eyes; a man of few words and +those well-considered. The interview was brief. After apologising for +breaking in upon Sunday with business, Mr. Ratcliffe excused himself on +the ground that so little time was left before the close of the session. +A bill now before one of his Committees, on which a report must soon +be made, involved matters to which it was believed that the late Samuel +Baker, formerly a well-known lobby-agent in Washington, held the only +clue. He being dead, Mr. Ratcliffe wished to know whether he had left +any papers behind him, and in whose hands these papers were, or whether +any partner or associate of his was acquainted with his affairs. + +Mr. Keen made a note of the request, merely remarking that he had been +very well acquainted with Baker, and also a little with his wife, who +was supposed to know his affairs as well as he knew them himself; and +who was still in Washington. He thought he could bring the information +in a day or two. As he then rose to go, Mr. Ratcliffe added that entire +secrecy was necessary, as the interests involved in obstructing the +search were considerable, and it was not well to wake them up. Mr. Keen +assented and went his way. + +All this was natural enough and entirely proper, at least so far as +appeared on the surface. Had Mr. Keen been so curious in other people's +affairs as to look for the particular legislative measure which lay at +the bottom of Mr. + +Ratcliffe's inquiries, he might have searched among the papers of +Congress a very long time and found himself greatly puzzled at last. In +fact there was no measure of the kind. The whole story was a fiction. +Mr. Ratcliffe had scarcely thought of Baker since his death, until the +day before, when he had seen his widow on the Mount Vernon steamer and +had found her in relations with Carrington. Something in Carrington's +habitual attitude and manner towards himself had long struck him as +peculiar, and this connection with Mrs. Baker had suggested to the +Senator the idea that it might be well to have an eye on both. Mrs. +Baker was a silly woman, as he knew, and there were old transactions +between Ratcliffe and Baker of which she might be informed, but which +Ratcliffe had no wish to see brought within Mrs. Lee's ken. As for +the fiction invented to set Keen in motion, it was an innocent one. +It harmed nobody. Ratcliffe selected this particular method of inquiry +because it was the easiest, safest, and most effectual. If he were +always to wait until he could afford to tell the precise truth, business +would very soon be at a standstill, and his career at an end. + +This little matter disposed of; the Senator from Illinois passed his +afternoon in calling upon some of his brother senators, and the first +of those whom he honoured with a visit was Mr. Krebs, of Pennsylvania. +There were many reasons which now made the co-operation of that +high-minded statesman essential to Mr. Ratcliffe. The strongest of them +was that the Pennsylvania delegation in Congress was well disciplined +and could be used with peculiar advantage for purposes of “pressure.” + Ratcliffe's success in his contest with the new President depended +on the amount of “pressure” he could employ. To keep himself in the +background, and to fling over the head of the raw Chief Magistrate a web +of intertwined influences, any one of which alone would be useless, but +which taken together were not to be broken through; to revive the lost +art of the Roman retiarius, who from a safe distance threw his net over +his adversary, before attacking with the dagger; this was Ratcliffe's +intention and towards this he had been directing all his manipulation +for weeks past. How much bargaining and how many promises he found it +necessary to make, was known to himself alone. About this time Mrs. Lee +was a little surprised to find Mr. Gore speaking with entire confidence +of having Ratcliffe's support in his application for the Spanish +mission, for she had rather imagined that Gore was not a favourite with +Ratcliffe. She noticed too that Schneidekoupon had come back again and +spoke mysteriously of interviews with Ratcliffe; of attempts to unite +the interests of New York and Pennsylvania; and his countenance took on +a dark and dramatic expression as he proclaimed that no sacrifice of the +principle of protection should be tolerated. Schneidekoupon disappeared +as suddenly as he came, and from Sybil's innocent complaints of +his spirits and temper, Mrs. Lee jumped to the conclusion that Mr. +Ratcliffe, Mr. Clinton, and Mr. + +Krebs had for the moment combined to sit heavily upon poor +Schneidekoupon, and to remove his disturbing influence from the scene, +at least until other men should get what they wanted. These were merely +the trifling incidents that fell within Mrs. Lee's observation. She felt +an atmosphere of bargain and intrigue, but she could only imagine how +far it extended. Even Carrington, when she spoke to him about it, only +laughed and shook his head: + +“Those matters are private, my dear Mrs. Lee; you and I are not meant to +know such things.” + +This Sunday afternoon Mr. Ratcliffe's object was to arrange the little +manoeuvre about Carson of Pennsylvania, which had disturbed him in +church. + +His efforts were crowned with success. Krebs accepted Carson and +promised to bring him forward at ten minutes' notice, should the +emergency arise. + +Ratcliffe was a great statesman. The smoothness of his manipulation was +marvellous. No other man in politics, indeed no other man who had ever +been in politics in this country, could--his admirers said--have brought +together so many hostile interests and made so fantastic a combination. +Some men went so far as to maintain that he would “rope in the President +himself before the old man had time to swap knives with him.” The beauty +of his work consisted in the skill with which he evaded questions of +principle. As he wisely said, the issue now involved was not one of +principle but of power. + +The fate of that noble party to which they all belonged, and which had +a record that could never be forgotten, depended on their letting +principle alone. Their principle must be the want of principles. There +were indeed individuals who said in reply that Ratcliffe had made +promises which never could be carried out, and there were almost +superhuman elements of discord in the combination, but as Ratcliffe +shrewdly rejoined, he only wanted it to last a week, and he guessed his +promises would hold it up for that time. + +Such was the situation when on Monday afternoon the President-elect +arrived in Washington, and the comedy began. The new President was, +almost as much as Abraham Lincoln or Franklin Pierce, an unknown +quantity in political mathematics. In the national convention of the +party, nine months before, after some dozens of fruitless ballots in +which Ratcliffe wanted but three votes of a majority, his opponents had +done what he was now doing; they had laid aside their principles and +set up for their candidate a plain Indiana farmer, whose political +experience was limited to stump-speaking in his native State, and to one +term as Governor. They had pitched upon him, not because they thought +him competent, but because they hoped by doing so to detach Indiana from +Ratcliffe's following, and they were so successful that within fifteen +minutes Ratcliffe's friends were routed, and the Presidency had fallen +upon this new political Buddha. + +He had begun his career as a stone-cutter in a quarry, and was, not +unreasonably, proud of the fact. During the campaign this incident had, +of course, filled a large space in the public mind, or, more exactly, +in the public eye. “The Stone-cutter of the Wabash,” he was sometimes +called; at others “the Hoosier Quarryman,” but his favourite appellation +was “Old Granite,” although this last endearing name, owing to an +unfortunate similarity of sound, was seized upon by his opponents, and +distorted into “Old Granny.” He had been painted on many thousand yards +of cotton sheeting, either with a terrific sledge-hammer, smashing the +skulls (which figured as paving-stones) of his political opponents, or +splitting by gigantic blows a huge rock typical of the opposing party. +His opponents in their turn had paraded illuminations representing the +Quarryman in the garb of a State's-prison convict breaking the heads +of Ratcliffe and other well-known political leaders with a very feeble +hammer, or as “Old Granny” in pauper's rags, hopelessly repairing with +the same heads the impossible roads which typified the ill-conditioned +and miry ways of his party. But these violations of decency and good +sense were universally reproved by the virtuous; and it was remarked +with satisfaction that the purest and most highly cultivated newspaper +editors on his side, without excepting those of Boston itself; agreed +with one voice that the Stone-cutter was a noble type of man, perhaps +the very noblest that had appeared to adorn this country since the +incomparable Washington. + +That he was honest, all admitted; that is to say, all who voted for him. + +This is a general characteristic of all new presidents. He himself took +great pride in his home-spun honesty, which is a quality peculiar to +nature's noblemen. Owing nothing, as he conceived, to politicians, +but sympathising through every fibre of his unselfish nature with the +impulses and aspirations of the people, he affirmed it to be his first +duty to protect the people from those vultures, as he called them, +those wolves in sheep's clothing, those harpies, those hyenas, the +politicians; epithets which, as generally interpreted, meant Ratcliffe +and Ratcliffe's friends. + +His cardinal principle in politics was hostility to Ratcliffe, yet he +was not vindictive. He came to Washington determined to be the Father of +his country; to gain a proud immortality and a re-election. + +Upon this gentleman Ratcliffe had let loose all the forms of “pressure” + which could be set in motion either in or out of Washington. From the +moment when he had left his humble cottage in Southern Indiana, he had +been captured by Ratcliffe's friends, and smothered in demonstrations +of affection. They had never allowed him to suggest the possibility +of ill-feeling. They had assumed as a matter of course that the most +cordial attachment existed between him and his party. On his arrival +in Washington they systematically cut him off from contact with any +influences but their own. This was not a very difficult thing to do, for +great as he was, he liked to be told of his greatness, and they made him +feel himself a colossus. Even the few personal friends in his company +were manipulated with the utmost care, and their weaknesses put to use +before they had been in Washington a single day. + +Not that Ratcliffe had anything to do with all this underhand +and grovelling intrigue. Mr. Ratcliffe was a man of dignity and +self-respect, who left details to his subordinates. He waited calmly +until the President, recovered from the fatigues of his journey, should +begin to feel the effect of a Washington atmosphere. Then on Wednesday +morning, Mr. Ratcliffe left his rooms an hour earlier than usual on his +way to the Senate, and called at the President's Hotel: he was ushered +into a large apartment in which the new Chief Magistrate was holding +court, although at sight of Ratcliffe, the other visitors edged away +or took their hats and left the room. The President proved to be a +hard-featured man of sixty, with a hooked nose and thin, straight, +iron-gray hair. His voice was rougher than his features and he received +Ratcliffe awkwardly. He had suffered since his departure from Indiana. +Out there it had seemed a mere flea-bite, as he expressed it, to brush +Ratcliffe aside, but in Washington the thing was somehow different. + +Even his own Indiana friends looked grave when he talked of it, and +shook their heads. They advised him to be cautious and gain time; to +lead Ratcliffe on, and if possible to throw on him the responsibility of +a quarrel. He was, therefore, like a brown bear undergoing the process +of taming; very ill-tempered, very rough, and at the same time very much +bewildered and a little frightened. Ratcliffe sat ten minutes with him, +and obtained information in regard to pains which the President had +suffered during the previous night, in consequence, as he believed, of +an over-indulgence in fresh lobster, a luxury in which he had found a +diversion from the cares of state. So soon as this matter was explained +and condoled upon, Ratcliffe rose and took leave. + +Every device known to politicians was now in full play against the +Hoosier Quarryman. State delegations with contradictory requests were +poured in upon him, among which that of Massachusetts presented as +its only prayer the appointment of Mr. Gore to the Spanish mission. +Difficulties were invented to embarrass and worry him. False leads were +suggested, and false information carefully mingled with true. A wild +dance was kept up under his eyes from daylight to midnight, until his +brain reeled with the effort to follow it. Means were also found to +convert one of his personal, confidential friends, who had come with him +from Indiana and who had more brains or less principle than the others; +from him every word of the President was brought directly to Ratcliffe's +ear. + +Early on Friday morning, Mr. Thomas Lord, a rival of the late Samuel +Baker, and heir to his triumphs, appeared in Ratcliffe's rooms while the +Senator was consuming his lonely egg and chop. Mr. Lord had been chosen +to take general charge of the presidential party and to direct all +matters connected with Ratcliffe's interests. Some people might consider +this the work of a spy; he looked on it as a public duty. He reported +that “Old Granny” had at last shown signs of weakness. Late the previous +evening when, according to his custom, he was smoking his pipe in +company with his kitchen-cabinet of followers, he had again fallen upon +the subject of Ratcliffe, and with a volley of oaths had sworn that he +would show him his place yet, and that he meant to offer him a seat in +the Cabinet that would make him “sicker than a stuck hog.” From this +remark and some explanatory hints that followed, it seemed that the +Quarryman had abandoned his scheme of putting Ratcliffe to immediate +political death, and had now undertaken to invite him into a Cabinet +which was to be specially constructed to thwart and humiliate him. + +The President, it appeared, warmly applauded the remark of one +counsellor, that Ratcliffe was safer in the Cabinet than in the Senate, +and that it would be easy to kick him out when the time came. + +Ratcliffe smiled grimly as Mr. Lord, with much clever mimicry, described +the President's peculiarities of language and manner, but he said +nothing and waited for the event. The same evening came a note from the +President's private secretary requesting his attendance, if possible, +to-morrow, Saturday morning, at ten o'clock. The note was curt and cool. +Ratcliffe merely sent back word that he would come, and felt a little +regret that the President should not know enough etiquette to understand +that this verbal answer was intended as a hint to improve his manners. +He did come accordingly, and found the President looking blacker +than before. This time there was no avoiding of tender subjects. The +President meant to show Ratcliffe by the decision of his course, that +he was master of the situation. He broke at once into the middle of +the matter: “I sent for you,” said he, “to consult with you about my +Cabinet. Here is a list of the gentlemen I intend to invite into it. You +will see that I have got you down for the Treasury. Will you look at the +list and say what you think of it?” + +Ratcliffe took the paper, but laid it at once on the table without +looking at it. “I can have no objection,” said he, “to any Cabinet you +may appoint, provided I am not included in it. My wish is to remain +where I am. There I can serve your administration better than in the +Cabinet.” + +“Then you refuse?” growled the President. + +“By no means. I only decline to offer any advice or even to hear the +names of my proposed colleagues until it is decided that my services +are necessary. If they are, I shall accept without caring with whom I +serve.” + +The President glared at him with an uneasy look. What was to be done +next? + +He wanted time to think, but Ratcliffe was there and must be disposed +of. He involuntarily became more civil: “Mr. Ratcliffe, your refusal +would knock everything on the head. I thought that matter was all fixed. +What more can I do?” + +But Ratcliffe had no mind to let the President out of his clutches so +easily, and a long conversation followed, during which he forced his +antagonist into the position of urging him to take the Treasury in order +to prevent some undefined but portentous mischief in the Senate. All +that could be agreed upon was that Ratcliffe should give a positive +answer within two days, and on that agreement he took his leave. + +As he passed through the corridor, a number of gentlemen were waiting +for interviews with the President, and among them was the whole +Pennsylvania delegation, “ready for biz,” as Mr. Tom Lord remarked, with +a wink. + +Ratcliffe drew Krebs aside and they exchanged a few words as he passed +out. + +Ten minutes afterwards the delegation was admitted, and some of its +members were a little surprised to hear their spokesman, Senator Krebs, +press with extreme earnestness and in their names, the appointment of +Josiah B. Carson to a place in the Cabinet, when they had been given to +understand that they came to recommend Jared Caldwell as postmaster +of Philadelphia. But Pennsylvania is a great and virtuous State, whose +representatives have entire confidence in their chief. Not one of them +so much as winked. + +The dance of democracy round the President now began again with wilder +energy. Ratcliffe launched his last bolts. His two-days' delay was a +mere cover for bringing new influences to bear. He needed no delay. He +wanted no time for reflection. The President had undertaken to put +him on the horns of a dilemma; either to force him into a hostile and +treacherous Cabinet, or to throw on him the blame of a refusal and +a quarrel. He meant to embrace one of the horns and to impale the +President on it, and he felt perfect confidence in his own success. He +meant to accept the Treasury and he was ready to back himself with a +heavy wager to get the government entirely into his own hands within six +weeks. His contempt for the Hoosier Stone-cutter was unbounded, and his +confidence in himself more absolute than ever. + +Busy as he was, the Senator made his appearance the next evening at Mrs. + +Lee's, and finding her alone with Sybil, who was occupied with her +own little devices, Ratcliffe told Madeleine the story of his week's +experience. + +He did not dwell on his exploits. On the contrary he quite ignored those +elaborate arrangements which had taken from the President his power of +volition. His picture presented himself; solitary and unprotected, in +the character of that honest beast who was invited to dine with the lion +and saw that all the footmarks of his predecessors led into the lion's +cave, and none away from it. He described in humorous detail his +interviews with the Indiana lion, and the particulars of the surfeit of +lobster as given in the President's dialect; he even repeated to her the +story told him by Mr. Tom Lord, without omitting oaths or gestures; he +told her how matters stood at the moment, and how the President had laid +a trap for him which he could not escape; he must either enter a +Cabinet constructed on purpose to thwart him and with the certainty of +ignominious dismissal at the first opportunity, or he must refuse an +offer of friendship which would throw on him the blame of a quarrel, and +enable the President to charge all future difficulties to the account +of Ratcliffe's “insatiable ambition.” “And now, Mrs. Lee,” he continued, +with increasing seriousness of tone; “I want your advice; what shall I +do?” + +Even this half revelation of the meanness which distorted politics; this +one-sided view of human nature in its naked deformity playing pranks +with the interests of forty million people, disgusted and depressed +Madeleine's mind. Ratclife spared her nothing except the exposure of +his own moral sores. He carefully called her attention to every leprous +taint upon his neighbours' persons, to every rag in their foul clothing, +to every slimy and fetid pool that lay beside their path. It was his way +of bringing his own qualities into relief. He meant that she should go +hand in hand with him through the brimstone lake, and the more repulsive +it seemed to her, the more overwhelming would his superiority become. He +meant to destroy those doubts of his character which Carrington was so +carefully fostering, to rouse her sympathy, to stimulate her feminine +sense of self-sacrifice. + +When he asked this question she looked up at him with an expression of +indignant pride, as she spoke: + +“I say again, Mr. Ratcliffe, what I said once before. Do whatever is +most for the public good.” + +“And what is most for the public good?” + +Madeleine half opened her mouth to reply, then hesitated, and stared +silently into the fire before her. What was indeed most for the public +good? + +Where did the public good enter at all into this maze of personal +intrigue, this wilderness of stunted natures where no straight road +was to be found, but only the tortuous and aimless tracks of beasts and +things that crawl? + +Where was she to look for a principle to guide, an ideal to set up and +to point at? + +Ratcliffe resumed his appeal, and his manner was more serious than ever. + +“I am hard pressed, Mrs. Lee. My enemies encompass me about. They mean +to ruin me. I honestly wish to do my duty. You once said that personal +considerations should have no weight. Very well! throw them away! And +now tell me what I should do.” + +For the first time, Mrs. Lee began to feel his power. He was simple, +straightforward, earnest. His words moved her. How should she imagine +that he was playing upon her sensitive nature precisely as he played +upon the President's coarse one, and that this heavy western politician +had the instincts of a wild Indian in their sharpness and quickness of +perception; that he divined her character and read it as he read the +faces and tones of thousands from day to day? She was uneasy under his +eye. She began a sentence, hesitated in the middle, and broke down. She +lost her command of thought, and sat dumb-founded. He had to draw her +out of the confusion he had himself made. + +“I see your meaning in your face. You say that I should accept the duty +and disregard the consequences.” + +“I don't know,” said Madeleine, hesitatingly; “Yes, I think that would +be my feeling.” + +“And when I fall a sacrifice to that man's envy and intrigue, what will +you think then, Mrs. Lee? Will you not join the rest of the world and +say that I overreached myself; and walked into this trap with my eyes +open, and for my own objects? Do you think I shall ever be thought +better of; for getting caught here? I don't parade high moral views like +our friend French. I won't cant about virtue. But I do claim that in +my public life I have tried to do right. Will you do me the justice to +think so?” + +Madeleine still struggled to prevent herself from being drawn into +indefinite promises of sympathy with this man. She would keep him at +arm's length whatever her sympathies might be. She would not pledge +herself to espouse his cause. She turned upon him with an effort, and +said that her thoughts, now or at any time, were folly and nonsense, and +that the consciousness of right-doing was the only reward any public man +had a right to expect. + +“And yet you are a hard critic, Mrs. Lee. If your thoughts are what +you say, your words are not. You judge with the judgment of abstract +principles, and you wield the bolts of divine justice. You look on and +condemn, but you refuse to acquit. When I come to you on the verge of +what is likely to be the fatal plunge of my life, and ask you only for +some clue to the moral principle that ought to guide me, you look on and +say that virtue is its own reward. And you do not even say where virtue +lies.” + +“I confess my sins,” said Madeleine, meekly and despondently; “life is +more complicated than I thought.” + +“I shall be guided by your advice,” said Ratcliffe; “I shall walk into +that den of wild beasts, since you think I ought. But I shall hold you +to your responsibility. You cannot refuse to see me through dangers you +have helped to bring me into.” + +“No, no!” cried Madeleine, earnestly; “no responsibility. You ask more +than I can give.” + +Ratcliffe looked at her a moment with a troubled and careworn face. His +eyes seemed deep sunk in their dark circles, and his voice was pathetic +in its intensity. “Duty is duty, for you as well as for me. I have a +right to the help of all pure minds. You have no right to refuse it. How +can you reject your own responsibility and hold me to mine?” + +Almost as he spoke, he rose and took his departure, leaving her no time +to do more than murmur again her ineffectual protest. After he was gone, +Mrs. + +Lee sat long, with her eyes fixed on the fire, reflecting upon what he +had said. Her mind was bewildered by the new suggestions which Ratcliffe +had thrown out. What woman of thirty, with aspirations for the infinite, +could resist an attack like this? What woman with a soul could see +before her the most powerful public man of her time, appealing--with +a face furrowed by anxieties, and a voice vibrating with only +half-suppressed affection--to her for counsel and sympathy, without +yielding some response? and what woman could have helped bowing her head +to that rebuke of her over-confident judgment, coming as it did from one +who in the same breath appealed to that judgment as final? Ratcliffe, +too, had a curious instinct for human weaknesses. No magnetic needle +was ever truer than his finger when he touched the vulnerable spot in +an opponent's mind. Mrs. Lee was not to be reached by an appeal to +religious sentiment, to ambition, or to affection. + +Any such appeal would have fallen flat on her ears and destroyed its own +hopes. But she was a woman to the very last drop of her blood. She +could not be induced to love Ratcliffe, but she might be deluded into +sacrificing herself for him. She atoned for want of devotion to God, by +devotion to man. + +She had a woman's natural tendency towards asceticism, self-extinction, +self-abnegation. All through life she had made painful efforts to +understand and follow out her duty. Ratcliffe knew her weak point when +he attacked her from this side. Like all great orators and advocates, he +was an actor; the more effective because of a certain dignified air that +forbade familiarity. + +He had appealed to her sympathy, her sense of right and of duty, to her +courage, her loyalty, her whole higher nature; and while he made this +appeal he felt more than half convinced that he was all he pretended to +be, and that he really had a right to her devotion. What wonder that she +in her turn was more than half inclined to admit that right. She knew +him now better than Carrington or Jacobi knew him. Surely a man who +spoke as he spoke, had noble instincts and lofty aims? Was not his +career a thousand times more important than hers? If he, in his +isolation and his cares, needed her assistance, had she an excuse for +refusing it? What was there in her aimless and useless life which made +it so precious that she could not afford to fling it into the gutter, if +need be, on the bare chance of enriching some fuller existence? + + + +Chapter VIII + +OF all titles ever assumed by prince or potentate, the proudest is that +of the Roman pontiffs: “Servus servorum Dei”--“Servant of the servants +of God.” + +In former days it was not admitted that the devil's servants could by +right have any share in government. They were to be shut out, punished, +exiled, maimed, and burned. The devil has no servants now; only the +people have servants. There may be some mistake about a doctrine which +makes the wicked, when a majority, the mouthpiece of God against the +virtuous, but the hopes of mankind are staked on it; and if the weak +in faith sometimes quail when they see humanity floating in a shoreless +ocean, on this plank, which experience and religion long since condemned +as rotten, mistake or not, men have thus far floated better by its aid, +than the popes ever did with their prettier principle; so that it will +be a long time yet before society repents. + +Whether the new President and his chief rival, Mr. Silas P. Ratcliffe, +were or were not servants of the servants of God, is not material +here. Servants they were to some one. No doubt many of those who call +themselves servants of the people are no better than wolves in sheep's +clothing, or asses in lions' skins. One may see scores of them any day +in the Capitol when Congress is in session, making noisy demonstrations, +or more usefully doing nothing. A wiser generation will employ them in +manual labour; as it is, they serve only themselves. But there are +two officers, at least, whose service is real--the President and his +Secretary of the Treasury. The Hoosier Quarryman had not been a week +in Washington before he was heartily home-sick for Indiana. No +maid-of-all-work in a cheap boarding-house was ever more harassed. +Everyone conspired against him. His enemies gave him no peace. All +Washington was laughing at his blunders, and ribald sheets, published +on a Sunday, took delight in printing the new Chief Magistrate's sayings +and doings, chronicled with outrageous humour, and placed by malicious +hands where the President could not but see them. He was sensitive to +ridicule, and it mortified him to the heart to find that remarks and +acts, which to him seemed sensible enough, should be capable of such +perversion. Then he was overwhelmed with public business. It came upon +him in a deluge, and he now, in his despair, no longer tried to control +it. He let it pass over him like a wave. His mind was muddied by the +innumerable visitors to whom he had to listen. But his greatest anxiety +was the Inaugural Address which, distracted as he was, he could not +finish, although in another week it must be delivered. He was nervous +about his Cabinet; it seemed to him that he could do nothing until he +had disposed of Ratcliffe. + +Already, thanks to the President's friends, Ratcliffe had become +indispensable; still an enemy, of course, but one whose hands must be +tied; a sort of Sampson, to be kept in bonds until the time came for +putting him out of the way, but in the meanwhile, to be utilized. This +point being settled, the President had in imagination begun to lean upon +him; for the last few days he had postponed everything till next week, +“when I get my Cabinet arranged;” which meant, when he got Ratcliffe's +assistance; and he fell into a panic whenever he thought of the chance +that Ratcliffe might refuse. + +He was pacing his room impatiently on Monday morning, an hour before +the time fixed for Ratcliffe's visit. His feelings still fluctuated +violently, and if he recognized the necessity of using Ratcliffe, he +was not the less determined to tie Ratcliffe's hands. He must be made +to come into a Cabinet where every other voice would be against him. He +must be prevented from having any patronage to dispose of. He must be +induced to accept these conditions at the start. How present this to him +in such a way as not to repel him at once? All this was needless, if +the President had only known it, but he thought himself a profound +statesman, and that his hand was guiding the destinies of America to his +own re-election. When at length, on the stroke of ten o'clock, Ratcliffe +entered the room, the President turned to him with nervous eagerness, +and almost before offering his hand, said that he hoped Mr. Ratcliffe +had come prepared to begin work at once. The Senator replied that, +if such was the President's decided wish, he would offer no further +opposition. Then the President drew himself up in the attitude of an +American Cato, and delivered a prepared address, in which he said that +he had chosen the members of his Cabinet with a careful regard to the +public interests; that Mr. Ratcliffe was essential to the combination; +that he expected no disagreement on principles, for there was but one +principle which he should consider fundamental, namely, that there +should be no removals from office except for cause; and that under these +circumstances he counted upon Mr. Ratcliffe's assistance as a matter of +patriotic duty. + +To all this Ratcliffe assented without a word of objection, and the +President, more convinced than ever of his own masterly statesmanship, +breathed more freely than for a week past. Within ten minutes they +were actively at work together, clearing away the mass of accumulated +business. + +The relief of the Quarryman surprised himself. Ratcliffe lifted the +weight of affairs from his shoulders with hardly an effort. He knew +everybody and everything. He took most of the President's visitors at +once into his own hands and dismissed them with great rapidity. He knew +what they wanted; he knew what recommendations were strong and what were +weak; who was to be treated with deference and who was to be sent +away abruptly; where a blunt refusal was safe, and where a pledge was +allowable. The President even trusted him with the unfinished manuscript +of the Inaugural Address, which Ratcliffe returned to him the next +day with such notes and suggestions as left nothing to be done beyond +copying them out in a fair hand. With all this, he proved himself a very +agreeable companion. He talked well and enlivened the work; he was not a +hard taskmaster, and when he saw that the President was tired, he boldly +asserted that there was no more business that could not as well wait +a day, and so took the weary Stone-cutter out to drive for a couple of +hours, and let him go peacefully to sleep in the carriage. They dined +together and Ratcliffe took care to send for Tom Lord to amuse them, for +Tom was a wit and a humourist, and kept the President in a laugh. Mr. +Lord ordered the dinner and chose the wines. He could be coarse enough +to suit even the President's palate, and Ratcliffe was not behindhand. +When the new Secretary went away at ten o'clock that night, his chief; +who was in high good humour with his dinner, his champagne, and his +conversation, swore with some unnecessary granite oaths, that Ratcliffe +was “a clever fellow anyhow,” and he was glad “that job was fixed.” + +The truth was that Ratcliffe had now precisely ten days before the new +Cabinet could be set in motion, and in these ten days he must establish +his authority over the President so firmly that nothing could shake it. +He was diligent in good works. Very soon the court began to feel his +hand. If a business letter or a written memorial came in, the President +found it easy to endorse: “Referred to the Secretary of the Treasury.” + If a visitor wanted anything for himself or another, the invariable +reply came to be: “Just mention it to Mr. Ratcliffe;” or, “I guess +Ratcliffe will see to that.” + +Before long he even made jokes in a Catonian manner; jokes that were not +peculiarly witty, but somewhat gruff and boorish, yet significant of a +resigned and self-contented mind. One morning he ordered Ratcliffe to +take an iron-clad ship of war and attack the Sioux in Montana, seeing +that he was in charge of the army and navy and Indians at once, and +Jack of all trades; and again he told a naval officer who wanted a +court-martial that he had better get Ratcliffe to sit on him for he was +a whole court-martial by himself. That Ratcliffe held his chief in no +less contempt than before, was probable but not certain, for he kept +silence on the subject before the world, and looked solemn whenever the +President was mentioned. + +Before three days were over, the President, with a little more than +his usual abruptness, suddenly asked him what he knew about this +fellow Carson, whom the Pennsylvanians were bothering him to put in his +Cabinet. Ratcliffe was guarded: he scarcely knew the man; Mr. Carson +was not in politics, he believed, but was pretty respectable--for a +Pennsylvanian. The President returned to the subject several times; got +out his list of Cabinet officers and figured industriously upon it with +a rather perplexed face; called Ratcliffe to help him; and at last +the “slate” was fairly broken, and Ratcliffe's eyes gleamed when the +President caused his list of nominations to be sent to the Senate on the +5th March, and Josiah B. Carson, of Pennsylvania, was promptly confirmed +as Secretary of the Interior. + +But his eyes gleamed still more humorously when, a few days afterwards, +the President gave him a long list of some two score names, and asked +him to find places for them. He assented good-naturedly, with a remark +that it might be necessary to make a few removals to provide for these +cases. + +“Oh, well,” said the President, “I guess there's just about as many as +that had ought to go out anyway. These are friends of mine; got to be +looked after. Just stuff 'em in somewhere.” + +Even he felt a little awkward about it, and, to do him justice, this +was the last that was heard about the fundamental rule of his +administration. + +Removals were fast and furious, until all Indiana became easy in +circumstances. And it was not to be denied that, by one means or +another, Ratcliffe's friends did come into their fair share of the +public money. + +Perhaps the President thought it best to wink at such use of the +Treasury patronage for the present, or was already a little overawed by +his Secretary. + +Ratcliffe's work was done. The public had, with the help of some +clever intrigue, driven its servants into the traces. Even an Indiana +stone-cutter could be taught that his personal prejudices must yield to +the public service. What mischief the selfishness, the ambition, or +the ignorance of these men might do, was another matter. As the affair +stood, the President was the victim of his own schemes. It remained to +be seen whether, at some future day, Mr. Ratcliffe would think it worth +his while to strangle his chief by some quiet Eastern intrigue, but +the time had gone by when the President could make use of either the +bow-string or the axe upon him. + +All this passed while Mrs. Lee was quietly puzzling her poor little +brain about her duty and her responsibility to Ratcliffe, who, +meanwhile, rarely failed to find himself on Sunday evenings by her side +in her parlour, where his rights were now so well established that no +one presumed to contest his seat, unless it were old Jacobi, who from +time to time reminded him that he was fallible and mortal. Occasionally, +though not often, Mr. Ratcliffe came at other times, as when he +persuaded Mrs. Lee to be present at the Inauguration, and to call on the +President's wife. Madeleine and Sybil went to the Capitol and had the +best places to see and hear the Inauguration, as well as a cold March +wind would allow. Mrs. Lee found fault with the ceremony; it was of +the earth, earthy, she said. An elderly western farmer, with silver +spectacles, new and glossy evening clothes, bony features, and stiff; +thin, gray hair, trying to address a large crowd of people, under the +drawbacks of a piercing wind and a cold in his head, was not a hero. +Sybil's mind was lost in wondering whether the President would not soon +die of pneumonia. Even this experience, however, was happy when compared +with that of the call upon the President's wife, after which Madeleine +decided to leave the new dynasty alone in future. The lady, who was +somewhat stout and coarse-featured, and whom Mrs. Lee declared she +wouldn't engage as a cook, showed qualities which, seen under that +fierce light which beats upon a throne, seemed ungracious. Her antipathy +to Ratcliffe was more violent than her husband's, and was even more +openly expressed, until the President was quite put out of countenance +by it. She extended her hostility to every one who could be supposed to +be Ratcliffe's friend, and the newspapers, as well as private gossip, +had marked out Mrs. Lee as one who, by an alliance with Ratcliffe, was +aiming at supplanting her own rule over the White House. + +Hence, when Mrs. Lightfoot Lee was announced, and the two sisters were +ushered into the presidential parlour, she put on a coldly patronizing +air, and in reply to Madeleine's hope that she found Washington +agreeable, she intimated that there was much in Washington which struck +her as awful wicked, especially the women; and, looking at Sybil, she +spoke of the style of dress in this city which she said she meant to do +what she could to put a stop to. She'd heard tell that people sent to +Paris for their gowns, just as though America wasn't good enough to make +one's clothes! Jacob (all Presidents' wives speak of their husbands by +their first names) had promised her to get a law passed against it. In +her town in Indiana, a young woman who was seen on the street in such +clothes wouldn't be spoken to. At these remarks, made with an air and +in a temper quite unmistakable, Madeleine became exasperated beyond +measure, and said that “Washington would be pleased to see the President +do something in regard to dress-reform--or any other reform;” and with +this allusion to the President's ante-election reform speeches, Mrs. Lee +turned her back and left the room, followed by Sybil in convulsions of +suppressed laughter, which would not have been suppressed had she seen +the face of their hostess as the door shut behind them, and the energy +with which she shook her head and said: “See if I don't reform you yet, +you--jade!” + +Mrs. Lee gave Ratcliffe a lively account of this interview, and he +laughed nearly as convulsively as Sybil over it, though he tried to +pacify her by saying that the President's most intimate friends openly +declared his wife to be insane, and that he himself was the person most +afraid of her. But Mrs. Lee declared that the President was as bad as +his wife; that an equally good President and President's wife could be +picked up in any corner-grocery between the Lakes and the Ohio; and +that no inducement should ever make her go near that coarse washerwoman +again. + +Ratcliffe did not attempt to change Mrs. Lee's opinion. Indeed he +knew better than any man how Presidents were made, and he had his +own opinions in regard to the process as well as the fabric produced. +Nothing Mrs. Lee could say now affected him. He threw off his +responsibility and she found it suddenly resting on her own shoulders. +When she spoke with indignation of the wholesale removals from office +with which the new administration marked its advent to power, he told +her the story of the President's fundamental principle, and asked her +what she would have him do. “He meant to tie my hands,” said Ratcliffe, +“and to leave his own free, and I accepted the condition. Can I resign +now on such a ground as this?” And Madeleine was obliged to agree that +he could not. She had no means of knowing how many removals he made in +his own interest, or how far he had outwitted the President at his own +game. He stood before her a victim and a patriot. Every step he had +taken had been taken with her approval. He was now in office to prevent +what evil he could, not to be responsible for the evil that was done; +and he honestly assured her that much worse men would come in when he +went out, as the President would certainly take good care that he did go +out when the moment arrived. + +Mrs. Lee had the chance now to carry out her scheme in coming to +Washington, for she was already deep in the mire of politics and +could see with every advantage how the great machine floundered about, +bespattering with mud even her own pure garments. Ratcliffe himself, +since entering the Treasury, had begun to talk with a sneer of the way +in which laws were made, and openly said that he wondered how government +got on at all. Yet he declared still that this particular government was +the highest expression of political thought. Mrs. Lee stared at him and +wondered whether he knew what thought was. To her the government seemed +to have less thought in it than one of Sybil's gowns, for if they, like +the government, were monstrously costly, they were at least adapted to +their purpose, the parts fitted together, and they were neither awkward +nor unwieldy. + +There was nothing very encouraging in all this, but it was better than +New York. At least it gave her something to look at, and to think about. +Even Lord Dunbeg preached practical philanthropy to her by the hour. +Ratcliffe, too, was compelled to drag himself out of the rut of machine +politics, and to justify his right of admission to her house. There Mr. +French discoursed at great length, until the fourth of March sent him +home to Connecticut; and he brought more than one intelligent member +of Congress to Mrs. Lee's parlour. Underneath the scum floating on the +surface of politics, Madeleine felt that there was a sort of healthy +ocean current of honest purpose, which swept the scum before it, and +kept the mass pure. + +This was enough to draw her on. She reconciled herself to accepting +the Ratcliffian morals, for she could see no choice. She herself had +approved every step she had seen him take. She could not deny that there +must be something wrong in a double standard of morality, but where was +it? Mr. + +Ratcliffe seemed to her to be doing good work with as pure means as he +had at hand. He ought to be encouraged, not reviled. What was she that +she should stand in judgment? + +Others watched her progress with less satisfaction. Mr. Nathan Gore was +one of these, for he came in one evening, looking much out of temper, +and, sitting down by her side he said he had come to bid good-bye and to +thank her for the kindness she had shown him; he was to leave Washington +the next morning. She too expressed her warm regret, but added that she +hoped he was only going in order to take his passage to Madrid. + +He shook his head. “I am going to take my passage,” said he, “but not to +Madrid. The fates have cut that thread. The President does not want my +services, and I can't blame him, for if our situations were reversed, I +should certainly not want his. He has an Indiana friend, who, I am told, +wanted to be postmaster at Indianapolis, but as this did not suit the +politicians, he was bought off at the exorbitant price of the Spanish +mission. But I should have no chance even if he were out of the way. The +President does not approve of me. He objects to the cut of my overcoat +which is unfortunately an English one. He also objects to the cut of my +hair. I am afraid that his wife objects to me because I am so happy as +to be thought a friend of yours.” + +Madeleine could only acknowledge that Mr. Gore's case was a bad one. +“But after all,” said she, “why should politicians be expected to love +you literary gentlemen who write history. Other criminal classes are not +expected to love their judges.” + +“No, but they have sense enough to fear them,” replied Gore +vindictively; “not one politician living has the brains or the art to +defend his own cause. The ocean of history is foul with the carcases of +such statesmen, dead and forgotten except when some historian fishes one +of them up to gibbet it.” + +Mr. Gore was so much out of temper that after this piece of extravagance +he was forced to pause a moment to recover himself. Then he went +on:--“You are perfectly right, and so is the President. I have no +business to be meddling in politics. It is not my place. The next time +you hear of me, I promise it shall not be as an office-seeker.” + +Then he rapidly changed the subject, saying that he hoped Mrs. Lee was +soon going northward again, and that they might meet at Newport. + +“I don't know,” replied Madeleine; “the spring is pleasant here, and we +shall stay till the warm weather, I think.” + +Mr. Gore looked grave. “And your politics!” said he; “are you satisfied +with what you have seen?” + +“I have got so far as to lose the distinction between right and wrong. +Isn't that the first step in politics?” + +Mr. Gore had no mind even for serious jesting. He broke out into a long +lecture which sounded like a chapter of some future history: “But Mrs. +Lee, is it possible that you don't see what a wrong path you are on. +If you want to know what the world is really doing to any good purpose, +pass a winter at Samarcand, at Timbuctoo, but not at Washington. Be a +bank-clerk, or a journeyman printer, but not a Congressman. Here you +will find nothing but wasted effort and clumsy intrigue.” + +“Do you think it a pity for me to learn that?” asked Madeleine when his +long essay was ended. + +“No!” replied Gore, hesitating; “not if you do learn it. But many people +never get so far, or only when too late. I shall be glad to hear +that you are mistress of it and have given up reforming politics. The +Spaniards have a proverb that smells of the stable, but applies to +people like you and me: The man who washes his donkey's head, loses time +and soap.” + +Gore took his leave before Madeleine had time to grasp all the impudence +of this last speech. Not until she was fairly in bed that night did it +suddenly flash on her mind that Mr. Gore had dared to caricature her as +wasting time and soap on Mr. Ratcliffe. At first she was violently +angry and then she laughed in spite of herself; there was truth in the +portrait. In secret, too, she was the less offended because she half +thought that it had depended only on herself to make of Mr. Gore +something more than a friend. If she had overheard his parting words to +Carrington, she would have had still more reason to think that a little +jealousy of Ratcliffe's success sharpened the barb of Gore's enmity. + +“Take care of Ratcliffe!” was his farewell; “he is a clever dog. He has +set his mark on Mrs. Lee. Look out that he doesn't walk off with her!” + +A little startled by this sudden confidence, Carrington could only ask +what he could do to prevent it. + +“Cats that go ratting, don't wear gloves,” replied Gore, who always +carried a Spanish proverb in his pocket. Carrington, after painful +reflection, could only guess that he wanted Ratcliffe's enemies to show +their claws. But how? + +Mrs. Lee not long afterwards spoke to Ratcliffe of her regret at Gore's +disappointment and hinted at his disgust. Ratcliffe replied that he had +done what he could for Gore, and had introduced him to the President, +who, after seeing him, had sworn his usual granitic oath that he would +sooner send his nigger farm-hand Jake to Spain than that man-milliner. +“You know how I stand;” added Ratcliffe; “what more could I do?” And +Mrs. Lee's implied reproach was silenced. + +If Gore was little pleased with Ratcliffe's conduct, poor Schneidekoupon +was still less so. He turned up again at Washington not long after +the Inauguration and had a private interview with the Secretary of the +Treasury. + +What passed at it was known only to themselves, but, whatever it +was, Schneidekoupon's temper was none the better for it. From his +conversations with Sybil, it seemed that there was some question about +appointments in which his protectionist friends were interested, and he +talked very openly about Ratcliffe's want of good faith, and how he had +promised everything to everybody and had failed to keep a single pledge; +if Schneidekoupon's advice had been taken, this wouldn't have happened. +Mrs. Lee told Ratcliffe that Schneidekoupon seemed out of temper, and +asked the reason. He only laughed and evaded the question, remarking +that cattle of this kind were always complaining unless they were +allowed to run the whole government; Schneidekoupon had nothing +to grumble about; no one had ever made any promises to him. But +nevertheless Schneidekoupon confided to Sybil his antipathy to Ratcliffe +and solemnly begged her not to let Mrs. Lee fall into his hands, to +which Sybil answered tartly that she only wished Mr. + +Schneidekoupon would tell her how to help it. + +The reformer French had also been one of Ratcliffe's backers in the +fight over the Treasury. He remained in Washington a few days after the +Inauguration, and then disappeared, leaving cards with P.P.C. in the +corner, at Mrs. Lee's door. Rumour said that he too was disappointed, +but he kept his own counsel, and, if he really wanted the mission +to Belgium, he contented himself with waiting for it. A respectable +stage-coach proprietor from Oregon got the place. + +As for Jacobi, who was not disappointed, and who had nothing to ask +for, he was bitterest of all. He formally offered his congratulations to +Ratcliffe on his appointment. This little scene occurred in Mrs. +Lee's parlour. The old Baron, with his most suave manner, and his most +Voltairean leer, said that in all his experience, and he had seen a +great many court intrigues, he had never seen anything better managed +than that about the Treasury. + +Ratcliffe was furiously angry, and told the Baron outright that foreign +ministers who insulted the governments to which they were accredited ran +a risk of being sent home. + +“Ce serait toujours un pis aller,” said Jacobi, seating himself with +calmness in Ratcliffe's favourite chair by Mrs. Lee's side. + +Madeleine, alarmed as she was, could not help interposing, and hastily +asked whether that remark was translatable. + +“Ah!” said the Baron; “I can do nothing with your language. You would +only say that it was a choice of evils, to go, or to stay.” + +“We might translate it by saying: 'One may go farther and fare worse,'” + rejoined Madeleine; and so the storm blew over for the time, and +Ratcliffe sulkily let the subject drop. Nevertheless the two men never +met in Mrs. + +Lee's parlour without her dreading a personal altercation. Little by +little, what with Jacobi's sarcasms and Ratcliffe's roughness, they +nearly ceased to speak, and glared at each other like quarrelsome dogs. +Madeleine was driven to all kinds of expedients to keep the peace, yet +at the same time she could not but be greatly amused by their behaviour, +and as their hatred of each other only stimulated their devotion to her, +she was content to hold an even balance between them. + +Nor were these all the awkward consequences of Ratcliffe's attentions. +Now that he was distinctly recognized as an intimate friend of Mrs. +Lee's, and possibly her future husband, no one ventured any longer to +attack him in her presence, but nevertheless she was conscious in a +thousand ways that the atmosphere became more and more dense under +the shadow of the Secretary of the Treasury. In spite of herself she +sometimes felt uneasy, as though there were conspiracy in the air. One +March afternoon she was sitting by her fire, with an English Review in +her hand, trying to read the last Symposium on the sympathies of Eternal +Punishment, when her servant brought in a card, and Mrs. Lee had barely +time to read the name of Mrs. Samuel Baker when that lady followed the +servant into the room, forcing the countersign in so effective style +that for once Madeleine was fairly disconcerted. Her manner when thus +intruded upon, was cool, but in this case, on Carrington's account, she +tried to smile courteously and asked her visitor to sit down, which Mrs. +Baker was doing without an invitation, very soon putting her hostess +entirely at her ease. She was, when seen without her veil, a showy woman +verging on forty, decidedly large, tall, over-dressed even in mourning, +and with a complexion rather fresher than nature had made it. + +There was a geniality in her address, savouring of easy Washington ways, +a fruitiness of smile, and a rich southern accent, that explained on +the spot her success in the lobby. She looked about her with fine +self-possession, and approved Mrs. Lee's surroundings with a cordiality +so different from the northern stinginess of praise, that Madeleine +was rather pleased than offended. Yet when her eye rested on the Corot, +Madeleine's only pride, she was evidently perplexed, and resorted to +eye-glasses, in order, as it seemed, to gain time for reflection. But +she was not to be disconcerted even by Corot's masterpiece: + +“How pretty! Japanese, isn't it? Sea-weeds seen through a fog. I went to +an auction yesterday, and do you know I bought a tea-pot with a picture +just like that.” + +Madeleine inquired with extreme interest about the auction, but after +learning all that Mrs. Baker had to tell, she was on the point of being +reduced to silence, when she bethought herself to mention Carrington. +Mrs. + +Baker brightened up at once, if she could be said to brighten where +there was no sign of dimness: + +“Dear Mr. Carrington! Isn't he sweet? I think he's a delicious man. I +don't know what I should do without him. Since poor Mr. Baker left +me, we have been together all the time. You know my poor husband left +directions that all his papers should be burned, and though I would not +say so unless you were such a friend of Mr. Carrington's, I reckon it's +just as well for some people that he did. I never could tell you what +quantities of papers Mr. Carrington and I have put in the fire; and we +read them all too.” + +Madeleine asked whether this was not dull work. + +“Oh, dear, no! You see I know all about it, and told Mr. Carrington the +story of every paper as we went on. It was quite amusing, I assure you.” + +Mrs. Lee then boldly said she had got from Mr. Carrington an idea that +Mrs. + +Baker was a very skilful diplomatist. + +“Diplomatist!” echoed the widow with her genial laugh; “Well! it was as +much that as anything, but there's not many diplomatists' wives in this +city ever did as much work as I used to do. Why, I knew half the members +of Congress intimately, and all of them by sight. I knew where they came +from and what they liked best. I could get round the greater part of +them, sooner or later.” + +Mrs. Lee asked what she did with all this knowledge. Mrs. Baker shook +her pink-and-white countenance, and almost paralysed her opposite +neighbour by a sort of Grande Duchesse wink: + +“Oh, my dear! you are new here. If you had seen Washington in war-times +and for a few years afterwards, you wouldn't ask that. We had more +congressional business than all the other agents put together. Every one +came to us then, to get his bill through, or his appropriation watched. +We were hard at work all the time. You see, one can't keep the run of +three hundred men without some trouble. My husband used to make lists +of them in books with a history of each man and all he could learn about +him, but I carried it all in my head.” + +“Do you mean that you could get them all to vote as you pleased?” asked +Madeleine. + +“Well! we got our bills through,” replied Mrs. Baker. + +“But how did you do it? did they take bribes?” + +“Some of them did. Some of them liked suppers and cards and theatres +and all sorts of things. Some of them could be led, and some had to be +driven like Paddy's pig who thought he was going the other way. Some +of them had wives who could talk to them, and some--hadn't,” said Mrs. +Baker, with a queer intonation in her abrupt ending. + +“But surely,” said Mrs. Lee, “many of them must have been above--I mean, +they must have had nothing to get hold of; so that you could manage +them.” + +Mrs. Baker laughed cheerfully and remarked that they were very much of a +muchness. + +“But I can't understand how you did it,” urged Madeleine; “now, how +would you have gone to work to get a respectable senator's vote--a man +like Mr. Ratcliffe, for instance?” + +“Ratcliffe!” repeated Mrs. Baker with a slight elevation of voice that +gave way to a patronising laugh. “Oh, my dear! don't mention names. +I should get into trouble. Senator Ratcliffe was a good friend of my +husband's. I guess Mr. Carrington could have told you that. But you see, +what we generally wanted was all right enough. We had to know where +our bills were, and jog people's elbows to get them reported in time. +Sometimes we had to convince them that our bill was a proper one, and +they ought to vote for it. Only now and then, when there was a great +deal of money and the vote was close, we had to find out what votes were +worth. It was mostly dining and talking, calling them out into the lobby +or asking them to supper. I wish I could tell you things I have seen, +but I don't dare. It wouldn't be safe. I've told you already more than +I ever said to any one else; but then you are so intimate with Mr. +Carrington, that I always think of you as an old friend.” + +Thus Mrs. Baker rippled on, while Mrs. Lee listened with more and more +doubt and disgust. The woman was showy, handsome in a coarse style, and +perfectly presentable. Mrs. Lee had seen Duchesses as vulgar. She knew +more about the practical working of government than Mrs. Lee could +ever expect or hope to know. Why then draw back from this interesting +lobbyist with such babyish repulsion? + +When, after a long, and, as she declared, a most charming call, Mrs. +Baker wended her way elsewhere and Madeleine had given the strictest +order that she should never be admitted again, Carrington entered, and +Madeleine showed him Mrs. Baker's card and gave a lively account of the +interview. + +“What shall I do with the woman?” she asked; “must I return her card?” + But Carrington declined to offer advice on this interesting point. “And +she says that Mr. Ratcliffe was a friend of her husband's and that you +could tell me about that.” + +“Did she say so?” remarked Carrington vaguely. + +“Yes! and that she knew every one's weak points and could get all their +votes.” + +Carrington expressed no surprise, and so evidently preferred to change +the subject, that Mrs. Lee desisted and said no more. + +But she determined to try the same experiment on Mr. Ratcliffe, and +chose the very next chance that offered. In her most indifferent manner +she remarked that Mrs. Sam Baker had called upon her and had initiated +her into the mysteries of the lobby till she had become quite ambitious +to start on that career. + +“She said you were a friend of her husband's,” added Madeleine softly. + +Ratcliffe's face betrayed no sign. + +“If you believe what those people tell you,” said he drily, “you will be +wiser than the Queen of Sheba.” + + + +Chapter IX + +WHENEVER a man reaches the top of the political ladder, his enemies +unite to pull him down. His friends become critical and exacting. Among +the many dangers of this sort which now threatened Ratcliffe, there was +one that, had he known it, might have made him more uneasy than any +of those which were the work of senators and congressmen. Carrington +entered into an alliance, offensive and defensive, with Sybil. It came +about in this wise. Sybil was fond of riding and occasionally, when +Carrington could spare the time, he went as her guide and protector in +these country excursions; for every Virginian, however out at elbows, +has a horse, as he has shoes or a shirt. + +In a thoughtless moment Carrington had been drawn into a promise that he +would take Sybil to Arlington. The promise was one that he did not hurry +to keep, for there were reasons which made a visit to Arlington anything +but a pleasure to him; but Sybil would listen to no excuses, and so it +came about that, one lovely March morning, when the shrubs and the trees +in the square before the house were just beginning, under the warmer +sun, to show signs of their coming wantonness, Sybil stood at the open +window waiting for him, while her new Kentucky horse before the door +showed what he thought of the delay by curving his neck, tossing his +head, and pawing the pavement. + +Carrington was late and kept her waiting so long, that the mignonette +and geraniums, which adorned the window, suffered for his slowness, +and the curtain tassels showed signs of wilful damage. Nevertheless he +arrived at length, and they set out together, choosing the streets +least enlivened by horse-cars and provision-carts, until they had crept +through the great metropolis of Georgetown and come upon the bridge +which crosses the noble river just where its bold banks open out to +clasp the city of Washington in their easy embrace. Then reaching the +Virginia side they cantered gaily up the laurel-margined road, with +glimpses of woody defiles, each carrying its trickling stream and rich +in promise of summer flowers, while from point to point they caught +glorious glimpses of the distant city and river. They passed the small +military station on the heights, still dignified by the name of +fort, though Sybil silently wondered how a fort was possible without +fortifications, and complained that there was nothing more warlike than +a “nursery of telegraph poles.” The day was blue and gold; everything +smiled and sparkled in the crisp freshness of the morning. Sybil was +in bounding spirits and not at all pleased to find that her companion +became moody and abstracted as they went on. “Poor Mr. Carrington!” + thought she to herself, “he is so nice; but when he puts on that solemn +air, one might as well go to sleep. I am quite certain no nice woman +will ever marry him if he looks like that;” and her practical mind ran +off among all the girls of her acquaintance, in search of one who would +put up with Carrington's melancholy face. She knew his devotion to her +sister, but had long ago rejected this as a hopeless chance. There was +a simplicity about Sybil's way of dealing with life, which had its +own charm. She never troubled herself about the impossible or the +unthinkable. She had feelings, and was rather quick in her sympathies +and sorrows, but she was equally quick in getting over them, and she +expected other people to do likewise. Madeleine dissected her own +feelings and was always wondering whether they were real or not; she +had a habit of taking off her mental clothing, as she might take off a +dress, and looking at it as though it belonged to some one else, and as +though sensations were manufactured like clothes. This seems to be one +of the easier ways of deadening sorrow, as though the mind could +teach itself to lop off its feelers. Sybil particularly disliked this +self-inspection. In the first place she did not understand it, and in +the second her mind was all feelers, and amputation was death. She could +no more analyse a feeling than doubt its existence, both which were +habits of her sister. + +How was Sybil to know what was passing in Carrington's mind? He was +thinking of nothing in which she supposed herself interested. He was +troubled with memories of civil war and of associations still earlier, +belonging to an age already vanishing or vanished; but what could she +know about civil war who had been almost an infant at the time? At this +moment, she happened to be interested in the baffle of Waterloo, for she +was reading “Vanity Fair,” and had cried as she ought for poor little +Emmy, when her husband, George Osborne, lay dead on the field there, +with a bullet through his heart. But how was she to know that here, only +a few rods before her, lay scores and hundreds of George Osbornes, or +his betters, and in their graves the love and hope of many Emmys, not +creatures of the imagination, but flesh and blood, like herself? To her, +there was no more in those associations which made Carrington groan in +the silence of his thoughts, than if he had been old Kaspar, and she the +little Wilhelmine. What was a skull more or less to her? What concern +had she in the famous victory? + +Yet even Sybil was startled as she rode through the gate and found +herself suddenly met by the long white ranks of head-stones, stretching +up and down the hill-sides by thousands, in order of baffle; as though +Cadmus had reversed his myth, and had sown living men, to come up +dragons' teeth. She drew in her horse with a shiver and a sudden impulse +to cry. Here was something new to her. This was war--wounds, disease, +death. She dropped her voice and with a look almost as serious as +Carrington's, asked what all these graves meant. When Carrington told +her, she began for the first time to catch some dim notion why his +face was not quite as gay as her own. Even now this idea was not very +precise, for he said little about himself, but at least she grappled +with the fact that he had actually, year after year, carried arms +against these men who lay at her feet and who had given their lives for +her cause. It suddenly occurred to her as a new thought that perhaps +he himself might have killed one of them with his own hand. There was +a strange shock in this idea. She felt that Carrington was further from +her. He gained dignity in his rebel isolation. She wanted to ask him +how he could have been a traitor, and she did not dare. Carrington a +traitor! + +Carrington killing her friends! The idea was too large to grasp. She +fell back on the simpler task of wondering how he had looked in his +rebel uniform. + +They rode slowly round to the door of the house and dismounted, after +he had with some difficulty found a man to hold their horses. From the +heavy brick porch they looked across the superb river to the raw and +incoherent ugliness of the city, idealised into dreamy beauty by the +atmosphere, and the soft background of purple hills behind. Opposite +them, with its crude “thus saith the law” stamped on white dome and +fortress-like walls, rose the Capitol. + +Carrington stood with her a short time while they looked at the view; +then said he would rather not go into the house himself, and sat down +on the steps while she strolled alone through the rooms. These were bare +and gaunt, so that she, with her feminine sense of fitness, of course +considered what she would do to make them habitable. She had a neat +fancy for furniture, and distributed her tones and half tones and bits +of colour freely about the walls and ceilings, with a high-backed +chair here, a spindle-legged sofa there, and a claw-footed table in the +centre, until her eye was caught by a very dirty deal desk, on which +stood an open book, with an inkstand and some pens. On the leaf she read +the last entry: “Eli M. Grow and lady, Thermopyle Centre.” Not even the +graves outside had brought the horrors of war so near. + +What a scourge it was! This respectable family turned out of such a +lovely house, and all the pretty old furniture swept away before a horde +of coarse invaders “with ladies.” Did the hosts of Attila write their +names on visiting books in the temple of Vesta and the house of Sallust? +What a new terror they would have added to the name of the scourge of +God! Sybil returned to the portico and sat down by Carrington on the +steps. + +“How awfully sad it is!” said she; “I suppose the house was prettily +furnished when the Lees lived here? Did you ever see it then?” + +Sybil was not very profound, but she had sympathy, and at this moment +Carrington felt sorely in need of comfort. He wanted some one to share +his feelings, and he turned towards her hungry for companionship. + +“The Lees were old family friends of mine,” said he. “I used to stay +here when I was a boy, even as late as the spring of 1861. The last time +I sat here, it was with them. We were wild about disunion and talked of +nothing else. I have been trying to recall what was said then. We +never thought there would be war, and as for coercion, it was nonsense. +Coercion, indeed! The idea was ridiculous. I thought so, too, though I +was a Union man and did not want the State to go out. But though I felt +sure that Virginia must suffer, I never thought we could be beaten. Yet +now I am sitting here a pardoned rebel, and the poor Lees are driven +away and their place is a grave-yard.” + +Sybil became at once absorbed in the Lees and asked many questions, all +which Carrington gladly answered. He told her how he had admired and +followed General Lee through the war. “We thought he was to be our +Washington, you know; and perhaps he had some such idea himself;” and +then, when Sybil wanted to hear about the baffles and the fighting, he +drew a rough map on the gravel path to show her how the two lines had +run, only a few miles away; then he told her how he had carried his +musket day after day over all this country, and where he had seen his +battles. Sybil had everything to learn; the story came to her with all +the animation of real life, for here under her eyes were the graves of +her own champions, and by her side was a rebel who had stood under our +fire at Malvern Hill and at South Mountain, and who was telling her how +men looked and what they thought in face of death. She listened with +breathless interest, and at last summoned courage to ask in an awestruck +tone whether Carrington had ever killed any one himself. She was +relieved, although a little disappointed, when he said that he believed +not; he hoped not; though no private who has discharged a musket in +baffle can be quite sure where the bullet went. “I never tried to kill +any one,” said he, “though they tried to kill me incessantly.” Then +Sybil begged to know how they had tried to kill him, and he told her one +or two of those experiences, such as most soldiers have had, when he had +been fired upon and the balls had torn his clothes or drawn blood. Poor +Sybil was quite overcome, and found a deadly fascination in the horror. +As they sat together on the steps with the glorious view spread before +them, her attention was so closely fixed on his story that she saw +neither the view nor even the carriages of tourists who drove up, looked +about, and departed, envying Carrington his occupation with the lovely +girl. + +She was in imagination rushing with him down the valley of Virginia on +the heels of our flying army, or gloomily toiling back to the Potomac +after the bloody days at Gettysburg, or watching the last grand debâcle +on the road from Richmond to Appomattox. They would have sat there till +sunset if Carrington had not at length insisted that they must go, and +then she rose slowly with a deep sigh and undisguised regret. + +As they rode away, Carrington, whose thoughts were not devoted to his +companion so entirely as they should have been, ventured to say that he +wished her sister had come with them, but he found that his hint was not +well received. + +Sybil emphatically rejected the idea: “I'm very glad she didn't come. If +she had, you would have talked with her all the time, and I should have +been left to amuse myself. You would have been discussing things, and I +hate discussions. She would have been hunting for first principles, +and you would have been running about, trying to catch some for her. +Besides, she is coming herself some Sunday with that tiresome Mr. +Ratcliffe. I don't see what she finds in that man to amuse her. Her +taste is getting to be demoralised in Washington. Do you know, Mr. +Carrington, I'm not clever or serious, like Madeleine, and I can't read +laws, and hate politics, but I've more common sense than she has, and +she makes me cross with her. I understand now why young widows are +dangerous, and why they're bumed at their husband's funerals in India. +Not that I want to have Madeleine burned, for she's a dear, good +creature, and I love her better than anything in the world; but she will +certainly do herself some dreadful mischief one of these days; she +has the most extravagant notions about self-sacrifice and duty; if she +hadn't luckily thought of taking charge of me, she would have done some +awful thing long ago, and if I could only be a little wicked, she would +be quite happy all the rest of her life in reforming me; but now she has +got hold of that Mr. Ratcliffe, and he is trying to make her think she +can reform him, and if he does, it's all up with us. Madeleine will just +go and break her heart over that odious, great, coarse brute, who only +wants her money.” + +Sybil delivered this little oration with a degree of energy that went to +Carrington's heart. She did not often make such sustained efforts, and +it was clear that on this subject she had exhausted her whole mind. +Carrington was delighted, and urged her on. “I dislike Mr. Ratcliffe as +much as you do;--more perhaps. So does every one who knows much about +him. But we shall only make the matter worse if we interfere. What can +we do?” + +“That is just what I tell everybody,” resumed Sybil. “There is Victoria +Dare always telling me I ought to do something; and Mr. Schneidekoupon +too; just as though I could do anything. Madeleine has done nothing but +get into mischief here. Half the people think her worldly and ambitious. +Only last night that spiteful old woman, Mrs. Clinton, said to me: 'Your +sister is quite spoiled by Washington. She is more wild for power than +any human being I ever saw.' I was dreadfully angry and told her she was +quite mistaken--Madeleine was not the least spoiled. But I couldn't +say that she was not fond of power, for she is; but not in the way Mrs. +Clinton meant. You should have seen her the other evening when Mr. +Ratcliffe said about some matter of public business that he would do +whatever she thought right; she spoke up quite sharply for her, with a +scornful little laugh, and said that he had better do what he thought +right. He looked for a moment almost angry, and muttered something about +women's being incomprehensible. He is always trying to tempt her with +power. She might have had long ago all the power he could give her, but +I can see, and he sees too, that she always keeps him at arm's length. +He doesn't like it, but he expects one of these days to find a bribe +that will answer. I wish we had never come to Washington. New York is so +much nicer and the people there are much more amusing; they dance ever +so much better and send one flowers all the time, and then they never +talk about first principles. Maude had her hospitals and paupers and +training school, and got along very well. It was so safe. But when I say +so to her, she only smiles in a patronising kind of way, and tells me +that I shall have as much of Newport as I want; just as though I were a +child, and not a woman of twenty-five. Poor Maude! I can't stay with her +if she marries Mr. Ratcliffe, and it would break my heart to leave her +with that man. Do you think he would beat her? Does he drink? I would +almost rather be beaten a little, if I cared for a man, than be taken +out to Peonia. Oh, Mr. Carrington! you are our only hope. She will +listen to you. Don't let her marry that dreadful politician.” + +To all this pathetic appeal, some parts of which were as little +calculated to please Carrington as Ratcliffe himself, Carrington +answered that he was ready to do all in his power but that Sybil must +tell him when and how to act. + +“Then, it's a bargain,” said she; “whenever I want you, I shall call on +you for help, and you shall prevent the marriage.” + +“Alliance offensive and defensive,” said he, laughing; “war to the knife +on Ratcliffe. We will have his scalp if necessary, but I rather think he +will soon commit hari-kari himself if we leave him alone.” + +“Madeleine will like him all the better if he does anything Japanese,” + replied Sybil, with great seriousness; “I wish there was more Japanese +bric-à-brac here, or any kind of old pots and pans to talk about. A +little art would be good for her. What a strange place this is, and how +people do stand on their heads in it! Nobody thinks like anyone else. +Victoria Dare says she is trying on principle not to be good, because +she wants to keep some new excitements for the next world. I'm sure she +practices as she preaches. Did you see her at Mrs. Clinton's last night. +She behaved more outrageously than ever. She sat on the stairs all +through supper, looking like a demure yellow cat with two bouquets in +her paws--and I know Lord Dunbeg sent one of them;--and she actually +let Mr. French feed her with ice-cream from a spoon. She says she was +showing Lord Dunbeg a phase, and that he is going to put it into his +article on American Manners and Customs in the Quarterly, but I don't +think it's nice, do you, Mr. Carrington? I wish Madeleine had her to +take care of. She would have enough to do then, I can tell her.” + +And so, gently prattling, Miss Sybil returned to the city, her alliance +with Carrington completed; and it was a singular fact that she never +again called him dull. There was henceforward a look of more positive +pleasure and cordiality on her face when he made his appearance wherever +she might be; and the next time he suggested a horseback excursion she +instantly agreed to go, although aware that she had promised a younger +gentleman of the diplomatic body to be at home that same afternoon, and +the good fellow swore polyglot oaths on being turned away from her door. + +Mr. Ratcliffe knew nothing of this conspiracy against his peace and +prospects. Even if he had known it, he might only have laughed, and +pursued his own path without a second thought. Yet it was certain that +he did not think Carrington's enmity a thing to be overlooked, and from +the moment of his obtaining a clue to its cause, he had begun to take +precautions against it. Even in the middle of the contest for the +Treasury, he had found time to listen to Mr. Wilson Keens report on the +affairs of the late Samuel Baker. + +Mr. Keen came to him with a copy of Baker's will and with memoranda of +remarks made by the unsuspecting Mrs. Baker; “from which it appears,” + said he, “that Baker, having no time to put his affairs in order, left +special directions that his executors should carefully destroy all +papers that might be likely to compromise individuals.” + +“What is the executor's name?” interrupted Ratcliffe. + +“The executor's name is--John Carrington,” said Keen, methodically +referring to his copy of the will. + +Ratcliffe's face was impassive, but the inevitable, “I knew it,” almost +sprang to his lips. He was rather pleased at the instinct which had led +him so directly to the right trail. + +Keen went on to say that from Mrs. Baker's conversation it was certain +that the testator's directions had been carried out, and that the great +bulk of these papers had been burned. + +“Then it will be useless to press the inquiry further,” said Ratcliffe; +“I am much obliged to you for your assistance,” and he turned the +conversation to the condition of Mr. Keen's bureau in the Treasury +department. + +The next time Ratcliffe saw Mrs. Lee, after his appointment to +the Treasury was confirmed, he asked her whether she did not think +Carrington very well suited for public service, and when she warmly +assented, he said it had occurred to him to offer the place of Solicitor +of the Treasury to Mr. + +Carrington, for although the actual salary might not be very much more +than he earned by his private practice, the incidental advantages to +a Washington lawyer were considerable; and to the Secretary it was +especially necessary to have a solicitor in whom he could place entire +confidence. Mrs. Lee was pleased by this motion of Ratcliffe's, the more +because she had supposed that Ratcliffe had no liking for Carrington. +She doubted whether Carrington would accept the place, but she hoped +that it might modify his dislike for Ratcliffe, and she agreed to sound +him on the subject. There was something a little compromising in +thus allowing herself to appear as the dispenser of Mr. Ratcliffe's +patronage, but she dismissed this objection on the ground that +Carrington's interests were involved, and that it was for him to judge +whether he should take the place or not. Perhaps the world would not be +so charitable if the appointment were made. What then? Mrs. Lee asked +herself the question and did not feel quite at ease. + +So far as Carrington was concerned, she might have dismissed her doubts. + +There was not a chance of his taking the place, as very soon appeared. +When she spoke to him on the subject, and repeated what Ratcliffe had +said, his face flushed, and he sat for some moments in silence. He never +thought very rapidly, but now the ideas seemed to come so fast as to +bewilder his mind. + +The situation flashed before his eyes like electric sparks. His first +impression was that Ratcliffe wanted to buy him; to tie his tongue; to +make him run, like a fastened dog, under the waggon of the Secretary of +the Treasury. His second notion was that Ratcliffe wanted to put Mrs. +Lee under obligations, in order to win her regard; and, again, that he +wanted to raise himself in her esteem by posing as a friend of honest +administration and unassisted virtue. Then suddenly it occurred to him +that the scheme was to make him appear jealous and vindictive; to put +him in an attitude where any reason he might give for declining would +bear a look of meanness, and tend to separate him from Mrs. Lee. +Carrington was so absorbed by these thoughts, and his mind worked so +slowly, that he failed to hear one or two remarks addressed to him by +Mrs. Lee, who became a little alarmed, under the impression that he was +unexpectedly paralyzed. + +When at length he heard her and attempted to frame an answer, his +embarrassment increased. He could only stammer that he was sorry to be +obliged to decline, but this office was one he could not undertake. + +If Madeleine felt a little relieved by this decision, she did not show +it. + +From her manner one might have supposed it to be her fondest wish that +Carrington should be Solicitor of the Treasury. She cross-questioned +him with obstinacy. Was not the offer a good one?--and he was obliged to +confess that it was. Were the duties such as he could not perform? Not +at all! there was nothing in the duties which alarmed him. Did he object +to it because of his southern prejudices against the administration? Oh, +no! he had no political feeling to stand in his way. What, then, could +be his reason for refusing? + +Carrington resorted again to silence, until Mrs. Lee, a little +impatiently, asked whether it was possible that his personal dislike +to Racliffe could blind him so far as to make him reject so fair a +proposal. Carrington, finding himself more and more uncomfortable, rose +restlessly from his chair and paced the room. He felt that Ratclife had +fairly out-generaled him, and he was at his wits' end to know what card +he could play that would not lead directly into Ratcliffe's trump suit. +To refuse such an offer was hard enough at best, for a man who wanted +money and professional advancement as he did, but to injure himself and +help Ratcliffe by this refusal, was abominably hard. Nevertheless, +he was obliged to admit that he would rather not take a position so +directly under Ratcliffe's control. Madeleine said no more, but he +thought she looked annoyed, and he felt himself in an intolerably +painful situation. He was not certain that she herself might not have +had some share in proposing the plan, and that his refusal might not +have some mortifying consequences for her. What must she think of him, +then? + +At this very moment he would have given his right arm for a word of real +affection from Mrs. Lee. He adored her. He would willingly enough have +damned himself for her. There was no sacrifice he would not have made to +bring her nearer to him. In his upright, quiet, simple kind of way, he +immolated himself before her. For months his heart had ached with this +hopeless passion. He recognized that it was hopeless. He knew that she +would never love him, and, to do her justice, she never had given him +reason to suppose that it was in her power to love him, r any man. And +here he stood, obliged to appear ungrateful and prejudiced, mean and +vindictive, in her eyes. He took his seat again, looking so unutterably +dejected, his patient face so tragically mournful, that Madeleine, after +a while, began to see the absurd side of the matter, and presently burst +into a laugh “Please do not look so frightfully miserable!” said she; +“I did not mean to make you unhappy. After all, what does it matter? You +have a perfect right to refuse, and, for my part, I have not the least +wish to see you accept.” + +On this, Carrington brightened, and declared that if she thought him +right in declining, he cared for nothing else. It was only the idea of +hurting her feelings that weighed on his mind. But in saying this, he +spoke in a tone that implied a deeper feeling, and made Mrs. Lee again +look grave and sigh. + +“Ah, Mr. Carrington,” she said, “this world will not run as we want. +Do you suppose the time will ever come when every one will be good and +happy and do just what they ought? I thought this offer might possibly +take one anxiety off your shoulders. I am sorry now that I let myself be +led into making it.” + +Carrington could not answer her. He dared not trust his voice. He rose +to go, and as she held out her hand, he suddenly raised it to his lips, +and so left her. She sat for a moment with tears in her eyes after he +was gone. She thought she knew all that was in his mind, and with +a woman's readiness to explain every act of men by their consuming +passions for her own sex, she took it as a matter of course that +jealousy was the whole cause of Carrington's hostility to Ratcliffe, +and she pardoned it with charming alacrity. “Ten years ago, I could have +loved him,” she thought to herself, and then, while she was half smiling +at the idea, suddenly another thought flashed upon her, and she threw +her hand up before her face as though some one had struck her a blow. +Carrington had reopened the old wound. + +When Ratcliffe came to see her again, which he did very shortly +afterwards, glad of so good an excuse, she told him of Carrington's +refusal, adding only that he seemed unwilling to accept any position +that had a political character. Ratcliffe showed no sign of displeasure; +he only said, in a benignant tone, that he was sorry to be unable to +do something for so good a friend of hers; thus establishing, at all +events, his claim on her gratitude. As for Carrington, the offer which +Ratcliffe had made was not intended to be accepted, and Carrington +could not have more embarrassed the secretary than by closing with +it. Ratcliffe's object had been to settle for his own satisfaction the +question of Carrington's hostility, for he knew the man well enough to +feel sure that in any event he would act a perfectly straightforward +part. If he accepted, he would at least be true to his chief. If he +refused, as Ratcliffe expected, it would be a proof that some means must +be found of getting him out of the way. In any case the offer was a new +thread in the net that Mr. Ratcliffe flattered himself he was rapidly +winding about the affections and ambitions of Mrs. Lee. Yet he had +reasons of his own for thinking that Carrington, more easily than any +other man, could cut the meshes of this net if he chose to do so, and +therefore that it would be wiser to postpone action until Carrington +were disposed of. + +Without a moment's delay he made inquiries as to all the vacant +or eligible offices in the gift of the government outside his own +department. Very few of these would answer his purpose. He wanted some +temporary law business that would for a time take its holder away to a +distance, say to Australia or Central Asia, the further the better; it +must be highly paid, and it must be given in such a way as not to excite +suspicion that Ratcliffe was concerned in the matter. Such an office was +not easily found. There is little law business in Central Asia, and +at this moment there was not enough to require a special agent in +Australia. Carrington could hardly be induced to lead an expedition +to the sources of the Nile in search of business merely to please Mr. +Ratcliffe, nor could the State Department offer encouragement to a hope +that government would pay the expenses of such an expedition. The +best that Ratcliffe could do was to select the place of counsel to the +Mexican claims-commission which was soon to meet in the city of +Mexico, and which would require about six months' absence. By a little +management he could contrive to get the counsel sent away in advance +of the commission, in order to work up a part of the case on the spot. +Ratcliffe acknowledged that Mexico was too near, but he drily remarked +to himself that if Carrington could get back in time to dislodge him +after he had once got a firm hold on Mrs. Lee, he would never try to run +another caucus. + +The point once settled in his own mind, Ratcliffe, with his usual +rapidity of action, carried his scheme into effect. In this there was +little difficulty. He dropped in at the office of the Secretary of State +within eight-and-forty hours after his last conversation with Mrs. +Lee. During these early days of every new administration, the absorbing +business of government relates principally to appointments. The +Secretary of the Treasury was always ready to oblige his colleagues in +the Cabinet by taking care of their friends to any reasonable extent. +The Secretary of State was not less courteous. The moment he understood +that Mr. Ratcliffe had a strong wish to secure the appointment of +a certain person as counsel to the Mexican claims-commission, the +Secretary of State professed readiness to gratify him, and when he heard +who the proposed person was, the suggestion was hailed with pleasure, +for Carrington was well known and much liked at the Department, and +was indeed an excellent man for the place. Ratcliffe hardly needed to +promise an equivalent. The business was arranged in ten minutes. + +“I only need say,” added Ratcliffe, “that if my agency in the affair is +known, Mr. Carrington will certainly refuse the place, for he is one of +your old-fashioned Virginia planters, proud as Lucifer, and willing +to accept nothing by way of favour. I will speak to your Assistant +Secretary about it, and the recommendation shall appear to come from +him.” + +The very next day Carrington received a private note from his old +friend, the Assistant Secretary of State, who was overjoyed to do him a +kindness. + +The note asked him to call at the Department at his earliest +convenience. He went, and the Assistant Secretary announced that he +had recommended Carrington's appointment as counsel to the +Mexican claims-commission, and that the Secretary had approved the +recommendation. “We want a Southern man, a lawyer with a little +knowledge of international law, one who can go at once, and, above all, +an honest man. You fit the description to a hair; so pack your trunk as +soon as you like.” + +Carrington was startled. Coming as it did, this offer was not only +unobjectionable, but tempting. It was hard for him even to imagine a +reason for hesitation. From the first he felt that he must go, and yet +to go was the very last thing he wanted to do. That he should suspect +Ratcliffe to be at the bottom of this scheme of banishment was a matter +of course, and he instantly asked whether any influence had been used +in his favour; but the Assistant Secretary so stoutly averred that +the appointment was made on his recommendation alone, as to block all +further inquiry. Technically this assertion was exact, and it made +Carrington feel that it would be base ingratitude on his part not to +accept a favour so handsomely offered. + +Yet he could not make up his mind to acceptance. He begged four and +twenty hours' delay, in order, as he said, to see whether he could +arrange his affairs for a six months' absence, although he knew there +would be no difficulty in his doing so. He went away and sat in his +office alone, gloomily wondering what he could do, although from the +first he saw that the situation was only too clear, and there could not +be the least dark corner of a doubt to crawl into. Six months ago he +would have jumped at this offer. + +What had happened within six months to make it seem a disaster? + +Mrs. Lee! There was the whole story. To go away now was to give up Mrs. +Lee, and probably to give her up to Ratcliffe. Carrington gnashed his +teeth when he thought how skilfully Ratcliffe was playing his cards. The +longer he reflected, the more certain he felt that Ratcliffe was at +the bottom of this scheme to get rid of him; and yet, as he studied +the situation, it occurred to him that after all it was possible for +Ratcliffe to make a blunder. This Illinois politician was clever, and +understood men; but a knowledge of men is a very different thing from +a knowledge of women. Carrington himself had no great experience in the +article of women, but he thought he knew more than Ratcliffe, who was +evidently relying most on his usual theory of political corruption as +applied to feminine weaknesses, and who was only puzzled at finding how +high a price Mrs. Lee set on herself. If Ratcliffe were really at the +bottom of the scheme for separating Carrington from her, it could only +be because he thought that six months, or even six weeks, would +be enough to answer his purpose. And on reaching this point in his +reflections, Carrington suddenly rose, lit a cigar, and walked up and +down his room steadily for the next hour, with the air of a general +arranging a plan of campaign, or a lawyer anticipating his opponent's +line of argument. + +On one point his mind was made up. He would accept. If Ratcliffe really +had a hand in this move, he should be gratified. If he had laid a trap, +he should be caught in it. And when the evening came, Carrington took +his hat and walked off to call upon Mrs. Lee. + +He found the sisters alone and quietly engaged in their occupations. + +Madeleine was dramatically mending an open-work silk stocking, a +delicate and difficult task which required her whole mind. Sybil was at +the piano as usual, and for the first time since he had known her, she +rose when he came in, and, taking her work-basket, sat down to share in +the conversation. She meant to take her place as a woman, henceforward. +She was tired of playing girl. Mr. Carrington should see that she was +not a fool. + +Carrington plunged at once into his subject, and announced the offer +made to him, at which Madeleine expressed delight, and asked many +questions. What was the pay? How soon must he go? How long should he be +away? Was there danger from the climate? and finally she added, with a +smile, “What am I to say to Mr. Ratcliffe if you accept this offer after +refusing his?” As for Sybil, she made one reproachful exclamation: “Oh, +Mr. Carrington!” and sank back into silence and consternation. Her +first experiment at taking a stand of her own in the world was not +encouraging. She felt betrayed. + +Nor was Carrington gay. However modest a man may be, only an idiot +can forget himself entirely in pursuing the moon and the stars. In the +bottom of his soul, he had a lingering hope that when he told his +story, Madeleine might look up with a change of expression, a glance +of unpremeditated regard, a little suffusion of the eyes, a little +trembling of the voice. To see himself relegated to Mexico with such +cheerful alacrity by the woman he loved was not the experience he would +have chosen. He could not help feeling that his hopes were disposed of, +and he watched her with a painful sinking of the heart, which did not +lead to lightness of conversation. Madeleine herself felt that her +expressions needed to be qualified, and she tried to correct her +mistake. What should she do without a tutor? she said. He must let her +have a list of books to read while he was away: they were themselves +going north in the middle of May, and Carrington would be back by the +time they returned in December. After all, they should see as little of +him during the summer if he were in Virginia as if he were in Mexico. + +Carrington gloomily confessed that he was very unwilling to go; that he +wished the idea had never been suggested; that he should be perfectly +happy if for any reason the scheme broke down; but he gave no +explanation of his feeling, and Madeleine had too much tact to press +for one. She contented herself by arguing against it, and talking as +vivaciously as she could. Her heart really bled for him as she saw +his face grow more and more pathetic in its quiet expression of +disappointment. But what could she say or do? He sat till after ten +o'clock; he could not tear himself away. He felt that this was the end +of his pleasure in life; he dreaded the solitude of his thoughts. +Mrs. Lee's resources began to show signs of exhaustion. Long pauses +intervened between her remarks; and at length Carrington, with a +superhuman effort, apologized for inflicting himself upon her so +unmercifully. If she knew, he said, how he dreaded being alone, she +would forgive him. Then he rose to go, and, in taking leave, asked Sybil +if she was inclined to ride the next day; if so, he was at her service. +Sybil's face brightened as she accepted the invitation. + +Mrs. Lee, a day or two afterwards, did mention Carrington's appointment +to Mr. Ratcliffe, and she told Carrington that the Secretary certainly +looked hurt and mortified, but showed it only by almost instantly +changing the subject. + + + +Chapter X + +THE next morning Carrington called at the Department and announced his +acceptance of the post. He was told that his instructions would be ready +in about a fortnight, and that he would be expected to start as soon as +he received them; in the meanwhile, he must devote himself to the study +of a mass of papers in the Department. There was no trifling allowable +here. + +Carrington had to set himself vigorously to work. This did not, however, +prevent him from keeping his appointment with Sybil, and at four o'clock +they started together, passing out into the quiet shadows of Rock Creek, +and seeking still lanes through the woods where their horses walked side +by side, and they themselves could talk without the risk of criticism +from curious eyes. It was the afternoon of one of those sultry and +lowering spring days when life germinates rapidly, but as yet gives no +sign, except perhaps some new leaf or flower pushing its soft head +up against the dead leaves that have sheltered it. The two riders had +something of the same sensation, as though the leafless woods and +the laurel thickets, the warm, moist air and the low clouds, were a +protection and a soft shelter. Somewhat to Carrington's surprise, he +found that it was pleasant to have Sybil's company. He felt towards her +as to a sister--a favourite sister. + +She at once attacked him for abandoning her and breaking his treaty so +lately made, and he tried to gain her sympathy by saying that if she +knew how much he was troubled, she would forgive him. Then when Sybil +asked whether he really must go and leave her without any friend whom +she could speak to, his feelings got the better of him: he could not +resist the temptation to confide all his troubles in her, since there +was no one else in whom he could confide. He told her plainly that he +was in love with her sister. + +“You say that love is nonsense, Miss Ross. I tell you it is no such +thing. For weeks and months it is a steady physical pain, an ache about +the heart, never leaving one, by night or by day; a long strain on one's +nerves like toothache or rheumatism, not intolerable at any one instant, +but exhausting by its steady drain on the strength. It is a disease to +be borne with patience, like any other nervous complaint, and to be +treated with counter-irritants. My trip to Mexico will be good for it, +but that is not the reason why I must go.” + +Then he told her all his private circumstances; the ruin which the war +had brought on him and his family; how, of his two brothers, one +had survived the war only to die at home, a mere wreck of disease, +privation, and wounds; the other had been shot by his side, and bled +slowly to death in his arms during the awful carnage in the Wilderness; +how his mother and two sisters were struggling for a bare subsistence +on a wretched Virginian farm, and how all his exertions barely kept them +from beggary. + +“You have no conception of the poverty to which our southern women +are reduced since the war,” said he; “they are many of them literally +without clothes or bread.” The fee he should earn by going to Mexico +would double his income this year. Could he refuse? Had he a right to +refuse? And poor Carrington added, with a groan, that if he alone were +in question, he would sooner be shot than go. + +Sybil listened with tears in her eyes. She never before had seen a man +show suffering. The misery she had known in life had been more or less +veiled to her and softened by falling on older and friendly shoulders. +She now got for the first time a clear view of Carrington, apart from +the quiet exterior in which the man was hidden. She felt quite sure, by +a sudden flash of feminine inspiration, that the curious look of patient +endurance on his face was the work of a single night when he had held +his brother in his arms, and knew that the blood was draining drop by +drop from his side, in the dense, tangled woods, beyond the reach of +help, hour after hour, till the voice failed and the limbs grew stiff +and cold. When he had finished his story, she was afraid to speak. She +did not know how to show her sympathy, and she could not bear to seem +unsympathetic. In her embarrassment she fairly broke down and could only +dry her eyes in silence. + +Having once got this weight of confidence off his mind, Carrington felt +comparatively gay and was ready to make the best of things. He laughed +at himself to drive away the tears of his pretty companion, and obliged +her to take a solemn pledge never to betray him. “Of course your sister +knows it all,” he said; “but she must never know that I told you, and I +never would tell any one but you.” + +Sybil promised faithfully to keep his confidence to herself, and she +went on to defend her sister. + +“You must not blame Madeleine,” said she; “if you knew as well as I do +what she has been through, you would not think her cold. You do know how +suddenly her husband died, after only one day's illness, and what a nice +fellow he was. She was very fond of him, and his death seemed to stun +her. We hardly knew what to make of it, she was so quiet and natural. +Then just a week later her little child died of diphtheria, suffering +horribly, and she wild with despair because she could not relieve it. +After that, she was almost insane; indeed, I have always thought she was +quite insane for a time. I know she was excessively violent and wanted +to kill herself, and I never heard any one rave as she did about +religion and resignation and God. After a few weeks she became quiet and +stupid and went about like a machine; and at last she got over it, but +has never been what she was before. You know she was a rather fast +New York girl before she married, and cared no more about politics and +philanthropy than I do. It was a very late thing, all this stuff. +But she is not really hard, though she may seem so. It is all on the +surface. I always know when she is thinking about her husband or child, +because her face gets rigid; she looks then as she used to look after +her child died, as though she didn't care what became of her and she +would just as lieve kill herself as not. I don't think she will ever +let herself love any one again. She has a horror of it. She is much more +likely to go in for ambition, or duty, or self-sacrifice.” + +They rode on for a while in silence, Carrington perplexed by the problem +how two harmless people such as Madeleine and he could have been made +by a beneficent Providence the sport of such cruel tortures; and Sybil +equally interested in thinking what sort of a brother-in-law Carrington +would make; on the whole, she thought she liked him better as he was. +The silence was only broken by Carrington's bringing the conversation +back to its starting-point: “Something must be done to keep your sister +out of Ratcliffe's power. I have thought about it till I am tired. Can +you make no suggestion?” + +No! Sybil was helpless and dreadfully alarmed. Mr. Ratcliffe came to the +house as often as he could, and seemed to tell Madeleine everything +that was going on in politics, and ask her advice, and Madeleine did not +discourage him. “I do believe she likes it, and thinks she can do some +good by it. I don't dare speak to her about it. She thinks me a child +still, and treats me as though I were fifteen. What can I do?” + +Carrington said he had thought of speaking to Mrs. Lee himself, but he +did not know what to say, and if he offended her, he might drive her +directly into Ratcliffe's arms. But Sybil thought she would not be +offended if he went to work in the right way. “She will stand more from +you than from any one else. Tell her openly that you--that you love +her,” said Sybil with a burst of desperate courage; “she can't take +offence at that; and then you can say almost anything.” + +Carrington looked at Sybil with more admiration than he had ever +expected to feel for her, and began to think that he might do worse +than to put himself under her orders. After all, she had some practical +sense, and what was more to the point, she was handsomer than ever, as +she sat erect on her horse, the rich colour rushing up under the warm +skin, at the impropriety of her speech. “You are certainly right,” said +he; “after all, I have nothing to lose. Whether she marries Ratcliffe or +not, she will never marry me, I suppose.” + +This speech was a cowardly attempt to beg encouragement from Sybil, +and met with the fate it deserved, for Sybil, highly flattered at +Carrington's implied praise, and bold as a lioness now that it was +Carrington's fingers, and not her own, that were to go into the fire, +gave him on the spot a feminine view of the situation that did not +encourage his hopes. She plainly said that men seemed to take leave of +their senses as soon as women were concerned; for her part, she could +not understand what there was in any woman to make such a fuss about; +she thought most women were horrid; men were ever so much nicer; “and +as for Madeleine, whom all of you are ready to cut each other's throats +about, she's a dear, good sister, as good as gold, and I love her with +all my heart, but you wouldn't like her, any of you, if you married her; +she has always had her own way, and she could not help taking it; she +never could learn to take yours; both of you would be unhappy in a week; +and as for that old Mr. Ratcliffe, she would make his life a burden--and +I hope she will,” concluded Sybil with a spiteful little explosion of +hatred. + +Carrington could not help being amused by Sybil's way of dealing with +affairs of the heart. Emboldened by encouragement, she went on to attack +him pitilessly for going down on his knees before her sister, “just as +though you were not as good as she is,” and openly avowed that, if she +were a man, she would at least have some pride. Men like this kind of +punishment. + +Carrington did not attempt to defend himself; he even courted Sybil's +attack. They both enjoyed their ride through the bare woods, by the +rippling spring streams, under the languid breath of the moist south +wind. It was a small idyll, all the more pleasant because there was +gloom before and behind it. Sybil's irrepressible gaiety made Carrington +doubt whether, after all, life need be so serious a matter. She had +animal spirits in plenty, and it needed an effort for her to keep them +down, while Carrington's spirits were nearly exhausted after twenty +years of strain, and he required a greater effort to hold himself up. +There was every reason why he should be grateful to Sybil for lending +to him from her superfluity. He enjoyed being laughed at by her. Suppose +Madeleine Lee did refuse to marry him! What of it? + +“Pooh!” said Sybil; “you men are all just alike. How can you be so +silly? Madeleine and you would be intolerable together. Do find some one +who won't be solemn!” + +They laid out their little plot against Madeleine and elaborated it +carefully, both as to what Carrington should say and how he should say +it, for Sybil asserted that men were too stupid to be trusted even in +making a declaration of love, and must be taught, like little children +to say their prayers. Carrington enjoyed being taught how to make a +declaration of love. + +He did not ask where Sybil had learned so much about men's stupidity. He +thought perhaps Schneidekoupon could have thrown light on the subject. +At all events, they were so busily occupied with their schemes and +lessons, that they did not-reach home till Madeleine had become anxious +lest they had met with some accident. The long dusk had become darkness +before she heard the clatter of hoofs on the asphalt pavement, and she +went down to the door to scold them for their delay. Sybil only laughed +at her, and said it was all Mr. Carrington's fault: he had lost his way, +and she had been forced to find it for him. + +Ten days more passed before their plan was carried into effect. April +had come. Carrington's work was completed and he was ready to start on +his journey. Then at last he appeared one evening at Mrs. Lee's at the +very moment when Sybil, as chance would have it, was going out to +pass an hour or two with her friend Victoria Dare a few doors away. +Carrington felt a little ashamed as she went. This kind of conspiracy +behind Mrs. Lee's back was not to his taste. + +He resolutely sat down, and plunged at once into his subject. He was +almost ready to go, he said; he had nearly completed his work in the +Department, and he was assured that his instructions and papers would be +ready in two days more; he might not have another chance to see Mrs. Lee +so quietly again, and he wanted to take his leave now, for this was what +lay most heavily on his mind; he should have gone willingly and gladly +if it had not been for uneasiness about her; and yet he had till now +been afraid to speak openly on the subject. Here he paused for a moment +as though to invite some reply. + +Madeleine laid down her work with a look of regret though not of +annoyance, and said frankly and instantly that he had been too good +a friend to allow of her taking offence at anything he could say; she +would not pretend to misunderstand him. “My affairs,” she added with a +shade of bitterness, “seem to have become public property, and I would +rather have some voice in discussing them myself than to know they are +discussed behind my back.” + +This was a sharp thrust at the very outset, but Carrington turned it +aside and went quietly on: + +“You are frank and loyal, as you always are. I will be so too. I can't +help being so. For months I have had no other pleasure than in being +near you. For the first time in my life I have known what it is to +forget my own affairs in loving a woman who seems to me without a fault, +and for one solitary word from whom I would give all I have in life, and +perhaps itself.” + +Madeleine flushed and bent towards him with an earnestness of manner +that repeated itself in her tone. + +“Mr. Carrington, I am the best friend you have on earth. One of these +days you will thank me with your whole soul for refusing to listen to +you now. You do not know how much misery I am saving you. I have no +heart to give. You want a young, fresh life to help yours; a gay, lively +temperament to enliven your despondency; some one still young enough to +absorb herself in you and make all her existence yours. I could not do +it. I can give you nothing. I have done my best to persuade myself that +some day I might begin life again with the old hopes and feelings, but +it is no use. The fire is burned out. If you married me, you would +destroy yourself You would wake up some day, and find the universe dust +and ashes.” + +Carrington listened in silence. He made no attempt to interrupt or to +contradict her. Only at the end he said with a little bitterness: “My +own life is worth so much to the world and to me, that I suppose it +would be wrong to risk it on such a venture; but I would risk it, +nevertheless, if you gave me the chance. Do you think me wicked for +tempting Providence? I do not mean to annoy you with entreaties. I have +a little pride left, and a great deal of respect for you. Yet I think, +in spite of all you have said or can say, that one disappointed life may +be as able to find happiness and repose in another, as to get them by +sucking the young life-blood of a fresh soul.” + +To this speech, which was unusually figurative for Carrington, Mrs. Lee +could find no ready answer. She could only reply that Carrington's life +was worth quite as much as his neighbour's, and that it was worth so +much to her, if not to himself, that she would not let him wreck it. + +Carrington went on: “Forgive my talking in this way. I do not mean to +complain. I shall always love you just as much, whether you care for +me or not, because you are the only woman I have ever met, or am ever +likely to meet, who seems to me perfect.” + +If this was Sybil's teaching, she had made the best of her time. + +Carrington's tone and words pierced through all Mrs. Lee's armour as +though they were pointed with the most ingenious cruelty, and designed +to torture her. She felt hard and small before him. Life for life, +his had been, and was now, far less bright than hers, yet he was her +superior. He sat there, a true man, carrying his burden calmly, quietly, +without complaint, ready to face the next shock of life with the same +endurance he had shown against the rest. And he thought her perfect! +She felt humiliated that any brave man should say to her face that he +thought her perfect! She! perfect! In her contrition she was half ready +to go down at his feet and confess her sins; her hysterical dread of +sorrow and suffering, her narrow sympathies, her feeble faith, her +miserable selfishness, her abject cowardice. Every nerve in her body +tingled with shame when she thought what a miserable fraud she was; what +a mass of pretensions unfounded, of deceit ingrained. She was ready to +hide her face in her hands. She was disgusted, outraged with her own +image as she saw it, contrasted with Carrington's single word: Perfect! + +Nor was this the worst. Carrington was not the first man who had thought +her perfect. To hear this word suddenly used again, which had never been +uttered to her before except by lips now dead and gone, made her brain +reel. She seemed to hear her husband once more telling her that she was +perfect. Yet against this torture, she had a better defence. She had +long since hardened herself to bear these recollections, and they +steadied and strengthened her. + +She had been called perfect before now, and what had come of it? Two +graves, and a broken life! She drew herself up with a face now grown +quite pale and rigid. In reply to Carrington, she said not a word, but +only shook her head slightly without looking at him. + +He went on: “After all, it is not my own happiness I am thinking of but +yours. I never was vain enough to think that I was worth your love, or +that I could ever win it. Your happiness is another thing. I care so +much for that as to make me dread going away, for fear that you may +yet find yourself entangled in this wretched political life here, when, +perhaps if I stayed, I might be of some use.” + +“Do you really think, then, that I am going to fall a victim to Mr. +Ratcliffe?” asked Madeleine, with a cold smile. + +“Why not?” replied Carrington, in a similar tone. “He can put forward +a strong claim to your sympathy and help, if not to your love. He can +offer you a great field of usefulness which you want. He has been very +faithful to you. Are you quite sure that even now you can refuse him +without his complaining that you have trifled with him?” + +“And are you quite sure,” added Mrs. Lee, evasively, “that you have not +been judging him much too harshly? I think I know him better than you. +He has many good qualities, and some high ones. What harm can he do me? +Supposing even that he did succeed in persuading me that my life could +be best used in helping his, why should I be afraid of it?” + +“You and I,” said Carrington, “are wide apart in our estimates of Mr. +Ratcliffe. To you, of course, he shows his best side. He is on his good +behaviour, and knows that any false step will ruin him. I see in him +only a coarse, selfish, unprincipled politician, who would either drag +you down to his own level, or, what is more likely, would very soon +disgust you and make your life a wretched self-immolation before his +vulgar ambition, or compel you to leave him. In either case you would +be the victim. You cannot afford to make another false start in life. +Reject me! I have not a word to say against it. But be on your guard +against giving your existence up to him.” + +“Why do you think so ill of Mr. Ratcliffe?” asked Madeleine; “he always +speaks highly of you. Do you know anything against him that the world +does not?” + +“His public acts are enough to satisfy me,” replied Carrington, evading +a part of the question. “You know that I have never had but one opinion +about him.” + +There was a pause in the conversation. Both parties felt that as yet no +good had come of it. At length Madeleine asked, “What would you have me +do? Is it a pledge you want that I will under no circumstances marry Mr. +Ratcliffe?” + +“Certainly not,” was the answer; “you know me better than to think +I would ask that. I only want you to take time and keep out of his +influence until your mind is fairly made up. A year hence I feel certain +that you will think of him as I do.” + +“Then you will allow me to marry him if I find that you are mistaken,” + said Mrs. Lee, with a marked tone of sarcasm. + +Carrington looked annoyed, but he answered quietly, “What I fear is +his influence here and now. What I would like to see you do is this: go +north a month earlier than you intended, and without giving him time +to act. If I were sure you were safely in Newport, I should feel no +anxiety.” + +“You seem to have as bad an opinion of Washington as Mr. Gore,” said +Madeleine, with a contemptuous smile. “He gave me the same advice, +though he was afraid to tell me why. I am not a child. I am thirty years +old, and have seen something of the world. I am not afraid, like Mr. +Gore, of Washington malaria, or, like you, of Mr. Ratcliffe's influence. +If I fall a victim I shall deserve my fate, and certainly I shall have +no cause to complain of my friends. They have given me advice enough for +a lifetime.” + +Carrington's face darkened with a deeper shade of regret. The turn which +the conversation had taken was precisely what he had expected, and both +Sybil and he had agreed that Madeleine would probably answer just in +this way. + +Nevertheless, he could not but feel acutely the harm he was doing to +his own interests, and it was only by a sheer effort of the will that he +forced himself to a last and more earnest attack. + +“I know it is an impertinence,” he said; “I wish it were in my power to +show how much it costs me to offend you. This is the first time you +ever had occasion to be offended. If I were to yield to the fear of +your anger and were to hold my tongue now, and by any chance you were +to wreck your life on this rock, I should never forgive myself the +cowardice. I should always think I might have done something to prevent +it. This is probably the last time I shall have the chance to talk +openly with you, and I implore you to listen to me. I want nothing for +myself If I knew I should never see you again, I would still say the +same thing. Leave Washington! Leave it now!--at once!--without giving +more than twenty-four hours' notice! Leave it without letting Mr. +Ratcliffe see you again in private! Come back next winter if you please, +and then accept him if you think proper. I only pray you to think long +about it and decide when you are not here.” + +Madeleine's eyes flashed, and she threw aside her embroidery with an +impatient gesture: “No! Mr. Carrington! I will not be dictated to! I +will carry out my own plans! I do not mean to marry Mr. Ratcliffe. If I +had meant it, I should have done it before now. But I will not run away +from him or from myself. It would be unladylike, undignified, cowardly.” + +Carrington could say no more. He had come to the end of his lesson. A +long silence ensued and then he rose to go. “Are you angry with me?” + said she in a softer tone. + +“I ought to ask that question,” said he. “Can you forgive me? I am +afraid not. No man can say to a woman what I have said to you, and be +quite forgiven. You will never think of me again as you would have done +if I had not spoken. I knew that before I did it. As for me, I can only +go on with my old life. It is not gay, and will not be the gayer for our +talk to-night.” + +Madeleine relented a little: “Friendships like ours are not so easily +broken,” she said. “Do not do me another injustice. You will see me +again before you go?” + +He assented and bade good-night. Mrs. Lee, weary and disturbed in mind, +hastened to her room. “When Miss Sybil comes in, tell her that I am not +very well, and have gone to bed,” were her instructions to her maid, and +Sybil thought she knew the cause of this headache. + +But before Carrington's departure he had one more ride with Sybil, +and reported to her the result of the interview, at which both of them +confessed themselves much depressed. Carrington expressed some hope that +Madeleine meant, after a sort, to give a kind of pledge by saying that +she had no intention of marrying Mr. Ratcliffe, but Sybil shook her head +emphatically: + +“How can a woman tell whether she is going to accept a man until she is +asked?” said she with entire confidence, as though she were stating the +simplest fact in the world. Carrington looked puzzled, and ventured to +ask whether women did not generally make up their minds beforehand on +such an interesting point; but Sybil overwhelmed him with contempt: +“What good will they do by making up their minds, I should like to +know? of course they would go and do the opposite. Sensible women don't +pretend to make up their minds, Mr. Carrington. But you men are so +stupid, and you can't understand in the least.” + +Carrington gave it up, and went back to his stale question: Could Sybil +suggest any other resource? and Sybil sadly confessed that she could +not. So far as she could see, they must trust to luck, and she thought +it was cruel tor Mr. Carrington to go away and leave her alone without +help. He had promised to prevent the marriage. + +“One thing more I mean to do,” said Carrington: “and here everything +will depend on your courage and nerve. You may depend upon it that Mr. +Ratcliffe will offer himself before you go north. He does not suspect +you of making trouble, and he will not think about you in any way if you +let him alone and keep quiet. When he does offer himself you will know +it; at least your sister will tell you if she has accepted him. If she +refuses him point blank, you will have nothing to do but to keep her +steady. If you see her hesitating, you must break in at any cost, and +use all your influence to stop her. Be bold, then, and do your best. If +everything fails and she still clings to him, I must play my last card, +or rather you must play it for me. I shall leave with you a sealed +letter which you are to give her if everything else fails. Do it before +she sees Ratcliffe a second time. See that she reads it and, if +necessary, make her read it, no matter when or where. No one else must +know that it exists, and you must take as much care of it as though it +were a diamond. You are not to know what is in it; it must be a complete +secret. Do you understand?” + +Sybil thought she did, but her heart sank. “When shall you give me this +letter?” she asked. + +“The evening before I start, when I come to bid good-bye; probably next +Sunday. This letter is our last hope. If, after reading that, she does +not give him up, you will have to pack your trunk, my dear Sybil, and +find a new home, for you can never live with them.” + +He had never before called her by her first name, and it pleased her +to hear it now, though she generally had a strong objection to such +familiarities. + +“Oh, I wish you were not going!” she exclaimed tearfully. “What shall I +do when you are gone?” + +At this pitiful appeal, Carrington felt a sudden pang. He found that +he was not so old as he had thought. Certainly he had grown to like her +frank honesty and sound common sense, and he had at length discovered +that she was handsome, with a very pretty figure. Was it not something +like a flirtation he had been carrying on with this young person for the +last month? A glimmering of suspicion crossed his mind, though he got +rid of it as quickly as possible. For a man of his age and sobriety +to be in love with two sisters at once was impossible; still more +impossible that Sybil should care for him. + +As for her, however, there was no doubt about the matter. She had grown +to depend upon him, and she did it with all the blind confidence of +youth. To lose him was a serious disaster. She had never before felt +the sensation, and she thought it most disagreeable. Her youthful +diplomatists and admirers could not at all fill Carrington's place. They +danced and chirruped cheerfully on the hollow crust of society, but they +were wholly useless when one suddenly fell through and found oneself +struggling in the darkness and dangers beneath. Young women, too, are +apt to be flattered by the confidences of older men; they have a keen +palate for whatever savours of experience and adventure. For the first +time in her life, Sybil had found a man who gave some play to her +imagination; one who had been a rebel, and had grown used to the shocks +of fate, so as to walk with calmness into the face of death, and to +command or obey with equal indifference. She felt that he would tell her +what to do when the earthquake came, and would be at hand to consult, +which is in a woman's eyes the great object of men's existence, +when trouble comes. She suddenly conceived that Washington would be +intolerable without him, and that she should never get the courage to +fight Mr. Ratcliffe alone, or, if she did, she should make some fatal +mistake. + +They finished their ride very soberly. She began to show a new interest +in all that concerned him, and asked many questions about his sisters +and their plantation. She wanted to ask him whether she could not do +something to help them, but this seemed too awkward. On his part he +made her promise to write him faithfully all that took place, and +this request pleased her, though she knew his interest was all on her +sister's account. + +The following Sunday evening when he came to bid good-bye, it was still +worse. There was no chance for private talk. Ratcliffe was there, and +several diplomatists, including old Jacobi, who had eyes like a cat +and saw every motion of one's face. Victoria Dare was on the sofa, +chattering with Lord Dunbeg; Sybil would rather have had any ordinary +illness, even to the extent of a light case of scarlet fever or +small-pox than let her know what was the matter. Carrington found means +to get Sybil into another room for a moment and to give her the letter +he had promised. Then he bade her good-bye, and in doing so he reminded +her of her promise to write, pressing her hand and looking into her eyes +with an earnestness that made her heart beat faster, although she +said to herself that his interest was all about her sister; as it +was--mostly. The thought did not raise her spirits, but she went through +with her performance like a heroine. Perhaps she was a little pleased to +see that he parted from Madeleine with much less apparent feeling. One +would have said that they were two good friends who had no troublesome +sentiment to worry them. But then every eye in the room was watching +this farewell, and speculating about it. Ratcliffe looked on with +particular interest and was a little perplexed to account for this too +fraternal cordiality. Could he have made a miscalculation? or was there +something behind? He himself insisted upon shaking hands genially with +Carrington and wished him a pleasant journey and a successful one. + +That night, for the first time since she was a child, Sybil actually +cried a little after she went to bed, although it is true that her +sentiment did not keep her awake. She felt lonely and weighed down by a +great responsibility. + +For a day or two afterwards she was nervous and restless. She would +not ride, or make calls, or see guests. She tried to sing a little, and +found it tiresome. She went out and sat for hours in the Square, where +the spring sun was shining warm and bright on the prancing horse of the +great Andrew Jackson. She was a little cross, too, and absent, and spoke +so often about Carrington that at last Madeleine was struck by sudden +suspicion, and began to watch her with anxious care. + +Tuesday night, after this had gone on for two days, Sybil was in +Madeleine's room, where she often stayed to talk while her sister was at +her toilet. + +This evening she threw herself listlessly on the couch, and within five +minutes again quoted Carrington. Madeleine turned from the glass before +which she was sitting, and looked her steadily in the face. + +“Sybil,” said she, “this is the twenty-fourth time you have mentioned +Mr. Carrington since we sat down to dinner. I have waited for the round +number to decide whether I should take any notice of it or not? what +does it mean, my child? Do you care for Mr. Carrington?” + +“Oh, Maude!” exclaimed Sybil reproachfully, flushing so violently that, +even by that dim light, her sister could not but see it. + +Mrs. Lee rose and, crossing the room, sat down by Sybil who was lying +on the couch and turned her face away. Madeleine put her arms round her +neck and kissed her. + +“My poor--poor child!” said she pityingly. “I never dreamed of this! +What a fool I have been! How could I have been so thoughtless! Tell me!” + she added, with a little hesitation; “has he--does he care for you?” + +“No! no!” cried Sybil, fairly breaking down into a burst of tears; “no! +he loves you! nobody but you! he never gave a thought to me. I don't +care for him so very much,” she continued, drying her tears; “only it +seems so lonely now he is gone.” + +Mrs. Lee remained on the couch, with her arm round her sister's +neck, silent, gazing into vacancy, the picture of perplexity and +consternation. + +The situation was getting beyond her control. + + + +Chapter XI + +IN the middle of April a sudden social excitement started the +indolent city of Washington to its feet. The Grand-Duke and Duchess of +Saxe-Baden-Hombourg arrived in America on a tour of pleasure, and in +due course came on to pay their respects to the Chief Magistrate of +the Union. The newspapers hastened to inform their readers that the +Grand-Duchess was a royal princess of England, and, in the want of any +other social event, every one who had any sense of what was due to his +or her own dignity, hastened to show this august couple the respect +which all republicans who have a large income derived from business, +feel for English royalty. New York gave a dinner, at which the most +insignificant person present was worth at least a million dollars, and +where the gentlemen who sat by the Princess entertained her for an hour +or two by a calculation of the aggregate capital represented. New York +also gave a ball at which the Princess appeared in an ill-fitting black +silk dress with mock lace and jet ornaments, among several hundred +toilets that proclaimed the refined republican simplicity of their +owners at a cost of various hundred thousand dollars. After these +hospitalities the Grand-ducal pair came on to Washington, where they +became guests of Lord Skye, or, more properly, Lord Skye became their +guest, for he seemed to consider that he handed the Legation over to +them, and he told Mrs. Lee, with true British bluntness of speech, +that they were a great bore and he wished they had stayed in +Saxe-Baden-Hombourg, or wherever they belonged, but as they were here, +he must be their lackey. Mrs. Lee was amused and a little astonished at +the candour with which he talked about them, and she was instructed +and improved by his dry account of the Princess, who, it seemed, made +herself disagreeable by her airs of royalty; who had suffered dreadfully +from the voyage; and who detested America and everything American; but +who was, not without some show of reason, jealous of her husband, and +endured endless sufferings, though with a very bad grace, rather than +lose sight of him. + +Not only was Lord Skye obliged to turn the Legation into an hotel, but +in the full enthusiasm of his loyalty he felt himself called upon to +give a ball. It was, he said, the easiest way of paying off all his +debts at once, and if the Princess was good for nothing else, she could +be utilized as a show by way of “promoting the harmony of the two great +nations.” In other words, Lord Skye meant to exhibit the Princess for +his own diplomatic benefit, and he did so. One would have thought that +at this season, when Congress had adjourned, Washington would hardly +have afforded society enough to fill a ball-room, but this, instead of +being a drawback, was an advantage. It permitted the British Minister to +issue invitations without limit. He asked not only the President and +his Cabinet, and the judges, and the army, and the navy, and all the +residents of Washington who had any claim to consideration, but also all +the senators, all the representatives in Congress, all the governors +of States with their staffs, if they had any, all eminent citizens +and their families throughout the Union and Canada, and finally every +private individual, from the North Pole to the Isthmus of Panama, who +had ever shown him a civility or was able to control interest enough +to ask for a card. The result was that Baltimore promised to come in +a body, and Philadelphia was equally well-disposed; New York provided +several scores of guests, and Boston sent the governor and a delegation; +even the well-known millionaire who represented California in the United +States Senate was irritated because, his invitation having been timed to +arrive just one day too late, he was prevented from bringing his family +across the continent with a choice party in a director's car, to +enjoy the smiles of royalty in the halls of the British lion. It is +astonishing what efforts freemen will make in a just cause. + +Lord Skye himself treated the whole affair with easy contempt. One +afternoon he strolled into Mrs. Lee's parlour and begged her to give him +a cup of tea. + +He said he had got rid of his menagerie for a few hours by shunting +it off upon the German Legation, and he was by way of wanting a little +human society. Sybil, who was a great favourite with him, entreated to +be told all about the ball, but he insisted that he knew no more than +she did. A man from New York had taken possession of the Legation, but +what he would do with it was not within the foresight of the wisest; +trom the talk of the young members of his Legation, Lord Skye gathered +that the entire city was to be roofed in and forty millions of people +expected, but his own concern in the affair was limited to the flowers +he hoped to receive. + +“All young and beautiful women,” said he to Sybil, “are to send me +flowers. I prefer Jacqueminot roses, but will accept any handsome +variety, provided they are not wired. It is diplomatic etiquette that +each lady who sends me flowers shall reserve at least one dance for me. +You will please inscribe this at once upon your tablets, Miss Ross.” + +To Madeleine this ball was a godsend, for it came just in time to +divert Sybil's mind from its troubles. A week had now passed since that +revelation of Sybil's heart which had come like an earthquake upon +Mrs. Lee. Since then Sybil had been nervous and irritable, all the more +because she was conscious of being watched. She was in secret ashamed of +her own conduct, and inclined to be angry with Carrington, as though +he were responsible for her foolishness; but she could not talk +with Madeleine on the subject without discussing Mr. Ratcliffe, and +Carrington had expressly forbidden her to attack Mr. Ratcliffe until it +was clear that Ratcliffe had laid himself open to attack. This reticence +deceived poor Mrs. Lee, who saw in her sister's moods only that +unrequited attachment for which she held herself solely to blame. Her +gross negligence in allowing Sybil to be improperly exposed to such +a risk weighed heavily on her mind. With a saint's capacity for +self-torment, Madeleine wielded the scourge over her own back until the +blood came. She saw the roses rapidly fading from Sybil's cheeks, and +by the help of an active imagination she discovered a hectic look +and symptoms of a cough. She became fairly morbid on the subject, +and fretted herself into a fever, upon which Sybil sent, on her own +responsibility, for the medical man, and Madeleine was obliged to dose +herself with quinine. In fact, there was much more reason for anxiety +about her than for her anxiety about Sybil, who, barring a little +youthful nervousness in the face of responsibility, was as healthy +and comfortable a young woman as could be shown in America, and whose +sentiment never cost her five minutes' sleep, although her appetite may +have become a shade more exacting than before. Madeleine was quick to +notice this, and surprised her cook by making daily and almost hourly +demands for new and impossible dishes, which she exhausted a library of +cookery-books to discover. + +Lord Skye's ball and Sybil's interest in it were a great relief to +Madeleine's mind, and she now turned her whole soul to frivolity. Never, +since she was seventeen, had she thought or talked so much about a ball, +as now about this ball to the Grand-Duchess. She wore out her own brain +in the effort to amuse Sybil. She took her to call on the Princess; +she would have taken her to call on the Grand Lama had he come to +Washington. She instigated her to order and send to Lord Skye a mass of +the handsomest roses New York could afford. She set her at work on her +dress several days before there was any occasion for it, and this famous +costume had to be taken out, examined, criticised, and discussed with +unending interest. She talked about the dress, and the Princess, and +the ball, till her tongue clove to the roof of her mouth, and her brain +refused to act. From morning till night, for one entire week, she ate, +drank, breathed, and dreamt of the ball. Everything that love could +suggest or labour carry out, she did, to amuse and occupy her sister. + +She knew that all this was only temporary and palliative, and that more +radical measures must be taken to secure Sybil's happiness. On this +subject she thought in secret until both head and heart ached. One thing +and one thing only was clear: if Sybil loved Carrington, she should +have him. How Madeleine expected to bring about this change of heart +in Carrington, was known only to herself. She regarded men as creatures +made for women to dispose of, and capable of being transferred like +checks, or baggage-labels, from one woman to another, as desired. The +only condition was that he should first be completely disabused of the +notion that he could dispose of himself. Mrs. Lee never doubted that she +could make Carrington fall in love with Sybil provided she could place +herself beyond his reach. At all events, come what might, even though +she had to accept the desperate alternative offered by Mr. Ratcliffe, +nothing should be allowed to interfere with Sybil's happiness. And thus +it was, that, for the first time, Mrs. Lee began to ask herself whether +it was not better to find the solution of her perplexities in marriage. + +Would she ever have been brought to this point without the violent +pressure of her sister's supposed interests? This is one of those +questions which wise men will not ask, because it is one which the +wisest man or woman cannot answer. Upon this theme, an army of ingenious +authors have exhausted their ingenuity in entertaining the public, and +their works are to be found at every book-stall. They have decided that +any woman will, under the right conditions, marry any man at any time, +provided her “higher nature” is properly appealed to. Only with regret +can a writer forbear to moralize on this subject. “Beauty and the +Beast,” “Bluebeard,” “Auld Robin Gray,” have the double charm to +authors of being very pleasant to read, and still easier to dilute with +sentiment. But at least ten thousand modern writers, with Lord Macaulay +at their head, have so ravaged and despoiled the region of fairy-stories +and fables, that an allusion even to the “Arabian Nights” is no longer +decent. The capacity of women to make unsuitable marriages must be +considered as the corner-stone of society. + +Meanwhile the ball had, in truth, very nearly driven all thought of +Carrington out of Sybil's mind. The city filled again. The streets +swarmed with fashionable young men and women from the provinces of New +York, Philadelphia, and Boston, who gave Sybil abundance of occupation. +She received bulletins of the progress of affairs. The President and +his wife had consented to be present, out of their high respect for +Her Majesty the Queen and their desire to see and to be seen. All the +Cabinet would accompany the Chief Magistrate. The diplomatic corps +would appear in uniform; so, too, the officers of the army and navy; the +Governor-General of Canada was coming, with a staff. Lord Skye remarked +that the Governor-General was a flat. + +The day of the ball was a day of anxiety to Sybil, although not on +account of Mr. Ratcliffe or of Mr. Carrington, who were of trifling +consequence compared with the serious problem now before her. The +responsibility of dressing both her sister and herself fell upon Sybil, +who was the real author of all Mrs. Lee's millinery triumphs when +they now occurred, except that Madeleine managed to put character into +whatever she wore, which Sybil repudiated on her own account. On +this day Sybil had reasons for special excitement. All winter two new +dresses, one especially a triumph of Mr. + +Worth's art, had lain in state upstairs, and Sybil had waited in vain +for an occasion that should warrant the splendour of these garments. + +One afternoon in early June of the preceding summer, Mr. Worth had +received a letter on the part of the reigning favourite of the King +of Dahomey, directing him to create for her a ball-dress that should +annihilate and utterly destroy with jealousy and despair the hearts of +her seventy-five rivals; she was young and beautiful; expense was not a +consideration. Such were the words of her chamberlain. All that night, +the great genius of the nineteenth century tossed wakefully on his bed +revolving the problem in his mind. Visions of flesh-coloured tints shot +with blood-red perturbed his brain, but he fought against and dismissed +them; that combination would be commonplace in Dahomey. When the first +rays of sunlight showed him the reflection of his careworn face in the +plate-glass mirrored ceiling, he rose and, with an impulse of despair, +flung open the casements. There before his blood-shot eyes lay the pure, +still, new-born, radiant June morning. With a cry of inspiration the +great man leaned out of the casement and rapidly caught the details of +his new conception. Before ten o'clock he was again at his bureau in +Paris. An imperious order brought to his private room every silk, satin, +and gauze within the range of pale pink, pale crocus, pale green, silver +and azure. Then came chromatic scales of colour; combinations meant to +vulgarise the rainbow; sinfonies and fugues; the twittering of birds and +the great peace of dewy nature; maidenhood in her awakening innocence; +“The Dawn in June.” The Master rested content. + +A week later came an order from Sybil, including “an entirely original +ball-dress,--unlike any other sent to America.” Mr. Worth pondered, +hesitated; recalled Sybil's figure; the original pose of her head; +glanced anxiously at the map, and speculated whether the New York Herald +had a special correspondent at Dahomey; and at last, with a generosity +peculiar to great souls, he duplicated for “Miss S. Ross, New York, U.S. +America,” the order for “L'Aube, Mois de Juin.” + +The Schneidekoupons and Mr. French, who had reappeared in Washington, +came to dine with Mrs. Lee on the evening of the ball, and Julia +Schneidekoupon sought in vain to discover what Sybil was going to wear. +“Be happy, my dear, in your ignorance!” said Sybil; “the pangs of envy +will rankle soon enough.” + +An hour later her room, except the fireplace, where a wood fire was +gently smouldering, became an altar of sacrifice to the Deity of Dawn in +June. Her bed, her low couch, her little tables, her chintz arm-chairs, +were covered with portions of the divinity, down to slippers and +handkerchief, gloves and bunches of fresh roses. When at length, after +a long effort, the work was complete, Mrs. Lee took a last critical +look at the result, and enjoyed a glow of satisfaction. Young, happy, +sparkling with consciousness of youth and beauty, Sybil stood, Hebe +Anadyomene, rising from the foam of soft creplisse which swept back +beneath the long train of pale, tender, pink silk, fainting into +breadths of delicate primrose, relieved here and there by facings of +June green--or was it the blue of early morning?--or both? suggesting +unutterable freshness. A modest hint from her maid that “the girls,” + as women-servants call each other in American households, would like to +offer their share of incense at the shrine, was amiably met, and they +were allowed a glimpse of the divinity before she was enveloped in +wraps. An admiring group, huddled in the doorway, murmured approval, +from the leading “girl,” who was the cook, a coloured widow of some +sixty winters, whose admiration was irrepressible, down to a New England +spinster whose Anabaptist conscience wrestled with her instincts, and +who, although disapproving of “French folks,” paid in her heart that +secret homage to their gowns and bonnets which her sterner lips refused. +The applause of this audience has, from generation to generation, +cheered the hearts of myriads of young women starting out on their +little adventures, while the domestic laurels flourish green and fresh +for one half hour, until they wither at the threshold of the ball-room. + +Mrs. Lee toiled long and earnestly over her sister's toilet, for had not +she herself in her own day been the best-dressed girl in New York?--at +least, she held that opinion, and her old instincts came to life again +whenever Sybil was to be prepared for any great occasion. Madeleine +kissed her sister affectionately, and gave her unusual praise when +the “Dawn in June” was complete. Sybil was at this moment the ideal of +blooming youth, and Mrs. Lee almost dared to hope that her heart was +not permanently broken, and that she might yet survive until Carrington +could be brought back. Her own toilet was a much shorter affair, but +Sybil was impatient long before it was concluded; the carriage was +waiting, and she was obliged to disappoint her household by coming down +enveloped in her long opera-cloak, and hurrying away. + +When at length the sisters entered the reception-room at the British +Legation, Lord Skye rebuked them for not having come early to receive +with him. His Lordship, with a huge riband across his breast, and a star +on his coat, condescended to express himself vigorously on the subject +of the “Dawn in June.” Schneidekoupon, who was proud of his easy use +of the latest artistic jargon, looked with respect at Mrs. Lee's +silver-gray satin and its Venetian lace, the arrangement of which +had been conscientiously stolen from a picture in the Louvre, and +he murmured audibly, “Nocturne in silver-gray!”--then, turning to +Sybil--“and you? Of course! I see! A song without words!” Mr. French +came up and, in his most fascinating tones, exclaimed, “Why, Mrs. Lee, +you look real handsome to-night!” Jacobi, after a close scrutiny, said +that he took the liberty of an old man in telling them that they were +both dressed absolutely without fault. Even the Grand-Duke was struck +by Sybil, and made Lord Skye introduce him, after which ceremony he +terrified her by asking the pleasure of a waltz. She disappeared from +Madeleine's view, not to be brought back again until Dawn met dawn. + +The ball was, as the newspapers declared, a brilliant success. Every one +who knows the city of Washington will recollect that, among some scores +of magnificent residences which our own and foreign governments have +built for the comfort of cabinet officers, judges, diplomatists, +vice-presidents, speakers, and senators, the British Legation is by far +the most impressive. + +Combining in one harmonious whole the proportions of the Pitti Palace +with the decoration of the Casa d'Oro and the dome of an Eastern Mosque, +this architectural triumph offers extraordinary resources for society. +Further description is unnecessary, since anyone may easily refer back +to the New York newspapers of the following morning, where accurate +plans of the house on the ground floor, will be found; while the +illustrated newspapers of the same week contain excellent sketches of +the most pleasing scenic effects, as well as of the ball-room and of the +Princess smiling graciously from her throne. The lady just behind +the Princess on her left, is Mrs. Lee, a poor likeness, but easily +distinguishable from the fact that the artist, for his own objects, +has made her rather shorter, and the Princess rather taller, than was +strictly correct, just as he has given the Princess a gracious smile, +which was quite different from her actual expression. In short, the +artist is compelled to exhibit the world rather as we would wish it to +be, than as it was or is, or, indeed, is like shortly to become. The +strangest part of his picture is, however, the fact that he actually did +see Mrs. Lee where he has put her, at the Princess's elbow, which was +almost the last place in the room where any one who knew Mrs. Lee would +have looked for her. + +The explanation of this curious accident shall be given immediately, +since the facts are not mentioned in the public reports of the +ball, which only said that, “close behind her Royal Highness the +Grand-Duchess, stood our charming and aristocratic countrywoman, Mrs. +Lightfoot Lee, who has made so great a sensation in Washington this +winter, and whose name public rumour has connected with that of the +Secretary of the Treasury. To her the Princess appeared to address most +of her conversation.” + +The show was a very pretty one, and on a pleasant April evening there +were many places less agreeable to be in than this. Much ground outside +had been roofed over, to make a ball-room, large as an opera-house, with +a daïs and a sofa in the centre of one long side, and another daïs with +a second sofa immediately opposite to it in the centre of the other long +side. Each daïs had a canopy of red velvet, one bearing the Lion and the +Unicorn, the other the American Eagle. The Royal Standard was displayed +above the Unicorn; the Stars-and-Stripes, not quite so effectively, +waved above the Eagle. The Princess, being no longer quite a child, +found gas trying to her complexion, and compelled Lord Skye to +illuminate her beauty by one hundred thousand wax candies, more or less, +which were arranged to be becoming about the Grand-ducal throne, and to +be showy and unbecoming about the opposite institution across the way. + +The exact facts were these. It had happened that the Grand-Duchess, +having been necessarily brought into contact with the President, and +particularly with his wife, during the past week, had conceived for +the latter an antipathy hardly to be expressed in words. Her fixed +determination was at any cost to keep the Presidential party at a +distance, and it was only after a stormy scene that the Grand-Duke and +Lord Skye succeeded in extorting her consent that the President should +take her to supper. Further than this she would not go. She would not +speak to “that woman,” as she called the President's wife, nor be in her +neighbourhood. She would rather stay in her own room all the evening, +and she did not care in the least what the Queen would think of it, +for she was no subject of the Queen's. The case was a hard one for Lord +Skye, who was perplexed to know, from this point of view, why he was +entertaining the Princess at all; but, with the help of the Grand-Duke +and Lord Dunbeg, who was very active and smiled deprecation with some +success, he found a way out of it; and this was the reason why there +were two thrones in the ball-room, and why the British throne was +lighted with such careful reference to the Princess's complexion. Lord +Skye immolated himself in the usual effort of British and American +Ministers, to keep the two great powers apart. He and the Grand-Duke +and Lord Dunbeg acted as buffers with watchful diligence, dexterity, and +success. As one resource, Lord Skye had bethought himself of Mrs. Lee, +and he told the Princess the story of Mrs. Lee's relations with the +President's wife, a story which was no secret in Washington, for, apart +from Madeleine's own account, society was left in no doubt of the light +in which Mrs. Lee was regarded by the mistress of the White House, whom +Washington ladles were now in the habit of drawing out on the subject +of Mrs. Lee, and who always rose to the bait with fresh vivacity, to the +amusement and delight of Victoria Dare and other mischief-makers. + +“She will not trouble you so long as you can keep Mrs. Lee in your +neighbourhood,” said Lord Skye, and the Princess accordingly seized upon +Mrs. Lee and brandished her, as though she were a charm against the +evil eye, in the face of the President's party. She made Mrs. Lee take +a place just behind her as though she were a lady-in-waiting. She even +graciously permitted her to sit down, so near that their chairs touched. +Whenever “that woman” was within sight, which was most of the time, the +Princess directed her conversation entirely to Mrs. Lee and took care +to make it evident. Even before the Presidential party had arrived, +Madeleine had fallen into the Princess's grasp, and when the Princess +went forward to receive the President and his wife, which she did with a +bow of stately and distant dignity, she dragged Madeleine closely by her +side. Mrs. Lee bowed too; she could not well help it; but was cut dead +for her pains, with a glare of contempt and hatred. Lord Skye, who was +acting as cavalier to the President's wife, was panic-stricken, and +hastened to march his democratic potentate away, under pretence of +showing her the decorations. He placed her at last on her own throne, +where he and the Grand-Duke relieved each other in standing guard at +intervals throughout the evening. When the Princess followed with the +President, she compelled her husband to take Mrs. Lee on his arm +and conduct her to the British throne, with no other object than to +exasperate the President's wife, who, from her elevated platform, looked +down upon the cortège with a scowl. + +In all this affair Mrs. Lee was the principal sufferer. No one could +relieve her, and she was literally penned in as she sat. The Princess +kept up an incessant fire of small conversation, principally complaint +and fault-finding, which no one dared to interrupt. Mrs. Lee was +painfully bored, and after a time even the absurdity of the thing ceased +to amuse her. + +She had, too, the ill-luck to make one or two remarks which appealed +to some hidden sense of humour in the Princess, who laughed and, in the +style of royal personages, gave her to understand that she would like +more amusement of the same sort. Of all things in life, Mrs. Lee held +this kind of court-service in contempt, for she was something more +than republican--a little communistic at heart, and her only serious +complaint of the President and his wife was that they undertook to have +a court and to ape monarchy. + +She had no notion of admitting social superiority in any one, President +or Prince, and to be suddenly converted into a lady-in-waiting to a +small German Grand-Duchess, was a terrible blow. But what was to be +done? Lord Skye had drafted her into the service and she could not +decently refuse to help him when he came to her side and told her, +with his usual calm directness, what his difficulties were, and how he +counted upon her to help him out. + +The same play went on at supper, where there was a royal-presidential +table, which held about two dozen guests, and the two great ladies +presiding, as far apart as they could be placed. The Grand-Duke and Lord +Skye, on either side of the President's wife, did their duty like men, +and were rewarded by receiving from her much information about the +domestic arrangements of the White House. The President, however, who +sat next the Princess at the opposite end, was evidently depressed, +owing partly to the fact that the Princess, in defiance of all +etiquette, had compelled Lord Dunbeg to take Mrs. Lee to supper and to +place her directly next the President. Madeleine tried to escape, but +was stopped by the Princess, who addressed her across the President and +in a decided tone asked her to sit precisely there. Mrs. + +Lee looked timidly at her neighbour, who made no sign, but ate his +supper in silence only broken by an occasional reply to a rare remark. +Mrs. Lee pitied him, and wondered what his wife would say when they +reached home. She caught Ratcliffe's eye down the table, watching her +with a smile; she tried to talk fluently with Dunbeg; but not until +supper was long over and two o'clock was at hand; not until the +Presidential party, under all the proper formalities, had taken their +leave of the Grand-ducal party; not until Lord Skye had escorted them to +their carriage and returned to say that they were gone, did the Princess +loose her hold upon Mrs. Lee and allow her to slip away into obscurity. + +Meanwhile the ball had gone on after the manner of balls. As Madeleine +sat in her enforced grandeur she could watch all that passed. She had +seen Sybil whirling about with one man after another, amid a swarm of +dancers, enjoying herself to the utmost and occasionally giving a nod +and a smile to her sister as their eyes met. There, too, was Victoria +Dare, who never appeared flurried even when waltzing with Lord Dunbeg, +whose education as a dancer had been neglected. The fact was now fully +recognized that Victoria was carrying on a systematic flirtation with +Dunbeg, and had undertaken as her latest duty the task of teaching him +to waltz. His struggles and her calmness in assisting them commanded +respect. On the opposite side of the room, by the republican throne, +Mrs. Lee had watched Mr. Ratcliffe standing by the President, who +appeared unwilling to let him out of arm's length and who seemed to make +to him most of his few remarks. Schneidekoupon and his sister were mixed +in the throng, dancing as though England had never countenanced the +heresy of free-trade. On the whole, Mrs. Lee was satisfied. + +If her own sufferings were great, they were not without reward. She +studied all the women in the ball-room, and if there was one prettier +than Sybil, Madeleine's eyes could not discover her. If there was a more +perfect dress, Madeleine knew nothing of dressing. On these points she +felt the confidence of conviction. Her calm would have been complete, +had she felt quite sure that none of Sybil's gaiety was superficial and +that it would not be followed by reaction. She watched nervously to see +whether her face changed its gay expression, and once she thought it +became depressed, but this was when the Grand-Duke came up to claim his +waltz, and the look rapidly passed away when they got upon the floor and +his Highness began to wheel round the room with a precision and momentum +that would have done honour to a regiment of Life Guards. He seemed +pleased with his experiment, for he was seen again and again careering +over the floor with Sybil until Mrs. Lee herself became nervous, for the +Princess frowned. + +After her release Madeleine lingered awhile in the ball-room to speak +with her sister and to receive congratulations. For half an hour she was +a greater belle than Sybil. A crowd of men clustered about her, amused +at the part she had played in the evening's entertainment and full of +compliments upon her promotion at Court. Lord Skye himself found time to +offer her his thanks in a more serious tone than he generally affected. +“You have suffered much,” said he, “and I am grateful.” Madeleine +laughed as she answered that her sufferings had seemed nothing to her +while she watched his. But at last she became weary of the noise and +glare of the ball-room, and, accepting the arm of her excellent friend +Count Popoff, she strolled with him back to the house. There at last +she sat down on a sofa in a quiet window-recess where the light was less +strong and where a convenient laurel spread its leaves in front so as +to make a bower through which she could see the passers-by without being +seen by them except with an effort. Had she been a younger woman, this +would have been the spot for a flirtation, but Mrs. Lee never flirted, +and the idea of her flirting with Popoff would have seemed ludicrous to +all mankind. + +He did not sit down, but was leaning against the angle of the wall, +talking with her, when suddenly Mr. Ratcliffe appeared and took the seat +by her side with such deliberation and apparent sense of property that +Popoff incontinently turned and fled. No one knew where the Secretary +came from, or how he learned that she was there. He made no explanation +and she took care to ask for none. She gave him a highly-coloured +account of her evening's service as lady-in-waiting, which he matched +by that of his own trials as gentleman-usher to the President, who, it +seemed, had clung desperately to his old enemy in the absence of any +other rock to clutch at. + +Ratcliffe looked the character of Prime Minister sufficiently well at +this moment. He would have held his own, at a pinch, in any Court, not +merely in Europe but in India or China, where dignity is still expected +of gentlemen. + +Excepting for a certain coarse and animal expression about the mouth, +and an indefinable coldness in the eye, he was a handsome man and still +in his prime. Every one remarked how much he was improved since entering +the Cabinet. He had dropped his senatorial manner. His clothes were no +longer congressional, but those of a respectable man, neat and decent. +His shirts no longer protruded in the wrong places, nor were his +shirt-collars frayed or soiled. His hair did not stray over his eyes, +ears, and coat, like that of a Scotch terrier, but had got itself cut. +Having overheard Mrs. Lee express on one occasion her opinion of people +who did not take a cold bath every morning, he had thought it best to +adopt this reform, although he would not have had it generally known, +tot it savoured of caste. He made an effort not to be dictatorial and to +forget that he had been the Prairie Giant, the bully of the Senate. In +short, what with Mrs. Lee's influence and what with his emancipation +from the Senate chamber with its code of bad manners and worse morals, +Mr. Ratcliffe was fast becoming a respectable member of society whom a +man who had never been in prison or in politics might safely acknowledge +as a friend. + +Mr. Ratcliffe was now evidently bent upon being heard. After charting +for a time with some humour on the President's successes as a man of +fashion, he changed the subject to the merits of the President as a +statesman, and little by little as he spoke he became serious and his +voice sank into low and confidential tones. He plainly said that the +President's incapacity had now become notorious among his followers; +that it was only with difficulty his Cabinet and friends could prevent +him from making a fool of himself fifty times a day; that all the party +leaders who had occasion to deal with him were so thoroughly disgusted +that the Cabinet had to pass its time in trying to pacify them; +while this state of things lasted, Ratcliffe's own influence must be +paramount; he had good reason to know that if the Presidential election +were to take place this year, nothing could prevent his nomination and +election; even at three years' distance the chances in his favour were +at least two to one; and after this exordium he went on in a low tone +with increasing earnestness, while Mrs. Lee sat motionless as the statue +of Agrippina, her eyes fixed on the ground: + +“I am not one of those who are happy in political life. I am a +politician because I cannot help myself; it is the trade I am fittest +for, and ambition is my resource to make it tolerable. In politics we +cannot keep our hands clean. I have done many things in my political +career that are not defensible. To act with entire honesty and +self-respect, one should always live in a pure atmosphere, and the +atmosphere of politics is impure. Domestic life is the salvation of many +public men, but I have for many years been deprived of it. I have now +come to that point where increasing responsibilities and temptations +make me require help. I must have it. You alone can give it to me. You +are kind, thoughtful, conscientious, high-minded, cultivated, fitted +better than any woman I ever saw, for public duties. Your place is +there. You belong among those who exercise an influence beyond their +time. I only ask you to take the place which is yours.” + +This desperate appeal to Mrs. Lee's ambition was a calculated part of +Ratcliffe's scheme. He was well aware that he had marked high game, and +that in proportion to this height must be the power of his lure. Nor was +he embarrassed because Mrs. Lee sat still and pale with her eyes fixed +on the ground and her hands twisted together in her lap. The eagle +that soars highest must be longer in descending to the ground than the +sparrow or the partridge. Mrs. Lee had a thousand things to think about +in this brief time, and yet she found that she could not think at all; +a succession of mere images and fragments of thought passed rapidly over +her mind, and her will exercised no control upon their order or their +nature. One of these fleeting reflections was that in all the offers +of marriage she had ever heard, this was the most unsentimental and +businesslike. As for his appeal to her ambition, it fell quite dead +upon her ear, but a woman must be more than a heroine who can listen to +flattery so evidently sincere, from a man who is pre-eminent among +men, without being affected by it. To her, however, the great and +overpowering fact was that she found herself unable to retreat or +escape; her tactics were disconcerted, her temporary barriers beaten +down. + +The offer was made. What should she do with it? + +She had thought for months on this subject without being able to form a +decision; what hope was there that she should be able to decide now, in +a ball-room, at a minute's notice? When, as occasionally happens, the +conflicting sentiments, prejudices, and passions of a lifetime are +compressed into a single instant, they sometimes overcharge the mind and +it refuses to work. Mrs. Lee sat still and let things take their course; +a dangerous expedient, as thousands of women have learned, for it leaves +them at the mercy of the strong will, bent upon mastery. + +The music from the ball-room did not stop. Crowds of persons passed by +their retreat. Some glanced in, and not one of these felt a doubt what +was going on there. An unmistakeable atmosphere of mystery and intensity +surrounded the pair. Ratcliffe's eyes were fixed upon Mrs. Lee, and +hers on the ground. Neither seemed to speak or to stir. Old Baron +Jacobi, who never failed to see everything, saw this as he went by, and +ejaculated a foreign oath of frightful import. Victoria Dare saw it and +was devoured by curiosity to such a point as to be hardly capable of +containing herself. + +After a silence which seemed interminable, Ratcliffe went on: “I do +not speak of my own feelings because I know that unless compelled by a +strong sense of duty, you will not be decided by any devotion of mine. +But I honestly say that I have learned to depend on you to a degree I +can hardly express; and when I think of what I should be without +you, life seems to me so intolerably dark that I am ready to make any +sacrifice, to accept any conditions that will keep you by my side.” + +Meanwhile Victoria Dare, although deeply interested in what Dunbeg was +telling her, had met Sybil and had stopped a single second to whisper in +her ear: “You had better look after your sister, in the window, behind +the laurel with Mr. Ratcliffe!” Sybil was on Lord Skye's arm, enjoying +herself amazingly, though the night was far gone, but when she caught +Victoria's words, the expression of her face wholly changed. All the +anxieties and terrors of the last fortnight, came back upon it. She +dragged Lord Skye across the hall and looked in upon her sister. One +glance was enough. + +Desperately frightened but afraid to hesitate, she went directly up to +Madeleine who was still sitting like a statue, listening to Ratcliffe's +last words. As she hurriedly entered, Mrs. Lee, looking up, caught sight +of her pale face, and started from her seat. + +“Are you ill, Sybil?” she exclaimed; “is anything the matter?” + +“A little--fatigued,” gasped Sybil; “I thought you might be ready to go +home.” + +“I am,” cried Madeleine; “I am quite ready. Good evening, Mr. Ratcliffe. +I will see you to-morrow. Lord Skye, shall I take leave of the +Princess?” + +“The Princess retired half an hour ago,” replied Lord Skye, who saw the +situation and was quite ready to help Sybil; “let me take you to the +dressing-room and order your carriage.” Mr. Ratcliffe found himself +suddenly left alone, while Mrs. Lee hurried away, torn by fresh +anxieties. They had reached the dressing-room and were nearly ready +to go home, when Victoria Dare suddenly dashed in upon them, with an +animation of manner very unusual in her, and, seizing Sybil by the +hand, drew her into an adjoining room and shut the door. “Can you keep a +secret?” said she abruptly. + +“What!” said Sybil, looking at her with open-mouthed interest; “you +don't mean--are you really--tell me, quick!” + +“Yes!” said Victoria relapsing into composure; “I am engaged!” + +“To Lord Dunbeg?” + +Victoria nodded, and Sybil, whose nerves were strung to the highest +pitch by excitement, flattery, fatigue, perplexity, and terror, burst +into a paroxysm of laughter, that startled even the calm Miss Dare. + +“Poor Lord Dunbeg! don't be hard on him, Victoria!” she gasped when at +last she found breath; “do you really mean to pass the rest of your life +in Ireland? Oh, how much you will teach them!” + +“You forget, my dear,” said Victoria, who had placidly enthroned herself +on the foot of a bed, “that I am not a pauper. I am told that Dunbeg +Castle is a romantic summer residence, and in the dull season we shall +of course go to London or somewhere. I shall be civil to you when you +come over. Don't you think a coronet will look well on me?” + +Sybil burst again into laughter so irrepressible and prolonged that +it puzzled even poor Dunbeg, who was impatiently pacing the corridor +outside. + +It alarmed Madeleine, who suddenly opened the door. Sybil recovered +herself, and, her eyes streaming with tears, presented Victoria to her +sister: + +“Madeleine, allow me to introduce you to the Countess Dunbeg!” + +But Mrs. Lee was much too anxious to feel any interest in Lady Dunbeg. +A sudden fear struck her that Sybil was going into hysterics because +Victoria's engagement recalled her own disappointment. She hurried her +sister away to the carriage. + + + +Chapter XII + +THEY drove home in silence, Mrs. Lee disturbed with anxieties and +doubts, partly caused by her sister, partly by Mr. Ratcliffe; Sybil +divided between amusement at Victoria's conquest, and alarm at her own +boldness in meddling with her sister's affairs. Desperation, however, +was stronger than fear. She made up her mind that further suspense was +not to be endured; she would fight her baffle now before another hour +was lost; surely no time could be better. A few moments brought them to +their door. Mrs. Lee had told her maid not to wait for them, and they +were alone. The fire was still alive on Madeleine's hearth, and she +threw more wood upon it. Then she insisted that Sybil must go to bed at +once. But Sybil refused; she felt quite well, she said, and not in the +least sleepy; she had a great deal to talk about, and wanted to get it +off her mind. Nevertheless, her feminine regard for the “Dawn in June” + led her to postpone what she had to say until with Madeleine's help she +had laid the triumph of the ball carefully aside; then, putting on her +dressing-gown, and hastily plunging Carrington's letter into her breast, +like a concealed weapon, she hurried back to Madeleine's room and +established herself in a chair before the fire. There, after a moment's +pause, the two women began their long-deferred trial of strength, in +which the match was so nearly equal as to make the result doubtful; for, +if Madeleine were much the cleverer, Sybil in this case knew much better +what she wanted, and had a clear idea how she meant to gain it, while +Madeleine, unsuspicious of attack, had no plan of defence at all. + +“Madeleine,” began Sybil, solemnly, and with a violent palpitation of +the heart, “I want you to tell me something.” + +“What is it, my child?” said Mrs. Lee, puzzled, and yet half ready +to see that there must be some connection between her sister's coming +question and the sudden illness at the ball, which had disappeared as +suddenly as it came. + +“Do you mean to marry Mr. Ratcliffe?” + +Poor Mrs. Lee was quite disconcerted by the directness of the attack. +This fatal question met her at every turn. Hardly had she succeeded in +escaping trom it at the ball scarcely an hour ago, by a stroke of good +fortune for which she now began to see she was indebted to Sybil, and +here it was again presented to her face like a pistol. The whole town, +then, was asking it. + +Ratcliffe's offer must have been seen by half Washington, and her reply +was awaited by an immense audience, as though she were a political +returning-board. Her disgust was intense, and her first answer to Sybil +was a quick inquiry: + +“Why do you ask such a question? have you heard anything,--has anyone +talked about it to you?” + +“No!” replied Sybil; “but I must know; I can see for myself without +being told, that Mr. Racliffe is trying to make you marry him. I don't +ask out of curiosity; this is something that concerns me nearly as much +as it does you yourself. Please tell me! don't treat me like a child any +longer! let me know what you are thinking about! I am so tired of being +left in the dark! You have no idea how much this thing weighs on me. Oh, +Maude, I shall never be happy again until you trust me about this.” + +Mrs. Lee felt a little pang of conscience, and seemed suddenly to +become conscious of a new coil, tightening about her, in this wretched +complication. Unable to see her way, ignorant of her sister's motives, +urged on by the idea that Sybil's happiness was involved, she was now +charged with want of feeling, and called upon for a direct answer to a +plain question. + +How could she aver that she did not mean to marry Mr. Ratcliffe? to say +this would be to shut the door on all the objects she had at heart. If +a direct answer must be given, it was better to say “Yes!” and have +it over; better to leap blindly and see what came of it. Mrs. +Lee, therefore, with an internal gasp, but with no visible sign of +excitement, said, as though she were in a dream: + +“Well, Sybil, I will tell you. I would have told you long ago if I had +known myself. Yes! I have made up my mind to marry Mr. Ratcliffe!” + +Sybil sprang to her feet with a cry: “And have you told him so?” she +asked. + +“No! you came and interrupted us just as we were speaking. I was glad +you did come, for it gives me a little time to think. But I am decided +now. I shall tell him to-morrow.” + +This was not said with the air or one whose heart beat warmly at the +thought of confessing her love. Mrs. Lee spoke mechanically, and almost +with an effort. Sybil flung herself with all her energy upon her sister; +violently excited, and eager to make herself heard, without waiting +for arguments, she broke out into a torrent of entreaties: “Oh, don't, +don't, don't! Oh, please, please, don't, my dearest, dearest Maude! +unless you want to break my heart, don't marry that man! You can't love +him! You can never be happy with him! he will take you away to Peonia, +and you will die there! I shall never see you again! He will make you +unhappy; he will beat you, I know he will! Oh, if you care for me at +all, don't marry him! Send him away! don't see him again! let us go +ourselves, now, in the morning train, before he comes back. I'm +all ready; I'll pack everything for you; we'll go to Newport; to +Europe--anywhere, to be out of his reach!” + +With this passionate appeal, Sybil threw herself on her knees by her +sister's side, and, clasping her arms around Madeleine's waist, sobbed +as though her heart were already broken. Had Carrington seen her then +he must have admitted that she had carried out his instructions to the +letter. She was quite honest, too, in it all. She meant what she +said, and her tears were real tears that had been pent up for weeks. +Unluckily, her logic was feeble. Her idea of Mr. Ratcliffe's character +was vague, and biased by mere theories of what a Prairie Giant of +Peonia should be in his domestic relations. Her idea of Peonia, too, +was indistinct. She was haunted by a vision of her sister, sitting on +a horse-hair sofa before an air-tight iron stove in a small room with +high, bare white walls, a chromolithograph on each, and at her side a +marble-topped table surmounted by a glass vase containing funereal dried +grasses; the only literature, Frank Leslie's periodical and the New York +Ledger, with a strong smell of cooking everywhere prevalent. Here +she saw Madeleine receiving visitors, the wives of neighbours and +constituents, who told her the Peonia news. + +Notwithstanding her ignorant and unreasonable prejudice against western +men and women, western towns and prairies, and, in short, everything +western, down to western politics and western politicians, whom she +perversely asserted to be tue lowest ot all western products, there +was still some common sense in Sybil's idea. When that inevitable hour +struck for Mr. + +Ratcliffe, which strikes sooner or later for all politicians, and an +ungrateful country permitted him to pine among his friends in Illinois, +what did he propose to do with his wife? Did he seriously suppose that +she, who was bored to death by New York, and had been able to find no +permanent pleasure in Europe, would live quietly in the romantic village +of Peonia? If not, did Mr. Ratcliffe imagine that they could find +happiness in the enjoyment of each other's society, and of Mrs. Lee's +income, in the excitements of Washington? In the ardour of his pursuit, +Mr. Ratcliffe had accepted in advance any conditions which Mrs. Lee +might impose, but if he really imagined that happiness and content lay +on the purple rim of this sunset, he had more confidence in women and in +money than a wider experience was ever likely to justify. + +Whatever might be Mr. Ratcliffe's schemes for dealing with these +obstacles they could hardly be such as would satisfy Sybil, who, if +inaccurate in her theories about Prairie Giants, yet understood women, +and especially her sister, much better than Mr. Ratcliffe ever could do. +Here she was safe, and it would have been better had she said no more, +for Mrs. Lee, though staggered for a moment by her sister's vehemence, +was reassured by what seemed the absurdity of her fears. Madeleine +rebelled against this hysterical violence of opposition, and became more +fixed in her decision. + +She scolded her sister in good, set terms-- + +“Sybil, Sybil! you must not be so violent. Behave like a woman, and not +like a spoiled child!” + +Mrs. Lee, like most persons who have to deal with spoiled or unspoiled +children, resorted to severity, not so much because it was the proper +way of dealing with them, as because she knew not what else to do. +She was thoroughly uncomfortable and weary. She was not satisfied with +herself or with her own motives. Doubt encompassed her on all sides, and +her worst opponent was that sister whose happiness had turned the scale +against her own judgment. + +Nevertheless her tactics answered their object of checking Sybil's +vehemence. Her sobs came to an end, and she presently rose with a +quieter air. + +“Madeleine,” said she, “do you really want to marry Mr. Ratcliffe?” + +“What else can I do, my dear Sybil? I want to do whatever is for the +best. I thought you might be pleased.” + +“You thought I might be pleased?” cried Sybil in astonishment. “What a +strange idea! If you had ever spoken to me about it I should have told +you that I hate him, and can't understand how you can abide him. But I +would rather marry him myself than see you marry him. I know that you +will kill yourself with unhappiness when you have done it. Oh, Maude, +please tell me that you won't!” And Sybil began gently sobbing again, +while she caressed her sister. + +Mrs. Lee was infinitely distressed. To act against the wishes of her +nearest friends was hard enough, but to appear harsh and unfeeling to +the one being whose happiness she had at heart, was intolerable. Yet +no sensible woman, after saying that she meant to marry a man like Mr. +Ratcliffe, could throw him over merely because another woman chose to +behave like a spoiled child. + +Sybil was more childish than Madeleine herself had supposed. She could +not even see where her own interest lay. She knew no more about Mr. +Ratcliffe and the West than if he were the giant of a fairy-story, and +lived at the top of a bean-stalk. She must be treated as a child; with +gentleness, affection, forbearance, but with firmness and decision. She +must be refused what she asked, for her own good. + +Thus it came about that at last Mrs. Lee spoke, with an appearance of +decision far from representing her internal tremor. + +“Sybil, dear, I have made up my mind to marry Mr. Ratcliffe because +there is no other way of making every one happy. You need not be afraid +of him. He is kind and generous. Besides, I can take care of myself; and +I will take care of you too. Now let us not discuss it any more. It is +broad daylight, and we are both tired out.” + +Sybil grew at once perfectly calm, and standing before her sister, as +though their rôles were henceforward to be reversed, said: + +“You have really made up your mind, then? Nothing I can say will change +it?” + +Mrs. Lee, looking at her with more surprise than ever, could not force +herself to speak; but she shook her head slowly and decidedly. + +“Then,” said Sybil, “there is only one thing more I can do. You must +read this!” and she drew out Carrington's letter, which she held before +Madeleine's face. + +“Not now, Sybil!” remonstrated Mrs. Lee, dreading another long struggle. +“I will read it after we have had some rest. Go to bed now!” + +“I do not leave this room, nor will I ever go to bed until you have read +that letter,” answered Sybil, seating herself again before the fire +with the resolution of Queen Elizabeth; “not if I sit here till you are +married. I promised Mr. Carrington that you should read it +instantly; it's all I can do now.” With a sigh, Mrs. Lee drew up the +window-curtain, and in the gray morning light sat down to break the seal +and read the following letter:-- + +“Washington, 2nd April. + +“My dear Mrs. Lee, + +“This letter will only come into your hands in case +there should be a necessity for your knowing its contents. Nothing short +of necessity would excuse my writing it. I have to ask your pardon for +intruding again upon your private affairs. In this case, if I did not +intrude, you would have cause for serious complaint against me. + +“You asked me the other day whether I knew anything against Mr. +Ratcliffe which the world did not know, to account for my low opinion of +his character. I evaded your question then. I was bound by professional +rules not to disclose facts that came to me under a pledge of +confidence. I am going to violate these rules now, only because I owe +you a duty which seems to me to override all others. + +“I do know facts in regard to Mr. Ratcliffe, which have seemed to me to +warrant a very low opinion of his character, and to mark him as unfit to +be, I will not say your husband, but even your acquaintance. + +“You know that I am executor to Samuel Baker's will. You know who Samuel +Baker was. You have seen his wife. She has told you herself that I +assisted her in the examination and destruction of all her husband's +private papers according to his special death-bed request. One of the +first facts I learned from these papers and her explanations, was the +following. + +“Just eight years ago, the great 'Inter-Oceanic Mail Steamship Company,' +wished to extend its service round the world, and, in order to do so, it +applied to Congress for a heavy subsidy. The management of this affair +was put into the hands of Mr. Baker, and all his private letters to the +President of the Company, in press copies, as well as the President's +replies, came into my possession. Baker's letters were, of course, +written in a sort of cypher, several kinds of which he was in the habit +of using. He left among his papers a key to this cypher, but Mrs. Baker +could have explained it without that help. + +“It appeared from this correspondence that the bill was carried +successfully through the House, and, on reaching the Senate, was +referred to the appropriate Committee. Its ultimate passage was very +doubtful; the end of the session was close at hand; the Senate was very +evenly divided, and the Chairman of the Committee was decidedly hostile. + +“The Chairman of that Committee was Senator Ratcliffe, always mentioned +by Mr. Baker in cypher, and with every precaution. If you care, however, +to verify the fact, and to trace the history of the Subsidy Bill through +all its stages, together with Mr. Ratcliffe's report, remarks, and votes +upon it, you have only to look into the journals and debates for that +year. + +“At last Mr. Baker wrote that Senator Ratcliffe had put the bill in +his pocket, and unless some means could be found of overcoming his +opposition, there would be no report, and the bill would never come to +a vote. All ordinary kinds of argument and influence had been employed +upon him, and were exhausted. In this exigency Baker suggested that the +Company should give him authority to see what money would do, but he +added that it would be worse than useless to deal with small sums. +Unless at least one hundred thousand dollars could be employed, it was +better to leave the thing alone. + +“The next mail authorized him to use any required amount of money not +exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Two days later he +wrote that the bill was reported, and would pass the Senate within +forty-eight hours; and he congratulated the Company on the fact that he +had used only one hundred thousand dollars out of its last credit. + +“The bill was actually reported, passed, and became law as he foretold, +and the Company has enjoyed its subsidy ever since. Mrs. Baker also +informed me that to her knowledge her husband gave the sum mentioned, in +United States Coupon Bonds, to Senator Ratcliffe. + +“This transaction, taken in connection with the tortuousness of his +public course, explains the distrust I have always expressed for him. +You will, however, understand that all these papers have been destroyed. +Mrs. Baker could never be induced to hazard her own comfort by revealing +the facts to the public. The officers of the Company in their own +interests would never betray the transaction, and their books were +undoubtedly so kept as to show no trace of it. If I made this charge +against Mr. Ratcliffe, I should be the only sufferer. He would deny +and laugh at it. I could prove nothing. I am therefore more directly +interested than he is in keeping silence. + +“In trusting this secret to you, I rely firmly upon your mentioning +it to no one else--not even to your sister. You are at liberty, if you +wish, to show this letter to one person only--to Mr. Ratcliffe himself. +That done, you will, I beg, burn it immediately. + +“With the warmest good wishes, I am, + +“Ever most truly yours, + +“John Carrington.” + +When Mrs. Lee had finished reading this letter, she remained for some +time quite silent, looking out into the square below. The morning had +come, and the sky was bright with the fresh April sunlight. She threw +open her window, and drew in the soft spring air. She needed all the +purity and quiet that nature could give, for her whole soul was in +revolt, wounded, mortified, exasperated. Against the sentiment of all +her friends she had insisted upon believing in this man; she had wrought +herself up to the point of accepting him for her husband; a man who, if +law were the same thing as justice, ought to be in a felon's cell; a man +who could take money to betray his trust. Her anger at first swept away +all bounds. She was impatient for the moment when she should see +him again, and tear off his mask. For once she would express all the +loathing she felt for the whole pack of political hounds. She would see +whether the animal was made like other beings; whether he had a sense of +honour; a single clean spot in his mind. + +Then it occurred to her that after all there might be a mistake; perhaps +Mr. + +Ratcliffe could explain the charge away. But this thought only laid +bare another smarting wound in her pride. Not only did she believe the +charge, but she believed that Mr. Ratcliffe would defend his act. She +had been willing to marry a man whom she thought capable of such a +crime, and now she shuddered at the idea that this charge might have +been brought against her husband, and that she could not dismiss it with +instant incredulity, with indignant contempt. How had this happened? how +had she got into so foul a complication? When she left New York, she had +meant to be a mere spectator in Washington. Had it entered her head +that she could be drawn into any project of a second marriage, she +never would have come at all, for she was proud of her loyalty to her +husband's memory, and second marriages were her abhorrence. In her +restlessness and solitude, she had forgotten this; she had only asked +whether any life was worth living for a woman who had neither husband +nor children. Was the family all that life had to offer? could she find +no interest outside the household? And so, led by this will-of-the-wisp, +she had, with her eyes open, walked into the quagmire of politics, in +spite of remonstrance, in spite of conscience. + +She rose and paced the room, while Sybil lay on the couch, watching her +with eyes half shut. She grew more and more angry with herself, and as +her self-reproach increased, her anger against Ratcliffe faded away. She +had no right to be angry with Ratcliffe. He had never deceived her. +He had always openly enough avowed that he knew no code of morals in +politics; that if virtue did not answer his purpose he used vice. How +could she blame him for acts which he had repeatedly defended in her +presence and with her tacit assent, on principles that warranted this or +any other villainy? + +The worst was that this discovery had come on her as a blow, not as +a reprieve from execution. At this thought she became furious with +herself. + +She had not known the recesses of her own heart. She had honestly +supposed that Sybil's interests and Sybil's happiness were forcing her +to an act of self-sacrifice; and now she saw that in the depths of +her soul very different motives had been at work: ambition, thirst for +power, restless eagerness to meddle in what did not concern her, blind +longing to escape from the torture of watching other women with full +lives and satisfied instincts, while her own life was hungry and sad. +For a time she had actually, unconscious as she was of the delusion, +hugged a hope that a new field of usefulness was open to her; that great +opportunities for doing good were to supply the aching emptiness of that +good which had been taken away; and that here at last was an object +for which there would be almost a pleasure in squandering the rest of +existence even if she knew in advance that the experiment would fail. +Life was emptier than ever now that this dream was over. Yet the worst +was not in that disappointment, but in the discovery of her own weakness +and self-deception. + +Worn out by long-continued anxiety, excitement and sleeplessness, she +was unfit to struggle with the creatures of her own imagination. Such a +strain could only end in a nervous crisis, and at length it came: + +“Oh, what a vile thing life is!” she cried, throwing up her arms with a +gesture of helpless rage and despair. “Oh, how I wish I were dead! how +I wish the universe were annihilated!” and she flung herself down by +Sybil's side in a frenzy of tears. + +Sybil, who had watched all this exhibition in silence, waited quietly +for the excitement to pass. There was little to say. She could only +soothe. + +After the paroxysm had exhausted itself Madeleine lay quiet for a time, +until other thoughts began to disturb her. From reproaching herself +about Ratcliffe she went on to reproach herself about Sybil, who really +looked worn and pale, as though almost overcome by fatigue. + +“Sybil,” said she, “you must go to bed at once. You are tired out. It +was very wrong in me to let you sit up so late. Go now, and get some +sleep.” + +“I am not going to bed till you do, Maude!” replied Sybil, with quiet +obstinacy. + +“Go, dear! it is all settled. I shall not marry Mr. Ratcliffe. You need +not be anxious about it any more.” + +“Are you very unhappy?” + +“Only very angry with myself. I ought to have taken Mr. Carrington's +advice sooner.” + +“Oh, Maude!” exclaimed Sybil, with a sudden explosion of energy; “I wish +you had taken him!” + +This remark roused Mrs. Lee to new interest: “Why, Sybil,” said she, +“surely you are not in earnest?” + +“Indeed, I am,” replied Sybil, very decidedly. “I know you think I am +in love with Mr. Carrington myself, but I'm not. I would a great deal +rather have him for a brother-in-law, and he is so much the nicest man +you know, and you could help his sisters.” + +Mrs. Lee hesitated a moment, for she was not quite certain whether it +was wise to probe a healing wound, but she was anxious to clear this +last weight from her mind, and she dashed recklessly forward: + +“Are you sure you are telling the truth, Sybil? Why, then, did you say +that you cared for him? and why have you been so miserable ever since he +went away?” + +“Why? I should think it was plain enough why! Because I thought, as +every one else did, that you were going to marry Mr. Ratcliffe; and +because if you married Mr. Ratcliffe, I must go and live alone; and +because you treated me like a child, and never took me into your +confidence at all; and because Mr. Carrington was the only person I had +to advise me, and after he went away, I was left all alone to fight Mr. +Ratcliffe and you both together, without a human soul to help me in case +I made a mistake. You would have been a great deal more miserable than I +if you had been in my place.” + +Madeleine looked at her for a moment in doubt. Would this last? did +Sybil herself know the depth of her own wound? But what could Mrs. Lee +do now? + +Perhaps Sybil did deceive herself a little. When this excitement had +passed away, perhaps Carrington's image might recur to her mind a little +too often for her own comfort. The future must take care of itself. +Mrs. Lee drew her sister closer to her, and said: “Sybil, I have made a +horrible mistake, and you must forgive me.” + + + +Chapter XIII + +NOT until afternoon did Mrs. Lee reappear. How much she had slept she +did not say, and she hardly looked like one whose slumbers had been long +or sweet; but if she had slept little, she had made up for the loss +by thinking much, and, while she thought, the storm which had raged so +fiercely in her breast, more and more subsided into calm. If there was +not sunshine yet, there was at least stillness. As she lay, hour after +hour, waiting for the sleep that did not come, she had at first the keen +mortification of reflecting how easily she had been led by mere vanity +into imagining that she could be of use in the world. She even smiled +in her solitude at the picture she drew of herself, reforming Ratcliffe, +and Krebs, and Schuyler Clinton. The ease with which Ratcliffe alone had +twisted her about his finger, now that she saw it, made her writhe, and +the thought of what he might have done, had she married him, and of +the endless succession of moral somersaults she would have had to turn, +chilled her with mortal terror. She had barely escaped being dragged +under the wheels of the machine, and so coming to an untimely end. When +she thought of this, she felt a mad passion to revenge herself on the +whole race of politicians, with Ratcliffe at their head; she passed +hours in framing bitter speeches to be made to his face. + +Then as she grew calmer, Ratcliffe's sins took on a milder hue; life, +after all, had not been entirely blackened by his arts; there was even +some good in her experience, sharp though it were. Had she not come to +Washington in search of men who cast a shadow, and was not Ratcliffe's +shadow strong enough to satisfy her? Had she not penetrated the deepest +recesses of politics, and learned how easily the mere possession of +power could convert the shadow of a hobby-horse existing only in the +brain of a foolish country farmer, into a lurid nightmare that convulsed +the sleep of nations? The antics of Presidents and Senators had been +amusing--so amusing that she had nearly been persuaded to take part in +them. She had saved herself in time. + +She had got to the bottom of this business of democratic government, and +found out that it was nothing more than government of any other kind. +She might have known it by her own common sense, but now that experience +had proved it, she was glad to quit the masquerade; to return to the +true democracy of life, her paupers and her prisons, her schools and her +hospitals. As for Mr. Ratcliffe, she felt no difficulty in dealing with +him. + +Let Mr. Ratcliffe, and his brother giants, wander on their own political +prairie, and hunt for offices, or other profitable game, as they would. + +Their objects were not her objects, and to join their company was not +her ambition. She was no longer very angry with Mr. Ratcliffe. She had +no wish to insult him, or to quarrel with him. What he had done as a +politician, he had done according to his own moral code, and it was not +her business to judge him; to protect herself was the only right she +claimed. She thought she could easily hold him at arm's length, and +although, if Carrington had written the truth, they could never again be +friends, there need be no difficulty in their remaining acquaintances. +If this view of her duty was narrow, it was at least proof that she had +learned something from Mr. + +Ratcliffe; perhaps it was also proof that she had yet to learn Mr. +Ratcliffe himself. + +Two o'clock had struck before Mrs. Lee came down from her chamber, and +Sybil had not yet made her appearance. Madeleine rang her bell and gave +orders that, if Mr. Ratcliffe called she would see him, but she was at +home to no one else. Then she sat down to write letters and to prepare +for her journey to New York, for she must now hasten her departure in +order to escape the gossip and criticism which she saw hanging like an +avalanche over her head. + +When Sybil at length came down, looking much fresher than her sister, +they passed an hour together arranging this and other small matters, so +that both of them were again in the best of spirits, and Sybil's face +was wreathed in smiles. + +A number of visitors came to the door that day, some of them prompted +by friendliness and some by sheer curiosity, for Mrs. Lee's abrupt +disappearance from the ball had excited remark. Against all these her +door was firmly closed. On the other hand, as the afternoon went on, she +sent Sybil away, so that she might have the field entirely to herself, +and Sybil, relieved of all her alarms, sallied out to interrupt Dunbeg's +latest interview with his Countess, and to amuse herself with Victoria's +last “phase.” + +Towards four o'clock the tall form of Mr. Ratcliffe was seen to issue +from the Treasury Department and to descend the broad steps of its +western front. + +Turning deliberately towards the Square, the Secretary of the Treasury +crossed the Avenue and stopping at Mrs. Lee's door, rang the bell. He +was immediately admitted. Mrs. Lee was alone in her parlour and rose +rather gravely as he entered, but welcomed him as cordially as she +could. She wanted to put an end to his hopes at once and to do it +decisively, but without hurting his feelings. + +“Mr. Ratcliffe,” said she, when he was seated--“I am sure you will be +better pleased by my speaking instantly and frankly. I could not reply +to you last night. I will do so now without delay. What you wish is +impossible. I would rather not even discuss it. Let us leave it here and +return to our old relations.” + +She could not force herself to express any sense of gratitude for his +affection, or of regret at being obliged to meet it with so little +return. + +To treat him with tolerable civility was all she thought required of +her. + +Ratcliffe felt the change of manner. He had been prepared for a +struggle, but not to be met with so blunt a rebuff at the start. His +look became serious and he hesitated a moment before speaking, but when +he spoke at last, it was with a manner as firm and decided as that of +Mrs. Lee herself. + +“I cannot accept such an answer. I will not say that I have a right to +explanation,--I have no rights which you are bound to respect,--but from +you I conceive that I may at least ask the favour of one, and that you +will not refuse it. Are you willing to tell me your reasons for this +abrupt and harsh decision?” + +“I do not dispute your right of explanation, Mr. Ratcliffe. You have +the right, if you choose to use it, and I am ready to give you every +explanation in my power; but I hope you will not insist on my doing so. +If I seemed to speak abruptly and harshly, it was merely to spare you +the greater annoyance of doubt. Since I am forced to give you pain, was +it not fairer and more respectful to you to speak at once? We have been +friends. I am very soon going away. I sincerely want to avoid saying or +doing anything that would change our relations.” + +Ratcliffe, however, paid no attention to these words, and gave them no +answer. He was much too old a debater to be misled by such trifles, when +he needed all his faculties to pin his opponent to the wall. He asked:-- + +“Is your decision a new one?” + +“It is a very old one, Mr. Ratcliffe, which I had let myself lose sight +of, for a time. A night's reflection has brought me back to it.” + +“May I ask why you have returned to it? surely you would not have +hesitated without strong reasons.” + +“I will tell you frankly. If, by appearing to hesitate, I have misled +you, I am honestly sorry for it. I did not mean to do it. My hesitation +was owing to the doubt whether my life might not really be best used +in aiding you. My decision was owing to the certainty that we are not +fitted for each other. Our lives run in separate grooves. We are both +too old to change them.” + +Ratcliffe shook his head with an air of relief. “Your reasons, Mrs. Lee, +are not sound. There is no such divergence in our lives. On the contrary +I can give to yours the field it needs, and that it can get in no other +way; while you can give to mine everything it now wants. If these are +your only reasons I am sure of being able to remove them.” + +Madeleine looked as though she were not altogether pleased at this idea, +and became a little dogmatic. “It is no use our arguing on this subject, +Mr. Ratcliffe. You and I take very different views of life. I cannot +accept yours, and you could not practise on mine.” + +“Show me,” said Ratcliffe, “a single example of such a divergence, and I +will accept your decision without another word.” + +Mrs. Lee hesitated and looked at him for an instant as though to be +quite sure that he was in earnest. There was an effrontery about this +challenge which surprised her, and if she did not check it on the spot, +there was no saying how much trouble it might give her. Then unlocking +the drawer of the writing-desk at her elbow, she took out Carrington's +letter and handed it to Mr. Ratcliffe. + +“Here is such an example which has come to my knowledge very lately. I +meant to show it to you in any case, but I would rather have waited.” + +Ratcliffe took the letter which she handed to him, opened it +deliberately, looked at the signature, and read. He showed no sign of +surprise or disturbance. No one would have imagined that he had, from +the moment he saw Carrington's name, as precise a knowledge of what was +in this letter as though he had written it himself. His first sensation +was only one of anger that his projects had miscarried. How this had +happened he could not at once understand, for the idea that Sybil could +have a hand in it did not occur to him. He had made up his mind that +Sybil was a silly, frivolous girl, who counted for nothing in her +sister's actions. He had fallen into the usual masculine blunder of +mixing up smartness of intelligence with strength of character. Sybil, +without being a metaphysician, willed anything which she willed at all +with more energy than her sister did, who was worn out with the effort +of life. Mr. Ratcliffe missed this point, and was left to wonder who +it was that had crossed his path, and how Carrington had managed to +be present and absent, to get a good office in Mexico and to baulk his +schemes in Washington, at the same time. He had not given Carrington +credit for so much cleverness. + +He was violently irritated at the check. Another day, he thought, would +have made him safe on this side; and possibly he was right. Had he once +succeeded in getting ever so slight a hold on Mrs. Lee he would have +told her this story with his own colouring, and from his own point of +view, and he fully believed he could do this in such a way as to rouse +her sympathy. Now that her mind was prejudiced, the task would be much +more difficult; yet he did not despair, for it was his theory that Mrs. +Lee, in the depths of her soul, wanted to be at the head of the White +House as much as he wanted to be there himself, and that her apparent +coyness was mere feminine indecision in the face of temptation. His +thoughts now turned upon the best means of giving again the upper hand +to her ambition. He wanted to drive Carrington a second time from the +field. + +Thus it was that, having read the letter once in order to learn what was +in it, he turned back, and slowly read it again in order to gain time. +Then he replaced it in its envelope, and returned it to Mrs. Lee, who, +with equal calmness, as though her interest in it were at an end, +tossed it negligently into the fire, where it was reduced to ashes under +Ratcliffe's eyes. + +He watched it burn for a moment, and then turning to her, said, with his +usual composure, “I meant to have told you of that affair myself. I am +sorry that Mr. Carrington has thought proper to forestall me. No doubt +he has his own motives for taking my character in charge.” + +“Then it is true!” said Mrs. Lee, a little more quickly than she had +meant to speak. + +“True in its leading facts; untrue in some of its details, and in the +impression it creates. During the Presidential election which took place +eight years ago last autumn, there was, as you may remember, a violent +contest and a very close vote. We believed (though I was not so +prominent in the party then as now), that the result of that election +would be almost as important to the nation as the result of the +war itself. Our defeat meant that the government must pass into +the blood-stained hands of rebels, men whose designs were more than +doubtful, and who could not, even if their designs had been good, +restrain the violence of their followers. In consequence we strained +every nerve. Money was freely spent, even to an amount much in excess of +our resources. How it was employed, I will not say. + +“I do not even know, for I held myself aloof from these details, which +fell to the National Central Committee of which I was not a member. +The great point was that a very large sum had been borrowed on pledged +securities, and must be repaid. The members of the National Committee +and certain senators held discussions on the subject, in which I shared. +The end was that towards the close of the session the head of the +committee, accompanied by two senators, came to me and told me that I +must abandon my opposition to the Steamship Subsidy. They made no open +avowal of their reasons, and I did not press for one. Their declaration, +as the responsible heads of the organization, that certain action on my +part was essential to the interests of the party, satisfied me. I did +not consider myself at liberty to persist in a mere private opinion in +regard to a measure about which I recognized the extreme likelihood of +my being in error. I accordingly reported the bill, and voted for it, as +did a large majority of the party. Mrs. Baker is mistaken in saying +that the money was paid to me. If it was paid at all, of which I have no +knowledge except from this letter, it was paid to the representative of +the National Committee. I received no money. I had nothing to do with +the money further than as I might draw my own conclusions in regard to +the subsequent payment of the campaign debt.” + +Mrs. Lee listened to all this with intense interest. Not until this +moment had she really felt as though she had got to the heart of +politics, so that she could, like a physician with his stethoscope, +measure the organic disease. Now at last she knew why the pulse beat +with such unhealthy irregularity, and why men felt an anxiety which they +could not or would not explain. Her interest in the disease overcame +her disgust at the foulness of the revelation. To say that the +discovery gave her actual pleasure would be doing her injustice; but the +excitement of the moment swept away every other sensation. She did not +even think of herself. Not until afterwards did she fairly grasp the +absurdity of Ratcliffe's wish that in the face of such a story as this, +she should still have vanity enough to undertake the reform of politics. +And with his aid too! The audacity of the man would have seemed sublime +if she had felt sure that he knew the difference between good and evil, +between a lie and the truth; but the more she saw of him, the surer she +was that his courage was mere moral paralysis, and that he talked about +virtue and vice as a man who is colour-blind talks about red and green; +he did not see them as she saw them; if left to choose for himself he +would have nothing to guide him. Was it politics that had caused this +atrophy of the moral senses by disuse? Meanwhile, here she sat face to +face with a moral lunatic, who had not even enough sense of humour to +see the absurdity of his own request, that she should go out to the +shore of this ocean of corruption, and repeat the ancient rôle of King +Canute, or Dame Partington with her mop and her pail. What was to be +done with such an animal? + +The bystander who looked on at this scene with a wider knowledge of +facts, might have found entertainment in another view of the subject, +that is to say, in the guilelessness ot Madeleine Lee. With all her +warnings she was yet a mere baby-in-arms in the face of the great +politician. She accepted his story as true, and she thought it as bad as +possible; but had Mr. + +Ratcliffe's associates now been present to hear his version of it, they +would have looked at each other with a smile of professional pride, and +would have roundly sworn that he was, beyond a doubt, the ablest man +this country had ever produced, and next to certain of being President. +They would not, however, have told their own side of the story if they +could have helped it, but in talking it over among themselves they might +have assumed the facts to have been nearly as follows: that Ratcliffe +had dragged them into an enormous expenditure to carry his own State, +and with it his own re-election to the Senate; that they had tried to +hold him responsible, and he had tried to shirk the responsibility; +that there had been warm discussions on the subject; that he himself +had privately suggested recourse to Baker, had shaped his conduct +accordingly, and had compelled them, in order to save their own credit, +to receive the money. + +Even if Mrs. Lee had heard this part of the story, though it might +have sharpened her indignation against Mr. Ratcliffe, it would not have +altered her opinions. As it was, she had heard enough, and with a great +effort to control her expression of disgust, she sank back in her chair +as Ratcliffe concluded. Finding that she did not speak, he went on: + +“I do not undertake to defend this affair. It is the act of my public +life which I most regret--not the doing, but the necessity of doing. I +do not differ from you in opinion on that point. I cannot acknowledge +that there is here any real divergence between us.” + +“I am afraid,” said Mrs. Lee, “that I cannot agree with you.” + +This brief remark, the very brevity of which carried a barb of sarcasm, +escaped from Madeleine's lips before she had fairly intended it. +Ratcliffe felt the sting, and it started him from his studied calmness +of manner. + +Rising from his chair he stood on the hearthrug before Mrs. Lee, and +broke out upon her with an oration in that old senatorial voice and +style which was least calculated to enlist her sympathies: + +“Mrs. Lee,” said he, with harsh emphasis and dogmatic tone, “there are +conflicting duties in all the transactions of life, except the simplest. +However we may act, do what we may, we must violate some moral +obligation. All that can be asked of us is that we should guide +ourselves by what we think the highest. At the time this affair +occurred, I was a Senator of the United States. I was also a trusted +member of a great political party which I looked upon as identical with +the nation. In both capacities I owed duties to my constituents, to the +government, to the people. I might interpret these duties narrowly or +broadly. I might say: Perish the government, perish the Union, perish +this people, rather than that I should soil my hands! Or I might say, as +I did, and as I would say again: Be my fate what it may, this glorious +Union, the last hope of suffering humanity, shall be preserved.” + +Here he paused, and seeing that Mrs. Lee, after looking for a time at +him, was now regarding the fire, lost in meditation over the strange +vagaries of the senatorial mind, he resumed, in another line of +argument. He rightly judged that there must be some moral defect in his +last remarks, although he could not see it, which made persistence in +that direction useless. + +“You ought not to blame me--you cannot blame me justly. It is to your +sense of justice I appeal. Have I ever concealed from you my opinions on +this subject? Have I not on the contrary always avowed them? Did I +not here, on this very spot, when challenged once before by this same +Carrington, take credit for an act less defensible than this? Did I not +tell you then that I had even violated the sanctity of a great popular +election and reversed its result? That was my sole act! In comparison +with it, this is a trifle! Who is injured by a steamship company +subscribing one or ten hundred thousand dollars to a campaign fund? +Whose rights are affected by it? Perhaps its stock holders receive one +dollar a share in dividends less than they otherwise would. If they +do not complain, who else can do so? But in that election I deprived a +million people of rights which belonged to them as absolutely as their +houses! You could not say that I had done wrong. Not a word of blame or +criticism have you ever uttered to me on that account. If there was an +offence, you condoned it! You certainly led me to suppose that you saw +none. Why are you now so severe upon the smaller crime?” + +This shot struck hard. Mrs. Lee visibly shrank under it, and lost her +composure. This was the same reproach she had made against herself, and +to which she had been able to find no reply. With some agitation she +exclaimed: + +“Mr. Ratcliffe, pray do me justice! I have tried not to be severe. I +have said nothing in the way of attack or blame. I acknowledge that it +is not my place to stand in judgment over your acts. I have more reason +to blame myself than you, and God knows I have blamed myself bitterly.” + The tears stood in her eyes as she said these last words, and her voice +trembled. + +Ratcliffe saw that he had gained an advantage, and, sitting down +nearer to her, he dropped his voice and urged his suit still more +energetically: + +“You did me justice then; why not do it now? You were convinced then +that I did the best I could. I have always done so. On the other hand +I have never pretended that all my acts could be justified by abstract +morality. Where, then, is the divergence between us?” + +Mrs. Lee did not undertake to answer this last argument: she only +returned to her old ground. “Mr. Ratcliffe,” she said, “I do not want +to argue this question. I have no doubt that you can overcome me in +argument. Perhaps on my side this is a matter of feeling rather than of +reason, but the truth is only too evident to me that I am not fitted +for politics. I should be a drag upon you. Let me be the judge of my own +weakness! Do not insist upon pressing me, further!” + +She was ashamed of herself for this appeal to a man whom she could not +respect, as though she were a suppliant at his mercy, but she feared the +reproach of having deceived him, and she tried pitiably to escape it. + +Ratcliffe was only encouraged by her weakness. + +“I must insist upon pressing it, Mrs. Lee,” replied he, and he became +yet more earnest as he went on; “my future is too deeply involved in +your decision to allow of my accepting your answer as final. I need your +aid. There is nothing I will not do to obtain it. Do you require +affection? mine for you is boundless. I am ready to prove it by a life +of devotion. Do you doubt my sincerity? test it in whatever way you +please. Do you fear being dragged down to the level of ordinary +politicians? so far as concerns myself, my great wish is to have your +help in purifying politics. What higher ambition can there be than to +serve one's country for such an end? Your sense of duty is too keen not +to feel that the noblest objects which can inspire any woman, combine to +point out your course.” + +Mrs. Lee was excessively uncomfortable, although not in the least +shaken. + +She began to see that she must take a stronger tone if she meant to +bring this importunity to an end, and she answered:-- + +“I do not doubt your affection or your sincerity, Mr. Ratcliffe. It +is myself I doubt. You have been kind enough to give me much of your +confidence this winter, and if I do not yet know about politics all that +is to be known, I have learned enough to prove that I could do nothing +sillier than to suppose myself competent to reform anything. If I +pretended to think so, I should be a mere worldly, ambitious woman, such +as people think me. The idea of my purifying politics is absurd. I am +sorry to speak so strongly, but I mean it. I do not cling very closely +to life, and do not value my own very highly, but I will not tangle it +in such a way; I will not share the profits of vice; I am not willing to +be made a receiver of stolen goods, or to be put in a position where I +am perpetually obliged to maintain that immorality is a virtue!” + +As she went on she became more and more animated and her words took a +sharper edge than she had intended. Ratcliffe felt it, and showed his +annoyance. His face grew dark and his eyes looked out at her with their +ugliest expression. He even opened his mouth for an angry retort, but +controlled himself with an effort, and presently resumed his argument. + +“I had hoped,” he began more solemnly than ever, “that I should find in +you a lofty courage which would disregard such risks. If all the men and +women were to take the tone you have taken, our government would soon +perish. If you consent to share my career, I do not deny that you may +find less satisfaction than I hope, but you will lead a mere death in +life if you place yourself like a saint on a solitary column. I plead +what I believe to be your own cause in pleading mine. Do not sacrifice +your life!” + +Mrs. Lee was in despair. She could not reply what was on her lips, that +to marry a murderer or a thief was not a sure way of diminishing crime. +She had already said something so much like this that she shrank from +speaking more plainly. So she fell back on her old theme. + +“We must at all events, Mr. Ratcliffe, use our judgments according to +our own consciences. I can only repeat now what I said at first. I am +sorry to seem insensible to your expressions towards me, but I cannot do +what you wish. Let us maintain our old relations if you will, but do not +press me further on this subject.” + +Ratcliffe grew more and more sombre as he became aware that defeat was +staring him in the face. He was tenacious of purpose, and he had never +in his life abandoned an object which he had so much at heart as +this. He would not abandon it. For the moment, so completely had the +fascination of Mrs. + +Lee got the control of him, he would rather have abandoned the +Presidency itself than her. He really loved her as earnestly as it was +in his nature to love anything. To her obstinacy he would oppose +an obstinacy greater still; but in the meanwhile his attack was +disconcerted, and he was at a loss what next to do. Was it not possible +to change his ground; to offer inducements that would appeal even more +strongly to feminine ambition and love of display than the Presidency +itself? He began again:-- + +“Is there no form of pledge I can give you? no sacrifice I can make? +You dislike politics. Shall I leave political life? I will do anything +rather than lose you. I can probably control the appointment of Minister +to England. The President would rather have me there than here. Suppose +I were to abandon politics and take the English mission. Would that +sacrifice not affect you? You might pass four years in London where +there would be no politics, and where your social position would be +the best in the world; and this would lead to the Presidency almost +as surely as the other.” Then suddenly, seeing that he was making no +headway, he threw off his studied calmness and broke out in an appeal of +almost equally studied violence. + +“Mrs. Lee! Madeleine! I cannot live without you. The sound of your +voice--the touch of your hand--even the rustle of your dress--are like +wine to me. For God's sake, do not throw me over!” + +He meant to crush opposition by force. More and more vehement as he +spoke he actually bent over and tried to seize her hand. She drew it +back as though he were a reptile. She was exasperated by this obstinate +disregard of her forbearance, this gross attempt to bribe her with +office, this flagrant abandonment of even a pretence of public virtue; +the mere thought of his touch on her person was more repulsive than +a loathsome disease. Bent upon teaching him a lesson he would never +forget, she spoke out abruptly, and with evident signs of contempt in +her voice and manner: + +“Mr. Ratcliffe, I am not to be bought. No rank, no dignity, no +consideration, no conceivable expedient would induce me to change my +mind. Let us have no more of this!” + +Ratcliffe had already been more than once, during this conversation, on +the verge of losing his temper. Naturally dictatorial and violent, only +long training and severe experience had taught him self-control, and +when he gave way to passion his bursts of fury were still tremendous. +Mrs. Lee's evident personal disgust, even more than her last sharp +rebuke, passed the bounds of his patience. As he stood before her, even +she, high-spirited as she was, and not in a calm frame of mind, felt a +momentary shock at seeing how his face flushed, his eyes gleamed, and +his hands trembled with rage. + +“Ah!” exclaimed he, turning upon her with a harshness, almost a +savageness, of manner that startled her still more; “I might have known +what to expect! Mrs. Clinton warned me early. She said then that I +should find you a heartless coquette!” + +“Mr. Ratcliffe!” exclaimed Madeleine, rising from her chair, and +speaking in a warning voice almost as passionate as his own. + +“A heartless coquette!” he repeated, still more harshly than before; +“she said you would do just this! that you meant to deceive me! that you +lived on flattery! that you could never be anything but a coquette, and +that if you married me, I should repent it all my life. I believe her +now!” + +Mrs. Lee's temper, too, was naturally a high one. At this moment she, +too, was flaming with anger, and wild with a passionate impulse to +annihilate this man. Conscious that the mastery was in her own hands, +she could the more easily control her voice, and with an expression of +unutterable contempt she spoke her last words to him, words which had +been ringing all day in her ears: + +“Mr. Ratcliffe! I have listened to you with a great deal more patience +and respect than you deserve. For one long hour I have degraded myself +by discussing with you the question whether I should marry a man who by +his own confession has betrayed the highest trusts that could be placed +in him, who has taken money for his votes as a Senator, and who is now +in public office by means of a successful fraud of his own, when in +justice he should be in a State's prison. I will have no more of this. +Understand, once for all, that there is an impassable gulf between your +life and mine. I do not doubt that you will make yourself President, but +whatever or wherever you are, never speak to me or recognize me again!” + +He glared a moment into her face with a sort of blind rage, and seemed +about to say more, when she swept past him, and before he realized it, +he was alone. + +Overmastered by passion, but conscious that he was powerless, Ratcliffe, +after a moment's hesitation, left the room and the house. He let himself +out, shutting the front door behind him, and as he stood on the pavement +old Baron Jacobi, who had special reasons for wishing to know how Mrs. +Lee had recovered from the fatigue and excitements of the ball, came up +to the spot. + +A single glance at Ratcliffe showed him that something had gone wrong in +the career of that great man, whose fortunes he always followed with so +bitter a sneer of contempt. Impelled by the spirit of evil always at his +elbow, the Baron seized this moment to sound the depth of his friend's +wound. They met at the door so closely that recognition was inevitable, +and Jacobi, with his worst smile, held out his hand, saying at the same +moment with diabolic malignity: + +“I hope I may offer my felicitations to your Excellency!” + +Ratcliffe was glad to find some victim on whom he could vent his rage. +He had a long score of humiliations to repay this man, whose last insult +was beyond all endurance. With an oath he dashed Jacobi's hand aside, +and, grasping his shoulder, thrust him out of the path. The Baron, among +whose weaknesses the want of high temper and personal courage was not +recorded, had no mind to tolerate such an insult from such a man. Even +while Ratcliffe's hand was still on his shoulder he had raised his cane, +and before the Secretary saw what was coming, the old man had struck him +with all his force full in the face. For a moment Ratcliffe staggered +back and grew pale, but the shock sobered him. He hesitated a single +instant whether to crush his assailant with a blow, but he felt that +for one of his youth and strength, to attack an infirm diplomatist in +a public street would be a fatal blunder, and while Jacobi stood, +violently excited, with his cane raised ready to strike another blow, +Mr. Ratcliffe suddenly turned his back and without a word, hastened +away. + +When Sybil returned, not long afterwards, she found no one in the +parlour. + +On going to her sister's room she discovered Madeleine lying on the +couch, looking worn and pale, but with a slight smile and a peaceful +expression on her face, as though she had done some act which her +conscience approved. She called Sybil to her side, and, taking her hand, +said: + +“Sybil, dearest, will you go abroad with me again?” + +“Of course I will,” said Sybil; “I will go to the end of the world with +you.” + +“I want to go to Egypt,” said Madeleine, still smiling faintly; +“democracy has shaken my nerves to pieces. Oh, what rest it would be to +live in the Great Pyramid and look out for ever at the polar star!” + + + + +Conclusion + + +SYBIL TO CARRINGTON “May 1st, New York. + +“My dear Mr. Carrington, + +“I promised to write you, and so, to keep my +promise, and also because my sister wishes me to tell you about our +plans, I send this letter. We have left Washington--for ever, I am +afraid--and are going to Europe next month. + +You must know that a fortnight ago, Lord Skye gave a great ball to +the Grand-Duchess of something-or-other quite unspellable. I never can +describe things, but it was all very fine. I wore a lovely new dress, +and was a great success, I assure you. So was Madeleine, though she +had to sit most of the evening by the Princess--such a dowdy! The Duke +danced with me several times; he can't reverse, but that doesn't seem to +matter in a Grand-Duke. + +Well! things came to a crisis at the end of the evening. I followed your +directions, and after we got home gave your letter to Madeleine. +She says she has burned it. I don't know what happened afterwards--a +tremendous scene, I suspect, but Victoria Dare writes me from Washington +that every one is talking about M.'s refusal of Mr. R., and a dreadful +thing that took place on our very doorstep between Mr. R. and Baron +Jacobi, the day after the ball. She says there was a regular pitched +battle, and the Baron struck him over the face with his cane. You know +how afraid Madeleine was that they would do something of the sort in our +parlour. I'm glad they waited till they were in the street. But isn't +it shocking! They say the Baron is to be sent away, or recalled, or +something. I like the old gentleman, and for his sake am glad duelling +is gone out of fashion, though I don't much believe Mr. Silas P. +Ratcliffe could hit anything. The Baron passed through here three days +ago on his summer trip to Europe. He left his card on us, but we +were out, and did not see him. We are going over in July with the +Schneidekoupons, and Mr. Schneidekoupon has promised to send his yacht +to the Mediterranean, so that we shall sail about there after finishing +the Nile, and see Jerusalem and Gibraltar and Constantinople. I think +it will be perfectly lovely. I hate ruins, but I fancy you can buy +delicious things in Constantinople. Of course, after what has happened, +we can never go back to Washington. I shall miss our rides dreadfully. +I read Mr. Browning's 'Last Ride Together,' as you told me; I think it's +beautiful and perfectly easy, all but a little. I never could understand +a word of him before--so I never tried. Who do you think is engaged? +Victoria Dare, to a coronet and a peat-bog, with Lord Dunbeg attached. +Victoria says she is happier than she ever was before in any of her +other engagements, and she is sure this is the real one. She says she +has thirty thousand a year derived from the poor of America, which may +just as well go to relieve one of the poor in Ireland. + +You know her father was a claim agent, or some such thing, and is said +to have made his money by cheating his clients out of their claims. +She is perfectly wild to be a countess, and means to make Castle Dunbeg +lovely by-and-by, and entertain us all there. Madeleine says she is just +the kind to be a great success in London. Madeleine is very well, and +sends her kind regards. I believe she is going to add a postscript. +I have promised to let her read this, but I don't think a chaperoned +letter is much fun to write or receive. Hoping to hear from you soon, + +“Sincerely yours, + +“Sybil Ross.” + + +Enclosed was a thin strip of paper containing another message from +Sybil, privately inserted at the last moment unknown to Mrs. Lee-- + +“If I were in your place I would try again after she comes home.” + + +Mrs. Lee's P.S. was very short-- + +“The bitterest part of all this horrid story is that nine out of ten of +our countrymen would say I had made a mistake.” + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Democracy An American Novel, by Henry Adams + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEMOCRACY AN AMERICAN NOVEL *** + +***** This file should be named 2815-0.txt or 2815-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/1/2815/ + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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/2815-0.zip b/2815-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..9929126 --- /dev/null +++ b/2815-0.zip diff --git a/2815-8.txt b/2815-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..084e617 --- /dev/null +++ b/2815-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7563 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Democracy An American Novel, by Henry Adams + +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: Democracy An American Novel + +Author: Henry Adams + +Posting Date: December 13, 2008 [EBook #2815] +Release Date: September, 2001 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEMOCRACY AN AMERICAN NOVEL *** + + + + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer + + + + + +DEMOCRACY AN AMERICAN NOVEL + +By Henry Adams + + + + +First published anonymously, March 1880, and soon in various +unauthorized editions. It wasn't until the 1925 edition that Adams +was listed as author. Henry Adams remarked (ironically as usual), +"The wholesale piracy of Democracy was the single real triumph of my +life."--it was very popular, as readers tried to guess who the author +was and who the characters really were. Chapters XII and XIII were +originally misnumbered. + + + + +Chapter I + + +FOR reasons which many persons thought ridiculous, Mrs. Lightfoot Lee +decided to pass the winter in Washington. She was in excellent health, +but she said that the climate would do her good. In New York she had +troops of friends, but she suddenly became eager to see again the very +small number of those who lived on the Potomac. It was only to her +closest intimates that she honestly acknowledged herself to be tortured +by ennui. Since her husband's death, five years before, she had lost +her taste for New York society; she had felt no interest in the price +of stocks, and very little in the men who dealt in them; she had become +serious. What was it all worth, this wilderness of men and women as +monotonous as the brown stone houses they lived in? In her despair +she had resorted to desperate measures. She had read philosophy in the +original German, and the more she read, the more she was disheartened +that so much culture should lead to nothing--nothing. + +After talking of Herbert Spencer for an entire evening with a very +literary transcendental commission-merchant, she could not see that her +time had been better employed than when in former days she had passed it +in flirting with a very agreeable young stock-broker; indeed, there +was an evident proof to the contrary, for the flirtation might lead to +something--had, in fact, led to marriage; while the philosophy could +lead to nothing, unless it were perhaps to another evening of the +same kind, because transcendental philosophers are mostly elderly men, +usually married, and, when engaged in business, somewhat apt to be +sleepy towards evening. Nevertheless Mrs. Lee did her best to turn her +study to practical use. She plunged into philanthropy, visited prisons, +inspected hospitals, read the literature of pauperism and crime, +saturated herself with the statistics of vice, until her mind had nearly +lost sight of virtue. At last it rose in rebellion against her, and +she came to the limit of her strength. This path, too, seemed to lead +nowhere. She declared that she had lost the sense of duty, and that, so +far as concerned her, all the paupers and criminals in New York might +henceforward rise in their majesty and manage every railway on the +continent. Why should she care? What was the city to her? She could +find nothing in it that seemed to demand salvation. What gave peculiar +sanctity to numbers? Why were a million people, who all resembled each +other, any way more interesting than one person? What aspiration could +she help to put into the mind of this great million-armed monster that +would make it worth her love or respect? Religion? A thousand powerful +churches were doing their best, and she could see no chance for a +new faith of which she was to be the inspired prophet. Ambition? High +popular ideals? Passion for whatever is lofty and pure? The very words +irritated her. Was she not herself devoured by ambition, and was she not +now eating her heart out because she could find no one object worth a +sacrifice? + +Was it ambition--real ambition--or was it mere restlessness that +made Mrs. Lightfoot Lee so bitter against New York and Philadelphia, +Baltimore and Boston, American life in general and all life in +particular? What did she want? Not social position, for she herself was +an eminently respectable Philadelphian by birth; her father a famous +clergyman; and her husband had been equally irreproachable, a descendant +of one branch of the Virginia Lees, which had drifted to New York in +search of fortune, and had found it, or enough of it to keep the young +man there. His widow had her own place in society which no one disputed. +Though not brighter than her neighbours, the world persisted in classing +her among clever women; she had wealth, or at least enough of it to give +her all that money can give by way of pleasure to a sensible woman in an +American city; she had her house and her carriage; she dressed well; her +table was good, and her furniture was never allowed to fall behind the +latest standard of decorative art. She had travelled in Europe, and +after several visits, covering some years of time, had returned home, +carrying in one hand, as it were, a green-grey landscape, a remarkably +pleasing specimen of Corot, and in the other some bales of Persian and +Syrian rugs and embroideries, Japanese bronzes and porcelain. With this +she declared Europe to be exhausted, and she frankly avowed that she was +American to the tips of her fingers; she neither knew nor greatly cared +whether America or Europe were best to live in; she had no violent love +for either, and she had no objection to abusing both; but she meant to +get all that American life had to offer, good or bad, and to drink it +down to the dregs, fully determined that whatever there was in it +she would have, and that whatever could be made out of it she would +manufacture. "I know," said she, "that America produces petroleum and +pigs; I have seen both on the steamers; and I am told it produces silver +and gold. There is choice enough for any woman." + +Yet, as has been already said, Mrs. Lee's first experience was not a +success. She soon declared that New York might represent the petroleum +or the pigs, but the gold of life was not to be discovered there by her +eyes. + +Not but that there was variety enough; a variety of people, occupations, +aims, and thoughts; but that all these, after growing to a certain +height, stopped short. They found nothing to hold them up. She knew, +more or less intimately, a dozen men whose fortunes ranged between one +million and forty millions. What did they do with their money? What +could they do with it that was different from what other men did? After +all, it is absurd to spend more money than is enough to satisfy all +one's wants; it is vulgar to live in two houses in the same street, and +to drive six horses abreast. Yet, after setting aside a certain income +sufficient for all one's wants, what was to be done with the rest? To +let it accumulate was to own one's failure; Mrs. Lee's great grievance +was that it did accumulate, without changing or improving the quality +of its owners. To spend it in charity and public works was doubtless +praiseworthy, but was it wise? Mrs. Lee had read enough political +economy and pauper reports to be nearly convinced that public work +should be public duty, and that great benefactions do harm as well as +good. + +And even supposing it spent on these objects, how could it do more than +increase and perpetuate that same kind of human nature which was her +great grievance? Her New York friends could not meet this question +except by falling back upon their native commonplaces, which she +recklessly trampled upon, averring that, much as she admired the genius +of the famous traveller, Mr. Gulliver, she never had been able, since +she became a widow, to accept the Brobdingnagian doctrine that he who +made two blades of grass grow where only one grew before deserved better +of mankind than the whole race of politicians. She would not find fault +with the philosopher had he required that the grass should be of an +improved quality; "but," said she, "I cannot honestly pretend that I +should be pleased to see two New York men where I now see one; the idea +is too ridiculous; more than one and a half would be fatal to me." + +Then came her Boston friends, who suggested that higher education was +precisely what she wanted; she should throw herself into a crusade for +universities and art-schools. Mrs. Lee turned upon them with a sweet +smile; "Do you know," said she, "that we have in New York already the +richest university in America, and that its only trouble has always been +that it can get no scholars even by paying for them? Do you want me to +go out into the streets and waylay boys? If the heathen refuse to be +converted, can you give me power over the stake and the sword to compel +them to come in? And suppose you can? Suppose I march all the boys in +Fifth Avenue down to the university and have them all properly taught +Greek and Latin, English literature, ethics, and German philosophy. +What then? You do it in Boston. Now tell me honestly what comes of it. I +suppose you have there a brilliant society; numbers of poets, scholars, +philosophers, statesmen, all up and down Beacon Street. Your evenings +must be sparkling. Your press must scintillate. How is it that we New +Yorkers never hear of it? We don't go much into your society; but when +we do, it doesn't seem so very much better than our own. You are just +like the rest of us. You grow six inches high, and then you stop. Why +will not somebody grow to be a tree and cast a shadow?" + +The average member of New York society, although not unused to this +contemptuous kind of treatment from his leaders, retaliated in his +blind, common-sense way. "What does the woman want?" he said. "Is her +head turned with the Tulieries and Marlborough House? Does she think +herself made for a throne? Why does she not lecture for women's rights? +Why not go on the stage? If she cannot be contented like other people, +what need is there for abusing us just because she feels herself no +taller than we are? What does she expect to get from her sharp tongue? +What does she know, any way?" + +Mrs. Lee certainly knew very little. She had read voraciously and +promiscuously one subject after another. Ruskin and Taine had danced +merrily through her mind, hand in hand with Darwin and Stuart Mill, +Gustave Droz and Algernon Swinburne. She had even laboured over the +literature of her own country. She was perhaps, the only woman in New +York who knew something of American history. Certainly she could not +have repeated the list of Presidents in their order, but she knew that +the Constitution divided the government into Executive, Legislative, and +Judiciary; she was aware that the President, the Speaker, and the +Chief Justice were important personages, and instinctively she wondered +whether they might not solve her problem; whether they were the shade +trees which she saw in her dreams. + +Here, then, was the explanation of her restlessness, discontent, +ambition,--call it what you will. It was the feeling of a passenger on +an ocean steamer whose mind will not give him rest until he has been in +the engine-room and talked with the engineer. She wanted to see with her +own eyes the action of primary forces; to touch with her own hand the +massive machinery of society; to measure with her own mind the capacity +of the motive power. She was bent upon getting to the heart of the great +American mystery of democracy and government. She cared little where +her pursuit might lead her, for she put no extravagant value upon life, +having already, as she said, exhausted at least two lives, and being +fairly hardened to insensibility in the process. "To lose a husband and +a baby," said she, "and keep one's courage and reason, one must become +very hard or very soft. I am now pure steel. You may beat my heart with +a trip-hammer and it will beat the trip-hammer back again." + +Perhaps after exhausting the political world she might try again +elsewhere; she did not pretend to say where she might then go, or what +she should do; but at present she meant to see what amusement there +might be in politics. + +Her friends asked what kind of amusement she expected to find among +the illiterate swarm of ordinary people who in Washington represented +constituencies so dreary that in comparison New York was a New +Jerusalem, and Broad Street a grove of Academe. She replied that if +Washington society were so bad as this, she should have gained all she +wanted, for it would be a pleasure to return,--precisely the feeling she +longed for. In her own mind, however, she frowned on the idea of +seeking for men. What she wished to see, she thought, was the clash +of interests, the interests of forty millions of people and a whole +continent, centering at Washington; guided, restrained, controlled, +or unrestrained and uncontrollable, by men of ordinary mould; the +tremendous forces of government, and the machinery of society, at work. +What she wanted, was POWER. + +Perhaps the force of the engine was a little confused in her mind with +that of the engineer, the power with the men who wielded it. Perhaps the +human interest of politics was after all what really attracted her, and, +however strongly she might deny it, the passion for exercising power, +for its own sake, might dazzle and mislead a woman who had exhausted all +the ordinary feminine resources. But why speculate about her motives? +The stage was before her, the curtain was rising, the actors were ready +to enter; she had only to go quietly on among the supernumeraries and +see how the play was acted and the stage effects were produced; how the +great tragedians mouthed, and the stage-manager swore. + + + +Chapter II + +ON the first of December, Mrs. Lee took the train for Washington, and +before five o'clock that evening she was entering her newly hired +house on Lafayette Square. She shrugged her shoulders with a mingled +expression of contempt and grief at the curious barbarism of the +curtains and the wall-papers, and her next two days were occupied with +a life-and-death struggle to get the mastery over her surroundings. In +this awful contest the interior of the doomed house suffered as though +a demon were in it; not a chair, not a mirror, not a carpet, was left +untouched, and in the midst of the worst confusion the new mistress sat, +calm as the statue of Andrew Jackson in the square under her eyes, and +issued her orders with as much decision as that hero had ever shown. +Towards the close of the second day, victory crowned her forehead. A +new era, a nobler conception of duty and existence, had dawned upon +that benighted and heathen residence. The wealth of Syria and Persia was +poured out upon the melancholy Wilton carpets; embroidered comets and +woven gold from Japan and Teheran depended from and covered over every +sad stuff-curtain; a strange medley of sketches, paintings, fans, +embroideries, and porcelain was hung, nailed, pinned, or stuck against +the wall; finally the domestic altarpiece, the mystical Corot landscape, +was hoisted to its place over the parlour fire, and then all was over. +The setting sun streamed softly in at the windows, and peace reigned in +that redeemed house and in the heart of its mistress. + +"I think it will do now, Sybil," said she, surveying the scene. + +"It must," replied Sybil. "You haven't a plate or a fan or coloured +scarf left. You must send out and buy some of these old negro-women's +bandannas if you are going to cover anything else. What is the use? Do +you suppose any human being in Washington will like it? They will think +you demented." + +"There is such a thing as self-respect," replied her sister, calmly. + +Sybil--Miss Sybil Ross--was Madeleine Lee's sister. The keenest +psychologist could not have detected a single feature quality which they +had in common, and for that reason they were devoted friends. Madeleine +was thirty, Sybil twenty-four. Madeleine was indescribable; Sybil was +transparent. Madeleine was of medium height with a graceful figure, +a well-set head, and enough golden-brown hair to frame a face full of +varying expression. Her eyes were never for two consecutive hours of the +same shade, but were more often blue than grey. People who envied her +smile said that she cultivated a sense of humour in order to show her +teeth. Perhaps they were right; but there was no doubt that her habit +of talking with gesticulation would never have grown upon her unless +she had known that her hands were not only beautiful but expressive. +She dressed as skilfully as New York women do, but in growing older +she began to show symptoms of dangerous unconventionality. She had been +heard to express a low opinion of her countrywomen who blindly fell down +before the golden calf of Mr. Worth, and she had even fought a battle +of great severity, while it lasted, with one of her best-dressed +friends who had been invited--and had gone--to Mr. Worth's afternoon +tea-parties. The secret was that Mrs. Lee had artistic tendencies, and +unless they were checked in time, there was no knowing what might be +the consequence. But as yet they had done no harm; indeed, they rather +helped to give her that sort of atmosphere which belongs only to certain +women; as indescribable as the afterglow; as impalpable as an Indian +summer mist; and non-existent except to people who feel rather than +reason. Sybil had none of it. The imagination gave up all attempts +to soar where she came. A more straightforward, downright, gay, +sympathetic, shallow, warm-hearted, sternly practical young woman has +rarely touched this planet. Her mind had room for neither grave-stones +nor guide-books; she could not have lived in the past or the future if +she had spent her days in churches and her nights in tombs. "She was +not clever, like Madeleine, thank Heaven." Madeleine was not an orthodox +member of the church; sermons bored her, and clergymen never failed to +irritate every nerve in her excitable system. Sybil was a simple and +devout worshipper at the ritualistic altar; she bent humbly before the +Paulist fathers. When she went to a ball she always had the best partner +in the room, and took it as a matter of course; but then, she always +prayed for one; somehow it strengthened her faith. Her sister took care +never to laugh at her on this score, or to shock her religious opinions. +"Time enough," said she, "for her to forget religion when religion +fails her." As for regular attendance at church, Madeleine was able to +reconcile their habits without trouble. She herself had not entered a +church for years; she said it gave her unchristian feelings; but Sybil +had a voice of excellent quality, well trained and cultivated: +Madeleine insisted that she should sing in the choir, and by this +little manoeuvre, the divergence of their paths was made less evident. +Madeleine did not sing, and therefore could not go to church with Sybil. +This outrageous fallacy seemed perfectly to answer its purpose, and +Sybil accepted it, in good faith, as a fair working principle which +explained itself. + +Madeleine was sober in her tastes. She wasted no money. She made no +display. + +She walked rather than drove, and wore neither diamonds nor brocades. +But the general impression she made was nevertheless one of luxury. On +the other hand, her sister had her dresses from Paris, and wore them +and her ornaments according to all the formulas; she was good-naturedly +correct, and bent her round white shoulders to whatever burden the +Parisian autocrat chose to put upon them. Madeleine never interfered, +and always paid the bills. + +Before they had been ten days in Washington, they fell gently into their +place and were carried along without an effort on the stream of social +life. + +Society was kind; there was no reason for its being otherwise. Mrs. Lee +and her sister had no enemies, held no offices, and did their best to +make themselves popular. Sybil had not passed summers at Newport and +winters in New York in vain; and neither her face nor her figure, her +voice nor her dancing, needed apology. Politics were not her strong +point. She was induced to go once to the Capitol and to sit ten minutes +in the gallery of the Senate. No one ever knew what her impressions +were; with feminine tact she managed not to betray herself But, in +truth, her notion of legislative bodies was vague, floating between her +experience at church and at the opera, so that the idea of a performance +of some kind was never out of her head. To her mind the Senate was a +place where people went to recite speeches, and she naively assumed that +the speeches were useful and had a purpose, but as they did not interest +her she never went again. This is a very common conception of Congress; +many Congressmen share it. + +Her sister was more patient and bolder. She went to the Capitol nearly +every day for at least two weeks. At the end of that time her interest +began to flag, and she thought it better to read the debates every +morning in the Congressional Record. Finding this a laborious and not +always an instructive task, she began to skip the dull parts; and in +the absence of any exciting question, she at last resigned herself +to skipping the whole. Nevertheless she still had energy to visit the +Senate gallery occasionally when she was told that a splendid orator +was about to speak on a question of deep interest to his country. +She listened with a little disposition to admire, if she could; and, +whenever she could, she did admire. She said nothing, but she listened +sharply. She wanted to learn how the machinery of government worked, +and what was the quality of the men who controlled it. One by one, she +passed them through her crucibles, and tested them by acids and by fire. + +A few survived her tests and came out alive, though more or less +disfigured, where she had found impurities. Of the whole number, only +one retained under this process enough character to interest her. + +In these early visits to Congress, Mrs. Lee sometimes had the company +of John Carrington, a Washington lawyer about forty years old, who, by +virtue of being a Virginian and a distant connection of her husband, +called himself a cousin, and took a tone of semi-intimacy, which Mrs. +Lee accepted because Carrington was a man whom she liked, and because +he was one whom life had treated hardly. He was of that unfortunate +generation in the south which began existence with civil war, and he was +perhaps the more unfortunate because, like most educated Virginians of +the old Washington school, he had seen from the first that, whatever +issue the war took, Virginia and he must be ruined. At twenty-two he had +gone into the rebel army as a private and carried his musket modestly +through a campaign or two, after which he slowly rose to the rank of +senior captain in his regiment, and closed his services on the staff of +a major-general, always doing scrupulously enough what he conceived to +be his duty, and never doing it with enthusiasm. When the rebel armies +surrendered, he rode away to his family plantation--not a difficult +thing to do, for it was only a few miles from Appomatox--and at once +began to study law; then, leaving his mother and sisters to do what +they could with the worn-out plantation, he began the practice of law +in Washington, hoping thus to support himself and them. He had succeeded +after a fashion, and for the first time the future seemed not absolutely +dark. Mrs. Lee's house was an oasis to him, and he found himself, to +his surprise, almost gay in her company. The gaiety was of a very quiet +kind, and Sybil, while friendly with him, averred that he was certainly +dull; but this dulness had a fascination for Madeleine, who, having +tasted many more kinds of the wine of life than Sybil, had learned to +value certain delicacies of age and flavour that were lost upon younger +and coarser palates. He talked rather slowly and almost with effort, but +he had something of the dignity--others call it stiffness--of the +old Virginia school, and twenty years of constant responsibility +and deferred hope had added a touch of care that bordered closely on +sadness. His great attraction was that he never talked or seemed to +think of himself. Mrs. Lee trusted in him by instinct. "He is a type!" +said she; "he is my idea of George Washington at thirty." + +One morning in December, Carrington entered Mrs. Lee's parlour towards +noon, and asked if she cared to visit the Capitol. + +"You will have a chance of hearing to-day what may be the last great +speech of our greatest statesman," said he; "you should come." + +"A splendid sample of our native raw material, sir?" asked she, +fresh from a reading of Dickens, and his famous picture of American +statesmanship. + +"Precisely so," said Carrington; "the Prairie Giant of Peonia, the +Favourite Son of Illinois; the man who came within three votes of +getting the party nomination for the Presidency last spring, and was +only defeated because ten small intriguers are sharper than one big one. +The Honourable Silas P. Ratcliffe, Senator from Illinois; he will be run +for the Presidency yet." + +"What does the P. stand for?" asked Sybil. + +"I don't remember ever to have heard his middle name," said Carrington. + +"Perhaps it is Peonia or Prairie; I can't say." + +"He is the man whose appearance struck me so much when we were in the +Senate last week, is he not? A great, ponderous man, over six feet +high, very senatorial and dignified, with a large head and rather good +features?" inquired Mrs. Lee. + +"The same," replied Carrington. "By all means hear him speak. He is +the stumbling-block of the new President, who is to be allowed no peace +unless he makes terms with Ratcliffe; and so every one thinks that the +Prairie Giant of Peonia will have the choice of the State or Treasury +Department. If he takes either it will be the Treasury, for he is a +desperate political manager, and will want the patronage for the next +national convention." + +Mrs. Lee was delighted to hear the debate, and Carrington was delighted +to sit through it by her side, and to exchange running comments with her +on the speeches and the speakers. + +"Have you ever met the Senator?" asked she. + +"I have acted several times as counsel before his committees. He is an +excellent chairman, always attentive and generally civil." + +"Where was he born?" + +"The family is a New England one, and I believe respectable. He came, I +think, from some place in the Connecticut Valley, but whether Vermont, +New Hampshire, or Massachusetts, I don't know." + +"Is he an educated man?" + +"He got a kind of classical education at one of the country colleges +there. I suspect he has as much education as is good for him. But he +went West very soon after leaving college, and being then young and +fresh from that hot-bed of abolition, he threw himself into the +anti-slavery movement in Illinois, and after a long struggle he rose +with the wave. He would not do the same thing now." + +"Why not?" + +"He is older, more experienced, and not so wise. Besides, he has no +longer the time to wait. Can you see his eyes from here? I call them +Yankee eyes." + +"Don't abuse the Yankees," said Mrs. Lee; "I am half Yankee myself." + +"Is that abuse? Do you mean to deny that they have eyes?" + +"I concede that there may be eyes among them; but Virginians are not +fair judges of their expression." + +"Cold eyes," he continued; "steel grey, rather small, not unpleasant in +good-humour, diabolic in a passion, but worst when a little suspicious; +then they watch you as though you were a young rattle-snake, to be +killed when convenient." + +"Does he not look you in the face?" + +"Yes; but not as though he liked you. His eyes only seem to ask the +possible uses you might be put to. Ah, the vice-president has given him +the floor; now we shall have it. Hard voice, is it not? like his eyes. +Hard manner, like his voice. Hard all through." + +"What a pity he is so dreadfully senatorial!" said Mrs. Lee; "otherwise +I rather admire him." + +"Now he is settling down to his work," continued Carrington. "See how he +dodges all the sharp issues. What a thing it is to be a Yankee! What a +genius the fellow has for leading a party! Do you see how well it is all +done? The new President flattered and conciliated, the party united and +given a strong lead. And now we shall see how the President will deal +with him. Ten to one on Ratcliffe. Come, there is that stupid ass from +Missouri getting up. Let us go." + +As they passed down the steps and out into the Avenue, Mrs. Lee turned +to Carrington as though she had been reflecting deeply and had at length +reached a decision. + +"Mr. Carrington," said she, "I want to know Senator Ratcliffe." + +"You will meet him to-morrow evening," replied Carrington, "at your +senatorial dinner." + +The Senator from New York, the Honourable Schuyler Clinton, was an old +admirer of Mrs. Lee, and his wife was a cousin of hers, more or less +distant. They had lost no time in honouring the letter of credit she +thus had upon them, and invited her and her sister to a solemn dinner, +as imposing as political dignity could make it. Mr. Carrington, as a +connection of hers, was one of the party, and almost the only one among +the twenty persons at table who had neither an office, nor a title, nor +a constituency. + +Senator Clinton received Mrs. Lee and her sister with tender enthusiasm, +for they were attractive specimens of his constituents. He pressed their +hands and evidently restrained himself only by an effort from embracing +them, for the Senator had a marked regard for pretty women, and had made +love to every girl with any pretensions to beauty that had appeared +in the State of New York for fully half a century. At the same time +he whispered an apology in her ear; he regretted so much that he was +obliged to forego the pleasure of taking her to dinner; Washington was +the only city in America where this could have happened, but it was a +fact that ladies here were very great stickiers for etiquette; on the +other hand he had the sad consolation that she would be the gainer, +for he had allotted to her Lord Skye, the British Minister, "a most +agreeable man and not married, as I have the misfortune to be;" and on +the other side "I have ventured to place Senator Ratcliffe, of Illinois, +whose admirable speech I saw you listening to with such rapt attention +yesterday. I thought you might like to know him. Did I do right?" + +Madeleine assured him that he had divined her inmost wishes, and he +turned with even more warmth of affection to her sister: "As for you, my +dear--dear Sybil, what can I do to make your dinner agreeable? If I give +your sister a coronet, I am only sorry not to have a diadem for you. But +I have done everything in my power. The first Secretary of the Russian +Legation, Count Popoff, will take you in; a charming young man, my dear +Sybil; and on your other side I have placed the Assistant Secretary of +State, whom you know." + +And so, after the due delay, the party settled themselves at the +dinner-table, and Mrs. Lee found Senator Ratcliffe's grey eyes resting +on her face for a moment as they sat down. + +Lord Skye was very agreeable, and, at almost any other moment of her +life, Mrs. Lee would have liked nothing better than to talk with him +from the beginning to the end of her dinner. Tall, slender, bald-headed, +awkward, and stammering with his elaborate British stammer whenever it +suited his convenience to do so; a sharp observer who had wit which he +commonly concealed; a humourist who was satisfied to laugh silently at +his own humour; a diplomatist who used the mask of frankness with great +effect; Lord Skye was one of the most popular men in Washington. Every +one knew that he was a ruthless critic of American manners, but he had +the art to combine ridicule with good-humour, and he was all the more +popular accordingly. He was an outspoken admirer of American women +in everything except their voices, and he did not even shrink from +occasionally quizzing a little the national peculiarities of his own +countrywomen; a sure piece of flattery to their American cousins. He +would gladly have devoted himself to Mrs. Lee, but decent civility +required that he should pay some attention to his hostess, and he was +too good a diplomatist not to be attentive to a hostess who was the wife +of a Senator, and that Senator the chairman of the committee of foreign +relations. + +The moment his head was turned, Mrs. Lee dashed at her Peonia Giant, who +was then consuming his fish, and wishing he understood why the British +Minister had worn no gloves, while he himself had sacrificed his +convictions by wearing the largest and whitest pair of French kids that +could be bought for money on Pennsylvania Avenue. There was a little +touch of mortification in the idea that he was not quite at home among +fashionable people, and at this instant he felt that true happiness was +only to be found among the simple and honest sons and daughters of toil. +A certain secret jealousy of the British Minister is always lurking in +the breast of every American Senator, if he is truly democratic; for +democracy, rightly understood, is the government of the people, by the +people, for the benefit of Senators, and there is always a danger that +the British Minister may not understand this political principle as he +should. Lord Skye had run the risk of making two blunders; of offending +the Senator from New York by neglecting his wife, and the Senator from +Illinois by engrossing the attention of Mrs. Lee. A young Englishman +would have done both, but Lord Skye had studied the American +constitution. The wife of the Senator from New York now thought him most +agreeable, and at the same moment the Senator from Illinois awoke to the +conviction that after all, even in frivolous and fashionable circles, +true dignity is in no danger of neglect; an American Senator +represents a sovereign state; the great state of Illinois is as big +as England--with the convenient omission of Wales, Scotland, Ireland, +Canada, India, Australia, and a few other continents and islands; and in +short, it was perfectly clear that Lord Skye was not formidable to him, +even in light society; had not Mrs. Lee herself as good as said that no +position equalled that of an American Senator? + +In ten minutes Mrs. Lee had this devoted statesman at her feet. She had +not studied the Senate without a purpose. She had read with unerring +instinct one general characteristic of all Senators, a boundless +and guileless thirst for flattery, engendered by daily draughts from +political friends or dependents, then becoming a necessity like a dram, +and swallowed with a heavy smile of ineffable content. A single glance +at Mr. Ratcliffe's face showed Madeleine that she need not be afraid +of flattering too grossly; her own self-respect, not his, was the only +restraint upon her use of this feminine bait. + +She opened upon him with an apparent simplicity and gravity, a quiet +repose of manner, and an evident consciousness of her own strength, +which meant that she was most dangerous. + +"I heard your speech yesterday, Mr. Ratcliffe. I am glad to have a +chance of telling you how much I was impressed by it. It seemed to me +masterly. Do you not find that it has had a great effect?" + +"I thank you, madam. I hope it will help to unite the party, but as yet +we have had no time to measure its results. That will require several +days more." The Senator spoke in his senatorial manner, elaborate, +condescending, and a little on his guard. + +"Do you know," said Mrs. Lee, turning towards him as though he were a +valued friend, and looking deep into his eyes, "Do you know that every +one told me I should be shocked by the falling off in political ability +at Washington? I did not believe them, and since hearing your speech I +am sure they are mistaken. Do you yourself think there is less ability +in Congress than there used to be?" + +"Well, madam, it is difficult to answer that question. Government is not +so easy now as it was formerly. There are different customs. There are +many men of fair abilities in public life; many more than there used to +be; and there is sharper criticism and more of it." + +"Was I right in thinking that you have a strong resemblance to Daniel +Webster in your way of speaking? You come from the same neighbourhood, +do you not?" + +Mrs. Lee here hit on Ratcliffe's weak point; the outline of his head +had, in fact, a certain resemblance to that of Webster, and he prided +himself upon it, and on a distant relationship to the Expounder of the +Constitution; he began to think that Mrs. Lee was a very intelligent +person. His modest admission of the resemblance gave her the opportunity +to talk of Webster's oratory, and the conversation soon spread to a +discussion of the merits of Clay and Calhoun. The Senator found that his +neighbour--a fashionable New York woman, exquisitely dressed, and with +a voice and manner seductively soft and gentle--had read the speeches of +Webster and Calhoun. She did not think it necessary to tell him that she +had persuaded the honest Carrington to bring her the volumes and to mark +such passages as were worth her reading; but she took care to lead the +conversation, and she criticised with some skill and more humour the +weak points in Websterian oratory, saying with a little laugh and a +glance into his delighted eyes: + +"My judgment may not be worth much, Mr. Senator, but it does seem to me +that our fathers thought too much of themselves, and till you teach +me better I shall continue to think that the passage in your speech +of yesterday which began with, 'Our strength lies in this twisted and +tangled mass of isolated principles, the hair of the half-sleeping giant +of Party,' is both for language and imagery quite equal to anything of +Webster's." + +The Senator from Illinois rose to this gaudy fly like a huge, +two-hundred-pound salmon; his white waistcoat gave out a mild silver +reflection as he slowly came to the surface and gorged the hook. He made +not even a plunge, not one perceptible effort to tear out the barbed +weapon, but, floating gently to her feet, allowed himself to be landed +as though it were a pleasure. Only miserable casuists will ask whether +this was fair play on Madeleine's part; whether flattery so gross +cost her conscience no twinge, and whether any woman can without +self-abasement be guilty of such shameless falsehood. She, however, +scorned the idea of falsehood. She would have defended herself by saying +that she had not so much praised Ratcliffe as depreciated Webster, +and that she was honest in her opinion of the old-fashioned American +oratory. But she could not deny that she had wilfully allowed the +Senator to draw conclusions very different from any she actually held. +She could not deny that she had intended to flatter him to the extent +necessary for her purpose, and that she was pleased at her success. +Before they rose from table the Senator had quite unbent himself; he +was talking naturally, shrewdly, and with some humour; he had told her +Illinois stories; spoken with extraordinary freedom about his political +situation; and expressed the wish to call upon Mrs. Lee, if he could +ever hope to find her at home. + +"I am always at home on Sunday evenings," said she. + +To her eyes he was the high-priest of American politics; he was charged +with the meaning of the mysteries, the clue to political hieroglyphics. +Through him she hoped to sound the depths of statesmanship and to +bring up from its oozy bed that pearl of which she was in search; the +mysterious gem which must lie hidden somewhere in politics. She wanted +to understand this man; to turn him inside out; to experiment on him and +use him as young physiologists use frogs and kittens. If there was good +or bad in him, she meant to find its meaning. + +And he was a western widower of fifty; his quarters in Washington were +in gaunt boarding-house rooms, furnished only with public documents and +enlivened by western politicians and office-seekers. In the summer he +retired to a solitary, white framehouse with green blinds, surrounded +by a few feet of uncared-for grass and a white fence; its interior more +dreary still, with iron stoves, oil-cloth carpets, cold white walls, and +one large engraving of Abraham Lincoln in the parlour; all in Peonia, +Illinois! What equality was there between these two combatants? what +hope for him? what risk for her? And yet Madeleine Lee had fully her +match in Mr. Silas P. Ratcliffe. + + + +Chapter III + +MRS. Lee soon became popular. Her parlour was a favourite haunt of +certain men and women who had the art of finding its mistress at home; +an art which seemed not to be within the powers of everybody. Carrington +was apt to be there more often than any one else, so that he was looked +on as almost a part of the family, and if Madeleine wanted a book from +the library, or an extra man at her dinner-table, Carrington was pretty +certain to help her to the one or the other. Old Baron Jacobi, the +Bulgarian minister, fell madly in love with both sisters, as he commonly +did with every pretty face and neat figure. He was a witty, cynical, +broken-down Parisian rou, kept in Washington for years past by his +debts and his salary; always grumbling because there was no opera, and +mysteriously disappearing on visits to New York; a voracious devourer of +French and German literature, especially of novels; a man who seemed to +have met every noted or notorious personage of the century, and whose +mind was a magazine of amusing information; an excellent musical critic, +who was not afraid to criticise Sybil's singing; a connoisseur in +bric--brac, who laughed at Madeleine's display of odds and ends, and +occasionally brought her a Persian plate or a bit of embroidery, which +he said was good and would do her credit. This old sinner believed in +everything that was perverse and wicked, but he accepted the prejudices +of Anglo-Saxon society, and was too clever to obtrude his opinions upon +others. + +He would have married both sisters at once more willingly than either +alone, but as he feelingly said, "If I were forty years younger, +mademoiselle, you should not sing to me so calmly." His friend +Popoff, an intelligent, vivacious Russian, with very Calmuck features, +susceptible as a girl, and passionately fond of music, hung over Sybil's +piano by the hour; he brought Russian airs which he taught her to sing, +and, if the truth were known, he bored Madeleine desperately, for she +undertook to act the part of duenna to her younger sister. + +A very different visitor was Mr. C. C. French, a young member of +Congress from Connecticut, who aspired to act the part of the educated +gentleman in politics, and to purify the public tone. He had reform +principles and an unfortunately conceited maimer; he was rather wealthy, +rather clever, rather well-educated, rather honest, and rather vulgar. +His allegiance was divided between Mrs. Lee and her sister, whom he +infuriated by addressing as "Miss Sybil" with patronising familiarity. +He was particularly strong in what he called "badinaige," and his +playful but ungainly attempts at wit drove Mrs. + +Lee beyond the bounds of patience. When in a solemn mood, he talked as +though he were practising for the ear of a college debating society, +and with a still worse effect on the patience; but with all this he was +useful, always bubbling with the latest political gossip, and deeply +interested in the fate of party stakes. Quite another sort of person was +Mr. Hartbeest Schneidekoupon, a citizen of Philadelphia, though commonly +resident in New York, where he had fallen a victim to Sybil's charms, +and made efforts to win her young affections by instructing her in the +mysteries of currency and protection, to both which subjects he was +devoted. To forward these two interests and to watch over Miss Ross's +welfare, he made periodical visits to Washington, where he closeted +himself with committee-men and gave expensive dinners to members of +Congress. Mr. Schneidekoupon was rich, and about thirty years old, tall +and thin, with bright eyes and smooth face, elaborate manners and +much loquacity. He had the reputation of turning rapid intellectual +somersaults, partly to amuse himself and partly to startle society. At +one moment he was artistic, and discoursed scientifically about his +own paintings; at another he was literary, and wrote a book on "Noble +Living," with a humanitarian purpose; at another he was devoted to +sport, rode a steeplechase, played polo, and set up a four-in-hand; his +last occupation was to establish in Philadelphia the Protective Review, +a periodical in the interests of American industry, which he edited +himself, as a stepping-stone to Congress, the Cabinet, and the +Presidency. At about the same time he bought a yacht, and heavy bets +were pending among his sporting friends whether he would manage to +sink first his Review or his yacht. But he was an amiable and excellent +fellow through all his eccentricities, and he brought to Mrs. Lee the +simple outpourings of the amateur politician. + +A much higher type of character was Mr. Nathan Gore, of Massachusetts, +a handsome man with a grey beard, a straight, sharply cut nose, and a +fine, penetrating eye; in his youth a successful poet whose satires made +a noise in their day, and are still remembered for the pungency and wit +of a few verses; then a deep student in Europe for many years, until his +famous "History of Spain in America" placed him instantly at the head of +American historians, and made him minister at Madrid, where he remained +four years to his entire satisfaction, this being the nearest approach +to a patent of nobility and a government pension which the American +citizen can attain. A change of administration had reduced him to +private life again, and after some years of retirement he was now in +Washington, willing to be restored to his old mission. Every President +thinks it respectable to have at least one literary man in his pay, and +Mr. Gore's prospects were fair for obtaining his object, as he had the +active support of a majority of the Massachusetts delegation. He was +abominably selfish, colossally egoistic, and not a little vain; but +he was shrewd; he knew how to hold his tongue; he could flatter +dexterously, and he had learned to eschew satire. Only in confidence and +among friends he would still talk freely, but Mrs. Lee was not yet on +those terms with him. These were all men, and there was no want of women +in Mrs. + +Lee's parlour; but, after all, they are able to describe themselves +better than any poor novelist can describe them. Generally two currents +of conversation ran on together--one round Sybil, the other about +Madeleine. + +"Mees Ross," said Count Popoff, leading in a handsome young foreigner, +"I have your permission to present to you my friend Count Orsini, +Secretary of the Italian Legation. Are you at home this afternoon? Count +Orsini sings also." + +"We are charmed to see Count Orsini. It is well you came so late, for I +have this moment come in from making Cabinet calls. They were so queer! +I have been crying with laughter for an hour past." "Do you find these +calls amusing?" asked Popoff, gravely and diplomatically. "Indeed I +do! I went with Julia Schneidekoupon, you know, Madeleine; the +Schneidekoupons are descended from all the Kings of Israel, and are +prouder than Solomon in his glory. And when we got into the house of +some dreadful woman from Heaven knows where, imagine my feelings at +overhearing this conversation: 'What may be your family name, ma'am?' +'Schneidekoupon is my name,' replies Julia, very tall and straight. +'Have you any friends whom I should likely know?' 'I think not,' says +Julia, severely. 'Wal! I don't seem to remember of ever having heerd the +name. But I s'pose it's all right. I like to know who calls.' I almost +had hysterics when we got into the street, but Julia could not see the +joke at all." + +Count Orsini was not quite sure that he himself saw the joke, so he only +smiled becomingly and showed his teeth. For simple, childlike vanity and +self-consciousness nothing equals an Italian Secretary of Legation at +twenty-five. Yet conscious that the effect of his personal beauty +would perhaps be diminished by permanent silence, he ventured to murmur +presently: + +"Do you not find it very strange, this society in America?" + +"Society!" laughed Sybil with gay contempt. "There are no snakes in +America, any more than in Norway." + +"Snakes, mademoiselle!" repeated Orsini, with the doubtful expression of +one who is not quite certain whether he shall risk walking on thin ice, +and decides to go softly: "Snakes! Indeed they would rather be doves I +would call them." + +A kind laugh from Sybil strengthened into conviction his hope that +he had made a joke in this unknown tongue. His face brightened, his +confidence returned; once or twice he softly repeated to himself: "Not +snakes; they would be doves!" But Mrs. Lee's sensitive ear had caught +Sybil's remark, and detected in it a certain tone of condescension which +was not to her taste. + +The impassive countenances of these bland young Secretaries of Legation +seemed to acquiesce far too much as a matter of course in the idea +that there was no society except in the old world. She broke into the +conversation with an emphasis that fluttered the dove-cote: + +"Society in America? Indeed there is society in America, and very +good society too; but it has a code of its own, and new-comers seldom +understand it. I will tell you what it is, Mr. Orsini, and you will +never be in danger of making any mistake. 'Society' in America means all +the honest, kindly-mannered, pleasant-voiced women, and all the good, +brave, unassuming men, between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Each +of these has a free pass in every city and village, 'good for this +generation only,' and it depends on each to make use of this pass or +not as it may happen to suit his or her fancy. To this rule there are +no exceptions, and those who say 'Abraham is our father' will surely +furnish food for that humour which is the staple product of our +country." + +The alarmed youths, who did not in the least understand the meaning of +this demonstration, looked on with a feeble attempt at acquiescence, +while Mrs. + +Lee brandished her sugar-tongs in the act of transferring a lump of +sugar to her cup, quite unconscious of the slight absurdity of the +gesture, while Sybil stared in amazement, for it was not often that +her sister waved the stars and stripes so energetically. Whatever their +silent criticisms might be, however, Mrs. Lee was too much in earnest to +be conscious of them, or, indeed, to care for anything but what she +was saying. There was a moment's pause when she came to the end of her +speech, and then the thread of talk was quietly taken up again where +Sybil's incipient sneer had broken it. + +Carrington came in. "What have you been doing at the Capitol?" asked +Madeleine. + +"Lobbying!" was the reply, given in the semi-serious tone of +Carrington's humour. + +"So soon, and Congress only two days old?" exclaimed Mrs. Lee. + +"Madam," rejoined Carrington, with his quietest malice, "Congressmen are +like birds of the air, which are caught only by the early worm." "Good +afternoon, Mrs. Lee. Miss Sybil, how do you do again? Which of these +gentlemen's hearts are you feeding upon now?" This was the refined style +of Mr. French, indulging in what he was pleased to term "badinaige." He, +too, was on his way from the Capitol, and had come in for a cup of tea +and a little human society. Sybil made a face which plainly expressed a +longing to inflict on Mr. French some grievous personal wrong, but she +pretended not to hear. He sat down by Madeleine, and asked, "Did you see +Ratcliffe yesterday?" + +"Yes," said Madeleine; "he was here last evening with Mr. Carrington and +one or two others." + +"Did he say anything about politics?" + +"Not a word. We talked mostly about books." + +"Books! What does he know about books?" + +"You must ask him." + +"Well, this is the most ridiculous situation we are all in. No one +knows anything about the new President. You could take your oath that +everybody is in the dark. Ratcliffe says he knows as little as the rest +of us, but it can't be true; he is too old a politician not to have +wires in his hand; and only to-day one of the pages of the Senate told +my colleague Cutter that a letter sent off by him yesterday was directed +to Sam Grimes, of North Bend, who, as every one knows, belongs to the +President's particular crowd.--Why, Mr. Schneidekoupon! How do you do? +When did you come on?" + +"Thank you; this morning," replied Mr. Schneidekoupon, just entering the +room. "So glad to see you again, Mrs. Lee. How do you and your sister +like Washington? Do you know I have brought Julia on for a visit? I +thought I should find her here. + +"She has just gone. She has been all the afternoon with Sybil, making +calls. She says you want her here to lobby for you, Mr. Schneidekoupon. +Is it true?" + +"So I did," replied he, with a laugh, "but she is precious little use. +So I've come to draft you into the service." + +"Me!" + +"Yes; you know we all expect Senator Ratcliffe to be Secretary of the +Treasury, and it is very important for us to keep him straight on the +currency and the tariff. So I have come on to establish more intimate +relations with him, as they say in diplomacy. I want to get him to dine +with me at Welckley's, but as I know he keeps very shy of politics I +thought my only chance was to make it a ladies' dinner, so I brought on +Julia. I shall try and get Mrs. Schuyler Clinton, and I depend upon you +and your sister to help Julia out." + +"Me! at a lobby dinner! Is that proper?" + +"Why not? You shall choose the guests." + +"I never heard of such a thing; but it would certainly be amusing. Sybil +must not go, but I might." "Excuse me; Julia depends upon Miss Ross, and +will not go to table without her." + +"Well," assented Mrs. Lee, hesitatingly, "perhaps if you get Mrs. +Clinton, and if your sister is there And who else?" + +"Choose your own company." + +"I know no one." + +"Oh yes; here is French, not quite sound on the tariff, but good for +what we want just now. Then we can get Mr. Gore; he has his little +hatchet to grind too, and will be glad to help grind ours. We only want +two or three more, and I will have an extra man or so to fill up." + +"Do ask the Speaker. I want to know him." + +"I will, and Carrington, and my Pennsylvania Senator. That will do +nobly. Remember, Welckley's, Saturday at seven." + +Meanwhile Sybil had been at the piano, and when she had sung for a time, +Orsini was induced to take her place, and show that it was possible +to sing without injury to one's beauty. Baron Jacobi came in and found +fault with them both. Little Miss Dare--commonly known among her male +friends as little Daredevil--who was always absorbed in some flirtation +with a Secretary of Legation, came in, quite unaware that Popoff was +present, and retired with him into a corner, while Orsini and Jacobi +bullied poor Sybil, and fought with each other at the piano; everybody +was talking with very little reference to any reply, when at last Mrs. +Lee drove them all out of the room: "We are quiet people," said she, +"and we dine at half-past six." + +Senator Ratcliffe had not failed to make his Sunday evening call upon +Mrs. + +Lee. Perhaps it was not strictly correct to say that they had talked +books all the evening, but whatever the conversation was, it had +only confirmed Mr. Ratcliffe's admiration for Mrs. Lee, who, without +intending to do so, had acted a more dangerous part than if she had been +the most accomplished of coquettes. Nothing could be more fascinating +to the weary politician in his solitude than the repose of Mrs. Lee's +parlour, and when Sybil sang for him one or two simple airs--she +said they were foreign hymns, the Senator being, or being considered, +orthodox--Mr. Ratcliffe's heart yearned toward the charming girl quite +with the sensations of a father, or even of an elder brother. + +His brother senators very soon began to remark that the Prairie Giant +had acquired a trick of looking up to the ladies' gallery. One day Mr. +Jonathan Andrews, the special correspondent of the New York Sidereal +System, a very friendly organ, approached Senator Schuyler Clinton with +a puzzled look on his face. + +"Can you tell me," said he, "what has happened to Silas P. Ratcliffe? +Only a moment ago I was talking with him at his seat on a very important +subject, about which I must send his opinions off to New York to-night, +when, in the middle of a sentence, he stopped short, got up without +looking at me, and left the Senate Chamber, and now I see him in the +gallery talking with a lady whose face I don't know." + +Senator Clinton slowly adjusted his gold eye-glasses and looked up at +the place indicated: "Ah! Mrs. Lightfoot Lee! I think I will say a word +to her myself;" and turning his back on the special correspondent, he +skipped away with youthful agility after the Senator from Illinois. + +"Devil!" muttered Mr. Andrews; "what has got into the old fools?" and in +a still less audible murmur as he looked up to Mrs. Lee, then in close +conversation with Ratcliffe: "Had I better make an item of that?" + +When young Mr. Schneidekoupon called upon Senator Ratcliffe to invite +him to the dinner at Welckley's, he found that gentleman overwhelmed +with work, as he averred, and very little disposed to converse. No! he +did not now go out to dinner. In the present condition of the public +business he found it impossible to spare the time for such amusements. +He regretted to decline Mr. Schneidekoupon's civility, but there were +imperative reasons why he should abstain for the present from social +entertainments; he had made but one exception to his rule, and only at +the pressing request of his old friend Senator Clinton, and on a very +special occasion. + +Mr. Schneidekoupon was deeply vexed--the more, he said, because he had +meant to beg Mr. and Mrs. Clinton to be of the party, as well as a very +charming lady who rarely went into society, but who had almost consented +to come. + +"Who is that?" inquired the Senator. + +"A Mrs. Lightfoot Lee, of New York. Probably you do not know her well +enough to admire her as I do; but I think her quite the most intelligent +woman I ever met." + +The Senator's cold eyes rested for a moment on the young man's open face +with a peculiar expression of distrust. Then he solemnly said, in his +deepest senatorial tones: + +"My young friend, at my time of life men have other things to occupy +them than women, however intelligent they may be. Who else is to be of +your party?" + +Mr. Schneidekoupon named his list. + +"And for Saturday evening at seven, did you say?" + +"Saturday at seven." + +"I fear there is little chance of my attending, but I will not +absolutely decline. Perhaps when the moment arrives, I may find myself +able to be there. But do not count upon me--do not count upon me. Good +day, Mr. Schneidekoupon." + +Schneidekoupon was rather a simple-minded young man, who saw no deeper +than his neighbours into the secrets of the universe, and he went off +swearing roundly at "the infernal airs these senators give themselves." +He told Mrs. + +Lee all the conversation, as indeed he was compelled to do under penalty +of bringing her to his party under false pretences. + +"Just my luck," said he; "here I am forced to ask no end of people to +meet a man, who at the same time says he shall probably not come. Why, +under the stars, couldn't he say, like other people, whether he was +coming or not? I've known dozens of senators, Mrs. Lee, and they're all +like that. They never think of any one but themselves." + +Mrs. Lee smiled rather a forced smile, and soothed his wounded feelings; +she had no doubt the dinner would be very agreeable whether the Senator +were there or not; at any rate she would do all she could to carry it +off well, and Sybil should wear her newest dress. Still she was a little +grave, and Mr. Schneidekoupon could only declare that she was a trump; +that he had told Ratcliffe she was the cleverest woman he ever met, and +he might have added the most obliging, and Ratcliffe had only looked +at him as though he were a green ape. At all which Mrs. Lee laughed +good-naturedly, and sent him away as soon as she could. + +When he was gone, she walked up and down the room and thought. She saw +the meaning of Ratcliffe's sudden change in tone. She had no more doubt +of his coming to the dinner than she had of the reason why he came. +And was it possible that she was being drawn into something very near +a flirtation with a man twenty years her senior; a politician from +Illinois; a huge, ponderous, grey-eyed, bald senator, with a Websterian +head, who lived in Peonia? The idea was almost too absurd to be +credited; but on the whole the thing itself was rather amusing. "I +suppose senators can look out for themselves like other men," was her +final conclusion. She thought only of his danger, and she felt a sort +of compassion for him as she reflected on the possible consequences of a +great, absorbing love at his time of life. + +Her conscience was a little uneasy; but of herself she never thought. +Yet it is a historical fact that elderly senators have had a curious +fascination for young and handsome women. Had they looked out for +themselves too? And which parties most needed to be looked after? + +When Madeleine and her sister arrived at Welckley's 's the next Saturday +evening, they found poor Schneidekoupon in a temper very unbecoming a +host. + +"He won't come! I told you he wouldn't come!" said he to Madeleine, as +he handed her into the house. "If I ever turn communist, it will be for +the fun of murdering a senator." + +Madeleine consoled him gently, but he continued to use, behind Mr. +Clinton's back, language the most offensive and improper towards the +Senate, and at last, ringing the bell, he sharply ordered the head +waiter to serve dinner. + +At that very moment the door opened, and Senator Ratcliffe's stately +figure appeared on the threshold. His eye instantly caught Madeleine's, +and she almost laughed aloud, for she saw that the Senator was dressed +with very unsenatorial neatness; that he had actually a flower in his +burton-hole and no gloves! + +After the enthusiastic description which Schneidekoupon had given of +Mrs. + +Lee's charms, he could do no less than ask Senator Ratcliffe to take her +in to dinner, which he did without delay. Either this, or the champagne, +or some occult influence, had an extraordinary effect upon him. He +appeared ten years younger than usual; his face was illuminated; his +eyes glowed; he seemed bent on proving his kinship to the immortal +Webster by rivalling his convivial powers. He dashed into the +conversation; laughed, jested, and ridiculed; told stories in Yankee +and Western dialect; gave sharp little sketches of amusing political +experiences. + +"Never was more surprised in my life," whispered Senator Krebs, of +Pennsylvania, across the table to Schneidekoupon. "Hadn't an idea that +Ratcliffe was so entertaining." + +And Mr. Clinton, who sat by Madeleine on the other side, whispered low +into her ear: "I am afraid, my dear Mrs. Lee, that you are responsible +for this. He never talks so to the Senate." + +Nay, he even rose to a higher flight, and told the story of President +Lincoln's death-bed with a degree of feeling that brought tears into +their eyes. The other guests made no figure at all. The Speaker consumed +his solitary duck and his lonely champagne in a corner without giving a +sign. + +Even Mr. Gore, who was not wont to hide his light under any kind of +extinguisher, made no attempt to claim the floor, and applauded with +enthusiasm the conversation of his opposite neighbour. Ill-natured +people might say that Mr. Gore saw in Senator Ratcliffe a possible +Secretary of State; be this as it may, he certainly said to Mrs. +Clinton, in an aside that was perfectly audible to every one at the +table: "How brilliant! what an original mind! what a sensation he would +make abroad!" And it was quite true, apart from the mere momentary +effect of dinner-table talk, that there was a certain bigness about +the man; a keen practical sagacity; a bold freedom of self-assertion; a +broad way of dealing with what he knew. + +Carrington was the only person at table who looked on with a perfectly +cool head, and who criticised in a hostile spirit. Carrington's +impression of Ratcliffe was perhaps beginning to be warped by a shade +of jealousy, for he was in a peculiarly bad temper this evening, and his +irritation was not wholly concealed. + +"If one only had any confidence in the man!" he muttered to French, who +sat by him. + +This unlucky remark set French to thinking how he could draw +Ratcliffe out, and accordingly, with his usual happy manner, combining +self-conceit and high principles, he began to attack the Senator with +some "badinaige" on the delicate subject of Civil Service Reform, a +subject almost as dangerous in political conversation at Washington as +slavery itself in old days before the war. French was a reformer, and +lost no occasion of impressing his views; but unluckily he was a very +light weight, and his manner was a little ridiculous, so that even Mrs. +Lee, who was herself a warm reformer, sometimes went over to the other +side when he talked. No sooner had he now shot his little arrow at the +Senator, than that astute man saw his opportunity, and promised himself +the pleasure of administering to Mr. + +French punishment such as he knew would delight the company. Reformer +as Mrs. Lee was, and a little alarmed at the roughness of Ratcliffe's +treatment, she could not blame the Prairie Giant, as she ought, who, +after knocking poor French down, rolled him over and over in the mud. + +"Are you financier enough, Mr. French, to know what are the most famous +products of Connecticut?" + +Mr. French modestly suggested that he thought its statesmen best +answered that description. + +"No, sir! even there you're wrong. The showmen beat you on your own +ground. But every child in the union knows that the most famous products +of Connecticut are Yankee notions, nutmegs made of wood and clocks that +won't go. Now, your Civil Service Reform is just such another Yankee +notion; it's a wooden nutmeg; it's a clock with a show case and sham +works. And you know it! You are precisely the old-school Connecticut +peddler. You have gone about peddling your wooden nutmegs until you have +got yourself into Congress, and now you pull them out of your pockets +and not only want us to take them at your own price, but you lecture us +on our sins if we don't. Well! we don't mind your doing that at home. +Abuse us as much as you like to your constituents. Get as many votes as +you can. But don't electioneer here, because we know you intimately, and +we've all been a little in the wooden nutmeg business ourselves." + +Senator Clinton and Senator Krebs chuckled high approval over this +punishment of poor French, which was on the level of their idea of wit. +They were all in the nutmeg business, as Ratcliffe said. The victim +tried to make head against them; he protested that his nutmegs were +genuine; he sold no goods that he did not guarantee; and that this +particular article was actually guaranteed by the national conventions +of both political parties. + +"Then what you want, Mr. French, is a common school education. You +need a little study of the alphabet. Or if you won't believe me, ask my +brother senators here what chance there is for your Reforms so long +as the American citizen is what he is." + +"You'll not get much comfort in my State, Mr. French," growled the +senator from Pennsylvania, with a sneer; "suppose you come and try." + +"Well, well!" said the benevolent Mr. Schuyler Clinton, gleaming +benignantly through his gold spectacles; "don't be too hard on French. +He means well. Perhaps he's not very wise, but he does good. I know more +about it than any of you, and I don't deny that the thing is all bad. +Only, as Mr. Ratcliffe says, the difficulty is in the people, not in us. +Go to work on them, French, and let us alone." + +French repented of his attack, and contented himself by muttering to +Carrington: "What a set of damned old reprobates they are!" + +"They are right, though, in one thing," was Carrington's reply: "their +advice is good. Never ask one of them to reform anything; if you do, you +will be reformed yourself." + +The dinner ended as brilliantly as it began, and Schneidekoupon was +delighted with his success. He had made himself particularly agreeable +to Sybil by confiding in her all his hopes and fears about the tariff +and the finances. When the ladies left the table, Ratcliffe could not +stay for a cigar; he must get back to his rooms, where he knew several +men were waiting for him; he would take his leave of the ladies and +hurry away. But when the gentlemen came up nearly an hour afterwards +they found Ratcliffe still taking his leave of the ladies, who were +delighted at his entertaining conversation; and when at last he really +departed, he said to Mrs. Lee, as though it were quite a matter of +course: "You are at home as usual to-morrow evening?" Madeleine smiled, +bowed, and he went his way. + +As the two sisters drove home that night, Madeleine was unusually +silent. + +Sybil yawned convulsively and then apologized: + +"Mr. Schneidekoupon is very nice and good-natured, but a whole evening +of him goes a long way; and that horrid Senator Krebs would not say a +word, and drank a great deal too much wine, though it couldn't make him +any more stupid than he is. I don't think I care for senators." Then, +wearily, after a pause: "Well, Maude, I do hope you've got what you +wanted. I'm sure you must have had politics enough. Haven't you got to +the heart of your great American mystery yet?" + +"Pretty near it, I think," said Madeleine, half to herself. + + + +Chapter IV + +SUNDAY evening was stormy, and some enthusiasm was required to make one +face its perils for the sake of society. Nevertheless, a few intimates +made their appearance as usual at Mrs. Lee's. The faithful Popoff was +there, and Miss Dare also ran in to pass an hour with her dear Sybil; +but as she passed the whole evening in a corner with Popoff, she must +have been disappointed in her object. Carrington came, and Baron Jacobi. +Schneidekoupon and his sister dined with Mrs. Lee, and remained after +dinner, while Sybil and Julia Schneidekoupon compared conclusions about +Washington society. The happy idea also occurred to Mr. Gore that, +inasmuch as Mrs. Lee's house was but a step from his hotel, he might as +well take the chance of amusement there as the certainty of solitude +in his rooms. Finally, Senator Ratcliffe duly made his appearance, and, +having established himself with a cup of tea by Madeleine's side, was +soon left to enjoy a quiet talk with her, the rest of the party by +common consent occupying themselves with each other. Under cover of +the murmur of conversation in the room, Mr. Ratcliffe quickly became +confidential. + +"I came to suggest that, if you want to hear an interesting debate, +you should come up to the Senate to-morrow. I am told that Garrard, of +Louisiana, means to attack my last speech, and I shall probably in that +case have to answer him. With you for a critic I shall speak better." + +"Am I such an amiable critic?" asked Madeleine. + +"I never heard that amiable critics were the best," said he; "justice is +the soul of good criticism, and it is only justice that I ask and expect +from you." + +"What good does this speaking do?" inquired she. "Are you any nearer the +end of your difficulties by means of your speeches?" + +"I hardly know yet. Just now we are in dead water; but this can't last +long. In fact, I am not afraid to tell you, though of course you will +not repeat it to any human being, that we have taken measures to force +an issue. Certain gentlemen, myself among the rest, have written letters +meant for the President's eye, though not addressed directly to him, and +intended to draw out an expression of some sort that will show us what +to expect." + +"Oh!" laughed Madeleine, "I knew about that a week ago." + +"About what?" + +"About your letter to Sam Grimes, of North Bend." + +"What have you heard about my letter to Sam Grimes, of North Bend?" +ejaculated Ratcliffe, a little abruptly. + +"Oh, you do not know how admirably I have organised my secret service +bureau," said she. "Representative Cutter cross-questioned one of the +Senate pages, and obliged him to confess that he had received from you a +letter to be posted, which letter was addressed to Mr. Grimes, of North +Bend." + +"And, of course, he told this to French, and French told you," said +Ratcliffe; "I see. If I had known this I would not have let French off +so gently last night, for I prefer to tell you my own story without his +embellishments. But it was my fault. I should not have trusted a page. +Nothing is a secret here long. But one thing that Mr. Cutter did not +find out was that several other gentlemen wrote letters at the same +time, for the same purpose. Your friend, Mr. Clinton, wrote; Krebs +wrote; and one or two members." + +"I suppose I must not ask what you said?" + +"You may. We agreed that it was best to be very mild and conciliatory, +and to urge the President only to give us some indication of his +intentions, in order that we might not run counter to them. I drew a +strong picture of the effect of the present situation on the party, and +hinted that I had no personal wishes to gratify." + +"And what do you think will be the result?" + +"I think we shall somehow manage to straighten things out," said +Ratcliffe. + +"The difficulty is only that the new President has little experience, +and is suspicious. He thinks we shall intrigue to tie his hands, and he +means to tie ours in advance. I don't know him personally, but those +who do, and who are fair judges, say that, though rather narrow and +obstinate, he is honest enough, and will come round. I have no doubt +I could settle it all with him in an hour's talk, but it is out of the +question for me to go to him unless I am asked, and to ask me to come +would be itself a settlement." + +"What, then, is the danger you fear?" + +"That he will offend all the important party leaders in order to +conciliate unimportant ones, perhaps sentimental ones, like your friend +French; that he will make foolish appointments without taking advice. By +the way, have you seen French to-day?" + +"No," replied Madeleine; "I think he must be sore at your treatment of +him last evening. You were very rude to him." + +"Not a bit," said Ratcliffe; "these reformers need it. His attack on me +was meant for a challenge. I saw it in his manner. + +"But is reform really so impossible as you describe it? Is it quite +hopeless?" + +"Reform such as he wants is utterly hopeless, and not even desirable." + +Mrs. Lee, with much earnestness of manner, still pressed her question: + +"Surely something can be done to check corruption. Are we for ever to +be at the mercy of thieves and ruffians? Is a respectable government +impossible in a democracy?" + +Her warmth attracted Jacobi's attention, and he spoke across the room. +"What is that you say, Mrs. Lee? What is it about corruption?" + +All the gentlemen began to listen and gather about them. + +"I am asking Senator Ratcliffe," said she, "what is to become of us if +corruption is allowed to go unchecked." + +"And may I venture to ask permission to hear Mr. Ratcliffe's reply?" +asked the baron. + +"My reply," said Ratcliffe, "is that no representative government can +long be much better or much worse than the society it represents. Purify +society and you purify the government. But try to purify the government +artificially and you only aggravate failure." + +"A very statesmanlike reply," said Baron Jacobi, with a formal bow, but +his tone had a shade of mockery. Carrington, who had listened with +a darkening face, suddenly turned to the baron and asked him what +conclusion he drew from the reply. + +"Ah!" exclaimed the baron, with his wickedest leer, "what for is my +conclusion good? You Americans believe yourselves to be excepted from +the operation of general laws. You care not for experience. I have lived +seventy-five years, and all that time in the midst of corruption. I am +corrupt myself, only I do have courage to proclaim it, and you others +have it not. Rome, Paris, Vienna, Petersburg, London, all are corrupt; +only Washington is pure! Well, I declare to you that in all my +experience I have found no society which has had elements of corruption +like the United States. The children in the street are corrupt, and know +how to cheat me. The cities are all corrupt, and also the towns and the +counties and the States' legislatures and the judges. Everywhere men +betray trusts both public and private, steal money, run away with public +funds. Only in the Senate men take no money. And you gentlemen in the +Senate very well declare that your great United States, which is the +head of the civilized world, can never learn anything from the example +of corrupt Europe. You are right--quite right! The great United States +needs not an example. I do much regret that I have not yet one hundred +years to live. If I could then come back to this city, I should find +myself very content--much more than now. I am always content where there +is much corruption, and ma parole d'honneur!" broke out the old man with +fire and gesture, "the United States will then be more corrupt than Rome +under Caligula; more corrupt than the Church under Leo X.; more corrupt +than France under the Regent!" + +As the baron closed his little harangue, which he delivered directly at +the senator sitting underneath him, he had the satisfaction to see that +every one was silent and listening with deep attention. He seemed to +enjoy annoying the senator, and he had the satisfaction of seeing that +the senator was visibly annoyed. Ratcliffe looked sternly at the baron +and said, with some curtness, that he saw no reason to accept such +conclusions. + +Conversation flagged, and all except the baron were relieved when Sybil, +at Schneidekoupon's request, sat down at the piano to sing what she +called a hymn. So soon as the song was over, Ratcliffe, who seemed to +have been curiously thrown off his balance by Jacobi's harangue, pleaded +urgent duties at his rooms, and retired. The others soon afterwards went +off in a body, leaving only Carrington and Gore, who had seated himself +by Madeleine, and was at once dragged by her into a discussion of the +subject which perplexed her, and for the moment threw over her mind a +net of irresistible fascination. + +"The baron discomfited the senator," said Gore, with a certain +hesitation. + +"Why did Ratcliffe let himself be trampled upon in that manner?" + +"I wish you would explain why," replied Mrs. Lee; "tell me, +Mr. Gore--you who represent cultivation and literary taste +hereabouts--please tell me what to think about Baron Jacobi's speech. +Who and what is to be believed? Mr. Ratcliffe seems honest and wise. Is +he a corruptionist? He believes in the people, or says he does. Is he +telling the truth or not?" + +Gore was too experienced in politics to be caught in such a trap as +this. He evaded the question. "Mr. Ratcliffe has a practical piece of +work to do; his business is to make laws and advise the President; +he does it extremely well. We have no other equally good practical +politician; it is unfair to require him to be a crusader besides." + +"No!" interposed Carrington, curtly; "but he need not obstruct crusades. +He need not talk virtue and oppose the punishment of vice." + +"He is a shrewd practical politician," replied Gore, "and he feels first +the weak side of any proposed political tactics." + +With a sigh of despair Madeleine went on: "Who, then, is right? How can +we all be right? Half of our wise men declare that the world is going +straight to perdition; the other half that it is fast becoming perfect. +Both cannot be right. There is only one thing in life," she went on, +laughing, "that I must and will have before I die. I must know whether +America is right or wrong. Just now this question is a very practical +one, for I really want to know whether to believe in Mr. Ratcliffe. If I +throw him overboard, everything must go, for he is only a specimen." + +"Why not believe in Mr. Ratcliffe?" said Gore; "I believe in him myself, +and am not afraid to say so." + +Carrington, to whom Ratcliffe now began to represent the spirit of evil, +interposed here, and observed that he imagined Mr. Gore had other +guides besides, and steadier ones than Ratcliffe, to believe in; while +Madeleine, with a certain feminine perspicacity, struck at a much weaker +point in Mr. + +Gore's armour, and asked point-blank whether he believed also in +what Ratcliffe represented: "Do you yourself think democracy the best +government, and universal suffrage a success?" + +Mr. Gore saw himself pinned to the wall, and he turned at bay with +almost the energy of despair: + +"These are matters about which I rarely talk in society; they are like +the doctrine of a personal God; of a future life; of revealed religion; +subjects which one naturally reserves for private reflection. But since +you ask for my political creed, you shall have it. I only condition that +it shall be for you alone, never to be repeated or quoted as mine. I +believe in democracy. I accept it. I will faithfully serve and defend +it. I believe in it because it appears to me the inevitable consequence +of what has gone before it. Democracy asserts the fact that the masses +are now raised to a higher intelligence than formerly. All our +civilisation aims at this mark. We want to do what we can to help it. I +myself want to see the result. I grant it is an experiment, but it is +the only direction society can take that is worth its taking; the only +conception of its duty large enough to satisfy its instincts; the only +result that is worth an effort or a risk. Every other possible step is +backward, and I do not care to repeat the past. I am glad to see society +grapple with issues in which no one can afford to be neutral." + +"And supposing your experiment fails," said Mrs. Lee; "suppose society +destroys itself with universal suffrage, corruption, and communism." + +"I wish, Mrs. Lee, you would visit the Observatory with me some evening, +and look at Sirius. Did you ever make the acquaintance of a fixed star? +I believe astronomers reckon about twenty millions of them in sight, and +an infinite possibility of invisible millions, each one of which is a +sun, like ours, and may have satellites like our planet. Suppose you see +one of these fixed stars suddenly increase in brightness, and are +told that a satellite has fallen into it and is burning up, its career +finished, its capacities exhausted? Curious, is it not; but what does it +matter? Just as much as the burning up of a moth at your candle." + +Madeleine shuddered a little. "I cannot get to the height of your +philosophy," said she. "You are wandering among the infinites, and I am +finite." + +"Not at all! But I have faith; not perhaps in the old dogmas, but in the +new ones; faith in human nature; faith in science; faith in the survival +of the fittest. Let us be true to our time, Mrs. Lee! If our age is to +be beaten, let us die in the ranks. If it is to be victorious, let us be +first to lead the column. Anyway, let us not be skulkers or grumblers. +There! have I repeated my catechism correctly? You would have it! Now +oblige me by forgetting it. I should lose my character at home if it got +out. Good night!" + +Mrs. Lee duly appeared at the Capitol the next day, as she could not but +do after Senator Ratcliffe's pointed request. She went alone, for Sybil +had positively refused to go near the Capitol again, and Madeleine +thought that on the whole this was not an occasion for enrolling +Carrington in her service. But Ratcliffe did not speak. The debate was +unexpectedly postponed. + +He joined Mrs. Lee in the gallery, however, sat with her as long as she +would allow, and became still more confidential, telling her that he had +received the expected reply from Grimes, of North Bend, and that it had +enclosed a letter written by the President-elect to Mr. Grimes in regard +to the advances made by Mr. Ratcliffe and his friends. + +"It is not a handsome letter," said he; "indeed, a part of it is +positively insulting. I would like to read you one extract from it, and +hear your opinion as to how it should be treated." Taking the letter +from his pocket, he sought out the passage, and read as follows: "'I +cannot lose sight, too, of the consideration that these three Senators' +(he means Clinton, Krebs, and me) are popularly considered to be the +most influential members of that so-called senatorial ring, which has +acquired such general notoriety. While I shall always receive their +communications with all due respect, I must continue to exercise +complete freedom of action in consulting other political advisers as +well as these, and I must in all cases make it my first object to follow +the wishes of the people, not always most truly represented by their +nominal representatives.' What say you to that precious piece of +presidential manners?" + +"At least I like his courage," said Mrs. Lee. + +"Courage is one thing; common sense is another. This letter is a studied +insult. He has knocked me off the track once. He means to do it again. +It is a declaration of war. What ought I to do?" + +"Whatever is most for the public good." said Madeleine, gravely. + +Ratcliffe looked into her face with such undisguised delight--there was +so little possibility of mistaking or ignoring the expression of his +eyes, that she shrank back with a certain shock. She was not prepared +for so open a demonstration. He hardened his features at once, and went +on: + +"But what is most for the public good?" + +"That you know better than I," said Madeleine; "only one thing is clear +to me. If you let yourself be ruled by your private feelings, you will +make a greater mistake than he. Now I must go, for I have visits to +make. The next time I come, Mr. Ratcliffe, you must keep your word +better." + +When they next met, Ratcliffe read to her a part of his reply to Mr. +Grimes, which ran thus: "It is the lot of every party leader to suffer +from attacks and to commit errors. It is true, as the President says, +that I have been no exception to this law. Believing as I do that great +results can only be accomplished by great parties, I have uniformly +yielded my own personal opinions where they have failed to obtain +general assent. I shall continue to follow this course, and the +President may with perfect confidence count upon my disinterested +support of all party measures, even though I may not be consulted in +originating them." + +Mrs. Lee listened attentively, and then said: "Have you never refused to +go with your party?" + +"Never!" was Ratcliffe's firm reply. + +Madeleine still more thoughtfully inquired again: "Is nothing more +powerful than party allegiance?" + +"Nothing, except national allegiance," replied Ratcliffe, still more +firmly. + + + +Chapter V + +TO tie a prominent statesman to her train and to lead him about like a +tame bear, is for a young and vivacious woman a more certain amusement +than to tie herself to him and to be dragged about like an Indian +squaw. This fact was Madeleine Lee's first great political discovery in +Washington, and it was worth to her all the German philosophy she had +ever read, with even a complete edition of Herbert Spencer's works into +the bargain. There could be no doubt that the honours and dignities of +a public career were no fair consideration for its pains. She made a +little daily task for herself of reading in succession the lives and +letters of the American Presidents, and of their wives, when she could +find that there was a trace of the latter's existence. What a melancholy +spectacle it was, from George Washington down to the last incumbent; +what vexations, what disappointments, what grievous mistakes, what very +objectionable manners! Not one of them, who had aimed at high purpose, +but had been thwarted, beaten, and habitually insulted! What a gloom lay +on the features of those famous chieftains, Calhoun, Clay, and Webster; +what varied expression of defeat and unsatisfied desire; what a sense +of self-importance and senatorial magniloquence; what a craving for +flattery; what despair at the sentence of fate! And what did they amount +to, after all? + +They were practical men, these! they had no great problems of thought to +settle, no questions that rose above the ordinary rules of common +morals and homely duty. How they had managed to befog the subject! +What elaborate show-structures they had built up, with no result but +to obscure the horizon! Would not the country have done better without +them? Could it have done worse? What deeper abyss could have opened +under the nation's feet, than that to whose verge they brought it? + +Madeleine's mind wearied with the monotony of the story. She discussed +the subject with Ratcliffe, who told her frankly that the pleasure of +politics lay in the possession of power. He agreed that the country +would do very well without him. "But here I am," said he, "and here I +mean to stay." He had very little sympathy for thin moralising, and a +statesmanlike contempt for philosophical politics. He loved power, and +he meant to be President. + +That was enough. + +Sometimes the tragic and sometimes the comic side was uppermost in her +mind, and sometimes she did not herself know whether to cry or to laugh. + +Washington more than any other city in the world swarms with +simple-minded exhibitions of human nature; men and women curiously out +of place, whom it would be cruel to ridicule and ridiculous to weep +over. The sadder exhibitions are fortunately seldom seen by respectable +people; only the little social accidents come under their eyes. One +evening Mrs. Lee went to the President's first evening reception. As +Sybil flatly refused to face the crowd, and Carrington mildly said that +he feared he was not sufficiently reconstructed to appear at home in +that august presence, Mrs. Lee accepted Mr. French for an escort, and +walked across the Square with him to join the throng that was pouring +into the doors of the White House. They took their places in the line +of citizens and were at last able to enter the reception-room. There +Madeleine found herself before two seemingly mechanical figures, which +might be wood or wax, for any sign they showed of life. These two +figures were the President and his wife; they stood stiff and awkward by +the door, both their faces stripped of every sign of intelligence, while +the right hands of both extended themselves to the column of visitors +with the mechanical action of toy dolls. Mrs. Lee for a moment began +to laugh, but the laugh died on her lips. To the President and his +wife this was clearly no laughing matter. There they stood, automata, +representatives of the society which streamed past them. Madeleine +seized Mr. French by the arm. + +"Take me somewhere at once," said she, "where I can look at it. Here! in +the corner. I had no conception how shocking it was!" + +Mr. French supposed she was thinking of the queer-looking men and women +who were swarming through the rooms, and he made, after his own delicate +notion of humour, some uncouth jests on those who passed by. Mrs. Lee, +however, was in no humour to explain or even to listen. She stopped him +short:-- + +"There, Mr. French! Now go away and leave me. I want to be alone for +half an hour. Please come for me then." And there she stood, with her +eyes fixed on the President and his wife, while the endless stream of +humanity passed them, shaking hands. + +What a strange and solemn spectacle it was, and how the deadly +fascination of it burned the image in upon her mind! What a horrid +warning to ambition! + +And in all that crowd there was no one besides herself who felt the +mockery of this exhibition. To all the others this task was a regular +part of the President's duty, and there was nothing ridiculous about +it. They thought it a democratic institution, this droll a ping of +monarchical forms. To them the deadly dulness of the show was as natural +and proper as ever to the courtiers of the Philips and Charleses seemed +the ceremonies of the Escurial. To her it had the effect of a nightmare, +or of an opium-eater's vision, She felt a sudden conviction that this +was to be the end of American society; its realisation and dream at +once. She groaned in spirit. + +"Yes! at last I have reached the end! We shall grow to be wax images, +and our talk will be like the squeaking of toy dolls. We shall all +wander round and round the earth and shake hands. No one will have +any object in this world, and there will be no other. It is worse than +anything in the 'Inferno.' What an awful vision of eternity!" + +Suddenly, as through a mist, she saw the melancholy face of Lord Skye +approaching. He came to her side, and his voice recalled her to reality. + +"Does it amuse you, this sort of thing?" he asked in a vague way. + +"We take our amusement sadly, after the manner of our people," she +replied; "but it certainly interests me." + +They stood for a time in silence, watching the slowly eddying dance of +Democracy, until he resumed: + +"Whom do you take that man to be--the long, lean one, with a long woman +on each arm?" + +"That man," she replied, "I take to be a Washington department-clerk, or +perhaps a member of Congress from Iowa, with a wife and wife's sister. +Do they shock your nobility?" + +He looked at her with comical resignation. "You mean to tell me +that they are quite as good as dowager-countesses. I grant it. My +aristocratic spirit is broken, Mrs. Lee. I will even ask them to dinner +if you bid me, and if you will come to meet them. But the last time I +asked a member of Congress to dine, he sent me back a note in pencil on +my own envelope that he would bring two of his friends with him, very +respectable constituents from Yahoo city, or some such place; nature's +noblemen, he said." + +"You should have welcomed them." + +"I did. I wanted to see two of nature's noblemen, and I knew they would +probably be pleasanter company than their representative. They came; +very respectable persons, one with a blue necktie, the other with a red +one: both had diamond pins in their shirts, and were carefully brushed +in respect to their hair. They said nothing, ate little, drank less, +and were much better behaved than I am. When they went away, they +unanimously asked me to stay with them when I visited Yahoo city." + +"You will not want guests if you always do that." + +"I don't know. I think it was pure ignorance on their part. They knew +no better, and they seemed modest enough. My only complaint was that I +could get nothing out of them. I wonder whether their wives would have +been more amusing." + +"Would they be so in England, Lord Skye?" + +He looked down at her with half-shut eyes, and drawled: "You know my +countrywomen?" + +"Hardly at all." + +"Then let us discuss some less serious subject." + +"Willingly. I have waited for you to explain to me why you have to-night +an expression of such melancholy." + +"Is that quite friendly, Mrs. Lee? Do I really look melancholy?" + +"Unutterably, as I feel. I am consumed with curiosity to know the +reason." + +The British minister coolly took a complete survey of the whole room, +ending with a prolonged stare at the President and his wife, who were +still mechanically shaking hands; then he looked back into her face, and +said never a word. + +She insisted: "I must have this riddle answered. It suffocates me. I +should not be sad at seeing these same people at work or at play, if +they ever do play; or in a church or a lecture-room. Why do they weigh +on me like a horrid phantom here?" + +"I see no riddle, Mrs. Lee. You have answered your own question; they +are neither at work nor at play." + +"Then please take me home at once. I shall have hysterics. The sight of +those two suffering images at the door is too mournful to be borne. I am +dizzy with looking at these stalking figures. I don't believe they're +real. I wish the house would take fire. I want an earthquake. I wish +some one would pinch the President, or pull his wife's hair." + +Mrs. Lee did not repeat the experiment of visiting the White House, and +indeed for some time afterwards she spoke with little enthusiasm of the +presidential office. To Senator Ratcliffe she expressed her opinions +strongly. The Senator tried in vain to argue that the people had a right +to call upon their chief magistrate, and that he was bound to receive +them; this being so, there was no less objectionable way of proceeding +than the one which had been chosen. "Who gave the people any such +right?" asked Mrs. Lee. "Where does it come from? What do they want it +for? You know better, Mr. Ratcliffe! Our chief magistrate is a citizen +like any one else. What puts it into his foolish head to cease being a +citizen and to ape royalty? Our governors never make themselves +ridiculous. Why cannot the wretched being content himself with living +like the rest of us, and minding his own business? Does he know what a +figure of fun he is?" And Mrs. Lee went so far as to declare that she +would like to be the President's wife only to put an end to this folly; +nothing should ever induce her to go through such a performance; and if +the public did not approve of this, Congress might impeach her, and +remove her from office; all she demanded was the right to be heard +before the Senate in her own defence. + +Nevertheless, there was a very general impression in Washington that +Mrs. + +Lee would like nothing better than to be in the White House. Known +to comparatively few people, and rarely discussing even with them the +subjects which deeply interested her, Madeleine passed for a clever, +intriguing woman who had her own objects to gain. True it is, beyond +peradventure, that all residents of Washington may be assumed to be in +office or candidates for office; unless they avow their object, they are +guilty of an attempt--and a stupid one--to deceive; yet there is a small +class of apparent exceptions destined at last to fall within the rule. +Mrs. Lee was properly assumed to be a candidate for office. To the +Washingtonians it was a matter of course that Mrs. Lee should marry +Silas P. Ratcliffe. That he should be glad to get a fashionable and +intelligent wife, with twenty or thirty thousand dollars a year, was not +surprising. That she should accept the first public man of the day, with +a flattering chance for the Presidency--a man still comparatively +young and not without good looks--was perfectly natural, and in her +undertaking she had the sympathy of all well-regulated Washington women +who were not possible rivals; for to them the President's wife is of +more consequence than the President; and, indeed, if America only knew +it, they are not very far from the truth. + +Some there were, however, who did not assent to this good-natured though +worldly view of the proposed match. These ladies were severe in their +comments upon Mrs. Lee's conduct, and did not hesitate to declare their +opinion that she was the calmest and most ambitious minx who had ever +come within their observation. Unfortunately it happened that the +respectable and proper Mrs. Schuyler Clinton took this view of the case, +and made little attempt to conceal her opinion. She was justly indignant +at her cousin's gross worldliness, and possible promotion in rank. + +"If Madeleine Ross marries that coarse, horrid old Illinois politician," +said she to her husband, "I never will forgive her so long as I live." + +Mr. Clinton tried to excuse Madeleine, and even went so far as to +suggest that the difference of age was no greater than in their own +case; but his wife trampled ruthlessly on his argument. + +"At any rate," said she, "I never came to Washington as a widow on +purpose to set my cap for the first candidate for the Presidency, and +I never made a public spectacle of my indecent eagerness in the very +galleries of the Senate; and Mrs. Lee ought to be ashamed of herself. +She is a cold-blooded, heartless, unfeminine cat." + +Little Victoria Dare, who babbled like the winds and streams, with utter +indifference as to what she said or whom she addressed, used to bring +choice bits of this gossip to Mrs. Lee. She always affected a little +stammer when she said anything uncommonly impudent, and put on a manner +of languid simplicity. She felt keenly the satisfaction of seeing +Madeleine charged with her own besetting sins. For years all Washington +had agreed that Victoria was little better than one of the wicked; she +had done nothing but violate every rule of propriety and scandalise +every well-regulated family in the city, and there was no good in her. +Yet it could not be denied that Victoria was amusing, and had a sort of +irregular fascination; consequently she was universally tolerated. To +see Mrs. Lee thrust down to her own level was an unmixed pleasure to +her, and she carefully repeated to Madeleine the choice bits of dialogue +which she picked up in her wanderings. + +"Your cousin, Mrs. Clinton, says you are a ca-ca-cat, Mrs. Lee." + +"I don't believe it, Victoria. Mrs. Clinton never said anything of the +sort." + +"Mrs. Marston says it is because you have caught a ra-ra-rat, and +Senator Clinton was only a m-m-mouse!" + +Naturally all this unexpected publicity irritated Mrs. Lee not a little, +especially when short and vague paragraphs, soon followed by longer +and more positive ones, in regard to Senator Ratcliffe's matrimonial +prospects, began to appear in newspapers, along with descriptions of +herself from the pens of enterprising female correspondents for the +press, who had never so much as seen her. At the first sight of one of +these newspaper articles, Madeleine fairly cried with mortification and +anger. She wanted to leave Washington the next day, and she hated the +very thought of Ratcliffe. There was something in the newspaper style so +inscrutably vulgar, something so inexplicably revolting to the sense of +feminine decency, that she shrank under it as though it were a poisonous +spider. But after the first acute shame had passed, her temper was +roused, and she vowed that she would pursue her own path just as she +had begun, without regard to all the malignity and vulgarity in the wide +United States. She did not care to marry Senator Ratcliffe; she liked +his society and was flattered by his confidence; she rather hoped to +prevent him from ever making a formal offer, and if not, she would at +least push it off to the last possible moment; but she was not to be +frightened from marrying him by any amount of spitefulness or gossip, +and she did not mean to refuse him except for stronger reasons than +these. She even went so far in her desperate courage as to laugh at her +cousin, Mrs. + +Clinton, whose venerable husband she allowed and even encouraged to pay +her such public attention and to express sentiments of such youthful +ardour as she well knew would inflame and exasperate the excellent lady +his wife. + +Carrington was the person most unpleasantly affected by the course which +this affair had taken. He could no longer conceal from himself the fact +that he was as much m love as a dignified Virginian could be. With +him, at all events, she had shown no coquetry, nor had she ever either +flattered or encouraged him. But Carrington, m his solitary struggle +against fate, had found her a warm friend; always ready to assist where +assistance was needed, generous with her money in any cause which he +was willing to vouch for, full of sympathy where sympathy was more than +money, and full of resource and suggestion where money and sympathy +failed. Carrington knew her better than she knew herself. He selected +her books; he brought the last speech or the last report from the +Capitol or the departments; he knew her doubts and her vagaries, and as +far as he understood them at all, helped her to solve them. + +Carrington was too modest, and perhaps too shy, to act the part of a +declared lover, and he was too proud to let it be thought that he wanted +to exchange his poverty for her wealth. But he was all the more anxious +when he saw the evident attraction which Ratcliffe's strong will and +unscrupulous energy exercised over her. He saw that Ratcliffe was +steadily pushing his advances; that he flattered all Mrs. Lee's +weaknesses by the confidence and deference with which he treated her; +and that in a very short time, Madeleine must either marry him or find +herself looked upon as a heartless coquette. He had his own reasons for +thinking ill of Senator Ratcliffe, and he meant to prevent a marriage; +but he had an enemy to deal with not easily driven from the path, and +quite capable of routing any number of rivals. + +Ratcliffe was afraid of no one. He had not fought his own way in +life for nothing, and he knew all the value of a cold head and dogged +self-assurance. + +Nothing but this robust Americanism and his strong will carried him +safely through the snares and pitfalls of Mrs. Lee's society, where +rivals and enemies beset him on every hand. He was little better than a +schoolboy, when he ventured on their ground, but when he could draw +them over upon his own territory of practical life he rarely failed to +trample on his assailants. + +It was this practical sense and cool will that won over Mrs. Lee, who +was woman enough to assume that all the graces were well enough +employed in decorating her, and it was enough if the other sex felt her +superiority. Men were valuable only in proportion to their strength and +their appreciation of women. If the senator had only been strong enough +always to control his temper, he would have done very well, but his +temper was under a great strain in these times, and his incessant effort +to control it in politics made him less watchful in private life. +Mrs. Lee's tacit assumption of superior refinement irritated him, +and sometimes made him show his teeth like a bull-dog, at the cost of +receiving from Mrs. Lee a quick stroke in return such as a well-bred +tortoise-shell cat administers to check over-familiarity; innocent to +the eye, but drawing blood. One evening when he was more than commonly +out of sorts, after sitting some time in moody silence, he roused +himself, and, taking up a book that lay on her table, he glanced at its +title and turned over the leaves. It happened by ill luck to be a volume +of Darwin that Mrs. Lee had just borrowed from the library of Congress. + +"Do you understand this sort of thing?" asked the Senator abruptly, in a +tone that suggested a sneer. + +"Not very well," replied Mrs. Lee, rather curtly. + +"Why do you want to understand it?" persisted the Senator. "What good +will it do you?" + +"Perhaps it will teach us to be modest," answered Madeleine, quite equal +to the occasion. + +"Because it says we descend from monkeys?" rejoined the Senator, +roughly. + +"Do you think you are descended from monkeys?" + +"Why not?" said Madeleine. + +"Why not?" repeated Ratcliffe, laughing harshly. "I don't like the +connection. Do you mean to introduce your distant relations into +society?" + +"They would bring more amusement into it than most of its present +members," rejoined Mrs. Lee, with a gentle smile that threatened +mischief. But Ratcliffe would not be warned; on the contrary, the only +effect of Mrs. Lee's defiance was to exasperate his ill-temper, and +whenever he lost his temper he became senatorial and Websterian. "Such +books," he began, "disgrace our civilization; they degrade and stultify +our divine nature; they are only suited for Asiatic despotisms where men +are reduced to the level of brutes; that they should be accepted by a +man like Baron Jacobi, I can understand; he and his masters have nothing +to do in the world but to trample on human rights. Mr. Carrington, of +course, would approve those ideas; he believes in the divine doctrine +of flogging negroes; but that you, who profess philanthropy and free +principles, should go with them, is astonishing; it is incredible; it is +unworthy of you." + +"You are very hard on the monkeys," replied Madeleine, rather sternly, +when the Senator's oration was ended. "The monkeys never did you any +harm; they are not in public life; they are not even voters; if they +were, you would be enthusiastic about their intelligence and virtue. +After all, we ought to be grateful to them, for what would men do +in this melancholy world if they had not inherited gaiety from the +monkeys--as well as oratory." + +Ratcliffe, to do him justice, took punishment well, at least when +it came from Mrs. Lee's hands, and his occasional outbursts of +insubordination were sure to be followed by improved discipline; but if +he allowed Mrs. Lee to correct his faults, he had no notion of letting +himself be instructed by her friends, and he lost no chance of telling +them so. But to do this was not always enough. Whether it were that he +had few ideas outside of his own experience, or that he would not +trust himself on doubtful ground, he seemed compelled to bring every +discussion down to his own level. Madeleine puzzled herself in vain to +find out whether he did this because he knew no better, or because he +meant to cover his own ignorance. + +"The Baron has amused me very much with his account of Bucharest +society," Mrs. Lee would say: "I had no idea it was so gay." + +"I would like to show him our society in Peonia," was Ratcliffe's reply; +"he would find a very brilliant circle there of nature's true noblemen." + +"The Baron says their politicians are precious sharp chaps," added Mr. + +French. + +"Oh, there are politicians in Bulgaria, are there?" asked the Senator, +whose ideas of the Roumanian and Bulgarian neighbourhood were vague, +and who had a general notion that all such people lived in tents, +wore sheepskins with the wool inside, and ate curds: "Oh, they have +politicians there! I would like to see them try their sharpness in the +west." + +"Really!" said Mrs. Lee. "Think of Attila and his hordes running an +Indiana caucus?" + +"Anyhow," cried French with a loud laugh, "the Baron said that a set of +bigger political scoundrels than his friends couldn't be found in all +Illinois." + +"Did he say that?" exclaimed Ratcliffe angrily. + +"Didn't he, Mrs. Lee? but I don't believe it; do you? What's your candid +opinion, Ratcliffe? What you don't know about Illinois politics isn't +worth knowing; do you really think those Bulgrascals couldn't run an +Illinois state convention?" + +Ratcliffe did not like to be chaffed, especially on this subject, but he +could not resent French's liberty which was only a moderate return +for the wooden nutmeg. To get the conversation away from Europe, from +literature, from art, was his great object, and chaff was a way of +escape. + +Carrington was very well aware that the weak side of the Senator lay in +his blind ignorance of morals. He flattered himself that Mrs. Lee must +see this and be shocked by it sooner or later, so that nothing more was +necessary than to let Ratcliffe expose himself. Without talking very +much, Carrington always aimed at drawing him out. He soon found, +however, that Ratcliffe understood such tactics perfectly, and instead +of injuring, he rather improved his position. At times the man's +audacity was startling, and even when Carrington thought him hopelessly +entangled, he would sweep away all the hunter's nets with a sheer effort +of strength, and walk off bolder and more dangerous than ever. + +When Mrs. Lee pressed him too closely, he frankly admitted her charges. + +"What you say is in great part true. There is much in politics that +disgusts and disheartens; much that is coarse and bad. I grant you there +is dishonesty and corruption. We must try to make the amount as small as +possible." + +"You should be able to tell Mrs. Lee how she must go to work," said +Carrington; "you have had experience. I have heard, it seems to me, that +you were once driven to very hard measures against corruption." + +Ratcliffe looked ill-pleased at this compliment, and gave Carrington one +of his cold glances that meant mischief. But he took up the challenge on +the spot:-- + +"Yes, I was, and am very sorry for it. The story is this, Mrs. Lee; +and it is well-known to every man, woman, and child in the State of +Illinois, so that I have no reason for softening it. In the worst days +of the war there was almost a certainty that my State would be carried +by the peace party, by fraud, as we thought, although, fraud or not, we +were bound to save it. Had Illinois been lost then, we should certainly +have lost the Presidential election, and with it probably the Union. At +any rate, I believed the fate of the war to depend on the result. I +was then Governor, and upon me the responsibility rested. We had entire +control of the northern counties and of their returns. We ordered the +returning officers in a certain number of counties to make no returns +until they heard from us, and when we had received the votes of all the +southern counties and learned the precise number of votes we needed to +give us a majority, we telegraphed to our northern returning officers +to make the vote of their districts such and such, thereby overbalancing +the adverse returns and giving the State to us. This was done, and as I +am now senator I have a right to suppose that what I did was approved. I +am not proud of the transaction, but I would do it again, and worse than +that, if I thought it would save this country from disunion. But of +course I did not expect Mr. Carrington to approve it. I believe he was +then carrying out his reform principles by bearing arms against the +government." + +"Yes!" said Carrington drily; "you got the better of me, too. Like the +old Scotchman, you didn't care who made the people's wars provided you +made its ballots." + +Carrington had missed his point. The man who has committed a murder for +his country, is a patriot and not an assassin, even when he receives a +seat in the Senate as his share of the plunder. Women cannot be expected +to go behind the motives of that patriot who saves his country and his +election in times of revolution. + +Carrington's hostility to Ratcliffe was, however, mild, when compared +with that felt by old Baron Jacobi. Why the baron should have taken so +violent a prejudice it is not easy to explain, but a diplomatist and a +senator are natural enemies, and Jacobi, as an avowed admirer of +Mrs. Lee, found Ratcliffe in his way. This prejudiced and immoral old +diplomatist despised and loathed an American senator as the type +which, to his bleared European eyes, combined the utmost pragmatical +self-assurance and overbearing temper with the narrowest education and +the meanest personal experience that ever existed in any considerable +government. As Baron Jacobi's country had no special relations with that +of the United States, and its Legation at Washington was a mere job to +create a place for Jacobi to fill, he had no occasion to disguise his +personal antipathies, and he considered himself in some degree as having +a mission to express that diplomatic contempt for the Senate which his +colleagues, if they felt it, were obliged to conceal. He performed his +duties with conscientious precision. He never missed an opportunity to +thrust the sharp point of his dialectic rapier through the joints of the +clumsy and hide-bound senatorial self-esteem. He delighted in skilfully +exposing to Madeleine's eyes some new side of Ratcliffe's ignorance. +His conversation at such times sparkled with historical allusions, +quotations in half a dozen different languages, references to well-known +facts which an old man's memory could not recall with precision in all +their details, but with which the Honourable Senator was familiarly +acquainted, and which he could readily supply. And his Voltairian +face leered politely as he listened to Ratcliffe's reply, which showed +invariable ignorance of common literature, art, and history. The climax +of his triumph came one evening when Ratcliffe unluckily, tempted by +some allusion to Molire which he thought he understood, made reference +to the unfortunate influence of that great man on the religious opinions +of his time. Jacobi, by a flash of inspiration, divined that he had +confused Molire with Voltaire, and assuming a manner of extreme +suavity, he put his victim on the rack, and tortured him with affected +explanations and interrogations, until Madeleine was in a manner forced +to interrupt and end the scene. But even when the senator was not to be +lured into a trap, he could not escape assault. The baron in such a +case would cross the lines and attack him on his own ground, as on one +occasion, when Ratcliffe was defending his doctrine of party allegiance, +Jacobi silenced him by sneering somewhat thus: + +"Your principle is quite correct, Mr. Senator. I, too, like yourself, +was once a good party man: my party was that of the Church; I was +ultramontane. Your party system is one of your thefts from our Church; +your National Convention is our OEcumenic Council; you abdicate reason, +as we do, before its decisions; and you yourself, Mr. Ratcliffe, you are +a Cardinal. They are able men, those cardinals; I have known many; they +were our best friends, but they were not reformers. Are you a reformer, +Mr. Senator?" + +Ratcliffe grew to dread and hate the old man, but all his ordinary +tactics were powerless against this impenetrable eighteenth century +cynic. If he resorted to his Congressional practise of browbeating +and dogmatism, the Baron only smiled and turned his back, or made some +remark in French which galled his enemy all the more, because, while +he did not understand it, he knew well that Madeleine did, and that she +tried to repress her smile. + +Ratcliffe's grey eyes grew colder and stonier than ever as he gradually +perceived that Baron Jacobi was carrying on a set scheme with malignant +ingenuity, to drive him out of Madeleine's house, and he swore +a terrible oath that he would not be beaten by that monkey-faced +foreigner. On the other hand Jacobi had little hope of success: "What +can an old man do?" said he with perfect sincerity to Carrington; "If +I were forty years younger, that great oaf should not have his own way. +Ah! I wish I were young again and we were in Vienna!" From which it was +rightly inferred by Carrington that the venerable diplomatist would, if +such acts were still in fashion, have coolly insulted the Senator, and +put a bullet through his heart. + + + +Chapter VI + +IN February the weather became warmer and summer-like. In Virginia there +comes often at this season a deceptive gleam of summer, slipping in +between heavy storm-clouds of sleet and snow; days and sometimes weeks +when the temperature is like June; when the earliest plants begin to +show their hardy flowers, and when the bare branches of the forest trees +alone protest against the conduct of the seasons. Then men and women are +languid; life seems, as in Italy, sensuous and glowing with colour; one +is conscious of walking in an atmosphere that is warm, palpable, radiant +with possibilities; a delicate haze hangs over Arlington, and softens +even the harsh white glare of the Capitol; the struggle of existence +seems to abate; Lent throws its calm shadow over society; and youthful +diplomatists, unconscious of their danger, are lured into asking foolish +girls to marry them; the blood thaws in the heart and flows out into the +veins, like the rills of sparkling water that trickle from every lump +of ice or snow, as though all the ice and snow on earth, and all the +hardness of heart, all the heresy and schism, all the works of the +devil, had yielded to the force of love and to the fresh warmth of +innocent, lamb-like, confiding virtue. In such a world there should be +no guile--but there is a great deal of it notwithstanding. Indeed, at +no other season is there so much. This is the moment when the two whited +sepulchres at either end of the Avenue reek with the thick atmosphere of +bargain and sale. The old is going; the new is coming. Wealth, office, +power are at auction. Who bids highest? who hates with most venom? who +intrigues with most skill? who has done the dirtiest, the meanest, the +darkest, and the most, political work? He shall have his reward. + +Senator Ratcliffe was absorbed and ill at ease. A swarm of applicants +for office dogged his steps and beleaguered his rooms in quest of his +endorsement of their paper characters. The new President was to arrive +on Monday. Intrigues and combinations, of which the Senator was the +soul, were all alive, awaiting this arrival. Newspaper correspondents +pestered him with questions. Brother senators called him to conferences. +His mind was pre-occupied with his own interests. One might have +supposed that, at this instant, nothing could have drawn him away from +the political gaming-table, and yet when Mrs. Lee remarked that she was +going to Mount Vernon on Saturday with a little party, including the +British Minister and an Irish gentleman staying as a guest at the +British Legation, the Senator surprised her by expressing a strong wish +to join them. He explained that, as the political lead was no longer +in his hands, the chances were nine in ten that if he stirred at all +he should make a blunder; that his friends expected him to do something +when, in fact, nothing could be done; that every preparation had already +been made, and that for him to go on an excursion to Mount Vernon, at +this moment, with the British Minister, was, on the whole, about the +best use he could make of his time, since it would hide him for one day +at least. + +Lord Skye had fallen into the habit of consulting Mrs. Lee when his own +social resources were low, and it was she who had suggested this party +to Mount Vernon, with Carrington for a guide and Mr. Gore for variety, +to occupy the time of the Irish friend whom Lord Skye was bravely +entertaining. + +This gentleman, who bore the title of Dunbeg, was a dilapidated peer, +neither wealthy nor famous. Lord Skye brought him to call on Mrs. Lee, +and in some sort put him under her care. He was young, not ill-looking, +quite intelligent, rather too fond of facts, and not quick at humour. +He was given to smiling in a deprecatory way, and when he talked, he +was either absent or excited; he made vague blunders, and then smiled +in deprecation of offence, or his words blocked their own path in their +rush. Perhaps his manner was a little ridiculous, but he had a good +heart, a good head, and a title. He found favour in the eyes of Sybil +and Victoria Dare, who declined to admit other women to the party, +although they offered no objection to Mr. + +Ratcliffe's admission. As for Lord Dunbeg, he was an enthusiastic +admirer of General Washington, and, as he privately intimated, eager to +study phases of American society. He was delighted to go with a small +party, and Miss Dare secretly promised herself that she would show him a +phase. + +The morning was warm, the sky soft, the little steamer lay at the quiet +wharf with a few negroes lazily watching her preparations for departure. + +Carrington, with Mrs. Lee and the young ladies, arrived first, and stood +leaning against the rail, waiting the arrival of their companions. Then +came Mr. Gore, neatly attired and gloved, with a light spring overcoat; +for Mr. + +Gore was very careful of his personal appearance, and not a little vain +of his good looks. Then a pretty woman, with blue eyes and blonde hair, +dressed in black, and leading a little girl by the hand, came on board, +and Carrington went to shake hands with her. On his return to Mrs. Lee's +side, she asked about his new acquaintance, and he replied with a +half-laugh, as though he were not proud of her, that she was a client, +a pretty widow, well known in Washington. "Any one at the Capitol would +tell you all about her. She was the wife of a noted lobbyist, who died +about two years ago. Congressmen can refuse nothing to a pretty face, +and she was their idea of feminine perfection. Yet she is a silly little +woman, too. Her husband died after a very short illness, and, to my +great surprise, made me executor under his will. I think he had an idea +that he could trust me with his papers, which were important and +compromising, for he seems to have had no time to go over them and +destroy what were best out of the way. So, you see, I am left with his +widow and child to look after. Luckily, they are well provided for." + +"Still you have not told me her name." + +"Her name is Baker--Mrs. Sam Baker. But they are casting off, and Mr. +Ratcliffe will be left behind. I'll ask the captain to wait." About a +dozen passengers had arrived, among them the two Earls, with a footman +carrying a promising lunch-basket, and the planks were actually hauled +in when a carriage dashed up to the wharf, and Mr. Ratcliffe leaped out +and hurried on board. "Off with you as quick as you can!" said he to +the negro-hands, and in another moment the little steamer had begun her +journey, pounding the muddy waters of the Potomac and sending up its +small column of smoke as though it were a newly invented incense-burner +approaching the temple of the national deity. Ratcliffe explained in +great glee how he had barely managed to escape his visitors by telling +them that the British Minister was waiting for him, and that he would +be back again presently. "If they had known where I was going," said +he, "you would have seen the boat swamped with office-seekers. Illinois +alone would have brought you to a watery grave." He was in high spirits, +bent upon enjoying his holiday, and as they passed the arsenal with +its solitary sentry, and the navy-yard, with its one unseaworthy wooden +war-steamer, he pointed out these evidences of national grandeur to Lord +Skye, threatening, as the last terror of diplomacy, to send him home in +an American frigate. They were thus indulging in senatorial humour on +one side of the boat, while Sybil and Victoria, with the aid of Mr. Gore +and Carrington, were improving Lord Dunbeg's mind on the other. + +Miss Dare, finding for herself at last a convenient seat where she could +repose and be mistress of the situation, put on a more than usually +demure expression and waited with gravity until her noble neighbour +should give her an opportunity to show those powers which, as she +believed, would supply a phase in his existence. Miss Dare was one of +those young persons, sometimes to be found in America, who seem to have +no object in life, and while apparently devoted to men, care nothing +about them, but find happiness only in violating rules; she made no +parade of whatever virtues she had, and her chief pleasure was to make +fun of all the world and herself. + +"What a noble river!" remarked Lord Dunbeg, as the boat passed out upon +the wide stream; "I suppose you often sail on it?" + +"I never was here in my life till now," replied the untruthful Miss +Dare; "we don't think much of it; it s too small; we're used to so much +larger rivers." + +"I am afraid you would not like our English rivers then; they are mere +brooks compared with this." + +"Are they indeed?" said Victoria, with an appearance of vague surprise; +"how curious! I don't think I care to be an Englishwoman then. I could +not live without big rivers." + +Lord Dunbeg stared, and hinted that this was almost unreasonable. + +"Unless I were a Countess!" continued Victoria, meditatively, looking +at Alexandria, and paying no attention to his lordship; "I think I could +manage if I were a C-c-countess. It is such a pretty title!" + +"Duchess is commonly thought a prettier one," stammered Dunbeg, much +embarrassed. The young man was not used to chaff from women. + +"I should be satisfied with Countess. It sounds well. I am surprised +that you don't like it." Dunbeg looked about him uneasily for some means +of escape but he was barred in. "I should think you would feel an awful +responsibility in selecting a Countess. How do you do it?" + +Lord Dunbeg nervously joined in the general laughter as Sybil +ejaculated: + +"Oh, Victoria!" but Miss Dare continued without a smile or any elevation +of her monotonous voice: + +"Now, Sybil, don't interrupt me, please. I am deeply interested in Lord +Dunbeg's conversation. He understands that my interest is purely +scientific, but my happiness requires that I should know how Countesses +are selected. Lord Dunbeg, how would you recommend a friend to choose a +Countess?" + +Lord Dunbeg began to be amused by her impudence, and he even tried to +lay down for her satisfaction one or two rules for selecting Countesses, +but long before he had invented his first rule, Victoria had darted off +to a new subject. + +"Which would you rather be, Lord Dunbeg? an Earl or George Washington?" + +"George Washington, certainly," was the Earl's courteous though rather +bewildered reply. + +"Really?" she asked with a languid affectation of surprise; "it is +awfully kind of you to say so, but of course you can't mean it. + +"Indeed I do mean it." + +"Is it possible? I never should have thought it." + +"Why not, Miss Dare?" + +"You have not the air of wishing to be George Washington." + +"May I again ask, why not?" + +"Certainly. Did you ever see George Washington?" + +"Of course not. He died fifty years before I was born." + +"I thought so. You see you don't know him. Now, will you give us an idea +of what you imagine General Washington to have looked like?" + +Dunbeg gave accordingly a flattering description of General Washington, +compounded of Stuart's portrait and Greenough's statue of Olympian Jove +with Washington's features, in the Capitol Square. Miss Dare listened +with an expression of superiority not unmixed with patience, and then +she enlightened him as follows: + +"All you have been saying is perfect stuff--excuse the vulgarity of the +expression. When I am a Countess I will correct my language. The +truth is that General Washington was a raw-boned country farmer, very +hard-featured, very awkward, very illiterate and very dull; very bad +tempered, very profane, and generally tipsy after dinner." + +"You shock me, Miss Dare!" exclaimed Dunbeg. + +"Oh! I know all about General Washington. My grandfather knew him +intimately, and often stayed at Mount Vernon for weeks together. You +must not believe what you read, and not a word of what Mr. Carrington +will say. He is a Virginian and will tell you no end of fine stories and +not a syllable of truth in one of them. We are all patriotic about +Washington and like to hide his faults. If I weren't quite sure you +would never repeat it, I would not tell you this. The truth is that even +when George Washington was a small boy, his temper was so violent that +no one could do anything with him. He once cut down all his father's +fruit-trees in a fit of passion, and then, just because they wanted to +flog him, he threatened to brain his father with the hatchet. His aged +wife suffered agonies from him. My grandfather often told me how he had +seen the General pinch and swear at her till the poor creature left the +room in tears; and how once at Mount Vernon he saw Washington, when +quite an old man, suddenly rush at an unoffending visitor, and chase him +off the place, beating him all the time over the head with a great stick +with knots in it, and all just because he heard the poor man stammer; he +never could abide s-s-stammering." + +Carrington and Gore burst into shouts of laughter over this description +of the Father of his country, but Victoria continued in her gentle drawl +to enlighten Lord Dunbeg in regard to other subjects with information +equally mendacious, until he decided that she was quite the most +eccentric person he had ever met. The boat arrived at Mount Vernon while +she was still engaged in a description of the society and manners of +America, and especially of the rules which made an offer of marriage +necessary. According to her, Lord Dunbeg was in imminent peril; +gentlemen, and especially foreigners, were expected, in all the States +south of the Potomac, to offer themselves to at least one young lady in +every city: "and I had only yesterday," said Victoria, "a letter from a +lovely girl in North Carolina, a dear friend of mine, who wrote me that +she was right put out because her brothers had called on a young English +visitor with shot guns, and she was afraid he wouldn't recover, and, +after all, she says she should have refused him." + +Meanwhile Madeleine, on the other side of the boat, undisturbed by the +laughter that surrounded Miss Dare, chatted soberly and seriously with +Lord Skye and Senator Ratcliffe. Lord Skye, too, a little intoxicated +by the brilliancy of the morning, broke out into admiration of the noble +river, and accused Americans of not appreciating the beauties of their +own country. + +"Your national mind," said he, "has no eyelids. It requires a broad +glare and a beaten road. It prefers shadows which you can cut out with a +knife. It doesn't know the beauty of this Virginia winter softness." + +Mrs. Lee resented the charge. America, she maintained, had not worn her +feelings threadbare like Europe. She had still her story to tell; she +was waiting for her Burns and Scott, her Wordsworth and Byron, her +Hogarth and Turner. "You want peaches in spring," said she. "Give us +our thousand years of summer, and then complain, if you please, that our +peach is not as mellow as yours. Even our voices may be soft then," she +added, with a significant look at Lord Skye. + +"We are at a disadvantage in arguing with Mrs. Lee," said he to +Ratcliffe; "when she ends as counsel, she begins as witness. The famous +Duchess of Devonshire's lips were not half as convincing as Mrs. Lee's +voice." + +Ratcliffe listened carefully, assenting whenever he saw that Mrs. Lee +wished it. He wished he understood precisely what tones and half-tones, +colours and harmonies, were. + +They arrived and strolled up the sunny path. At the tomb they halted, +as all good Americans do, and Mr. Gore, in a tone of subdued sorrow, +delivered a short address-- + +"It might be much worse if they improved it," he said, surveying its +proportions with the sthetic eye of a cultured Bostonian. "As it +stands, this tomb is a simple misfortune which might befall any of us; +we should not grieve over it too much. What would our feelings be if +a Congressional committee reconstructed it of white marble with Gothic +pepper-pots, and gilded it inside on machine-moulded stucco!" + +Madeleine, however, insisted that the tomb, as it stood, was the only +restless spot about the quiet landscape, and that it contradicted all +her ideas about repose in the grave. Ratcliffe wondered what she meant. + +They passed on, wandering across the lawn, and through the house. Their +eyes, weary of the harsh colours and forms of the city, took pleasure in +the worn wainscots and the stained walls. Some of the rooms were still +occupied; fires were burning in the wide fire-places. All were tolerably +furnished, and there was no uncomfortable sense of repair or newness. +They mounted the stairs, and Mrs. Lee fairly laughed when she was shown +the room in which General Washington slept, and where he died. + +Carrington smiled too. "Our old Virginia houses were mostly like this," +said he; "suites of great halls below, and these gaunt barracks above. +The Virginia house was a sort of hotel. When there was a race or a +wedding, or a dance, and the house was full, they thought nothing of +packing half a dozen people in one room, and if the room was large, they +stretched a sheet a cross to separate the men from the women. As for +toilet, those were not the mornings of cold baths. With our ancestors a +little washing went a long way." + +"Do you still live so in Virginia?" asked Madeleine. + +"Oh no, it is quite gone. We live now like other country people, and try +to pay our debts, which that generation never did. They lived from hand +to mouth. They kept a stable-full of horses. The young men were always +riding about the country, betting on horse-races, gambling, drinking, +fighting, and making love. No one knew exactly what he was worth until +the crash came about fifty years ago, and the whole thing ran out." + +"Just what happened in Ireland!" said Lord Dunbeg, much interested and +full of his article in the Quarterly; "the resemblance is perfect, even +down to the houses." + +Mrs. Lee asked Carrington bluntly whether he regretted the destruction +of this old social arrangement. + +"One can't help regretting," said he, "whatever it was that produced +George Washington, and a crowd of other men like him. But I think we +might produce the men still if we had the same field for them." + +"And would you bring the old society back again if you could?" asked +she. + +"What for? It could not hold itself up. General Washington himself could +not save it. Before he died he had lost his hold on Virginia, and his +power was gone." + +The party for a while separated, and Mrs. Lee found herself alone in the +great drawing-room. Presently the blonde Mrs. Baker entered, with her +child, who ran about making more noise than Mrs. Washington would have +permitted. + +Madeleine, who had the usual feminine love of children, called the girl +to her and pointed out the shepherds and shepherdesses carved on the +white Italian marble of the fireplace; she invented a little story +about them to amuse the child, while the mother stood by and at the end +thanked the story-teller with more enthusiasm than seemed called for. +Mrs. Lee did not fancy her effusive manner, or her complexion, and was +glad when Dunbeg appeared at the doorway. + +"How do you like General Washington at home?" asked she. + +"Really, I assure you I feel quite at home myself," replied Dunbeg, with +a more beaming smile than ever. "I am sure General Washington was an +Irishman. I know it from the look of the place. I mean to look it up and +write an article about it." + +"Then if you have disposed of him," said Madeleine, "I think we will +have luncheon, and I have taken the liberty to order it to be served +outside." + +There a table had been improvised, and Miss Dare was inspecting the +lunch, and making comments upon Lord Skye's cuisine and cellar. + +"I hope it is very dry champagne," said she, "the taste for sweet +champagne is quite awfully shocking." + +The young woman knew no more about dry and sweet champagne than of the +wine of Ulysses, except that she drank both with equal satisfaction, but +she was mimicking a Secretary of the British Legation who had provided +her with supper at her last evening party. Lord Skye begged her to try +it, which she did, and with great gravity remarked that it was about +five per cent. she presumed. This, too, was caught from her Secretary, +though she knew no more what it meant than if she had been a parrot. + +The luncheon was very lively and very good. When it was over, the +gentlemen were allowed to smoke, and conversation fell into a sober +strain, which at last threatened to become serious. + +"You want half-tones!" said Madeleine to Lord Skye: "are there not +half-tones enough to suit you on the walls of this house?" + +Lord Skye suggested that this was probably owing to the fact that +Washington, belonging, as he did, to the universe, was in his taste an +exception to local rules. + +"Is not the sense of rest here captivating?" she continued. "Look at +that quaint garden, and this ragged lawn, and the great river in front, +and the superannuated fort beyond the river! Everything is peaceful, +even down to the poor old General's little bed-room. One would like to +lie down in it and sleep a century or two. And yet that dreadful Capitol +and its office-seekers are only ten miles off." + +"No! that is more than I can bear!" broke in Miss Victoria in a stage +whisper, "that dreadful Capitol! Why, not one of us would be here +without that dreadful Capitol! except, perhaps, myself." + +"You would appear very well as Mrs. Washington, Victoria." + +"Miss Dare has been so very obliging as to give us her views of General +Washington's character this morning," said Dunbeg, "but I have not yet +had time to ask Mr. Carrington for his." + +"Whatever Miss Dare says is valuable," replied Carrington, "but her +strong point is facts." + +"Never flatter! Mr. Carrington," drawled Miss Dare; "I do not need it, +and it does not become your style. Tell me, Lord Dunbeg, is not Mr. +Carrington a little your idea of General Washington restored to us in +his prime?" + +"After your account of General Washington, Miss Dare, how can I agree +with you?" + +"After all," said Lord Skye, "I think we must agree that Miss Dare is in +the main right about the charms of Mount Vernon. Even Mrs. Lee, on the +way up, agreed that the General, who is the only permanent resident +here, has the air of being confoundedly bored in his tomb. I don't +myself love your dreadful Capitol yonder, but I prefer it to a bucolic +life here. And I account in this way for my want of enthusiasm for your +great General. He liked no kind of life but this. He seems to have been +greater in the character of a home-sick Virginia planter than as General +or President. I forgive him his inordinate dulness, for he was not a +diplomatist and it was not his business to lie, but he might once in a +way have forgotten Mount Vernon." + +Dunbeg here burst in with an excited protest; all his words seemed to +shove each other aside in their haste to escape first. "All our greatest +Englishmen have been home-sick country squires. I am a home-sick country +squire myself." + +"How interesting!" said Miss Dare under her breath. + +Mr. Gore here joined in: "It is all very well for you gentlemen to +measure General Washington according to your own private twelve-inch +carpenter's rule. But what will you say to us New Englanders who never +were country gentlemen at all, and never had any liking for Virginia? +What did Washington ever do for us? He never even pretended to like us. +He never was more than barely civil to us. I'm not finding fault with +him; everybody knows that he never cared for anything but Mount Vernon. +For all that, we idolize him. To us he is Morality, Justice, Duty, +Truth; half a dozen Roman gods with capital letters. He is austere, +solitary, grand; he ought to be deified. I hardly feel easy, eating, +drinking, smoking here on his portico without his permission, taking +liberties with his house, criticising his bedrooms in his absence. +Suppose I heard his horse now trotting up on the other side, and he +suddenly appeared at this door and looked at us. I should abandon you to +his indignation. I should run away and hide myself on the steamer. The +mere thought unmans me." + +Ratcliffe seemed amused at Gore's half-serious notions. "You recall +to me," said he, "my own feelings when I was a boy and was made by my +father to learn the Farewell Address by heart. In those days General +Washington was a sort of American Jehovah. But the West is a poor +school for Reverence. Since coming to Congress I have learned more about +General Washington, and have been surprised to find what a narrow +base his reputation rests on. A fair military officer, who made many +blunders, and who never had more men than would make a full army-corps +under his command, he got an enormous reputation in Europe because he +did not make himself king, as though he ever had a chance of doing it. +A respectable, painstaking President, he was treated by the Opposition +with an amount of deference that would have made government easy to a +baby, but it worried him to death. His official papers are fairly done, +and contain good average sense such as a hundred thousand men in the +United States would now write. I suspect that half of his attachment to +this spot rose from his consciousness of inferior powers and his dread +of responsibility. This government can show to-day a dozen men of equal +abilities, but we don't deify them. What I most wonder at in him is +not his military or political genius at all, for I doubt whether he +had much, but a curious Yankee shrewdness in money matters. He thought +himself a very rich man, yet he never spent a dollar foolishly. He was +almost the only Virginian I ever heard of, in public life, who did not +die insolvent." + +During this long speech, Carrington glanced across at Madeleine, and +caught her eye. Ratcliffe's criticism was not to her taste. Carrington +could see that she thought it unworthy of him, and he knew that it would +irritate her. + +"I will lay a little trap for Mr. Ratcliffe," thought he to himself; +"we will see whether he gets out of it." So Carrington began, and all +listened closely, for, as a Virginian, he was supposed to know much +about the subject, and his family had been deep in the confidence of +Washington himself. + +"The neighbours hereabout had for many years, and may have still, some +curious stories about General Washington's closeness in money matters. +They said he never bought anything by weight but he had it weighed over +again, nor by tale but he had it counted, and if the weight or number +were not exact, he sent it back. Once, during his absence, his steward +had a room plastered, and paid the plasterer's bill. On the General's +return, he measured the room, and found that the plasterer had charged +fifteen shillings too much. Meanwhile the man had died, and the General +made a claim of fifteen shillings on his estate, which was paid. Again, +one of his tenants brought him the rent. The exact change of fourpence +was required. The man tendered a dollar, and asked the General to credit +him with the balance against the next year's rent. The General refused +and made him ride nine miles to Alexandria and back for the fourpence. +On the other hand, he sent to a shoemaker in Alexandria to come and +measure him for shoes. The man returned word that he did not go to any +one's house to take measures, and the General mounted his horse and rode +the nine miles to him. One of his rules was to pay at taverns the same +sum for his servants' meals as for his own. An inn-keeper brought him a +bill of three-and-ninepence for his own breakfast, and three shillings +for his servant. He insisted upon adding the extra ninepence, as he did +not doubt that the servant had eaten as much as he. What do you say to +these anecdotes? Was this meanness or not?" + +Ratcliffe was amused. "The stories are new to me," he said. "It is just +as I thought. These are signs of a man who thinks much of trifles; one +who fusses over small matters. We don't do things in that way now that +we no longer have to get crops from granite, as they used to do in New +Hampshire when I was a boy." + +Carrington replied that it was unlucky for Virginians that they had not +done things in that way then: if they had, they would not have gone to +the dogs. + +Gore shook his head seriously; "Did I not tell you so?" said he. "Was +not this man an abstract virtue? I give you my word I stand in awe +before him, and I feel ashamed to pry into these details of his life. +What is it to us how he thought proper to apply his principles to +nightcaps and feather dusters? We are not his body servants, and we +care nothing about his infirmities. It is enough for us to know that he +carried his rules of virtue down to a pin's point, and that we ought, +one and all, to be on our knees before his tomb." + +Dunbeg, pondering deeply, at length asked Carrington whether all this +did not make rather a clumsy politician of the father of his country. + +"Mr. Ratcliffe knows more about politics than I. Ask him," said +Carrington. + +"Washington was no politician at all, as we understand the word," +replied Ratcliffe abruptly. "He stood outside of politics. The thing +couldn't be done to-day. The people don't like that sort of royal airs." + +"I don't understand!" said Mrs. Lee. "Why could you not do it now?" + +"Because I should make a fool of myself;" replied Ratcliffe, pleased to +think that Mrs. Lee should put him on a level with Washington. She had +only meant to ask why the thing could not be done, and this little touch +of Ratcliffe's vanity was inimitable. + +"Mr. Ratcliffe means that Washington was too respectable for our time," +interposed Carrington. + +This was deliberately meant to irritate Ratcliffe, and it did so all +the more because Mrs. Lee turned to Carrington, and said, with some +bitterness: + +"Was he then the only honest public man we ever had?" + +"Oh no!" replied Carrington cheerfully; "there have been one or two +others." + +"If the rest of our Presidents had been like him," said Gore, "we should +have had fewer ugly blots on our short history." + +Ratcliffe was exasperated at Carrington's habit of drawing discussion to +this point. He felt the remark as a personal insult, and he knew it to +be intended. "Public men," he broke out, "cannot be dressing themselves +to-day in Washington's old clothes. If Washington were President now, he +would have to learn our ways or lose his next election. Only fools and +theorists imagine that our society can be handled with gloves or long +poles. One must make one's self a part of it. If virtue won't answer our +purpose, we must use vice, or our opponents will put us out of office, +and this was as true in Washington's day as it is now, and always will +be." + +"Come," said Lord Skye, who was beginning to fear an open quarrel; "the +conversation verges on treason, and I am accredited to this government. +Why not examine the grounds?" + +A kind of natural sympathy led Lord Dunbeg to wander by the side of Miss +Dare through the quaint old garden. His mind being much occupied by the +effort of stowing away the impressions he had just received, he was more +than usually absent in his manner, and this want of attention irritated +the young lady. She made some comments on flowers; she invented some +new species with startling names; she asked whether these were known in +Ireland; but Lord Dunbeg was for the moment so vague in his answers that +she saw her case was perilous. + +"Here is an old sun-dial. Do you have sun-dials in Ireland, Lord +Dunbeg?" + +"Yes; oh, certainly! What! sun-dials? Oh, yes! I assure you there are a +great many sun-dials in Ireland, Miss Dare." + +"I am so glad. But I suppose they are only for ornament. Here it is just +the other way. Look at this one! they all behave like that. The wear and +tear of our sun is too much for them; they don't last. My uncle, who has +a place at Long Branch, had five sun-dials in ten years." + +"How very odd! But really now, Miss Dare, I don't see how a sun--dial +could wear out." + +"Don't you? How strange! Don't you see, they get soaked with sunshine so +that they can't hold shadow. It's like me, you know. I have such a +good time all the time that I can't be unhappy. Do you ever read the +Burlington Hawkeye, Lord Dunbeg?" + +"I don't remember; I think not. Is it an American serial?" gasped +Dunbeg, trying hard to keep pace with Miss Dare in her reckless dashes +across country. + +"No, not serial at all!" replied Virginia; "but I am afraid you would +find it very hard reading. I shouldn't try." + +"Do you read it much, Miss Dare?" + +"Oh, always! I am not really as light as I seem. But then I have an +advantage over you because I know the language." + +By this time Dunbeg was awake again, and Miss Dare, satisfied with her +success, allowed herself to become more reasonable, until a slight shade +of sentiment began to flicker about their path. + +The scattered party, however, soon had to unite again. The boat rang +its bell for return, they filed down the paths and settled themselves +in their old places. As they steamed away, Mrs. Lee watched the sunny +hill-side and the peaceful house above, until she could see them no +more, and the longer she looked, the less she was pleased with herself. +Was it true, as Victoria Dare said, that she could not live in so pure +an air? Did she really need the denser fumes of the city? Was she, +unknown to herself; gradually becoming tainted with the life about her? +or was Ratcliffe right in accepting the good and the bad together, and +in being of his time since he was in it? Why was it, she said bitterly +to herself; that everything Washington touched, he purified, even down +to the associations of his house? and why is it that everything we touch +seems soiled? Why do I feel unclean when I look at Mount Vernon? In +spite of Mr. Ratcliffe, is it not better to be a child and to cry for +the moon and stars? + +The little Baker girl came up to her where she stood, and began playing +with her parasol. + +"Who is your little friend?" asked Ratcliffe. + +Mrs. Lee rather vaguely replied that she was the daughter of that pretty +woman in black; she believed her name was Baker. + +"Baker, did you say?" repeated Ratcliffe. + +"Baker--Mrs. Sam Baker; at least so Mr. Carrington told me; he said she +was a client of his." + +In fact Ratcliffe soon saw Carrington go up to her and remain by her +side during the rest of the trip. Ratcliffe watched them sharply and +grew more and more absorbed in his own thoughts as the boat drew nearer +and nearer the shore. + +Carrington was in high spirits. He thought he had played his cards with +unusual success. Even Miss Dare deigned to acknowledge his charms that +day. + +She declared herself to be the moral image of Martha Washington, and she +started a discussion whether Carrington or Lord Dunbeg would best suit +her in the rle of the General. + +"Mr. Carrington is exemplary," she said, "but oh, what joy to be Martha +Washington and a Countess too!" + + + +Chapter VII + +WHEN he reached his rooms that afternoon, Senator Ratcliffe found +there, as he expected, a choice company of friends and admirers, who had +beguiled their leisure hours since noon by cursing him in every variety +of profane language that experience could suggest and impatience +stimulate. On his part, had he consulted his own feelings only, he would +then and there have turned them out, and locked the doors behind them. +So far as silent maledictions were concerned, no profanity of theirs +could hold its own against the intensity and deliberation with which, +as he found himself approaching his own door, he expressed between his +teeth his views in respect to their eternal interests. Nothing could be +less suited to his present humour than the society which awaited him in +his rooms. He groaned in spirit as he sat down at his writing-table and +looked about him. Dozens of office-seekers were besieging the house; +men whose patriotic services in the last election called loudly for +recognition from a grateful country. + +They brought their applications to the Senator with an entreaty that he +would endorse and take charge of them. Several members and senators who +felt that Ratcliffe had no reason for existence except to fight their +battle for patronage, were lounging about his room, reading newspapers, +or beguiling their time with tobacco in various forms; at long +intervals making dull remarks, as though they were more weary than their +constituents of the atmosphere that surrounds the grandest government +the sun ever shone upon. + +Several newspaper correspondents, eager to barter their news for +Ratcliffe's hints or suggestions, appeared from time to time on the +scene, and, dropping into a chair by Ratcliffe's desk, whispered with +him in mysterious tones. + +Thus the Senator worked on, hour after hour, mechanically doing what was +required of him, signing papers without reading them, answering remarks +without hearing them, hardly looking up from his desk, and appearing +immersed in labour. This was his protection against curiosity and +garrulity. + +The pretence of work was the curtain he drew between himself and the +world. + +Behind this curtain his mental operations went on, undisturbed by what +was about him, while he heard all that was said, and said little or +nothing himself. His followers respected this privacy, and left him +alone. He was their prophet, and had a right to seclusion. He was their +chieftain, and while he sat in his monosyllabic solitude, his ragged +tail reclined in various attitudes about him, and occasionally one man +spoke, or another swore. Newspapers and tobacco were their resource in +periods of absolute silence. + +A shade of depression rested on the faces and the voices of Clan +Ratcliffe that evening, as is not unusual with forces on the eve of +battle. Their remarks came at longer intervals, and were more pointless +and random than usual. There was a want of elasticity in their bearing +and tone, partly coming from sympathy with the evident depression of +their chief; partly from the portents of the time. The President was to +arrive within forty-eight hours, and as yet there was no sign that +he properly appreciated their services; there were signs only too +unmistakeable that he was painfully misled and deluded, that his +countenance was turned wholly in another direction, and that all their +sacrifices were counted as worthless. There was reason to believe that +he came with a deliberate purpose of making war upon Ratcliffe and +breaking him down; of refusing to bestow patronage on them, and of +bestowing it wherever it would injure them most deeply. At the thought +that their honestly earned harvest of foreign missions and consulates, +department-bureaus, custom-house and revenue offices, postmasterships, +Indian agencies, and army and navy contracts, might now be wrung from +their grasp by the selfish greed of a mere accidental intruder--a man +whom nobody wanted and every one ridiculed--their natures rebelled, and +they felt that such things must not be; that there could be no more hope +for democratic government if such things were possible. At this point +they invariably became excited, lost their equanimity, and swore. Then +they fell back on their faith in Ratcliffe: if any man could pull them +through, he could; after all, the President must first reckon with him, +and he was an uncommon tough customer to tackle. + +Perhaps, however, even their faith in Ratcliffe might have been shaken, +could they at that moment have looked into his mind and understood what +was passing there. Ratcliffe was a man vastly their superior, and he +knew it. He lived in a world of his own and had instincts of refinement. +Whenever his affairs went unfavourably, these instincts revived, and for +the time swept all his nature with them. He was now filled with disgust +and cynical contempt for every form of politics. During long years +he had done his best for his party; he had sold himself to the devil, +coined his heart's blood, toiled with a dogged persistence that no +day-labourer ever conceived; and all for what? To be rejected as its +candidate; to be put under the harrow of a small Indiana farmer who +made no secret of the intention to "corral" him, and, as he elegantly +expressed it, to "take his hide and tallow." Ratcliffe had no great fear +of losing his hide, but he felt aggrieved that he should be called +upon to defend it, and that this should be the result of twenty years' +devotion. Like most men in the same place, he did not stop to cast +up both columns of his account with the party, nor to ask himself the +question that lay at the heart of his grievance: How far had he served +his party and how far himself? He was in no humour for self-analysis: +this requires more repose of mind than he could then command. As for +the President, from whom he had not heard a whisper since the insolent +letter to Grimes, which he had taken care not to show, the Senator felt +only a strong impulse to teach him better sense and better manners. But +as for political life, the events of the last six months were calculated +to make any man doubt its value. He was quite out of sympathy with it. +He hated the sight of his tobacco-chewing, newspaper-reading satellites, +with their hats tipped at every angle except the right one, and their +feet everywhere except on the floor. Their conversation bored him and +their presence was a nuisance. He would not submit to this slavery +longer. He would have given his Senatorship for a civilized house like +Mrs. Lee's, with a woman like Mrs. Lee at its head, and twenty thousand +a year for life. He smiled his only smile that evening when he thought +how rapidly she would rout every man Jack of his political following out +of her parlours, and how meekly they would submit to banishment into a +back-office with an oil-cloth carpet and two cane chairs. + +He felt that Mrs. Lee was more necessary to him than the Presidency +itself; he could not go on without her; he needed human companionship; +some Christian comfort for his old age; some avenue of communication +with that social world, which made his present surroundings look cold +and foul; some touch of that refinement of mind and morals beside which +his own seemed coarse. He felt unutterably lonely. He wished Mrs. +Lee had asked him home to dinner; but Mrs. Lee had gone to bed with a +headache. He should not see her again for a week. Then his mind turned +back upon their morning at Mount Vernon, and bethinking himself of Mrs. +Sam Baker, he took a sheet of note-paper, and wrote a line to Wilson +Keen, Esq., at Georgetown, requesting him to call, if possible, the +next morning towards one o'clock at the Senator's rooms on a matter +of business. Wilson Keen was chief of the Secret Service Bureau in the +Treasury Department, and, as the depositary of all secrets, was often +called upon for assistance which he was very good-natured in furnishing +to senators, especially if they were likely to be Secretaries of the +Treasury. + +This note despatched, Mr. Ratcliffe fell back into his reflective mood, +which led him apparently into still lower depths of discontent until, +with a muttered oath, he swore he could "stand no more of this," and, +suddenly rising, he informed his visitors that he was sorry to leave +them, but he felt rather poorly and was going to bed; and to bed he +went, while his guests departed, each as his business or desires might +point him, some to drink whiskey and some to repose. + +On Sunday morning Mr. Ratcliffe, as usual, went to church. He always +attended morning service--at the Methodist Episcopal Church--not wholly +on the ground of religious conviction, but because a large number of his +constituents were church-going people and he would not willingly shock +their principles so long as he needed their votes. In church, he kept +his eyes closely fixed upon the clergyman, and at the end of the sermon +he could say with truth that he had not heard a word of it, although the +respectable minister was gratified by the attention his discourse had +received from the Senator from Illinois, an attention all the more +praiseworthy because of the engrossing public cares which must at +that moment have distracted the Senator's mind. In this last idea, +the minister was right. Mr. Ratcliffe's mind was greatly distracted by +public cares, and one of his strongest reasons for going to church at +all was that he might get an hour or two of undisturbed reflection. +During the entire service he was absorbed in carrying on a series +of imaginary conversations with the new President. He brought up in +succession every form of proposition which the President might make to +him; every trap which could be laid for him; every sort of treatment he +might expect, so that he could not be taken by surprise, and his frank, +simple nature could never be at a loss. One object, however, long +escaped him. Supposing, what was more than probable, that the +President's opposition to Ratcliffe's declared friends made it +impossible to force any of them into office; it would then be necessary +to try some new man, not obnoxious to the President, as a candidate for +the Cabinet. Who should this be? Ratcliffe pondered long and deeply, +searching out a man who combined the most powerful interests, with the +fewest enmities. This subject was still uppermost at the moment when +service ended. Ratcliffe pondered over it as he walked back to his +rooms. Not until he reached his own door did he come to a conclusion: + +Carson would do; Carson of Pennsylvania; the President had probably +never heard of him. + +Mr. Wilson Keen was waiting the Senator's return, a heavy man with a +square face, and good-natured, active blue eyes; a man of few words and +those well-considered. The interview was brief. After apologising for +breaking in upon Sunday with business, Mr. Ratcliffe excused himself on +the ground that so little time was left before the close of the session. +A bill now before one of his Committees, on which a report must soon +be made, involved matters to which it was believed that the late Samuel +Baker, formerly a well-known lobby-agent in Washington, held the only +clue. He being dead, Mr. Ratcliffe wished to know whether he had left +any papers behind him, and in whose hands these papers were, or whether +any partner or associate of his was acquainted with his affairs. + +Mr. Keen made a note of the request, merely remarking that he had been +very well acquainted with Baker, and also a little with his wife, who +was supposed to know his affairs as well as he knew them himself; and +who was still in Washington. He thought he could bring the information +in a day or two. As he then rose to go, Mr. Ratcliffe added that entire +secrecy was necessary, as the interests involved in obstructing the +search were considerable, and it was not well to wake them up. Mr. Keen +assented and went his way. + +All this was natural enough and entirely proper, at least so far as +appeared on the surface. Had Mr. Keen been so curious in other people's +affairs as to look for the particular legislative measure which lay at +the bottom of Mr. + +Ratcliffe's inquiries, he might have searched among the papers of +Congress a very long time and found himself greatly puzzled at last. In +fact there was no measure of the kind. The whole story was a fiction. +Mr. Ratcliffe had scarcely thought of Baker since his death, until the +day before, when he had seen his widow on the Mount Vernon steamer and +had found her in relations with Carrington. Something in Carrington's +habitual attitude and manner towards himself had long struck him as +peculiar, and this connection with Mrs. Baker had suggested to the +Senator the idea that it might be well to have an eye on both. Mrs. +Baker was a silly woman, as he knew, and there were old transactions +between Ratcliffe and Baker of which she might be informed, but which +Ratcliffe had no wish to see brought within Mrs. Lee's ken. As for +the fiction invented to set Keen in motion, it was an innocent one. +It harmed nobody. Ratcliffe selected this particular method of inquiry +because it was the easiest, safest, and most effectual. If he were +always to wait until he could afford to tell the precise truth, business +would very soon be at a standstill, and his career at an end. + +This little matter disposed of; the Senator from Illinois passed his +afternoon in calling upon some of his brother senators, and the first +of those whom he honoured with a visit was Mr. Krebs, of Pennsylvania. +There were many reasons which now made the co-operation of that +high-minded statesman essential to Mr. Ratcliffe. The strongest of them +was that the Pennsylvania delegation in Congress was well disciplined +and could be used with peculiar advantage for purposes of "pressure." +Ratcliffe's success in his contest with the new President depended +on the amount of "pressure" he could employ. To keep himself in the +background, and to fling over the head of the raw Chief Magistrate a web +of intertwined influences, any one of which alone would be useless, but +which taken together were not to be broken through; to revive the lost +art of the Roman retiarius, who from a safe distance threw his net over +his adversary, before attacking with the dagger; this was Ratcliffe's +intention and towards this he had been directing all his manipulation +for weeks past. How much bargaining and how many promises he found it +necessary to make, was known to himself alone. About this time Mrs. Lee +was a little surprised to find Mr. Gore speaking with entire confidence +of having Ratcliffe's support in his application for the Spanish +mission, for she had rather imagined that Gore was not a favourite with +Ratcliffe. She noticed too that Schneidekoupon had come back again and +spoke mysteriously of interviews with Ratcliffe; of attempts to unite +the interests of New York and Pennsylvania; and his countenance took on +a dark and dramatic expression as he proclaimed that no sacrifice of the +principle of protection should be tolerated. Schneidekoupon disappeared +as suddenly as he came, and from Sybil's innocent complaints of +his spirits and temper, Mrs. Lee jumped to the conclusion that Mr. +Ratcliffe, Mr. Clinton, and Mr. + +Krebs had for the moment combined to sit heavily upon poor +Schneidekoupon, and to remove his disturbing influence from the scene, +at least until other men should get what they wanted. These were merely +the trifling incidents that fell within Mrs. Lee's observation. She felt +an atmosphere of bargain and intrigue, but she could only imagine how +far it extended. Even Carrington, when she spoke to him about it, only +laughed and shook his head: + +"Those matters are private, my dear Mrs. Lee; you and I are not meant to +know such things." + +This Sunday afternoon Mr. Ratcliffe's object was to arrange the little +manoeuvre about Carson of Pennsylvania, which had disturbed him in +church. + +His efforts were crowned with success. Krebs accepted Carson and +promised to bring him forward at ten minutes' notice, should the +emergency arise. + +Ratcliffe was a great statesman. The smoothness of his manipulation was +marvellous. No other man in politics, indeed no other man who had ever +been in politics in this country, could--his admirers said--have brought +together so many hostile interests and made so fantastic a combination. +Some men went so far as to maintain that he would "rope in the President +himself before the old man had time to swap knives with him." The beauty +of his work consisted in the skill with which he evaded questions of +principle. As he wisely said, the issue now involved was not one of +principle but of power. + +The fate of that noble party to which they all belonged, and which had +a record that could never be forgotten, depended on their letting +principle alone. Their principle must be the want of principles. There +were indeed individuals who said in reply that Ratcliffe had made +promises which never could be carried out, and there were almost +superhuman elements of discord in the combination, but as Ratcliffe +shrewdly rejoined, he only wanted it to last a week, and he guessed his +promises would hold it up for that time. + +Such was the situation when on Monday afternoon the President-elect +arrived in Washington, and the comedy began. The new President was, +almost as much as Abraham Lincoln or Franklin Pierce, an unknown +quantity in political mathematics. In the national convention of the +party, nine months before, after some dozens of fruitless ballots in +which Ratcliffe wanted but three votes of a majority, his opponents had +done what he was now doing; they had laid aside their principles and +set up for their candidate a plain Indiana farmer, whose political +experience was limited to stump-speaking in his native State, and to one +term as Governor. They had pitched upon him, not because they thought +him competent, but because they hoped by doing so to detach Indiana from +Ratcliffe's following, and they were so successful that within fifteen +minutes Ratcliffe's friends were routed, and the Presidency had fallen +upon this new political Buddha. + +He had begun his career as a stone-cutter in a quarry, and was, not +unreasonably, proud of the fact. During the campaign this incident had, +of course, filled a large space in the public mind, or, more exactly, +in the public eye. "The Stone-cutter of the Wabash," he was sometimes +called; at others "the Hoosier Quarryman," but his favourite appellation +was "Old Granite," although this last endearing name, owing to an +unfortunate similarity of sound, was seized upon by his opponents, and +distorted into "Old Granny." He had been painted on many thousand yards +of cotton sheeting, either with a terrific sledge-hammer, smashing the +skulls (which figured as paving-stones) of his political opponents, or +splitting by gigantic blows a huge rock typical of the opposing party. +His opponents in their turn had paraded illuminations representing the +Quarryman in the garb of a State's-prison convict breaking the heads +of Ratcliffe and other well-known political leaders with a very feeble +hammer, or as "Old Granny" in pauper's rags, hopelessly repairing with +the same heads the impossible roads which typified the ill-conditioned +and miry ways of his party. But these violations of decency and good +sense were universally reproved by the virtuous; and it was remarked +with satisfaction that the purest and most highly cultivated newspaper +editors on his side, without excepting those of Boston itself; agreed +with one voice that the Stone-cutter was a noble type of man, perhaps +the very noblest that had appeared to adorn this country since the +incomparable Washington. + +That he was honest, all admitted; that is to say, all who voted for him. + +This is a general characteristic of all new presidents. He himself took +great pride in his home-spun honesty, which is a quality peculiar to +nature's noblemen. Owing nothing, as he conceived, to politicians, +but sympathising through every fibre of his unselfish nature with the +impulses and aspirations of the people, he affirmed it to be his first +duty to protect the people from those vultures, as he called them, +those wolves in sheep's clothing, those harpies, those hyenas, the +politicians; epithets which, as generally interpreted, meant Ratcliffe +and Ratcliffe's friends. + +His cardinal principle in politics was hostility to Ratcliffe, yet he +was not vindictive. He came to Washington determined to be the Father of +his country; to gain a proud immortality and a re-election. + +Upon this gentleman Ratcliffe had let loose all the forms of "pressure" +which could be set in motion either in or out of Washington. From the +moment when he had left his humble cottage in Southern Indiana, he had +been captured by Ratcliffe's friends, and smothered in demonstrations +of affection. They had never allowed him to suggest the possibility +of ill-feeling. They had assumed as a matter of course that the most +cordial attachment existed between him and his party. On his arrival +in Washington they systematically cut him off from contact with any +influences but their own. This was not a very difficult thing to do, for +great as he was, he liked to be told of his greatness, and they made him +feel himself a colossus. Even the few personal friends in his company +were manipulated with the utmost care, and their weaknesses put to use +before they had been in Washington a single day. + +Not that Ratcliffe had anything to do with all this underhand +and grovelling intrigue. Mr. Ratcliffe was a man of dignity and +self-respect, who left details to his subordinates. He waited calmly +until the President, recovered from the fatigues of his journey, should +begin to feel the effect of a Washington atmosphere. Then on Wednesday +morning, Mr. Ratcliffe left his rooms an hour earlier than usual on his +way to the Senate, and called at the President's Hotel: he was ushered +into a large apartment in which the new Chief Magistrate was holding +court, although at sight of Ratcliffe, the other visitors edged away +or took their hats and left the room. The President proved to be a +hard-featured man of sixty, with a hooked nose and thin, straight, +iron-gray hair. His voice was rougher than his features and he received +Ratcliffe awkwardly. He had suffered since his departure from Indiana. +Out there it had seemed a mere flea-bite, as he expressed it, to brush +Ratcliffe aside, but in Washington the thing was somehow different. + +Even his own Indiana friends looked grave when he talked of it, and +shook their heads. They advised him to be cautious and gain time; to +lead Ratcliffe on, and if possible to throw on him the responsibility of +a quarrel. He was, therefore, like a brown bear undergoing the process +of taming; very ill-tempered, very rough, and at the same time very much +bewildered and a little frightened. Ratcliffe sat ten minutes with him, +and obtained information in regard to pains which the President had +suffered during the previous night, in consequence, as he believed, of +an over-indulgence in fresh lobster, a luxury in which he had found a +diversion from the cares of state. So soon as this matter was explained +and condoled upon, Ratcliffe rose and took leave. + +Every device known to politicians was now in full play against the +Hoosier Quarryman. State delegations with contradictory requests were +poured in upon him, among which that of Massachusetts presented as +its only prayer the appointment of Mr. Gore to the Spanish mission. +Difficulties were invented to embarrass and worry him. False leads were +suggested, and false information carefully mingled with true. A wild +dance was kept up under his eyes from daylight to midnight, until his +brain reeled with the effort to follow it. Means were also found to +convert one of his personal, confidential friends, who had come with him +from Indiana and who had more brains or less principle than the others; +from him every word of the President was brought directly to Ratcliffe's +ear. + +Early on Friday morning, Mr. Thomas Lord, a rival of the late Samuel +Baker, and heir to his triumphs, appeared in Ratcliffe's rooms while the +Senator was consuming his lonely egg and chop. Mr. Lord had been chosen +to take general charge of the presidential party and to direct all +matters connected with Ratcliffe's interests. Some people might consider +this the work of a spy; he looked on it as a public duty. He reported +that "Old Granny" had at last shown signs of weakness. Late the previous +evening when, according to his custom, he was smoking his pipe in +company with his kitchen-cabinet of followers, he had again fallen upon +the subject of Ratcliffe, and with a volley of oaths had sworn that he +would show him his place yet, and that he meant to offer him a seat in +the Cabinet that would make him "sicker than a stuck hog." From this +remark and some explanatory hints that followed, it seemed that the +Quarryman had abandoned his scheme of putting Ratcliffe to immediate +political death, and had now undertaken to invite him into a Cabinet +which was to be specially constructed to thwart and humiliate him. + +The President, it appeared, warmly applauded the remark of one +counsellor, that Ratcliffe was safer in the Cabinet than in the Senate, +and that it would be easy to kick him out when the time came. + +Ratcliffe smiled grimly as Mr. Lord, with much clever mimicry, described +the President's peculiarities of language and manner, but he said +nothing and waited for the event. The same evening came a note from the +President's private secretary requesting his attendance, if possible, +to-morrow, Saturday morning, at ten o'clock. The note was curt and cool. +Ratcliffe merely sent back word that he would come, and felt a little +regret that the President should not know enough etiquette to understand +that this verbal answer was intended as a hint to improve his manners. +He did come accordingly, and found the President looking blacker +than before. This time there was no avoiding of tender subjects. The +President meant to show Ratcliffe by the decision of his course, that +he was master of the situation. He broke at once into the middle of +the matter: "I sent for you," said he, "to consult with you about my +Cabinet. Here is a list of the gentlemen I intend to invite into it. You +will see that I have got you down for the Treasury. Will you look at the +list and say what you think of it?" + +Ratcliffe took the paper, but laid it at once on the table without +looking at it. "I can have no objection," said he, "to any Cabinet you +may appoint, provided I am not included in it. My wish is to remain +where I am. There I can serve your administration better than in the +Cabinet." + +"Then you refuse?" growled the President. + +"By no means. I only decline to offer any advice or even to hear the +names of my proposed colleagues until it is decided that my services +are necessary. If they are, I shall accept without caring with whom I +serve." + +The President glared at him with an uneasy look. What was to be done +next? + +He wanted time to think, but Ratcliffe was there and must be disposed +of. He involuntarily became more civil: "Mr. Ratcliffe, your refusal +would knock everything on the head. I thought that matter was all fixed. +What more can I do?" + +But Ratcliffe had no mind to let the President out of his clutches so +easily, and a long conversation followed, during which he forced his +antagonist into the position of urging him to take the Treasury in order +to prevent some undefined but portentous mischief in the Senate. All +that could be agreed upon was that Ratcliffe should give a positive +answer within two days, and on that agreement he took his leave. + +As he passed through the corridor, a number of gentlemen were waiting +for interviews with the President, and among them was the whole +Pennsylvania delegation, "ready for biz," as Mr. Tom Lord remarked, with +a wink. + +Ratcliffe drew Krebs aside and they exchanged a few words as he passed +out. + +Ten minutes afterwards the delegation was admitted, and some of its +members were a little surprised to hear their spokesman, Senator Krebs, +press with extreme earnestness and in their names, the appointment of +Josiah B. Carson to a place in the Cabinet, when they had been given to +understand that they came to recommend Jared Caldwell as postmaster +of Philadelphia. But Pennsylvania is a great and virtuous State, whose +representatives have entire confidence in their chief. Not one of them +so much as winked. + +The dance of democracy round the President now began again with wilder +energy. Ratcliffe launched his last bolts. His two-days' delay was a +mere cover for bringing new influences to bear. He needed no delay. He +wanted no time for reflection. The President had undertaken to put +him on the horns of a dilemma; either to force him into a hostile and +treacherous Cabinet, or to throw on him the blame of a refusal and +a quarrel. He meant to embrace one of the horns and to impale the +President on it, and he felt perfect confidence in his own success. He +meant to accept the Treasury and he was ready to back himself with a +heavy wager to get the government entirely into his own hands within six +weeks. His contempt for the Hoosier Stone-cutter was unbounded, and his +confidence in himself more absolute than ever. + +Busy as he was, the Senator made his appearance the next evening at Mrs. + +Lee's, and finding her alone with Sybil, who was occupied with her +own little devices, Ratcliffe told Madeleine the story of his week's +experience. + +He did not dwell on his exploits. On the contrary he quite ignored those +elaborate arrangements which had taken from the President his power of +volition. His picture presented himself; solitary and unprotected, in +the character of that honest beast who was invited to dine with the lion +and saw that all the footmarks of his predecessors led into the lion's +cave, and none away from it. He described in humorous detail his +interviews with the Indiana lion, and the particulars of the surfeit of +lobster as given in the President's dialect; he even repeated to her the +story told him by Mr. Tom Lord, without omitting oaths or gestures; he +told her how matters stood at the moment, and how the President had laid +a trap for him which he could not escape; he must either enter a +Cabinet constructed on purpose to thwart him and with the certainty of +ignominious dismissal at the first opportunity, or he must refuse an +offer of friendship which would throw on him the blame of a quarrel, and +enable the President to charge all future difficulties to the account +of Ratcliffe's "insatiable ambition." "And now, Mrs. Lee," he continued, +with increasing seriousness of tone; "I want your advice; what shall I +do?" + +Even this half revelation of the meanness which distorted politics; this +one-sided view of human nature in its naked deformity playing pranks +with the interests of forty million people, disgusted and depressed +Madeleine's mind. Ratclife spared her nothing except the exposure of +his own moral sores. He carefully called her attention to every leprous +taint upon his neighbours' persons, to every rag in their foul clothing, +to every slimy and fetid pool that lay beside their path. It was his way +of bringing his own qualities into relief. He meant that she should go +hand in hand with him through the brimstone lake, and the more repulsive +it seemed to her, the more overwhelming would his superiority become. He +meant to destroy those doubts of his character which Carrington was so +carefully fostering, to rouse her sympathy, to stimulate her feminine +sense of self-sacrifice. + +When he asked this question she looked up at him with an expression of +indignant pride, as she spoke: + +"I say again, Mr. Ratcliffe, what I said once before. Do whatever is +most for the public good." + +"And what is most for the public good?" + +Madeleine half opened her mouth to reply, then hesitated, and stared +silently into the fire before her. What was indeed most for the public +good? + +Where did the public good enter at all into this maze of personal +intrigue, this wilderness of stunted natures where no straight road +was to be found, but only the tortuous and aimless tracks of beasts and +things that crawl? + +Where was she to look for a principle to guide, an ideal to set up and +to point at? + +Ratcliffe resumed his appeal, and his manner was more serious than ever. + +"I am hard pressed, Mrs. Lee. My enemies encompass me about. They mean +to ruin me. I honestly wish to do my duty. You once said that personal +considerations should have no weight. Very well! throw them away! And +now tell me what I should do." + +For the first time, Mrs. Lee began to feel his power. He was simple, +straightforward, earnest. His words moved her. How should she imagine +that he was playing upon her sensitive nature precisely as he played +upon the President's coarse one, and that this heavy western politician +had the instincts of a wild Indian in their sharpness and quickness of +perception; that he divined her character and read it as he read the +faces and tones of thousands from day to day? She was uneasy under his +eye. She began a sentence, hesitated in the middle, and broke down. She +lost her command of thought, and sat dumb-founded. He had to draw her +out of the confusion he had himself made. + +"I see your meaning in your face. You say that I should accept the duty +and disregard the consequences." + +"I don't know," said Madeleine, hesitatingly; "Yes, I think that would +be my feeling." + +"And when I fall a sacrifice to that man's envy and intrigue, what will +you think then, Mrs. Lee? Will you not join the rest of the world and +say that I overreached myself; and walked into this trap with my eyes +open, and for my own objects? Do you think I shall ever be thought +better of; for getting caught here? I don't parade high moral views like +our friend French. I won't cant about virtue. But I do claim that in +my public life I have tried to do right. Will you do me the justice to +think so?" + +Madeleine still struggled to prevent herself from being drawn into +indefinite promises of sympathy with this man. She would keep him at +arm's length whatever her sympathies might be. She would not pledge +herself to espouse his cause. She turned upon him with an effort, and +said that her thoughts, now or at any time, were folly and nonsense, and +that the consciousness of right-doing was the only reward any public man +had a right to expect. + +"And yet you are a hard critic, Mrs. Lee. If your thoughts are what +you say, your words are not. You judge with the judgment of abstract +principles, and you wield the bolts of divine justice. You look on and +condemn, but you refuse to acquit. When I come to you on the verge of +what is likely to be the fatal plunge of my life, and ask you only for +some clue to the moral principle that ought to guide me, you look on and +say that virtue is its own reward. And you do not even say where virtue +lies." + +"I confess my sins," said Madeleine, meekly and despondently; "life is +more complicated than I thought." + +"I shall be guided by your advice," said Ratcliffe; "I shall walk into +that den of wild beasts, since you think I ought. But I shall hold you +to your responsibility. You cannot refuse to see me through dangers you +have helped to bring me into." + +"No, no!" cried Madeleine, earnestly; "no responsibility. You ask more +than I can give." + +Ratcliffe looked at her a moment with a troubled and careworn face. His +eyes seemed deep sunk in their dark circles, and his voice was pathetic +in its intensity. "Duty is duty, for you as well as for me. I have a +right to the help of all pure minds. You have no right to refuse it. How +can you reject your own responsibility and hold me to mine?" + +Almost as he spoke, he rose and took his departure, leaving her no time +to do more than murmur again her ineffectual protest. After he was gone, +Mrs. + +Lee sat long, with her eyes fixed on the fire, reflecting upon what he +had said. Her mind was bewildered by the new suggestions which Ratcliffe +had thrown out. What woman of thirty, with aspirations for the infinite, +could resist an attack like this? What woman with a soul could see +before her the most powerful public man of her time, appealing--with +a face furrowed by anxieties, and a voice vibrating with only +half-suppressed affection--to her for counsel and sympathy, without +yielding some response? and what woman could have helped bowing her head +to that rebuke of her over-confident judgment, coming as it did from one +who in the same breath appealed to that judgment as final? Ratcliffe, +too, had a curious instinct for human weaknesses. No magnetic needle +was ever truer than his finger when he touched the vulnerable spot in +an opponent's mind. Mrs. Lee was not to be reached by an appeal to +religious sentiment, to ambition, or to affection. + +Any such appeal would have fallen flat on her ears and destroyed its own +hopes. But she was a woman to the very last drop of her blood. She +could not be induced to love Ratcliffe, but she might be deluded into +sacrificing herself for him. She atoned for want of devotion to God, by +devotion to man. + +She had a woman's natural tendency towards asceticism, self-extinction, +self-abnegation. All through life she had made painful efforts to +understand and follow out her duty. Ratcliffe knew her weak point when +he attacked her from this side. Like all great orators and advocates, he +was an actor; the more effective because of a certain dignified air that +forbade familiarity. + +He had appealed to her sympathy, her sense of right and of duty, to her +courage, her loyalty, her whole higher nature; and while he made this +appeal he felt more than half convinced that he was all he pretended to +be, and that he really had a right to her devotion. What wonder that she +in her turn was more than half inclined to admit that right. She knew +him now better than Carrington or Jacobi knew him. Surely a man who +spoke as he spoke, had noble instincts and lofty aims? Was not his +career a thousand times more important than hers? If he, in his +isolation and his cares, needed her assistance, had she an excuse for +refusing it? What was there in her aimless and useless life which made +it so precious that she could not afford to fling it into the gutter, if +need be, on the bare chance of enriching some fuller existence? + + + +Chapter VIII + +OF all titles ever assumed by prince or potentate, the proudest is that +of the Roman pontiffs: "Servus servorum Dei"--"Servant of the servants +of God." + +In former days it was not admitted that the devil's servants could by +right have any share in government. They were to be shut out, punished, +exiled, maimed, and burned. The devil has no servants now; only the +people have servants. There may be some mistake about a doctrine which +makes the wicked, when a majority, the mouthpiece of God against the +virtuous, but the hopes of mankind are staked on it; and if the weak +in faith sometimes quail when they see humanity floating in a shoreless +ocean, on this plank, which experience and religion long since condemned +as rotten, mistake or not, men have thus far floated better by its aid, +than the popes ever did with their prettier principle; so that it will +be a long time yet before society repents. + +Whether the new President and his chief rival, Mr. Silas P. Ratcliffe, +were or were not servants of the servants of God, is not material +here. Servants they were to some one. No doubt many of those who call +themselves servants of the people are no better than wolves in sheep's +clothing, or asses in lions' skins. One may see scores of them any day +in the Capitol when Congress is in session, making noisy demonstrations, +or more usefully doing nothing. A wiser generation will employ them in +manual labour; as it is, they serve only themselves. But there are +two officers, at least, whose service is real--the President and his +Secretary of the Treasury. The Hoosier Quarryman had not been a week +in Washington before he was heartily home-sick for Indiana. No +maid-of-all-work in a cheap boarding-house was ever more harassed. +Everyone conspired against him. His enemies gave him no peace. All +Washington was laughing at his blunders, and ribald sheets, published +on a Sunday, took delight in printing the new Chief Magistrate's sayings +and doings, chronicled with outrageous humour, and placed by malicious +hands where the President could not but see them. He was sensitive to +ridicule, and it mortified him to the heart to find that remarks and +acts, which to him seemed sensible enough, should be capable of such +perversion. Then he was overwhelmed with public business. It came upon +him in a deluge, and he now, in his despair, no longer tried to control +it. He let it pass over him like a wave. His mind was muddied by the +innumerable visitors to whom he had to listen. But his greatest anxiety +was the Inaugural Address which, distracted as he was, he could not +finish, although in another week it must be delivered. He was nervous +about his Cabinet; it seemed to him that he could do nothing until he +had disposed of Ratcliffe. + +Already, thanks to the President's friends, Ratcliffe had become +indispensable; still an enemy, of course, but one whose hands must be +tied; a sort of Sampson, to be kept in bonds until the time came for +putting him out of the way, but in the meanwhile, to be utilized. This +point being settled, the President had in imagination begun to lean upon +him; for the last few days he had postponed everything till next week, +"when I get my Cabinet arranged;" which meant, when he got Ratcliffe's +assistance; and he fell into a panic whenever he thought of the chance +that Ratcliffe might refuse. + +He was pacing his room impatiently on Monday morning, an hour before +the time fixed for Ratcliffe's visit. His feelings still fluctuated +violently, and if he recognized the necessity of using Ratcliffe, he +was not the less determined to tie Ratcliffe's hands. He must be made +to come into a Cabinet where every other voice would be against him. He +must be prevented from having any patronage to dispose of. He must be +induced to accept these conditions at the start. How present this to him +in such a way as not to repel him at once? All this was needless, if +the President had only known it, but he thought himself a profound +statesman, and that his hand was guiding the destinies of America to his +own re-election. When at length, on the stroke of ten o'clock, Ratcliffe +entered the room, the President turned to him with nervous eagerness, +and almost before offering his hand, said that he hoped Mr. Ratcliffe +had come prepared to begin work at once. The Senator replied that, +if such was the President's decided wish, he would offer no further +opposition. Then the President drew himself up in the attitude of an +American Cato, and delivered a prepared address, in which he said that +he had chosen the members of his Cabinet with a careful regard to the +public interests; that Mr. Ratcliffe was essential to the combination; +that he expected no disagreement on principles, for there was but one +principle which he should consider fundamental, namely, that there +should be no removals from office except for cause; and that under these +circumstances he counted upon Mr. Ratcliffe's assistance as a matter of +patriotic duty. + +To all this Ratcliffe assented without a word of objection, and the +President, more convinced than ever of his own masterly statesmanship, +breathed more freely than for a week past. Within ten minutes they +were actively at work together, clearing away the mass of accumulated +business. + +The relief of the Quarryman surprised himself. Ratcliffe lifted the +weight of affairs from his shoulders with hardly an effort. He knew +everybody and everything. He took most of the President's visitors at +once into his own hands and dismissed them with great rapidity. He knew +what they wanted; he knew what recommendations were strong and what were +weak; who was to be treated with deference and who was to be sent +away abruptly; where a blunt refusal was safe, and where a pledge was +allowable. The President even trusted him with the unfinished manuscript +of the Inaugural Address, which Ratcliffe returned to him the next +day with such notes and suggestions as left nothing to be done beyond +copying them out in a fair hand. With all this, he proved himself a very +agreeable companion. He talked well and enlivened the work; he was not a +hard taskmaster, and when he saw that the President was tired, he boldly +asserted that there was no more business that could not as well wait +a day, and so took the weary Stone-cutter out to drive for a couple of +hours, and let him go peacefully to sleep in the carriage. They dined +together and Ratcliffe took care to send for Tom Lord to amuse them, for +Tom was a wit and a humourist, and kept the President in a laugh. Mr. +Lord ordered the dinner and chose the wines. He could be coarse enough +to suit even the President's palate, and Ratcliffe was not behindhand. +When the new Secretary went away at ten o'clock that night, his chief; +who was in high good humour with his dinner, his champagne, and his +conversation, swore with some unnecessary granite oaths, that Ratcliffe +was "a clever fellow anyhow," and he was glad "that job was fixed." + +The truth was that Ratcliffe had now precisely ten days before the new +Cabinet could be set in motion, and in these ten days he must establish +his authority over the President so firmly that nothing could shake it. +He was diligent in good works. Very soon the court began to feel his +hand. If a business letter or a written memorial came in, the President +found it easy to endorse: "Referred to the Secretary of the Treasury." +If a visitor wanted anything for himself or another, the invariable +reply came to be: "Just mention it to Mr. Ratcliffe;" or, "I guess +Ratcliffe will see to that." + +Before long he even made jokes in a Catonian manner; jokes that were not +peculiarly witty, but somewhat gruff and boorish, yet significant of a +resigned and self-contented mind. One morning he ordered Ratcliffe to +take an iron-clad ship of war and attack the Sioux in Montana, seeing +that he was in charge of the army and navy and Indians at once, and +Jack of all trades; and again he told a naval officer who wanted a +court-martial that he had better get Ratcliffe to sit on him for he was +a whole court-martial by himself. That Ratcliffe held his chief in no +less contempt than before, was probable but not certain, for he kept +silence on the subject before the world, and looked solemn whenever the +President was mentioned. + +Before three days were over, the President, with a little more than +his usual abruptness, suddenly asked him what he knew about this +fellow Carson, whom the Pennsylvanians were bothering him to put in his +Cabinet. Ratcliffe was guarded: he scarcely knew the man; Mr. Carson +was not in politics, he believed, but was pretty respectable--for a +Pennsylvanian. The President returned to the subject several times; got +out his list of Cabinet officers and figured industriously upon it with +a rather perplexed face; called Ratcliffe to help him; and at last +the "slate" was fairly broken, and Ratcliffe's eyes gleamed when the +President caused his list of nominations to be sent to the Senate on the +5th March, and Josiah B. Carson, of Pennsylvania, was promptly confirmed +as Secretary of the Interior. + +But his eyes gleamed still more humorously when, a few days afterwards, +the President gave him a long list of some two score names, and asked +him to find places for them. He assented good-naturedly, with a remark +that it might be necessary to make a few removals to provide for these +cases. + +"Oh, well," said the President, "I guess there's just about as many as +that had ought to go out anyway. These are friends of mine; got to be +looked after. Just stuff 'em in somewhere." + +Even he felt a little awkward about it, and, to do him justice, this +was the last that was heard about the fundamental rule of his +administration. + +Removals were fast and furious, until all Indiana became easy in +circumstances. And it was not to be denied that, by one means or +another, Ratcliffe's friends did come into their fair share of the +public money. + +Perhaps the President thought it best to wink at such use of the +Treasury patronage for the present, or was already a little overawed by +his Secretary. + +Ratcliffe's work was done. The public had, with the help of some +clever intrigue, driven its servants into the traces. Even an Indiana +stone-cutter could be taught that his personal prejudices must yield to +the public service. What mischief the selfishness, the ambition, or +the ignorance of these men might do, was another matter. As the affair +stood, the President was the victim of his own schemes. It remained to +be seen whether, at some future day, Mr. Ratcliffe would think it worth +his while to strangle his chief by some quiet Eastern intrigue, but +the time had gone by when the President could make use of either the +bow-string or the axe upon him. + +All this passed while Mrs. Lee was quietly puzzling her poor little +brain about her duty and her responsibility to Ratcliffe, who, +meanwhile, rarely failed to find himself on Sunday evenings by her side +in her parlour, where his rights were now so well established that no +one presumed to contest his seat, unless it were old Jacobi, who from +time to time reminded him that he was fallible and mortal. Occasionally, +though not often, Mr. Ratcliffe came at other times, as when he +persuaded Mrs. Lee to be present at the Inauguration, and to call on the +President's wife. Madeleine and Sybil went to the Capitol and had the +best places to see and hear the Inauguration, as well as a cold March +wind would allow. Mrs. Lee found fault with the ceremony; it was of +the earth, earthy, she said. An elderly western farmer, with silver +spectacles, new and glossy evening clothes, bony features, and stiff; +thin, gray hair, trying to address a large crowd of people, under the +drawbacks of a piercing wind and a cold in his head, was not a hero. +Sybil's mind was lost in wondering whether the President would not soon +die of pneumonia. Even this experience, however, was happy when compared +with that of the call upon the President's wife, after which Madeleine +decided to leave the new dynasty alone in future. The lady, who was +somewhat stout and coarse-featured, and whom Mrs. Lee declared she +wouldn't engage as a cook, showed qualities which, seen under that +fierce light which beats upon a throne, seemed ungracious. Her antipathy +to Ratcliffe was more violent than her husband's, and was even more +openly expressed, until the President was quite put out of countenance +by it. She extended her hostility to every one who could be supposed to +be Ratcliffe's friend, and the newspapers, as well as private gossip, +had marked out Mrs. Lee as one who, by an alliance with Ratcliffe, was +aiming at supplanting her own rule over the White House. + +Hence, when Mrs. Lightfoot Lee was announced, and the two sisters were +ushered into the presidential parlour, she put on a coldly patronizing +air, and in reply to Madeleine's hope that she found Washington +agreeable, she intimated that there was much in Washington which struck +her as awful wicked, especially the women; and, looking at Sybil, she +spoke of the style of dress in this city which she said she meant to do +what she could to put a stop to. She'd heard tell that people sent to +Paris for their gowns, just as though America wasn't good enough to make +one's clothes! Jacob (all Presidents' wives speak of their husbands by +their first names) had promised her to get a law passed against it. In +her town in Indiana, a young woman who was seen on the street in such +clothes wouldn't be spoken to. At these remarks, made with an air and +in a temper quite unmistakable, Madeleine became exasperated beyond +measure, and said that "Washington would be pleased to see the President +do something in regard to dress-reform--or any other reform;" and with +this allusion to the President's ante-election reform speeches, Mrs. Lee +turned her back and left the room, followed by Sybil in convulsions of +suppressed laughter, which would not have been suppressed had she seen +the face of their hostess as the door shut behind them, and the energy +with which she shook her head and said: "See if I don't reform you yet, +you--jade!" + +Mrs. Lee gave Ratcliffe a lively account of this interview, and he +laughed nearly as convulsively as Sybil over it, though he tried to +pacify her by saying that the President's most intimate friends openly +declared his wife to be insane, and that he himself was the person most +afraid of her. But Mrs. Lee declared that the President was as bad as +his wife; that an equally good President and President's wife could be +picked up in any corner-grocery between the Lakes and the Ohio; and +that no inducement should ever make her go near that coarse washerwoman +again. + +Ratcliffe did not attempt to change Mrs. Lee's opinion. Indeed he +knew better than any man how Presidents were made, and he had his +own opinions in regard to the process as well as the fabric produced. +Nothing Mrs. Lee could say now affected him. He threw off his +responsibility and she found it suddenly resting on her own shoulders. +When she spoke with indignation of the wholesale removals from office +with which the new administration marked its advent to power, he told +her the story of the President's fundamental principle, and asked her +what she would have him do. "He meant to tie my hands," said Ratcliffe, +"and to leave his own free, and I accepted the condition. Can I resign +now on such a ground as this?" And Madeleine was obliged to agree that +he could not. She had no means of knowing how many removals he made in +his own interest, or how far he had outwitted the President at his own +game. He stood before her a victim and a patriot. Every step he had +taken had been taken with her approval. He was now in office to prevent +what evil he could, not to be responsible for the evil that was done; +and he honestly assured her that much worse men would come in when he +went out, as the President would certainly take good care that he did go +out when the moment arrived. + +Mrs. Lee had the chance now to carry out her scheme in coming to +Washington, for she was already deep in the mire of politics and +could see with every advantage how the great machine floundered about, +bespattering with mud even her own pure garments. Ratcliffe himself, +since entering the Treasury, had begun to talk with a sneer of the way +in which laws were made, and openly said that he wondered how government +got on at all. Yet he declared still that this particular government was +the highest expression of political thought. Mrs. Lee stared at him and +wondered whether he knew what thought was. To her the government seemed +to have less thought in it than one of Sybil's gowns, for if they, like +the government, were monstrously costly, they were at least adapted to +their purpose, the parts fitted together, and they were neither awkward +nor unwieldy. + +There was nothing very encouraging in all this, but it was better than +New York. At least it gave her something to look at, and to think about. +Even Lord Dunbeg preached practical philanthropy to her by the hour. +Ratcliffe, too, was compelled to drag himself out of the rut of machine +politics, and to justify his right of admission to her house. There Mr. +French discoursed at great length, until the fourth of March sent him +home to Connecticut; and he brought more than one intelligent member +of Congress to Mrs. Lee's parlour. Underneath the scum floating on the +surface of politics, Madeleine felt that there was a sort of healthy +ocean current of honest purpose, which swept the scum before it, and +kept the mass pure. + +This was enough to draw her on. She reconciled herself to accepting +the Ratcliffian morals, for she could see no choice. She herself had +approved every step she had seen him take. She could not deny that there +must be something wrong in a double standard of morality, but where was +it? Mr. + +Ratcliffe seemed to her to be doing good work with as pure means as he +had at hand. He ought to be encouraged, not reviled. What was she that +she should stand in judgment? + +Others watched her progress with less satisfaction. Mr. Nathan Gore was +one of these, for he came in one evening, looking much out of temper, +and, sitting down by her side he said he had come to bid good-bye and to +thank her for the kindness she had shown him; he was to leave Washington +the next morning. She too expressed her warm regret, but added that she +hoped he was only going in order to take his passage to Madrid. + +He shook his head. "I am going to take my passage," said he, "but not to +Madrid. The fates have cut that thread. The President does not want my +services, and I can't blame him, for if our situations were reversed, I +should certainly not want his. He has an Indiana friend, who, I am told, +wanted to be postmaster at Indianapolis, but as this did not suit the +politicians, he was bought off at the exorbitant price of the Spanish +mission. But I should have no chance even if he were out of the way. The +President does not approve of me. He objects to the cut of my overcoat +which is unfortunately an English one. He also objects to the cut of my +hair. I am afraid that his wife objects to me because I am so happy as +to be thought a friend of yours." + +Madeleine could only acknowledge that Mr. Gore's case was a bad one. +"But after all," said she, "why should politicians be expected to love +you literary gentlemen who write history. Other criminal classes are not +expected to love their judges." + +"No, but they have sense enough to fear them," replied Gore +vindictively; "not one politician living has the brains or the art to +defend his own cause. The ocean of history is foul with the carcases of +such statesmen, dead and forgotten except when some historian fishes one +of them up to gibbet it." + +Mr. Gore was so much out of temper that after this piece of extravagance +he was forced to pause a moment to recover himself. Then he went +on:--"You are perfectly right, and so is the President. I have no +business to be meddling in politics. It is not my place. The next time +you hear of me, I promise it shall not be as an office-seeker." + +Then he rapidly changed the subject, saying that he hoped Mrs. Lee was +soon going northward again, and that they might meet at Newport. + +"I don't know," replied Madeleine; "the spring is pleasant here, and we +shall stay till the warm weather, I think." + +Mr. Gore looked grave. "And your politics!" said he; "are you satisfied +with what you have seen?" + +"I have got so far as to lose the distinction between right and wrong. +Isn't that the first step in politics?" + +Mr. Gore had no mind even for serious jesting. He broke out into a long +lecture which sounded like a chapter of some future history: "But Mrs. +Lee, is it possible that you don't see what a wrong path you are on. +If you want to know what the world is really doing to any good purpose, +pass a winter at Samarcand, at Timbuctoo, but not at Washington. Be a +bank-clerk, or a journeyman printer, but not a Congressman. Here you +will find nothing but wasted effort and clumsy intrigue." + +"Do you think it a pity for me to learn that?" asked Madeleine when his +long essay was ended. + +"No!" replied Gore, hesitating; "not if you do learn it. But many people +never get so far, or only when too late. I shall be glad to hear +that you are mistress of it and have given up reforming politics. The +Spaniards have a proverb that smells of the stable, but applies to +people like you and me: The man who washes his donkey's head, loses time +and soap." + +Gore took his leave before Madeleine had time to grasp all the impudence +of this last speech. Not until she was fairly in bed that night did it +suddenly flash on her mind that Mr. Gore had dared to caricature her as +wasting time and soap on Mr. Ratcliffe. At first she was violently +angry and then she laughed in spite of herself; there was truth in the +portrait. In secret, too, she was the less offended because she half +thought that it had depended only on herself to make of Mr. Gore +something more than a friend. If she had overheard his parting words to +Carrington, she would have had still more reason to think that a little +jealousy of Ratcliffe's success sharpened the barb of Gore's enmity. + +"Take care of Ratcliffe!" was his farewell; "he is a clever dog. He has +set his mark on Mrs. Lee. Look out that he doesn't walk off with her!" + +A little startled by this sudden confidence, Carrington could only ask +what he could do to prevent it. + +"Cats that go ratting, don't wear gloves," replied Gore, who always +carried a Spanish proverb in his pocket. Carrington, after painful +reflection, could only guess that he wanted Ratcliffe's enemies to show +their claws. But how? + +Mrs. Lee not long afterwards spoke to Ratcliffe of her regret at Gore's +disappointment and hinted at his disgust. Ratcliffe replied that he had +done what he could for Gore, and had introduced him to the President, +who, after seeing him, had sworn his usual granitic oath that he would +sooner send his nigger farm-hand Jake to Spain than that man-milliner. +"You know how I stand;" added Ratcliffe; "what more could I do?" And +Mrs. Lee's implied reproach was silenced. + +If Gore was little pleased with Ratcliffe's conduct, poor Schneidekoupon +was still less so. He turned up again at Washington not long after +the Inauguration and had a private interview with the Secretary of the +Treasury. + +What passed at it was known only to themselves, but, whatever it +was, Schneidekoupon's temper was none the better for it. From his +conversations with Sybil, it seemed that there was some question about +appointments in which his protectionist friends were interested, and he +talked very openly about Ratcliffe's want of good faith, and how he had +promised everything to everybody and had failed to keep a single pledge; +if Schneidekoupon's advice had been taken, this wouldn't have happened. +Mrs. Lee told Ratcliffe that Schneidekoupon seemed out of temper, and +asked the reason. He only laughed and evaded the question, remarking +that cattle of this kind were always complaining unless they were +allowed to run the whole government; Schneidekoupon had nothing +to grumble about; no one had ever made any promises to him. But +nevertheless Schneidekoupon confided to Sybil his antipathy to Ratcliffe +and solemnly begged her not to let Mrs. Lee fall into his hands, to +which Sybil answered tartly that she only wished Mr. + +Schneidekoupon would tell her how to help it. + +The reformer French had also been one of Ratcliffe's backers in the +fight over the Treasury. He remained in Washington a few days after the +Inauguration, and then disappeared, leaving cards with P.P.C. in the +corner, at Mrs. Lee's door. Rumour said that he too was disappointed, +but he kept his own counsel, and, if he really wanted the mission +to Belgium, he contented himself with waiting for it. A respectable +stage-coach proprietor from Oregon got the place. + +As for Jacobi, who was not disappointed, and who had nothing to ask +for, he was bitterest of all. He formally offered his congratulations to +Ratcliffe on his appointment. This little scene occurred in Mrs. +Lee's parlour. The old Baron, with his most suave manner, and his most +Voltairean leer, said that in all his experience, and he had seen a +great many court intrigues, he had never seen anything better managed +than that about the Treasury. + +Ratcliffe was furiously angry, and told the Baron outright that foreign +ministers who insulted the governments to which they were accredited ran +a risk of being sent home. + +"Ce serait toujours un pis aller," said Jacobi, seating himself with +calmness in Ratcliffe's favourite chair by Mrs. Lee's side. + +Madeleine, alarmed as she was, could not help interposing, and hastily +asked whether that remark was translatable. + +"Ah!" said the Baron; "I can do nothing with your language. You would +only say that it was a choice of evils, to go, or to stay." + +"We might translate it by saying: 'One may go farther and fare worse,'" +rejoined Madeleine; and so the storm blew over for the time, and +Ratcliffe sulkily let the subject drop. Nevertheless the two men never +met in Mrs. + +Lee's parlour without her dreading a personal altercation. Little by +little, what with Jacobi's sarcasms and Ratcliffe's roughness, they +nearly ceased to speak, and glared at each other like quarrelsome dogs. +Madeleine was driven to all kinds of expedients to keep the peace, yet +at the same time she could not but be greatly amused by their behaviour, +and as their hatred of each other only stimulated their devotion to her, +she was content to hold an even balance between them. + +Nor were these all the awkward consequences of Ratcliffe's attentions. +Now that he was distinctly recognized as an intimate friend of Mrs. +Lee's, and possibly her future husband, no one ventured any longer to +attack him in her presence, but nevertheless she was conscious in a +thousand ways that the atmosphere became more and more dense under +the shadow of the Secretary of the Treasury. In spite of herself she +sometimes felt uneasy, as though there were conspiracy in the air. One +March afternoon she was sitting by her fire, with an English Review in +her hand, trying to read the last Symposium on the sympathies of Eternal +Punishment, when her servant brought in a card, and Mrs. Lee had barely +time to read the name of Mrs. Samuel Baker when that lady followed the +servant into the room, forcing the countersign in so effective style +that for once Madeleine was fairly disconcerted. Her manner when thus +intruded upon, was cool, but in this case, on Carrington's account, she +tried to smile courteously and asked her visitor to sit down, which Mrs. +Baker was doing without an invitation, very soon putting her hostess +entirely at her ease. She was, when seen without her veil, a showy woman +verging on forty, decidedly large, tall, over-dressed even in mourning, +and with a complexion rather fresher than nature had made it. + +There was a geniality in her address, savouring of easy Washington ways, +a fruitiness of smile, and a rich southern accent, that explained on +the spot her success in the lobby. She looked about her with fine +self-possession, and approved Mrs. Lee's surroundings with a cordiality +so different from the northern stinginess of praise, that Madeleine +was rather pleased than offended. Yet when her eye rested on the Corot, +Madeleine's only pride, she was evidently perplexed, and resorted to +eye-glasses, in order, as it seemed, to gain time for reflection. But +she was not to be disconcerted even by Corot's masterpiece: + +"How pretty! Japanese, isn't it? Sea-weeds seen through a fog. I went to +an auction yesterday, and do you know I bought a tea-pot with a picture +just like that." + +Madeleine inquired with extreme interest about the auction, but after +learning all that Mrs. Baker had to tell, she was on the point of being +reduced to silence, when she bethought herself to mention Carrington. +Mrs. + +Baker brightened up at once, if she could be said to brighten where +there was no sign of dimness: + +"Dear Mr. Carrington! Isn't he sweet? I think he's a delicious man. I +don't know what I should do without him. Since poor Mr. Baker left +me, we have been together all the time. You know my poor husband left +directions that all his papers should be burned, and though I would not +say so unless you were such a friend of Mr. Carrington's, I reckon it's +just as well for some people that he did. I never could tell you what +quantities of papers Mr. Carrington and I have put in the fire; and we +read them all too." + +Madeleine asked whether this was not dull work. + +"Oh, dear, no! You see I know all about it, and told Mr. Carrington the +story of every paper as we went on. It was quite amusing, I assure you." + +Mrs. Lee then boldly said she had got from Mr. Carrington an idea that +Mrs. + +Baker was a very skilful diplomatist. + +"Diplomatist!" echoed the widow with her genial laugh; "Well! it was as +much that as anything, but there's not many diplomatists' wives in this +city ever did as much work as I used to do. Why, I knew half the members +of Congress intimately, and all of them by sight. I knew where they came +from and what they liked best. I could get round the greater part of +them, sooner or later." + +Mrs. Lee asked what she did with all this knowledge. Mrs. Baker shook +her pink-and-white countenance, and almost paralysed her opposite +neighbour by a sort of Grande Duchesse wink: + +"Oh, my dear! you are new here. If you had seen Washington in war-times +and for a few years afterwards, you wouldn't ask that. We had more +congressional business than all the other agents put together. Every one +came to us then, to get his bill through, or his appropriation watched. +We were hard at work all the time. You see, one can't keep the run of +three hundred men without some trouble. My husband used to make lists +of them in books with a history of each man and all he could learn about +him, but I carried it all in my head." + +"Do you mean that you could get them all to vote as you pleased?" asked +Madeleine. + +"Well! we got our bills through," replied Mrs. Baker. + +"But how did you do it? did they take bribes?" + +"Some of them did. Some of them liked suppers and cards and theatres +and all sorts of things. Some of them could be led, and some had to be +driven like Paddy's pig who thought he was going the other way. Some +of them had wives who could talk to them, and some--hadn't," said Mrs. +Baker, with a queer intonation in her abrupt ending. + +"But surely," said Mrs. Lee, "many of them must have been above--I mean, +they must have had nothing to get hold of; so that you could manage +them." + +Mrs. Baker laughed cheerfully and remarked that they were very much of a +muchness. + +"But I can't understand how you did it," urged Madeleine; "now, how +would you have gone to work to get a respectable senator's vote--a man +like Mr. Ratcliffe, for instance?" + +"Ratcliffe!" repeated Mrs. Baker with a slight elevation of voice that +gave way to a patronising laugh. "Oh, my dear! don't mention names. +I should get into trouble. Senator Ratcliffe was a good friend of my +husband's. I guess Mr. Carrington could have told you that. But you see, +what we generally wanted was all right enough. We had to know where +our bills were, and jog people's elbows to get them reported in time. +Sometimes we had to convince them that our bill was a proper one, and +they ought to vote for it. Only now and then, when there was a great +deal of money and the vote was close, we had to find out what votes were +worth. It was mostly dining and talking, calling them out into the lobby +or asking them to supper. I wish I could tell you things I have seen, +but I don't dare. It wouldn't be safe. I've told you already more than +I ever said to any one else; but then you are so intimate with Mr. +Carrington, that I always think of you as an old friend." + +Thus Mrs. Baker rippled on, while Mrs. Lee listened with more and more +doubt and disgust. The woman was showy, handsome in a coarse style, and +perfectly presentable. Mrs. Lee had seen Duchesses as vulgar. She knew +more about the practical working of government than Mrs. Lee could +ever expect or hope to know. Why then draw back from this interesting +lobbyist with such babyish repulsion? + +When, after a long, and, as she declared, a most charming call, Mrs. +Baker wended her way elsewhere and Madeleine had given the strictest +order that she should never be admitted again, Carrington entered, and +Madeleine showed him Mrs. Baker's card and gave a lively account of the +interview. + +"What shall I do with the woman?" she asked; "must I return her card?" +But Carrington declined to offer advice on this interesting point. "And +she says that Mr. Ratcliffe was a friend of her husband's and that you +could tell me about that." + +"Did she say so?" remarked Carrington vaguely. + +"Yes! and that she knew every one's weak points and could get all their +votes." + +Carrington expressed no surprise, and so evidently preferred to change +the subject, that Mrs. Lee desisted and said no more. + +But she determined to try the same experiment on Mr. Ratcliffe, and +chose the very next chance that offered. In her most indifferent manner +she remarked that Mrs. Sam Baker had called upon her and had initiated +her into the mysteries of the lobby till she had become quite ambitious +to start on that career. + +"She said you were a friend of her husband's," added Madeleine softly. + +Ratcliffe's face betrayed no sign. + +"If you believe what those people tell you," said he drily, "you will be +wiser than the Queen of Sheba." + + + +Chapter IX + +WHENEVER a man reaches the top of the political ladder, his enemies +unite to pull him down. His friends become critical and exacting. Among +the many dangers of this sort which now threatened Ratcliffe, there was +one that, had he known it, might have made him more uneasy than any +of those which were the work of senators and congressmen. Carrington +entered into an alliance, offensive and defensive, with Sybil. It came +about in this wise. Sybil was fond of riding and occasionally, when +Carrington could spare the time, he went as her guide and protector in +these country excursions; for every Virginian, however out at elbows, +has a horse, as he has shoes or a shirt. + +In a thoughtless moment Carrington had been drawn into a promise that he +would take Sybil to Arlington. The promise was one that he did not hurry +to keep, for there were reasons which made a visit to Arlington anything +but a pleasure to him; but Sybil would listen to no excuses, and so it +came about that, one lovely March morning, when the shrubs and the trees +in the square before the house were just beginning, under the warmer +sun, to show signs of their coming wantonness, Sybil stood at the open +window waiting for him, while her new Kentucky horse before the door +showed what he thought of the delay by curving his neck, tossing his +head, and pawing the pavement. + +Carrington was late and kept her waiting so long, that the mignonette +and geraniums, which adorned the window, suffered for his slowness, +and the curtain tassels showed signs of wilful damage. Nevertheless he +arrived at length, and they set out together, choosing the streets +least enlivened by horse-cars and provision-carts, until they had crept +through the great metropolis of Georgetown and come upon the bridge +which crosses the noble river just where its bold banks open out to +clasp the city of Washington in their easy embrace. Then reaching the +Virginia side they cantered gaily up the laurel-margined road, with +glimpses of woody defiles, each carrying its trickling stream and rich +in promise of summer flowers, while from point to point they caught +glorious glimpses of the distant city and river. They passed the small +military station on the heights, still dignified by the name of +fort, though Sybil silently wondered how a fort was possible without +fortifications, and complained that there was nothing more warlike than +a "nursery of telegraph poles." The day was blue and gold; everything +smiled and sparkled in the crisp freshness of the morning. Sybil was +in bounding spirits and not at all pleased to find that her companion +became moody and abstracted as they went on. "Poor Mr. Carrington!" +thought she to herself, "he is so nice; but when he puts on that solemn +air, one might as well go to sleep. I am quite certain no nice woman +will ever marry him if he looks like that;" and her practical mind ran +off among all the girls of her acquaintance, in search of one who would +put up with Carrington's melancholy face. She knew his devotion to her +sister, but had long ago rejected this as a hopeless chance. There was +a simplicity about Sybil's way of dealing with life, which had its +own charm. She never troubled herself about the impossible or the +unthinkable. She had feelings, and was rather quick in her sympathies +and sorrows, but she was equally quick in getting over them, and she +expected other people to do likewise. Madeleine dissected her own +feelings and was always wondering whether they were real or not; she +had a habit of taking off her mental clothing, as she might take off a +dress, and looking at it as though it belonged to some one else, and as +though sensations were manufactured like clothes. This seems to be one +of the easier ways of deadening sorrow, as though the mind could +teach itself to lop off its feelers. Sybil particularly disliked this +self-inspection. In the first place she did not understand it, and in +the second her mind was all feelers, and amputation was death. She could +no more analyse a feeling than doubt its existence, both which were +habits of her sister. + +How was Sybil to know what was passing in Carrington's mind? He was +thinking of nothing in which she supposed herself interested. He was +troubled with memories of civil war and of associations still earlier, +belonging to an age already vanishing or vanished; but what could she +know about civil war who had been almost an infant at the time? At this +moment, she happened to be interested in the baffle of Waterloo, for she +was reading "Vanity Fair," and had cried as she ought for poor little +Emmy, when her husband, George Osborne, lay dead on the field there, +with a bullet through his heart. But how was she to know that here, only +a few rods before her, lay scores and hundreds of George Osbornes, or +his betters, and in their graves the love and hope of many Emmys, not +creatures of the imagination, but flesh and blood, like herself? To her, +there was no more in those associations which made Carrington groan in +the silence of his thoughts, than if he had been old Kaspar, and she the +little Wilhelmine. What was a skull more or less to her? What concern +had she in the famous victory? + +Yet even Sybil was startled as she rode through the gate and found +herself suddenly met by the long white ranks of head-stones, stretching +up and down the hill-sides by thousands, in order of baffle; as though +Cadmus had reversed his myth, and had sown living men, to come up +dragons' teeth. She drew in her horse with a shiver and a sudden impulse +to cry. Here was something new to her. This was war--wounds, disease, +death. She dropped her voice and with a look almost as serious as +Carrington's, asked what all these graves meant. When Carrington told +her, she began for the first time to catch some dim notion why his +face was not quite as gay as her own. Even now this idea was not very +precise, for he said little about himself, but at least she grappled +with the fact that he had actually, year after year, carried arms +against these men who lay at her feet and who had given their lives for +her cause. It suddenly occurred to her as a new thought that perhaps +he himself might have killed one of them with his own hand. There was +a strange shock in this idea. She felt that Carrington was further from +her. He gained dignity in his rebel isolation. She wanted to ask him +how he could have been a traitor, and she did not dare. Carrington a +traitor! + +Carrington killing her friends! The idea was too large to grasp. She +fell back on the simpler task of wondering how he had looked in his +rebel uniform. + +They rode slowly round to the door of the house and dismounted, after +he had with some difficulty found a man to hold their horses. From the +heavy brick porch they looked across the superb river to the raw and +incoherent ugliness of the city, idealised into dreamy beauty by the +atmosphere, and the soft background of purple hills behind. Opposite +them, with its crude "thus saith the law" stamped on white dome and +fortress-like walls, rose the Capitol. + +Carrington stood with her a short time while they looked at the view; +then said he would rather not go into the house himself, and sat down +on the steps while she strolled alone through the rooms. These were bare +and gaunt, so that she, with her feminine sense of fitness, of course +considered what she would do to make them habitable. She had a neat +fancy for furniture, and distributed her tones and half tones and bits +of colour freely about the walls and ceilings, with a high-backed +chair here, a spindle-legged sofa there, and a claw-footed table in the +centre, until her eye was caught by a very dirty deal desk, on which +stood an open book, with an inkstand and some pens. On the leaf she read +the last entry: "Eli M. Grow and lady, Thermopyle Centre." Not even the +graves outside had brought the horrors of war so near. + +What a scourge it was! This respectable family turned out of such a +lovely house, and all the pretty old furniture swept away before a horde +of coarse invaders "with ladies." Did the hosts of Attila write their +names on visiting books in the temple of Vesta and the house of Sallust? +What a new terror they would have added to the name of the scourge of +God! Sybil returned to the portico and sat down by Carrington on the +steps. + +"How awfully sad it is!" said she; "I suppose the house was prettily +furnished when the Lees lived here? Did you ever see it then?" + +Sybil was not very profound, but she had sympathy, and at this moment +Carrington felt sorely in need of comfort. He wanted some one to share +his feelings, and he turned towards her hungry for companionship. + +"The Lees were old family friends of mine," said he. "I used to stay +here when I was a boy, even as late as the spring of 1861. The last time +I sat here, it was with them. We were wild about disunion and talked of +nothing else. I have been trying to recall what was said then. We +never thought there would be war, and as for coercion, it was nonsense. +Coercion, indeed! The idea was ridiculous. I thought so, too, though I +was a Union man and did not want the State to go out. But though I felt +sure that Virginia must suffer, I never thought we could be beaten. Yet +now I am sitting here a pardoned rebel, and the poor Lees are driven +away and their place is a grave-yard." + +Sybil became at once absorbed in the Lees and asked many questions, all +which Carrington gladly answered. He told her how he had admired and +followed General Lee through the war. "We thought he was to be our +Washington, you know; and perhaps he had some such idea himself;" and +then, when Sybil wanted to hear about the baffles and the fighting, he +drew a rough map on the gravel path to show her how the two lines had +run, only a few miles away; then he told her how he had carried his +musket day after day over all this country, and where he had seen his +battles. Sybil had everything to learn; the story came to her with all +the animation of real life, for here under her eyes were the graves of +her own champions, and by her side was a rebel who had stood under our +fire at Malvern Hill and at South Mountain, and who was telling her how +men looked and what they thought in face of death. She listened with +breathless interest, and at last summoned courage to ask in an awestruck +tone whether Carrington had ever killed any one himself. She was +relieved, although a little disappointed, when he said that he believed +not; he hoped not; though no private who has discharged a musket in +baffle can be quite sure where the bullet went. "I never tried to kill +any one," said he, "though they tried to kill me incessantly." Then +Sybil begged to know how they had tried to kill him, and he told her one +or two of those experiences, such as most soldiers have had, when he had +been fired upon and the balls had torn his clothes or drawn blood. Poor +Sybil was quite overcome, and found a deadly fascination in the horror. +As they sat together on the steps with the glorious view spread before +them, her attention was so closely fixed on his story that she saw +neither the view nor even the carriages of tourists who drove up, looked +about, and departed, envying Carrington his occupation with the lovely +girl. + +She was in imagination rushing with him down the valley of Virginia on +the heels of our flying army, or gloomily toiling back to the Potomac +after the bloody days at Gettysburg, or watching the last grand debcle +on the road from Richmond to Appomattox. They would have sat there till +sunset if Carrington had not at length insisted that they must go, and +then she rose slowly with a deep sigh and undisguised regret. + +As they rode away, Carrington, whose thoughts were not devoted to his +companion so entirely as they should have been, ventured to say that he +wished her sister had come with them, but he found that his hint was not +well received. + +Sybil emphatically rejected the idea: "I'm very glad she didn't come. If +she had, you would have talked with her all the time, and I should have +been left to amuse myself. You would have been discussing things, and I +hate discussions. She would have been hunting for first principles, +and you would have been running about, trying to catch some for her. +Besides, she is coming herself some Sunday with that tiresome Mr. +Ratcliffe. I don't see what she finds in that man to amuse her. Her +taste is getting to be demoralised in Washington. Do you know, Mr. +Carrington, I'm not clever or serious, like Madeleine, and I can't read +laws, and hate politics, but I've more common sense than she has, and +she makes me cross with her. I understand now why young widows are +dangerous, and why they're bumed at their husband's funerals in India. +Not that I want to have Madeleine burned, for she's a dear, good +creature, and I love her better than anything in the world; but she will +certainly do herself some dreadful mischief one of these days; she +has the most extravagant notions about self-sacrifice and duty; if she +hadn't luckily thought of taking charge of me, she would have done some +awful thing long ago, and if I could only be a little wicked, she would +be quite happy all the rest of her life in reforming me; but now she has +got hold of that Mr. Ratcliffe, and he is trying to make her think she +can reform him, and if he does, it's all up with us. Madeleine will just +go and break her heart over that odious, great, coarse brute, who only +wants her money." + +Sybil delivered this little oration with a degree of energy that went to +Carrington's heart. She did not often make such sustained efforts, and +it was clear that on this subject she had exhausted her whole mind. +Carrington was delighted, and urged her on. "I dislike Mr. Ratcliffe as +much as you do;--more perhaps. So does every one who knows much about +him. But we shall only make the matter worse if we interfere. What can +we do?" + +"That is just what I tell everybody," resumed Sybil. "There is Victoria +Dare always telling me I ought to do something; and Mr. Schneidekoupon +too; just as though I could do anything. Madeleine has done nothing but +get into mischief here. Half the people think her worldly and ambitious. +Only last night that spiteful old woman, Mrs. Clinton, said to me: 'Your +sister is quite spoiled by Washington. She is more wild for power than +any human being I ever saw.' I was dreadfully angry and told her she was +quite mistaken--Madeleine was not the least spoiled. But I couldn't +say that she was not fond of power, for she is; but not in the way Mrs. +Clinton meant. You should have seen her the other evening when Mr. +Ratcliffe said about some matter of public business that he would do +whatever she thought right; she spoke up quite sharply for her, with a +scornful little laugh, and said that he had better do what he thought +right. He looked for a moment almost angry, and muttered something about +women's being incomprehensible. He is always trying to tempt her with +power. She might have had long ago all the power he could give her, but +I can see, and he sees too, that she always keeps him at arm's length. +He doesn't like it, but he expects one of these days to find a bribe +that will answer. I wish we had never come to Washington. New York is so +much nicer and the people there are much more amusing; they dance ever +so much better and send one flowers all the time, and then they never +talk about first principles. Maude had her hospitals and paupers and +training school, and got along very well. It was so safe. But when I say +so to her, she only smiles in a patronising kind of way, and tells me +that I shall have as much of Newport as I want; just as though I were a +child, and not a woman of twenty-five. Poor Maude! I can't stay with her +if she marries Mr. Ratcliffe, and it would break my heart to leave her +with that man. Do you think he would beat her? Does he drink? I would +almost rather be beaten a little, if I cared for a man, than be taken +out to Peonia. Oh, Mr. Carrington! you are our only hope. She will +listen to you. Don't let her marry that dreadful politician." + +To all this pathetic appeal, some parts of which were as little +calculated to please Carrington as Ratcliffe himself, Carrington +answered that he was ready to do all in his power but that Sybil must +tell him when and how to act. + +"Then, it's a bargain," said she; "whenever I want you, I shall call on +you for help, and you shall prevent the marriage." + +"Alliance offensive and defensive," said he, laughing; "war to the knife +on Ratcliffe. We will have his scalp if necessary, but I rather think he +will soon commit hari-kari himself if we leave him alone." + +"Madeleine will like him all the better if he does anything Japanese," +replied Sybil, with great seriousness; "I wish there was more Japanese +bric--brac here, or any kind of old pots and pans to talk about. A +little art would be good for her. What a strange place this is, and how +people do stand on their heads in it! Nobody thinks like anyone else. +Victoria Dare says she is trying on principle not to be good, because +she wants to keep some new excitements for the next world. I'm sure she +practices as she preaches. Did you see her at Mrs. Clinton's last night. +She behaved more outrageously than ever. She sat on the stairs all +through supper, looking like a demure yellow cat with two bouquets in +her paws--and I know Lord Dunbeg sent one of them;--and she actually +let Mr. French feed her with ice-cream from a spoon. She says she was +showing Lord Dunbeg a phase, and that he is going to put it into his +article on American Manners and Customs in the Quarterly, but I don't +think it's nice, do you, Mr. Carrington? I wish Madeleine had her to +take care of. She would have enough to do then, I can tell her." + +And so, gently prattling, Miss Sybil returned to the city, her alliance +with Carrington completed; and it was a singular fact that she never +again called him dull. There was henceforward a look of more positive +pleasure and cordiality on her face when he made his appearance wherever +she might be; and the next time he suggested a horseback excursion she +instantly agreed to go, although aware that she had promised a younger +gentleman of the diplomatic body to be at home that same afternoon, and +the good fellow swore polyglot oaths on being turned away from her door. + +Mr. Ratcliffe knew nothing of this conspiracy against his peace and +prospects. Even if he had known it, he might only have laughed, and +pursued his own path without a second thought. Yet it was certain that +he did not think Carrington's enmity a thing to be overlooked, and from +the moment of his obtaining a clue to its cause, he had begun to take +precautions against it. Even in the middle of the contest for the +Treasury, he had found time to listen to Mr. Wilson Keens report on the +affairs of the late Samuel Baker. + +Mr. Keen came to him with a copy of Baker's will and with memoranda of +remarks made by the unsuspecting Mrs. Baker; "from which it appears," +said he, "that Baker, having no time to put his affairs in order, left +special directions that his executors should carefully destroy all +papers that might be likely to compromise individuals." + +"What is the executor's name?" interrupted Ratcliffe. + +"The executor's name is--John Carrington," said Keen, methodically +referring to his copy of the will. + +Ratcliffe's face was impassive, but the inevitable, "I knew it," almost +sprang to his lips. He was rather pleased at the instinct which had led +him so directly to the right trail. + +Keen went on to say that from Mrs. Baker's conversation it was certain +that the testator's directions had been carried out, and that the great +bulk of these papers had been burned. + +"Then it will be useless to press the inquiry further," said Ratcliffe; +"I am much obliged to you for your assistance," and he turned the +conversation to the condition of Mr. Keen's bureau in the Treasury +department. + +The next time Ratcliffe saw Mrs. Lee, after his appointment to +the Treasury was confirmed, he asked her whether she did not think +Carrington very well suited for public service, and when she warmly +assented, he said it had occurred to him to offer the place of Solicitor +of the Treasury to Mr. + +Carrington, for although the actual salary might not be very much more +than he earned by his private practice, the incidental advantages to +a Washington lawyer were considerable; and to the Secretary it was +especially necessary to have a solicitor in whom he could place entire +confidence. Mrs. Lee was pleased by this motion of Ratcliffe's, the more +because she had supposed that Ratcliffe had no liking for Carrington. +She doubted whether Carrington would accept the place, but she hoped +that it might modify his dislike for Ratcliffe, and she agreed to sound +him on the subject. There was something a little compromising in +thus allowing herself to appear as the dispenser of Mr. Ratcliffe's +patronage, but she dismissed this objection on the ground that +Carrington's interests were involved, and that it was for him to judge +whether he should take the place or not. Perhaps the world would not be +so charitable if the appointment were made. What then? Mrs. Lee asked +herself the question and did not feel quite at ease. + +So far as Carrington was concerned, she might have dismissed her doubts. + +There was not a chance of his taking the place, as very soon appeared. +When she spoke to him on the subject, and repeated what Ratcliffe had +said, his face flushed, and he sat for some moments in silence. He never +thought very rapidly, but now the ideas seemed to come so fast as to +bewilder his mind. + +The situation flashed before his eyes like electric sparks. His first +impression was that Ratcliffe wanted to buy him; to tie his tongue; to +make him run, like a fastened dog, under the waggon of the Secretary of +the Treasury. His second notion was that Ratcliffe wanted to put Mrs. +Lee under obligations, in order to win her regard; and, again, that he +wanted to raise himself in her esteem by posing as a friend of honest +administration and unassisted virtue. Then suddenly it occurred to him +that the scheme was to make him appear jealous and vindictive; to put +him in an attitude where any reason he might give for declining would +bear a look of meanness, and tend to separate him from Mrs. Lee. +Carrington was so absorbed by these thoughts, and his mind worked so +slowly, that he failed to hear one or two remarks addressed to him by +Mrs. Lee, who became a little alarmed, under the impression that he was +unexpectedly paralyzed. + +When at length he heard her and attempted to frame an answer, his +embarrassment increased. He could only stammer that he was sorry to be +obliged to decline, but this office was one he could not undertake. + +If Madeleine felt a little relieved by this decision, she did not show +it. + +From her manner one might have supposed it to be her fondest wish that +Carrington should be Solicitor of the Treasury. She cross-questioned +him with obstinacy. Was not the offer a good one?--and he was obliged to +confess that it was. Were the duties such as he could not perform? Not +at all! there was nothing in the duties which alarmed him. Did he object +to it because of his southern prejudices against the administration? Oh, +no! he had no political feeling to stand in his way. What, then, could +be his reason for refusing? + +Carrington resorted again to silence, until Mrs. Lee, a little +impatiently, asked whether it was possible that his personal dislike +to Racliffe could blind him so far as to make him reject so fair a +proposal. Carrington, finding himself more and more uncomfortable, rose +restlessly from his chair and paced the room. He felt that Ratclife had +fairly out-generaled him, and he was at his wits' end to know what card +he could play that would not lead directly into Ratcliffe's trump suit. +To refuse such an offer was hard enough at best, for a man who wanted +money and professional advancement as he did, but to injure himself and +help Ratcliffe by this refusal, was abominably hard. Nevertheless, +he was obliged to admit that he would rather not take a position so +directly under Ratcliffe's control. Madeleine said no more, but he +thought she looked annoyed, and he felt himself in an intolerably +painful situation. He was not certain that she herself might not have +had some share in proposing the plan, and that his refusal might not +have some mortifying consequences for her. What must she think of him, +then? + +At this very moment he would have given his right arm for a word of real +affection from Mrs. Lee. He adored her. He would willingly enough have +damned himself for her. There was no sacrifice he would not have made to +bring her nearer to him. In his upright, quiet, simple kind of way, he +immolated himself before her. For months his heart had ached with this +hopeless passion. He recognized that it was hopeless. He knew that she +would never love him, and, to do her justice, she never had given him +reason to suppose that it was in her power to love him, r any man. And +here he stood, obliged to appear ungrateful and prejudiced, mean and +vindictive, in her eyes. He took his seat again, looking so unutterably +dejected, his patient face so tragically mournful, that Madeleine, after +a while, began to see the absurd side of the matter, and presently burst +into a laugh "Please do not look so frightfully miserable!" said she; +"I did not mean to make you unhappy. After all, what does it matter? You +have a perfect right to refuse, and, for my part, I have not the least +wish to see you accept." + +On this, Carrington brightened, and declared that if she thought him +right in declining, he cared for nothing else. It was only the idea of +hurting her feelings that weighed on his mind. But in saying this, he +spoke in a tone that implied a deeper feeling, and made Mrs. Lee again +look grave and sigh. + +"Ah, Mr. Carrington," she said, "this world will not run as we want. +Do you suppose the time will ever come when every one will be good and +happy and do just what they ought? I thought this offer might possibly +take one anxiety off your shoulders. I am sorry now that I let myself be +led into making it." + +Carrington could not answer her. He dared not trust his voice. He rose +to go, and as she held out her hand, he suddenly raised it to his lips, +and so left her. She sat for a moment with tears in her eyes after he +was gone. She thought she knew all that was in his mind, and with +a woman's readiness to explain every act of men by their consuming +passions for her own sex, she took it as a matter of course that +jealousy was the whole cause of Carrington's hostility to Ratcliffe, +and she pardoned it with charming alacrity. "Ten years ago, I could have +loved him," she thought to herself, and then, while she was half smiling +at the idea, suddenly another thought flashed upon her, and she threw +her hand up before her face as though some one had struck her a blow. +Carrington had reopened the old wound. + +When Ratcliffe came to see her again, which he did very shortly +afterwards, glad of so good an excuse, she told him of Carrington's +refusal, adding only that he seemed unwilling to accept any position +that had a political character. Ratcliffe showed no sign of displeasure; +he only said, in a benignant tone, that he was sorry to be unable to +do something for so good a friend of hers; thus establishing, at all +events, his claim on her gratitude. As for Carrington, the offer which +Ratcliffe had made was not intended to be accepted, and Carrington +could not have more embarrassed the secretary than by closing with +it. Ratcliffe's object had been to settle for his own satisfaction the +question of Carrington's hostility, for he knew the man well enough to +feel sure that in any event he would act a perfectly straightforward +part. If he accepted, he would at least be true to his chief. If he +refused, as Ratcliffe expected, it would be a proof that some means must +be found of getting him out of the way. In any case the offer was a new +thread in the net that Mr. Ratcliffe flattered himself he was rapidly +winding about the affections and ambitions of Mrs. Lee. Yet he had +reasons of his own for thinking that Carrington, more easily than any +other man, could cut the meshes of this net if he chose to do so, and +therefore that it would be wiser to postpone action until Carrington +were disposed of. + +Without a moment's delay he made inquiries as to all the vacant +or eligible offices in the gift of the government outside his own +department. Very few of these would answer his purpose. He wanted some +temporary law business that would for a time take its holder away to a +distance, say to Australia or Central Asia, the further the better; it +must be highly paid, and it must be given in such a way as not to excite +suspicion that Ratcliffe was concerned in the matter. Such an office was +not easily found. There is little law business in Central Asia, and +at this moment there was not enough to require a special agent in +Australia. Carrington could hardly be induced to lead an expedition +to the sources of the Nile in search of business merely to please Mr. +Ratcliffe, nor could the State Department offer encouragement to a hope +that government would pay the expenses of such an expedition. The +best that Ratcliffe could do was to select the place of counsel to the +Mexican claims-commission which was soon to meet in the city of +Mexico, and which would require about six months' absence. By a little +management he could contrive to get the counsel sent away in advance +of the commission, in order to work up a part of the case on the spot. +Ratcliffe acknowledged that Mexico was too near, but he drily remarked +to himself that if Carrington could get back in time to dislodge him +after he had once got a firm hold on Mrs. Lee, he would never try to run +another caucus. + +The point once settled in his own mind, Ratcliffe, with his usual +rapidity of action, carried his scheme into effect. In this there was +little difficulty. He dropped in at the office of the Secretary of State +within eight-and-forty hours after his last conversation with Mrs. +Lee. During these early days of every new administration, the absorbing +business of government relates principally to appointments. The +Secretary of the Treasury was always ready to oblige his colleagues in +the Cabinet by taking care of their friends to any reasonable extent. +The Secretary of State was not less courteous. The moment he understood +that Mr. Ratcliffe had a strong wish to secure the appointment of +a certain person as counsel to the Mexican claims-commission, the +Secretary of State professed readiness to gratify him, and when he heard +who the proposed person was, the suggestion was hailed with pleasure, +for Carrington was well known and much liked at the Department, and +was indeed an excellent man for the place. Ratcliffe hardly needed to +promise an equivalent. The business was arranged in ten minutes. + +"I only need say," added Ratcliffe, "that if my agency in the affair is +known, Mr. Carrington will certainly refuse the place, for he is one of +your old-fashioned Virginia planters, proud as Lucifer, and willing +to accept nothing by way of favour. I will speak to your Assistant +Secretary about it, and the recommendation shall appear to come from +him." + +The very next day Carrington received a private note from his old +friend, the Assistant Secretary of State, who was overjoyed to do him a +kindness. + +The note asked him to call at the Department at his earliest +convenience. He went, and the Assistant Secretary announced that he +had recommended Carrington's appointment as counsel to the +Mexican claims-commission, and that the Secretary had approved the +recommendation. "We want a Southern man, a lawyer with a little +knowledge of international law, one who can go at once, and, above all, +an honest man. You fit the description to a hair; so pack your trunk as +soon as you like." + +Carrington was startled. Coming as it did, this offer was not only +unobjectionable, but tempting. It was hard for him even to imagine a +reason for hesitation. From the first he felt that he must go, and yet +to go was the very last thing he wanted to do. That he should suspect +Ratcliffe to be at the bottom of this scheme of banishment was a matter +of course, and he instantly asked whether any influence had been used +in his favour; but the Assistant Secretary so stoutly averred that +the appointment was made on his recommendation alone, as to block all +further inquiry. Technically this assertion was exact, and it made +Carrington feel that it would be base ingratitude on his part not to +accept a favour so handsomely offered. + +Yet he could not make up his mind to acceptance. He begged four and +twenty hours' delay, in order, as he said, to see whether he could +arrange his affairs for a six months' absence, although he knew there +would be no difficulty in his doing so. He went away and sat in his +office alone, gloomily wondering what he could do, although from the +first he saw that the situation was only too clear, and there could not +be the least dark corner of a doubt to crawl into. Six months ago he +would have jumped at this offer. + +What had happened within six months to make it seem a disaster? + +Mrs. Lee! There was the whole story. To go away now was to give up Mrs. +Lee, and probably to give her up to Ratcliffe. Carrington gnashed his +teeth when he thought how skilfully Ratcliffe was playing his cards. The +longer he reflected, the more certain he felt that Ratcliffe was at +the bottom of this scheme to get rid of him; and yet, as he studied +the situation, it occurred to him that after all it was possible for +Ratcliffe to make a blunder. This Illinois politician was clever, and +understood men; but a knowledge of men is a very different thing from +a knowledge of women. Carrington himself had no great experience in the +article of women, but he thought he knew more than Ratcliffe, who was +evidently relying most on his usual theory of political corruption as +applied to feminine weaknesses, and who was only puzzled at finding how +high a price Mrs. Lee set on herself. If Ratcliffe were really at the +bottom of the scheme for separating Carrington from her, it could only +be because he thought that six months, or even six weeks, would +be enough to answer his purpose. And on reaching this point in his +reflections, Carrington suddenly rose, lit a cigar, and walked up and +down his room steadily for the next hour, with the air of a general +arranging a plan of campaign, or a lawyer anticipating his opponent's +line of argument. + +On one point his mind was made up. He would accept. If Ratcliffe really +had a hand in this move, he should be gratified. If he had laid a trap, +he should be caught in it. And when the evening came, Carrington took +his hat and walked off to call upon Mrs. Lee. + +He found the sisters alone and quietly engaged in their occupations. + +Madeleine was dramatically mending an open-work silk stocking, a +delicate and difficult task which required her whole mind. Sybil was at +the piano as usual, and for the first time since he had known her, she +rose when he came in, and, taking her work-basket, sat down to share in +the conversation. She meant to take her place as a woman, henceforward. +She was tired of playing girl. Mr. Carrington should see that she was +not a fool. + +Carrington plunged at once into his subject, and announced the offer +made to him, at which Madeleine expressed delight, and asked many +questions. What was the pay? How soon must he go? How long should he be +away? Was there danger from the climate? and finally she added, with a +smile, "What am I to say to Mr. Ratcliffe if you accept this offer after +refusing his?" As for Sybil, she made one reproachful exclamation: "Oh, +Mr. Carrington!" and sank back into silence and consternation. Her +first experiment at taking a stand of her own in the world was not +encouraging. She felt betrayed. + +Nor was Carrington gay. However modest a man may be, only an idiot +can forget himself entirely in pursuing the moon and the stars. In the +bottom of his soul, he had a lingering hope that when he told his +story, Madeleine might look up with a change of expression, a glance +of unpremeditated regard, a little suffusion of the eyes, a little +trembling of the voice. To see himself relegated to Mexico with such +cheerful alacrity by the woman he loved was not the experience he would +have chosen. He could not help feeling that his hopes were disposed of, +and he watched her with a painful sinking of the heart, which did not +lead to lightness of conversation. Madeleine herself felt that her +expressions needed to be qualified, and she tried to correct her +mistake. What should she do without a tutor? she said. He must let her +have a list of books to read while he was away: they were themselves +going north in the middle of May, and Carrington would be back by the +time they returned in December. After all, they should see as little of +him during the summer if he were in Virginia as if he were in Mexico. + +Carrington gloomily confessed that he was very unwilling to go; that he +wished the idea had never been suggested; that he should be perfectly +happy if for any reason the scheme broke down; but he gave no +explanation of his feeling, and Madeleine had too much tact to press +for one. She contented herself by arguing against it, and talking as +vivaciously as she could. Her heart really bled for him as she saw +his face grow more and more pathetic in its quiet expression of +disappointment. But what could she say or do? He sat till after ten +o'clock; he could not tear himself away. He felt that this was the end +of his pleasure in life; he dreaded the solitude of his thoughts. +Mrs. Lee's resources began to show signs of exhaustion. Long pauses +intervened between her remarks; and at length Carrington, with a +superhuman effort, apologized for inflicting himself upon her so +unmercifully. If she knew, he said, how he dreaded being alone, she +would forgive him. Then he rose to go, and, in taking leave, asked Sybil +if she was inclined to ride the next day; if so, he was at her service. +Sybil's face brightened as she accepted the invitation. + +Mrs. Lee, a day or two afterwards, did mention Carrington's appointment +to Mr. Ratcliffe, and she told Carrington that the Secretary certainly +looked hurt and mortified, but showed it only by almost instantly +changing the subject. + + + +Chapter X + +THE next morning Carrington called at the Department and announced his +acceptance of the post. He was told that his instructions would be ready +in about a fortnight, and that he would be expected to start as soon as +he received them; in the meanwhile, he must devote himself to the study +of a mass of papers in the Department. There was no trifling allowable +here. + +Carrington had to set himself vigorously to work. This did not, however, +prevent him from keeping his appointment with Sybil, and at four o'clock +they started together, passing out into the quiet shadows of Rock Creek, +and seeking still lanes through the woods where their horses walked side +by side, and they themselves could talk without the risk of criticism +from curious eyes. It was the afternoon of one of those sultry and +lowering spring days when life germinates rapidly, but as yet gives no +sign, except perhaps some new leaf or flower pushing its soft head +up against the dead leaves that have sheltered it. The two riders had +something of the same sensation, as though the leafless woods and +the laurel thickets, the warm, moist air and the low clouds, were a +protection and a soft shelter. Somewhat to Carrington's surprise, he +found that it was pleasant to have Sybil's company. He felt towards her +as to a sister--a favourite sister. + +She at once attacked him for abandoning her and breaking his treaty so +lately made, and he tried to gain her sympathy by saying that if she +knew how much he was troubled, she would forgive him. Then when Sybil +asked whether he really must go and leave her without any friend whom +she could speak to, his feelings got the better of him: he could not +resist the temptation to confide all his troubles in her, since there +was no one else in whom he could confide. He told her plainly that he +was in love with her sister. + +"You say that love is nonsense, Miss Ross. I tell you it is no such +thing. For weeks and months it is a steady physical pain, an ache about +the heart, never leaving one, by night or by day; a long strain on one's +nerves like toothache or rheumatism, not intolerable at any one instant, +but exhausting by its steady drain on the strength. It is a disease to +be borne with patience, like any other nervous complaint, and to be +treated with counter-irritants. My trip to Mexico will be good for it, +but that is not the reason why I must go." + +Then he told her all his private circumstances; the ruin which the war +had brought on him and his family; how, of his two brothers, one +had survived the war only to die at home, a mere wreck of disease, +privation, and wounds; the other had been shot by his side, and bled +slowly to death in his arms during the awful carnage in the Wilderness; +how his mother and two sisters were struggling for a bare subsistence +on a wretched Virginian farm, and how all his exertions barely kept them +from beggary. + +"You have no conception of the poverty to which our southern women +are reduced since the war," said he; "they are many of them literally +without clothes or bread." The fee he should earn by going to Mexico +would double his income this year. Could he refuse? Had he a right to +refuse? And poor Carrington added, with a groan, that if he alone were +in question, he would sooner be shot than go. + +Sybil listened with tears in her eyes. She never before had seen a man +show suffering. The misery she had known in life had been more or less +veiled to her and softened by falling on older and friendly shoulders. +She now got for the first time a clear view of Carrington, apart from +the quiet exterior in which the man was hidden. She felt quite sure, by +a sudden flash of feminine inspiration, that the curious look of patient +endurance on his face was the work of a single night when he had held +his brother in his arms, and knew that the blood was draining drop by +drop from his side, in the dense, tangled woods, beyond the reach of +help, hour after hour, till the voice failed and the limbs grew stiff +and cold. When he had finished his story, she was afraid to speak. She +did not know how to show her sympathy, and she could not bear to seem +unsympathetic. In her embarrassment she fairly broke down and could only +dry her eyes in silence. + +Having once got this weight of confidence off his mind, Carrington felt +comparatively gay and was ready to make the best of things. He laughed +at himself to drive away the tears of his pretty companion, and obliged +her to take a solemn pledge never to betray him. "Of course your sister +knows it all," he said; "but she must never know that I told you, and I +never would tell any one but you." + +Sybil promised faithfully to keep his confidence to herself, and she +went on to defend her sister. + +"You must not blame Madeleine," said she; "if you knew as well as I do +what she has been through, you would not think her cold. You do know how +suddenly her husband died, after only one day's illness, and what a nice +fellow he was. She was very fond of him, and his death seemed to stun +her. We hardly knew what to make of it, she was so quiet and natural. +Then just a week later her little child died of diphtheria, suffering +horribly, and she wild with despair because she could not relieve it. +After that, she was almost insane; indeed, I have always thought she was +quite insane for a time. I know she was excessively violent and wanted +to kill herself, and I never heard any one rave as she did about +religion and resignation and God. After a few weeks she became quiet and +stupid and went about like a machine; and at last she got over it, but +has never been what she was before. You know she was a rather fast +New York girl before she married, and cared no more about politics and +philanthropy than I do. It was a very late thing, all this stuff. +But she is not really hard, though she may seem so. It is all on the +surface. I always know when she is thinking about her husband or child, +because her face gets rigid; she looks then as she used to look after +her child died, as though she didn't care what became of her and she +would just as lieve kill herself as not. I don't think she will ever +let herself love any one again. She has a horror of it. She is much more +likely to go in for ambition, or duty, or self-sacrifice." + +They rode on for a while in silence, Carrington perplexed by the problem +how two harmless people such as Madeleine and he could have been made +by a beneficent Providence the sport of such cruel tortures; and Sybil +equally interested in thinking what sort of a brother-in-law Carrington +would make; on the whole, she thought she liked him better as he was. +The silence was only broken by Carrington's bringing the conversation +back to its starting-point: "Something must be done to keep your sister +out of Ratcliffe's power. I have thought about it till I am tired. Can +you make no suggestion?" + +No! Sybil was helpless and dreadfully alarmed. Mr. Ratcliffe came to the +house as often as he could, and seemed to tell Madeleine everything +that was going on in politics, and ask her advice, and Madeleine did not +discourage him. "I do believe she likes it, and thinks she can do some +good by it. I don't dare speak to her about it. She thinks me a child +still, and treats me as though I were fifteen. What can I do?" + +Carrington said he had thought of speaking to Mrs. Lee himself, but he +did not know what to say, and if he offended her, he might drive her +directly into Ratcliffe's arms. But Sybil thought she would not be +offended if he went to work in the right way. "She will stand more from +you than from any one else. Tell her openly that you--that you love +her," said Sybil with a burst of desperate courage; "she can't take +offence at that; and then you can say almost anything." + +Carrington looked at Sybil with more admiration than he had ever +expected to feel for her, and began to think that he might do worse +than to put himself under her orders. After all, she had some practical +sense, and what was more to the point, she was handsomer than ever, as +she sat erect on her horse, the rich colour rushing up under the warm +skin, at the impropriety of her speech. "You are certainly right," said +he; "after all, I have nothing to lose. Whether she marries Ratcliffe or +not, she will never marry me, I suppose." + +This speech was a cowardly attempt to beg encouragement from Sybil, +and met with the fate it deserved, for Sybil, highly flattered at +Carrington's implied praise, and bold as a lioness now that it was +Carrington's fingers, and not her own, that were to go into the fire, +gave him on the spot a feminine view of the situation that did not +encourage his hopes. She plainly said that men seemed to take leave of +their senses as soon as women were concerned; for her part, she could +not understand what there was in any woman to make such a fuss about; +she thought most women were horrid; men were ever so much nicer; "and +as for Madeleine, whom all of you are ready to cut each other's throats +about, she's a dear, good sister, as good as gold, and I love her with +all my heart, but you wouldn't like her, any of you, if you married her; +she has always had her own way, and she could not help taking it; she +never could learn to take yours; both of you would be unhappy in a week; +and as for that old Mr. Ratcliffe, she would make his life a burden--and +I hope she will," concluded Sybil with a spiteful little explosion of +hatred. + +Carrington could not help being amused by Sybil's way of dealing with +affairs of the heart. Emboldened by encouragement, she went on to attack +him pitilessly for going down on his knees before her sister, "just as +though you were not as good as she is," and openly avowed that, if she +were a man, she would at least have some pride. Men like this kind of +punishment. + +Carrington did not attempt to defend himself; he even courted Sybil's +attack. They both enjoyed their ride through the bare woods, by the +rippling spring streams, under the languid breath of the moist south +wind. It was a small idyll, all the more pleasant because there was +gloom before and behind it. Sybil's irrepressible gaiety made Carrington +doubt whether, after all, life need be so serious a matter. She had +animal spirits in plenty, and it needed an effort for her to keep them +down, while Carrington's spirits were nearly exhausted after twenty +years of strain, and he required a greater effort to hold himself up. +There was every reason why he should be grateful to Sybil for lending +to him from her superfluity. He enjoyed being laughed at by her. Suppose +Madeleine Lee did refuse to marry him! What of it? + +"Pooh!" said Sybil; "you men are all just alike. How can you be so +silly? Madeleine and you would be intolerable together. Do find some one +who won't be solemn!" + +They laid out their little plot against Madeleine and elaborated it +carefully, both as to what Carrington should say and how he should say +it, for Sybil asserted that men were too stupid to be trusted even in +making a declaration of love, and must be taught, like little children +to say their prayers. Carrington enjoyed being taught how to make a +declaration of love. + +He did not ask where Sybil had learned so much about men's stupidity. He +thought perhaps Schneidekoupon could have thrown light on the subject. +At all events, they were so busily occupied with their schemes and +lessons, that they did not-reach home till Madeleine had become anxious +lest they had met with some accident. The long dusk had become darkness +before she heard the clatter of hoofs on the asphalt pavement, and she +went down to the door to scold them for their delay. Sybil only laughed +at her, and said it was all Mr. Carrington's fault: he had lost his way, +and she had been forced to find it for him. + +Ten days more passed before their plan was carried into effect. April +had come. Carrington's work was completed and he was ready to start on +his journey. Then at last he appeared one evening at Mrs. Lee's at the +very moment when Sybil, as chance would have it, was going out to +pass an hour or two with her friend Victoria Dare a few doors away. +Carrington felt a little ashamed as she went. This kind of conspiracy +behind Mrs. Lee's back was not to his taste. + +He resolutely sat down, and plunged at once into his subject. He was +almost ready to go, he said; he had nearly completed his work in the +Department, and he was assured that his instructions and papers would be +ready in two days more; he might not have another chance to see Mrs. Lee +so quietly again, and he wanted to take his leave now, for this was what +lay most heavily on his mind; he should have gone willingly and gladly +if it had not been for uneasiness about her; and yet he had till now +been afraid to speak openly on the subject. Here he paused for a moment +as though to invite some reply. + +Madeleine laid down her work with a look of regret though not of +annoyance, and said frankly and instantly that he had been too good +a friend to allow of her taking offence at anything he could say; she +would not pretend to misunderstand him. "My affairs," she added with a +shade of bitterness, "seem to have become public property, and I would +rather have some voice in discussing them myself than to know they are +discussed behind my back." + +This was a sharp thrust at the very outset, but Carrington turned it +aside and went quietly on: + +"You are frank and loyal, as you always are. I will be so too. I can't +help being so. For months I have had no other pleasure than in being +near you. For the first time in my life I have known what it is to +forget my own affairs in loving a woman who seems to me without a fault, +and for one solitary word from whom I would give all I have in life, and +perhaps itself." + +Madeleine flushed and bent towards him with an earnestness of manner +that repeated itself in her tone. + +"Mr. Carrington, I am the best friend you have on earth. One of these +days you will thank me with your whole soul for refusing to listen to +you now. You do not know how much misery I am saving you. I have no +heart to give. You want a young, fresh life to help yours; a gay, lively +temperament to enliven your despondency; some one still young enough to +absorb herself in you and make all her existence yours. I could not do +it. I can give you nothing. I have done my best to persuade myself that +some day I might begin life again with the old hopes and feelings, but +it is no use. The fire is burned out. If you married me, you would +destroy yourself You would wake up some day, and find the universe dust +and ashes." + +Carrington listened in silence. He made no attempt to interrupt or to +contradict her. Only at the end he said with a little bitterness: "My +own life is worth so much to the world and to me, that I suppose it +would be wrong to risk it on such a venture; but I would risk it, +nevertheless, if you gave me the chance. Do you think me wicked for +tempting Providence? I do not mean to annoy you with entreaties. I have +a little pride left, and a great deal of respect for you. Yet I think, +in spite of all you have said or can say, that one disappointed life may +be as able to find happiness and repose in another, as to get them by +sucking the young life-blood of a fresh soul." + +To this speech, which was unusually figurative for Carrington, Mrs. Lee +could find no ready answer. She could only reply that Carrington's life +was worth quite as much as his neighbour's, and that it was worth so +much to her, if not to himself, that she would not let him wreck it. + +Carrington went on: "Forgive my talking in this way. I do not mean to +complain. I shall always love you just as much, whether you care for +me or not, because you are the only woman I have ever met, or am ever +likely to meet, who seems to me perfect." + +If this was Sybil's teaching, she had made the best of her time. + +Carrington's tone and words pierced through all Mrs. Lee's armour as +though they were pointed with the most ingenious cruelty, and designed +to torture her. She felt hard and small before him. Life for life, +his had been, and was now, far less bright than hers, yet he was her +superior. He sat there, a true man, carrying his burden calmly, quietly, +without complaint, ready to face the next shock of life with the same +endurance he had shown against the rest. And he thought her perfect! +She felt humiliated that any brave man should say to her face that he +thought her perfect! She! perfect! In her contrition she was half ready +to go down at his feet and confess her sins; her hysterical dread of +sorrow and suffering, her narrow sympathies, her feeble faith, her +miserable selfishness, her abject cowardice. Every nerve in her body +tingled with shame when she thought what a miserable fraud she was; what +a mass of pretensions unfounded, of deceit ingrained. She was ready to +hide her face in her hands. She was disgusted, outraged with her own +image as she saw it, contrasted with Carrington's single word: Perfect! + +Nor was this the worst. Carrington was not the first man who had thought +her perfect. To hear this word suddenly used again, which had never been +uttered to her before except by lips now dead and gone, made her brain +reel. She seemed to hear her husband once more telling her that she was +perfect. Yet against this torture, she had a better defence. She had +long since hardened herself to bear these recollections, and they +steadied and strengthened her. + +She had been called perfect before now, and what had come of it? Two +graves, and a broken life! She drew herself up with a face now grown +quite pale and rigid. In reply to Carrington, she said not a word, but +only shook her head slightly without looking at him. + +He went on: "After all, it is not my own happiness I am thinking of but +yours. I never was vain enough to think that I was worth your love, or +that I could ever win it. Your happiness is another thing. I care so +much for that as to make me dread going away, for fear that you may +yet find yourself entangled in this wretched political life here, when, +perhaps if I stayed, I might be of some use." + +"Do you really think, then, that I am going to fall a victim to Mr. +Ratcliffe?" asked Madeleine, with a cold smile. + +"Why not?" replied Carrington, in a similar tone. "He can put forward +a strong claim to your sympathy and help, if not to your love. He can +offer you a great field of usefulness which you want. He has been very +faithful to you. Are you quite sure that even now you can refuse him +without his complaining that you have trifled with him?" + +"And are you quite sure," added Mrs. Lee, evasively, "that you have not +been judging him much too harshly? I think I know him better than you. +He has many good qualities, and some high ones. What harm can he do me? +Supposing even that he did succeed in persuading me that my life could +be best used in helping his, why should I be afraid of it?" + +"You and I," said Carrington, "are wide apart in our estimates of Mr. +Ratcliffe. To you, of course, he shows his best side. He is on his good +behaviour, and knows that any false step will ruin him. I see in him +only a coarse, selfish, unprincipled politician, who would either drag +you down to his own level, or, what is more likely, would very soon +disgust you and make your life a wretched self-immolation before his +vulgar ambition, or compel you to leave him. In either case you would +be the victim. You cannot afford to make another false start in life. +Reject me! I have not a word to say against it. But be on your guard +against giving your existence up to him." + +"Why do you think so ill of Mr. Ratcliffe?" asked Madeleine; "he always +speaks highly of you. Do you know anything against him that the world +does not?" + +"His public acts are enough to satisfy me," replied Carrington, evading +a part of the question. "You know that I have never had but one opinion +about him." + +There was a pause in the conversation. Both parties felt that as yet no +good had come of it. At length Madeleine asked, "What would you have me +do? Is it a pledge you want that I will under no circumstances marry Mr. +Ratcliffe?" + +"Certainly not," was the answer; "you know me better than to think +I would ask that. I only want you to take time and keep out of his +influence until your mind is fairly made up. A year hence I feel certain +that you will think of him as I do." + +"Then you will allow me to marry him if I find that you are mistaken," +said Mrs. Lee, with a marked tone of sarcasm. + +Carrington looked annoyed, but he answered quietly, "What I fear is +his influence here and now. What I would like to see you do is this: go +north a month earlier than you intended, and without giving him time +to act. If I were sure you were safely in Newport, I should feel no +anxiety." + +"You seem to have as bad an opinion of Washington as Mr. Gore," said +Madeleine, with a contemptuous smile. "He gave me the same advice, +though he was afraid to tell me why. I am not a child. I am thirty years +old, and have seen something of the world. I am not afraid, like Mr. +Gore, of Washington malaria, or, like you, of Mr. Ratcliffe's influence. +If I fall a victim I shall deserve my fate, and certainly I shall have +no cause to complain of my friends. They have given me advice enough for +a lifetime." + +Carrington's face darkened with a deeper shade of regret. The turn which +the conversation had taken was precisely what he had expected, and both +Sybil and he had agreed that Madeleine would probably answer just in +this way. + +Nevertheless, he could not but feel acutely the harm he was doing to +his own interests, and it was only by a sheer effort of the will that he +forced himself to a last and more earnest attack. + +"I know it is an impertinence," he said; "I wish it were in my power to +show how much it costs me to offend you. This is the first time you +ever had occasion to be offended. If I were to yield to the fear of +your anger and were to hold my tongue now, and by any chance you were +to wreck your life on this rock, I should never forgive myself the +cowardice. I should always think I might have done something to prevent +it. This is probably the last time I shall have the chance to talk +openly with you, and I implore you to listen to me. I want nothing for +myself If I knew I should never see you again, I would still say the +same thing. Leave Washington! Leave it now!--at once!--without giving +more than twenty-four hours' notice! Leave it without letting Mr. +Ratcliffe see you again in private! Come back next winter if you please, +and then accept him if you think proper. I only pray you to think long +about it and decide when you are not here." + +Madeleine's eyes flashed, and she threw aside her embroidery with an +impatient gesture: "No! Mr. Carrington! I will not be dictated to! I +will carry out my own plans! I do not mean to marry Mr. Ratcliffe. If I +had meant it, I should have done it before now. But I will not run away +from him or from myself. It would be unladylike, undignified, cowardly." + +Carrington could say no more. He had come to the end of his lesson. A +long silence ensued and then he rose to go. "Are you angry with me?" +said she in a softer tone. + +"I ought to ask that question," said he. "Can you forgive me? I am +afraid not. No man can say to a woman what I have said to you, and be +quite forgiven. You will never think of me again as you would have done +if I had not spoken. I knew that before I did it. As for me, I can only +go on with my old life. It is not gay, and will not be the gayer for our +talk to-night." + +Madeleine relented a little: "Friendships like ours are not so easily +broken," she said. "Do not do me another injustice. You will see me +again before you go?" + +He assented and bade good-night. Mrs. Lee, weary and disturbed in mind, +hastened to her room. "When Miss Sybil comes in, tell her that I am not +very well, and have gone to bed," were her instructions to her maid, and +Sybil thought she knew the cause of this headache. + +But before Carrington's departure he had one more ride with Sybil, +and reported to her the result of the interview, at which both of them +confessed themselves much depressed. Carrington expressed some hope that +Madeleine meant, after a sort, to give a kind of pledge by saying that +she had no intention of marrying Mr. Ratcliffe, but Sybil shook her head +emphatically: + +"How can a woman tell whether she is going to accept a man until she is +asked?" said she with entire confidence, as though she were stating the +simplest fact in the world. Carrington looked puzzled, and ventured to +ask whether women did not generally make up their minds beforehand on +such an interesting point; but Sybil overwhelmed him with contempt: +"What good will they do by making up their minds, I should like to +know? of course they would go and do the opposite. Sensible women don't +pretend to make up their minds, Mr. Carrington. But you men are so +stupid, and you can't understand in the least." + +Carrington gave it up, and went back to his stale question: Could Sybil +suggest any other resource? and Sybil sadly confessed that she could +not. So far as she could see, they must trust to luck, and she thought +it was cruel tor Mr. Carrington to go away and leave her alone without +help. He had promised to prevent the marriage. + +"One thing more I mean to do," said Carrington: "and here everything +will depend on your courage and nerve. You may depend upon it that Mr. +Ratcliffe will offer himself before you go north. He does not suspect +you of making trouble, and he will not think about you in any way if you +let him alone and keep quiet. When he does offer himself you will know +it; at least your sister will tell you if she has accepted him. If she +refuses him point blank, you will have nothing to do but to keep her +steady. If you see her hesitating, you must break in at any cost, and +use all your influence to stop her. Be bold, then, and do your best. If +everything fails and she still clings to him, I must play my last card, +or rather you must play it for me. I shall leave with you a sealed +letter which you are to give her if everything else fails. Do it before +she sees Ratcliffe a second time. See that she reads it and, if +necessary, make her read it, no matter when or where. No one else must +know that it exists, and you must take as much care of it as though it +were a diamond. You are not to know what is in it; it must be a complete +secret. Do you understand?" + +Sybil thought she did, but her heart sank. "When shall you give me this +letter?" she asked. + +"The evening before I start, when I come to bid good-bye; probably next +Sunday. This letter is our last hope. If, after reading that, she does +not give him up, you will have to pack your trunk, my dear Sybil, and +find a new home, for you can never live with them." + +He had never before called her by her first name, and it pleased her +to hear it now, though she generally had a strong objection to such +familiarities. + +"Oh, I wish you were not going!" she exclaimed tearfully. "What shall I +do when you are gone?" + +At this pitiful appeal, Carrington felt a sudden pang. He found that +he was not so old as he had thought. Certainly he had grown to like her +frank honesty and sound common sense, and he had at length discovered +that she was handsome, with a very pretty figure. Was it not something +like a flirtation he had been carrying on with this young person for the +last month? A glimmering of suspicion crossed his mind, though he got +rid of it as quickly as possible. For a man of his age and sobriety +to be in love with two sisters at once was impossible; still more +impossible that Sybil should care for him. + +As for her, however, there was no doubt about the matter. She had grown +to depend upon him, and she did it with all the blind confidence of +youth. To lose him was a serious disaster. She had never before felt +the sensation, and she thought it most disagreeable. Her youthful +diplomatists and admirers could not at all fill Carrington's place. They +danced and chirruped cheerfully on the hollow crust of society, but they +were wholly useless when one suddenly fell through and found oneself +struggling in the darkness and dangers beneath. Young women, too, are +apt to be flattered by the confidences of older men; they have a keen +palate for whatever savours of experience and adventure. For the first +time in her life, Sybil had found a man who gave some play to her +imagination; one who had been a rebel, and had grown used to the shocks +of fate, so as to walk with calmness into the face of death, and to +command or obey with equal indifference. She felt that he would tell her +what to do when the earthquake came, and would be at hand to consult, +which is in a woman's eyes the great object of men's existence, +when trouble comes. She suddenly conceived that Washington would be +intolerable without him, and that she should never get the courage to +fight Mr. Ratcliffe alone, or, if she did, she should make some fatal +mistake. + +They finished their ride very soberly. She began to show a new interest +in all that concerned him, and asked many questions about his sisters +and their plantation. She wanted to ask him whether she could not do +something to help them, but this seemed too awkward. On his part he +made her promise to write him faithfully all that took place, and +this request pleased her, though she knew his interest was all on her +sister's account. + +The following Sunday evening when he came to bid good-bye, it was still +worse. There was no chance for private talk. Ratcliffe was there, and +several diplomatists, including old Jacobi, who had eyes like a cat +and saw every motion of one's face. Victoria Dare was on the sofa, +chattering with Lord Dunbeg; Sybil would rather have had any ordinary +illness, even to the extent of a light case of scarlet fever or +small-pox than let her know what was the matter. Carrington found means +to get Sybil into another room for a moment and to give her the letter +he had promised. Then he bade her good-bye, and in doing so he reminded +her of her promise to write, pressing her hand and looking into her eyes +with an earnestness that made her heart beat faster, although she +said to herself that his interest was all about her sister; as it +was--mostly. The thought did not raise her spirits, but she went through +with her performance like a heroine. Perhaps she was a little pleased to +see that he parted from Madeleine with much less apparent feeling. One +would have said that they were two good friends who had no troublesome +sentiment to worry them. But then every eye in the room was watching +this farewell, and speculating about it. Ratcliffe looked on with +particular interest and was a little perplexed to account for this too +fraternal cordiality. Could he have made a miscalculation? or was there +something behind? He himself insisted upon shaking hands genially with +Carrington and wished him a pleasant journey and a successful one. + +That night, for the first time since she was a child, Sybil actually +cried a little after she went to bed, although it is true that her +sentiment did not keep her awake. She felt lonely and weighed down by a +great responsibility. + +For a day or two afterwards she was nervous and restless. She would +not ride, or make calls, or see guests. She tried to sing a little, and +found it tiresome. She went out and sat for hours in the Square, where +the spring sun was shining warm and bright on the prancing horse of the +great Andrew Jackson. She was a little cross, too, and absent, and spoke +so often about Carrington that at last Madeleine was struck by sudden +suspicion, and began to watch her with anxious care. + +Tuesday night, after this had gone on for two days, Sybil was in +Madeleine's room, where she often stayed to talk while her sister was at +her toilet. + +This evening she threw herself listlessly on the couch, and within five +minutes again quoted Carrington. Madeleine turned from the glass before +which she was sitting, and looked her steadily in the face. + +"Sybil," said she, "this is the twenty-fourth time you have mentioned +Mr. Carrington since we sat down to dinner. I have waited for the round +number to decide whether I should take any notice of it or not? what +does it mean, my child? Do you care for Mr. Carrington?" + +"Oh, Maude!" exclaimed Sybil reproachfully, flushing so violently that, +even by that dim light, her sister could not but see it. + +Mrs. Lee rose and, crossing the room, sat down by Sybil who was lying +on the couch and turned her face away. Madeleine put her arms round her +neck and kissed her. + +"My poor--poor child!" said she pityingly. "I never dreamed of this! +What a fool I have been! How could I have been so thoughtless! Tell me!" +she added, with a little hesitation; "has he--does he care for you?" + +"No! no!" cried Sybil, fairly breaking down into a burst of tears; "no! +he loves you! nobody but you! he never gave a thought to me. I don't +care for him so very much," she continued, drying her tears; "only it +seems so lonely now he is gone." + +Mrs. Lee remained on the couch, with her arm round her sister's +neck, silent, gazing into vacancy, the picture of perplexity and +consternation. + +The situation was getting beyond her control. + + + +Chapter XI + +IN the middle of April a sudden social excitement started the +indolent city of Washington to its feet. The Grand-Duke and Duchess of +Saxe-Baden-Hombourg arrived in America on a tour of pleasure, and in +due course came on to pay their respects to the Chief Magistrate of +the Union. The newspapers hastened to inform their readers that the +Grand-Duchess was a royal princess of England, and, in the want of any +other social event, every one who had any sense of what was due to his +or her own dignity, hastened to show this august couple the respect +which all republicans who have a large income derived from business, +feel for English royalty. New York gave a dinner, at which the most +insignificant person present was worth at least a million dollars, and +where the gentlemen who sat by the Princess entertained her for an hour +or two by a calculation of the aggregate capital represented. New York +also gave a ball at which the Princess appeared in an ill-fitting black +silk dress with mock lace and jet ornaments, among several hundred +toilets that proclaimed the refined republican simplicity of their +owners at a cost of various hundred thousand dollars. After these +hospitalities the Grand-ducal pair came on to Washington, where they +became guests of Lord Skye, or, more properly, Lord Skye became their +guest, for he seemed to consider that he handed the Legation over to +them, and he told Mrs. Lee, with true British bluntness of speech, +that they were a great bore and he wished they had stayed in +Saxe-Baden-Hombourg, or wherever they belonged, but as they were here, +he must be their lackey. Mrs. Lee was amused and a little astonished at +the candour with which he talked about them, and she was instructed +and improved by his dry account of the Princess, who, it seemed, made +herself disagreeable by her airs of royalty; who had suffered dreadfully +from the voyage; and who detested America and everything American; but +who was, not without some show of reason, jealous of her husband, and +endured endless sufferings, though with a very bad grace, rather than +lose sight of him. + +Not only was Lord Skye obliged to turn the Legation into an hotel, but +in the full enthusiasm of his loyalty he felt himself called upon to +give a ball. It was, he said, the easiest way of paying off all his +debts at once, and if the Princess was good for nothing else, she could +be utilized as a show by way of "promoting the harmony of the two great +nations." In other words, Lord Skye meant to exhibit the Princess for +his own diplomatic benefit, and he did so. One would have thought that +at this season, when Congress had adjourned, Washington would hardly +have afforded society enough to fill a ball-room, but this, instead of +being a drawback, was an advantage. It permitted the British Minister to +issue invitations without limit. He asked not only the President and +his Cabinet, and the judges, and the army, and the navy, and all the +residents of Washington who had any claim to consideration, but also all +the senators, all the representatives in Congress, all the governors +of States with their staffs, if they had any, all eminent citizens +and their families throughout the Union and Canada, and finally every +private individual, from the North Pole to the Isthmus of Panama, who +had ever shown him a civility or was able to control interest enough +to ask for a card. The result was that Baltimore promised to come in +a body, and Philadelphia was equally well-disposed; New York provided +several scores of guests, and Boston sent the governor and a delegation; +even the well-known millionaire who represented California in the United +States Senate was irritated because, his invitation having been timed to +arrive just one day too late, he was prevented from bringing his family +across the continent with a choice party in a director's car, to +enjoy the smiles of royalty in the halls of the British lion. It is +astonishing what efforts freemen will make in a just cause. + +Lord Skye himself treated the whole affair with easy contempt. One +afternoon he strolled into Mrs. Lee's parlour and begged her to give him +a cup of tea. + +He said he had got rid of his menagerie for a few hours by shunting +it off upon the German Legation, and he was by way of wanting a little +human society. Sybil, who was a great favourite with him, entreated to +be told all about the ball, but he insisted that he knew no more than +she did. A man from New York had taken possession of the Legation, but +what he would do with it was not within the foresight of the wisest; +trom the talk of the young members of his Legation, Lord Skye gathered +that the entire city was to be roofed in and forty millions of people +expected, but his own concern in the affair was limited to the flowers +he hoped to receive. + +"All young and beautiful women," said he to Sybil, "are to send me +flowers. I prefer Jacqueminot roses, but will accept any handsome +variety, provided they are not wired. It is diplomatic etiquette that +each lady who sends me flowers shall reserve at least one dance for me. +You will please inscribe this at once upon your tablets, Miss Ross." + +To Madeleine this ball was a godsend, for it came just in time to +divert Sybil's mind from its troubles. A week had now passed since that +revelation of Sybil's heart which had come like an earthquake upon +Mrs. Lee. Since then Sybil had been nervous and irritable, all the more +because she was conscious of being watched. She was in secret ashamed of +her own conduct, and inclined to be angry with Carrington, as though +he were responsible for her foolishness; but she could not talk +with Madeleine on the subject without discussing Mr. Ratcliffe, and +Carrington had expressly forbidden her to attack Mr. Ratcliffe until it +was clear that Ratcliffe had laid himself open to attack. This reticence +deceived poor Mrs. Lee, who saw in her sister's moods only that +unrequited attachment for which she held herself solely to blame. Her +gross negligence in allowing Sybil to be improperly exposed to such +a risk weighed heavily on her mind. With a saint's capacity for +self-torment, Madeleine wielded the scourge over her own back until the +blood came. She saw the roses rapidly fading from Sybil's cheeks, and +by the help of an active imagination she discovered a hectic look +and symptoms of a cough. She became fairly morbid on the subject, +and fretted herself into a fever, upon which Sybil sent, on her own +responsibility, for the medical man, and Madeleine was obliged to dose +herself with quinine. In fact, there was much more reason for anxiety +about her than for her anxiety about Sybil, who, barring a little +youthful nervousness in the face of responsibility, was as healthy +and comfortable a young woman as could be shown in America, and whose +sentiment never cost her five minutes' sleep, although her appetite may +have become a shade more exacting than before. Madeleine was quick to +notice this, and surprised her cook by making daily and almost hourly +demands for new and impossible dishes, which she exhausted a library of +cookery-books to discover. + +Lord Skye's ball and Sybil's interest in it were a great relief to +Madeleine's mind, and she now turned her whole soul to frivolity. Never, +since she was seventeen, had she thought or talked so much about a ball, +as now about this ball to the Grand-Duchess. She wore out her own brain +in the effort to amuse Sybil. She took her to call on the Princess; +she would have taken her to call on the Grand Lama had he come to +Washington. She instigated her to order and send to Lord Skye a mass of +the handsomest roses New York could afford. She set her at work on her +dress several days before there was any occasion for it, and this famous +costume had to be taken out, examined, criticised, and discussed with +unending interest. She talked about the dress, and the Princess, and +the ball, till her tongue clove to the roof of her mouth, and her brain +refused to act. From morning till night, for one entire week, she ate, +drank, breathed, and dreamt of the ball. Everything that love could +suggest or labour carry out, she did, to amuse and occupy her sister. + +She knew that all this was only temporary and palliative, and that more +radical measures must be taken to secure Sybil's happiness. On this +subject she thought in secret until both head and heart ached. One thing +and one thing only was clear: if Sybil loved Carrington, she should +have him. How Madeleine expected to bring about this change of heart +in Carrington, was known only to herself. She regarded men as creatures +made for women to dispose of, and capable of being transferred like +checks, or baggage-labels, from one woman to another, as desired. The +only condition was that he should first be completely disabused of the +notion that he could dispose of himself. Mrs. Lee never doubted that she +could make Carrington fall in love with Sybil provided she could place +herself beyond his reach. At all events, come what might, even though +she had to accept the desperate alternative offered by Mr. Ratcliffe, +nothing should be allowed to interfere with Sybil's happiness. And thus +it was, that, for the first time, Mrs. Lee began to ask herself whether +it was not better to find the solution of her perplexities in marriage. + +Would she ever have been brought to this point without the violent +pressure of her sister's supposed interests? This is one of those +questions which wise men will not ask, because it is one which the +wisest man or woman cannot answer. Upon this theme, an army of ingenious +authors have exhausted their ingenuity in entertaining the public, and +their works are to be found at every book-stall. They have decided that +any woman will, under the right conditions, marry any man at any time, +provided her "higher nature" is properly appealed to. Only with regret +can a writer forbear to moralize on this subject. "Beauty and the +Beast," "Bluebeard," "Auld Robin Gray," have the double charm to +authors of being very pleasant to read, and still easier to dilute with +sentiment. But at least ten thousand modern writers, with Lord Macaulay +at their head, have so ravaged and despoiled the region of fairy-stories +and fables, that an allusion even to the "Arabian Nights" is no longer +decent. The capacity of women to make unsuitable marriages must be +considered as the corner-stone of society. + +Meanwhile the ball had, in truth, very nearly driven all thought of +Carrington out of Sybil's mind. The city filled again. The streets +swarmed with fashionable young men and women from the provinces of New +York, Philadelphia, and Boston, who gave Sybil abundance of occupation. +She received bulletins of the progress of affairs. The President and +his wife had consented to be present, out of their high respect for +Her Majesty the Queen and their desire to see and to be seen. All the +Cabinet would accompany the Chief Magistrate. The diplomatic corps +would appear in uniform; so, too, the officers of the army and navy; the +Governor-General of Canada was coming, with a staff. Lord Skye remarked +that the Governor-General was a flat. + +The day of the ball was a day of anxiety to Sybil, although not on +account of Mr. Ratcliffe or of Mr. Carrington, who were of trifling +consequence compared with the serious problem now before her. The +responsibility of dressing both her sister and herself fell upon Sybil, +who was the real author of all Mrs. Lee's millinery triumphs when +they now occurred, except that Madeleine managed to put character into +whatever she wore, which Sybil repudiated on her own account. On +this day Sybil had reasons for special excitement. All winter two new +dresses, one especially a triumph of Mr. + +Worth's art, had lain in state upstairs, and Sybil had waited in vain +for an occasion that should warrant the splendour of these garments. + +One afternoon in early June of the preceding summer, Mr. Worth had +received a letter on the part of the reigning favourite of the King +of Dahomey, directing him to create for her a ball-dress that should +annihilate and utterly destroy with jealousy and despair the hearts of +her seventy-five rivals; she was young and beautiful; expense was not a +consideration. Such were the words of her chamberlain. All that night, +the great genius of the nineteenth century tossed wakefully on his bed +revolving the problem in his mind. Visions of flesh-coloured tints shot +with blood-red perturbed his brain, but he fought against and dismissed +them; that combination would be commonplace in Dahomey. When the first +rays of sunlight showed him the reflection of his careworn face in the +plate-glass mirrored ceiling, he rose and, with an impulse of despair, +flung open the casements. There before his blood-shot eyes lay the pure, +still, new-born, radiant June morning. With a cry of inspiration the +great man leaned out of the casement and rapidly caught the details of +his new conception. Before ten o'clock he was again at his bureau in +Paris. An imperious order brought to his private room every silk, satin, +and gauze within the range of pale pink, pale crocus, pale green, silver +and azure. Then came chromatic scales of colour; combinations meant to +vulgarise the rainbow; sinfonies and fugues; the twittering of birds and +the great peace of dewy nature; maidenhood in her awakening innocence; +"The Dawn in June." The Master rested content. + +A week later came an order from Sybil, including "an entirely original +ball-dress,--unlike any other sent to America." Mr. Worth pondered, +hesitated; recalled Sybil's figure; the original pose of her head; +glanced anxiously at the map, and speculated whether the New York Herald +had a special correspondent at Dahomey; and at last, with a generosity +peculiar to great souls, he duplicated for "Miss S. Ross, New York, U.S. +America," the order for "L'Aube, Mois de Juin." + +The Schneidekoupons and Mr. French, who had reappeared in Washington, +came to dine with Mrs. Lee on the evening of the ball, and Julia +Schneidekoupon sought in vain to discover what Sybil was going to wear. +"Be happy, my dear, in your ignorance!" said Sybil; "the pangs of envy +will rankle soon enough." + +An hour later her room, except the fireplace, where a wood fire was +gently smouldering, became an altar of sacrifice to the Deity of Dawn in +June. Her bed, her low couch, her little tables, her chintz arm-chairs, +were covered with portions of the divinity, down to slippers and +handkerchief, gloves and bunches of fresh roses. When at length, after +a long effort, the work was complete, Mrs. Lee took a last critical +look at the result, and enjoyed a glow of satisfaction. Young, happy, +sparkling with consciousness of youth and beauty, Sybil stood, Hebe +Anadyomene, rising from the foam of soft creplisse which swept back +beneath the long train of pale, tender, pink silk, fainting into +breadths of delicate primrose, relieved here and there by facings of +June green--or was it the blue of early morning?--or both? suggesting +unutterable freshness. A modest hint from her maid that "the girls," +as women-servants call each other in American households, would like to +offer their share of incense at the shrine, was amiably met, and they +were allowed a glimpse of the divinity before she was enveloped in +wraps. An admiring group, huddled in the doorway, murmured approval, +from the leading "girl," who was the cook, a coloured widow of some +sixty winters, whose admiration was irrepressible, down to a New England +spinster whose Anabaptist conscience wrestled with her instincts, and +who, although disapproving of "French folks," paid in her heart that +secret homage to their gowns and bonnets which her sterner lips refused. +The applause of this audience has, from generation to generation, +cheered the hearts of myriads of young women starting out on their +little adventures, while the domestic laurels flourish green and fresh +for one half hour, until they wither at the threshold of the ball-room. + +Mrs. Lee toiled long and earnestly over her sister's toilet, for had not +she herself in her own day been the best-dressed girl in New York?--at +least, she held that opinion, and her old instincts came to life again +whenever Sybil was to be prepared for any great occasion. Madeleine +kissed her sister affectionately, and gave her unusual praise when +the "Dawn in June" was complete. Sybil was at this moment the ideal of +blooming youth, and Mrs. Lee almost dared to hope that her heart was +not permanently broken, and that she might yet survive until Carrington +could be brought back. Her own toilet was a much shorter affair, but +Sybil was impatient long before it was concluded; the carriage was +waiting, and she was obliged to disappoint her household by coming down +enveloped in her long opera-cloak, and hurrying away. + +When at length the sisters entered the reception-room at the British +Legation, Lord Skye rebuked them for not having come early to receive +with him. His Lordship, with a huge riband across his breast, and a star +on his coat, condescended to express himself vigorously on the subject +of the "Dawn in June." Schneidekoupon, who was proud of his easy use +of the latest artistic jargon, looked with respect at Mrs. Lee's +silver-gray satin and its Venetian lace, the arrangement of which +had been conscientiously stolen from a picture in the Louvre, and +he murmured audibly, "Nocturne in silver-gray!"--then, turning to +Sybil--"and you? Of course! I see! A song without words!" Mr. French +came up and, in his most fascinating tones, exclaimed, "Why, Mrs. Lee, +you look real handsome to-night!" Jacobi, after a close scrutiny, said +that he took the liberty of an old man in telling them that they were +both dressed absolutely without fault. Even the Grand-Duke was struck +by Sybil, and made Lord Skye introduce him, after which ceremony he +terrified her by asking the pleasure of a waltz. She disappeared from +Madeleine's view, not to be brought back again until Dawn met dawn. + +The ball was, as the newspapers declared, a brilliant success. Every one +who knows the city of Washington will recollect that, among some scores +of magnificent residences which our own and foreign governments have +built for the comfort of cabinet officers, judges, diplomatists, +vice-presidents, speakers, and senators, the British Legation is by far +the most impressive. + +Combining in one harmonious whole the proportions of the Pitti Palace +with the decoration of the Casa d'Oro and the dome of an Eastern Mosque, +this architectural triumph offers extraordinary resources for society. +Further description is unnecessary, since anyone may easily refer back +to the New York newspapers of the following morning, where accurate +plans of the house on the ground floor, will be found; while the +illustrated newspapers of the same week contain excellent sketches of +the most pleasing scenic effects, as well as of the ball-room and of the +Princess smiling graciously from her throne. The lady just behind +the Princess on her left, is Mrs. Lee, a poor likeness, but easily +distinguishable from the fact that the artist, for his own objects, +has made her rather shorter, and the Princess rather taller, than was +strictly correct, just as he has given the Princess a gracious smile, +which was quite different from her actual expression. In short, the +artist is compelled to exhibit the world rather as we would wish it to +be, than as it was or is, or, indeed, is like shortly to become. The +strangest part of his picture is, however, the fact that he actually did +see Mrs. Lee where he has put her, at the Princess's elbow, which was +almost the last place in the room where any one who knew Mrs. Lee would +have looked for her. + +The explanation of this curious accident shall be given immediately, +since the facts are not mentioned in the public reports of the +ball, which only said that, "close behind her Royal Highness the +Grand-Duchess, stood our charming and aristocratic countrywoman, Mrs. +Lightfoot Lee, who has made so great a sensation in Washington this +winter, and whose name public rumour has connected with that of the +Secretary of the Treasury. To her the Princess appeared to address most +of her conversation." + +The show was a very pretty one, and on a pleasant April evening there +were many places less agreeable to be in than this. Much ground outside +had been roofed over, to make a ball-room, large as an opera-house, with +a das and a sofa in the centre of one long side, and another das with +a second sofa immediately opposite to it in the centre of the other long +side. Each das had a canopy of red velvet, one bearing the Lion and the +Unicorn, the other the American Eagle. The Royal Standard was displayed +above the Unicorn; the Stars-and-Stripes, not quite so effectively, +waved above the Eagle. The Princess, being no longer quite a child, +found gas trying to her complexion, and compelled Lord Skye to +illuminate her beauty by one hundred thousand wax candies, more or less, +which were arranged to be becoming about the Grand-ducal throne, and to +be showy and unbecoming about the opposite institution across the way. + +The exact facts were these. It had happened that the Grand-Duchess, +having been necessarily brought into contact with the President, and +particularly with his wife, during the past week, had conceived for +the latter an antipathy hardly to be expressed in words. Her fixed +determination was at any cost to keep the Presidential party at a +distance, and it was only after a stormy scene that the Grand-Duke and +Lord Skye succeeded in extorting her consent that the President should +take her to supper. Further than this she would not go. She would not +speak to "that woman," as she called the President's wife, nor be in her +neighbourhood. She would rather stay in her own room all the evening, +and she did not care in the least what the Queen would think of it, +for she was no subject of the Queen's. The case was a hard one for Lord +Skye, who was perplexed to know, from this point of view, why he was +entertaining the Princess at all; but, with the help of the Grand-Duke +and Lord Dunbeg, who was very active and smiled deprecation with some +success, he found a way out of it; and this was the reason why there +were two thrones in the ball-room, and why the British throne was +lighted with such careful reference to the Princess's complexion. Lord +Skye immolated himself in the usual effort of British and American +Ministers, to keep the two great powers apart. He and the Grand-Duke +and Lord Dunbeg acted as buffers with watchful diligence, dexterity, and +success. As one resource, Lord Skye had bethought himself of Mrs. Lee, +and he told the Princess the story of Mrs. Lee's relations with the +President's wife, a story which was no secret in Washington, for, apart +from Madeleine's own account, society was left in no doubt of the light +in which Mrs. Lee was regarded by the mistress of the White House, whom +Washington ladles were now in the habit of drawing out on the subject +of Mrs. Lee, and who always rose to the bait with fresh vivacity, to the +amusement and delight of Victoria Dare and other mischief-makers. + +"She will not trouble you so long as you can keep Mrs. Lee in your +neighbourhood," said Lord Skye, and the Princess accordingly seized upon +Mrs. Lee and brandished her, as though she were a charm against the +evil eye, in the face of the President's party. She made Mrs. Lee take +a place just behind her as though she were a lady-in-waiting. She even +graciously permitted her to sit down, so near that their chairs touched. +Whenever "that woman" was within sight, which was most of the time, the +Princess directed her conversation entirely to Mrs. Lee and took care +to make it evident. Even before the Presidential party had arrived, +Madeleine had fallen into the Princess's grasp, and when the Princess +went forward to receive the President and his wife, which she did with a +bow of stately and distant dignity, she dragged Madeleine closely by her +side. Mrs. Lee bowed too; she could not well help it; but was cut dead +for her pains, with a glare of contempt and hatred. Lord Skye, who was +acting as cavalier to the President's wife, was panic-stricken, and +hastened to march his democratic potentate away, under pretence of +showing her the decorations. He placed her at last on her own throne, +where he and the Grand-Duke relieved each other in standing guard at +intervals throughout the evening. When the Princess followed with the +President, she compelled her husband to take Mrs. Lee on his arm +and conduct her to the British throne, with no other object than to +exasperate the President's wife, who, from her elevated platform, looked +down upon the cortge with a scowl. + +In all this affair Mrs. Lee was the principal sufferer. No one could +relieve her, and she was literally penned in as she sat. The Princess +kept up an incessant fire of small conversation, principally complaint +and fault-finding, which no one dared to interrupt. Mrs. Lee was +painfully bored, and after a time even the absurdity of the thing ceased +to amuse her. + +She had, too, the ill-luck to make one or two remarks which appealed +to some hidden sense of humour in the Princess, who laughed and, in the +style of royal personages, gave her to understand that she would like +more amusement of the same sort. Of all things in life, Mrs. Lee held +this kind of court-service in contempt, for she was something more +than republican--a little communistic at heart, and her only serious +complaint of the President and his wife was that they undertook to have +a court and to ape monarchy. + +She had no notion of admitting social superiority in any one, President +or Prince, and to be suddenly converted into a lady-in-waiting to a +small German Grand-Duchess, was a terrible blow. But what was to be +done? Lord Skye had drafted her into the service and she could not +decently refuse to help him when he came to her side and told her, +with his usual calm directness, what his difficulties were, and how he +counted upon her to help him out. + +The same play went on at supper, where there was a royal-presidential +table, which held about two dozen guests, and the two great ladies +presiding, as far apart as they could be placed. The Grand-Duke and Lord +Skye, on either side of the President's wife, did their duty like men, +and were rewarded by receiving from her much information about the +domestic arrangements of the White House. The President, however, who +sat next the Princess at the opposite end, was evidently depressed, +owing partly to the fact that the Princess, in defiance of all +etiquette, had compelled Lord Dunbeg to take Mrs. Lee to supper and to +place her directly next the President. Madeleine tried to escape, but +was stopped by the Princess, who addressed her across the President and +in a decided tone asked her to sit precisely there. Mrs. + +Lee looked timidly at her neighbour, who made no sign, but ate his +supper in silence only broken by an occasional reply to a rare remark. +Mrs. Lee pitied him, and wondered what his wife would say when they +reached home. She caught Ratcliffe's eye down the table, watching her +with a smile; she tried to talk fluently with Dunbeg; but not until +supper was long over and two o'clock was at hand; not until the +Presidential party, under all the proper formalities, had taken their +leave of the Grand-ducal party; not until Lord Skye had escorted them to +their carriage and returned to say that they were gone, did the Princess +loose her hold upon Mrs. Lee and allow her to slip away into obscurity. + +Meanwhile the ball had gone on after the manner of balls. As Madeleine +sat in her enforced grandeur she could watch all that passed. She had +seen Sybil whirling about with one man after another, amid a swarm of +dancers, enjoying herself to the utmost and occasionally giving a nod +and a smile to her sister as their eyes met. There, too, was Victoria +Dare, who never appeared flurried even when waltzing with Lord Dunbeg, +whose education as a dancer had been neglected. The fact was now fully +recognized that Victoria was carrying on a systematic flirtation with +Dunbeg, and had undertaken as her latest duty the task of teaching him +to waltz. His struggles and her calmness in assisting them commanded +respect. On the opposite side of the room, by the republican throne, +Mrs. Lee had watched Mr. Ratcliffe standing by the President, who +appeared unwilling to let him out of arm's length and who seemed to make +to him most of his few remarks. Schneidekoupon and his sister were mixed +in the throng, dancing as though England had never countenanced the +heresy of free-trade. On the whole, Mrs. Lee was satisfied. + +If her own sufferings were great, they were not without reward. She +studied all the women in the ball-room, and if there was one prettier +than Sybil, Madeleine's eyes could not discover her. If there was a more +perfect dress, Madeleine knew nothing of dressing. On these points she +felt the confidence of conviction. Her calm would have been complete, +had she felt quite sure that none of Sybil's gaiety was superficial and +that it would not be followed by reaction. She watched nervously to see +whether her face changed its gay expression, and once she thought it +became depressed, but this was when the Grand-Duke came up to claim his +waltz, and the look rapidly passed away when they got upon the floor and +his Highness began to wheel round the room with a precision and momentum +that would have done honour to a regiment of Life Guards. He seemed +pleased with his experiment, for he was seen again and again careering +over the floor with Sybil until Mrs. Lee herself became nervous, for the +Princess frowned. + +After her release Madeleine lingered awhile in the ball-room to speak +with her sister and to receive congratulations. For half an hour she was +a greater belle than Sybil. A crowd of men clustered about her, amused +at the part she had played in the evening's entertainment and full of +compliments upon her promotion at Court. Lord Skye himself found time to +offer her his thanks in a more serious tone than he generally affected. +"You have suffered much," said he, "and I am grateful." Madeleine +laughed as she answered that her sufferings had seemed nothing to her +while she watched his. But at last she became weary of the noise and +glare of the ball-room, and, accepting the arm of her excellent friend +Count Popoff, she strolled with him back to the house. There at last +she sat down on a sofa in a quiet window-recess where the light was less +strong and where a convenient laurel spread its leaves in front so as +to make a bower through which she could see the passers-by without being +seen by them except with an effort. Had she been a younger woman, this +would have been the spot for a flirtation, but Mrs. Lee never flirted, +and the idea of her flirting with Popoff would have seemed ludicrous to +all mankind. + +He did not sit down, but was leaning against the angle of the wall, +talking with her, when suddenly Mr. Ratcliffe appeared and took the seat +by her side with such deliberation and apparent sense of property that +Popoff incontinently turned and fled. No one knew where the Secretary +came from, or how he learned that she was there. He made no explanation +and she took care to ask for none. She gave him a highly-coloured +account of her evening's service as lady-in-waiting, which he matched +by that of his own trials as gentleman-usher to the President, who, it +seemed, had clung desperately to his old enemy in the absence of any +other rock to clutch at. + +Ratcliffe looked the character of Prime Minister sufficiently well at +this moment. He would have held his own, at a pinch, in any Court, not +merely in Europe but in India or China, where dignity is still expected +of gentlemen. + +Excepting for a certain coarse and animal expression about the mouth, +and an indefinable coldness in the eye, he was a handsome man and still +in his prime. Every one remarked how much he was improved since entering +the Cabinet. He had dropped his senatorial manner. His clothes were no +longer congressional, but those of a respectable man, neat and decent. +His shirts no longer protruded in the wrong places, nor were his +shirt-collars frayed or soiled. His hair did not stray over his eyes, +ears, and coat, like that of a Scotch terrier, but had got itself cut. +Having overheard Mrs. Lee express on one occasion her opinion of people +who did not take a cold bath every morning, he had thought it best to +adopt this reform, although he would not have had it generally known, +tot it savoured of caste. He made an effort not to be dictatorial and to +forget that he had been the Prairie Giant, the bully of the Senate. In +short, what with Mrs. Lee's influence and what with his emancipation +from the Senate chamber with its code of bad manners and worse morals, +Mr. Ratcliffe was fast becoming a respectable member of society whom a +man who had never been in prison or in politics might safely acknowledge +as a friend. + +Mr. Ratcliffe was now evidently bent upon being heard. After charting +for a time with some humour on the President's successes as a man of +fashion, he changed the subject to the merits of the President as a +statesman, and little by little as he spoke he became serious and his +voice sank into low and confidential tones. He plainly said that the +President's incapacity had now become notorious among his followers; +that it was only with difficulty his Cabinet and friends could prevent +him from making a fool of himself fifty times a day; that all the party +leaders who had occasion to deal with him were so thoroughly disgusted +that the Cabinet had to pass its time in trying to pacify them; +while this state of things lasted, Ratcliffe's own influence must be +paramount; he had good reason to know that if the Presidential election +were to take place this year, nothing could prevent his nomination and +election; even at three years' distance the chances in his favour were +at least two to one; and after this exordium he went on in a low tone +with increasing earnestness, while Mrs. Lee sat motionless as the statue +of Agrippina, her eyes fixed on the ground: + +"I am not one of those who are happy in political life. I am a +politician because I cannot help myself; it is the trade I am fittest +for, and ambition is my resource to make it tolerable. In politics we +cannot keep our hands clean. I have done many things in my political +career that are not defensible. To act with entire honesty and +self-respect, one should always live in a pure atmosphere, and the +atmosphere of politics is impure. Domestic life is the salvation of many +public men, but I have for many years been deprived of it. I have now +come to that point where increasing responsibilities and temptations +make me require help. I must have it. You alone can give it to me. You +are kind, thoughtful, conscientious, high-minded, cultivated, fitted +better than any woman I ever saw, for public duties. Your place is +there. You belong among those who exercise an influence beyond their +time. I only ask you to take the place which is yours." + +This desperate appeal to Mrs. Lee's ambition was a calculated part of +Ratcliffe's scheme. He was well aware that he had marked high game, and +that in proportion to this height must be the power of his lure. Nor was +he embarrassed because Mrs. Lee sat still and pale with her eyes fixed +on the ground and her hands twisted together in her lap. The eagle +that soars highest must be longer in descending to the ground than the +sparrow or the partridge. Mrs. Lee had a thousand things to think about +in this brief time, and yet she found that she could not think at all; +a succession of mere images and fragments of thought passed rapidly over +her mind, and her will exercised no control upon their order or their +nature. One of these fleeting reflections was that in all the offers +of marriage she had ever heard, this was the most unsentimental and +businesslike. As for his appeal to her ambition, it fell quite dead +upon her ear, but a woman must be more than a heroine who can listen to +flattery so evidently sincere, from a man who is pre-eminent among +men, without being affected by it. To her, however, the great and +overpowering fact was that she found herself unable to retreat or +escape; her tactics were disconcerted, her temporary barriers beaten +down. + +The offer was made. What should she do with it? + +She had thought for months on this subject without being able to form a +decision; what hope was there that she should be able to decide now, in +a ball-room, at a minute's notice? When, as occasionally happens, the +conflicting sentiments, prejudices, and passions of a lifetime are +compressed into a single instant, they sometimes overcharge the mind and +it refuses to work. Mrs. Lee sat still and let things take their course; +a dangerous expedient, as thousands of women have learned, for it leaves +them at the mercy of the strong will, bent upon mastery. + +The music from the ball-room did not stop. Crowds of persons passed by +their retreat. Some glanced in, and not one of these felt a doubt what +was going on there. An unmistakeable atmosphere of mystery and intensity +surrounded the pair. Ratcliffe's eyes were fixed upon Mrs. Lee, and +hers on the ground. Neither seemed to speak or to stir. Old Baron +Jacobi, who never failed to see everything, saw this as he went by, and +ejaculated a foreign oath of frightful import. Victoria Dare saw it and +was devoured by curiosity to such a point as to be hardly capable of +containing herself. + +After a silence which seemed interminable, Ratcliffe went on: "I do +not speak of my own feelings because I know that unless compelled by a +strong sense of duty, you will not be decided by any devotion of mine. +But I honestly say that I have learned to depend on you to a degree I +can hardly express; and when I think of what I should be without +you, life seems to me so intolerably dark that I am ready to make any +sacrifice, to accept any conditions that will keep you by my side." + +Meanwhile Victoria Dare, although deeply interested in what Dunbeg was +telling her, had met Sybil and had stopped a single second to whisper in +her ear: "You had better look after your sister, in the window, behind +the laurel with Mr. Ratcliffe!" Sybil was on Lord Skye's arm, enjoying +herself amazingly, though the night was far gone, but when she caught +Victoria's words, the expression of her face wholly changed. All the +anxieties and terrors of the last fortnight, came back upon it. She +dragged Lord Skye across the hall and looked in upon her sister. One +glance was enough. + +Desperately frightened but afraid to hesitate, she went directly up to +Madeleine who was still sitting like a statue, listening to Ratcliffe's +last words. As she hurriedly entered, Mrs. Lee, looking up, caught sight +of her pale face, and started from her seat. + +"Are you ill, Sybil?" she exclaimed; "is anything the matter?" + +"A little--fatigued," gasped Sybil; "I thought you might be ready to go +home." + +"I am," cried Madeleine; "I am quite ready. Good evening, Mr. Ratcliffe. +I will see you to-morrow. Lord Skye, shall I take leave of the +Princess?" + +"The Princess retired half an hour ago," replied Lord Skye, who saw the +situation and was quite ready to help Sybil; "let me take you to the +dressing-room and order your carriage." Mr. Ratcliffe found himself +suddenly left alone, while Mrs. Lee hurried away, torn by fresh +anxieties. They had reached the dressing-room and were nearly ready +to go home, when Victoria Dare suddenly dashed in upon them, with an +animation of manner very unusual in her, and, seizing Sybil by the +hand, drew her into an adjoining room and shut the door. "Can you keep a +secret?" said she abruptly. + +"What!" said Sybil, looking at her with open-mouthed interest; "you +don't mean--are you really--tell me, quick!" + +"Yes!" said Victoria relapsing into composure; "I am engaged!" + +"To Lord Dunbeg?" + +Victoria nodded, and Sybil, whose nerves were strung to the highest +pitch by excitement, flattery, fatigue, perplexity, and terror, burst +into a paroxysm of laughter, that startled even the calm Miss Dare. + +"Poor Lord Dunbeg! don't be hard on him, Victoria!" she gasped when at +last she found breath; "do you really mean to pass the rest of your life +in Ireland? Oh, how much you will teach them!" + +"You forget, my dear," said Victoria, who had placidly enthroned herself +on the foot of a bed, "that I am not a pauper. I am told that Dunbeg +Castle is a romantic summer residence, and in the dull season we shall +of course go to London or somewhere. I shall be civil to you when you +come over. Don't you think a coronet will look well on me?" + +Sybil burst again into laughter so irrepressible and prolonged that +it puzzled even poor Dunbeg, who was impatiently pacing the corridor +outside. + +It alarmed Madeleine, who suddenly opened the door. Sybil recovered +herself, and, her eyes streaming with tears, presented Victoria to her +sister: + +"Madeleine, allow me to introduce you to the Countess Dunbeg!" + +But Mrs. Lee was much too anxious to feel any interest in Lady Dunbeg. +A sudden fear struck her that Sybil was going into hysterics because +Victoria's engagement recalled her own disappointment. She hurried her +sister away to the carriage. + + + +Chapter XII + +THEY drove home in silence, Mrs. Lee disturbed with anxieties and +doubts, partly caused by her sister, partly by Mr. Ratcliffe; Sybil +divided between amusement at Victoria's conquest, and alarm at her own +boldness in meddling with her sister's affairs. Desperation, however, +was stronger than fear. She made up her mind that further suspense was +not to be endured; she would fight her baffle now before another hour +was lost; surely no time could be better. A few moments brought them to +their door. Mrs. Lee had told her maid not to wait for them, and they +were alone. The fire was still alive on Madeleine's hearth, and she +threw more wood upon it. Then she insisted that Sybil must go to bed at +once. But Sybil refused; she felt quite well, she said, and not in the +least sleepy; she had a great deal to talk about, and wanted to get it +off her mind. Nevertheless, her feminine regard for the "Dawn in June" +led her to postpone what she had to say until with Madeleine's help she +had laid the triumph of the ball carefully aside; then, putting on her +dressing-gown, and hastily plunging Carrington's letter into her breast, +like a concealed weapon, she hurried back to Madeleine's room and +established herself in a chair before the fire. There, after a moment's +pause, the two women began their long-deferred trial of strength, in +which the match was so nearly equal as to make the result doubtful; for, +if Madeleine were much the cleverer, Sybil in this case knew much better +what she wanted, and had a clear idea how she meant to gain it, while +Madeleine, unsuspicious of attack, had no plan of defence at all. + +"Madeleine," began Sybil, solemnly, and with a violent palpitation of +the heart, "I want you to tell me something." + +"What is it, my child?" said Mrs. Lee, puzzled, and yet half ready +to see that there must be some connection between her sister's coming +question and the sudden illness at the ball, which had disappeared as +suddenly as it came. + +"Do you mean to marry Mr. Ratcliffe?" + +Poor Mrs. Lee was quite disconcerted by the directness of the attack. +This fatal question met her at every turn. Hardly had she succeeded in +escaping trom it at the ball scarcely an hour ago, by a stroke of good +fortune for which she now began to see she was indebted to Sybil, and +here it was again presented to her face like a pistol. The whole town, +then, was asking it. + +Ratcliffe's offer must have been seen by half Washington, and her reply +was awaited by an immense audience, as though she were a political +returning-board. Her disgust was intense, and her first answer to Sybil +was a quick inquiry: + +"Why do you ask such a question? have you heard anything,--has anyone +talked about it to you?" + +"No!" replied Sybil; "but I must know; I can see for myself without +being told, that Mr. Racliffe is trying to make you marry him. I don't +ask out of curiosity; this is something that concerns me nearly as much +as it does you yourself. Please tell me! don't treat me like a child any +longer! let me know what you are thinking about! I am so tired of being +left in the dark! You have no idea how much this thing weighs on me. Oh, +Maude, I shall never be happy again until you trust me about this." + +Mrs. Lee felt a little pang of conscience, and seemed suddenly to +become conscious of a new coil, tightening about her, in this wretched +complication. Unable to see her way, ignorant of her sister's motives, +urged on by the idea that Sybil's happiness was involved, she was now +charged with want of feeling, and called upon for a direct answer to a +plain question. + +How could she aver that she did not mean to marry Mr. Ratcliffe? to say +this would be to shut the door on all the objects she had at heart. If +a direct answer must be given, it was better to say "Yes!" and have +it over; better to leap blindly and see what came of it. Mrs. +Lee, therefore, with an internal gasp, but with no visible sign of +excitement, said, as though she were in a dream: + +"Well, Sybil, I will tell you. I would have told you long ago if I had +known myself. Yes! I have made up my mind to marry Mr. Ratcliffe!" + +Sybil sprang to her feet with a cry: "And have you told him so?" she +asked. + +"No! you came and interrupted us just as we were speaking. I was glad +you did come, for it gives me a little time to think. But I am decided +now. I shall tell him to-morrow." + +This was not said with the air or one whose heart beat warmly at the +thought of confessing her love. Mrs. Lee spoke mechanically, and almost +with an effort. Sybil flung herself with all her energy upon her sister; +violently excited, and eager to make herself heard, without waiting +for arguments, she broke out into a torrent of entreaties: "Oh, don't, +don't, don't! Oh, please, please, don't, my dearest, dearest Maude! +unless you want to break my heart, don't marry that man! You can't love +him! You can never be happy with him! he will take you away to Peonia, +and you will die there! I shall never see you again! He will make you +unhappy; he will beat you, I know he will! Oh, if you care for me at +all, don't marry him! Send him away! don't see him again! let us go +ourselves, now, in the morning train, before he comes back. I'm +all ready; I'll pack everything for you; we'll go to Newport; to +Europe--anywhere, to be out of his reach!" + +With this passionate appeal, Sybil threw herself on her knees by her +sister's side, and, clasping her arms around Madeleine's waist, sobbed +as though her heart were already broken. Had Carrington seen her then +he must have admitted that she had carried out his instructions to the +letter. She was quite honest, too, in it all. She meant what she +said, and her tears were real tears that had been pent up for weeks. +Unluckily, her logic was feeble. Her idea of Mr. Ratcliffe's character +was vague, and biased by mere theories of what a Prairie Giant of +Peonia should be in his domestic relations. Her idea of Peonia, too, +was indistinct. She was haunted by a vision of her sister, sitting on +a horse-hair sofa before an air-tight iron stove in a small room with +high, bare white walls, a chromolithograph on each, and at her side a +marble-topped table surmounted by a glass vase containing funereal dried +grasses; the only literature, Frank Leslie's periodical and the New York +Ledger, with a strong smell of cooking everywhere prevalent. Here +she saw Madeleine receiving visitors, the wives of neighbours and +constituents, who told her the Peonia news. + +Notwithstanding her ignorant and unreasonable prejudice against western +men and women, western towns and prairies, and, in short, everything +western, down to western politics and western politicians, whom she +perversely asserted to be tue lowest ot all western products, there +was still some common sense in Sybil's idea. When that inevitable hour +struck for Mr. + +Ratcliffe, which strikes sooner or later for all politicians, and an +ungrateful country permitted him to pine among his friends in Illinois, +what did he propose to do with his wife? Did he seriously suppose that +she, who was bored to death by New York, and had been able to find no +permanent pleasure in Europe, would live quietly in the romantic village +of Peonia? If not, did Mr. Ratcliffe imagine that they could find +happiness in the enjoyment of each other's society, and of Mrs. Lee's +income, in the excitements of Washington? In the ardour of his pursuit, +Mr. Ratcliffe had accepted in advance any conditions which Mrs. Lee +might impose, but if he really imagined that happiness and content lay +on the purple rim of this sunset, he had more confidence in women and in +money than a wider experience was ever likely to justify. + +Whatever might be Mr. Ratcliffe's schemes for dealing with these +obstacles they could hardly be such as would satisfy Sybil, who, if +inaccurate in her theories about Prairie Giants, yet understood women, +and especially her sister, much better than Mr. Ratcliffe ever could do. +Here she was safe, and it would have been better had she said no more, +for Mrs. Lee, though staggered for a moment by her sister's vehemence, +was reassured by what seemed the absurdity of her fears. Madeleine +rebelled against this hysterical violence of opposition, and became more +fixed in her decision. + +She scolded her sister in good, set terms-- + +"Sybil, Sybil! you must not be so violent. Behave like a woman, and not +like a spoiled child!" + +Mrs. Lee, like most persons who have to deal with spoiled or unspoiled +children, resorted to severity, not so much because it was the proper +way of dealing with them, as because she knew not what else to do. +She was thoroughly uncomfortable and weary. She was not satisfied with +herself or with her own motives. Doubt encompassed her on all sides, and +her worst opponent was that sister whose happiness had turned the scale +against her own judgment. + +Nevertheless her tactics answered their object of checking Sybil's +vehemence. Her sobs came to an end, and she presently rose with a +quieter air. + +"Madeleine," said she, "do you really want to marry Mr. Ratcliffe?" + +"What else can I do, my dear Sybil? I want to do whatever is for the +best. I thought you might be pleased." + +"You thought I might be pleased?" cried Sybil in astonishment. "What a +strange idea! If you had ever spoken to me about it I should have told +you that I hate him, and can't understand how you can abide him. But I +would rather marry him myself than see you marry him. I know that you +will kill yourself with unhappiness when you have done it. Oh, Maude, +please tell me that you won't!" And Sybil began gently sobbing again, +while she caressed her sister. + +Mrs. Lee was infinitely distressed. To act against the wishes of her +nearest friends was hard enough, but to appear harsh and unfeeling to +the one being whose happiness she had at heart, was intolerable. Yet +no sensible woman, after saying that she meant to marry a man like Mr. +Ratcliffe, could throw him over merely because another woman chose to +behave like a spoiled child. + +Sybil was more childish than Madeleine herself had supposed. She could +not even see where her own interest lay. She knew no more about Mr. +Ratcliffe and the West than if he were the giant of a fairy-story, and +lived at the top of a bean-stalk. She must be treated as a child; with +gentleness, affection, forbearance, but with firmness and decision. She +must be refused what she asked, for her own good. + +Thus it came about that at last Mrs. Lee spoke, with an appearance of +decision far from representing her internal tremor. + +"Sybil, dear, I have made up my mind to marry Mr. Ratcliffe because +there is no other way of making every one happy. You need not be afraid +of him. He is kind and generous. Besides, I can take care of myself; and +I will take care of you too. Now let us not discuss it any more. It is +broad daylight, and we are both tired out." + +Sybil grew at once perfectly calm, and standing before her sister, as +though their rles were henceforward to be reversed, said: + +"You have really made up your mind, then? Nothing I can say will change +it?" + +Mrs. Lee, looking at her with more surprise than ever, could not force +herself to speak; but she shook her head slowly and decidedly. + +"Then," said Sybil, "there is only one thing more I can do. You must +read this!" and she drew out Carrington's letter, which she held before +Madeleine's face. + +"Not now, Sybil!" remonstrated Mrs. Lee, dreading another long struggle. +"I will read it after we have had some rest. Go to bed now!" + +"I do not leave this room, nor will I ever go to bed until you have read +that letter," answered Sybil, seating herself again before the fire +with the resolution of Queen Elizabeth; "not if I sit here till you are +married. I promised Mr. Carrington that you should read it +instantly; it's all I can do now." With a sigh, Mrs. Lee drew up the +window-curtain, and in the gray morning light sat down to break the seal +and read the following letter:-- + +"Washington, 2nd April. + +"My dear Mrs. Lee, + +"This letter will only come into your hands in case +there should be a necessity for your knowing its contents. Nothing short +of necessity would excuse my writing it. I have to ask your pardon for +intruding again upon your private affairs. In this case, if I did not +intrude, you would have cause for serious complaint against me. + +"You asked me the other day whether I knew anything against Mr. +Ratcliffe which the world did not know, to account for my low opinion of +his character. I evaded your question then. I was bound by professional +rules not to disclose facts that came to me under a pledge of +confidence. I am going to violate these rules now, only because I owe +you a duty which seems to me to override all others. + +"I do know facts in regard to Mr. Ratcliffe, which have seemed to me to +warrant a very low opinion of his character, and to mark him as unfit to +be, I will not say your husband, but even your acquaintance. + +"You know that I am executor to Samuel Baker's will. You know who Samuel +Baker was. You have seen his wife. She has told you herself that I +assisted her in the examination and destruction of all her husband's +private papers according to his special death-bed request. One of the +first facts I learned from these papers and her explanations, was the +following. + +"Just eight years ago, the great 'Inter-Oceanic Mail Steamship Company,' +wished to extend its service round the world, and, in order to do so, it +applied to Congress for a heavy subsidy. The management of this affair +was put into the hands of Mr. Baker, and all his private letters to the +President of the Company, in press copies, as well as the President's +replies, came into my possession. Baker's letters were, of course, +written in a sort of cypher, several kinds of which he was in the habit +of using. He left among his papers a key to this cypher, but Mrs. Baker +could have explained it without that help. + +"It appeared from this correspondence that the bill was carried +successfully through the House, and, on reaching the Senate, was +referred to the appropriate Committee. Its ultimate passage was very +doubtful; the end of the session was close at hand; the Senate was very +evenly divided, and the Chairman of the Committee was decidedly hostile. + +"The Chairman of that Committee was Senator Ratcliffe, always mentioned +by Mr. Baker in cypher, and with every precaution. If you care, however, +to verify the fact, and to trace the history of the Subsidy Bill through +all its stages, together with Mr. Ratcliffe's report, remarks, and votes +upon it, you have only to look into the journals and debates for that +year. + +"At last Mr. Baker wrote that Senator Ratcliffe had put the bill in +his pocket, and unless some means could be found of overcoming his +opposition, there would be no report, and the bill would never come to +a vote. All ordinary kinds of argument and influence had been employed +upon him, and were exhausted. In this exigency Baker suggested that the +Company should give him authority to see what money would do, but he +added that it would be worse than useless to deal with small sums. +Unless at least one hundred thousand dollars could be employed, it was +better to leave the thing alone. + +"The next mail authorized him to use any required amount of money not +exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Two days later he +wrote that the bill was reported, and would pass the Senate within +forty-eight hours; and he congratulated the Company on the fact that he +had used only one hundred thousand dollars out of its last credit. + +"The bill was actually reported, passed, and became law as he foretold, +and the Company has enjoyed its subsidy ever since. Mrs. Baker also +informed me that to her knowledge her husband gave the sum mentioned, in +United States Coupon Bonds, to Senator Ratcliffe. + +"This transaction, taken in connection with the tortuousness of his +public course, explains the distrust I have always expressed for him. +You will, however, understand that all these papers have been destroyed. +Mrs. Baker could never be induced to hazard her own comfort by revealing +the facts to the public. The officers of the Company in their own +interests would never betray the transaction, and their books were +undoubtedly so kept as to show no trace of it. If I made this charge +against Mr. Ratcliffe, I should be the only sufferer. He would deny +and laugh at it. I could prove nothing. I am therefore more directly +interested than he is in keeping silence. + +"In trusting this secret to you, I rely firmly upon your mentioning +it to no one else--not even to your sister. You are at liberty, if you +wish, to show this letter to one person only--to Mr. Ratcliffe himself. +That done, you will, I beg, burn it immediately. + +"With the warmest good wishes, I am, + +"Ever most truly yours, + +"John Carrington." + +When Mrs. Lee had finished reading this letter, she remained for some +time quite silent, looking out into the square below. The morning had +come, and the sky was bright with the fresh April sunlight. She threw +open her window, and drew in the soft spring air. She needed all the +purity and quiet that nature could give, for her whole soul was in +revolt, wounded, mortified, exasperated. Against the sentiment of all +her friends she had insisted upon believing in this man; she had wrought +herself up to the point of accepting him for her husband; a man who, if +law were the same thing as justice, ought to be in a felon's cell; a man +who could take money to betray his trust. Her anger at first swept away +all bounds. She was impatient for the moment when she should see +him again, and tear off his mask. For once she would express all the +loathing she felt for the whole pack of political hounds. She would see +whether the animal was made like other beings; whether he had a sense of +honour; a single clean spot in his mind. + +Then it occurred to her that after all there might be a mistake; perhaps +Mr. + +Ratcliffe could explain the charge away. But this thought only laid +bare another smarting wound in her pride. Not only did she believe the +charge, but she believed that Mr. Ratcliffe would defend his act. She +had been willing to marry a man whom she thought capable of such a +crime, and now she shuddered at the idea that this charge might have +been brought against her husband, and that she could not dismiss it with +instant incredulity, with indignant contempt. How had this happened? how +had she got into so foul a complication? When she left New York, she had +meant to be a mere spectator in Washington. Had it entered her head +that she could be drawn into any project of a second marriage, she +never would have come at all, for she was proud of her loyalty to her +husband's memory, and second marriages were her abhorrence. In her +restlessness and solitude, she had forgotten this; she had only asked +whether any life was worth living for a woman who had neither husband +nor children. Was the family all that life had to offer? could she find +no interest outside the household? And so, led by this will-of-the-wisp, +she had, with her eyes open, walked into the quagmire of politics, in +spite of remonstrance, in spite of conscience. + +She rose and paced the room, while Sybil lay on the couch, watching her +with eyes half shut. She grew more and more angry with herself, and as +her self-reproach increased, her anger against Ratcliffe faded away. She +had no right to be angry with Ratcliffe. He had never deceived her. +He had always openly enough avowed that he knew no code of morals in +politics; that if virtue did not answer his purpose he used vice. How +could she blame him for acts which he had repeatedly defended in her +presence and with her tacit assent, on principles that warranted this or +any other villainy? + +The worst was that this discovery had come on her as a blow, not as +a reprieve from execution. At this thought she became furious with +herself. + +She had not known the recesses of her own heart. She had honestly +supposed that Sybil's interests and Sybil's happiness were forcing her +to an act of self-sacrifice; and now she saw that in the depths of +her soul very different motives had been at work: ambition, thirst for +power, restless eagerness to meddle in what did not concern her, blind +longing to escape from the torture of watching other women with full +lives and satisfied instincts, while her own life was hungry and sad. +For a time she had actually, unconscious as she was of the delusion, +hugged a hope that a new field of usefulness was open to her; that great +opportunities for doing good were to supply the aching emptiness of that +good which had been taken away; and that here at last was an object +for which there would be almost a pleasure in squandering the rest of +existence even if she knew in advance that the experiment would fail. +Life was emptier than ever now that this dream was over. Yet the worst +was not in that disappointment, but in the discovery of her own weakness +and self-deception. + +Worn out by long-continued anxiety, excitement and sleeplessness, she +was unfit to struggle with the creatures of her own imagination. Such a +strain could only end in a nervous crisis, and at length it came: + +"Oh, what a vile thing life is!" she cried, throwing up her arms with a +gesture of helpless rage and despair. "Oh, how I wish I were dead! how +I wish the universe were annihilated!" and she flung herself down by +Sybil's side in a frenzy of tears. + +Sybil, who had watched all this exhibition in silence, waited quietly +for the excitement to pass. There was little to say. She could only +soothe. + +After the paroxysm had exhausted itself Madeleine lay quiet for a time, +until other thoughts began to disturb her. From reproaching herself +about Ratcliffe she went on to reproach herself about Sybil, who really +looked worn and pale, as though almost overcome by fatigue. + +"Sybil," said she, "you must go to bed at once. You are tired out. It +was very wrong in me to let you sit up so late. Go now, and get some +sleep." + +"I am not going to bed till you do, Maude!" replied Sybil, with quiet +obstinacy. + +"Go, dear! it is all settled. I shall not marry Mr. Ratcliffe. You need +not be anxious about it any more." + +"Are you very unhappy?" + +"Only very angry with myself. I ought to have taken Mr. Carrington's +advice sooner." + +"Oh, Maude!" exclaimed Sybil, with a sudden explosion of energy; "I wish +you had taken him!" + +This remark roused Mrs. Lee to new interest: "Why, Sybil," said she, +"surely you are not in earnest?" + +"Indeed, I am," replied Sybil, very decidedly. "I know you think I am +in love with Mr. Carrington myself, but I'm not. I would a great deal +rather have him for a brother-in-law, and he is so much the nicest man +you know, and you could help his sisters." + +Mrs. Lee hesitated a moment, for she was not quite certain whether it +was wise to probe a healing wound, but she was anxious to clear this +last weight from her mind, and she dashed recklessly forward: + +"Are you sure you are telling the truth, Sybil? Why, then, did you say +that you cared for him? and why have you been so miserable ever since he +went away?" + +"Why? I should think it was plain enough why! Because I thought, as +every one else did, that you were going to marry Mr. Ratcliffe; and +because if you married Mr. Ratcliffe, I must go and live alone; and +because you treated me like a child, and never took me into your +confidence at all; and because Mr. Carrington was the only person I had +to advise me, and after he went away, I was left all alone to fight Mr. +Ratcliffe and you both together, without a human soul to help me in case +I made a mistake. You would have been a great deal more miserable than I +if you had been in my place." + +Madeleine looked at her for a moment in doubt. Would this last? did +Sybil herself know the depth of her own wound? But what could Mrs. Lee +do now? + +Perhaps Sybil did deceive herself a little. When this excitement had +passed away, perhaps Carrington's image might recur to her mind a little +too often for her own comfort. The future must take care of itself. +Mrs. Lee drew her sister closer to her, and said: "Sybil, I have made a +horrible mistake, and you must forgive me." + + + +Chapter XIII + +NOT until afternoon did Mrs. Lee reappear. How much she had slept she +did not say, and she hardly looked like one whose slumbers had been long +or sweet; but if she had slept little, she had made up for the loss +by thinking much, and, while she thought, the storm which had raged so +fiercely in her breast, more and more subsided into calm. If there was +not sunshine yet, there was at least stillness. As she lay, hour after +hour, waiting for the sleep that did not come, she had at first the keen +mortification of reflecting how easily she had been led by mere vanity +into imagining that she could be of use in the world. She even smiled +in her solitude at the picture she drew of herself, reforming Ratcliffe, +and Krebs, and Schuyler Clinton. The ease with which Ratcliffe alone had +twisted her about his finger, now that she saw it, made her writhe, and +the thought of what he might have done, had she married him, and of +the endless succession of moral somersaults she would have had to turn, +chilled her with mortal terror. She had barely escaped being dragged +under the wheels of the machine, and so coming to an untimely end. When +she thought of this, she felt a mad passion to revenge herself on the +whole race of politicians, with Ratcliffe at their head; she passed +hours in framing bitter speeches to be made to his face. + +Then as she grew calmer, Ratcliffe's sins took on a milder hue; life, +after all, had not been entirely blackened by his arts; there was even +some good in her experience, sharp though it were. Had she not come to +Washington in search of men who cast a shadow, and was not Ratcliffe's +shadow strong enough to satisfy her? Had she not penetrated the deepest +recesses of politics, and learned how easily the mere possession of +power could convert the shadow of a hobby-horse existing only in the +brain of a foolish country farmer, into a lurid nightmare that convulsed +the sleep of nations? The antics of Presidents and Senators had been +amusing--so amusing that she had nearly been persuaded to take part in +them. She had saved herself in time. + +She had got to the bottom of this business of democratic government, and +found out that it was nothing more than government of any other kind. +She might have known it by her own common sense, but now that experience +had proved it, she was glad to quit the masquerade; to return to the +true democracy of life, her paupers and her prisons, her schools and her +hospitals. As for Mr. Ratcliffe, she felt no difficulty in dealing with +him. + +Let Mr. Ratcliffe, and his brother giants, wander on their own political +prairie, and hunt for offices, or other profitable game, as they would. + +Their objects were not her objects, and to join their company was not +her ambition. She was no longer very angry with Mr. Ratcliffe. She had +no wish to insult him, or to quarrel with him. What he had done as a +politician, he had done according to his own moral code, and it was not +her business to judge him; to protect herself was the only right she +claimed. She thought she could easily hold him at arm's length, and +although, if Carrington had written the truth, they could never again be +friends, there need be no difficulty in their remaining acquaintances. +If this view of her duty was narrow, it was at least proof that she had +learned something from Mr. + +Ratcliffe; perhaps it was also proof that she had yet to learn Mr. +Ratcliffe himself. + +Two o'clock had struck before Mrs. Lee came down from her chamber, and +Sybil had not yet made her appearance. Madeleine rang her bell and gave +orders that, if Mr. Ratcliffe called she would see him, but she was at +home to no one else. Then she sat down to write letters and to prepare +for her journey to New York, for she must now hasten her departure in +order to escape the gossip and criticism which she saw hanging like an +avalanche over her head. + +When Sybil at length came down, looking much fresher than her sister, +they passed an hour together arranging this and other small matters, so +that both of them were again in the best of spirits, and Sybil's face +was wreathed in smiles. + +A number of visitors came to the door that day, some of them prompted +by friendliness and some by sheer curiosity, for Mrs. Lee's abrupt +disappearance from the ball had excited remark. Against all these her +door was firmly closed. On the other hand, as the afternoon went on, she +sent Sybil away, so that she might have the field entirely to herself, +and Sybil, relieved of all her alarms, sallied out to interrupt Dunbeg's +latest interview with his Countess, and to amuse herself with Victoria's +last "phase." + +Towards four o'clock the tall form of Mr. Ratcliffe was seen to issue +from the Treasury Department and to descend the broad steps of its +western front. + +Turning deliberately towards the Square, the Secretary of the Treasury +crossed the Avenue and stopping at Mrs. Lee's door, rang the bell. He +was immediately admitted. Mrs. Lee was alone in her parlour and rose +rather gravely as he entered, but welcomed him as cordially as she +could. She wanted to put an end to his hopes at once and to do it +decisively, but without hurting his feelings. + +"Mr. Ratcliffe," said she, when he was seated--"I am sure you will be +better pleased by my speaking instantly and frankly. I could not reply +to you last night. I will do so now without delay. What you wish is +impossible. I would rather not even discuss it. Let us leave it here and +return to our old relations." + +She could not force herself to express any sense of gratitude for his +affection, or of regret at being obliged to meet it with so little +return. + +To treat him with tolerable civility was all she thought required of +her. + +Ratcliffe felt the change of manner. He had been prepared for a +struggle, but not to be met with so blunt a rebuff at the start. His +look became serious and he hesitated a moment before speaking, but when +he spoke at last, it was with a manner as firm and decided as that of +Mrs. Lee herself. + +"I cannot accept such an answer. I will not say that I have a right to +explanation,--I have no rights which you are bound to respect,--but from +you I conceive that I may at least ask the favour of one, and that you +will not refuse it. Are you willing to tell me your reasons for this +abrupt and harsh decision?" + +"I do not dispute your right of explanation, Mr. Ratcliffe. You have +the right, if you choose to use it, and I am ready to give you every +explanation in my power; but I hope you will not insist on my doing so. +If I seemed to speak abruptly and harshly, it was merely to spare you +the greater annoyance of doubt. Since I am forced to give you pain, was +it not fairer and more respectful to you to speak at once? We have been +friends. I am very soon going away. I sincerely want to avoid saying or +doing anything that would change our relations." + +Ratcliffe, however, paid no attention to these words, and gave them no +answer. He was much too old a debater to be misled by such trifles, when +he needed all his faculties to pin his opponent to the wall. He asked:-- + +"Is your decision a new one?" + +"It is a very old one, Mr. Ratcliffe, which I had let myself lose sight +of, for a time. A night's reflection has brought me back to it." + +"May I ask why you have returned to it? surely you would not have +hesitated without strong reasons." + +"I will tell you frankly. If, by appearing to hesitate, I have misled +you, I am honestly sorry for it. I did not mean to do it. My hesitation +was owing to the doubt whether my life might not really be best used +in aiding you. My decision was owing to the certainty that we are not +fitted for each other. Our lives run in separate grooves. We are both +too old to change them." + +Ratcliffe shook his head with an air of relief. "Your reasons, Mrs. Lee, +are not sound. There is no such divergence in our lives. On the contrary +I can give to yours the field it needs, and that it can get in no other +way; while you can give to mine everything it now wants. If these are +your only reasons I am sure of being able to remove them." + +Madeleine looked as though she were not altogether pleased at this idea, +and became a little dogmatic. "It is no use our arguing on this subject, +Mr. Ratcliffe. You and I take very different views of life. I cannot +accept yours, and you could not practise on mine." + +"Show me," said Ratcliffe, "a single example of such a divergence, and I +will accept your decision without another word." + +Mrs. Lee hesitated and looked at him for an instant as though to be +quite sure that he was in earnest. There was an effrontery about this +challenge which surprised her, and if she did not check it on the spot, +there was no saying how much trouble it might give her. Then unlocking +the drawer of the writing-desk at her elbow, she took out Carrington's +letter and handed it to Mr. Ratcliffe. + +"Here is such an example which has come to my knowledge very lately. I +meant to show it to you in any case, but I would rather have waited." + +Ratcliffe took the letter which she handed to him, opened it +deliberately, looked at the signature, and read. He showed no sign of +surprise or disturbance. No one would have imagined that he had, from +the moment he saw Carrington's name, as precise a knowledge of what was +in this letter as though he had written it himself. His first sensation +was only one of anger that his projects had miscarried. How this had +happened he could not at once understand, for the idea that Sybil could +have a hand in it did not occur to him. He had made up his mind that +Sybil was a silly, frivolous girl, who counted for nothing in her +sister's actions. He had fallen into the usual masculine blunder of +mixing up smartness of intelligence with strength of character. Sybil, +without being a metaphysician, willed anything which she willed at all +with more energy than her sister did, who was worn out with the effort +of life. Mr. Ratcliffe missed this point, and was left to wonder who +it was that had crossed his path, and how Carrington had managed to +be present and absent, to get a good office in Mexico and to baulk his +schemes in Washington, at the same time. He had not given Carrington +credit for so much cleverness. + +He was violently irritated at the check. Another day, he thought, would +have made him safe on this side; and possibly he was right. Had he once +succeeded in getting ever so slight a hold on Mrs. Lee he would have +told her this story with his own colouring, and from his own point of +view, and he fully believed he could do this in such a way as to rouse +her sympathy. Now that her mind was prejudiced, the task would be much +more difficult; yet he did not despair, for it was his theory that Mrs. +Lee, in the depths of her soul, wanted to be at the head of the White +House as much as he wanted to be there himself, and that her apparent +coyness was mere feminine indecision in the face of temptation. His +thoughts now turned upon the best means of giving again the upper hand +to her ambition. He wanted to drive Carrington a second time from the +field. + +Thus it was that, having read the letter once in order to learn what was +in it, he turned back, and slowly read it again in order to gain time. +Then he replaced it in its envelope, and returned it to Mrs. Lee, who, +with equal calmness, as though her interest in it were at an end, +tossed it negligently into the fire, where it was reduced to ashes under +Ratcliffe's eyes. + +He watched it burn for a moment, and then turning to her, said, with his +usual composure, "I meant to have told you of that affair myself. I am +sorry that Mr. Carrington has thought proper to forestall me. No doubt +he has his own motives for taking my character in charge." + +"Then it is true!" said Mrs. Lee, a little more quickly than she had +meant to speak. + +"True in its leading facts; untrue in some of its details, and in the +impression it creates. During the Presidential election which took place +eight years ago last autumn, there was, as you may remember, a violent +contest and a very close vote. We believed (though I was not so +prominent in the party then as now), that the result of that election +would be almost as important to the nation as the result of the +war itself. Our defeat meant that the government must pass into +the blood-stained hands of rebels, men whose designs were more than +doubtful, and who could not, even if their designs had been good, +restrain the violence of their followers. In consequence we strained +every nerve. Money was freely spent, even to an amount much in excess of +our resources. How it was employed, I will not say. + +"I do not even know, for I held myself aloof from these details, which +fell to the National Central Committee of which I was not a member. +The great point was that a very large sum had been borrowed on pledged +securities, and must be repaid. The members of the National Committee +and certain senators held discussions on the subject, in which I shared. +The end was that towards the close of the session the head of the +committee, accompanied by two senators, came to me and told me that I +must abandon my opposition to the Steamship Subsidy. They made no open +avowal of their reasons, and I did not press for one. Their declaration, +as the responsible heads of the organization, that certain action on my +part was essential to the interests of the party, satisfied me. I did +not consider myself at liberty to persist in a mere private opinion in +regard to a measure about which I recognized the extreme likelihood of +my being in error. I accordingly reported the bill, and voted for it, as +did a large majority of the party. Mrs. Baker is mistaken in saying +that the money was paid to me. If it was paid at all, of which I have no +knowledge except from this letter, it was paid to the representative of +the National Committee. I received no money. I had nothing to do with +the money further than as I might draw my own conclusions in regard to +the subsequent payment of the campaign debt." + +Mrs. Lee listened to all this with intense interest. Not until this +moment had she really felt as though she had got to the heart of +politics, so that she could, like a physician with his stethoscope, +measure the organic disease. Now at last she knew why the pulse beat +with such unhealthy irregularity, and why men felt an anxiety which they +could not or would not explain. Her interest in the disease overcame +her disgust at the foulness of the revelation. To say that the +discovery gave her actual pleasure would be doing her injustice; but the +excitement of the moment swept away every other sensation. She did not +even think of herself. Not until afterwards did she fairly grasp the +absurdity of Ratcliffe's wish that in the face of such a story as this, +she should still have vanity enough to undertake the reform of politics. +And with his aid too! The audacity of the man would have seemed sublime +if she had felt sure that he knew the difference between good and evil, +between a lie and the truth; but the more she saw of him, the surer she +was that his courage was mere moral paralysis, and that he talked about +virtue and vice as a man who is colour-blind talks about red and green; +he did not see them as she saw them; if left to choose for himself he +would have nothing to guide him. Was it politics that had caused this +atrophy of the moral senses by disuse? Meanwhile, here she sat face to +face with a moral lunatic, who had not even enough sense of humour to +see the absurdity of his own request, that she should go out to the +shore of this ocean of corruption, and repeat the ancient rle of King +Canute, or Dame Partington with her mop and her pail. What was to be +done with such an animal? + +The bystander who looked on at this scene with a wider knowledge of +facts, might have found entertainment in another view of the subject, +that is to say, in the guilelessness ot Madeleine Lee. With all her +warnings she was yet a mere baby-in-arms in the face of the great +politician. She accepted his story as true, and she thought it as bad as +possible; but had Mr. + +Ratcliffe's associates now been present to hear his version of it, they +would have looked at each other with a smile of professional pride, and +would have roundly sworn that he was, beyond a doubt, the ablest man +this country had ever produced, and next to certain of being President. +They would not, however, have told their own side of the story if they +could have helped it, but in talking it over among themselves they might +have assumed the facts to have been nearly as follows: that Ratcliffe +had dragged them into an enormous expenditure to carry his own State, +and with it his own re-election to the Senate; that they had tried to +hold him responsible, and he had tried to shirk the responsibility; +that there had been warm discussions on the subject; that he himself +had privately suggested recourse to Baker, had shaped his conduct +accordingly, and had compelled them, in order to save their own credit, +to receive the money. + +Even if Mrs. Lee had heard this part of the story, though it might +have sharpened her indignation against Mr. Ratcliffe, it would not have +altered her opinions. As it was, she had heard enough, and with a great +effort to control her expression of disgust, she sank back in her chair +as Ratcliffe concluded. Finding that she did not speak, he went on: + +"I do not undertake to defend this affair. It is the act of my public +life which I most regret--not the doing, but the necessity of doing. I +do not differ from you in opinion on that point. I cannot acknowledge +that there is here any real divergence between us." + +"I am afraid," said Mrs. Lee, "that I cannot agree with you." + +This brief remark, the very brevity of which carried a barb of sarcasm, +escaped from Madeleine's lips before she had fairly intended it. +Ratcliffe felt the sting, and it started him from his studied calmness +of manner. + +Rising from his chair he stood on the hearthrug before Mrs. Lee, and +broke out upon her with an oration in that old senatorial voice and +style which was least calculated to enlist her sympathies: + +"Mrs. Lee," said he, with harsh emphasis and dogmatic tone, "there are +conflicting duties in all the transactions of life, except the simplest. +However we may act, do what we may, we must violate some moral +obligation. All that can be asked of us is that we should guide +ourselves by what we think the highest. At the time this affair +occurred, I was a Senator of the United States. I was also a trusted +member of a great political party which I looked upon as identical with +the nation. In both capacities I owed duties to my constituents, to the +government, to the people. I might interpret these duties narrowly or +broadly. I might say: Perish the government, perish the Union, perish +this people, rather than that I should soil my hands! Or I might say, as +I did, and as I would say again: Be my fate what it may, this glorious +Union, the last hope of suffering humanity, shall be preserved." + +Here he paused, and seeing that Mrs. Lee, after looking for a time at +him, was now regarding the fire, lost in meditation over the strange +vagaries of the senatorial mind, he resumed, in another line of +argument. He rightly judged that there must be some moral defect in his +last remarks, although he could not see it, which made persistence in +that direction useless. + +"You ought not to blame me--you cannot blame me justly. It is to your +sense of justice I appeal. Have I ever concealed from you my opinions on +this subject? Have I not on the contrary always avowed them? Did I +not here, on this very spot, when challenged once before by this same +Carrington, take credit for an act less defensible than this? Did I not +tell you then that I had even violated the sanctity of a great popular +election and reversed its result? That was my sole act! In comparison +with it, this is a trifle! Who is injured by a steamship company +subscribing one or ten hundred thousand dollars to a campaign fund? +Whose rights are affected by it? Perhaps its stock holders receive one +dollar a share in dividends less than they otherwise would. If they +do not complain, who else can do so? But in that election I deprived a +million people of rights which belonged to them as absolutely as their +houses! You could not say that I had done wrong. Not a word of blame or +criticism have you ever uttered to me on that account. If there was an +offence, you condoned it! You certainly led me to suppose that you saw +none. Why are you now so severe upon the smaller crime?" + +This shot struck hard. Mrs. Lee visibly shrank under it, and lost her +composure. This was the same reproach she had made against herself, and +to which she had been able to find no reply. With some agitation she +exclaimed: + +"Mr. Ratcliffe, pray do me justice! I have tried not to be severe. I +have said nothing in the way of attack or blame. I acknowledge that it +is not my place to stand in judgment over your acts. I have more reason +to blame myself than you, and God knows I have blamed myself bitterly." +The tears stood in her eyes as she said these last words, and her voice +trembled. + +Ratcliffe saw that he had gained an advantage, and, sitting down +nearer to her, he dropped his voice and urged his suit still more +energetically: + +"You did me justice then; why not do it now? You were convinced then +that I did the best I could. I have always done so. On the other hand +I have never pretended that all my acts could be justified by abstract +morality. Where, then, is the divergence between us?" + +Mrs. Lee did not undertake to answer this last argument: she only +returned to her old ground. "Mr. Ratcliffe," she said, "I do not want +to argue this question. I have no doubt that you can overcome me in +argument. Perhaps on my side this is a matter of feeling rather than of +reason, but the truth is only too evident to me that I am not fitted +for politics. I should be a drag upon you. Let me be the judge of my own +weakness! Do not insist upon pressing me, further!" + +She was ashamed of herself for this appeal to a man whom she could not +respect, as though she were a suppliant at his mercy, but she feared the +reproach of having deceived him, and she tried pitiably to escape it. + +Ratcliffe was only encouraged by her weakness. + +"I must insist upon pressing it, Mrs. Lee," replied he, and he became +yet more earnest as he went on; "my future is too deeply involved in +your decision to allow of my accepting your answer as final. I need your +aid. There is nothing I will not do to obtain it. Do you require +affection? mine for you is boundless. I am ready to prove it by a life +of devotion. Do you doubt my sincerity? test it in whatever way you +please. Do you fear being dragged down to the level of ordinary +politicians? so far as concerns myself, my great wish is to have your +help in purifying politics. What higher ambition can there be than to +serve one's country for such an end? Your sense of duty is too keen not +to feel that the noblest objects which can inspire any woman, combine to +point out your course." + +Mrs. Lee was excessively uncomfortable, although not in the least +shaken. + +She began to see that she must take a stronger tone if she meant to +bring this importunity to an end, and she answered:-- + +"I do not doubt your affection or your sincerity, Mr. Ratcliffe. It +is myself I doubt. You have been kind enough to give me much of your +confidence this winter, and if I do not yet know about politics all that +is to be known, I have learned enough to prove that I could do nothing +sillier than to suppose myself competent to reform anything. If I +pretended to think so, I should be a mere worldly, ambitious woman, such +as people think me. The idea of my purifying politics is absurd. I am +sorry to speak so strongly, but I mean it. I do not cling very closely +to life, and do not value my own very highly, but I will not tangle it +in such a way; I will not share the profits of vice; I am not willing to +be made a receiver of stolen goods, or to be put in a position where I +am perpetually obliged to maintain that immorality is a virtue!" + +As she went on she became more and more animated and her words took a +sharper edge than she had intended. Ratcliffe felt it, and showed his +annoyance. His face grew dark and his eyes looked out at her with their +ugliest expression. He even opened his mouth for an angry retort, but +controlled himself with an effort, and presently resumed his argument. + +"I had hoped," he began more solemnly than ever, "that I should find in +you a lofty courage which would disregard such risks. If all the men and +women were to take the tone you have taken, our government would soon +perish. If you consent to share my career, I do not deny that you may +find less satisfaction than I hope, but you will lead a mere death in +life if you place yourself like a saint on a solitary column. I plead +what I believe to be your own cause in pleading mine. Do not sacrifice +your life!" + +Mrs. Lee was in despair. She could not reply what was on her lips, that +to marry a murderer or a thief was not a sure way of diminishing crime. +She had already said something so much like this that she shrank from +speaking more plainly. So she fell back on her old theme. + +"We must at all events, Mr. Ratcliffe, use our judgments according to +our own consciences. I can only repeat now what I said at first. I am +sorry to seem insensible to your expressions towards me, but I cannot do +what you wish. Let us maintain our old relations if you will, but do not +press me further on this subject." + +Ratcliffe grew more and more sombre as he became aware that defeat was +staring him in the face. He was tenacious of purpose, and he had never +in his life abandoned an object which he had so much at heart as +this. He would not abandon it. For the moment, so completely had the +fascination of Mrs. + +Lee got the control of him, he would rather have abandoned the +Presidency itself than her. He really loved her as earnestly as it was +in his nature to love anything. To her obstinacy he would oppose +an obstinacy greater still; but in the meanwhile his attack was +disconcerted, and he was at a loss what next to do. Was it not possible +to change his ground; to offer inducements that would appeal even more +strongly to feminine ambition and love of display than the Presidency +itself? He began again:-- + +"Is there no form of pledge I can give you? no sacrifice I can make? +You dislike politics. Shall I leave political life? I will do anything +rather than lose you. I can probably control the appointment of Minister +to England. The President would rather have me there than here. Suppose +I were to abandon politics and take the English mission. Would that +sacrifice not affect you? You might pass four years in London where +there would be no politics, and where your social position would be +the best in the world; and this would lead to the Presidency almost +as surely as the other." Then suddenly, seeing that he was making no +headway, he threw off his studied calmness and broke out in an appeal of +almost equally studied violence. + +"Mrs. Lee! Madeleine! I cannot live without you. The sound of your +voice--the touch of your hand--even the rustle of your dress--are like +wine to me. For God's sake, do not throw me over!" + +He meant to crush opposition by force. More and more vehement as he +spoke he actually bent over and tried to seize her hand. She drew it +back as though he were a reptile. She was exasperated by this obstinate +disregard of her forbearance, this gross attempt to bribe her with +office, this flagrant abandonment of even a pretence of public virtue; +the mere thought of his touch on her person was more repulsive than +a loathsome disease. Bent upon teaching him a lesson he would never +forget, she spoke out abruptly, and with evident signs of contempt in +her voice and manner: + +"Mr. Ratcliffe, I am not to be bought. No rank, no dignity, no +consideration, no conceivable expedient would induce me to change my +mind. Let us have no more of this!" + +Ratcliffe had already been more than once, during this conversation, on +the verge of losing his temper. Naturally dictatorial and violent, only +long training and severe experience had taught him self-control, and +when he gave way to passion his bursts of fury were still tremendous. +Mrs. Lee's evident personal disgust, even more than her last sharp +rebuke, passed the bounds of his patience. As he stood before her, even +she, high-spirited as she was, and not in a calm frame of mind, felt a +momentary shock at seeing how his face flushed, his eyes gleamed, and +his hands trembled with rage. + +"Ah!" exclaimed he, turning upon her with a harshness, almost a +savageness, of manner that startled her still more; "I might have known +what to expect! Mrs. Clinton warned me early. She said then that I +should find you a heartless coquette!" + +"Mr. Ratcliffe!" exclaimed Madeleine, rising from her chair, and +speaking in a warning voice almost as passionate as his own. + +"A heartless coquette!" he repeated, still more harshly than before; +"she said you would do just this! that you meant to deceive me! that you +lived on flattery! that you could never be anything but a coquette, and +that if you married me, I should repent it all my life. I believe her +now!" + +Mrs. Lee's temper, too, was naturally a high one. At this moment she, +too, was flaming with anger, and wild with a passionate impulse to +annihilate this man. Conscious that the mastery was in her own hands, +she could the more easily control her voice, and with an expression of +unutterable contempt she spoke her last words to him, words which had +been ringing all day in her ears: + +"Mr. Ratcliffe! I have listened to you with a great deal more patience +and respect than you deserve. For one long hour I have degraded myself +by discussing with you the question whether I should marry a man who by +his own confession has betrayed the highest trusts that could be placed +in him, who has taken money for his votes as a Senator, and who is now +in public office by means of a successful fraud of his own, when in +justice he should be in a State's prison. I will have no more of this. +Understand, once for all, that there is an impassable gulf between your +life and mine. I do not doubt that you will make yourself President, but +whatever or wherever you are, never speak to me or recognize me again!" + +He glared a moment into her face with a sort of blind rage, and seemed +about to say more, when she swept past him, and before he realized it, +he was alone. + +Overmastered by passion, but conscious that he was powerless, Ratcliffe, +after a moment's hesitation, left the room and the house. He let himself +out, shutting the front door behind him, and as he stood on the pavement +old Baron Jacobi, who had special reasons for wishing to know how Mrs. +Lee had recovered from the fatigue and excitements of the ball, came up +to the spot. + +A single glance at Ratcliffe showed him that something had gone wrong in +the career of that great man, whose fortunes he always followed with so +bitter a sneer of contempt. Impelled by the spirit of evil always at his +elbow, the Baron seized this moment to sound the depth of his friend's +wound. They met at the door so closely that recognition was inevitable, +and Jacobi, with his worst smile, held out his hand, saying at the same +moment with diabolic malignity: + +"I hope I may offer my felicitations to your Excellency!" + +Ratcliffe was glad to find some victim on whom he could vent his rage. +He had a long score of humiliations to repay this man, whose last insult +was beyond all endurance. With an oath he dashed Jacobi's hand aside, +and, grasping his shoulder, thrust him out of the path. The Baron, among +whose weaknesses the want of high temper and personal courage was not +recorded, had no mind to tolerate such an insult from such a man. Even +while Ratcliffe's hand was still on his shoulder he had raised his cane, +and before the Secretary saw what was coming, the old man had struck him +with all his force full in the face. For a moment Ratcliffe staggered +back and grew pale, but the shock sobered him. He hesitated a single +instant whether to crush his assailant with a blow, but he felt that +for one of his youth and strength, to attack an infirm diplomatist in +a public street would be a fatal blunder, and while Jacobi stood, +violently excited, with his cane raised ready to strike another blow, +Mr. Ratcliffe suddenly turned his back and without a word, hastened +away. + +When Sybil returned, not long afterwards, she found no one in the +parlour. + +On going to her sister's room she discovered Madeleine lying on the +couch, looking worn and pale, but with a slight smile and a peaceful +expression on her face, as though she had done some act which her +conscience approved. She called Sybil to her side, and, taking her hand, +said: + +"Sybil, dearest, will you go abroad with me again?" + +"Of course I will," said Sybil; "I will go to the end of the world with +you." + +"I want to go to Egypt," said Madeleine, still smiling faintly; +"democracy has shaken my nerves to pieces. Oh, what rest it would be to +live in the Great Pyramid and look out for ever at the polar star!" + + + + +Conclusion + + +SYBIL TO CARRINGTON "May 1st, New York. + +"My dear Mr. Carrington, + +"I promised to write you, and so, to keep my +promise, and also because my sister wishes me to tell you about our +plans, I send this letter. We have left Washington--for ever, I am +afraid--and are going to Europe next month. + +You must know that a fortnight ago, Lord Skye gave a great ball to +the Grand-Duchess of something-or-other quite unspellable. I never can +describe things, but it was all very fine. I wore a lovely new dress, +and was a great success, I assure you. So was Madeleine, though she +had to sit most of the evening by the Princess--such a dowdy! The Duke +danced with me several times; he can't reverse, but that doesn't seem to +matter in a Grand-Duke. + +Well! things came to a crisis at the end of the evening. I followed your +directions, and after we got home gave your letter to Madeleine. +She says she has burned it. I don't know what happened afterwards--a +tremendous scene, I suspect, but Victoria Dare writes me from Washington +that every one is talking about M.'s refusal of Mr. R., and a dreadful +thing that took place on our very doorstep between Mr. R. and Baron +Jacobi, the day after the ball. She says there was a regular pitched +battle, and the Baron struck him over the face with his cane. You know +how afraid Madeleine was that they would do something of the sort in our +parlour. I'm glad they waited till they were in the street. But isn't +it shocking! They say the Baron is to be sent away, or recalled, or +something. I like the old gentleman, and for his sake am glad duelling +is gone out of fashion, though I don't much believe Mr. Silas P. +Ratcliffe could hit anything. The Baron passed through here three days +ago on his summer trip to Europe. He left his card on us, but we +were out, and did not see him. We are going over in July with the +Schneidekoupons, and Mr. Schneidekoupon has promised to send his yacht +to the Mediterranean, so that we shall sail about there after finishing +the Nile, and see Jerusalem and Gibraltar and Constantinople. I think +it will be perfectly lovely. I hate ruins, but I fancy you can buy +delicious things in Constantinople. Of course, after what has happened, +we can never go back to Washington. I shall miss our rides dreadfully. +I read Mr. Browning's 'Last Ride Together,' as you told me; I think it's +beautiful and perfectly easy, all but a little. I never could understand +a word of him before--so I never tried. Who do you think is engaged? +Victoria Dare, to a coronet and a peat-bog, with Lord Dunbeg attached. +Victoria says she is happier than she ever was before in any of her +other engagements, and she is sure this is the real one. She says she +has thirty thousand a year derived from the poor of America, which may +just as well go to relieve one of the poor in Ireland. + +You know her father was a claim agent, or some such thing, and is said +to have made his money by cheating his clients out of their claims. +She is perfectly wild to be a countess, and means to make Castle Dunbeg +lovely by-and-by, and entertain us all there. Madeleine says she is just +the kind to be a great success in London. Madeleine is very well, and +sends her kind regards. I believe she is going to add a postscript. +I have promised to let her read this, but I don't think a chaperoned +letter is much fun to write or receive. Hoping to hear from you soon, + +"Sincerely yours, + +"Sybil Ross." + + +Enclosed was a thin strip of paper containing another message from +Sybil, privately inserted at the last moment unknown to Mrs. Lee-- + +"If I were in your place I would try again after she comes home." + + +Mrs. Lee's P.S. was very short-- + +"The bitterest part of all this horrid story is that nine out of ten of +our countrymen would say I had made a mistake." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Democracy An American Novel, by Henry Adams + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEMOCRACY AN AMERICAN NOVEL *** + +***** This file should be named 2815-8.txt or 2815-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/1/2815/ + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: Democracy An American Novel + +Author: Henry Adams + +Release Date: December 13, 2008 [EBook #2815] +Last Updated: March 14, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEMOCRACY AN AMERICAN NOVEL *** + + + + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer, and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + DEMOCRACY AN AMERICAN NOVEL + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Henry Adams + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> Chapter I </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> Chapter II </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> Chapter III </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> Chapter IV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> Chapter V </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> Chapter VI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> Chapter VII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> Chapter VIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0009"> Chapter IX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> Chapter X </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0011"> Chapter XI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0012"> Chapter XII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0013"> Chapter XIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_CONC"> Conclusion </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div class="mynote"> + <p> + First published anonymously, March 1880, and soon in various + unauthorized editions. It wasn't until the 1925 edition that Adams was + listed as author. Henry Adams remarked (ironically as usual), “The + wholesale piracy of Democracy was the single real triumph of my life.”—it + was very popular, as readers tried to guess who the author was and who + the characters really were. Chapters XII and XIII were originally + misnumbered. + </p> + <br /> + </div> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + Chapter I + </h2> + <p> + FOR reasons which many persons thought ridiculous, Mrs. Lightfoot Lee + decided to pass the winter in Washington. She was in excellent health, but + she said that the climate would do her good. In New York she had troops of + friends, but she suddenly became eager to see again the very small number + of those who lived on the Potomac. It was only to her closest intimates + that she honestly acknowledged herself to be tortured by ennui. Since her + husband's death, five years before, she had lost her taste for New York + society; she had felt no interest in the price of stocks, and very little + in the men who dealt in them; she had become serious. What was it all + worth, this wilderness of men and women as monotonous as the brown stone + houses they lived in? In her despair she had resorted to desperate + measures. She had read philosophy in the original German, and the more she + read, the more she was disheartened that so much culture should lead to + nothing—nothing. + </p> + <p> + After talking of Herbert Spencer for an entire evening with a very + literary transcendental commission-merchant, she could not see that her + time had been better employed than when in former days she had passed it + in flirting with a very agreeable young stock-broker; indeed, there was an + evident proof to the contrary, for the flirtation might lead to something—had, + in fact, led to marriage; while the philosophy could lead to nothing, + unless it were perhaps to another evening of the same kind, because + transcendental philosophers are mostly elderly men, usually married, and, + when engaged in business, somewhat apt to be sleepy towards evening. + Nevertheless Mrs. Lee did her best to turn her study to practical use. She + plunged into philanthropy, visited prisons, inspected hospitals, read the + literature of pauperism and crime, saturated herself with the statistics + of vice, until her mind had nearly lost sight of virtue. At last it rose + in rebellion against her, and she came to the limit of her strength. This + path, too, seemed to lead nowhere. She declared that she had lost the + sense of duty, and that, so far as concerned her, all the paupers and + criminals in New York might henceforward rise in their majesty and manage + every railway on the continent. Why should she care? What was the city to + her? She could find nothing in it that seemed to demand salvation. What + gave peculiar sanctity to numbers? Why were a million people, who all + resembled each other, any way more interesting than one person? What + aspiration could she help to put into the mind of this great million-armed + monster that would make it worth her love or respect? Religion? A thousand + powerful churches were doing their best, and she could see no chance for a + new faith of which she was to be the inspired prophet. Ambition? High + popular ideals? Passion for whatever is lofty and pure? The very words + irritated her. Was she not herself devoured by ambition, and was she not + now eating her heart out because she could find no one object worth a + sacrifice? + </p> + <p> + Was it ambition—real ambition—or was it mere restlessness that + made Mrs. Lightfoot Lee so bitter against New York and Philadelphia, + Baltimore and Boston, American life in general and all life in particular? + What did she want? Not social position, for she herself was an eminently + respectable Philadelphian by birth; her father a famous clergyman; and her + husband had been equally irreproachable, a descendant of one branch of the + Virginia Lees, which had drifted to New York in search of fortune, and had + found it, or enough of it to keep the young man there. His widow had her + own place in society which no one disputed. Though not brighter than her + neighbours, the world persisted in classing her among clever women; she + had wealth, or at least enough of it to give her all that money can give + by way of pleasure to a sensible woman in an American city; she had her + house and her carriage; she dressed well; her table was good, and her + furniture was never allowed to fall behind the latest standard of + decorative art. She had travelled in Europe, and after several visits, + covering some years of time, had returned home, carrying in one hand, as + it were, a green-grey landscape, a remarkably pleasing specimen of Corot, + and in the other some bales of Persian and Syrian rugs and embroideries, + Japanese bronzes and porcelain. With this she declared Europe to be + exhausted, and she frankly avowed that she was American to the tips of her + fingers; she neither knew nor greatly cared whether America or Europe were + best to live in; she had no violent love for either, and she had no + objection to abusing both; but she meant to get all that American life had + to offer, good or bad, and to drink it down to the dregs, fully determined + that whatever there was in it she would have, and that whatever could be + made out of it she would manufacture. “I know,” said she, “that America + produces petroleum and pigs; I have seen both on the steamers; and I am + told it produces silver and gold. There is choice enough for any woman.” + </p> + <p> + Yet, as has been already said, Mrs. Lee's first experience was not a + success. She soon declared that New York might represent the petroleum or + the pigs, but the gold of life was not to be discovered there by her eyes. + </p> + <p> + Not but that there was variety enough; a variety of people, occupations, + aims, and thoughts; but that all these, after growing to a certain height, + stopped short. They found nothing to hold them up. She knew, more or less + intimately, a dozen men whose fortunes ranged between one million and + forty millions. What did they do with their money? What could they do with + it that was different from what other men did? After all, it is absurd to + spend more money than is enough to satisfy all one's wants; it is vulgar + to live in two houses in the same street, and to drive six horses abreast. + Yet, after setting aside a certain income sufficient for all one's wants, + what was to be done with the rest? To let it accumulate was to own one's + failure; Mrs. Lee's great grievance was that it did accumulate, without + changing or improving the quality of its owners. To spend it in charity + and public works was doubtless praiseworthy, but was it wise? Mrs. Lee had + read enough political economy and pauper reports to be nearly convinced + that public work should be public duty, and that great benefactions do + harm as well as good. + </p> + <p> + And even supposing it spent on these objects, how could it do more than + increase and perpetuate that same kind of human nature which was her great + grievance? Her New York friends could not meet this question except by + falling back upon their native commonplaces, which she recklessly trampled + upon, averring that, much as she admired the genius of the famous + traveller, Mr. Gulliver, she never had been able, since she became a + widow, to accept the Brobdingnagian doctrine that he who made two blades + of grass grow where only one grew before deserved better of mankind than + the whole race of politicians. She would not find fault with the + philosopher had he required that the grass should be of an improved + quality; “but,” said she, “I cannot honestly pretend that I should be + pleased to see two New York men where I now see one; the idea is too + ridiculous; more than one and a half would be fatal to me.” + </p> + <p> + Then came her Boston friends, who suggested that higher education was + precisely what she wanted; she should throw herself into a crusade for + universities and art-schools. Mrs. Lee turned upon them with a sweet + smile; “Do you know,” said she, “that we have in New York already the + richest university in America, and that its only trouble has always been + that it can get no scholars even by paying for them? Do you want me to go + out into the streets and waylay boys? If the heathen refuse to be + converted, can you give me power over the stake and the sword to compel + them to come in? And suppose you can? Suppose I march all the boys in + Fifth Avenue down to the university and have them all properly taught + Greek and Latin, English literature, ethics, and German philosophy. What + then? You do it in Boston. Now tell me honestly what comes of it. I + suppose you have there a brilliant society; numbers of poets, scholars, + philosophers, statesmen, all up and down Beacon Street. Your evenings must + be sparkling. Your press must scintillate. How is it that we New Yorkers + never hear of it? We don't go much into your society; but when we do, it + doesn't seem so very much better than our own. You are just like the rest + of us. You grow six inches high, and then you stop. Why will not somebody + grow to be a tree and cast a shadow?” + </p> + <p> + The average member of New York society, although not unused to this + contemptuous kind of treatment from his leaders, retaliated in his blind, + common-sense way. “What does the woman want?” he said. “Is her head turned + with the Tulieries and Marlborough House? Does she think herself made for + a throne? Why does she not lecture for women's rights? Why not go on the + stage? If she cannot be contented like other people, what need is there + for abusing us just because she feels herself no taller than we are? What + does she expect to get from her sharp tongue? What does she know, any + way?” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee certainly knew very little. She had read voraciously and + promiscuously one subject after another. Ruskin and Taine had danced + merrily through her mind, hand in hand with Darwin and Stuart Mill, + Gustave Droz and Algernon Swinburne. She had even laboured over the + literature of her own country. She was perhaps, the only woman in New York + who knew something of American history. Certainly she could not have + repeated the list of Presidents in their order, but she knew that the + Constitution divided the government into Executive, Legislative, and + Judiciary; she was aware that the President, the Speaker, and the Chief + Justice were important personages, and instinctively she wondered whether + they might not solve her problem; whether they were the shade trees which + she saw in her dreams. + </p> + <p> + Here, then, was the explanation of her restlessness, discontent, ambition,—call + it what you will. It was the feeling of a passenger on an ocean steamer + whose mind will not give him rest until he has been in the engine-room and + talked with the engineer. She wanted to see with her own eyes the action + of primary forces; to touch with her own hand the massive machinery of + society; to measure with her own mind the capacity of the motive power. + She was bent upon getting to the heart of the great American mystery of + democracy and government. She cared little where her pursuit might lead + her, for she put no extravagant value upon life, having already, as she + said, exhausted at least two lives, and being fairly hardened to + insensibility in the process. “To lose a husband and a baby,” said she, + “and keep one's courage and reason, one must become very hard or very + soft. I am now pure steel. You may beat my heart with a trip-hammer and it + will beat the trip-hammer back again.” + </p> + <p> + Perhaps after exhausting the political world she might try again + elsewhere; she did not pretend to say where she might then go, or what she + should do; but at present she meant to see what amusement there might be + in politics. + </p> + <p> + Her friends asked what kind of amusement she expected to find among the + illiterate swarm of ordinary people who in Washington represented + constituencies so dreary that in comparison New York was a New Jerusalem, + and Broad Street a grove of Academe. She replied that if Washington + society were so bad as this, she should have gained all she wanted, for it + would be a pleasure to return,—precisely the feeling she longed for. + In her own mind, however, she frowned on the idea of seeking for men. What + she wished to see, she thought, was the clash of interests, the interests + of forty millions of people and a whole continent, centering at + Washington; guided, restrained, controlled, or unrestrained and + uncontrollable, by men of ordinary mould; the tremendous forces of + government, and the machinery of society, at work. What she wanted, was + POWER. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps the force of the engine was a little confused in her mind with + that of the engineer, the power with the men who wielded it. Perhaps the + human interest of politics was after all what really attracted her, and, + however strongly she might deny it, the passion for exercising power, for + its own sake, might dazzle and mislead a woman who had exhausted all the + ordinary feminine resources. But why speculate about her motives? The + stage was before her, the curtain was rising, the actors were ready to + enter; she had only to go quietly on among the supernumeraries and see how + the play was acted and the stage effects were produced; how the great + tragedians mouthed, and the stage-manager swore. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter II + </h2> + <p> + ON the first of December, Mrs. Lee took the train for Washington, and + before five o'clock that evening she was entering her newly hired house on + Lafayette Square. She shrugged her shoulders with a mingled expression of + contempt and grief at the curious barbarism of the curtains and the + wall-papers, and her next two days were occupied with a life-and-death + struggle to get the mastery over her surroundings. In this awful contest + the interior of the doomed house suffered as though a demon were in it; + not a chair, not a mirror, not a carpet, was left untouched, and in the + midst of the worst confusion the new mistress sat, calm as the statue of + Andrew Jackson in the square under her eyes, and issued her orders with as + much decision as that hero had ever shown. Towards the close of the second + day, victory crowned her forehead. A new era, a nobler conception of duty + and existence, had dawned upon that benighted and heathen residence. The + wealth of Syria and Persia was poured out upon the melancholy Wilton + carpets; embroidered comets and woven gold from Japan and Teheran depended + from and covered over every sad stuff-curtain; a strange medley of + sketches, paintings, fans, embroideries, and porcelain was hung, nailed, + pinned, or stuck against the wall; finally the domestic altarpiece, the + mystical Corot landscape, was hoisted to its place over the parlour fire, + and then all was over. The setting sun streamed softly in at the windows, + and peace reigned in that redeemed house and in the heart of its mistress. + </p> + <p> + “I think it will do now, Sybil,” said she, surveying the scene. + </p> + <p> + “It must,” replied Sybil. “You haven't a plate or a fan or coloured scarf + left. You must send out and buy some of these old negro-women's bandannas + if you are going to cover anything else. What is the use? Do you suppose + any human being in Washington will like it? They will think you demented.” + </p> + <p> + “There is such a thing as self-respect,” replied her sister, calmly. + </p> + <p> + Sybil—Miss Sybil Ross—was Madeleine Lee's sister. The keenest + psychologist could not have detected a single feature quality which they + had in common, and for that reason they were devoted friends. Madeleine + was thirty, Sybil twenty-four. Madeleine was indescribable; Sybil was + transparent. Madeleine was of medium height with a graceful figure, a + well-set head, and enough golden-brown hair to frame a face full of + varying expression. Her eyes were never for two consecutive hours of the + same shade, but were more often blue than grey. People who envied her + smile said that she cultivated a sense of humour in order to show her + teeth. Perhaps they were right; but there was no doubt that her habit of + talking with gesticulation would never have grown upon her unless she had + known that her hands were not only beautiful but expressive. She dressed + as skilfully as New York women do, but in growing older she began to show + symptoms of dangerous unconventionality. She had been heard to express a + low opinion of her countrywomen who blindly fell down before the golden + calf of Mr. Worth, and she had even fought a battle of great severity, + while it lasted, with one of her best-dressed friends who had been invited—and + had gone—to Mr. Worth's afternoon tea-parties. The secret was that + Mrs. Lee had artistic tendencies, and unless they were checked in time, + there was no knowing what might be the consequence. But as yet they had + done no harm; indeed, they rather helped to give her that sort of + atmosphere which belongs only to certain women; as indescribable as the + afterglow; as impalpable as an Indian summer mist; and non-existent except + to people who feel rather than reason. Sybil had none of it. The + imagination gave up all attempts to soar where she came. A more + straightforward, downright, gay, sympathetic, shallow, warm-hearted, + sternly practical young woman has rarely touched this planet. Her mind had + room for neither grave-stones nor guide-books; she could not have lived in + the past or the future if she had spent her days in churches and her + nights in tombs. “She was not clever, like Madeleine, thank Heaven.” + Madeleine was not an orthodox member of the church; sermons bored her, and + clergymen never failed to irritate every nerve in her excitable system. + Sybil was a simple and devout worshipper at the ritualistic altar; she + bent humbly before the Paulist fathers. When she went to a ball she always + had the best partner in the room, and took it as a matter of course; but + then, she always prayed for one; somehow it strengthened her faith. Her + sister took care never to laugh at her on this score, or to shock her + religious opinions. “Time enough,” said she, “for her to forget religion + when religion fails her.” As for regular attendance at church, Madeleine + was able to reconcile their habits without trouble. She herself had not + entered a church for years; she said it gave her unchristian feelings; but + Sybil had a voice of excellent quality, well trained and cultivated: + Madeleine insisted that she should sing in the choir, and by this little + manoeuvre, the divergence of their paths was made less evident. Madeleine + did not sing, and therefore could not go to church with Sybil. This + outrageous fallacy seemed perfectly to answer its purpose, and Sybil + accepted it, in good faith, as a fair working principle which explained + itself. + </p> + <p> + Madeleine was sober in her tastes. She wasted no money. She made no + display. + </p> + <p> + She walked rather than drove, and wore neither diamonds nor brocades. But + the general impression she made was nevertheless one of luxury. On the + other hand, her sister had her dresses from Paris, and wore them and her + ornaments according to all the formulas; she was good-naturedly correct, + and bent her round white shoulders to whatever burden the Parisian + autocrat chose to put upon them. Madeleine never interfered, and always + paid the bills. + </p> + <p> + Before they had been ten days in Washington, they fell gently into their + place and were carried along without an effort on the stream of social + life. + </p> + <p> + Society was kind; there was no reason for its being otherwise. Mrs. Lee + and her sister had no enemies, held no offices, and did their best to make + themselves popular. Sybil had not passed summers at Newport and winters in + New York in vain; and neither her face nor her figure, her voice nor her + dancing, needed apology. Politics were not her strong point. She was + induced to go once to the Capitol and to sit ten minutes in the gallery of + the Senate. No one ever knew what her impressions were; with feminine tact + she managed not to betray herself But, in truth, her notion of legislative + bodies was vague, floating between her experience at church and at the + opera, so that the idea of a performance of some kind was never out of her + head. To her mind the Senate was a place where people went to recite + speeches, and she naively assumed that the speeches were useful and had a + purpose, but as they did not interest her she never went again. This is a + very common conception of Congress; many Congressmen share it. + </p> + <p> + Her sister was more patient and bolder. She went to the Capitol nearly + every day for at least two weeks. At the end of that time her interest + began to flag, and she thought it better to read the debates every morning + in the Congressional Record. Finding this a laborious and not always an + instructive task, she began to skip the dull parts; and in the absence of + any exciting question, she at last resigned herself to skipping the whole. + Nevertheless she still had energy to visit the Senate gallery occasionally + when she was told that a splendid orator was about to speak on a question + of deep interest to his country. She listened with a little disposition to + admire, if she could; and, whenever she could, she did admire. She said + nothing, but she listened sharply. She wanted to learn how the machinery + of government worked, and what was the quality of the men who controlled + it. One by one, she passed them through her crucibles, and tested them by + acids and by fire. + </p> + <p> + A few survived her tests and came out alive, though more or less + disfigured, where she had found impurities. Of the whole number, only one + retained under this process enough character to interest her. + </p> + <p> + In these early visits to Congress, Mrs. Lee sometimes had the company of + John Carrington, a Washington lawyer about forty years old, who, by virtue + of being a Virginian and a distant connection of her husband, called + himself a cousin, and took a tone of semi-intimacy, which Mrs. Lee + accepted because Carrington was a man whom she liked, and because he was + one whom life had treated hardly. He was of that unfortunate generation in + the south which began existence with civil war, and he was perhaps the + more unfortunate because, like most educated Virginians of the old + Washington school, he had seen from the first that, whatever issue the war + took, Virginia and he must be ruined. At twenty-two he had gone into the + rebel army as a private and carried his musket modestly through a campaign + or two, after which he slowly rose to the rank of senior captain in his + regiment, and closed his services on the staff of a major-general, always + doing scrupulously enough what he conceived to be his duty, and never + doing it with enthusiasm. When the rebel armies surrendered, he rode away + to his family plantation—not a difficult thing to do, for it was + only a few miles from Appomatox—and at once began to study law; + then, leaving his mother and sisters to do what they could with the + worn-out plantation, he began the practice of law in Washington, hoping + thus to support himself and them. He had succeeded after a fashion, and + for the first time the future seemed not absolutely dark. Mrs. Lee's house + was an oasis to him, and he found himself, to his surprise, almost gay in + her company. The gaiety was of a very quiet kind, and Sybil, while + friendly with him, averred that he was certainly dull; but this dulness + had a fascination for Madeleine, who, having tasted many more kinds of the + wine of life than Sybil, had learned to value certain delicacies of age + and flavour that were lost upon younger and coarser palates. He talked + rather slowly and almost with effort, but he had something of the dignity—others + call it stiffness—of the old Virginia school, and twenty years of + constant responsibility and deferred hope had added a touch of care that + bordered closely on sadness. His great attraction was that he never talked + or seemed to think of himself. Mrs. Lee trusted in him by instinct. “He is + a type!” said she; “he is my idea of George Washington at thirty.” + </p> + <p> + One morning in December, Carrington entered Mrs. Lee's parlour towards + noon, and asked if she cared to visit the Capitol. + </p> + <p> + “You will have a chance of hearing to-day what may be the last great + speech of our greatest statesman,” said he; “you should come.” + </p> + <p> + “A splendid sample of our native raw material, sir?” asked she, fresh from + a reading of Dickens, and his famous picture of American statesmanship. + </p> + <p> + “Precisely so,” said Carrington; “the Prairie Giant of Peonia, the + Favourite Son of Illinois; the man who came within three votes of getting + the party nomination for the Presidency last spring, and was only defeated + because ten small intriguers are sharper than one big one. The Honourable + Silas P. Ratcliffe, Senator from Illinois; he will be run for the + Presidency yet.” + </p> + <p> + “What does the P. stand for?” asked Sybil. + </p> + <p> + “I don't remember ever to have heard his middle name,” said Carrington. + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps it is Peonia or Prairie; I can't say.” + </p> + <p> + “He is the man whose appearance struck me so much when we were in the + Senate last week, is he not? A great, ponderous man, over six feet high, + very senatorial and dignified, with a large head and rather good + features?” inquired Mrs. Lee. + </p> + <p> + “The same,” replied Carrington. “By all means hear him speak. He is the + stumbling-block of the new President, who is to be allowed no peace unless + he makes terms with Ratcliffe; and so every one thinks that the Prairie + Giant of Peonia will have the choice of the State or Treasury Department. + If he takes either it will be the Treasury, for he is a desperate + political manager, and will want the patronage for the next national + convention.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee was delighted to hear the debate, and Carrington was delighted to + sit through it by her side, and to exchange running comments with her on + the speeches and the speakers. + </p> + <p> + “Have you ever met the Senator?” asked she. + </p> + <p> + “I have acted several times as counsel before his committees. He is an + excellent chairman, always attentive and generally civil.” + </p> + <p> + “Where was he born?” + </p> + <p> + “The family is a New England one, and I believe respectable. He came, I + think, from some place in the Connecticut Valley, but whether Vermont, New + Hampshire, or Massachusetts, I don't know.” + </p> + <p> + “Is he an educated man?” + </p> + <p> + “He got a kind of classical education at one of the country colleges + there. I suspect he has as much education as is good for him. But he went + West very soon after leaving college, and being then young and fresh from + that hot-bed of abolition, he threw himself into the anti-slavery movement + in Illinois, and after a long struggle he rose with the wave. He would not + do the same thing now.” + </p> + <p> + “Why not?” + </p> + <p> + “He is older, more experienced, and not so wise. Besides, he has no longer + the time to wait. Can you see his eyes from here? I call them Yankee + eyes.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't abuse the Yankees,” said Mrs. Lee; “I am half Yankee myself.” + </p> + <p> + “Is that abuse? Do you mean to deny that they have eyes?” + </p> + <p> + “I concede that there may be eyes among them; but Virginians are not fair + judges of their expression.” + </p> + <p> + “Cold eyes,” he continued; “steel grey, rather small, not unpleasant in + good-humour, diabolic in a passion, but worst when a little suspicious; + then they watch you as though you were a young rattle-snake, to be killed + when convenient.” + </p> + <p> + “Does he not look you in the face?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes; but not as though he liked you. His eyes only seem to ask the + possible uses you might be put to. Ah, the vice-president has given him + the floor; now we shall have it. Hard voice, is it not? like his eyes. + Hard manner, like his voice. Hard all through.” + </p> + <p> + “What a pity he is so dreadfully senatorial!” said Mrs. Lee; “otherwise I + rather admire him.” + </p> + <p> + “Now he is settling down to his work,” continued Carrington. “See how he + dodges all the sharp issues. What a thing it is to be a Yankee! What a + genius the fellow has for leading a party! Do you see how well it is all + done? The new President flattered and conciliated, the party united and + given a strong lead. And now we shall see how the President will deal with + him. Ten to one on Ratcliffe. Come, there is that stupid ass from Missouri + getting up. Let us go.” + </p> + <p> + As they passed down the steps and out into the Avenue, Mrs. Lee turned to + Carrington as though she had been reflecting deeply and had at length + reached a decision. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Carrington,” said she, “I want to know Senator Ratcliffe.” + </p> + <p> + “You will meet him to-morrow evening,” replied Carrington, “at your + senatorial dinner.” + </p> + <p> + The Senator from New York, the Honourable Schuyler Clinton, was an old + admirer of Mrs. Lee, and his wife was a cousin of hers, more or less + distant. They had lost no time in honouring the letter of credit she thus + had upon them, and invited her and her sister to a solemn dinner, as + imposing as political dignity could make it. Mr. Carrington, as a + connection of hers, was one of the party, and almost the only one among + the twenty persons at table who had neither an office, nor a title, nor a + constituency. + </p> + <p> + Senator Clinton received Mrs. Lee and her sister with tender enthusiasm, + for they were attractive specimens of his constituents. He pressed their + hands and evidently restrained himself only by an effort from embracing + them, for the Senator had a marked regard for pretty women, and had made + love to every girl with any pretensions to beauty that had appeared in the + State of New York for fully half a century. At the same time he whispered + an apology in her ear; he regretted so much that he was obliged to forego + the pleasure of taking her to dinner; Washington was the only city in + America where this could have happened, but it was a fact that ladies here + were very great stickiers for etiquette; on the other hand he had the sad + consolation that she would be the gainer, for he had allotted to her Lord + Skye, the British Minister, “a most agreeable man and not married, as I + have the misfortune to be;” and on the other side “I have ventured to + place Senator Ratcliffe, of Illinois, whose admirable speech I saw you + listening to with such rapt attention yesterday. I thought you might like + to know him. Did I do right?” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine assured him that he had divined her inmost wishes, and he turned + with even more warmth of affection to her sister: “As for you, my dear—dear + Sybil, what can I do to make your dinner agreeable? If I give your sister + a coronet, I am only sorry not to have a diadem for you. But I have done + everything in my power. The first Secretary of the Russian Legation, Count + Popoff, will take you in; a charming young man, my dear Sybil; and on your + other side I have placed the Assistant Secretary of State, whom you know.” + </p> + <p> + And so, after the due delay, the party settled themselves at the + dinner-table, and Mrs. Lee found Senator Ratcliffe's grey eyes resting on + her face for a moment as they sat down. + </p> + <p> + Lord Skye was very agreeable, and, at almost any other moment of her life, + Mrs. Lee would have liked nothing better than to talk with him from the + beginning to the end of her dinner. Tall, slender, bald-headed, awkward, + and stammering with his elaborate British stammer whenever it suited his + convenience to do so; a sharp observer who had wit which he commonly + concealed; a humourist who was satisfied to laugh silently at his own + humour; a diplomatist who used the mask of frankness with great effect; + Lord Skye was one of the most popular men in Washington. Every one knew + that he was a ruthless critic of American manners, but he had the art to + combine ridicule with good-humour, and he was all the more popular + accordingly. He was an outspoken admirer of American women in everything + except their voices, and he did not even shrink from occasionally quizzing + a little the national peculiarities of his own countrywomen; a sure piece + of flattery to their American cousins. He would gladly have devoted + himself to Mrs. Lee, but decent civility required that he should pay some + attention to his hostess, and he was too good a diplomatist not to be + attentive to a hostess who was the wife of a Senator, and that Senator the + chairman of the committee of foreign relations. + </p> + <p> + The moment his head was turned, Mrs. Lee dashed at her Peonia Giant, who + was then consuming his fish, and wishing he understood why the British + Minister had worn no gloves, while he himself had sacrificed his + convictions by wearing the largest and whitest pair of French kids that + could be bought for money on Pennsylvania Avenue. There was a little touch + of mortification in the idea that he was not quite at home among + fashionable people, and at this instant he felt that true happiness was + only to be found among the simple and honest sons and daughters of toil. A + certain secret jealousy of the British Minister is always lurking in the + breast of every American Senator, if he is truly democratic; for + democracy, rightly understood, is the government of the people, by the + people, for the benefit of Senators, and there is always a danger that the + British Minister may not understand this political principle as he should. + Lord Skye had run the risk of making two blunders; of offending the + Senator from New York by neglecting his wife, and the Senator from + Illinois by engrossing the attention of Mrs. Lee. A young Englishman would + have done both, but Lord Skye had studied the American constitution. The + wife of the Senator from New York now thought him most agreeable, and at + the same moment the Senator from Illinois awoke to the conviction that + after all, even in frivolous and fashionable circles, true dignity is in + no danger of neglect; an American Senator represents a sovereign state; + the great state of Illinois is as big as England—with the convenient + omission of Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, India, Australia, and a few + other continents and islands; and in short, it was perfectly clear that + Lord Skye was not formidable to him, even in light society; had not Mrs. + Lee herself as good as said that no position equalled that of an American + Senator? + </p> + <p> + In ten minutes Mrs. Lee had this devoted statesman at her feet. She had + not studied the Senate without a purpose. She had read with unerring + instinct one general characteristic of all Senators, a boundless and + guileless thirst for flattery, engendered by daily draughts from political + friends or dependents, then becoming a necessity like a dram, and + swallowed with a heavy smile of ineffable content. A single glance at Mr. + Ratcliffe's face showed Madeleine that she need not be afraid of + flattering too grossly; her own self-respect, not his, was the only + restraint upon her use of this feminine bait. + </p> + <p> + She opened upon him with an apparent simplicity and gravity, a quiet + repose of manner, and an evident consciousness of her own strength, which + meant that she was most dangerous. + </p> + <p> + “I heard your speech yesterday, Mr. Ratcliffe. I am glad to have a chance + of telling you how much I was impressed by it. It seemed to me masterly. + Do you not find that it has had a great effect?” + </p> + <p> + “I thank you, madam. I hope it will help to unite the party, but as yet we + have had no time to measure its results. That will require several days + more.” The Senator spoke in his senatorial manner, elaborate, + condescending, and a little on his guard. + </p> + <p> + “Do you know,” said Mrs. Lee, turning towards him as though he were a + valued friend, and looking deep into his eyes, “Do you know that every one + told me I should be shocked by the falling off in political ability at + Washington? I did not believe them, and since hearing your speech I am + sure they are mistaken. Do you yourself think there is less ability in + Congress than there used to be?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, madam, it is difficult to answer that question. Government is not + so easy now as it was formerly. There are different customs. There are + many men of fair abilities in public life; many more than there used to + be; and there is sharper criticism and more of it.” + </p> + <p> + “Was I right in thinking that you have a strong resemblance to Daniel + Webster in your way of speaking? You come from the same neighbourhood, do + you not?” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee here hit on Ratcliffe's weak point; the outline of his head had, + in fact, a certain resemblance to that of Webster, and he prided himself + upon it, and on a distant relationship to the Expounder of the + Constitution; he began to think that Mrs. Lee was a very intelligent + person. His modest admission of the resemblance gave her the opportunity + to talk of Webster's oratory, and the conversation soon spread to a + discussion of the merits of Clay and Calhoun. The Senator found that his + neighbour—a fashionable New York woman, exquisitely dressed, and + with a voice and manner seductively soft and gentle—had read the + speeches of Webster and Calhoun. She did not think it necessary to tell + him that she had persuaded the honest Carrington to bring her the volumes + and to mark such passages as were worth her reading; but she took care to + lead the conversation, and she criticised with some skill and more humour + the weak points in Websterian oratory, saying with a little laugh and a + glance into his delighted eyes: + </p> + <p> + “My judgment may not be worth much, Mr. Senator, but it does seem to me + that our fathers thought too much of themselves, and till you teach me + better I shall continue to think that the passage in your speech of + yesterday which began with, 'Our strength lies in this twisted and tangled + mass of isolated principles, the hair of the half-sleeping giant of + Party,' is both for language and imagery quite equal to anything of + Webster's.” + </p> + <p> + The Senator from Illinois rose to this gaudy fly like a huge, + two-hundred-pound salmon; his white waistcoat gave out a mild silver + reflection as he slowly came to the surface and gorged the hook. He made + not even a plunge, not one perceptible effort to tear out the barbed + weapon, but, floating gently to her feet, allowed himself to be landed as + though it were a pleasure. Only miserable casuists will ask whether this + was fair play on Madeleine's part; whether flattery so gross cost her + conscience no twinge, and whether any woman can without self-abasement be + guilty of such shameless falsehood. She, however, scorned the idea of + falsehood. She would have defended herself by saying that she had not so + much praised Ratcliffe as depreciated Webster, and that she was honest in + her opinion of the old-fashioned American oratory. But she could not deny + that she had wilfully allowed the Senator to draw conclusions very + different from any she actually held. She could not deny that she had + intended to flatter him to the extent necessary for her purpose, and that + she was pleased at her success. Before they rose from table the Senator + had quite unbent himself; he was talking naturally, shrewdly, and with + some humour; he had told her Illinois stories; spoken with extraordinary + freedom about his political situation; and expressed the wish to call upon + Mrs. Lee, if he could ever hope to find her at home. + </p> + <p> + “I am always at home on Sunday evenings,” said she. + </p> + <p> + To her eyes he was the high-priest of American politics; he was charged + with the meaning of the mysteries, the clue to political hieroglyphics. + Through him she hoped to sound the depths of statesmanship and to bring up + from its oozy bed that pearl of which she was in search; the mysterious + gem which must lie hidden somewhere in politics. She wanted to understand + this man; to turn him inside out; to experiment on him and use him as + young physiologists use frogs and kittens. If there was good or bad in + him, she meant to find its meaning. + </p> + <p> + And he was a western widower of fifty; his quarters in Washington were in + gaunt boarding-house rooms, furnished only with public documents and + enlivened by western politicians and office-seekers. In the summer he + retired to a solitary, white framehouse with green blinds, surrounded by a + few feet of uncared-for grass and a white fence; its interior more dreary + still, with iron stoves, oil-cloth carpets, cold white walls, and one + large engraving of Abraham Lincoln in the parlour; all in Peonia, + Illinois! What equality was there between these two combatants? what hope + for him? what risk for her? And yet Madeleine Lee had fully her match in + Mr. Silas P. Ratcliffe. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter III + </h2> + <p> + MRS. Lee soon became popular. Her parlour was a favourite haunt of certain + men and women who had the art of finding its mistress at home; an art + which seemed not to be within the powers of everybody. Carrington was apt + to be there more often than any one else, so that he was looked on as + almost a part of the family, and if Madeleine wanted a book from the + library, or an extra man at her dinner-table, Carrington was pretty + certain to help her to the one or the other. Old Baron Jacobi, the + Bulgarian minister, fell madly in love with both sisters, as he commonly + did with every pretty face and neat figure. He was a witty, cynical, + broken-down Parisian roué, kept in Washington for years past by his debts + and his salary; always grumbling because there was no opera, and + mysteriously disappearing on visits to New York; a voracious devourer of + French and German literature, especially of novels; a man who seemed to + have met every noted or notorious personage of the century, and whose mind + was a magazine of amusing information; an excellent musical critic, who + was not afraid to criticise Sybil's singing; a connoisseur in bric-à-brac, + who laughed at Madeleine's display of odds and ends, and occasionally + brought her a Persian plate or a bit of embroidery, which he said was good + and would do her credit. This old sinner believed in everything that was + perverse and wicked, but he accepted the prejudices of Anglo-Saxon + society, and was too clever to obtrude his opinions upon others. + </p> + <p> + He would have married both sisters at once more willingly than either + alone, but as he feelingly said, “If I were forty years younger, + mademoiselle, you should not sing to me so calmly.” His friend Popoff, an + intelligent, vivacious Russian, with very Calmuck features, susceptible as + a girl, and passionately fond of music, hung over Sybil's piano by the + hour; he brought Russian airs which he taught her to sing, and, if the + truth were known, he bored Madeleine desperately, for she undertook to act + the part of duenna to her younger sister. + </p> + <p> + A very different visitor was Mr. C. C. French, a young member of Congress + from Connecticut, who aspired to act the part of the educated gentleman in + politics, and to purify the public tone. He had reform principles and an + unfortunately conceited maimer; he was rather wealthy, rather clever, + rather well-educated, rather honest, and rather vulgar. His allegiance was + divided between Mrs. Lee and her sister, whom he infuriated by addressing + as “Miss Sybil” with patronising familiarity. He was particularly strong + in what he called “badinaige,” and his playful but ungainly attempts at + wit drove Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Lee beyond the bounds of patience. When in a solemn mood, he talked as + though he were practising for the ear of a college debating society, and + with a still worse effect on the patience; but with all this he was + useful, always bubbling with the latest political gossip, and deeply + interested in the fate of party stakes. Quite another sort of person was + Mr. Hartbeest Schneidekoupon, a citizen of Philadelphia, though commonly + resident in New York, where he had fallen a victim to Sybil's charms, and + made efforts to win her young affections by instructing her in the + mysteries of currency and protection, to both which subjects he was + devoted. To forward these two interests and to watch over Miss Ross's + welfare, he made periodical visits to Washington, where he closeted + himself with committee-men and gave expensive dinners to members of + Congress. Mr. Schneidekoupon was rich, and about thirty years old, tall + and thin, with bright eyes and smooth face, elaborate manners and much + loquacity. He had the reputation of turning rapid intellectual + somersaults, partly to amuse himself and partly to startle society. At one + moment he was artistic, and discoursed scientifically about his own + paintings; at another he was literary, and wrote a book on “Noble Living,” + with a humanitarian purpose; at another he was devoted to sport, rode a + steeplechase, played polo, and set up a four-in-hand; his last occupation + was to establish in Philadelphia the Protective Review, a periodical in + the interests of American industry, which he edited himself, as a + stepping-stone to Congress, the Cabinet, and the Presidency. At about the + same time he bought a yacht, and heavy bets were pending among his + sporting friends whether he would manage to sink first his Review or his + yacht. But he was an amiable and excellent fellow through all his + eccentricities, and he brought to Mrs. Lee the simple outpourings of the + amateur politician. + </p> + <p> + A much higher type of character was Mr. Nathan Gore, of Massachusetts, a + handsome man with a grey beard, a straight, sharply cut nose, and a fine, + penetrating eye; in his youth a successful poet whose satires made a noise + in their day, and are still remembered for the pungency and wit of a few + verses; then a deep student in Europe for many years, until his famous + “History of Spain in America” placed him instantly at the head of American + historians, and made him minister at Madrid, where he remained four years + to his entire satisfaction, this being the nearest approach to a patent of + nobility and a government pension which the American citizen can attain. A + change of administration had reduced him to private life again, and after + some years of retirement he was now in Washington, willing to be restored + to his old mission. Every President thinks it respectable to have at least + one literary man in his pay, and Mr. Gore's prospects were fair for + obtaining his object, as he had the active support of a majority of the + Massachusetts delegation. He was abominably selfish, colossally egoistic, + and not a little vain; but he was shrewd; he knew how to hold his tongue; + he could flatter dexterously, and he had learned to eschew satire. Only in + confidence and among friends he would still talk freely, but Mrs. Lee was + not yet on those terms with him. These were all men, and there was no want + of women in Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Lee's parlour; but, after all, they are able to describe themselves better + than any poor novelist can describe them. Generally two currents of + conversation ran on together—one round Sybil, the other about + Madeleine. + </p> + <p> + “Mees Ross,” said Count Popoff, leading in a handsome young foreigner, “I + have your permission to present to you my friend Count Orsini, Secretary + of the Italian Legation. Are you at home this afternoon? Count Orsini + sings also.” + </p> + <p> + “We are charmed to see Count Orsini. It is well you came so late, for I + have this moment come in from making Cabinet calls. They were so queer! I + have been crying with laughter for an hour past.” “Do you find these calls + amusing?” asked Popoff, gravely and diplomatically. “Indeed I do! I went + with Julia Schneidekoupon, you know, Madeleine; the Schneidekoupons are + descended from all the Kings of Israel, and are prouder than Solomon in + his glory. And when we got into the house of some dreadful woman from + Heaven knows where, imagine my feelings at overhearing this conversation: + 'What may be your family name, ma'am?' 'Schneidekoupon is my name,' + replies Julia, very tall and straight. 'Have you any friends whom I should + likely know?' 'I think not,' says Julia, severely. 'Wal! I don't seem to + remember of ever having heerd the name. But I s'pose it's all right. I + like to know who calls.' I almost had hysterics when we got into the + street, but Julia could not see the joke at all.” + </p> + <p> + Count Orsini was not quite sure that he himself saw the joke, so he only + smiled becomingly and showed his teeth. For simple, childlike vanity and + self-consciousness nothing equals an Italian Secretary of Legation at + twenty-five. Yet conscious that the effect of his personal beauty would + perhaps be diminished by permanent silence, he ventured to murmur + presently: + </p> + <p> + “Do you not find it very strange, this society in America?” + </p> + <p> + “Society!” laughed Sybil with gay contempt. “There are no snakes in + America, any more than in Norway.” + </p> + <p> + “Snakes, mademoiselle!” repeated Orsini, with the doubtful expression of + one who is not quite certain whether he shall risk walking on thin ice, + and decides to go softly: “Snakes! Indeed they would rather be doves I + would call them.” + </p> + <p> + A kind laugh from Sybil strengthened into conviction his hope that he had + made a joke in this unknown tongue. His face brightened, his confidence + returned; once or twice he softly repeated to himself: “Not snakes; they + would be doves!” But Mrs. Lee's sensitive ear had caught Sybil's remark, + and detected in it a certain tone of condescension which was not to her + taste. + </p> + <p> + The impassive countenances of these bland young Secretaries of Legation + seemed to acquiesce far too much as a matter of course in the idea that + there was no society except in the old world. She broke into the + conversation with an emphasis that fluttered the dove-cote: + </p> + <p> + “Society in America? Indeed there is society in America, and very good + society too; but it has a code of its own, and new-comers seldom + understand it. I will tell you what it is, Mr. Orsini, and you will never + be in danger of making any mistake. 'Society' in America means all the + honest, kindly-mannered, pleasant-voiced women, and all the good, brave, + unassuming men, between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Each of these has a + free pass in every city and village, 'good for this generation only,' and + it depends on each to make use of this pass or not as it may happen to + suit his or her fancy. To this rule there are no exceptions, and those who + say 'Abraham is our father' will surely furnish food for that humour which + is the staple product of our country.” + </p> + <p> + The alarmed youths, who did not in the least understand the meaning of + this demonstration, looked on with a feeble attempt at acquiescence, while + Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Lee brandished her sugar-tongs in the act of transferring a lump of sugar + to her cup, quite unconscious of the slight absurdity of the gesture, + while Sybil stared in amazement, for it was not often that her sister + waved the stars and stripes so energetically. Whatever their silent + criticisms might be, however, Mrs. Lee was too much in earnest to be + conscious of them, or, indeed, to care for anything but what she was + saying. There was a moment's pause when she came to the end of her speech, + and then the thread of talk was quietly taken up again where Sybil's + incipient sneer had broken it. + </p> + <p> + Carrington came in. “What have you been doing at the Capitol?” asked + Madeleine. + </p> + <p> + “Lobbying!” was the reply, given in the semi-serious tone of Carrington's + humour. + </p> + <p> + “So soon, and Congress only two days old?” exclaimed Mrs. Lee. + </p> + <p> + “Madam,” rejoined Carrington, with his quietest malice, “Congressmen are + like birds of the air, which are caught only by the early worm.” “Good + afternoon, Mrs. Lee. Miss Sybil, how do you do again? Which of these + gentlemen's hearts are you feeding upon now?” This was the refined style + of Mr. French, indulging in what he was pleased to term “badinaige.” He, + too, was on his way from the Capitol, and had come in for a cup of tea and + a little human society. Sybil made a face which plainly expressed a + longing to inflict on Mr. French some grievous personal wrong, but she + pretended not to hear. He sat down by Madeleine, and asked, “Did you see + Ratcliffe yesterday?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Madeleine; “he was here last evening with Mr. Carrington and + one or two others.” + </p> + <p> + “Did he say anything about politics?” + </p> + <p> + “Not a word. We talked mostly about books.” + </p> + <p> + “Books! What does he know about books?” + </p> + <p> + “You must ask him.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, this is the most ridiculous situation we are all in. No one knows + anything about the new President. You could take your oath that everybody + is in the dark. Ratcliffe says he knows as little as the rest of us, but + it can't be true; he is too old a politician not to have wires in his + hand; and only to-day one of the pages of the Senate told my colleague + Cutter that a letter sent off by him yesterday was directed to Sam Grimes, + of North Bend, who, as every one knows, belongs to the President's + particular crowd.—Why, Mr. Schneidekoupon! How do you do? When did + you come on?” + </p> + <p> + “Thank you; this morning,” replied Mr. Schneidekoupon, just entering the + room. “So glad to see you again, Mrs. Lee. How do you and your sister like + Washington? Do you know I have brought Julia on for a visit? I thought I + should find her here. + </p> + <p> + “She has just gone. She has been all the afternoon with Sybil, making + calls. She says you want her here to lobby for you, Mr. Schneidekoupon. Is + it true?” + </p> + <p> + “So I did,” replied he, with a laugh, “but she is precious little use. So + I've come to draft you into the service.” + </p> + <p> + “Me!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes; you know we all expect Senator Ratcliffe to be Secretary of the + Treasury, and it is very important for us to keep him straight on the + currency and the tariff. So I have come on to establish more intimate + relations with him, as they say in diplomacy. I want to get him to dine + with me at Welckley's, but as I know he keeps very shy of politics I + thought my only chance was to make it a ladies' dinner, so I brought on + Julia. I shall try and get Mrs. Schuyler Clinton, and I depend upon you + and your sister to help Julia out.” + </p> + <p> + “Me! at a lobby dinner! Is that proper?” + </p> + <p> + “Why not? You shall choose the guests.” + </p> + <p> + “I never heard of such a thing; but it would certainly be amusing. Sybil + must not go, but I might.” “Excuse me; Julia depends upon Miss Ross, and + will not go to table without her.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” assented Mrs. Lee, hesitatingly, “perhaps if you get Mrs. Clinton, + and if your sister is there And who else?” + </p> + <p> + “Choose your own company.” + </p> + <p> + “I know no one.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh yes; here is French, not quite sound on the tariff, but good for what + we want just now. Then we can get Mr. Gore; he has his little hatchet to + grind too, and will be glad to help grind ours. We only want two or three + more, and I will have an extra man or so to fill up.” + </p> + <p> + “Do ask the Speaker. I want to know him.” + </p> + <p> + “I will, and Carrington, and my Pennsylvania Senator. That will do nobly. + Remember, Welckley's, Saturday at seven.” + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile Sybil had been at the piano, and when she had sung for a time, + Orsini was induced to take her place, and show that it was possible to + sing without injury to one's beauty. Baron Jacobi came in and found fault + with them both. Little Miss Dare—commonly known among her male + friends as little Daredevil—who was always absorbed in some + flirtation with a Secretary of Legation, came in, quite unaware that + Popoff was present, and retired with him into a corner, while Orsini and + Jacobi bullied poor Sybil, and fought with each other at the piano; + everybody was talking with very little reference to any reply, when at + last Mrs. Lee drove them all out of the room: “We are quiet people,” said + she, “and we dine at half-past six.” + </p> + <p> + Senator Ratcliffe had not failed to make his Sunday evening call upon Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Lee. Perhaps it was not strictly correct to say that they had talked books + all the evening, but whatever the conversation was, it had only confirmed + Mr. Ratcliffe's admiration for Mrs. Lee, who, without intending to do so, + had acted a more dangerous part than if she had been the most accomplished + of coquettes. Nothing could be more fascinating to the weary politician in + his solitude than the repose of Mrs. Lee's parlour, and when Sybil sang + for him one or two simple airs—she said they were foreign hymns, the + Senator being, or being considered, orthodox—Mr. Ratcliffe's heart + yearned toward the charming girl quite with the sensations of a father, or + even of an elder brother. + </p> + <p> + His brother senators very soon began to remark that the Prairie Giant had + acquired a trick of looking up to the ladies' gallery. One day Mr. + Jonathan Andrews, the special correspondent of the New York Sidereal + System, a very friendly organ, approached Senator Schuyler Clinton with a + puzzled look on his face. + </p> + <p> + “Can you tell me,” said he, “what has happened to Silas P. Ratcliffe? Only + a moment ago I was talking with him at his seat on a very important + subject, about which I must send his opinions off to New York to-night, + when, in the middle of a sentence, he stopped short, got up without + looking at me, and left the Senate Chamber, and now I see him in the + gallery talking with a lady whose face I don't know.” + </p> + <p> + Senator Clinton slowly adjusted his gold eye-glasses and looked up at the + place indicated: “Ah! Mrs. Lightfoot Lee! I think I will say a word to her + myself;” and turning his back on the special correspondent, he skipped + away with youthful agility after the Senator from Illinois. + </p> + <p> + “Devil!” muttered Mr. Andrews; “what has got into the old fools?” and in a + still less audible murmur as he looked up to Mrs. Lee, then in close + conversation with Ratcliffe: “Had I better make an item of that?” + </p> + <p> + When young Mr. Schneidekoupon called upon Senator Ratcliffe to invite him + to the dinner at Welckley's, he found that gentleman overwhelmed with + work, as he averred, and very little disposed to converse. No! he did not + now go out to dinner. In the present condition of the public business he + found it impossible to spare the time for such amusements. He regretted to + decline Mr. Schneidekoupon's civility, but there were imperative reasons + why he should abstain for the present from social entertainments; he had + made but one exception to his rule, and only at the pressing request of + his old friend Senator Clinton, and on a very special occasion. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Schneidekoupon was deeply vexed—the more, he said, because he + had meant to beg Mr. and Mrs. Clinton to be of the party, as well as a + very charming lady who rarely went into society, but who had almost + consented to come. + </p> + <p> + “Who is that?” inquired the Senator. + </p> + <p> + “A Mrs. Lightfoot Lee, of New York. Probably you do not know her well + enough to admire her as I do; but I think her quite the most intelligent + woman I ever met.” + </p> + <p> + The Senator's cold eyes rested for a moment on the young man's open face + with a peculiar expression of distrust. Then he solemnly said, in his + deepest senatorial tones: + </p> + <p> + “My young friend, at my time of life men have other things to occupy them + than women, however intelligent they may be. Who else is to be of your + party?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Schneidekoupon named his list. + </p> + <p> + “And for Saturday evening at seven, did you say?” + </p> + <p> + “Saturday at seven.” + </p> + <p> + “I fear there is little chance of my attending, but I will not absolutely + decline. Perhaps when the moment arrives, I may find myself able to be + there. But do not count upon me—do not count upon me. Good day, Mr. + Schneidekoupon.” + </p> + <p> + Schneidekoupon was rather a simple-minded young man, who saw no deeper + than his neighbours into the secrets of the universe, and he went off + swearing roundly at “the infernal airs these senators give themselves.” He + told Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Lee all the conversation, as indeed he was compelled to do under penalty + of bringing her to his party under false pretences. + </p> + <p> + “Just my luck,” said he; “here I am forced to ask no end of people to meet + a man, who at the same time says he shall probably not come. Why, under + the stars, couldn't he say, like other people, whether he was coming or + not? I've known dozens of senators, Mrs. Lee, and they're all like that. + They never think of any one but themselves.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee smiled rather a forced smile, and soothed his wounded feelings; + she had no doubt the dinner would be very agreeable whether the Senator + were there or not; at any rate she would do all she could to carry it off + well, and Sybil should wear her newest dress. Still she was a little + grave, and Mr. Schneidekoupon could only declare that she was a trump; + that he had told Ratcliffe she was the cleverest woman he ever met, and he + might have added the most obliging, and Ratcliffe had only looked at him + as though he were a green ape. At all which Mrs. Lee laughed + good-naturedly, and sent him away as soon as she could. + </p> + <p> + When he was gone, she walked up and down the room and thought. She saw the + meaning of Ratcliffe's sudden change in tone. She had no more doubt of his + coming to the dinner than she had of the reason why he came. And was it + possible that she was being drawn into something very near a flirtation + with a man twenty years her senior; a politician from Illinois; a huge, + ponderous, grey-eyed, bald senator, with a Websterian head, who lived in + Peonia? The idea was almost too absurd to be credited; but on the whole + the thing itself was rather amusing. “I suppose senators can look out for + themselves like other men,” was her final conclusion. She thought only of + his danger, and she felt a sort of compassion for him as she reflected on + the possible consequences of a great, absorbing love at his time of life. + </p> + <p> + Her conscience was a little uneasy; but of herself she never thought. Yet + it is a historical fact that elderly senators have had a curious + fascination for young and handsome women. Had they looked out for + themselves too? And which parties most needed to be looked after? + </p> + <p> + When Madeleine and her sister arrived at Welckley's 's the next Saturday + evening, they found poor Schneidekoupon in a temper very unbecoming a + host. + </p> + <p> + “He won't come! I told you he wouldn't come!” said he to Madeleine, as he + handed her into the house. “If I ever turn communist, it will be for the + fun of murdering a senator.” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine consoled him gently, but he continued to use, behind Mr. + Clinton's back, language the most offensive and improper towards the + Senate, and at last, ringing the bell, he sharply ordered the head waiter + to serve dinner. + </p> + <p> + At that very moment the door opened, and Senator Ratcliffe's stately + figure appeared on the threshold. His eye instantly caught Madeleine's, + and she almost laughed aloud, for she saw that the Senator was dressed + with very unsenatorial neatness; that he had actually a flower in his + burton-hole and no gloves! + </p> + <p> + After the enthusiastic description which Schneidekoupon had given of Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Lee's charms, he could do no less than ask Senator Ratcliffe to take her + in to dinner, which he did without delay. Either this, or the champagne, + or some occult influence, had an extraordinary effect upon him. He + appeared ten years younger than usual; his face was illuminated; his eyes + glowed; he seemed bent on proving his kinship to the immortal Webster by + rivalling his convivial powers. He dashed into the conversation; laughed, + jested, and ridiculed; told stories in Yankee and Western dialect; gave + sharp little sketches of amusing political experiences. + </p> + <p> + “Never was more surprised in my life,” whispered Senator Krebs, of + Pennsylvania, across the table to Schneidekoupon. “Hadn't an idea that + Ratcliffe was so entertaining.” + </p> + <p> + And Mr. Clinton, who sat by Madeleine on the other side, whispered low + into her ear: “I am afraid, my dear Mrs. Lee, that you are responsible for + this. He never talks so to the Senate.” + </p> + <p> + Nay, he even rose to a higher flight, and told the story of President + Lincoln's death-bed with a degree of feeling that brought tears into their + eyes. The other guests made no figure at all. The Speaker consumed his + solitary duck and his lonely champagne in a corner without giving a sign. + </p> + <p> + Even Mr. Gore, who was not wont to hide his light under any kind of + extinguisher, made no attempt to claim the floor, and applauded with + enthusiasm the conversation of his opposite neighbour. Ill-natured people + might say that Mr. Gore saw in Senator Ratcliffe a possible Secretary of + State; be this as it may, he certainly said to Mrs. Clinton, in an aside + that was perfectly audible to every one at the table: “How brilliant! what + an original mind! what a sensation he would make abroad!” And it was quite + true, apart from the mere momentary effect of dinner-table talk, that + there was a certain bigness about the man; a keen practical sagacity; a + bold freedom of self-assertion; a broad way of dealing with what he knew. + </p> + <p> + Carrington was the only person at table who looked on with a perfectly + cool head, and who criticised in a hostile spirit. Carrington's impression + of Ratcliffe was perhaps beginning to be warped by a shade of jealousy, + for he was in a peculiarly bad temper this evening, and his irritation was + not wholly concealed. + </p> + <p> + “If one only had any confidence in the man!” he muttered to French, who + sat by him. + </p> + <p> + This unlucky remark set French to thinking how he could draw Ratcliffe + out, and accordingly, with his usual happy manner, combining self-conceit + and high principles, he began to attack the Senator with some “badinaige” + on the delicate subject of Civil Service Reform, a subject almost as + dangerous in political conversation at Washington as slavery itself in old + days before the war. French was a reformer, and lost no occasion of + impressing his views; but unluckily he was a very light weight, and his + manner was a little ridiculous, so that even Mrs. Lee, who was herself a + warm reformer, sometimes went over to the other side when he talked. No + sooner had he now shot his little arrow at the Senator, than that astute + man saw his opportunity, and promised himself the pleasure of + administering to Mr. + </p> + <p> + French punishment such as he knew would delight the company. Reformer as + Mrs. Lee was, and a little alarmed at the roughness of Ratcliffe's + treatment, she could not blame the Prairie Giant, as she ought, who, after + knocking poor French down, rolled him over and over in the mud. + </p> + <p> + “Are you financier enough, Mr. French, to know what are the most famous + products of Connecticut?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. French modestly suggested that he thought its statesmen best answered + that description. + </p> + <p> + “No, sir! even there you're wrong. The showmen beat you on your own + ground. But every child in the union knows that the most famous products + of Connecticut are Yankee notions, nutmegs made of wood and clocks that + won't go. Now, your Civil Service Reform is just such another Yankee + notion; it's a wooden nutmeg; it's a clock with a show case and sham + works. And you know it! You are precisely the old-school Connecticut + peddler. You have gone about peddling your wooden nutmegs until you have + got yourself into Congress, and now you pull them out of your pockets and + not only want us to take them at your own price, but you lecture us on our + sins if we don't. Well! we don't mind your doing that at home. Abuse us as + much as you like to your constituents. Get as many votes as you can. But + don't electioneer here, because we know you intimately, and we've all been + a little in the wooden nutmeg business ourselves.” + </p> + <p> + Senator Clinton and Senator Krebs chuckled high approval over this + punishment of poor French, which was on the level of their idea of wit. + They were all in the nutmeg business, as Ratcliffe said. The victim tried + to make head against them; he protested that his nutmegs were genuine; he + sold no goods that he did not guarantee; and that this particular article + was actually guaranteed by the national conventions of both political + parties. + </p> + <p> + “Then what you want, Mr. French, is a common school education. You need a + little study of the alphabet. Or if you won't believe me, ask my brother + senators here what chance there is for your Reforms so long as the + American citizen is what he is.” + </p> + <p> + “You'll not get much comfort in my State, Mr. French,” growled the senator + from Pennsylvania, with a sneer; “suppose you come and try.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, well!” said the benevolent Mr. Schuyler Clinton, gleaming + benignantly through his gold spectacles; “don't be too hard on French. He + means well. Perhaps he's not very wise, but he does good. I know more + about it than any of you, and I don't deny that the thing is all bad. + Only, as Mr. Ratcliffe says, the difficulty is in the people, not in us. + Go to work on them, French, and let us alone.” + </p> + <p> + French repented of his attack, and contented himself by muttering to + Carrington: “What a set of damned old reprobates they are!” + </p> + <p> + “They are right, though, in one thing,” was Carrington's reply: “their + advice is good. Never ask one of them to reform anything; if you do, you + will be reformed yourself.” + </p> + <p> + The dinner ended as brilliantly as it began, and Schneidekoupon was + delighted with his success. He had made himself particularly agreeable to + Sybil by confiding in her all his hopes and fears about the tariff and the + finances. When the ladies left the table, Ratcliffe could not stay for a + cigar; he must get back to his rooms, where he knew several men were + waiting for him; he would take his leave of the ladies and hurry away. But + when the gentlemen came up nearly an hour afterwards they found Ratcliffe + still taking his leave of the ladies, who were delighted at his + entertaining conversation; and when at last he really departed, he said to + Mrs. Lee, as though it were quite a matter of course: “You are at home as + usual to-morrow evening?” Madeleine smiled, bowed, and he went his way. + </p> + <p> + As the two sisters drove home that night, Madeleine was unusually silent. + </p> + <p> + Sybil yawned convulsively and then apologized: + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Schneidekoupon is very nice and good-natured, but a whole evening of + him goes a long way; and that horrid Senator Krebs would not say a word, + and drank a great deal too much wine, though it couldn't make him any more + stupid than he is. I don't think I care for senators.” Then, wearily, + after a pause: “Well, Maude, I do hope you've got what you wanted. I'm + sure you must have had politics enough. Haven't you got to the heart of + your great American mystery yet?” + </p> + <p> + “Pretty near it, I think,” said Madeleine, half to herself. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter IV + </h2> + <p> + SUNDAY evening was stormy, and some enthusiasm was required to make one + face its perils for the sake of society. Nevertheless, a few intimates + made their appearance as usual at Mrs. Lee's. The faithful Popoff was + there, and Miss Dare also ran in to pass an hour with her dear Sybil; but + as she passed the whole evening in a corner with Popoff, she must have + been disappointed in her object. Carrington came, and Baron Jacobi. + Schneidekoupon and his sister dined with Mrs. Lee, and remained after + dinner, while Sybil and Julia Schneidekoupon compared conclusions about + Washington society. The happy idea also occurred to Mr. Gore that, + inasmuch as Mrs. Lee's house was but a step from his hotel, he might as + well take the chance of amusement there as the certainty of solitude in + his rooms. Finally, Senator Ratcliffe duly made his appearance, and, + having established himself with a cup of tea by Madeleine's side, was soon + left to enjoy a quiet talk with her, the rest of the party by common + consent occupying themselves with each other. Under cover of the murmur of + conversation in the room, Mr. Ratcliffe quickly became confidential. + </p> + <p> + “I came to suggest that, if you want to hear an interesting debate, you + should come up to the Senate to-morrow. I am told that Garrard, of + Louisiana, means to attack my last speech, and I shall probably in that + case have to answer him. With you for a critic I shall speak better.” + </p> + <p> + “Am I such an amiable critic?” asked Madeleine. + </p> + <p> + “I never heard that amiable critics were the best,” said he; “justice is + the soul of good criticism, and it is only justice that I ask and expect + from you.” + </p> + <p> + “What good does this speaking do?” inquired she. “Are you any nearer the + end of your difficulties by means of your speeches?” + </p> + <p> + “I hardly know yet. Just now we are in dead water; but this can't last + long. In fact, I am not afraid to tell you, though of course you will not + repeat it to any human being, that we have taken measures to force an + issue. Certain gentlemen, myself among the rest, have written letters + meant for the President's eye, though not addressed directly to him, and + intended to draw out an expression of some sort that will show us what to + expect.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” laughed Madeleine, “I knew about that a week ago.” + </p> + <p> + “About what?” + </p> + <p> + “About your letter to Sam Grimes, of North Bend.” + </p> + <p> + “What have you heard about my letter to Sam Grimes, of North Bend?” + ejaculated Ratcliffe, a little abruptly. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, you do not know how admirably I have organised my secret service + bureau,” said she. “Representative Cutter cross-questioned one of the + Senate pages, and obliged him to confess that he had received from you a + letter to be posted, which letter was addressed to Mr. Grimes, of North + Bend.” + </p> + <p> + “And, of course, he told this to French, and French told you,” said + Ratcliffe; “I see. If I had known this I would not have let French off so + gently last night, for I prefer to tell you my own story without his + embellishments. But it was my fault. I should not have trusted a page. + Nothing is a secret here long. But one thing that Mr. Cutter did not find + out was that several other gentlemen wrote letters at the same time, for + the same purpose. Your friend, Mr. Clinton, wrote; Krebs wrote; and one or + two members.” + </p> + <p> + “I suppose I must not ask what you said?” + </p> + <p> + “You may. We agreed that it was best to be very mild and conciliatory, and + to urge the President only to give us some indication of his intentions, + in order that we might not run counter to them. I drew a strong picture of + the effect of the present situation on the party, and hinted that I had no + personal wishes to gratify.” + </p> + <p> + “And what do you think will be the result?” + </p> + <p> + “I think we shall somehow manage to straighten things out,” said + Ratcliffe. + </p> + <p> + “The difficulty is only that the new President has little experience, and + is suspicious. He thinks we shall intrigue to tie his hands, and he means + to tie ours in advance. I don't know him personally, but those who do, and + who are fair judges, say that, though rather narrow and obstinate, he is + honest enough, and will come round. I have no doubt I could settle it all + with him in an hour's talk, but it is out of the question for me to go to + him unless I am asked, and to ask me to come would be itself a + settlement.” + </p> + <p> + “What, then, is the danger you fear?” + </p> + <p> + “That he will offend all the important party leaders in order to + conciliate unimportant ones, perhaps sentimental ones, like your friend + French; that he will make foolish appointments without taking advice. By + the way, have you seen French to-day?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” replied Madeleine; “I think he must be sore at your treatment of him + last evening. You were very rude to him.” + </p> + <p> + “Not a bit,” said Ratcliffe; “these reformers need it. His attack on me + was meant for a challenge. I saw it in his manner. + </p> + <p> + “But is reform really so impossible as you describe it? Is it quite + hopeless?” + </p> + <p> + “Reform such as he wants is utterly hopeless, and not even desirable.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee, with much earnestness of manner, still pressed her question: + </p> + <p> + “Surely something can be done to check corruption. Are we for ever to be + at the mercy of thieves and ruffians? Is a respectable government + impossible in a democracy?” + </p> + <p> + Her warmth attracted Jacobi's attention, and he spoke across the room. + “What is that you say, Mrs. Lee? What is it about corruption?” + </p> + <p> + All the gentlemen began to listen and gather about them. + </p> + <p> + “I am asking Senator Ratcliffe,” said she, “what is to become of us if + corruption is allowed to go unchecked.” + </p> + <p> + “And may I venture to ask permission to hear Mr. Ratcliffe's reply?” asked + the baron. + </p> + <p> + “My reply,” said Ratcliffe, “is that no representative government can long + be much better or much worse than the society it represents. Purify + society and you purify the government. But try to purify the government + artificially and you only aggravate failure.” + </p> + <p> + “A very statesmanlike reply,” said Baron Jacobi, with a formal bow, but + his tone had a shade of mockery. Carrington, who had listened with a + darkening face, suddenly turned to the baron and asked him what conclusion + he drew from the reply. + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” exclaimed the baron, with his wickedest leer, “what for is my + conclusion good? You Americans believe yourselves to be excepted from the + operation of general laws. You care not for experience. I have lived + seventy-five years, and all that time in the midst of corruption. I am + corrupt myself, only I do have courage to proclaim it, and you others have + it not. Rome, Paris, Vienna, Petersburg, London, all are corrupt; only + Washington is pure! Well, I declare to you that in all my experience I + have found no society which has had elements of corruption like the United + States. The children in the street are corrupt, and know how to cheat me. + The cities are all corrupt, and also the towns and the counties and the + States' legislatures and the judges. Everywhere men betray trusts both + public and private, steal money, run away with public funds. Only in the + Senate men take no money. And you gentlemen in the Senate very well + declare that your great United States, which is the head of the civilized + world, can never learn anything from the example of corrupt Europe. You + are right—quite right! The great United States needs not an example. + I do much regret that I have not yet one hundred years to live. If I could + then come back to this city, I should find myself very content—much + more than now. I am always content where there is much corruption, and ma + parole d'honneur!” broke out the old man with fire and gesture, “the + United States will then be more corrupt than Rome under Caligula; more + corrupt than the Church under Leo X.; more corrupt than France under the + Regent!” + </p> + <p> + As the baron closed his little harangue, which he delivered directly at + the senator sitting underneath him, he had the satisfaction to see that + every one was silent and listening with deep attention. He seemed to enjoy + annoying the senator, and he had the satisfaction of seeing that the + senator was visibly annoyed. Ratcliffe looked sternly at the baron and + said, with some curtness, that he saw no reason to accept such + conclusions. + </p> + <p> + Conversation flagged, and all except the baron were relieved when Sybil, + at Schneidekoupon's request, sat down at the piano to sing what she called + a hymn. So soon as the song was over, Ratcliffe, who seemed to have been + curiously thrown off his balance by Jacobi's harangue, pleaded urgent + duties at his rooms, and retired. The others soon afterwards went off in a + body, leaving only Carrington and Gore, who had seated himself by + Madeleine, and was at once dragged by her into a discussion of the subject + which perplexed her, and for the moment threw over her mind a net of + irresistible fascination. + </p> + <p> + “The baron discomfited the senator,” said Gore, with a certain hesitation. + </p> + <p> + “Why did Ratcliffe let himself be trampled upon in that manner?” + </p> + <p> + “I wish you would explain why,” replied Mrs. Lee; “tell me, Mr. Gore—you + who represent cultivation and literary taste hereabouts—please tell + me what to think about Baron Jacobi's speech. Who and what is to be + believed? Mr. Ratcliffe seems honest and wise. Is he a corruptionist? He + believes in the people, or says he does. Is he telling the truth or not?” + </p> + <p> + Gore was too experienced in politics to be caught in such a trap as this. + He evaded the question. “Mr. Ratcliffe has a practical piece of work to + do; his business is to make laws and advise the President; he does it + extremely well. We have no other equally good practical politician; it is + unfair to require him to be a crusader besides.” + </p> + <p> + “No!” interposed Carrington, curtly; “but he need not obstruct crusades. + He need not talk virtue and oppose the punishment of vice.” + </p> + <p> + “He is a shrewd practical politician,” replied Gore, “and he feels first + the weak side of any proposed political tactics.” + </p> + <p> + With a sigh of despair Madeleine went on: “Who, then, is right? How can we + all be right? Half of our wise men declare that the world is going + straight to perdition; the other half that it is fast becoming perfect. + Both cannot be right. There is only one thing in life,” she went on, + laughing, “that I must and will have before I die. I must know whether + America is right or wrong. Just now this question is a very practical one, + for I really want to know whether to believe in Mr. Ratcliffe. If I throw + him overboard, everything must go, for he is only a specimen.” + </p> + <p> + “Why not believe in Mr. Ratcliffe?” said Gore; “I believe in him myself, + and am not afraid to say so.” + </p> + <p> + Carrington, to whom Ratcliffe now began to represent the spirit of evil, + interposed here, and observed that he imagined Mr. Gore had other guides + besides, and steadier ones than Ratcliffe, to believe in; while Madeleine, + with a certain feminine perspicacity, struck at a much weaker point in Mr. + </p> + <p> + Gore's armour, and asked point-blank whether he believed also in what + Ratcliffe represented: “Do you yourself think democracy the best + government, and universal suffrage a success?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Gore saw himself pinned to the wall, and he turned at bay with almost + the energy of despair: + </p> + <p> + “These are matters about which I rarely talk in society; they are like the + doctrine of a personal God; of a future life; of revealed religion; + subjects which one naturally reserves for private reflection. But since + you ask for my political creed, you shall have it. I only condition that + it shall be for you alone, never to be repeated or quoted as mine. I + believe in democracy. I accept it. I will faithfully serve and defend it. + I believe in it because it appears to me the inevitable consequence of + what has gone before it. Democracy asserts the fact that the masses are + now raised to a higher intelligence than formerly. All our civilisation + aims at this mark. We want to do what we can to help it. I myself want to + see the result. I grant it is an experiment, but it is the only direction + society can take that is worth its taking; the only conception of its duty + large enough to satisfy its instincts; the only result that is worth an + effort or a risk. Every other possible step is backward, and I do not care + to repeat the past. I am glad to see society grapple with issues in which + no one can afford to be neutral.” + </p> + <p> + “And supposing your experiment fails,” said Mrs. Lee; “suppose society + destroys itself with universal suffrage, corruption, and communism.” + </p> + <p> + “I wish, Mrs. Lee, you would visit the Observatory with me some evening, + and look at Sirius. Did you ever make the acquaintance of a fixed star? I + believe astronomers reckon about twenty millions of them in sight, and an + infinite possibility of invisible millions, each one of which is a sun, + like ours, and may have satellites like our planet. Suppose you see one of + these fixed stars suddenly increase in brightness, and are told that a + satellite has fallen into it and is burning up, its career finished, its + capacities exhausted? Curious, is it not; but what does it matter? Just as + much as the burning up of a moth at your candle.” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine shuddered a little. “I cannot get to the height of your + philosophy,” said she. “You are wandering among the infinites, and I am + finite.” + </p> + <p> + “Not at all! But I have faith; not perhaps in the old dogmas, but in the + new ones; faith in human nature; faith in science; faith in the survival + of the fittest. Let us be true to our time, Mrs. Lee! If our age is to be + beaten, let us die in the ranks. If it is to be victorious, let us be + first to lead the column. Anyway, let us not be skulkers or grumblers. + There! have I repeated my catechism correctly? You would have it! Now + oblige me by forgetting it. I should lose my character at home if it got + out. Good night!” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee duly appeared at the Capitol the next day, as she could not but + do after Senator Ratcliffe's pointed request. She went alone, for Sybil + had positively refused to go near the Capitol again, and Madeleine thought + that on the whole this was not an occasion for enrolling Carrington in her + service. But Ratcliffe did not speak. The debate was unexpectedly + postponed. + </p> + <p> + He joined Mrs. Lee in the gallery, however, sat with her as long as she + would allow, and became still more confidential, telling her that he had + received the expected reply from Grimes, of North Bend, and that it had + enclosed a letter written by the President-elect to Mr. Grimes in regard + to the advances made by Mr. Ratcliffe and his friends. + </p> + <p> + “It is not a handsome letter,” said he; “indeed, a part of it is + positively insulting. I would like to read you one extract from it, and + hear your opinion as to how it should be treated.” Taking the letter from + his pocket, he sought out the passage, and read as follows: “'I cannot + lose sight, too, of the consideration that these three Senators' (he means + Clinton, Krebs, and me) are popularly considered to be the most + influential members of that so-called senatorial ring, which has acquired + such general notoriety. While I shall always receive their communications + with all due respect, I must continue to exercise complete freedom of + action in consulting other political advisers as well as these, and I must + in all cases make it my first object to follow the wishes of the people, + not always most truly represented by their nominal representatives.' What + say you to that precious piece of presidential manners?” + </p> + <p> + “At least I like his courage,” said Mrs. Lee. + </p> + <p> + “Courage is one thing; common sense is another. This letter is a studied + insult. He has knocked me off the track once. He means to do it again. It + is a declaration of war. What ought I to do?” + </p> + <p> + “Whatever is most for the public good.” said Madeleine, gravely. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe looked into her face with such undisguised delight—there + was so little possibility of mistaking or ignoring the expression of his + eyes, that she shrank back with a certain shock. She was not prepared for + so open a demonstration. He hardened his features at once, and went on: + </p> + <p> + “But what is most for the public good?” + </p> + <p> + “That you know better than I,” said Madeleine; “only one thing is clear to + me. If you let yourself be ruled by your private feelings, you will make a + greater mistake than he. Now I must go, for I have visits to make. The + next time I come, Mr. Ratcliffe, you must keep your word better.” + </p> + <p> + When they next met, Ratcliffe read to her a part of his reply to Mr. + Grimes, which ran thus: “It is the lot of every party leader to suffer + from attacks and to commit errors. It is true, as the President says, that + I have been no exception to this law. Believing as I do that great results + can only be accomplished by great parties, I have uniformly yielded my own + personal opinions where they have failed to obtain general assent. I shall + continue to follow this course, and the President may with perfect + confidence count upon my disinterested support of all party measures, even + though I may not be consulted in originating them.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee listened attentively, and then said: “Have you never refused to + go with your party?” + </p> + <p> + “Never!” was Ratcliffe's firm reply. + </p> + <p> + Madeleine still more thoughtfully inquired again: “Is nothing more + powerful than party allegiance?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing, except national allegiance,” replied Ratcliffe, still more + firmly. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter V + </h2> + <p> + TO tie a prominent statesman to her train and to lead him about like a + tame bear, is for a young and vivacious woman a more certain amusement + than to tie herself to him and to be dragged about like an Indian squaw. + This fact was Madeleine Lee's first great political discovery in + Washington, and it was worth to her all the German philosophy she had ever + read, with even a complete edition of Herbert Spencer's works into the + bargain. There could be no doubt that the honours and dignities of a + public career were no fair consideration for its pains. She made a little + daily task for herself of reading in succession the lives and letters of + the American Presidents, and of their wives, when she could find that + there was a trace of the latter's existence. What a melancholy spectacle + it was, from George Washington down to the last incumbent; what vexations, + what disappointments, what grievous mistakes, what very objectionable + manners! Not one of them, who had aimed at high purpose, but had been + thwarted, beaten, and habitually insulted! What a gloom lay on the + features of those famous chieftains, Calhoun, Clay, and Webster; what + varied expression of defeat and unsatisfied desire; what a sense of + self-importance and senatorial magniloquence; what a craving for flattery; + what despair at the sentence of fate! And what did they amount to, after + all? + </p> + <p> + They were practical men, these! they had no great problems of thought to + settle, no questions that rose above the ordinary rules of common morals + and homely duty. How they had managed to befog the subject! What elaborate + show-structures they had built up, with no result but to obscure the + horizon! Would not the country have done better without them? Could it + have done worse? What deeper abyss could have opened under the nation's + feet, than that to whose verge they brought it? + </p> + <p> + Madeleine's mind wearied with the monotony of the story. She discussed the + subject with Ratcliffe, who told her frankly that the pleasure of politics + lay in the possession of power. He agreed that the country would do very + well without him. “But here I am,” said he, “and here I mean to stay.” He + had very little sympathy for thin moralising, and a statesmanlike contempt + for philosophical politics. He loved power, and he meant to be President. + </p> + <p> + That was enough. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes the tragic and sometimes the comic side was uppermost in her + mind, and sometimes she did not herself know whether to cry or to laugh. + </p> + <p> + Washington more than any other city in the world swarms with simple-minded + exhibitions of human nature; men and women curiously out of place, whom it + would be cruel to ridicule and ridiculous to weep over. The sadder + exhibitions are fortunately seldom seen by respectable people; only the + little social accidents come under their eyes. One evening Mrs. Lee went + to the President's first evening reception. As Sybil flatly refused to + face the crowd, and Carrington mildly said that he feared he was not + sufficiently reconstructed to appear at home in that august presence, Mrs. + Lee accepted Mr. French for an escort, and walked across the Square with + him to join the throng that was pouring into the doors of the White House. + They took their places in the line of citizens and were at last able to + enter the reception-room. There Madeleine found herself before two + seemingly mechanical figures, which might be wood or wax, for any sign + they showed of life. These two figures were the President and his wife; + they stood stiff and awkward by the door, both their faces stripped of + every sign of intelligence, while the right hands of both extended + themselves to the column of visitors with the mechanical action of toy + dolls. Mrs. Lee for a moment began to laugh, but the laugh died on her + lips. To the President and his wife this was clearly no laughing matter. + There they stood, automata, representatives of the society which streamed + past them. Madeleine seized Mr. French by the arm. + </p> + <p> + “Take me somewhere at once,” said she, “where I can look at it. Here! in + the corner. I had no conception how shocking it was!” + </p> + <p> + Mr. French supposed she was thinking of the queer-looking men and women + who were swarming through the rooms, and he made, after his own delicate + notion of humour, some uncouth jests on those who passed by. Mrs. Lee, + however, was in no humour to explain or even to listen. She stopped him + short:— + </p> + <p> + “There, Mr. French! Now go away and leave me. I want to be alone for half + an hour. Please come for me then.” And there she stood, with her eyes + fixed on the President and his wife, while the endless stream of humanity + passed them, shaking hands. + </p> + <p> + What a strange and solemn spectacle it was, and how the deadly fascination + of it burned the image in upon her mind! What a horrid warning to + ambition! + </p> + <p> + And in all that crowd there was no one besides herself who felt the + mockery of this exhibition. To all the others this task was a regular part + of the President's duty, and there was nothing ridiculous about it. They + thought it a democratic institution, this droll a ping of monarchical + forms. To them the deadly dulness of the show was as natural and proper as + ever to the courtiers of the Philips and Charleses seemed the ceremonies + of the Escurial. To her it had the effect of a nightmare, or of an + opium-eater's vision, She felt a sudden conviction that this was to be the + end of American society; its realisation and dream at once. She groaned in + spirit. + </p> + <p> + “Yes! at last I have reached the end! We shall grow to be wax images, and + our talk will be like the squeaking of toy dolls. We shall all wander + round and round the earth and shake hands. No one will have any object in + this world, and there will be no other. It is worse than anything in the + 'Inferno.' What an awful vision of eternity!” + </p> + <p> + Suddenly, as through a mist, she saw the melancholy face of Lord Skye + approaching. He came to her side, and his voice recalled her to reality. + </p> + <p> + “Does it amuse you, this sort of thing?” he asked in a vague way. + </p> + <p> + “We take our amusement sadly, after the manner of our people,” she + replied; “but it certainly interests me.” + </p> + <p> + They stood for a time in silence, watching the slowly eddying dance of + Democracy, until he resumed: + </p> + <p> + “Whom do you take that man to be—the long, lean one, with a long + woman on each arm?” + </p> + <p> + “That man,” she replied, “I take to be a Washington department-clerk, or + perhaps a member of Congress from Iowa, with a wife and wife's sister. Do + they shock your nobility?” + </p> + <p> + He looked at her with comical resignation. “You mean to tell me that they + are quite as good as dowager-countesses. I grant it. My aristocratic + spirit is broken, Mrs. Lee. I will even ask them to dinner if you bid me, + and if you will come to meet them. But the last time I asked a member of + Congress to dine, he sent me back a note in pencil on my own envelope that + he would bring two of his friends with him, very respectable constituents + from Yahoo city, or some such place; nature's noblemen, he said.” + </p> + <p> + “You should have welcomed them.” + </p> + <p> + “I did. I wanted to see two of nature's noblemen, and I knew they would + probably be pleasanter company than their representative. They came; very + respectable persons, one with a blue necktie, the other with a red one: + both had diamond pins in their shirts, and were carefully brushed in + respect to their hair. They said nothing, ate little, drank less, and were + much better behaved than I am. When they went away, they unanimously asked + me to stay with them when I visited Yahoo city.” + </p> + <p> + “You will not want guests if you always do that.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know. I think it was pure ignorance on their part. They knew no + better, and they seemed modest enough. My only complaint was that I could + get nothing out of them. I wonder whether their wives would have been more + amusing.” + </p> + <p> + “Would they be so in England, Lord Skye?” + </p> + <p> + He looked down at her with half-shut eyes, and drawled: “You know my + countrywomen?” + </p> + <p> + “Hardly at all.” + </p> + <p> + “Then let us discuss some less serious subject.” + </p> + <p> + “Willingly. I have waited for you to explain to me why you have to-night + an expression of such melancholy.” + </p> + <p> + “Is that quite friendly, Mrs. Lee? Do I really look melancholy?” + </p> + <p> + “Unutterably, as I feel. I am consumed with curiosity to know the reason.” + </p> + <p> + The British minister coolly took a complete survey of the whole room, + ending with a prolonged stare at the President and his wife, who were + still mechanically shaking hands; then he looked back into her face, and + said never a word. + </p> + <p> + She insisted: “I must have this riddle answered. It suffocates me. I + should not be sad at seeing these same people at work or at play, if they + ever do play; or in a church or a lecture-room. Why do they weigh on me + like a horrid phantom here?” + </p> + <p> + “I see no riddle, Mrs. Lee. You have answered your own question; they are + neither at work nor at play.” + </p> + <p> + “Then please take me home at once. I shall have hysterics. The sight of + those two suffering images at the door is too mournful to be borne. I am + dizzy with looking at these stalking figures. I don't believe they're + real. I wish the house would take fire. I want an earthquake. I wish some + one would pinch the President, or pull his wife's hair.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee did not repeat the experiment of visiting the White House, and + indeed for some time afterwards she spoke with little enthusiasm of the + presidential office. To Senator Ratcliffe she expressed her opinions + strongly. The Senator tried in vain to argue that the people had a right + to call upon their chief magistrate, and that he was bound to receive + them; this being so, there was no less objectionable way of proceeding + than the one which had been chosen. “Who gave the people any such right?” + asked Mrs. Lee. “Where does it come from? What do they want it for? You + know better, Mr. Ratcliffe! Our chief magistrate is a citizen like any one + else. What puts it into his foolish head to cease being a citizen and to + ape royalty? Our governors never make themselves ridiculous. Why cannot + the wretched being content himself with living like the rest of us, and + minding his own business? Does he know what a figure of fun he is?” And + Mrs. Lee went so far as to declare that she would like to be the + President's wife only to put an end to this folly; nothing should ever + induce her to go through such a performance; and if the public did not + approve of this, Congress might impeach her, and remove her from office; + all she demanded was the right to be heard before the Senate in her own + defence. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, there was a very general impression in Washington that Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Lee would like nothing better than to be in the White House. Known to + comparatively few people, and rarely discussing even with them the + subjects which deeply interested her, Madeleine passed for a clever, + intriguing woman who had her own objects to gain. True it is, beyond + peradventure, that all residents of Washington may be assumed to be in + office or candidates for office; unless they avow their object, they are + guilty of an attempt—and a stupid one—to deceive; yet there is + a small class of apparent exceptions destined at last to fall within the + rule. Mrs. Lee was properly assumed to be a candidate for office. To the + Washingtonians it was a matter of course that Mrs. Lee should marry Silas + P. Ratcliffe. That he should be glad to get a fashionable and intelligent + wife, with twenty or thirty thousand dollars a year, was not surprising. + That she should accept the first public man of the day, with a flattering + chance for the Presidency—a man still comparatively young and not + without good looks—was perfectly natural, and in her undertaking she + had the sympathy of all well-regulated Washington women who were not + possible rivals; for to them the President's wife is of more consequence + than the President; and, indeed, if America only knew it, they are not + very far from the truth. + </p> + <p> + Some there were, however, who did not assent to this good-natured though + worldly view of the proposed match. These ladies were severe in their + comments upon Mrs. Lee's conduct, and did not hesitate to declare their + opinion that she was the calmest and most ambitious minx who had ever come + within their observation. Unfortunately it happened that the respectable + and proper Mrs. Schuyler Clinton took this view of the case, and made + little attempt to conceal her opinion. She was justly indignant at her + cousin's gross worldliness, and possible promotion in rank. + </p> + <p> + “If Madeleine Ross marries that coarse, horrid old Illinois politician,” + said she to her husband, “I never will forgive her so long as I live.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Clinton tried to excuse Madeleine, and even went so far as to suggest + that the difference of age was no greater than in their own case; but his + wife trampled ruthlessly on his argument. + </p> + <p> + “At any rate,” said she, “I never came to Washington as a widow on purpose + to set my cap for the first candidate for the Presidency, and I never made + a public spectacle of my indecent eagerness in the very galleries of the + Senate; and Mrs. Lee ought to be ashamed of herself. She is a + cold-blooded, heartless, unfeminine cat.” + </p> + <p> + Little Victoria Dare, who babbled like the winds and streams, with utter + indifference as to what she said or whom she addressed, used to bring + choice bits of this gossip to Mrs. Lee. She always affected a little + stammer when she said anything uncommonly impudent, and put on a manner of + languid simplicity. She felt keenly the satisfaction of seeing Madeleine + charged with her own besetting sins. For years all Washington had agreed + that Victoria was little better than one of the wicked; she had done + nothing but violate every rule of propriety and scandalise every + well-regulated family in the city, and there was no good in her. Yet it + could not be denied that Victoria was amusing, and had a sort of irregular + fascination; consequently she was universally tolerated. To see Mrs. Lee + thrust down to her own level was an unmixed pleasure to her, and she + carefully repeated to Madeleine the choice bits of dialogue which she + picked up in her wanderings. + </p> + <p> + “Your cousin, Mrs. Clinton, says you are a ca-ca-cat, Mrs. Lee.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't believe it, Victoria. Mrs. Clinton never said anything of the + sort.” + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Marston says it is because you have caught a ra-ra-rat, and Senator + Clinton was only a m-m-mouse!” + </p> + <p> + Naturally all this unexpected publicity irritated Mrs. Lee not a little, + especially when short and vague paragraphs, soon followed by longer and + more positive ones, in regard to Senator Ratcliffe's matrimonial + prospects, began to appear in newspapers, along with descriptions of + herself from the pens of enterprising female correspondents for the press, + who had never so much as seen her. At the first sight of one of these + newspaper articles, Madeleine fairly cried with mortification and anger. + She wanted to leave Washington the next day, and she hated the very + thought of Ratcliffe. There was something in the newspaper style so + inscrutably vulgar, something so inexplicably revolting to the sense of + feminine decency, that she shrank under it as though it were a poisonous + spider. But after the first acute shame had passed, her temper was roused, + and she vowed that she would pursue her own path just as she had begun, + without regard to all the malignity and vulgarity in the wide United + States. She did not care to marry Senator Ratcliffe; she liked his society + and was flattered by his confidence; she rather hoped to prevent him from + ever making a formal offer, and if not, she would at least push it off to + the last possible moment; but she was not to be frightened from marrying + him by any amount of spitefulness or gossip, and she did not mean to + refuse him except for stronger reasons than these. She even went so far in + her desperate courage as to laugh at her cousin, Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Clinton, whose venerable husband she allowed and even encouraged to pay + her such public attention and to express sentiments of such youthful + ardour as she well knew would inflame and exasperate the excellent lady + his wife. + </p> + <p> + Carrington was the person most unpleasantly affected by the course which + this affair had taken. He could no longer conceal from himself the fact + that he was as much m love as a dignified Virginian could be. With him, at + all events, she had shown no coquetry, nor had she ever either flattered + or encouraged him. But Carrington, m his solitary struggle against fate, + had found her a warm friend; always ready to assist where assistance was + needed, generous with her money in any cause which he was willing to vouch + for, full of sympathy where sympathy was more than money, and full of + resource and suggestion where money and sympathy failed. Carrington knew + her better than she knew herself. He selected her books; he brought the + last speech or the last report from the Capitol or the departments; he + knew her doubts and her vagaries, and as far as he understood them at all, + helped her to solve them. + </p> + <p> + Carrington was too modest, and perhaps too shy, to act the part of a + declared lover, and he was too proud to let it be thought that he wanted + to exchange his poverty for her wealth. But he was all the more anxious + when he saw the evident attraction which Ratcliffe's strong will and + unscrupulous energy exercised over her. He saw that Ratcliffe was steadily + pushing his advances; that he flattered all Mrs. Lee's weaknesses by the + confidence and deference with which he treated her; and that in a very + short time, Madeleine must either marry him or find herself looked upon as + a heartless coquette. He had his own reasons for thinking ill of Senator + Ratcliffe, and he meant to prevent a marriage; but he had an enemy to deal + with not easily driven from the path, and quite capable of routing any + number of rivals. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe was afraid of no one. He had not fought his own way in life for + nothing, and he knew all the value of a cold head and dogged + self-assurance. + </p> + <p> + Nothing but this robust Americanism and his strong will carried him safely + through the snares and pitfalls of Mrs. Lee's society, where rivals and + enemies beset him on every hand. He was little better than a schoolboy, + when he ventured on their ground, but when he could draw them over upon + his own territory of practical life he rarely failed to trample on his + assailants. + </p> + <p> + It was this practical sense and cool will that won over Mrs. Lee, who was + woman enough to assume that all the graces were well enough employed in + decorating her, and it was enough if the other sex felt her superiority. + Men were valuable only in proportion to their strength and their + appreciation of women. If the senator had only been strong enough always + to control his temper, he would have done very well, but his temper was + under a great strain in these times, and his incessant effort to control + it in politics made him less watchful in private life. Mrs. Lee's tacit + assumption of superior refinement irritated him, and sometimes made him + show his teeth like a bull-dog, at the cost of receiving from Mrs. Lee a + quick stroke in return such as a well-bred tortoise-shell cat administers + to check over-familiarity; innocent to the eye, but drawing blood. One + evening when he was more than commonly out of sorts, after sitting some + time in moody silence, he roused himself, and, taking up a book that lay + on her table, he glanced at its title and turned over the leaves. It + happened by ill luck to be a volume of Darwin that Mrs. Lee had just + borrowed from the library of Congress. + </p> + <p> + “Do you understand this sort of thing?” asked the Senator abruptly, in a + tone that suggested a sneer. + </p> + <p> + “Not very well,” replied Mrs. Lee, rather curtly. + </p> + <p> + “Why do you want to understand it?” persisted the Senator. “What good will + it do you?” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps it will teach us to be modest,” answered Madeleine, quite equal + to the occasion. + </p> + <p> + “Because it says we descend from monkeys?” rejoined the Senator, roughly. + </p> + <p> + “Do you think you are descended from monkeys?” + </p> + <p> + “Why not?” said Madeleine. + </p> + <p> + “Why not?” repeated Ratcliffe, laughing harshly. “I don't like the + connection. Do you mean to introduce your distant relations into society?” + </p> + <p> + “They would bring more amusement into it than most of its present + members,” rejoined Mrs. Lee, with a gentle smile that threatened mischief. + But Ratcliffe would not be warned; on the contrary, the only effect of + Mrs. Lee's defiance was to exasperate his ill-temper, and whenever he lost + his temper he became senatorial and Websterian. “Such books,” he began, + “disgrace our civilization; they degrade and stultify our divine nature; + they are only suited for Asiatic despotisms where men are reduced to the + level of brutes; that they should be accepted by a man like Baron Jacobi, + I can understand; he and his masters have nothing to do in the world but + to trample on human rights. Mr. Carrington, of course, would approve those + ideas; he believes in the divine doctrine of flogging negroes; but that + you, who profess philanthropy and free principles, should go with them, is + astonishing; it is incredible; it is unworthy of you.” + </p> + <p> + “You are very hard on the monkeys,” replied Madeleine, rather sternly, + when the Senator's oration was ended. “The monkeys never did you any harm; + they are not in public life; they are not even voters; if they were, you + would be enthusiastic about their intelligence and virtue. After all, we + ought to be grateful to them, for what would men do in this melancholy + world if they had not inherited gaiety from the monkeys—as well as + oratory.” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe, to do him justice, took punishment well, at least when it came + from Mrs. Lee's hands, and his occasional outbursts of insubordination + were sure to be followed by improved discipline; but if he allowed Mrs. + Lee to correct his faults, he had no notion of letting himself be + instructed by her friends, and he lost no chance of telling them so. But + to do this was not always enough. Whether it were that he had few ideas + outside of his own experience, or that he would not trust himself on + doubtful ground, he seemed compelled to bring every discussion down to his + own level. Madeleine puzzled herself in vain to find out whether he did + this because he knew no better, or because he meant to cover his own + ignorance. + </p> + <p> + “The Baron has amused me very much with his account of Bucharest society,” + Mrs. Lee would say: “I had no idea it was so gay.” + </p> + <p> + “I would like to show him our society in Peonia,” was Ratcliffe's reply; + “he would find a very brilliant circle there of nature's true noblemen.” + </p> + <p> + “The Baron says their politicians are precious sharp chaps,” added Mr. + </p> + <p> + French. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, there are politicians in Bulgaria, are there?” asked the Senator, + whose ideas of the Roumanian and Bulgarian neighbourhood were vague, and + who had a general notion that all such people lived in tents, wore + sheepskins with the wool inside, and ate curds: “Oh, they have politicians + there! I would like to see them try their sharpness in the west.” + </p> + <p> + “Really!” said Mrs. Lee. “Think of Attila and his hordes running an + Indiana caucus?” + </p> + <p> + “Anyhow,” cried French with a loud laugh, “the Baron said that a set of + bigger political scoundrels than his friends couldn't be found in all + Illinois.” + </p> + <p> + “Did he say that?” exclaimed Ratcliffe angrily. + </p> + <p> + “Didn't he, Mrs. Lee? but I don't believe it; do you? What's your candid + opinion, Ratcliffe? What you don't know about Illinois politics isn't + worth knowing; do you really think those Bulgrascals couldn't run an + Illinois state convention?” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe did not like to be chaffed, especially on this subject, but he + could not resent French's liberty which was only a moderate return for the + wooden nutmeg. To get the conversation away from Europe, from literature, + from art, was his great object, and chaff was a way of escape. + </p> + <p> + Carrington was very well aware that the weak side of the Senator lay in + his blind ignorance of morals. He flattered himself that Mrs. Lee must see + this and be shocked by it sooner or later, so that nothing more was + necessary than to let Ratcliffe expose himself. Without talking very much, + Carrington always aimed at drawing him out. He soon found, however, that + Ratcliffe understood such tactics perfectly, and instead of injuring, he + rather improved his position. At times the man's audacity was startling, + and even when Carrington thought him hopelessly entangled, he would sweep + away all the hunter's nets with a sheer effort of strength, and walk off + bolder and more dangerous than ever. + </p> + <p> + When Mrs. Lee pressed him too closely, he frankly admitted her charges. + </p> + <p> + “What you say is in great part true. There is much in politics that + disgusts and disheartens; much that is coarse and bad. I grant you there + is dishonesty and corruption. We must try to make the amount as small as + possible.” + </p> + <p> + “You should be able to tell Mrs. Lee how she must go to work,” said + Carrington; “you have had experience. I have heard, it seems to me, that + you were once driven to very hard measures against corruption.” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe looked ill-pleased at this compliment, and gave Carrington one + of his cold glances that meant mischief. But he took up the challenge on + the spot:— + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I was, and am very sorry for it. The story is this, Mrs. Lee; and it + is well-known to every man, woman, and child in the State of Illinois, so + that I have no reason for softening it. In the worst days of the war there + was almost a certainty that my State would be carried by the peace party, + by fraud, as we thought, although, fraud or not, we were bound to save it. + Had Illinois been lost then, we should certainly have lost the + Presidential election, and with it probably the Union. At any rate, I + believed the fate of the war to depend on the result. I was then Governor, + and upon me the responsibility rested. We had entire control of the + northern counties and of their returns. We ordered the returning officers + in a certain number of counties to make no returns until they heard from + us, and when we had received the votes of all the southern counties and + learned the precise number of votes we needed to give us a majority, we + telegraphed to our northern returning officers to make the vote of their + districts such and such, thereby overbalancing the adverse returns and + giving the State to us. This was done, and as I am now senator I have a + right to suppose that what I did was approved. I am not proud of the + transaction, but I would do it again, and worse than that, if I thought it + would save this country from disunion. But of course I did not expect Mr. + Carrington to approve it. I believe he was then carrying out his reform + principles by bearing arms against the government.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes!” said Carrington drily; “you got the better of me, too. Like the old + Scotchman, you didn't care who made the people's wars provided you made + its ballots.” + </p> + <p> + Carrington had missed his point. The man who has committed a murder for + his country, is a patriot and not an assassin, even when he receives a + seat in the Senate as his share of the plunder. Women cannot be expected + to go behind the motives of that patriot who saves his country and his + election in times of revolution. + </p> + <p> + Carrington's hostility to Ratcliffe was, however, mild, when compared with + that felt by old Baron Jacobi. Why the baron should have taken so violent + a prejudice it is not easy to explain, but a diplomatist and a senator are + natural enemies, and Jacobi, as an avowed admirer of Mrs. Lee, found + Ratcliffe in his way. This prejudiced and immoral old diplomatist despised + and loathed an American senator as the type which, to his bleared European + eyes, combined the utmost pragmatical self-assurance and overbearing + temper with the narrowest education and the meanest personal experience + that ever existed in any considerable government. As Baron Jacobi's + country had no special relations with that of the United States, and its + Legation at Washington was a mere job to create a place for Jacobi to + fill, he had no occasion to disguise his personal antipathies, and he + considered himself in some degree as having a mission to express that + diplomatic contempt for the Senate which his colleagues, if they felt it, + were obliged to conceal. He performed his duties with conscientious + precision. He never missed an opportunity to thrust the sharp point of his + dialectic rapier through the joints of the clumsy and hide-bound + senatorial self-esteem. He delighted in skilfully exposing to Madeleine's + eyes some new side of Ratcliffe's ignorance. His conversation at such + times sparkled with historical allusions, quotations in half a dozen + different languages, references to well-known facts which an old man's + memory could not recall with precision in all their details, but with + which the Honourable Senator was familiarly acquainted, and which he could + readily supply. And his Voltairian face leered politely as he listened to + Ratcliffe's reply, which showed invariable ignorance of common literature, + art, and history. The climax of his triumph came one evening when + Ratcliffe unluckily, tempted by some allusion to Molière which he thought + he understood, made reference to the unfortunate influence of that great + man on the religious opinions of his time. Jacobi, by a flash of + inspiration, divined that he had confused Molière with Voltaire, and + assuming a manner of extreme suavity, he put his victim on the rack, and + tortured him with affected explanations and interrogations, until + Madeleine was in a manner forced to interrupt and end the scene. But even + when the senator was not to be lured into a trap, he could not escape + assault. The baron in such a case would cross the lines and attack him on + his own ground, as on one occasion, when Ratcliffe was defending his + doctrine of party allegiance, Jacobi silenced him by sneering somewhat + thus: + </p> + <p> + “Your principle is quite correct, Mr. Senator. I, too, like yourself, was + once a good party man: my party was that of the Church; I was + ultramontane. Your party system is one of your thefts from our Church; + your National Convention is our OEcumenic Council; you abdicate reason, as + we do, before its decisions; and you yourself, Mr. Ratcliffe, you are a + Cardinal. They are able men, those cardinals; I have known many; they were + our best friends, but they were not reformers. Are you a reformer, Mr. + Senator?” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe grew to dread and hate the old man, but all his ordinary tactics + were powerless against this impenetrable eighteenth century cynic. If he + resorted to his Congressional practise of browbeating and dogmatism, the + Baron only smiled and turned his back, or made some remark in French which + galled his enemy all the more, because, while he did not understand it, he + knew well that Madeleine did, and that she tried to repress her smile. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe's grey eyes grew colder and stonier than ever as he gradually + perceived that Baron Jacobi was carrying on a set scheme with malignant + ingenuity, to drive him out of Madeleine's house, and he swore a terrible + oath that he would not be beaten by that monkey-faced foreigner. On the + other hand Jacobi had little hope of success: “What can an old man do?” + said he with perfect sincerity to Carrington; “If I were forty years + younger, that great oaf should not have his own way. Ah! I wish I were + young again and we were in Vienna!” From which it was rightly inferred by + Carrington that the venerable diplomatist would, if such acts were still + in fashion, have coolly insulted the Senator, and put a bullet through his + heart. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter VI + </h2> + <p> + IN February the weather became warmer and summer-like. In Virginia there + comes often at this season a deceptive gleam of summer, slipping in + between heavy storm-clouds of sleet and snow; days and sometimes weeks + when the temperature is like June; when the earliest plants begin to show + their hardy flowers, and when the bare branches of the forest trees alone + protest against the conduct of the seasons. Then men and women are + languid; life seems, as in Italy, sensuous and glowing with colour; one is + conscious of walking in an atmosphere that is warm, palpable, radiant with + possibilities; a delicate haze hangs over Arlington, and softens even the + harsh white glare of the Capitol; the struggle of existence seems to + abate; Lent throws its calm shadow over society; and youthful + diplomatists, unconscious of their danger, are lured into asking foolish + girls to marry them; the blood thaws in the heart and flows out into the + veins, like the rills of sparkling water that trickle from every lump of + ice or snow, as though all the ice and snow on earth, and all the hardness + of heart, all the heresy and schism, all the works of the devil, had + yielded to the force of love and to the fresh warmth of innocent, + lamb-like, confiding virtue. In such a world there should be no guile—but + there is a great deal of it notwithstanding. Indeed, at no other season is + there so much. This is the moment when the two whited sepulchres at either + end of the Avenue reek with the thick atmosphere of bargain and sale. The + old is going; the new is coming. Wealth, office, power are at auction. Who + bids highest? who hates with most venom? who intrigues with most skill? + who has done the dirtiest, the meanest, the darkest, and the most, + political work? He shall have his reward. + </p> + <p> + Senator Ratcliffe was absorbed and ill at ease. A swarm of applicants for + office dogged his steps and beleaguered his rooms in quest of his + endorsement of their paper characters. The new President was to arrive on + Monday. Intrigues and combinations, of which the Senator was the soul, + were all alive, awaiting this arrival. Newspaper correspondents pestered + him with questions. Brother senators called him to conferences. His mind + was pre-occupied with his own interests. One might have supposed that, at + this instant, nothing could have drawn him away from the political + gaming-table, and yet when Mrs. Lee remarked that she was going to Mount + Vernon on Saturday with a little party, including the British Minister and + an Irish gentleman staying as a guest at the British Legation, the Senator + surprised her by expressing a strong wish to join them. He explained that, + as the political lead was no longer in his hands, the chances were nine in + ten that if he stirred at all he should make a blunder; that his friends + expected him to do something when, in fact, nothing could be done; that + every preparation had already been made, and that for him to go on an + excursion to Mount Vernon, at this moment, with the British Minister, was, + on the whole, about the best use he could make of his time, since it would + hide him for one day at least. + </p> + <p> + Lord Skye had fallen into the habit of consulting Mrs. Lee when his own + social resources were low, and it was she who had suggested this party to + Mount Vernon, with Carrington for a guide and Mr. Gore for variety, to + occupy the time of the Irish friend whom Lord Skye was bravely + entertaining. + </p> + <p> + This gentleman, who bore the title of Dunbeg, was a dilapidated peer, + neither wealthy nor famous. Lord Skye brought him to call on Mrs. Lee, and + in some sort put him under her care. He was young, not ill-looking, quite + intelligent, rather too fond of facts, and not quick at humour. He was + given to smiling in a deprecatory way, and when he talked, he was either + absent or excited; he made vague blunders, and then smiled in deprecation + of offence, or his words blocked their own path in their rush. Perhaps his + manner was a little ridiculous, but he had a good heart, a good head, and + a title. He found favour in the eyes of Sybil and Victoria Dare, who + declined to admit other women to the party, although they offered no + objection to Mr. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe's admission. As for Lord Dunbeg, he was an enthusiastic admirer + of General Washington, and, as he privately intimated, eager to study + phases of American society. He was delighted to go with a small party, and + Miss Dare secretly promised herself that she would show him a phase. + </p> + <p> + The morning was warm, the sky soft, the little steamer lay at the quiet + wharf with a few negroes lazily watching her preparations for departure. + </p> + <p> + Carrington, with Mrs. Lee and the young ladies, arrived first, and stood + leaning against the rail, waiting the arrival of their companions. Then + came Mr. Gore, neatly attired and gloved, with a light spring overcoat; + for Mr. + </p> + <p> + Gore was very careful of his personal appearance, and not a little vain of + his good looks. Then a pretty woman, with blue eyes and blonde hair, + dressed in black, and leading a little girl by the hand, came on board, + and Carrington went to shake hands with her. On his return to Mrs. Lee's + side, she asked about his new acquaintance, and he replied with a + half-laugh, as though he were not proud of her, that she was a client, a + pretty widow, well known in Washington. “Any one at the Capitol would tell + you all about her. She was the wife of a noted lobbyist, who died about + two years ago. Congressmen can refuse nothing to a pretty face, and she + was their idea of feminine perfection. Yet she is a silly little woman, + too. Her husband died after a very short illness, and, to my great + surprise, made me executor under his will. I think he had an idea that he + could trust me with his papers, which were important and compromising, for + he seems to have had no time to go over them and destroy what were best + out of the way. So, you see, I am left with his widow and child to look + after. Luckily, they are well provided for.” + </p> + <p> + “Still you have not told me her name.” + </p> + <p> + “Her name is Baker—Mrs. Sam Baker. But they are casting off, and Mr. + Ratcliffe will be left behind. I'll ask the captain to wait.” About a + dozen passengers had arrived, among them the two Earls, with a footman + carrying a promising lunch-basket, and the planks were actually hauled in + when a carriage dashed up to the wharf, and Mr. Ratcliffe leaped out and + hurried on board. “Off with you as quick as you can!” said he to the + negro-hands, and in another moment the little steamer had begun her + journey, pounding the muddy waters of the Potomac and sending up its small + column of smoke as though it were a newly invented incense-burner + approaching the temple of the national deity. Ratcliffe explained in great + glee how he had barely managed to escape his visitors by telling them that + the British Minister was waiting for him, and that he would be back again + presently. “If they had known where I was going,” said he, “you would have + seen the boat swamped with office-seekers. Illinois alone would have + brought you to a watery grave.” He was in high spirits, bent upon enjoying + his holiday, and as they passed the arsenal with its solitary sentry, and + the navy-yard, with its one unseaworthy wooden war-steamer, he pointed out + these evidences of national grandeur to Lord Skye, threatening, as the + last terror of diplomacy, to send him home in an American frigate. They + were thus indulging in senatorial humour on one side of the boat, while + Sybil and Victoria, with the aid of Mr. Gore and Carrington, were + improving Lord Dunbeg's mind on the other. + </p> + <p> + Miss Dare, finding for herself at last a convenient seat where she could + repose and be mistress of the situation, put on a more than usually demure + expression and waited with gravity until her noble neighbour should give + her an opportunity to show those powers which, as she believed, would + supply a phase in his existence. Miss Dare was one of those young persons, + sometimes to be found in America, who seem to have no object in life, and + while apparently devoted to men, care nothing about them, but find + happiness only in violating rules; she made no parade of whatever virtues + she had, and her chief pleasure was to make fun of all the world and + herself. + </p> + <p> + “What a noble river!” remarked Lord Dunbeg, as the boat passed out upon + the wide stream; “I suppose you often sail on it?” + </p> + <p> + “I never was here in my life till now,” replied the untruthful Miss Dare; + “we don't think much of it; it s too small; we're used to so much larger + rivers.” + </p> + <p> + “I am afraid you would not like our English rivers then; they are mere + brooks compared with this.” + </p> + <p> + “Are they indeed?” said Victoria, with an appearance of vague surprise; + “how curious! I don't think I care to be an Englishwoman then. I could not + live without big rivers.” + </p> + <p> + Lord Dunbeg stared, and hinted that this was almost unreasonable. + </p> + <p> + “Unless I were a Countess!” continued Victoria, meditatively, looking at + Alexandria, and paying no attention to his lordship; “I think I could + manage if I were a C-c-countess. It is such a pretty title!” + </p> + <p> + “Duchess is commonly thought a prettier one,” stammered Dunbeg, much + embarrassed. The young man was not used to chaff from women. + </p> + <p> + “I should be satisfied with Countess. It sounds well. I am surprised that + you don't like it.” Dunbeg looked about him uneasily for some means of + escape but he was barred in. “I should think you would feel an awful + responsibility in selecting a Countess. How do you do it?” + </p> + <p> + Lord Dunbeg nervously joined in the general laughter as Sybil ejaculated: + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Victoria!” but Miss Dare continued without a smile or any elevation + of her monotonous voice: + </p> + <p> + “Now, Sybil, don't interrupt me, please. I am deeply interested in Lord + Dunbeg's conversation. He understands that my interest is purely + scientific, but my happiness requires that I should know how Countesses + are selected. Lord Dunbeg, how would you recommend a friend to choose a + Countess?” + </p> + <p> + Lord Dunbeg began to be amused by her impudence, and he even tried to lay + down for her satisfaction one or two rules for selecting Countesses, but + long before he had invented his first rule, Victoria had darted off to a + new subject. + </p> + <p> + “Which would you rather be, Lord Dunbeg? an Earl or George Washington?” + </p> + <p> + “George Washington, certainly,” was the Earl's courteous though rather + bewildered reply. + </p> + <p> + “Really?” she asked with a languid affectation of surprise; “it is awfully + kind of you to say so, but of course you can't mean it. + </p> + <p> + “Indeed I do mean it.” + </p> + <p> + “Is it possible? I never should have thought it.” + </p> + <p> + “Why not, Miss Dare?” + </p> + <p> + “You have not the air of wishing to be George Washington.” + </p> + <p> + “May I again ask, why not?” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly. Did you ever see George Washington?” + </p> + <p> + “Of course not. He died fifty years before I was born.” + </p> + <p> + “I thought so. You see you don't know him. Now, will you give us an idea + of what you imagine General Washington to have looked like?” + </p> + <p> + Dunbeg gave accordingly a flattering description of General Washington, + compounded of Stuart's portrait and Greenough's statue of Olympian Jove + with Washington's features, in the Capitol Square. Miss Dare listened with + an expression of superiority not unmixed with patience, and then she + enlightened him as follows: + </p> + <p> + “All you have been saying is perfect stuff—excuse the vulgarity of + the expression. When I am a Countess I will correct my language. The truth + is that General Washington was a raw-boned country farmer, very + hard-featured, very awkward, very illiterate and very dull; very bad + tempered, very profane, and generally tipsy after dinner.” + </p> + <p> + “You shock me, Miss Dare!” exclaimed Dunbeg. + </p> + <p> + “Oh! I know all about General Washington. My grandfather knew him + intimately, and often stayed at Mount Vernon for weeks together. You must + not believe what you read, and not a word of what Mr. Carrington will say. + He is a Virginian and will tell you no end of fine stories and not a + syllable of truth in one of them. We are all patriotic about Washington + and like to hide his faults. If I weren't quite sure you would never + repeat it, I would not tell you this. The truth is that even when George + Washington was a small boy, his temper was so violent that no one could do + anything with him. He once cut down all his father's fruit-trees in a fit + of passion, and then, just because they wanted to flog him, he threatened + to brain his father with the hatchet. His aged wife suffered agonies from + him. My grandfather often told me how he had seen the General pinch and + swear at her till the poor creature left the room in tears; and how once + at Mount Vernon he saw Washington, when quite an old man, suddenly rush at + an unoffending visitor, and chase him off the place, beating him all the + time over the head with a great stick with knots in it, and all just + because he heard the poor man stammer; he never could abide + s-s-stammering.” + </p> + <p> + Carrington and Gore burst into shouts of laughter over this description of + the Father of his country, but Victoria continued in her gentle drawl to + enlighten Lord Dunbeg in regard to other subjects with information equally + mendacious, until he decided that she was quite the most eccentric person + he had ever met. The boat arrived at Mount Vernon while she was still + engaged in a description of the society and manners of America, and + especially of the rules which made an offer of marriage necessary. + According to her, Lord Dunbeg was in imminent peril; gentlemen, and + especially foreigners, were expected, in all the States south of the + Potomac, to offer themselves to at least one young lady in every city: + “and I had only yesterday,” said Victoria, “a letter from a lovely girl in + North Carolina, a dear friend of mine, who wrote me that she was right put + out because her brothers had called on a young English visitor with shot + guns, and she was afraid he wouldn't recover, and, after all, she says she + should have refused him.” + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile Madeleine, on the other side of the boat, undisturbed by the + laughter that surrounded Miss Dare, chatted soberly and seriously with + Lord Skye and Senator Ratcliffe. Lord Skye, too, a little intoxicated by + the brilliancy of the morning, broke out into admiration of the noble + river, and accused Americans of not appreciating the beauties of their own + country. + </p> + <p> + “Your national mind,” said he, “has no eyelids. It requires a broad glare + and a beaten road. It prefers shadows which you can cut out with a knife. + It doesn't know the beauty of this Virginia winter softness.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee resented the charge. America, she maintained, had not worn her + feelings threadbare like Europe. She had still her story to tell; she was + waiting for her Burns and Scott, her Wordsworth and Byron, her Hogarth and + Turner. “You want peaches in spring,” said she. “Give us our thousand + years of summer, and then complain, if you please, that our peach is not + as mellow as yours. Even our voices may be soft then,” she added, with a + significant look at Lord Skye. + </p> + <p> + “We are at a disadvantage in arguing with Mrs. Lee,” said he to Ratcliffe; + “when she ends as counsel, she begins as witness. The famous Duchess of + Devonshire's lips were not half as convincing as Mrs. Lee's voice.” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe listened carefully, assenting whenever he saw that Mrs. Lee + wished it. He wished he understood precisely what tones and half-tones, + colours and harmonies, were. + </p> + <p> + They arrived and strolled up the sunny path. At the tomb they halted, as + all good Americans do, and Mr. Gore, in a tone of subdued sorrow, + delivered a short address— + </p> + <p> + “It might be much worse if they improved it,” he said, surveying its + proportions with the æsthetic eye of a cultured Bostonian. “As it stands, + this tomb is a simple misfortune which might befall any of us; we should + not grieve over it too much. What would our feelings be if a Congressional + committee reconstructed it of white marble with Gothic pepper-pots, and + gilded it inside on machine-moulded stucco!” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine, however, insisted that the tomb, as it stood, was the only + restless spot about the quiet landscape, and that it contradicted all her + ideas about repose in the grave. Ratcliffe wondered what she meant. + </p> + <p> + They passed on, wandering across the lawn, and through the house. Their + eyes, weary of the harsh colours and forms of the city, took pleasure in + the worn wainscots and the stained walls. Some of the rooms were still + occupied; fires were burning in the wide fire-places. All were tolerably + furnished, and there was no uncomfortable sense of repair or newness. They + mounted the stairs, and Mrs. Lee fairly laughed when she was shown the + room in which General Washington slept, and where he died. + </p> + <p> + Carrington smiled too. “Our old Virginia houses were mostly like this,” + said he; “suites of great halls below, and these gaunt barracks above. The + Virginia house was a sort of hotel. When there was a race or a wedding, or + a dance, and the house was full, they thought nothing of packing half a + dozen people in one room, and if the room was large, they stretched a + sheet a cross to separate the men from the women. As for toilet, those + were not the mornings of cold baths. With our ancestors a little washing + went a long way.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you still live so in Virginia?” asked Madeleine. + </p> + <p> + “Oh no, it is quite gone. We live now like other country people, and try + to pay our debts, which that generation never did. They lived from hand to + mouth. They kept a stable-full of horses. The young men were always riding + about the country, betting on horse-races, gambling, drinking, fighting, + and making love. No one knew exactly what he was worth until the crash + came about fifty years ago, and the whole thing ran out.” + </p> + <p> + “Just what happened in Ireland!” said Lord Dunbeg, much interested and + full of his article in the Quarterly; “the resemblance is perfect, even + down to the houses.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee asked Carrington bluntly whether he regretted the destruction of + this old social arrangement. + </p> + <p> + “One can't help regretting,” said he, “whatever it was that produced + George Washington, and a crowd of other men like him. But I think we might + produce the men still if we had the same field for them.” + </p> + <p> + “And would you bring the old society back again if you could?” asked she. + </p> + <p> + “What for? It could not hold itself up. General Washington himself could + not save it. Before he died he had lost his hold on Virginia, and his + power was gone.” + </p> + <p> + The party for a while separated, and Mrs. Lee found herself alone in the + great drawing-room. Presently the blonde Mrs. Baker entered, with her + child, who ran about making more noise than Mrs. Washington would have + permitted. + </p> + <p> + Madeleine, who had the usual feminine love of children, called the girl to + her and pointed out the shepherds and shepherdesses carved on the white + Italian marble of the fireplace; she invented a little story about them to + amuse the child, while the mother stood by and at the end thanked the + story-teller with more enthusiasm than seemed called for. Mrs. Lee did not + fancy her effusive manner, or her complexion, and was glad when Dunbeg + appeared at the doorway. + </p> + <p> + “How do you like General Washington at home?” asked she. + </p> + <p> + “Really, I assure you I feel quite at home myself,” replied Dunbeg, with a + more beaming smile than ever. “I am sure General Washington was an + Irishman. I know it from the look of the place. I mean to look it up and + write an article about it.” + </p> + <p> + “Then if you have disposed of him,” said Madeleine, “I think we will have + luncheon, and I have taken the liberty to order it to be served outside.” + </p> + <p> + There a table had been improvised, and Miss Dare was inspecting the lunch, + and making comments upon Lord Skye's cuisine and cellar. + </p> + <p> + “I hope it is very dry champagne,” said she, “the taste for sweet + champagne is quite awfully shocking.” + </p> + <p> + The young woman knew no more about dry and sweet champagne than of the + wine of Ulysses, except that she drank both with equal satisfaction, but + she was mimicking a Secretary of the British Legation who had provided her + with supper at her last evening party. Lord Skye begged her to try it, + which she did, and with great gravity remarked that it was about five per + cent. she presumed. This, too, was caught from her Secretary, though she + knew no more what it meant than if she had been a parrot. + </p> + <p> + The luncheon was very lively and very good. When it was over, the + gentlemen were allowed to smoke, and conversation fell into a sober + strain, which at last threatened to become serious. + </p> + <p> + “You want half-tones!” said Madeleine to Lord Skye: “are there not + half-tones enough to suit you on the walls of this house?” + </p> + <p> + Lord Skye suggested that this was probably owing to the fact that + Washington, belonging, as he did, to the universe, was in his taste an + exception to local rules. + </p> + <p> + “Is not the sense of rest here captivating?” she continued. “Look at that + quaint garden, and this ragged lawn, and the great river in front, and the + superannuated fort beyond the river! Everything is peaceful, even down to + the poor old General's little bed-room. One would like to lie down in it + and sleep a century or two. And yet that dreadful Capitol and its + office-seekers are only ten miles off.” + </p> + <p> + “No! that is more than I can bear!” broke in Miss Victoria in a stage + whisper, “that dreadful Capitol! Why, not one of us would be here without + that dreadful Capitol! except, perhaps, myself.” + </p> + <p> + “You would appear very well as Mrs. Washington, Victoria.” + </p> + <p> + “Miss Dare has been so very obliging as to give us her views of General + Washington's character this morning,” said Dunbeg, “but I have not yet had + time to ask Mr. Carrington for his.” + </p> + <p> + “Whatever Miss Dare says is valuable,” replied Carrington, “but her strong + point is facts.” + </p> + <p> + “Never flatter! Mr. Carrington,” drawled Miss Dare; “I do not need it, and + it does not become your style. Tell me, Lord Dunbeg, is not Mr. Carrington + a little your idea of General Washington restored to us in his prime?” + </p> + <p> + “After your account of General Washington, Miss Dare, how can I agree with + you?” + </p> + <p> + “After all,” said Lord Skye, “I think we must agree that Miss Dare is in + the main right about the charms of Mount Vernon. Even Mrs. Lee, on the way + up, agreed that the General, who is the only permanent resident here, has + the air of being confoundedly bored in his tomb. I don't myself love your + dreadful Capitol yonder, but I prefer it to a bucolic life here. And I + account in this way for my want of enthusiasm for your great General. He + liked no kind of life but this. He seems to have been greater in the + character of a home-sick Virginia planter than as General or President. I + forgive him his inordinate dulness, for he was not a diplomatist and it + was not his business to lie, but he might once in a way have forgotten + Mount Vernon.” + </p> + <p> + Dunbeg here burst in with an excited protest; all his words seemed to + shove each other aside in their haste to escape first. “All our greatest + Englishmen have been home-sick country squires. I am a home-sick country + squire myself.” + </p> + <p> + “How interesting!” said Miss Dare under her breath. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Gore here joined in: “It is all very well for you gentlemen to measure + General Washington according to your own private twelve-inch carpenter's + rule. But what will you say to us New Englanders who never were country + gentlemen at all, and never had any liking for Virginia? What did + Washington ever do for us? He never even pretended to like us. He never + was more than barely civil to us. I'm not finding fault with him; + everybody knows that he never cared for anything but Mount Vernon. For all + that, we idolize him. To us he is Morality, Justice, Duty, Truth; half a + dozen Roman gods with capital letters. He is austere, solitary, grand; he + ought to be deified. I hardly feel easy, eating, drinking, smoking here on + his portico without his permission, taking liberties with his house, + criticising his bedrooms in his absence. Suppose I heard his horse now + trotting up on the other side, and he suddenly appeared at this door and + looked at us. I should abandon you to his indignation. I should run away + and hide myself on the steamer. The mere thought unmans me.” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe seemed amused at Gore's half-serious notions. “You recall to + me,” said he, “my own feelings when I was a boy and was made by my father + to learn the Farewell Address by heart. In those days General Washington + was a sort of American Jehovah. But the West is a poor school for + Reverence. Since coming to Congress I have learned more about General + Washington, and have been surprised to find what a narrow base his + reputation rests on. A fair military officer, who made many blunders, and + who never had more men than would make a full army-corps under his + command, he got an enormous reputation in Europe because he did not make + himself king, as though he ever had a chance of doing it. A respectable, + painstaking President, he was treated by the Opposition with an amount of + deference that would have made government easy to a baby, but it worried + him to death. His official papers are fairly done, and contain good + average sense such as a hundred thousand men in the United States would + now write. I suspect that half of his attachment to this spot rose from + his consciousness of inferior powers and his dread of responsibility. This + government can show to-day a dozen men of equal abilities, but we don't + deify them. What I most wonder at in him is not his military or political + genius at all, for I doubt whether he had much, but a curious Yankee + shrewdness in money matters. He thought himself a very rich man, yet he + never spent a dollar foolishly. He was almost the only Virginian I ever + heard of, in public life, who did not die insolvent.” + </p> + <p> + During this long speech, Carrington glanced across at Madeleine, and + caught her eye. Ratcliffe's criticism was not to her taste. Carrington + could see that she thought it unworthy of him, and he knew that it would + irritate her. + </p> + <p> + “I will lay a little trap for Mr. Ratcliffe,” thought he to himself; “we + will see whether he gets out of it.” So Carrington began, and all listened + closely, for, as a Virginian, he was supposed to know much about the + subject, and his family had been deep in the confidence of Washington + himself. + </p> + <p> + “The neighbours hereabout had for many years, and may have still, some + curious stories about General Washington's closeness in money matters. + They said he never bought anything by weight but he had it weighed over + again, nor by tale but he had it counted, and if the weight or number were + not exact, he sent it back. Once, during his absence, his steward had a + room plastered, and paid the plasterer's bill. On the General's return, he + measured the room, and found that the plasterer had charged fifteen + shillings too much. Meanwhile the man had died, and the General made a + claim of fifteen shillings on his estate, which was paid. Again, one of + his tenants brought him the rent. The exact change of fourpence was + required. The man tendered a dollar, and asked the General to credit him + with the balance against the next year's rent. The General refused and + made him ride nine miles to Alexandria and back for the fourpence. On the + other hand, he sent to a shoemaker in Alexandria to come and measure him + for shoes. The man returned word that he did not go to any one's house to + take measures, and the General mounted his horse and rode the nine miles + to him. One of his rules was to pay at taverns the same sum for his + servants' meals as for his own. An inn-keeper brought him a bill of + three-and-ninepence for his own breakfast, and three shillings for his + servant. He insisted upon adding the extra ninepence, as he did not doubt + that the servant had eaten as much as he. What do you say to these + anecdotes? Was this meanness or not?” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe was amused. “The stories are new to me,” he said. “It is just as + I thought. These are signs of a man who thinks much of trifles; one who + fusses over small matters. We don't do things in that way now that we no + longer have to get crops from granite, as they used to do in New Hampshire + when I was a boy.” + </p> + <p> + Carrington replied that it was unlucky for Virginians that they had not + done things in that way then: if they had, they would not have gone to the + dogs. + </p> + <p> + Gore shook his head seriously; “Did I not tell you so?” said he. “Was not + this man an abstract virtue? I give you my word I stand in awe before him, + and I feel ashamed to pry into these details of his life. What is it to us + how he thought proper to apply his principles to nightcaps and feather + dusters? We are not his body servants, and we care nothing about his + infirmities. It is enough for us to know that he carried his rules of + virtue down to a pin's point, and that we ought, one and all, to be on our + knees before his tomb.” + </p> + <p> + Dunbeg, pondering deeply, at length asked Carrington whether all this did + not make rather a clumsy politician of the father of his country. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Ratcliffe knows more about politics than I. Ask him,” said + Carrington. + </p> + <p> + “Washington was no politician at all, as we understand the word,” replied + Ratcliffe abruptly. “He stood outside of politics. The thing couldn't be + done to-day. The people don't like that sort of royal airs.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't understand!” said Mrs. Lee. “Why could you not do it now?” + </p> + <p> + “Because I should make a fool of myself;” replied Ratcliffe, pleased to + think that Mrs. Lee should put him on a level with Washington. She had + only meant to ask why the thing could not be done, and this little touch + of Ratcliffe's vanity was inimitable. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Ratcliffe means that Washington was too respectable for our time,” + interposed Carrington. + </p> + <p> + This was deliberately meant to irritate Ratcliffe, and it did so all the + more because Mrs. Lee turned to Carrington, and said, with some + bitterness: + </p> + <p> + “Was he then the only honest public man we ever had?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh no!” replied Carrington cheerfully; “there have been one or two + others.” + </p> + <p> + “If the rest of our Presidents had been like him,” said Gore, “we should + have had fewer ugly blots on our short history.” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe was exasperated at Carrington's habit of drawing discussion to + this point. He felt the remark as a personal insult, and he knew it to be + intended. “Public men,” he broke out, “cannot be dressing themselves + to-day in Washington's old clothes. If Washington were President now, he + would have to learn our ways or lose his next election. Only fools and + theorists imagine that our society can be handled with gloves or long + poles. One must make one's self a part of it. If virtue won't answer our + purpose, we must use vice, or our opponents will put us out of office, and + this was as true in Washington's day as it is now, and always will be.” + </p> + <p> + “Come,” said Lord Skye, who was beginning to fear an open quarrel; “the + conversation verges on treason, and I am accredited to this government. + Why not examine the grounds?” + </p> + <p> + A kind of natural sympathy led Lord Dunbeg to wander by the side of Miss + Dare through the quaint old garden. His mind being much occupied by the + effort of stowing away the impressions he had just received, he was more + than usually absent in his manner, and this want of attention irritated + the young lady. She made some comments on flowers; she invented some new + species with startling names; she asked whether these were known in + Ireland; but Lord Dunbeg was for the moment so vague in his answers that + she saw her case was perilous. + </p> + <p> + “Here is an old sun-dial. Do you have sun-dials in Ireland, Lord Dunbeg?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes; oh, certainly! What! sun-dials? Oh, yes! I assure you there are a + great many sun-dials in Ireland, Miss Dare.” + </p> + <p> + “I am so glad. But I suppose they are only for ornament. Here it is just + the other way. Look at this one! they all behave like that. The wear and + tear of our sun is too much for them; they don't last. My uncle, who has a + place at Long Branch, had five sun-dials in ten years.” + </p> + <p> + “How very odd! But really now, Miss Dare, I don't see how a sun—dial + could wear out.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't you? How strange! Don't you see, they get soaked with sunshine so + that they can't hold shadow. It's like me, you know. I have such a good + time all the time that I can't be unhappy. Do you ever read the Burlington + Hawkeye, Lord Dunbeg?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't remember; I think not. Is it an American serial?” gasped Dunbeg, + trying hard to keep pace with Miss Dare in her reckless dashes across + country. + </p> + <p> + “No, not serial at all!” replied Virginia; “but I am afraid you would find + it very hard reading. I shouldn't try.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you read it much, Miss Dare?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, always! I am not really as light as I seem. But then I have an + advantage over you because I know the language.” + </p> + <p> + By this time Dunbeg was awake again, and Miss Dare, satisfied with her + success, allowed herself to become more reasonable, until a slight shade + of sentiment began to flicker about their path. + </p> + <p> + The scattered party, however, soon had to unite again. The boat rang its + bell for return, they filed down the paths and settled themselves in their + old places. As they steamed away, Mrs. Lee watched the sunny hill-side and + the peaceful house above, until she could see them no more, and the longer + she looked, the less she was pleased with herself. Was it true, as + Victoria Dare said, that she could not live in so pure an air? Did she + really need the denser fumes of the city? Was she, unknown to herself; + gradually becoming tainted with the life about her? or was Ratcliffe right + in accepting the good and the bad together, and in being of his time since + he was in it? Why was it, she said bitterly to herself; that everything + Washington touched, he purified, even down to the associations of his + house? and why is it that everything we touch seems soiled? Why do I feel + unclean when I look at Mount Vernon? In spite of Mr. Ratcliffe, is it not + better to be a child and to cry for the moon and stars? + </p> + <p> + The little Baker girl came up to her where she stood, and began playing + with her parasol. + </p> + <p> + “Who is your little friend?” asked Ratcliffe. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee rather vaguely replied that she was the daughter of that pretty + woman in black; she believed her name was Baker. + </p> + <p> + “Baker, did you say?” repeated Ratcliffe. + </p> + <p> + “Baker—Mrs. Sam Baker; at least so Mr. Carrington told me; he said + she was a client of his.” + </p> + <p> + In fact Ratcliffe soon saw Carrington go up to her and remain by her side + during the rest of the trip. Ratcliffe watched them sharply and grew more + and more absorbed in his own thoughts as the boat drew nearer and nearer + the shore. + </p> + <p> + Carrington was in high spirits. He thought he had played his cards with + unusual success. Even Miss Dare deigned to acknowledge his charms that + day. + </p> + <p> + She declared herself to be the moral image of Martha Washington, and she + started a discussion whether Carrington or Lord Dunbeg would best suit her + in the rôle of the General. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Carrington is exemplary,” she said, “but oh, what joy to be Martha + Washington and a Countess too!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter VII + </h2> + <p> + WHEN he reached his rooms that afternoon, Senator Ratcliffe found there, + as he expected, a choice company of friends and admirers, who had beguiled + their leisure hours since noon by cursing him in every variety of profane + language that experience could suggest and impatience stimulate. On his + part, had he consulted his own feelings only, he would then and there have + turned them out, and locked the doors behind them. So far as silent + maledictions were concerned, no profanity of theirs could hold its own + against the intensity and deliberation with which, as he found himself + approaching his own door, he expressed between his teeth his views in + respect to their eternal interests. Nothing could be less suited to his + present humour than the society which awaited him in his rooms. He groaned + in spirit as he sat down at his writing-table and looked about him. Dozens + of office-seekers were besieging the house; men whose patriotic services + in the last election called loudly for recognition from a grateful + country. + </p> + <p> + They brought their applications to the Senator with an entreaty that he + would endorse and take charge of them. Several members and senators who + felt that Ratcliffe had no reason for existence except to fight their + battle for patronage, were lounging about his room, reading newspapers, or + beguiling their time with tobacco in various forms; at long intervals + making dull remarks, as though they were more weary than their + constituents of the atmosphere that surrounds the grandest government the + sun ever shone upon. + </p> + <p> + Several newspaper correspondents, eager to barter their news for + Ratcliffe's hints or suggestions, appeared from time to time on the scene, + and, dropping into a chair by Ratcliffe's desk, whispered with him in + mysterious tones. + </p> + <p> + Thus the Senator worked on, hour after hour, mechanically doing what was + required of him, signing papers without reading them, answering remarks + without hearing them, hardly looking up from his desk, and appearing + immersed in labour. This was his protection against curiosity and + garrulity. + </p> + <p> + The pretence of work was the curtain he drew between himself and the + world. + </p> + <p> + Behind this curtain his mental operations went on, undisturbed by what was + about him, while he heard all that was said, and said little or nothing + himself. His followers respected this privacy, and left him alone. He was + their prophet, and had a right to seclusion. He was their chieftain, and + while he sat in his monosyllabic solitude, his ragged tail reclined in + various attitudes about him, and occasionally one man spoke, or another + swore. Newspapers and tobacco were their resource in periods of absolute + silence. + </p> + <p> + A shade of depression rested on the faces and the voices of Clan Ratcliffe + that evening, as is not unusual with forces on the eve of battle. Their + remarks came at longer intervals, and were more pointless and random than + usual. There was a want of elasticity in their bearing and tone, partly + coming from sympathy with the evident depression of their chief; partly + from the portents of the time. The President was to arrive within + forty-eight hours, and as yet there was no sign that he properly + appreciated their services; there were signs only too unmistakeable that + he was painfully misled and deluded, that his countenance was turned + wholly in another direction, and that all their sacrifices were counted as + worthless. There was reason to believe that he came with a deliberate + purpose of making war upon Ratcliffe and breaking him down; of refusing to + bestow patronage on them, and of bestowing it wherever it would injure + them most deeply. At the thought that their honestly earned harvest of + foreign missions and consulates, department-bureaus, custom-house and + revenue offices, postmasterships, Indian agencies, and army and navy + contracts, might now be wrung from their grasp by the selfish greed of a + mere accidental intruder—a man whom nobody wanted and every one + ridiculed—their natures rebelled, and they felt that such things + must not be; that there could be no more hope for democratic government if + such things were possible. At this point they invariably became excited, + lost their equanimity, and swore. Then they fell back on their faith in + Ratcliffe: if any man could pull them through, he could; after all, the + President must first reckon with him, and he was an uncommon tough + customer to tackle. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps, however, even their faith in Ratcliffe might have been shaken, + could they at that moment have looked into his mind and understood what + was passing there. Ratcliffe was a man vastly their superior, and he knew + it. He lived in a world of his own and had instincts of refinement. + Whenever his affairs went unfavourably, these instincts revived, and for + the time swept all his nature with them. He was now filled with disgust + and cynical contempt for every form of politics. During long years he had + done his best for his party; he had sold himself to the devil, coined his + heart's blood, toiled with a dogged persistence that no day-labourer ever + conceived; and all for what? To be rejected as its candidate; to be put + under the harrow of a small Indiana farmer who made no secret of the + intention to “corral” him, and, as he elegantly expressed it, to “take his + hide and tallow.” Ratcliffe had no great fear of losing his hide, but he + felt aggrieved that he should be called upon to defend it, and that this + should be the result of twenty years' devotion. Like most men in the same + place, he did not stop to cast up both columns of his account with the + party, nor to ask himself the question that lay at the heart of his + grievance: How far had he served his party and how far himself? He was in + no humour for self-analysis: this requires more repose of mind than he + could then command. As for the President, from whom he had not heard a + whisper since the insolent letter to Grimes, which he had taken care not + to show, the Senator felt only a strong impulse to teach him better sense + and better manners. But as for political life, the events of the last six + months were calculated to make any man doubt its value. He was quite out + of sympathy with it. He hated the sight of his tobacco-chewing, + newspaper-reading satellites, with their hats tipped at every angle except + the right one, and their feet everywhere except on the floor. Their + conversation bored him and their presence was a nuisance. He would not + submit to this slavery longer. He would have given his Senatorship for a + civilized house like Mrs. Lee's, with a woman like Mrs. Lee at its head, + and twenty thousand a year for life. He smiled his only smile that evening + when he thought how rapidly she would rout every man Jack of his political + following out of her parlours, and how meekly they would submit to + banishment into a back-office with an oil-cloth carpet and two cane + chairs. + </p> + <p> + He felt that Mrs. Lee was more necessary to him than the Presidency + itself; he could not go on without her; he needed human companionship; + some Christian comfort for his old age; some avenue of communication with + that social world, which made his present surroundings look cold and foul; + some touch of that refinement of mind and morals beside which his own + seemed coarse. He felt unutterably lonely. He wished Mrs. Lee had asked + him home to dinner; but Mrs. Lee had gone to bed with a headache. He + should not see her again for a week. Then his mind turned back upon their + morning at Mount Vernon, and bethinking himself of Mrs. Sam Baker, he took + a sheet of note-paper, and wrote a line to Wilson Keen, Esq., at + Georgetown, requesting him to call, if possible, the next morning towards + one o'clock at the Senator's rooms on a matter of business. Wilson Keen + was chief of the Secret Service Bureau in the Treasury Department, and, as + the depositary of all secrets, was often called upon for assistance which + he was very good-natured in furnishing to senators, especially if they + were likely to be Secretaries of the Treasury. + </p> + <p> + This note despatched, Mr. Ratcliffe fell back into his reflective mood, + which led him apparently into still lower depths of discontent until, with + a muttered oath, he swore he could “stand no more of this,” and, suddenly + rising, he informed his visitors that he was sorry to leave them, but he + felt rather poorly and was going to bed; and to bed he went, while his + guests departed, each as his business or desires might point him, some to + drink whiskey and some to repose. + </p> + <p> + On Sunday morning Mr. Ratcliffe, as usual, went to church. He always + attended morning service—at the Methodist Episcopal Church—not + wholly on the ground of religious conviction, but because a large number + of his constituents were church-going people and he would not willingly + shock their principles so long as he needed their votes. In church, he + kept his eyes closely fixed upon the clergyman, and at the end of the + sermon he could say with truth that he had not heard a word of it, + although the respectable minister was gratified by the attention his + discourse had received from the Senator from Illinois, an attention all + the more praiseworthy because of the engrossing public cares which must at + that moment have distracted the Senator's mind. In this last idea, the + minister was right. Mr. Ratcliffe's mind was greatly distracted by public + cares, and one of his strongest reasons for going to church at all was + that he might get an hour or two of undisturbed reflection. During the + entire service he was absorbed in carrying on a series of imaginary + conversations with the new President. He brought up in succession every + form of proposition which the President might make to him; every trap + which could be laid for him; every sort of treatment he might expect, so + that he could not be taken by surprise, and his frank, simple nature could + never be at a loss. One object, however, long escaped him. Supposing, what + was more than probable, that the President's opposition to Ratcliffe's + declared friends made it impossible to force any of them into office; it + would then be necessary to try some new man, not obnoxious to the + President, as a candidate for the Cabinet. Who should this be? Ratcliffe + pondered long and deeply, searching out a man who combined the most + powerful interests, with the fewest enmities. This subject was still + uppermost at the moment when service ended. Ratcliffe pondered over it as + he walked back to his rooms. Not until he reached his own door did he come + to a conclusion: + </p> + <p> + Carson would do; Carson of Pennsylvania; the President had probably never + heard of him. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Wilson Keen was waiting the Senator's return, a heavy man with a + square face, and good-natured, active blue eyes; a man of few words and + those well-considered. The interview was brief. After apologising for + breaking in upon Sunday with business, Mr. Ratcliffe excused himself on + the ground that so little time was left before the close of the session. A + bill now before one of his Committees, on which a report must soon be + made, involved matters to which it was believed that the late Samuel + Baker, formerly a well-known lobby-agent in Washington, held the only + clue. He being dead, Mr. Ratcliffe wished to know whether he had left any + papers behind him, and in whose hands these papers were, or whether any + partner or associate of his was acquainted with his affairs. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Keen made a note of the request, merely remarking that he had been + very well acquainted with Baker, and also a little with his wife, who was + supposed to know his affairs as well as he knew them himself; and who was + still in Washington. He thought he could bring the information in a day or + two. As he then rose to go, Mr. Ratcliffe added that entire secrecy was + necessary, as the interests involved in obstructing the search were + considerable, and it was not well to wake them up. Mr. Keen assented and + went his way. + </p> + <p> + All this was natural enough and entirely proper, at least so far as + appeared on the surface. Had Mr. Keen been so curious in other people's + affairs as to look for the particular legislative measure which lay at the + bottom of Mr. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe's inquiries, he might have searched among the papers of Congress + a very long time and found himself greatly puzzled at last. In fact there + was no measure of the kind. The whole story was a fiction. Mr. Ratcliffe + had scarcely thought of Baker since his death, until the day before, when + he had seen his widow on the Mount Vernon steamer and had found her in + relations with Carrington. Something in Carrington's habitual attitude and + manner towards himself had long struck him as peculiar, and this + connection with Mrs. Baker had suggested to the Senator the idea that it + might be well to have an eye on both. Mrs. Baker was a silly woman, as he + knew, and there were old transactions between Ratcliffe and Baker of which + she might be informed, but which Ratcliffe had no wish to see brought + within Mrs. Lee's ken. As for the fiction invented to set Keen in motion, + it was an innocent one. It harmed nobody. Ratcliffe selected this + particular method of inquiry because it was the easiest, safest, and most + effectual. If he were always to wait until he could afford to tell the + precise truth, business would very soon be at a standstill, and his career + at an end. + </p> + <p> + This little matter disposed of; the Senator from Illinois passed his + afternoon in calling upon some of his brother senators, and the first of + those whom he honoured with a visit was Mr. Krebs, of Pennsylvania. There + were many reasons which now made the co-operation of that high-minded + statesman essential to Mr. Ratcliffe. The strongest of them was that the + Pennsylvania delegation in Congress was well disciplined and could be used + with peculiar advantage for purposes of “pressure.” Ratcliffe's success in + his contest with the new President depended on the amount of “pressure” he + could employ. To keep himself in the background, and to fling over the + head of the raw Chief Magistrate a web of intertwined influences, any one + of which alone would be useless, but which taken together were not to be + broken through; to revive the lost art of the Roman retiarius, who from a + safe distance threw his net over his adversary, before attacking with the + dagger; this was Ratcliffe's intention and towards this he had been + directing all his manipulation for weeks past. How much bargaining and how + many promises he found it necessary to make, was known to himself alone. + About this time Mrs. Lee was a little surprised to find Mr. Gore speaking + with entire confidence of having Ratcliffe's support in his application + for the Spanish mission, for she had rather imagined that Gore was not a + favourite with Ratcliffe. She noticed too that Schneidekoupon had come + back again and spoke mysteriously of interviews with Ratcliffe; of + attempts to unite the interests of New York and Pennsylvania; and his + countenance took on a dark and dramatic expression as he proclaimed that + no sacrifice of the principle of protection should be tolerated. + Schneidekoupon disappeared as suddenly as he came, and from Sybil's + innocent complaints of his spirits and temper, Mrs. Lee jumped to the + conclusion that Mr. Ratcliffe, Mr. Clinton, and Mr. + </p> + <p> + Krebs had for the moment combined to sit heavily upon poor Schneidekoupon, + and to remove his disturbing influence from the scene, at least until + other men should get what they wanted. These were merely the trifling + incidents that fell within Mrs. Lee's observation. She felt an atmosphere + of bargain and intrigue, but she could only imagine how far it extended. + Even Carrington, when she spoke to him about it, only laughed and shook + his head: + </p> + <p> + “Those matters are private, my dear Mrs. Lee; you and I are not meant to + know such things.” + </p> + <p> + This Sunday afternoon Mr. Ratcliffe's object was to arrange the little + manoeuvre about Carson of Pennsylvania, which had disturbed him in church. + </p> + <p> + His efforts were crowned with success. Krebs accepted Carson and promised + to bring him forward at ten minutes' notice, should the emergency arise. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe was a great statesman. The smoothness of his manipulation was + marvellous. No other man in politics, indeed no other man who had ever + been in politics in this country, could—his admirers said—have + brought together so many hostile interests and made so fantastic a + combination. Some men went so far as to maintain that he would “rope in + the President himself before the old man had time to swap knives with + him.” The beauty of his work consisted in the skill with which he evaded + questions of principle. As he wisely said, the issue now involved was not + one of principle but of power. + </p> + <p> + The fate of that noble party to which they all belonged, and which had a + record that could never be forgotten, depended on their letting principle + alone. Their principle must be the want of principles. There were indeed + individuals who said in reply that Ratcliffe had made promises which never + could be carried out, and there were almost superhuman elements of discord + in the combination, but as Ratcliffe shrewdly rejoined, he only wanted it + to last a week, and he guessed his promises would hold it up for that + time. + </p> + <p> + Such was the situation when on Monday afternoon the President-elect + arrived in Washington, and the comedy began. The new President was, almost + as much as Abraham Lincoln or Franklin Pierce, an unknown quantity in + political mathematics. In the national convention of the party, nine + months before, after some dozens of fruitless ballots in which Ratcliffe + wanted but three votes of a majority, his opponents had done what he was + now doing; they had laid aside their principles and set up for their + candidate a plain Indiana farmer, whose political experience was limited + to stump-speaking in his native State, and to one term as Governor. They + had pitched upon him, not because they thought him competent, but because + they hoped by doing so to detach Indiana from Ratcliffe's following, and + they were so successful that within fifteen minutes Ratcliffe's friends + were routed, and the Presidency had fallen upon this new political Buddha. + </p> + <p> + He had begun his career as a stone-cutter in a quarry, and was, not + unreasonably, proud of the fact. During the campaign this incident had, of + course, filled a large space in the public mind, or, more exactly, in the + public eye. “The Stone-cutter of the Wabash,” he was sometimes called; at + others “the Hoosier Quarryman,” but his favourite appellation was “Old + Granite,” although this last endearing name, owing to an unfortunate + similarity of sound, was seized upon by his opponents, and distorted into + “Old Granny.” He had been painted on many thousand yards of cotton + sheeting, either with a terrific sledge-hammer, smashing the skulls (which + figured as paving-stones) of his political opponents, or splitting by + gigantic blows a huge rock typical of the opposing party. His opponents in + their turn had paraded illuminations representing the Quarryman in the + garb of a State's-prison convict breaking the heads of Ratcliffe and other + well-known political leaders with a very feeble hammer, or as “Old Granny” + in pauper's rags, hopelessly repairing with the same heads the impossible + roads which typified the ill-conditioned and miry ways of his party. But + these violations of decency and good sense were universally reproved by + the virtuous; and it was remarked with satisfaction that the purest and + most highly cultivated newspaper editors on his side, without excepting + those of Boston itself; agreed with one voice that the Stone-cutter was a + noble type of man, perhaps the very noblest that had appeared to adorn + this country since the incomparable Washington. + </p> + <p> + That he was honest, all admitted; that is to say, all who voted for him. + </p> + <p> + This is a general characteristic of all new presidents. He himself took + great pride in his home-spun honesty, which is a quality peculiar to + nature's noblemen. Owing nothing, as he conceived, to politicians, but + sympathising through every fibre of his unselfish nature with the impulses + and aspirations of the people, he affirmed it to be his first duty to + protect the people from those vultures, as he called them, those wolves in + sheep's clothing, those harpies, those hyenas, the politicians; epithets + which, as generally interpreted, meant Ratcliffe and Ratcliffe's friends. + </p> + <p> + His cardinal principle in politics was hostility to Ratcliffe, yet he was + not vindictive. He came to Washington determined to be the Father of his + country; to gain a proud immortality and a re-election. + </p> + <p> + Upon this gentleman Ratcliffe had let loose all the forms of “pressure” + which could be set in motion either in or out of Washington. From the + moment when he had left his humble cottage in Southern Indiana, he had + been captured by Ratcliffe's friends, and smothered in demonstrations of + affection. They had never allowed him to suggest the possibility of + ill-feeling. They had assumed as a matter of course that the most cordial + attachment existed between him and his party. On his arrival in Washington + they systematically cut him off from contact with any influences but their + own. This was not a very difficult thing to do, for great as he was, he + liked to be told of his greatness, and they made him feel himself a + colossus. Even the few personal friends in his company were manipulated + with the utmost care, and their weaknesses put to use before they had been + in Washington a single day. + </p> + <p> + Not that Ratcliffe had anything to do with all this underhand and + grovelling intrigue. Mr. Ratcliffe was a man of dignity and self-respect, + who left details to his subordinates. He waited calmly until the + President, recovered from the fatigues of his journey, should begin to + feel the effect of a Washington atmosphere. Then on Wednesday morning, Mr. + Ratcliffe left his rooms an hour earlier than usual on his way to the + Senate, and called at the President's Hotel: he was ushered into a large + apartment in which the new Chief Magistrate was holding court, although at + sight of Ratcliffe, the other visitors edged away or took their hats and + left the room. The President proved to be a hard-featured man of sixty, + with a hooked nose and thin, straight, iron-gray hair. His voice was + rougher than his features and he received Ratcliffe awkwardly. He had + suffered since his departure from Indiana. Out there it had seemed a mere + flea-bite, as he expressed it, to brush Ratcliffe aside, but in Washington + the thing was somehow different. + </p> + <p> + Even his own Indiana friends looked grave when he talked of it, and shook + their heads. They advised him to be cautious and gain time; to lead + Ratcliffe on, and if possible to throw on him the responsibility of a + quarrel. He was, therefore, like a brown bear undergoing the process of + taming; very ill-tempered, very rough, and at the same time very much + bewildered and a little frightened. Ratcliffe sat ten minutes with him, + and obtained information in regard to pains which the President had + suffered during the previous night, in consequence, as he believed, of an + over-indulgence in fresh lobster, a luxury in which he had found a + diversion from the cares of state. So soon as this matter was explained + and condoled upon, Ratcliffe rose and took leave. + </p> + <p> + Every device known to politicians was now in full play against the Hoosier + Quarryman. State delegations with contradictory requests were poured in + upon him, among which that of Massachusetts presented as its only prayer + the appointment of Mr. Gore to the Spanish mission. Difficulties were + invented to embarrass and worry him. False leads were suggested, and false + information carefully mingled with true. A wild dance was kept up under + his eyes from daylight to midnight, until his brain reeled with the effort + to follow it. Means were also found to convert one of his personal, + confidential friends, who had come with him from Indiana and who had more + brains or less principle than the others; from him every word of the + President was brought directly to Ratcliffe's ear. + </p> + <p> + Early on Friday morning, Mr. Thomas Lord, a rival of the late Samuel + Baker, and heir to his triumphs, appeared in Ratcliffe's rooms while the + Senator was consuming his lonely egg and chop. Mr. Lord had been chosen to + take general charge of the presidential party and to direct all matters + connected with Ratcliffe's interests. Some people might consider this the + work of a spy; he looked on it as a public duty. He reported that “Old + Granny” had at last shown signs of weakness. Late the previous evening + when, according to his custom, he was smoking his pipe in company with his + kitchen-cabinet of followers, he had again fallen upon the subject of + Ratcliffe, and with a volley of oaths had sworn that he would show him his + place yet, and that he meant to offer him a seat in the Cabinet that would + make him “sicker than a stuck hog.” From this remark and some explanatory + hints that followed, it seemed that the Quarryman had abandoned his scheme + of putting Ratcliffe to immediate political death, and had now undertaken + to invite him into a Cabinet which was to be specially constructed to + thwart and humiliate him. + </p> + <p> + The President, it appeared, warmly applauded the remark of one counsellor, + that Ratcliffe was safer in the Cabinet than in the Senate, and that it + would be easy to kick him out when the time came. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe smiled grimly as Mr. Lord, with much clever mimicry, described + the President's peculiarities of language and manner, but he said nothing + and waited for the event. The same evening came a note from the + President's private secretary requesting his attendance, if possible, + to-morrow, Saturday morning, at ten o'clock. The note was curt and cool. + Ratcliffe merely sent back word that he would come, and felt a little + regret that the President should not know enough etiquette to understand + that this verbal answer was intended as a hint to improve his manners. He + did come accordingly, and found the President looking blacker than before. + This time there was no avoiding of tender subjects. The President meant to + show Ratcliffe by the decision of his course, that he was master of the + situation. He broke at once into the middle of the matter: “I sent for + you,” said he, “to consult with you about my Cabinet. Here is a list of + the gentlemen I intend to invite into it. You will see that I have got you + down for the Treasury. Will you look at the list and say what you think of + it?” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe took the paper, but laid it at once on the table without looking + at it. “I can have no objection,” said he, “to any Cabinet you may + appoint, provided I am not included in it. My wish is to remain where I + am. There I can serve your administration better than in the Cabinet.” + </p> + <p> + “Then you refuse?” growled the President. + </p> + <p> + “By no means. I only decline to offer any advice or even to hear the names + of my proposed colleagues until it is decided that my services are + necessary. If they are, I shall accept without caring with whom I serve.” + </p> + <p> + The President glared at him with an uneasy look. What was to be done next? + </p> + <p> + He wanted time to think, but Ratcliffe was there and must be disposed of. + He involuntarily became more civil: “Mr. Ratcliffe, your refusal would + knock everything on the head. I thought that matter was all fixed. What + more can I do?” + </p> + <p> + But Ratcliffe had no mind to let the President out of his clutches so + easily, and a long conversation followed, during which he forced his + antagonist into the position of urging him to take the Treasury in order + to prevent some undefined but portentous mischief in the Senate. All that + could be agreed upon was that Ratcliffe should give a positive answer + within two days, and on that agreement he took his leave. + </p> + <p> + As he passed through the corridor, a number of gentlemen were waiting for + interviews with the President, and among them was the whole Pennsylvania + delegation, “ready for biz,” as Mr. Tom Lord remarked, with a wink. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe drew Krebs aside and they exchanged a few words as he passed + out. + </p> + <p> + Ten minutes afterwards the delegation was admitted, and some of its + members were a little surprised to hear their spokesman, Senator Krebs, + press with extreme earnestness and in their names, the appointment of + Josiah B. Carson to a place in the Cabinet, when they had been given to + understand that they came to recommend Jared Caldwell as postmaster of + Philadelphia. But Pennsylvania is a great and virtuous State, whose + representatives have entire confidence in their chief. Not one of them so + much as winked. + </p> + <p> + The dance of democracy round the President now began again with wilder + energy. Ratcliffe launched his last bolts. His two-days' delay was a mere + cover for bringing new influences to bear. He needed no delay. He wanted + no time for reflection. The President had undertaken to put him on the + horns of a dilemma; either to force him into a hostile and treacherous + Cabinet, or to throw on him the blame of a refusal and a quarrel. He meant + to embrace one of the horns and to impale the President on it, and he felt + perfect confidence in his own success. He meant to accept the Treasury and + he was ready to back himself with a heavy wager to get the government + entirely into his own hands within six weeks. His contempt for the Hoosier + Stone-cutter was unbounded, and his confidence in himself more absolute + than ever. + </p> + <p> + Busy as he was, the Senator made his appearance the next evening at Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Lee's, and finding her alone with Sybil, who was occupied with her own + little devices, Ratcliffe told Madeleine the story of his week's + experience. + </p> + <p> + He did not dwell on his exploits. On the contrary he quite ignored those + elaborate arrangements which had taken from the President his power of + volition. His picture presented himself; solitary and unprotected, in the + character of that honest beast who was invited to dine with the lion and + saw that all the footmarks of his predecessors led into the lion's cave, + and none away from it. He described in humorous detail his interviews with + the Indiana lion, and the particulars of the surfeit of lobster as given + in the President's dialect; he even repeated to her the story told him by + Mr. Tom Lord, without omitting oaths or gestures; he told her how matters + stood at the moment, and how the President had laid a trap for him which + he could not escape; he must either enter a Cabinet constructed on purpose + to thwart him and with the certainty of ignominious dismissal at the first + opportunity, or he must refuse an offer of friendship which would throw on + him the blame of a quarrel, and enable the President to charge all future + difficulties to the account of Ratcliffe's “insatiable ambition.” “And + now, Mrs. Lee,” he continued, with increasing seriousness of tone; “I want + your advice; what shall I do?” + </p> + <p> + Even this half revelation of the meanness which distorted politics; this + one-sided view of human nature in its naked deformity playing pranks with + the interests of forty million people, disgusted and depressed Madeleine's + mind. Ratclife spared her nothing except the exposure of his own moral + sores. He carefully called her attention to every leprous taint upon his + neighbours' persons, to every rag in their foul clothing, to every slimy + and fetid pool that lay beside their path. It was his way of bringing his + own qualities into relief. He meant that she should go hand in hand with + him through the brimstone lake, and the more repulsive it seemed to her, + the more overwhelming would his superiority become. He meant to destroy + those doubts of his character which Carrington was so carefully fostering, + to rouse her sympathy, to stimulate her feminine sense of self-sacrifice. + </p> + <p> + When he asked this question she looked up at him with an expression of + indignant pride, as she spoke: + </p> + <p> + “I say again, Mr. Ratcliffe, what I said once before. Do whatever is most + for the public good.” + </p> + <p> + “And what is most for the public good?” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine half opened her mouth to reply, then hesitated, and stared + silently into the fire before her. What was indeed most for the public + good? + </p> + <p> + Where did the public good enter at all into this maze of personal + intrigue, this wilderness of stunted natures where no straight road was to + be found, but only the tortuous and aimless tracks of beasts and things + that crawl? + </p> + <p> + Where was she to look for a principle to guide, an ideal to set up and to + point at? + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe resumed his appeal, and his manner was more serious than ever. + </p> + <p> + “I am hard pressed, Mrs. Lee. My enemies encompass me about. They mean to + ruin me. I honestly wish to do my duty. You once said that personal + considerations should have no weight. Very well! throw them away! And now + tell me what I should do.” + </p> + <p> + For the first time, Mrs. Lee began to feel his power. He was simple, + straightforward, earnest. His words moved her. How should she imagine that + he was playing upon her sensitive nature precisely as he played upon the + President's coarse one, and that this heavy western politician had the + instincts of a wild Indian in their sharpness and quickness of perception; + that he divined her character and read it as he read the faces and tones + of thousands from day to day? She was uneasy under his eye. She began a + sentence, hesitated in the middle, and broke down. She lost her command of + thought, and sat dumb-founded. He had to draw her out of the confusion he + had himself made. + </p> + <p> + “I see your meaning in your face. You say that I should accept the duty + and disregard the consequences.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know,” said Madeleine, hesitatingly; “Yes, I think that would be + my feeling.” + </p> + <p> + “And when I fall a sacrifice to that man's envy and intrigue, what will + you think then, Mrs. Lee? Will you not join the rest of the world and say + that I overreached myself; and walked into this trap with my eyes open, + and for my own objects? Do you think I shall ever be thought better of; + for getting caught here? I don't parade high moral views like our friend + French. I won't cant about virtue. But I do claim that in my public life I + have tried to do right. Will you do me the justice to think so?” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine still struggled to prevent herself from being drawn into + indefinite promises of sympathy with this man. She would keep him at arm's + length whatever her sympathies might be. She would not pledge herself to + espouse his cause. She turned upon him with an effort, and said that her + thoughts, now or at any time, were folly and nonsense, and that the + consciousness of right-doing was the only reward any public man had a + right to expect. + </p> + <p> + “And yet you are a hard critic, Mrs. Lee. If your thoughts are what you + say, your words are not. You judge with the judgment of abstract + principles, and you wield the bolts of divine justice. You look on and + condemn, but you refuse to acquit. When I come to you on the verge of what + is likely to be the fatal plunge of my life, and ask you only for some + clue to the moral principle that ought to guide me, you look on and say + that virtue is its own reward. And you do not even say where virtue lies.” + </p> + <p> + “I confess my sins,” said Madeleine, meekly and despondently; “life is + more complicated than I thought.” + </p> + <p> + “I shall be guided by your advice,” said Ratcliffe; “I shall walk into + that den of wild beasts, since you think I ought. But I shall hold you to + your responsibility. You cannot refuse to see me through dangers you have + helped to bring me into.” + </p> + <p> + “No, no!” cried Madeleine, earnestly; “no responsibility. You ask more + than I can give.” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe looked at her a moment with a troubled and careworn face. His + eyes seemed deep sunk in their dark circles, and his voice was pathetic in + its intensity. “Duty is duty, for you as well as for me. I have a right to + the help of all pure minds. You have no right to refuse it. How can you + reject your own responsibility and hold me to mine?” + </p> + <p> + Almost as he spoke, he rose and took his departure, leaving her no time to + do more than murmur again her ineffectual protest. After he was gone, Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Lee sat long, with her eyes fixed on the fire, reflecting upon what he had + said. Her mind was bewildered by the new suggestions which Ratcliffe had + thrown out. What woman of thirty, with aspirations for the infinite, could + resist an attack like this? What woman with a soul could see before her + the most powerful public man of her time, appealing—with a face + furrowed by anxieties, and a voice vibrating with only half-suppressed + affection—to her for counsel and sympathy, without yielding some + response? and what woman could have helped bowing her head to that rebuke + of her over-confident judgment, coming as it did from one who in the same + breath appealed to that judgment as final? Ratcliffe, too, had a curious + instinct for human weaknesses. No magnetic needle was ever truer than his + finger when he touched the vulnerable spot in an opponent's mind. Mrs. Lee + was not to be reached by an appeal to religious sentiment, to ambition, or + to affection. + </p> + <p> + Any such appeal would have fallen flat on her ears and destroyed its own + hopes. But she was a woman to the very last drop of her blood. She could + not be induced to love Ratcliffe, but she might be deluded into + sacrificing herself for him. She atoned for want of devotion to God, by + devotion to man. + </p> + <p> + She had a woman's natural tendency towards asceticism, self-extinction, + self-abnegation. All through life she had made painful efforts to + understand and follow out her duty. Ratcliffe knew her weak point when he + attacked her from this side. Like all great orators and advocates, he was + an actor; the more effective because of a certain dignified air that + forbade familiarity. + </p> + <p> + He had appealed to her sympathy, her sense of right and of duty, to her + courage, her loyalty, her whole higher nature; and while he made this + appeal he felt more than half convinced that he was all he pretended to + be, and that he really had a right to her devotion. What wonder that she + in her turn was more than half inclined to admit that right. She knew him + now better than Carrington or Jacobi knew him. Surely a man who spoke as + he spoke, had noble instincts and lofty aims? Was not his career a + thousand times more important than hers? If he, in his isolation and his + cares, needed her assistance, had she an excuse for refusing it? What was + there in her aimless and useless life which made it so precious that she + could not afford to fling it into the gutter, if need be, on the bare + chance of enriching some fuller existence? + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter VIII + </h2> + <p> + OF all titles ever assumed by prince or potentate, the proudest is that of + the Roman pontiffs: “Servus servorum Dei”—“Servant of the servants + of God.” + </p> + <p> + In former days it was not admitted that the devil's servants could by + right have any share in government. They were to be shut out, punished, + exiled, maimed, and burned. The devil has no servants now; only the people + have servants. There may be some mistake about a doctrine which makes the + wicked, when a majority, the mouthpiece of God against the virtuous, but + the hopes of mankind are staked on it; and if the weak in faith sometimes + quail when they see humanity floating in a shoreless ocean, on this plank, + which experience and religion long since condemned as rotten, mistake or + not, men have thus far floated better by its aid, than the popes ever did + with their prettier principle; so that it will be a long time yet before + society repents. + </p> + <p> + Whether the new President and his chief rival, Mr. Silas P. Ratcliffe, + were or were not servants of the servants of God, is not material here. + Servants they were to some one. No doubt many of those who call themselves + servants of the people are no better than wolves in sheep's clothing, or + asses in lions' skins. One may see scores of them any day in the Capitol + when Congress is in session, making noisy demonstrations, or more usefully + doing nothing. A wiser generation will employ them in manual labour; as it + is, they serve only themselves. But there are two officers, at least, + whose service is real—the President and his Secretary of the + Treasury. The Hoosier Quarryman had not been a week in Washington before + he was heartily home-sick for Indiana. No maid-of-all-work in a cheap + boarding-house was ever more harassed. Everyone conspired against him. His + enemies gave him no peace. All Washington was laughing at his blunders, + and ribald sheets, published on a Sunday, took delight in printing the new + Chief Magistrate's sayings and doings, chronicled with outrageous humour, + and placed by malicious hands where the President could not but see them. + He was sensitive to ridicule, and it mortified him to the heart to find + that remarks and acts, which to him seemed sensible enough, should be + capable of such perversion. Then he was overwhelmed with public business. + It came upon him in a deluge, and he now, in his despair, no longer tried + to control it. He let it pass over him like a wave. His mind was muddied + by the innumerable visitors to whom he had to listen. But his greatest + anxiety was the Inaugural Address which, distracted as he was, he could + not finish, although in another week it must be delivered. He was nervous + about his Cabinet; it seemed to him that he could do nothing until he had + disposed of Ratcliffe. + </p> + <p> + Already, thanks to the President's friends, Ratcliffe had become + indispensable; still an enemy, of course, but one whose hands must be + tied; a sort of Sampson, to be kept in bonds until the time came for + putting him out of the way, but in the meanwhile, to be utilized. This + point being settled, the President had in imagination begun to lean upon + him; for the last few days he had postponed everything till next week, + “when I get my Cabinet arranged;” which meant, when he got Ratcliffe's + assistance; and he fell into a panic whenever he thought of the chance + that Ratcliffe might refuse. + </p> + <p> + He was pacing his room impatiently on Monday morning, an hour before the + time fixed for Ratcliffe's visit. His feelings still fluctuated violently, + and if he recognized the necessity of using Ratcliffe, he was not the less + determined to tie Ratcliffe's hands. He must be made to come into a + Cabinet where every other voice would be against him. He must be prevented + from having any patronage to dispose of. He must be induced to accept + these conditions at the start. How present this to him in such a way as + not to repel him at once? All this was needless, if the President had only + known it, but he thought himself a profound statesman, and that his hand + was guiding the destinies of America to his own re-election. When at + length, on the stroke of ten o'clock, Ratcliffe entered the room, the + President turned to him with nervous eagerness, and almost before offering + his hand, said that he hoped Mr. Ratcliffe had come prepared to begin work + at once. The Senator replied that, if such was the President's decided + wish, he would offer no further opposition. Then the President drew + himself up in the attitude of an American Cato, and delivered a prepared + address, in which he said that he had chosen the members of his Cabinet + with a careful regard to the public interests; that Mr. Ratcliffe was + essential to the combination; that he expected no disagreement on + principles, for there was but one principle which he should consider + fundamental, namely, that there should be no removals from office except + for cause; and that under these circumstances he counted upon Mr. + Ratcliffe's assistance as a matter of patriotic duty. + </p> + <p> + To all this Ratcliffe assented without a word of objection, and the + President, more convinced than ever of his own masterly statesmanship, + breathed more freely than for a week past. Within ten minutes they were + actively at work together, clearing away the mass of accumulated business. + </p> + <p> + The relief of the Quarryman surprised himself. Ratcliffe lifted the weight + of affairs from his shoulders with hardly an effort. He knew everybody and + everything. He took most of the President's visitors at once into his own + hands and dismissed them with great rapidity. He knew what they wanted; he + knew what recommendations were strong and what were weak; who was to be + treated with deference and who was to be sent away abruptly; where a blunt + refusal was safe, and where a pledge was allowable. The President even + trusted him with the unfinished manuscript of the Inaugural Address, which + Ratcliffe returned to him the next day with such notes and suggestions as + left nothing to be done beyond copying them out in a fair hand. With all + this, he proved himself a very agreeable companion. He talked well and + enlivened the work; he was not a hard taskmaster, and when he saw that the + President was tired, he boldly asserted that there was no more business + that could not as well wait a day, and so took the weary Stone-cutter out + to drive for a couple of hours, and let him go peacefully to sleep in the + carriage. They dined together and Ratcliffe took care to send for Tom Lord + to amuse them, for Tom was a wit and a humourist, and kept the President + in a laugh. Mr. Lord ordered the dinner and chose the wines. He could be + coarse enough to suit even the President's palate, and Ratcliffe was not + behindhand. When the new Secretary went away at ten o'clock that night, + his chief; who was in high good humour with his dinner, his champagne, and + his conversation, swore with some unnecessary granite oaths, that + Ratcliffe was “a clever fellow anyhow,” and he was glad “that job was + fixed.” + </p> + <p> + The truth was that Ratcliffe had now precisely ten days before the new + Cabinet could be set in motion, and in these ten days he must establish + his authority over the President so firmly that nothing could shake it. He + was diligent in good works. Very soon the court began to feel his hand. If + a business letter or a written memorial came in, the President found it + easy to endorse: “Referred to the Secretary of the Treasury.” If a visitor + wanted anything for himself or another, the invariable reply came to be: + “Just mention it to Mr. Ratcliffe;” or, “I guess Ratcliffe will see to + that.” + </p> + <p> + Before long he even made jokes in a Catonian manner; jokes that were not + peculiarly witty, but somewhat gruff and boorish, yet significant of a + resigned and self-contented mind. One morning he ordered Ratcliffe to take + an iron-clad ship of war and attack the Sioux in Montana, seeing that he + was in charge of the army and navy and Indians at once, and Jack of all + trades; and again he told a naval officer who wanted a court-martial that + he had better get Ratcliffe to sit on him for he was a whole court-martial + by himself. That Ratcliffe held his chief in no less contempt than before, + was probable but not certain, for he kept silence on the subject before + the world, and looked solemn whenever the President was mentioned. + </p> + <p> + Before three days were over, the President, with a little more than his + usual abruptness, suddenly asked him what he knew about this fellow + Carson, whom the Pennsylvanians were bothering him to put in his Cabinet. + Ratcliffe was guarded: he scarcely knew the man; Mr. Carson was not in + politics, he believed, but was pretty respectable—for a + Pennsylvanian. The President returned to the subject several times; got + out his list of Cabinet officers and figured industriously upon it with a + rather perplexed face; called Ratcliffe to help him; and at last the + “slate” was fairly broken, and Ratcliffe's eyes gleamed when the President + caused his list of nominations to be sent to the Senate on the 5th March, + and Josiah B. Carson, of Pennsylvania, was promptly confirmed as Secretary + of the Interior. + </p> + <p> + But his eyes gleamed still more humorously when, a few days afterwards, + the President gave him a long list of some two score names, and asked him + to find places for them. He assented good-naturedly, with a remark that it + might be necessary to make a few removals to provide for these cases. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, well,” said the President, “I guess there's just about as many as + that had ought to go out anyway. These are friends of mine; got to be + looked after. Just stuff 'em in somewhere.” + </p> + <p> + Even he felt a little awkward about it, and, to do him justice, this was + the last that was heard about the fundamental rule of his administration. + </p> + <p> + Removals were fast and furious, until all Indiana became easy in + circumstances. And it was not to be denied that, by one means or another, + Ratcliffe's friends did come into their fair share of the public money. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps the President thought it best to wink at such use of the Treasury + patronage for the present, or was already a little overawed by his + Secretary. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe's work was done. The public had, with the help of some clever + intrigue, driven its servants into the traces. Even an Indiana + stone-cutter could be taught that his personal prejudices must yield to + the public service. What mischief the selfishness, the ambition, or the + ignorance of these men might do, was another matter. As the affair stood, + the President was the victim of his own schemes. It remained to be seen + whether, at some future day, Mr. Ratcliffe would think it worth his while + to strangle his chief by some quiet Eastern intrigue, but the time had + gone by when the President could make use of either the bow-string or the + axe upon him. + </p> + <p> + All this passed while Mrs. Lee was quietly puzzling her poor little brain + about her duty and her responsibility to Ratcliffe, who, meanwhile, rarely + failed to find himself on Sunday evenings by her side in her parlour, + where his rights were now so well established that no one presumed to + contest his seat, unless it were old Jacobi, who from time to time + reminded him that he was fallible and mortal. Occasionally, though not + often, Mr. Ratcliffe came at other times, as when he persuaded Mrs. Lee to + be present at the Inauguration, and to call on the President's wife. + Madeleine and Sybil went to the Capitol and had the best places to see and + hear the Inauguration, as well as a cold March wind would allow. Mrs. Lee + found fault with the ceremony; it was of the earth, earthy, she said. An + elderly western farmer, with silver spectacles, new and glossy evening + clothes, bony features, and stiff; thin, gray hair, trying to address a + large crowd of people, under the drawbacks of a piercing wind and a cold + in his head, was not a hero. Sybil's mind was lost in wondering whether + the President would not soon die of pneumonia. Even this experience, + however, was happy when compared with that of the call upon the + President's wife, after which Madeleine decided to leave the new dynasty + alone in future. The lady, who was somewhat stout and coarse-featured, and + whom Mrs. Lee declared she wouldn't engage as a cook, showed qualities + which, seen under that fierce light which beats upon a throne, seemed + ungracious. Her antipathy to Ratcliffe was more violent than her + husband's, and was even more openly expressed, until the President was + quite put out of countenance by it. She extended her hostility to every + one who could be supposed to be Ratcliffe's friend, and the newspapers, as + well as private gossip, had marked out Mrs. Lee as one who, by an alliance + with Ratcliffe, was aiming at supplanting her own rule over the White + House. + </p> + <p> + Hence, when Mrs. Lightfoot Lee was announced, and the two sisters were + ushered into the presidential parlour, she put on a coldly patronizing + air, and in reply to Madeleine's hope that she found Washington agreeable, + she intimated that there was much in Washington which struck her as awful + wicked, especially the women; and, looking at Sybil, she spoke of the + style of dress in this city which she said she meant to do what she could + to put a stop to. She'd heard tell that people sent to Paris for their + gowns, just as though America wasn't good enough to make one's clothes! + Jacob (all Presidents' wives speak of their husbands by their first names) + had promised her to get a law passed against it. In her town in Indiana, a + young woman who was seen on the street in such clothes wouldn't be spoken + to. At these remarks, made with an air and in a temper quite unmistakable, + Madeleine became exasperated beyond measure, and said that “Washington + would be pleased to see the President do something in regard to + dress-reform—or any other reform;” and with this allusion to the + President's ante-election reform speeches, Mrs. Lee turned her back and + left the room, followed by Sybil in convulsions of suppressed laughter, + which would not have been suppressed had she seen the face of their + hostess as the door shut behind them, and the energy with which she shook + her head and said: “See if I don't reform you yet, you—jade!” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee gave Ratcliffe a lively account of this interview, and he laughed + nearly as convulsively as Sybil over it, though he tried to pacify her by + saying that the President's most intimate friends openly declared his wife + to be insane, and that he himself was the person most afraid of her. But + Mrs. Lee declared that the President was as bad as his wife; that an + equally good President and President's wife could be picked up in any + corner-grocery between the Lakes and the Ohio; and that no inducement + should ever make her go near that coarse washerwoman again. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe did not attempt to change Mrs. Lee's opinion. Indeed he knew + better than any man how Presidents were made, and he had his own opinions + in regard to the process as well as the fabric produced. Nothing Mrs. Lee + could say now affected him. He threw off his responsibility and she found + it suddenly resting on her own shoulders. When she spoke with indignation + of the wholesale removals from office with which the new administration + marked its advent to power, he told her the story of the President's + fundamental principle, and asked her what she would have him do. “He meant + to tie my hands,” said Ratcliffe, “and to leave his own free, and I + accepted the condition. Can I resign now on such a ground as this?” And + Madeleine was obliged to agree that he could not. She had no means of + knowing how many removals he made in his own interest, or how far he had + outwitted the President at his own game. He stood before her a victim and + a patriot. Every step he had taken had been taken with her approval. He + was now in office to prevent what evil he could, not to be responsible for + the evil that was done; and he honestly assured her that much worse men + would come in when he went out, as the President would certainly take good + care that he did go out when the moment arrived. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee had the chance now to carry out her scheme in coming to + Washington, for she was already deep in the mire of politics and could see + with every advantage how the great machine floundered about, bespattering + with mud even her own pure garments. Ratcliffe himself, since entering the + Treasury, had begun to talk with a sneer of the way in which laws were + made, and openly said that he wondered how government got on at all. Yet + he declared still that this particular government was the highest + expression of political thought. Mrs. Lee stared at him and wondered + whether he knew what thought was. To her the government seemed to have + less thought in it than one of Sybil's gowns, for if they, like the + government, were monstrously costly, they were at least adapted to their + purpose, the parts fitted together, and they were neither awkward nor + unwieldy. + </p> + <p> + There was nothing very encouraging in all this, but it was better than New + York. At least it gave her something to look at, and to think about. Even + Lord Dunbeg preached practical philanthropy to her by the hour. Ratcliffe, + too, was compelled to drag himself out of the rut of machine politics, and + to justify his right of admission to her house. There Mr. French + discoursed at great length, until the fourth of March sent him home to + Connecticut; and he brought more than one intelligent member of Congress + to Mrs. Lee's parlour. Underneath the scum floating on the surface of + politics, Madeleine felt that there was a sort of healthy ocean current of + honest purpose, which swept the scum before it, and kept the mass pure. + </p> + <p> + This was enough to draw her on. She reconciled herself to accepting the + Ratcliffian morals, for she could see no choice. She herself had approved + every step she had seen him take. She could not deny that there must be + something wrong in a double standard of morality, but where was it? Mr. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe seemed to her to be doing good work with as pure means as he had + at hand. He ought to be encouraged, not reviled. What was she that she + should stand in judgment? + </p> + <p> + Others watched her progress with less satisfaction. Mr. Nathan Gore was + one of these, for he came in one evening, looking much out of temper, and, + sitting down by her side he said he had come to bid good-bye and to thank + her for the kindness she had shown him; he was to leave Washington the + next morning. She too expressed her warm regret, but added that she hoped + he was only going in order to take his passage to Madrid. + </p> + <p> + He shook his head. “I am going to take my passage,” said he, “but not to + Madrid. The fates have cut that thread. The President does not want my + services, and I can't blame him, for if our situations were reversed, I + should certainly not want his. He has an Indiana friend, who, I am told, + wanted to be postmaster at Indianapolis, but as this did not suit the + politicians, he was bought off at the exorbitant price of the Spanish + mission. But I should have no chance even if he were out of the way. The + President does not approve of me. He objects to the cut of my overcoat + which is unfortunately an English one. He also objects to the cut of my + hair. I am afraid that his wife objects to me because I am so happy as to + be thought a friend of yours.” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine could only acknowledge that Mr. Gore's case was a bad one. “But + after all,” said she, “why should politicians be expected to love you + literary gentlemen who write history. Other criminal classes are not + expected to love their judges.” + </p> + <p> + “No, but they have sense enough to fear them,” replied Gore vindictively; + “not one politician living has the brains or the art to defend his own + cause. The ocean of history is foul with the carcases of such statesmen, + dead and forgotten except when some historian fishes one of them up to + gibbet it.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Gore was so much out of temper that after this piece of extravagance + he was forced to pause a moment to recover himself. Then he went on:—“You + are perfectly right, and so is the President. I have no business to be + meddling in politics. It is not my place. The next time you hear of me, I + promise it shall not be as an office-seeker.” + </p> + <p> + Then he rapidly changed the subject, saying that he hoped Mrs. Lee was + soon going northward again, and that they might meet at Newport. + </p> + <p> + “I don't know,” replied Madeleine; “the spring is pleasant here, and we + shall stay till the warm weather, I think.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Gore looked grave. “And your politics!” said he; “are you satisfied + with what you have seen?” + </p> + <p> + “I have got so far as to lose the distinction between right and wrong. + Isn't that the first step in politics?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Gore had no mind even for serious jesting. He broke out into a long + lecture which sounded like a chapter of some future history: “But Mrs. + Lee, is it possible that you don't see what a wrong path you are on. If + you want to know what the world is really doing to any good purpose, pass + a winter at Samarcand, at Timbuctoo, but not at Washington. Be a + bank-clerk, or a journeyman printer, but not a Congressman. Here you will + find nothing but wasted effort and clumsy intrigue.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you think it a pity for me to learn that?” asked Madeleine when his + long essay was ended. + </p> + <p> + “No!” replied Gore, hesitating; “not if you do learn it. But many people + never get so far, or only when too late. I shall be glad to hear that you + are mistress of it and have given up reforming politics. The Spaniards + have a proverb that smells of the stable, but applies to people like you + and me: The man who washes his donkey's head, loses time and soap.” + </p> + <p> + Gore took his leave before Madeleine had time to grasp all the impudence + of this last speech. Not until she was fairly in bed that night did it + suddenly flash on her mind that Mr. Gore had dared to caricature her as + wasting time and soap on Mr. Ratcliffe. At first she was violently angry + and then she laughed in spite of herself; there was truth in the portrait. + In secret, too, she was the less offended because she half thought that it + had depended only on herself to make of Mr. Gore something more than a + friend. If she had overheard his parting words to Carrington, she would + have had still more reason to think that a little jealousy of Ratcliffe's + success sharpened the barb of Gore's enmity. + </p> + <p> + “Take care of Ratcliffe!” was his farewell; “he is a clever dog. He has + set his mark on Mrs. Lee. Look out that he doesn't walk off with her!” + </p> + <p> + A little startled by this sudden confidence, Carrington could only ask + what he could do to prevent it. + </p> + <p> + “Cats that go ratting, don't wear gloves,” replied Gore, who always + carried a Spanish proverb in his pocket. Carrington, after painful + reflection, could only guess that he wanted Ratcliffe's enemies to show + their claws. But how? + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee not long afterwards spoke to Ratcliffe of her regret at Gore's + disappointment and hinted at his disgust. Ratcliffe replied that he had + done what he could for Gore, and had introduced him to the President, who, + after seeing him, had sworn his usual granitic oath that he would sooner + send his nigger farm-hand Jake to Spain than that man-milliner. “You know + how I stand;” added Ratcliffe; “what more could I do?” And Mrs. Lee's + implied reproach was silenced. + </p> + <p> + If Gore was little pleased with Ratcliffe's conduct, poor Schneidekoupon + was still less so. He turned up again at Washington not long after the + Inauguration and had a private interview with the Secretary of the + Treasury. + </p> + <p> + What passed at it was known only to themselves, but, whatever it was, + Schneidekoupon's temper was none the better for it. From his conversations + with Sybil, it seemed that there was some question about appointments in + which his protectionist friends were interested, and he talked very openly + about Ratcliffe's want of good faith, and how he had promised everything + to everybody and had failed to keep a single pledge; if Schneidekoupon's + advice had been taken, this wouldn't have happened. Mrs. Lee told + Ratcliffe that Schneidekoupon seemed out of temper, and asked the reason. + He only laughed and evaded the question, remarking that cattle of this + kind were always complaining unless they were allowed to run the whole + government; Schneidekoupon had nothing to grumble about; no one had ever + made any promises to him. But nevertheless Schneidekoupon confided to + Sybil his antipathy to Ratcliffe and solemnly begged her not to let Mrs. + Lee fall into his hands, to which Sybil answered tartly that she only + wished Mr. + </p> + <p> + Schneidekoupon would tell her how to help it. + </p> + <p> + The reformer French had also been one of Ratcliffe's backers in the fight + over the Treasury. He remained in Washington a few days after the + Inauguration, and then disappeared, leaving cards with P.P.C. in the + corner, at Mrs. Lee's door. Rumour said that he too was disappointed, but + he kept his own counsel, and, if he really wanted the mission to Belgium, + he contented himself with waiting for it. A respectable stage-coach + proprietor from Oregon got the place. + </p> + <p> + As for Jacobi, who was not disappointed, and who had nothing to ask for, + he was bitterest of all. He formally offered his congratulations to + Ratcliffe on his appointment. This little scene occurred in Mrs. Lee's + parlour. The old Baron, with his most suave manner, and his most + Voltairean leer, said that in all his experience, and he had seen a great + many court intrigues, he had never seen anything better managed than that + about the Treasury. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe was furiously angry, and told the Baron outright that foreign + ministers who insulted the governments to which they were accredited ran a + risk of being sent home. + </p> + <p> + “Ce serait toujours un pis aller,” said Jacobi, seating himself with + calmness in Ratcliffe's favourite chair by Mrs. Lee's side. + </p> + <p> + Madeleine, alarmed as she was, could not help interposing, and hastily + asked whether that remark was translatable. + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” said the Baron; “I can do nothing with your language. You would only + say that it was a choice of evils, to go, or to stay.” + </p> + <p> + “We might translate it by saying: 'One may go farther and fare worse,'” + rejoined Madeleine; and so the storm blew over for the time, and Ratcliffe + sulkily let the subject drop. Nevertheless the two men never met in Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Lee's parlour without her dreading a personal altercation. Little by + little, what with Jacobi's sarcasms and Ratcliffe's roughness, they nearly + ceased to speak, and glared at each other like quarrelsome dogs. Madeleine + was driven to all kinds of expedients to keep the peace, yet at the same + time she could not but be greatly amused by their behaviour, and as their + hatred of each other only stimulated their devotion to her, she was + content to hold an even balance between them. + </p> + <p> + Nor were these all the awkward consequences of Ratcliffe's attentions. Now + that he was distinctly recognized as an intimate friend of Mrs. Lee's, and + possibly her future husband, no one ventured any longer to attack him in + her presence, but nevertheless she was conscious in a thousand ways that + the atmosphere became more and more dense under the shadow of the + Secretary of the Treasury. In spite of herself she sometimes felt uneasy, + as though there were conspiracy in the air. One March afternoon she was + sitting by her fire, with an English Review in her hand, trying to read + the last Symposium on the sympathies of Eternal Punishment, when her + servant brought in a card, and Mrs. Lee had barely time to read the name + of Mrs. Samuel Baker when that lady followed the servant into the room, + forcing the countersign in so effective style that for once Madeleine was + fairly disconcerted. Her manner when thus intruded upon, was cool, but in + this case, on Carrington's account, she tried to smile courteously and + asked her visitor to sit down, which Mrs. Baker was doing without an + invitation, very soon putting her hostess entirely at her ease. She was, + when seen without her veil, a showy woman verging on forty, decidedly + large, tall, over-dressed even in mourning, and with a complexion rather + fresher than nature had made it. + </p> + <p> + There was a geniality in her address, savouring of easy Washington ways, a + fruitiness of smile, and a rich southern accent, that explained on the + spot her success in the lobby. She looked about her with fine + self-possession, and approved Mrs. Lee's surroundings with a cordiality so + different from the northern stinginess of praise, that Madeleine was + rather pleased than offended. Yet when her eye rested on the Corot, + Madeleine's only pride, she was evidently perplexed, and resorted to + eye-glasses, in order, as it seemed, to gain time for reflection. But she + was not to be disconcerted even by Corot's masterpiece: + </p> + <p> + “How pretty! Japanese, isn't it? Sea-weeds seen through a fog. I went to + an auction yesterday, and do you know I bought a tea-pot with a picture + just like that.” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine inquired with extreme interest about the auction, but after + learning all that Mrs. Baker had to tell, she was on the point of being + reduced to silence, when she bethought herself to mention Carrington. Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Baker brightened up at once, if she could be said to brighten where there + was no sign of dimness: + </p> + <p> + “Dear Mr. Carrington! Isn't he sweet? I think he's a delicious man. I + don't know what I should do without him. Since poor Mr. Baker left me, we + have been together all the time. You know my poor husband left directions + that all his papers should be burned, and though I would not say so unless + you were such a friend of Mr. Carrington's, I reckon it's just as well for + some people that he did. I never could tell you what quantities of papers + Mr. Carrington and I have put in the fire; and we read them all too.” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine asked whether this was not dull work. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, dear, no! You see I know all about it, and told Mr. Carrington the + story of every paper as we went on. It was quite amusing, I assure you.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee then boldly said she had got from Mr. Carrington an idea that + Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Baker was a very skilful diplomatist. + </p> + <p> + “Diplomatist!” echoed the widow with her genial laugh; “Well! it was as + much that as anything, but there's not many diplomatists' wives in this + city ever did as much work as I used to do. Why, I knew half the members + of Congress intimately, and all of them by sight. I knew where they came + from and what they liked best. I could get round the greater part of them, + sooner or later.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee asked what she did with all this knowledge. Mrs. Baker shook her + pink-and-white countenance, and almost paralysed her opposite neighbour by + a sort of Grande Duchesse wink: + </p> + <p> + “Oh, my dear! you are new here. If you had seen Washington in war-times + and for a few years afterwards, you wouldn't ask that. We had more + congressional business than all the other agents put together. Every one + came to us then, to get his bill through, or his appropriation watched. We + were hard at work all the time. You see, one can't keep the run of three + hundred men without some trouble. My husband used to make lists of them in + books with a history of each man and all he could learn about him, but I + carried it all in my head.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you mean that you could get them all to vote as you pleased?” asked + Madeleine. + </p> + <p> + “Well! we got our bills through,” replied Mrs. Baker. + </p> + <p> + “But how did you do it? did they take bribes?” + </p> + <p> + “Some of them did. Some of them liked suppers and cards and theatres and + all sorts of things. Some of them could be led, and some had to be driven + like Paddy's pig who thought he was going the other way. Some of them had + wives who could talk to them, and some—hadn't,” said Mrs. Baker, + with a queer intonation in her abrupt ending. + </p> + <p> + “But surely,” said Mrs. Lee, “many of them must have been above—I + mean, they must have had nothing to get hold of; so that you could manage + them.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Baker laughed cheerfully and remarked that they were very much of a + muchness. + </p> + <p> + “But I can't understand how you did it,” urged Madeleine; “now, how would + you have gone to work to get a respectable senator's vote—a man like + Mr. Ratcliffe, for instance?” + </p> + <p> + “Ratcliffe!” repeated Mrs. Baker with a slight elevation of voice that + gave way to a patronising laugh. “Oh, my dear! don't mention names. I + should get into trouble. Senator Ratcliffe was a good friend of my + husband's. I guess Mr. Carrington could have told you that. But you see, + what we generally wanted was all right enough. We had to know where our + bills were, and jog people's elbows to get them reported in time. + Sometimes we had to convince them that our bill was a proper one, and they + ought to vote for it. Only now and then, when there was a great deal of + money and the vote was close, we had to find out what votes were worth. It + was mostly dining and talking, calling them out into the lobby or asking + them to supper. I wish I could tell you things I have seen, but I don't + dare. It wouldn't be safe. I've told you already more than I ever said to + any one else; but then you are so intimate with Mr. Carrington, that I + always think of you as an old friend.” + </p> + <p> + Thus Mrs. Baker rippled on, while Mrs. Lee listened with more and more + doubt and disgust. The woman was showy, handsome in a coarse style, and + perfectly presentable. Mrs. Lee had seen Duchesses as vulgar. She knew + more about the practical working of government than Mrs. Lee could ever + expect or hope to know. Why then draw back from this interesting lobbyist + with such babyish repulsion? + </p> + <p> + When, after a long, and, as she declared, a most charming call, Mrs. Baker + wended her way elsewhere and Madeleine had given the strictest order that + she should never be admitted again, Carrington entered, and Madeleine + showed him Mrs. Baker's card and gave a lively account of the interview. + </p> + <p> + “What shall I do with the woman?” she asked; “must I return her card?” But + Carrington declined to offer advice on this interesting point. “And she + says that Mr. Ratcliffe was a friend of her husband's and that you could + tell me about that.” + </p> + <p> + “Did she say so?” remarked Carrington vaguely. + </p> + <p> + “Yes! and that she knew every one's weak points and could get all their + votes.” + </p> + <p> + Carrington expressed no surprise, and so evidently preferred to change the + subject, that Mrs. Lee desisted and said no more. + </p> + <p> + But she determined to try the same experiment on Mr. Ratcliffe, and chose + the very next chance that offered. In her most indifferent manner she + remarked that Mrs. Sam Baker had called upon her and had initiated her + into the mysteries of the lobby till she had become quite ambitious to + start on that career. + </p> + <p> + “She said you were a friend of her husband's,” added Madeleine softly. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe's face betrayed no sign. + </p> + <p> + “If you believe what those people tell you,” said he drily, “you will be + wiser than the Queen of Sheba.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter IX + </h2> + <p> + WHENEVER a man reaches the top of the political ladder, his enemies unite + to pull him down. His friends become critical and exacting. Among the many + dangers of this sort which now threatened Ratcliffe, there was one that, + had he known it, might have made him more uneasy than any of those which + were the work of senators and congressmen. Carrington entered into an + alliance, offensive and defensive, with Sybil. It came about in this wise. + Sybil was fond of riding and occasionally, when Carrington could spare the + time, he went as her guide and protector in these country excursions; for + every Virginian, however out at elbows, has a horse, as he has shoes or a + shirt. + </p> + <p> + In a thoughtless moment Carrington had been drawn into a promise that he + would take Sybil to Arlington. The promise was one that he did not hurry + to keep, for there were reasons which made a visit to Arlington anything + but a pleasure to him; but Sybil would listen to no excuses, and so it + came about that, one lovely March morning, when the shrubs and the trees + in the square before the house were just beginning, under the warmer sun, + to show signs of their coming wantonness, Sybil stood at the open window + waiting for him, while her new Kentucky horse before the door showed what + he thought of the delay by curving his neck, tossing his head, and pawing + the pavement. + </p> + <p> + Carrington was late and kept her waiting so long, that the mignonette and + geraniums, which adorned the window, suffered for his slowness, and the + curtain tassels showed signs of wilful damage. Nevertheless he arrived at + length, and they set out together, choosing the streets least enlivened by + horse-cars and provision-carts, until they had crept through the great + metropolis of Georgetown and come upon the bridge which crosses the noble + river just where its bold banks open out to clasp the city of Washington + in their easy embrace. Then reaching the Virginia side they cantered gaily + up the laurel-margined road, with glimpses of woody defiles, each carrying + its trickling stream and rich in promise of summer flowers, while from + point to point they caught glorious glimpses of the distant city and + river. They passed the small military station on the heights, still + dignified by the name of fort, though Sybil silently wondered how a fort + was possible without fortifications, and complained that there was nothing + more warlike than a “nursery of telegraph poles.” The day was blue and + gold; everything smiled and sparkled in the crisp freshness of the + morning. Sybil was in bounding spirits and not at all pleased to find that + her companion became moody and abstracted as they went on. “Poor Mr. + Carrington!” thought she to herself, “he is so nice; but when he puts on + that solemn air, one might as well go to sleep. I am quite certain no nice + woman will ever marry him if he looks like that;” and her practical mind + ran off among all the girls of her acquaintance, in search of one who + would put up with Carrington's melancholy face. She knew his devotion to + her sister, but had long ago rejected this as a hopeless chance. There was + a simplicity about Sybil's way of dealing with life, which had its own + charm. She never troubled herself about the impossible or the unthinkable. + She had feelings, and was rather quick in her sympathies and sorrows, but + she was equally quick in getting over them, and she expected other people + to do likewise. Madeleine dissected her own feelings and was always + wondering whether they were real or not; she had a habit of taking off her + mental clothing, as she might take off a dress, and looking at it as + though it belonged to some one else, and as though sensations were + manufactured like clothes. This seems to be one of the easier ways of + deadening sorrow, as though the mind could teach itself to lop off its + feelers. Sybil particularly disliked this self-inspection. In the first + place she did not understand it, and in the second her mind was all + feelers, and amputation was death. She could no more analyse a feeling + than doubt its existence, both which were habits of her sister. + </p> + <p> + How was Sybil to know what was passing in Carrington's mind? He was + thinking of nothing in which she supposed herself interested. He was + troubled with memories of civil war and of associations still earlier, + belonging to an age already vanishing or vanished; but what could she know + about civil war who had been almost an infant at the time? At this moment, + she happened to be interested in the baffle of Waterloo, for she was + reading “Vanity Fair,” and had cried as she ought for poor little Emmy, + when her husband, George Osborne, lay dead on the field there, with a + bullet through his heart. But how was she to know that here, only a few + rods before her, lay scores and hundreds of George Osbornes, or his + betters, and in their graves the love and hope of many Emmys, not + creatures of the imagination, but flesh and blood, like herself? To her, + there was no more in those associations which made Carrington groan in the + silence of his thoughts, than if he had been old Kaspar, and she the + little Wilhelmine. What was a skull more or less to her? What concern had + she in the famous victory? + </p> + <p> + Yet even Sybil was startled as she rode through the gate and found herself + suddenly met by the long white ranks of head-stones, stretching up and + down the hill-sides by thousands, in order of baffle; as though Cadmus had + reversed his myth, and had sown living men, to come up dragons' teeth. She + drew in her horse with a shiver and a sudden impulse to cry. Here was + something new to her. This was war—wounds, disease, death. She + dropped her voice and with a look almost as serious as Carrington's, asked + what all these graves meant. When Carrington told her, she began for the + first time to catch some dim notion why his face was not quite as gay as + her own. Even now this idea was not very precise, for he said little about + himself, but at least she grappled with the fact that he had actually, + year after year, carried arms against these men who lay at her feet and + who had given their lives for her cause. It suddenly occurred to her as a + new thought that perhaps he himself might have killed one of them with his + own hand. There was a strange shock in this idea. She felt that Carrington + was further from her. He gained dignity in his rebel isolation. She wanted + to ask him how he could have been a traitor, and she did not dare. + Carrington a traitor! + </p> + <p> + Carrington killing her friends! The idea was too large to grasp. She fell + back on the simpler task of wondering how he had looked in his rebel + uniform. + </p> + <p> + They rode slowly round to the door of the house and dismounted, after he + had with some difficulty found a man to hold their horses. From the heavy + brick porch they looked across the superb river to the raw and incoherent + ugliness of the city, idealised into dreamy beauty by the atmosphere, and + the soft background of purple hills behind. Opposite them, with its crude + “thus saith the law” stamped on white dome and fortress-like walls, rose + the Capitol. + </p> + <p> + Carrington stood with her a short time while they looked at the view; then + said he would rather not go into the house himself, and sat down on the + steps while she strolled alone through the rooms. These were bare and + gaunt, so that she, with her feminine sense of fitness, of course + considered what she would do to make them habitable. She had a neat fancy + for furniture, and distributed her tones and half tones and bits of colour + freely about the walls and ceilings, with a high-backed chair here, a + spindle-legged sofa there, and a claw-footed table in the centre, until + her eye was caught by a very dirty deal desk, on which stood an open book, + with an inkstand and some pens. On the leaf she read the last entry: “Eli + M. Grow and lady, Thermopyle Centre.” Not even the graves outside had + brought the horrors of war so near. + </p> + <p> + What a scourge it was! This respectable family turned out of such a lovely + house, and all the pretty old furniture swept away before a horde of + coarse invaders “with ladies.” Did the hosts of Attila write their names + on visiting books in the temple of Vesta and the house of Sallust? What a + new terror they would have added to the name of the scourge of God! Sybil + returned to the portico and sat down by Carrington on the steps. + </p> + <p> + “How awfully sad it is!” said she; “I suppose the house was prettily + furnished when the Lees lived here? Did you ever see it then?” + </p> + <p> + Sybil was not very profound, but she had sympathy, and at this moment + Carrington felt sorely in need of comfort. He wanted some one to share his + feelings, and he turned towards her hungry for companionship. + </p> + <p> + “The Lees were old family friends of mine,” said he. “I used to stay here + when I was a boy, even as late as the spring of 1861. The last time I sat + here, it was with them. We were wild about disunion and talked of nothing + else. I have been trying to recall what was said then. We never thought + there would be war, and as for coercion, it was nonsense. Coercion, + indeed! The idea was ridiculous. I thought so, too, though I was a Union + man and did not want the State to go out. But though I felt sure that + Virginia must suffer, I never thought we could be beaten. Yet now I am + sitting here a pardoned rebel, and the poor Lees are driven away and their + place is a grave-yard.” + </p> + <p> + Sybil became at once absorbed in the Lees and asked many questions, all + which Carrington gladly answered. He told her how he had admired and + followed General Lee through the war. “We thought he was to be our + Washington, you know; and perhaps he had some such idea himself;” and + then, when Sybil wanted to hear about the baffles and the fighting, he + drew a rough map on the gravel path to show her how the two lines had run, + only a few miles away; then he told her how he had carried his musket day + after day over all this country, and where he had seen his battles. Sybil + had everything to learn; the story came to her with all the animation of + real life, for here under her eyes were the graves of her own champions, + and by her side was a rebel who had stood under our fire at Malvern Hill + and at South Mountain, and who was telling her how men looked and what + they thought in face of death. She listened with breathless interest, and + at last summoned courage to ask in an awestruck tone whether Carrington + had ever killed any one himself. She was relieved, although a little + disappointed, when he said that he believed not; he hoped not; though no + private who has discharged a musket in baffle can be quite sure where the + bullet went. “I never tried to kill any one,” said he, “though they tried + to kill me incessantly.” Then Sybil begged to know how they had tried to + kill him, and he told her one or two of those experiences, such as most + soldiers have had, when he had been fired upon and the balls had torn his + clothes or drawn blood. Poor Sybil was quite overcome, and found a deadly + fascination in the horror. As they sat together on the steps with the + glorious view spread before them, her attention was so closely fixed on + his story that she saw neither the view nor even the carriages of tourists + who drove up, looked about, and departed, envying Carrington his + occupation with the lovely girl. + </p> + <p> + She was in imagination rushing with him down the valley of Virginia on the + heels of our flying army, or gloomily toiling back to the Potomac after + the bloody days at Gettysburg, or watching the last grand debâcle on the + road from Richmond to Appomattox. They would have sat there till sunset if + Carrington had not at length insisted that they must go, and then she rose + slowly with a deep sigh and undisguised regret. + </p> + <p> + As they rode away, Carrington, whose thoughts were not devoted to his + companion so entirely as they should have been, ventured to say that he + wished her sister had come with them, but he found that his hint was not + well received. + </p> + <p> + Sybil emphatically rejected the idea: “I'm very glad she didn't come. If + she had, you would have talked with her all the time, and I should have + been left to amuse myself. You would have been discussing things, and I + hate discussions. She would have been hunting for first principles, and + you would have been running about, trying to catch some for her. Besides, + she is coming herself some Sunday with that tiresome Mr. Ratcliffe. I + don't see what she finds in that man to amuse her. Her taste is getting to + be demoralised in Washington. Do you know, Mr. Carrington, I'm not clever + or serious, like Madeleine, and I can't read laws, and hate politics, but + I've more common sense than she has, and she makes me cross with her. I + understand now why young widows are dangerous, and why they're bumed at + their husband's funerals in India. Not that I want to have Madeleine + burned, for she's a dear, good creature, and I love her better than + anything in the world; but she will certainly do herself some dreadful + mischief one of these days; she has the most extravagant notions about + self-sacrifice and duty; if she hadn't luckily thought of taking charge of + me, she would have done some awful thing long ago, and if I could only be + a little wicked, she would be quite happy all the rest of her life in + reforming me; but now she has got hold of that Mr. Ratcliffe, and he is + trying to make her think she can reform him, and if he does, it's all up + with us. Madeleine will just go and break her heart over that odious, + great, coarse brute, who only wants her money.” + </p> + <p> + Sybil delivered this little oration with a degree of energy that went to + Carrington's heart. She did not often make such sustained efforts, and it + was clear that on this subject she had exhausted her whole mind. + Carrington was delighted, and urged her on. “I dislike Mr. Ratcliffe as + much as you do;—more perhaps. So does every one who knows much about + him. But we shall only make the matter worse if we interfere. What can we + do?” + </p> + <p> + “That is just what I tell everybody,” resumed Sybil. “There is Victoria + Dare always telling me I ought to do something; and Mr. Schneidekoupon + too; just as though I could do anything. Madeleine has done nothing but + get into mischief here. Half the people think her worldly and ambitious. + Only last night that spiteful old woman, Mrs. Clinton, said to me: 'Your + sister is quite spoiled by Washington. She is more wild for power than any + human being I ever saw.' I was dreadfully angry and told her she was quite + mistaken—Madeleine was not the least spoiled. But I couldn't say + that she was not fond of power, for she is; but not in the way Mrs. + Clinton meant. You should have seen her the other evening when Mr. + Ratcliffe said about some matter of public business that he would do + whatever she thought right; she spoke up quite sharply for her, with a + scornful little laugh, and said that he had better do what he thought + right. He looked for a moment almost angry, and muttered something about + women's being incomprehensible. He is always trying to tempt her with + power. She might have had long ago all the power he could give her, but I + can see, and he sees too, that she always keeps him at arm's length. He + doesn't like it, but he expects one of these days to find a bribe that + will answer. I wish we had never come to Washington. New York is so much + nicer and the people there are much more amusing; they dance ever so much + better and send one flowers all the time, and then they never talk about + first principles. Maude had her hospitals and paupers and training school, + and got along very well. It was so safe. But when I say so to her, she + only smiles in a patronising kind of way, and tells me that I shall have + as much of Newport as I want; just as though I were a child, and not a + woman of twenty-five. Poor Maude! I can't stay with her if she marries Mr. + Ratcliffe, and it would break my heart to leave her with that man. Do you + think he would beat her? Does he drink? I would almost rather be beaten a + little, if I cared for a man, than be taken out to Peonia. Oh, Mr. + Carrington! you are our only hope. She will listen to you. Don't let her + marry that dreadful politician.” + </p> + <p> + To all this pathetic appeal, some parts of which were as little calculated + to please Carrington as Ratcliffe himself, Carrington answered that he was + ready to do all in his power but that Sybil must tell him when and how to + act. + </p> + <p> + “Then, it's a bargain,” said she; “whenever I want you, I shall call on + you for help, and you shall prevent the marriage.” + </p> + <p> + “Alliance offensive and defensive,” said he, laughing; “war to the knife + on Ratcliffe. We will have his scalp if necessary, but I rather think he + will soon commit hari-kari himself if we leave him alone.” + </p> + <p> + “Madeleine will like him all the better if he does anything Japanese,” + replied Sybil, with great seriousness; “I wish there was more Japanese + bric-à-brac here, or any kind of old pots and pans to talk about. A little + art would be good for her. What a strange place this is, and how people do + stand on their heads in it! Nobody thinks like anyone else. Victoria Dare + says she is trying on principle not to be good, because she wants to keep + some new excitements for the next world. I'm sure she practices as she + preaches. Did you see her at Mrs. Clinton's last night. She behaved more + outrageously than ever. She sat on the stairs all through supper, looking + like a demure yellow cat with two bouquets in her paws—and I know + Lord Dunbeg sent one of them;—and she actually let Mr. French feed + her with ice-cream from a spoon. She says she was showing Lord Dunbeg a + phase, and that he is going to put it into his article on American Manners + and Customs in the Quarterly, but I don't think it's nice, do you, Mr. + Carrington? I wish Madeleine had her to take care of. She would have + enough to do then, I can tell her.” + </p> + <p> + And so, gently prattling, Miss Sybil returned to the city, her alliance + with Carrington completed; and it was a singular fact that she never again + called him dull. There was henceforward a look of more positive pleasure + and cordiality on her face when he made his appearance wherever she might + be; and the next time he suggested a horseback excursion she instantly + agreed to go, although aware that she had promised a younger gentleman of + the diplomatic body to be at home that same afternoon, and the good fellow + swore polyglot oaths on being turned away from her door. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Ratcliffe knew nothing of this conspiracy against his peace and + prospects. Even if he had known it, he might only have laughed, and + pursued his own path without a second thought. Yet it was certain that he + did not think Carrington's enmity a thing to be overlooked, and from the + moment of his obtaining a clue to its cause, he had begun to take + precautions against it. Even in the middle of the contest for the + Treasury, he had found time to listen to Mr. Wilson Keens report on the + affairs of the late Samuel Baker. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Keen came to him with a copy of Baker's will and with memoranda of + remarks made by the unsuspecting Mrs. Baker; “from which it appears,” said + he, “that Baker, having no time to put his affairs in order, left special + directions that his executors should carefully destroy all papers that + might be likely to compromise individuals.” + </p> + <p> + “What is the executor's name?” interrupted Ratcliffe. + </p> + <p> + “The executor's name is—John Carrington,” said Keen, methodically + referring to his copy of the will. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe's face was impassive, but the inevitable, “I knew it,” almost + sprang to his lips. He was rather pleased at the instinct which had led + him so directly to the right trail. + </p> + <p> + Keen went on to say that from Mrs. Baker's conversation it was certain + that the testator's directions had been carried out, and that the great + bulk of these papers had been burned. + </p> + <p> + “Then it will be useless to press the inquiry further,” said Ratcliffe; “I + am much obliged to you for your assistance,” and he turned the + conversation to the condition of Mr. Keen's bureau in the Treasury + department. + </p> + <p> + The next time Ratcliffe saw Mrs. Lee, after his appointment to the + Treasury was confirmed, he asked her whether she did not think Carrington + very well suited for public service, and when she warmly assented, he said + it had occurred to him to offer the place of Solicitor of the Treasury to + Mr. + </p> + <p> + Carrington, for although the actual salary might not be very much more + than he earned by his private practice, the incidental advantages to a + Washington lawyer were considerable; and to the Secretary it was + especially necessary to have a solicitor in whom he could place entire + confidence. Mrs. Lee was pleased by this motion of Ratcliffe's, the more + because she had supposed that Ratcliffe had no liking for Carrington. She + doubted whether Carrington would accept the place, but she hoped that it + might modify his dislike for Ratcliffe, and she agreed to sound him on the + subject. There was something a little compromising in thus allowing + herself to appear as the dispenser of Mr. Ratcliffe's patronage, but she + dismissed this objection on the ground that Carrington's interests were + involved, and that it was for him to judge whether he should take the + place or not. Perhaps the world would not be so charitable if the + appointment were made. What then? Mrs. Lee asked herself the question and + did not feel quite at ease. + </p> + <p> + So far as Carrington was concerned, she might have dismissed her doubts. + </p> + <p> + There was not a chance of his taking the place, as very soon appeared. + When she spoke to him on the subject, and repeated what Ratcliffe had + said, his face flushed, and he sat for some moments in silence. He never + thought very rapidly, but now the ideas seemed to come so fast as to + bewilder his mind. + </p> + <p> + The situation flashed before his eyes like electric sparks. His first + impression was that Ratcliffe wanted to buy him; to tie his tongue; to + make him run, like a fastened dog, under the waggon of the Secretary of + the Treasury. His second notion was that Ratcliffe wanted to put Mrs. Lee + under obligations, in order to win her regard; and, again, that he wanted + to raise himself in her esteem by posing as a friend of honest + administration and unassisted virtue. Then suddenly it occurred to him + that the scheme was to make him appear jealous and vindictive; to put him + in an attitude where any reason he might give for declining would bear a + look of meanness, and tend to separate him from Mrs. Lee. Carrington was + so absorbed by these thoughts, and his mind worked so slowly, that he + failed to hear one or two remarks addressed to him by Mrs. Lee, who became + a little alarmed, under the impression that he was unexpectedly paralyzed. + </p> + <p> + When at length he heard her and attempted to frame an answer, his + embarrassment increased. He could only stammer that he was sorry to be + obliged to decline, but this office was one he could not undertake. + </p> + <p> + If Madeleine felt a little relieved by this decision, she did not show it. + </p> + <p> + From her manner one might have supposed it to be her fondest wish that + Carrington should be Solicitor of the Treasury. She cross-questioned him + with obstinacy. Was not the offer a good one?—and he was obliged to + confess that it was. Were the duties such as he could not perform? Not at + all! there was nothing in the duties which alarmed him. Did he object to + it because of his southern prejudices against the administration? Oh, no! + he had no political feeling to stand in his way. What, then, could be his + reason for refusing? + </p> + <p> + Carrington resorted again to silence, until Mrs. Lee, a little + impatiently, asked whether it was possible that his personal dislike to + Racliffe could blind him so far as to make him reject so fair a proposal. + Carrington, finding himself more and more uncomfortable, rose restlessly + from his chair and paced the room. He felt that Ratclife had fairly + out-generaled him, and he was at his wits' end to know what card he could + play that would not lead directly into Ratcliffe's trump suit. To refuse + such an offer was hard enough at best, for a man who wanted money and + professional advancement as he did, but to injure himself and help + Ratcliffe by this refusal, was abominably hard. Nevertheless, he was + obliged to admit that he would rather not take a position so directly + under Ratcliffe's control. Madeleine said no more, but he thought she + looked annoyed, and he felt himself in an intolerably painful situation. + He was not certain that she herself might not have had some share in + proposing the plan, and that his refusal might not have some mortifying + consequences for her. What must she think of him, then? + </p> + <p> + At this very moment he would have given his right arm for a word of real + affection from Mrs. Lee. He adored her. He would willingly enough have + damned himself for her. There was no sacrifice he would not have made to + bring her nearer to him. In his upright, quiet, simple kind of way, he + immolated himself before her. For months his heart had ached with this + hopeless passion. He recognized that it was hopeless. He knew that she + would never love him, and, to do her justice, she never had given him + reason to suppose that it was in her power to love him, r any man. And + here he stood, obliged to appear ungrateful and prejudiced, mean and + vindictive, in her eyes. He took his seat again, looking so unutterably + dejected, his patient face so tragically mournful, that Madeleine, after a + while, began to see the absurd side of the matter, and presently burst + into a laugh “Please do not look so frightfully miserable!” said she; “I + did not mean to make you unhappy. After all, what does it matter? You have + a perfect right to refuse, and, for my part, I have not the least wish to + see you accept.” + </p> + <p> + On this, Carrington brightened, and declared that if she thought him right + in declining, he cared for nothing else. It was only the idea of hurting + her feelings that weighed on his mind. But in saying this, he spoke in a + tone that implied a deeper feeling, and made Mrs. Lee again look grave and + sigh. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, Mr. Carrington,” she said, “this world will not run as we want. Do + you suppose the time will ever come when every one will be good and happy + and do just what they ought? I thought this offer might possibly take one + anxiety off your shoulders. I am sorry now that I let myself be led into + making it.” + </p> + <p> + Carrington could not answer her. He dared not trust his voice. He rose to + go, and as she held out her hand, he suddenly raised it to his lips, and + so left her. She sat for a moment with tears in her eyes after he was + gone. She thought she knew all that was in his mind, and with a woman's + readiness to explain every act of men by their consuming passions for her + own sex, she took it as a matter of course that jealousy was the whole + cause of Carrington's hostility to Ratcliffe, and she pardoned it with + charming alacrity. “Ten years ago, I could have loved him,” she thought to + herself, and then, while she was half smiling at the idea, suddenly + another thought flashed upon her, and she threw her hand up before her + face as though some one had struck her a blow. Carrington had reopened the + old wound. + </p> + <p> + When Ratcliffe came to see her again, which he did very shortly + afterwards, glad of so good an excuse, she told him of Carrington's + refusal, adding only that he seemed unwilling to accept any position that + had a political character. Ratcliffe showed no sign of displeasure; he + only said, in a benignant tone, that he was sorry to be unable to do + something for so good a friend of hers; thus establishing, at all events, + his claim on her gratitude. As for Carrington, the offer which Ratcliffe + had made was not intended to be accepted, and Carrington could not have + more embarrassed the secretary than by closing with it. Ratcliffe's object + had been to settle for his own satisfaction the question of Carrington's + hostility, for he knew the man well enough to feel sure that in any event + he would act a perfectly straightforward part. If he accepted, he would at + least be true to his chief. If he refused, as Ratcliffe expected, it would + be a proof that some means must be found of getting him out of the way. In + any case the offer was a new thread in the net that Mr. Ratcliffe + flattered himself he was rapidly winding about the affections and + ambitions of Mrs. Lee. Yet he had reasons of his own for thinking that + Carrington, more easily than any other man, could cut the meshes of this + net if he chose to do so, and therefore that it would be wiser to postpone + action until Carrington were disposed of. + </p> + <p> + Without a moment's delay he made inquiries as to all the vacant or + eligible offices in the gift of the government outside his own department. + Very few of these would answer his purpose. He wanted some temporary law + business that would for a time take its holder away to a distance, say to + Australia or Central Asia, the further the better; it must be highly paid, + and it must be given in such a way as not to excite suspicion that + Ratcliffe was concerned in the matter. Such an office was not easily + found. There is little law business in Central Asia, and at this moment + there was not enough to require a special agent in Australia. Carrington + could hardly be induced to lead an expedition to the sources of the Nile + in search of business merely to please Mr. Ratcliffe, nor could the State + Department offer encouragement to a hope that government would pay the + expenses of such an expedition. The best that Ratcliffe could do was to + select the place of counsel to the Mexican claims-commission which was + soon to meet in the city of Mexico, and which would require about six + months' absence. By a little management he could contrive to get the + counsel sent away in advance of the commission, in order to work up a part + of the case on the spot. Ratcliffe acknowledged that Mexico was too near, + but he drily remarked to himself that if Carrington could get back in time + to dislodge him after he had once got a firm hold on Mrs. Lee, he would + never try to run another caucus. + </p> + <p> + The point once settled in his own mind, Ratcliffe, with his usual rapidity + of action, carried his scheme into effect. In this there was little + difficulty. He dropped in at the office of the Secretary of State within + eight-and-forty hours after his last conversation with Mrs. Lee. During + these early days of every new administration, the absorbing business of + government relates principally to appointments. The Secretary of the + Treasury was always ready to oblige his colleagues in the Cabinet by + taking care of their friends to any reasonable extent. The Secretary of + State was not less courteous. The moment he understood that Mr. Ratcliffe + had a strong wish to secure the appointment of a certain person as counsel + to the Mexican claims-commission, the Secretary of State professed + readiness to gratify him, and when he heard who the proposed person was, + the suggestion was hailed with pleasure, for Carrington was well known and + much liked at the Department, and was indeed an excellent man for the + place. Ratcliffe hardly needed to promise an equivalent. The business was + arranged in ten minutes. + </p> + <p> + “I only need say,” added Ratcliffe, “that if my agency in the affair is + known, Mr. Carrington will certainly refuse the place, for he is one of + your old-fashioned Virginia planters, proud as Lucifer, and willing to + accept nothing by way of favour. I will speak to your Assistant Secretary + about it, and the recommendation shall appear to come from him.” + </p> + <p> + The very next day Carrington received a private note from his old friend, + the Assistant Secretary of State, who was overjoyed to do him a kindness. + </p> + <p> + The note asked him to call at the Department at his earliest convenience. + He went, and the Assistant Secretary announced that he had recommended + Carrington's appointment as counsel to the Mexican claims-commission, and + that the Secretary had approved the recommendation. “We want a Southern + man, a lawyer with a little knowledge of international law, one who can go + at once, and, above all, an honest man. You fit the description to a hair; + so pack your trunk as soon as you like.” + </p> + <p> + Carrington was startled. Coming as it did, this offer was not only + unobjectionable, but tempting. It was hard for him even to imagine a + reason for hesitation. From the first he felt that he must go, and yet to + go was the very last thing he wanted to do. That he should suspect + Ratcliffe to be at the bottom of this scheme of banishment was a matter of + course, and he instantly asked whether any influence had been used in his + favour; but the Assistant Secretary so stoutly averred that the + appointment was made on his recommendation alone, as to block all further + inquiry. Technically this assertion was exact, and it made Carrington feel + that it would be base ingratitude on his part not to accept a favour so + handsomely offered. + </p> + <p> + Yet he could not make up his mind to acceptance. He begged four and twenty + hours' delay, in order, as he said, to see whether he could arrange his + affairs for a six months' absence, although he knew there would be no + difficulty in his doing so. He went away and sat in his office alone, + gloomily wondering what he could do, although from the first he saw that + the situation was only too clear, and there could not be the least dark + corner of a doubt to crawl into. Six months ago he would have jumped at + this offer. + </p> + <p> + What had happened within six months to make it seem a disaster? + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee! There was the whole story. To go away now was to give up Mrs. + Lee, and probably to give her up to Ratcliffe. Carrington gnashed his + teeth when he thought how skilfully Ratcliffe was playing his cards. The + longer he reflected, the more certain he felt that Ratcliffe was at the + bottom of this scheme to get rid of him; and yet, as he studied the + situation, it occurred to him that after all it was possible for Ratcliffe + to make a blunder. This Illinois politician was clever, and understood + men; but a knowledge of men is a very different thing from a knowledge of + women. Carrington himself had no great experience in the article of women, + but he thought he knew more than Ratcliffe, who was evidently relying most + on his usual theory of political corruption as applied to feminine + weaknesses, and who was only puzzled at finding how high a price Mrs. Lee + set on herself. If Ratcliffe were really at the bottom of the scheme for + separating Carrington from her, it could only be because he thought that + six months, or even six weeks, would be enough to answer his purpose. And + on reaching this point in his reflections, Carrington suddenly rose, lit a + cigar, and walked up and down his room steadily for the next hour, with + the air of a general arranging a plan of campaign, or a lawyer + anticipating his opponent's line of argument. + </p> + <p> + On one point his mind was made up. He would accept. If Ratcliffe really + had a hand in this move, he should be gratified. If he had laid a trap, he + should be caught in it. And when the evening came, Carrington took his hat + and walked off to call upon Mrs. Lee. + </p> + <p> + He found the sisters alone and quietly engaged in their occupations. + </p> + <p> + Madeleine was dramatically mending an open-work silk stocking, a delicate + and difficult task which required her whole mind. Sybil was at the piano + as usual, and for the first time since he had known her, she rose when he + came in, and, taking her work-basket, sat down to share in the + conversation. She meant to take her place as a woman, henceforward. She + was tired of playing girl. Mr. Carrington should see that she was not a + fool. + </p> + <p> + Carrington plunged at once into his subject, and announced the offer made + to him, at which Madeleine expressed delight, and asked many questions. + What was the pay? How soon must he go? How long should he be away? Was + there danger from the climate? and finally she added, with a smile, “What + am I to say to Mr. Ratcliffe if you accept this offer after refusing his?” + As for Sybil, she made one reproachful exclamation: “Oh, Mr. Carrington!” + and sank back into silence and consternation. Her first experiment at + taking a stand of her own in the world was not encouraging. She felt + betrayed. + </p> + <p> + Nor was Carrington gay. However modest a man may be, only an idiot can + forget himself entirely in pursuing the moon and the stars. In the bottom + of his soul, he had a lingering hope that when he told his story, + Madeleine might look up with a change of expression, a glance of + unpremeditated regard, a little suffusion of the eyes, a little trembling + of the voice. To see himself relegated to Mexico with such cheerful + alacrity by the woman he loved was not the experience he would have + chosen. He could not help feeling that his hopes were disposed of, and he + watched her with a painful sinking of the heart, which did not lead to + lightness of conversation. Madeleine herself felt that her expressions + needed to be qualified, and she tried to correct her mistake. What should + she do without a tutor? she said. He must let her have a list of books to + read while he was away: they were themselves going north in the middle of + May, and Carrington would be back by the time they returned in December. + After all, they should see as little of him during the summer if he were + in Virginia as if he were in Mexico. + </p> + <p> + Carrington gloomily confessed that he was very unwilling to go; that he + wished the idea had never been suggested; that he should be perfectly + happy if for any reason the scheme broke down; but he gave no explanation + of his feeling, and Madeleine had too much tact to press for one. She + contented herself by arguing against it, and talking as vivaciously as she + could. Her heart really bled for him as she saw his face grow more and + more pathetic in its quiet expression of disappointment. But what could + she say or do? He sat till after ten o'clock; he could not tear himself + away. He felt that this was the end of his pleasure in life; he dreaded + the solitude of his thoughts. Mrs. Lee's resources began to show signs of + exhaustion. Long pauses intervened between her remarks; and at length + Carrington, with a superhuman effort, apologized for inflicting himself + upon her so unmercifully. If she knew, he said, how he dreaded being + alone, she would forgive him. Then he rose to go, and, in taking leave, + asked Sybil if she was inclined to ride the next day; if so, he was at her + service. Sybil's face brightened as she accepted the invitation. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee, a day or two afterwards, did mention Carrington's appointment to + Mr. Ratcliffe, and she told Carrington that the Secretary certainly looked + hurt and mortified, but showed it only by almost instantly changing the + subject. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter X + </h2> + <p> + THE next morning Carrington called at the Department and announced his + acceptance of the post. He was told that his instructions would be ready + in about a fortnight, and that he would be expected to start as soon as he + received them; in the meanwhile, he must devote himself to the study of a + mass of papers in the Department. There was no trifling allowable here. + </p> + <p> + Carrington had to set himself vigorously to work. This did not, however, + prevent him from keeping his appointment with Sybil, and at four o'clock + they started together, passing out into the quiet shadows of Rock Creek, + and seeking still lanes through the woods where their horses walked side + by side, and they themselves could talk without the risk of criticism from + curious eyes. It was the afternoon of one of those sultry and lowering + spring days when life germinates rapidly, but as yet gives no sign, except + perhaps some new leaf or flower pushing its soft head up against the dead + leaves that have sheltered it. The two riders had something of the same + sensation, as though the leafless woods and the laurel thickets, the warm, + moist air and the low clouds, were a protection and a soft shelter. + Somewhat to Carrington's surprise, he found that it was pleasant to have + Sybil's company. He felt towards her as to a sister—a favourite + sister. + </p> + <p> + She at once attacked him for abandoning her and breaking his treaty so + lately made, and he tried to gain her sympathy by saying that if she knew + how much he was troubled, she would forgive him. Then when Sybil asked + whether he really must go and leave her without any friend whom she could + speak to, his feelings got the better of him: he could not resist the + temptation to confide all his troubles in her, since there was no one else + in whom he could confide. He told her plainly that he was in love with her + sister. + </p> + <p> + “You say that love is nonsense, Miss Ross. I tell you it is no such thing. + For weeks and months it is a steady physical pain, an ache about the + heart, never leaving one, by night or by day; a long strain on one's + nerves like toothache or rheumatism, not intolerable at any one instant, + but exhausting by its steady drain on the strength. It is a disease to be + borne with patience, like any other nervous complaint, and to be treated + with counter-irritants. My trip to Mexico will be good for it, but that is + not the reason why I must go.” + </p> + <p> + Then he told her all his private circumstances; the ruin which the war had + brought on him and his family; how, of his two brothers, one had survived + the war only to die at home, a mere wreck of disease, privation, and + wounds; the other had been shot by his side, and bled slowly to death in + his arms during the awful carnage in the Wilderness; how his mother and + two sisters were struggling for a bare subsistence on a wretched Virginian + farm, and how all his exertions barely kept them from beggary. + </p> + <p> + “You have no conception of the poverty to which our southern women are + reduced since the war,” said he; “they are many of them literally without + clothes or bread.” The fee he should earn by going to Mexico would double + his income this year. Could he refuse? Had he a right to refuse? And poor + Carrington added, with a groan, that if he alone were in question, he + would sooner be shot than go. + </p> + <p> + Sybil listened with tears in her eyes. She never before had seen a man + show suffering. The misery she had known in life had been more or less + veiled to her and softened by falling on older and friendly shoulders. She + now got for the first time a clear view of Carrington, apart from the + quiet exterior in which the man was hidden. She felt quite sure, by a + sudden flash of feminine inspiration, that the curious look of patient + endurance on his face was the work of a single night when he had held his + brother in his arms, and knew that the blood was draining drop by drop + from his side, in the dense, tangled woods, beyond the reach of help, hour + after hour, till the voice failed and the limbs grew stiff and cold. When + he had finished his story, she was afraid to speak. She did not know how + to show her sympathy, and she could not bear to seem unsympathetic. In her + embarrassment she fairly broke down and could only dry her eyes in + silence. + </p> + <p> + Having once got this weight of confidence off his mind, Carrington felt + comparatively gay and was ready to make the best of things. He laughed at + himself to drive away the tears of his pretty companion, and obliged her + to take a solemn pledge never to betray him. “Of course your sister knows + it all,” he said; “but she must never know that I told you, and I never + would tell any one but you.” + </p> + <p> + Sybil promised faithfully to keep his confidence to herself, and she went + on to defend her sister. + </p> + <p> + “You must not blame Madeleine,” said she; “if you knew as well as I do + what she has been through, you would not think her cold. You do know how + suddenly her husband died, after only one day's illness, and what a nice + fellow he was. She was very fond of him, and his death seemed to stun her. + We hardly knew what to make of it, she was so quiet and natural. Then just + a week later her little child died of diphtheria, suffering horribly, and + she wild with despair because she could not relieve it. After that, she + was almost insane; indeed, I have always thought she was quite insane for + a time. I know she was excessively violent and wanted to kill herself, and + I never heard any one rave as she did about religion and resignation and + God. After a few weeks she became quiet and stupid and went about like a + machine; and at last she got over it, but has never been what she was + before. You know she was a rather fast New York girl before she married, + and cared no more about politics and philanthropy than I do. It was a very + late thing, all this stuff. But she is not really hard, though she may + seem so. It is all on the surface. I always know when she is thinking + about her husband or child, because her face gets rigid; she looks then as + she used to look after her child died, as though she didn't care what + became of her and she would just as lieve kill herself as not. I don't + think she will ever let herself love any one again. She has a horror of + it. She is much more likely to go in for ambition, or duty, or + self-sacrifice.” + </p> + <p> + They rode on for a while in silence, Carrington perplexed by the problem + how two harmless people such as Madeleine and he could have been made by a + beneficent Providence the sport of such cruel tortures; and Sybil equally + interested in thinking what sort of a brother-in-law Carrington would + make; on the whole, she thought she liked him better as he was. The + silence was only broken by Carrington's bringing the conversation back to + its starting-point: “Something must be done to keep your sister out of + Ratcliffe's power. I have thought about it till I am tired. Can you make + no suggestion?” + </p> + <p> + No! Sybil was helpless and dreadfully alarmed. Mr. Ratcliffe came to the + house as often as he could, and seemed to tell Madeleine everything that + was going on in politics, and ask her advice, and Madeleine did not + discourage him. “I do believe she likes it, and thinks she can do some + good by it. I don't dare speak to her about it. She thinks me a child + still, and treats me as though I were fifteen. What can I do?” + </p> + <p> + Carrington said he had thought of speaking to Mrs. Lee himself, but he did + not know what to say, and if he offended her, he might drive her directly + into Ratcliffe's arms. But Sybil thought she would not be offended if he + went to work in the right way. “She will stand more from you than from any + one else. Tell her openly that you—that you love her,” said Sybil + with a burst of desperate courage; “she can't take offence at that; and + then you can say almost anything.” + </p> + <p> + Carrington looked at Sybil with more admiration than he had ever expected + to feel for her, and began to think that he might do worse than to put + himself under her orders. After all, she had some practical sense, and + what was more to the point, she was handsomer than ever, as she sat erect + on her horse, the rich colour rushing up under the warm skin, at the + impropriety of her speech. “You are certainly right,” said he; “after all, + I have nothing to lose. Whether she marries Ratcliffe or not, she will + never marry me, I suppose.” + </p> + <p> + This speech was a cowardly attempt to beg encouragement from Sybil, and + met with the fate it deserved, for Sybil, highly flattered at Carrington's + implied praise, and bold as a lioness now that it was Carrington's + fingers, and not her own, that were to go into the fire, gave him on the + spot a feminine view of the situation that did not encourage his hopes. + She plainly said that men seemed to take leave of their senses as soon as + women were concerned; for her part, she could not understand what there + was in any woman to make such a fuss about; she thought most women were + horrid; men were ever so much nicer; “and as for Madeleine, whom all of + you are ready to cut each other's throats about, she's a dear, good + sister, as good as gold, and I love her with all my heart, but you + wouldn't like her, any of you, if you married her; she has always had her + own way, and she could not help taking it; she never could learn to take + yours; both of you would be unhappy in a week; and as for that old Mr. + Ratcliffe, she would make his life a burden—and I hope she will,” + concluded Sybil with a spiteful little explosion of hatred. + </p> + <p> + Carrington could not help being amused by Sybil's way of dealing with + affairs of the heart. Emboldened by encouragement, she went on to attack + him pitilessly for going down on his knees before her sister, “just as + though you were not as good as she is,” and openly avowed that, if she + were a man, she would at least have some pride. Men like this kind of + punishment. + </p> + <p> + Carrington did not attempt to defend himself; he even courted Sybil's + attack. They both enjoyed their ride through the bare woods, by the + rippling spring streams, under the languid breath of the moist south wind. + It was a small idyll, all the more pleasant because there was gloom before + and behind it. Sybil's irrepressible gaiety made Carrington doubt whether, + after all, life need be so serious a matter. She had animal spirits in + plenty, and it needed an effort for her to keep them down, while + Carrington's spirits were nearly exhausted after twenty years of strain, + and he required a greater effort to hold himself up. There was every + reason why he should be grateful to Sybil for lending to him from her + superfluity. He enjoyed being laughed at by her. Suppose Madeleine Lee did + refuse to marry him! What of it? + </p> + <p> + “Pooh!” said Sybil; “you men are all just alike. How can you be so silly? + Madeleine and you would be intolerable together. Do find some one who + won't be solemn!” + </p> + <p> + They laid out their little plot against Madeleine and elaborated it + carefully, both as to what Carrington should say and how he should say it, + for Sybil asserted that men were too stupid to be trusted even in making a + declaration of love, and must be taught, like little children to say their + prayers. Carrington enjoyed being taught how to make a declaration of + love. + </p> + <p> + He did not ask where Sybil had learned so much about men's stupidity. He + thought perhaps Schneidekoupon could have thrown light on the subject. At + all events, they were so busily occupied with their schemes and lessons, + that they did not-reach home till Madeleine had become anxious lest they + had met with some accident. The long dusk had become darkness before she + heard the clatter of hoofs on the asphalt pavement, and she went down to + the door to scold them for their delay. Sybil only laughed at her, and + said it was all Mr. Carrington's fault: he had lost his way, and she had + been forced to find it for him. + </p> + <p> + Ten days more passed before their plan was carried into effect. April had + come. Carrington's work was completed and he was ready to start on his + journey. Then at last he appeared one evening at Mrs. Lee's at the very + moment when Sybil, as chance would have it, was going out to pass an hour + or two with her friend Victoria Dare a few doors away. Carrington felt a + little ashamed as she went. This kind of conspiracy behind Mrs. Lee's back + was not to his taste. + </p> + <p> + He resolutely sat down, and plunged at once into his subject. He was + almost ready to go, he said; he had nearly completed his work in the + Department, and he was assured that his instructions and papers would be + ready in two days more; he might not have another chance to see Mrs. Lee + so quietly again, and he wanted to take his leave now, for this was what + lay most heavily on his mind; he should have gone willingly and gladly if + it had not been for uneasiness about her; and yet he had till now been + afraid to speak openly on the subject. Here he paused for a moment as + though to invite some reply. + </p> + <p> + Madeleine laid down her work with a look of regret though not of + annoyance, and said frankly and instantly that he had been too good a + friend to allow of her taking offence at anything he could say; she would + not pretend to misunderstand him. “My affairs,” she added with a shade of + bitterness, “seem to have become public property, and I would rather have + some voice in discussing them myself than to know they are discussed + behind my back.” + </p> + <p> + This was a sharp thrust at the very outset, but Carrington turned it aside + and went quietly on: + </p> + <p> + “You are frank and loyal, as you always are. I will be so too. I can't + help being so. For months I have had no other pleasure than in being near + you. For the first time in my life I have known what it is to forget my + own affairs in loving a woman who seems to me without a fault, and for one + solitary word from whom I would give all I have in life, and perhaps + itself.” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine flushed and bent towards him with an earnestness of manner that + repeated itself in her tone. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Carrington, I am the best friend you have on earth. One of these days + you will thank me with your whole soul for refusing to listen to you now. + You do not know how much misery I am saving you. I have no heart to give. + You want a young, fresh life to help yours; a gay, lively temperament to + enliven your despondency; some one still young enough to absorb herself in + you and make all her existence yours. I could not do it. I can give you + nothing. I have done my best to persuade myself that some day I might + begin life again with the old hopes and feelings, but it is no use. The + fire is burned out. If you married me, you would destroy yourself You + would wake up some day, and find the universe dust and ashes.” + </p> + <p> + Carrington listened in silence. He made no attempt to interrupt or to + contradict her. Only at the end he said with a little bitterness: “My own + life is worth so much to the world and to me, that I suppose it would be + wrong to risk it on such a venture; but I would risk it, nevertheless, if + you gave me the chance. Do you think me wicked for tempting Providence? I + do not mean to annoy you with entreaties. I have a little pride left, and + a great deal of respect for you. Yet I think, in spite of all you have + said or can say, that one disappointed life may be as able to find + happiness and repose in another, as to get them by sucking the young + life-blood of a fresh soul.” + </p> + <p> + To this speech, which was unusually figurative for Carrington, Mrs. Lee + could find no ready answer. She could only reply that Carrington's life + was worth quite as much as his neighbour's, and that it was worth so much + to her, if not to himself, that she would not let him wreck it. + </p> + <p> + Carrington went on: “Forgive my talking in this way. I do not mean to + complain. I shall always love you just as much, whether you care for me or + not, because you are the only woman I have ever met, or am ever likely to + meet, who seems to me perfect.” + </p> + <p> + If this was Sybil's teaching, she had made the best of her time. + </p> + <p> + Carrington's tone and words pierced through all Mrs. Lee's armour as + though they were pointed with the most ingenious cruelty, and designed to + torture her. She felt hard and small before him. Life for life, his had + been, and was now, far less bright than hers, yet he was her superior. He + sat there, a true man, carrying his burden calmly, quietly, without + complaint, ready to face the next shock of life with the same endurance he + had shown against the rest. And he thought her perfect! She felt + humiliated that any brave man should say to her face that he thought her + perfect! She! perfect! In her contrition she was half ready to go down at + his feet and confess her sins; her hysterical dread of sorrow and + suffering, her narrow sympathies, her feeble faith, her miserable + selfishness, her abject cowardice. Every nerve in her body tingled with + shame when she thought what a miserable fraud she was; what a mass of + pretensions unfounded, of deceit ingrained. She was ready to hide her face + in her hands. She was disgusted, outraged with her own image as she saw + it, contrasted with Carrington's single word: Perfect! + </p> + <p> + Nor was this the worst. Carrington was not the first man who had thought + her perfect. To hear this word suddenly used again, which had never been + uttered to her before except by lips now dead and gone, made her brain + reel. She seemed to hear her husband once more telling her that she was + perfect. Yet against this torture, she had a better defence. She had long + since hardened herself to bear these recollections, and they steadied and + strengthened her. + </p> + <p> + She had been called perfect before now, and what had come of it? Two + graves, and a broken life! She drew herself up with a face now grown quite + pale and rigid. In reply to Carrington, she said not a word, but only + shook her head slightly without looking at him. + </p> + <p> + He went on: “After all, it is not my own happiness I am thinking of but + yours. I never was vain enough to think that I was worth your love, or + that I could ever win it. Your happiness is another thing. I care so much + for that as to make me dread going away, for fear that you may yet find + yourself entangled in this wretched political life here, when, perhaps if + I stayed, I might be of some use.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you really think, then, that I am going to fall a victim to Mr. + Ratcliffe?” asked Madeleine, with a cold smile. + </p> + <p> + “Why not?” replied Carrington, in a similar tone. “He can put forward a + strong claim to your sympathy and help, if not to your love. He can offer + you a great field of usefulness which you want. He has been very faithful + to you. Are you quite sure that even now you can refuse him without his + complaining that you have trifled with him?” + </p> + <p> + “And are you quite sure,” added Mrs. Lee, evasively, “that you have not + been judging him much too harshly? I think I know him better than you. He + has many good qualities, and some high ones. What harm can he do me? + Supposing even that he did succeed in persuading me that my life could be + best used in helping his, why should I be afraid of it?” + </p> + <p> + “You and I,” said Carrington, “are wide apart in our estimates of Mr. + Ratcliffe. To you, of course, he shows his best side. He is on his good + behaviour, and knows that any false step will ruin him. I see in him only + a coarse, selfish, unprincipled politician, who would either drag you down + to his own level, or, what is more likely, would very soon disgust you and + make your life a wretched self-immolation before his vulgar ambition, or + compel you to leave him. In either case you would be the victim. You + cannot afford to make another false start in life. Reject me! I have not a + word to say against it. But be on your guard against giving your existence + up to him.” + </p> + <p> + “Why do you think so ill of Mr. Ratcliffe?” asked Madeleine; “he always + speaks highly of you. Do you know anything against him that the world does + not?” + </p> + <p> + “His public acts are enough to satisfy me,” replied Carrington, evading a + part of the question. “You know that I have never had but one opinion + about him.” + </p> + <p> + There was a pause in the conversation. Both parties felt that as yet no + good had come of it. At length Madeleine asked, “What would you have me + do? Is it a pledge you want that I will under no circumstances marry Mr. + Ratcliffe?” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly not,” was the answer; “you know me better than to think I would + ask that. I only want you to take time and keep out of his influence until + your mind is fairly made up. A year hence I feel certain that you will + think of him as I do.” + </p> + <p> + “Then you will allow me to marry him if I find that you are mistaken,” + said Mrs. Lee, with a marked tone of sarcasm. + </p> + <p> + Carrington looked annoyed, but he answered quietly, “What I fear is his + influence here and now. What I would like to see you do is this: go north + a month earlier than you intended, and without giving him time to act. If + I were sure you were safely in Newport, I should feel no anxiety.” + </p> + <p> + “You seem to have as bad an opinion of Washington as Mr. Gore,” said + Madeleine, with a contemptuous smile. “He gave me the same advice, though + he was afraid to tell me why. I am not a child. I am thirty years old, and + have seen something of the world. I am not afraid, like Mr. Gore, of + Washington malaria, or, like you, of Mr. Ratcliffe's influence. If I fall + a victim I shall deserve my fate, and certainly I shall have no cause to + complain of my friends. They have given me advice enough for a lifetime.” + </p> + <p> + Carrington's face darkened with a deeper shade of regret. The turn which + the conversation had taken was precisely what he had expected, and both + Sybil and he had agreed that Madeleine would probably answer just in this + way. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, he could not but feel acutely the harm he was doing to his + own interests, and it was only by a sheer effort of the will that he + forced himself to a last and more earnest attack. + </p> + <p> + “I know it is an impertinence,” he said; “I wish it were in my power to + show how much it costs me to offend you. This is the first time you ever + had occasion to be offended. If I were to yield to the fear of your anger + and were to hold my tongue now, and by any chance you were to wreck your + life on this rock, I should never forgive myself the cowardice. I should + always think I might have done something to prevent it. This is probably + the last time I shall have the chance to talk openly with you, and I + implore you to listen to me. I want nothing for myself If I knew I should + never see you again, I would still say the same thing. Leave Washington! + Leave it now!—at once!—without giving more than twenty-four + hours' notice! Leave it without letting Mr. Ratcliffe see you again in + private! Come back next winter if you please, and then accept him if you + think proper. I only pray you to think long about it and decide when you + are not here.” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine's eyes flashed, and she threw aside her embroidery with an + impatient gesture: “No! Mr. Carrington! I will not be dictated to! I will + carry out my own plans! I do not mean to marry Mr. Ratcliffe. If I had + meant it, I should have done it before now. But I will not run away from + him or from myself. It would be unladylike, undignified, cowardly.” + </p> + <p> + Carrington could say no more. He had come to the end of his lesson. A long + silence ensued and then he rose to go. “Are you angry with me?” said she + in a softer tone. + </p> + <p> + “I ought to ask that question,” said he. “Can you forgive me? I am afraid + not. No man can say to a woman what I have said to you, and be quite + forgiven. You will never think of me again as you would have done if I had + not spoken. I knew that before I did it. As for me, I can only go on with + my old life. It is not gay, and will not be the gayer for our talk + to-night.” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine relented a little: “Friendships like ours are not so easily + broken,” she said. “Do not do me another injustice. You will see me again + before you go?” + </p> + <p> + He assented and bade good-night. Mrs. Lee, weary and disturbed in mind, + hastened to her room. “When Miss Sybil comes in, tell her that I am not + very well, and have gone to bed,” were her instructions to her maid, and + Sybil thought she knew the cause of this headache. + </p> + <p> + But before Carrington's departure he had one more ride with Sybil, and + reported to her the result of the interview, at which both of them + confessed themselves much depressed. Carrington expressed some hope that + Madeleine meant, after a sort, to give a kind of pledge by saying that she + had no intention of marrying Mr. Ratcliffe, but Sybil shook her head + emphatically: + </p> + <p> + “How can a woman tell whether she is going to accept a man until she is + asked?” said she with entire confidence, as though she were stating the + simplest fact in the world. Carrington looked puzzled, and ventured to ask + whether women did not generally make up their minds beforehand on such an + interesting point; but Sybil overwhelmed him with contempt: “What good + will they do by making up their minds, I should like to know? of course + they would go and do the opposite. Sensible women don't pretend to make up + their minds, Mr. Carrington. But you men are so stupid, and you can't + understand in the least.” + </p> + <p> + Carrington gave it up, and went back to his stale question: Could Sybil + suggest any other resource? and Sybil sadly confessed that she could not. + So far as she could see, they must trust to luck, and she thought it was + cruel tor Mr. Carrington to go away and leave her alone without help. He + had promised to prevent the marriage. + </p> + <p> + “One thing more I mean to do,” said Carrington: “and here everything will + depend on your courage and nerve. You may depend upon it that Mr. + Ratcliffe will offer himself before you go north. He does not suspect you + of making trouble, and he will not think about you in any way if you let + him alone and keep quiet. When he does offer himself you will know it; at + least your sister will tell you if she has accepted him. If she refuses + him point blank, you will have nothing to do but to keep her steady. If + you see her hesitating, you must break in at any cost, and use all your + influence to stop her. Be bold, then, and do your best. If everything + fails and she still clings to him, I must play my last card, or rather you + must play it for me. I shall leave with you a sealed letter which you are + to give her if everything else fails. Do it before she sees Ratcliffe a + second time. See that she reads it and, if necessary, make her read it, no + matter when or where. No one else must know that it exists, and you must + take as much care of it as though it were a diamond. You are not to know + what is in it; it must be a complete secret. Do you understand?” + </p> + <p> + Sybil thought she did, but her heart sank. “When shall you give me this + letter?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “The evening before I start, when I come to bid good-bye; probably next + Sunday. This letter is our last hope. If, after reading that, she does not + give him up, you will have to pack your trunk, my dear Sybil, and find a + new home, for you can never live with them.” + </p> + <p> + He had never before called her by her first name, and it pleased her to + hear it now, though she generally had a strong objection to such + familiarities. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I wish you were not going!” she exclaimed tearfully. “What shall I do + when you are gone?” + </p> + <p> + At this pitiful appeal, Carrington felt a sudden pang. He found that he + was not so old as he had thought. Certainly he had grown to like her frank + honesty and sound common sense, and he had at length discovered that she + was handsome, with a very pretty figure. Was it not something like a + flirtation he had been carrying on with this young person for the last + month? A glimmering of suspicion crossed his mind, though he got rid of it + as quickly as possible. For a man of his age and sobriety to be in love + with two sisters at once was impossible; still more impossible that Sybil + should care for him. + </p> + <p> + As for her, however, there was no doubt about the matter. She had grown to + depend upon him, and she did it with all the blind confidence of youth. To + lose him was a serious disaster. She had never before felt the sensation, + and she thought it most disagreeable. Her youthful diplomatists and + admirers could not at all fill Carrington's place. They danced and + chirruped cheerfully on the hollow crust of society, but they were wholly + useless when one suddenly fell through and found oneself struggling in the + darkness and dangers beneath. Young women, too, are apt to be flattered by + the confidences of older men; they have a keen palate for whatever savours + of experience and adventure. For the first time in her life, Sybil had + found a man who gave some play to her imagination; one who had been a + rebel, and had grown used to the shocks of fate, so as to walk with + calmness into the face of death, and to command or obey with equal + indifference. She felt that he would tell her what to do when the + earthquake came, and would be at hand to consult, which is in a woman's + eyes the great object of men's existence, when trouble comes. She suddenly + conceived that Washington would be intolerable without him, and that she + should never get the courage to fight Mr. Ratcliffe alone, or, if she did, + she should make some fatal mistake. + </p> + <p> + They finished their ride very soberly. She began to show a new interest in + all that concerned him, and asked many questions about his sisters and + their plantation. She wanted to ask him whether she could not do something + to help them, but this seemed too awkward. On his part he made her promise + to write him faithfully all that took place, and this request pleased her, + though she knew his interest was all on her sister's account. + </p> + <p> + The following Sunday evening when he came to bid good-bye, it was still + worse. There was no chance for private talk. Ratcliffe was there, and + several diplomatists, including old Jacobi, who had eyes like a cat and + saw every motion of one's face. Victoria Dare was on the sofa, chattering + with Lord Dunbeg; Sybil would rather have had any ordinary illness, even + to the extent of a light case of scarlet fever or small-pox than let her + know what was the matter. Carrington found means to get Sybil into another + room for a moment and to give her the letter he had promised. Then he bade + her good-bye, and in doing so he reminded her of her promise to write, + pressing her hand and looking into her eyes with an earnestness that made + her heart beat faster, although she said to herself that his interest was + all about her sister; as it was—mostly. The thought did not raise + her spirits, but she went through with her performance like a heroine. + Perhaps she was a little pleased to see that he parted from Madeleine with + much less apparent feeling. One would have said that they were two good + friends who had no troublesome sentiment to worry them. But then every eye + in the room was watching this farewell, and speculating about it. + Ratcliffe looked on with particular interest and was a little perplexed to + account for this too fraternal cordiality. Could he have made a + miscalculation? or was there something behind? He himself insisted upon + shaking hands genially with Carrington and wished him a pleasant journey + and a successful one. + </p> + <p> + That night, for the first time since she was a child, Sybil actually cried + a little after she went to bed, although it is true that her sentiment did + not keep her awake. She felt lonely and weighed down by a great + responsibility. + </p> + <p> + For a day or two afterwards she was nervous and restless. She would not + ride, or make calls, or see guests. She tried to sing a little, and found + it tiresome. She went out and sat for hours in the Square, where the + spring sun was shining warm and bright on the prancing horse of the great + Andrew Jackson. She was a little cross, too, and absent, and spoke so + often about Carrington that at last Madeleine was struck by sudden + suspicion, and began to watch her with anxious care. + </p> + <p> + Tuesday night, after this had gone on for two days, Sybil was in + Madeleine's room, where she often stayed to talk while her sister was at + her toilet. + </p> + <p> + This evening she threw herself listlessly on the couch, and within five + minutes again quoted Carrington. Madeleine turned from the glass before + which she was sitting, and looked her steadily in the face. + </p> + <p> + “Sybil,” said she, “this is the twenty-fourth time you have mentioned Mr. + Carrington since we sat down to dinner. I have waited for the round number + to decide whether I should take any notice of it or not? what does it + mean, my child? Do you care for Mr. Carrington?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Maude!” exclaimed Sybil reproachfully, flushing so violently that, + even by that dim light, her sister could not but see it. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee rose and, crossing the room, sat down by Sybil who was lying on + the couch and turned her face away. Madeleine put her arms round her neck + and kissed her. + </p> + <p> + “My poor—poor child!” said she pityingly. “I never dreamed of this! + What a fool I have been! How could I have been so thoughtless! Tell me!” + she added, with a little hesitation; “has he—does he care for you?” + </p> + <p> + “No! no!” cried Sybil, fairly breaking down into a burst of tears; “no! he + loves you! nobody but you! he never gave a thought to me. I don't care for + him so very much,” she continued, drying her tears; “only it seems so + lonely now he is gone.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee remained on the couch, with her arm round her sister's neck, + silent, gazing into vacancy, the picture of perplexity and consternation. + </p> + <p> + The situation was getting beyond her control. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XI + </h2> + <p> + IN the middle of April a sudden social excitement started the indolent + city of Washington to its feet. The Grand-Duke and Duchess of + Saxe-Baden-Hombourg arrived in America on a tour of pleasure, and in due + course came on to pay their respects to the Chief Magistrate of the Union. + The newspapers hastened to inform their readers that the Grand-Duchess was + a royal princess of England, and, in the want of any other social event, + every one who had any sense of what was due to his or her own dignity, + hastened to show this august couple the respect which all republicans who + have a large income derived from business, feel for English royalty. New + York gave a dinner, at which the most insignificant person present was + worth at least a million dollars, and where the gentlemen who sat by the + Princess entertained her for an hour or two by a calculation of the + aggregate capital represented. New York also gave a ball at which the + Princess appeared in an ill-fitting black silk dress with mock lace and + jet ornaments, among several hundred toilets that proclaimed the refined + republican simplicity of their owners at a cost of various hundred + thousand dollars. After these hospitalities the Grand-ducal pair came on + to Washington, where they became guests of Lord Skye, or, more properly, + Lord Skye became their guest, for he seemed to consider that he handed the + Legation over to them, and he told Mrs. Lee, with true British bluntness + of speech, that they were a great bore and he wished they had stayed in + Saxe-Baden-Hombourg, or wherever they belonged, but as they were here, he + must be their lackey. Mrs. Lee was amused and a little astonished at the + candour with which he talked about them, and she was instructed and + improved by his dry account of the Princess, who, it seemed, made herself + disagreeable by her airs of royalty; who had suffered dreadfully from the + voyage; and who detested America and everything American; but who was, not + without some show of reason, jealous of her husband, and endured endless + sufferings, though with a very bad grace, rather than lose sight of him. + </p> + <p> + Not only was Lord Skye obliged to turn the Legation into an hotel, but in + the full enthusiasm of his loyalty he felt himself called upon to give a + ball. It was, he said, the easiest way of paying off all his debts at + once, and if the Princess was good for nothing else, she could be utilized + as a show by way of “promoting the harmony of the two great nations.” In + other words, Lord Skye meant to exhibit the Princess for his own + diplomatic benefit, and he did so. One would have thought that at this + season, when Congress had adjourned, Washington would hardly have afforded + society enough to fill a ball-room, but this, instead of being a drawback, + was an advantage. It permitted the British Minister to issue invitations + without limit. He asked not only the President and his Cabinet, and the + judges, and the army, and the navy, and all the residents of Washington + who had any claim to consideration, but also all the senators, all the + representatives in Congress, all the governors of States with their + staffs, if they had any, all eminent citizens and their families + throughout the Union and Canada, and finally every private individual, + from the North Pole to the Isthmus of Panama, who had ever shown him a + civility or was able to control interest enough to ask for a card. The + result was that Baltimore promised to come in a body, and Philadelphia was + equally well-disposed; New York provided several scores of guests, and + Boston sent the governor and a delegation; even the well-known millionaire + who represented California in the United States Senate was irritated + because, his invitation having been timed to arrive just one day too late, + he was prevented from bringing his family across the continent with a + choice party in a director's car, to enjoy the smiles of royalty in the + halls of the British lion. It is astonishing what efforts freemen will + make in a just cause. + </p> + <p> + Lord Skye himself treated the whole affair with easy contempt. One + afternoon he strolled into Mrs. Lee's parlour and begged her to give him a + cup of tea. + </p> + <p> + He said he had got rid of his menagerie for a few hours by shunting it off + upon the German Legation, and he was by way of wanting a little human + society. Sybil, who was a great favourite with him, entreated to be told + all about the ball, but he insisted that he knew no more than she did. A + man from New York had taken possession of the Legation, but what he would + do with it was not within the foresight of the wisest; trom the talk of + the young members of his Legation, Lord Skye gathered that the entire city + was to be roofed in and forty millions of people expected, but his own + concern in the affair was limited to the flowers he hoped to receive. + </p> + <p> + “All young and beautiful women,” said he to Sybil, “are to send me + flowers. I prefer Jacqueminot roses, but will accept any handsome variety, + provided they are not wired. It is diplomatic etiquette that each lady who + sends me flowers shall reserve at least one dance for me. You will please + inscribe this at once upon your tablets, Miss Ross.” + </p> + <p> + To Madeleine this ball was a godsend, for it came just in time to divert + Sybil's mind from its troubles. A week had now passed since that + revelation of Sybil's heart which had come like an earthquake upon Mrs. + Lee. Since then Sybil had been nervous and irritable, all the more because + she was conscious of being watched. She was in secret ashamed of her own + conduct, and inclined to be angry with Carrington, as though he were + responsible for her foolishness; but she could not talk with Madeleine on + the subject without discussing Mr. Ratcliffe, and Carrington had expressly + forbidden her to attack Mr. Ratcliffe until it was clear that Ratcliffe + had laid himself open to attack. This reticence deceived poor Mrs. Lee, + who saw in her sister's moods only that unrequited attachment for which + she held herself solely to blame. Her gross negligence in allowing Sybil + to be improperly exposed to such a risk weighed heavily on her mind. With + a saint's capacity for self-torment, Madeleine wielded the scourge over + her own back until the blood came. She saw the roses rapidly fading from + Sybil's cheeks, and by the help of an active imagination she discovered a + hectic look and symptoms of a cough. She became fairly morbid on the + subject, and fretted herself into a fever, upon which Sybil sent, on her + own responsibility, for the medical man, and Madeleine was obliged to dose + herself with quinine. In fact, there was much more reason for anxiety + about her than for her anxiety about Sybil, who, barring a little youthful + nervousness in the face of responsibility, was as healthy and comfortable + a young woman as could be shown in America, and whose sentiment never cost + her five minutes' sleep, although her appetite may have become a shade + more exacting than before. Madeleine was quick to notice this, and + surprised her cook by making daily and almost hourly demands for new and + impossible dishes, which she exhausted a library of cookery-books to + discover. + </p> + <p> + Lord Skye's ball and Sybil's interest in it were a great relief to + Madeleine's mind, and she now turned her whole soul to frivolity. Never, + since she was seventeen, had she thought or talked so much about a ball, + as now about this ball to the Grand-Duchess. She wore out her own brain in + the effort to amuse Sybil. She took her to call on the Princess; she would + have taken her to call on the Grand Lama had he come to Washington. She + instigated her to order and send to Lord Skye a mass of the handsomest + roses New York could afford. She set her at work on her dress several days + before there was any occasion for it, and this famous costume had to be + taken out, examined, criticised, and discussed with unending interest. She + talked about the dress, and the Princess, and the ball, till her tongue + clove to the roof of her mouth, and her brain refused to act. From morning + till night, for one entire week, she ate, drank, breathed, and dreamt of + the ball. Everything that love could suggest or labour carry out, she did, + to amuse and occupy her sister. + </p> + <p> + She knew that all this was only temporary and palliative, and that more + radical measures must be taken to secure Sybil's happiness. On this + subject she thought in secret until both head and heart ached. One thing + and one thing only was clear: if Sybil loved Carrington, she should have + him. How Madeleine expected to bring about this change of heart in + Carrington, was known only to herself. She regarded men as creatures made + for women to dispose of, and capable of being transferred like checks, or + baggage-labels, from one woman to another, as desired. The only condition + was that he should first be completely disabused of the notion that he + could dispose of himself. Mrs. Lee never doubted that she could make + Carrington fall in love with Sybil provided she could place herself beyond + his reach. At all events, come what might, even though she had to accept + the desperate alternative offered by Mr. Ratcliffe, nothing should be + allowed to interfere with Sybil's happiness. And thus it was, that, for + the first time, Mrs. Lee began to ask herself whether it was not better to + find the solution of her perplexities in marriage. + </p> + <p> + Would she ever have been brought to this point without the violent + pressure of her sister's supposed interests? This is one of those + questions which wise men will not ask, because it is one which the wisest + man or woman cannot answer. Upon this theme, an army of ingenious authors + have exhausted their ingenuity in entertaining the public, and their works + are to be found at every book-stall. They have decided that any woman + will, under the right conditions, marry any man at any time, provided her + “higher nature” is properly appealed to. Only with regret can a writer + forbear to moralize on this subject. “Beauty and the Beast,” “Bluebeard,” + “Auld Robin Gray,” have the double charm to authors of being very pleasant + to read, and still easier to dilute with sentiment. But at least ten + thousand modern writers, with Lord Macaulay at their head, have so ravaged + and despoiled the region of fairy-stories and fables, that an allusion + even to the “Arabian Nights” is no longer decent. The capacity of women to + make unsuitable marriages must be considered as the corner-stone of + society. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile the ball had, in truth, very nearly driven all thought of + Carrington out of Sybil's mind. The city filled again. The streets swarmed + with fashionable young men and women from the provinces of New York, + Philadelphia, and Boston, who gave Sybil abundance of occupation. She + received bulletins of the progress of affairs. The President and his wife + had consented to be present, out of their high respect for Her Majesty the + Queen and their desire to see and to be seen. All the Cabinet would + accompany the Chief Magistrate. The diplomatic corps would appear in + uniform; so, too, the officers of the army and navy; the Governor-General + of Canada was coming, with a staff. Lord Skye remarked that the + Governor-General was a flat. + </p> + <p> + The day of the ball was a day of anxiety to Sybil, although not on account + of Mr. Ratcliffe or of Mr. Carrington, who were of trifling consequence + compared with the serious problem now before her. The responsibility of + dressing both her sister and herself fell upon Sybil, who was the real + author of all Mrs. Lee's millinery triumphs when they now occurred, except + that Madeleine managed to put character into whatever she wore, which + Sybil repudiated on her own account. On this day Sybil had reasons for + special excitement. All winter two new dresses, one especially a triumph + of Mr. + </p> + <p> + Worth's art, had lain in state upstairs, and Sybil had waited in vain for + an occasion that should warrant the splendour of these garments. + </p> + <p> + One afternoon in early June of the preceding summer, Mr. Worth had + received a letter on the part of the reigning favourite of the King of + Dahomey, directing him to create for her a ball-dress that should + annihilate and utterly destroy with jealousy and despair the hearts of her + seventy-five rivals; she was young and beautiful; expense was not a + consideration. Such were the words of her chamberlain. All that night, the + great genius of the nineteenth century tossed wakefully on his bed + revolving the problem in his mind. Visions of flesh-coloured tints shot + with blood-red perturbed his brain, but he fought against and dismissed + them; that combination would be commonplace in Dahomey. When the first + rays of sunlight showed him the reflection of his careworn face in the + plate-glass mirrored ceiling, he rose and, with an impulse of despair, + flung open the casements. There before his blood-shot eyes lay the pure, + still, new-born, radiant June morning. With a cry of inspiration the great + man leaned out of the casement and rapidly caught the details of his new + conception. Before ten o'clock he was again at his bureau in Paris. An + imperious order brought to his private room every silk, satin, and gauze + within the range of pale pink, pale crocus, pale green, silver and azure. + Then came chromatic scales of colour; combinations meant to vulgarise the + rainbow; sinfonies and fugues; the twittering of birds and the great peace + of dewy nature; maidenhood in her awakening innocence; “The Dawn in June.” + The Master rested content. + </p> + <p> + A week later came an order from Sybil, including “an entirely original + ball-dress,—unlike any other sent to America.” Mr. Worth pondered, + hesitated; recalled Sybil's figure; the original pose of her head; glanced + anxiously at the map, and speculated whether the New York Herald had a + special correspondent at Dahomey; and at last, with a generosity peculiar + to great souls, he duplicated for “Miss S. Ross, New York, U.S. America,” + the order for “L'Aube, Mois de Juin.” + </p> + <p> + The Schneidekoupons and Mr. French, who had reappeared in Washington, came + to dine with Mrs. Lee on the evening of the ball, and Julia Schneidekoupon + sought in vain to discover what Sybil was going to wear. “Be happy, my + dear, in your ignorance!” said Sybil; “the pangs of envy will rankle soon + enough.” + </p> + <p> + An hour later her room, except the fireplace, where a wood fire was gently + smouldering, became an altar of sacrifice to the Deity of Dawn in June. + Her bed, her low couch, her little tables, her chintz arm-chairs, were + covered with portions of the divinity, down to slippers and handkerchief, + gloves and bunches of fresh roses. When at length, after a long effort, + the work was complete, Mrs. Lee took a last critical look at the result, + and enjoyed a glow of satisfaction. Young, happy, sparkling with + consciousness of youth and beauty, Sybil stood, Hebe Anadyomene, rising + from the foam of soft creplisse which swept back beneath the long train of + pale, tender, pink silk, fainting into breadths of delicate primrose, + relieved here and there by facings of June green—or was it the blue + of early morning?—or both? suggesting unutterable freshness. A + modest hint from her maid that “the girls,” as women-servants call each + other in American households, would like to offer their share of incense + at the shrine, was amiably met, and they were allowed a glimpse of the + divinity before she was enveloped in wraps. An admiring group, huddled in + the doorway, murmured approval, from the leading “girl,” who was the cook, + a coloured widow of some sixty winters, whose admiration was + irrepressible, down to a New England spinster whose Anabaptist conscience + wrestled with her instincts, and who, although disapproving of “French + folks,” paid in her heart that secret homage to their gowns and bonnets + which her sterner lips refused. The applause of this audience has, from + generation to generation, cheered the hearts of myriads of young women + starting out on their little adventures, while the domestic laurels + flourish green and fresh for one half hour, until they wither at the + threshold of the ball-room. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee toiled long and earnestly over her sister's toilet, for had not + she herself in her own day been the best-dressed girl in New York?—at + least, she held that opinion, and her old instincts came to life again + whenever Sybil was to be prepared for any great occasion. Madeleine kissed + her sister affectionately, and gave her unusual praise when the “Dawn in + June” was complete. Sybil was at this moment the ideal of blooming youth, + and Mrs. Lee almost dared to hope that her heart was not permanently + broken, and that she might yet survive until Carrington could be brought + back. Her own toilet was a much shorter affair, but Sybil was impatient + long before it was concluded; the carriage was waiting, and she was + obliged to disappoint her household by coming down enveloped in her long + opera-cloak, and hurrying away. + </p> + <p> + When at length the sisters entered the reception-room at the British + Legation, Lord Skye rebuked them for not having come early to receive with + him. His Lordship, with a huge riband across his breast, and a star on his + coat, condescended to express himself vigorously on the subject of the + “Dawn in June.” Schneidekoupon, who was proud of his easy use of the + latest artistic jargon, looked with respect at Mrs. Lee's silver-gray + satin and its Venetian lace, the arrangement of which had been + conscientiously stolen from a picture in the Louvre, and he murmured + audibly, “Nocturne in silver-gray!”—then, turning to Sybil—“and + you? Of course! I see! A song without words!” Mr. French came up and, in + his most fascinating tones, exclaimed, “Why, Mrs. Lee, you look real + handsome to-night!” Jacobi, after a close scrutiny, said that he took the + liberty of an old man in telling them that they were both dressed + absolutely without fault. Even the Grand-Duke was struck by Sybil, and + made Lord Skye introduce him, after which ceremony he terrified her by + asking the pleasure of a waltz. She disappeared from Madeleine's view, not + to be brought back again until Dawn met dawn. + </p> + <p> + The ball was, as the newspapers declared, a brilliant success. Every one + who knows the city of Washington will recollect that, among some scores of + magnificent residences which our own and foreign governments have built + for the comfort of cabinet officers, judges, diplomatists, + vice-presidents, speakers, and senators, the British Legation is by far + the most impressive. + </p> + <p> + Combining in one harmonious whole the proportions of the Pitti Palace with + the decoration of the Casa d'Oro and the dome of an Eastern Mosque, this + architectural triumph offers extraordinary resources for society. Further + description is unnecessary, since anyone may easily refer back to the New + York newspapers of the following morning, where accurate plans of the + house on the ground floor, will be found; while the illustrated newspapers + of the same week contain excellent sketches of the most pleasing scenic + effects, as well as of the ball-room and of the Princess smiling + graciously from her throne. The lady just behind the Princess on her left, + is Mrs. Lee, a poor likeness, but easily distinguishable from the fact + that the artist, for his own objects, has made her rather shorter, and the + Princess rather taller, than was strictly correct, just as he has given + the Princess a gracious smile, which was quite different from her actual + expression. In short, the artist is compelled to exhibit the world rather + as we would wish it to be, than as it was or is, or, indeed, is like + shortly to become. The strangest part of his picture is, however, the fact + that he actually did see Mrs. Lee where he has put her, at the Princess's + elbow, which was almost the last place in the room where any one who knew + Mrs. Lee would have looked for her. + </p> + <p> + The explanation of this curious accident shall be given immediately, since + the facts are not mentioned in the public reports of the ball, which only + said that, “close behind her Royal Highness the Grand-Duchess, stood our + charming and aristocratic countrywoman, Mrs. Lightfoot Lee, who has made + so great a sensation in Washington this winter, and whose name public + rumour has connected with that of the Secretary of the Treasury. To her + the Princess appeared to address most of her conversation.” + </p> + <p> + The show was a very pretty one, and on a pleasant April evening there were + many places less agreeable to be in than this. Much ground outside had + been roofed over, to make a ball-room, large as an opera-house, with a + daïs and a sofa in the centre of one long side, and another daïs with a + second sofa immediately opposite to it in the centre of the other long + side. Each daïs had a canopy of red velvet, one bearing the Lion and the + Unicorn, the other the American Eagle. The Royal Standard was displayed + above the Unicorn; the Stars-and-Stripes, not quite so effectively, waved + above the Eagle. The Princess, being no longer quite a child, found gas + trying to her complexion, and compelled Lord Skye to illuminate her beauty + by one hundred thousand wax candies, more or less, which were arranged to + be becoming about the Grand-ducal throne, and to be showy and unbecoming + about the opposite institution across the way. + </p> + <p> + The exact facts were these. It had happened that the Grand-Duchess, having + been necessarily brought into contact with the President, and particularly + with his wife, during the past week, had conceived for the latter an + antipathy hardly to be expressed in words. Her fixed determination was at + any cost to keep the Presidential party at a distance, and it was only + after a stormy scene that the Grand-Duke and Lord Skye succeeded in + extorting her consent that the President should take her to supper. + Further than this she would not go. She would not speak to “that woman,” + as she called the President's wife, nor be in her neighbourhood. She would + rather stay in her own room all the evening, and she did not care in the + least what the Queen would think of it, for she was no subject of the + Queen's. The case was a hard one for Lord Skye, who was perplexed to know, + from this point of view, why he was entertaining the Princess at all; but, + with the help of the Grand-Duke and Lord Dunbeg, who was very active and + smiled deprecation with some success, he found a way out of it; and this + was the reason why there were two thrones in the ball-room, and why the + British throne was lighted with such careful reference to the Princess's + complexion. Lord Skye immolated himself in the usual effort of British and + American Ministers, to keep the two great powers apart. He and the + Grand-Duke and Lord Dunbeg acted as buffers with watchful diligence, + dexterity, and success. As one resource, Lord Skye had bethought himself + of Mrs. Lee, and he told the Princess the story of Mrs. Lee's relations + with the President's wife, a story which was no secret in Washington, for, + apart from Madeleine's own account, society was left in no doubt of the + light in which Mrs. Lee was regarded by the mistress of the White House, + whom Washington ladles were now in the habit of drawing out on the subject + of Mrs. Lee, and who always rose to the bait with fresh vivacity, to the + amusement and delight of Victoria Dare and other mischief-makers. + </p> + <p> + “She will not trouble you so long as you can keep Mrs. Lee in your + neighbourhood,” said Lord Skye, and the Princess accordingly seized upon + Mrs. Lee and brandished her, as though she were a charm against the evil + eye, in the face of the President's party. She made Mrs. Lee take a place + just behind her as though she were a lady-in-waiting. She even graciously + permitted her to sit down, so near that their chairs touched. Whenever + “that woman” was within sight, which was most of the time, the Princess + directed her conversation entirely to Mrs. Lee and took care to make it + evident. Even before the Presidential party had arrived, Madeleine had + fallen into the Princess's grasp, and when the Princess went forward to + receive the President and his wife, which she did with a bow of stately + and distant dignity, she dragged Madeleine closely by her side. Mrs. Lee + bowed too; she could not well help it; but was cut dead for her pains, + with a glare of contempt and hatred. Lord Skye, who was acting as cavalier + to the President's wife, was panic-stricken, and hastened to march his + democratic potentate away, under pretence of showing her the decorations. + He placed her at last on her own throne, where he and the Grand-Duke + relieved each other in standing guard at intervals throughout the evening. + When the Princess followed with the President, she compelled her husband + to take Mrs. Lee on his arm and conduct her to the British throne, with no + other object than to exasperate the President's wife, who, from her + elevated platform, looked down upon the cortège with a scowl. + </p> + <p> + In all this affair Mrs. Lee was the principal sufferer. No one could + relieve her, and she was literally penned in as she sat. The Princess kept + up an incessant fire of small conversation, principally complaint and + fault-finding, which no one dared to interrupt. Mrs. Lee was painfully + bored, and after a time even the absurdity of the thing ceased to amuse + her. + </p> + <p> + She had, too, the ill-luck to make one or two remarks which appealed to + some hidden sense of humour in the Princess, who laughed and, in the style + of royal personages, gave her to understand that she would like more + amusement of the same sort. Of all things in life, Mrs. Lee held this kind + of court-service in contempt, for she was something more than republican—a + little communistic at heart, and her only serious complaint of the + President and his wife was that they undertook to have a court and to ape + monarchy. + </p> + <p> + She had no notion of admitting social superiority in any one, President or + Prince, and to be suddenly converted into a lady-in-waiting to a small + German Grand-Duchess, was a terrible blow. But what was to be done? Lord + Skye had drafted her into the service and she could not decently refuse to + help him when he came to her side and told her, with his usual calm + directness, what his difficulties were, and how he counted upon her to + help him out. + </p> + <p> + The same play went on at supper, where there was a royal-presidential + table, which held about two dozen guests, and the two great ladies + presiding, as far apart as they could be placed. The Grand-Duke and Lord + Skye, on either side of the President's wife, did their duty like men, and + were rewarded by receiving from her much information about the domestic + arrangements of the White House. The President, however, who sat next the + Princess at the opposite end, was evidently depressed, owing partly to the + fact that the Princess, in defiance of all etiquette, had compelled Lord + Dunbeg to take Mrs. Lee to supper and to place her directly next the + President. Madeleine tried to escape, but was stopped by the Princess, who + addressed her across the President and in a decided tone asked her to sit + precisely there. Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Lee looked timidly at her neighbour, who made no sign, but ate his supper + in silence only broken by an occasional reply to a rare remark. Mrs. Lee + pitied him, and wondered what his wife would say when they reached home. + She caught Ratcliffe's eye down the table, watching her with a smile; she + tried to talk fluently with Dunbeg; but not until supper was long over and + two o'clock was at hand; not until the Presidential party, under all the + proper formalities, had taken their leave of the Grand-ducal party; not + until Lord Skye had escorted them to their carriage and returned to say + that they were gone, did the Princess loose her hold upon Mrs. Lee and + allow her to slip away into obscurity. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile the ball had gone on after the manner of balls. As Madeleine sat + in her enforced grandeur she could watch all that passed. She had seen + Sybil whirling about with one man after another, amid a swarm of dancers, + enjoying herself to the utmost and occasionally giving a nod and a smile + to her sister as their eyes met. There, too, was Victoria Dare, who never + appeared flurried even when waltzing with Lord Dunbeg, whose education as + a dancer had been neglected. The fact was now fully recognized that + Victoria was carrying on a systematic flirtation with Dunbeg, and had + undertaken as her latest duty the task of teaching him to waltz. His + struggles and her calmness in assisting them commanded respect. On the + opposite side of the room, by the republican throne, Mrs. Lee had watched + Mr. Ratcliffe standing by the President, who appeared unwilling to let him + out of arm's length and who seemed to make to him most of his few remarks. + Schneidekoupon and his sister were mixed in the throng, dancing as though + England had never countenanced the heresy of free-trade. On the whole, + Mrs. Lee was satisfied. + </p> + <p> + If her own sufferings were great, they were not without reward. She + studied all the women in the ball-room, and if there was one prettier than + Sybil, Madeleine's eyes could not discover her. If there was a more + perfect dress, Madeleine knew nothing of dressing. On these points she + felt the confidence of conviction. Her calm would have been complete, had + she felt quite sure that none of Sybil's gaiety was superficial and that + it would not be followed by reaction. She watched nervously to see whether + her face changed its gay expression, and once she thought it became + depressed, but this was when the Grand-Duke came up to claim his waltz, + and the look rapidly passed away when they got upon the floor and his + Highness began to wheel round the room with a precision and momentum that + would have done honour to a regiment of Life Guards. He seemed pleased + with his experiment, for he was seen again and again careering over the + floor with Sybil until Mrs. Lee herself became nervous, for the Princess + frowned. + </p> + <p> + After her release Madeleine lingered awhile in the ball-room to speak with + her sister and to receive congratulations. For half an hour she was a + greater belle than Sybil. A crowd of men clustered about her, amused at + the part she had played in the evening's entertainment and full of + compliments upon her promotion at Court. Lord Skye himself found time to + offer her his thanks in a more serious tone than he generally affected. + “You have suffered much,” said he, “and I am grateful.” Madeleine laughed + as she answered that her sufferings had seemed nothing to her while she + watched his. But at last she became weary of the noise and glare of the + ball-room, and, accepting the arm of her excellent friend Count Popoff, + she strolled with him back to the house. There at last she sat down on a + sofa in a quiet window-recess where the light was less strong and where a + convenient laurel spread its leaves in front so as to make a bower through + which she could see the passers-by without being seen by them except with + an effort. Had she been a younger woman, this would have been the spot for + a flirtation, but Mrs. Lee never flirted, and the idea of her flirting + with Popoff would have seemed ludicrous to all mankind. + </p> + <p> + He did not sit down, but was leaning against the angle of the wall, + talking with her, when suddenly Mr. Ratcliffe appeared and took the seat + by her side with such deliberation and apparent sense of property that + Popoff incontinently turned and fled. No one knew where the Secretary came + from, or how he learned that she was there. He made no explanation and she + took care to ask for none. She gave him a highly-coloured account of her + evening's service as lady-in-waiting, which he matched by that of his own + trials as gentleman-usher to the President, who, it seemed, had clung + desperately to his old enemy in the absence of any other rock to clutch + at. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe looked the character of Prime Minister sufficiently well at this + moment. He would have held his own, at a pinch, in any Court, not merely + in Europe but in India or China, where dignity is still expected of + gentlemen. + </p> + <p> + Excepting for a certain coarse and animal expression about the mouth, and + an indefinable coldness in the eye, he was a handsome man and still in his + prime. Every one remarked how much he was improved since entering the + Cabinet. He had dropped his senatorial manner. His clothes were no longer + congressional, but those of a respectable man, neat and decent. His shirts + no longer protruded in the wrong places, nor were his shirt-collars frayed + or soiled. His hair did not stray over his eyes, ears, and coat, like that + of a Scotch terrier, but had got itself cut. Having overheard Mrs. Lee + express on one occasion her opinion of people who did not take a cold bath + every morning, he had thought it best to adopt this reform, although he + would not have had it generally known, tot it savoured of caste. He made + an effort not to be dictatorial and to forget that he had been the Prairie + Giant, the bully of the Senate. In short, what with Mrs. Lee's influence + and what with his emancipation from the Senate chamber with its code of + bad manners and worse morals, Mr. Ratcliffe was fast becoming a + respectable member of society whom a man who had never been in prison or + in politics might safely acknowledge as a friend. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Ratcliffe was now evidently bent upon being heard. After charting for + a time with some humour on the President's successes as a man of fashion, + he changed the subject to the merits of the President as a statesman, and + little by little as he spoke he became serious and his voice sank into low + and confidential tones. He plainly said that the President's incapacity + had now become notorious among his followers; that it was only with + difficulty his Cabinet and friends could prevent him from making a fool of + himself fifty times a day; that all the party leaders who had occasion to + deal with him were so thoroughly disgusted that the Cabinet had to pass + its time in trying to pacify them; while this state of things lasted, + Ratcliffe's own influence must be paramount; he had good reason to know + that if the Presidential election were to take place this year, nothing + could prevent his nomination and election; even at three years' distance + the chances in his favour were at least two to one; and after this + exordium he went on in a low tone with increasing earnestness, while Mrs. + Lee sat motionless as the statue of Agrippina, her eyes fixed on the + ground: + </p> + <p> + “I am not one of those who are happy in political life. I am a politician + because I cannot help myself; it is the trade I am fittest for, and + ambition is my resource to make it tolerable. In politics we cannot keep + our hands clean. I have done many things in my political career that are + not defensible. To act with entire honesty and self-respect, one should + always live in a pure atmosphere, and the atmosphere of politics is + impure. Domestic life is the salvation of many public men, but I have for + many years been deprived of it. I have now come to that point where + increasing responsibilities and temptations make me require help. I must + have it. You alone can give it to me. You are kind, thoughtful, + conscientious, high-minded, cultivated, fitted better than any woman I + ever saw, for public duties. Your place is there. You belong among those + who exercise an influence beyond their time. I only ask you to take the + place which is yours.” + </p> + <p> + This desperate appeal to Mrs. Lee's ambition was a calculated part of + Ratcliffe's scheme. He was well aware that he had marked high game, and + that in proportion to this height must be the power of his lure. Nor was + he embarrassed because Mrs. Lee sat still and pale with her eyes fixed on + the ground and her hands twisted together in her lap. The eagle that soars + highest must be longer in descending to the ground than the sparrow or the + partridge. Mrs. Lee had a thousand things to think about in this brief + time, and yet she found that she could not think at all; a succession of + mere images and fragments of thought passed rapidly over her mind, and her + will exercised no control upon their order or their nature. One of these + fleeting reflections was that in all the offers of marriage she had ever + heard, this was the most unsentimental and businesslike. As for his appeal + to her ambition, it fell quite dead upon her ear, but a woman must be more + than a heroine who can listen to flattery so evidently sincere, from a man + who is pre-eminent among men, without being affected by it. To her, + however, the great and overpowering fact was that she found herself unable + to retreat or escape; her tactics were disconcerted, her temporary + barriers beaten down. + </p> + <p> + The offer was made. What should she do with it? + </p> + <p> + She had thought for months on this subject without being able to form a + decision; what hope was there that she should be able to decide now, in a + ball-room, at a minute's notice? When, as occasionally happens, the + conflicting sentiments, prejudices, and passions of a lifetime are + compressed into a single instant, they sometimes overcharge the mind and + it refuses to work. Mrs. Lee sat still and let things take their course; a + dangerous expedient, as thousands of women have learned, for it leaves + them at the mercy of the strong will, bent upon mastery. + </p> + <p> + The music from the ball-room did not stop. Crowds of persons passed by + their retreat. Some glanced in, and not one of these felt a doubt what was + going on there. An unmistakeable atmosphere of mystery and intensity + surrounded the pair. Ratcliffe's eyes were fixed upon Mrs. Lee, and hers + on the ground. Neither seemed to speak or to stir. Old Baron Jacobi, who + never failed to see everything, saw this as he went by, and ejaculated a + foreign oath of frightful import. Victoria Dare saw it and was devoured by + curiosity to such a point as to be hardly capable of containing herself. + </p> + <p> + After a silence which seemed interminable, Ratcliffe went on: “I do not + speak of my own feelings because I know that unless compelled by a strong + sense of duty, you will not be decided by any devotion of mine. But I + honestly say that I have learned to depend on you to a degree I can hardly + express; and when I think of what I should be without you, life seems to + me so intolerably dark that I am ready to make any sacrifice, to accept + any conditions that will keep you by my side.” + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile Victoria Dare, although deeply interested in what Dunbeg was + telling her, had met Sybil and had stopped a single second to whisper in + her ear: “You had better look after your sister, in the window, behind the + laurel with Mr. Ratcliffe!” Sybil was on Lord Skye's arm, enjoying herself + amazingly, though the night was far gone, but when she caught Victoria's + words, the expression of her face wholly changed. All the anxieties and + terrors of the last fortnight, came back upon it. She dragged Lord Skye + across the hall and looked in upon her sister. One glance was enough. + </p> + <p> + Desperately frightened but afraid to hesitate, she went directly up to + Madeleine who was still sitting like a statue, listening to Ratcliffe's + last words. As she hurriedly entered, Mrs. Lee, looking up, caught sight + of her pale face, and started from her seat. + </p> + <p> + “Are you ill, Sybil?” she exclaimed; “is anything the matter?” + </p> + <p> + “A little—fatigued,” gasped Sybil; “I thought you might be ready to + go home.” + </p> + <p> + “I am,” cried Madeleine; “I am quite ready. Good evening, Mr. Ratcliffe. I + will see you to-morrow. Lord Skye, shall I take leave of the Princess?” + </p> + <p> + “The Princess retired half an hour ago,” replied Lord Skye, who saw the + situation and was quite ready to help Sybil; “let me take you to the + dressing-room and order your carriage.” Mr. Ratcliffe found himself + suddenly left alone, while Mrs. Lee hurried away, torn by fresh anxieties. + They had reached the dressing-room and were nearly ready to go home, when + Victoria Dare suddenly dashed in upon them, with an animation of manner + very unusual in her, and, seizing Sybil by the hand, drew her into an + adjoining room and shut the door. “Can you keep a secret?” said she + abruptly. + </p> + <p> + “What!” said Sybil, looking at her with open-mouthed interest; “you don't + mean—are you really—tell me, quick!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes!” said Victoria relapsing into composure; “I am engaged!” + </p> + <p> + “To Lord Dunbeg?” + </p> + <p> + Victoria nodded, and Sybil, whose nerves were strung to the highest pitch + by excitement, flattery, fatigue, perplexity, and terror, burst into a + paroxysm of laughter, that startled even the calm Miss Dare. + </p> + <p> + “Poor Lord Dunbeg! don't be hard on him, Victoria!” she gasped when at + last she found breath; “do you really mean to pass the rest of your life + in Ireland? Oh, how much you will teach them!” + </p> + <p> + “You forget, my dear,” said Victoria, who had placidly enthroned herself + on the foot of a bed, “that I am not a pauper. I am told that Dunbeg + Castle is a romantic summer residence, and in the dull season we shall of + course go to London or somewhere. I shall be civil to you when you come + over. Don't you think a coronet will look well on me?” + </p> + <p> + Sybil burst again into laughter so irrepressible and prolonged that it + puzzled even poor Dunbeg, who was impatiently pacing the corridor outside. + </p> + <p> + It alarmed Madeleine, who suddenly opened the door. Sybil recovered + herself, and, her eyes streaming with tears, presented Victoria to her + sister: + </p> + <p> + “Madeleine, allow me to introduce you to the Countess Dunbeg!” + </p> + <p> + But Mrs. Lee was much too anxious to feel any interest in Lady Dunbeg. A + sudden fear struck her that Sybil was going into hysterics because + Victoria's engagement recalled her own disappointment. She hurried her + sister away to the carriage. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XII + </h2> + <p> + THEY drove home in silence, Mrs. Lee disturbed with anxieties and doubts, + partly caused by her sister, partly by Mr. Ratcliffe; Sybil divided + between amusement at Victoria's conquest, and alarm at her own boldness in + meddling with her sister's affairs. Desperation, however, was stronger + than fear. She made up her mind that further suspense was not to be + endured; she would fight her baffle now before another hour was lost; + surely no time could be better. A few moments brought them to their door. + Mrs. Lee had told her maid not to wait for them, and they were alone. The + fire was still alive on Madeleine's hearth, and she threw more wood upon + it. Then she insisted that Sybil must go to bed at once. But Sybil + refused; she felt quite well, she said, and not in the least sleepy; she + had a great deal to talk about, and wanted to get it off her mind. + Nevertheless, her feminine regard for the “Dawn in June” led her to + postpone what she had to say until with Madeleine's help she had laid the + triumph of the ball carefully aside; then, putting on her dressing-gown, + and hastily plunging Carrington's letter into her breast, like a concealed + weapon, she hurried back to Madeleine's room and established herself in a + chair before the fire. There, after a moment's pause, the two women began + their long-deferred trial of strength, in which the match was so nearly + equal as to make the result doubtful; for, if Madeleine were much the + cleverer, Sybil in this case knew much better what she wanted, and had a + clear idea how she meant to gain it, while Madeleine, unsuspicious of + attack, had no plan of defence at all. + </p> + <p> + “Madeleine,” began Sybil, solemnly, and with a violent palpitation of the + heart, “I want you to tell me something.” + </p> + <p> + “What is it, my child?” said Mrs. Lee, puzzled, and yet half ready to see + that there must be some connection between her sister's coming question + and the sudden illness at the ball, which had disappeared as suddenly as + it came. + </p> + <p> + “Do you mean to marry Mr. Ratcliffe?” + </p> + <p> + Poor Mrs. Lee was quite disconcerted by the directness of the attack. This + fatal question met her at every turn. Hardly had she succeeded in escaping + trom it at the ball scarcely an hour ago, by a stroke of good fortune for + which she now began to see she was indebted to Sybil, and here it was + again presented to her face like a pistol. The whole town, then, was + asking it. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe's offer must have been seen by half Washington, and her reply + was awaited by an immense audience, as though she were a political + returning-board. Her disgust was intense, and her first answer to Sybil + was a quick inquiry: + </p> + <p> + “Why do you ask such a question? have you heard anything,—has anyone + talked about it to you?” + </p> + <p> + “No!” replied Sybil; “but I must know; I can see for myself without being + told, that Mr. Racliffe is trying to make you marry him. I don't ask out + of curiosity; this is something that concerns me nearly as much as it does + you yourself. Please tell me! don't treat me like a child any longer! let + me know what you are thinking about! I am so tired of being left in the + dark! You have no idea how much this thing weighs on me. Oh, Maude, I + shall never be happy again until you trust me about this.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee felt a little pang of conscience, and seemed suddenly to become + conscious of a new coil, tightening about her, in this wretched + complication. Unable to see her way, ignorant of her sister's motives, + urged on by the idea that Sybil's happiness was involved, she was now + charged with want of feeling, and called upon for a direct answer to a + plain question. + </p> + <p> + How could she aver that she did not mean to marry Mr. Ratcliffe? to say + this would be to shut the door on all the objects she had at heart. If a + direct answer must be given, it was better to say “Yes!” and have it over; + better to leap blindly and see what came of it. Mrs. Lee, therefore, with + an internal gasp, but with no visible sign of excitement, said, as though + she were in a dream: + </p> + <p> + “Well, Sybil, I will tell you. I would have told you long ago if I had + known myself. Yes! I have made up my mind to marry Mr. Ratcliffe!” + </p> + <p> + Sybil sprang to her feet with a cry: “And have you told him so?” she + asked. + </p> + <p> + “No! you came and interrupted us just as we were speaking. I was glad you + did come, for it gives me a little time to think. But I am decided now. I + shall tell him to-morrow.” + </p> + <p> + This was not said with the air or one whose heart beat warmly at the + thought of confessing her love. Mrs. Lee spoke mechanically, and almost + with an effort. Sybil flung herself with all her energy upon her sister; + violently excited, and eager to make herself heard, without waiting for + arguments, she broke out into a torrent of entreaties: “Oh, don't, don't, + don't! Oh, please, please, don't, my dearest, dearest Maude! unless you + want to break my heart, don't marry that man! You can't love him! You can + never be happy with him! he will take you away to Peonia, and you will die + there! I shall never see you again! He will make you unhappy; he will beat + you, I know he will! Oh, if you care for me at all, don't marry him! Send + him away! don't see him again! let us go ourselves, now, in the morning + train, before he comes back. I'm all ready; I'll pack everything for you; + we'll go to Newport; to Europe—anywhere, to be out of his reach!” + </p> + <p> + With this passionate appeal, Sybil threw herself on her knees by her + sister's side, and, clasping her arms around Madeleine's waist, sobbed as + though her heart were already broken. Had Carrington seen her then he must + have admitted that she had carried out his instructions to the letter. She + was quite honest, too, in it all. She meant what she said, and her tears + were real tears that had been pent up for weeks. Unluckily, her logic was + feeble. Her idea of Mr. Ratcliffe's character was vague, and biased by + mere theories of what a Prairie Giant of Peonia should be in his domestic + relations. Her idea of Peonia, too, was indistinct. She was haunted by a + vision of her sister, sitting on a horse-hair sofa before an air-tight + iron stove in a small room with high, bare white walls, a chromolithograph + on each, and at her side a marble-topped table surmounted by a glass vase + containing funereal dried grasses; the only literature, Frank Leslie's + periodical and the New York Ledger, with a strong smell of cooking + everywhere prevalent. Here she saw Madeleine receiving visitors, the wives + of neighbours and constituents, who told her the Peonia news. + </p> + <p> + Notwithstanding her ignorant and unreasonable prejudice against western + men and women, western towns and prairies, and, in short, everything + western, down to western politics and western politicians, whom she + perversely asserted to be tue lowest ot all western products, there was + still some common sense in Sybil's idea. When that inevitable hour struck + for Mr. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe, which strikes sooner or later for all politicians, and an + ungrateful country permitted him to pine among his friends in Illinois, + what did he propose to do with his wife? Did he seriously suppose that + she, who was bored to death by New York, and had been able to find no + permanent pleasure in Europe, would live quietly in the romantic village + of Peonia? If not, did Mr. Ratcliffe imagine that they could find + happiness in the enjoyment of each other's society, and of Mrs. Lee's + income, in the excitements of Washington? In the ardour of his pursuit, + Mr. Ratcliffe had accepted in advance any conditions which Mrs. Lee might + impose, but if he really imagined that happiness and content lay on the + purple rim of this sunset, he had more confidence in women and in money + than a wider experience was ever likely to justify. + </p> + <p> + Whatever might be Mr. Ratcliffe's schemes for dealing with these obstacles + they could hardly be such as would satisfy Sybil, who, if inaccurate in + her theories about Prairie Giants, yet understood women, and especially + her sister, much better than Mr. Ratcliffe ever could do. Here she was + safe, and it would have been better had she said no more, for Mrs. Lee, + though staggered for a moment by her sister's vehemence, was reassured by + what seemed the absurdity of her fears. Madeleine rebelled against this + hysterical violence of opposition, and became more fixed in her decision. + </p> + <p> + She scolded her sister in good, set terms— + </p> + <p> + “Sybil, Sybil! you must not be so violent. Behave like a woman, and not + like a spoiled child!” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee, like most persons who have to deal with spoiled or unspoiled + children, resorted to severity, not so much because it was the proper way + of dealing with them, as because she knew not what else to do. She was + thoroughly uncomfortable and weary. She was not satisfied with herself or + with her own motives. Doubt encompassed her on all sides, and her worst + opponent was that sister whose happiness had turned the scale against her + own judgment. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless her tactics answered their object of checking Sybil's + vehemence. Her sobs came to an end, and she presently rose with a quieter + air. + </p> + <p> + “Madeleine,” said she, “do you really want to marry Mr. Ratcliffe?” + </p> + <p> + “What else can I do, my dear Sybil? I want to do whatever is for the best. + I thought you might be pleased.” + </p> + <p> + “You thought I might be pleased?” cried Sybil in astonishment. “What a + strange idea! If you had ever spoken to me about it I should have told you + that I hate him, and can't understand how you can abide him. But I would + rather marry him myself than see you marry him. I know that you will kill + yourself with unhappiness when you have done it. Oh, Maude, please tell me + that you won't!” And Sybil began gently sobbing again, while she caressed + her sister. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee was infinitely distressed. To act against the wishes of her + nearest friends was hard enough, but to appear harsh and unfeeling to the + one being whose happiness she had at heart, was intolerable. Yet no + sensible woman, after saying that she meant to marry a man like Mr. + Ratcliffe, could throw him over merely because another woman chose to + behave like a spoiled child. + </p> + <p> + Sybil was more childish than Madeleine herself had supposed. She could not + even see where her own interest lay. She knew no more about Mr. Ratcliffe + and the West than if he were the giant of a fairy-story, and lived at the + top of a bean-stalk. She must be treated as a child; with gentleness, + affection, forbearance, but with firmness and decision. She must be + refused what she asked, for her own good. + </p> + <p> + Thus it came about that at last Mrs. Lee spoke, with an appearance of + decision far from representing her internal tremor. + </p> + <p> + “Sybil, dear, I have made up my mind to marry Mr. Ratcliffe because there + is no other way of making every one happy. You need not be afraid of him. + He is kind and generous. Besides, I can take care of myself; and I will + take care of you too. Now let us not discuss it any more. It is broad + daylight, and we are both tired out.” + </p> + <p> + Sybil grew at once perfectly calm, and standing before her sister, as + though their rôles were henceforward to be reversed, said: + </p> + <p> + “You have really made up your mind, then? Nothing I can say will change + it?” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee, looking at her with more surprise than ever, could not force + herself to speak; but she shook her head slowly and decidedly. + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said Sybil, “there is only one thing more I can do. You must read + this!” and she drew out Carrington's letter, which she held before + Madeleine's face. + </p> + <p> + “Not now, Sybil!” remonstrated Mrs. Lee, dreading another long struggle. + “I will read it after we have had some rest. Go to bed now!” + </p> + <p> + “I do not leave this room, nor will I ever go to bed until you have read + that letter,” answered Sybil, seating herself again before the fire with + the resolution of Queen Elizabeth; “not if I sit here till you are + married. I promised Mr. Carrington that you should read it instantly; it's + all I can do now.” With a sigh, Mrs. Lee drew up the window-curtain, and + in the gray morning light sat down to break the seal and read the + following letter:— + </p> + <p> + “Washington, 2nd April. + </p> + <p> + “My dear Mrs. Lee, + </p> + <p> + “This letter will only come into your hands in case there should be a + necessity for your knowing its contents. Nothing short of necessity would + excuse my writing it. I have to ask your pardon for intruding again upon + your private affairs. In this case, if I did not intrude, you would have + cause for serious complaint against me. + </p> + <p> + “You asked me the other day whether I knew anything against Mr. Ratcliffe + which the world did not know, to account for my low opinion of his + character. I evaded your question then. I was bound by professional rules + not to disclose facts that came to me under a pledge of confidence. I am + going to violate these rules now, only because I owe you a duty which + seems to me to override all others. + </p> + <p> + “I do know facts in regard to Mr. Ratcliffe, which have seemed to me to + warrant a very low opinion of his character, and to mark him as unfit to + be, I will not say your husband, but even your acquaintance. + </p> + <p> + “You know that I am executor to Samuel Baker's will. You know who Samuel + Baker was. You have seen his wife. She has told you herself that I + assisted her in the examination and destruction of all her husband's + private papers according to his special death-bed request. One of the + first facts I learned from these papers and her explanations, was the + following. + </p> + <p> + “Just eight years ago, the great 'Inter-Oceanic Mail Steamship Company,' + wished to extend its service round the world, and, in order to do so, it + applied to Congress for a heavy subsidy. The management of this affair was + put into the hands of Mr. Baker, and all his private letters to the + President of the Company, in press copies, as well as the President's + replies, came into my possession. Baker's letters were, of course, written + in a sort of cypher, several kinds of which he was in the habit of using. + He left among his papers a key to this cypher, but Mrs. Baker could have + explained it without that help. + </p> + <p> + “It appeared from this correspondence that the bill was carried + successfully through the House, and, on reaching the Senate, was referred + to the appropriate Committee. Its ultimate passage was very doubtful; the + end of the session was close at hand; the Senate was very evenly divided, + and the Chairman of the Committee was decidedly hostile. + </p> + <p> + “The Chairman of that Committee was Senator Ratcliffe, always mentioned by + Mr. Baker in cypher, and with every precaution. If you care, however, to + verify the fact, and to trace the history of the Subsidy Bill through all + its stages, together with Mr. Ratcliffe's report, remarks, and votes upon + it, you have only to look into the journals and debates for that year. + </p> + <p> + “At last Mr. Baker wrote that Senator Ratcliffe had put the bill in his + pocket, and unless some means could be found of overcoming his opposition, + there would be no report, and the bill would never come to a vote. All + ordinary kinds of argument and influence had been employed upon him, and + were exhausted. In this exigency Baker suggested that the Company should + give him authority to see what money would do, but he added that it would + be worse than useless to deal with small sums. Unless at least one hundred + thousand dollars could be employed, it was better to leave the thing + alone. + </p> + <p> + “The next mail authorized him to use any required amount of money not + exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Two days later he wrote + that the bill was reported, and would pass the Senate within forty-eight + hours; and he congratulated the Company on the fact that he had used only + one hundred thousand dollars out of its last credit. + </p> + <p> + “The bill was actually reported, passed, and became law as he foretold, + and the Company has enjoyed its subsidy ever since. Mrs. Baker also + informed me that to her knowledge her husband gave the sum mentioned, in + United States Coupon Bonds, to Senator Ratcliffe. + </p> + <p> + “This transaction, taken in connection with the tortuousness of his public + course, explains the distrust I have always expressed for him. You will, + however, understand that all these papers have been destroyed. Mrs. Baker + could never be induced to hazard her own comfort by revealing the facts to + the public. The officers of the Company in their own interests would never + betray the transaction, and their books were undoubtedly so kept as to + show no trace of it. If I made this charge against Mr. Ratcliffe, I should + be the only sufferer. He would deny and laugh at it. I could prove + nothing. I am therefore more directly interested than he is in keeping + silence. + </p> + <p> + “In trusting this secret to you, I rely firmly upon your mentioning it to + no one else—not even to your sister. You are at liberty, if you + wish, to show this letter to one person only—to Mr. Ratcliffe + himself. That done, you will, I beg, burn it immediately. + </p> + <p> + “With the warmest good wishes, I am, + </p> + <p> + “Ever most truly yours, + </p> + <p> + “John Carrington.” + </p> + <p> + When Mrs. Lee had finished reading this letter, she remained for some time + quite silent, looking out into the square below. The morning had come, and + the sky was bright with the fresh April sunlight. She threw open her + window, and drew in the soft spring air. She needed all the purity and + quiet that nature could give, for her whole soul was in revolt, wounded, + mortified, exasperated. Against the sentiment of all her friends she had + insisted upon believing in this man; she had wrought herself up to the + point of accepting him for her husband; a man who, if law were the same + thing as justice, ought to be in a felon's cell; a man who could take + money to betray his trust. Her anger at first swept away all bounds. She + was impatient for the moment when she should see him again, and tear off + his mask. For once she would express all the loathing she felt for the + whole pack of political hounds. She would see whether the animal was made + like other beings; whether he had a sense of honour; a single clean spot + in his mind. + </p> + <p> + Then it occurred to her that after all there might be a mistake; perhaps + Mr. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe could explain the charge away. But this thought only laid bare + another smarting wound in her pride. Not only did she believe the charge, + but she believed that Mr. Ratcliffe would defend his act. She had been + willing to marry a man whom she thought capable of such a crime, and now + she shuddered at the idea that this charge might have been brought against + her husband, and that she could not dismiss it with instant incredulity, + with indignant contempt. How had this happened? how had she got into so + foul a complication? When she left New York, she had meant to be a mere + spectator in Washington. Had it entered her head that she could be drawn + into any project of a second marriage, she never would have come at all, + for she was proud of her loyalty to her husband's memory, and second + marriages were her abhorrence. In her restlessness and solitude, she had + forgotten this; she had only asked whether any life was worth living for a + woman who had neither husband nor children. Was the family all that life + had to offer? could she find no interest outside the household? And so, + led by this will-of-the-wisp, she had, with her eyes open, walked into the + quagmire of politics, in spite of remonstrance, in spite of conscience. + </p> + <p> + She rose and paced the room, while Sybil lay on the couch, watching her + with eyes half shut. She grew more and more angry with herself, and as her + self-reproach increased, her anger against Ratcliffe faded away. She had + no right to be angry with Ratcliffe. He had never deceived her. He had + always openly enough avowed that he knew no code of morals in politics; + that if virtue did not answer his purpose he used vice. How could she + blame him for acts which he had repeatedly defended in her presence and + with her tacit assent, on principles that warranted this or any other + villainy? + </p> + <p> + The worst was that this discovery had come on her as a blow, not as a + reprieve from execution. At this thought she became furious with herself. + </p> + <p> + She had not known the recesses of her own heart. She had honestly supposed + that Sybil's interests and Sybil's happiness were forcing her to an act of + self-sacrifice; and now she saw that in the depths of her soul very + different motives had been at work: ambition, thirst for power, restless + eagerness to meddle in what did not concern her, blind longing to escape + from the torture of watching other women with full lives and satisfied + instincts, while her own life was hungry and sad. For a time she had + actually, unconscious as she was of the delusion, hugged a hope that a new + field of usefulness was open to her; that great opportunities for doing + good were to supply the aching emptiness of that good which had been taken + away; and that here at last was an object for which there would be almost + a pleasure in squandering the rest of existence even if she knew in + advance that the experiment would fail. Life was emptier than ever now + that this dream was over. Yet the worst was not in that disappointment, + but in the discovery of her own weakness and self-deception. + </p> + <p> + Worn out by long-continued anxiety, excitement and sleeplessness, she was + unfit to struggle with the creatures of her own imagination. Such a strain + could only end in a nervous crisis, and at length it came: + </p> + <p> + “Oh, what a vile thing life is!” she cried, throwing up her arms with a + gesture of helpless rage and despair. “Oh, how I wish I were dead! how I + wish the universe were annihilated!” and she flung herself down by Sybil's + side in a frenzy of tears. + </p> + <p> + Sybil, who had watched all this exhibition in silence, waited quietly for + the excitement to pass. There was little to say. She could only soothe. + </p> + <p> + After the paroxysm had exhausted itself Madeleine lay quiet for a time, + until other thoughts began to disturb her. From reproaching herself about + Ratcliffe she went on to reproach herself about Sybil, who really looked + worn and pale, as though almost overcome by fatigue. + </p> + <p> + “Sybil,” said she, “you must go to bed at once. You are tired out. It was + very wrong in me to let you sit up so late. Go now, and get some sleep.” + </p> + <p> + “I am not going to bed till you do, Maude!” replied Sybil, with quiet + obstinacy. + </p> + <p> + “Go, dear! it is all settled. I shall not marry Mr. Ratcliffe. You need + not be anxious about it any more.” + </p> + <p> + “Are you very unhappy?” + </p> + <p> + “Only very angry with myself. I ought to have taken Mr. Carrington's + advice sooner.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Maude!” exclaimed Sybil, with a sudden explosion of energy; “I wish + you had taken him!” + </p> + <p> + This remark roused Mrs. Lee to new interest: “Why, Sybil,” said she, + “surely you are not in earnest?” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, I am,” replied Sybil, very decidedly. “I know you think I am in + love with Mr. Carrington myself, but I'm not. I would a great deal rather + have him for a brother-in-law, and he is so much the nicest man you know, + and you could help his sisters.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee hesitated a moment, for she was not quite certain whether it was + wise to probe a healing wound, but she was anxious to clear this last + weight from her mind, and she dashed recklessly forward: + </p> + <p> + “Are you sure you are telling the truth, Sybil? Why, then, did you say + that you cared for him? and why have you been so miserable ever since he + went away?” + </p> + <p> + “Why? I should think it was plain enough why! Because I thought, as every + one else did, that you were going to marry Mr. Ratcliffe; and because if + you married Mr. Ratcliffe, I must go and live alone; and because you + treated me like a child, and never took me into your confidence at all; + and because Mr. Carrington was the only person I had to advise me, and + after he went away, I was left all alone to fight Mr. Ratcliffe and you + both together, without a human soul to help me in case I made a mistake. + You would have been a great deal more miserable than I if you had been in + my place.” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine looked at her for a moment in doubt. Would this last? did Sybil + herself know the depth of her own wound? But what could Mrs. Lee do now? + </p> + <p> + Perhaps Sybil did deceive herself a little. When this excitement had + passed away, perhaps Carrington's image might recur to her mind a little + too often for her own comfort. The future must take care of itself. Mrs. + Lee drew her sister closer to her, and said: “Sybil, I have made a + horrible mistake, and you must forgive me.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XIII + </h2> + <p> + NOT until afternoon did Mrs. Lee reappear. How much she had slept she did + not say, and she hardly looked like one whose slumbers had been long or + sweet; but if she had slept little, she had made up for the loss by + thinking much, and, while she thought, the storm which had raged so + fiercely in her breast, more and more subsided into calm. If there was not + sunshine yet, there was at least stillness. As she lay, hour after hour, + waiting for the sleep that did not come, she had at first the keen + mortification of reflecting how easily she had been led by mere vanity + into imagining that she could be of use in the world. She even smiled in + her solitude at the picture she drew of herself, reforming Ratcliffe, and + Krebs, and Schuyler Clinton. The ease with which Ratcliffe alone had + twisted her about his finger, now that she saw it, made her writhe, and + the thought of what he might have done, had she married him, and of the + endless succession of moral somersaults she would have had to turn, + chilled her with mortal terror. She had barely escaped being dragged under + the wheels of the machine, and so coming to an untimely end. When she + thought of this, she felt a mad passion to revenge herself on the whole + race of politicians, with Ratcliffe at their head; she passed hours in + framing bitter speeches to be made to his face. + </p> + <p> + Then as she grew calmer, Ratcliffe's sins took on a milder hue; life, + after all, had not been entirely blackened by his arts; there was even + some good in her experience, sharp though it were. Had she not come to + Washington in search of men who cast a shadow, and was not Ratcliffe's + shadow strong enough to satisfy her? Had she not penetrated the deepest + recesses of politics, and learned how easily the mere possession of power + could convert the shadow of a hobby-horse existing only in the brain of a + foolish country farmer, into a lurid nightmare that convulsed the sleep of + nations? The antics of Presidents and Senators had been amusing—so + amusing that she had nearly been persuaded to take part in them. She had + saved herself in time. + </p> + <p> + She had got to the bottom of this business of democratic government, and + found out that it was nothing more than government of any other kind. She + might have known it by her own common sense, but now that experience had + proved it, she was glad to quit the masquerade; to return to the true + democracy of life, her paupers and her prisons, her schools and her + hospitals. As for Mr. Ratcliffe, she felt no difficulty in dealing with + him. + </p> + <p> + Let Mr. Ratcliffe, and his brother giants, wander on their own political + prairie, and hunt for offices, or other profitable game, as they would. + </p> + <p> + Their objects were not her objects, and to join their company was not her + ambition. She was no longer very angry with Mr. Ratcliffe. She had no wish + to insult him, or to quarrel with him. What he had done as a politician, + he had done according to his own moral code, and it was not her business + to judge him; to protect herself was the only right she claimed. She + thought she could easily hold him at arm's length, and although, if + Carrington had written the truth, they could never again be friends, there + need be no difficulty in their remaining acquaintances. If this view of + her duty was narrow, it was at least proof that she had learned something + from Mr. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe; perhaps it was also proof that she had yet to learn Mr. + Ratcliffe himself. + </p> + <p> + Two o'clock had struck before Mrs. Lee came down from her chamber, and + Sybil had not yet made her appearance. Madeleine rang her bell and gave + orders that, if Mr. Ratcliffe called she would see him, but she was at + home to no one else. Then she sat down to write letters and to prepare for + her journey to New York, for she must now hasten her departure in order to + escape the gossip and criticism which she saw hanging like an avalanche + over her head. + </p> + <p> + When Sybil at length came down, looking much fresher than her sister, they + passed an hour together arranging this and other small matters, so that + both of them were again in the best of spirits, and Sybil's face was + wreathed in smiles. + </p> + <p> + A number of visitors came to the door that day, some of them prompted by + friendliness and some by sheer curiosity, for Mrs. Lee's abrupt + disappearance from the ball had excited remark. Against all these her door + was firmly closed. On the other hand, as the afternoon went on, she sent + Sybil away, so that she might have the field entirely to herself, and + Sybil, relieved of all her alarms, sallied out to interrupt Dunbeg's + latest interview with his Countess, and to amuse herself with Victoria's + last “phase.” + </p> + <p> + Towards four o'clock the tall form of Mr. Ratcliffe was seen to issue from + the Treasury Department and to descend the broad steps of its western + front. + </p> + <p> + Turning deliberately towards the Square, the Secretary of the Treasury + crossed the Avenue and stopping at Mrs. Lee's door, rang the bell. He was + immediately admitted. Mrs. Lee was alone in her parlour and rose rather + gravely as he entered, but welcomed him as cordially as she could. She + wanted to put an end to his hopes at once and to do it decisively, but + without hurting his feelings. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Ratcliffe,” said she, when he was seated—“I am sure you will be + better pleased by my speaking instantly and frankly. I could not reply to + you last night. I will do so now without delay. What you wish is + impossible. I would rather not even discuss it. Let us leave it here and + return to our old relations.” + </p> + <p> + She could not force herself to express any sense of gratitude for his + affection, or of regret at being obliged to meet it with so little return. + </p> + <p> + To treat him with tolerable civility was all she thought required of her. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe felt the change of manner. He had been prepared for a struggle, + but not to be met with so blunt a rebuff at the start. His look became + serious and he hesitated a moment before speaking, but when he spoke at + last, it was with a manner as firm and decided as that of Mrs. Lee + herself. + </p> + <p> + “I cannot accept such an answer. I will not say that I have a right to + explanation,—I have no rights which you are bound to respect,—but + from you I conceive that I may at least ask the favour of one, and that + you will not refuse it. Are you willing to tell me your reasons for this + abrupt and harsh decision?” + </p> + <p> + “I do not dispute your right of explanation, Mr. Ratcliffe. You have the + right, if you choose to use it, and I am ready to give you every + explanation in my power; but I hope you will not insist on my doing so. If + I seemed to speak abruptly and harshly, it was merely to spare you the + greater annoyance of doubt. Since I am forced to give you pain, was it not + fairer and more respectful to you to speak at once? We have been friends. + I am very soon going away. I sincerely want to avoid saying or doing + anything that would change our relations.” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe, however, paid no attention to these words, and gave them no + answer. He was much too old a debater to be misled by such trifles, when + he needed all his faculties to pin his opponent to the wall. He asked:— + </p> + <p> + “Is your decision a new one?” + </p> + <p> + “It is a very old one, Mr. Ratcliffe, which I had let myself lose sight + of, for a time. A night's reflection has brought me back to it.” + </p> + <p> + “May I ask why you have returned to it? surely you would not have + hesitated without strong reasons.” + </p> + <p> + “I will tell you frankly. If, by appearing to hesitate, I have misled you, + I am honestly sorry for it. I did not mean to do it. My hesitation was + owing to the doubt whether my life might not really be best used in aiding + you. My decision was owing to the certainty that we are not fitted for + each other. Our lives run in separate grooves. We are both too old to + change them.” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe shook his head with an air of relief. “Your reasons, Mrs. Lee, + are not sound. There is no such divergence in our lives. On the contrary I + can give to yours the field it needs, and that it can get in no other way; + while you can give to mine everything it now wants. If these are your only + reasons I am sure of being able to remove them.” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine looked as though she were not altogether pleased at this idea, + and became a little dogmatic. “It is no use our arguing on this subject, + Mr. Ratcliffe. You and I take very different views of life. I cannot + accept yours, and you could not practise on mine.” + </p> + <p> + “Show me,” said Ratcliffe, “a single example of such a divergence, and I + will accept your decision without another word.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee hesitated and looked at him for an instant as though to be quite + sure that he was in earnest. There was an effrontery about this challenge + which surprised her, and if she did not check it on the spot, there was no + saying how much trouble it might give her. Then unlocking the drawer of + the writing-desk at her elbow, she took out Carrington's letter and handed + it to Mr. Ratcliffe. + </p> + <p> + “Here is such an example which has come to my knowledge very lately. I + meant to show it to you in any case, but I would rather have waited.” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe took the letter which she handed to him, opened it deliberately, + looked at the signature, and read. He showed no sign of surprise or + disturbance. No one would have imagined that he had, from the moment he + saw Carrington's name, as precise a knowledge of what was in this letter + as though he had written it himself. His first sensation was only one of + anger that his projects had miscarried. How this had happened he could not + at once understand, for the idea that Sybil could have a hand in it did + not occur to him. He had made up his mind that Sybil was a silly, + frivolous girl, who counted for nothing in her sister's actions. He had + fallen into the usual masculine blunder of mixing up smartness of + intelligence with strength of character. Sybil, without being a + metaphysician, willed anything which she willed at all with more energy + than her sister did, who was worn out with the effort of life. Mr. + Ratcliffe missed this point, and was left to wonder who it was that had + crossed his path, and how Carrington had managed to be present and absent, + to get a good office in Mexico and to baulk his schemes in Washington, at + the same time. He had not given Carrington credit for so much cleverness. + </p> + <p> + He was violently irritated at the check. Another day, he thought, would + have made him safe on this side; and possibly he was right. Had he once + succeeded in getting ever so slight a hold on Mrs. Lee he would have told + her this story with his own colouring, and from his own point of view, and + he fully believed he could do this in such a way as to rouse her sympathy. + Now that her mind was prejudiced, the task would be much more difficult; + yet he did not despair, for it was his theory that Mrs. Lee, in the depths + of her soul, wanted to be at the head of the White House as much as he + wanted to be there himself, and that her apparent coyness was mere + feminine indecision in the face of temptation. His thoughts now turned + upon the best means of giving again the upper hand to her ambition. He + wanted to drive Carrington a second time from the field. + </p> + <p> + Thus it was that, having read the letter once in order to learn what was + in it, he turned back, and slowly read it again in order to gain time. + Then he replaced it in its envelope, and returned it to Mrs. Lee, who, + with equal calmness, as though her interest in it were at an end, tossed + it negligently into the fire, where it was reduced to ashes under + Ratcliffe's eyes. + </p> + <p> + He watched it burn for a moment, and then turning to her, said, with his + usual composure, “I meant to have told you of that affair myself. I am + sorry that Mr. Carrington has thought proper to forestall me. No doubt he + has his own motives for taking my character in charge.” + </p> + <p> + “Then it is true!” said Mrs. Lee, a little more quickly than she had meant + to speak. + </p> + <p> + “True in its leading facts; untrue in some of its details, and in the + impression it creates. During the Presidential election which took place + eight years ago last autumn, there was, as you may remember, a violent + contest and a very close vote. We believed (though I was not so prominent + in the party then as now), that the result of that election would be + almost as important to the nation as the result of the war itself. Our + defeat meant that the government must pass into the blood-stained hands of + rebels, men whose designs were more than doubtful, and who could not, even + if their designs had been good, restrain the violence of their followers. + In consequence we strained every nerve. Money was freely spent, even to an + amount much in excess of our resources. How it was employed, I will not + say. + </p> + <p> + “I do not even know, for I held myself aloof from these details, which + fell to the National Central Committee of which I was not a member. The + great point was that a very large sum had been borrowed on pledged + securities, and must be repaid. The members of the National Committee and + certain senators held discussions on the subject, in which I shared. The + end was that towards the close of the session the head of the committee, + accompanied by two senators, came to me and told me that I must abandon my + opposition to the Steamship Subsidy. They made no open avowal of their + reasons, and I did not press for one. Their declaration, as the + responsible heads of the organization, that certain action on my part was + essential to the interests of the party, satisfied me. I did not consider + myself at liberty to persist in a mere private opinion in regard to a + measure about which I recognized the extreme likelihood of my being in + error. I accordingly reported the bill, and voted for it, as did a large + majority of the party. Mrs. Baker is mistaken in saying that the money was + paid to me. If it was paid at all, of which I have no knowledge except + from this letter, it was paid to the representative of the National + Committee. I received no money. I had nothing to do with the money further + than as I might draw my own conclusions in regard to the subsequent + payment of the campaign debt.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee listened to all this with intense interest. Not until this moment + had she really felt as though she had got to the heart of politics, so + that she could, like a physician with his stethoscope, measure the organic + disease. Now at last she knew why the pulse beat with such unhealthy + irregularity, and why men felt an anxiety which they could not or would + not explain. Her interest in the disease overcame her disgust at the + foulness of the revelation. To say that the discovery gave her actual + pleasure would be doing her injustice; but the excitement of the moment + swept away every other sensation. She did not even think of herself. Not + until afterwards did she fairly grasp the absurdity of Ratcliffe's wish + that in the face of such a story as this, she should still have vanity + enough to undertake the reform of politics. And with his aid too! The + audacity of the man would have seemed sublime if she had felt sure that he + knew the difference between good and evil, between a lie and the truth; + but the more she saw of him, the surer she was that his courage was mere + moral paralysis, and that he talked about virtue and vice as a man who is + colour-blind talks about red and green; he did not see them as she saw + them; if left to choose for himself he would have nothing to guide him. + Was it politics that had caused this atrophy of the moral senses by + disuse? Meanwhile, here she sat face to face with a moral lunatic, who had + not even enough sense of humour to see the absurdity of his own request, + that she should go out to the shore of this ocean of corruption, and + repeat the ancient rôle of King Canute, or Dame Partington with her mop + and her pail. What was to be done with such an animal? + </p> + <p> + The bystander who looked on at this scene with a wider knowledge of facts, + might have found entertainment in another view of the subject, that is to + say, in the guilelessness ot Madeleine Lee. With all her warnings she was + yet a mere baby-in-arms in the face of the great politician. She accepted + his story as true, and she thought it as bad as possible; but had Mr. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe's associates now been present to hear his version of it, they + would have looked at each other with a smile of professional pride, and + would have roundly sworn that he was, beyond a doubt, the ablest man this + country had ever produced, and next to certain of being President. They + would not, however, have told their own side of the story if they could + have helped it, but in talking it over among themselves they might have + assumed the facts to have been nearly as follows: that Ratcliffe had + dragged them into an enormous expenditure to carry his own State, and with + it his own re-election to the Senate; that they had tried to hold him + responsible, and he had tried to shirk the responsibility; that there had + been warm discussions on the subject; that he himself had privately + suggested recourse to Baker, had shaped his conduct accordingly, and had + compelled them, in order to save their own credit, to receive the money. + </p> + <p> + Even if Mrs. Lee had heard this part of the story, though it might have + sharpened her indignation against Mr. Ratcliffe, it would not have altered + her opinions. As it was, she had heard enough, and with a great effort to + control her expression of disgust, she sank back in her chair as Ratcliffe + concluded. Finding that she did not speak, he went on: + </p> + <p> + “I do not undertake to defend this affair. It is the act of my public life + which I most regret—not the doing, but the necessity of doing. I do + not differ from you in opinion on that point. I cannot acknowledge that + there is here any real divergence between us.” + </p> + <p> + “I am afraid,” said Mrs. Lee, “that I cannot agree with you.” + </p> + <p> + This brief remark, the very brevity of which carried a barb of sarcasm, + escaped from Madeleine's lips before she had fairly intended it. Ratcliffe + felt the sting, and it started him from his studied calmness of manner. + </p> + <p> + Rising from his chair he stood on the hearthrug before Mrs. Lee, and broke + out upon her with an oration in that old senatorial voice and style which + was least calculated to enlist her sympathies: + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Lee,” said he, with harsh emphasis and dogmatic tone, “there are + conflicting duties in all the transactions of life, except the simplest. + However we may act, do what we may, we must violate some moral obligation. + All that can be asked of us is that we should guide ourselves by what we + think the highest. At the time this affair occurred, I was a Senator of + the United States. I was also a trusted member of a great political party + which I looked upon as identical with the nation. In both capacities I + owed duties to my constituents, to the government, to the people. I might + interpret these duties narrowly or broadly. I might say: Perish the + government, perish the Union, perish this people, rather than that I + should soil my hands! Or I might say, as I did, and as I would say again: + Be my fate what it may, this glorious Union, the last hope of suffering + humanity, shall be preserved.” + </p> + <p> + Here he paused, and seeing that Mrs. Lee, after looking for a time at him, + was now regarding the fire, lost in meditation over the strange vagaries + of the senatorial mind, he resumed, in another line of argument. He + rightly judged that there must be some moral defect in his last remarks, + although he could not see it, which made persistence in that direction + useless. + </p> + <p> + “You ought not to blame me—you cannot blame me justly. It is to your + sense of justice I appeal. Have I ever concealed from you my opinions on + this subject? Have I not on the contrary always avowed them? Did I not + here, on this very spot, when challenged once before by this same + Carrington, take credit for an act less defensible than this? Did I not + tell you then that I had even violated the sanctity of a great popular + election and reversed its result? That was my sole act! In comparison with + it, this is a trifle! Who is injured by a steamship company subscribing + one or ten hundred thousand dollars to a campaign fund? Whose rights are + affected by it? Perhaps its stock holders receive one dollar a share in + dividends less than they otherwise would. If they do not complain, who + else can do so? But in that election I deprived a million people of rights + which belonged to them as absolutely as their houses! You could not say + that I had done wrong. Not a word of blame or criticism have you ever + uttered to me on that account. If there was an offence, you condoned it! + You certainly led me to suppose that you saw none. Why are you now so + severe upon the smaller crime?” + </p> + <p> + This shot struck hard. Mrs. Lee visibly shrank under it, and lost her + composure. This was the same reproach she had made against herself, and to + which she had been able to find no reply. With some agitation she + exclaimed: + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Ratcliffe, pray do me justice! I have tried not to be severe. I have + said nothing in the way of attack or blame. I acknowledge that it is not + my place to stand in judgment over your acts. I have more reason to blame + myself than you, and God knows I have blamed myself bitterly.” The tears + stood in her eyes as she said these last words, and her voice trembled. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe saw that he had gained an advantage, and, sitting down nearer to + her, he dropped his voice and urged his suit still more energetically: + </p> + <p> + “You did me justice then; why not do it now? You were convinced then that + I did the best I could. I have always done so. On the other hand I have + never pretended that all my acts could be justified by abstract morality. + Where, then, is the divergence between us?” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee did not undertake to answer this last argument: she only returned + to her old ground. “Mr. Ratcliffe,” she said, “I do not want to argue this + question. I have no doubt that you can overcome me in argument. Perhaps on + my side this is a matter of feeling rather than of reason, but the truth + is only too evident to me that I am not fitted for politics. I should be a + drag upon you. Let me be the judge of my own weakness! Do not insist upon + pressing me, further!” + </p> + <p> + She was ashamed of herself for this appeal to a man whom she could not + respect, as though she were a suppliant at his mercy, but she feared the + reproach of having deceived him, and she tried pitiably to escape it. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe was only encouraged by her weakness. + </p> + <p> + “I must insist upon pressing it, Mrs. Lee,” replied he, and he became yet + more earnest as he went on; “my future is too deeply involved in your + decision to allow of my accepting your answer as final. I need your aid. + There is nothing I will not do to obtain it. Do you require affection? + mine for you is boundless. I am ready to prove it by a life of devotion. + Do you doubt my sincerity? test it in whatever way you please. Do you fear + being dragged down to the level of ordinary politicians? so far as + concerns myself, my great wish is to have your help in purifying politics. + What higher ambition can there be than to serve one's country for such an + end? Your sense of duty is too keen not to feel that the noblest objects + which can inspire any woman, combine to point out your course.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee was excessively uncomfortable, although not in the least shaken. + </p> + <p> + She began to see that she must take a stronger tone if she meant to bring + this importunity to an end, and she answered:— + </p> + <p> + “I do not doubt your affection or your sincerity, Mr. Ratcliffe. It is + myself I doubt. You have been kind enough to give me much of your + confidence this winter, and if I do not yet know about politics all that + is to be known, I have learned enough to prove that I could do nothing + sillier than to suppose myself competent to reform anything. If I + pretended to think so, I should be a mere worldly, ambitious woman, such + as people think me. The idea of my purifying politics is absurd. I am + sorry to speak so strongly, but I mean it. I do not cling very closely to + life, and do not value my own very highly, but I will not tangle it in + such a way; I will not share the profits of vice; I am not willing to be + made a receiver of stolen goods, or to be put in a position where I am + perpetually obliged to maintain that immorality is a virtue!” + </p> + <p> + As she went on she became more and more animated and her words took a + sharper edge than she had intended. Ratcliffe felt it, and showed his + annoyance. His face grew dark and his eyes looked out at her with their + ugliest expression. He even opened his mouth for an angry retort, but + controlled himself with an effort, and presently resumed his argument. + </p> + <p> + “I had hoped,” he began more solemnly than ever, “that I should find in + you a lofty courage which would disregard such risks. If all the men and + women were to take the tone you have taken, our government would soon + perish. If you consent to share my career, I do not deny that you may find + less satisfaction than I hope, but you will lead a mere death in life if + you place yourself like a saint on a solitary column. I plead what I + believe to be your own cause in pleading mine. Do not sacrifice your + life!” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee was in despair. She could not reply what was on her lips, that to + marry a murderer or a thief was not a sure way of diminishing crime. She + had already said something so much like this that she shrank from speaking + more plainly. So she fell back on her old theme. + </p> + <p> + “We must at all events, Mr. Ratcliffe, use our judgments according to our + own consciences. I can only repeat now what I said at first. I am sorry to + seem insensible to your expressions towards me, but I cannot do what you + wish. Let us maintain our old relations if you will, but do not press me + further on this subject.” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe grew more and more sombre as he became aware that defeat was + staring him in the face. He was tenacious of purpose, and he had never in + his life abandoned an object which he had so much at heart as this. He + would not abandon it. For the moment, so completely had the fascination of + Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Lee got the control of him, he would rather have abandoned the Presidency + itself than her. He really loved her as earnestly as it was in his nature + to love anything. To her obstinacy he would oppose an obstinacy greater + still; but in the meanwhile his attack was disconcerted, and he was at a + loss what next to do. Was it not possible to change his ground; to offer + inducements that would appeal even more strongly to feminine ambition and + love of display than the Presidency itself? He began again:— + </p> + <p> + “Is there no form of pledge I can give you? no sacrifice I can make? You + dislike politics. Shall I leave political life? I will do anything rather + than lose you. I can probably control the appointment of Minister to + England. The President would rather have me there than here. Suppose I + were to abandon politics and take the English mission. Would that + sacrifice not affect you? You might pass four years in London where there + would be no politics, and where your social position would be the best in + the world; and this would lead to the Presidency almost as surely as the + other.” Then suddenly, seeing that he was making no headway, he threw off + his studied calmness and broke out in an appeal of almost equally studied + violence. + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Lee! Madeleine! I cannot live without you. The sound of your voice—the + touch of your hand—even the rustle of your dress—are like wine + to me. For God's sake, do not throw me over!” + </p> + <p> + He meant to crush opposition by force. More and more vehement as he spoke + he actually bent over and tried to seize her hand. She drew it back as + though he were a reptile. She was exasperated by this obstinate disregard + of her forbearance, this gross attempt to bribe her with office, this + flagrant abandonment of even a pretence of public virtue; the mere thought + of his touch on her person was more repulsive than a loathsome disease. + Bent upon teaching him a lesson he would never forget, she spoke out + abruptly, and with evident signs of contempt in her voice and manner: + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Ratcliffe, I am not to be bought. No rank, no dignity, no + consideration, no conceivable expedient would induce me to change my mind. + Let us have no more of this!” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe had already been more than once, during this conversation, on + the verge of losing his temper. Naturally dictatorial and violent, only + long training and severe experience had taught him self-control, and when + he gave way to passion his bursts of fury were still tremendous. Mrs. + Lee's evident personal disgust, even more than her last sharp rebuke, + passed the bounds of his patience. As he stood before her, even she, + high-spirited as she was, and not in a calm frame of mind, felt a + momentary shock at seeing how his face flushed, his eyes gleamed, and his + hands trembled with rage. + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” exclaimed he, turning upon her with a harshness, almost a + savageness, of manner that startled her still more; “I might have known + what to expect! Mrs. Clinton warned me early. She said then that I should + find you a heartless coquette!” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Ratcliffe!” exclaimed Madeleine, rising from her chair, and speaking + in a warning voice almost as passionate as his own. + </p> + <p> + “A heartless coquette!” he repeated, still more harshly than before; “she + said you would do just this! that you meant to deceive me! that you lived + on flattery! that you could never be anything but a coquette, and that if + you married me, I should repent it all my life. I believe her now!” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee's temper, too, was naturally a high one. At this moment she, too, + was flaming with anger, and wild with a passionate impulse to annihilate + this man. Conscious that the mastery was in her own hands, she could the + more easily control her voice, and with an expression of unutterable + contempt she spoke her last words to him, words which had been ringing all + day in her ears: + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Ratcliffe! I have listened to you with a great deal more patience and + respect than you deserve. For one long hour I have degraded myself by + discussing with you the question whether I should marry a man who by his + own confession has betrayed the highest trusts that could be placed in + him, who has taken money for his votes as a Senator, and who is now in + public office by means of a successful fraud of his own, when in justice + he should be in a State's prison. I will have no more of this. Understand, + once for all, that there is an impassable gulf between your life and mine. + I do not doubt that you will make yourself President, but whatever or + wherever you are, never speak to me or recognize me again!” + </p> + <p> + He glared a moment into her face with a sort of blind rage, and seemed + about to say more, when she swept past him, and before he realized it, he + was alone. + </p> + <p> + Overmastered by passion, but conscious that he was powerless, Ratcliffe, + after a moment's hesitation, left the room and the house. He let himself + out, shutting the front door behind him, and as he stood on the pavement + old Baron Jacobi, who had special reasons for wishing to know how Mrs. Lee + had recovered from the fatigue and excitements of the ball, came up to the + spot. + </p> + <p> + A single glance at Ratcliffe showed him that something had gone wrong in + the career of that great man, whose fortunes he always followed with so + bitter a sneer of contempt. Impelled by the spirit of evil always at his + elbow, the Baron seized this moment to sound the depth of his friend's + wound. They met at the door so closely that recognition was inevitable, + and Jacobi, with his worst smile, held out his hand, saying at the same + moment with diabolic malignity: + </p> + <p> + “I hope I may offer my felicitations to your Excellency!” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe was glad to find some victim on whom he could vent his rage. He + had a long score of humiliations to repay this man, whose last insult was + beyond all endurance. With an oath he dashed Jacobi's hand aside, and, + grasping his shoulder, thrust him out of the path. The Baron, among whose + weaknesses the want of high temper and personal courage was not recorded, + had no mind to tolerate such an insult from such a man. Even while + Ratcliffe's hand was still on his shoulder he had raised his cane, and + before the Secretary saw what was coming, the old man had struck him with + all his force full in the face. For a moment Ratcliffe staggered back and + grew pale, but the shock sobered him. He hesitated a single instant + whether to crush his assailant with a blow, but he felt that for one of + his youth and strength, to attack an infirm diplomatist in a public street + would be a fatal blunder, and while Jacobi stood, violently excited, with + his cane raised ready to strike another blow, Mr. Ratcliffe suddenly + turned his back and without a word, hastened away. + </p> + <p> + When Sybil returned, not long afterwards, she found no one in the parlour. + </p> + <p> + On going to her sister's room she discovered Madeleine lying on the couch, + looking worn and pale, but with a slight smile and a peaceful expression + on her face, as though she had done some act which her conscience + approved. She called Sybil to her side, and, taking her hand, said: + </p> + <p> + “Sybil, dearest, will you go abroad with me again?” + </p> + <p> + “Of course I will,” said Sybil; “I will go to the end of the world with + you.” + </p> + <p> + “I want to go to Egypt,” said Madeleine, still smiling faintly; “democracy + has shaken my nerves to pieces. Oh, what rest it would be to live in the + Great Pyramid and look out for ever at the polar star!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_CONC" id="link2H_CONC"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Conclusion + </h2> + <p> + SYBIL TO CARRINGTON “May 1st, New York. + </p> + <p> + “My dear Mr. Carrington, + </p> + <p> + “I promised to write you, and so, to keep my promise, and also because my + sister wishes me to tell you about our plans, I send this letter. We have + left Washington—for ever, I am afraid—and are going to Europe + next month. + </p> + <p> + You must know that a fortnight ago, Lord Skye gave a great ball to the + Grand-Duchess of something-or-other quite unspellable. I never can + describe things, but it was all very fine. I wore a lovely new dress, and + was a great success, I assure you. So was Madeleine, though she had to sit + most of the evening by the Princess—such a dowdy! The Duke danced + with me several times; he can't reverse, but that doesn't seem to matter + in a Grand-Duke. + </p> + <p> + Well! things came to a crisis at the end of the evening. I followed your + directions, and after we got home gave your letter to Madeleine. She says + she has burned it. I don't know what happened afterwards—a + tremendous scene, I suspect, but Victoria Dare writes me from Washington + that every one is talking about M.'s refusal of Mr. R., and a dreadful + thing that took place on our very doorstep between Mr. R. and Baron + Jacobi, the day after the ball. She says there was a regular pitched + battle, and the Baron struck him over the face with his cane. You know how + afraid Madeleine was that they would do something of the sort in our + parlour. I'm glad they waited till they were in the street. But isn't it + shocking! They say the Baron is to be sent away, or recalled, or + something. I like the old gentleman, and for his sake am glad duelling is + gone out of fashion, though I don't much believe Mr. Silas P. Ratcliffe + could hit anything. The Baron passed through here three days ago on his + summer trip to Europe. He left his card on us, but we were out, and did + not see him. We are going over in July with the Schneidekoupons, and Mr. + Schneidekoupon has promised to send his yacht to the Mediterranean, so + that we shall sail about there after finishing the Nile, and see Jerusalem + and Gibraltar and Constantinople. I think it will be perfectly lovely. I + hate ruins, but I fancy you can buy delicious things in Constantinople. Of + course, after what has happened, we can never go back to Washington. I + shall miss our rides dreadfully. I read Mr. Browning's 'Last Ride + Together,' as you told me; I think it's beautiful and perfectly easy, all + but a little. I never could understand a word of him before—so I + never tried. Who do you think is engaged? Victoria Dare, to a coronet and + a peat-bog, with Lord Dunbeg attached. Victoria says she is happier than + she ever was before in any of her other engagements, and she is sure this + is the real one. She says she has thirty thousand a year derived from the + poor of America, which may just as well go to relieve one of the poor in + Ireland. + </p> + <p> + You know her father was a claim agent, or some such thing, and is said to + have made his money by cheating his clients out of their claims. She is + perfectly wild to be a countess, and means to make Castle Dunbeg lovely + by-and-by, and entertain us all there. Madeleine says she is just the kind + to be a great success in London. Madeleine is very well, and sends her + kind regards. I believe she is going to add a postscript. I have promised + to let her read this, but I don't think a chaperoned letter is much fun to + write or receive. Hoping to hear from you soon, + </p> + <p> + “Sincerely yours, + </p> + <p> + “Sybil Ross.” + </p> + <p> + Enclosed was a thin strip of paper containing another message from Sybil, + privately inserted at the last moment unknown to Mrs. Lee— + </p> + <p> + “If I were in your place I would try again after she comes home.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee's P.S. was very short— + </p> + <p> + “The bitterest part of all this horrid story is that nine out of ten of + our countrymen would say I had made a mistake.” + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Democracy An American Novel, by Henry Adams + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEMOCRACY AN AMERICAN NOVEL *** + +***** This file should be named 2815-h.htm or 2815-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/1/2815/ + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer, and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: Democracy An American Novel + +Author: Henry Adams + +Posting Date: December 13, 2008 [EBook #2815] +Release Date: September, 2001 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEMOCRACY AN AMERICAN NOVEL *** + + + + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer + + + + + +DEMOCRACY AN AMERICAN NOVEL + +By Henry Adams + + + + +First published anonymously, March 1880, and soon in various +unauthorized editions. It wasn't until the 1925 edition that Adams +was listed as author. Henry Adams remarked (ironically as usual), +"The wholesale piracy of Democracy was the single real triumph of my +life."--it was very popular, as readers tried to guess who the author +was and who the characters really were. Chapters XII and XIII were +originally misnumbered. + + + + +Chapter I + + +FOR reasons which many persons thought ridiculous, Mrs. Lightfoot Lee +decided to pass the winter in Washington. She was in excellent health, +but she said that the climate would do her good. In New York she had +troops of friends, but she suddenly became eager to see again the very +small number of those who lived on the Potomac. It was only to her +closest intimates that she honestly acknowledged herself to be tortured +by ennui. Since her husband's death, five years before, she had lost +her taste for New York society; she had felt no interest in the price +of stocks, and very little in the men who dealt in them; she had become +serious. What was it all worth, this wilderness of men and women as +monotonous as the brown stone houses they lived in? In her despair +she had resorted to desperate measures. She had read philosophy in the +original German, and the more she read, the more she was disheartened +that so much culture should lead to nothing--nothing. + +After talking of Herbert Spencer for an entire evening with a very +literary transcendental commission-merchant, she could not see that her +time had been better employed than when in former days she had passed it +in flirting with a very agreeable young stock-broker; indeed, there +was an evident proof to the contrary, for the flirtation might lead to +something--had, in fact, led to marriage; while the philosophy could +lead to nothing, unless it were perhaps to another evening of the +same kind, because transcendental philosophers are mostly elderly men, +usually married, and, when engaged in business, somewhat apt to be +sleepy towards evening. Nevertheless Mrs. Lee did her best to turn her +study to practical use. She plunged into philanthropy, visited prisons, +inspected hospitals, read the literature of pauperism and crime, +saturated herself with the statistics of vice, until her mind had nearly +lost sight of virtue. At last it rose in rebellion against her, and +she came to the limit of her strength. This path, too, seemed to lead +nowhere. She declared that she had lost the sense of duty, and that, so +far as concerned her, all the paupers and criminals in New York might +henceforward rise in their majesty and manage every railway on the +continent. Why should she care? What was the city to her? She could +find nothing in it that seemed to demand salvation. What gave peculiar +sanctity to numbers? Why were a million people, who all resembled each +other, any way more interesting than one person? What aspiration could +she help to put into the mind of this great million-armed monster that +would make it worth her love or respect? Religion? A thousand powerful +churches were doing their best, and she could see no chance for a +new faith of which she was to be the inspired prophet. Ambition? High +popular ideals? Passion for whatever is lofty and pure? The very words +irritated her. Was she not herself devoured by ambition, and was she not +now eating her heart out because she could find no one object worth a +sacrifice? + +Was it ambition--real ambition--or was it mere restlessness that +made Mrs. Lightfoot Lee so bitter against New York and Philadelphia, +Baltimore and Boston, American life in general and all life in +particular? What did she want? Not social position, for she herself was +an eminently respectable Philadelphian by birth; her father a famous +clergyman; and her husband had been equally irreproachable, a descendant +of one branch of the Virginia Lees, which had drifted to New York in +search of fortune, and had found it, or enough of it to keep the young +man there. His widow had her own place in society which no one disputed. +Though not brighter than her neighbours, the world persisted in classing +her among clever women; she had wealth, or at least enough of it to give +her all that money can give by way of pleasure to a sensible woman in an +American city; she had her house and her carriage; she dressed well; her +table was good, and her furniture was never allowed to fall behind the +latest standard of decorative art. She had travelled in Europe, and +after several visits, covering some years of time, had returned home, +carrying in one hand, as it were, a green-grey landscape, a remarkably +pleasing specimen of Corot, and in the other some bales of Persian and +Syrian rugs and embroideries, Japanese bronzes and porcelain. With this +she declared Europe to be exhausted, and she frankly avowed that she was +American to the tips of her fingers; she neither knew nor greatly cared +whether America or Europe were best to live in; she had no violent love +for either, and she had no objection to abusing both; but she meant to +get all that American life had to offer, good or bad, and to drink it +down to the dregs, fully determined that whatever there was in it +she would have, and that whatever could be made out of it she would +manufacture. "I know," said she, "that America produces petroleum and +pigs; I have seen both on the steamers; and I am told it produces silver +and gold. There is choice enough for any woman." + +Yet, as has been already said, Mrs. Lee's first experience was not a +success. She soon declared that New York might represent the petroleum +or the pigs, but the gold of life was not to be discovered there by her +eyes. + +Not but that there was variety enough; a variety of people, occupations, +aims, and thoughts; but that all these, after growing to a certain +height, stopped short. They found nothing to hold them up. She knew, +more or less intimately, a dozen men whose fortunes ranged between one +million and forty millions. What did they do with their money? What +could they do with it that was different from what other men did? After +all, it is absurd to spend more money than is enough to satisfy all +one's wants; it is vulgar to live in two houses in the same street, and +to drive six horses abreast. Yet, after setting aside a certain income +sufficient for all one's wants, what was to be done with the rest? To +let it accumulate was to own one's failure; Mrs. Lee's great grievance +was that it did accumulate, without changing or improving the quality +of its owners. To spend it in charity and public works was doubtless +praiseworthy, but was it wise? Mrs. Lee had read enough political +economy and pauper reports to be nearly convinced that public work +should be public duty, and that great benefactions do harm as well as +good. + +And even supposing it spent on these objects, how could it do more than +increase and perpetuate that same kind of human nature which was her +great grievance? Her New York friends could not meet this question +except by falling back upon their native commonplaces, which she +recklessly trampled upon, averring that, much as she admired the genius +of the famous traveller, Mr. Gulliver, she never had been able, since +she became a widow, to accept the Brobdingnagian doctrine that he who +made two blades of grass grow where only one grew before deserved better +of mankind than the whole race of politicians. She would not find fault +with the philosopher had he required that the grass should be of an +improved quality; "but," said she, "I cannot honestly pretend that I +should be pleased to see two New York men where I now see one; the idea +is too ridiculous; more than one and a half would be fatal to me." + +Then came her Boston friends, who suggested that higher education was +precisely what she wanted; she should throw herself into a crusade for +universities and art-schools. Mrs. Lee turned upon them with a sweet +smile; "Do you know," said she, "that we have in New York already the +richest university in America, and that its only trouble has always been +that it can get no scholars even by paying for them? Do you want me to +go out into the streets and waylay boys? If the heathen refuse to be +converted, can you give me power over the stake and the sword to compel +them to come in? And suppose you can? Suppose I march all the boys in +Fifth Avenue down to the university and have them all properly taught +Greek and Latin, English literature, ethics, and German philosophy. +What then? You do it in Boston. Now tell me honestly what comes of it. I +suppose you have there a brilliant society; numbers of poets, scholars, +philosophers, statesmen, all up and down Beacon Street. Your evenings +must be sparkling. Your press must scintillate. How is it that we New +Yorkers never hear of it? We don't go much into your society; but when +we do, it doesn't seem so very much better than our own. You are just +like the rest of us. You grow six inches high, and then you stop. Why +will not somebody grow to be a tree and cast a shadow?" + +The average member of New York society, although not unused to this +contemptuous kind of treatment from his leaders, retaliated in his +blind, common-sense way. "What does the woman want?" he said. "Is her +head turned with the Tulieries and Marlborough House? Does she think +herself made for a throne? Why does she not lecture for women's rights? +Why not go on the stage? If she cannot be contented like other people, +what need is there for abusing us just because she feels herself no +taller than we are? What does she expect to get from her sharp tongue? +What does she know, any way?" + +Mrs. Lee certainly knew very little. She had read voraciously and +promiscuously one subject after another. Ruskin and Taine had danced +merrily through her mind, hand in hand with Darwin and Stuart Mill, +Gustave Droz and Algernon Swinburne. She had even laboured over the +literature of her own country. She was perhaps, the only woman in New +York who knew something of American history. Certainly she could not +have repeated the list of Presidents in their order, but she knew that +the Constitution divided the government into Executive, Legislative, and +Judiciary; she was aware that the President, the Speaker, and the +Chief Justice were important personages, and instinctively she wondered +whether they might not solve her problem; whether they were the shade +trees which she saw in her dreams. + +Here, then, was the explanation of her restlessness, discontent, +ambition,--call it what you will. It was the feeling of a passenger on +an ocean steamer whose mind will not give him rest until he has been in +the engine-room and talked with the engineer. She wanted to see with her +own eyes the action of primary forces; to touch with her own hand the +massive machinery of society; to measure with her own mind the capacity +of the motive power. She was bent upon getting to the heart of the great +American mystery of democracy and government. She cared little where +her pursuit might lead her, for she put no extravagant value upon life, +having already, as she said, exhausted at least two lives, and being +fairly hardened to insensibility in the process. "To lose a husband and +a baby," said she, "and keep one's courage and reason, one must become +very hard or very soft. I am now pure steel. You may beat my heart with +a trip-hammer and it will beat the trip-hammer back again." + +Perhaps after exhausting the political world she might try again +elsewhere; she did not pretend to say where she might then go, or what +she should do; but at present she meant to see what amusement there +might be in politics. + +Her friends asked what kind of amusement she expected to find among +the illiterate swarm of ordinary people who in Washington represented +constituencies so dreary that in comparison New York was a New +Jerusalem, and Broad Street a grove of Academe. She replied that if +Washington society were so bad as this, she should have gained all she +wanted, for it would be a pleasure to return,--precisely the feeling she +longed for. In her own mind, however, she frowned on the idea of +seeking for men. What she wished to see, she thought, was the clash +of interests, the interests of forty millions of people and a whole +continent, centering at Washington; guided, restrained, controlled, +or unrestrained and uncontrollable, by men of ordinary mould; the +tremendous forces of government, and the machinery of society, at work. +What she wanted, was POWER. + +Perhaps the force of the engine was a little confused in her mind with +that of the engineer, the power with the men who wielded it. Perhaps the +human interest of politics was after all what really attracted her, and, +however strongly she might deny it, the passion for exercising power, +for its own sake, might dazzle and mislead a woman who had exhausted all +the ordinary feminine resources. But why speculate about her motives? +The stage was before her, the curtain was rising, the actors were ready +to enter; she had only to go quietly on among the supernumeraries and +see how the play was acted and the stage effects were produced; how the +great tragedians mouthed, and the stage-manager swore. + + + +Chapter II + +ON the first of December, Mrs. Lee took the train for Washington, and +before five o'clock that evening she was entering her newly hired +house on Lafayette Square. She shrugged her shoulders with a mingled +expression of contempt and grief at the curious barbarism of the +curtains and the wall-papers, and her next two days were occupied with +a life-and-death struggle to get the mastery over her surroundings. In +this awful contest the interior of the doomed house suffered as though +a demon were in it; not a chair, not a mirror, not a carpet, was left +untouched, and in the midst of the worst confusion the new mistress sat, +calm as the statue of Andrew Jackson in the square under her eyes, and +issued her orders with as much decision as that hero had ever shown. +Towards the close of the second day, victory crowned her forehead. A +new era, a nobler conception of duty and existence, had dawned upon +that benighted and heathen residence. The wealth of Syria and Persia was +poured out upon the melancholy Wilton carpets; embroidered comets and +woven gold from Japan and Teheran depended from and covered over every +sad stuff-curtain; a strange medley of sketches, paintings, fans, +embroideries, and porcelain was hung, nailed, pinned, or stuck against +the wall; finally the domestic altarpiece, the mystical Corot landscape, +was hoisted to its place over the parlour fire, and then all was over. +The setting sun streamed softly in at the windows, and peace reigned in +that redeemed house and in the heart of its mistress. + +"I think it will do now, Sybil," said she, surveying the scene. + +"It must," replied Sybil. "You haven't a plate or a fan or coloured +scarf left. You must send out and buy some of these old negro-women's +bandannas if you are going to cover anything else. What is the use? Do +you suppose any human being in Washington will like it? They will think +you demented." + +"There is such a thing as self-respect," replied her sister, calmly. + +Sybil--Miss Sybil Ross--was Madeleine Lee's sister. The keenest +psychologist could not have detected a single feature quality which they +had in common, and for that reason they were devoted friends. Madeleine +was thirty, Sybil twenty-four. Madeleine was indescribable; Sybil was +transparent. Madeleine was of medium height with a graceful figure, +a well-set head, and enough golden-brown hair to frame a face full of +varying expression. Her eyes were never for two consecutive hours of the +same shade, but were more often blue than grey. People who envied her +smile said that she cultivated a sense of humour in order to show her +teeth. Perhaps they were right; but there was no doubt that her habit +of talking with gesticulation would never have grown upon her unless +she had known that her hands were not only beautiful but expressive. +She dressed as skilfully as New York women do, but in growing older +she began to show symptoms of dangerous unconventionality. She had been +heard to express a low opinion of her countrywomen who blindly fell down +before the golden calf of Mr. Worth, and she had even fought a battle +of great severity, while it lasted, with one of her best-dressed +friends who had been invited--and had gone--to Mr. Worth's afternoon +tea-parties. The secret was that Mrs. Lee had artistic tendencies, and +unless they were checked in time, there was no knowing what might be +the consequence. But as yet they had done no harm; indeed, they rather +helped to give her that sort of atmosphere which belongs only to certain +women; as indescribable as the afterglow; as impalpable as an Indian +summer mist; and non-existent except to people who feel rather than +reason. Sybil had none of it. The imagination gave up all attempts +to soar where she came. A more straightforward, downright, gay, +sympathetic, shallow, warm-hearted, sternly practical young woman has +rarely touched this planet. Her mind had room for neither grave-stones +nor guide-books; she could not have lived in the past or the future if +she had spent her days in churches and her nights in tombs. "She was +not clever, like Madeleine, thank Heaven." Madeleine was not an orthodox +member of the church; sermons bored her, and clergymen never failed to +irritate every nerve in her excitable system. Sybil was a simple and +devout worshipper at the ritualistic altar; she bent humbly before the +Paulist fathers. When she went to a ball she always had the best partner +in the room, and took it as a matter of course; but then, she always +prayed for one; somehow it strengthened her faith. Her sister took care +never to laugh at her on this score, or to shock her religious opinions. +"Time enough," said she, "for her to forget religion when religion +fails her." As for regular attendance at church, Madeleine was able to +reconcile their habits without trouble. She herself had not entered a +church for years; she said it gave her unchristian feelings; but Sybil +had a voice of excellent quality, well trained and cultivated: +Madeleine insisted that she should sing in the choir, and by this +little manoeuvre, the divergence of their paths was made less evident. +Madeleine did not sing, and therefore could not go to church with Sybil. +This outrageous fallacy seemed perfectly to answer its purpose, and +Sybil accepted it, in good faith, as a fair working principle which +explained itself. + +Madeleine was sober in her tastes. She wasted no money. She made no +display. + +She walked rather than drove, and wore neither diamonds nor brocades. +But the general impression she made was nevertheless one of luxury. On +the other hand, her sister had her dresses from Paris, and wore them +and her ornaments according to all the formulas; she was good-naturedly +correct, and bent her round white shoulders to whatever burden the +Parisian autocrat chose to put upon them. Madeleine never interfered, +and always paid the bills. + +Before they had been ten days in Washington, they fell gently into their +place and were carried along without an effort on the stream of social +life. + +Society was kind; there was no reason for its being otherwise. Mrs. Lee +and her sister had no enemies, held no offices, and did their best to +make themselves popular. Sybil had not passed summers at Newport and +winters in New York in vain; and neither her face nor her figure, her +voice nor her dancing, needed apology. Politics were not her strong +point. She was induced to go once to the Capitol and to sit ten minutes +in the gallery of the Senate. No one ever knew what her impressions +were; with feminine tact she managed not to betray herself But, in +truth, her notion of legislative bodies was vague, floating between her +experience at church and at the opera, so that the idea of a performance +of some kind was never out of her head. To her mind the Senate was a +place where people went to recite speeches, and she naively assumed that +the speeches were useful and had a purpose, but as they did not interest +her she never went again. This is a very common conception of Congress; +many Congressmen share it. + +Her sister was more patient and bolder. She went to the Capitol nearly +every day for at least two weeks. At the end of that time her interest +began to flag, and she thought it better to read the debates every +morning in the Congressional Record. Finding this a laborious and not +always an instructive task, she began to skip the dull parts; and in +the absence of any exciting question, she at last resigned herself +to skipping the whole. Nevertheless she still had energy to visit the +Senate gallery occasionally when she was told that a splendid orator +was about to speak on a question of deep interest to his country. +She listened with a little disposition to admire, if she could; and, +whenever she could, she did admire. She said nothing, but she listened +sharply. She wanted to learn how the machinery of government worked, +and what was the quality of the men who controlled it. One by one, she +passed them through her crucibles, and tested them by acids and by fire. + +A few survived her tests and came out alive, though more or less +disfigured, where she had found impurities. Of the whole number, only +one retained under this process enough character to interest her. + +In these early visits to Congress, Mrs. Lee sometimes had the company +of John Carrington, a Washington lawyer about forty years old, who, by +virtue of being a Virginian and a distant connection of her husband, +called himself a cousin, and took a tone of semi-intimacy, which Mrs. +Lee accepted because Carrington was a man whom she liked, and because +he was one whom life had treated hardly. He was of that unfortunate +generation in the south which began existence with civil war, and he was +perhaps the more unfortunate because, like most educated Virginians of +the old Washington school, he had seen from the first that, whatever +issue the war took, Virginia and he must be ruined. At twenty-two he had +gone into the rebel army as a private and carried his musket modestly +through a campaign or two, after which he slowly rose to the rank of +senior captain in his regiment, and closed his services on the staff of +a major-general, always doing scrupulously enough what he conceived to +be his duty, and never doing it with enthusiasm. When the rebel armies +surrendered, he rode away to his family plantation--not a difficult +thing to do, for it was only a few miles from Appomatox--and at once +began to study law; then, leaving his mother and sisters to do what +they could with the worn-out plantation, he began the practice of law +in Washington, hoping thus to support himself and them. He had succeeded +after a fashion, and for the first time the future seemed not absolutely +dark. Mrs. Lee's house was an oasis to him, and he found himself, to +his surprise, almost gay in her company. The gaiety was of a very quiet +kind, and Sybil, while friendly with him, averred that he was certainly +dull; but this dulness had a fascination for Madeleine, who, having +tasted many more kinds of the wine of life than Sybil, had learned to +value certain delicacies of age and flavour that were lost upon younger +and coarser palates. He talked rather slowly and almost with effort, but +he had something of the dignity--others call it stiffness--of the +old Virginia school, and twenty years of constant responsibility +and deferred hope had added a touch of care that bordered closely on +sadness. His great attraction was that he never talked or seemed to +think of himself. Mrs. Lee trusted in him by instinct. "He is a type!" +said she; "he is my idea of George Washington at thirty." + +One morning in December, Carrington entered Mrs. Lee's parlour towards +noon, and asked if she cared to visit the Capitol. + +"You will have a chance of hearing to-day what may be the last great +speech of our greatest statesman," said he; "you should come." + +"A splendid sample of our native raw material, sir?" asked she, +fresh from a reading of Dickens, and his famous picture of American +statesmanship. + +"Precisely so," said Carrington; "the Prairie Giant of Peonia, the +Favourite Son of Illinois; the man who came within three votes of +getting the party nomination for the Presidency last spring, and was +only defeated because ten small intriguers are sharper than one big one. +The Honourable Silas P. Ratcliffe, Senator from Illinois; he will be run +for the Presidency yet." + +"What does the P. stand for?" asked Sybil. + +"I don't remember ever to have heard his middle name," said Carrington. + +"Perhaps it is Peonia or Prairie; I can't say." + +"He is the man whose appearance struck me so much when we were in the +Senate last week, is he not? A great, ponderous man, over six feet +high, very senatorial and dignified, with a large head and rather good +features?" inquired Mrs. Lee. + +"The same," replied Carrington. "By all means hear him speak. He is +the stumbling-block of the new President, who is to be allowed no peace +unless he makes terms with Ratcliffe; and so every one thinks that the +Prairie Giant of Peonia will have the choice of the State or Treasury +Department. If he takes either it will be the Treasury, for he is a +desperate political manager, and will want the patronage for the next +national convention." + +Mrs. Lee was delighted to hear the debate, and Carrington was delighted +to sit through it by her side, and to exchange running comments with her +on the speeches and the speakers. + +"Have you ever met the Senator?" asked she. + +"I have acted several times as counsel before his committees. He is an +excellent chairman, always attentive and generally civil." + +"Where was he born?" + +"The family is a New England one, and I believe respectable. He came, I +think, from some place in the Connecticut Valley, but whether Vermont, +New Hampshire, or Massachusetts, I don't know." + +"Is he an educated man?" + +"He got a kind of classical education at one of the country colleges +there. I suspect he has as much education as is good for him. But he +went West very soon after leaving college, and being then young and +fresh from that hot-bed of abolition, he threw himself into the +anti-slavery movement in Illinois, and after a long struggle he rose +with the wave. He would not do the same thing now." + +"Why not?" + +"He is older, more experienced, and not so wise. Besides, he has no +longer the time to wait. Can you see his eyes from here? I call them +Yankee eyes." + +"Don't abuse the Yankees," said Mrs. Lee; "I am half Yankee myself." + +"Is that abuse? Do you mean to deny that they have eyes?" + +"I concede that there may be eyes among them; but Virginians are not +fair judges of their expression." + +"Cold eyes," he continued; "steel grey, rather small, not unpleasant in +good-humour, diabolic in a passion, but worst when a little suspicious; +then they watch you as though you were a young rattle-snake, to be +killed when convenient." + +"Does he not look you in the face?" + +"Yes; but not as though he liked you. His eyes only seem to ask the +possible uses you might be put to. Ah, the vice-president has given him +the floor; now we shall have it. Hard voice, is it not? like his eyes. +Hard manner, like his voice. Hard all through." + +"What a pity he is so dreadfully senatorial!" said Mrs. Lee; "otherwise +I rather admire him." + +"Now he is settling down to his work," continued Carrington. "See how he +dodges all the sharp issues. What a thing it is to be a Yankee! What a +genius the fellow has for leading a party! Do you see how well it is all +done? The new President flattered and conciliated, the party united and +given a strong lead. And now we shall see how the President will deal +with him. Ten to one on Ratcliffe. Come, there is that stupid ass from +Missouri getting up. Let us go." + +As they passed down the steps and out into the Avenue, Mrs. Lee turned +to Carrington as though she had been reflecting deeply and had at length +reached a decision. + +"Mr. Carrington," said she, "I want to know Senator Ratcliffe." + +"You will meet him to-morrow evening," replied Carrington, "at your +senatorial dinner." + +The Senator from New York, the Honourable Schuyler Clinton, was an old +admirer of Mrs. Lee, and his wife was a cousin of hers, more or less +distant. They had lost no time in honouring the letter of credit she +thus had upon them, and invited her and her sister to a solemn dinner, +as imposing as political dignity could make it. Mr. Carrington, as a +connection of hers, was one of the party, and almost the only one among +the twenty persons at table who had neither an office, nor a title, nor +a constituency. + +Senator Clinton received Mrs. Lee and her sister with tender enthusiasm, +for they were attractive specimens of his constituents. He pressed their +hands and evidently restrained himself only by an effort from embracing +them, for the Senator had a marked regard for pretty women, and had made +love to every girl with any pretensions to beauty that had appeared +in the State of New York for fully half a century. At the same time +he whispered an apology in her ear; he regretted so much that he was +obliged to forego the pleasure of taking her to dinner; Washington was +the only city in America where this could have happened, but it was a +fact that ladies here were very great stickiers for etiquette; on the +other hand he had the sad consolation that she would be the gainer, +for he had allotted to her Lord Skye, the British Minister, "a most +agreeable man and not married, as I have the misfortune to be;" and on +the other side "I have ventured to place Senator Ratcliffe, of Illinois, +whose admirable speech I saw you listening to with such rapt attention +yesterday. I thought you might like to know him. Did I do right?" + +Madeleine assured him that he had divined her inmost wishes, and he +turned with even more warmth of affection to her sister: "As for you, my +dear--dear Sybil, what can I do to make your dinner agreeable? If I give +your sister a coronet, I am only sorry not to have a diadem for you. But +I have done everything in my power. The first Secretary of the Russian +Legation, Count Popoff, will take you in; a charming young man, my dear +Sybil; and on your other side I have placed the Assistant Secretary of +State, whom you know." + +And so, after the due delay, the party settled themselves at the +dinner-table, and Mrs. Lee found Senator Ratcliffe's grey eyes resting +on her face for a moment as they sat down. + +Lord Skye was very agreeable, and, at almost any other moment of her +life, Mrs. Lee would have liked nothing better than to talk with him +from the beginning to the end of her dinner. Tall, slender, bald-headed, +awkward, and stammering with his elaborate British stammer whenever it +suited his convenience to do so; a sharp observer who had wit which he +commonly concealed; a humourist who was satisfied to laugh silently at +his own humour; a diplomatist who used the mask of frankness with great +effect; Lord Skye was one of the most popular men in Washington. Every +one knew that he was a ruthless critic of American manners, but he had +the art to combine ridicule with good-humour, and he was all the more +popular accordingly. He was an outspoken admirer of American women +in everything except their voices, and he did not even shrink from +occasionally quizzing a little the national peculiarities of his own +countrywomen; a sure piece of flattery to their American cousins. He +would gladly have devoted himself to Mrs. Lee, but decent civility +required that he should pay some attention to his hostess, and he was +too good a diplomatist not to be attentive to a hostess who was the wife +of a Senator, and that Senator the chairman of the committee of foreign +relations. + +The moment his head was turned, Mrs. Lee dashed at her Peonia Giant, who +was then consuming his fish, and wishing he understood why the British +Minister had worn no gloves, while he himself had sacrificed his +convictions by wearing the largest and whitest pair of French kids that +could be bought for money on Pennsylvania Avenue. There was a little +touch of mortification in the idea that he was not quite at home among +fashionable people, and at this instant he felt that true happiness was +only to be found among the simple and honest sons and daughters of toil. +A certain secret jealousy of the British Minister is always lurking in +the breast of every American Senator, if he is truly democratic; for +democracy, rightly understood, is the government of the people, by the +people, for the benefit of Senators, and there is always a danger that +the British Minister may not understand this political principle as he +should. Lord Skye had run the risk of making two blunders; of offending +the Senator from New York by neglecting his wife, and the Senator from +Illinois by engrossing the attention of Mrs. Lee. A young Englishman +would have done both, but Lord Skye had studied the American +constitution. The wife of the Senator from New York now thought him most +agreeable, and at the same moment the Senator from Illinois awoke to the +conviction that after all, even in frivolous and fashionable circles, +true dignity is in no danger of neglect; an American Senator +represents a sovereign state; the great state of Illinois is as big +as England--with the convenient omission of Wales, Scotland, Ireland, +Canada, India, Australia, and a few other continents and islands; and in +short, it was perfectly clear that Lord Skye was not formidable to him, +even in light society; had not Mrs. Lee herself as good as said that no +position equalled that of an American Senator? + +In ten minutes Mrs. Lee had this devoted statesman at her feet. She had +not studied the Senate without a purpose. She had read with unerring +instinct one general characteristic of all Senators, a boundless +and guileless thirst for flattery, engendered by daily draughts from +political friends or dependents, then becoming a necessity like a dram, +and swallowed with a heavy smile of ineffable content. A single glance +at Mr. Ratcliffe's face showed Madeleine that she need not be afraid +of flattering too grossly; her own self-respect, not his, was the only +restraint upon her use of this feminine bait. + +She opened upon him with an apparent simplicity and gravity, a quiet +repose of manner, and an evident consciousness of her own strength, +which meant that she was most dangerous. + +"I heard your speech yesterday, Mr. Ratcliffe. I am glad to have a +chance of telling you how much I was impressed by it. It seemed to me +masterly. Do you not find that it has had a great effect?" + +"I thank you, madam. I hope it will help to unite the party, but as yet +we have had no time to measure its results. That will require several +days more." The Senator spoke in his senatorial manner, elaborate, +condescending, and a little on his guard. + +"Do you know," said Mrs. Lee, turning towards him as though he were a +valued friend, and looking deep into his eyes, "Do you know that every +one told me I should be shocked by the falling off in political ability +at Washington? I did not believe them, and since hearing your speech I +am sure they are mistaken. Do you yourself think there is less ability +in Congress than there used to be?" + +"Well, madam, it is difficult to answer that question. Government is not +so easy now as it was formerly. There are different customs. There are +many men of fair abilities in public life; many more than there used to +be; and there is sharper criticism and more of it." + +"Was I right in thinking that you have a strong resemblance to Daniel +Webster in your way of speaking? You come from the same neighbourhood, +do you not?" + +Mrs. Lee here hit on Ratcliffe's weak point; the outline of his head +had, in fact, a certain resemblance to that of Webster, and he prided +himself upon it, and on a distant relationship to the Expounder of the +Constitution; he began to think that Mrs. Lee was a very intelligent +person. His modest admission of the resemblance gave her the opportunity +to talk of Webster's oratory, and the conversation soon spread to a +discussion of the merits of Clay and Calhoun. The Senator found that his +neighbour--a fashionable New York woman, exquisitely dressed, and with +a voice and manner seductively soft and gentle--had read the speeches of +Webster and Calhoun. She did not think it necessary to tell him that she +had persuaded the honest Carrington to bring her the volumes and to mark +such passages as were worth her reading; but she took care to lead the +conversation, and she criticised with some skill and more humour the +weak points in Websterian oratory, saying with a little laugh and a +glance into his delighted eyes: + +"My judgment may not be worth much, Mr. Senator, but it does seem to me +that our fathers thought too much of themselves, and till you teach +me better I shall continue to think that the passage in your speech +of yesterday which began with, 'Our strength lies in this twisted and +tangled mass of isolated principles, the hair of the half-sleeping giant +of Party,' is both for language and imagery quite equal to anything of +Webster's." + +The Senator from Illinois rose to this gaudy fly like a huge, +two-hundred-pound salmon; his white waistcoat gave out a mild silver +reflection as he slowly came to the surface and gorged the hook. He made +not even a plunge, not one perceptible effort to tear out the barbed +weapon, but, floating gently to her feet, allowed himself to be landed +as though it were a pleasure. Only miserable casuists will ask whether +this was fair play on Madeleine's part; whether flattery so gross +cost her conscience no twinge, and whether any woman can without +self-abasement be guilty of such shameless falsehood. She, however, +scorned the idea of falsehood. She would have defended herself by saying +that she had not so much praised Ratcliffe as depreciated Webster, +and that she was honest in her opinion of the old-fashioned American +oratory. But she could not deny that she had wilfully allowed the +Senator to draw conclusions very different from any she actually held. +She could not deny that she had intended to flatter him to the extent +necessary for her purpose, and that she was pleased at her success. +Before they rose from table the Senator had quite unbent himself; he +was talking naturally, shrewdly, and with some humour; he had told her +Illinois stories; spoken with extraordinary freedom about his political +situation; and expressed the wish to call upon Mrs. Lee, if he could +ever hope to find her at home. + +"I am always at home on Sunday evenings," said she. + +To her eyes he was the high-priest of American politics; he was charged +with the meaning of the mysteries, the clue to political hieroglyphics. +Through him she hoped to sound the depths of statesmanship and to +bring up from its oozy bed that pearl of which she was in search; the +mysterious gem which must lie hidden somewhere in politics. She wanted +to understand this man; to turn him inside out; to experiment on him and +use him as young physiologists use frogs and kittens. If there was good +or bad in him, she meant to find its meaning. + +And he was a western widower of fifty; his quarters in Washington were +in gaunt boarding-house rooms, furnished only with public documents and +enlivened by western politicians and office-seekers. In the summer he +retired to a solitary, white framehouse with green blinds, surrounded +by a few feet of uncared-for grass and a white fence; its interior more +dreary still, with iron stoves, oil-cloth carpets, cold white walls, and +one large engraving of Abraham Lincoln in the parlour; all in Peonia, +Illinois! What equality was there between these two combatants? what +hope for him? what risk for her? And yet Madeleine Lee had fully her +match in Mr. Silas P. Ratcliffe. + + + +Chapter III + +MRS. Lee soon became popular. Her parlour was a favourite haunt of +certain men and women who had the art of finding its mistress at home; +an art which seemed not to be within the powers of everybody. Carrington +was apt to be there more often than any one else, so that he was looked +on as almost a part of the family, and if Madeleine wanted a book from +the library, or an extra man at her dinner-table, Carrington was pretty +certain to help her to the one or the other. Old Baron Jacobi, the +Bulgarian minister, fell madly in love with both sisters, as he commonly +did with every pretty face and neat figure. He was a witty, cynical, +broken-down Parisian roue, kept in Washington for years past by his +debts and his salary; always grumbling because there was no opera, and +mysteriously disappearing on visits to New York; a voracious devourer of +French and German literature, especially of novels; a man who seemed to +have met every noted or notorious personage of the century, and whose +mind was a magazine of amusing information; an excellent musical critic, +who was not afraid to criticise Sybil's singing; a connoisseur in +bric-a-brac, who laughed at Madeleine's display of odds and ends, and +occasionally brought her a Persian plate or a bit of embroidery, which +he said was good and would do her credit. This old sinner believed in +everything that was perverse and wicked, but he accepted the prejudices +of Anglo-Saxon society, and was too clever to obtrude his opinions upon +others. + +He would have married both sisters at once more willingly than either +alone, but as he feelingly said, "If I were forty years younger, +mademoiselle, you should not sing to me so calmly." His friend +Popoff, an intelligent, vivacious Russian, with very Calmuck features, +susceptible as a girl, and passionately fond of music, hung over Sybil's +piano by the hour; he brought Russian airs which he taught her to sing, +and, if the truth were known, he bored Madeleine desperately, for she +undertook to act the part of duenna to her younger sister. + +A very different visitor was Mr. C. C. French, a young member of +Congress from Connecticut, who aspired to act the part of the educated +gentleman in politics, and to purify the public tone. He had reform +principles and an unfortunately conceited maimer; he was rather wealthy, +rather clever, rather well-educated, rather honest, and rather vulgar. +His allegiance was divided between Mrs. Lee and her sister, whom he +infuriated by addressing as "Miss Sybil" with patronising familiarity. +He was particularly strong in what he called "badinaige," and his +playful but ungainly attempts at wit drove Mrs. + +Lee beyond the bounds of patience. When in a solemn mood, he talked as +though he were practising for the ear of a college debating society, +and with a still worse effect on the patience; but with all this he was +useful, always bubbling with the latest political gossip, and deeply +interested in the fate of party stakes. Quite another sort of person was +Mr. Hartbeest Schneidekoupon, a citizen of Philadelphia, though commonly +resident in New York, where he had fallen a victim to Sybil's charms, +and made efforts to win her young affections by instructing her in the +mysteries of currency and protection, to both which subjects he was +devoted. To forward these two interests and to watch over Miss Ross's +welfare, he made periodical visits to Washington, where he closeted +himself with committee-men and gave expensive dinners to members of +Congress. Mr. Schneidekoupon was rich, and about thirty years old, tall +and thin, with bright eyes and smooth face, elaborate manners and +much loquacity. He had the reputation of turning rapid intellectual +somersaults, partly to amuse himself and partly to startle society. At +one moment he was artistic, and discoursed scientifically about his +own paintings; at another he was literary, and wrote a book on "Noble +Living," with a humanitarian purpose; at another he was devoted to +sport, rode a steeplechase, played polo, and set up a four-in-hand; his +last occupation was to establish in Philadelphia the Protective Review, +a periodical in the interests of American industry, which he edited +himself, as a stepping-stone to Congress, the Cabinet, and the +Presidency. At about the same time he bought a yacht, and heavy bets +were pending among his sporting friends whether he would manage to +sink first his Review or his yacht. But he was an amiable and excellent +fellow through all his eccentricities, and he brought to Mrs. Lee the +simple outpourings of the amateur politician. + +A much higher type of character was Mr. Nathan Gore, of Massachusetts, +a handsome man with a grey beard, a straight, sharply cut nose, and a +fine, penetrating eye; in his youth a successful poet whose satires made +a noise in their day, and are still remembered for the pungency and wit +of a few verses; then a deep student in Europe for many years, until his +famous "History of Spain in America" placed him instantly at the head of +American historians, and made him minister at Madrid, where he remained +four years to his entire satisfaction, this being the nearest approach +to a patent of nobility and a government pension which the American +citizen can attain. A change of administration had reduced him to +private life again, and after some years of retirement he was now in +Washington, willing to be restored to his old mission. Every President +thinks it respectable to have at least one literary man in his pay, and +Mr. Gore's prospects were fair for obtaining his object, as he had the +active support of a majority of the Massachusetts delegation. He was +abominably selfish, colossally egoistic, and not a little vain; but +he was shrewd; he knew how to hold his tongue; he could flatter +dexterously, and he had learned to eschew satire. Only in confidence and +among friends he would still talk freely, but Mrs. Lee was not yet on +those terms with him. These were all men, and there was no want of women +in Mrs. + +Lee's parlour; but, after all, they are able to describe themselves +better than any poor novelist can describe them. Generally two currents +of conversation ran on together--one round Sybil, the other about +Madeleine. + +"Mees Ross," said Count Popoff, leading in a handsome young foreigner, +"I have your permission to present to you my friend Count Orsini, +Secretary of the Italian Legation. Are you at home this afternoon? Count +Orsini sings also." + +"We are charmed to see Count Orsini. It is well you came so late, for I +have this moment come in from making Cabinet calls. They were so queer! +I have been crying with laughter for an hour past." "Do you find these +calls amusing?" asked Popoff, gravely and diplomatically. "Indeed I +do! I went with Julia Schneidekoupon, you know, Madeleine; the +Schneidekoupons are descended from all the Kings of Israel, and are +prouder than Solomon in his glory. And when we got into the house of +some dreadful woman from Heaven knows where, imagine my feelings at +overhearing this conversation: 'What may be your family name, ma'am?' +'Schneidekoupon is my name,' replies Julia, very tall and straight. +'Have you any friends whom I should likely know?' 'I think not,' says +Julia, severely. 'Wal! I don't seem to remember of ever having heerd the +name. But I s'pose it's all right. I like to know who calls.' I almost +had hysterics when we got into the street, but Julia could not see the +joke at all." + +Count Orsini was not quite sure that he himself saw the joke, so he only +smiled becomingly and showed his teeth. For simple, childlike vanity and +self-consciousness nothing equals an Italian Secretary of Legation at +twenty-five. Yet conscious that the effect of his personal beauty +would perhaps be diminished by permanent silence, he ventured to murmur +presently: + +"Do you not find it very strange, this society in America?" + +"Society!" laughed Sybil with gay contempt. "There are no snakes in +America, any more than in Norway." + +"Snakes, mademoiselle!" repeated Orsini, with the doubtful expression of +one who is not quite certain whether he shall risk walking on thin ice, +and decides to go softly: "Snakes! Indeed they would rather be doves I +would call them." + +A kind laugh from Sybil strengthened into conviction his hope that +he had made a joke in this unknown tongue. His face brightened, his +confidence returned; once or twice he softly repeated to himself: "Not +snakes; they would be doves!" But Mrs. Lee's sensitive ear had caught +Sybil's remark, and detected in it a certain tone of condescension which +was not to her taste. + +The impassive countenances of these bland young Secretaries of Legation +seemed to acquiesce far too much as a matter of course in the idea +that there was no society except in the old world. She broke into the +conversation with an emphasis that fluttered the dove-cote: + +"Society in America? Indeed there is society in America, and very +good society too; but it has a code of its own, and new-comers seldom +understand it. I will tell you what it is, Mr. Orsini, and you will +never be in danger of making any mistake. 'Society' in America means all +the honest, kindly-mannered, pleasant-voiced women, and all the good, +brave, unassuming men, between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Each +of these has a free pass in every city and village, 'good for this +generation only,' and it depends on each to make use of this pass or +not as it may happen to suit his or her fancy. To this rule there are +no exceptions, and those who say 'Abraham is our father' will surely +furnish food for that humour which is the staple product of our +country." + +The alarmed youths, who did not in the least understand the meaning of +this demonstration, looked on with a feeble attempt at acquiescence, +while Mrs. + +Lee brandished her sugar-tongs in the act of transferring a lump of +sugar to her cup, quite unconscious of the slight absurdity of the +gesture, while Sybil stared in amazement, for it was not often that +her sister waved the stars and stripes so energetically. Whatever their +silent criticisms might be, however, Mrs. Lee was too much in earnest to +be conscious of them, or, indeed, to care for anything but what she +was saying. There was a moment's pause when she came to the end of her +speech, and then the thread of talk was quietly taken up again where +Sybil's incipient sneer had broken it. + +Carrington came in. "What have you been doing at the Capitol?" asked +Madeleine. + +"Lobbying!" was the reply, given in the semi-serious tone of +Carrington's humour. + +"So soon, and Congress only two days old?" exclaimed Mrs. Lee. + +"Madam," rejoined Carrington, with his quietest malice, "Congressmen are +like birds of the air, which are caught only by the early worm." "Good +afternoon, Mrs. Lee. Miss Sybil, how do you do again? Which of these +gentlemen's hearts are you feeding upon now?" This was the refined style +of Mr. French, indulging in what he was pleased to term "badinaige." He, +too, was on his way from the Capitol, and had come in for a cup of tea +and a little human society. Sybil made a face which plainly expressed a +longing to inflict on Mr. French some grievous personal wrong, but she +pretended not to hear. He sat down by Madeleine, and asked, "Did you see +Ratcliffe yesterday?" + +"Yes," said Madeleine; "he was here last evening with Mr. Carrington and +one or two others." + +"Did he say anything about politics?" + +"Not a word. We talked mostly about books." + +"Books! What does he know about books?" + +"You must ask him." + +"Well, this is the most ridiculous situation we are all in. No one +knows anything about the new President. You could take your oath that +everybody is in the dark. Ratcliffe says he knows as little as the rest +of us, but it can't be true; he is too old a politician not to have +wires in his hand; and only to-day one of the pages of the Senate told +my colleague Cutter that a letter sent off by him yesterday was directed +to Sam Grimes, of North Bend, who, as every one knows, belongs to the +President's particular crowd.--Why, Mr. Schneidekoupon! How do you do? +When did you come on?" + +"Thank you; this morning," replied Mr. Schneidekoupon, just entering the +room. "So glad to see you again, Mrs. Lee. How do you and your sister +like Washington? Do you know I have brought Julia on for a visit? I +thought I should find her here. + +"She has just gone. She has been all the afternoon with Sybil, making +calls. She says you want her here to lobby for you, Mr. Schneidekoupon. +Is it true?" + +"So I did," replied he, with a laugh, "but she is precious little use. +So I've come to draft you into the service." + +"Me!" + +"Yes; you know we all expect Senator Ratcliffe to be Secretary of the +Treasury, and it is very important for us to keep him straight on the +currency and the tariff. So I have come on to establish more intimate +relations with him, as they say in diplomacy. I want to get him to dine +with me at Welckley's, but as I know he keeps very shy of politics I +thought my only chance was to make it a ladies' dinner, so I brought on +Julia. I shall try and get Mrs. Schuyler Clinton, and I depend upon you +and your sister to help Julia out." + +"Me! at a lobby dinner! Is that proper?" + +"Why not? You shall choose the guests." + +"I never heard of such a thing; but it would certainly be amusing. Sybil +must not go, but I might." "Excuse me; Julia depends upon Miss Ross, and +will not go to table without her." + +"Well," assented Mrs. Lee, hesitatingly, "perhaps if you get Mrs. +Clinton, and if your sister is there And who else?" + +"Choose your own company." + +"I know no one." + +"Oh yes; here is French, not quite sound on the tariff, but good for +what we want just now. Then we can get Mr. Gore; he has his little +hatchet to grind too, and will be glad to help grind ours. We only want +two or three more, and I will have an extra man or so to fill up." + +"Do ask the Speaker. I want to know him." + +"I will, and Carrington, and my Pennsylvania Senator. That will do +nobly. Remember, Welckley's, Saturday at seven." + +Meanwhile Sybil had been at the piano, and when she had sung for a time, +Orsini was induced to take her place, and show that it was possible +to sing without injury to one's beauty. Baron Jacobi came in and found +fault with them both. Little Miss Dare--commonly known among her male +friends as little Daredevil--who was always absorbed in some flirtation +with a Secretary of Legation, came in, quite unaware that Popoff was +present, and retired with him into a corner, while Orsini and Jacobi +bullied poor Sybil, and fought with each other at the piano; everybody +was talking with very little reference to any reply, when at last Mrs. +Lee drove them all out of the room: "We are quiet people," said she, +"and we dine at half-past six." + +Senator Ratcliffe had not failed to make his Sunday evening call upon +Mrs. + +Lee. Perhaps it was not strictly correct to say that they had talked +books all the evening, but whatever the conversation was, it had +only confirmed Mr. Ratcliffe's admiration for Mrs. Lee, who, without +intending to do so, had acted a more dangerous part than if she had been +the most accomplished of coquettes. Nothing could be more fascinating +to the weary politician in his solitude than the repose of Mrs. Lee's +parlour, and when Sybil sang for him one or two simple airs--she +said they were foreign hymns, the Senator being, or being considered, +orthodox--Mr. Ratcliffe's heart yearned toward the charming girl quite +with the sensations of a father, or even of an elder brother. + +His brother senators very soon began to remark that the Prairie Giant +had acquired a trick of looking up to the ladies' gallery. One day Mr. +Jonathan Andrews, the special correspondent of the New York Sidereal +System, a very friendly organ, approached Senator Schuyler Clinton with +a puzzled look on his face. + +"Can you tell me," said he, "what has happened to Silas P. Ratcliffe? +Only a moment ago I was talking with him at his seat on a very important +subject, about which I must send his opinions off to New York to-night, +when, in the middle of a sentence, he stopped short, got up without +looking at me, and left the Senate Chamber, and now I see him in the +gallery talking with a lady whose face I don't know." + +Senator Clinton slowly adjusted his gold eye-glasses and looked up at +the place indicated: "Ah! Mrs. Lightfoot Lee! I think I will say a word +to her myself;" and turning his back on the special correspondent, he +skipped away with youthful agility after the Senator from Illinois. + +"Devil!" muttered Mr. Andrews; "what has got into the old fools?" and in +a still less audible murmur as he looked up to Mrs. Lee, then in close +conversation with Ratcliffe: "Had I better make an item of that?" + +When young Mr. Schneidekoupon called upon Senator Ratcliffe to invite +him to the dinner at Welckley's, he found that gentleman overwhelmed +with work, as he averred, and very little disposed to converse. No! he +did not now go out to dinner. In the present condition of the public +business he found it impossible to spare the time for such amusements. +He regretted to decline Mr. Schneidekoupon's civility, but there were +imperative reasons why he should abstain for the present from social +entertainments; he had made but one exception to his rule, and only at +the pressing request of his old friend Senator Clinton, and on a very +special occasion. + +Mr. Schneidekoupon was deeply vexed--the more, he said, because he had +meant to beg Mr. and Mrs. Clinton to be of the party, as well as a very +charming lady who rarely went into society, but who had almost consented +to come. + +"Who is that?" inquired the Senator. + +"A Mrs. Lightfoot Lee, of New York. Probably you do not know her well +enough to admire her as I do; but I think her quite the most intelligent +woman I ever met." + +The Senator's cold eyes rested for a moment on the young man's open face +with a peculiar expression of distrust. Then he solemnly said, in his +deepest senatorial tones: + +"My young friend, at my time of life men have other things to occupy +them than women, however intelligent they may be. Who else is to be of +your party?" + +Mr. Schneidekoupon named his list. + +"And for Saturday evening at seven, did you say?" + +"Saturday at seven." + +"I fear there is little chance of my attending, but I will not +absolutely decline. Perhaps when the moment arrives, I may find myself +able to be there. But do not count upon me--do not count upon me. Good +day, Mr. Schneidekoupon." + +Schneidekoupon was rather a simple-minded young man, who saw no deeper +than his neighbours into the secrets of the universe, and he went off +swearing roundly at "the infernal airs these senators give themselves." +He told Mrs. + +Lee all the conversation, as indeed he was compelled to do under penalty +of bringing her to his party under false pretences. + +"Just my luck," said he; "here I am forced to ask no end of people to +meet a man, who at the same time says he shall probably not come. Why, +under the stars, couldn't he say, like other people, whether he was +coming or not? I've known dozens of senators, Mrs. Lee, and they're all +like that. They never think of any one but themselves." + +Mrs. Lee smiled rather a forced smile, and soothed his wounded feelings; +she had no doubt the dinner would be very agreeable whether the Senator +were there or not; at any rate she would do all she could to carry it +off well, and Sybil should wear her newest dress. Still she was a little +grave, and Mr. Schneidekoupon could only declare that she was a trump; +that he had told Ratcliffe she was the cleverest woman he ever met, and +he might have added the most obliging, and Ratcliffe had only looked +at him as though he were a green ape. At all which Mrs. Lee laughed +good-naturedly, and sent him away as soon as she could. + +When he was gone, she walked up and down the room and thought. She saw +the meaning of Ratcliffe's sudden change in tone. She had no more doubt +of his coming to the dinner than she had of the reason why he came. +And was it possible that she was being drawn into something very near +a flirtation with a man twenty years her senior; a politician from +Illinois; a huge, ponderous, grey-eyed, bald senator, with a Websterian +head, who lived in Peonia? The idea was almost too absurd to be +credited; but on the whole the thing itself was rather amusing. "I +suppose senators can look out for themselves like other men," was her +final conclusion. She thought only of his danger, and she felt a sort +of compassion for him as she reflected on the possible consequences of a +great, absorbing love at his time of life. + +Her conscience was a little uneasy; but of herself she never thought. +Yet it is a historical fact that elderly senators have had a curious +fascination for young and handsome women. Had they looked out for +themselves too? And which parties most needed to be looked after? + +When Madeleine and her sister arrived at Welckley's 's the next Saturday +evening, they found poor Schneidekoupon in a temper very unbecoming a +host. + +"He won't come! I told you he wouldn't come!" said he to Madeleine, as +he handed her into the house. "If I ever turn communist, it will be for +the fun of murdering a senator." + +Madeleine consoled him gently, but he continued to use, behind Mr. +Clinton's back, language the most offensive and improper towards the +Senate, and at last, ringing the bell, he sharply ordered the head +waiter to serve dinner. + +At that very moment the door opened, and Senator Ratcliffe's stately +figure appeared on the threshold. His eye instantly caught Madeleine's, +and she almost laughed aloud, for she saw that the Senator was dressed +with very unsenatorial neatness; that he had actually a flower in his +burton-hole and no gloves! + +After the enthusiastic description which Schneidekoupon had given of +Mrs. + +Lee's charms, he could do no less than ask Senator Ratcliffe to take her +in to dinner, which he did without delay. Either this, or the champagne, +or some occult influence, had an extraordinary effect upon him. He +appeared ten years younger than usual; his face was illuminated; his +eyes glowed; he seemed bent on proving his kinship to the immortal +Webster by rivalling his convivial powers. He dashed into the +conversation; laughed, jested, and ridiculed; told stories in Yankee +and Western dialect; gave sharp little sketches of amusing political +experiences. + +"Never was more surprised in my life," whispered Senator Krebs, of +Pennsylvania, across the table to Schneidekoupon. "Hadn't an idea that +Ratcliffe was so entertaining." + +And Mr. Clinton, who sat by Madeleine on the other side, whispered low +into her ear: "I am afraid, my dear Mrs. Lee, that you are responsible +for this. He never talks so to the Senate." + +Nay, he even rose to a higher flight, and told the story of President +Lincoln's death-bed with a degree of feeling that brought tears into +their eyes. The other guests made no figure at all. The Speaker consumed +his solitary duck and his lonely champagne in a corner without giving a +sign. + +Even Mr. Gore, who was not wont to hide his light under any kind of +extinguisher, made no attempt to claim the floor, and applauded with +enthusiasm the conversation of his opposite neighbour. Ill-natured +people might say that Mr. Gore saw in Senator Ratcliffe a possible +Secretary of State; be this as it may, he certainly said to Mrs. +Clinton, in an aside that was perfectly audible to every one at the +table: "How brilliant! what an original mind! what a sensation he would +make abroad!" And it was quite true, apart from the mere momentary +effect of dinner-table talk, that there was a certain bigness about +the man; a keen practical sagacity; a bold freedom of self-assertion; a +broad way of dealing with what he knew. + +Carrington was the only person at table who looked on with a perfectly +cool head, and who criticised in a hostile spirit. Carrington's +impression of Ratcliffe was perhaps beginning to be warped by a shade +of jealousy, for he was in a peculiarly bad temper this evening, and his +irritation was not wholly concealed. + +"If one only had any confidence in the man!" he muttered to French, who +sat by him. + +This unlucky remark set French to thinking how he could draw +Ratcliffe out, and accordingly, with his usual happy manner, combining +self-conceit and high principles, he began to attack the Senator with +some "badinaige" on the delicate subject of Civil Service Reform, a +subject almost as dangerous in political conversation at Washington as +slavery itself in old days before the war. French was a reformer, and +lost no occasion of impressing his views; but unluckily he was a very +light weight, and his manner was a little ridiculous, so that even Mrs. +Lee, who was herself a warm reformer, sometimes went over to the other +side when he talked. No sooner had he now shot his little arrow at the +Senator, than that astute man saw his opportunity, and promised himself +the pleasure of administering to Mr. + +French punishment such as he knew would delight the company. Reformer +as Mrs. Lee was, and a little alarmed at the roughness of Ratcliffe's +treatment, she could not blame the Prairie Giant, as she ought, who, +after knocking poor French down, rolled him over and over in the mud. + +"Are you financier enough, Mr. French, to know what are the most famous +products of Connecticut?" + +Mr. French modestly suggested that he thought its statesmen best +answered that description. + +"No, sir! even there you're wrong. The showmen beat you on your own +ground. But every child in the union knows that the most famous products +of Connecticut are Yankee notions, nutmegs made of wood and clocks that +won't go. Now, your Civil Service Reform is just such another Yankee +notion; it's a wooden nutmeg; it's a clock with a show case and sham +works. And you know it! You are precisely the old-school Connecticut +peddler. You have gone about peddling your wooden nutmegs until you have +got yourself into Congress, and now you pull them out of your pockets +and not only want us to take them at your own price, but you lecture us +on our sins if we don't. Well! we don't mind your doing that at home. +Abuse us as much as you like to your constituents. Get as many votes as +you can. But don't electioneer here, because we know you intimately, and +we've all been a little in the wooden nutmeg business ourselves." + +Senator Clinton and Senator Krebs chuckled high approval over this +punishment of poor French, which was on the level of their idea of wit. +They were all in the nutmeg business, as Ratcliffe said. The victim +tried to make head against them; he protested that his nutmegs were +genuine; he sold no goods that he did not guarantee; and that this +particular article was actually guaranteed by the national conventions +of both political parties. + +"Then what you want, Mr. French, is a common school education. You +need a little study of the alphabet. Or if you won't believe me, ask my +brother senators here what chance there is for your Reforms so long +as the American citizen is what he is." + +"You'll not get much comfort in my State, Mr. French," growled the +senator from Pennsylvania, with a sneer; "suppose you come and try." + +"Well, well!" said the benevolent Mr. Schuyler Clinton, gleaming +benignantly through his gold spectacles; "don't be too hard on French. +He means well. Perhaps he's not very wise, but he does good. I know more +about it than any of you, and I don't deny that the thing is all bad. +Only, as Mr. Ratcliffe says, the difficulty is in the people, not in us. +Go to work on them, French, and let us alone." + +French repented of his attack, and contented himself by muttering to +Carrington: "What a set of damned old reprobates they are!" + +"They are right, though, in one thing," was Carrington's reply: "their +advice is good. Never ask one of them to reform anything; if you do, you +will be reformed yourself." + +The dinner ended as brilliantly as it began, and Schneidekoupon was +delighted with his success. He had made himself particularly agreeable +to Sybil by confiding in her all his hopes and fears about the tariff +and the finances. When the ladies left the table, Ratcliffe could not +stay for a cigar; he must get back to his rooms, where he knew several +men were waiting for him; he would take his leave of the ladies and +hurry away. But when the gentlemen came up nearly an hour afterwards +they found Ratcliffe still taking his leave of the ladies, who were +delighted at his entertaining conversation; and when at last he really +departed, he said to Mrs. Lee, as though it were quite a matter of +course: "You are at home as usual to-morrow evening?" Madeleine smiled, +bowed, and he went his way. + +As the two sisters drove home that night, Madeleine was unusually +silent. + +Sybil yawned convulsively and then apologized: + +"Mr. Schneidekoupon is very nice and good-natured, but a whole evening +of him goes a long way; and that horrid Senator Krebs would not say a +word, and drank a great deal too much wine, though it couldn't make him +any more stupid than he is. I don't think I care for senators." Then, +wearily, after a pause: "Well, Maude, I do hope you've got what you +wanted. I'm sure you must have had politics enough. Haven't you got to +the heart of your great American mystery yet?" + +"Pretty near it, I think," said Madeleine, half to herself. + + + +Chapter IV + +SUNDAY evening was stormy, and some enthusiasm was required to make one +face its perils for the sake of society. Nevertheless, a few intimates +made their appearance as usual at Mrs. Lee's. The faithful Popoff was +there, and Miss Dare also ran in to pass an hour with her dear Sybil; +but as she passed the whole evening in a corner with Popoff, she must +have been disappointed in her object. Carrington came, and Baron Jacobi. +Schneidekoupon and his sister dined with Mrs. Lee, and remained after +dinner, while Sybil and Julia Schneidekoupon compared conclusions about +Washington society. The happy idea also occurred to Mr. Gore that, +inasmuch as Mrs. Lee's house was but a step from his hotel, he might as +well take the chance of amusement there as the certainty of solitude +in his rooms. Finally, Senator Ratcliffe duly made his appearance, and, +having established himself with a cup of tea by Madeleine's side, was +soon left to enjoy a quiet talk with her, the rest of the party by +common consent occupying themselves with each other. Under cover of +the murmur of conversation in the room, Mr. Ratcliffe quickly became +confidential. + +"I came to suggest that, if you want to hear an interesting debate, +you should come up to the Senate to-morrow. I am told that Garrard, of +Louisiana, means to attack my last speech, and I shall probably in that +case have to answer him. With you for a critic I shall speak better." + +"Am I such an amiable critic?" asked Madeleine. + +"I never heard that amiable critics were the best," said he; "justice is +the soul of good criticism, and it is only justice that I ask and expect +from you." + +"What good does this speaking do?" inquired she. "Are you any nearer the +end of your difficulties by means of your speeches?" + +"I hardly know yet. Just now we are in dead water; but this can't last +long. In fact, I am not afraid to tell you, though of course you will +not repeat it to any human being, that we have taken measures to force +an issue. Certain gentlemen, myself among the rest, have written letters +meant for the President's eye, though not addressed directly to him, and +intended to draw out an expression of some sort that will show us what +to expect." + +"Oh!" laughed Madeleine, "I knew about that a week ago." + +"About what?" + +"About your letter to Sam Grimes, of North Bend." + +"What have you heard about my letter to Sam Grimes, of North Bend?" +ejaculated Ratcliffe, a little abruptly. + +"Oh, you do not know how admirably I have organised my secret service +bureau," said she. "Representative Cutter cross-questioned one of the +Senate pages, and obliged him to confess that he had received from you a +letter to be posted, which letter was addressed to Mr. Grimes, of North +Bend." + +"And, of course, he told this to French, and French told you," said +Ratcliffe; "I see. If I had known this I would not have let French off +so gently last night, for I prefer to tell you my own story without his +embellishments. But it was my fault. I should not have trusted a page. +Nothing is a secret here long. But one thing that Mr. Cutter did not +find out was that several other gentlemen wrote letters at the same +time, for the same purpose. Your friend, Mr. Clinton, wrote; Krebs +wrote; and one or two members." + +"I suppose I must not ask what you said?" + +"You may. We agreed that it was best to be very mild and conciliatory, +and to urge the President only to give us some indication of his +intentions, in order that we might not run counter to them. I drew a +strong picture of the effect of the present situation on the party, and +hinted that I had no personal wishes to gratify." + +"And what do you think will be the result?" + +"I think we shall somehow manage to straighten things out," said +Ratcliffe. + +"The difficulty is only that the new President has little experience, +and is suspicious. He thinks we shall intrigue to tie his hands, and he +means to tie ours in advance. I don't know him personally, but those +who do, and who are fair judges, say that, though rather narrow and +obstinate, he is honest enough, and will come round. I have no doubt +I could settle it all with him in an hour's talk, but it is out of the +question for me to go to him unless I am asked, and to ask me to come +would be itself a settlement." + +"What, then, is the danger you fear?" + +"That he will offend all the important party leaders in order to +conciliate unimportant ones, perhaps sentimental ones, like your friend +French; that he will make foolish appointments without taking advice. By +the way, have you seen French to-day?" + +"No," replied Madeleine; "I think he must be sore at your treatment of +him last evening. You were very rude to him." + +"Not a bit," said Ratcliffe; "these reformers need it. His attack on me +was meant for a challenge. I saw it in his manner. + +"But is reform really so impossible as you describe it? Is it quite +hopeless?" + +"Reform such as he wants is utterly hopeless, and not even desirable." + +Mrs. Lee, with much earnestness of manner, still pressed her question: + +"Surely something can be done to check corruption. Are we for ever to +be at the mercy of thieves and ruffians? Is a respectable government +impossible in a democracy?" + +Her warmth attracted Jacobi's attention, and he spoke across the room. +"What is that you say, Mrs. Lee? What is it about corruption?" + +All the gentlemen began to listen and gather about them. + +"I am asking Senator Ratcliffe," said she, "what is to become of us if +corruption is allowed to go unchecked." + +"And may I venture to ask permission to hear Mr. Ratcliffe's reply?" +asked the baron. + +"My reply," said Ratcliffe, "is that no representative government can +long be much better or much worse than the society it represents. Purify +society and you purify the government. But try to purify the government +artificially and you only aggravate failure." + +"A very statesmanlike reply," said Baron Jacobi, with a formal bow, but +his tone had a shade of mockery. Carrington, who had listened with +a darkening face, suddenly turned to the baron and asked him what +conclusion he drew from the reply. + +"Ah!" exclaimed the baron, with his wickedest leer, "what for is my +conclusion good? You Americans believe yourselves to be excepted from +the operation of general laws. You care not for experience. I have lived +seventy-five years, and all that time in the midst of corruption. I am +corrupt myself, only I do have courage to proclaim it, and you others +have it not. Rome, Paris, Vienna, Petersburg, London, all are corrupt; +only Washington is pure! Well, I declare to you that in all my +experience I have found no society which has had elements of corruption +like the United States. The children in the street are corrupt, and know +how to cheat me. The cities are all corrupt, and also the towns and the +counties and the States' legislatures and the judges. Everywhere men +betray trusts both public and private, steal money, run away with public +funds. Only in the Senate men take no money. And you gentlemen in the +Senate very well declare that your great United States, which is the +head of the civilized world, can never learn anything from the example +of corrupt Europe. You are right--quite right! The great United States +needs not an example. I do much regret that I have not yet one hundred +years to live. If I could then come back to this city, I should find +myself very content--much more than now. I am always content where there +is much corruption, and ma parole d'honneur!" broke out the old man with +fire and gesture, "the United States will then be more corrupt than Rome +under Caligula; more corrupt than the Church under Leo X.; more corrupt +than France under the Regent!" + +As the baron closed his little harangue, which he delivered directly at +the senator sitting underneath him, he had the satisfaction to see that +every one was silent and listening with deep attention. He seemed to +enjoy annoying the senator, and he had the satisfaction of seeing that +the senator was visibly annoyed. Ratcliffe looked sternly at the baron +and said, with some curtness, that he saw no reason to accept such +conclusions. + +Conversation flagged, and all except the baron were relieved when Sybil, +at Schneidekoupon's request, sat down at the piano to sing what she +called a hymn. So soon as the song was over, Ratcliffe, who seemed to +have been curiously thrown off his balance by Jacobi's harangue, pleaded +urgent duties at his rooms, and retired. The others soon afterwards went +off in a body, leaving only Carrington and Gore, who had seated himself +by Madeleine, and was at once dragged by her into a discussion of the +subject which perplexed her, and for the moment threw over her mind a +net of irresistible fascination. + +"The baron discomfited the senator," said Gore, with a certain +hesitation. + +"Why did Ratcliffe let himself be trampled upon in that manner?" + +"I wish you would explain why," replied Mrs. Lee; "tell me, +Mr. Gore--you who represent cultivation and literary taste +hereabouts--please tell me what to think about Baron Jacobi's speech. +Who and what is to be believed? Mr. Ratcliffe seems honest and wise. Is +he a corruptionist? He believes in the people, or says he does. Is he +telling the truth or not?" + +Gore was too experienced in politics to be caught in such a trap as +this. He evaded the question. "Mr. Ratcliffe has a practical piece of +work to do; his business is to make laws and advise the President; +he does it extremely well. We have no other equally good practical +politician; it is unfair to require him to be a crusader besides." + +"No!" interposed Carrington, curtly; "but he need not obstruct crusades. +He need not talk virtue and oppose the punishment of vice." + +"He is a shrewd practical politician," replied Gore, "and he feels first +the weak side of any proposed political tactics." + +With a sigh of despair Madeleine went on: "Who, then, is right? How can +we all be right? Half of our wise men declare that the world is going +straight to perdition; the other half that it is fast becoming perfect. +Both cannot be right. There is only one thing in life," she went on, +laughing, "that I must and will have before I die. I must know whether +America is right or wrong. Just now this question is a very practical +one, for I really want to know whether to believe in Mr. Ratcliffe. If I +throw him overboard, everything must go, for he is only a specimen." + +"Why not believe in Mr. Ratcliffe?" said Gore; "I believe in him myself, +and am not afraid to say so." + +Carrington, to whom Ratcliffe now began to represent the spirit of evil, +interposed here, and observed that he imagined Mr. Gore had other +guides besides, and steadier ones than Ratcliffe, to believe in; while +Madeleine, with a certain feminine perspicacity, struck at a much weaker +point in Mr. + +Gore's armour, and asked point-blank whether he believed also in +what Ratcliffe represented: "Do you yourself think democracy the best +government, and universal suffrage a success?" + +Mr. Gore saw himself pinned to the wall, and he turned at bay with +almost the energy of despair: + +"These are matters about which I rarely talk in society; they are like +the doctrine of a personal God; of a future life; of revealed religion; +subjects which one naturally reserves for private reflection. But since +you ask for my political creed, you shall have it. I only condition that +it shall be for you alone, never to be repeated or quoted as mine. I +believe in democracy. I accept it. I will faithfully serve and defend +it. I believe in it because it appears to me the inevitable consequence +of what has gone before it. Democracy asserts the fact that the masses +are now raised to a higher intelligence than formerly. All our +civilisation aims at this mark. We want to do what we can to help it. I +myself want to see the result. I grant it is an experiment, but it is +the only direction society can take that is worth its taking; the only +conception of its duty large enough to satisfy its instincts; the only +result that is worth an effort or a risk. Every other possible step is +backward, and I do not care to repeat the past. I am glad to see society +grapple with issues in which no one can afford to be neutral." + +"And supposing your experiment fails," said Mrs. Lee; "suppose society +destroys itself with universal suffrage, corruption, and communism." + +"I wish, Mrs. Lee, you would visit the Observatory with me some evening, +and look at Sirius. Did you ever make the acquaintance of a fixed star? +I believe astronomers reckon about twenty millions of them in sight, and +an infinite possibility of invisible millions, each one of which is a +sun, like ours, and may have satellites like our planet. Suppose you see +one of these fixed stars suddenly increase in brightness, and are +told that a satellite has fallen into it and is burning up, its career +finished, its capacities exhausted? Curious, is it not; but what does it +matter? Just as much as the burning up of a moth at your candle." + +Madeleine shuddered a little. "I cannot get to the height of your +philosophy," said she. "You are wandering among the infinites, and I am +finite." + +"Not at all! But I have faith; not perhaps in the old dogmas, but in the +new ones; faith in human nature; faith in science; faith in the survival +of the fittest. Let us be true to our time, Mrs. Lee! If our age is to +be beaten, let us die in the ranks. If it is to be victorious, let us be +first to lead the column. Anyway, let us not be skulkers or grumblers. +There! have I repeated my catechism correctly? You would have it! Now +oblige me by forgetting it. I should lose my character at home if it got +out. Good night!" + +Mrs. Lee duly appeared at the Capitol the next day, as she could not but +do after Senator Ratcliffe's pointed request. She went alone, for Sybil +had positively refused to go near the Capitol again, and Madeleine +thought that on the whole this was not an occasion for enrolling +Carrington in her service. But Ratcliffe did not speak. The debate was +unexpectedly postponed. + +He joined Mrs. Lee in the gallery, however, sat with her as long as she +would allow, and became still more confidential, telling her that he had +received the expected reply from Grimes, of North Bend, and that it had +enclosed a letter written by the President-elect to Mr. Grimes in regard +to the advances made by Mr. Ratcliffe and his friends. + +"It is not a handsome letter," said he; "indeed, a part of it is +positively insulting. I would like to read you one extract from it, and +hear your opinion as to how it should be treated." Taking the letter +from his pocket, he sought out the passage, and read as follows: "'I +cannot lose sight, too, of the consideration that these three Senators' +(he means Clinton, Krebs, and me) are popularly considered to be the +most influential members of that so-called senatorial ring, which has +acquired such general notoriety. While I shall always receive their +communications with all due respect, I must continue to exercise +complete freedom of action in consulting other political advisers as +well as these, and I must in all cases make it my first object to follow +the wishes of the people, not always most truly represented by their +nominal representatives.' What say you to that precious piece of +presidential manners?" + +"At least I like his courage," said Mrs. Lee. + +"Courage is one thing; common sense is another. This letter is a studied +insult. He has knocked me off the track once. He means to do it again. +It is a declaration of war. What ought I to do?" + +"Whatever is most for the public good." said Madeleine, gravely. + +Ratcliffe looked into her face with such undisguised delight--there was +so little possibility of mistaking or ignoring the expression of his +eyes, that she shrank back with a certain shock. She was not prepared +for so open a demonstration. He hardened his features at once, and went +on: + +"But what is most for the public good?" + +"That you know better than I," said Madeleine; "only one thing is clear +to me. If you let yourself be ruled by your private feelings, you will +make a greater mistake than he. Now I must go, for I have visits to +make. The next time I come, Mr. Ratcliffe, you must keep your word +better." + +When they next met, Ratcliffe read to her a part of his reply to Mr. +Grimes, which ran thus: "It is the lot of every party leader to suffer +from attacks and to commit errors. It is true, as the President says, +that I have been no exception to this law. Believing as I do that great +results can only be accomplished by great parties, I have uniformly +yielded my own personal opinions where they have failed to obtain +general assent. I shall continue to follow this course, and the +President may with perfect confidence count upon my disinterested +support of all party measures, even though I may not be consulted in +originating them." + +Mrs. Lee listened attentively, and then said: "Have you never refused to +go with your party?" + +"Never!" was Ratcliffe's firm reply. + +Madeleine still more thoughtfully inquired again: "Is nothing more +powerful than party allegiance?" + +"Nothing, except national allegiance," replied Ratcliffe, still more +firmly. + + + +Chapter V + +TO tie a prominent statesman to her train and to lead him about like a +tame bear, is for a young and vivacious woman a more certain amusement +than to tie herself to him and to be dragged about like an Indian +squaw. This fact was Madeleine Lee's first great political discovery in +Washington, and it was worth to her all the German philosophy she had +ever read, with even a complete edition of Herbert Spencer's works into +the bargain. There could be no doubt that the honours and dignities of +a public career were no fair consideration for its pains. She made a +little daily task for herself of reading in succession the lives and +letters of the American Presidents, and of their wives, when she could +find that there was a trace of the latter's existence. What a melancholy +spectacle it was, from George Washington down to the last incumbent; +what vexations, what disappointments, what grievous mistakes, what very +objectionable manners! Not one of them, who had aimed at high purpose, +but had been thwarted, beaten, and habitually insulted! What a gloom lay +on the features of those famous chieftains, Calhoun, Clay, and Webster; +what varied expression of defeat and unsatisfied desire; what a sense +of self-importance and senatorial magniloquence; what a craving for +flattery; what despair at the sentence of fate! And what did they amount +to, after all? + +They were practical men, these! they had no great problems of thought to +settle, no questions that rose above the ordinary rules of common +morals and homely duty. How they had managed to befog the subject! +What elaborate show-structures they had built up, with no result but +to obscure the horizon! Would not the country have done better without +them? Could it have done worse? What deeper abyss could have opened +under the nation's feet, than that to whose verge they brought it? + +Madeleine's mind wearied with the monotony of the story. She discussed +the subject with Ratcliffe, who told her frankly that the pleasure of +politics lay in the possession of power. He agreed that the country +would do very well without him. "But here I am," said he, "and here I +mean to stay." He had very little sympathy for thin moralising, and a +statesmanlike contempt for philosophical politics. He loved power, and +he meant to be President. + +That was enough. + +Sometimes the tragic and sometimes the comic side was uppermost in her +mind, and sometimes she did not herself know whether to cry or to laugh. + +Washington more than any other city in the world swarms with +simple-minded exhibitions of human nature; men and women curiously out +of place, whom it would be cruel to ridicule and ridiculous to weep +over. The sadder exhibitions are fortunately seldom seen by respectable +people; only the little social accidents come under their eyes. One +evening Mrs. Lee went to the President's first evening reception. As +Sybil flatly refused to face the crowd, and Carrington mildly said that +he feared he was not sufficiently reconstructed to appear at home in +that august presence, Mrs. Lee accepted Mr. French for an escort, and +walked across the Square with him to join the throng that was pouring +into the doors of the White House. They took their places in the line +of citizens and were at last able to enter the reception-room. There +Madeleine found herself before two seemingly mechanical figures, which +might be wood or wax, for any sign they showed of life. These two +figures were the President and his wife; they stood stiff and awkward by +the door, both their faces stripped of every sign of intelligence, while +the right hands of both extended themselves to the column of visitors +with the mechanical action of toy dolls. Mrs. Lee for a moment began +to laugh, but the laugh died on her lips. To the President and his +wife this was clearly no laughing matter. There they stood, automata, +representatives of the society which streamed past them. Madeleine +seized Mr. French by the arm. + +"Take me somewhere at once," said she, "where I can look at it. Here! in +the corner. I had no conception how shocking it was!" + +Mr. French supposed she was thinking of the queer-looking men and women +who were swarming through the rooms, and he made, after his own delicate +notion of humour, some uncouth jests on those who passed by. Mrs. Lee, +however, was in no humour to explain or even to listen. She stopped him +short:-- + +"There, Mr. French! Now go away and leave me. I want to be alone for +half an hour. Please come for me then." And there she stood, with her +eyes fixed on the President and his wife, while the endless stream of +humanity passed them, shaking hands. + +What a strange and solemn spectacle it was, and how the deadly +fascination of it burned the image in upon her mind! What a horrid +warning to ambition! + +And in all that crowd there was no one besides herself who felt the +mockery of this exhibition. To all the others this task was a regular +part of the President's duty, and there was nothing ridiculous about +it. They thought it a democratic institution, this droll a ping of +monarchical forms. To them the deadly dulness of the show was as natural +and proper as ever to the courtiers of the Philips and Charleses seemed +the ceremonies of the Escurial. To her it had the effect of a nightmare, +or of an opium-eater's vision, She felt a sudden conviction that this +was to be the end of American society; its realisation and dream at +once. She groaned in spirit. + +"Yes! at last I have reached the end! We shall grow to be wax images, +and our talk will be like the squeaking of toy dolls. We shall all +wander round and round the earth and shake hands. No one will have +any object in this world, and there will be no other. It is worse than +anything in the 'Inferno.' What an awful vision of eternity!" + +Suddenly, as through a mist, she saw the melancholy face of Lord Skye +approaching. He came to her side, and his voice recalled her to reality. + +"Does it amuse you, this sort of thing?" he asked in a vague way. + +"We take our amusement sadly, after the manner of our people," she +replied; "but it certainly interests me." + +They stood for a time in silence, watching the slowly eddying dance of +Democracy, until he resumed: + +"Whom do you take that man to be--the long, lean one, with a long woman +on each arm?" + +"That man," she replied, "I take to be a Washington department-clerk, or +perhaps a member of Congress from Iowa, with a wife and wife's sister. +Do they shock your nobility?" + +He looked at her with comical resignation. "You mean to tell me +that they are quite as good as dowager-countesses. I grant it. My +aristocratic spirit is broken, Mrs. Lee. I will even ask them to dinner +if you bid me, and if you will come to meet them. But the last time I +asked a member of Congress to dine, he sent me back a note in pencil on +my own envelope that he would bring two of his friends with him, very +respectable constituents from Yahoo city, or some such place; nature's +noblemen, he said." + +"You should have welcomed them." + +"I did. I wanted to see two of nature's noblemen, and I knew they would +probably be pleasanter company than their representative. They came; +very respectable persons, one with a blue necktie, the other with a red +one: both had diamond pins in their shirts, and were carefully brushed +in respect to their hair. They said nothing, ate little, drank less, +and were much better behaved than I am. When they went away, they +unanimously asked me to stay with them when I visited Yahoo city." + +"You will not want guests if you always do that." + +"I don't know. I think it was pure ignorance on their part. They knew +no better, and they seemed modest enough. My only complaint was that I +could get nothing out of them. I wonder whether their wives would have +been more amusing." + +"Would they be so in England, Lord Skye?" + +He looked down at her with half-shut eyes, and drawled: "You know my +countrywomen?" + +"Hardly at all." + +"Then let us discuss some less serious subject." + +"Willingly. I have waited for you to explain to me why you have to-night +an expression of such melancholy." + +"Is that quite friendly, Mrs. Lee? Do I really look melancholy?" + +"Unutterably, as I feel. I am consumed with curiosity to know the +reason." + +The British minister coolly took a complete survey of the whole room, +ending with a prolonged stare at the President and his wife, who were +still mechanically shaking hands; then he looked back into her face, and +said never a word. + +She insisted: "I must have this riddle answered. It suffocates me. I +should not be sad at seeing these same people at work or at play, if +they ever do play; or in a church or a lecture-room. Why do they weigh +on me like a horrid phantom here?" + +"I see no riddle, Mrs. Lee. You have answered your own question; they +are neither at work nor at play." + +"Then please take me home at once. I shall have hysterics. The sight of +those two suffering images at the door is too mournful to be borne. I am +dizzy with looking at these stalking figures. I don't believe they're +real. I wish the house would take fire. I want an earthquake. I wish +some one would pinch the President, or pull his wife's hair." + +Mrs. Lee did not repeat the experiment of visiting the White House, and +indeed for some time afterwards she spoke with little enthusiasm of the +presidential office. To Senator Ratcliffe she expressed her opinions +strongly. The Senator tried in vain to argue that the people had a right +to call upon their chief magistrate, and that he was bound to receive +them; this being so, there was no less objectionable way of proceeding +than the one which had been chosen. "Who gave the people any such +right?" asked Mrs. Lee. "Where does it come from? What do they want it +for? You know better, Mr. Ratcliffe! Our chief magistrate is a citizen +like any one else. What puts it into his foolish head to cease being a +citizen and to ape royalty? Our governors never make themselves +ridiculous. Why cannot the wretched being content himself with living +like the rest of us, and minding his own business? Does he know what a +figure of fun he is?" And Mrs. Lee went so far as to declare that she +would like to be the President's wife only to put an end to this folly; +nothing should ever induce her to go through such a performance; and if +the public did not approve of this, Congress might impeach her, and +remove her from office; all she demanded was the right to be heard +before the Senate in her own defence. + +Nevertheless, there was a very general impression in Washington that +Mrs. + +Lee would like nothing better than to be in the White House. Known +to comparatively few people, and rarely discussing even with them the +subjects which deeply interested her, Madeleine passed for a clever, +intriguing woman who had her own objects to gain. True it is, beyond +peradventure, that all residents of Washington may be assumed to be in +office or candidates for office; unless they avow their object, they are +guilty of an attempt--and a stupid one--to deceive; yet there is a small +class of apparent exceptions destined at last to fall within the rule. +Mrs. Lee was properly assumed to be a candidate for office. To the +Washingtonians it was a matter of course that Mrs. Lee should marry +Silas P. Ratcliffe. That he should be glad to get a fashionable and +intelligent wife, with twenty or thirty thousand dollars a year, was not +surprising. That she should accept the first public man of the day, with +a flattering chance for the Presidency--a man still comparatively +young and not without good looks--was perfectly natural, and in her +undertaking she had the sympathy of all well-regulated Washington women +who were not possible rivals; for to them the President's wife is of +more consequence than the President; and, indeed, if America only knew +it, they are not very far from the truth. + +Some there were, however, who did not assent to this good-natured though +worldly view of the proposed match. These ladies were severe in their +comments upon Mrs. Lee's conduct, and did not hesitate to declare their +opinion that she was the calmest and most ambitious minx who had ever +come within their observation. Unfortunately it happened that the +respectable and proper Mrs. Schuyler Clinton took this view of the case, +and made little attempt to conceal her opinion. She was justly indignant +at her cousin's gross worldliness, and possible promotion in rank. + +"If Madeleine Ross marries that coarse, horrid old Illinois politician," +said she to her husband, "I never will forgive her so long as I live." + +Mr. Clinton tried to excuse Madeleine, and even went so far as to +suggest that the difference of age was no greater than in their own +case; but his wife trampled ruthlessly on his argument. + +"At any rate," said she, "I never came to Washington as a widow on +purpose to set my cap for the first candidate for the Presidency, and +I never made a public spectacle of my indecent eagerness in the very +galleries of the Senate; and Mrs. Lee ought to be ashamed of herself. +She is a cold-blooded, heartless, unfeminine cat." + +Little Victoria Dare, who babbled like the winds and streams, with utter +indifference as to what she said or whom she addressed, used to bring +choice bits of this gossip to Mrs. Lee. She always affected a little +stammer when she said anything uncommonly impudent, and put on a manner +of languid simplicity. She felt keenly the satisfaction of seeing +Madeleine charged with her own besetting sins. For years all Washington +had agreed that Victoria was little better than one of the wicked; she +had done nothing but violate every rule of propriety and scandalise +every well-regulated family in the city, and there was no good in her. +Yet it could not be denied that Victoria was amusing, and had a sort of +irregular fascination; consequently she was universally tolerated. To +see Mrs. Lee thrust down to her own level was an unmixed pleasure to +her, and she carefully repeated to Madeleine the choice bits of dialogue +which she picked up in her wanderings. + +"Your cousin, Mrs. Clinton, says you are a ca-ca-cat, Mrs. Lee." + +"I don't believe it, Victoria. Mrs. Clinton never said anything of the +sort." + +"Mrs. Marston says it is because you have caught a ra-ra-rat, and +Senator Clinton was only a m-m-mouse!" + +Naturally all this unexpected publicity irritated Mrs. Lee not a little, +especially when short and vague paragraphs, soon followed by longer +and more positive ones, in regard to Senator Ratcliffe's matrimonial +prospects, began to appear in newspapers, along with descriptions of +herself from the pens of enterprising female correspondents for the +press, who had never so much as seen her. At the first sight of one of +these newspaper articles, Madeleine fairly cried with mortification and +anger. She wanted to leave Washington the next day, and she hated the +very thought of Ratcliffe. There was something in the newspaper style so +inscrutably vulgar, something so inexplicably revolting to the sense of +feminine decency, that she shrank under it as though it were a poisonous +spider. But after the first acute shame had passed, her temper was +roused, and she vowed that she would pursue her own path just as she +had begun, without regard to all the malignity and vulgarity in the wide +United States. She did not care to marry Senator Ratcliffe; she liked +his society and was flattered by his confidence; she rather hoped to +prevent him from ever making a formal offer, and if not, she would at +least push it off to the last possible moment; but she was not to be +frightened from marrying him by any amount of spitefulness or gossip, +and she did not mean to refuse him except for stronger reasons than +these. She even went so far in her desperate courage as to laugh at her +cousin, Mrs. + +Clinton, whose venerable husband she allowed and even encouraged to pay +her such public attention and to express sentiments of such youthful +ardour as she well knew would inflame and exasperate the excellent lady +his wife. + +Carrington was the person most unpleasantly affected by the course which +this affair had taken. He could no longer conceal from himself the fact +that he was as much m love as a dignified Virginian could be. With +him, at all events, she had shown no coquetry, nor had she ever either +flattered or encouraged him. But Carrington, m his solitary struggle +against fate, had found her a warm friend; always ready to assist where +assistance was needed, generous with her money in any cause which he +was willing to vouch for, full of sympathy where sympathy was more than +money, and full of resource and suggestion where money and sympathy +failed. Carrington knew her better than she knew herself. He selected +her books; he brought the last speech or the last report from the +Capitol or the departments; he knew her doubts and her vagaries, and as +far as he understood them at all, helped her to solve them. + +Carrington was too modest, and perhaps too shy, to act the part of a +declared lover, and he was too proud to let it be thought that he wanted +to exchange his poverty for her wealth. But he was all the more anxious +when he saw the evident attraction which Ratcliffe's strong will and +unscrupulous energy exercised over her. He saw that Ratcliffe was +steadily pushing his advances; that he flattered all Mrs. Lee's +weaknesses by the confidence and deference with which he treated her; +and that in a very short time, Madeleine must either marry him or find +herself looked upon as a heartless coquette. He had his own reasons for +thinking ill of Senator Ratcliffe, and he meant to prevent a marriage; +but he had an enemy to deal with not easily driven from the path, and +quite capable of routing any number of rivals. + +Ratcliffe was afraid of no one. He had not fought his own way in +life for nothing, and he knew all the value of a cold head and dogged +self-assurance. + +Nothing but this robust Americanism and his strong will carried him +safely through the snares and pitfalls of Mrs. Lee's society, where +rivals and enemies beset him on every hand. He was little better than a +schoolboy, when he ventured on their ground, but when he could draw +them over upon his own territory of practical life he rarely failed to +trample on his assailants. + +It was this practical sense and cool will that won over Mrs. Lee, who +was woman enough to assume that all the graces were well enough +employed in decorating her, and it was enough if the other sex felt her +superiority. Men were valuable only in proportion to their strength and +their appreciation of women. If the senator had only been strong enough +always to control his temper, he would have done very well, but his +temper was under a great strain in these times, and his incessant effort +to control it in politics made him less watchful in private life. +Mrs. Lee's tacit assumption of superior refinement irritated him, +and sometimes made him show his teeth like a bull-dog, at the cost of +receiving from Mrs. Lee a quick stroke in return such as a well-bred +tortoise-shell cat administers to check over-familiarity; innocent to +the eye, but drawing blood. One evening when he was more than commonly +out of sorts, after sitting some time in moody silence, he roused +himself, and, taking up a book that lay on her table, he glanced at its +title and turned over the leaves. It happened by ill luck to be a volume +of Darwin that Mrs. Lee had just borrowed from the library of Congress. + +"Do you understand this sort of thing?" asked the Senator abruptly, in a +tone that suggested a sneer. + +"Not very well," replied Mrs. Lee, rather curtly. + +"Why do you want to understand it?" persisted the Senator. "What good +will it do you?" + +"Perhaps it will teach us to be modest," answered Madeleine, quite equal +to the occasion. + +"Because it says we descend from monkeys?" rejoined the Senator, +roughly. + +"Do you think you are descended from monkeys?" + +"Why not?" said Madeleine. + +"Why not?" repeated Ratcliffe, laughing harshly. "I don't like the +connection. Do you mean to introduce your distant relations into +society?" + +"They would bring more amusement into it than most of its present +members," rejoined Mrs. Lee, with a gentle smile that threatened +mischief. But Ratcliffe would not be warned; on the contrary, the only +effect of Mrs. Lee's defiance was to exasperate his ill-temper, and +whenever he lost his temper he became senatorial and Websterian. "Such +books," he began, "disgrace our civilization; they degrade and stultify +our divine nature; they are only suited for Asiatic despotisms where men +are reduced to the level of brutes; that they should be accepted by a +man like Baron Jacobi, I can understand; he and his masters have nothing +to do in the world but to trample on human rights. Mr. Carrington, of +course, would approve those ideas; he believes in the divine doctrine +of flogging negroes; but that you, who profess philanthropy and free +principles, should go with them, is astonishing; it is incredible; it is +unworthy of you." + +"You are very hard on the monkeys," replied Madeleine, rather sternly, +when the Senator's oration was ended. "The monkeys never did you any +harm; they are not in public life; they are not even voters; if they +were, you would be enthusiastic about their intelligence and virtue. +After all, we ought to be grateful to them, for what would men do +in this melancholy world if they had not inherited gaiety from the +monkeys--as well as oratory." + +Ratcliffe, to do him justice, took punishment well, at least when +it came from Mrs. Lee's hands, and his occasional outbursts of +insubordination were sure to be followed by improved discipline; but if +he allowed Mrs. Lee to correct his faults, he had no notion of letting +himself be instructed by her friends, and he lost no chance of telling +them so. But to do this was not always enough. Whether it were that he +had few ideas outside of his own experience, or that he would not +trust himself on doubtful ground, he seemed compelled to bring every +discussion down to his own level. Madeleine puzzled herself in vain to +find out whether he did this because he knew no better, or because he +meant to cover his own ignorance. + +"The Baron has amused me very much with his account of Bucharest +society," Mrs. Lee would say: "I had no idea it was so gay." + +"I would like to show him our society in Peonia," was Ratcliffe's reply; +"he would find a very brilliant circle there of nature's true noblemen." + +"The Baron says their politicians are precious sharp chaps," added Mr. + +French. + +"Oh, there are politicians in Bulgaria, are there?" asked the Senator, +whose ideas of the Roumanian and Bulgarian neighbourhood were vague, +and who had a general notion that all such people lived in tents, +wore sheepskins with the wool inside, and ate curds: "Oh, they have +politicians there! I would like to see them try their sharpness in the +west." + +"Really!" said Mrs. Lee. "Think of Attila and his hordes running an +Indiana caucus?" + +"Anyhow," cried French with a loud laugh, "the Baron said that a set of +bigger political scoundrels than his friends couldn't be found in all +Illinois." + +"Did he say that?" exclaimed Ratcliffe angrily. + +"Didn't he, Mrs. Lee? but I don't believe it; do you? What's your candid +opinion, Ratcliffe? What you don't know about Illinois politics isn't +worth knowing; do you really think those Bulgrascals couldn't run an +Illinois state convention?" + +Ratcliffe did not like to be chaffed, especially on this subject, but he +could not resent French's liberty which was only a moderate return +for the wooden nutmeg. To get the conversation away from Europe, from +literature, from art, was his great object, and chaff was a way of +escape. + +Carrington was very well aware that the weak side of the Senator lay in +his blind ignorance of morals. He flattered himself that Mrs. Lee must +see this and be shocked by it sooner or later, so that nothing more was +necessary than to let Ratcliffe expose himself. Without talking very +much, Carrington always aimed at drawing him out. He soon found, +however, that Ratcliffe understood such tactics perfectly, and instead +of injuring, he rather improved his position. At times the man's +audacity was startling, and even when Carrington thought him hopelessly +entangled, he would sweep away all the hunter's nets with a sheer effort +of strength, and walk off bolder and more dangerous than ever. + +When Mrs. Lee pressed him too closely, he frankly admitted her charges. + +"What you say is in great part true. There is much in politics that +disgusts and disheartens; much that is coarse and bad. I grant you there +is dishonesty and corruption. We must try to make the amount as small as +possible." + +"You should be able to tell Mrs. Lee how she must go to work," said +Carrington; "you have had experience. I have heard, it seems to me, that +you were once driven to very hard measures against corruption." + +Ratcliffe looked ill-pleased at this compliment, and gave Carrington one +of his cold glances that meant mischief. But he took up the challenge on +the spot:-- + +"Yes, I was, and am very sorry for it. The story is this, Mrs. Lee; +and it is well-known to every man, woman, and child in the State of +Illinois, so that I have no reason for softening it. In the worst days +of the war there was almost a certainty that my State would be carried +by the peace party, by fraud, as we thought, although, fraud or not, we +were bound to save it. Had Illinois been lost then, we should certainly +have lost the Presidential election, and with it probably the Union. At +any rate, I believed the fate of the war to depend on the result. I +was then Governor, and upon me the responsibility rested. We had entire +control of the northern counties and of their returns. We ordered the +returning officers in a certain number of counties to make no returns +until they heard from us, and when we had received the votes of all the +southern counties and learned the precise number of votes we needed to +give us a majority, we telegraphed to our northern returning officers +to make the vote of their districts such and such, thereby overbalancing +the adverse returns and giving the State to us. This was done, and as I +am now senator I have a right to suppose that what I did was approved. I +am not proud of the transaction, but I would do it again, and worse than +that, if I thought it would save this country from disunion. But of +course I did not expect Mr. Carrington to approve it. I believe he was +then carrying out his reform principles by bearing arms against the +government." + +"Yes!" said Carrington drily; "you got the better of me, too. Like the +old Scotchman, you didn't care who made the people's wars provided you +made its ballots." + +Carrington had missed his point. The man who has committed a murder for +his country, is a patriot and not an assassin, even when he receives a +seat in the Senate as his share of the plunder. Women cannot be expected +to go behind the motives of that patriot who saves his country and his +election in times of revolution. + +Carrington's hostility to Ratcliffe was, however, mild, when compared +with that felt by old Baron Jacobi. Why the baron should have taken so +violent a prejudice it is not easy to explain, but a diplomatist and a +senator are natural enemies, and Jacobi, as an avowed admirer of +Mrs. Lee, found Ratcliffe in his way. This prejudiced and immoral old +diplomatist despised and loathed an American senator as the type +which, to his bleared European eyes, combined the utmost pragmatical +self-assurance and overbearing temper with the narrowest education and +the meanest personal experience that ever existed in any considerable +government. As Baron Jacobi's country had no special relations with that +of the United States, and its Legation at Washington was a mere job to +create a place for Jacobi to fill, he had no occasion to disguise his +personal antipathies, and he considered himself in some degree as having +a mission to express that diplomatic contempt for the Senate which his +colleagues, if they felt it, were obliged to conceal. He performed his +duties with conscientious precision. He never missed an opportunity to +thrust the sharp point of his dialectic rapier through the joints of the +clumsy and hide-bound senatorial self-esteem. He delighted in skilfully +exposing to Madeleine's eyes some new side of Ratcliffe's ignorance. +His conversation at such times sparkled with historical allusions, +quotations in half a dozen different languages, references to well-known +facts which an old man's memory could not recall with precision in all +their details, but with which the Honourable Senator was familiarly +acquainted, and which he could readily supply. And his Voltairian +face leered politely as he listened to Ratcliffe's reply, which showed +invariable ignorance of common literature, art, and history. The climax +of his triumph came one evening when Ratcliffe unluckily, tempted by +some allusion to Moliere which he thought he understood, made reference +to the unfortunate influence of that great man on the religious opinions +of his time. Jacobi, by a flash of inspiration, divined that he had +confused Moliere with Voltaire, and assuming a manner of extreme +suavity, he put his victim on the rack, and tortured him with affected +explanations and interrogations, until Madeleine was in a manner forced +to interrupt and end the scene. But even when the senator was not to be +lured into a trap, he could not escape assault. The baron in such a +case would cross the lines and attack him on his own ground, as on one +occasion, when Ratcliffe was defending his doctrine of party allegiance, +Jacobi silenced him by sneering somewhat thus: + +"Your principle is quite correct, Mr. Senator. I, too, like yourself, +was once a good party man: my party was that of the Church; I was +ultramontane. Your party system is one of your thefts from our Church; +your National Convention is our OEcumenic Council; you abdicate reason, +as we do, before its decisions; and you yourself, Mr. Ratcliffe, you are +a Cardinal. They are able men, those cardinals; I have known many; they +were our best friends, but they were not reformers. Are you a reformer, +Mr. Senator?" + +Ratcliffe grew to dread and hate the old man, but all his ordinary +tactics were powerless against this impenetrable eighteenth century +cynic. If he resorted to his Congressional practise of browbeating +and dogmatism, the Baron only smiled and turned his back, or made some +remark in French which galled his enemy all the more, because, while +he did not understand it, he knew well that Madeleine did, and that she +tried to repress her smile. + +Ratcliffe's grey eyes grew colder and stonier than ever as he gradually +perceived that Baron Jacobi was carrying on a set scheme with malignant +ingenuity, to drive him out of Madeleine's house, and he swore +a terrible oath that he would not be beaten by that monkey-faced +foreigner. On the other hand Jacobi had little hope of success: "What +can an old man do?" said he with perfect sincerity to Carrington; "If +I were forty years younger, that great oaf should not have his own way. +Ah! I wish I were young again and we were in Vienna!" From which it was +rightly inferred by Carrington that the venerable diplomatist would, if +such acts were still in fashion, have coolly insulted the Senator, and +put a bullet through his heart. + + + +Chapter VI + +IN February the weather became warmer and summer-like. In Virginia there +comes often at this season a deceptive gleam of summer, slipping in +between heavy storm-clouds of sleet and snow; days and sometimes weeks +when the temperature is like June; when the earliest plants begin to +show their hardy flowers, and when the bare branches of the forest trees +alone protest against the conduct of the seasons. Then men and women are +languid; life seems, as in Italy, sensuous and glowing with colour; one +is conscious of walking in an atmosphere that is warm, palpable, radiant +with possibilities; a delicate haze hangs over Arlington, and softens +even the harsh white glare of the Capitol; the struggle of existence +seems to abate; Lent throws its calm shadow over society; and youthful +diplomatists, unconscious of their danger, are lured into asking foolish +girls to marry them; the blood thaws in the heart and flows out into the +veins, like the rills of sparkling water that trickle from every lump +of ice or snow, as though all the ice and snow on earth, and all the +hardness of heart, all the heresy and schism, all the works of the +devil, had yielded to the force of love and to the fresh warmth of +innocent, lamb-like, confiding virtue. In such a world there should be +no guile--but there is a great deal of it notwithstanding. Indeed, at +no other season is there so much. This is the moment when the two whited +sepulchres at either end of the Avenue reek with the thick atmosphere of +bargain and sale. The old is going; the new is coming. Wealth, office, +power are at auction. Who bids highest? who hates with most venom? who +intrigues with most skill? who has done the dirtiest, the meanest, the +darkest, and the most, political work? He shall have his reward. + +Senator Ratcliffe was absorbed and ill at ease. A swarm of applicants +for office dogged his steps and beleaguered his rooms in quest of his +endorsement of their paper characters. The new President was to arrive +on Monday. Intrigues and combinations, of which the Senator was the +soul, were all alive, awaiting this arrival. Newspaper correspondents +pestered him with questions. Brother senators called him to conferences. +His mind was pre-occupied with his own interests. One might have +supposed that, at this instant, nothing could have drawn him away from +the political gaming-table, and yet when Mrs. Lee remarked that she was +going to Mount Vernon on Saturday with a little party, including the +British Minister and an Irish gentleman staying as a guest at the +British Legation, the Senator surprised her by expressing a strong wish +to join them. He explained that, as the political lead was no longer +in his hands, the chances were nine in ten that if he stirred at all +he should make a blunder; that his friends expected him to do something +when, in fact, nothing could be done; that every preparation had already +been made, and that for him to go on an excursion to Mount Vernon, at +this moment, with the British Minister, was, on the whole, about the +best use he could make of his time, since it would hide him for one day +at least. + +Lord Skye had fallen into the habit of consulting Mrs. Lee when his own +social resources were low, and it was she who had suggested this party +to Mount Vernon, with Carrington for a guide and Mr. Gore for variety, +to occupy the time of the Irish friend whom Lord Skye was bravely +entertaining. + +This gentleman, who bore the title of Dunbeg, was a dilapidated peer, +neither wealthy nor famous. Lord Skye brought him to call on Mrs. Lee, +and in some sort put him under her care. He was young, not ill-looking, +quite intelligent, rather too fond of facts, and not quick at humour. +He was given to smiling in a deprecatory way, and when he talked, he +was either absent or excited; he made vague blunders, and then smiled +in deprecation of offence, or his words blocked their own path in their +rush. Perhaps his manner was a little ridiculous, but he had a good +heart, a good head, and a title. He found favour in the eyes of Sybil +and Victoria Dare, who declined to admit other women to the party, +although they offered no objection to Mr. + +Ratcliffe's admission. As for Lord Dunbeg, he was an enthusiastic +admirer of General Washington, and, as he privately intimated, eager to +study phases of American society. He was delighted to go with a small +party, and Miss Dare secretly promised herself that she would show him a +phase. + +The morning was warm, the sky soft, the little steamer lay at the quiet +wharf with a few negroes lazily watching her preparations for departure. + +Carrington, with Mrs. Lee and the young ladies, arrived first, and stood +leaning against the rail, waiting the arrival of their companions. Then +came Mr. Gore, neatly attired and gloved, with a light spring overcoat; +for Mr. + +Gore was very careful of his personal appearance, and not a little vain +of his good looks. Then a pretty woman, with blue eyes and blonde hair, +dressed in black, and leading a little girl by the hand, came on board, +and Carrington went to shake hands with her. On his return to Mrs. Lee's +side, she asked about his new acquaintance, and he replied with a +half-laugh, as though he were not proud of her, that she was a client, +a pretty widow, well known in Washington. "Any one at the Capitol would +tell you all about her. She was the wife of a noted lobbyist, who died +about two years ago. Congressmen can refuse nothing to a pretty face, +and she was their idea of feminine perfection. Yet she is a silly little +woman, too. Her husband died after a very short illness, and, to my +great surprise, made me executor under his will. I think he had an idea +that he could trust me with his papers, which were important and +compromising, for he seems to have had no time to go over them and +destroy what were best out of the way. So, you see, I am left with his +widow and child to look after. Luckily, they are well provided for." + +"Still you have not told me her name." + +"Her name is Baker--Mrs. Sam Baker. But they are casting off, and Mr. +Ratcliffe will be left behind. I'll ask the captain to wait." About a +dozen passengers had arrived, among them the two Earls, with a footman +carrying a promising lunch-basket, and the planks were actually hauled +in when a carriage dashed up to the wharf, and Mr. Ratcliffe leaped out +and hurried on board. "Off with you as quick as you can!" said he to +the negro-hands, and in another moment the little steamer had begun her +journey, pounding the muddy waters of the Potomac and sending up its +small column of smoke as though it were a newly invented incense-burner +approaching the temple of the national deity. Ratcliffe explained in +great glee how he had barely managed to escape his visitors by telling +them that the British Minister was waiting for him, and that he would +be back again presently. "If they had known where I was going," said +he, "you would have seen the boat swamped with office-seekers. Illinois +alone would have brought you to a watery grave." He was in high spirits, +bent upon enjoying his holiday, and as they passed the arsenal with +its solitary sentry, and the navy-yard, with its one unseaworthy wooden +war-steamer, he pointed out these evidences of national grandeur to Lord +Skye, threatening, as the last terror of diplomacy, to send him home in +an American frigate. They were thus indulging in senatorial humour on +one side of the boat, while Sybil and Victoria, with the aid of Mr. Gore +and Carrington, were improving Lord Dunbeg's mind on the other. + +Miss Dare, finding for herself at last a convenient seat where she could +repose and be mistress of the situation, put on a more than usually +demure expression and waited with gravity until her noble neighbour +should give her an opportunity to show those powers which, as she +believed, would supply a phase in his existence. Miss Dare was one of +those young persons, sometimes to be found in America, who seem to have +no object in life, and while apparently devoted to men, care nothing +about them, but find happiness only in violating rules; she made no +parade of whatever virtues she had, and her chief pleasure was to make +fun of all the world and herself. + +"What a noble river!" remarked Lord Dunbeg, as the boat passed out upon +the wide stream; "I suppose you often sail on it?" + +"I never was here in my life till now," replied the untruthful Miss +Dare; "we don't think much of it; it s too small; we're used to so much +larger rivers." + +"I am afraid you would not like our English rivers then; they are mere +brooks compared with this." + +"Are they indeed?" said Victoria, with an appearance of vague surprise; +"how curious! I don't think I care to be an Englishwoman then. I could +not live without big rivers." + +Lord Dunbeg stared, and hinted that this was almost unreasonable. + +"Unless I were a Countess!" continued Victoria, meditatively, looking +at Alexandria, and paying no attention to his lordship; "I think I could +manage if I were a C-c-countess. It is such a pretty title!" + +"Duchess is commonly thought a prettier one," stammered Dunbeg, much +embarrassed. The young man was not used to chaff from women. + +"I should be satisfied with Countess. It sounds well. I am surprised +that you don't like it." Dunbeg looked about him uneasily for some means +of escape but he was barred in. "I should think you would feel an awful +responsibility in selecting a Countess. How do you do it?" + +Lord Dunbeg nervously joined in the general laughter as Sybil +ejaculated: + +"Oh, Victoria!" but Miss Dare continued without a smile or any elevation +of her monotonous voice: + +"Now, Sybil, don't interrupt me, please. I am deeply interested in Lord +Dunbeg's conversation. He understands that my interest is purely +scientific, but my happiness requires that I should know how Countesses +are selected. Lord Dunbeg, how would you recommend a friend to choose a +Countess?" + +Lord Dunbeg began to be amused by her impudence, and he even tried to +lay down for her satisfaction one or two rules for selecting Countesses, +but long before he had invented his first rule, Victoria had darted off +to a new subject. + +"Which would you rather be, Lord Dunbeg? an Earl or George Washington?" + +"George Washington, certainly," was the Earl's courteous though rather +bewildered reply. + +"Really?" she asked with a languid affectation of surprise; "it is +awfully kind of you to say so, but of course you can't mean it. + +"Indeed I do mean it." + +"Is it possible? I never should have thought it." + +"Why not, Miss Dare?" + +"You have not the air of wishing to be George Washington." + +"May I again ask, why not?" + +"Certainly. Did you ever see George Washington?" + +"Of course not. He died fifty years before I was born." + +"I thought so. You see you don't know him. Now, will you give us an idea +of what you imagine General Washington to have looked like?" + +Dunbeg gave accordingly a flattering description of General Washington, +compounded of Stuart's portrait and Greenough's statue of Olympian Jove +with Washington's features, in the Capitol Square. Miss Dare listened +with an expression of superiority not unmixed with patience, and then +she enlightened him as follows: + +"All you have been saying is perfect stuff--excuse the vulgarity of the +expression. When I am a Countess I will correct my language. The +truth is that General Washington was a raw-boned country farmer, very +hard-featured, very awkward, very illiterate and very dull; very bad +tempered, very profane, and generally tipsy after dinner." + +"You shock me, Miss Dare!" exclaimed Dunbeg. + +"Oh! I know all about General Washington. My grandfather knew him +intimately, and often stayed at Mount Vernon for weeks together. You +must not believe what you read, and not a word of what Mr. Carrington +will say. He is a Virginian and will tell you no end of fine stories and +not a syllable of truth in one of them. We are all patriotic about +Washington and like to hide his faults. If I weren't quite sure you +would never repeat it, I would not tell you this. The truth is that even +when George Washington was a small boy, his temper was so violent that +no one could do anything with him. He once cut down all his father's +fruit-trees in a fit of passion, and then, just because they wanted to +flog him, he threatened to brain his father with the hatchet. His aged +wife suffered agonies from him. My grandfather often told me how he had +seen the General pinch and swear at her till the poor creature left the +room in tears; and how once at Mount Vernon he saw Washington, when +quite an old man, suddenly rush at an unoffending visitor, and chase him +off the place, beating him all the time over the head with a great stick +with knots in it, and all just because he heard the poor man stammer; he +never could abide s-s-stammering." + +Carrington and Gore burst into shouts of laughter over this description +of the Father of his country, but Victoria continued in her gentle drawl +to enlighten Lord Dunbeg in regard to other subjects with information +equally mendacious, until he decided that she was quite the most +eccentric person he had ever met. The boat arrived at Mount Vernon while +she was still engaged in a description of the society and manners of +America, and especially of the rules which made an offer of marriage +necessary. According to her, Lord Dunbeg was in imminent peril; +gentlemen, and especially foreigners, were expected, in all the States +south of the Potomac, to offer themselves to at least one young lady in +every city: "and I had only yesterday," said Victoria, "a letter from a +lovely girl in North Carolina, a dear friend of mine, who wrote me that +she was right put out because her brothers had called on a young English +visitor with shot guns, and she was afraid he wouldn't recover, and, +after all, she says she should have refused him." + +Meanwhile Madeleine, on the other side of the boat, undisturbed by the +laughter that surrounded Miss Dare, chatted soberly and seriously with +Lord Skye and Senator Ratcliffe. Lord Skye, too, a little intoxicated +by the brilliancy of the morning, broke out into admiration of the noble +river, and accused Americans of not appreciating the beauties of their +own country. + +"Your national mind," said he, "has no eyelids. It requires a broad +glare and a beaten road. It prefers shadows which you can cut out with a +knife. It doesn't know the beauty of this Virginia winter softness." + +Mrs. Lee resented the charge. America, she maintained, had not worn her +feelings threadbare like Europe. She had still her story to tell; she +was waiting for her Burns and Scott, her Wordsworth and Byron, her +Hogarth and Turner. "You want peaches in spring," said she. "Give us +our thousand years of summer, and then complain, if you please, that our +peach is not as mellow as yours. Even our voices may be soft then," she +added, with a significant look at Lord Skye. + +"We are at a disadvantage in arguing with Mrs. Lee," said he to +Ratcliffe; "when she ends as counsel, she begins as witness. The famous +Duchess of Devonshire's lips were not half as convincing as Mrs. Lee's +voice." + +Ratcliffe listened carefully, assenting whenever he saw that Mrs. Lee +wished it. He wished he understood precisely what tones and half-tones, +colours and harmonies, were. + +They arrived and strolled up the sunny path. At the tomb they halted, +as all good Americans do, and Mr. Gore, in a tone of subdued sorrow, +delivered a short address-- + +"It might be much worse if they improved it," he said, surveying its +proportions with the aesthetic eye of a cultured Bostonian. "As it +stands, this tomb is a simple misfortune which might befall any of us; +we should not grieve over it too much. What would our feelings be if +a Congressional committee reconstructed it of white marble with Gothic +pepper-pots, and gilded it inside on machine-moulded stucco!" + +Madeleine, however, insisted that the tomb, as it stood, was the only +restless spot about the quiet landscape, and that it contradicted all +her ideas about repose in the grave. Ratcliffe wondered what she meant. + +They passed on, wandering across the lawn, and through the house. Their +eyes, weary of the harsh colours and forms of the city, took pleasure in +the worn wainscots and the stained walls. Some of the rooms were still +occupied; fires were burning in the wide fire-places. All were tolerably +furnished, and there was no uncomfortable sense of repair or newness. +They mounted the stairs, and Mrs. Lee fairly laughed when she was shown +the room in which General Washington slept, and where he died. + +Carrington smiled too. "Our old Virginia houses were mostly like this," +said he; "suites of great halls below, and these gaunt barracks above. +The Virginia house was a sort of hotel. When there was a race or a +wedding, or a dance, and the house was full, they thought nothing of +packing half a dozen people in one room, and if the room was large, they +stretched a sheet a cross to separate the men from the women. As for +toilet, those were not the mornings of cold baths. With our ancestors a +little washing went a long way." + +"Do you still live so in Virginia?" asked Madeleine. + +"Oh no, it is quite gone. We live now like other country people, and try +to pay our debts, which that generation never did. They lived from hand +to mouth. They kept a stable-full of horses. The young men were always +riding about the country, betting on horse-races, gambling, drinking, +fighting, and making love. No one knew exactly what he was worth until +the crash came about fifty years ago, and the whole thing ran out." + +"Just what happened in Ireland!" said Lord Dunbeg, much interested and +full of his article in the Quarterly; "the resemblance is perfect, even +down to the houses." + +Mrs. Lee asked Carrington bluntly whether he regretted the destruction +of this old social arrangement. + +"One can't help regretting," said he, "whatever it was that produced +George Washington, and a crowd of other men like him. But I think we +might produce the men still if we had the same field for them." + +"And would you bring the old society back again if you could?" asked +she. + +"What for? It could not hold itself up. General Washington himself could +not save it. Before he died he had lost his hold on Virginia, and his +power was gone." + +The party for a while separated, and Mrs. Lee found herself alone in the +great drawing-room. Presently the blonde Mrs. Baker entered, with her +child, who ran about making more noise than Mrs. Washington would have +permitted. + +Madeleine, who had the usual feminine love of children, called the girl +to her and pointed out the shepherds and shepherdesses carved on the +white Italian marble of the fireplace; she invented a little story +about them to amuse the child, while the mother stood by and at the end +thanked the story-teller with more enthusiasm than seemed called for. +Mrs. Lee did not fancy her effusive manner, or her complexion, and was +glad when Dunbeg appeared at the doorway. + +"How do you like General Washington at home?" asked she. + +"Really, I assure you I feel quite at home myself," replied Dunbeg, with +a more beaming smile than ever. "I am sure General Washington was an +Irishman. I know it from the look of the place. I mean to look it up and +write an article about it." + +"Then if you have disposed of him," said Madeleine, "I think we will +have luncheon, and I have taken the liberty to order it to be served +outside." + +There a table had been improvised, and Miss Dare was inspecting the +lunch, and making comments upon Lord Skye's cuisine and cellar. + +"I hope it is very dry champagne," said she, "the taste for sweet +champagne is quite awfully shocking." + +The young woman knew no more about dry and sweet champagne than of the +wine of Ulysses, except that she drank both with equal satisfaction, but +she was mimicking a Secretary of the British Legation who had provided +her with supper at her last evening party. Lord Skye begged her to try +it, which she did, and with great gravity remarked that it was about +five per cent. she presumed. This, too, was caught from her Secretary, +though she knew no more what it meant than if she had been a parrot. + +The luncheon was very lively and very good. When it was over, the +gentlemen were allowed to smoke, and conversation fell into a sober +strain, which at last threatened to become serious. + +"You want half-tones!" said Madeleine to Lord Skye: "are there not +half-tones enough to suit you on the walls of this house?" + +Lord Skye suggested that this was probably owing to the fact that +Washington, belonging, as he did, to the universe, was in his taste an +exception to local rules. + +"Is not the sense of rest here captivating?" she continued. "Look at +that quaint garden, and this ragged lawn, and the great river in front, +and the superannuated fort beyond the river! Everything is peaceful, +even down to the poor old General's little bed-room. One would like to +lie down in it and sleep a century or two. And yet that dreadful Capitol +and its office-seekers are only ten miles off." + +"No! that is more than I can bear!" broke in Miss Victoria in a stage +whisper, "that dreadful Capitol! Why, not one of us would be here +without that dreadful Capitol! except, perhaps, myself." + +"You would appear very well as Mrs. Washington, Victoria." + +"Miss Dare has been so very obliging as to give us her views of General +Washington's character this morning," said Dunbeg, "but I have not yet +had time to ask Mr. Carrington for his." + +"Whatever Miss Dare says is valuable," replied Carrington, "but her +strong point is facts." + +"Never flatter! Mr. Carrington," drawled Miss Dare; "I do not need it, +and it does not become your style. Tell me, Lord Dunbeg, is not Mr. +Carrington a little your idea of General Washington restored to us in +his prime?" + +"After your account of General Washington, Miss Dare, how can I agree +with you?" + +"After all," said Lord Skye, "I think we must agree that Miss Dare is in +the main right about the charms of Mount Vernon. Even Mrs. Lee, on the +way up, agreed that the General, who is the only permanent resident +here, has the air of being confoundedly bored in his tomb. I don't +myself love your dreadful Capitol yonder, but I prefer it to a bucolic +life here. And I account in this way for my want of enthusiasm for your +great General. He liked no kind of life but this. He seems to have been +greater in the character of a home-sick Virginia planter than as General +or President. I forgive him his inordinate dulness, for he was not a +diplomatist and it was not his business to lie, but he might once in a +way have forgotten Mount Vernon." + +Dunbeg here burst in with an excited protest; all his words seemed to +shove each other aside in their haste to escape first. "All our greatest +Englishmen have been home-sick country squires. I am a home-sick country +squire myself." + +"How interesting!" said Miss Dare under her breath. + +Mr. Gore here joined in: "It is all very well for you gentlemen to +measure General Washington according to your own private twelve-inch +carpenter's rule. But what will you say to us New Englanders who never +were country gentlemen at all, and never had any liking for Virginia? +What did Washington ever do for us? He never even pretended to like us. +He never was more than barely civil to us. I'm not finding fault with +him; everybody knows that he never cared for anything but Mount Vernon. +For all that, we idolize him. To us he is Morality, Justice, Duty, +Truth; half a dozen Roman gods with capital letters. He is austere, +solitary, grand; he ought to be deified. I hardly feel easy, eating, +drinking, smoking here on his portico without his permission, taking +liberties with his house, criticising his bedrooms in his absence. +Suppose I heard his horse now trotting up on the other side, and he +suddenly appeared at this door and looked at us. I should abandon you to +his indignation. I should run away and hide myself on the steamer. The +mere thought unmans me." + +Ratcliffe seemed amused at Gore's half-serious notions. "You recall +to me," said he, "my own feelings when I was a boy and was made by my +father to learn the Farewell Address by heart. In those days General +Washington was a sort of American Jehovah. But the West is a poor +school for Reverence. Since coming to Congress I have learned more about +General Washington, and have been surprised to find what a narrow +base his reputation rests on. A fair military officer, who made many +blunders, and who never had more men than would make a full army-corps +under his command, he got an enormous reputation in Europe because he +did not make himself king, as though he ever had a chance of doing it. +A respectable, painstaking President, he was treated by the Opposition +with an amount of deference that would have made government easy to a +baby, but it worried him to death. His official papers are fairly done, +and contain good average sense such as a hundred thousand men in the +United States would now write. I suspect that half of his attachment to +this spot rose from his consciousness of inferior powers and his dread +of responsibility. This government can show to-day a dozen men of equal +abilities, but we don't deify them. What I most wonder at in him is +not his military or political genius at all, for I doubt whether he +had much, but a curious Yankee shrewdness in money matters. He thought +himself a very rich man, yet he never spent a dollar foolishly. He was +almost the only Virginian I ever heard of, in public life, who did not +die insolvent." + +During this long speech, Carrington glanced across at Madeleine, and +caught her eye. Ratcliffe's criticism was not to her taste. Carrington +could see that she thought it unworthy of him, and he knew that it would +irritate her. + +"I will lay a little trap for Mr. Ratcliffe," thought he to himself; +"we will see whether he gets out of it." So Carrington began, and all +listened closely, for, as a Virginian, he was supposed to know much +about the subject, and his family had been deep in the confidence of +Washington himself. + +"The neighbours hereabout had for many years, and may have still, some +curious stories about General Washington's closeness in money matters. +They said he never bought anything by weight but he had it weighed over +again, nor by tale but he had it counted, and if the weight or number +were not exact, he sent it back. Once, during his absence, his steward +had a room plastered, and paid the plasterer's bill. On the General's +return, he measured the room, and found that the plasterer had charged +fifteen shillings too much. Meanwhile the man had died, and the General +made a claim of fifteen shillings on his estate, which was paid. Again, +one of his tenants brought him the rent. The exact change of fourpence +was required. The man tendered a dollar, and asked the General to credit +him with the balance against the next year's rent. The General refused +and made him ride nine miles to Alexandria and back for the fourpence. +On the other hand, he sent to a shoemaker in Alexandria to come and +measure him for shoes. The man returned word that he did not go to any +one's house to take measures, and the General mounted his horse and rode +the nine miles to him. One of his rules was to pay at taverns the same +sum for his servants' meals as for his own. An inn-keeper brought him a +bill of three-and-ninepence for his own breakfast, and three shillings +for his servant. He insisted upon adding the extra ninepence, as he did +not doubt that the servant had eaten as much as he. What do you say to +these anecdotes? Was this meanness or not?" + +Ratcliffe was amused. "The stories are new to me," he said. "It is just +as I thought. These are signs of a man who thinks much of trifles; one +who fusses over small matters. We don't do things in that way now that +we no longer have to get crops from granite, as they used to do in New +Hampshire when I was a boy." + +Carrington replied that it was unlucky for Virginians that they had not +done things in that way then: if they had, they would not have gone to +the dogs. + +Gore shook his head seriously; "Did I not tell you so?" said he. "Was +not this man an abstract virtue? I give you my word I stand in awe +before him, and I feel ashamed to pry into these details of his life. +What is it to us how he thought proper to apply his principles to +nightcaps and feather dusters? We are not his body servants, and we +care nothing about his infirmities. It is enough for us to know that he +carried his rules of virtue down to a pin's point, and that we ought, +one and all, to be on our knees before his tomb." + +Dunbeg, pondering deeply, at length asked Carrington whether all this +did not make rather a clumsy politician of the father of his country. + +"Mr. Ratcliffe knows more about politics than I. Ask him," said +Carrington. + +"Washington was no politician at all, as we understand the word," +replied Ratcliffe abruptly. "He stood outside of politics. The thing +couldn't be done to-day. The people don't like that sort of royal airs." + +"I don't understand!" said Mrs. Lee. "Why could you not do it now?" + +"Because I should make a fool of myself;" replied Ratcliffe, pleased to +think that Mrs. Lee should put him on a level with Washington. She had +only meant to ask why the thing could not be done, and this little touch +of Ratcliffe's vanity was inimitable. + +"Mr. Ratcliffe means that Washington was too respectable for our time," +interposed Carrington. + +This was deliberately meant to irritate Ratcliffe, and it did so all +the more because Mrs. Lee turned to Carrington, and said, with some +bitterness: + +"Was he then the only honest public man we ever had?" + +"Oh no!" replied Carrington cheerfully; "there have been one or two +others." + +"If the rest of our Presidents had been like him," said Gore, "we should +have had fewer ugly blots on our short history." + +Ratcliffe was exasperated at Carrington's habit of drawing discussion to +this point. He felt the remark as a personal insult, and he knew it to +be intended. "Public men," he broke out, "cannot be dressing themselves +to-day in Washington's old clothes. If Washington were President now, he +would have to learn our ways or lose his next election. Only fools and +theorists imagine that our society can be handled with gloves or long +poles. One must make one's self a part of it. If virtue won't answer our +purpose, we must use vice, or our opponents will put us out of office, +and this was as true in Washington's day as it is now, and always will +be." + +"Come," said Lord Skye, who was beginning to fear an open quarrel; "the +conversation verges on treason, and I am accredited to this government. +Why not examine the grounds?" + +A kind of natural sympathy led Lord Dunbeg to wander by the side of Miss +Dare through the quaint old garden. His mind being much occupied by the +effort of stowing away the impressions he had just received, he was more +than usually absent in his manner, and this want of attention irritated +the young lady. She made some comments on flowers; she invented some +new species with startling names; she asked whether these were known in +Ireland; but Lord Dunbeg was for the moment so vague in his answers that +she saw her case was perilous. + +"Here is an old sun-dial. Do you have sun-dials in Ireland, Lord +Dunbeg?" + +"Yes; oh, certainly! What! sun-dials? Oh, yes! I assure you there are a +great many sun-dials in Ireland, Miss Dare." + +"I am so glad. But I suppose they are only for ornament. Here it is just +the other way. Look at this one! they all behave like that. The wear and +tear of our sun is too much for them; they don't last. My uncle, who has +a place at Long Branch, had five sun-dials in ten years." + +"How very odd! But really now, Miss Dare, I don't see how a sun--dial +could wear out." + +"Don't you? How strange! Don't you see, they get soaked with sunshine so +that they can't hold shadow. It's like me, you know. I have such a +good time all the time that I can't be unhappy. Do you ever read the +Burlington Hawkeye, Lord Dunbeg?" + +"I don't remember; I think not. Is it an American serial?" gasped +Dunbeg, trying hard to keep pace with Miss Dare in her reckless dashes +across country. + +"No, not serial at all!" replied Virginia; "but I am afraid you would +find it very hard reading. I shouldn't try." + +"Do you read it much, Miss Dare?" + +"Oh, always! I am not really as light as I seem. But then I have an +advantage over you because I know the language." + +By this time Dunbeg was awake again, and Miss Dare, satisfied with her +success, allowed herself to become more reasonable, until a slight shade +of sentiment began to flicker about their path. + +The scattered party, however, soon had to unite again. The boat rang +its bell for return, they filed down the paths and settled themselves +in their old places. As they steamed away, Mrs. Lee watched the sunny +hill-side and the peaceful house above, until she could see them no +more, and the longer she looked, the less she was pleased with herself. +Was it true, as Victoria Dare said, that she could not live in so pure +an air? Did she really need the denser fumes of the city? Was she, +unknown to herself; gradually becoming tainted with the life about her? +or was Ratcliffe right in accepting the good and the bad together, and +in being of his time since he was in it? Why was it, she said bitterly +to herself; that everything Washington touched, he purified, even down +to the associations of his house? and why is it that everything we touch +seems soiled? Why do I feel unclean when I look at Mount Vernon? In +spite of Mr. Ratcliffe, is it not better to be a child and to cry for +the moon and stars? + +The little Baker girl came up to her where she stood, and began playing +with her parasol. + +"Who is your little friend?" asked Ratcliffe. + +Mrs. Lee rather vaguely replied that she was the daughter of that pretty +woman in black; she believed her name was Baker. + +"Baker, did you say?" repeated Ratcliffe. + +"Baker--Mrs. Sam Baker; at least so Mr. Carrington told me; he said she +was a client of his." + +In fact Ratcliffe soon saw Carrington go up to her and remain by her +side during the rest of the trip. Ratcliffe watched them sharply and +grew more and more absorbed in his own thoughts as the boat drew nearer +and nearer the shore. + +Carrington was in high spirits. He thought he had played his cards with +unusual success. Even Miss Dare deigned to acknowledge his charms that +day. + +She declared herself to be the moral image of Martha Washington, and she +started a discussion whether Carrington or Lord Dunbeg would best suit +her in the role of the General. + +"Mr. Carrington is exemplary," she said, "but oh, what joy to be Martha +Washington and a Countess too!" + + + +Chapter VII + +WHEN he reached his rooms that afternoon, Senator Ratcliffe found +there, as he expected, a choice company of friends and admirers, who had +beguiled their leisure hours since noon by cursing him in every variety +of profane language that experience could suggest and impatience +stimulate. On his part, had he consulted his own feelings only, he would +then and there have turned them out, and locked the doors behind them. +So far as silent maledictions were concerned, no profanity of theirs +could hold its own against the intensity and deliberation with which, +as he found himself approaching his own door, he expressed between his +teeth his views in respect to their eternal interests. Nothing could be +less suited to his present humour than the society which awaited him in +his rooms. He groaned in spirit as he sat down at his writing-table and +looked about him. Dozens of office-seekers were besieging the house; +men whose patriotic services in the last election called loudly for +recognition from a grateful country. + +They brought their applications to the Senator with an entreaty that he +would endorse and take charge of them. Several members and senators who +felt that Ratcliffe had no reason for existence except to fight their +battle for patronage, were lounging about his room, reading newspapers, +or beguiling their time with tobacco in various forms; at long +intervals making dull remarks, as though they were more weary than their +constituents of the atmosphere that surrounds the grandest government +the sun ever shone upon. + +Several newspaper correspondents, eager to barter their news for +Ratcliffe's hints or suggestions, appeared from time to time on the +scene, and, dropping into a chair by Ratcliffe's desk, whispered with +him in mysterious tones. + +Thus the Senator worked on, hour after hour, mechanically doing what was +required of him, signing papers without reading them, answering remarks +without hearing them, hardly looking up from his desk, and appearing +immersed in labour. This was his protection against curiosity and +garrulity. + +The pretence of work was the curtain he drew between himself and the +world. + +Behind this curtain his mental operations went on, undisturbed by what +was about him, while he heard all that was said, and said little or +nothing himself. His followers respected this privacy, and left him +alone. He was their prophet, and had a right to seclusion. He was their +chieftain, and while he sat in his monosyllabic solitude, his ragged +tail reclined in various attitudes about him, and occasionally one man +spoke, or another swore. Newspapers and tobacco were their resource in +periods of absolute silence. + +A shade of depression rested on the faces and the voices of Clan +Ratcliffe that evening, as is not unusual with forces on the eve of +battle. Their remarks came at longer intervals, and were more pointless +and random than usual. There was a want of elasticity in their bearing +and tone, partly coming from sympathy with the evident depression of +their chief; partly from the portents of the time. The President was to +arrive within forty-eight hours, and as yet there was no sign that +he properly appreciated their services; there were signs only too +unmistakeable that he was painfully misled and deluded, that his +countenance was turned wholly in another direction, and that all their +sacrifices were counted as worthless. There was reason to believe that +he came with a deliberate purpose of making war upon Ratcliffe and +breaking him down; of refusing to bestow patronage on them, and of +bestowing it wherever it would injure them most deeply. At the thought +that their honestly earned harvest of foreign missions and consulates, +department-bureaus, custom-house and revenue offices, postmasterships, +Indian agencies, and army and navy contracts, might now be wrung from +their grasp by the selfish greed of a mere accidental intruder--a man +whom nobody wanted and every one ridiculed--their natures rebelled, and +they felt that such things must not be; that there could be no more hope +for democratic government if such things were possible. At this point +they invariably became excited, lost their equanimity, and swore. Then +they fell back on their faith in Ratcliffe: if any man could pull them +through, he could; after all, the President must first reckon with him, +and he was an uncommon tough customer to tackle. + +Perhaps, however, even their faith in Ratcliffe might have been shaken, +could they at that moment have looked into his mind and understood what +was passing there. Ratcliffe was a man vastly their superior, and he +knew it. He lived in a world of his own and had instincts of refinement. +Whenever his affairs went unfavourably, these instincts revived, and for +the time swept all his nature with them. He was now filled with disgust +and cynical contempt for every form of politics. During long years +he had done his best for his party; he had sold himself to the devil, +coined his heart's blood, toiled with a dogged persistence that no +day-labourer ever conceived; and all for what? To be rejected as its +candidate; to be put under the harrow of a small Indiana farmer who +made no secret of the intention to "corral" him, and, as he elegantly +expressed it, to "take his hide and tallow." Ratcliffe had no great fear +of losing his hide, but he felt aggrieved that he should be called +upon to defend it, and that this should be the result of twenty years' +devotion. Like most men in the same place, he did not stop to cast +up both columns of his account with the party, nor to ask himself the +question that lay at the heart of his grievance: How far had he served +his party and how far himself? He was in no humour for self-analysis: +this requires more repose of mind than he could then command. As for +the President, from whom he had not heard a whisper since the insolent +letter to Grimes, which he had taken care not to show, the Senator felt +only a strong impulse to teach him better sense and better manners. But +as for political life, the events of the last six months were calculated +to make any man doubt its value. He was quite out of sympathy with it. +He hated the sight of his tobacco-chewing, newspaper-reading satellites, +with their hats tipped at every angle except the right one, and their +feet everywhere except on the floor. Their conversation bored him and +their presence was a nuisance. He would not submit to this slavery +longer. He would have given his Senatorship for a civilized house like +Mrs. Lee's, with a woman like Mrs. Lee at its head, and twenty thousand +a year for life. He smiled his only smile that evening when he thought +how rapidly she would rout every man Jack of his political following out +of her parlours, and how meekly they would submit to banishment into a +back-office with an oil-cloth carpet and two cane chairs. + +He felt that Mrs. Lee was more necessary to him than the Presidency +itself; he could not go on without her; he needed human companionship; +some Christian comfort for his old age; some avenue of communication +with that social world, which made his present surroundings look cold +and foul; some touch of that refinement of mind and morals beside which +his own seemed coarse. He felt unutterably lonely. He wished Mrs. +Lee had asked him home to dinner; but Mrs. Lee had gone to bed with a +headache. He should not see her again for a week. Then his mind turned +back upon their morning at Mount Vernon, and bethinking himself of Mrs. +Sam Baker, he took a sheet of note-paper, and wrote a line to Wilson +Keen, Esq., at Georgetown, requesting him to call, if possible, the +next morning towards one o'clock at the Senator's rooms on a matter +of business. Wilson Keen was chief of the Secret Service Bureau in the +Treasury Department, and, as the depositary of all secrets, was often +called upon for assistance which he was very good-natured in furnishing +to senators, especially if they were likely to be Secretaries of the +Treasury. + +This note despatched, Mr. Ratcliffe fell back into his reflective mood, +which led him apparently into still lower depths of discontent until, +with a muttered oath, he swore he could "stand no more of this," and, +suddenly rising, he informed his visitors that he was sorry to leave +them, but he felt rather poorly and was going to bed; and to bed he +went, while his guests departed, each as his business or desires might +point him, some to drink whiskey and some to repose. + +On Sunday morning Mr. Ratcliffe, as usual, went to church. He always +attended morning service--at the Methodist Episcopal Church--not wholly +on the ground of religious conviction, but because a large number of his +constituents were church-going people and he would not willingly shock +their principles so long as he needed their votes. In church, he kept +his eyes closely fixed upon the clergyman, and at the end of the sermon +he could say with truth that he had not heard a word of it, although the +respectable minister was gratified by the attention his discourse had +received from the Senator from Illinois, an attention all the more +praiseworthy because of the engrossing public cares which must at +that moment have distracted the Senator's mind. In this last idea, +the minister was right. Mr. Ratcliffe's mind was greatly distracted by +public cares, and one of his strongest reasons for going to church at +all was that he might get an hour or two of undisturbed reflection. +During the entire service he was absorbed in carrying on a series +of imaginary conversations with the new President. He brought up in +succession every form of proposition which the President might make to +him; every trap which could be laid for him; every sort of treatment he +might expect, so that he could not be taken by surprise, and his frank, +simple nature could never be at a loss. One object, however, long +escaped him. Supposing, what was more than probable, that the +President's opposition to Ratcliffe's declared friends made it +impossible to force any of them into office; it would then be necessary +to try some new man, not obnoxious to the President, as a candidate for +the Cabinet. Who should this be? Ratcliffe pondered long and deeply, +searching out a man who combined the most powerful interests, with the +fewest enmities. This subject was still uppermost at the moment when +service ended. Ratcliffe pondered over it as he walked back to his +rooms. Not until he reached his own door did he come to a conclusion: + +Carson would do; Carson of Pennsylvania; the President had probably +never heard of him. + +Mr. Wilson Keen was waiting the Senator's return, a heavy man with a +square face, and good-natured, active blue eyes; a man of few words and +those well-considered. The interview was brief. After apologising for +breaking in upon Sunday with business, Mr. Ratcliffe excused himself on +the ground that so little time was left before the close of the session. +A bill now before one of his Committees, on which a report must soon +be made, involved matters to which it was believed that the late Samuel +Baker, formerly a well-known lobby-agent in Washington, held the only +clue. He being dead, Mr. Ratcliffe wished to know whether he had left +any papers behind him, and in whose hands these papers were, or whether +any partner or associate of his was acquainted with his affairs. + +Mr. Keen made a note of the request, merely remarking that he had been +very well acquainted with Baker, and also a little with his wife, who +was supposed to know his affairs as well as he knew them himself; and +who was still in Washington. He thought he could bring the information +in a day or two. As he then rose to go, Mr. Ratcliffe added that entire +secrecy was necessary, as the interests involved in obstructing the +search were considerable, and it was not well to wake them up. Mr. Keen +assented and went his way. + +All this was natural enough and entirely proper, at least so far as +appeared on the surface. Had Mr. Keen been so curious in other people's +affairs as to look for the particular legislative measure which lay at +the bottom of Mr. + +Ratcliffe's inquiries, he might have searched among the papers of +Congress a very long time and found himself greatly puzzled at last. In +fact there was no measure of the kind. The whole story was a fiction. +Mr. Ratcliffe had scarcely thought of Baker since his death, until the +day before, when he had seen his widow on the Mount Vernon steamer and +had found her in relations with Carrington. Something in Carrington's +habitual attitude and manner towards himself had long struck him as +peculiar, and this connection with Mrs. Baker had suggested to the +Senator the idea that it might be well to have an eye on both. Mrs. +Baker was a silly woman, as he knew, and there were old transactions +between Ratcliffe and Baker of which she might be informed, but which +Ratcliffe had no wish to see brought within Mrs. Lee's ken. As for +the fiction invented to set Keen in motion, it was an innocent one. +It harmed nobody. Ratcliffe selected this particular method of inquiry +because it was the easiest, safest, and most effectual. If he were +always to wait until he could afford to tell the precise truth, business +would very soon be at a standstill, and his career at an end. + +This little matter disposed of; the Senator from Illinois passed his +afternoon in calling upon some of his brother senators, and the first +of those whom he honoured with a visit was Mr. Krebs, of Pennsylvania. +There were many reasons which now made the co-operation of that +high-minded statesman essential to Mr. Ratcliffe. The strongest of them +was that the Pennsylvania delegation in Congress was well disciplined +and could be used with peculiar advantage for purposes of "pressure." +Ratcliffe's success in his contest with the new President depended +on the amount of "pressure" he could employ. To keep himself in the +background, and to fling over the head of the raw Chief Magistrate a web +of intertwined influences, any one of which alone would be useless, but +which taken together were not to be broken through; to revive the lost +art of the Roman retiarius, who from a safe distance threw his net over +his adversary, before attacking with the dagger; this was Ratcliffe's +intention and towards this he had been directing all his manipulation +for weeks past. How much bargaining and how many promises he found it +necessary to make, was known to himself alone. About this time Mrs. Lee +was a little surprised to find Mr. Gore speaking with entire confidence +of having Ratcliffe's support in his application for the Spanish +mission, for she had rather imagined that Gore was not a favourite with +Ratcliffe. She noticed too that Schneidekoupon had come back again and +spoke mysteriously of interviews with Ratcliffe; of attempts to unite +the interests of New York and Pennsylvania; and his countenance took on +a dark and dramatic expression as he proclaimed that no sacrifice of the +principle of protection should be tolerated. Schneidekoupon disappeared +as suddenly as he came, and from Sybil's innocent complaints of +his spirits and temper, Mrs. Lee jumped to the conclusion that Mr. +Ratcliffe, Mr. Clinton, and Mr. + +Krebs had for the moment combined to sit heavily upon poor +Schneidekoupon, and to remove his disturbing influence from the scene, +at least until other men should get what they wanted. These were merely +the trifling incidents that fell within Mrs. Lee's observation. She felt +an atmosphere of bargain and intrigue, but she could only imagine how +far it extended. Even Carrington, when she spoke to him about it, only +laughed and shook his head: + +"Those matters are private, my dear Mrs. Lee; you and I are not meant to +know such things." + +This Sunday afternoon Mr. Ratcliffe's object was to arrange the little +manoeuvre about Carson of Pennsylvania, which had disturbed him in +church. + +His efforts were crowned with success. Krebs accepted Carson and +promised to bring him forward at ten minutes' notice, should the +emergency arise. + +Ratcliffe was a great statesman. The smoothness of his manipulation was +marvellous. No other man in politics, indeed no other man who had ever +been in politics in this country, could--his admirers said--have brought +together so many hostile interests and made so fantastic a combination. +Some men went so far as to maintain that he would "rope in the President +himself before the old man had time to swap knives with him." The beauty +of his work consisted in the skill with which he evaded questions of +principle. As he wisely said, the issue now involved was not one of +principle but of power. + +The fate of that noble party to which they all belonged, and which had +a record that could never be forgotten, depended on their letting +principle alone. Their principle must be the want of principles. There +were indeed individuals who said in reply that Ratcliffe had made +promises which never could be carried out, and there were almost +superhuman elements of discord in the combination, but as Ratcliffe +shrewdly rejoined, he only wanted it to last a week, and he guessed his +promises would hold it up for that time. + +Such was the situation when on Monday afternoon the President-elect +arrived in Washington, and the comedy began. The new President was, +almost as much as Abraham Lincoln or Franklin Pierce, an unknown +quantity in political mathematics. In the national convention of the +party, nine months before, after some dozens of fruitless ballots in +which Ratcliffe wanted but three votes of a majority, his opponents had +done what he was now doing; they had laid aside their principles and +set up for their candidate a plain Indiana farmer, whose political +experience was limited to stump-speaking in his native State, and to one +term as Governor. They had pitched upon him, not because they thought +him competent, but because they hoped by doing so to detach Indiana from +Ratcliffe's following, and they were so successful that within fifteen +minutes Ratcliffe's friends were routed, and the Presidency had fallen +upon this new political Buddha. + +He had begun his career as a stone-cutter in a quarry, and was, not +unreasonably, proud of the fact. During the campaign this incident had, +of course, filled a large space in the public mind, or, more exactly, +in the public eye. "The Stone-cutter of the Wabash," he was sometimes +called; at others "the Hoosier Quarryman," but his favourite appellation +was "Old Granite," although this last endearing name, owing to an +unfortunate similarity of sound, was seized upon by his opponents, and +distorted into "Old Granny." He had been painted on many thousand yards +of cotton sheeting, either with a terrific sledge-hammer, smashing the +skulls (which figured as paving-stones) of his political opponents, or +splitting by gigantic blows a huge rock typical of the opposing party. +His opponents in their turn had paraded illuminations representing the +Quarryman in the garb of a State's-prison convict breaking the heads +of Ratcliffe and other well-known political leaders with a very feeble +hammer, or as "Old Granny" in pauper's rags, hopelessly repairing with +the same heads the impossible roads which typified the ill-conditioned +and miry ways of his party. But these violations of decency and good +sense were universally reproved by the virtuous; and it was remarked +with satisfaction that the purest and most highly cultivated newspaper +editors on his side, without excepting those of Boston itself; agreed +with one voice that the Stone-cutter was a noble type of man, perhaps +the very noblest that had appeared to adorn this country since the +incomparable Washington. + +That he was honest, all admitted; that is to say, all who voted for him. + +This is a general characteristic of all new presidents. He himself took +great pride in his home-spun honesty, which is a quality peculiar to +nature's noblemen. Owing nothing, as he conceived, to politicians, +but sympathising through every fibre of his unselfish nature with the +impulses and aspirations of the people, he affirmed it to be his first +duty to protect the people from those vultures, as he called them, +those wolves in sheep's clothing, those harpies, those hyenas, the +politicians; epithets which, as generally interpreted, meant Ratcliffe +and Ratcliffe's friends. + +His cardinal principle in politics was hostility to Ratcliffe, yet he +was not vindictive. He came to Washington determined to be the Father of +his country; to gain a proud immortality and a re-election. + +Upon this gentleman Ratcliffe had let loose all the forms of "pressure" +which could be set in motion either in or out of Washington. From the +moment when he had left his humble cottage in Southern Indiana, he had +been captured by Ratcliffe's friends, and smothered in demonstrations +of affection. They had never allowed him to suggest the possibility +of ill-feeling. They had assumed as a matter of course that the most +cordial attachment existed between him and his party. On his arrival +in Washington they systematically cut him off from contact with any +influences but their own. This was not a very difficult thing to do, for +great as he was, he liked to be told of his greatness, and they made him +feel himself a colossus. Even the few personal friends in his company +were manipulated with the utmost care, and their weaknesses put to use +before they had been in Washington a single day. + +Not that Ratcliffe had anything to do with all this underhand +and grovelling intrigue. Mr. Ratcliffe was a man of dignity and +self-respect, who left details to his subordinates. He waited calmly +until the President, recovered from the fatigues of his journey, should +begin to feel the effect of a Washington atmosphere. Then on Wednesday +morning, Mr. Ratcliffe left his rooms an hour earlier than usual on his +way to the Senate, and called at the President's Hotel: he was ushered +into a large apartment in which the new Chief Magistrate was holding +court, although at sight of Ratcliffe, the other visitors edged away +or took their hats and left the room. The President proved to be a +hard-featured man of sixty, with a hooked nose and thin, straight, +iron-gray hair. His voice was rougher than his features and he received +Ratcliffe awkwardly. He had suffered since his departure from Indiana. +Out there it had seemed a mere flea-bite, as he expressed it, to brush +Ratcliffe aside, but in Washington the thing was somehow different. + +Even his own Indiana friends looked grave when he talked of it, and +shook their heads. They advised him to be cautious and gain time; to +lead Ratcliffe on, and if possible to throw on him the responsibility of +a quarrel. He was, therefore, like a brown bear undergoing the process +of taming; very ill-tempered, very rough, and at the same time very much +bewildered and a little frightened. Ratcliffe sat ten minutes with him, +and obtained information in regard to pains which the President had +suffered during the previous night, in consequence, as he believed, of +an over-indulgence in fresh lobster, a luxury in which he had found a +diversion from the cares of state. So soon as this matter was explained +and condoled upon, Ratcliffe rose and took leave. + +Every device known to politicians was now in full play against the +Hoosier Quarryman. State delegations with contradictory requests were +poured in upon him, among which that of Massachusetts presented as +its only prayer the appointment of Mr. Gore to the Spanish mission. +Difficulties were invented to embarrass and worry him. False leads were +suggested, and false information carefully mingled with true. A wild +dance was kept up under his eyes from daylight to midnight, until his +brain reeled with the effort to follow it. Means were also found to +convert one of his personal, confidential friends, who had come with him +from Indiana and who had more brains or less principle than the others; +from him every word of the President was brought directly to Ratcliffe's +ear. + +Early on Friday morning, Mr. Thomas Lord, a rival of the late Samuel +Baker, and heir to his triumphs, appeared in Ratcliffe's rooms while the +Senator was consuming his lonely egg and chop. Mr. Lord had been chosen +to take general charge of the presidential party and to direct all +matters connected with Ratcliffe's interests. Some people might consider +this the work of a spy; he looked on it as a public duty. He reported +that "Old Granny" had at last shown signs of weakness. Late the previous +evening when, according to his custom, he was smoking his pipe in +company with his kitchen-cabinet of followers, he had again fallen upon +the subject of Ratcliffe, and with a volley of oaths had sworn that he +would show him his place yet, and that he meant to offer him a seat in +the Cabinet that would make him "sicker than a stuck hog." From this +remark and some explanatory hints that followed, it seemed that the +Quarryman had abandoned his scheme of putting Ratcliffe to immediate +political death, and had now undertaken to invite him into a Cabinet +which was to be specially constructed to thwart and humiliate him. + +The President, it appeared, warmly applauded the remark of one +counsellor, that Ratcliffe was safer in the Cabinet than in the Senate, +and that it would be easy to kick him out when the time came. + +Ratcliffe smiled grimly as Mr. Lord, with much clever mimicry, described +the President's peculiarities of language and manner, but he said +nothing and waited for the event. The same evening came a note from the +President's private secretary requesting his attendance, if possible, +to-morrow, Saturday morning, at ten o'clock. The note was curt and cool. +Ratcliffe merely sent back word that he would come, and felt a little +regret that the President should not know enough etiquette to understand +that this verbal answer was intended as a hint to improve his manners. +He did come accordingly, and found the President looking blacker +than before. This time there was no avoiding of tender subjects. The +President meant to show Ratcliffe by the decision of his course, that +he was master of the situation. He broke at once into the middle of +the matter: "I sent for you," said he, "to consult with you about my +Cabinet. Here is a list of the gentlemen I intend to invite into it. You +will see that I have got you down for the Treasury. Will you look at the +list and say what you think of it?" + +Ratcliffe took the paper, but laid it at once on the table without +looking at it. "I can have no objection," said he, "to any Cabinet you +may appoint, provided I am not included in it. My wish is to remain +where I am. There I can serve your administration better than in the +Cabinet." + +"Then you refuse?" growled the President. + +"By no means. I only decline to offer any advice or even to hear the +names of my proposed colleagues until it is decided that my services +are necessary. If they are, I shall accept without caring with whom I +serve." + +The President glared at him with an uneasy look. What was to be done +next? + +He wanted time to think, but Ratcliffe was there and must be disposed +of. He involuntarily became more civil: "Mr. Ratcliffe, your refusal +would knock everything on the head. I thought that matter was all fixed. +What more can I do?" + +But Ratcliffe had no mind to let the President out of his clutches so +easily, and a long conversation followed, during which he forced his +antagonist into the position of urging him to take the Treasury in order +to prevent some undefined but portentous mischief in the Senate. All +that could be agreed upon was that Ratcliffe should give a positive +answer within two days, and on that agreement he took his leave. + +As he passed through the corridor, a number of gentlemen were waiting +for interviews with the President, and among them was the whole +Pennsylvania delegation, "ready for biz," as Mr. Tom Lord remarked, with +a wink. + +Ratcliffe drew Krebs aside and they exchanged a few words as he passed +out. + +Ten minutes afterwards the delegation was admitted, and some of its +members were a little surprised to hear their spokesman, Senator Krebs, +press with extreme earnestness and in their names, the appointment of +Josiah B. Carson to a place in the Cabinet, when they had been given to +understand that they came to recommend Jared Caldwell as postmaster +of Philadelphia. But Pennsylvania is a great and virtuous State, whose +representatives have entire confidence in their chief. Not one of them +so much as winked. + +The dance of democracy round the President now began again with wilder +energy. Ratcliffe launched his last bolts. His two-days' delay was a +mere cover for bringing new influences to bear. He needed no delay. He +wanted no time for reflection. The President had undertaken to put +him on the horns of a dilemma; either to force him into a hostile and +treacherous Cabinet, or to throw on him the blame of a refusal and +a quarrel. He meant to embrace one of the horns and to impale the +President on it, and he felt perfect confidence in his own success. He +meant to accept the Treasury and he was ready to back himself with a +heavy wager to get the government entirely into his own hands within six +weeks. His contempt for the Hoosier Stone-cutter was unbounded, and his +confidence in himself more absolute than ever. + +Busy as he was, the Senator made his appearance the next evening at Mrs. + +Lee's, and finding her alone with Sybil, who was occupied with her +own little devices, Ratcliffe told Madeleine the story of his week's +experience. + +He did not dwell on his exploits. On the contrary he quite ignored those +elaborate arrangements which had taken from the President his power of +volition. His picture presented himself; solitary and unprotected, in +the character of that honest beast who was invited to dine with the lion +and saw that all the footmarks of his predecessors led into the lion's +cave, and none away from it. He described in humorous detail his +interviews with the Indiana lion, and the particulars of the surfeit of +lobster as given in the President's dialect; he even repeated to her the +story told him by Mr. Tom Lord, without omitting oaths or gestures; he +told her how matters stood at the moment, and how the President had laid +a trap for him which he could not escape; he must either enter a +Cabinet constructed on purpose to thwart him and with the certainty of +ignominious dismissal at the first opportunity, or he must refuse an +offer of friendship which would throw on him the blame of a quarrel, and +enable the President to charge all future difficulties to the account +of Ratcliffe's "insatiable ambition." "And now, Mrs. Lee," he continued, +with increasing seriousness of tone; "I want your advice; what shall I +do?" + +Even this half revelation of the meanness which distorted politics; this +one-sided view of human nature in its naked deformity playing pranks +with the interests of forty million people, disgusted and depressed +Madeleine's mind. Ratclife spared her nothing except the exposure of +his own moral sores. He carefully called her attention to every leprous +taint upon his neighbours' persons, to every rag in their foul clothing, +to every slimy and fetid pool that lay beside their path. It was his way +of bringing his own qualities into relief. He meant that she should go +hand in hand with him through the brimstone lake, and the more repulsive +it seemed to her, the more overwhelming would his superiority become. He +meant to destroy those doubts of his character which Carrington was so +carefully fostering, to rouse her sympathy, to stimulate her feminine +sense of self-sacrifice. + +When he asked this question she looked up at him with an expression of +indignant pride, as she spoke: + +"I say again, Mr. Ratcliffe, what I said once before. Do whatever is +most for the public good." + +"And what is most for the public good?" + +Madeleine half opened her mouth to reply, then hesitated, and stared +silently into the fire before her. What was indeed most for the public +good? + +Where did the public good enter at all into this maze of personal +intrigue, this wilderness of stunted natures where no straight road +was to be found, but only the tortuous and aimless tracks of beasts and +things that crawl? + +Where was she to look for a principle to guide, an ideal to set up and +to point at? + +Ratcliffe resumed his appeal, and his manner was more serious than ever. + +"I am hard pressed, Mrs. Lee. My enemies encompass me about. They mean +to ruin me. I honestly wish to do my duty. You once said that personal +considerations should have no weight. Very well! throw them away! And +now tell me what I should do." + +For the first time, Mrs. Lee began to feel his power. He was simple, +straightforward, earnest. His words moved her. How should she imagine +that he was playing upon her sensitive nature precisely as he played +upon the President's coarse one, and that this heavy western politician +had the instincts of a wild Indian in their sharpness and quickness of +perception; that he divined her character and read it as he read the +faces and tones of thousands from day to day? She was uneasy under his +eye. She began a sentence, hesitated in the middle, and broke down. She +lost her command of thought, and sat dumb-founded. He had to draw her +out of the confusion he had himself made. + +"I see your meaning in your face. You say that I should accept the duty +and disregard the consequences." + +"I don't know," said Madeleine, hesitatingly; "Yes, I think that would +be my feeling." + +"And when I fall a sacrifice to that man's envy and intrigue, what will +you think then, Mrs. Lee? Will you not join the rest of the world and +say that I overreached myself; and walked into this trap with my eyes +open, and for my own objects? Do you think I shall ever be thought +better of; for getting caught here? I don't parade high moral views like +our friend French. I won't cant about virtue. But I do claim that in +my public life I have tried to do right. Will you do me the justice to +think so?" + +Madeleine still struggled to prevent herself from being drawn into +indefinite promises of sympathy with this man. She would keep him at +arm's length whatever her sympathies might be. She would not pledge +herself to espouse his cause. She turned upon him with an effort, and +said that her thoughts, now or at any time, were folly and nonsense, and +that the consciousness of right-doing was the only reward any public man +had a right to expect. + +"And yet you are a hard critic, Mrs. Lee. If your thoughts are what +you say, your words are not. You judge with the judgment of abstract +principles, and you wield the bolts of divine justice. You look on and +condemn, but you refuse to acquit. When I come to you on the verge of +what is likely to be the fatal plunge of my life, and ask you only for +some clue to the moral principle that ought to guide me, you look on and +say that virtue is its own reward. And you do not even say where virtue +lies." + +"I confess my sins," said Madeleine, meekly and despondently; "life is +more complicated than I thought." + +"I shall be guided by your advice," said Ratcliffe; "I shall walk into +that den of wild beasts, since you think I ought. But I shall hold you +to your responsibility. You cannot refuse to see me through dangers you +have helped to bring me into." + +"No, no!" cried Madeleine, earnestly; "no responsibility. You ask more +than I can give." + +Ratcliffe looked at her a moment with a troubled and careworn face. His +eyes seemed deep sunk in their dark circles, and his voice was pathetic +in its intensity. "Duty is duty, for you as well as for me. I have a +right to the help of all pure minds. You have no right to refuse it. How +can you reject your own responsibility and hold me to mine?" + +Almost as he spoke, he rose and took his departure, leaving her no time +to do more than murmur again her ineffectual protest. After he was gone, +Mrs. + +Lee sat long, with her eyes fixed on the fire, reflecting upon what he +had said. Her mind was bewildered by the new suggestions which Ratcliffe +had thrown out. What woman of thirty, with aspirations for the infinite, +could resist an attack like this? What woman with a soul could see +before her the most powerful public man of her time, appealing--with +a face furrowed by anxieties, and a voice vibrating with only +half-suppressed affection--to her for counsel and sympathy, without +yielding some response? and what woman could have helped bowing her head +to that rebuke of her over-confident judgment, coming as it did from one +who in the same breath appealed to that judgment as final? Ratcliffe, +too, had a curious instinct for human weaknesses. No magnetic needle +was ever truer than his finger when he touched the vulnerable spot in +an opponent's mind. Mrs. Lee was not to be reached by an appeal to +religious sentiment, to ambition, or to affection. + +Any such appeal would have fallen flat on her ears and destroyed its own +hopes. But she was a woman to the very last drop of her blood. She +could not be induced to love Ratcliffe, but she might be deluded into +sacrificing herself for him. She atoned for want of devotion to God, by +devotion to man. + +She had a woman's natural tendency towards asceticism, self-extinction, +self-abnegation. All through life she had made painful efforts to +understand and follow out her duty. Ratcliffe knew her weak point when +he attacked her from this side. Like all great orators and advocates, he +was an actor; the more effective because of a certain dignified air that +forbade familiarity. + +He had appealed to her sympathy, her sense of right and of duty, to her +courage, her loyalty, her whole higher nature; and while he made this +appeal he felt more than half convinced that he was all he pretended to +be, and that he really had a right to her devotion. What wonder that she +in her turn was more than half inclined to admit that right. She knew +him now better than Carrington or Jacobi knew him. Surely a man who +spoke as he spoke, had noble instincts and lofty aims? Was not his +career a thousand times more important than hers? If he, in his +isolation and his cares, needed her assistance, had she an excuse for +refusing it? What was there in her aimless and useless life which made +it so precious that she could not afford to fling it into the gutter, if +need be, on the bare chance of enriching some fuller existence? + + + +Chapter VIII + +OF all titles ever assumed by prince or potentate, the proudest is that +of the Roman pontiffs: "Servus servorum Dei"--"Servant of the servants +of God." + +In former days it was not admitted that the devil's servants could by +right have any share in government. They were to be shut out, punished, +exiled, maimed, and burned. The devil has no servants now; only the +people have servants. There may be some mistake about a doctrine which +makes the wicked, when a majority, the mouthpiece of God against the +virtuous, but the hopes of mankind are staked on it; and if the weak +in faith sometimes quail when they see humanity floating in a shoreless +ocean, on this plank, which experience and religion long since condemned +as rotten, mistake or not, men have thus far floated better by its aid, +than the popes ever did with their prettier principle; so that it will +be a long time yet before society repents. + +Whether the new President and his chief rival, Mr. Silas P. Ratcliffe, +were or were not servants of the servants of God, is not material +here. Servants they were to some one. No doubt many of those who call +themselves servants of the people are no better than wolves in sheep's +clothing, or asses in lions' skins. One may see scores of them any day +in the Capitol when Congress is in session, making noisy demonstrations, +or more usefully doing nothing. A wiser generation will employ them in +manual labour; as it is, they serve only themselves. But there are +two officers, at least, whose service is real--the President and his +Secretary of the Treasury. The Hoosier Quarryman had not been a week +in Washington before he was heartily home-sick for Indiana. No +maid-of-all-work in a cheap boarding-house was ever more harassed. +Everyone conspired against him. His enemies gave him no peace. All +Washington was laughing at his blunders, and ribald sheets, published +on a Sunday, took delight in printing the new Chief Magistrate's sayings +and doings, chronicled with outrageous humour, and placed by malicious +hands where the President could not but see them. He was sensitive to +ridicule, and it mortified him to the heart to find that remarks and +acts, which to him seemed sensible enough, should be capable of such +perversion. Then he was overwhelmed with public business. It came upon +him in a deluge, and he now, in his despair, no longer tried to control +it. He let it pass over him like a wave. His mind was muddied by the +innumerable visitors to whom he had to listen. But his greatest anxiety +was the Inaugural Address which, distracted as he was, he could not +finish, although in another week it must be delivered. He was nervous +about his Cabinet; it seemed to him that he could do nothing until he +had disposed of Ratcliffe. + +Already, thanks to the President's friends, Ratcliffe had become +indispensable; still an enemy, of course, but one whose hands must be +tied; a sort of Sampson, to be kept in bonds until the time came for +putting him out of the way, but in the meanwhile, to be utilized. This +point being settled, the President had in imagination begun to lean upon +him; for the last few days he had postponed everything till next week, +"when I get my Cabinet arranged;" which meant, when he got Ratcliffe's +assistance; and he fell into a panic whenever he thought of the chance +that Ratcliffe might refuse. + +He was pacing his room impatiently on Monday morning, an hour before +the time fixed for Ratcliffe's visit. His feelings still fluctuated +violently, and if he recognized the necessity of using Ratcliffe, he +was not the less determined to tie Ratcliffe's hands. He must be made +to come into a Cabinet where every other voice would be against him. He +must be prevented from having any patronage to dispose of. He must be +induced to accept these conditions at the start. How present this to him +in such a way as not to repel him at once? All this was needless, if +the President had only known it, but he thought himself a profound +statesman, and that his hand was guiding the destinies of America to his +own re-election. When at length, on the stroke of ten o'clock, Ratcliffe +entered the room, the President turned to him with nervous eagerness, +and almost before offering his hand, said that he hoped Mr. Ratcliffe +had come prepared to begin work at once. The Senator replied that, +if such was the President's decided wish, he would offer no further +opposition. Then the President drew himself up in the attitude of an +American Cato, and delivered a prepared address, in which he said that +he had chosen the members of his Cabinet with a careful regard to the +public interests; that Mr. Ratcliffe was essential to the combination; +that he expected no disagreement on principles, for there was but one +principle which he should consider fundamental, namely, that there +should be no removals from office except for cause; and that under these +circumstances he counted upon Mr. Ratcliffe's assistance as a matter of +patriotic duty. + +To all this Ratcliffe assented without a word of objection, and the +President, more convinced than ever of his own masterly statesmanship, +breathed more freely than for a week past. Within ten minutes they +were actively at work together, clearing away the mass of accumulated +business. + +The relief of the Quarryman surprised himself. Ratcliffe lifted the +weight of affairs from his shoulders with hardly an effort. He knew +everybody and everything. He took most of the President's visitors at +once into his own hands and dismissed them with great rapidity. He knew +what they wanted; he knew what recommendations were strong and what were +weak; who was to be treated with deference and who was to be sent +away abruptly; where a blunt refusal was safe, and where a pledge was +allowable. The President even trusted him with the unfinished manuscript +of the Inaugural Address, which Ratcliffe returned to him the next +day with such notes and suggestions as left nothing to be done beyond +copying them out in a fair hand. With all this, he proved himself a very +agreeable companion. He talked well and enlivened the work; he was not a +hard taskmaster, and when he saw that the President was tired, he boldly +asserted that there was no more business that could not as well wait +a day, and so took the weary Stone-cutter out to drive for a couple of +hours, and let him go peacefully to sleep in the carriage. They dined +together and Ratcliffe took care to send for Tom Lord to amuse them, for +Tom was a wit and a humourist, and kept the President in a laugh. Mr. +Lord ordered the dinner and chose the wines. He could be coarse enough +to suit even the President's palate, and Ratcliffe was not behindhand. +When the new Secretary went away at ten o'clock that night, his chief; +who was in high good humour with his dinner, his champagne, and his +conversation, swore with some unnecessary granite oaths, that Ratcliffe +was "a clever fellow anyhow," and he was glad "that job was fixed." + +The truth was that Ratcliffe had now precisely ten days before the new +Cabinet could be set in motion, and in these ten days he must establish +his authority over the President so firmly that nothing could shake it. +He was diligent in good works. Very soon the court began to feel his +hand. If a business letter or a written memorial came in, the President +found it easy to endorse: "Referred to the Secretary of the Treasury." +If a visitor wanted anything for himself or another, the invariable +reply came to be: "Just mention it to Mr. Ratcliffe;" or, "I guess +Ratcliffe will see to that." + +Before long he even made jokes in a Catonian manner; jokes that were not +peculiarly witty, but somewhat gruff and boorish, yet significant of a +resigned and self-contented mind. One morning he ordered Ratcliffe to +take an iron-clad ship of war and attack the Sioux in Montana, seeing +that he was in charge of the army and navy and Indians at once, and +Jack of all trades; and again he told a naval officer who wanted a +court-martial that he had better get Ratcliffe to sit on him for he was +a whole court-martial by himself. That Ratcliffe held his chief in no +less contempt than before, was probable but not certain, for he kept +silence on the subject before the world, and looked solemn whenever the +President was mentioned. + +Before three days were over, the President, with a little more than +his usual abruptness, suddenly asked him what he knew about this +fellow Carson, whom the Pennsylvanians were bothering him to put in his +Cabinet. Ratcliffe was guarded: he scarcely knew the man; Mr. Carson +was not in politics, he believed, but was pretty respectable--for a +Pennsylvanian. The President returned to the subject several times; got +out his list of Cabinet officers and figured industriously upon it with +a rather perplexed face; called Ratcliffe to help him; and at last +the "slate" was fairly broken, and Ratcliffe's eyes gleamed when the +President caused his list of nominations to be sent to the Senate on the +5th March, and Josiah B. Carson, of Pennsylvania, was promptly confirmed +as Secretary of the Interior. + +But his eyes gleamed still more humorously when, a few days afterwards, +the President gave him a long list of some two score names, and asked +him to find places for them. He assented good-naturedly, with a remark +that it might be necessary to make a few removals to provide for these +cases. + +"Oh, well," said the President, "I guess there's just about as many as +that had ought to go out anyway. These are friends of mine; got to be +looked after. Just stuff 'em in somewhere." + +Even he felt a little awkward about it, and, to do him justice, this +was the last that was heard about the fundamental rule of his +administration. + +Removals were fast and furious, until all Indiana became easy in +circumstances. And it was not to be denied that, by one means or +another, Ratcliffe's friends did come into their fair share of the +public money. + +Perhaps the President thought it best to wink at such use of the +Treasury patronage for the present, or was already a little overawed by +his Secretary. + +Ratcliffe's work was done. The public had, with the help of some +clever intrigue, driven its servants into the traces. Even an Indiana +stone-cutter could be taught that his personal prejudices must yield to +the public service. What mischief the selfishness, the ambition, or +the ignorance of these men might do, was another matter. As the affair +stood, the President was the victim of his own schemes. It remained to +be seen whether, at some future day, Mr. Ratcliffe would think it worth +his while to strangle his chief by some quiet Eastern intrigue, but +the time had gone by when the President could make use of either the +bow-string or the axe upon him. + +All this passed while Mrs. Lee was quietly puzzling her poor little +brain about her duty and her responsibility to Ratcliffe, who, +meanwhile, rarely failed to find himself on Sunday evenings by her side +in her parlour, where his rights were now so well established that no +one presumed to contest his seat, unless it were old Jacobi, who from +time to time reminded him that he was fallible and mortal. Occasionally, +though not often, Mr. Ratcliffe came at other times, as when he +persuaded Mrs. Lee to be present at the Inauguration, and to call on the +President's wife. Madeleine and Sybil went to the Capitol and had the +best places to see and hear the Inauguration, as well as a cold March +wind would allow. Mrs. Lee found fault with the ceremony; it was of +the earth, earthy, she said. An elderly western farmer, with silver +spectacles, new and glossy evening clothes, bony features, and stiff; +thin, gray hair, trying to address a large crowd of people, under the +drawbacks of a piercing wind and a cold in his head, was not a hero. +Sybil's mind was lost in wondering whether the President would not soon +die of pneumonia. Even this experience, however, was happy when compared +with that of the call upon the President's wife, after which Madeleine +decided to leave the new dynasty alone in future. The lady, who was +somewhat stout and coarse-featured, and whom Mrs. Lee declared she +wouldn't engage as a cook, showed qualities which, seen under that +fierce light which beats upon a throne, seemed ungracious. Her antipathy +to Ratcliffe was more violent than her husband's, and was even more +openly expressed, until the President was quite put out of countenance +by it. She extended her hostility to every one who could be supposed to +be Ratcliffe's friend, and the newspapers, as well as private gossip, +had marked out Mrs. Lee as one who, by an alliance with Ratcliffe, was +aiming at supplanting her own rule over the White House. + +Hence, when Mrs. Lightfoot Lee was announced, and the two sisters were +ushered into the presidential parlour, she put on a coldly patronizing +air, and in reply to Madeleine's hope that she found Washington +agreeable, she intimated that there was much in Washington which struck +her as awful wicked, especially the women; and, looking at Sybil, she +spoke of the style of dress in this city which she said she meant to do +what she could to put a stop to. She'd heard tell that people sent to +Paris for their gowns, just as though America wasn't good enough to make +one's clothes! Jacob (all Presidents' wives speak of their husbands by +their first names) had promised her to get a law passed against it. In +her town in Indiana, a young woman who was seen on the street in such +clothes wouldn't be spoken to. At these remarks, made with an air and +in a temper quite unmistakable, Madeleine became exasperated beyond +measure, and said that "Washington would be pleased to see the President +do something in regard to dress-reform--or any other reform;" and with +this allusion to the President's ante-election reform speeches, Mrs. Lee +turned her back and left the room, followed by Sybil in convulsions of +suppressed laughter, which would not have been suppressed had she seen +the face of their hostess as the door shut behind them, and the energy +with which she shook her head and said: "See if I don't reform you yet, +you--jade!" + +Mrs. Lee gave Ratcliffe a lively account of this interview, and he +laughed nearly as convulsively as Sybil over it, though he tried to +pacify her by saying that the President's most intimate friends openly +declared his wife to be insane, and that he himself was the person most +afraid of her. But Mrs. Lee declared that the President was as bad as +his wife; that an equally good President and President's wife could be +picked up in any corner-grocery between the Lakes and the Ohio; and +that no inducement should ever make her go near that coarse washerwoman +again. + +Ratcliffe did not attempt to change Mrs. Lee's opinion. Indeed he +knew better than any man how Presidents were made, and he had his +own opinions in regard to the process as well as the fabric produced. +Nothing Mrs. Lee could say now affected him. He threw off his +responsibility and she found it suddenly resting on her own shoulders. +When she spoke with indignation of the wholesale removals from office +with which the new administration marked its advent to power, he told +her the story of the President's fundamental principle, and asked her +what she would have him do. "He meant to tie my hands," said Ratcliffe, +"and to leave his own free, and I accepted the condition. Can I resign +now on such a ground as this?" And Madeleine was obliged to agree that +he could not. She had no means of knowing how many removals he made in +his own interest, or how far he had outwitted the President at his own +game. He stood before her a victim and a patriot. Every step he had +taken had been taken with her approval. He was now in office to prevent +what evil he could, not to be responsible for the evil that was done; +and he honestly assured her that much worse men would come in when he +went out, as the President would certainly take good care that he did go +out when the moment arrived. + +Mrs. Lee had the chance now to carry out her scheme in coming to +Washington, for she was already deep in the mire of politics and +could see with every advantage how the great machine floundered about, +bespattering with mud even her own pure garments. Ratcliffe himself, +since entering the Treasury, had begun to talk with a sneer of the way +in which laws were made, and openly said that he wondered how government +got on at all. Yet he declared still that this particular government was +the highest expression of political thought. Mrs. Lee stared at him and +wondered whether he knew what thought was. To her the government seemed +to have less thought in it than one of Sybil's gowns, for if they, like +the government, were monstrously costly, they were at least adapted to +their purpose, the parts fitted together, and they were neither awkward +nor unwieldy. + +There was nothing very encouraging in all this, but it was better than +New York. At least it gave her something to look at, and to think about. +Even Lord Dunbeg preached practical philanthropy to her by the hour. +Ratcliffe, too, was compelled to drag himself out of the rut of machine +politics, and to justify his right of admission to her house. There Mr. +French discoursed at great length, until the fourth of March sent him +home to Connecticut; and he brought more than one intelligent member +of Congress to Mrs. Lee's parlour. Underneath the scum floating on the +surface of politics, Madeleine felt that there was a sort of healthy +ocean current of honest purpose, which swept the scum before it, and +kept the mass pure. + +This was enough to draw her on. She reconciled herself to accepting +the Ratcliffian morals, for she could see no choice. She herself had +approved every step she had seen him take. She could not deny that there +must be something wrong in a double standard of morality, but where was +it? Mr. + +Ratcliffe seemed to her to be doing good work with as pure means as he +had at hand. He ought to be encouraged, not reviled. What was she that +she should stand in judgment? + +Others watched her progress with less satisfaction. Mr. Nathan Gore was +one of these, for he came in one evening, looking much out of temper, +and, sitting down by her side he said he had come to bid good-bye and to +thank her for the kindness she had shown him; he was to leave Washington +the next morning. She too expressed her warm regret, but added that she +hoped he was only going in order to take his passage to Madrid. + +He shook his head. "I am going to take my passage," said he, "but not to +Madrid. The fates have cut that thread. The President does not want my +services, and I can't blame him, for if our situations were reversed, I +should certainly not want his. He has an Indiana friend, who, I am told, +wanted to be postmaster at Indianapolis, but as this did not suit the +politicians, he was bought off at the exorbitant price of the Spanish +mission. But I should have no chance even if he were out of the way. The +President does not approve of me. He objects to the cut of my overcoat +which is unfortunately an English one. He also objects to the cut of my +hair. I am afraid that his wife objects to me because I am so happy as +to be thought a friend of yours." + +Madeleine could only acknowledge that Mr. Gore's case was a bad one. +"But after all," said she, "why should politicians be expected to love +you literary gentlemen who write history. Other criminal classes are not +expected to love their judges." + +"No, but they have sense enough to fear them," replied Gore +vindictively; "not one politician living has the brains or the art to +defend his own cause. The ocean of history is foul with the carcases of +such statesmen, dead and forgotten except when some historian fishes one +of them up to gibbet it." + +Mr. Gore was so much out of temper that after this piece of extravagance +he was forced to pause a moment to recover himself. Then he went +on:--"You are perfectly right, and so is the President. I have no +business to be meddling in politics. It is not my place. The next time +you hear of me, I promise it shall not be as an office-seeker." + +Then he rapidly changed the subject, saying that he hoped Mrs. Lee was +soon going northward again, and that they might meet at Newport. + +"I don't know," replied Madeleine; "the spring is pleasant here, and we +shall stay till the warm weather, I think." + +Mr. Gore looked grave. "And your politics!" said he; "are you satisfied +with what you have seen?" + +"I have got so far as to lose the distinction between right and wrong. +Isn't that the first step in politics?" + +Mr. Gore had no mind even for serious jesting. He broke out into a long +lecture which sounded like a chapter of some future history: "But Mrs. +Lee, is it possible that you don't see what a wrong path you are on. +If you want to know what the world is really doing to any good purpose, +pass a winter at Samarcand, at Timbuctoo, but not at Washington. Be a +bank-clerk, or a journeyman printer, but not a Congressman. Here you +will find nothing but wasted effort and clumsy intrigue." + +"Do you think it a pity for me to learn that?" asked Madeleine when his +long essay was ended. + +"No!" replied Gore, hesitating; "not if you do learn it. But many people +never get so far, or only when too late. I shall be glad to hear +that you are mistress of it and have given up reforming politics. The +Spaniards have a proverb that smells of the stable, but applies to +people like you and me: The man who washes his donkey's head, loses time +and soap." + +Gore took his leave before Madeleine had time to grasp all the impudence +of this last speech. Not until she was fairly in bed that night did it +suddenly flash on her mind that Mr. Gore had dared to caricature her as +wasting time and soap on Mr. Ratcliffe. At first she was violently +angry and then she laughed in spite of herself; there was truth in the +portrait. In secret, too, she was the less offended because she half +thought that it had depended only on herself to make of Mr. Gore +something more than a friend. If she had overheard his parting words to +Carrington, she would have had still more reason to think that a little +jealousy of Ratcliffe's success sharpened the barb of Gore's enmity. + +"Take care of Ratcliffe!" was his farewell; "he is a clever dog. He has +set his mark on Mrs. Lee. Look out that he doesn't walk off with her!" + +A little startled by this sudden confidence, Carrington could only ask +what he could do to prevent it. + +"Cats that go ratting, don't wear gloves," replied Gore, who always +carried a Spanish proverb in his pocket. Carrington, after painful +reflection, could only guess that he wanted Ratcliffe's enemies to show +their claws. But how? + +Mrs. Lee not long afterwards spoke to Ratcliffe of her regret at Gore's +disappointment and hinted at his disgust. Ratcliffe replied that he had +done what he could for Gore, and had introduced him to the President, +who, after seeing him, had sworn his usual granitic oath that he would +sooner send his nigger farm-hand Jake to Spain than that man-milliner. +"You know how I stand;" added Ratcliffe; "what more could I do?" And +Mrs. Lee's implied reproach was silenced. + +If Gore was little pleased with Ratcliffe's conduct, poor Schneidekoupon +was still less so. He turned up again at Washington not long after +the Inauguration and had a private interview with the Secretary of the +Treasury. + +What passed at it was known only to themselves, but, whatever it +was, Schneidekoupon's temper was none the better for it. From his +conversations with Sybil, it seemed that there was some question about +appointments in which his protectionist friends were interested, and he +talked very openly about Ratcliffe's want of good faith, and how he had +promised everything to everybody and had failed to keep a single pledge; +if Schneidekoupon's advice had been taken, this wouldn't have happened. +Mrs. Lee told Ratcliffe that Schneidekoupon seemed out of temper, and +asked the reason. He only laughed and evaded the question, remarking +that cattle of this kind were always complaining unless they were +allowed to run the whole government; Schneidekoupon had nothing +to grumble about; no one had ever made any promises to him. But +nevertheless Schneidekoupon confided to Sybil his antipathy to Ratcliffe +and solemnly begged her not to let Mrs. Lee fall into his hands, to +which Sybil answered tartly that she only wished Mr. + +Schneidekoupon would tell her how to help it. + +The reformer French had also been one of Ratcliffe's backers in the +fight over the Treasury. He remained in Washington a few days after the +Inauguration, and then disappeared, leaving cards with P.P.C. in the +corner, at Mrs. Lee's door. Rumour said that he too was disappointed, +but he kept his own counsel, and, if he really wanted the mission +to Belgium, he contented himself with waiting for it. A respectable +stage-coach proprietor from Oregon got the place. + +As for Jacobi, who was not disappointed, and who had nothing to ask +for, he was bitterest of all. He formally offered his congratulations to +Ratcliffe on his appointment. This little scene occurred in Mrs. +Lee's parlour. The old Baron, with his most suave manner, and his most +Voltairean leer, said that in all his experience, and he had seen a +great many court intrigues, he had never seen anything better managed +than that about the Treasury. + +Ratcliffe was furiously angry, and told the Baron outright that foreign +ministers who insulted the governments to which they were accredited ran +a risk of being sent home. + +"Ce serait toujours un pis aller," said Jacobi, seating himself with +calmness in Ratcliffe's favourite chair by Mrs. Lee's side. + +Madeleine, alarmed as she was, could not help interposing, and hastily +asked whether that remark was translatable. + +"Ah!" said the Baron; "I can do nothing with your language. You would +only say that it was a choice of evils, to go, or to stay." + +"We might translate it by saying: 'One may go farther and fare worse,'" +rejoined Madeleine; and so the storm blew over for the time, and +Ratcliffe sulkily let the subject drop. Nevertheless the two men never +met in Mrs. + +Lee's parlour without her dreading a personal altercation. Little by +little, what with Jacobi's sarcasms and Ratcliffe's roughness, they +nearly ceased to speak, and glared at each other like quarrelsome dogs. +Madeleine was driven to all kinds of expedients to keep the peace, yet +at the same time she could not but be greatly amused by their behaviour, +and as their hatred of each other only stimulated their devotion to her, +she was content to hold an even balance between them. + +Nor were these all the awkward consequences of Ratcliffe's attentions. +Now that he was distinctly recognized as an intimate friend of Mrs. +Lee's, and possibly her future husband, no one ventured any longer to +attack him in her presence, but nevertheless she was conscious in a +thousand ways that the atmosphere became more and more dense under +the shadow of the Secretary of the Treasury. In spite of herself she +sometimes felt uneasy, as though there were conspiracy in the air. One +March afternoon she was sitting by her fire, with an English Review in +her hand, trying to read the last Symposium on the sympathies of Eternal +Punishment, when her servant brought in a card, and Mrs. Lee had barely +time to read the name of Mrs. Samuel Baker when that lady followed the +servant into the room, forcing the countersign in so effective style +that for once Madeleine was fairly disconcerted. Her manner when thus +intruded upon, was cool, but in this case, on Carrington's account, she +tried to smile courteously and asked her visitor to sit down, which Mrs. +Baker was doing without an invitation, very soon putting her hostess +entirely at her ease. She was, when seen without her veil, a showy woman +verging on forty, decidedly large, tall, over-dressed even in mourning, +and with a complexion rather fresher than nature had made it. + +There was a geniality in her address, savouring of easy Washington ways, +a fruitiness of smile, and a rich southern accent, that explained on +the spot her success in the lobby. She looked about her with fine +self-possession, and approved Mrs. Lee's surroundings with a cordiality +so different from the northern stinginess of praise, that Madeleine +was rather pleased than offended. Yet when her eye rested on the Corot, +Madeleine's only pride, she was evidently perplexed, and resorted to +eye-glasses, in order, as it seemed, to gain time for reflection. But +she was not to be disconcerted even by Corot's masterpiece: + +"How pretty! Japanese, isn't it? Sea-weeds seen through a fog. I went to +an auction yesterday, and do you know I bought a tea-pot with a picture +just like that." + +Madeleine inquired with extreme interest about the auction, but after +learning all that Mrs. Baker had to tell, she was on the point of being +reduced to silence, when she bethought herself to mention Carrington. +Mrs. + +Baker brightened up at once, if she could be said to brighten where +there was no sign of dimness: + +"Dear Mr. Carrington! Isn't he sweet? I think he's a delicious man. I +don't know what I should do without him. Since poor Mr. Baker left +me, we have been together all the time. You know my poor husband left +directions that all his papers should be burned, and though I would not +say so unless you were such a friend of Mr. Carrington's, I reckon it's +just as well for some people that he did. I never could tell you what +quantities of papers Mr. Carrington and I have put in the fire; and we +read them all too." + +Madeleine asked whether this was not dull work. + +"Oh, dear, no! You see I know all about it, and told Mr. Carrington the +story of every paper as we went on. It was quite amusing, I assure you." + +Mrs. Lee then boldly said she had got from Mr. Carrington an idea that +Mrs. + +Baker was a very skilful diplomatist. + +"Diplomatist!" echoed the widow with her genial laugh; "Well! it was as +much that as anything, but there's not many diplomatists' wives in this +city ever did as much work as I used to do. Why, I knew half the members +of Congress intimately, and all of them by sight. I knew where they came +from and what they liked best. I could get round the greater part of +them, sooner or later." + +Mrs. Lee asked what she did with all this knowledge. Mrs. Baker shook +her pink-and-white countenance, and almost paralysed her opposite +neighbour by a sort of Grande Duchesse wink: + +"Oh, my dear! you are new here. If you had seen Washington in war-times +and for a few years afterwards, you wouldn't ask that. We had more +congressional business than all the other agents put together. Every one +came to us then, to get his bill through, or his appropriation watched. +We were hard at work all the time. You see, one can't keep the run of +three hundred men without some trouble. My husband used to make lists +of them in books with a history of each man and all he could learn about +him, but I carried it all in my head." + +"Do you mean that you could get them all to vote as you pleased?" asked +Madeleine. + +"Well! we got our bills through," replied Mrs. Baker. + +"But how did you do it? did they take bribes?" + +"Some of them did. Some of them liked suppers and cards and theatres +and all sorts of things. Some of them could be led, and some had to be +driven like Paddy's pig who thought he was going the other way. Some +of them had wives who could talk to them, and some--hadn't," said Mrs. +Baker, with a queer intonation in her abrupt ending. + +"But surely," said Mrs. Lee, "many of them must have been above--I mean, +they must have had nothing to get hold of; so that you could manage +them." + +Mrs. Baker laughed cheerfully and remarked that they were very much of a +muchness. + +"But I can't understand how you did it," urged Madeleine; "now, how +would you have gone to work to get a respectable senator's vote--a man +like Mr. Ratcliffe, for instance?" + +"Ratcliffe!" repeated Mrs. Baker with a slight elevation of voice that +gave way to a patronising laugh. "Oh, my dear! don't mention names. +I should get into trouble. Senator Ratcliffe was a good friend of my +husband's. I guess Mr. Carrington could have told you that. But you see, +what we generally wanted was all right enough. We had to know where +our bills were, and jog people's elbows to get them reported in time. +Sometimes we had to convince them that our bill was a proper one, and +they ought to vote for it. Only now and then, when there was a great +deal of money and the vote was close, we had to find out what votes were +worth. It was mostly dining and talking, calling them out into the lobby +or asking them to supper. I wish I could tell you things I have seen, +but I don't dare. It wouldn't be safe. I've told you already more than +I ever said to any one else; but then you are so intimate with Mr. +Carrington, that I always think of you as an old friend." + +Thus Mrs. Baker rippled on, while Mrs. Lee listened with more and more +doubt and disgust. The woman was showy, handsome in a coarse style, and +perfectly presentable. Mrs. Lee had seen Duchesses as vulgar. She knew +more about the practical working of government than Mrs. Lee could +ever expect or hope to know. Why then draw back from this interesting +lobbyist with such babyish repulsion? + +When, after a long, and, as she declared, a most charming call, Mrs. +Baker wended her way elsewhere and Madeleine had given the strictest +order that she should never be admitted again, Carrington entered, and +Madeleine showed him Mrs. Baker's card and gave a lively account of the +interview. + +"What shall I do with the woman?" she asked; "must I return her card?" +But Carrington declined to offer advice on this interesting point. "And +she says that Mr. Ratcliffe was a friend of her husband's and that you +could tell me about that." + +"Did she say so?" remarked Carrington vaguely. + +"Yes! and that she knew every one's weak points and could get all their +votes." + +Carrington expressed no surprise, and so evidently preferred to change +the subject, that Mrs. Lee desisted and said no more. + +But she determined to try the same experiment on Mr. Ratcliffe, and +chose the very next chance that offered. In her most indifferent manner +she remarked that Mrs. Sam Baker had called upon her and had initiated +her into the mysteries of the lobby till she had become quite ambitious +to start on that career. + +"She said you were a friend of her husband's," added Madeleine softly. + +Ratcliffe's face betrayed no sign. + +"If you believe what those people tell you," said he drily, "you will be +wiser than the Queen of Sheba." + + + +Chapter IX + +WHENEVER a man reaches the top of the political ladder, his enemies +unite to pull him down. His friends become critical and exacting. Among +the many dangers of this sort which now threatened Ratcliffe, there was +one that, had he known it, might have made him more uneasy than any +of those which were the work of senators and congressmen. Carrington +entered into an alliance, offensive and defensive, with Sybil. It came +about in this wise. Sybil was fond of riding and occasionally, when +Carrington could spare the time, he went as her guide and protector in +these country excursions; for every Virginian, however out at elbows, +has a horse, as he has shoes or a shirt. + +In a thoughtless moment Carrington had been drawn into a promise that he +would take Sybil to Arlington. The promise was one that he did not hurry +to keep, for there were reasons which made a visit to Arlington anything +but a pleasure to him; but Sybil would listen to no excuses, and so it +came about that, one lovely March morning, when the shrubs and the trees +in the square before the house were just beginning, under the warmer +sun, to show signs of their coming wantonness, Sybil stood at the open +window waiting for him, while her new Kentucky horse before the door +showed what he thought of the delay by curving his neck, tossing his +head, and pawing the pavement. + +Carrington was late and kept her waiting so long, that the mignonette +and geraniums, which adorned the window, suffered for his slowness, +and the curtain tassels showed signs of wilful damage. Nevertheless he +arrived at length, and they set out together, choosing the streets +least enlivened by horse-cars and provision-carts, until they had crept +through the great metropolis of Georgetown and come upon the bridge +which crosses the noble river just where its bold banks open out to +clasp the city of Washington in their easy embrace. Then reaching the +Virginia side they cantered gaily up the laurel-margined road, with +glimpses of woody defiles, each carrying its trickling stream and rich +in promise of summer flowers, while from point to point they caught +glorious glimpses of the distant city and river. They passed the small +military station on the heights, still dignified by the name of +fort, though Sybil silently wondered how a fort was possible without +fortifications, and complained that there was nothing more warlike than +a "nursery of telegraph poles." The day was blue and gold; everything +smiled and sparkled in the crisp freshness of the morning. Sybil was +in bounding spirits and not at all pleased to find that her companion +became moody and abstracted as they went on. "Poor Mr. Carrington!" +thought she to herself, "he is so nice; but when he puts on that solemn +air, one might as well go to sleep. I am quite certain no nice woman +will ever marry him if he looks like that;" and her practical mind ran +off among all the girls of her acquaintance, in search of one who would +put up with Carrington's melancholy face. She knew his devotion to her +sister, but had long ago rejected this as a hopeless chance. There was +a simplicity about Sybil's way of dealing with life, which had its +own charm. She never troubled herself about the impossible or the +unthinkable. She had feelings, and was rather quick in her sympathies +and sorrows, but she was equally quick in getting over them, and she +expected other people to do likewise. Madeleine dissected her own +feelings and was always wondering whether they were real or not; she +had a habit of taking off her mental clothing, as she might take off a +dress, and looking at it as though it belonged to some one else, and as +though sensations were manufactured like clothes. This seems to be one +of the easier ways of deadening sorrow, as though the mind could +teach itself to lop off its feelers. Sybil particularly disliked this +self-inspection. In the first place she did not understand it, and in +the second her mind was all feelers, and amputation was death. She could +no more analyse a feeling than doubt its existence, both which were +habits of her sister. + +How was Sybil to know what was passing in Carrington's mind? He was +thinking of nothing in which she supposed herself interested. He was +troubled with memories of civil war and of associations still earlier, +belonging to an age already vanishing or vanished; but what could she +know about civil war who had been almost an infant at the time? At this +moment, she happened to be interested in the baffle of Waterloo, for she +was reading "Vanity Fair," and had cried as she ought for poor little +Emmy, when her husband, George Osborne, lay dead on the field there, +with a bullet through his heart. But how was she to know that here, only +a few rods before her, lay scores and hundreds of George Osbornes, or +his betters, and in their graves the love and hope of many Emmys, not +creatures of the imagination, but flesh and blood, like herself? To her, +there was no more in those associations which made Carrington groan in +the silence of his thoughts, than if he had been old Kaspar, and she the +little Wilhelmine. What was a skull more or less to her? What concern +had she in the famous victory? + +Yet even Sybil was startled as she rode through the gate and found +herself suddenly met by the long white ranks of head-stones, stretching +up and down the hill-sides by thousands, in order of baffle; as though +Cadmus had reversed his myth, and had sown living men, to come up +dragons' teeth. She drew in her horse with a shiver and a sudden impulse +to cry. Here was something new to her. This was war--wounds, disease, +death. She dropped her voice and with a look almost as serious as +Carrington's, asked what all these graves meant. When Carrington told +her, she began for the first time to catch some dim notion why his +face was not quite as gay as her own. Even now this idea was not very +precise, for he said little about himself, but at least she grappled +with the fact that he had actually, year after year, carried arms +against these men who lay at her feet and who had given their lives for +her cause. It suddenly occurred to her as a new thought that perhaps +he himself might have killed one of them with his own hand. There was +a strange shock in this idea. She felt that Carrington was further from +her. He gained dignity in his rebel isolation. She wanted to ask him +how he could have been a traitor, and she did not dare. Carrington a +traitor! + +Carrington killing her friends! The idea was too large to grasp. She +fell back on the simpler task of wondering how he had looked in his +rebel uniform. + +They rode slowly round to the door of the house and dismounted, after +he had with some difficulty found a man to hold their horses. From the +heavy brick porch they looked across the superb river to the raw and +incoherent ugliness of the city, idealised into dreamy beauty by the +atmosphere, and the soft background of purple hills behind. Opposite +them, with its crude "thus saith the law" stamped on white dome and +fortress-like walls, rose the Capitol. + +Carrington stood with her a short time while they looked at the view; +then said he would rather not go into the house himself, and sat down +on the steps while she strolled alone through the rooms. These were bare +and gaunt, so that she, with her feminine sense of fitness, of course +considered what she would do to make them habitable. She had a neat +fancy for furniture, and distributed her tones and half tones and bits +of colour freely about the walls and ceilings, with a high-backed +chair here, a spindle-legged sofa there, and a claw-footed table in the +centre, until her eye was caught by a very dirty deal desk, on which +stood an open book, with an inkstand and some pens. On the leaf she read +the last entry: "Eli M. Grow and lady, Thermopyle Centre." Not even the +graves outside had brought the horrors of war so near. + +What a scourge it was! This respectable family turned out of such a +lovely house, and all the pretty old furniture swept away before a horde +of coarse invaders "with ladies." Did the hosts of Attila write their +names on visiting books in the temple of Vesta and the house of Sallust? +What a new terror they would have added to the name of the scourge of +God! Sybil returned to the portico and sat down by Carrington on the +steps. + +"How awfully sad it is!" said she; "I suppose the house was prettily +furnished when the Lees lived here? Did you ever see it then?" + +Sybil was not very profound, but she had sympathy, and at this moment +Carrington felt sorely in need of comfort. He wanted some one to share +his feelings, and he turned towards her hungry for companionship. + +"The Lees were old family friends of mine," said he. "I used to stay +here when I was a boy, even as late as the spring of 1861. The last time +I sat here, it was with them. We were wild about disunion and talked of +nothing else. I have been trying to recall what was said then. We +never thought there would be war, and as for coercion, it was nonsense. +Coercion, indeed! The idea was ridiculous. I thought so, too, though I +was a Union man and did not want the State to go out. But though I felt +sure that Virginia must suffer, I never thought we could be beaten. Yet +now I am sitting here a pardoned rebel, and the poor Lees are driven +away and their place is a grave-yard." + +Sybil became at once absorbed in the Lees and asked many questions, all +which Carrington gladly answered. He told her how he had admired and +followed General Lee through the war. "We thought he was to be our +Washington, you know; and perhaps he had some such idea himself;" and +then, when Sybil wanted to hear about the baffles and the fighting, he +drew a rough map on the gravel path to show her how the two lines had +run, only a few miles away; then he told her how he had carried his +musket day after day over all this country, and where he had seen his +battles. Sybil had everything to learn; the story came to her with all +the animation of real life, for here under her eyes were the graves of +her own champions, and by her side was a rebel who had stood under our +fire at Malvern Hill and at South Mountain, and who was telling her how +men looked and what they thought in face of death. She listened with +breathless interest, and at last summoned courage to ask in an awestruck +tone whether Carrington had ever killed any one himself. She was +relieved, although a little disappointed, when he said that he believed +not; he hoped not; though no private who has discharged a musket in +baffle can be quite sure where the bullet went. "I never tried to kill +any one," said he, "though they tried to kill me incessantly." Then +Sybil begged to know how they had tried to kill him, and he told her one +or two of those experiences, such as most soldiers have had, when he had +been fired upon and the balls had torn his clothes or drawn blood. Poor +Sybil was quite overcome, and found a deadly fascination in the horror. +As they sat together on the steps with the glorious view spread before +them, her attention was so closely fixed on his story that she saw +neither the view nor even the carriages of tourists who drove up, looked +about, and departed, envying Carrington his occupation with the lovely +girl. + +She was in imagination rushing with him down the valley of Virginia on +the heels of our flying army, or gloomily toiling back to the Potomac +after the bloody days at Gettysburg, or watching the last grand debacle +on the road from Richmond to Appomattox. They would have sat there till +sunset if Carrington had not at length insisted that they must go, and +then she rose slowly with a deep sigh and undisguised regret. + +As they rode away, Carrington, whose thoughts were not devoted to his +companion so entirely as they should have been, ventured to say that he +wished her sister had come with them, but he found that his hint was not +well received. + +Sybil emphatically rejected the idea: "I'm very glad she didn't come. If +she had, you would have talked with her all the time, and I should have +been left to amuse myself. You would have been discussing things, and I +hate discussions. She would have been hunting for first principles, +and you would have been running about, trying to catch some for her. +Besides, she is coming herself some Sunday with that tiresome Mr. +Ratcliffe. I don't see what she finds in that man to amuse her. Her +taste is getting to be demoralised in Washington. Do you know, Mr. +Carrington, I'm not clever or serious, like Madeleine, and I can't read +laws, and hate politics, but I've more common sense than she has, and +she makes me cross with her. I understand now why young widows are +dangerous, and why they're bumed at their husband's funerals in India. +Not that I want to have Madeleine burned, for she's a dear, good +creature, and I love her better than anything in the world; but she will +certainly do herself some dreadful mischief one of these days; she +has the most extravagant notions about self-sacrifice and duty; if she +hadn't luckily thought of taking charge of me, she would have done some +awful thing long ago, and if I could only be a little wicked, she would +be quite happy all the rest of her life in reforming me; but now she has +got hold of that Mr. Ratcliffe, and he is trying to make her think she +can reform him, and if he does, it's all up with us. Madeleine will just +go and break her heart over that odious, great, coarse brute, who only +wants her money." + +Sybil delivered this little oration with a degree of energy that went to +Carrington's heart. She did not often make such sustained efforts, and +it was clear that on this subject she had exhausted her whole mind. +Carrington was delighted, and urged her on. "I dislike Mr. Ratcliffe as +much as you do;--more perhaps. So does every one who knows much about +him. But we shall only make the matter worse if we interfere. What can +we do?" + +"That is just what I tell everybody," resumed Sybil. "There is Victoria +Dare always telling me I ought to do something; and Mr. Schneidekoupon +too; just as though I could do anything. Madeleine has done nothing but +get into mischief here. Half the people think her worldly and ambitious. +Only last night that spiteful old woman, Mrs. Clinton, said to me: 'Your +sister is quite spoiled by Washington. She is more wild for power than +any human being I ever saw.' I was dreadfully angry and told her she was +quite mistaken--Madeleine was not the least spoiled. But I couldn't +say that she was not fond of power, for she is; but not in the way Mrs. +Clinton meant. You should have seen her the other evening when Mr. +Ratcliffe said about some matter of public business that he would do +whatever she thought right; she spoke up quite sharply for her, with a +scornful little laugh, and said that he had better do what he thought +right. He looked for a moment almost angry, and muttered something about +women's being incomprehensible. He is always trying to tempt her with +power. She might have had long ago all the power he could give her, but +I can see, and he sees too, that she always keeps him at arm's length. +He doesn't like it, but he expects one of these days to find a bribe +that will answer. I wish we had never come to Washington. New York is so +much nicer and the people there are much more amusing; they dance ever +so much better and send one flowers all the time, and then they never +talk about first principles. Maude had her hospitals and paupers and +training school, and got along very well. It was so safe. But when I say +so to her, she only smiles in a patronising kind of way, and tells me +that I shall have as much of Newport as I want; just as though I were a +child, and not a woman of twenty-five. Poor Maude! I can't stay with her +if she marries Mr. Ratcliffe, and it would break my heart to leave her +with that man. Do you think he would beat her? Does he drink? I would +almost rather be beaten a little, if I cared for a man, than be taken +out to Peonia. Oh, Mr. Carrington! you are our only hope. She will +listen to you. Don't let her marry that dreadful politician." + +To all this pathetic appeal, some parts of which were as little +calculated to please Carrington as Ratcliffe himself, Carrington +answered that he was ready to do all in his power but that Sybil must +tell him when and how to act. + +"Then, it's a bargain," said she; "whenever I want you, I shall call on +you for help, and you shall prevent the marriage." + +"Alliance offensive and defensive," said he, laughing; "war to the knife +on Ratcliffe. We will have his scalp if necessary, but I rather think he +will soon commit hari-kari himself if we leave him alone." + +"Madeleine will like him all the better if he does anything Japanese," +replied Sybil, with great seriousness; "I wish there was more Japanese +bric-a-brac here, or any kind of old pots and pans to talk about. A +little art would be good for her. What a strange place this is, and how +people do stand on their heads in it! Nobody thinks like anyone else. +Victoria Dare says she is trying on principle not to be good, because +she wants to keep some new excitements for the next world. I'm sure she +practices as she preaches. Did you see her at Mrs. Clinton's last night. +She behaved more outrageously than ever. She sat on the stairs all +through supper, looking like a demure yellow cat with two bouquets in +her paws--and I know Lord Dunbeg sent one of them;--and she actually +let Mr. French feed her with ice-cream from a spoon. She says she was +showing Lord Dunbeg a phase, and that he is going to put it into his +article on American Manners and Customs in the Quarterly, but I don't +think it's nice, do you, Mr. Carrington? I wish Madeleine had her to +take care of. She would have enough to do then, I can tell her." + +And so, gently prattling, Miss Sybil returned to the city, her alliance +with Carrington completed; and it was a singular fact that she never +again called him dull. There was henceforward a look of more positive +pleasure and cordiality on her face when he made his appearance wherever +she might be; and the next time he suggested a horseback excursion she +instantly agreed to go, although aware that she had promised a younger +gentleman of the diplomatic body to be at home that same afternoon, and +the good fellow swore polyglot oaths on being turned away from her door. + +Mr. Ratcliffe knew nothing of this conspiracy against his peace and +prospects. Even if he had known it, he might only have laughed, and +pursued his own path without a second thought. Yet it was certain that +he did not think Carrington's enmity a thing to be overlooked, and from +the moment of his obtaining a clue to its cause, he had begun to take +precautions against it. Even in the middle of the contest for the +Treasury, he had found time to listen to Mr. Wilson Keens report on the +affairs of the late Samuel Baker. + +Mr. Keen came to him with a copy of Baker's will and with memoranda of +remarks made by the unsuspecting Mrs. Baker; "from which it appears," +said he, "that Baker, having no time to put his affairs in order, left +special directions that his executors should carefully destroy all +papers that might be likely to compromise individuals." + +"What is the executor's name?" interrupted Ratcliffe. + +"The executor's name is--John Carrington," said Keen, methodically +referring to his copy of the will. + +Ratcliffe's face was impassive, but the inevitable, "I knew it," almost +sprang to his lips. He was rather pleased at the instinct which had led +him so directly to the right trail. + +Keen went on to say that from Mrs. Baker's conversation it was certain +that the testator's directions had been carried out, and that the great +bulk of these papers had been burned. + +"Then it will be useless to press the inquiry further," said Ratcliffe; +"I am much obliged to you for your assistance," and he turned the +conversation to the condition of Mr. Keen's bureau in the Treasury +department. + +The next time Ratcliffe saw Mrs. Lee, after his appointment to +the Treasury was confirmed, he asked her whether she did not think +Carrington very well suited for public service, and when she warmly +assented, he said it had occurred to him to offer the place of Solicitor +of the Treasury to Mr. + +Carrington, for although the actual salary might not be very much more +than he earned by his private practice, the incidental advantages to +a Washington lawyer were considerable; and to the Secretary it was +especially necessary to have a solicitor in whom he could place entire +confidence. Mrs. Lee was pleased by this motion of Ratcliffe's, the more +because she had supposed that Ratcliffe had no liking for Carrington. +She doubted whether Carrington would accept the place, but she hoped +that it might modify his dislike for Ratcliffe, and she agreed to sound +him on the subject. There was something a little compromising in +thus allowing herself to appear as the dispenser of Mr. Ratcliffe's +patronage, but she dismissed this objection on the ground that +Carrington's interests were involved, and that it was for him to judge +whether he should take the place or not. Perhaps the world would not be +so charitable if the appointment were made. What then? Mrs. Lee asked +herself the question and did not feel quite at ease. + +So far as Carrington was concerned, she might have dismissed her doubts. + +There was not a chance of his taking the place, as very soon appeared. +When she spoke to him on the subject, and repeated what Ratcliffe had +said, his face flushed, and he sat for some moments in silence. He never +thought very rapidly, but now the ideas seemed to come so fast as to +bewilder his mind. + +The situation flashed before his eyes like electric sparks. His first +impression was that Ratcliffe wanted to buy him; to tie his tongue; to +make him run, like a fastened dog, under the waggon of the Secretary of +the Treasury. His second notion was that Ratcliffe wanted to put Mrs. +Lee under obligations, in order to win her regard; and, again, that he +wanted to raise himself in her esteem by posing as a friend of honest +administration and unassisted virtue. Then suddenly it occurred to him +that the scheme was to make him appear jealous and vindictive; to put +him in an attitude where any reason he might give for declining would +bear a look of meanness, and tend to separate him from Mrs. Lee. +Carrington was so absorbed by these thoughts, and his mind worked so +slowly, that he failed to hear one or two remarks addressed to him by +Mrs. Lee, who became a little alarmed, under the impression that he was +unexpectedly paralyzed. + +When at length he heard her and attempted to frame an answer, his +embarrassment increased. He could only stammer that he was sorry to be +obliged to decline, but this office was one he could not undertake. + +If Madeleine felt a little relieved by this decision, she did not show +it. + +From her manner one might have supposed it to be her fondest wish that +Carrington should be Solicitor of the Treasury. She cross-questioned +him with obstinacy. Was not the offer a good one?--and he was obliged to +confess that it was. Were the duties such as he could not perform? Not +at all! there was nothing in the duties which alarmed him. Did he object +to it because of his southern prejudices against the administration? Oh, +no! he had no political feeling to stand in his way. What, then, could +be his reason for refusing? + +Carrington resorted again to silence, until Mrs. Lee, a little +impatiently, asked whether it was possible that his personal dislike +to Racliffe could blind him so far as to make him reject so fair a +proposal. Carrington, finding himself more and more uncomfortable, rose +restlessly from his chair and paced the room. He felt that Ratclife had +fairly out-generaled him, and he was at his wits' end to know what card +he could play that would not lead directly into Ratcliffe's trump suit. +To refuse such an offer was hard enough at best, for a man who wanted +money and professional advancement as he did, but to injure himself and +help Ratcliffe by this refusal, was abominably hard. Nevertheless, +he was obliged to admit that he would rather not take a position so +directly under Ratcliffe's control. Madeleine said no more, but he +thought she looked annoyed, and he felt himself in an intolerably +painful situation. He was not certain that she herself might not have +had some share in proposing the plan, and that his refusal might not +have some mortifying consequences for her. What must she think of him, +then? + +At this very moment he would have given his right arm for a word of real +affection from Mrs. Lee. He adored her. He would willingly enough have +damned himself for her. There was no sacrifice he would not have made to +bring her nearer to him. In his upright, quiet, simple kind of way, he +immolated himself before her. For months his heart had ached with this +hopeless passion. He recognized that it was hopeless. He knew that she +would never love him, and, to do her justice, she never had given him +reason to suppose that it was in her power to love him, r any man. And +here he stood, obliged to appear ungrateful and prejudiced, mean and +vindictive, in her eyes. He took his seat again, looking so unutterably +dejected, his patient face so tragically mournful, that Madeleine, after +a while, began to see the absurd side of the matter, and presently burst +into a laugh "Please do not look so frightfully miserable!" said she; +"I did not mean to make you unhappy. After all, what does it matter? You +have a perfect right to refuse, and, for my part, I have not the least +wish to see you accept." + +On this, Carrington brightened, and declared that if she thought him +right in declining, he cared for nothing else. It was only the idea of +hurting her feelings that weighed on his mind. But in saying this, he +spoke in a tone that implied a deeper feeling, and made Mrs. Lee again +look grave and sigh. + +"Ah, Mr. Carrington," she said, "this world will not run as we want. +Do you suppose the time will ever come when every one will be good and +happy and do just what they ought? I thought this offer might possibly +take one anxiety off your shoulders. I am sorry now that I let myself be +led into making it." + +Carrington could not answer her. He dared not trust his voice. He rose +to go, and as she held out her hand, he suddenly raised it to his lips, +and so left her. She sat for a moment with tears in her eyes after he +was gone. She thought she knew all that was in his mind, and with +a woman's readiness to explain every act of men by their consuming +passions for her own sex, she took it as a matter of course that +jealousy was the whole cause of Carrington's hostility to Ratcliffe, +and she pardoned it with charming alacrity. "Ten years ago, I could have +loved him," she thought to herself, and then, while she was half smiling +at the idea, suddenly another thought flashed upon her, and she threw +her hand up before her face as though some one had struck her a blow. +Carrington had reopened the old wound. + +When Ratcliffe came to see her again, which he did very shortly +afterwards, glad of so good an excuse, she told him of Carrington's +refusal, adding only that he seemed unwilling to accept any position +that had a political character. Ratcliffe showed no sign of displeasure; +he only said, in a benignant tone, that he was sorry to be unable to +do something for so good a friend of hers; thus establishing, at all +events, his claim on her gratitude. As for Carrington, the offer which +Ratcliffe had made was not intended to be accepted, and Carrington +could not have more embarrassed the secretary than by closing with +it. Ratcliffe's object had been to settle for his own satisfaction the +question of Carrington's hostility, for he knew the man well enough to +feel sure that in any event he would act a perfectly straightforward +part. If he accepted, he would at least be true to his chief. If he +refused, as Ratcliffe expected, it would be a proof that some means must +be found of getting him out of the way. In any case the offer was a new +thread in the net that Mr. Ratcliffe flattered himself he was rapidly +winding about the affections and ambitions of Mrs. Lee. Yet he had +reasons of his own for thinking that Carrington, more easily than any +other man, could cut the meshes of this net if he chose to do so, and +therefore that it would be wiser to postpone action until Carrington +were disposed of. + +Without a moment's delay he made inquiries as to all the vacant +or eligible offices in the gift of the government outside his own +department. Very few of these would answer his purpose. He wanted some +temporary law business that would for a time take its holder away to a +distance, say to Australia or Central Asia, the further the better; it +must be highly paid, and it must be given in such a way as not to excite +suspicion that Ratcliffe was concerned in the matter. Such an office was +not easily found. There is little law business in Central Asia, and +at this moment there was not enough to require a special agent in +Australia. Carrington could hardly be induced to lead an expedition +to the sources of the Nile in search of business merely to please Mr. +Ratcliffe, nor could the State Department offer encouragement to a hope +that government would pay the expenses of such an expedition. The +best that Ratcliffe could do was to select the place of counsel to the +Mexican claims-commission which was soon to meet in the city of +Mexico, and which would require about six months' absence. By a little +management he could contrive to get the counsel sent away in advance +of the commission, in order to work up a part of the case on the spot. +Ratcliffe acknowledged that Mexico was too near, but he drily remarked +to himself that if Carrington could get back in time to dislodge him +after he had once got a firm hold on Mrs. Lee, he would never try to run +another caucus. + +The point once settled in his own mind, Ratcliffe, with his usual +rapidity of action, carried his scheme into effect. In this there was +little difficulty. He dropped in at the office of the Secretary of State +within eight-and-forty hours after his last conversation with Mrs. +Lee. During these early days of every new administration, the absorbing +business of government relates principally to appointments. The +Secretary of the Treasury was always ready to oblige his colleagues in +the Cabinet by taking care of their friends to any reasonable extent. +The Secretary of State was not less courteous. The moment he understood +that Mr. Ratcliffe had a strong wish to secure the appointment of +a certain person as counsel to the Mexican claims-commission, the +Secretary of State professed readiness to gratify him, and when he heard +who the proposed person was, the suggestion was hailed with pleasure, +for Carrington was well known and much liked at the Department, and +was indeed an excellent man for the place. Ratcliffe hardly needed to +promise an equivalent. The business was arranged in ten minutes. + +"I only need say," added Ratcliffe, "that if my agency in the affair is +known, Mr. Carrington will certainly refuse the place, for he is one of +your old-fashioned Virginia planters, proud as Lucifer, and willing +to accept nothing by way of favour. I will speak to your Assistant +Secretary about it, and the recommendation shall appear to come from +him." + +The very next day Carrington received a private note from his old +friend, the Assistant Secretary of State, who was overjoyed to do him a +kindness. + +The note asked him to call at the Department at his earliest +convenience. He went, and the Assistant Secretary announced that he +had recommended Carrington's appointment as counsel to the +Mexican claims-commission, and that the Secretary had approved the +recommendation. "We want a Southern man, a lawyer with a little +knowledge of international law, one who can go at once, and, above all, +an honest man. You fit the description to a hair; so pack your trunk as +soon as you like." + +Carrington was startled. Coming as it did, this offer was not only +unobjectionable, but tempting. It was hard for him even to imagine a +reason for hesitation. From the first he felt that he must go, and yet +to go was the very last thing he wanted to do. That he should suspect +Ratcliffe to be at the bottom of this scheme of banishment was a matter +of course, and he instantly asked whether any influence had been used +in his favour; but the Assistant Secretary so stoutly averred that +the appointment was made on his recommendation alone, as to block all +further inquiry. Technically this assertion was exact, and it made +Carrington feel that it would be base ingratitude on his part not to +accept a favour so handsomely offered. + +Yet he could not make up his mind to acceptance. He begged four and +twenty hours' delay, in order, as he said, to see whether he could +arrange his affairs for a six months' absence, although he knew there +would be no difficulty in his doing so. He went away and sat in his +office alone, gloomily wondering what he could do, although from the +first he saw that the situation was only too clear, and there could not +be the least dark corner of a doubt to crawl into. Six months ago he +would have jumped at this offer. + +What had happened within six months to make it seem a disaster? + +Mrs. Lee! There was the whole story. To go away now was to give up Mrs. +Lee, and probably to give her up to Ratcliffe. Carrington gnashed his +teeth when he thought how skilfully Ratcliffe was playing his cards. The +longer he reflected, the more certain he felt that Ratcliffe was at +the bottom of this scheme to get rid of him; and yet, as he studied +the situation, it occurred to him that after all it was possible for +Ratcliffe to make a blunder. This Illinois politician was clever, and +understood men; but a knowledge of men is a very different thing from +a knowledge of women. Carrington himself had no great experience in the +article of women, but he thought he knew more than Ratcliffe, who was +evidently relying most on his usual theory of political corruption as +applied to feminine weaknesses, and who was only puzzled at finding how +high a price Mrs. Lee set on herself. If Ratcliffe were really at the +bottom of the scheme for separating Carrington from her, it could only +be because he thought that six months, or even six weeks, would +be enough to answer his purpose. And on reaching this point in his +reflections, Carrington suddenly rose, lit a cigar, and walked up and +down his room steadily for the next hour, with the air of a general +arranging a plan of campaign, or a lawyer anticipating his opponent's +line of argument. + +On one point his mind was made up. He would accept. If Ratcliffe really +had a hand in this move, he should be gratified. If he had laid a trap, +he should be caught in it. And when the evening came, Carrington took +his hat and walked off to call upon Mrs. Lee. + +He found the sisters alone and quietly engaged in their occupations. + +Madeleine was dramatically mending an open-work silk stocking, a +delicate and difficult task which required her whole mind. Sybil was at +the piano as usual, and for the first time since he had known her, she +rose when he came in, and, taking her work-basket, sat down to share in +the conversation. She meant to take her place as a woman, henceforward. +She was tired of playing girl. Mr. Carrington should see that she was +not a fool. + +Carrington plunged at once into his subject, and announced the offer +made to him, at which Madeleine expressed delight, and asked many +questions. What was the pay? How soon must he go? How long should he be +away? Was there danger from the climate? and finally she added, with a +smile, "What am I to say to Mr. Ratcliffe if you accept this offer after +refusing his?" As for Sybil, she made one reproachful exclamation: "Oh, +Mr. Carrington!" and sank back into silence and consternation. Her +first experiment at taking a stand of her own in the world was not +encouraging. She felt betrayed. + +Nor was Carrington gay. However modest a man may be, only an idiot +can forget himself entirely in pursuing the moon and the stars. In the +bottom of his soul, he had a lingering hope that when he told his +story, Madeleine might look up with a change of expression, a glance +of unpremeditated regard, a little suffusion of the eyes, a little +trembling of the voice. To see himself relegated to Mexico with such +cheerful alacrity by the woman he loved was not the experience he would +have chosen. He could not help feeling that his hopes were disposed of, +and he watched her with a painful sinking of the heart, which did not +lead to lightness of conversation. Madeleine herself felt that her +expressions needed to be qualified, and she tried to correct her +mistake. What should she do without a tutor? she said. He must let her +have a list of books to read while he was away: they were themselves +going north in the middle of May, and Carrington would be back by the +time they returned in December. After all, they should see as little of +him during the summer if he were in Virginia as if he were in Mexico. + +Carrington gloomily confessed that he was very unwilling to go; that he +wished the idea had never been suggested; that he should be perfectly +happy if for any reason the scheme broke down; but he gave no +explanation of his feeling, and Madeleine had too much tact to press +for one. She contented herself by arguing against it, and talking as +vivaciously as she could. Her heart really bled for him as she saw +his face grow more and more pathetic in its quiet expression of +disappointment. But what could she say or do? He sat till after ten +o'clock; he could not tear himself away. He felt that this was the end +of his pleasure in life; he dreaded the solitude of his thoughts. +Mrs. Lee's resources began to show signs of exhaustion. Long pauses +intervened between her remarks; and at length Carrington, with a +superhuman effort, apologized for inflicting himself upon her so +unmercifully. If she knew, he said, how he dreaded being alone, she +would forgive him. Then he rose to go, and, in taking leave, asked Sybil +if she was inclined to ride the next day; if so, he was at her service. +Sybil's face brightened as she accepted the invitation. + +Mrs. Lee, a day or two afterwards, did mention Carrington's appointment +to Mr. Ratcliffe, and she told Carrington that the Secretary certainly +looked hurt and mortified, but showed it only by almost instantly +changing the subject. + + + +Chapter X + +THE next morning Carrington called at the Department and announced his +acceptance of the post. He was told that his instructions would be ready +in about a fortnight, and that he would be expected to start as soon as +he received them; in the meanwhile, he must devote himself to the study +of a mass of papers in the Department. There was no trifling allowable +here. + +Carrington had to set himself vigorously to work. This did not, however, +prevent him from keeping his appointment with Sybil, and at four o'clock +they started together, passing out into the quiet shadows of Rock Creek, +and seeking still lanes through the woods where their horses walked side +by side, and they themselves could talk without the risk of criticism +from curious eyes. It was the afternoon of one of those sultry and +lowering spring days when life germinates rapidly, but as yet gives no +sign, except perhaps some new leaf or flower pushing its soft head +up against the dead leaves that have sheltered it. The two riders had +something of the same sensation, as though the leafless woods and +the laurel thickets, the warm, moist air and the low clouds, were a +protection and a soft shelter. Somewhat to Carrington's surprise, he +found that it was pleasant to have Sybil's company. He felt towards her +as to a sister--a favourite sister. + +She at once attacked him for abandoning her and breaking his treaty so +lately made, and he tried to gain her sympathy by saying that if she +knew how much he was troubled, she would forgive him. Then when Sybil +asked whether he really must go and leave her without any friend whom +she could speak to, his feelings got the better of him: he could not +resist the temptation to confide all his troubles in her, since there +was no one else in whom he could confide. He told her plainly that he +was in love with her sister. + +"You say that love is nonsense, Miss Ross. I tell you it is no such +thing. For weeks and months it is a steady physical pain, an ache about +the heart, never leaving one, by night or by day; a long strain on one's +nerves like toothache or rheumatism, not intolerable at any one instant, +but exhausting by its steady drain on the strength. It is a disease to +be borne with patience, like any other nervous complaint, and to be +treated with counter-irritants. My trip to Mexico will be good for it, +but that is not the reason why I must go." + +Then he told her all his private circumstances; the ruin which the war +had brought on him and his family; how, of his two brothers, one +had survived the war only to die at home, a mere wreck of disease, +privation, and wounds; the other had been shot by his side, and bled +slowly to death in his arms during the awful carnage in the Wilderness; +how his mother and two sisters were struggling for a bare subsistence +on a wretched Virginian farm, and how all his exertions barely kept them +from beggary. + +"You have no conception of the poverty to which our southern women +are reduced since the war," said he; "they are many of them literally +without clothes or bread." The fee he should earn by going to Mexico +would double his income this year. Could he refuse? Had he a right to +refuse? And poor Carrington added, with a groan, that if he alone were +in question, he would sooner be shot than go. + +Sybil listened with tears in her eyes. She never before had seen a man +show suffering. The misery she had known in life had been more or less +veiled to her and softened by falling on older and friendly shoulders. +She now got for the first time a clear view of Carrington, apart from +the quiet exterior in which the man was hidden. She felt quite sure, by +a sudden flash of feminine inspiration, that the curious look of patient +endurance on his face was the work of a single night when he had held +his brother in his arms, and knew that the blood was draining drop by +drop from his side, in the dense, tangled woods, beyond the reach of +help, hour after hour, till the voice failed and the limbs grew stiff +and cold. When he had finished his story, she was afraid to speak. She +did not know how to show her sympathy, and she could not bear to seem +unsympathetic. In her embarrassment she fairly broke down and could only +dry her eyes in silence. + +Having once got this weight of confidence off his mind, Carrington felt +comparatively gay and was ready to make the best of things. He laughed +at himself to drive away the tears of his pretty companion, and obliged +her to take a solemn pledge never to betray him. "Of course your sister +knows it all," he said; "but she must never know that I told you, and I +never would tell any one but you." + +Sybil promised faithfully to keep his confidence to herself, and she +went on to defend her sister. + +"You must not blame Madeleine," said she; "if you knew as well as I do +what she has been through, you would not think her cold. You do know how +suddenly her husband died, after only one day's illness, and what a nice +fellow he was. She was very fond of him, and his death seemed to stun +her. We hardly knew what to make of it, she was so quiet and natural. +Then just a week later her little child died of diphtheria, suffering +horribly, and she wild with despair because she could not relieve it. +After that, she was almost insane; indeed, I have always thought she was +quite insane for a time. I know she was excessively violent and wanted +to kill herself, and I never heard any one rave as she did about +religion and resignation and God. After a few weeks she became quiet and +stupid and went about like a machine; and at last she got over it, but +has never been what she was before. You know she was a rather fast +New York girl before she married, and cared no more about politics and +philanthropy than I do. It was a very late thing, all this stuff. +But she is not really hard, though she may seem so. It is all on the +surface. I always know when she is thinking about her husband or child, +because her face gets rigid; she looks then as she used to look after +her child died, as though she didn't care what became of her and she +would just as lieve kill herself as not. I don't think she will ever +let herself love any one again. She has a horror of it. She is much more +likely to go in for ambition, or duty, or self-sacrifice." + +They rode on for a while in silence, Carrington perplexed by the problem +how two harmless people such as Madeleine and he could have been made +by a beneficent Providence the sport of such cruel tortures; and Sybil +equally interested in thinking what sort of a brother-in-law Carrington +would make; on the whole, she thought she liked him better as he was. +The silence was only broken by Carrington's bringing the conversation +back to its starting-point: "Something must be done to keep your sister +out of Ratcliffe's power. I have thought about it till I am tired. Can +you make no suggestion?" + +No! Sybil was helpless and dreadfully alarmed. Mr. Ratcliffe came to the +house as often as he could, and seemed to tell Madeleine everything +that was going on in politics, and ask her advice, and Madeleine did not +discourage him. "I do believe she likes it, and thinks she can do some +good by it. I don't dare speak to her about it. She thinks me a child +still, and treats me as though I were fifteen. What can I do?" + +Carrington said he had thought of speaking to Mrs. Lee himself, but he +did not know what to say, and if he offended her, he might drive her +directly into Ratcliffe's arms. But Sybil thought she would not be +offended if he went to work in the right way. "She will stand more from +you than from any one else. Tell her openly that you--that you love +her," said Sybil with a burst of desperate courage; "she can't take +offence at that; and then you can say almost anything." + +Carrington looked at Sybil with more admiration than he had ever +expected to feel for her, and began to think that he might do worse +than to put himself under her orders. After all, she had some practical +sense, and what was more to the point, she was handsomer than ever, as +she sat erect on her horse, the rich colour rushing up under the warm +skin, at the impropriety of her speech. "You are certainly right," said +he; "after all, I have nothing to lose. Whether she marries Ratcliffe or +not, she will never marry me, I suppose." + +This speech was a cowardly attempt to beg encouragement from Sybil, +and met with the fate it deserved, for Sybil, highly flattered at +Carrington's implied praise, and bold as a lioness now that it was +Carrington's fingers, and not her own, that were to go into the fire, +gave him on the spot a feminine view of the situation that did not +encourage his hopes. She plainly said that men seemed to take leave of +their senses as soon as women were concerned; for her part, she could +not understand what there was in any woman to make such a fuss about; +she thought most women were horrid; men were ever so much nicer; "and +as for Madeleine, whom all of you are ready to cut each other's throats +about, she's a dear, good sister, as good as gold, and I love her with +all my heart, but you wouldn't like her, any of you, if you married her; +she has always had her own way, and she could not help taking it; she +never could learn to take yours; both of you would be unhappy in a week; +and as for that old Mr. Ratcliffe, she would make his life a burden--and +I hope she will," concluded Sybil with a spiteful little explosion of +hatred. + +Carrington could not help being amused by Sybil's way of dealing with +affairs of the heart. Emboldened by encouragement, she went on to attack +him pitilessly for going down on his knees before her sister, "just as +though you were not as good as she is," and openly avowed that, if she +were a man, she would at least have some pride. Men like this kind of +punishment. + +Carrington did not attempt to defend himself; he even courted Sybil's +attack. They both enjoyed their ride through the bare woods, by the +rippling spring streams, under the languid breath of the moist south +wind. It was a small idyll, all the more pleasant because there was +gloom before and behind it. Sybil's irrepressible gaiety made Carrington +doubt whether, after all, life need be so serious a matter. She had +animal spirits in plenty, and it needed an effort for her to keep them +down, while Carrington's spirits were nearly exhausted after twenty +years of strain, and he required a greater effort to hold himself up. +There was every reason why he should be grateful to Sybil for lending +to him from her superfluity. He enjoyed being laughed at by her. Suppose +Madeleine Lee did refuse to marry him! What of it? + +"Pooh!" said Sybil; "you men are all just alike. How can you be so +silly? Madeleine and you would be intolerable together. Do find some one +who won't be solemn!" + +They laid out their little plot against Madeleine and elaborated it +carefully, both as to what Carrington should say and how he should say +it, for Sybil asserted that men were too stupid to be trusted even in +making a declaration of love, and must be taught, like little children +to say their prayers. Carrington enjoyed being taught how to make a +declaration of love. + +He did not ask where Sybil had learned so much about men's stupidity. He +thought perhaps Schneidekoupon could have thrown light on the subject. +At all events, they were so busily occupied with their schemes and +lessons, that they did not-reach home till Madeleine had become anxious +lest they had met with some accident. The long dusk had become darkness +before she heard the clatter of hoofs on the asphalt pavement, and she +went down to the door to scold them for their delay. Sybil only laughed +at her, and said it was all Mr. Carrington's fault: he had lost his way, +and she had been forced to find it for him. + +Ten days more passed before their plan was carried into effect. April +had come. Carrington's work was completed and he was ready to start on +his journey. Then at last he appeared one evening at Mrs. Lee's at the +very moment when Sybil, as chance would have it, was going out to +pass an hour or two with her friend Victoria Dare a few doors away. +Carrington felt a little ashamed as she went. This kind of conspiracy +behind Mrs. Lee's back was not to his taste. + +He resolutely sat down, and plunged at once into his subject. He was +almost ready to go, he said; he had nearly completed his work in the +Department, and he was assured that his instructions and papers would be +ready in two days more; he might not have another chance to see Mrs. Lee +so quietly again, and he wanted to take his leave now, for this was what +lay most heavily on his mind; he should have gone willingly and gladly +if it had not been for uneasiness about her; and yet he had till now +been afraid to speak openly on the subject. Here he paused for a moment +as though to invite some reply. + +Madeleine laid down her work with a look of regret though not of +annoyance, and said frankly and instantly that he had been too good +a friend to allow of her taking offence at anything he could say; she +would not pretend to misunderstand him. "My affairs," she added with a +shade of bitterness, "seem to have become public property, and I would +rather have some voice in discussing them myself than to know they are +discussed behind my back." + +This was a sharp thrust at the very outset, but Carrington turned it +aside and went quietly on: + +"You are frank and loyal, as you always are. I will be so too. I can't +help being so. For months I have had no other pleasure than in being +near you. For the first time in my life I have known what it is to +forget my own affairs in loving a woman who seems to me without a fault, +and for one solitary word from whom I would give all I have in life, and +perhaps itself." + +Madeleine flushed and bent towards him with an earnestness of manner +that repeated itself in her tone. + +"Mr. Carrington, I am the best friend you have on earth. One of these +days you will thank me with your whole soul for refusing to listen to +you now. You do not know how much misery I am saving you. I have no +heart to give. You want a young, fresh life to help yours; a gay, lively +temperament to enliven your despondency; some one still young enough to +absorb herself in you and make all her existence yours. I could not do +it. I can give you nothing. I have done my best to persuade myself that +some day I might begin life again with the old hopes and feelings, but +it is no use. The fire is burned out. If you married me, you would +destroy yourself You would wake up some day, and find the universe dust +and ashes." + +Carrington listened in silence. He made no attempt to interrupt or to +contradict her. Only at the end he said with a little bitterness: "My +own life is worth so much to the world and to me, that I suppose it +would be wrong to risk it on such a venture; but I would risk it, +nevertheless, if you gave me the chance. Do you think me wicked for +tempting Providence? I do not mean to annoy you with entreaties. I have +a little pride left, and a great deal of respect for you. Yet I think, +in spite of all you have said or can say, that one disappointed life may +be as able to find happiness and repose in another, as to get them by +sucking the young life-blood of a fresh soul." + +To this speech, which was unusually figurative for Carrington, Mrs. Lee +could find no ready answer. She could only reply that Carrington's life +was worth quite as much as his neighbour's, and that it was worth so +much to her, if not to himself, that she would not let him wreck it. + +Carrington went on: "Forgive my talking in this way. I do not mean to +complain. I shall always love you just as much, whether you care for +me or not, because you are the only woman I have ever met, or am ever +likely to meet, who seems to me perfect." + +If this was Sybil's teaching, she had made the best of her time. + +Carrington's tone and words pierced through all Mrs. Lee's armour as +though they were pointed with the most ingenious cruelty, and designed +to torture her. She felt hard and small before him. Life for life, +his had been, and was now, far less bright than hers, yet he was her +superior. He sat there, a true man, carrying his burden calmly, quietly, +without complaint, ready to face the next shock of life with the same +endurance he had shown against the rest. And he thought her perfect! +She felt humiliated that any brave man should say to her face that he +thought her perfect! She! perfect! In her contrition she was half ready +to go down at his feet and confess her sins; her hysterical dread of +sorrow and suffering, her narrow sympathies, her feeble faith, her +miserable selfishness, her abject cowardice. Every nerve in her body +tingled with shame when she thought what a miserable fraud she was; what +a mass of pretensions unfounded, of deceit ingrained. She was ready to +hide her face in her hands. She was disgusted, outraged with her own +image as she saw it, contrasted with Carrington's single word: Perfect! + +Nor was this the worst. Carrington was not the first man who had thought +her perfect. To hear this word suddenly used again, which had never been +uttered to her before except by lips now dead and gone, made her brain +reel. She seemed to hear her husband once more telling her that she was +perfect. Yet against this torture, she had a better defence. She had +long since hardened herself to bear these recollections, and they +steadied and strengthened her. + +She had been called perfect before now, and what had come of it? Two +graves, and a broken life! She drew herself up with a face now grown +quite pale and rigid. In reply to Carrington, she said not a word, but +only shook her head slightly without looking at him. + +He went on: "After all, it is not my own happiness I am thinking of but +yours. I never was vain enough to think that I was worth your love, or +that I could ever win it. Your happiness is another thing. I care so +much for that as to make me dread going away, for fear that you may +yet find yourself entangled in this wretched political life here, when, +perhaps if I stayed, I might be of some use." + +"Do you really think, then, that I am going to fall a victim to Mr. +Ratcliffe?" asked Madeleine, with a cold smile. + +"Why not?" replied Carrington, in a similar tone. "He can put forward +a strong claim to your sympathy and help, if not to your love. He can +offer you a great field of usefulness which you want. He has been very +faithful to you. Are you quite sure that even now you can refuse him +without his complaining that you have trifled with him?" + +"And are you quite sure," added Mrs. Lee, evasively, "that you have not +been judging him much too harshly? I think I know him better than you. +He has many good qualities, and some high ones. What harm can he do me? +Supposing even that he did succeed in persuading me that my life could +be best used in helping his, why should I be afraid of it?" + +"You and I," said Carrington, "are wide apart in our estimates of Mr. +Ratcliffe. To you, of course, he shows his best side. He is on his good +behaviour, and knows that any false step will ruin him. I see in him +only a coarse, selfish, unprincipled politician, who would either drag +you down to his own level, or, what is more likely, would very soon +disgust you and make your life a wretched self-immolation before his +vulgar ambition, or compel you to leave him. In either case you would +be the victim. You cannot afford to make another false start in life. +Reject me! I have not a word to say against it. But be on your guard +against giving your existence up to him." + +"Why do you think so ill of Mr. Ratcliffe?" asked Madeleine; "he always +speaks highly of you. Do you know anything against him that the world +does not?" + +"His public acts are enough to satisfy me," replied Carrington, evading +a part of the question. "You know that I have never had but one opinion +about him." + +There was a pause in the conversation. Both parties felt that as yet no +good had come of it. At length Madeleine asked, "What would you have me +do? Is it a pledge you want that I will under no circumstances marry Mr. +Ratcliffe?" + +"Certainly not," was the answer; "you know me better than to think +I would ask that. I only want you to take time and keep out of his +influence until your mind is fairly made up. A year hence I feel certain +that you will think of him as I do." + +"Then you will allow me to marry him if I find that you are mistaken," +said Mrs. Lee, with a marked tone of sarcasm. + +Carrington looked annoyed, but he answered quietly, "What I fear is +his influence here and now. What I would like to see you do is this: go +north a month earlier than you intended, and without giving him time +to act. If I were sure you were safely in Newport, I should feel no +anxiety." + +"You seem to have as bad an opinion of Washington as Mr. Gore," said +Madeleine, with a contemptuous smile. "He gave me the same advice, +though he was afraid to tell me why. I am not a child. I am thirty years +old, and have seen something of the world. I am not afraid, like Mr. +Gore, of Washington malaria, or, like you, of Mr. Ratcliffe's influence. +If I fall a victim I shall deserve my fate, and certainly I shall have +no cause to complain of my friends. They have given me advice enough for +a lifetime." + +Carrington's face darkened with a deeper shade of regret. The turn which +the conversation had taken was precisely what he had expected, and both +Sybil and he had agreed that Madeleine would probably answer just in +this way. + +Nevertheless, he could not but feel acutely the harm he was doing to +his own interests, and it was only by a sheer effort of the will that he +forced himself to a last and more earnest attack. + +"I know it is an impertinence," he said; "I wish it were in my power to +show how much it costs me to offend you. This is the first time you +ever had occasion to be offended. If I were to yield to the fear of +your anger and were to hold my tongue now, and by any chance you were +to wreck your life on this rock, I should never forgive myself the +cowardice. I should always think I might have done something to prevent +it. This is probably the last time I shall have the chance to talk +openly with you, and I implore you to listen to me. I want nothing for +myself If I knew I should never see you again, I would still say the +same thing. Leave Washington! Leave it now!--at once!--without giving +more than twenty-four hours' notice! Leave it without letting Mr. +Ratcliffe see you again in private! Come back next winter if you please, +and then accept him if you think proper. I only pray you to think long +about it and decide when you are not here." + +Madeleine's eyes flashed, and she threw aside her embroidery with an +impatient gesture: "No! Mr. Carrington! I will not be dictated to! I +will carry out my own plans! I do not mean to marry Mr. Ratcliffe. If I +had meant it, I should have done it before now. But I will not run away +from him or from myself. It would be unladylike, undignified, cowardly." + +Carrington could say no more. He had come to the end of his lesson. A +long silence ensued and then he rose to go. "Are you angry with me?" +said she in a softer tone. + +"I ought to ask that question," said he. "Can you forgive me? I am +afraid not. No man can say to a woman what I have said to you, and be +quite forgiven. You will never think of me again as you would have done +if I had not spoken. I knew that before I did it. As for me, I can only +go on with my old life. It is not gay, and will not be the gayer for our +talk to-night." + +Madeleine relented a little: "Friendships like ours are not so easily +broken," she said. "Do not do me another injustice. You will see me +again before you go?" + +He assented and bade good-night. Mrs. Lee, weary and disturbed in mind, +hastened to her room. "When Miss Sybil comes in, tell her that I am not +very well, and have gone to bed," were her instructions to her maid, and +Sybil thought she knew the cause of this headache. + +But before Carrington's departure he had one more ride with Sybil, +and reported to her the result of the interview, at which both of them +confessed themselves much depressed. Carrington expressed some hope that +Madeleine meant, after a sort, to give a kind of pledge by saying that +she had no intention of marrying Mr. Ratcliffe, but Sybil shook her head +emphatically: + +"How can a woman tell whether she is going to accept a man until she is +asked?" said she with entire confidence, as though she were stating the +simplest fact in the world. Carrington looked puzzled, and ventured to +ask whether women did not generally make up their minds beforehand on +such an interesting point; but Sybil overwhelmed him with contempt: +"What good will they do by making up their minds, I should like to +know? of course they would go and do the opposite. Sensible women don't +pretend to make up their minds, Mr. Carrington. But you men are so +stupid, and you can't understand in the least." + +Carrington gave it up, and went back to his stale question: Could Sybil +suggest any other resource? and Sybil sadly confessed that she could +not. So far as she could see, they must trust to luck, and she thought +it was cruel tor Mr. Carrington to go away and leave her alone without +help. He had promised to prevent the marriage. + +"One thing more I mean to do," said Carrington: "and here everything +will depend on your courage and nerve. You may depend upon it that Mr. +Ratcliffe will offer himself before you go north. He does not suspect +you of making trouble, and he will not think about you in any way if you +let him alone and keep quiet. When he does offer himself you will know +it; at least your sister will tell you if she has accepted him. If she +refuses him point blank, you will have nothing to do but to keep her +steady. If you see her hesitating, you must break in at any cost, and +use all your influence to stop her. Be bold, then, and do your best. If +everything fails and she still clings to him, I must play my last card, +or rather you must play it for me. I shall leave with you a sealed +letter which you are to give her if everything else fails. Do it before +she sees Ratcliffe a second time. See that she reads it and, if +necessary, make her read it, no matter when or where. No one else must +know that it exists, and you must take as much care of it as though it +were a diamond. You are not to know what is in it; it must be a complete +secret. Do you understand?" + +Sybil thought she did, but her heart sank. "When shall you give me this +letter?" she asked. + +"The evening before I start, when I come to bid good-bye; probably next +Sunday. This letter is our last hope. If, after reading that, she does +not give him up, you will have to pack your trunk, my dear Sybil, and +find a new home, for you can never live with them." + +He had never before called her by her first name, and it pleased her +to hear it now, though she generally had a strong objection to such +familiarities. + +"Oh, I wish you were not going!" she exclaimed tearfully. "What shall I +do when you are gone?" + +At this pitiful appeal, Carrington felt a sudden pang. He found that +he was not so old as he had thought. Certainly he had grown to like her +frank honesty and sound common sense, and he had at length discovered +that she was handsome, with a very pretty figure. Was it not something +like a flirtation he had been carrying on with this young person for the +last month? A glimmering of suspicion crossed his mind, though he got +rid of it as quickly as possible. For a man of his age and sobriety +to be in love with two sisters at once was impossible; still more +impossible that Sybil should care for him. + +As for her, however, there was no doubt about the matter. She had grown +to depend upon him, and she did it with all the blind confidence of +youth. To lose him was a serious disaster. She had never before felt +the sensation, and she thought it most disagreeable. Her youthful +diplomatists and admirers could not at all fill Carrington's place. They +danced and chirruped cheerfully on the hollow crust of society, but they +were wholly useless when one suddenly fell through and found oneself +struggling in the darkness and dangers beneath. Young women, too, are +apt to be flattered by the confidences of older men; they have a keen +palate for whatever savours of experience and adventure. For the first +time in her life, Sybil had found a man who gave some play to her +imagination; one who had been a rebel, and had grown used to the shocks +of fate, so as to walk with calmness into the face of death, and to +command or obey with equal indifference. She felt that he would tell her +what to do when the earthquake came, and would be at hand to consult, +which is in a woman's eyes the great object of men's existence, +when trouble comes. She suddenly conceived that Washington would be +intolerable without him, and that she should never get the courage to +fight Mr. Ratcliffe alone, or, if she did, she should make some fatal +mistake. + +They finished their ride very soberly. She began to show a new interest +in all that concerned him, and asked many questions about his sisters +and their plantation. She wanted to ask him whether she could not do +something to help them, but this seemed too awkward. On his part he +made her promise to write him faithfully all that took place, and +this request pleased her, though she knew his interest was all on her +sister's account. + +The following Sunday evening when he came to bid good-bye, it was still +worse. There was no chance for private talk. Ratcliffe was there, and +several diplomatists, including old Jacobi, who had eyes like a cat +and saw every motion of one's face. Victoria Dare was on the sofa, +chattering with Lord Dunbeg; Sybil would rather have had any ordinary +illness, even to the extent of a light case of scarlet fever or +small-pox than let her know what was the matter. Carrington found means +to get Sybil into another room for a moment and to give her the letter +he had promised. Then he bade her good-bye, and in doing so he reminded +her of her promise to write, pressing her hand and looking into her eyes +with an earnestness that made her heart beat faster, although she +said to herself that his interest was all about her sister; as it +was--mostly. The thought did not raise her spirits, but she went through +with her performance like a heroine. Perhaps she was a little pleased to +see that he parted from Madeleine with much less apparent feeling. One +would have said that they were two good friends who had no troublesome +sentiment to worry them. But then every eye in the room was watching +this farewell, and speculating about it. Ratcliffe looked on with +particular interest and was a little perplexed to account for this too +fraternal cordiality. Could he have made a miscalculation? or was there +something behind? He himself insisted upon shaking hands genially with +Carrington and wished him a pleasant journey and a successful one. + +That night, for the first time since she was a child, Sybil actually +cried a little after she went to bed, although it is true that her +sentiment did not keep her awake. She felt lonely and weighed down by a +great responsibility. + +For a day or two afterwards she was nervous and restless. She would +not ride, or make calls, or see guests. She tried to sing a little, and +found it tiresome. She went out and sat for hours in the Square, where +the spring sun was shining warm and bright on the prancing horse of the +great Andrew Jackson. She was a little cross, too, and absent, and spoke +so often about Carrington that at last Madeleine was struck by sudden +suspicion, and began to watch her with anxious care. + +Tuesday night, after this had gone on for two days, Sybil was in +Madeleine's room, where she often stayed to talk while her sister was at +her toilet. + +This evening she threw herself listlessly on the couch, and within five +minutes again quoted Carrington. Madeleine turned from the glass before +which she was sitting, and looked her steadily in the face. + +"Sybil," said she, "this is the twenty-fourth time you have mentioned +Mr. Carrington since we sat down to dinner. I have waited for the round +number to decide whether I should take any notice of it or not? what +does it mean, my child? Do you care for Mr. Carrington?" + +"Oh, Maude!" exclaimed Sybil reproachfully, flushing so violently that, +even by that dim light, her sister could not but see it. + +Mrs. Lee rose and, crossing the room, sat down by Sybil who was lying +on the couch and turned her face away. Madeleine put her arms round her +neck and kissed her. + +"My poor--poor child!" said she pityingly. "I never dreamed of this! +What a fool I have been! How could I have been so thoughtless! Tell me!" +she added, with a little hesitation; "has he--does he care for you?" + +"No! no!" cried Sybil, fairly breaking down into a burst of tears; "no! +he loves you! nobody but you! he never gave a thought to me. I don't +care for him so very much," she continued, drying her tears; "only it +seems so lonely now he is gone." + +Mrs. Lee remained on the couch, with her arm round her sister's +neck, silent, gazing into vacancy, the picture of perplexity and +consternation. + +The situation was getting beyond her control. + + + +Chapter XI + +IN the middle of April a sudden social excitement started the +indolent city of Washington to its feet. The Grand-Duke and Duchess of +Saxe-Baden-Hombourg arrived in America on a tour of pleasure, and in +due course came on to pay their respects to the Chief Magistrate of +the Union. The newspapers hastened to inform their readers that the +Grand-Duchess was a royal princess of England, and, in the want of any +other social event, every one who had any sense of what was due to his +or her own dignity, hastened to show this august couple the respect +which all republicans who have a large income derived from business, +feel for English royalty. New York gave a dinner, at which the most +insignificant person present was worth at least a million dollars, and +where the gentlemen who sat by the Princess entertained her for an hour +or two by a calculation of the aggregate capital represented. New York +also gave a ball at which the Princess appeared in an ill-fitting black +silk dress with mock lace and jet ornaments, among several hundred +toilets that proclaimed the refined republican simplicity of their +owners at a cost of various hundred thousand dollars. After these +hospitalities the Grand-ducal pair came on to Washington, where they +became guests of Lord Skye, or, more properly, Lord Skye became their +guest, for he seemed to consider that he handed the Legation over to +them, and he told Mrs. Lee, with true British bluntness of speech, +that they were a great bore and he wished they had stayed in +Saxe-Baden-Hombourg, or wherever they belonged, but as they were here, +he must be their lackey. Mrs. Lee was amused and a little astonished at +the candour with which he talked about them, and she was instructed +and improved by his dry account of the Princess, who, it seemed, made +herself disagreeable by her airs of royalty; who had suffered dreadfully +from the voyage; and who detested America and everything American; but +who was, not without some show of reason, jealous of her husband, and +endured endless sufferings, though with a very bad grace, rather than +lose sight of him. + +Not only was Lord Skye obliged to turn the Legation into an hotel, but +in the full enthusiasm of his loyalty he felt himself called upon to +give a ball. It was, he said, the easiest way of paying off all his +debts at once, and if the Princess was good for nothing else, she could +be utilized as a show by way of "promoting the harmony of the two great +nations." In other words, Lord Skye meant to exhibit the Princess for +his own diplomatic benefit, and he did so. One would have thought that +at this season, when Congress had adjourned, Washington would hardly +have afforded society enough to fill a ball-room, but this, instead of +being a drawback, was an advantage. It permitted the British Minister to +issue invitations without limit. He asked not only the President and +his Cabinet, and the judges, and the army, and the navy, and all the +residents of Washington who had any claim to consideration, but also all +the senators, all the representatives in Congress, all the governors +of States with their staffs, if they had any, all eminent citizens +and their families throughout the Union and Canada, and finally every +private individual, from the North Pole to the Isthmus of Panama, who +had ever shown him a civility or was able to control interest enough +to ask for a card. The result was that Baltimore promised to come in +a body, and Philadelphia was equally well-disposed; New York provided +several scores of guests, and Boston sent the governor and a delegation; +even the well-known millionaire who represented California in the United +States Senate was irritated because, his invitation having been timed to +arrive just one day too late, he was prevented from bringing his family +across the continent with a choice party in a director's car, to +enjoy the smiles of royalty in the halls of the British lion. It is +astonishing what efforts freemen will make in a just cause. + +Lord Skye himself treated the whole affair with easy contempt. One +afternoon he strolled into Mrs. Lee's parlour and begged her to give him +a cup of tea. + +He said he had got rid of his menagerie for a few hours by shunting +it off upon the German Legation, and he was by way of wanting a little +human society. Sybil, who was a great favourite with him, entreated to +be told all about the ball, but he insisted that he knew no more than +she did. A man from New York had taken possession of the Legation, but +what he would do with it was not within the foresight of the wisest; +trom the talk of the young members of his Legation, Lord Skye gathered +that the entire city was to be roofed in and forty millions of people +expected, but his own concern in the affair was limited to the flowers +he hoped to receive. + +"All young and beautiful women," said he to Sybil, "are to send me +flowers. I prefer Jacqueminot roses, but will accept any handsome +variety, provided they are not wired. It is diplomatic etiquette that +each lady who sends me flowers shall reserve at least one dance for me. +You will please inscribe this at once upon your tablets, Miss Ross." + +To Madeleine this ball was a godsend, for it came just in time to +divert Sybil's mind from its troubles. A week had now passed since that +revelation of Sybil's heart which had come like an earthquake upon +Mrs. Lee. Since then Sybil had been nervous and irritable, all the more +because she was conscious of being watched. She was in secret ashamed of +her own conduct, and inclined to be angry with Carrington, as though +he were responsible for her foolishness; but she could not talk +with Madeleine on the subject without discussing Mr. Ratcliffe, and +Carrington had expressly forbidden her to attack Mr. Ratcliffe until it +was clear that Ratcliffe had laid himself open to attack. This reticence +deceived poor Mrs. Lee, who saw in her sister's moods only that +unrequited attachment for which she held herself solely to blame. Her +gross negligence in allowing Sybil to be improperly exposed to such +a risk weighed heavily on her mind. With a saint's capacity for +self-torment, Madeleine wielded the scourge over her own back until the +blood came. She saw the roses rapidly fading from Sybil's cheeks, and +by the help of an active imagination she discovered a hectic look +and symptoms of a cough. She became fairly morbid on the subject, +and fretted herself into a fever, upon which Sybil sent, on her own +responsibility, for the medical man, and Madeleine was obliged to dose +herself with quinine. In fact, there was much more reason for anxiety +about her than for her anxiety about Sybil, who, barring a little +youthful nervousness in the face of responsibility, was as healthy +and comfortable a young woman as could be shown in America, and whose +sentiment never cost her five minutes' sleep, although her appetite may +have become a shade more exacting than before. Madeleine was quick to +notice this, and surprised her cook by making daily and almost hourly +demands for new and impossible dishes, which she exhausted a library of +cookery-books to discover. + +Lord Skye's ball and Sybil's interest in it were a great relief to +Madeleine's mind, and she now turned her whole soul to frivolity. Never, +since she was seventeen, had she thought or talked so much about a ball, +as now about this ball to the Grand-Duchess. She wore out her own brain +in the effort to amuse Sybil. She took her to call on the Princess; +she would have taken her to call on the Grand Lama had he come to +Washington. She instigated her to order and send to Lord Skye a mass of +the handsomest roses New York could afford. She set her at work on her +dress several days before there was any occasion for it, and this famous +costume had to be taken out, examined, criticised, and discussed with +unending interest. She talked about the dress, and the Princess, and +the ball, till her tongue clove to the roof of her mouth, and her brain +refused to act. From morning till night, for one entire week, she ate, +drank, breathed, and dreamt of the ball. Everything that love could +suggest or labour carry out, she did, to amuse and occupy her sister. + +She knew that all this was only temporary and palliative, and that more +radical measures must be taken to secure Sybil's happiness. On this +subject she thought in secret until both head and heart ached. One thing +and one thing only was clear: if Sybil loved Carrington, she should +have him. How Madeleine expected to bring about this change of heart +in Carrington, was known only to herself. She regarded men as creatures +made for women to dispose of, and capable of being transferred like +checks, or baggage-labels, from one woman to another, as desired. The +only condition was that he should first be completely disabused of the +notion that he could dispose of himself. Mrs. Lee never doubted that she +could make Carrington fall in love with Sybil provided she could place +herself beyond his reach. At all events, come what might, even though +she had to accept the desperate alternative offered by Mr. Ratcliffe, +nothing should be allowed to interfere with Sybil's happiness. And thus +it was, that, for the first time, Mrs. Lee began to ask herself whether +it was not better to find the solution of her perplexities in marriage. + +Would she ever have been brought to this point without the violent +pressure of her sister's supposed interests? This is one of those +questions which wise men will not ask, because it is one which the +wisest man or woman cannot answer. Upon this theme, an army of ingenious +authors have exhausted their ingenuity in entertaining the public, and +their works are to be found at every book-stall. They have decided that +any woman will, under the right conditions, marry any man at any time, +provided her "higher nature" is properly appealed to. Only with regret +can a writer forbear to moralize on this subject. "Beauty and the +Beast," "Bluebeard," "Auld Robin Gray," have the double charm to +authors of being very pleasant to read, and still easier to dilute with +sentiment. But at least ten thousand modern writers, with Lord Macaulay +at their head, have so ravaged and despoiled the region of fairy-stories +and fables, that an allusion even to the "Arabian Nights" is no longer +decent. The capacity of women to make unsuitable marriages must be +considered as the corner-stone of society. + +Meanwhile the ball had, in truth, very nearly driven all thought of +Carrington out of Sybil's mind. The city filled again. The streets +swarmed with fashionable young men and women from the provinces of New +York, Philadelphia, and Boston, who gave Sybil abundance of occupation. +She received bulletins of the progress of affairs. The President and +his wife had consented to be present, out of their high respect for +Her Majesty the Queen and their desire to see and to be seen. All the +Cabinet would accompany the Chief Magistrate. The diplomatic corps +would appear in uniform; so, too, the officers of the army and navy; the +Governor-General of Canada was coming, with a staff. Lord Skye remarked +that the Governor-General was a flat. + +The day of the ball was a day of anxiety to Sybil, although not on +account of Mr. Ratcliffe or of Mr. Carrington, who were of trifling +consequence compared with the serious problem now before her. The +responsibility of dressing both her sister and herself fell upon Sybil, +who was the real author of all Mrs. Lee's millinery triumphs when +they now occurred, except that Madeleine managed to put character into +whatever she wore, which Sybil repudiated on her own account. On +this day Sybil had reasons for special excitement. All winter two new +dresses, one especially a triumph of Mr. + +Worth's art, had lain in state upstairs, and Sybil had waited in vain +for an occasion that should warrant the splendour of these garments. + +One afternoon in early June of the preceding summer, Mr. Worth had +received a letter on the part of the reigning favourite of the King +of Dahomey, directing him to create for her a ball-dress that should +annihilate and utterly destroy with jealousy and despair the hearts of +her seventy-five rivals; she was young and beautiful; expense was not a +consideration. Such were the words of her chamberlain. All that night, +the great genius of the nineteenth century tossed wakefully on his bed +revolving the problem in his mind. Visions of flesh-coloured tints shot +with blood-red perturbed his brain, but he fought against and dismissed +them; that combination would be commonplace in Dahomey. When the first +rays of sunlight showed him the reflection of his careworn face in the +plate-glass mirrored ceiling, he rose and, with an impulse of despair, +flung open the casements. There before his blood-shot eyes lay the pure, +still, new-born, radiant June morning. With a cry of inspiration the +great man leaned out of the casement and rapidly caught the details of +his new conception. Before ten o'clock he was again at his bureau in +Paris. An imperious order brought to his private room every silk, satin, +and gauze within the range of pale pink, pale crocus, pale green, silver +and azure. Then came chromatic scales of colour; combinations meant to +vulgarise the rainbow; sinfonies and fugues; the twittering of birds and +the great peace of dewy nature; maidenhood in her awakening innocence; +"The Dawn in June." The Master rested content. + +A week later came an order from Sybil, including "an entirely original +ball-dress,--unlike any other sent to America." Mr. Worth pondered, +hesitated; recalled Sybil's figure; the original pose of her head; +glanced anxiously at the map, and speculated whether the New York Herald +had a special correspondent at Dahomey; and at last, with a generosity +peculiar to great souls, he duplicated for "Miss S. Ross, New York, U.S. +America," the order for "L'Aube, Mois de Juin." + +The Schneidekoupons and Mr. French, who had reappeared in Washington, +came to dine with Mrs. Lee on the evening of the ball, and Julia +Schneidekoupon sought in vain to discover what Sybil was going to wear. +"Be happy, my dear, in your ignorance!" said Sybil; "the pangs of envy +will rankle soon enough." + +An hour later her room, except the fireplace, where a wood fire was +gently smouldering, became an altar of sacrifice to the Deity of Dawn in +June. Her bed, her low couch, her little tables, her chintz arm-chairs, +were covered with portions of the divinity, down to slippers and +handkerchief, gloves and bunches of fresh roses. When at length, after +a long effort, the work was complete, Mrs. Lee took a last critical +look at the result, and enjoyed a glow of satisfaction. Young, happy, +sparkling with consciousness of youth and beauty, Sybil stood, Hebe +Anadyomene, rising from the foam of soft creplisse which swept back +beneath the long train of pale, tender, pink silk, fainting into +breadths of delicate primrose, relieved here and there by facings of +June green--or was it the blue of early morning?--or both? suggesting +unutterable freshness. A modest hint from her maid that "the girls," +as women-servants call each other in American households, would like to +offer their share of incense at the shrine, was amiably met, and they +were allowed a glimpse of the divinity before she was enveloped in +wraps. An admiring group, huddled in the doorway, murmured approval, +from the leading "girl," who was the cook, a coloured widow of some +sixty winters, whose admiration was irrepressible, down to a New England +spinster whose Anabaptist conscience wrestled with her instincts, and +who, although disapproving of "French folks," paid in her heart that +secret homage to their gowns and bonnets which her sterner lips refused. +The applause of this audience has, from generation to generation, +cheered the hearts of myriads of young women starting out on their +little adventures, while the domestic laurels flourish green and fresh +for one half hour, until they wither at the threshold of the ball-room. + +Mrs. Lee toiled long and earnestly over her sister's toilet, for had not +she herself in her own day been the best-dressed girl in New York?--at +least, she held that opinion, and her old instincts came to life again +whenever Sybil was to be prepared for any great occasion. Madeleine +kissed her sister affectionately, and gave her unusual praise when +the "Dawn in June" was complete. Sybil was at this moment the ideal of +blooming youth, and Mrs. Lee almost dared to hope that her heart was +not permanently broken, and that she might yet survive until Carrington +could be brought back. Her own toilet was a much shorter affair, but +Sybil was impatient long before it was concluded; the carriage was +waiting, and she was obliged to disappoint her household by coming down +enveloped in her long opera-cloak, and hurrying away. + +When at length the sisters entered the reception-room at the British +Legation, Lord Skye rebuked them for not having come early to receive +with him. His Lordship, with a huge riband across his breast, and a star +on his coat, condescended to express himself vigorously on the subject +of the "Dawn in June." Schneidekoupon, who was proud of his easy use +of the latest artistic jargon, looked with respect at Mrs. Lee's +silver-gray satin and its Venetian lace, the arrangement of which +had been conscientiously stolen from a picture in the Louvre, and +he murmured audibly, "Nocturne in silver-gray!"--then, turning to +Sybil--"and you? Of course! I see! A song without words!" Mr. French +came up and, in his most fascinating tones, exclaimed, "Why, Mrs. Lee, +you look real handsome to-night!" Jacobi, after a close scrutiny, said +that he took the liberty of an old man in telling them that they were +both dressed absolutely without fault. Even the Grand-Duke was struck +by Sybil, and made Lord Skye introduce him, after which ceremony he +terrified her by asking the pleasure of a waltz. She disappeared from +Madeleine's view, not to be brought back again until Dawn met dawn. + +The ball was, as the newspapers declared, a brilliant success. Every one +who knows the city of Washington will recollect that, among some scores +of magnificent residences which our own and foreign governments have +built for the comfort of cabinet officers, judges, diplomatists, +vice-presidents, speakers, and senators, the British Legation is by far +the most impressive. + +Combining in one harmonious whole the proportions of the Pitti Palace +with the decoration of the Casa d'Oro and the dome of an Eastern Mosque, +this architectural triumph offers extraordinary resources for society. +Further description is unnecessary, since anyone may easily refer back +to the New York newspapers of the following morning, where accurate +plans of the house on the ground floor, will be found; while the +illustrated newspapers of the same week contain excellent sketches of +the most pleasing scenic effects, as well as of the ball-room and of the +Princess smiling graciously from her throne. The lady just behind +the Princess on her left, is Mrs. Lee, a poor likeness, but easily +distinguishable from the fact that the artist, for his own objects, +has made her rather shorter, and the Princess rather taller, than was +strictly correct, just as he has given the Princess a gracious smile, +which was quite different from her actual expression. In short, the +artist is compelled to exhibit the world rather as we would wish it to +be, than as it was or is, or, indeed, is like shortly to become. The +strangest part of his picture is, however, the fact that he actually did +see Mrs. Lee where he has put her, at the Princess's elbow, which was +almost the last place in the room where any one who knew Mrs. Lee would +have looked for her. + +The explanation of this curious accident shall be given immediately, +since the facts are not mentioned in the public reports of the +ball, which only said that, "close behind her Royal Highness the +Grand-Duchess, stood our charming and aristocratic countrywoman, Mrs. +Lightfoot Lee, who has made so great a sensation in Washington this +winter, and whose name public rumour has connected with that of the +Secretary of the Treasury. To her the Princess appeared to address most +of her conversation." + +The show was a very pretty one, and on a pleasant April evening there +were many places less agreeable to be in than this. Much ground outside +had been roofed over, to make a ball-room, large as an opera-house, with +a dais and a sofa in the centre of one long side, and another dais with +a second sofa immediately opposite to it in the centre of the other long +side. Each dais had a canopy of red velvet, one bearing the Lion and the +Unicorn, the other the American Eagle. The Royal Standard was displayed +above the Unicorn; the Stars-and-Stripes, not quite so effectively, +waved above the Eagle. The Princess, being no longer quite a child, +found gas trying to her complexion, and compelled Lord Skye to +illuminate her beauty by one hundred thousand wax candies, more or less, +which were arranged to be becoming about the Grand-ducal throne, and to +be showy and unbecoming about the opposite institution across the way. + +The exact facts were these. It had happened that the Grand-Duchess, +having been necessarily brought into contact with the President, and +particularly with his wife, during the past week, had conceived for +the latter an antipathy hardly to be expressed in words. Her fixed +determination was at any cost to keep the Presidential party at a +distance, and it was only after a stormy scene that the Grand-Duke and +Lord Skye succeeded in extorting her consent that the President should +take her to supper. Further than this she would not go. She would not +speak to "that woman," as she called the President's wife, nor be in her +neighbourhood. She would rather stay in her own room all the evening, +and she did not care in the least what the Queen would think of it, +for she was no subject of the Queen's. The case was a hard one for Lord +Skye, who was perplexed to know, from this point of view, why he was +entertaining the Princess at all; but, with the help of the Grand-Duke +and Lord Dunbeg, who was very active and smiled deprecation with some +success, he found a way out of it; and this was the reason why there +were two thrones in the ball-room, and why the British throne was +lighted with such careful reference to the Princess's complexion. Lord +Skye immolated himself in the usual effort of British and American +Ministers, to keep the two great powers apart. He and the Grand-Duke +and Lord Dunbeg acted as buffers with watchful diligence, dexterity, and +success. As one resource, Lord Skye had bethought himself of Mrs. Lee, +and he told the Princess the story of Mrs. Lee's relations with the +President's wife, a story which was no secret in Washington, for, apart +from Madeleine's own account, society was left in no doubt of the light +in which Mrs. Lee was regarded by the mistress of the White House, whom +Washington ladles were now in the habit of drawing out on the subject +of Mrs. Lee, and who always rose to the bait with fresh vivacity, to the +amusement and delight of Victoria Dare and other mischief-makers. + +"She will not trouble you so long as you can keep Mrs. Lee in your +neighbourhood," said Lord Skye, and the Princess accordingly seized upon +Mrs. Lee and brandished her, as though she were a charm against the +evil eye, in the face of the President's party. She made Mrs. Lee take +a place just behind her as though she were a lady-in-waiting. She even +graciously permitted her to sit down, so near that their chairs touched. +Whenever "that woman" was within sight, which was most of the time, the +Princess directed her conversation entirely to Mrs. Lee and took care +to make it evident. Even before the Presidential party had arrived, +Madeleine had fallen into the Princess's grasp, and when the Princess +went forward to receive the President and his wife, which she did with a +bow of stately and distant dignity, she dragged Madeleine closely by her +side. Mrs. Lee bowed too; she could not well help it; but was cut dead +for her pains, with a glare of contempt and hatred. Lord Skye, who was +acting as cavalier to the President's wife, was panic-stricken, and +hastened to march his democratic potentate away, under pretence of +showing her the decorations. He placed her at last on her own throne, +where he and the Grand-Duke relieved each other in standing guard at +intervals throughout the evening. When the Princess followed with the +President, she compelled her husband to take Mrs. Lee on his arm +and conduct her to the British throne, with no other object than to +exasperate the President's wife, who, from her elevated platform, looked +down upon the cortege with a scowl. + +In all this affair Mrs. Lee was the principal sufferer. No one could +relieve her, and she was literally penned in as she sat. The Princess +kept up an incessant fire of small conversation, principally complaint +and fault-finding, which no one dared to interrupt. Mrs. Lee was +painfully bored, and after a time even the absurdity of the thing ceased +to amuse her. + +She had, too, the ill-luck to make one or two remarks which appealed +to some hidden sense of humour in the Princess, who laughed and, in the +style of royal personages, gave her to understand that she would like +more amusement of the same sort. Of all things in life, Mrs. Lee held +this kind of court-service in contempt, for she was something more +than republican--a little communistic at heart, and her only serious +complaint of the President and his wife was that they undertook to have +a court and to ape monarchy. + +She had no notion of admitting social superiority in any one, President +or Prince, and to be suddenly converted into a lady-in-waiting to a +small German Grand-Duchess, was a terrible blow. But what was to be +done? Lord Skye had drafted her into the service and she could not +decently refuse to help him when he came to her side and told her, +with his usual calm directness, what his difficulties were, and how he +counted upon her to help him out. + +The same play went on at supper, where there was a royal-presidential +table, which held about two dozen guests, and the two great ladies +presiding, as far apart as they could be placed. The Grand-Duke and Lord +Skye, on either side of the President's wife, did their duty like men, +and were rewarded by receiving from her much information about the +domestic arrangements of the White House. The President, however, who +sat next the Princess at the opposite end, was evidently depressed, +owing partly to the fact that the Princess, in defiance of all +etiquette, had compelled Lord Dunbeg to take Mrs. Lee to supper and to +place her directly next the President. Madeleine tried to escape, but +was stopped by the Princess, who addressed her across the President and +in a decided tone asked her to sit precisely there. Mrs. + +Lee looked timidly at her neighbour, who made no sign, but ate his +supper in silence only broken by an occasional reply to a rare remark. +Mrs. Lee pitied him, and wondered what his wife would say when they +reached home. She caught Ratcliffe's eye down the table, watching her +with a smile; she tried to talk fluently with Dunbeg; but not until +supper was long over and two o'clock was at hand; not until the +Presidential party, under all the proper formalities, had taken their +leave of the Grand-ducal party; not until Lord Skye had escorted them to +their carriage and returned to say that they were gone, did the Princess +loose her hold upon Mrs. Lee and allow her to slip away into obscurity. + +Meanwhile the ball had gone on after the manner of balls. As Madeleine +sat in her enforced grandeur she could watch all that passed. She had +seen Sybil whirling about with one man after another, amid a swarm of +dancers, enjoying herself to the utmost and occasionally giving a nod +and a smile to her sister as their eyes met. There, too, was Victoria +Dare, who never appeared flurried even when waltzing with Lord Dunbeg, +whose education as a dancer had been neglected. The fact was now fully +recognized that Victoria was carrying on a systematic flirtation with +Dunbeg, and had undertaken as her latest duty the task of teaching him +to waltz. His struggles and her calmness in assisting them commanded +respect. On the opposite side of the room, by the republican throne, +Mrs. Lee had watched Mr. Ratcliffe standing by the President, who +appeared unwilling to let him out of arm's length and who seemed to make +to him most of his few remarks. Schneidekoupon and his sister were mixed +in the throng, dancing as though England had never countenanced the +heresy of free-trade. On the whole, Mrs. Lee was satisfied. + +If her own sufferings were great, they were not without reward. She +studied all the women in the ball-room, and if there was one prettier +than Sybil, Madeleine's eyes could not discover her. If there was a more +perfect dress, Madeleine knew nothing of dressing. On these points she +felt the confidence of conviction. Her calm would have been complete, +had she felt quite sure that none of Sybil's gaiety was superficial and +that it would not be followed by reaction. She watched nervously to see +whether her face changed its gay expression, and once she thought it +became depressed, but this was when the Grand-Duke came up to claim his +waltz, and the look rapidly passed away when they got upon the floor and +his Highness began to wheel round the room with a precision and momentum +that would have done honour to a regiment of Life Guards. He seemed +pleased with his experiment, for he was seen again and again careering +over the floor with Sybil until Mrs. Lee herself became nervous, for the +Princess frowned. + +After her release Madeleine lingered awhile in the ball-room to speak +with her sister and to receive congratulations. For half an hour she was +a greater belle than Sybil. A crowd of men clustered about her, amused +at the part she had played in the evening's entertainment and full of +compliments upon her promotion at Court. Lord Skye himself found time to +offer her his thanks in a more serious tone than he generally affected. +"You have suffered much," said he, "and I am grateful." Madeleine +laughed as she answered that her sufferings had seemed nothing to her +while she watched his. But at last she became weary of the noise and +glare of the ball-room, and, accepting the arm of her excellent friend +Count Popoff, she strolled with him back to the house. There at last +she sat down on a sofa in a quiet window-recess where the light was less +strong and where a convenient laurel spread its leaves in front so as +to make a bower through which she could see the passers-by without being +seen by them except with an effort. Had she been a younger woman, this +would have been the spot for a flirtation, but Mrs. Lee never flirted, +and the idea of her flirting with Popoff would have seemed ludicrous to +all mankind. + +He did not sit down, but was leaning against the angle of the wall, +talking with her, when suddenly Mr. Ratcliffe appeared and took the seat +by her side with such deliberation and apparent sense of property that +Popoff incontinently turned and fled. No one knew where the Secretary +came from, or how he learned that she was there. He made no explanation +and she took care to ask for none. She gave him a highly-coloured +account of her evening's service as lady-in-waiting, which he matched +by that of his own trials as gentleman-usher to the President, who, it +seemed, had clung desperately to his old enemy in the absence of any +other rock to clutch at. + +Ratcliffe looked the character of Prime Minister sufficiently well at +this moment. He would have held his own, at a pinch, in any Court, not +merely in Europe but in India or China, where dignity is still expected +of gentlemen. + +Excepting for a certain coarse and animal expression about the mouth, +and an indefinable coldness in the eye, he was a handsome man and still +in his prime. Every one remarked how much he was improved since entering +the Cabinet. He had dropped his senatorial manner. His clothes were no +longer congressional, but those of a respectable man, neat and decent. +His shirts no longer protruded in the wrong places, nor were his +shirt-collars frayed or soiled. His hair did not stray over his eyes, +ears, and coat, like that of a Scotch terrier, but had got itself cut. +Having overheard Mrs. Lee express on one occasion her opinion of people +who did not take a cold bath every morning, he had thought it best to +adopt this reform, although he would not have had it generally known, +tot it savoured of caste. He made an effort not to be dictatorial and to +forget that he had been the Prairie Giant, the bully of the Senate. In +short, what with Mrs. Lee's influence and what with his emancipation +from the Senate chamber with its code of bad manners and worse morals, +Mr. Ratcliffe was fast becoming a respectable member of society whom a +man who had never been in prison or in politics might safely acknowledge +as a friend. + +Mr. Ratcliffe was now evidently bent upon being heard. After charting +for a time with some humour on the President's successes as a man of +fashion, he changed the subject to the merits of the President as a +statesman, and little by little as he spoke he became serious and his +voice sank into low and confidential tones. He plainly said that the +President's incapacity had now become notorious among his followers; +that it was only with difficulty his Cabinet and friends could prevent +him from making a fool of himself fifty times a day; that all the party +leaders who had occasion to deal with him were so thoroughly disgusted +that the Cabinet had to pass its time in trying to pacify them; +while this state of things lasted, Ratcliffe's own influence must be +paramount; he had good reason to know that if the Presidential election +were to take place this year, nothing could prevent his nomination and +election; even at three years' distance the chances in his favour were +at least two to one; and after this exordium he went on in a low tone +with increasing earnestness, while Mrs. Lee sat motionless as the statue +of Agrippina, her eyes fixed on the ground: + +"I am not one of those who are happy in political life. I am a +politician because I cannot help myself; it is the trade I am fittest +for, and ambition is my resource to make it tolerable. In politics we +cannot keep our hands clean. I have done many things in my political +career that are not defensible. To act with entire honesty and +self-respect, one should always live in a pure atmosphere, and the +atmosphere of politics is impure. Domestic life is the salvation of many +public men, but I have for many years been deprived of it. I have now +come to that point where increasing responsibilities and temptations +make me require help. I must have it. You alone can give it to me. You +are kind, thoughtful, conscientious, high-minded, cultivated, fitted +better than any woman I ever saw, for public duties. Your place is +there. You belong among those who exercise an influence beyond their +time. I only ask you to take the place which is yours." + +This desperate appeal to Mrs. Lee's ambition was a calculated part of +Ratcliffe's scheme. He was well aware that he had marked high game, and +that in proportion to this height must be the power of his lure. Nor was +he embarrassed because Mrs. Lee sat still and pale with her eyes fixed +on the ground and her hands twisted together in her lap. The eagle +that soars highest must be longer in descending to the ground than the +sparrow or the partridge. Mrs. Lee had a thousand things to think about +in this brief time, and yet she found that she could not think at all; +a succession of mere images and fragments of thought passed rapidly over +her mind, and her will exercised no control upon their order or their +nature. One of these fleeting reflections was that in all the offers +of marriage she had ever heard, this was the most unsentimental and +businesslike. As for his appeal to her ambition, it fell quite dead +upon her ear, but a woman must be more than a heroine who can listen to +flattery so evidently sincere, from a man who is pre-eminent among +men, without being affected by it. To her, however, the great and +overpowering fact was that she found herself unable to retreat or +escape; her tactics were disconcerted, her temporary barriers beaten +down. + +The offer was made. What should she do with it? + +She had thought for months on this subject without being able to form a +decision; what hope was there that she should be able to decide now, in +a ball-room, at a minute's notice? When, as occasionally happens, the +conflicting sentiments, prejudices, and passions of a lifetime are +compressed into a single instant, they sometimes overcharge the mind and +it refuses to work. Mrs. Lee sat still and let things take their course; +a dangerous expedient, as thousands of women have learned, for it leaves +them at the mercy of the strong will, bent upon mastery. + +The music from the ball-room did not stop. Crowds of persons passed by +their retreat. Some glanced in, and not one of these felt a doubt what +was going on there. An unmistakeable atmosphere of mystery and intensity +surrounded the pair. Ratcliffe's eyes were fixed upon Mrs. Lee, and +hers on the ground. Neither seemed to speak or to stir. Old Baron +Jacobi, who never failed to see everything, saw this as he went by, and +ejaculated a foreign oath of frightful import. Victoria Dare saw it and +was devoured by curiosity to such a point as to be hardly capable of +containing herself. + +After a silence which seemed interminable, Ratcliffe went on: "I do +not speak of my own feelings because I know that unless compelled by a +strong sense of duty, you will not be decided by any devotion of mine. +But I honestly say that I have learned to depend on you to a degree I +can hardly express; and when I think of what I should be without +you, life seems to me so intolerably dark that I am ready to make any +sacrifice, to accept any conditions that will keep you by my side." + +Meanwhile Victoria Dare, although deeply interested in what Dunbeg was +telling her, had met Sybil and had stopped a single second to whisper in +her ear: "You had better look after your sister, in the window, behind +the laurel with Mr. Ratcliffe!" Sybil was on Lord Skye's arm, enjoying +herself amazingly, though the night was far gone, but when she caught +Victoria's words, the expression of her face wholly changed. All the +anxieties and terrors of the last fortnight, came back upon it. She +dragged Lord Skye across the hall and looked in upon her sister. One +glance was enough. + +Desperately frightened but afraid to hesitate, she went directly up to +Madeleine who was still sitting like a statue, listening to Ratcliffe's +last words. As she hurriedly entered, Mrs. Lee, looking up, caught sight +of her pale face, and started from her seat. + +"Are you ill, Sybil?" she exclaimed; "is anything the matter?" + +"A little--fatigued," gasped Sybil; "I thought you might be ready to go +home." + +"I am," cried Madeleine; "I am quite ready. Good evening, Mr. Ratcliffe. +I will see you to-morrow. Lord Skye, shall I take leave of the +Princess?" + +"The Princess retired half an hour ago," replied Lord Skye, who saw the +situation and was quite ready to help Sybil; "let me take you to the +dressing-room and order your carriage." Mr. Ratcliffe found himself +suddenly left alone, while Mrs. Lee hurried away, torn by fresh +anxieties. They had reached the dressing-room and were nearly ready +to go home, when Victoria Dare suddenly dashed in upon them, with an +animation of manner very unusual in her, and, seizing Sybil by the +hand, drew her into an adjoining room and shut the door. "Can you keep a +secret?" said she abruptly. + +"What!" said Sybil, looking at her with open-mouthed interest; "you +don't mean--are you really--tell me, quick!" + +"Yes!" said Victoria relapsing into composure; "I am engaged!" + +"To Lord Dunbeg?" + +Victoria nodded, and Sybil, whose nerves were strung to the highest +pitch by excitement, flattery, fatigue, perplexity, and terror, burst +into a paroxysm of laughter, that startled even the calm Miss Dare. + +"Poor Lord Dunbeg! don't be hard on him, Victoria!" she gasped when at +last she found breath; "do you really mean to pass the rest of your life +in Ireland? Oh, how much you will teach them!" + +"You forget, my dear," said Victoria, who had placidly enthroned herself +on the foot of a bed, "that I am not a pauper. I am told that Dunbeg +Castle is a romantic summer residence, and in the dull season we shall +of course go to London or somewhere. I shall be civil to you when you +come over. Don't you think a coronet will look well on me?" + +Sybil burst again into laughter so irrepressible and prolonged that +it puzzled even poor Dunbeg, who was impatiently pacing the corridor +outside. + +It alarmed Madeleine, who suddenly opened the door. Sybil recovered +herself, and, her eyes streaming with tears, presented Victoria to her +sister: + +"Madeleine, allow me to introduce you to the Countess Dunbeg!" + +But Mrs. Lee was much too anxious to feel any interest in Lady Dunbeg. +A sudden fear struck her that Sybil was going into hysterics because +Victoria's engagement recalled her own disappointment. She hurried her +sister away to the carriage. + + + +Chapter XII + +THEY drove home in silence, Mrs. Lee disturbed with anxieties and +doubts, partly caused by her sister, partly by Mr. Ratcliffe; Sybil +divided between amusement at Victoria's conquest, and alarm at her own +boldness in meddling with her sister's affairs. Desperation, however, +was stronger than fear. She made up her mind that further suspense was +not to be endured; she would fight her baffle now before another hour +was lost; surely no time could be better. A few moments brought them to +their door. Mrs. Lee had told her maid not to wait for them, and they +were alone. The fire was still alive on Madeleine's hearth, and she +threw more wood upon it. Then she insisted that Sybil must go to bed at +once. But Sybil refused; she felt quite well, she said, and not in the +least sleepy; she had a great deal to talk about, and wanted to get it +off her mind. Nevertheless, her feminine regard for the "Dawn in June" +led her to postpone what she had to say until with Madeleine's help she +had laid the triumph of the ball carefully aside; then, putting on her +dressing-gown, and hastily plunging Carrington's letter into her breast, +like a concealed weapon, she hurried back to Madeleine's room and +established herself in a chair before the fire. There, after a moment's +pause, the two women began their long-deferred trial of strength, in +which the match was so nearly equal as to make the result doubtful; for, +if Madeleine were much the cleverer, Sybil in this case knew much better +what she wanted, and had a clear idea how she meant to gain it, while +Madeleine, unsuspicious of attack, had no plan of defence at all. + +"Madeleine," began Sybil, solemnly, and with a violent palpitation of +the heart, "I want you to tell me something." + +"What is it, my child?" said Mrs. Lee, puzzled, and yet half ready +to see that there must be some connection between her sister's coming +question and the sudden illness at the ball, which had disappeared as +suddenly as it came. + +"Do you mean to marry Mr. Ratcliffe?" + +Poor Mrs. Lee was quite disconcerted by the directness of the attack. +This fatal question met her at every turn. Hardly had she succeeded in +escaping trom it at the ball scarcely an hour ago, by a stroke of good +fortune for which she now began to see she was indebted to Sybil, and +here it was again presented to her face like a pistol. The whole town, +then, was asking it. + +Ratcliffe's offer must have been seen by half Washington, and her reply +was awaited by an immense audience, as though she were a political +returning-board. Her disgust was intense, and her first answer to Sybil +was a quick inquiry: + +"Why do you ask such a question? have you heard anything,--has anyone +talked about it to you?" + +"No!" replied Sybil; "but I must know; I can see for myself without +being told, that Mr. Racliffe is trying to make you marry him. I don't +ask out of curiosity; this is something that concerns me nearly as much +as it does you yourself. Please tell me! don't treat me like a child any +longer! let me know what you are thinking about! I am so tired of being +left in the dark! You have no idea how much this thing weighs on me. Oh, +Maude, I shall never be happy again until you trust me about this." + +Mrs. Lee felt a little pang of conscience, and seemed suddenly to +become conscious of a new coil, tightening about her, in this wretched +complication. Unable to see her way, ignorant of her sister's motives, +urged on by the idea that Sybil's happiness was involved, she was now +charged with want of feeling, and called upon for a direct answer to a +plain question. + +How could she aver that she did not mean to marry Mr. Ratcliffe? to say +this would be to shut the door on all the objects she had at heart. If +a direct answer must be given, it was better to say "Yes!" and have +it over; better to leap blindly and see what came of it. Mrs. +Lee, therefore, with an internal gasp, but with no visible sign of +excitement, said, as though she were in a dream: + +"Well, Sybil, I will tell you. I would have told you long ago if I had +known myself. Yes! I have made up my mind to marry Mr. Ratcliffe!" + +Sybil sprang to her feet with a cry: "And have you told him so?" she +asked. + +"No! you came and interrupted us just as we were speaking. I was glad +you did come, for it gives me a little time to think. But I am decided +now. I shall tell him to-morrow." + +This was not said with the air or one whose heart beat warmly at the +thought of confessing her love. Mrs. Lee spoke mechanically, and almost +with an effort. Sybil flung herself with all her energy upon her sister; +violently excited, and eager to make herself heard, without waiting +for arguments, she broke out into a torrent of entreaties: "Oh, don't, +don't, don't! Oh, please, please, don't, my dearest, dearest Maude! +unless you want to break my heart, don't marry that man! You can't love +him! You can never be happy with him! he will take you away to Peonia, +and you will die there! I shall never see you again! He will make you +unhappy; he will beat you, I know he will! Oh, if you care for me at +all, don't marry him! Send him away! don't see him again! let us go +ourselves, now, in the morning train, before he comes back. I'm +all ready; I'll pack everything for you; we'll go to Newport; to +Europe--anywhere, to be out of his reach!" + +With this passionate appeal, Sybil threw herself on her knees by her +sister's side, and, clasping her arms around Madeleine's waist, sobbed +as though her heart were already broken. Had Carrington seen her then +he must have admitted that she had carried out his instructions to the +letter. She was quite honest, too, in it all. She meant what she +said, and her tears were real tears that had been pent up for weeks. +Unluckily, her logic was feeble. Her idea of Mr. Ratcliffe's character +was vague, and biased by mere theories of what a Prairie Giant of +Peonia should be in his domestic relations. Her idea of Peonia, too, +was indistinct. She was haunted by a vision of her sister, sitting on +a horse-hair sofa before an air-tight iron stove in a small room with +high, bare white walls, a chromolithograph on each, and at her side a +marble-topped table surmounted by a glass vase containing funereal dried +grasses; the only literature, Frank Leslie's periodical and the New York +Ledger, with a strong smell of cooking everywhere prevalent. Here +she saw Madeleine receiving visitors, the wives of neighbours and +constituents, who told her the Peonia news. + +Notwithstanding her ignorant and unreasonable prejudice against western +men and women, western towns and prairies, and, in short, everything +western, down to western politics and western politicians, whom she +perversely asserted to be tue lowest ot all western products, there +was still some common sense in Sybil's idea. When that inevitable hour +struck for Mr. + +Ratcliffe, which strikes sooner or later for all politicians, and an +ungrateful country permitted him to pine among his friends in Illinois, +what did he propose to do with his wife? Did he seriously suppose that +she, who was bored to death by New York, and had been able to find no +permanent pleasure in Europe, would live quietly in the romantic village +of Peonia? If not, did Mr. Ratcliffe imagine that they could find +happiness in the enjoyment of each other's society, and of Mrs. Lee's +income, in the excitements of Washington? In the ardour of his pursuit, +Mr. Ratcliffe had accepted in advance any conditions which Mrs. Lee +might impose, but if he really imagined that happiness and content lay +on the purple rim of this sunset, he had more confidence in women and in +money than a wider experience was ever likely to justify. + +Whatever might be Mr. Ratcliffe's schemes for dealing with these +obstacles they could hardly be such as would satisfy Sybil, who, if +inaccurate in her theories about Prairie Giants, yet understood women, +and especially her sister, much better than Mr. Ratcliffe ever could do. +Here she was safe, and it would have been better had she said no more, +for Mrs. Lee, though staggered for a moment by her sister's vehemence, +was reassured by what seemed the absurdity of her fears. Madeleine +rebelled against this hysterical violence of opposition, and became more +fixed in her decision. + +She scolded her sister in good, set terms-- + +"Sybil, Sybil! you must not be so violent. Behave like a woman, and not +like a spoiled child!" + +Mrs. Lee, like most persons who have to deal with spoiled or unspoiled +children, resorted to severity, not so much because it was the proper +way of dealing with them, as because she knew not what else to do. +She was thoroughly uncomfortable and weary. She was not satisfied with +herself or with her own motives. Doubt encompassed her on all sides, and +her worst opponent was that sister whose happiness had turned the scale +against her own judgment. + +Nevertheless her tactics answered their object of checking Sybil's +vehemence. Her sobs came to an end, and she presently rose with a +quieter air. + +"Madeleine," said she, "do you really want to marry Mr. Ratcliffe?" + +"What else can I do, my dear Sybil? I want to do whatever is for the +best. I thought you might be pleased." + +"You thought I might be pleased?" cried Sybil in astonishment. "What a +strange idea! If you had ever spoken to me about it I should have told +you that I hate him, and can't understand how you can abide him. But I +would rather marry him myself than see you marry him. I know that you +will kill yourself with unhappiness when you have done it. Oh, Maude, +please tell me that you won't!" And Sybil began gently sobbing again, +while she caressed her sister. + +Mrs. Lee was infinitely distressed. To act against the wishes of her +nearest friends was hard enough, but to appear harsh and unfeeling to +the one being whose happiness she had at heart, was intolerable. Yet +no sensible woman, after saying that she meant to marry a man like Mr. +Ratcliffe, could throw him over merely because another woman chose to +behave like a spoiled child. + +Sybil was more childish than Madeleine herself had supposed. She could +not even see where her own interest lay. She knew no more about Mr. +Ratcliffe and the West than if he were the giant of a fairy-story, and +lived at the top of a bean-stalk. She must be treated as a child; with +gentleness, affection, forbearance, but with firmness and decision. She +must be refused what she asked, for her own good. + +Thus it came about that at last Mrs. Lee spoke, with an appearance of +decision far from representing her internal tremor. + +"Sybil, dear, I have made up my mind to marry Mr. Ratcliffe because +there is no other way of making every one happy. You need not be afraid +of him. He is kind and generous. Besides, I can take care of myself; and +I will take care of you too. Now let us not discuss it any more. It is +broad daylight, and we are both tired out." + +Sybil grew at once perfectly calm, and standing before her sister, as +though their roles were henceforward to be reversed, said: + +"You have really made up your mind, then? Nothing I can say will change +it?" + +Mrs. Lee, looking at her with more surprise than ever, could not force +herself to speak; but she shook her head slowly and decidedly. + +"Then," said Sybil, "there is only one thing more I can do. You must +read this!" and she drew out Carrington's letter, which she held before +Madeleine's face. + +"Not now, Sybil!" remonstrated Mrs. Lee, dreading another long struggle. +"I will read it after we have had some rest. Go to bed now!" + +"I do not leave this room, nor will I ever go to bed until you have read +that letter," answered Sybil, seating herself again before the fire +with the resolution of Queen Elizabeth; "not if I sit here till you are +married. I promised Mr. Carrington that you should read it +instantly; it's all I can do now." With a sigh, Mrs. Lee drew up the +window-curtain, and in the gray morning light sat down to break the seal +and read the following letter:-- + +"Washington, 2nd April. + +"My dear Mrs. Lee, + +"This letter will only come into your hands in case +there should be a necessity for your knowing its contents. Nothing short +of necessity would excuse my writing it. I have to ask your pardon for +intruding again upon your private affairs. In this case, if I did not +intrude, you would have cause for serious complaint against me. + +"You asked me the other day whether I knew anything against Mr. +Ratcliffe which the world did not know, to account for my low opinion of +his character. I evaded your question then. I was bound by professional +rules not to disclose facts that came to me under a pledge of +confidence. I am going to violate these rules now, only because I owe +you a duty which seems to me to override all others. + +"I do know facts in regard to Mr. Ratcliffe, which have seemed to me to +warrant a very low opinion of his character, and to mark him as unfit to +be, I will not say your husband, but even your acquaintance. + +"You know that I am executor to Samuel Baker's will. You know who Samuel +Baker was. You have seen his wife. She has told you herself that I +assisted her in the examination and destruction of all her husband's +private papers according to his special death-bed request. One of the +first facts I learned from these papers and her explanations, was the +following. + +"Just eight years ago, the great 'Inter-Oceanic Mail Steamship Company,' +wished to extend its service round the world, and, in order to do so, it +applied to Congress for a heavy subsidy. The management of this affair +was put into the hands of Mr. Baker, and all his private letters to the +President of the Company, in press copies, as well as the President's +replies, came into my possession. Baker's letters were, of course, +written in a sort of cypher, several kinds of which he was in the habit +of using. He left among his papers a key to this cypher, but Mrs. Baker +could have explained it without that help. + +"It appeared from this correspondence that the bill was carried +successfully through the House, and, on reaching the Senate, was +referred to the appropriate Committee. Its ultimate passage was very +doubtful; the end of the session was close at hand; the Senate was very +evenly divided, and the Chairman of the Committee was decidedly hostile. + +"The Chairman of that Committee was Senator Ratcliffe, always mentioned +by Mr. Baker in cypher, and with every precaution. If you care, however, +to verify the fact, and to trace the history of the Subsidy Bill through +all its stages, together with Mr. Ratcliffe's report, remarks, and votes +upon it, you have only to look into the journals and debates for that +year. + +"At last Mr. Baker wrote that Senator Ratcliffe had put the bill in +his pocket, and unless some means could be found of overcoming his +opposition, there would be no report, and the bill would never come to +a vote. All ordinary kinds of argument and influence had been employed +upon him, and were exhausted. In this exigency Baker suggested that the +Company should give him authority to see what money would do, but he +added that it would be worse than useless to deal with small sums. +Unless at least one hundred thousand dollars could be employed, it was +better to leave the thing alone. + +"The next mail authorized him to use any required amount of money not +exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Two days later he +wrote that the bill was reported, and would pass the Senate within +forty-eight hours; and he congratulated the Company on the fact that he +had used only one hundred thousand dollars out of its last credit. + +"The bill was actually reported, passed, and became law as he foretold, +and the Company has enjoyed its subsidy ever since. Mrs. Baker also +informed me that to her knowledge her husband gave the sum mentioned, in +United States Coupon Bonds, to Senator Ratcliffe. + +"This transaction, taken in connection with the tortuousness of his +public course, explains the distrust I have always expressed for him. +You will, however, understand that all these papers have been destroyed. +Mrs. Baker could never be induced to hazard her own comfort by revealing +the facts to the public. The officers of the Company in their own +interests would never betray the transaction, and their books were +undoubtedly so kept as to show no trace of it. If I made this charge +against Mr. Ratcliffe, I should be the only sufferer. He would deny +and laugh at it. I could prove nothing. I am therefore more directly +interested than he is in keeping silence. + +"In trusting this secret to you, I rely firmly upon your mentioning +it to no one else--not even to your sister. You are at liberty, if you +wish, to show this letter to one person only--to Mr. Ratcliffe himself. +That done, you will, I beg, burn it immediately. + +"With the warmest good wishes, I am, + +"Ever most truly yours, + +"John Carrington." + +When Mrs. Lee had finished reading this letter, she remained for some +time quite silent, looking out into the square below. The morning had +come, and the sky was bright with the fresh April sunlight. She threw +open her window, and drew in the soft spring air. She needed all the +purity and quiet that nature could give, for her whole soul was in +revolt, wounded, mortified, exasperated. Against the sentiment of all +her friends she had insisted upon believing in this man; she had wrought +herself up to the point of accepting him for her husband; a man who, if +law were the same thing as justice, ought to be in a felon's cell; a man +who could take money to betray his trust. Her anger at first swept away +all bounds. She was impatient for the moment when she should see +him again, and tear off his mask. For once she would express all the +loathing she felt for the whole pack of political hounds. She would see +whether the animal was made like other beings; whether he had a sense of +honour; a single clean spot in his mind. + +Then it occurred to her that after all there might be a mistake; perhaps +Mr. + +Ratcliffe could explain the charge away. But this thought only laid +bare another smarting wound in her pride. Not only did she believe the +charge, but she believed that Mr. Ratcliffe would defend his act. She +had been willing to marry a man whom she thought capable of such a +crime, and now she shuddered at the idea that this charge might have +been brought against her husband, and that she could not dismiss it with +instant incredulity, with indignant contempt. How had this happened? how +had she got into so foul a complication? When she left New York, she had +meant to be a mere spectator in Washington. Had it entered her head +that she could be drawn into any project of a second marriage, she +never would have come at all, for she was proud of her loyalty to her +husband's memory, and second marriages were her abhorrence. In her +restlessness and solitude, she had forgotten this; she had only asked +whether any life was worth living for a woman who had neither husband +nor children. Was the family all that life had to offer? could she find +no interest outside the household? And so, led by this will-of-the-wisp, +she had, with her eyes open, walked into the quagmire of politics, in +spite of remonstrance, in spite of conscience. + +She rose and paced the room, while Sybil lay on the couch, watching her +with eyes half shut. She grew more and more angry with herself, and as +her self-reproach increased, her anger against Ratcliffe faded away. She +had no right to be angry with Ratcliffe. He had never deceived her. +He had always openly enough avowed that he knew no code of morals in +politics; that if virtue did not answer his purpose he used vice. How +could she blame him for acts which he had repeatedly defended in her +presence and with her tacit assent, on principles that warranted this or +any other villainy? + +The worst was that this discovery had come on her as a blow, not as +a reprieve from execution. At this thought she became furious with +herself. + +She had not known the recesses of her own heart. She had honestly +supposed that Sybil's interests and Sybil's happiness were forcing her +to an act of self-sacrifice; and now she saw that in the depths of +her soul very different motives had been at work: ambition, thirst for +power, restless eagerness to meddle in what did not concern her, blind +longing to escape from the torture of watching other women with full +lives and satisfied instincts, while her own life was hungry and sad. +For a time she had actually, unconscious as she was of the delusion, +hugged a hope that a new field of usefulness was open to her; that great +opportunities for doing good were to supply the aching emptiness of that +good which had been taken away; and that here at last was an object +for which there would be almost a pleasure in squandering the rest of +existence even if she knew in advance that the experiment would fail. +Life was emptier than ever now that this dream was over. Yet the worst +was not in that disappointment, but in the discovery of her own weakness +and self-deception. + +Worn out by long-continued anxiety, excitement and sleeplessness, she +was unfit to struggle with the creatures of her own imagination. Such a +strain could only end in a nervous crisis, and at length it came: + +"Oh, what a vile thing life is!" she cried, throwing up her arms with a +gesture of helpless rage and despair. "Oh, how I wish I were dead! how +I wish the universe were annihilated!" and she flung herself down by +Sybil's side in a frenzy of tears. + +Sybil, who had watched all this exhibition in silence, waited quietly +for the excitement to pass. There was little to say. She could only +soothe. + +After the paroxysm had exhausted itself Madeleine lay quiet for a time, +until other thoughts began to disturb her. From reproaching herself +about Ratcliffe she went on to reproach herself about Sybil, who really +looked worn and pale, as though almost overcome by fatigue. + +"Sybil," said she, "you must go to bed at once. You are tired out. It +was very wrong in me to let you sit up so late. Go now, and get some +sleep." + +"I am not going to bed till you do, Maude!" replied Sybil, with quiet +obstinacy. + +"Go, dear! it is all settled. I shall not marry Mr. Ratcliffe. You need +not be anxious about it any more." + +"Are you very unhappy?" + +"Only very angry with myself. I ought to have taken Mr. Carrington's +advice sooner." + +"Oh, Maude!" exclaimed Sybil, with a sudden explosion of energy; "I wish +you had taken him!" + +This remark roused Mrs. Lee to new interest: "Why, Sybil," said she, +"surely you are not in earnest?" + +"Indeed, I am," replied Sybil, very decidedly. "I know you think I am +in love with Mr. Carrington myself, but I'm not. I would a great deal +rather have him for a brother-in-law, and he is so much the nicest man +you know, and you could help his sisters." + +Mrs. Lee hesitated a moment, for she was not quite certain whether it +was wise to probe a healing wound, but she was anxious to clear this +last weight from her mind, and she dashed recklessly forward: + +"Are you sure you are telling the truth, Sybil? Why, then, did you say +that you cared for him? and why have you been so miserable ever since he +went away?" + +"Why? I should think it was plain enough why! Because I thought, as +every one else did, that you were going to marry Mr. Ratcliffe; and +because if you married Mr. Ratcliffe, I must go and live alone; and +because you treated me like a child, and never took me into your +confidence at all; and because Mr. Carrington was the only person I had +to advise me, and after he went away, I was left all alone to fight Mr. +Ratcliffe and you both together, without a human soul to help me in case +I made a mistake. You would have been a great deal more miserable than I +if you had been in my place." + +Madeleine looked at her for a moment in doubt. Would this last? did +Sybil herself know the depth of her own wound? But what could Mrs. Lee +do now? + +Perhaps Sybil did deceive herself a little. When this excitement had +passed away, perhaps Carrington's image might recur to her mind a little +too often for her own comfort. The future must take care of itself. +Mrs. Lee drew her sister closer to her, and said: "Sybil, I have made a +horrible mistake, and you must forgive me." + + + +Chapter XIII + +NOT until afternoon did Mrs. Lee reappear. How much she had slept she +did not say, and she hardly looked like one whose slumbers had been long +or sweet; but if she had slept little, she had made up for the loss +by thinking much, and, while she thought, the storm which had raged so +fiercely in her breast, more and more subsided into calm. If there was +not sunshine yet, there was at least stillness. As she lay, hour after +hour, waiting for the sleep that did not come, she had at first the keen +mortification of reflecting how easily she had been led by mere vanity +into imagining that she could be of use in the world. She even smiled +in her solitude at the picture she drew of herself, reforming Ratcliffe, +and Krebs, and Schuyler Clinton. The ease with which Ratcliffe alone had +twisted her about his finger, now that she saw it, made her writhe, and +the thought of what he might have done, had she married him, and of +the endless succession of moral somersaults she would have had to turn, +chilled her with mortal terror. She had barely escaped being dragged +under the wheels of the machine, and so coming to an untimely end. When +she thought of this, she felt a mad passion to revenge herself on the +whole race of politicians, with Ratcliffe at their head; she passed +hours in framing bitter speeches to be made to his face. + +Then as she grew calmer, Ratcliffe's sins took on a milder hue; life, +after all, had not been entirely blackened by his arts; there was even +some good in her experience, sharp though it were. Had she not come to +Washington in search of men who cast a shadow, and was not Ratcliffe's +shadow strong enough to satisfy her? Had she not penetrated the deepest +recesses of politics, and learned how easily the mere possession of +power could convert the shadow of a hobby-horse existing only in the +brain of a foolish country farmer, into a lurid nightmare that convulsed +the sleep of nations? The antics of Presidents and Senators had been +amusing--so amusing that she had nearly been persuaded to take part in +them. She had saved herself in time. + +She had got to the bottom of this business of democratic government, and +found out that it was nothing more than government of any other kind. +She might have known it by her own common sense, but now that experience +had proved it, she was glad to quit the masquerade; to return to the +true democracy of life, her paupers and her prisons, her schools and her +hospitals. As for Mr. Ratcliffe, she felt no difficulty in dealing with +him. + +Let Mr. Ratcliffe, and his brother giants, wander on their own political +prairie, and hunt for offices, or other profitable game, as they would. + +Their objects were not her objects, and to join their company was not +her ambition. She was no longer very angry with Mr. Ratcliffe. She had +no wish to insult him, or to quarrel with him. What he had done as a +politician, he had done according to his own moral code, and it was not +her business to judge him; to protect herself was the only right she +claimed. She thought she could easily hold him at arm's length, and +although, if Carrington had written the truth, they could never again be +friends, there need be no difficulty in their remaining acquaintances. +If this view of her duty was narrow, it was at least proof that she had +learned something from Mr. + +Ratcliffe; perhaps it was also proof that she had yet to learn Mr. +Ratcliffe himself. + +Two o'clock had struck before Mrs. Lee came down from her chamber, and +Sybil had not yet made her appearance. Madeleine rang her bell and gave +orders that, if Mr. Ratcliffe called she would see him, but she was at +home to no one else. Then she sat down to write letters and to prepare +for her journey to New York, for she must now hasten her departure in +order to escape the gossip and criticism which she saw hanging like an +avalanche over her head. + +When Sybil at length came down, looking much fresher than her sister, +they passed an hour together arranging this and other small matters, so +that both of them were again in the best of spirits, and Sybil's face +was wreathed in smiles. + +A number of visitors came to the door that day, some of them prompted +by friendliness and some by sheer curiosity, for Mrs. Lee's abrupt +disappearance from the ball had excited remark. Against all these her +door was firmly closed. On the other hand, as the afternoon went on, she +sent Sybil away, so that she might have the field entirely to herself, +and Sybil, relieved of all her alarms, sallied out to interrupt Dunbeg's +latest interview with his Countess, and to amuse herself with Victoria's +last "phase." + +Towards four o'clock the tall form of Mr. Ratcliffe was seen to issue +from the Treasury Department and to descend the broad steps of its +western front. + +Turning deliberately towards the Square, the Secretary of the Treasury +crossed the Avenue and stopping at Mrs. Lee's door, rang the bell. He +was immediately admitted. Mrs. Lee was alone in her parlour and rose +rather gravely as he entered, but welcomed him as cordially as she +could. She wanted to put an end to his hopes at once and to do it +decisively, but without hurting his feelings. + +"Mr. Ratcliffe," said she, when he was seated--"I am sure you will be +better pleased by my speaking instantly and frankly. I could not reply +to you last night. I will do so now without delay. What you wish is +impossible. I would rather not even discuss it. Let us leave it here and +return to our old relations." + +She could not force herself to express any sense of gratitude for his +affection, or of regret at being obliged to meet it with so little +return. + +To treat him with tolerable civility was all she thought required of +her. + +Ratcliffe felt the change of manner. He had been prepared for a +struggle, but not to be met with so blunt a rebuff at the start. His +look became serious and he hesitated a moment before speaking, but when +he spoke at last, it was with a manner as firm and decided as that of +Mrs. Lee herself. + +"I cannot accept such an answer. I will not say that I have a right to +explanation,--I have no rights which you are bound to respect,--but from +you I conceive that I may at least ask the favour of one, and that you +will not refuse it. Are you willing to tell me your reasons for this +abrupt and harsh decision?" + +"I do not dispute your right of explanation, Mr. Ratcliffe. You have +the right, if you choose to use it, and I am ready to give you every +explanation in my power; but I hope you will not insist on my doing so. +If I seemed to speak abruptly and harshly, it was merely to spare you +the greater annoyance of doubt. Since I am forced to give you pain, was +it not fairer and more respectful to you to speak at once? We have been +friends. I am very soon going away. I sincerely want to avoid saying or +doing anything that would change our relations." + +Ratcliffe, however, paid no attention to these words, and gave them no +answer. He was much too old a debater to be misled by such trifles, when +he needed all his faculties to pin his opponent to the wall. He asked:-- + +"Is your decision a new one?" + +"It is a very old one, Mr. Ratcliffe, which I had let myself lose sight +of, for a time. A night's reflection has brought me back to it." + +"May I ask why you have returned to it? surely you would not have +hesitated without strong reasons." + +"I will tell you frankly. If, by appearing to hesitate, I have misled +you, I am honestly sorry for it. I did not mean to do it. My hesitation +was owing to the doubt whether my life might not really be best used +in aiding you. My decision was owing to the certainty that we are not +fitted for each other. Our lives run in separate grooves. We are both +too old to change them." + +Ratcliffe shook his head with an air of relief. "Your reasons, Mrs. Lee, +are not sound. There is no such divergence in our lives. On the contrary +I can give to yours the field it needs, and that it can get in no other +way; while you can give to mine everything it now wants. If these are +your only reasons I am sure of being able to remove them." + +Madeleine looked as though she were not altogether pleased at this idea, +and became a little dogmatic. "It is no use our arguing on this subject, +Mr. Ratcliffe. You and I take very different views of life. I cannot +accept yours, and you could not practise on mine." + +"Show me," said Ratcliffe, "a single example of such a divergence, and I +will accept your decision without another word." + +Mrs. Lee hesitated and looked at him for an instant as though to be +quite sure that he was in earnest. There was an effrontery about this +challenge which surprised her, and if she did not check it on the spot, +there was no saying how much trouble it might give her. Then unlocking +the drawer of the writing-desk at her elbow, she took out Carrington's +letter and handed it to Mr. Ratcliffe. + +"Here is such an example which has come to my knowledge very lately. I +meant to show it to you in any case, but I would rather have waited." + +Ratcliffe took the letter which she handed to him, opened it +deliberately, looked at the signature, and read. He showed no sign of +surprise or disturbance. No one would have imagined that he had, from +the moment he saw Carrington's name, as precise a knowledge of what was +in this letter as though he had written it himself. His first sensation +was only one of anger that his projects had miscarried. How this had +happened he could not at once understand, for the idea that Sybil could +have a hand in it did not occur to him. He had made up his mind that +Sybil was a silly, frivolous girl, who counted for nothing in her +sister's actions. He had fallen into the usual masculine blunder of +mixing up smartness of intelligence with strength of character. Sybil, +without being a metaphysician, willed anything which she willed at all +with more energy than her sister did, who was worn out with the effort +of life. Mr. Ratcliffe missed this point, and was left to wonder who +it was that had crossed his path, and how Carrington had managed to +be present and absent, to get a good office in Mexico and to baulk his +schemes in Washington, at the same time. He had not given Carrington +credit for so much cleverness. + +He was violently irritated at the check. Another day, he thought, would +have made him safe on this side; and possibly he was right. Had he once +succeeded in getting ever so slight a hold on Mrs. Lee he would have +told her this story with his own colouring, and from his own point of +view, and he fully believed he could do this in such a way as to rouse +her sympathy. Now that her mind was prejudiced, the task would be much +more difficult; yet he did not despair, for it was his theory that Mrs. +Lee, in the depths of her soul, wanted to be at the head of the White +House as much as he wanted to be there himself, and that her apparent +coyness was mere feminine indecision in the face of temptation. His +thoughts now turned upon the best means of giving again the upper hand +to her ambition. He wanted to drive Carrington a second time from the +field. + +Thus it was that, having read the letter once in order to learn what was +in it, he turned back, and slowly read it again in order to gain time. +Then he replaced it in its envelope, and returned it to Mrs. Lee, who, +with equal calmness, as though her interest in it were at an end, +tossed it negligently into the fire, where it was reduced to ashes under +Ratcliffe's eyes. + +He watched it burn for a moment, and then turning to her, said, with his +usual composure, "I meant to have told you of that affair myself. I am +sorry that Mr. Carrington has thought proper to forestall me. No doubt +he has his own motives for taking my character in charge." + +"Then it is true!" said Mrs. Lee, a little more quickly than she had +meant to speak. + +"True in its leading facts; untrue in some of its details, and in the +impression it creates. During the Presidential election which took place +eight years ago last autumn, there was, as you may remember, a violent +contest and a very close vote. We believed (though I was not so +prominent in the party then as now), that the result of that election +would be almost as important to the nation as the result of the +war itself. Our defeat meant that the government must pass into +the blood-stained hands of rebels, men whose designs were more than +doubtful, and who could not, even if their designs had been good, +restrain the violence of their followers. In consequence we strained +every nerve. Money was freely spent, even to an amount much in excess of +our resources. How it was employed, I will not say. + +"I do not even know, for I held myself aloof from these details, which +fell to the National Central Committee of which I was not a member. +The great point was that a very large sum had been borrowed on pledged +securities, and must be repaid. The members of the National Committee +and certain senators held discussions on the subject, in which I shared. +The end was that towards the close of the session the head of the +committee, accompanied by two senators, came to me and told me that I +must abandon my opposition to the Steamship Subsidy. They made no open +avowal of their reasons, and I did not press for one. Their declaration, +as the responsible heads of the organization, that certain action on my +part was essential to the interests of the party, satisfied me. I did +not consider myself at liberty to persist in a mere private opinion in +regard to a measure about which I recognized the extreme likelihood of +my being in error. I accordingly reported the bill, and voted for it, as +did a large majority of the party. Mrs. Baker is mistaken in saying +that the money was paid to me. If it was paid at all, of which I have no +knowledge except from this letter, it was paid to the representative of +the National Committee. I received no money. I had nothing to do with +the money further than as I might draw my own conclusions in regard to +the subsequent payment of the campaign debt." + +Mrs. Lee listened to all this with intense interest. Not until this +moment had she really felt as though she had got to the heart of +politics, so that she could, like a physician with his stethoscope, +measure the organic disease. Now at last she knew why the pulse beat +with such unhealthy irregularity, and why men felt an anxiety which they +could not or would not explain. Her interest in the disease overcame +her disgust at the foulness of the revelation. To say that the +discovery gave her actual pleasure would be doing her injustice; but the +excitement of the moment swept away every other sensation. She did not +even think of herself. Not until afterwards did she fairly grasp the +absurdity of Ratcliffe's wish that in the face of such a story as this, +she should still have vanity enough to undertake the reform of politics. +And with his aid too! The audacity of the man would have seemed sublime +if she had felt sure that he knew the difference between good and evil, +between a lie and the truth; but the more she saw of him, the surer she +was that his courage was mere moral paralysis, and that he talked about +virtue and vice as a man who is colour-blind talks about red and green; +he did not see them as she saw them; if left to choose for himself he +would have nothing to guide him. Was it politics that had caused this +atrophy of the moral senses by disuse? Meanwhile, here she sat face to +face with a moral lunatic, who had not even enough sense of humour to +see the absurdity of his own request, that she should go out to the +shore of this ocean of corruption, and repeat the ancient role of King +Canute, or Dame Partington with her mop and her pail. What was to be +done with such an animal? + +The bystander who looked on at this scene with a wider knowledge of +facts, might have found entertainment in another view of the subject, +that is to say, in the guilelessness ot Madeleine Lee. With all her +warnings she was yet a mere baby-in-arms in the face of the great +politician. She accepted his story as true, and she thought it as bad as +possible; but had Mr. + +Ratcliffe's associates now been present to hear his version of it, they +would have looked at each other with a smile of professional pride, and +would have roundly sworn that he was, beyond a doubt, the ablest man +this country had ever produced, and next to certain of being President. +They would not, however, have told their own side of the story if they +could have helped it, but in talking it over among themselves they might +have assumed the facts to have been nearly as follows: that Ratcliffe +had dragged them into an enormous expenditure to carry his own State, +and with it his own re-election to the Senate; that they had tried to +hold him responsible, and he had tried to shirk the responsibility; +that there had been warm discussions on the subject; that he himself +had privately suggested recourse to Baker, had shaped his conduct +accordingly, and had compelled them, in order to save their own credit, +to receive the money. + +Even if Mrs. Lee had heard this part of the story, though it might +have sharpened her indignation against Mr. Ratcliffe, it would not have +altered her opinions. As it was, she had heard enough, and with a great +effort to control her expression of disgust, she sank back in her chair +as Ratcliffe concluded. Finding that she did not speak, he went on: + +"I do not undertake to defend this affair. It is the act of my public +life which I most regret--not the doing, but the necessity of doing. I +do not differ from you in opinion on that point. I cannot acknowledge +that there is here any real divergence between us." + +"I am afraid," said Mrs. Lee, "that I cannot agree with you." + +This brief remark, the very brevity of which carried a barb of sarcasm, +escaped from Madeleine's lips before she had fairly intended it. +Ratcliffe felt the sting, and it started him from his studied calmness +of manner. + +Rising from his chair he stood on the hearthrug before Mrs. Lee, and +broke out upon her with an oration in that old senatorial voice and +style which was least calculated to enlist her sympathies: + +"Mrs. Lee," said he, with harsh emphasis and dogmatic tone, "there are +conflicting duties in all the transactions of life, except the simplest. +However we may act, do what we may, we must violate some moral +obligation. All that can be asked of us is that we should guide +ourselves by what we think the highest. At the time this affair +occurred, I was a Senator of the United States. I was also a trusted +member of a great political party which I looked upon as identical with +the nation. In both capacities I owed duties to my constituents, to the +government, to the people. I might interpret these duties narrowly or +broadly. I might say: Perish the government, perish the Union, perish +this people, rather than that I should soil my hands! Or I might say, as +I did, and as I would say again: Be my fate what it may, this glorious +Union, the last hope of suffering humanity, shall be preserved." + +Here he paused, and seeing that Mrs. Lee, after looking for a time at +him, was now regarding the fire, lost in meditation over the strange +vagaries of the senatorial mind, he resumed, in another line of +argument. He rightly judged that there must be some moral defect in his +last remarks, although he could not see it, which made persistence in +that direction useless. + +"You ought not to blame me--you cannot blame me justly. It is to your +sense of justice I appeal. Have I ever concealed from you my opinions on +this subject? Have I not on the contrary always avowed them? Did I +not here, on this very spot, when challenged once before by this same +Carrington, take credit for an act less defensible than this? Did I not +tell you then that I had even violated the sanctity of a great popular +election and reversed its result? That was my sole act! In comparison +with it, this is a trifle! Who is injured by a steamship company +subscribing one or ten hundred thousand dollars to a campaign fund? +Whose rights are affected by it? Perhaps its stock holders receive one +dollar a share in dividends less than they otherwise would. If they +do not complain, who else can do so? But in that election I deprived a +million people of rights which belonged to them as absolutely as their +houses! You could not say that I had done wrong. Not a word of blame or +criticism have you ever uttered to me on that account. If there was an +offence, you condoned it! You certainly led me to suppose that you saw +none. Why are you now so severe upon the smaller crime?" + +This shot struck hard. Mrs. Lee visibly shrank under it, and lost her +composure. This was the same reproach she had made against herself, and +to which she had been able to find no reply. With some agitation she +exclaimed: + +"Mr. Ratcliffe, pray do me justice! I have tried not to be severe. I +have said nothing in the way of attack or blame. I acknowledge that it +is not my place to stand in judgment over your acts. I have more reason +to blame myself than you, and God knows I have blamed myself bitterly." +The tears stood in her eyes as she said these last words, and her voice +trembled. + +Ratcliffe saw that he had gained an advantage, and, sitting down +nearer to her, he dropped his voice and urged his suit still more +energetically: + +"You did me justice then; why not do it now? You were convinced then +that I did the best I could. I have always done so. On the other hand +I have never pretended that all my acts could be justified by abstract +morality. Where, then, is the divergence between us?" + +Mrs. Lee did not undertake to answer this last argument: she only +returned to her old ground. "Mr. Ratcliffe," she said, "I do not want +to argue this question. I have no doubt that you can overcome me in +argument. Perhaps on my side this is a matter of feeling rather than of +reason, but the truth is only too evident to me that I am not fitted +for politics. I should be a drag upon you. Let me be the judge of my own +weakness! Do not insist upon pressing me, further!" + +She was ashamed of herself for this appeal to a man whom she could not +respect, as though she were a suppliant at his mercy, but she feared the +reproach of having deceived him, and she tried pitiably to escape it. + +Ratcliffe was only encouraged by her weakness. + +"I must insist upon pressing it, Mrs. Lee," replied he, and he became +yet more earnest as he went on; "my future is too deeply involved in +your decision to allow of my accepting your answer as final. I need your +aid. There is nothing I will not do to obtain it. Do you require +affection? mine for you is boundless. I am ready to prove it by a life +of devotion. Do you doubt my sincerity? test it in whatever way you +please. Do you fear being dragged down to the level of ordinary +politicians? so far as concerns myself, my great wish is to have your +help in purifying politics. What higher ambition can there be than to +serve one's country for such an end? Your sense of duty is too keen not +to feel that the noblest objects which can inspire any woman, combine to +point out your course." + +Mrs. Lee was excessively uncomfortable, although not in the least +shaken. + +She began to see that she must take a stronger tone if she meant to +bring this importunity to an end, and she answered:-- + +"I do not doubt your affection or your sincerity, Mr. Ratcliffe. It +is myself I doubt. You have been kind enough to give me much of your +confidence this winter, and if I do not yet know about politics all that +is to be known, I have learned enough to prove that I could do nothing +sillier than to suppose myself competent to reform anything. If I +pretended to think so, I should be a mere worldly, ambitious woman, such +as people think me. The idea of my purifying politics is absurd. I am +sorry to speak so strongly, but I mean it. I do not cling very closely +to life, and do not value my own very highly, but I will not tangle it +in such a way; I will not share the profits of vice; I am not willing to +be made a receiver of stolen goods, or to be put in a position where I +am perpetually obliged to maintain that immorality is a virtue!" + +As she went on she became more and more animated and her words took a +sharper edge than she had intended. Ratcliffe felt it, and showed his +annoyance. His face grew dark and his eyes looked out at her with their +ugliest expression. He even opened his mouth for an angry retort, but +controlled himself with an effort, and presently resumed his argument. + +"I had hoped," he began more solemnly than ever, "that I should find in +you a lofty courage which would disregard such risks. If all the men and +women were to take the tone you have taken, our government would soon +perish. If you consent to share my career, I do not deny that you may +find less satisfaction than I hope, but you will lead a mere death in +life if you place yourself like a saint on a solitary column. I plead +what I believe to be your own cause in pleading mine. Do not sacrifice +your life!" + +Mrs. Lee was in despair. She could not reply what was on her lips, that +to marry a murderer or a thief was not a sure way of diminishing crime. +She had already said something so much like this that she shrank from +speaking more plainly. So she fell back on her old theme. + +"We must at all events, Mr. Ratcliffe, use our judgments according to +our own consciences. I can only repeat now what I said at first. I am +sorry to seem insensible to your expressions towards me, but I cannot do +what you wish. Let us maintain our old relations if you will, but do not +press me further on this subject." + +Ratcliffe grew more and more sombre as he became aware that defeat was +staring him in the face. He was tenacious of purpose, and he had never +in his life abandoned an object which he had so much at heart as +this. He would not abandon it. For the moment, so completely had the +fascination of Mrs. + +Lee got the control of him, he would rather have abandoned the +Presidency itself than her. He really loved her as earnestly as it was +in his nature to love anything. To her obstinacy he would oppose +an obstinacy greater still; but in the meanwhile his attack was +disconcerted, and he was at a loss what next to do. Was it not possible +to change his ground; to offer inducements that would appeal even more +strongly to feminine ambition and love of display than the Presidency +itself? He began again:-- + +"Is there no form of pledge I can give you? no sacrifice I can make? +You dislike politics. Shall I leave political life? I will do anything +rather than lose you. I can probably control the appointment of Minister +to England. The President would rather have me there than here. Suppose +I were to abandon politics and take the English mission. Would that +sacrifice not affect you? You might pass four years in London where +there would be no politics, and where your social position would be +the best in the world; and this would lead to the Presidency almost +as surely as the other." Then suddenly, seeing that he was making no +headway, he threw off his studied calmness and broke out in an appeal of +almost equally studied violence. + +"Mrs. Lee! Madeleine! I cannot live without you. The sound of your +voice--the touch of your hand--even the rustle of your dress--are like +wine to me. For God's sake, do not throw me over!" + +He meant to crush opposition by force. More and more vehement as he +spoke he actually bent over and tried to seize her hand. She drew it +back as though he were a reptile. She was exasperated by this obstinate +disregard of her forbearance, this gross attempt to bribe her with +office, this flagrant abandonment of even a pretence of public virtue; +the mere thought of his touch on her person was more repulsive than +a loathsome disease. Bent upon teaching him a lesson he would never +forget, she spoke out abruptly, and with evident signs of contempt in +her voice and manner: + +"Mr. Ratcliffe, I am not to be bought. No rank, no dignity, no +consideration, no conceivable expedient would induce me to change my +mind. Let us have no more of this!" + +Ratcliffe had already been more than once, during this conversation, on +the verge of losing his temper. Naturally dictatorial and violent, only +long training and severe experience had taught him self-control, and +when he gave way to passion his bursts of fury were still tremendous. +Mrs. Lee's evident personal disgust, even more than her last sharp +rebuke, passed the bounds of his patience. As he stood before her, even +she, high-spirited as she was, and not in a calm frame of mind, felt a +momentary shock at seeing how his face flushed, his eyes gleamed, and +his hands trembled with rage. + +"Ah!" exclaimed he, turning upon her with a harshness, almost a +savageness, of manner that startled her still more; "I might have known +what to expect! Mrs. Clinton warned me early. She said then that I +should find you a heartless coquette!" + +"Mr. Ratcliffe!" exclaimed Madeleine, rising from her chair, and +speaking in a warning voice almost as passionate as his own. + +"A heartless coquette!" he repeated, still more harshly than before; +"she said you would do just this! that you meant to deceive me! that you +lived on flattery! that you could never be anything but a coquette, and +that if you married me, I should repent it all my life. I believe her +now!" + +Mrs. Lee's temper, too, was naturally a high one. At this moment she, +too, was flaming with anger, and wild with a passionate impulse to +annihilate this man. Conscious that the mastery was in her own hands, +she could the more easily control her voice, and with an expression of +unutterable contempt she spoke her last words to him, words which had +been ringing all day in her ears: + +"Mr. Ratcliffe! I have listened to you with a great deal more patience +and respect than you deserve. For one long hour I have degraded myself +by discussing with you the question whether I should marry a man who by +his own confession has betrayed the highest trusts that could be placed +in him, who has taken money for his votes as a Senator, and who is now +in public office by means of a successful fraud of his own, when in +justice he should be in a State's prison. I will have no more of this. +Understand, once for all, that there is an impassable gulf between your +life and mine. I do not doubt that you will make yourself President, but +whatever or wherever you are, never speak to me or recognize me again!" + +He glared a moment into her face with a sort of blind rage, and seemed +about to say more, when she swept past him, and before he realized it, +he was alone. + +Overmastered by passion, but conscious that he was powerless, Ratcliffe, +after a moment's hesitation, left the room and the house. He let himself +out, shutting the front door behind him, and as he stood on the pavement +old Baron Jacobi, who had special reasons for wishing to know how Mrs. +Lee had recovered from the fatigue and excitements of the ball, came up +to the spot. + +A single glance at Ratcliffe showed him that something had gone wrong in +the career of that great man, whose fortunes he always followed with so +bitter a sneer of contempt. Impelled by the spirit of evil always at his +elbow, the Baron seized this moment to sound the depth of his friend's +wound. They met at the door so closely that recognition was inevitable, +and Jacobi, with his worst smile, held out his hand, saying at the same +moment with diabolic malignity: + +"I hope I may offer my felicitations to your Excellency!" + +Ratcliffe was glad to find some victim on whom he could vent his rage. +He had a long score of humiliations to repay this man, whose last insult +was beyond all endurance. With an oath he dashed Jacobi's hand aside, +and, grasping his shoulder, thrust him out of the path. The Baron, among +whose weaknesses the want of high temper and personal courage was not +recorded, had no mind to tolerate such an insult from such a man. Even +while Ratcliffe's hand was still on his shoulder he had raised his cane, +and before the Secretary saw what was coming, the old man had struck him +with all his force full in the face. For a moment Ratcliffe staggered +back and grew pale, but the shock sobered him. He hesitated a single +instant whether to crush his assailant with a blow, but he felt that +for one of his youth and strength, to attack an infirm diplomatist in +a public street would be a fatal blunder, and while Jacobi stood, +violently excited, with his cane raised ready to strike another blow, +Mr. Ratcliffe suddenly turned his back and without a word, hastened +away. + +When Sybil returned, not long afterwards, she found no one in the +parlour. + +On going to her sister's room she discovered Madeleine lying on the +couch, looking worn and pale, but with a slight smile and a peaceful +expression on her face, as though she had done some act which her +conscience approved. She called Sybil to her side, and, taking her hand, +said: + +"Sybil, dearest, will you go abroad with me again?" + +"Of course I will," said Sybil; "I will go to the end of the world with +you." + +"I want to go to Egypt," said Madeleine, still smiling faintly; +"democracy has shaken my nerves to pieces. Oh, what rest it would be to +live in the Great Pyramid and look out for ever at the polar star!" + + + + +Conclusion + + +SYBIL TO CARRINGTON "May 1st, New York. + +"My dear Mr. Carrington, + +"I promised to write you, and so, to keep my +promise, and also because my sister wishes me to tell you about our +plans, I send this letter. We have left Washington--for ever, I am +afraid--and are going to Europe next month. + +You must know that a fortnight ago, Lord Skye gave a great ball to +the Grand-Duchess of something-or-other quite unspellable. I never can +describe things, but it was all very fine. I wore a lovely new dress, +and was a great success, I assure you. So was Madeleine, though she +had to sit most of the evening by the Princess--such a dowdy! The Duke +danced with me several times; he can't reverse, but that doesn't seem to +matter in a Grand-Duke. + +Well! things came to a crisis at the end of the evening. I followed your +directions, and after we got home gave your letter to Madeleine. +She says she has burned it. I don't know what happened afterwards--a +tremendous scene, I suspect, but Victoria Dare writes me from Washington +that every one is talking about M.'s refusal of Mr. R., and a dreadful +thing that took place on our very doorstep between Mr. R. and Baron +Jacobi, the day after the ball. She says there was a regular pitched +battle, and the Baron struck him over the face with his cane. You know +how afraid Madeleine was that they would do something of the sort in our +parlour. I'm glad they waited till they were in the street. But isn't +it shocking! They say the Baron is to be sent away, or recalled, or +something. I like the old gentleman, and for his sake am glad duelling +is gone out of fashion, though I don't much believe Mr. Silas P. +Ratcliffe could hit anything. The Baron passed through here three days +ago on his summer trip to Europe. He left his card on us, but we +were out, and did not see him. We are going over in July with the +Schneidekoupons, and Mr. Schneidekoupon has promised to send his yacht +to the Mediterranean, so that we shall sail about there after finishing +the Nile, and see Jerusalem and Gibraltar and Constantinople. I think +it will be perfectly lovely. I hate ruins, but I fancy you can buy +delicious things in Constantinople. Of course, after what has happened, +we can never go back to Washington. I shall miss our rides dreadfully. +I read Mr. Browning's 'Last Ride Together,' as you told me; I think it's +beautiful and perfectly easy, all but a little. I never could understand +a word of him before--so I never tried. Who do you think is engaged? +Victoria Dare, to a coronet and a peat-bog, with Lord Dunbeg attached. +Victoria says she is happier than she ever was before in any of her +other engagements, and she is sure this is the real one. She says she +has thirty thousand a year derived from the poor of America, which may +just as well go to relieve one of the poor in Ireland. + +You know her father was a claim agent, or some such thing, and is said +to have made his money by cheating his clients out of their claims. +She is perfectly wild to be a countess, and means to make Castle Dunbeg +lovely by-and-by, and entertain us all there. Madeleine says she is just +the kind to be a great success in London. Madeleine is very well, and +sends her kind regards. I believe she is going to add a postscript. +I have promised to let her read this, but I don't think a chaperoned +letter is much fun to write or receive. Hoping to hear from you soon, + +"Sincerely yours, + +"Sybil Ross." + + +Enclosed was a thin strip of paper containing another message from +Sybil, privately inserted at the last moment unknown to Mrs. Lee-- + +"If I were in your place I would try again after she comes home." + + +Mrs. Lee's P.S. was very short-- + +"The bitterest part of all this horrid story is that nine out of ten of +our countrymen would say I had made a mistake." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Democracy An American Novel, by Henry Adams + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEMOCRACY AN AMERICAN NOVEL *** + +***** This file should be named 2815.txt or 2815.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/1/2815/ + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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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: Democracy An American Novel + +Author: Henry Adams + +Release Date: December 13, 2008 [EBook #2815] +Last Updated: March 14, 2018 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEMOCRACY AN AMERICAN NOVEL *** + + + + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer, and David Widger + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + DEMOCRACY AN AMERICAN NOVEL + </h1> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Henry Adams + </h2> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <blockquote> + <p class="toc"> + <big><b>CONTENTS</b></big> + </p> + <p> + <br /> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> Chapter I </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> Chapter II </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> Chapter III </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> Chapter IV </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> Chapter V </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> Chapter VI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> Chapter VII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> Chapter VIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0009"> Chapter IX </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> Chapter X </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0011"> Chapter XI </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0012"> Chapter XII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2HCH0013"> Chapter XIII </a> + </p> + <p class="toc"> + <a href="#link2H_CONC"> Conclusion </a> + </p> + </blockquote> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <div class="mynote"> + <p> + First published anonymously, March 1880, and soon in various + unauthorized editions. It wasn't until the 1925 edition that Adams was + listed as author. Henry Adams remarked (ironically as usual), “The + wholesale piracy of Democracy was the single real triumph of my life.”—it + was very popular, as readers tried to guess who the author was and who + the characters really were. Chapters XII and XIII were originally + misnumbered. + </p> + <br /> + </div> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h2> + Chapter I + </h2> + <p> + FOR reasons which many persons thought ridiculous, Mrs. Lightfoot Lee + decided to pass the winter in Washington. She was in excellent health, but + she said that the climate would do her good. In New York she had troops of + friends, but she suddenly became eager to see again the very small number + of those who lived on the Potomac. It was only to her closest intimates + that she honestly acknowledged herself to be tortured by ennui. Since her + husband's death, five years before, she had lost her taste for New York + society; she had felt no interest in the price of stocks, and very little + in the men who dealt in them; she had become serious. What was it all + worth, this wilderness of men and women as monotonous as the brown stone + houses they lived in? In her despair she had resorted to desperate + measures. She had read philosophy in the original German, and the more she + read, the more she was disheartened that so much culture should lead to + nothing—nothing. + </p> + <p> + After talking of Herbert Spencer for an entire evening with a very + literary transcendental commission-merchant, she could not see that her + time had been better employed than when in former days she had passed it + in flirting with a very agreeable young stock-broker; indeed, there was an + evident proof to the contrary, for the flirtation might lead to something—had, + in fact, led to marriage; while the philosophy could lead to nothing, + unless it were perhaps to another evening of the same kind, because + transcendental philosophers are mostly elderly men, usually married, and, + when engaged in business, somewhat apt to be sleepy towards evening. + Nevertheless Mrs. Lee did her best to turn her study to practical use. She + plunged into philanthropy, visited prisons, inspected hospitals, read the + literature of pauperism and crime, saturated herself with the statistics + of vice, until her mind had nearly lost sight of virtue. At last it rose + in rebellion against her, and she came to the limit of her strength. This + path, too, seemed to lead nowhere. She declared that she had lost the + sense of duty, and that, so far as concerned her, all the paupers and + criminals in New York might henceforward rise in their majesty and manage + every railway on the continent. Why should she care? What was the city to + her? She could find nothing in it that seemed to demand salvation. What + gave peculiar sanctity to numbers? Why were a million people, who all + resembled each other, any way more interesting than one person? What + aspiration could she help to put into the mind of this great million-armed + monster that would make it worth her love or respect? Religion? A thousand + powerful churches were doing their best, and she could see no chance for a + new faith of which she was to be the inspired prophet. Ambition? High + popular ideals? Passion for whatever is lofty and pure? The very words + irritated her. Was she not herself devoured by ambition, and was she not + now eating her heart out because she could find no one object worth a + sacrifice? + </p> + <p> + Was it ambition—real ambition—or was it mere restlessness that + made Mrs. Lightfoot Lee so bitter against New York and Philadelphia, + Baltimore and Boston, American life in general and all life in particular? + What did she want? Not social position, for she herself was an eminently + respectable Philadelphian by birth; her father a famous clergyman; and her + husband had been equally irreproachable, a descendant of one branch of the + Virginia Lees, which had drifted to New York in search of fortune, and had + found it, or enough of it to keep the young man there. His widow had her + own place in society which no one disputed. Though not brighter than her + neighbours, the world persisted in classing her among clever women; she + had wealth, or at least enough of it to give her all that money can give + by way of pleasure to a sensible woman in an American city; she had her + house and her carriage; she dressed well; her table was good, and her + furniture was never allowed to fall behind the latest standard of + decorative art. She had travelled in Europe, and after several visits, + covering some years of time, had returned home, carrying in one hand, as + it were, a green-grey landscape, a remarkably pleasing specimen of Corot, + and in the other some bales of Persian and Syrian rugs and embroideries, + Japanese bronzes and porcelain. With this she declared Europe to be + exhausted, and she frankly avowed that she was American to the tips of her + fingers; she neither knew nor greatly cared whether America or Europe were + best to live in; she had no violent love for either, and she had no + objection to abusing both; but she meant to get all that American life had + to offer, good or bad, and to drink it down to the dregs, fully determined + that whatever there was in it she would have, and that whatever could be + made out of it she would manufacture. “I know,” said she, “that America + produces petroleum and pigs; I have seen both on the steamers; and I am + told it produces silver and gold. There is choice enough for any woman.” + </p> + <p> + Yet, as has been already said, Mrs. Lee's first experience was not a + success. She soon declared that New York might represent the petroleum or + the pigs, but the gold of life was not to be discovered there by her eyes. + </p> + <p> + Not but that there was variety enough; a variety of people, occupations, + aims, and thoughts; but that all these, after growing to a certain height, + stopped short. They found nothing to hold them up. She knew, more or less + intimately, a dozen men whose fortunes ranged between one million and + forty millions. What did they do with their money? What could they do with + it that was different from what other men did? After all, it is absurd to + spend more money than is enough to satisfy all one's wants; it is vulgar + to live in two houses in the same street, and to drive six horses abreast. + Yet, after setting aside a certain income sufficient for all one's wants, + what was to be done with the rest? To let it accumulate was to own one's + failure; Mrs. Lee's great grievance was that it did accumulate, without + changing or improving the quality of its owners. To spend it in charity + and public works was doubtless praiseworthy, but was it wise? Mrs. Lee had + read enough political economy and pauper reports to be nearly convinced + that public work should be public duty, and that great benefactions do + harm as well as good. + </p> + <p> + And even supposing it spent on these objects, how could it do more than + increase and perpetuate that same kind of human nature which was her great + grievance? Her New York friends could not meet this question except by + falling back upon their native commonplaces, which she recklessly trampled + upon, averring that, much as she admired the genius of the famous + traveller, Mr. Gulliver, she never had been able, since she became a + widow, to accept the Brobdingnagian doctrine that he who made two blades + of grass grow where only one grew before deserved better of mankind than + the whole race of politicians. She would not find fault with the + philosopher had he required that the grass should be of an improved + quality; “but,” said she, “I cannot honestly pretend that I should be + pleased to see two New York men where I now see one; the idea is too + ridiculous; more than one and a half would be fatal to me.” + </p> + <p> + Then came her Boston friends, who suggested that higher education was + precisely what she wanted; she should throw herself into a crusade for + universities and art-schools. Mrs. Lee turned upon them with a sweet + smile; “Do you know,” said she, “that we have in New York already the + richest university in America, and that its only trouble has always been + that it can get no scholars even by paying for them? Do you want me to go + out into the streets and waylay boys? If the heathen refuse to be + converted, can you give me power over the stake and the sword to compel + them to come in? And suppose you can? Suppose I march all the boys in + Fifth Avenue down to the university and have them all properly taught + Greek and Latin, English literature, ethics, and German philosophy. What + then? You do it in Boston. Now tell me honestly what comes of it. I + suppose you have there a brilliant society; numbers of poets, scholars, + philosophers, statesmen, all up and down Beacon Street. Your evenings must + be sparkling. Your press must scintillate. How is it that we New Yorkers + never hear of it? We don't go much into your society; but when we do, it + doesn't seem so very much better than our own. You are just like the rest + of us. You grow six inches high, and then you stop. Why will not somebody + grow to be a tree and cast a shadow?” + </p> + <p> + The average member of New York society, although not unused to this + contemptuous kind of treatment from his leaders, retaliated in his blind, + common-sense way. “What does the woman want?” he said. “Is her head turned + with the Tulieries and Marlborough House? Does she think herself made for + a throne? Why does she not lecture for women's rights? Why not go on the + stage? If she cannot be contented like other people, what need is there + for abusing us just because she feels herself no taller than we are? What + does she expect to get from her sharp tongue? What does she know, any + way?” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee certainly knew very little. She had read voraciously and + promiscuously one subject after another. Ruskin and Taine had danced + merrily through her mind, hand in hand with Darwin and Stuart Mill, + Gustave Droz and Algernon Swinburne. She had even laboured over the + literature of her own country. She was perhaps, the only woman in New York + who knew something of American history. Certainly she could not have + repeated the list of Presidents in their order, but she knew that the + Constitution divided the government into Executive, Legislative, and + Judiciary; she was aware that the President, the Speaker, and the Chief + Justice were important personages, and instinctively she wondered whether + they might not solve her problem; whether they were the shade trees which + she saw in her dreams. + </p> + <p> + Here, then, was the explanation of her restlessness, discontent, ambition,—call + it what you will. It was the feeling of a passenger on an ocean steamer + whose mind will not give him rest until he has been in the engine-room and + talked with the engineer. She wanted to see with her own eyes the action + of primary forces; to touch with her own hand the massive machinery of + society; to measure with her own mind the capacity of the motive power. + She was bent upon getting to the heart of the great American mystery of + democracy and government. She cared little where her pursuit might lead + her, for she put no extravagant value upon life, having already, as she + said, exhausted at least two lives, and being fairly hardened to + insensibility in the process. “To lose a husband and a baby,” said she, + “and keep one's courage and reason, one must become very hard or very + soft. I am now pure steel. You may beat my heart with a trip-hammer and it + will beat the trip-hammer back again.” + </p> + <p> + Perhaps after exhausting the political world she might try again + elsewhere; she did not pretend to say where she might then go, or what she + should do; but at present she meant to see what amusement there might be + in politics. + </p> + <p> + Her friends asked what kind of amusement she expected to find among the + illiterate swarm of ordinary people who in Washington represented + constituencies so dreary that in comparison New York was a New Jerusalem, + and Broad Street a grove of Academe. She replied that if Washington + society were so bad as this, she should have gained all she wanted, for it + would be a pleasure to return,—precisely the feeling she longed for. + In her own mind, however, she frowned on the idea of seeking for men. What + she wished to see, she thought, was the clash of interests, the interests + of forty millions of people and a whole continent, centering at + Washington; guided, restrained, controlled, or unrestrained and + uncontrollable, by men of ordinary mould; the tremendous forces of + government, and the machinery of society, at work. What she wanted, was + POWER. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps the force of the engine was a little confused in her mind with + that of the engineer, the power with the men who wielded it. Perhaps the + human interest of politics was after all what really attracted her, and, + however strongly she might deny it, the passion for exercising power, for + its own sake, might dazzle and mislead a woman who had exhausted all the + ordinary feminine resources. But why speculate about her motives? The + stage was before her, the curtain was rising, the actors were ready to + enter; she had only to go quietly on among the supernumeraries and see how + the play was acted and the stage effects were produced; how the great + tragedians mouthed, and the stage-manager swore. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter II + </h2> + <p> + ON the first of December, Mrs. Lee took the train for Washington, and + before five o'clock that evening she was entering her newly hired house on + Lafayette Square. She shrugged her shoulders with a mingled expression of + contempt and grief at the curious barbarism of the curtains and the + wall-papers, and her next two days were occupied with a life-and-death + struggle to get the mastery over her surroundings. In this awful contest + the interior of the doomed house suffered as though a demon were in it; + not a chair, not a mirror, not a carpet, was left untouched, and in the + midst of the worst confusion the new mistress sat, calm as the statue of + Andrew Jackson in the square under her eyes, and issued her orders with as + much decision as that hero had ever shown. Towards the close of the second + day, victory crowned her forehead. A new era, a nobler conception of duty + and existence, had dawned upon that benighted and heathen residence. The + wealth of Syria and Persia was poured out upon the melancholy Wilton + carpets; embroidered comets and woven gold from Japan and Teheran depended + from and covered over every sad stuff-curtain; a strange medley of + sketches, paintings, fans, embroideries, and porcelain was hung, nailed, + pinned, or stuck against the wall; finally the domestic altarpiece, the + mystical Corot landscape, was hoisted to its place over the parlour fire, + and then all was over. The setting sun streamed softly in at the windows, + and peace reigned in that redeemed house and in the heart of its mistress. + </p> + <p> + “I think it will do now, Sybil,” said she, surveying the scene. + </p> + <p> + “It must,” replied Sybil. “You haven't a plate or a fan or coloured scarf + left. You must send out and buy some of these old negro-women's bandannas + if you are going to cover anything else. What is the use? Do you suppose + any human being in Washington will like it? They will think you demented.” + </p> + <p> + “There is such a thing as self-respect,” replied her sister, calmly. + </p> + <p> + Sybil—Miss Sybil Ross—was Madeleine Lee's sister. The keenest + psychologist could not have detected a single feature quality which they + had in common, and for that reason they were devoted friends. Madeleine + was thirty, Sybil twenty-four. Madeleine was indescribable; Sybil was + transparent. Madeleine was of medium height with a graceful figure, a + well-set head, and enough golden-brown hair to frame a face full of + varying expression. Her eyes were never for two consecutive hours of the + same shade, but were more often blue than grey. People who envied her + smile said that she cultivated a sense of humour in order to show her + teeth. Perhaps they were right; but there was no doubt that her habit of + talking with gesticulation would never have grown upon her unless she had + known that her hands were not only beautiful but expressive. She dressed + as skilfully as New York women do, but in growing older she began to show + symptoms of dangerous unconventionality. She had been heard to express a + low opinion of her countrywomen who blindly fell down before the golden + calf of Mr. Worth, and she had even fought a battle of great severity, + while it lasted, with one of her best-dressed friends who had been invited—and + had gone—to Mr. Worth's afternoon tea-parties. The secret was that + Mrs. Lee had artistic tendencies, and unless they were checked in time, + there was no knowing what might be the consequence. But as yet they had + done no harm; indeed, they rather helped to give her that sort of + atmosphere which belongs only to certain women; as indescribable as the + afterglow; as impalpable as an Indian summer mist; and non-existent except + to people who feel rather than reason. Sybil had none of it. The + imagination gave up all attempts to soar where she came. A more + straightforward, downright, gay, sympathetic, shallow, warm-hearted, + sternly practical young woman has rarely touched this planet. Her mind had + room for neither grave-stones nor guide-books; she could not have lived in + the past or the future if she had spent her days in churches and her + nights in tombs. “She was not clever, like Madeleine, thank Heaven.” + Madeleine was not an orthodox member of the church; sermons bored her, and + clergymen never failed to irritate every nerve in her excitable system. + Sybil was a simple and devout worshipper at the ritualistic altar; she + bent humbly before the Paulist fathers. When she went to a ball she always + had the best partner in the room, and took it as a matter of course; but + then, she always prayed for one; somehow it strengthened her faith. Her + sister took care never to laugh at her on this score, or to shock her + religious opinions. “Time enough,” said she, “for her to forget religion + when religion fails her.” As for regular attendance at church, Madeleine + was able to reconcile their habits without trouble. She herself had not + entered a church for years; she said it gave her unchristian feelings; but + Sybil had a voice of excellent quality, well trained and cultivated: + Madeleine insisted that she should sing in the choir, and by this little + manoeuvre, the divergence of their paths was made less evident. Madeleine + did not sing, and therefore could not go to church with Sybil. This + outrageous fallacy seemed perfectly to answer its purpose, and Sybil + accepted it, in good faith, as a fair working principle which explained + itself. + </p> + <p> + Madeleine was sober in her tastes. She wasted no money. She made no + display. + </p> + <p> + She walked rather than drove, and wore neither diamonds nor brocades. But + the general impression she made was nevertheless one of luxury. On the + other hand, her sister had her dresses from Paris, and wore them and her + ornaments according to all the formulas; she was good-naturedly correct, + and bent her round white shoulders to whatever burden the Parisian + autocrat chose to put upon them. Madeleine never interfered, and always + paid the bills. + </p> + <p> + Before they had been ten days in Washington, they fell gently into their + place and were carried along without an effort on the stream of social + life. + </p> + <p> + Society was kind; there was no reason for its being otherwise. Mrs. Lee + and her sister had no enemies, held no offices, and did their best to make + themselves popular. Sybil had not passed summers at Newport and winters in + New York in vain; and neither her face nor her figure, her voice nor her + dancing, needed apology. Politics were not her strong point. She was + induced to go once to the Capitol and to sit ten minutes in the gallery of + the Senate. No one ever knew what her impressions were; with feminine tact + she managed not to betray herself But, in truth, her notion of legislative + bodies was vague, floating between her experience at church and at the + opera, so that the idea of a performance of some kind was never out of her + head. To her mind the Senate was a place where people went to recite + speeches, and she naively assumed that the speeches were useful and had a + purpose, but as they did not interest her she never went again. This is a + very common conception of Congress; many Congressmen share it. + </p> + <p> + Her sister was more patient and bolder. She went to the Capitol nearly + every day for at least two weeks. At the end of that time her interest + began to flag, and she thought it better to read the debates every morning + in the Congressional Record. Finding this a laborious and not always an + instructive task, she began to skip the dull parts; and in the absence of + any exciting question, she at last resigned herself to skipping the whole. + Nevertheless she still had energy to visit the Senate gallery occasionally + when she was told that a splendid orator was about to speak on a question + of deep interest to his country. She listened with a little disposition to + admire, if she could; and, whenever she could, she did admire. She said + nothing, but she listened sharply. She wanted to learn how the machinery + of government worked, and what was the quality of the men who controlled + it. One by one, she passed them through her crucibles, and tested them by + acids and by fire. + </p> + <p> + A few survived her tests and came out alive, though more or less + disfigured, where she had found impurities. Of the whole number, only one + retained under this process enough character to interest her. + </p> + <p> + In these early visits to Congress, Mrs. Lee sometimes had the company of + John Carrington, a Washington lawyer about forty years old, who, by virtue + of being a Virginian and a distant connection of her husband, called + himself a cousin, and took a tone of semi-intimacy, which Mrs. Lee + accepted because Carrington was a man whom she liked, and because he was + one whom life had treated hardly. He was of that unfortunate generation in + the south which began existence with civil war, and he was perhaps the + more unfortunate because, like most educated Virginians of the old + Washington school, he had seen from the first that, whatever issue the war + took, Virginia and he must be ruined. At twenty-two he had gone into the + rebel army as a private and carried his musket modestly through a campaign + or two, after which he slowly rose to the rank of senior captain in his + regiment, and closed his services on the staff of a major-general, always + doing scrupulously enough what he conceived to be his duty, and never + doing it with enthusiasm. When the rebel armies surrendered, he rode away + to his family plantation—not a difficult thing to do, for it was + only a few miles from Appomatox—and at once began to study law; + then, leaving his mother and sisters to do what they could with the + worn-out plantation, he began the practice of law in Washington, hoping + thus to support himself and them. He had succeeded after a fashion, and + for the first time the future seemed not absolutely dark. Mrs. Lee's house + was an oasis to him, and he found himself, to his surprise, almost gay in + her company. The gaiety was of a very quiet kind, and Sybil, while + friendly with him, averred that he was certainly dull; but this dulness + had a fascination for Madeleine, who, having tasted many more kinds of the + wine of life than Sybil, had learned to value certain delicacies of age + and flavour that were lost upon younger and coarser palates. He talked + rather slowly and almost with effort, but he had something of the dignity—others + call it stiffness—of the old Virginia school, and twenty years of + constant responsibility and deferred hope had added a touch of care that + bordered closely on sadness. His great attraction was that he never talked + or seemed to think of himself. Mrs. Lee trusted in him by instinct. “He is + a type!” said she; “he is my idea of George Washington at thirty.” + </p> + <p> + One morning in December, Carrington entered Mrs. Lee's parlour towards + noon, and asked if she cared to visit the Capitol. + </p> + <p> + “You will have a chance of hearing to-day what may be the last great + speech of our greatest statesman,” said he; “you should come.” + </p> + <p> + “A splendid sample of our native raw material, sir?” asked she, fresh from + a reading of Dickens, and his famous picture of American statesmanship. + </p> + <p> + “Precisely so,” said Carrington; “the Prairie Giant of Peonia, the + Favourite Son of Illinois; the man who came within three votes of getting + the party nomination for the Presidency last spring, and was only defeated + because ten small intriguers are sharper than one big one. The Honourable + Silas P. Ratcliffe, Senator from Illinois; he will be run for the + Presidency yet.” + </p> + <p> + “What does the P. stand for?” asked Sybil. + </p> + <p> + “I don't remember ever to have heard his middle name,” said Carrington. + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps it is Peonia or Prairie; I can't say.” + </p> + <p> + “He is the man whose appearance struck me so much when we were in the + Senate last week, is he not? A great, ponderous man, over six feet high, + very senatorial and dignified, with a large head and rather good + features?” inquired Mrs. Lee. + </p> + <p> + “The same,” replied Carrington. “By all means hear him speak. He is the + stumbling-block of the new President, who is to be allowed no peace unless + he makes terms with Ratcliffe; and so every one thinks that the Prairie + Giant of Peonia will have the choice of the State or Treasury Department. + If he takes either it will be the Treasury, for he is a desperate + political manager, and will want the patronage for the next national + convention.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee was delighted to hear the debate, and Carrington was delighted to + sit through it by her side, and to exchange running comments with her on + the speeches and the speakers. + </p> + <p> + “Have you ever met the Senator?” asked she. + </p> + <p> + “I have acted several times as counsel before his committees. He is an + excellent chairman, always attentive and generally civil.” + </p> + <p> + “Where was he born?” + </p> + <p> + “The family is a New England one, and I believe respectable. He came, I + think, from some place in the Connecticut Valley, but whether Vermont, New + Hampshire, or Massachusetts, I don't know.” + </p> + <p> + “Is he an educated man?” + </p> + <p> + “He got a kind of classical education at one of the country colleges + there. I suspect he has as much education as is good for him. But he went + West very soon after leaving college, and being then young and fresh from + that hot-bed of abolition, he threw himself into the anti-slavery movement + in Illinois, and after a long struggle he rose with the wave. He would not + do the same thing now.” + </p> + <p> + “Why not?” + </p> + <p> + “He is older, more experienced, and not so wise. Besides, he has no longer + the time to wait. Can you see his eyes from here? I call them Yankee + eyes.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't abuse the Yankees,” said Mrs. Lee; “I am half Yankee myself.” + </p> + <p> + “Is that abuse? Do you mean to deny that they have eyes?” + </p> + <p> + “I concede that there may be eyes among them; but Virginians are not fair + judges of their expression.” + </p> + <p> + “Cold eyes,” he continued; “steel grey, rather small, not unpleasant in + good-humour, diabolic in a passion, but worst when a little suspicious; + then they watch you as though you were a young rattle-snake, to be killed + when convenient.” + </p> + <p> + “Does he not look you in the face?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes; but not as though he liked you. His eyes only seem to ask the + possible uses you might be put to. Ah, the vice-president has given him + the floor; now we shall have it. Hard voice, is it not? like his eyes. + Hard manner, like his voice. Hard all through.” + </p> + <p> + “What a pity he is so dreadfully senatorial!” said Mrs. Lee; “otherwise I + rather admire him.” + </p> + <p> + “Now he is settling down to his work,” continued Carrington. “See how he + dodges all the sharp issues. What a thing it is to be a Yankee! What a + genius the fellow has for leading a party! Do you see how well it is all + done? The new President flattered and conciliated, the party united and + given a strong lead. And now we shall see how the President will deal with + him. Ten to one on Ratcliffe. Come, there is that stupid ass from Missouri + getting up. Let us go.” + </p> + <p> + As they passed down the steps and out into the Avenue, Mrs. Lee turned to + Carrington as though she had been reflecting deeply and had at length + reached a decision. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Carrington,” said she, “I want to know Senator Ratcliffe.” + </p> + <p> + “You will meet him to-morrow evening,” replied Carrington, “at your + senatorial dinner.” + </p> + <p> + The Senator from New York, the Honourable Schuyler Clinton, was an old + admirer of Mrs. Lee, and his wife was a cousin of hers, more or less + distant. They had lost no time in honouring the letter of credit she thus + had upon them, and invited her and her sister to a solemn dinner, as + imposing as political dignity could make it. Mr. Carrington, as a + connection of hers, was one of the party, and almost the only one among + the twenty persons at table who had neither an office, nor a title, nor a + constituency. + </p> + <p> + Senator Clinton received Mrs. Lee and her sister with tender enthusiasm, + for they were attractive specimens of his constituents. He pressed their + hands and evidently restrained himself only by an effort from embracing + them, for the Senator had a marked regard for pretty women, and had made + love to every girl with any pretensions to beauty that had appeared in the + State of New York for fully half a century. At the same time he whispered + an apology in her ear; he regretted so much that he was obliged to forego + the pleasure of taking her to dinner; Washington was the only city in + America where this could have happened, but it was a fact that ladies here + were very great stickiers for etiquette; on the other hand he had the sad + consolation that she would be the gainer, for he had allotted to her Lord + Skye, the British Minister, “a most agreeable man and not married, as I + have the misfortune to be;” and on the other side “I have ventured to + place Senator Ratcliffe, of Illinois, whose admirable speech I saw you + listening to with such rapt attention yesterday. I thought you might like + to know him. Did I do right?” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine assured him that he had divined her inmost wishes, and he turned + with even more warmth of affection to her sister: “As for you, my dear—dear + Sybil, what can I do to make your dinner agreeable? If I give your sister + a coronet, I am only sorry not to have a diadem for you. But I have done + everything in my power. The first Secretary of the Russian Legation, Count + Popoff, will take you in; a charming young man, my dear Sybil; and on your + other side I have placed the Assistant Secretary of State, whom you know.” + </p> + <p> + And so, after the due delay, the party settled themselves at the + dinner-table, and Mrs. Lee found Senator Ratcliffe's grey eyes resting on + her face for a moment as they sat down. + </p> + <p> + Lord Skye was very agreeable, and, at almost any other moment of her life, + Mrs. Lee would have liked nothing better than to talk with him from the + beginning to the end of her dinner. Tall, slender, bald-headed, awkward, + and stammering with his elaborate British stammer whenever it suited his + convenience to do so; a sharp observer who had wit which he commonly + concealed; a humourist who was satisfied to laugh silently at his own + humour; a diplomatist who used the mask of frankness with great effect; + Lord Skye was one of the most popular men in Washington. Every one knew + that he was a ruthless critic of American manners, but he had the art to + combine ridicule with good-humour, and he was all the more popular + accordingly. He was an outspoken admirer of American women in everything + except their voices, and he did not even shrink from occasionally quizzing + a little the national peculiarities of his own countrywomen; a sure piece + of flattery to their American cousins. He would gladly have devoted + himself to Mrs. Lee, but decent civility required that he should pay some + attention to his hostess, and he was too good a diplomatist not to be + attentive to a hostess who was the wife of a Senator, and that Senator the + chairman of the committee of foreign relations. + </p> + <p> + The moment his head was turned, Mrs. Lee dashed at her Peonia Giant, who + was then consuming his fish, and wishing he understood why the British + Minister had worn no gloves, while he himself had sacrificed his + convictions by wearing the largest and whitest pair of French kids that + could be bought for money on Pennsylvania Avenue. There was a little touch + of mortification in the idea that he was not quite at home among + fashionable people, and at this instant he felt that true happiness was + only to be found among the simple and honest sons and daughters of toil. A + certain secret jealousy of the British Minister is always lurking in the + breast of every American Senator, if he is truly democratic; for + democracy, rightly understood, is the government of the people, by the + people, for the benefit of Senators, and there is always a danger that the + British Minister may not understand this political principle as he should. + Lord Skye had run the risk of making two blunders; of offending the + Senator from New York by neglecting his wife, and the Senator from + Illinois by engrossing the attention of Mrs. Lee. A young Englishman would + have done both, but Lord Skye had studied the American constitution. The + wife of the Senator from New York now thought him most agreeable, and at + the same moment the Senator from Illinois awoke to the conviction that + after all, even in frivolous and fashionable circles, true dignity is in + no danger of neglect; an American Senator represents a sovereign state; + the great state of Illinois is as big as England—with the convenient + omission of Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, India, Australia, and a few + other continents and islands; and in short, it was perfectly clear that + Lord Skye was not formidable to him, even in light society; had not Mrs. + Lee herself as good as said that no position equalled that of an American + Senator? + </p> + <p> + In ten minutes Mrs. Lee had this devoted statesman at her feet. She had + not studied the Senate without a purpose. She had read with unerring + instinct one general characteristic of all Senators, a boundless and + guileless thirst for flattery, engendered by daily draughts from political + friends or dependents, then becoming a necessity like a dram, and + swallowed with a heavy smile of ineffable content. A single glance at Mr. + Ratcliffe's face showed Madeleine that she need not be afraid of + flattering too grossly; her own self-respect, not his, was the only + restraint upon her use of this feminine bait. + </p> + <p> + She opened upon him with an apparent simplicity and gravity, a quiet + repose of manner, and an evident consciousness of her own strength, which + meant that she was most dangerous. + </p> + <p> + “I heard your speech yesterday, Mr. Ratcliffe. I am glad to have a chance + of telling you how much I was impressed by it. It seemed to me masterly. + Do you not find that it has had a great effect?” + </p> + <p> + “I thank you, madam. I hope it will help to unite the party, but as yet we + have had no time to measure its results. That will require several days + more.” The Senator spoke in his senatorial manner, elaborate, + condescending, and a little on his guard. + </p> + <p> + “Do you know,” said Mrs. Lee, turning towards him as though he were a + valued friend, and looking deep into his eyes, “Do you know that every one + told me I should be shocked by the falling off in political ability at + Washington? I did not believe them, and since hearing your speech I am + sure they are mistaken. Do you yourself think there is less ability in + Congress than there used to be?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, madam, it is difficult to answer that question. Government is not + so easy now as it was formerly. There are different customs. There are + many men of fair abilities in public life; many more than there used to + be; and there is sharper criticism and more of it.” + </p> + <p> + “Was I right in thinking that you have a strong resemblance to Daniel + Webster in your way of speaking? You come from the same neighbourhood, do + you not?” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee here hit on Ratcliffe's weak point; the outline of his head had, + in fact, a certain resemblance to that of Webster, and he prided himself + upon it, and on a distant relationship to the Expounder of the + Constitution; he began to think that Mrs. Lee was a very intelligent + person. His modest admission of the resemblance gave her the opportunity + to talk of Webster's oratory, and the conversation soon spread to a + discussion of the merits of Clay and Calhoun. The Senator found that his + neighbour—a fashionable New York woman, exquisitely dressed, and + with a voice and manner seductively soft and gentle—had read the + speeches of Webster and Calhoun. She did not think it necessary to tell + him that she had persuaded the honest Carrington to bring her the volumes + and to mark such passages as were worth her reading; but she took care to + lead the conversation, and she criticised with some skill and more humour + the weak points in Websterian oratory, saying with a little laugh and a + glance into his delighted eyes: + </p> + <p> + “My judgment may not be worth much, Mr. Senator, but it does seem to me + that our fathers thought too much of themselves, and till you teach me + better I shall continue to think that the passage in your speech of + yesterday which began with, 'Our strength lies in this twisted and tangled + mass of isolated principles, the hair of the half-sleeping giant of + Party,' is both for language and imagery quite equal to anything of + Webster's.” + </p> + <p> + The Senator from Illinois rose to this gaudy fly like a huge, + two-hundred-pound salmon; his white waistcoat gave out a mild silver + reflection as he slowly came to the surface and gorged the hook. He made + not even a plunge, not one perceptible effort to tear out the barbed + weapon, but, floating gently to her feet, allowed himself to be landed as + though it were a pleasure. Only miserable casuists will ask whether this + was fair play on Madeleine's part; whether flattery so gross cost her + conscience no twinge, and whether any woman can without self-abasement be + guilty of such shameless falsehood. She, however, scorned the idea of + falsehood. She would have defended herself by saying that she had not so + much praised Ratcliffe as depreciated Webster, and that she was honest in + her opinion of the old-fashioned American oratory. But she could not deny + that she had wilfully allowed the Senator to draw conclusions very + different from any she actually held. She could not deny that she had + intended to flatter him to the extent necessary for her purpose, and that + she was pleased at her success. Before they rose from table the Senator + had quite unbent himself; he was talking naturally, shrewdly, and with + some humour; he had told her Illinois stories; spoken with extraordinary + freedom about his political situation; and expressed the wish to call upon + Mrs. Lee, if he could ever hope to find her at home. + </p> + <p> + “I am always at home on Sunday evenings,” said she. + </p> + <p> + To her eyes he was the high-priest of American politics; he was charged + with the meaning of the mysteries, the clue to political hieroglyphics. + Through him she hoped to sound the depths of statesmanship and to bring up + from its oozy bed that pearl of which she was in search; the mysterious + gem which must lie hidden somewhere in politics. She wanted to understand + this man; to turn him inside out; to experiment on him and use him as + young physiologists use frogs and kittens. If there was good or bad in + him, she meant to find its meaning. + </p> + <p> + And he was a western widower of fifty; his quarters in Washington were in + gaunt boarding-house rooms, furnished only with public documents and + enlivened by western politicians and office-seekers. In the summer he + retired to a solitary, white framehouse with green blinds, surrounded by a + few feet of uncared-for grass and a white fence; its interior more dreary + still, with iron stoves, oil-cloth carpets, cold white walls, and one + large engraving of Abraham Lincoln in the parlour; all in Peonia, + Illinois! What equality was there between these two combatants? what hope + for him? what risk for her? And yet Madeleine Lee had fully her match in + Mr. Silas P. Ratcliffe. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter III + </h2> + <p> + MRS. Lee soon became popular. Her parlour was a favourite haunt of certain + men and women who had the art of finding its mistress at home; an art + which seemed not to be within the powers of everybody. Carrington was apt + to be there more often than any one else, so that he was looked on as + almost a part of the family, and if Madeleine wanted a book from the + library, or an extra man at her dinner-table, Carrington was pretty + certain to help her to the one or the other. Old Baron Jacobi, the + Bulgarian minister, fell madly in love with both sisters, as he commonly + did with every pretty face and neat figure. He was a witty, cynical, + broken-down Parisian roué, kept in Washington for years past by his debts + and his salary; always grumbling because there was no opera, and + mysteriously disappearing on visits to New York; a voracious devourer of + French and German literature, especially of novels; a man who seemed to + have met every noted or notorious personage of the century, and whose mind + was a magazine of amusing information; an excellent musical critic, who + was not afraid to criticise Sybil's singing; a connoisseur in bric-à-brac, + who laughed at Madeleine's display of odds and ends, and occasionally + brought her a Persian plate or a bit of embroidery, which he said was good + and would do her credit. This old sinner believed in everything that was + perverse and wicked, but he accepted the prejudices of Anglo-Saxon + society, and was too clever to obtrude his opinions upon others. + </p> + <p> + He would have married both sisters at once more willingly than either + alone, but as he feelingly said, “If I were forty years younger, + mademoiselle, you should not sing to me so calmly.” His friend Popoff, an + intelligent, vivacious Russian, with very Calmuck features, susceptible as + a girl, and passionately fond of music, hung over Sybil's piano by the + hour; he brought Russian airs which he taught her to sing, and, if the + truth were known, he bored Madeleine desperately, for she undertook to act + the part of duenna to her younger sister. + </p> + <p> + A very different visitor was Mr. C. C. French, a young member of Congress + from Connecticut, who aspired to act the part of the educated gentleman in + politics, and to purify the public tone. He had reform principles and an + unfortunately conceited maimer; he was rather wealthy, rather clever, + rather well-educated, rather honest, and rather vulgar. His allegiance was + divided between Mrs. Lee and her sister, whom he infuriated by addressing + as “Miss Sybil” with patronising familiarity. He was particularly strong + in what he called “badinaige,” and his playful but ungainly attempts at + wit drove Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Lee beyond the bounds of patience. When in a solemn mood, he talked as + though he were practising for the ear of a college debating society, and + with a still worse effect on the patience; but with all this he was + useful, always bubbling with the latest political gossip, and deeply + interested in the fate of party stakes. Quite another sort of person was + Mr. Hartbeest Schneidekoupon, a citizen of Philadelphia, though commonly + resident in New York, where he had fallen a victim to Sybil's charms, and + made efforts to win her young affections by instructing her in the + mysteries of currency and protection, to both which subjects he was + devoted. To forward these two interests and to watch over Miss Ross's + welfare, he made periodical visits to Washington, where he closeted + himself with committee-men and gave expensive dinners to members of + Congress. Mr. Schneidekoupon was rich, and about thirty years old, tall + and thin, with bright eyes and smooth face, elaborate manners and much + loquacity. He had the reputation of turning rapid intellectual + somersaults, partly to amuse himself and partly to startle society. At one + moment he was artistic, and discoursed scientifically about his own + paintings; at another he was literary, and wrote a book on “Noble Living,” + with a humanitarian purpose; at another he was devoted to sport, rode a + steeplechase, played polo, and set up a four-in-hand; his last occupation + was to establish in Philadelphia the Protective Review, a periodical in + the interests of American industry, which he edited himself, as a + stepping-stone to Congress, the Cabinet, and the Presidency. At about the + same time he bought a yacht, and heavy bets were pending among his + sporting friends whether he would manage to sink first his Review or his + yacht. But he was an amiable and excellent fellow through all his + eccentricities, and he brought to Mrs. Lee the simple outpourings of the + amateur politician. + </p> + <p> + A much higher type of character was Mr. Nathan Gore, of Massachusetts, a + handsome man with a grey beard, a straight, sharply cut nose, and a fine, + penetrating eye; in his youth a successful poet whose satires made a noise + in their day, and are still remembered for the pungency and wit of a few + verses; then a deep student in Europe for many years, until his famous + “History of Spain in America” placed him instantly at the head of American + historians, and made him minister at Madrid, where he remained four years + to his entire satisfaction, this being the nearest approach to a patent of + nobility and a government pension which the American citizen can attain. A + change of administration had reduced him to private life again, and after + some years of retirement he was now in Washington, willing to be restored + to his old mission. Every President thinks it respectable to have at least + one literary man in his pay, and Mr. Gore's prospects were fair for + obtaining his object, as he had the active support of a majority of the + Massachusetts delegation. He was abominably selfish, colossally egoistic, + and not a little vain; but he was shrewd; he knew how to hold his tongue; + he could flatter dexterously, and he had learned to eschew satire. Only in + confidence and among friends he would still talk freely, but Mrs. Lee was + not yet on those terms with him. These were all men, and there was no want + of women in Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Lee's parlour; but, after all, they are able to describe themselves better + than any poor novelist can describe them. Generally two currents of + conversation ran on together—one round Sybil, the other about + Madeleine. + </p> + <p> + “Mees Ross,” said Count Popoff, leading in a handsome young foreigner, “I + have your permission to present to you my friend Count Orsini, Secretary + of the Italian Legation. Are you at home this afternoon? Count Orsini + sings also.” + </p> + <p> + “We are charmed to see Count Orsini. It is well you came so late, for I + have this moment come in from making Cabinet calls. They were so queer! I + have been crying with laughter for an hour past.” “Do you find these calls + amusing?” asked Popoff, gravely and diplomatically. “Indeed I do! I went + with Julia Schneidekoupon, you know, Madeleine; the Schneidekoupons are + descended from all the Kings of Israel, and are prouder than Solomon in + his glory. And when we got into the house of some dreadful woman from + Heaven knows where, imagine my feelings at overhearing this conversation: + 'What may be your family name, ma'am?' 'Schneidekoupon is my name,' + replies Julia, very tall and straight. 'Have you any friends whom I should + likely know?' 'I think not,' says Julia, severely. 'Wal! I don't seem to + remember of ever having heerd the name. But I s'pose it's all right. I + like to know who calls.' I almost had hysterics when we got into the + street, but Julia could not see the joke at all.” + </p> + <p> + Count Orsini was not quite sure that he himself saw the joke, so he only + smiled becomingly and showed his teeth. For simple, childlike vanity and + self-consciousness nothing equals an Italian Secretary of Legation at + twenty-five. Yet conscious that the effect of his personal beauty would + perhaps be diminished by permanent silence, he ventured to murmur + presently: + </p> + <p> + “Do you not find it very strange, this society in America?” + </p> + <p> + “Society!” laughed Sybil with gay contempt. “There are no snakes in + America, any more than in Norway.” + </p> + <p> + “Snakes, mademoiselle!” repeated Orsini, with the doubtful expression of + one who is not quite certain whether he shall risk walking on thin ice, + and decides to go softly: “Snakes! Indeed they would rather be doves I + would call them.” + </p> + <p> + A kind laugh from Sybil strengthened into conviction his hope that he had + made a joke in this unknown tongue. His face brightened, his confidence + returned; once or twice he softly repeated to himself: “Not snakes; they + would be doves!” But Mrs. Lee's sensitive ear had caught Sybil's remark, + and detected in it a certain tone of condescension which was not to her + taste. + </p> + <p> + The impassive countenances of these bland young Secretaries of Legation + seemed to acquiesce far too much as a matter of course in the idea that + there was no society except in the old world. She broke into the + conversation with an emphasis that fluttered the dove-cote: + </p> + <p> + “Society in America? Indeed there is society in America, and very good + society too; but it has a code of its own, and new-comers seldom + understand it. I will tell you what it is, Mr. Orsini, and you will never + be in danger of making any mistake. 'Society' in America means all the + honest, kindly-mannered, pleasant-voiced women, and all the good, brave, + unassuming men, between the Atlantic and the Pacific. Each of these has a + free pass in every city and village, 'good for this generation only,' and + it depends on each to make use of this pass or not as it may happen to + suit his or her fancy. To this rule there are no exceptions, and those who + say 'Abraham is our father' will surely furnish food for that humour which + is the staple product of our country.” + </p> + <p> + The alarmed youths, who did not in the least understand the meaning of + this demonstration, looked on with a feeble attempt at acquiescence, while + Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Lee brandished her sugar-tongs in the act of transferring a lump of sugar + to her cup, quite unconscious of the slight absurdity of the gesture, + while Sybil stared in amazement, for it was not often that her sister + waved the stars and stripes so energetically. Whatever their silent + criticisms might be, however, Mrs. Lee was too much in earnest to be + conscious of them, or, indeed, to care for anything but what she was + saying. There was a moment's pause when she came to the end of her speech, + and then the thread of talk was quietly taken up again where Sybil's + incipient sneer had broken it. + </p> + <p> + Carrington came in. “What have you been doing at the Capitol?” asked + Madeleine. + </p> + <p> + “Lobbying!” was the reply, given in the semi-serious tone of Carrington's + humour. + </p> + <p> + “So soon, and Congress only two days old?” exclaimed Mrs. Lee. + </p> + <p> + “Madam,” rejoined Carrington, with his quietest malice, “Congressmen are + like birds of the air, which are caught only by the early worm.” “Good + afternoon, Mrs. Lee. Miss Sybil, how do you do again? Which of these + gentlemen's hearts are you feeding upon now?” This was the refined style + of Mr. French, indulging in what he was pleased to term “badinaige.” He, + too, was on his way from the Capitol, and had come in for a cup of tea and + a little human society. Sybil made a face which plainly expressed a + longing to inflict on Mr. French some grievous personal wrong, but she + pretended not to hear. He sat down by Madeleine, and asked, “Did you see + Ratcliffe yesterday?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said Madeleine; “he was here last evening with Mr. Carrington and + one or two others.” + </p> + <p> + “Did he say anything about politics?” + </p> + <p> + “Not a word. We talked mostly about books.” + </p> + <p> + “Books! What does he know about books?” + </p> + <p> + “You must ask him.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, this is the most ridiculous situation we are all in. No one knows + anything about the new President. You could take your oath that everybody + is in the dark. Ratcliffe says he knows as little as the rest of us, but + it can't be true; he is too old a politician not to have wires in his + hand; and only to-day one of the pages of the Senate told my colleague + Cutter that a letter sent off by him yesterday was directed to Sam Grimes, + of North Bend, who, as every one knows, belongs to the President's + particular crowd.—Why, Mr. Schneidekoupon! How do you do? When did + you come on?” + </p> + <p> + “Thank you; this morning,” replied Mr. Schneidekoupon, just entering the + room. “So glad to see you again, Mrs. Lee. How do you and your sister like + Washington? Do you know I have brought Julia on for a visit? I thought I + should find her here. + </p> + <p> + “She has just gone. She has been all the afternoon with Sybil, making + calls. She says you want her here to lobby for you, Mr. Schneidekoupon. Is + it true?” + </p> + <p> + “So I did,” replied he, with a laugh, “but she is precious little use. So + I've come to draft you into the service.” + </p> + <p> + “Me!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes; you know we all expect Senator Ratcliffe to be Secretary of the + Treasury, and it is very important for us to keep him straight on the + currency and the tariff. So I have come on to establish more intimate + relations with him, as they say in diplomacy. I want to get him to dine + with me at Welckley's, but as I know he keeps very shy of politics I + thought my only chance was to make it a ladies' dinner, so I brought on + Julia. I shall try and get Mrs. Schuyler Clinton, and I depend upon you + and your sister to help Julia out.” + </p> + <p> + “Me! at a lobby dinner! Is that proper?” + </p> + <p> + “Why not? You shall choose the guests.” + </p> + <p> + “I never heard of such a thing; but it would certainly be amusing. Sybil + must not go, but I might.” “Excuse me; Julia depends upon Miss Ross, and + will not go to table without her.” + </p> + <p> + “Well,” assented Mrs. Lee, hesitatingly, “perhaps if you get Mrs. Clinton, + and if your sister is there And who else?” + </p> + <p> + “Choose your own company.” + </p> + <p> + “I know no one.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh yes; here is French, not quite sound on the tariff, but good for what + we want just now. Then we can get Mr. Gore; he has his little hatchet to + grind too, and will be glad to help grind ours. We only want two or three + more, and I will have an extra man or so to fill up.” + </p> + <p> + “Do ask the Speaker. I want to know him.” + </p> + <p> + “I will, and Carrington, and my Pennsylvania Senator. That will do nobly. + Remember, Welckley's, Saturday at seven.” + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile Sybil had been at the piano, and when she had sung for a time, + Orsini was induced to take her place, and show that it was possible to + sing without injury to one's beauty. Baron Jacobi came in and found fault + with them both. Little Miss Dare—commonly known among her male + friends as little Daredevil—who was always absorbed in some + flirtation with a Secretary of Legation, came in, quite unaware that + Popoff was present, and retired with him into a corner, while Orsini and + Jacobi bullied poor Sybil, and fought with each other at the piano; + everybody was talking with very little reference to any reply, when at + last Mrs. Lee drove them all out of the room: “We are quiet people,” said + she, “and we dine at half-past six.” + </p> + <p> + Senator Ratcliffe had not failed to make his Sunday evening call upon Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Lee. Perhaps it was not strictly correct to say that they had talked books + all the evening, but whatever the conversation was, it had only confirmed + Mr. Ratcliffe's admiration for Mrs. Lee, who, without intending to do so, + had acted a more dangerous part than if she had been the most accomplished + of coquettes. Nothing could be more fascinating to the weary politician in + his solitude than the repose of Mrs. Lee's parlour, and when Sybil sang + for him one or two simple airs—she said they were foreign hymns, the + Senator being, or being considered, orthodox—Mr. Ratcliffe's heart + yearned toward the charming girl quite with the sensations of a father, or + even of an elder brother. + </p> + <p> + His brother senators very soon began to remark that the Prairie Giant had + acquired a trick of looking up to the ladies' gallery. One day Mr. + Jonathan Andrews, the special correspondent of the New York Sidereal + System, a very friendly organ, approached Senator Schuyler Clinton with a + puzzled look on his face. + </p> + <p> + “Can you tell me,” said he, “what has happened to Silas P. Ratcliffe? Only + a moment ago I was talking with him at his seat on a very important + subject, about which I must send his opinions off to New York to-night, + when, in the middle of a sentence, he stopped short, got up without + looking at me, and left the Senate Chamber, and now I see him in the + gallery talking with a lady whose face I don't know.” + </p> + <p> + Senator Clinton slowly adjusted his gold eye-glasses and looked up at the + place indicated: “Ah! Mrs. Lightfoot Lee! I think I will say a word to her + myself;” and turning his back on the special correspondent, he skipped + away with youthful agility after the Senator from Illinois. + </p> + <p> + “Devil!” muttered Mr. Andrews; “what has got into the old fools?” and in a + still less audible murmur as he looked up to Mrs. Lee, then in close + conversation with Ratcliffe: “Had I better make an item of that?” + </p> + <p> + When young Mr. Schneidekoupon called upon Senator Ratcliffe to invite him + to the dinner at Welckley's, he found that gentleman overwhelmed with + work, as he averred, and very little disposed to converse. No! he did not + now go out to dinner. In the present condition of the public business he + found it impossible to spare the time for such amusements. He regretted to + decline Mr. Schneidekoupon's civility, but there were imperative reasons + why he should abstain for the present from social entertainments; he had + made but one exception to his rule, and only at the pressing request of + his old friend Senator Clinton, and on a very special occasion. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Schneidekoupon was deeply vexed—the more, he said, because he + had meant to beg Mr. and Mrs. Clinton to be of the party, as well as a + very charming lady who rarely went into society, but who had almost + consented to come. + </p> + <p> + “Who is that?” inquired the Senator. + </p> + <p> + “A Mrs. Lightfoot Lee, of New York. Probably you do not know her well + enough to admire her as I do; but I think her quite the most intelligent + woman I ever met.” + </p> + <p> + The Senator's cold eyes rested for a moment on the young man's open face + with a peculiar expression of distrust. Then he solemnly said, in his + deepest senatorial tones: + </p> + <p> + “My young friend, at my time of life men have other things to occupy them + than women, however intelligent they may be. Who else is to be of your + party?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Schneidekoupon named his list. + </p> + <p> + “And for Saturday evening at seven, did you say?” + </p> + <p> + “Saturday at seven.” + </p> + <p> + “I fear there is little chance of my attending, but I will not absolutely + decline. Perhaps when the moment arrives, I may find myself able to be + there. But do not count upon me—do not count upon me. Good day, Mr. + Schneidekoupon.” + </p> + <p> + Schneidekoupon was rather a simple-minded young man, who saw no deeper + than his neighbours into the secrets of the universe, and he went off + swearing roundly at “the infernal airs these senators give themselves.” He + told Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Lee all the conversation, as indeed he was compelled to do under penalty + of bringing her to his party under false pretences. + </p> + <p> + “Just my luck,” said he; “here I am forced to ask no end of people to meet + a man, who at the same time says he shall probably not come. Why, under + the stars, couldn't he say, like other people, whether he was coming or + not? I've known dozens of senators, Mrs. Lee, and they're all like that. + They never think of any one but themselves.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee smiled rather a forced smile, and soothed his wounded feelings; + she had no doubt the dinner would be very agreeable whether the Senator + were there or not; at any rate she would do all she could to carry it off + well, and Sybil should wear her newest dress. Still she was a little + grave, and Mr. Schneidekoupon could only declare that she was a trump; + that he had told Ratcliffe she was the cleverest woman he ever met, and he + might have added the most obliging, and Ratcliffe had only looked at him + as though he were a green ape. At all which Mrs. Lee laughed + good-naturedly, and sent him away as soon as she could. + </p> + <p> + When he was gone, she walked up and down the room and thought. She saw the + meaning of Ratcliffe's sudden change in tone. She had no more doubt of his + coming to the dinner than she had of the reason why he came. And was it + possible that she was being drawn into something very near a flirtation + with a man twenty years her senior; a politician from Illinois; a huge, + ponderous, grey-eyed, bald senator, with a Websterian head, who lived in + Peonia? The idea was almost too absurd to be credited; but on the whole + the thing itself was rather amusing. “I suppose senators can look out for + themselves like other men,” was her final conclusion. She thought only of + his danger, and she felt a sort of compassion for him as she reflected on + the possible consequences of a great, absorbing love at his time of life. + </p> + <p> + Her conscience was a little uneasy; but of herself she never thought. Yet + it is a historical fact that elderly senators have had a curious + fascination for young and handsome women. Had they looked out for + themselves too? And which parties most needed to be looked after? + </p> + <p> + When Madeleine and her sister arrived at Welckley's 's the next Saturday + evening, they found poor Schneidekoupon in a temper very unbecoming a + host. + </p> + <p> + “He won't come! I told you he wouldn't come!” said he to Madeleine, as he + handed her into the house. “If I ever turn communist, it will be for the + fun of murdering a senator.” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine consoled him gently, but he continued to use, behind Mr. + Clinton's back, language the most offensive and improper towards the + Senate, and at last, ringing the bell, he sharply ordered the head waiter + to serve dinner. + </p> + <p> + At that very moment the door opened, and Senator Ratcliffe's stately + figure appeared on the threshold. His eye instantly caught Madeleine's, + and she almost laughed aloud, for she saw that the Senator was dressed + with very unsenatorial neatness; that he had actually a flower in his + burton-hole and no gloves! + </p> + <p> + After the enthusiastic description which Schneidekoupon had given of Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Lee's charms, he could do no less than ask Senator Ratcliffe to take her + in to dinner, which he did without delay. Either this, or the champagne, + or some occult influence, had an extraordinary effect upon him. He + appeared ten years younger than usual; his face was illuminated; his eyes + glowed; he seemed bent on proving his kinship to the immortal Webster by + rivalling his convivial powers. He dashed into the conversation; laughed, + jested, and ridiculed; told stories in Yankee and Western dialect; gave + sharp little sketches of amusing political experiences. + </p> + <p> + “Never was more surprised in my life,” whispered Senator Krebs, of + Pennsylvania, across the table to Schneidekoupon. “Hadn't an idea that + Ratcliffe was so entertaining.” + </p> + <p> + And Mr. Clinton, who sat by Madeleine on the other side, whispered low + into her ear: “I am afraid, my dear Mrs. Lee, that you are responsible for + this. He never talks so to the Senate.” + </p> + <p> + Nay, he even rose to a higher flight, and told the story of President + Lincoln's death-bed with a degree of feeling that brought tears into their + eyes. The other guests made no figure at all. The Speaker consumed his + solitary duck and his lonely champagne in a corner without giving a sign. + </p> + <p> + Even Mr. Gore, who was not wont to hide his light under any kind of + extinguisher, made no attempt to claim the floor, and applauded with + enthusiasm the conversation of his opposite neighbour. Ill-natured people + might say that Mr. Gore saw in Senator Ratcliffe a possible Secretary of + State; be this as it may, he certainly said to Mrs. Clinton, in an aside + that was perfectly audible to every one at the table: “How brilliant! what + an original mind! what a sensation he would make abroad!” And it was quite + true, apart from the mere momentary effect of dinner-table talk, that + there was a certain bigness about the man; a keen practical sagacity; a + bold freedom of self-assertion; a broad way of dealing with what he knew. + </p> + <p> + Carrington was the only person at table who looked on with a perfectly + cool head, and who criticised in a hostile spirit. Carrington's impression + of Ratcliffe was perhaps beginning to be warped by a shade of jealousy, + for he was in a peculiarly bad temper this evening, and his irritation was + not wholly concealed. + </p> + <p> + “If one only had any confidence in the man!” he muttered to French, who + sat by him. + </p> + <p> + This unlucky remark set French to thinking how he could draw Ratcliffe + out, and accordingly, with his usual happy manner, combining self-conceit + and high principles, he began to attack the Senator with some “badinaige” + on the delicate subject of Civil Service Reform, a subject almost as + dangerous in political conversation at Washington as slavery itself in old + days before the war. French was a reformer, and lost no occasion of + impressing his views; but unluckily he was a very light weight, and his + manner was a little ridiculous, so that even Mrs. Lee, who was herself a + warm reformer, sometimes went over to the other side when he talked. No + sooner had he now shot his little arrow at the Senator, than that astute + man saw his opportunity, and promised himself the pleasure of + administering to Mr. + </p> + <p> + French punishment such as he knew would delight the company. Reformer as + Mrs. Lee was, and a little alarmed at the roughness of Ratcliffe's + treatment, she could not blame the Prairie Giant, as she ought, who, after + knocking poor French down, rolled him over and over in the mud. + </p> + <p> + “Are you financier enough, Mr. French, to know what are the most famous + products of Connecticut?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. French modestly suggested that he thought its statesmen best answered + that description. + </p> + <p> + “No, sir! even there you're wrong. The showmen beat you on your own + ground. But every child in the union knows that the most famous products + of Connecticut are Yankee notions, nutmegs made of wood and clocks that + won't go. Now, your Civil Service Reform is just such another Yankee + notion; it's a wooden nutmeg; it's a clock with a show case and sham + works. And you know it! You are precisely the old-school Connecticut + peddler. You have gone about peddling your wooden nutmegs until you have + got yourself into Congress, and now you pull them out of your pockets and + not only want us to take them at your own price, but you lecture us on our + sins if we don't. Well! we don't mind your doing that at home. Abuse us as + much as you like to your constituents. Get as many votes as you can. But + don't electioneer here, because we know you intimately, and we've all been + a little in the wooden nutmeg business ourselves.” + </p> + <p> + Senator Clinton and Senator Krebs chuckled high approval over this + punishment of poor French, which was on the level of their idea of wit. + They were all in the nutmeg business, as Ratcliffe said. The victim tried + to make head against them; he protested that his nutmegs were genuine; he + sold no goods that he did not guarantee; and that this particular article + was actually guaranteed by the national conventions of both political + parties. + </p> + <p> + “Then what you want, Mr. French, is a common school education. You need a + little study of the alphabet. Or if you won't believe me, ask my brother + senators here what chance there is for your Reforms so long as the + American citizen is what he is.” + </p> + <p> + “You'll not get much comfort in my State, Mr. French,” growled the senator + from Pennsylvania, with a sneer; “suppose you come and try.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, well!” said the benevolent Mr. Schuyler Clinton, gleaming + benignantly through his gold spectacles; “don't be too hard on French. He + means well. Perhaps he's not very wise, but he does good. I know more + about it than any of you, and I don't deny that the thing is all bad. + Only, as Mr. Ratcliffe says, the difficulty is in the people, not in us. + Go to work on them, French, and let us alone.” + </p> + <p> + French repented of his attack, and contented himself by muttering to + Carrington: “What a set of damned old reprobates they are!” + </p> + <p> + “They are right, though, in one thing,” was Carrington's reply: “their + advice is good. Never ask one of them to reform anything; if you do, you + will be reformed yourself.” + </p> + <p> + The dinner ended as brilliantly as it began, and Schneidekoupon was + delighted with his success. He had made himself particularly agreeable to + Sybil by confiding in her all his hopes and fears about the tariff and the + finances. When the ladies left the table, Ratcliffe could not stay for a + cigar; he must get back to his rooms, where he knew several men were + waiting for him; he would take his leave of the ladies and hurry away. But + when the gentlemen came up nearly an hour afterwards they found Ratcliffe + still taking his leave of the ladies, who were delighted at his + entertaining conversation; and when at last he really departed, he said to + Mrs. Lee, as though it were quite a matter of course: “You are at home as + usual to-morrow evening?” Madeleine smiled, bowed, and he went his way. + </p> + <p> + As the two sisters drove home that night, Madeleine was unusually silent. + </p> + <p> + Sybil yawned convulsively and then apologized: + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Schneidekoupon is very nice and good-natured, but a whole evening of + him goes a long way; and that horrid Senator Krebs would not say a word, + and drank a great deal too much wine, though it couldn't make him any more + stupid than he is. I don't think I care for senators.” Then, wearily, + after a pause: “Well, Maude, I do hope you've got what you wanted. I'm + sure you must have had politics enough. Haven't you got to the heart of + your great American mystery yet?” + </p> + <p> + “Pretty near it, I think,” said Madeleine, half to herself. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter IV + </h2> + <p> + SUNDAY evening was stormy, and some enthusiasm was required to make one + face its perils for the sake of society. Nevertheless, a few intimates + made their appearance as usual at Mrs. Lee's. The faithful Popoff was + there, and Miss Dare also ran in to pass an hour with her dear Sybil; but + as she passed the whole evening in a corner with Popoff, she must have + been disappointed in her object. Carrington came, and Baron Jacobi. + Schneidekoupon and his sister dined with Mrs. Lee, and remained after + dinner, while Sybil and Julia Schneidekoupon compared conclusions about + Washington society. The happy idea also occurred to Mr. Gore that, + inasmuch as Mrs. Lee's house was but a step from his hotel, he might as + well take the chance of amusement there as the certainty of solitude in + his rooms. Finally, Senator Ratcliffe duly made his appearance, and, + having established himself with a cup of tea by Madeleine's side, was soon + left to enjoy a quiet talk with her, the rest of the party by common + consent occupying themselves with each other. Under cover of the murmur of + conversation in the room, Mr. Ratcliffe quickly became confidential. + </p> + <p> + “I came to suggest that, if you want to hear an interesting debate, you + should come up to the Senate to-morrow. I am told that Garrard, of + Louisiana, means to attack my last speech, and I shall probably in that + case have to answer him. With you for a critic I shall speak better.” + </p> + <p> + “Am I such an amiable critic?” asked Madeleine. + </p> + <p> + “I never heard that amiable critics were the best,” said he; “justice is + the soul of good criticism, and it is only justice that I ask and expect + from you.” + </p> + <p> + “What good does this speaking do?” inquired she. “Are you any nearer the + end of your difficulties by means of your speeches?” + </p> + <p> + “I hardly know yet. Just now we are in dead water; but this can't last + long. In fact, I am not afraid to tell you, though of course you will not + repeat it to any human being, that we have taken measures to force an + issue. Certain gentlemen, myself among the rest, have written letters + meant for the President's eye, though not addressed directly to him, and + intended to draw out an expression of some sort that will show us what to + expect.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” laughed Madeleine, “I knew about that a week ago.” + </p> + <p> + “About what?” + </p> + <p> + “About your letter to Sam Grimes, of North Bend.” + </p> + <p> + “What have you heard about my letter to Sam Grimes, of North Bend?” + ejaculated Ratcliffe, a little abruptly. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, you do not know how admirably I have organised my secret service + bureau,” said she. “Representative Cutter cross-questioned one of the + Senate pages, and obliged him to confess that he had received from you a + letter to be posted, which letter was addressed to Mr. Grimes, of North + Bend.” + </p> + <p> + “And, of course, he told this to French, and French told you,” said + Ratcliffe; “I see. If I had known this I would not have let French off so + gently last night, for I prefer to tell you my own story without his + embellishments. But it was my fault. I should not have trusted a page. + Nothing is a secret here long. But one thing that Mr. Cutter did not find + out was that several other gentlemen wrote letters at the same time, for + the same purpose. Your friend, Mr. Clinton, wrote; Krebs wrote; and one or + two members.” + </p> + <p> + “I suppose I must not ask what you said?” + </p> + <p> + “You may. We agreed that it was best to be very mild and conciliatory, and + to urge the President only to give us some indication of his intentions, + in order that we might not run counter to them. I drew a strong picture of + the effect of the present situation on the party, and hinted that I had no + personal wishes to gratify.” + </p> + <p> + “And what do you think will be the result?” + </p> + <p> + “I think we shall somehow manage to straighten things out,” said + Ratcliffe. + </p> + <p> + “The difficulty is only that the new President has little experience, and + is suspicious. He thinks we shall intrigue to tie his hands, and he means + to tie ours in advance. I don't know him personally, but those who do, and + who are fair judges, say that, though rather narrow and obstinate, he is + honest enough, and will come round. I have no doubt I could settle it all + with him in an hour's talk, but it is out of the question for me to go to + him unless I am asked, and to ask me to come would be itself a + settlement.” + </p> + <p> + “What, then, is the danger you fear?” + </p> + <p> + “That he will offend all the important party leaders in order to + conciliate unimportant ones, perhaps sentimental ones, like your friend + French; that he will make foolish appointments without taking advice. By + the way, have you seen French to-day?” + </p> + <p> + “No,” replied Madeleine; “I think he must be sore at your treatment of him + last evening. You were very rude to him.” + </p> + <p> + “Not a bit,” said Ratcliffe; “these reformers need it. His attack on me + was meant for a challenge. I saw it in his manner. + </p> + <p> + “But is reform really so impossible as you describe it? Is it quite + hopeless?” + </p> + <p> + “Reform such as he wants is utterly hopeless, and not even desirable.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee, with much earnestness of manner, still pressed her question: + </p> + <p> + “Surely something can be done to check corruption. Are we for ever to be + at the mercy of thieves and ruffians? Is a respectable government + impossible in a democracy?” + </p> + <p> + Her warmth attracted Jacobi's attention, and he spoke across the room. + “What is that you say, Mrs. Lee? What is it about corruption?” + </p> + <p> + All the gentlemen began to listen and gather about them. + </p> + <p> + “I am asking Senator Ratcliffe,” said she, “what is to become of us if + corruption is allowed to go unchecked.” + </p> + <p> + “And may I venture to ask permission to hear Mr. Ratcliffe's reply?” asked + the baron. + </p> + <p> + “My reply,” said Ratcliffe, “is that no representative government can long + be much better or much worse than the society it represents. Purify + society and you purify the government. But try to purify the government + artificially and you only aggravate failure.” + </p> + <p> + “A very statesmanlike reply,” said Baron Jacobi, with a formal bow, but + his tone had a shade of mockery. Carrington, who had listened with a + darkening face, suddenly turned to the baron and asked him what conclusion + he drew from the reply. + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” exclaimed the baron, with his wickedest leer, “what for is my + conclusion good? You Americans believe yourselves to be excepted from the + operation of general laws. You care not for experience. I have lived + seventy-five years, and all that time in the midst of corruption. I am + corrupt myself, only I do have courage to proclaim it, and you others have + it not. Rome, Paris, Vienna, Petersburg, London, all are corrupt; only + Washington is pure! Well, I declare to you that in all my experience I + have found no society which has had elements of corruption like the United + States. The children in the street are corrupt, and know how to cheat me. + The cities are all corrupt, and also the towns and the counties and the + States' legislatures and the judges. Everywhere men betray trusts both + public and private, steal money, run away with public funds. Only in the + Senate men take no money. And you gentlemen in the Senate very well + declare that your great United States, which is the head of the civilized + world, can never learn anything from the example of corrupt Europe. You + are right—quite right! The great United States needs not an example. + I do much regret that I have not yet one hundred years to live. If I could + then come back to this city, I should find myself very content—much + more than now. I am always content where there is much corruption, and ma + parole d'honneur!” broke out the old man with fire and gesture, “the + United States will then be more corrupt than Rome under Caligula; more + corrupt than the Church under Leo X.; more corrupt than France under the + Regent!” + </p> + <p> + As the baron closed his little harangue, which he delivered directly at + the senator sitting underneath him, he had the satisfaction to see that + every one was silent and listening with deep attention. He seemed to enjoy + annoying the senator, and he had the satisfaction of seeing that the + senator was visibly annoyed. Ratcliffe looked sternly at the baron and + said, with some curtness, that he saw no reason to accept such + conclusions. + </p> + <p> + Conversation flagged, and all except the baron were relieved when Sybil, + at Schneidekoupon's request, sat down at the piano to sing what she called + a hymn. So soon as the song was over, Ratcliffe, who seemed to have been + curiously thrown off his balance by Jacobi's harangue, pleaded urgent + duties at his rooms, and retired. The others soon afterwards went off in a + body, leaving only Carrington and Gore, who had seated himself by + Madeleine, and was at once dragged by her into a discussion of the subject + which perplexed her, and for the moment threw over her mind a net of + irresistible fascination. + </p> + <p> + “The baron discomfited the senator,” said Gore, with a certain hesitation. + </p> + <p> + “Why did Ratcliffe let himself be trampled upon in that manner?” + </p> + <p> + “I wish you would explain why,” replied Mrs. Lee; “tell me, Mr. Gore—you + who represent cultivation and literary taste hereabouts—please tell + me what to think about Baron Jacobi's speech. Who and what is to be + believed? Mr. Ratcliffe seems honest and wise. Is he a corruptionist? He + believes in the people, or says he does. Is he telling the truth or not?” + </p> + <p> + Gore was too experienced in politics to be caught in such a trap as this. + He evaded the question. “Mr. Ratcliffe has a practical piece of work to + do; his business is to make laws and advise the President; he does it + extremely well. We have no other equally good practical politician; it is + unfair to require him to be a crusader besides.” + </p> + <p> + “No!” interposed Carrington, curtly; “but he need not obstruct crusades. + He need not talk virtue and oppose the punishment of vice.” + </p> + <p> + “He is a shrewd practical politician,” replied Gore, “and he feels first + the weak side of any proposed political tactics.” + </p> + <p> + With a sigh of despair Madeleine went on: “Who, then, is right? How can we + all be right? Half of our wise men declare that the world is going + straight to perdition; the other half that it is fast becoming perfect. + Both cannot be right. There is only one thing in life,” she went on, + laughing, “that I must and will have before I die. I must know whether + America is right or wrong. Just now this question is a very practical one, + for I really want to know whether to believe in Mr. Ratcliffe. If I throw + him overboard, everything must go, for he is only a specimen.” + </p> + <p> + “Why not believe in Mr. Ratcliffe?” said Gore; “I believe in him myself, + and am not afraid to say so.” + </p> + <p> + Carrington, to whom Ratcliffe now began to represent the spirit of evil, + interposed here, and observed that he imagined Mr. Gore had other guides + besides, and steadier ones than Ratcliffe, to believe in; while Madeleine, + with a certain feminine perspicacity, struck at a much weaker point in Mr. + </p> + <p> + Gore's armour, and asked point-blank whether he believed also in what + Ratcliffe represented: “Do you yourself think democracy the best + government, and universal suffrage a success?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Gore saw himself pinned to the wall, and he turned at bay with almost + the energy of despair: + </p> + <p> + “These are matters about which I rarely talk in society; they are like the + doctrine of a personal God; of a future life; of revealed religion; + subjects which one naturally reserves for private reflection. But since + you ask for my political creed, you shall have it. I only condition that + it shall be for you alone, never to be repeated or quoted as mine. I + believe in democracy. I accept it. I will faithfully serve and defend it. + I believe in it because it appears to me the inevitable consequence of + what has gone before it. Democracy asserts the fact that the masses are + now raised to a higher intelligence than formerly. All our civilisation + aims at this mark. We want to do what we can to help it. I myself want to + see the result. I grant it is an experiment, but it is the only direction + society can take that is worth its taking; the only conception of its duty + large enough to satisfy its instincts; the only result that is worth an + effort or a risk. Every other possible step is backward, and I do not care + to repeat the past. I am glad to see society grapple with issues in which + no one can afford to be neutral.” + </p> + <p> + “And supposing your experiment fails,” said Mrs. Lee; “suppose society + destroys itself with universal suffrage, corruption, and communism.” + </p> + <p> + “I wish, Mrs. Lee, you would visit the Observatory with me some evening, + and look at Sirius. Did you ever make the acquaintance of a fixed star? I + believe astronomers reckon about twenty millions of them in sight, and an + infinite possibility of invisible millions, each one of which is a sun, + like ours, and may have satellites like our planet. Suppose you see one of + these fixed stars suddenly increase in brightness, and are told that a + satellite has fallen into it and is burning up, its career finished, its + capacities exhausted? Curious, is it not; but what does it matter? Just as + much as the burning up of a moth at your candle.” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine shuddered a little. “I cannot get to the height of your + philosophy,” said she. “You are wandering among the infinites, and I am + finite.” + </p> + <p> + “Not at all! But I have faith; not perhaps in the old dogmas, but in the + new ones; faith in human nature; faith in science; faith in the survival + of the fittest. Let us be true to our time, Mrs. Lee! If our age is to be + beaten, let us die in the ranks. If it is to be victorious, let us be + first to lead the column. Anyway, let us not be skulkers or grumblers. + There! have I repeated my catechism correctly? You would have it! Now + oblige me by forgetting it. I should lose my character at home if it got + out. Good night!” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee duly appeared at the Capitol the next day, as she could not but + do after Senator Ratcliffe's pointed request. She went alone, for Sybil + had positively refused to go near the Capitol again, and Madeleine thought + that on the whole this was not an occasion for enrolling Carrington in her + service. But Ratcliffe did not speak. The debate was unexpectedly + postponed. + </p> + <p> + He joined Mrs. Lee in the gallery, however, sat with her as long as she + would allow, and became still more confidential, telling her that he had + received the expected reply from Grimes, of North Bend, and that it had + enclosed a letter written by the President-elect to Mr. Grimes in regard + to the advances made by Mr. Ratcliffe and his friends. + </p> + <p> + “It is not a handsome letter,” said he; “indeed, a part of it is + positively insulting. I would like to read you one extract from it, and + hear your opinion as to how it should be treated.” Taking the letter from + his pocket, he sought out the passage, and read as follows: “'I cannot + lose sight, too, of the consideration that these three Senators' (he means + Clinton, Krebs, and me) are popularly considered to be the most + influential members of that so-called senatorial ring, which has acquired + such general notoriety. While I shall always receive their communications + with all due respect, I must continue to exercise complete freedom of + action in consulting other political advisers as well as these, and I must + in all cases make it my first object to follow the wishes of the people, + not always most truly represented by their nominal representatives.' What + say you to that precious piece of presidential manners?” + </p> + <p> + “At least I like his courage,” said Mrs. Lee. + </p> + <p> + “Courage is one thing; common sense is another. This letter is a studied + insult. He has knocked me off the track once. He means to do it again. It + is a declaration of war. What ought I to do?” + </p> + <p> + “Whatever is most for the public good.” said Madeleine, gravely. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe looked into her face with such undisguised delight—there + was so little possibility of mistaking or ignoring the expression of his + eyes, that she shrank back with a certain shock. She was not prepared for + so open a demonstration. He hardened his features at once, and went on: + </p> + <p> + “But what is most for the public good?” + </p> + <p> + “That you know better than I,” said Madeleine; “only one thing is clear to + me. If you let yourself be ruled by your private feelings, you will make a + greater mistake than he. Now I must go, for I have visits to make. The + next time I come, Mr. Ratcliffe, you must keep your word better.” + </p> + <p> + When they next met, Ratcliffe read to her a part of his reply to Mr. + Grimes, which ran thus: “It is the lot of every party leader to suffer + from attacks and to commit errors. It is true, as the President says, that + I have been no exception to this law. Believing as I do that great results + can only be accomplished by great parties, I have uniformly yielded my own + personal opinions where they have failed to obtain general assent. I shall + continue to follow this course, and the President may with perfect + confidence count upon my disinterested support of all party measures, even + though I may not be consulted in originating them.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee listened attentively, and then said: “Have you never refused to + go with your party?” + </p> + <p> + “Never!” was Ratcliffe's firm reply. + </p> + <p> + Madeleine still more thoughtfully inquired again: “Is nothing more + powerful than party allegiance?” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing, except national allegiance,” replied Ratcliffe, still more + firmly. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter V + </h2> + <p> + TO tie a prominent statesman to her train and to lead him about like a + tame bear, is for a young and vivacious woman a more certain amusement + than to tie herself to him and to be dragged about like an Indian squaw. + This fact was Madeleine Lee's first great political discovery in + Washington, and it was worth to her all the German philosophy she had ever + read, with even a complete edition of Herbert Spencer's works into the + bargain. There could be no doubt that the honours and dignities of a + public career were no fair consideration for its pains. She made a little + daily task for herself of reading in succession the lives and letters of + the American Presidents, and of their wives, when she could find that + there was a trace of the latter's existence. What a melancholy spectacle + it was, from George Washington down to the last incumbent; what vexations, + what disappointments, what grievous mistakes, what very objectionable + manners! Not one of them, who had aimed at high purpose, but had been + thwarted, beaten, and habitually insulted! What a gloom lay on the + features of those famous chieftains, Calhoun, Clay, and Webster; what + varied expression of defeat and unsatisfied desire; what a sense of + self-importance and senatorial magniloquence; what a craving for flattery; + what despair at the sentence of fate! And what did they amount to, after + all? + </p> + <p> + They were practical men, these! they had no great problems of thought to + settle, no questions that rose above the ordinary rules of common morals + and homely duty. How they had managed to befog the subject! What elaborate + show-structures they had built up, with no result but to obscure the + horizon! Would not the country have done better without them? Could it + have done worse? What deeper abyss could have opened under the nation's + feet, than that to whose verge they brought it? + </p> + <p> + Madeleine's mind wearied with the monotony of the story. She discussed the + subject with Ratcliffe, who told her frankly that the pleasure of politics + lay in the possession of power. He agreed that the country would do very + well without him. “But here I am,” said he, “and here I mean to stay.” He + had very little sympathy for thin moralising, and a statesmanlike contempt + for philosophical politics. He loved power, and he meant to be President. + </p> + <p> + That was enough. + </p> + <p> + Sometimes the tragic and sometimes the comic side was uppermost in her + mind, and sometimes she did not herself know whether to cry or to laugh. + </p> + <p> + Washington more than any other city in the world swarms with simple-minded + exhibitions of human nature; men and women curiously out of place, whom it + would be cruel to ridicule and ridiculous to weep over. The sadder + exhibitions are fortunately seldom seen by respectable people; only the + little social accidents come under their eyes. One evening Mrs. Lee went + to the President's first evening reception. As Sybil flatly refused to + face the crowd, and Carrington mildly said that he feared he was not + sufficiently reconstructed to appear at home in that august presence, Mrs. + Lee accepted Mr. French for an escort, and walked across the Square with + him to join the throng that was pouring into the doors of the White House. + They took their places in the line of citizens and were at last able to + enter the reception-room. There Madeleine found herself before two + seemingly mechanical figures, which might be wood or wax, for any sign + they showed of life. These two figures were the President and his wife; + they stood stiff and awkward by the door, both their faces stripped of + every sign of intelligence, while the right hands of both extended + themselves to the column of visitors with the mechanical action of toy + dolls. Mrs. Lee for a moment began to laugh, but the laugh died on her + lips. To the President and his wife this was clearly no laughing matter. + There they stood, automata, representatives of the society which streamed + past them. Madeleine seized Mr. French by the arm. + </p> + <p> + “Take me somewhere at once,” said she, “where I can look at it. Here! in + the corner. I had no conception how shocking it was!” + </p> + <p> + Mr. French supposed she was thinking of the queer-looking men and women + who were swarming through the rooms, and he made, after his own delicate + notion of humour, some uncouth jests on those who passed by. Mrs. Lee, + however, was in no humour to explain or even to listen. She stopped him + short:— + </p> + <p> + “There, Mr. French! Now go away and leave me. I want to be alone for half + an hour. Please come for me then.” And there she stood, with her eyes + fixed on the President and his wife, while the endless stream of humanity + passed them, shaking hands. + </p> + <p> + What a strange and solemn spectacle it was, and how the deadly fascination + of it burned the image in upon her mind! What a horrid warning to + ambition! + </p> + <p> + And in all that crowd there was no one besides herself who felt the + mockery of this exhibition. To all the others this task was a regular part + of the President's duty, and there was nothing ridiculous about it. They + thought it a democratic institution, this droll a ping of monarchical + forms. To them the deadly dulness of the show was as natural and proper as + ever to the courtiers of the Philips and Charleses seemed the ceremonies + of the Escurial. To her it had the effect of a nightmare, or of an + opium-eater's vision, She felt a sudden conviction that this was to be the + end of American society; its realisation and dream at once. She groaned in + spirit. + </p> + <p> + “Yes! at last I have reached the end! We shall grow to be wax images, and + our talk will be like the squeaking of toy dolls. We shall all wander + round and round the earth and shake hands. No one will have any object in + this world, and there will be no other. It is worse than anything in the + 'Inferno.' What an awful vision of eternity!” + </p> + <p> + Suddenly, as through a mist, she saw the melancholy face of Lord Skye + approaching. He came to her side, and his voice recalled her to reality. + </p> + <p> + “Does it amuse you, this sort of thing?” he asked in a vague way. + </p> + <p> + “We take our amusement sadly, after the manner of our people,” she + replied; “but it certainly interests me.” + </p> + <p> + They stood for a time in silence, watching the slowly eddying dance of + Democracy, until he resumed: + </p> + <p> + “Whom do you take that man to be—the long, lean one, with a long + woman on each arm?” + </p> + <p> + “That man,” she replied, “I take to be a Washington department-clerk, or + perhaps a member of Congress from Iowa, with a wife and wife's sister. Do + they shock your nobility?” + </p> + <p> + He looked at her with comical resignation. “You mean to tell me that they + are quite as good as dowager-countesses. I grant it. My aristocratic + spirit is broken, Mrs. Lee. I will even ask them to dinner if you bid me, + and if you will come to meet them. But the last time I asked a member of + Congress to dine, he sent me back a note in pencil on my own envelope that + he would bring two of his friends with him, very respectable constituents + from Yahoo city, or some such place; nature's noblemen, he said.” + </p> + <p> + “You should have welcomed them.” + </p> + <p> + “I did. I wanted to see two of nature's noblemen, and I knew they would + probably be pleasanter company than their representative. They came; very + respectable persons, one with a blue necktie, the other with a red one: + both had diamond pins in their shirts, and were carefully brushed in + respect to their hair. They said nothing, ate little, drank less, and were + much better behaved than I am. When they went away, they unanimously asked + me to stay with them when I visited Yahoo city.” + </p> + <p> + “You will not want guests if you always do that.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know. I think it was pure ignorance on their part. They knew no + better, and they seemed modest enough. My only complaint was that I could + get nothing out of them. I wonder whether their wives would have been more + amusing.” + </p> + <p> + “Would they be so in England, Lord Skye?” + </p> + <p> + He looked down at her with half-shut eyes, and drawled: “You know my + countrywomen?” + </p> + <p> + “Hardly at all.” + </p> + <p> + “Then let us discuss some less serious subject.” + </p> + <p> + “Willingly. I have waited for you to explain to me why you have to-night + an expression of such melancholy.” + </p> + <p> + “Is that quite friendly, Mrs. Lee? Do I really look melancholy?” + </p> + <p> + “Unutterably, as I feel. I am consumed with curiosity to know the reason.” + </p> + <p> + The British minister coolly took a complete survey of the whole room, + ending with a prolonged stare at the President and his wife, who were + still mechanically shaking hands; then he looked back into her face, and + said never a word. + </p> + <p> + She insisted: “I must have this riddle answered. It suffocates me. I + should not be sad at seeing these same people at work or at play, if they + ever do play; or in a church or a lecture-room. Why do they weigh on me + like a horrid phantom here?” + </p> + <p> + “I see no riddle, Mrs. Lee. You have answered your own question; they are + neither at work nor at play.” + </p> + <p> + “Then please take me home at once. I shall have hysterics. The sight of + those two suffering images at the door is too mournful to be borne. I am + dizzy with looking at these stalking figures. I don't believe they're + real. I wish the house would take fire. I want an earthquake. I wish some + one would pinch the President, or pull his wife's hair.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee did not repeat the experiment of visiting the White House, and + indeed for some time afterwards she spoke with little enthusiasm of the + presidential office. To Senator Ratcliffe she expressed her opinions + strongly. The Senator tried in vain to argue that the people had a right + to call upon their chief magistrate, and that he was bound to receive + them; this being so, there was no less objectionable way of proceeding + than the one which had been chosen. “Who gave the people any such right?” + asked Mrs. Lee. “Where does it come from? What do they want it for? You + know better, Mr. Ratcliffe! Our chief magistrate is a citizen like any one + else. What puts it into his foolish head to cease being a citizen and to + ape royalty? Our governors never make themselves ridiculous. Why cannot + the wretched being content himself with living like the rest of us, and + minding his own business? Does he know what a figure of fun he is?” And + Mrs. Lee went so far as to declare that she would like to be the + President's wife only to put an end to this folly; nothing should ever + induce her to go through such a performance; and if the public did not + approve of this, Congress might impeach her, and remove her from office; + all she demanded was the right to be heard before the Senate in her own + defence. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, there was a very general impression in Washington that Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Lee would like nothing better than to be in the White House. Known to + comparatively few people, and rarely discussing even with them the + subjects which deeply interested her, Madeleine passed for a clever, + intriguing woman who had her own objects to gain. True it is, beyond + peradventure, that all residents of Washington may be assumed to be in + office or candidates for office; unless they avow their object, they are + guilty of an attempt—and a stupid one—to deceive; yet there is + a small class of apparent exceptions destined at last to fall within the + rule. Mrs. Lee was properly assumed to be a candidate for office. To the + Washingtonians it was a matter of course that Mrs. Lee should marry Silas + P. Ratcliffe. That he should be glad to get a fashionable and intelligent + wife, with twenty or thirty thousand dollars a year, was not surprising. + That she should accept the first public man of the day, with a flattering + chance for the Presidency—a man still comparatively young and not + without good looks—was perfectly natural, and in her undertaking she + had the sympathy of all well-regulated Washington women who were not + possible rivals; for to them the President's wife is of more consequence + than the President; and, indeed, if America only knew it, they are not + very far from the truth. + </p> + <p> + Some there were, however, who did not assent to this good-natured though + worldly view of the proposed match. These ladies were severe in their + comments upon Mrs. Lee's conduct, and did not hesitate to declare their + opinion that she was the calmest and most ambitious minx who had ever come + within their observation. Unfortunately it happened that the respectable + and proper Mrs. Schuyler Clinton took this view of the case, and made + little attempt to conceal her opinion. She was justly indignant at her + cousin's gross worldliness, and possible promotion in rank. + </p> + <p> + “If Madeleine Ross marries that coarse, horrid old Illinois politician,” + said she to her husband, “I never will forgive her so long as I live.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Clinton tried to excuse Madeleine, and even went so far as to suggest + that the difference of age was no greater than in their own case; but his + wife trampled ruthlessly on his argument. + </p> + <p> + “At any rate,” said she, “I never came to Washington as a widow on purpose + to set my cap for the first candidate for the Presidency, and I never made + a public spectacle of my indecent eagerness in the very galleries of the + Senate; and Mrs. Lee ought to be ashamed of herself. She is a + cold-blooded, heartless, unfeminine cat.” + </p> + <p> + Little Victoria Dare, who babbled like the winds and streams, with utter + indifference as to what she said or whom she addressed, used to bring + choice bits of this gossip to Mrs. Lee. She always affected a little + stammer when she said anything uncommonly impudent, and put on a manner of + languid simplicity. She felt keenly the satisfaction of seeing Madeleine + charged with her own besetting sins. For years all Washington had agreed + that Victoria was little better than one of the wicked; she had done + nothing but violate every rule of propriety and scandalise every + well-regulated family in the city, and there was no good in her. Yet it + could not be denied that Victoria was amusing, and had a sort of irregular + fascination; consequently she was universally tolerated. To see Mrs. Lee + thrust down to her own level was an unmixed pleasure to her, and she + carefully repeated to Madeleine the choice bits of dialogue which she + picked up in her wanderings. + </p> + <p> + “Your cousin, Mrs. Clinton, says you are a ca-ca-cat, Mrs. Lee.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't believe it, Victoria. Mrs. Clinton never said anything of the + sort.” + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Marston says it is because you have caught a ra-ra-rat, and Senator + Clinton was only a m-m-mouse!” + </p> + <p> + Naturally all this unexpected publicity irritated Mrs. Lee not a little, + especially when short and vague paragraphs, soon followed by longer and + more positive ones, in regard to Senator Ratcliffe's matrimonial + prospects, began to appear in newspapers, along with descriptions of + herself from the pens of enterprising female correspondents for the press, + who had never so much as seen her. At the first sight of one of these + newspaper articles, Madeleine fairly cried with mortification and anger. + She wanted to leave Washington the next day, and she hated the very + thought of Ratcliffe. There was something in the newspaper style so + inscrutably vulgar, something so inexplicably revolting to the sense of + feminine decency, that she shrank under it as though it were a poisonous + spider. But after the first acute shame had passed, her temper was roused, + and she vowed that she would pursue her own path just as she had begun, + without regard to all the malignity and vulgarity in the wide United + States. She did not care to marry Senator Ratcliffe; she liked his society + and was flattered by his confidence; she rather hoped to prevent him from + ever making a formal offer, and if not, she would at least push it off to + the last possible moment; but she was not to be frightened from marrying + him by any amount of spitefulness or gossip, and she did not mean to + refuse him except for stronger reasons than these. She even went so far in + her desperate courage as to laugh at her cousin, Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Clinton, whose venerable husband she allowed and even encouraged to pay + her such public attention and to express sentiments of such youthful + ardour as she well knew would inflame and exasperate the excellent lady + his wife. + </p> + <p> + Carrington was the person most unpleasantly affected by the course which + this affair had taken. He could no longer conceal from himself the fact + that he was as much m love as a dignified Virginian could be. With him, at + all events, she had shown no coquetry, nor had she ever either flattered + or encouraged him. But Carrington, m his solitary struggle against fate, + had found her a warm friend; always ready to assist where assistance was + needed, generous with her money in any cause which he was willing to vouch + for, full of sympathy where sympathy was more than money, and full of + resource and suggestion where money and sympathy failed. Carrington knew + her better than she knew herself. He selected her books; he brought the + last speech or the last report from the Capitol or the departments; he + knew her doubts and her vagaries, and as far as he understood them at all, + helped her to solve them. + </p> + <p> + Carrington was too modest, and perhaps too shy, to act the part of a + declared lover, and he was too proud to let it be thought that he wanted + to exchange his poverty for her wealth. But he was all the more anxious + when he saw the evident attraction which Ratcliffe's strong will and + unscrupulous energy exercised over her. He saw that Ratcliffe was steadily + pushing his advances; that he flattered all Mrs. Lee's weaknesses by the + confidence and deference with which he treated her; and that in a very + short time, Madeleine must either marry him or find herself looked upon as + a heartless coquette. He had his own reasons for thinking ill of Senator + Ratcliffe, and he meant to prevent a marriage; but he had an enemy to deal + with not easily driven from the path, and quite capable of routing any + number of rivals. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe was afraid of no one. He had not fought his own way in life for + nothing, and he knew all the value of a cold head and dogged + self-assurance. + </p> + <p> + Nothing but this robust Americanism and his strong will carried him safely + through the snares and pitfalls of Mrs. Lee's society, where rivals and + enemies beset him on every hand. He was little better than a schoolboy, + when he ventured on their ground, but when he could draw them over upon + his own territory of practical life he rarely failed to trample on his + assailants. + </p> + <p> + It was this practical sense and cool will that won over Mrs. Lee, who was + woman enough to assume that all the graces were well enough employed in + decorating her, and it was enough if the other sex felt her superiority. + Men were valuable only in proportion to their strength and their + appreciation of women. If the senator had only been strong enough always + to control his temper, he would have done very well, but his temper was + under a great strain in these times, and his incessant effort to control + it in politics made him less watchful in private life. Mrs. Lee's tacit + assumption of superior refinement irritated him, and sometimes made him + show his teeth like a bull-dog, at the cost of receiving from Mrs. Lee a + quick stroke in return such as a well-bred tortoise-shell cat administers + to check over-familiarity; innocent to the eye, but drawing blood. One + evening when he was more than commonly out of sorts, after sitting some + time in moody silence, he roused himself, and, taking up a book that lay + on her table, he glanced at its title and turned over the leaves. It + happened by ill luck to be a volume of Darwin that Mrs. Lee had just + borrowed from the library of Congress. + </p> + <p> + “Do you understand this sort of thing?” asked the Senator abruptly, in a + tone that suggested a sneer. + </p> + <p> + “Not very well,” replied Mrs. Lee, rather curtly. + </p> + <p> + “Why do you want to understand it?” persisted the Senator. “What good will + it do you?” + </p> + <p> + “Perhaps it will teach us to be modest,” answered Madeleine, quite equal + to the occasion. + </p> + <p> + “Because it says we descend from monkeys?” rejoined the Senator, roughly. + </p> + <p> + “Do you think you are descended from monkeys?” + </p> + <p> + “Why not?” said Madeleine. + </p> + <p> + “Why not?” repeated Ratcliffe, laughing harshly. “I don't like the + connection. Do you mean to introduce your distant relations into society?” + </p> + <p> + “They would bring more amusement into it than most of its present + members,” rejoined Mrs. Lee, with a gentle smile that threatened mischief. + But Ratcliffe would not be warned; on the contrary, the only effect of + Mrs. Lee's defiance was to exasperate his ill-temper, and whenever he lost + his temper he became senatorial and Websterian. “Such books,” he began, + “disgrace our civilization; they degrade and stultify our divine nature; + they are only suited for Asiatic despotisms where men are reduced to the + level of brutes; that they should be accepted by a man like Baron Jacobi, + I can understand; he and his masters have nothing to do in the world but + to trample on human rights. Mr. Carrington, of course, would approve those + ideas; he believes in the divine doctrine of flogging negroes; but that + you, who profess philanthropy and free principles, should go with them, is + astonishing; it is incredible; it is unworthy of you.” + </p> + <p> + “You are very hard on the monkeys,” replied Madeleine, rather sternly, + when the Senator's oration was ended. “The monkeys never did you any harm; + they are not in public life; they are not even voters; if they were, you + would be enthusiastic about their intelligence and virtue. After all, we + ought to be grateful to them, for what would men do in this melancholy + world if they had not inherited gaiety from the monkeys—as well as + oratory.” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe, to do him justice, took punishment well, at least when it came + from Mrs. Lee's hands, and his occasional outbursts of insubordination + were sure to be followed by improved discipline; but if he allowed Mrs. + Lee to correct his faults, he had no notion of letting himself be + instructed by her friends, and he lost no chance of telling them so. But + to do this was not always enough. Whether it were that he had few ideas + outside of his own experience, or that he would not trust himself on + doubtful ground, he seemed compelled to bring every discussion down to his + own level. Madeleine puzzled herself in vain to find out whether he did + this because he knew no better, or because he meant to cover his own + ignorance. + </p> + <p> + “The Baron has amused me very much with his account of Bucharest society,” + Mrs. Lee would say: “I had no idea it was so gay.” + </p> + <p> + “I would like to show him our society in Peonia,” was Ratcliffe's reply; + “he would find a very brilliant circle there of nature's true noblemen.” + </p> + <p> + “The Baron says their politicians are precious sharp chaps,” added Mr. + </p> + <p> + French. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, there are politicians in Bulgaria, are there?” asked the Senator, + whose ideas of the Roumanian and Bulgarian neighbourhood were vague, and + who had a general notion that all such people lived in tents, wore + sheepskins with the wool inside, and ate curds: “Oh, they have politicians + there! I would like to see them try their sharpness in the west.” + </p> + <p> + “Really!” said Mrs. Lee. “Think of Attila and his hordes running an + Indiana caucus?” + </p> + <p> + “Anyhow,” cried French with a loud laugh, “the Baron said that a set of + bigger political scoundrels than his friends couldn't be found in all + Illinois.” + </p> + <p> + “Did he say that?” exclaimed Ratcliffe angrily. + </p> + <p> + “Didn't he, Mrs. Lee? but I don't believe it; do you? What's your candid + opinion, Ratcliffe? What you don't know about Illinois politics isn't + worth knowing; do you really think those Bulgrascals couldn't run an + Illinois state convention?” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe did not like to be chaffed, especially on this subject, but he + could not resent French's liberty which was only a moderate return for the + wooden nutmeg. To get the conversation away from Europe, from literature, + from art, was his great object, and chaff was a way of escape. + </p> + <p> + Carrington was very well aware that the weak side of the Senator lay in + his blind ignorance of morals. He flattered himself that Mrs. Lee must see + this and be shocked by it sooner or later, so that nothing more was + necessary than to let Ratcliffe expose himself. Without talking very much, + Carrington always aimed at drawing him out. He soon found, however, that + Ratcliffe understood such tactics perfectly, and instead of injuring, he + rather improved his position. At times the man's audacity was startling, + and even when Carrington thought him hopelessly entangled, he would sweep + away all the hunter's nets with a sheer effort of strength, and walk off + bolder and more dangerous than ever. + </p> + <p> + When Mrs. Lee pressed him too closely, he frankly admitted her charges. + </p> + <p> + “What you say is in great part true. There is much in politics that + disgusts and disheartens; much that is coarse and bad. I grant you there + is dishonesty and corruption. We must try to make the amount as small as + possible.” + </p> + <p> + “You should be able to tell Mrs. Lee how she must go to work,” said + Carrington; “you have had experience. I have heard, it seems to me, that + you were once driven to very hard measures against corruption.” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe looked ill-pleased at this compliment, and gave Carrington one + of his cold glances that meant mischief. But he took up the challenge on + the spot:— + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I was, and am very sorry for it. The story is this, Mrs. Lee; and it + is well-known to every man, woman, and child in the State of Illinois, so + that I have no reason for softening it. In the worst days of the war there + was almost a certainty that my State would be carried by the peace party, + by fraud, as we thought, although, fraud or not, we were bound to save it. + Had Illinois been lost then, we should certainly have lost the + Presidential election, and with it probably the Union. At any rate, I + believed the fate of the war to depend on the result. I was then Governor, + and upon me the responsibility rested. We had entire control of the + northern counties and of their returns. We ordered the returning officers + in a certain number of counties to make no returns until they heard from + us, and when we had received the votes of all the southern counties and + learned the precise number of votes we needed to give us a majority, we + telegraphed to our northern returning officers to make the vote of their + districts such and such, thereby overbalancing the adverse returns and + giving the State to us. This was done, and as I am now senator I have a + right to suppose that what I did was approved. I am not proud of the + transaction, but I would do it again, and worse than that, if I thought it + would save this country from disunion. But of course I did not expect Mr. + Carrington to approve it. I believe he was then carrying out his reform + principles by bearing arms against the government.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes!” said Carrington drily; “you got the better of me, too. Like the old + Scotchman, you didn't care who made the people's wars provided you made + its ballots.” + </p> + <p> + Carrington had missed his point. The man who has committed a murder for + his country, is a patriot and not an assassin, even when he receives a + seat in the Senate as his share of the plunder. Women cannot be expected + to go behind the motives of that patriot who saves his country and his + election in times of revolution. + </p> + <p> + Carrington's hostility to Ratcliffe was, however, mild, when compared with + that felt by old Baron Jacobi. Why the baron should have taken so violent + a prejudice it is not easy to explain, but a diplomatist and a senator are + natural enemies, and Jacobi, as an avowed admirer of Mrs. Lee, found + Ratcliffe in his way. This prejudiced and immoral old diplomatist despised + and loathed an American senator as the type which, to his bleared European + eyes, combined the utmost pragmatical self-assurance and overbearing + temper with the narrowest education and the meanest personal experience + that ever existed in any considerable government. As Baron Jacobi's + country had no special relations with that of the United States, and its + Legation at Washington was a mere job to create a place for Jacobi to + fill, he had no occasion to disguise his personal antipathies, and he + considered himself in some degree as having a mission to express that + diplomatic contempt for the Senate which his colleagues, if they felt it, + were obliged to conceal. He performed his duties with conscientious + precision. He never missed an opportunity to thrust the sharp point of his + dialectic rapier through the joints of the clumsy and hide-bound + senatorial self-esteem. He delighted in skilfully exposing to Madeleine's + eyes some new side of Ratcliffe's ignorance. His conversation at such + times sparkled with historical allusions, quotations in half a dozen + different languages, references to well-known facts which an old man's + memory could not recall with precision in all their details, but with + which the Honourable Senator was familiarly acquainted, and which he could + readily supply. And his Voltairian face leered politely as he listened to + Ratcliffe's reply, which showed invariable ignorance of common literature, + art, and history. The climax of his triumph came one evening when + Ratcliffe unluckily, tempted by some allusion to Molière which he thought + he understood, made reference to the unfortunate influence of that great + man on the religious opinions of his time. Jacobi, by a flash of + inspiration, divined that he had confused Molière with Voltaire, and + assuming a manner of extreme suavity, he put his victim on the rack, and + tortured him with affected explanations and interrogations, until + Madeleine was in a manner forced to interrupt and end the scene. But even + when the senator was not to be lured into a trap, he could not escape + assault. The baron in such a case would cross the lines and attack him on + his own ground, as on one occasion, when Ratcliffe was defending his + doctrine of party allegiance, Jacobi silenced him by sneering somewhat + thus: + </p> + <p> + “Your principle is quite correct, Mr. Senator. I, too, like yourself, was + once a good party man: my party was that of the Church; I was + ultramontane. Your party system is one of your thefts from our Church; + your National Convention is our OEcumenic Council; you abdicate reason, as + we do, before its decisions; and you yourself, Mr. Ratcliffe, you are a + Cardinal. They are able men, those cardinals; I have known many; they were + our best friends, but they were not reformers. Are you a reformer, Mr. + Senator?” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe grew to dread and hate the old man, but all his ordinary tactics + were powerless against this impenetrable eighteenth century cynic. If he + resorted to his Congressional practise of browbeating and dogmatism, the + Baron only smiled and turned his back, or made some remark in French which + galled his enemy all the more, because, while he did not understand it, he + knew well that Madeleine did, and that she tried to repress her smile. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe's grey eyes grew colder and stonier than ever as he gradually + perceived that Baron Jacobi was carrying on a set scheme with malignant + ingenuity, to drive him out of Madeleine's house, and he swore a terrible + oath that he would not be beaten by that monkey-faced foreigner. On the + other hand Jacobi had little hope of success: “What can an old man do?” + said he with perfect sincerity to Carrington; “If I were forty years + younger, that great oaf should not have his own way. Ah! I wish I were + young again and we were in Vienna!” From which it was rightly inferred by + Carrington that the venerable diplomatist would, if such acts were still + in fashion, have coolly insulted the Senator, and put a bullet through his + heart. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter VI + </h2> + <p> + IN February the weather became warmer and summer-like. In Virginia there + comes often at this season a deceptive gleam of summer, slipping in + between heavy storm-clouds of sleet and snow; days and sometimes weeks + when the temperature is like June; when the earliest plants begin to show + their hardy flowers, and when the bare branches of the forest trees alone + protest against the conduct of the seasons. Then men and women are + languid; life seems, as in Italy, sensuous and glowing with colour; one is + conscious of walking in an atmosphere that is warm, palpable, radiant with + possibilities; a delicate haze hangs over Arlington, and softens even the + harsh white glare of the Capitol; the struggle of existence seems to + abate; Lent throws its calm shadow over society; and youthful + diplomatists, unconscious of their danger, are lured into asking foolish + girls to marry them; the blood thaws in the heart and flows out into the + veins, like the rills of sparkling water that trickle from every lump of + ice or snow, as though all the ice and snow on earth, and all the hardness + of heart, all the heresy and schism, all the works of the devil, had + yielded to the force of love and to the fresh warmth of innocent, + lamb-like, confiding virtue. In such a world there should be no guile—but + there is a great deal of it notwithstanding. Indeed, at no other season is + there so much. This is the moment when the two whited sepulchres at either + end of the Avenue reek with the thick atmosphere of bargain and sale. The + old is going; the new is coming. Wealth, office, power are at auction. Who + bids highest? who hates with most venom? who intrigues with most skill? + who has done the dirtiest, the meanest, the darkest, and the most, + political work? He shall have his reward. + </p> + <p> + Senator Ratcliffe was absorbed and ill at ease. A swarm of applicants for + office dogged his steps and beleaguered his rooms in quest of his + endorsement of their paper characters. The new President was to arrive on + Monday. Intrigues and combinations, of which the Senator was the soul, + were all alive, awaiting this arrival. Newspaper correspondents pestered + him with questions. Brother senators called him to conferences. His mind + was pre-occupied with his own interests. One might have supposed that, at + this instant, nothing could have drawn him away from the political + gaming-table, and yet when Mrs. Lee remarked that she was going to Mount + Vernon on Saturday with a little party, including the British Minister and + an Irish gentleman staying as a guest at the British Legation, the Senator + surprised her by expressing a strong wish to join them. He explained that, + as the political lead was no longer in his hands, the chances were nine in + ten that if he stirred at all he should make a blunder; that his friends + expected him to do something when, in fact, nothing could be done; that + every preparation had already been made, and that for him to go on an + excursion to Mount Vernon, at this moment, with the British Minister, was, + on the whole, about the best use he could make of his time, since it would + hide him for one day at least. + </p> + <p> + Lord Skye had fallen into the habit of consulting Mrs. Lee when his own + social resources were low, and it was she who had suggested this party to + Mount Vernon, with Carrington for a guide and Mr. Gore for variety, to + occupy the time of the Irish friend whom Lord Skye was bravely + entertaining. + </p> + <p> + This gentleman, who bore the title of Dunbeg, was a dilapidated peer, + neither wealthy nor famous. Lord Skye brought him to call on Mrs. Lee, and + in some sort put him under her care. He was young, not ill-looking, quite + intelligent, rather too fond of facts, and not quick at humour. He was + given to smiling in a deprecatory way, and when he talked, he was either + absent or excited; he made vague blunders, and then smiled in deprecation + of offence, or his words blocked their own path in their rush. Perhaps his + manner was a little ridiculous, but he had a good heart, a good head, and + a title. He found favour in the eyes of Sybil and Victoria Dare, who + declined to admit other women to the party, although they offered no + objection to Mr. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe's admission. As for Lord Dunbeg, he was an enthusiastic admirer + of General Washington, and, as he privately intimated, eager to study + phases of American society. He was delighted to go with a small party, and + Miss Dare secretly promised herself that she would show him a phase. + </p> + <p> + The morning was warm, the sky soft, the little steamer lay at the quiet + wharf with a few negroes lazily watching her preparations for departure. + </p> + <p> + Carrington, with Mrs. Lee and the young ladies, arrived first, and stood + leaning against the rail, waiting the arrival of their companions. Then + came Mr. Gore, neatly attired and gloved, with a light spring overcoat; + for Mr. + </p> + <p> + Gore was very careful of his personal appearance, and not a little vain of + his good looks. Then a pretty woman, with blue eyes and blonde hair, + dressed in black, and leading a little girl by the hand, came on board, + and Carrington went to shake hands with her. On his return to Mrs. Lee's + side, she asked about his new acquaintance, and he replied with a + half-laugh, as though he were not proud of her, that she was a client, a + pretty widow, well known in Washington. “Any one at the Capitol would tell + you all about her. She was the wife of a noted lobbyist, who died about + two years ago. Congressmen can refuse nothing to a pretty face, and she + was their idea of feminine perfection. Yet she is a silly little woman, + too. Her husband died after a very short illness, and, to my great + surprise, made me executor under his will. I think he had an idea that he + could trust me with his papers, which were important and compromising, for + he seems to have had no time to go over them and destroy what were best + out of the way. So, you see, I am left with his widow and child to look + after. Luckily, they are well provided for.” + </p> + <p> + “Still you have not told me her name.” + </p> + <p> + “Her name is Baker—Mrs. Sam Baker. But they are casting off, and Mr. + Ratcliffe will be left behind. I'll ask the captain to wait.” About a + dozen passengers had arrived, among them the two Earls, with a footman + carrying a promising lunch-basket, and the planks were actually hauled in + when a carriage dashed up to the wharf, and Mr. Ratcliffe leaped out and + hurried on board. “Off with you as quick as you can!” said he to the + negro-hands, and in another moment the little steamer had begun her + journey, pounding the muddy waters of the Potomac and sending up its small + column of smoke as though it were a newly invented incense-burner + approaching the temple of the national deity. Ratcliffe explained in great + glee how he had barely managed to escape his visitors by telling them that + the British Minister was waiting for him, and that he would be back again + presently. “If they had known where I was going,” said he, “you would have + seen the boat swamped with office-seekers. Illinois alone would have + brought you to a watery grave.” He was in high spirits, bent upon enjoying + his holiday, and as they passed the arsenal with its solitary sentry, and + the navy-yard, with its one unseaworthy wooden war-steamer, he pointed out + these evidences of national grandeur to Lord Skye, threatening, as the + last terror of diplomacy, to send him home in an American frigate. They + were thus indulging in senatorial humour on one side of the boat, while + Sybil and Victoria, with the aid of Mr. Gore and Carrington, were + improving Lord Dunbeg's mind on the other. + </p> + <p> + Miss Dare, finding for herself at last a convenient seat where she could + repose and be mistress of the situation, put on a more than usually demure + expression and waited with gravity until her noble neighbour should give + her an opportunity to show those powers which, as she believed, would + supply a phase in his existence. Miss Dare was one of those young persons, + sometimes to be found in America, who seem to have no object in life, and + while apparently devoted to men, care nothing about them, but find + happiness only in violating rules; she made no parade of whatever virtues + she had, and her chief pleasure was to make fun of all the world and + herself. + </p> + <p> + “What a noble river!” remarked Lord Dunbeg, as the boat passed out upon + the wide stream; “I suppose you often sail on it?” + </p> + <p> + “I never was here in my life till now,” replied the untruthful Miss Dare; + “we don't think much of it; it s too small; we're used to so much larger + rivers.” + </p> + <p> + “I am afraid you would not like our English rivers then; they are mere + brooks compared with this.” + </p> + <p> + “Are they indeed?” said Victoria, with an appearance of vague surprise; + “how curious! I don't think I care to be an Englishwoman then. I could not + live without big rivers.” + </p> + <p> + Lord Dunbeg stared, and hinted that this was almost unreasonable. + </p> + <p> + “Unless I were a Countess!” continued Victoria, meditatively, looking at + Alexandria, and paying no attention to his lordship; “I think I could + manage if I were a C-c-countess. It is such a pretty title!” + </p> + <p> + “Duchess is commonly thought a prettier one,” stammered Dunbeg, much + embarrassed. The young man was not used to chaff from women. + </p> + <p> + “I should be satisfied with Countess. It sounds well. I am surprised that + you don't like it.” Dunbeg looked about him uneasily for some means of + escape but he was barred in. “I should think you would feel an awful + responsibility in selecting a Countess. How do you do it?” + </p> + <p> + Lord Dunbeg nervously joined in the general laughter as Sybil ejaculated: + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Victoria!” but Miss Dare continued without a smile or any elevation + of her monotonous voice: + </p> + <p> + “Now, Sybil, don't interrupt me, please. I am deeply interested in Lord + Dunbeg's conversation. He understands that my interest is purely + scientific, but my happiness requires that I should know how Countesses + are selected. Lord Dunbeg, how would you recommend a friend to choose a + Countess?” + </p> + <p> + Lord Dunbeg began to be amused by her impudence, and he even tried to lay + down for her satisfaction one or two rules for selecting Countesses, but + long before he had invented his first rule, Victoria had darted off to a + new subject. + </p> + <p> + “Which would you rather be, Lord Dunbeg? an Earl or George Washington?” + </p> + <p> + “George Washington, certainly,” was the Earl's courteous though rather + bewildered reply. + </p> + <p> + “Really?” she asked with a languid affectation of surprise; “it is awfully + kind of you to say so, but of course you can't mean it. + </p> + <p> + “Indeed I do mean it.” + </p> + <p> + “Is it possible? I never should have thought it.” + </p> + <p> + “Why not, Miss Dare?” + </p> + <p> + “You have not the air of wishing to be George Washington.” + </p> + <p> + “May I again ask, why not?” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly. Did you ever see George Washington?” + </p> + <p> + “Of course not. He died fifty years before I was born.” + </p> + <p> + “I thought so. You see you don't know him. Now, will you give us an idea + of what you imagine General Washington to have looked like?” + </p> + <p> + Dunbeg gave accordingly a flattering description of General Washington, + compounded of Stuart's portrait and Greenough's statue of Olympian Jove + with Washington's features, in the Capitol Square. Miss Dare listened with + an expression of superiority not unmixed with patience, and then she + enlightened him as follows: + </p> + <p> + “All you have been saying is perfect stuff—excuse the vulgarity of + the expression. When I am a Countess I will correct my language. The truth + is that General Washington was a raw-boned country farmer, very + hard-featured, very awkward, very illiterate and very dull; very bad + tempered, very profane, and generally tipsy after dinner.” + </p> + <p> + “You shock me, Miss Dare!” exclaimed Dunbeg. + </p> + <p> + “Oh! I know all about General Washington. My grandfather knew him + intimately, and often stayed at Mount Vernon for weeks together. You must + not believe what you read, and not a word of what Mr. Carrington will say. + He is a Virginian and will tell you no end of fine stories and not a + syllable of truth in one of them. We are all patriotic about Washington + and like to hide his faults. If I weren't quite sure you would never + repeat it, I would not tell you this. The truth is that even when George + Washington was a small boy, his temper was so violent that no one could do + anything with him. He once cut down all his father's fruit-trees in a fit + of passion, and then, just because they wanted to flog him, he threatened + to brain his father with the hatchet. His aged wife suffered agonies from + him. My grandfather often told me how he had seen the General pinch and + swear at her till the poor creature left the room in tears; and how once + at Mount Vernon he saw Washington, when quite an old man, suddenly rush at + an unoffending visitor, and chase him off the place, beating him all the + time over the head with a great stick with knots in it, and all just + because he heard the poor man stammer; he never could abide + s-s-stammering.” + </p> + <p> + Carrington and Gore burst into shouts of laughter over this description of + the Father of his country, but Victoria continued in her gentle drawl to + enlighten Lord Dunbeg in regard to other subjects with information equally + mendacious, until he decided that she was quite the most eccentric person + he had ever met. The boat arrived at Mount Vernon while she was still + engaged in a description of the society and manners of America, and + especially of the rules which made an offer of marriage necessary. + According to her, Lord Dunbeg was in imminent peril; gentlemen, and + especially foreigners, were expected, in all the States south of the + Potomac, to offer themselves to at least one young lady in every city: + “and I had only yesterday,” said Victoria, “a letter from a lovely girl in + North Carolina, a dear friend of mine, who wrote me that she was right put + out because her brothers had called on a young English visitor with shot + guns, and she was afraid he wouldn't recover, and, after all, she says she + should have refused him.” + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile Madeleine, on the other side of the boat, undisturbed by the + laughter that surrounded Miss Dare, chatted soberly and seriously with + Lord Skye and Senator Ratcliffe. Lord Skye, too, a little intoxicated by + the brilliancy of the morning, broke out into admiration of the noble + river, and accused Americans of not appreciating the beauties of their own + country. + </p> + <p> + “Your national mind,” said he, “has no eyelids. It requires a broad glare + and a beaten road. It prefers shadows which you can cut out with a knife. + It doesn't know the beauty of this Virginia winter softness.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee resented the charge. America, she maintained, had not worn her + feelings threadbare like Europe. She had still her story to tell; she was + waiting for her Burns and Scott, her Wordsworth and Byron, her Hogarth and + Turner. “You want peaches in spring,” said she. “Give us our thousand + years of summer, and then complain, if you please, that our peach is not + as mellow as yours. Even our voices may be soft then,” she added, with a + significant look at Lord Skye. + </p> + <p> + “We are at a disadvantage in arguing with Mrs. Lee,” said he to Ratcliffe; + “when she ends as counsel, she begins as witness. The famous Duchess of + Devonshire's lips were not half as convincing as Mrs. Lee's voice.” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe listened carefully, assenting whenever he saw that Mrs. Lee + wished it. He wished he understood precisely what tones and half-tones, + colours and harmonies, were. + </p> + <p> + They arrived and strolled up the sunny path. At the tomb they halted, as + all good Americans do, and Mr. Gore, in a tone of subdued sorrow, + delivered a short address— + </p> + <p> + “It might be much worse if they improved it,” he said, surveying its + proportions with the æsthetic eye of a cultured Bostonian. “As it stands, + this tomb is a simple misfortune which might befall any of us; we should + not grieve over it too much. What would our feelings be if a Congressional + committee reconstructed it of white marble with Gothic pepper-pots, and + gilded it inside on machine-moulded stucco!” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine, however, insisted that the tomb, as it stood, was the only + restless spot about the quiet landscape, and that it contradicted all her + ideas about repose in the grave. Ratcliffe wondered what she meant. + </p> + <p> + They passed on, wandering across the lawn, and through the house. Their + eyes, weary of the harsh colours and forms of the city, took pleasure in + the worn wainscots and the stained walls. Some of the rooms were still + occupied; fires were burning in the wide fire-places. All were tolerably + furnished, and there was no uncomfortable sense of repair or newness. They + mounted the stairs, and Mrs. Lee fairly laughed when she was shown the + room in which General Washington slept, and where he died. + </p> + <p> + Carrington smiled too. “Our old Virginia houses were mostly like this,” + said he; “suites of great halls below, and these gaunt barracks above. The + Virginia house was a sort of hotel. When there was a race or a wedding, or + a dance, and the house was full, they thought nothing of packing half a + dozen people in one room, and if the room was large, they stretched a + sheet a cross to separate the men from the women. As for toilet, those + were not the mornings of cold baths. With our ancestors a little washing + went a long way.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you still live so in Virginia?” asked Madeleine. + </p> + <p> + “Oh no, it is quite gone. We live now like other country people, and try + to pay our debts, which that generation never did. They lived from hand to + mouth. They kept a stable-full of horses. The young men were always riding + about the country, betting on horse-races, gambling, drinking, fighting, + and making love. No one knew exactly what he was worth until the crash + came about fifty years ago, and the whole thing ran out.” + </p> + <p> + “Just what happened in Ireland!” said Lord Dunbeg, much interested and + full of his article in the Quarterly; “the resemblance is perfect, even + down to the houses.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee asked Carrington bluntly whether he regretted the destruction of + this old social arrangement. + </p> + <p> + “One can't help regretting,” said he, “whatever it was that produced + George Washington, and a crowd of other men like him. But I think we might + produce the men still if we had the same field for them.” + </p> + <p> + “And would you bring the old society back again if you could?” asked she. + </p> + <p> + “What for? It could not hold itself up. General Washington himself could + not save it. Before he died he had lost his hold on Virginia, and his + power was gone.” + </p> + <p> + The party for a while separated, and Mrs. Lee found herself alone in the + great drawing-room. Presently the blonde Mrs. Baker entered, with her + child, who ran about making more noise than Mrs. Washington would have + permitted. + </p> + <p> + Madeleine, who had the usual feminine love of children, called the girl to + her and pointed out the shepherds and shepherdesses carved on the white + Italian marble of the fireplace; she invented a little story about them to + amuse the child, while the mother stood by and at the end thanked the + story-teller with more enthusiasm than seemed called for. Mrs. Lee did not + fancy her effusive manner, or her complexion, and was glad when Dunbeg + appeared at the doorway. + </p> + <p> + “How do you like General Washington at home?” asked she. + </p> + <p> + “Really, I assure you I feel quite at home myself,” replied Dunbeg, with a + more beaming smile than ever. “I am sure General Washington was an + Irishman. I know it from the look of the place. I mean to look it up and + write an article about it.” + </p> + <p> + “Then if you have disposed of him,” said Madeleine, “I think we will have + luncheon, and I have taken the liberty to order it to be served outside.” + </p> + <p> + There a table had been improvised, and Miss Dare was inspecting the lunch, + and making comments upon Lord Skye's cuisine and cellar. + </p> + <p> + “I hope it is very dry champagne,” said she, “the taste for sweet + champagne is quite awfully shocking.” + </p> + <p> + The young woman knew no more about dry and sweet champagne than of the + wine of Ulysses, except that she drank both with equal satisfaction, but + she was mimicking a Secretary of the British Legation who had provided her + with supper at her last evening party. Lord Skye begged her to try it, + which she did, and with great gravity remarked that it was about five per + cent. she presumed. This, too, was caught from her Secretary, though she + knew no more what it meant than if she had been a parrot. + </p> + <p> + The luncheon was very lively and very good. When it was over, the + gentlemen were allowed to smoke, and conversation fell into a sober + strain, which at last threatened to become serious. + </p> + <p> + “You want half-tones!” said Madeleine to Lord Skye: “are there not + half-tones enough to suit you on the walls of this house?” + </p> + <p> + Lord Skye suggested that this was probably owing to the fact that + Washington, belonging, as he did, to the universe, was in his taste an + exception to local rules. + </p> + <p> + “Is not the sense of rest here captivating?” she continued. “Look at that + quaint garden, and this ragged lawn, and the great river in front, and the + superannuated fort beyond the river! Everything is peaceful, even down to + the poor old General's little bed-room. One would like to lie down in it + and sleep a century or two. And yet that dreadful Capitol and its + office-seekers are only ten miles off.” + </p> + <p> + “No! that is more than I can bear!” broke in Miss Victoria in a stage + whisper, “that dreadful Capitol! Why, not one of us would be here without + that dreadful Capitol! except, perhaps, myself.” + </p> + <p> + “You would appear very well as Mrs. Washington, Victoria.” + </p> + <p> + “Miss Dare has been so very obliging as to give us her views of General + Washington's character this morning,” said Dunbeg, “but I have not yet had + time to ask Mr. Carrington for his.” + </p> + <p> + “Whatever Miss Dare says is valuable,” replied Carrington, “but her strong + point is facts.” + </p> + <p> + “Never flatter! Mr. Carrington,” drawled Miss Dare; “I do not need it, and + it does not become your style. Tell me, Lord Dunbeg, is not Mr. Carrington + a little your idea of General Washington restored to us in his prime?” + </p> + <p> + “After your account of General Washington, Miss Dare, how can I agree with + you?” + </p> + <p> + “After all,” said Lord Skye, “I think we must agree that Miss Dare is in + the main right about the charms of Mount Vernon. Even Mrs. Lee, on the way + up, agreed that the General, who is the only permanent resident here, has + the air of being confoundedly bored in his tomb. I don't myself love your + dreadful Capitol yonder, but I prefer it to a bucolic life here. And I + account in this way for my want of enthusiasm for your great General. He + liked no kind of life but this. He seems to have been greater in the + character of a home-sick Virginia planter than as General or President. I + forgive him his inordinate dulness, for he was not a diplomatist and it + was not his business to lie, but he might once in a way have forgotten + Mount Vernon.” + </p> + <p> + Dunbeg here burst in with an excited protest; all his words seemed to + shove each other aside in their haste to escape first. “All our greatest + Englishmen have been home-sick country squires. I am a home-sick country + squire myself.” + </p> + <p> + “How interesting!” said Miss Dare under her breath. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Gore here joined in: “It is all very well for you gentlemen to measure + General Washington according to your own private twelve-inch carpenter's + rule. But what will you say to us New Englanders who never were country + gentlemen at all, and never had any liking for Virginia? What did + Washington ever do for us? He never even pretended to like us. He never + was more than barely civil to us. I'm not finding fault with him; + everybody knows that he never cared for anything but Mount Vernon. For all + that, we idolize him. To us he is Morality, Justice, Duty, Truth; half a + dozen Roman gods with capital letters. He is austere, solitary, grand; he + ought to be deified. I hardly feel easy, eating, drinking, smoking here on + his portico without his permission, taking liberties with his house, + criticising his bedrooms in his absence. Suppose I heard his horse now + trotting up on the other side, and he suddenly appeared at this door and + looked at us. I should abandon you to his indignation. I should run away + and hide myself on the steamer. The mere thought unmans me.” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe seemed amused at Gore's half-serious notions. “You recall to + me,” said he, “my own feelings when I was a boy and was made by my father + to learn the Farewell Address by heart. In those days General Washington + was a sort of American Jehovah. But the West is a poor school for + Reverence. Since coming to Congress I have learned more about General + Washington, and have been surprised to find what a narrow base his + reputation rests on. A fair military officer, who made many blunders, and + who never had more men than would make a full army-corps under his + command, he got an enormous reputation in Europe because he did not make + himself king, as though he ever had a chance of doing it. A respectable, + painstaking President, he was treated by the Opposition with an amount of + deference that would have made government easy to a baby, but it worried + him to death. His official papers are fairly done, and contain good + average sense such as a hundred thousand men in the United States would + now write. I suspect that half of his attachment to this spot rose from + his consciousness of inferior powers and his dread of responsibility. This + government can show to-day a dozen men of equal abilities, but we don't + deify them. What I most wonder at in him is not his military or political + genius at all, for I doubt whether he had much, but a curious Yankee + shrewdness in money matters. He thought himself a very rich man, yet he + never spent a dollar foolishly. He was almost the only Virginian I ever + heard of, in public life, who did not die insolvent.” + </p> + <p> + During this long speech, Carrington glanced across at Madeleine, and + caught her eye. Ratcliffe's criticism was not to her taste. Carrington + could see that she thought it unworthy of him, and he knew that it would + irritate her. + </p> + <p> + “I will lay a little trap for Mr. Ratcliffe,” thought he to himself; “we + will see whether he gets out of it.” So Carrington began, and all listened + closely, for, as a Virginian, he was supposed to know much about the + subject, and his family had been deep in the confidence of Washington + himself. + </p> + <p> + “The neighbours hereabout had for many years, and may have still, some + curious stories about General Washington's closeness in money matters. + They said he never bought anything by weight but he had it weighed over + again, nor by tale but he had it counted, and if the weight or number were + not exact, he sent it back. Once, during his absence, his steward had a + room plastered, and paid the plasterer's bill. On the General's return, he + measured the room, and found that the plasterer had charged fifteen + shillings too much. Meanwhile the man had died, and the General made a + claim of fifteen shillings on his estate, which was paid. Again, one of + his tenants brought him the rent. The exact change of fourpence was + required. The man tendered a dollar, and asked the General to credit him + with the balance against the next year's rent. The General refused and + made him ride nine miles to Alexandria and back for the fourpence. On the + other hand, he sent to a shoemaker in Alexandria to come and measure him + for shoes. The man returned word that he did not go to any one's house to + take measures, and the General mounted his horse and rode the nine miles + to him. One of his rules was to pay at taverns the same sum for his + servants' meals as for his own. An inn-keeper brought him a bill of + three-and-ninepence for his own breakfast, and three shillings for his + servant. He insisted upon adding the extra ninepence, as he did not doubt + that the servant had eaten as much as he. What do you say to these + anecdotes? Was this meanness or not?” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe was amused. “The stories are new to me,” he said. “It is just as + I thought. These are signs of a man who thinks much of trifles; one who + fusses over small matters. We don't do things in that way now that we no + longer have to get crops from granite, as they used to do in New Hampshire + when I was a boy.” + </p> + <p> + Carrington replied that it was unlucky for Virginians that they had not + done things in that way then: if they had, they would not have gone to the + dogs. + </p> + <p> + Gore shook his head seriously; “Did I not tell you so?” said he. “Was not + this man an abstract virtue? I give you my word I stand in awe before him, + and I feel ashamed to pry into these details of his life. What is it to us + how he thought proper to apply his principles to nightcaps and feather + dusters? We are not his body servants, and we care nothing about his + infirmities. It is enough for us to know that he carried his rules of + virtue down to a pin's point, and that we ought, one and all, to be on our + knees before his tomb.” + </p> + <p> + Dunbeg, pondering deeply, at length asked Carrington whether all this did + not make rather a clumsy politician of the father of his country. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Ratcliffe knows more about politics than I. Ask him,” said + Carrington. + </p> + <p> + “Washington was no politician at all, as we understand the word,” replied + Ratcliffe abruptly. “He stood outside of politics. The thing couldn't be + done to-day. The people don't like that sort of royal airs.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't understand!” said Mrs. Lee. “Why could you not do it now?” + </p> + <p> + “Because I should make a fool of myself;” replied Ratcliffe, pleased to + think that Mrs. Lee should put him on a level with Washington. She had + only meant to ask why the thing could not be done, and this little touch + of Ratcliffe's vanity was inimitable. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Ratcliffe means that Washington was too respectable for our time,” + interposed Carrington. + </p> + <p> + This was deliberately meant to irritate Ratcliffe, and it did so all the + more because Mrs. Lee turned to Carrington, and said, with some + bitterness: + </p> + <p> + “Was he then the only honest public man we ever had?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh no!” replied Carrington cheerfully; “there have been one or two + others.” + </p> + <p> + “If the rest of our Presidents had been like him,” said Gore, “we should + have had fewer ugly blots on our short history.” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe was exasperated at Carrington's habit of drawing discussion to + this point. He felt the remark as a personal insult, and he knew it to be + intended. “Public men,” he broke out, “cannot be dressing themselves + to-day in Washington's old clothes. If Washington were President now, he + would have to learn our ways or lose his next election. Only fools and + theorists imagine that our society can be handled with gloves or long + poles. One must make one's self a part of it. If virtue won't answer our + purpose, we must use vice, or our opponents will put us out of office, and + this was as true in Washington's day as it is now, and always will be.” + </p> + <p> + “Come,” said Lord Skye, who was beginning to fear an open quarrel; “the + conversation verges on treason, and I am accredited to this government. + Why not examine the grounds?” + </p> + <p> + A kind of natural sympathy led Lord Dunbeg to wander by the side of Miss + Dare through the quaint old garden. His mind being much occupied by the + effort of stowing away the impressions he had just received, he was more + than usually absent in his manner, and this want of attention irritated + the young lady. She made some comments on flowers; she invented some new + species with startling names; she asked whether these were known in + Ireland; but Lord Dunbeg was for the moment so vague in his answers that + she saw her case was perilous. + </p> + <p> + “Here is an old sun-dial. Do you have sun-dials in Ireland, Lord Dunbeg?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes; oh, certainly! What! sun-dials? Oh, yes! I assure you there are a + great many sun-dials in Ireland, Miss Dare.” + </p> + <p> + “I am so glad. But I suppose they are only for ornament. Here it is just + the other way. Look at this one! they all behave like that. The wear and + tear of our sun is too much for them; they don't last. My uncle, who has a + place at Long Branch, had five sun-dials in ten years.” + </p> + <p> + “How very odd! But really now, Miss Dare, I don't see how a sun—dial + could wear out.” + </p> + <p> + “Don't you? How strange! Don't you see, they get soaked with sunshine so + that they can't hold shadow. It's like me, you know. I have such a good + time all the time that I can't be unhappy. Do you ever read the Burlington + Hawkeye, Lord Dunbeg?” + </p> + <p> + “I don't remember; I think not. Is it an American serial?” gasped Dunbeg, + trying hard to keep pace with Miss Dare in her reckless dashes across + country. + </p> + <p> + “No, not serial at all!” replied Virginia; “but I am afraid you would find + it very hard reading. I shouldn't try.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you read it much, Miss Dare?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, always! I am not really as light as I seem. But then I have an + advantage over you because I know the language.” + </p> + <p> + By this time Dunbeg was awake again, and Miss Dare, satisfied with her + success, allowed herself to become more reasonable, until a slight shade + of sentiment began to flicker about their path. + </p> + <p> + The scattered party, however, soon had to unite again. The boat rang its + bell for return, they filed down the paths and settled themselves in their + old places. As they steamed away, Mrs. Lee watched the sunny hill-side and + the peaceful house above, until she could see them no more, and the longer + she looked, the less she was pleased with herself. Was it true, as + Victoria Dare said, that she could not live in so pure an air? Did she + really need the denser fumes of the city? Was she, unknown to herself; + gradually becoming tainted with the life about her? or was Ratcliffe right + in accepting the good and the bad together, and in being of his time since + he was in it? Why was it, she said bitterly to herself; that everything + Washington touched, he purified, even down to the associations of his + house? and why is it that everything we touch seems soiled? Why do I feel + unclean when I look at Mount Vernon? In spite of Mr. Ratcliffe, is it not + better to be a child and to cry for the moon and stars? + </p> + <p> + The little Baker girl came up to her where she stood, and began playing + with her parasol. + </p> + <p> + “Who is your little friend?” asked Ratcliffe. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee rather vaguely replied that she was the daughter of that pretty + woman in black; she believed her name was Baker. + </p> + <p> + “Baker, did you say?” repeated Ratcliffe. + </p> + <p> + “Baker—Mrs. Sam Baker; at least so Mr. Carrington told me; he said + she was a client of his.” + </p> + <p> + In fact Ratcliffe soon saw Carrington go up to her and remain by her side + during the rest of the trip. Ratcliffe watched them sharply and grew more + and more absorbed in his own thoughts as the boat drew nearer and nearer + the shore. + </p> + <p> + Carrington was in high spirits. He thought he had played his cards with + unusual success. Even Miss Dare deigned to acknowledge his charms that + day. + </p> + <p> + She declared herself to be the moral image of Martha Washington, and she + started a discussion whether Carrington or Lord Dunbeg would best suit her + in the rôle of the General. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Carrington is exemplary,” she said, “but oh, what joy to be Martha + Washington and a Countess too!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter VII + </h2> + <p> + WHEN he reached his rooms that afternoon, Senator Ratcliffe found there, + as he expected, a choice company of friends and admirers, who had beguiled + their leisure hours since noon by cursing him in every variety of profane + language that experience could suggest and impatience stimulate. On his + part, had he consulted his own feelings only, he would then and there have + turned them out, and locked the doors behind them. So far as silent + maledictions were concerned, no profanity of theirs could hold its own + against the intensity and deliberation with which, as he found himself + approaching his own door, he expressed between his teeth his views in + respect to their eternal interests. Nothing could be less suited to his + present humour than the society which awaited him in his rooms. He groaned + in spirit as he sat down at his writing-table and looked about him. Dozens + of office-seekers were besieging the house; men whose patriotic services + in the last election called loudly for recognition from a grateful + country. + </p> + <p> + They brought their applications to the Senator with an entreaty that he + would endorse and take charge of them. Several members and senators who + felt that Ratcliffe had no reason for existence except to fight their + battle for patronage, were lounging about his room, reading newspapers, or + beguiling their time with tobacco in various forms; at long intervals + making dull remarks, as though they were more weary than their + constituents of the atmosphere that surrounds the grandest government the + sun ever shone upon. + </p> + <p> + Several newspaper correspondents, eager to barter their news for + Ratcliffe's hints or suggestions, appeared from time to time on the scene, + and, dropping into a chair by Ratcliffe's desk, whispered with him in + mysterious tones. + </p> + <p> + Thus the Senator worked on, hour after hour, mechanically doing what was + required of him, signing papers without reading them, answering remarks + without hearing them, hardly looking up from his desk, and appearing + immersed in labour. This was his protection against curiosity and + garrulity. + </p> + <p> + The pretence of work was the curtain he drew between himself and the + world. + </p> + <p> + Behind this curtain his mental operations went on, undisturbed by what was + about him, while he heard all that was said, and said little or nothing + himself. His followers respected this privacy, and left him alone. He was + their prophet, and had a right to seclusion. He was their chieftain, and + while he sat in his monosyllabic solitude, his ragged tail reclined in + various attitudes about him, and occasionally one man spoke, or another + swore. Newspapers and tobacco were their resource in periods of absolute + silence. + </p> + <p> + A shade of depression rested on the faces and the voices of Clan Ratcliffe + that evening, as is not unusual with forces on the eve of battle. Their + remarks came at longer intervals, and were more pointless and random than + usual. There was a want of elasticity in their bearing and tone, partly + coming from sympathy with the evident depression of their chief; partly + from the portents of the time. The President was to arrive within + forty-eight hours, and as yet there was no sign that he properly + appreciated their services; there were signs only too unmistakeable that + he was painfully misled and deluded, that his countenance was turned + wholly in another direction, and that all their sacrifices were counted as + worthless. There was reason to believe that he came with a deliberate + purpose of making war upon Ratcliffe and breaking him down; of refusing to + bestow patronage on them, and of bestowing it wherever it would injure + them most deeply. At the thought that their honestly earned harvest of + foreign missions and consulates, department-bureaus, custom-house and + revenue offices, postmasterships, Indian agencies, and army and navy + contracts, might now be wrung from their grasp by the selfish greed of a + mere accidental intruder—a man whom nobody wanted and every one + ridiculed—their natures rebelled, and they felt that such things + must not be; that there could be no more hope for democratic government if + such things were possible. At this point they invariably became excited, + lost their equanimity, and swore. Then they fell back on their faith in + Ratcliffe: if any man could pull them through, he could; after all, the + President must first reckon with him, and he was an uncommon tough + customer to tackle. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps, however, even their faith in Ratcliffe might have been shaken, + could they at that moment have looked into his mind and understood what + was passing there. Ratcliffe was a man vastly their superior, and he knew + it. He lived in a world of his own and had instincts of refinement. + Whenever his affairs went unfavourably, these instincts revived, and for + the time swept all his nature with them. He was now filled with disgust + and cynical contempt for every form of politics. During long years he had + done his best for his party; he had sold himself to the devil, coined his + heart's blood, toiled with a dogged persistence that no day-labourer ever + conceived; and all for what? To be rejected as its candidate; to be put + under the harrow of a small Indiana farmer who made no secret of the + intention to “corral” him, and, as he elegantly expressed it, to “take his + hide and tallow.” Ratcliffe had no great fear of losing his hide, but he + felt aggrieved that he should be called upon to defend it, and that this + should be the result of twenty years' devotion. Like most men in the same + place, he did not stop to cast up both columns of his account with the + party, nor to ask himself the question that lay at the heart of his + grievance: How far had he served his party and how far himself? He was in + no humour for self-analysis: this requires more repose of mind than he + could then command. As for the President, from whom he had not heard a + whisper since the insolent letter to Grimes, which he had taken care not + to show, the Senator felt only a strong impulse to teach him better sense + and better manners. But as for political life, the events of the last six + months were calculated to make any man doubt its value. He was quite out + of sympathy with it. He hated the sight of his tobacco-chewing, + newspaper-reading satellites, with their hats tipped at every angle except + the right one, and their feet everywhere except on the floor. Their + conversation bored him and their presence was a nuisance. He would not + submit to this slavery longer. He would have given his Senatorship for a + civilized house like Mrs. Lee's, with a woman like Mrs. Lee at its head, + and twenty thousand a year for life. He smiled his only smile that evening + when he thought how rapidly she would rout every man Jack of his political + following out of her parlours, and how meekly they would submit to + banishment into a back-office with an oil-cloth carpet and two cane + chairs. + </p> + <p> + He felt that Mrs. Lee was more necessary to him than the Presidency + itself; he could not go on without her; he needed human companionship; + some Christian comfort for his old age; some avenue of communication with + that social world, which made his present surroundings look cold and foul; + some touch of that refinement of mind and morals beside which his own + seemed coarse. He felt unutterably lonely. He wished Mrs. Lee had asked + him home to dinner; but Mrs. Lee had gone to bed with a headache. He + should not see her again for a week. Then his mind turned back upon their + morning at Mount Vernon, and bethinking himself of Mrs. Sam Baker, he took + a sheet of note-paper, and wrote a line to Wilson Keen, Esq., at + Georgetown, requesting him to call, if possible, the next morning towards + one o'clock at the Senator's rooms on a matter of business. Wilson Keen + was chief of the Secret Service Bureau in the Treasury Department, and, as + the depositary of all secrets, was often called upon for assistance which + he was very good-natured in furnishing to senators, especially if they + were likely to be Secretaries of the Treasury. + </p> + <p> + This note despatched, Mr. Ratcliffe fell back into his reflective mood, + which led him apparently into still lower depths of discontent until, with + a muttered oath, he swore he could “stand no more of this,” and, suddenly + rising, he informed his visitors that he was sorry to leave them, but he + felt rather poorly and was going to bed; and to bed he went, while his + guests departed, each as his business or desires might point him, some to + drink whiskey and some to repose. + </p> + <p> + On Sunday morning Mr. Ratcliffe, as usual, went to church. He always + attended morning service—at the Methodist Episcopal Church—not + wholly on the ground of religious conviction, but because a large number + of his constituents were church-going people and he would not willingly + shock their principles so long as he needed their votes. In church, he + kept his eyes closely fixed upon the clergyman, and at the end of the + sermon he could say with truth that he had not heard a word of it, + although the respectable minister was gratified by the attention his + discourse had received from the Senator from Illinois, an attention all + the more praiseworthy because of the engrossing public cares which must at + that moment have distracted the Senator's mind. In this last idea, the + minister was right. Mr. Ratcliffe's mind was greatly distracted by public + cares, and one of his strongest reasons for going to church at all was + that he might get an hour or two of undisturbed reflection. During the + entire service he was absorbed in carrying on a series of imaginary + conversations with the new President. He brought up in succession every + form of proposition which the President might make to him; every trap + which could be laid for him; every sort of treatment he might expect, so + that he could not be taken by surprise, and his frank, simple nature could + never be at a loss. One object, however, long escaped him. Supposing, what + was more than probable, that the President's opposition to Ratcliffe's + declared friends made it impossible to force any of them into office; it + would then be necessary to try some new man, not obnoxious to the + President, as a candidate for the Cabinet. Who should this be? Ratcliffe + pondered long and deeply, searching out a man who combined the most + powerful interests, with the fewest enmities. This subject was still + uppermost at the moment when service ended. Ratcliffe pondered over it as + he walked back to his rooms. Not until he reached his own door did he come + to a conclusion: + </p> + <p> + Carson would do; Carson of Pennsylvania; the President had probably never + heard of him. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Wilson Keen was waiting the Senator's return, a heavy man with a + square face, and good-natured, active blue eyes; a man of few words and + those well-considered. The interview was brief. After apologising for + breaking in upon Sunday with business, Mr. Ratcliffe excused himself on + the ground that so little time was left before the close of the session. A + bill now before one of his Committees, on which a report must soon be + made, involved matters to which it was believed that the late Samuel + Baker, formerly a well-known lobby-agent in Washington, held the only + clue. He being dead, Mr. Ratcliffe wished to know whether he had left any + papers behind him, and in whose hands these papers were, or whether any + partner or associate of his was acquainted with his affairs. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Keen made a note of the request, merely remarking that he had been + very well acquainted with Baker, and also a little with his wife, who was + supposed to know his affairs as well as he knew them himself; and who was + still in Washington. He thought he could bring the information in a day or + two. As he then rose to go, Mr. Ratcliffe added that entire secrecy was + necessary, as the interests involved in obstructing the search were + considerable, and it was not well to wake them up. Mr. Keen assented and + went his way. + </p> + <p> + All this was natural enough and entirely proper, at least so far as + appeared on the surface. Had Mr. Keen been so curious in other people's + affairs as to look for the particular legislative measure which lay at the + bottom of Mr. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe's inquiries, he might have searched among the papers of Congress + a very long time and found himself greatly puzzled at last. In fact there + was no measure of the kind. The whole story was a fiction. Mr. Ratcliffe + had scarcely thought of Baker since his death, until the day before, when + he had seen his widow on the Mount Vernon steamer and had found her in + relations with Carrington. Something in Carrington's habitual attitude and + manner towards himself had long struck him as peculiar, and this + connection with Mrs. Baker had suggested to the Senator the idea that it + might be well to have an eye on both. Mrs. Baker was a silly woman, as he + knew, and there were old transactions between Ratcliffe and Baker of which + she might be informed, but which Ratcliffe had no wish to see brought + within Mrs. Lee's ken. As for the fiction invented to set Keen in motion, + it was an innocent one. It harmed nobody. Ratcliffe selected this + particular method of inquiry because it was the easiest, safest, and most + effectual. If he were always to wait until he could afford to tell the + precise truth, business would very soon be at a standstill, and his career + at an end. + </p> + <p> + This little matter disposed of; the Senator from Illinois passed his + afternoon in calling upon some of his brother senators, and the first of + those whom he honoured with a visit was Mr. Krebs, of Pennsylvania. There + were many reasons which now made the co-operation of that high-minded + statesman essential to Mr. Ratcliffe. The strongest of them was that the + Pennsylvania delegation in Congress was well disciplined and could be used + with peculiar advantage for purposes of “pressure.” Ratcliffe's success in + his contest with the new President depended on the amount of “pressure” he + could employ. To keep himself in the background, and to fling over the + head of the raw Chief Magistrate a web of intertwined influences, any one + of which alone would be useless, but which taken together were not to be + broken through; to revive the lost art of the Roman retiarius, who from a + safe distance threw his net over his adversary, before attacking with the + dagger; this was Ratcliffe's intention and towards this he had been + directing all his manipulation for weeks past. How much bargaining and how + many promises he found it necessary to make, was known to himself alone. + About this time Mrs. Lee was a little surprised to find Mr. Gore speaking + with entire confidence of having Ratcliffe's support in his application + for the Spanish mission, for she had rather imagined that Gore was not a + favourite with Ratcliffe. She noticed too that Schneidekoupon had come + back again and spoke mysteriously of interviews with Ratcliffe; of + attempts to unite the interests of New York and Pennsylvania; and his + countenance took on a dark and dramatic expression as he proclaimed that + no sacrifice of the principle of protection should be tolerated. + Schneidekoupon disappeared as suddenly as he came, and from Sybil's + innocent complaints of his spirits and temper, Mrs. Lee jumped to the + conclusion that Mr. Ratcliffe, Mr. Clinton, and Mr. + </p> + <p> + Krebs had for the moment combined to sit heavily upon poor Schneidekoupon, + and to remove his disturbing influence from the scene, at least until + other men should get what they wanted. These were merely the trifling + incidents that fell within Mrs. Lee's observation. She felt an atmosphere + of bargain and intrigue, but she could only imagine how far it extended. + Even Carrington, when she spoke to him about it, only laughed and shook + his head: + </p> + <p> + “Those matters are private, my dear Mrs. Lee; you and I are not meant to + know such things.” + </p> + <p> + This Sunday afternoon Mr. Ratcliffe's object was to arrange the little + manoeuvre about Carson of Pennsylvania, which had disturbed him in church. + </p> + <p> + His efforts were crowned with success. Krebs accepted Carson and promised + to bring him forward at ten minutes' notice, should the emergency arise. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe was a great statesman. The smoothness of his manipulation was + marvellous. No other man in politics, indeed no other man who had ever + been in politics in this country, could—his admirers said—have + brought together so many hostile interests and made so fantastic a + combination. Some men went so far as to maintain that he would “rope in + the President himself before the old man had time to swap knives with + him.” The beauty of his work consisted in the skill with which he evaded + questions of principle. As he wisely said, the issue now involved was not + one of principle but of power. + </p> + <p> + The fate of that noble party to which they all belonged, and which had a + record that could never be forgotten, depended on their letting principle + alone. Their principle must be the want of principles. There were indeed + individuals who said in reply that Ratcliffe had made promises which never + could be carried out, and there were almost superhuman elements of discord + in the combination, but as Ratcliffe shrewdly rejoined, he only wanted it + to last a week, and he guessed his promises would hold it up for that + time. + </p> + <p> + Such was the situation when on Monday afternoon the President-elect + arrived in Washington, and the comedy began. The new President was, almost + as much as Abraham Lincoln or Franklin Pierce, an unknown quantity in + political mathematics. In the national convention of the party, nine + months before, after some dozens of fruitless ballots in which Ratcliffe + wanted but three votes of a majority, his opponents had done what he was + now doing; they had laid aside their principles and set up for their + candidate a plain Indiana farmer, whose political experience was limited + to stump-speaking in his native State, and to one term as Governor. They + had pitched upon him, not because they thought him competent, but because + they hoped by doing so to detach Indiana from Ratcliffe's following, and + they were so successful that within fifteen minutes Ratcliffe's friends + were routed, and the Presidency had fallen upon this new political Buddha. + </p> + <p> + He had begun his career as a stone-cutter in a quarry, and was, not + unreasonably, proud of the fact. During the campaign this incident had, of + course, filled a large space in the public mind, or, more exactly, in the + public eye. “The Stone-cutter of the Wabash,” he was sometimes called; at + others “the Hoosier Quarryman,” but his favourite appellation was “Old + Granite,” although this last endearing name, owing to an unfortunate + similarity of sound, was seized upon by his opponents, and distorted into + “Old Granny.” He had been painted on many thousand yards of cotton + sheeting, either with a terrific sledge-hammer, smashing the skulls (which + figured as paving-stones) of his political opponents, or splitting by + gigantic blows a huge rock typical of the opposing party. His opponents in + their turn had paraded illuminations representing the Quarryman in the + garb of a State's-prison convict breaking the heads of Ratcliffe and other + well-known political leaders with a very feeble hammer, or as “Old Granny” + in pauper's rags, hopelessly repairing with the same heads the impossible + roads which typified the ill-conditioned and miry ways of his party. But + these violations of decency and good sense were universally reproved by + the virtuous; and it was remarked with satisfaction that the purest and + most highly cultivated newspaper editors on his side, without excepting + those of Boston itself; agreed with one voice that the Stone-cutter was a + noble type of man, perhaps the very noblest that had appeared to adorn + this country since the incomparable Washington. + </p> + <p> + That he was honest, all admitted; that is to say, all who voted for him. + </p> + <p> + This is a general characteristic of all new presidents. He himself took + great pride in his home-spun honesty, which is a quality peculiar to + nature's noblemen. Owing nothing, as he conceived, to politicians, but + sympathising through every fibre of his unselfish nature with the impulses + and aspirations of the people, he affirmed it to be his first duty to + protect the people from those vultures, as he called them, those wolves in + sheep's clothing, those harpies, those hyenas, the politicians; epithets + which, as generally interpreted, meant Ratcliffe and Ratcliffe's friends. + </p> + <p> + His cardinal principle in politics was hostility to Ratcliffe, yet he was + not vindictive. He came to Washington determined to be the Father of his + country; to gain a proud immortality and a re-election. + </p> + <p> + Upon this gentleman Ratcliffe had let loose all the forms of “pressure” + which could be set in motion either in or out of Washington. From the + moment when he had left his humble cottage in Southern Indiana, he had + been captured by Ratcliffe's friends, and smothered in demonstrations of + affection. They had never allowed him to suggest the possibility of + ill-feeling. They had assumed as a matter of course that the most cordial + attachment existed between him and his party. On his arrival in Washington + they systematically cut him off from contact with any influences but their + own. This was not a very difficult thing to do, for great as he was, he + liked to be told of his greatness, and they made him feel himself a + colossus. Even the few personal friends in his company were manipulated + with the utmost care, and their weaknesses put to use before they had been + in Washington a single day. + </p> + <p> + Not that Ratcliffe had anything to do with all this underhand and + grovelling intrigue. Mr. Ratcliffe was a man of dignity and self-respect, + who left details to his subordinates. He waited calmly until the + President, recovered from the fatigues of his journey, should begin to + feel the effect of a Washington atmosphere. Then on Wednesday morning, Mr. + Ratcliffe left his rooms an hour earlier than usual on his way to the + Senate, and called at the President's Hotel: he was ushered into a large + apartment in which the new Chief Magistrate was holding court, although at + sight of Ratcliffe, the other visitors edged away or took their hats and + left the room. The President proved to be a hard-featured man of sixty, + with a hooked nose and thin, straight, iron-gray hair. His voice was + rougher than his features and he received Ratcliffe awkwardly. He had + suffered since his departure from Indiana. Out there it had seemed a mere + flea-bite, as he expressed it, to brush Ratcliffe aside, but in Washington + the thing was somehow different. + </p> + <p> + Even his own Indiana friends looked grave when he talked of it, and shook + their heads. They advised him to be cautious and gain time; to lead + Ratcliffe on, and if possible to throw on him the responsibility of a + quarrel. He was, therefore, like a brown bear undergoing the process of + taming; very ill-tempered, very rough, and at the same time very much + bewildered and a little frightened. Ratcliffe sat ten minutes with him, + and obtained information in regard to pains which the President had + suffered during the previous night, in consequence, as he believed, of an + over-indulgence in fresh lobster, a luxury in which he had found a + diversion from the cares of state. So soon as this matter was explained + and condoled upon, Ratcliffe rose and took leave. + </p> + <p> + Every device known to politicians was now in full play against the Hoosier + Quarryman. State delegations with contradictory requests were poured in + upon him, among which that of Massachusetts presented as its only prayer + the appointment of Mr. Gore to the Spanish mission. Difficulties were + invented to embarrass and worry him. False leads were suggested, and false + information carefully mingled with true. A wild dance was kept up under + his eyes from daylight to midnight, until his brain reeled with the effort + to follow it. Means were also found to convert one of his personal, + confidential friends, who had come with him from Indiana and who had more + brains or less principle than the others; from him every word of the + President was brought directly to Ratcliffe's ear. + </p> + <p> + Early on Friday morning, Mr. Thomas Lord, a rival of the late Samuel + Baker, and heir to his triumphs, appeared in Ratcliffe's rooms while the + Senator was consuming his lonely egg and chop. Mr. Lord had been chosen to + take general charge of the presidential party and to direct all matters + connected with Ratcliffe's interests. Some people might consider this the + work of a spy; he looked on it as a public duty. He reported that “Old + Granny” had at last shown signs of weakness. Late the previous evening + when, according to his custom, he was smoking his pipe in company with his + kitchen-cabinet of followers, he had again fallen upon the subject of + Ratcliffe, and with a volley of oaths had sworn that he would show him his + place yet, and that he meant to offer him a seat in the Cabinet that would + make him “sicker than a stuck hog.” From this remark and some explanatory + hints that followed, it seemed that the Quarryman had abandoned his scheme + of putting Ratcliffe to immediate political death, and had now undertaken + to invite him into a Cabinet which was to be specially constructed to + thwart and humiliate him. + </p> + <p> + The President, it appeared, warmly applauded the remark of one counsellor, + that Ratcliffe was safer in the Cabinet than in the Senate, and that it + would be easy to kick him out when the time came. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe smiled grimly as Mr. Lord, with much clever mimicry, described + the President's peculiarities of language and manner, but he said nothing + and waited for the event. The same evening came a note from the + President's private secretary requesting his attendance, if possible, + to-morrow, Saturday morning, at ten o'clock. The note was curt and cool. + Ratcliffe merely sent back word that he would come, and felt a little + regret that the President should not know enough etiquette to understand + that this verbal answer was intended as a hint to improve his manners. He + did come accordingly, and found the President looking blacker than before. + This time there was no avoiding of tender subjects. The President meant to + show Ratcliffe by the decision of his course, that he was master of the + situation. He broke at once into the middle of the matter: “I sent for + you,” said he, “to consult with you about my Cabinet. Here is a list of + the gentlemen I intend to invite into it. You will see that I have got you + down for the Treasury. Will you look at the list and say what you think of + it?” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe took the paper, but laid it at once on the table without looking + at it. “I can have no objection,” said he, “to any Cabinet you may + appoint, provided I am not included in it. My wish is to remain where I + am. There I can serve your administration better than in the Cabinet.” + </p> + <p> + “Then you refuse?” growled the President. + </p> + <p> + “By no means. I only decline to offer any advice or even to hear the names + of my proposed colleagues until it is decided that my services are + necessary. If they are, I shall accept without caring with whom I serve.” + </p> + <p> + The President glared at him with an uneasy look. What was to be done next? + </p> + <p> + He wanted time to think, but Ratcliffe was there and must be disposed of. + He involuntarily became more civil: “Mr. Ratcliffe, your refusal would + knock everything on the head. I thought that matter was all fixed. What + more can I do?” + </p> + <p> + But Ratcliffe had no mind to let the President out of his clutches so + easily, and a long conversation followed, during which he forced his + antagonist into the position of urging him to take the Treasury in order + to prevent some undefined but portentous mischief in the Senate. All that + could be agreed upon was that Ratcliffe should give a positive answer + within two days, and on that agreement he took his leave. + </p> + <p> + As he passed through the corridor, a number of gentlemen were waiting for + interviews with the President, and among them was the whole Pennsylvania + delegation, “ready for biz,” as Mr. Tom Lord remarked, with a wink. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe drew Krebs aside and they exchanged a few words as he passed + out. + </p> + <p> + Ten minutes afterwards the delegation was admitted, and some of its + members were a little surprised to hear their spokesman, Senator Krebs, + press with extreme earnestness and in their names, the appointment of + Josiah B. Carson to a place in the Cabinet, when they had been given to + understand that they came to recommend Jared Caldwell as postmaster of + Philadelphia. But Pennsylvania is a great and virtuous State, whose + representatives have entire confidence in their chief. Not one of them so + much as winked. + </p> + <p> + The dance of democracy round the President now began again with wilder + energy. Ratcliffe launched his last bolts. His two-days' delay was a mere + cover for bringing new influences to bear. He needed no delay. He wanted + no time for reflection. The President had undertaken to put him on the + horns of a dilemma; either to force him into a hostile and treacherous + Cabinet, or to throw on him the blame of a refusal and a quarrel. He meant + to embrace one of the horns and to impale the President on it, and he felt + perfect confidence in his own success. He meant to accept the Treasury and + he was ready to back himself with a heavy wager to get the government + entirely into his own hands within six weeks. His contempt for the Hoosier + Stone-cutter was unbounded, and his confidence in himself more absolute + than ever. + </p> + <p> + Busy as he was, the Senator made his appearance the next evening at Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Lee's, and finding her alone with Sybil, who was occupied with her own + little devices, Ratcliffe told Madeleine the story of his week's + experience. + </p> + <p> + He did not dwell on his exploits. On the contrary he quite ignored those + elaborate arrangements which had taken from the President his power of + volition. His picture presented himself; solitary and unprotected, in the + character of that honest beast who was invited to dine with the lion and + saw that all the footmarks of his predecessors led into the lion's cave, + and none away from it. He described in humorous detail his interviews with + the Indiana lion, and the particulars of the surfeit of lobster as given + in the President's dialect; he even repeated to her the story told him by + Mr. Tom Lord, without omitting oaths or gestures; he told her how matters + stood at the moment, and how the President had laid a trap for him which + he could not escape; he must either enter a Cabinet constructed on purpose + to thwart him and with the certainty of ignominious dismissal at the first + opportunity, or he must refuse an offer of friendship which would throw on + him the blame of a quarrel, and enable the President to charge all future + difficulties to the account of Ratcliffe's “insatiable ambition.” “And + now, Mrs. Lee,” he continued, with increasing seriousness of tone; “I want + your advice; what shall I do?” + </p> + <p> + Even this half revelation of the meanness which distorted politics; this + one-sided view of human nature in its naked deformity playing pranks with + the interests of forty million people, disgusted and depressed Madeleine's + mind. Ratclife spared her nothing except the exposure of his own moral + sores. He carefully called her attention to every leprous taint upon his + neighbours' persons, to every rag in their foul clothing, to every slimy + and fetid pool that lay beside their path. It was his way of bringing his + own qualities into relief. He meant that she should go hand in hand with + him through the brimstone lake, and the more repulsive it seemed to her, + the more overwhelming would his superiority become. He meant to destroy + those doubts of his character which Carrington was so carefully fostering, + to rouse her sympathy, to stimulate her feminine sense of self-sacrifice. + </p> + <p> + When he asked this question she looked up at him with an expression of + indignant pride, as she spoke: + </p> + <p> + “I say again, Mr. Ratcliffe, what I said once before. Do whatever is most + for the public good.” + </p> + <p> + “And what is most for the public good?” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine half opened her mouth to reply, then hesitated, and stared + silently into the fire before her. What was indeed most for the public + good? + </p> + <p> + Where did the public good enter at all into this maze of personal + intrigue, this wilderness of stunted natures where no straight road was to + be found, but only the tortuous and aimless tracks of beasts and things + that crawl? + </p> + <p> + Where was she to look for a principle to guide, an ideal to set up and to + point at? + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe resumed his appeal, and his manner was more serious than ever. + </p> + <p> + “I am hard pressed, Mrs. Lee. My enemies encompass me about. They mean to + ruin me. I honestly wish to do my duty. You once said that personal + considerations should have no weight. Very well! throw them away! And now + tell me what I should do.” + </p> + <p> + For the first time, Mrs. Lee began to feel his power. He was simple, + straightforward, earnest. His words moved her. How should she imagine that + he was playing upon her sensitive nature precisely as he played upon the + President's coarse one, and that this heavy western politician had the + instincts of a wild Indian in their sharpness and quickness of perception; + that he divined her character and read it as he read the faces and tones + of thousands from day to day? She was uneasy under his eye. She began a + sentence, hesitated in the middle, and broke down. She lost her command of + thought, and sat dumb-founded. He had to draw her out of the confusion he + had himself made. + </p> + <p> + “I see your meaning in your face. You say that I should accept the duty + and disregard the consequences.” + </p> + <p> + “I don't know,” said Madeleine, hesitatingly; “Yes, I think that would be + my feeling.” + </p> + <p> + “And when I fall a sacrifice to that man's envy and intrigue, what will + you think then, Mrs. Lee? Will you not join the rest of the world and say + that I overreached myself; and walked into this trap with my eyes open, + and for my own objects? Do you think I shall ever be thought better of; + for getting caught here? I don't parade high moral views like our friend + French. I won't cant about virtue. But I do claim that in my public life I + have tried to do right. Will you do me the justice to think so?” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine still struggled to prevent herself from being drawn into + indefinite promises of sympathy with this man. She would keep him at arm's + length whatever her sympathies might be. She would not pledge herself to + espouse his cause. She turned upon him with an effort, and said that her + thoughts, now or at any time, were folly and nonsense, and that the + consciousness of right-doing was the only reward any public man had a + right to expect. + </p> + <p> + “And yet you are a hard critic, Mrs. Lee. If your thoughts are what you + say, your words are not. You judge with the judgment of abstract + principles, and you wield the bolts of divine justice. You look on and + condemn, but you refuse to acquit. When I come to you on the verge of what + is likely to be the fatal plunge of my life, and ask you only for some + clue to the moral principle that ought to guide me, you look on and say + that virtue is its own reward. And you do not even say where virtue lies.” + </p> + <p> + “I confess my sins,” said Madeleine, meekly and despondently; “life is + more complicated than I thought.” + </p> + <p> + “I shall be guided by your advice,” said Ratcliffe; “I shall walk into + that den of wild beasts, since you think I ought. But I shall hold you to + your responsibility. You cannot refuse to see me through dangers you have + helped to bring me into.” + </p> + <p> + “No, no!” cried Madeleine, earnestly; “no responsibility. You ask more + than I can give.” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe looked at her a moment with a troubled and careworn face. His + eyes seemed deep sunk in their dark circles, and his voice was pathetic in + its intensity. “Duty is duty, for you as well as for me. I have a right to + the help of all pure minds. You have no right to refuse it. How can you + reject your own responsibility and hold me to mine?” + </p> + <p> + Almost as he spoke, he rose and took his departure, leaving her no time to + do more than murmur again her ineffectual protest. After he was gone, Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Lee sat long, with her eyes fixed on the fire, reflecting upon what he had + said. Her mind was bewildered by the new suggestions which Ratcliffe had + thrown out. What woman of thirty, with aspirations for the infinite, could + resist an attack like this? What woman with a soul could see before her + the most powerful public man of her time, appealing—with a face + furrowed by anxieties, and a voice vibrating with only half-suppressed + affection—to her for counsel and sympathy, without yielding some + response? and what woman could have helped bowing her head to that rebuke + of her over-confident judgment, coming as it did from one who in the same + breath appealed to that judgment as final? Ratcliffe, too, had a curious + instinct for human weaknesses. No magnetic needle was ever truer than his + finger when he touched the vulnerable spot in an opponent's mind. Mrs. Lee + was not to be reached by an appeal to religious sentiment, to ambition, or + to affection. + </p> + <p> + Any such appeal would have fallen flat on her ears and destroyed its own + hopes. But she was a woman to the very last drop of her blood. She could + not be induced to love Ratcliffe, but she might be deluded into + sacrificing herself for him. She atoned for want of devotion to God, by + devotion to man. + </p> + <p> + She had a woman's natural tendency towards asceticism, self-extinction, + self-abnegation. All through life she had made painful efforts to + understand and follow out her duty. Ratcliffe knew her weak point when he + attacked her from this side. Like all great orators and advocates, he was + an actor; the more effective because of a certain dignified air that + forbade familiarity. + </p> + <p> + He had appealed to her sympathy, her sense of right and of duty, to her + courage, her loyalty, her whole higher nature; and while he made this + appeal he felt more than half convinced that he was all he pretended to + be, and that he really had a right to her devotion. What wonder that she + in her turn was more than half inclined to admit that right. She knew him + now better than Carrington or Jacobi knew him. Surely a man who spoke as + he spoke, had noble instincts and lofty aims? Was not his career a + thousand times more important than hers? If he, in his isolation and his + cares, needed her assistance, had she an excuse for refusing it? What was + there in her aimless and useless life which made it so precious that she + could not afford to fling it into the gutter, if need be, on the bare + chance of enriching some fuller existence? + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter VIII + </h2> + <p> + OF all titles ever assumed by prince or potentate, the proudest is that of + the Roman pontiffs: “Servus servorum Dei”—“Servant of the servants + of God.” + </p> + <p> + In former days it was not admitted that the devil's servants could by + right have any share in government. They were to be shut out, punished, + exiled, maimed, and burned. The devil has no servants now; only the people + have servants. There may be some mistake about a doctrine which makes the + wicked, when a majority, the mouthpiece of God against the virtuous, but + the hopes of mankind are staked on it; and if the weak in faith sometimes + quail when they see humanity floating in a shoreless ocean, on this plank, + which experience and religion long since condemned as rotten, mistake or + not, men have thus far floated better by its aid, than the popes ever did + with their prettier principle; so that it will be a long time yet before + society repents. + </p> + <p> + Whether the new President and his chief rival, Mr. Silas P. Ratcliffe, + were or were not servants of the servants of God, is not material here. + Servants they were to some one. No doubt many of those who call themselves + servants of the people are no better than wolves in sheep's clothing, or + asses in lions' skins. One may see scores of them any day in the Capitol + when Congress is in session, making noisy demonstrations, or more usefully + doing nothing. A wiser generation will employ them in manual labour; as it + is, they serve only themselves. But there are two officers, at least, + whose service is real—the President and his Secretary of the + Treasury. The Hoosier Quarryman had not been a week in Washington before + he was heartily home-sick for Indiana. No maid-of-all-work in a cheap + boarding-house was ever more harassed. Everyone conspired against him. His + enemies gave him no peace. All Washington was laughing at his blunders, + and ribald sheets, published on a Sunday, took delight in printing the new + Chief Magistrate's sayings and doings, chronicled with outrageous humour, + and placed by malicious hands where the President could not but see them. + He was sensitive to ridicule, and it mortified him to the heart to find + that remarks and acts, which to him seemed sensible enough, should be + capable of such perversion. Then he was overwhelmed with public business. + It came upon him in a deluge, and he now, in his despair, no longer tried + to control it. He let it pass over him like a wave. His mind was muddied + by the innumerable visitors to whom he had to listen. But his greatest + anxiety was the Inaugural Address which, distracted as he was, he could + not finish, although in another week it must be delivered. He was nervous + about his Cabinet; it seemed to him that he could do nothing until he had + disposed of Ratcliffe. + </p> + <p> + Already, thanks to the President's friends, Ratcliffe had become + indispensable; still an enemy, of course, but one whose hands must be + tied; a sort of Sampson, to be kept in bonds until the time came for + putting him out of the way, but in the meanwhile, to be utilized. This + point being settled, the President had in imagination begun to lean upon + him; for the last few days he had postponed everything till next week, + “when I get my Cabinet arranged;” which meant, when he got Ratcliffe's + assistance; and he fell into a panic whenever he thought of the chance + that Ratcliffe might refuse. + </p> + <p> + He was pacing his room impatiently on Monday morning, an hour before the + time fixed for Ratcliffe's visit. His feelings still fluctuated violently, + and if he recognized the necessity of using Ratcliffe, he was not the less + determined to tie Ratcliffe's hands. He must be made to come into a + Cabinet where every other voice would be against him. He must be prevented + from having any patronage to dispose of. He must be induced to accept + these conditions at the start. How present this to him in such a way as + not to repel him at once? All this was needless, if the President had only + known it, but he thought himself a profound statesman, and that his hand + was guiding the destinies of America to his own re-election. When at + length, on the stroke of ten o'clock, Ratcliffe entered the room, the + President turned to him with nervous eagerness, and almost before offering + his hand, said that he hoped Mr. Ratcliffe had come prepared to begin work + at once. The Senator replied that, if such was the President's decided + wish, he would offer no further opposition. Then the President drew + himself up in the attitude of an American Cato, and delivered a prepared + address, in which he said that he had chosen the members of his Cabinet + with a careful regard to the public interests; that Mr. Ratcliffe was + essential to the combination; that he expected no disagreement on + principles, for there was but one principle which he should consider + fundamental, namely, that there should be no removals from office except + for cause; and that under these circumstances he counted upon Mr. + Ratcliffe's assistance as a matter of patriotic duty. + </p> + <p> + To all this Ratcliffe assented without a word of objection, and the + President, more convinced than ever of his own masterly statesmanship, + breathed more freely than for a week past. Within ten minutes they were + actively at work together, clearing away the mass of accumulated business. + </p> + <p> + The relief of the Quarryman surprised himself. Ratcliffe lifted the weight + of affairs from his shoulders with hardly an effort. He knew everybody and + everything. He took most of the President's visitors at once into his own + hands and dismissed them with great rapidity. He knew what they wanted; he + knew what recommendations were strong and what were weak; who was to be + treated with deference and who was to be sent away abruptly; where a blunt + refusal was safe, and where a pledge was allowable. The President even + trusted him with the unfinished manuscript of the Inaugural Address, which + Ratcliffe returned to him the next day with such notes and suggestions as + left nothing to be done beyond copying them out in a fair hand. With all + this, he proved himself a very agreeable companion. He talked well and + enlivened the work; he was not a hard taskmaster, and when he saw that the + President was tired, he boldly asserted that there was no more business + that could not as well wait a day, and so took the weary Stone-cutter out + to drive for a couple of hours, and let him go peacefully to sleep in the + carriage. They dined together and Ratcliffe took care to send for Tom Lord + to amuse them, for Tom was a wit and a humourist, and kept the President + in a laugh. Mr. Lord ordered the dinner and chose the wines. He could be + coarse enough to suit even the President's palate, and Ratcliffe was not + behindhand. When the new Secretary went away at ten o'clock that night, + his chief; who was in high good humour with his dinner, his champagne, and + his conversation, swore with some unnecessary granite oaths, that + Ratcliffe was “a clever fellow anyhow,” and he was glad “that job was + fixed.” + </p> + <p> + The truth was that Ratcliffe had now precisely ten days before the new + Cabinet could be set in motion, and in these ten days he must establish + his authority over the President so firmly that nothing could shake it. He + was diligent in good works. Very soon the court began to feel his hand. If + a business letter or a written memorial came in, the President found it + easy to endorse: “Referred to the Secretary of the Treasury.” If a visitor + wanted anything for himself or another, the invariable reply came to be: + “Just mention it to Mr. Ratcliffe;” or, “I guess Ratcliffe will see to + that.” + </p> + <p> + Before long he even made jokes in a Catonian manner; jokes that were not + peculiarly witty, but somewhat gruff and boorish, yet significant of a + resigned and self-contented mind. One morning he ordered Ratcliffe to take + an iron-clad ship of war and attack the Sioux in Montana, seeing that he + was in charge of the army and navy and Indians at once, and Jack of all + trades; and again he told a naval officer who wanted a court-martial that + he had better get Ratcliffe to sit on him for he was a whole court-martial + by himself. That Ratcliffe held his chief in no less contempt than before, + was probable but not certain, for he kept silence on the subject before + the world, and looked solemn whenever the President was mentioned. + </p> + <p> + Before three days were over, the President, with a little more than his + usual abruptness, suddenly asked him what he knew about this fellow + Carson, whom the Pennsylvanians were bothering him to put in his Cabinet. + Ratcliffe was guarded: he scarcely knew the man; Mr. Carson was not in + politics, he believed, but was pretty respectable—for a + Pennsylvanian. The President returned to the subject several times; got + out his list of Cabinet officers and figured industriously upon it with a + rather perplexed face; called Ratcliffe to help him; and at last the + “slate” was fairly broken, and Ratcliffe's eyes gleamed when the President + caused his list of nominations to be sent to the Senate on the 5th March, + and Josiah B. Carson, of Pennsylvania, was promptly confirmed as Secretary + of the Interior. + </p> + <p> + But his eyes gleamed still more humorously when, a few days afterwards, + the President gave him a long list of some two score names, and asked him + to find places for them. He assented good-naturedly, with a remark that it + might be necessary to make a few removals to provide for these cases. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, well,” said the President, “I guess there's just about as many as + that had ought to go out anyway. These are friends of mine; got to be + looked after. Just stuff 'em in somewhere.” + </p> + <p> + Even he felt a little awkward about it, and, to do him justice, this was + the last that was heard about the fundamental rule of his administration. + </p> + <p> + Removals were fast and furious, until all Indiana became easy in + circumstances. And it was not to be denied that, by one means or another, + Ratcliffe's friends did come into their fair share of the public money. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps the President thought it best to wink at such use of the Treasury + patronage for the present, or was already a little overawed by his + Secretary. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe's work was done. The public had, with the help of some clever + intrigue, driven its servants into the traces. Even an Indiana + stone-cutter could be taught that his personal prejudices must yield to + the public service. What mischief the selfishness, the ambition, or the + ignorance of these men might do, was another matter. As the affair stood, + the President was the victim of his own schemes. It remained to be seen + whether, at some future day, Mr. Ratcliffe would think it worth his while + to strangle his chief by some quiet Eastern intrigue, but the time had + gone by when the President could make use of either the bow-string or the + axe upon him. + </p> + <p> + All this passed while Mrs. Lee was quietly puzzling her poor little brain + about her duty and her responsibility to Ratcliffe, who, meanwhile, rarely + failed to find himself on Sunday evenings by her side in her parlour, + where his rights were now so well established that no one presumed to + contest his seat, unless it were old Jacobi, who from time to time + reminded him that he was fallible and mortal. Occasionally, though not + often, Mr. Ratcliffe came at other times, as when he persuaded Mrs. Lee to + be present at the Inauguration, and to call on the President's wife. + Madeleine and Sybil went to the Capitol and had the best places to see and + hear the Inauguration, as well as a cold March wind would allow. Mrs. Lee + found fault with the ceremony; it was of the earth, earthy, she said. An + elderly western farmer, with silver spectacles, new and glossy evening + clothes, bony features, and stiff; thin, gray hair, trying to address a + large crowd of people, under the drawbacks of a piercing wind and a cold + in his head, was not a hero. Sybil's mind was lost in wondering whether + the President would not soon die of pneumonia. Even this experience, + however, was happy when compared with that of the call upon the + President's wife, after which Madeleine decided to leave the new dynasty + alone in future. The lady, who was somewhat stout and coarse-featured, and + whom Mrs. Lee declared she wouldn't engage as a cook, showed qualities + which, seen under that fierce light which beats upon a throne, seemed + ungracious. Her antipathy to Ratcliffe was more violent than her + husband's, and was even more openly expressed, until the President was + quite put out of countenance by it. She extended her hostility to every + one who could be supposed to be Ratcliffe's friend, and the newspapers, as + well as private gossip, had marked out Mrs. Lee as one who, by an alliance + with Ratcliffe, was aiming at supplanting her own rule over the White + House. + </p> + <p> + Hence, when Mrs. Lightfoot Lee was announced, and the two sisters were + ushered into the presidential parlour, she put on a coldly patronizing + air, and in reply to Madeleine's hope that she found Washington agreeable, + she intimated that there was much in Washington which struck her as awful + wicked, especially the women; and, looking at Sybil, she spoke of the + style of dress in this city which she said she meant to do what she could + to put a stop to. She'd heard tell that people sent to Paris for their + gowns, just as though America wasn't good enough to make one's clothes! + Jacob (all Presidents' wives speak of their husbands by their first names) + had promised her to get a law passed against it. In her town in Indiana, a + young woman who was seen on the street in such clothes wouldn't be spoken + to. At these remarks, made with an air and in a temper quite unmistakable, + Madeleine became exasperated beyond measure, and said that “Washington + would be pleased to see the President do something in regard to + dress-reform—or any other reform;” and with this allusion to the + President's ante-election reform speeches, Mrs. Lee turned her back and + left the room, followed by Sybil in convulsions of suppressed laughter, + which would not have been suppressed had she seen the face of their + hostess as the door shut behind them, and the energy with which she shook + her head and said: “See if I don't reform you yet, you—jade!” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee gave Ratcliffe a lively account of this interview, and he laughed + nearly as convulsively as Sybil over it, though he tried to pacify her by + saying that the President's most intimate friends openly declared his wife + to be insane, and that he himself was the person most afraid of her. But + Mrs. Lee declared that the President was as bad as his wife; that an + equally good President and President's wife could be picked up in any + corner-grocery between the Lakes and the Ohio; and that no inducement + should ever make her go near that coarse washerwoman again. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe did not attempt to change Mrs. Lee's opinion. Indeed he knew + better than any man how Presidents were made, and he had his own opinions + in regard to the process as well as the fabric produced. Nothing Mrs. Lee + could say now affected him. He threw off his responsibility and she found + it suddenly resting on her own shoulders. When she spoke with indignation + of the wholesale removals from office with which the new administration + marked its advent to power, he told her the story of the President's + fundamental principle, and asked her what she would have him do. “He meant + to tie my hands,” said Ratcliffe, “and to leave his own free, and I + accepted the condition. Can I resign now on such a ground as this?” And + Madeleine was obliged to agree that he could not. She had no means of + knowing how many removals he made in his own interest, or how far he had + outwitted the President at his own game. He stood before her a victim and + a patriot. Every step he had taken had been taken with her approval. He + was now in office to prevent what evil he could, not to be responsible for + the evil that was done; and he honestly assured her that much worse men + would come in when he went out, as the President would certainly take good + care that he did go out when the moment arrived. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee had the chance now to carry out her scheme in coming to + Washington, for she was already deep in the mire of politics and could see + with every advantage how the great machine floundered about, bespattering + with mud even her own pure garments. Ratcliffe himself, since entering the + Treasury, had begun to talk with a sneer of the way in which laws were + made, and openly said that he wondered how government got on at all. Yet + he declared still that this particular government was the highest + expression of political thought. Mrs. Lee stared at him and wondered + whether he knew what thought was. To her the government seemed to have + less thought in it than one of Sybil's gowns, for if they, like the + government, were monstrously costly, they were at least adapted to their + purpose, the parts fitted together, and they were neither awkward nor + unwieldy. + </p> + <p> + There was nothing very encouraging in all this, but it was better than New + York. At least it gave her something to look at, and to think about. Even + Lord Dunbeg preached practical philanthropy to her by the hour. Ratcliffe, + too, was compelled to drag himself out of the rut of machine politics, and + to justify his right of admission to her house. There Mr. French + discoursed at great length, until the fourth of March sent him home to + Connecticut; and he brought more than one intelligent member of Congress + to Mrs. Lee's parlour. Underneath the scum floating on the surface of + politics, Madeleine felt that there was a sort of healthy ocean current of + honest purpose, which swept the scum before it, and kept the mass pure. + </p> + <p> + This was enough to draw her on. She reconciled herself to accepting the + Ratcliffian morals, for she could see no choice. She herself had approved + every step she had seen him take. She could not deny that there must be + something wrong in a double standard of morality, but where was it? Mr. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe seemed to her to be doing good work with as pure means as he had + at hand. He ought to be encouraged, not reviled. What was she that she + should stand in judgment? + </p> + <p> + Others watched her progress with less satisfaction. Mr. Nathan Gore was + one of these, for he came in one evening, looking much out of temper, and, + sitting down by her side he said he had come to bid good-bye and to thank + her for the kindness she had shown him; he was to leave Washington the + next morning. She too expressed her warm regret, but added that she hoped + he was only going in order to take his passage to Madrid. + </p> + <p> + He shook his head. “I am going to take my passage,” said he, “but not to + Madrid. The fates have cut that thread. The President does not want my + services, and I can't blame him, for if our situations were reversed, I + should certainly not want his. He has an Indiana friend, who, I am told, + wanted to be postmaster at Indianapolis, but as this did not suit the + politicians, he was bought off at the exorbitant price of the Spanish + mission. But I should have no chance even if he were out of the way. The + President does not approve of me. He objects to the cut of my overcoat + which is unfortunately an English one. He also objects to the cut of my + hair. I am afraid that his wife objects to me because I am so happy as to + be thought a friend of yours.” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine could only acknowledge that Mr. Gore's case was a bad one. “But + after all,” said she, “why should politicians be expected to love you + literary gentlemen who write history. Other criminal classes are not + expected to love their judges.” + </p> + <p> + “No, but they have sense enough to fear them,” replied Gore vindictively; + “not one politician living has the brains or the art to defend his own + cause. The ocean of history is foul with the carcases of such statesmen, + dead and forgotten except when some historian fishes one of them up to + gibbet it.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Gore was so much out of temper that after this piece of extravagance + he was forced to pause a moment to recover himself. Then he went on:—“You + are perfectly right, and so is the President. I have no business to be + meddling in politics. It is not my place. The next time you hear of me, I + promise it shall not be as an office-seeker.” + </p> + <p> + Then he rapidly changed the subject, saying that he hoped Mrs. Lee was + soon going northward again, and that they might meet at Newport. + </p> + <p> + “I don't know,” replied Madeleine; “the spring is pleasant here, and we + shall stay till the warm weather, I think.” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Gore looked grave. “And your politics!” said he; “are you satisfied + with what you have seen?” + </p> + <p> + “I have got so far as to lose the distinction between right and wrong. + Isn't that the first step in politics?” + </p> + <p> + Mr. Gore had no mind even for serious jesting. He broke out into a long + lecture which sounded like a chapter of some future history: “But Mrs. + Lee, is it possible that you don't see what a wrong path you are on. If + you want to know what the world is really doing to any good purpose, pass + a winter at Samarcand, at Timbuctoo, but not at Washington. Be a + bank-clerk, or a journeyman printer, but not a Congressman. Here you will + find nothing but wasted effort and clumsy intrigue.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you think it a pity for me to learn that?” asked Madeleine when his + long essay was ended. + </p> + <p> + “No!” replied Gore, hesitating; “not if you do learn it. But many people + never get so far, or only when too late. I shall be glad to hear that you + are mistress of it and have given up reforming politics. The Spaniards + have a proverb that smells of the stable, but applies to people like you + and me: The man who washes his donkey's head, loses time and soap.” + </p> + <p> + Gore took his leave before Madeleine had time to grasp all the impudence + of this last speech. Not until she was fairly in bed that night did it + suddenly flash on her mind that Mr. Gore had dared to caricature her as + wasting time and soap on Mr. Ratcliffe. At first she was violently angry + and then she laughed in spite of herself; there was truth in the portrait. + In secret, too, she was the less offended because she half thought that it + had depended only on herself to make of Mr. Gore something more than a + friend. If she had overheard his parting words to Carrington, she would + have had still more reason to think that a little jealousy of Ratcliffe's + success sharpened the barb of Gore's enmity. + </p> + <p> + “Take care of Ratcliffe!” was his farewell; “he is a clever dog. He has + set his mark on Mrs. Lee. Look out that he doesn't walk off with her!” + </p> + <p> + A little startled by this sudden confidence, Carrington could only ask + what he could do to prevent it. + </p> + <p> + “Cats that go ratting, don't wear gloves,” replied Gore, who always + carried a Spanish proverb in his pocket. Carrington, after painful + reflection, could only guess that he wanted Ratcliffe's enemies to show + their claws. But how? + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee not long afterwards spoke to Ratcliffe of her regret at Gore's + disappointment and hinted at his disgust. Ratcliffe replied that he had + done what he could for Gore, and had introduced him to the President, who, + after seeing him, had sworn his usual granitic oath that he would sooner + send his nigger farm-hand Jake to Spain than that man-milliner. “You know + how I stand;” added Ratcliffe; “what more could I do?” And Mrs. Lee's + implied reproach was silenced. + </p> + <p> + If Gore was little pleased with Ratcliffe's conduct, poor Schneidekoupon + was still less so. He turned up again at Washington not long after the + Inauguration and had a private interview with the Secretary of the + Treasury. + </p> + <p> + What passed at it was known only to themselves, but, whatever it was, + Schneidekoupon's temper was none the better for it. From his conversations + with Sybil, it seemed that there was some question about appointments in + which his protectionist friends were interested, and he talked very openly + about Ratcliffe's want of good faith, and how he had promised everything + to everybody and had failed to keep a single pledge; if Schneidekoupon's + advice had been taken, this wouldn't have happened. Mrs. Lee told + Ratcliffe that Schneidekoupon seemed out of temper, and asked the reason. + He only laughed and evaded the question, remarking that cattle of this + kind were always complaining unless they were allowed to run the whole + government; Schneidekoupon had nothing to grumble about; no one had ever + made any promises to him. But nevertheless Schneidekoupon confided to + Sybil his antipathy to Ratcliffe and solemnly begged her not to let Mrs. + Lee fall into his hands, to which Sybil answered tartly that she only + wished Mr. + </p> + <p> + Schneidekoupon would tell her how to help it. + </p> + <p> + The reformer French had also been one of Ratcliffe's backers in the fight + over the Treasury. He remained in Washington a few days after the + Inauguration, and then disappeared, leaving cards with P.P.C. in the + corner, at Mrs. Lee's door. Rumour said that he too was disappointed, but + he kept his own counsel, and, if he really wanted the mission to Belgium, + he contented himself with waiting for it. A respectable stage-coach + proprietor from Oregon got the place. + </p> + <p> + As for Jacobi, who was not disappointed, and who had nothing to ask for, + he was bitterest of all. He formally offered his congratulations to + Ratcliffe on his appointment. This little scene occurred in Mrs. Lee's + parlour. The old Baron, with his most suave manner, and his most + Voltairean leer, said that in all his experience, and he had seen a great + many court intrigues, he had never seen anything better managed than that + about the Treasury. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe was furiously angry, and told the Baron outright that foreign + ministers who insulted the governments to which they were accredited ran a + risk of being sent home. + </p> + <p> + “Ce serait toujours un pis aller,” said Jacobi, seating himself with + calmness in Ratcliffe's favourite chair by Mrs. Lee's side. + </p> + <p> + Madeleine, alarmed as she was, could not help interposing, and hastily + asked whether that remark was translatable. + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” said the Baron; “I can do nothing with your language. You would only + say that it was a choice of evils, to go, or to stay.” + </p> + <p> + “We might translate it by saying: 'One may go farther and fare worse,'” + rejoined Madeleine; and so the storm blew over for the time, and Ratcliffe + sulkily let the subject drop. Nevertheless the two men never met in Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Lee's parlour without her dreading a personal altercation. Little by + little, what with Jacobi's sarcasms and Ratcliffe's roughness, they nearly + ceased to speak, and glared at each other like quarrelsome dogs. Madeleine + was driven to all kinds of expedients to keep the peace, yet at the same + time she could not but be greatly amused by their behaviour, and as their + hatred of each other only stimulated their devotion to her, she was + content to hold an even balance between them. + </p> + <p> + Nor were these all the awkward consequences of Ratcliffe's attentions. Now + that he was distinctly recognized as an intimate friend of Mrs. Lee's, and + possibly her future husband, no one ventured any longer to attack him in + her presence, but nevertheless she was conscious in a thousand ways that + the atmosphere became more and more dense under the shadow of the + Secretary of the Treasury. In spite of herself she sometimes felt uneasy, + as though there were conspiracy in the air. One March afternoon she was + sitting by her fire, with an English Review in her hand, trying to read + the last Symposium on the sympathies of Eternal Punishment, when her + servant brought in a card, and Mrs. Lee had barely time to read the name + of Mrs. Samuel Baker when that lady followed the servant into the room, + forcing the countersign in so effective style that for once Madeleine was + fairly disconcerted. Her manner when thus intruded upon, was cool, but in + this case, on Carrington's account, she tried to smile courteously and + asked her visitor to sit down, which Mrs. Baker was doing without an + invitation, very soon putting her hostess entirely at her ease. She was, + when seen without her veil, a showy woman verging on forty, decidedly + large, tall, over-dressed even in mourning, and with a complexion rather + fresher than nature had made it. + </p> + <p> + There was a geniality in her address, savouring of easy Washington ways, a + fruitiness of smile, and a rich southern accent, that explained on the + spot her success in the lobby. She looked about her with fine + self-possession, and approved Mrs. Lee's surroundings with a cordiality so + different from the northern stinginess of praise, that Madeleine was + rather pleased than offended. Yet when her eye rested on the Corot, + Madeleine's only pride, she was evidently perplexed, and resorted to + eye-glasses, in order, as it seemed, to gain time for reflection. But she + was not to be disconcerted even by Corot's masterpiece: + </p> + <p> + “How pretty! Japanese, isn't it? Sea-weeds seen through a fog. I went to + an auction yesterday, and do you know I bought a tea-pot with a picture + just like that.” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine inquired with extreme interest about the auction, but after + learning all that Mrs. Baker had to tell, she was on the point of being + reduced to silence, when she bethought herself to mention Carrington. Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Baker brightened up at once, if she could be said to brighten where there + was no sign of dimness: + </p> + <p> + “Dear Mr. Carrington! Isn't he sweet? I think he's a delicious man. I + don't know what I should do without him. Since poor Mr. Baker left me, we + have been together all the time. You know my poor husband left directions + that all his papers should be burned, and though I would not say so unless + you were such a friend of Mr. Carrington's, I reckon it's just as well for + some people that he did. I never could tell you what quantities of papers + Mr. Carrington and I have put in the fire; and we read them all too.” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine asked whether this was not dull work. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, dear, no! You see I know all about it, and told Mr. Carrington the + story of every paper as we went on. It was quite amusing, I assure you.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee then boldly said she had got from Mr. Carrington an idea that + Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Baker was a very skilful diplomatist. + </p> + <p> + “Diplomatist!” echoed the widow with her genial laugh; “Well! it was as + much that as anything, but there's not many diplomatists' wives in this + city ever did as much work as I used to do. Why, I knew half the members + of Congress intimately, and all of them by sight. I knew where they came + from and what they liked best. I could get round the greater part of them, + sooner or later.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee asked what she did with all this knowledge. Mrs. Baker shook her + pink-and-white countenance, and almost paralysed her opposite neighbour by + a sort of Grande Duchesse wink: + </p> + <p> + “Oh, my dear! you are new here. If you had seen Washington in war-times + and for a few years afterwards, you wouldn't ask that. We had more + congressional business than all the other agents put together. Every one + came to us then, to get his bill through, or his appropriation watched. We + were hard at work all the time. You see, one can't keep the run of three + hundred men without some trouble. My husband used to make lists of them in + books with a history of each man and all he could learn about him, but I + carried it all in my head.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you mean that you could get them all to vote as you pleased?” asked + Madeleine. + </p> + <p> + “Well! we got our bills through,” replied Mrs. Baker. + </p> + <p> + “But how did you do it? did they take bribes?” + </p> + <p> + “Some of them did. Some of them liked suppers and cards and theatres and + all sorts of things. Some of them could be led, and some had to be driven + like Paddy's pig who thought he was going the other way. Some of them had + wives who could talk to them, and some—hadn't,” said Mrs. Baker, + with a queer intonation in her abrupt ending. + </p> + <p> + “But surely,” said Mrs. Lee, “many of them must have been above—I + mean, they must have had nothing to get hold of; so that you could manage + them.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Baker laughed cheerfully and remarked that they were very much of a + muchness. + </p> + <p> + “But I can't understand how you did it,” urged Madeleine; “now, how would + you have gone to work to get a respectable senator's vote—a man like + Mr. Ratcliffe, for instance?” + </p> + <p> + “Ratcliffe!” repeated Mrs. Baker with a slight elevation of voice that + gave way to a patronising laugh. “Oh, my dear! don't mention names. I + should get into trouble. Senator Ratcliffe was a good friend of my + husband's. I guess Mr. Carrington could have told you that. But you see, + what we generally wanted was all right enough. We had to know where our + bills were, and jog people's elbows to get them reported in time. + Sometimes we had to convince them that our bill was a proper one, and they + ought to vote for it. Only now and then, when there was a great deal of + money and the vote was close, we had to find out what votes were worth. It + was mostly dining and talking, calling them out into the lobby or asking + them to supper. I wish I could tell you things I have seen, but I don't + dare. It wouldn't be safe. I've told you already more than I ever said to + any one else; but then you are so intimate with Mr. Carrington, that I + always think of you as an old friend.” + </p> + <p> + Thus Mrs. Baker rippled on, while Mrs. Lee listened with more and more + doubt and disgust. The woman was showy, handsome in a coarse style, and + perfectly presentable. Mrs. Lee had seen Duchesses as vulgar. She knew + more about the practical working of government than Mrs. Lee could ever + expect or hope to know. Why then draw back from this interesting lobbyist + with such babyish repulsion? + </p> + <p> + When, after a long, and, as she declared, a most charming call, Mrs. Baker + wended her way elsewhere and Madeleine had given the strictest order that + she should never be admitted again, Carrington entered, and Madeleine + showed him Mrs. Baker's card and gave a lively account of the interview. + </p> + <p> + “What shall I do with the woman?” she asked; “must I return her card?” But + Carrington declined to offer advice on this interesting point. “And she + says that Mr. Ratcliffe was a friend of her husband's and that you could + tell me about that.” + </p> + <p> + “Did she say so?” remarked Carrington vaguely. + </p> + <p> + “Yes! and that she knew every one's weak points and could get all their + votes.” + </p> + <p> + Carrington expressed no surprise, and so evidently preferred to change the + subject, that Mrs. Lee desisted and said no more. + </p> + <p> + But she determined to try the same experiment on Mr. Ratcliffe, and chose + the very next chance that offered. In her most indifferent manner she + remarked that Mrs. Sam Baker had called upon her and had initiated her + into the mysteries of the lobby till she had become quite ambitious to + start on that career. + </p> + <p> + “She said you were a friend of her husband's,” added Madeleine softly. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe's face betrayed no sign. + </p> + <p> + “If you believe what those people tell you,” said he drily, “you will be + wiser than the Queen of Sheba.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter IX + </h2> + <p> + WHENEVER a man reaches the top of the political ladder, his enemies unite + to pull him down. His friends become critical and exacting. Among the many + dangers of this sort which now threatened Ratcliffe, there was one that, + had he known it, might have made him more uneasy than any of those which + were the work of senators and congressmen. Carrington entered into an + alliance, offensive and defensive, with Sybil. It came about in this wise. + Sybil was fond of riding and occasionally, when Carrington could spare the + time, he went as her guide and protector in these country excursions; for + every Virginian, however out at elbows, has a horse, as he has shoes or a + shirt. + </p> + <p> + In a thoughtless moment Carrington had been drawn into a promise that he + would take Sybil to Arlington. The promise was one that he did not hurry + to keep, for there were reasons which made a visit to Arlington anything + but a pleasure to him; but Sybil would listen to no excuses, and so it + came about that, one lovely March morning, when the shrubs and the trees + in the square before the house were just beginning, under the warmer sun, + to show signs of their coming wantonness, Sybil stood at the open window + waiting for him, while her new Kentucky horse before the door showed what + he thought of the delay by curving his neck, tossing his head, and pawing + the pavement. + </p> + <p> + Carrington was late and kept her waiting so long, that the mignonette and + geraniums, which adorned the window, suffered for his slowness, and the + curtain tassels showed signs of wilful damage. Nevertheless he arrived at + length, and they set out together, choosing the streets least enlivened by + horse-cars and provision-carts, until they had crept through the great + metropolis of Georgetown and come upon the bridge which crosses the noble + river just where its bold banks open out to clasp the city of Washington + in their easy embrace. Then reaching the Virginia side they cantered gaily + up the laurel-margined road, with glimpses of woody defiles, each carrying + its trickling stream and rich in promise of summer flowers, while from + point to point they caught glorious glimpses of the distant city and + river. They passed the small military station on the heights, still + dignified by the name of fort, though Sybil silently wondered how a fort + was possible without fortifications, and complained that there was nothing + more warlike than a “nursery of telegraph poles.” The day was blue and + gold; everything smiled and sparkled in the crisp freshness of the + morning. Sybil was in bounding spirits and not at all pleased to find that + her companion became moody and abstracted as they went on. “Poor Mr. + Carrington!” thought she to herself, “he is so nice; but when he puts on + that solemn air, one might as well go to sleep. I am quite certain no nice + woman will ever marry him if he looks like that;” and her practical mind + ran off among all the girls of her acquaintance, in search of one who + would put up with Carrington's melancholy face. She knew his devotion to + her sister, but had long ago rejected this as a hopeless chance. There was + a simplicity about Sybil's way of dealing with life, which had its own + charm. She never troubled herself about the impossible or the unthinkable. + She had feelings, and was rather quick in her sympathies and sorrows, but + she was equally quick in getting over them, and she expected other people + to do likewise. Madeleine dissected her own feelings and was always + wondering whether they were real or not; she had a habit of taking off her + mental clothing, as she might take off a dress, and looking at it as + though it belonged to some one else, and as though sensations were + manufactured like clothes. This seems to be one of the easier ways of + deadening sorrow, as though the mind could teach itself to lop off its + feelers. Sybil particularly disliked this self-inspection. In the first + place she did not understand it, and in the second her mind was all + feelers, and amputation was death. She could no more analyse a feeling + than doubt its existence, both which were habits of her sister. + </p> + <p> + How was Sybil to know what was passing in Carrington's mind? He was + thinking of nothing in which she supposed herself interested. He was + troubled with memories of civil war and of associations still earlier, + belonging to an age already vanishing or vanished; but what could she know + about civil war who had been almost an infant at the time? At this moment, + she happened to be interested in the baffle of Waterloo, for she was + reading “Vanity Fair,” and had cried as she ought for poor little Emmy, + when her husband, George Osborne, lay dead on the field there, with a + bullet through his heart. But how was she to know that here, only a few + rods before her, lay scores and hundreds of George Osbornes, or his + betters, and in their graves the love and hope of many Emmys, not + creatures of the imagination, but flesh and blood, like herself? To her, + there was no more in those associations which made Carrington groan in the + silence of his thoughts, than if he had been old Kaspar, and she the + little Wilhelmine. What was a skull more or less to her? What concern had + she in the famous victory? + </p> + <p> + Yet even Sybil was startled as she rode through the gate and found herself + suddenly met by the long white ranks of head-stones, stretching up and + down the hill-sides by thousands, in order of baffle; as though Cadmus had + reversed his myth, and had sown living men, to come up dragons' teeth. She + drew in her horse with a shiver and a sudden impulse to cry. Here was + something new to her. This was war—wounds, disease, death. She + dropped her voice and with a look almost as serious as Carrington's, asked + what all these graves meant. When Carrington told her, she began for the + first time to catch some dim notion why his face was not quite as gay as + her own. Even now this idea was not very precise, for he said little about + himself, but at least she grappled with the fact that he had actually, + year after year, carried arms against these men who lay at her feet and + who had given their lives for her cause. It suddenly occurred to her as a + new thought that perhaps he himself might have killed one of them with his + own hand. There was a strange shock in this idea. She felt that Carrington + was further from her. He gained dignity in his rebel isolation. She wanted + to ask him how he could have been a traitor, and she did not dare. + Carrington a traitor! + </p> + <p> + Carrington killing her friends! The idea was too large to grasp. She fell + back on the simpler task of wondering how he had looked in his rebel + uniform. + </p> + <p> + They rode slowly round to the door of the house and dismounted, after he + had with some difficulty found a man to hold their horses. From the heavy + brick porch they looked across the superb river to the raw and incoherent + ugliness of the city, idealised into dreamy beauty by the atmosphere, and + the soft background of purple hills behind. Opposite them, with its crude + “thus saith the law” stamped on white dome and fortress-like walls, rose + the Capitol. + </p> + <p> + Carrington stood with her a short time while they looked at the view; then + said he would rather not go into the house himself, and sat down on the + steps while she strolled alone through the rooms. These were bare and + gaunt, so that she, with her feminine sense of fitness, of course + considered what she would do to make them habitable. She had a neat fancy + for furniture, and distributed her tones and half tones and bits of colour + freely about the walls and ceilings, with a high-backed chair here, a + spindle-legged sofa there, and a claw-footed table in the centre, until + her eye was caught by a very dirty deal desk, on which stood an open book, + with an inkstand and some pens. On the leaf she read the last entry: “Eli + M. Grow and lady, Thermopyle Centre.” Not even the graves outside had + brought the horrors of war so near. + </p> + <p> + What a scourge it was! This respectable family turned out of such a lovely + house, and all the pretty old furniture swept away before a horde of + coarse invaders “with ladies.” Did the hosts of Attila write their names + on visiting books in the temple of Vesta and the house of Sallust? What a + new terror they would have added to the name of the scourge of God! Sybil + returned to the portico and sat down by Carrington on the steps. + </p> + <p> + “How awfully sad it is!” said she; “I suppose the house was prettily + furnished when the Lees lived here? Did you ever see it then?” + </p> + <p> + Sybil was not very profound, but she had sympathy, and at this moment + Carrington felt sorely in need of comfort. He wanted some one to share his + feelings, and he turned towards her hungry for companionship. + </p> + <p> + “The Lees were old family friends of mine,” said he. “I used to stay here + when I was a boy, even as late as the spring of 1861. The last time I sat + here, it was with them. We were wild about disunion and talked of nothing + else. I have been trying to recall what was said then. We never thought + there would be war, and as for coercion, it was nonsense. Coercion, + indeed! The idea was ridiculous. I thought so, too, though I was a Union + man and did not want the State to go out. But though I felt sure that + Virginia must suffer, I never thought we could be beaten. Yet now I am + sitting here a pardoned rebel, and the poor Lees are driven away and their + place is a grave-yard.” + </p> + <p> + Sybil became at once absorbed in the Lees and asked many questions, all + which Carrington gladly answered. He told her how he had admired and + followed General Lee through the war. “We thought he was to be our + Washington, you know; and perhaps he had some such idea himself;” and + then, when Sybil wanted to hear about the baffles and the fighting, he + drew a rough map on the gravel path to show her how the two lines had run, + only a few miles away; then he told her how he had carried his musket day + after day over all this country, and where he had seen his battles. Sybil + had everything to learn; the story came to her with all the animation of + real life, for here under her eyes were the graves of her own champions, + and by her side was a rebel who had stood under our fire at Malvern Hill + and at South Mountain, and who was telling her how men looked and what + they thought in face of death. She listened with breathless interest, and + at last summoned courage to ask in an awestruck tone whether Carrington + had ever killed any one himself. She was relieved, although a little + disappointed, when he said that he believed not; he hoped not; though no + private who has discharged a musket in baffle can be quite sure where the + bullet went. “I never tried to kill any one,” said he, “though they tried + to kill me incessantly.” Then Sybil begged to know how they had tried to + kill him, and he told her one or two of those experiences, such as most + soldiers have had, when he had been fired upon and the balls had torn his + clothes or drawn blood. Poor Sybil was quite overcome, and found a deadly + fascination in the horror. As they sat together on the steps with the + glorious view spread before them, her attention was so closely fixed on + his story that she saw neither the view nor even the carriages of tourists + who drove up, looked about, and departed, envying Carrington his + occupation with the lovely girl. + </p> + <p> + She was in imagination rushing with him down the valley of Virginia on the + heels of our flying army, or gloomily toiling back to the Potomac after + the bloody days at Gettysburg, or watching the last grand debâcle on the + road from Richmond to Appomattox. They would have sat there till sunset if + Carrington had not at length insisted that they must go, and then she rose + slowly with a deep sigh and undisguised regret. + </p> + <p> + As they rode away, Carrington, whose thoughts were not devoted to his + companion so entirely as they should have been, ventured to say that he + wished her sister had come with them, but he found that his hint was not + well received. + </p> + <p> + Sybil emphatically rejected the idea: “I'm very glad she didn't come. If + she had, you would have talked with her all the time, and I should have + been left to amuse myself. You would have been discussing things, and I + hate discussions. She would have been hunting for first principles, and + you would have been running about, trying to catch some for her. Besides, + she is coming herself some Sunday with that tiresome Mr. Ratcliffe. I + don't see what she finds in that man to amuse her. Her taste is getting to + be demoralised in Washington. Do you know, Mr. Carrington, I'm not clever + or serious, like Madeleine, and I can't read laws, and hate politics, but + I've more common sense than she has, and she makes me cross with her. I + understand now why young widows are dangerous, and why they're bumed at + their husband's funerals in India. Not that I want to have Madeleine + burned, for she's a dear, good creature, and I love her better than + anything in the world; but she will certainly do herself some dreadful + mischief one of these days; she has the most extravagant notions about + self-sacrifice and duty; if she hadn't luckily thought of taking charge of + me, she would have done some awful thing long ago, and if I could only be + a little wicked, she would be quite happy all the rest of her life in + reforming me; but now she has got hold of that Mr. Ratcliffe, and he is + trying to make her think she can reform him, and if he does, it's all up + with us. Madeleine will just go and break her heart over that odious, + great, coarse brute, who only wants her money.” + </p> + <p> + Sybil delivered this little oration with a degree of energy that went to + Carrington's heart. She did not often make such sustained efforts, and it + was clear that on this subject she had exhausted her whole mind. + Carrington was delighted, and urged her on. “I dislike Mr. Ratcliffe as + much as you do;—more perhaps. So does every one who knows much about + him. But we shall only make the matter worse if we interfere. What can we + do?” + </p> + <p> + “That is just what I tell everybody,” resumed Sybil. “There is Victoria + Dare always telling me I ought to do something; and Mr. Schneidekoupon + too; just as though I could do anything. Madeleine has done nothing but + get into mischief here. Half the people think her worldly and ambitious. + Only last night that spiteful old woman, Mrs. Clinton, said to me: 'Your + sister is quite spoiled by Washington. She is more wild for power than any + human being I ever saw.' I was dreadfully angry and told her she was quite + mistaken—Madeleine was not the least spoiled. But I couldn't say + that she was not fond of power, for she is; but not in the way Mrs. + Clinton meant. You should have seen her the other evening when Mr. + Ratcliffe said about some matter of public business that he would do + whatever she thought right; she spoke up quite sharply for her, with a + scornful little laugh, and said that he had better do what he thought + right. He looked for a moment almost angry, and muttered something about + women's being incomprehensible. He is always trying to tempt her with + power. She might have had long ago all the power he could give her, but I + can see, and he sees too, that she always keeps him at arm's length. He + doesn't like it, but he expects one of these days to find a bribe that + will answer. I wish we had never come to Washington. New York is so much + nicer and the people there are much more amusing; they dance ever so much + better and send one flowers all the time, and then they never talk about + first principles. Maude had her hospitals and paupers and training school, + and got along very well. It was so safe. But when I say so to her, she + only smiles in a patronising kind of way, and tells me that I shall have + as much of Newport as I want; just as though I were a child, and not a + woman of twenty-five. Poor Maude! I can't stay with her if she marries Mr. + Ratcliffe, and it would break my heart to leave her with that man. Do you + think he would beat her? Does he drink? I would almost rather be beaten a + little, if I cared for a man, than be taken out to Peonia. Oh, Mr. + Carrington! you are our only hope. She will listen to you. Don't let her + marry that dreadful politician.” + </p> + <p> + To all this pathetic appeal, some parts of which were as little calculated + to please Carrington as Ratcliffe himself, Carrington answered that he was + ready to do all in his power but that Sybil must tell him when and how to + act. + </p> + <p> + “Then, it's a bargain,” said she; “whenever I want you, I shall call on + you for help, and you shall prevent the marriage.” + </p> + <p> + “Alliance offensive and defensive,” said he, laughing; “war to the knife + on Ratcliffe. We will have his scalp if necessary, but I rather think he + will soon commit hari-kari himself if we leave him alone.” + </p> + <p> + “Madeleine will like him all the better if he does anything Japanese,” + replied Sybil, with great seriousness; “I wish there was more Japanese + bric-à-brac here, or any kind of old pots and pans to talk about. A little + art would be good for her. What a strange place this is, and how people do + stand on their heads in it! Nobody thinks like anyone else. Victoria Dare + says she is trying on principle not to be good, because she wants to keep + some new excitements for the next world. I'm sure she practices as she + preaches. Did you see her at Mrs. Clinton's last night. She behaved more + outrageously than ever. She sat on the stairs all through supper, looking + like a demure yellow cat with two bouquets in her paws—and I know + Lord Dunbeg sent one of them;—and she actually let Mr. French feed + her with ice-cream from a spoon. She says she was showing Lord Dunbeg a + phase, and that he is going to put it into his article on American Manners + and Customs in the Quarterly, but I don't think it's nice, do you, Mr. + Carrington? I wish Madeleine had her to take care of. She would have + enough to do then, I can tell her.” + </p> + <p> + And so, gently prattling, Miss Sybil returned to the city, her alliance + with Carrington completed; and it was a singular fact that she never again + called him dull. There was henceforward a look of more positive pleasure + and cordiality on her face when he made his appearance wherever she might + be; and the next time he suggested a horseback excursion she instantly + agreed to go, although aware that she had promised a younger gentleman of + the diplomatic body to be at home that same afternoon, and the good fellow + swore polyglot oaths on being turned away from her door. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Ratcliffe knew nothing of this conspiracy against his peace and + prospects. Even if he had known it, he might only have laughed, and + pursued his own path without a second thought. Yet it was certain that he + did not think Carrington's enmity a thing to be overlooked, and from the + moment of his obtaining a clue to its cause, he had begun to take + precautions against it. Even in the middle of the contest for the + Treasury, he had found time to listen to Mr. Wilson Keens report on the + affairs of the late Samuel Baker. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Keen came to him with a copy of Baker's will and with memoranda of + remarks made by the unsuspecting Mrs. Baker; “from which it appears,” said + he, “that Baker, having no time to put his affairs in order, left special + directions that his executors should carefully destroy all papers that + might be likely to compromise individuals.” + </p> + <p> + “What is the executor's name?” interrupted Ratcliffe. + </p> + <p> + “The executor's name is—John Carrington,” said Keen, methodically + referring to his copy of the will. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe's face was impassive, but the inevitable, “I knew it,” almost + sprang to his lips. He was rather pleased at the instinct which had led + him so directly to the right trail. + </p> + <p> + Keen went on to say that from Mrs. Baker's conversation it was certain + that the testator's directions had been carried out, and that the great + bulk of these papers had been burned. + </p> + <p> + “Then it will be useless to press the inquiry further,” said Ratcliffe; “I + am much obliged to you for your assistance,” and he turned the + conversation to the condition of Mr. Keen's bureau in the Treasury + department. + </p> + <p> + The next time Ratcliffe saw Mrs. Lee, after his appointment to the + Treasury was confirmed, he asked her whether she did not think Carrington + very well suited for public service, and when she warmly assented, he said + it had occurred to him to offer the place of Solicitor of the Treasury to + Mr. + </p> + <p> + Carrington, for although the actual salary might not be very much more + than he earned by his private practice, the incidental advantages to a + Washington lawyer were considerable; and to the Secretary it was + especially necessary to have a solicitor in whom he could place entire + confidence. Mrs. Lee was pleased by this motion of Ratcliffe's, the more + because she had supposed that Ratcliffe had no liking for Carrington. She + doubted whether Carrington would accept the place, but she hoped that it + might modify his dislike for Ratcliffe, and she agreed to sound him on the + subject. There was something a little compromising in thus allowing + herself to appear as the dispenser of Mr. Ratcliffe's patronage, but she + dismissed this objection on the ground that Carrington's interests were + involved, and that it was for him to judge whether he should take the + place or not. Perhaps the world would not be so charitable if the + appointment were made. What then? Mrs. Lee asked herself the question and + did not feel quite at ease. + </p> + <p> + So far as Carrington was concerned, she might have dismissed her doubts. + </p> + <p> + There was not a chance of his taking the place, as very soon appeared. + When she spoke to him on the subject, and repeated what Ratcliffe had + said, his face flushed, and he sat for some moments in silence. He never + thought very rapidly, but now the ideas seemed to come so fast as to + bewilder his mind. + </p> + <p> + The situation flashed before his eyes like electric sparks. His first + impression was that Ratcliffe wanted to buy him; to tie his tongue; to + make him run, like a fastened dog, under the waggon of the Secretary of + the Treasury. His second notion was that Ratcliffe wanted to put Mrs. Lee + under obligations, in order to win her regard; and, again, that he wanted + to raise himself in her esteem by posing as a friend of honest + administration and unassisted virtue. Then suddenly it occurred to him + that the scheme was to make him appear jealous and vindictive; to put him + in an attitude where any reason he might give for declining would bear a + look of meanness, and tend to separate him from Mrs. Lee. Carrington was + so absorbed by these thoughts, and his mind worked so slowly, that he + failed to hear one or two remarks addressed to him by Mrs. Lee, who became + a little alarmed, under the impression that he was unexpectedly paralyzed. + </p> + <p> + When at length he heard her and attempted to frame an answer, his + embarrassment increased. He could only stammer that he was sorry to be + obliged to decline, but this office was one he could not undertake. + </p> + <p> + If Madeleine felt a little relieved by this decision, she did not show it. + </p> + <p> + From her manner one might have supposed it to be her fondest wish that + Carrington should be Solicitor of the Treasury. She cross-questioned him + with obstinacy. Was not the offer a good one?—and he was obliged to + confess that it was. Were the duties such as he could not perform? Not at + all! there was nothing in the duties which alarmed him. Did he object to + it because of his southern prejudices against the administration? Oh, no! + he had no political feeling to stand in his way. What, then, could be his + reason for refusing? + </p> + <p> + Carrington resorted again to silence, until Mrs. Lee, a little + impatiently, asked whether it was possible that his personal dislike to + Racliffe could blind him so far as to make him reject so fair a proposal. + Carrington, finding himself more and more uncomfortable, rose restlessly + from his chair and paced the room. He felt that Ratclife had fairly + out-generaled him, and he was at his wits' end to know what card he could + play that would not lead directly into Ratcliffe's trump suit. To refuse + such an offer was hard enough at best, for a man who wanted money and + professional advancement as he did, but to injure himself and help + Ratcliffe by this refusal, was abominably hard. Nevertheless, he was + obliged to admit that he would rather not take a position so directly + under Ratcliffe's control. Madeleine said no more, but he thought she + looked annoyed, and he felt himself in an intolerably painful situation. + He was not certain that she herself might not have had some share in + proposing the plan, and that his refusal might not have some mortifying + consequences for her. What must she think of him, then? + </p> + <p> + At this very moment he would have given his right arm for a word of real + affection from Mrs. Lee. He adored her. He would willingly enough have + damned himself for her. There was no sacrifice he would not have made to + bring her nearer to him. In his upright, quiet, simple kind of way, he + immolated himself before her. For months his heart had ached with this + hopeless passion. He recognized that it was hopeless. He knew that she + would never love him, and, to do her justice, she never had given him + reason to suppose that it was in her power to love him, r any man. And + here he stood, obliged to appear ungrateful and prejudiced, mean and + vindictive, in her eyes. He took his seat again, looking so unutterably + dejected, his patient face so tragically mournful, that Madeleine, after a + while, began to see the absurd side of the matter, and presently burst + into a laugh “Please do not look so frightfully miserable!” said she; “I + did not mean to make you unhappy. After all, what does it matter? You have + a perfect right to refuse, and, for my part, I have not the least wish to + see you accept.” + </p> + <p> + On this, Carrington brightened, and declared that if she thought him right + in declining, he cared for nothing else. It was only the idea of hurting + her feelings that weighed on his mind. But in saying this, he spoke in a + tone that implied a deeper feeling, and made Mrs. Lee again look grave and + sigh. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, Mr. Carrington,” she said, “this world will not run as we want. Do + you suppose the time will ever come when every one will be good and happy + and do just what they ought? I thought this offer might possibly take one + anxiety off your shoulders. I am sorry now that I let myself be led into + making it.” + </p> + <p> + Carrington could not answer her. He dared not trust his voice. He rose to + go, and as she held out her hand, he suddenly raised it to his lips, and + so left her. She sat for a moment with tears in her eyes after he was + gone. She thought she knew all that was in his mind, and with a woman's + readiness to explain every act of men by their consuming passions for her + own sex, she took it as a matter of course that jealousy was the whole + cause of Carrington's hostility to Ratcliffe, and she pardoned it with + charming alacrity. “Ten years ago, I could have loved him,” she thought to + herself, and then, while she was half smiling at the idea, suddenly + another thought flashed upon her, and she threw her hand up before her + face as though some one had struck her a blow. Carrington had reopened the + old wound. + </p> + <p> + When Ratcliffe came to see her again, which he did very shortly + afterwards, glad of so good an excuse, she told him of Carrington's + refusal, adding only that he seemed unwilling to accept any position that + had a political character. Ratcliffe showed no sign of displeasure; he + only said, in a benignant tone, that he was sorry to be unable to do + something for so good a friend of hers; thus establishing, at all events, + his claim on her gratitude. As for Carrington, the offer which Ratcliffe + had made was not intended to be accepted, and Carrington could not have + more embarrassed the secretary than by closing with it. Ratcliffe's object + had been to settle for his own satisfaction the question of Carrington's + hostility, for he knew the man well enough to feel sure that in any event + he would act a perfectly straightforward part. If he accepted, he would at + least be true to his chief. If he refused, as Ratcliffe expected, it would + be a proof that some means must be found of getting him out of the way. In + any case the offer was a new thread in the net that Mr. Ratcliffe + flattered himself he was rapidly winding about the affections and + ambitions of Mrs. Lee. Yet he had reasons of his own for thinking that + Carrington, more easily than any other man, could cut the meshes of this + net if he chose to do so, and therefore that it would be wiser to postpone + action until Carrington were disposed of. + </p> + <p> + Without a moment's delay he made inquiries as to all the vacant or + eligible offices in the gift of the government outside his own department. + Very few of these would answer his purpose. He wanted some temporary law + business that would for a time take its holder away to a distance, say to + Australia or Central Asia, the further the better; it must be highly paid, + and it must be given in such a way as not to excite suspicion that + Ratcliffe was concerned in the matter. Such an office was not easily + found. There is little law business in Central Asia, and at this moment + there was not enough to require a special agent in Australia. Carrington + could hardly be induced to lead an expedition to the sources of the Nile + in search of business merely to please Mr. Ratcliffe, nor could the State + Department offer encouragement to a hope that government would pay the + expenses of such an expedition. The best that Ratcliffe could do was to + select the place of counsel to the Mexican claims-commission which was + soon to meet in the city of Mexico, and which would require about six + months' absence. By a little management he could contrive to get the + counsel sent away in advance of the commission, in order to work up a part + of the case on the spot. Ratcliffe acknowledged that Mexico was too near, + but he drily remarked to himself that if Carrington could get back in time + to dislodge him after he had once got a firm hold on Mrs. Lee, he would + never try to run another caucus. + </p> + <p> + The point once settled in his own mind, Ratcliffe, with his usual rapidity + of action, carried his scheme into effect. In this there was little + difficulty. He dropped in at the office of the Secretary of State within + eight-and-forty hours after his last conversation with Mrs. Lee. During + these early days of every new administration, the absorbing business of + government relates principally to appointments. The Secretary of the + Treasury was always ready to oblige his colleagues in the Cabinet by + taking care of their friends to any reasonable extent. The Secretary of + State was not less courteous. The moment he understood that Mr. Ratcliffe + had a strong wish to secure the appointment of a certain person as counsel + to the Mexican claims-commission, the Secretary of State professed + readiness to gratify him, and when he heard who the proposed person was, + the suggestion was hailed with pleasure, for Carrington was well known and + much liked at the Department, and was indeed an excellent man for the + place. Ratcliffe hardly needed to promise an equivalent. The business was + arranged in ten minutes. + </p> + <p> + “I only need say,” added Ratcliffe, “that if my agency in the affair is + known, Mr. Carrington will certainly refuse the place, for he is one of + your old-fashioned Virginia planters, proud as Lucifer, and willing to + accept nothing by way of favour. I will speak to your Assistant Secretary + about it, and the recommendation shall appear to come from him.” + </p> + <p> + The very next day Carrington received a private note from his old friend, + the Assistant Secretary of State, who was overjoyed to do him a kindness. + </p> + <p> + The note asked him to call at the Department at his earliest convenience. + He went, and the Assistant Secretary announced that he had recommended + Carrington's appointment as counsel to the Mexican claims-commission, and + that the Secretary had approved the recommendation. “We want a Southern + man, a lawyer with a little knowledge of international law, one who can go + at once, and, above all, an honest man. You fit the description to a hair; + so pack your trunk as soon as you like.” + </p> + <p> + Carrington was startled. Coming as it did, this offer was not only + unobjectionable, but tempting. It was hard for him even to imagine a + reason for hesitation. From the first he felt that he must go, and yet to + go was the very last thing he wanted to do. That he should suspect + Ratcliffe to be at the bottom of this scheme of banishment was a matter of + course, and he instantly asked whether any influence had been used in his + favour; but the Assistant Secretary so stoutly averred that the + appointment was made on his recommendation alone, as to block all further + inquiry. Technically this assertion was exact, and it made Carrington feel + that it would be base ingratitude on his part not to accept a favour so + handsomely offered. + </p> + <p> + Yet he could not make up his mind to acceptance. He begged four and twenty + hours' delay, in order, as he said, to see whether he could arrange his + affairs for a six months' absence, although he knew there would be no + difficulty in his doing so. He went away and sat in his office alone, + gloomily wondering what he could do, although from the first he saw that + the situation was only too clear, and there could not be the least dark + corner of a doubt to crawl into. Six months ago he would have jumped at + this offer. + </p> + <p> + What had happened within six months to make it seem a disaster? + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee! There was the whole story. To go away now was to give up Mrs. + Lee, and probably to give her up to Ratcliffe. Carrington gnashed his + teeth when he thought how skilfully Ratcliffe was playing his cards. The + longer he reflected, the more certain he felt that Ratcliffe was at the + bottom of this scheme to get rid of him; and yet, as he studied the + situation, it occurred to him that after all it was possible for Ratcliffe + to make a blunder. This Illinois politician was clever, and understood + men; but a knowledge of men is a very different thing from a knowledge of + women. Carrington himself had no great experience in the article of women, + but he thought he knew more than Ratcliffe, who was evidently relying most + on his usual theory of political corruption as applied to feminine + weaknesses, and who was only puzzled at finding how high a price Mrs. Lee + set on herself. If Ratcliffe were really at the bottom of the scheme for + separating Carrington from her, it could only be because he thought that + six months, or even six weeks, would be enough to answer his purpose. And + on reaching this point in his reflections, Carrington suddenly rose, lit a + cigar, and walked up and down his room steadily for the next hour, with + the air of a general arranging a plan of campaign, or a lawyer + anticipating his opponent's line of argument. + </p> + <p> + On one point his mind was made up. He would accept. If Ratcliffe really + had a hand in this move, he should be gratified. If he had laid a trap, he + should be caught in it. And when the evening came, Carrington took his hat + and walked off to call upon Mrs. Lee. + </p> + <p> + He found the sisters alone and quietly engaged in their occupations. + </p> + <p> + Madeleine was dramatically mending an open-work silk stocking, a delicate + and difficult task which required her whole mind. Sybil was at the piano + as usual, and for the first time since he had known her, she rose when he + came in, and, taking her work-basket, sat down to share in the + conversation. She meant to take her place as a woman, henceforward. She + was tired of playing girl. Mr. Carrington should see that she was not a + fool. + </p> + <p> + Carrington plunged at once into his subject, and announced the offer made + to him, at which Madeleine expressed delight, and asked many questions. + What was the pay? How soon must he go? How long should he be away? Was + there danger from the climate? and finally she added, with a smile, “What + am I to say to Mr. Ratcliffe if you accept this offer after refusing his?” + As for Sybil, she made one reproachful exclamation: “Oh, Mr. Carrington!” + and sank back into silence and consternation. Her first experiment at + taking a stand of her own in the world was not encouraging. She felt + betrayed. + </p> + <p> + Nor was Carrington gay. However modest a man may be, only an idiot can + forget himself entirely in pursuing the moon and the stars. In the bottom + of his soul, he had a lingering hope that when he told his story, + Madeleine might look up with a change of expression, a glance of + unpremeditated regard, a little suffusion of the eyes, a little trembling + of the voice. To see himself relegated to Mexico with such cheerful + alacrity by the woman he loved was not the experience he would have + chosen. He could not help feeling that his hopes were disposed of, and he + watched her with a painful sinking of the heart, which did not lead to + lightness of conversation. Madeleine herself felt that her expressions + needed to be qualified, and she tried to correct her mistake. What should + she do without a tutor? she said. He must let her have a list of books to + read while he was away: they were themselves going north in the middle of + May, and Carrington would be back by the time they returned in December. + After all, they should see as little of him during the summer if he were + in Virginia as if he were in Mexico. + </p> + <p> + Carrington gloomily confessed that he was very unwilling to go; that he + wished the idea had never been suggested; that he should be perfectly + happy if for any reason the scheme broke down; but he gave no explanation + of his feeling, and Madeleine had too much tact to press for one. She + contented herself by arguing against it, and talking as vivaciously as she + could. Her heart really bled for him as she saw his face grow more and + more pathetic in its quiet expression of disappointment. But what could + she say or do? He sat till after ten o'clock; he could not tear himself + away. He felt that this was the end of his pleasure in life; he dreaded + the solitude of his thoughts. Mrs. Lee's resources began to show signs of + exhaustion. Long pauses intervened between her remarks; and at length + Carrington, with a superhuman effort, apologized for inflicting himself + upon her so unmercifully. If she knew, he said, how he dreaded being + alone, she would forgive him. Then he rose to go, and, in taking leave, + asked Sybil if she was inclined to ride the next day; if so, he was at her + service. Sybil's face brightened as she accepted the invitation. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee, a day or two afterwards, did mention Carrington's appointment to + Mr. Ratcliffe, and she told Carrington that the Secretary certainly looked + hurt and mortified, but showed it only by almost instantly changing the + subject. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter X + </h2> + <p> + THE next morning Carrington called at the Department and announced his + acceptance of the post. He was told that his instructions would be ready + in about a fortnight, and that he would be expected to start as soon as he + received them; in the meanwhile, he must devote himself to the study of a + mass of papers in the Department. There was no trifling allowable here. + </p> + <p> + Carrington had to set himself vigorously to work. This did not, however, + prevent him from keeping his appointment with Sybil, and at four o'clock + they started together, passing out into the quiet shadows of Rock Creek, + and seeking still lanes through the woods where their horses walked side + by side, and they themselves could talk without the risk of criticism from + curious eyes. It was the afternoon of one of those sultry and lowering + spring days when life germinates rapidly, but as yet gives no sign, except + perhaps some new leaf or flower pushing its soft head up against the dead + leaves that have sheltered it. The two riders had something of the same + sensation, as though the leafless woods and the laurel thickets, the warm, + moist air and the low clouds, were a protection and a soft shelter. + Somewhat to Carrington's surprise, he found that it was pleasant to have + Sybil's company. He felt towards her as to a sister—a favourite + sister. + </p> + <p> + She at once attacked him for abandoning her and breaking his treaty so + lately made, and he tried to gain her sympathy by saying that if she knew + how much he was troubled, she would forgive him. Then when Sybil asked + whether he really must go and leave her without any friend whom she could + speak to, his feelings got the better of him: he could not resist the + temptation to confide all his troubles in her, since there was no one else + in whom he could confide. He told her plainly that he was in love with her + sister. + </p> + <p> + “You say that love is nonsense, Miss Ross. I tell you it is no such thing. + For weeks and months it is a steady physical pain, an ache about the + heart, never leaving one, by night or by day; a long strain on one's + nerves like toothache or rheumatism, not intolerable at any one instant, + but exhausting by its steady drain on the strength. It is a disease to be + borne with patience, like any other nervous complaint, and to be treated + with counter-irritants. My trip to Mexico will be good for it, but that is + not the reason why I must go.” + </p> + <p> + Then he told her all his private circumstances; the ruin which the war had + brought on him and his family; how, of his two brothers, one had survived + the war only to die at home, a mere wreck of disease, privation, and + wounds; the other had been shot by his side, and bled slowly to death in + his arms during the awful carnage in the Wilderness; how his mother and + two sisters were struggling for a bare subsistence on a wretched Virginian + farm, and how all his exertions barely kept them from beggary. + </p> + <p> + “You have no conception of the poverty to which our southern women are + reduced since the war,” said he; “they are many of them literally without + clothes or bread.” The fee he should earn by going to Mexico would double + his income this year. Could he refuse? Had he a right to refuse? And poor + Carrington added, with a groan, that if he alone were in question, he + would sooner be shot than go. + </p> + <p> + Sybil listened with tears in her eyes. She never before had seen a man + show suffering. The misery she had known in life had been more or less + veiled to her and softened by falling on older and friendly shoulders. She + now got for the first time a clear view of Carrington, apart from the + quiet exterior in which the man was hidden. She felt quite sure, by a + sudden flash of feminine inspiration, that the curious look of patient + endurance on his face was the work of a single night when he had held his + brother in his arms, and knew that the blood was draining drop by drop + from his side, in the dense, tangled woods, beyond the reach of help, hour + after hour, till the voice failed and the limbs grew stiff and cold. When + he had finished his story, she was afraid to speak. She did not know how + to show her sympathy, and she could not bear to seem unsympathetic. In her + embarrassment she fairly broke down and could only dry her eyes in + silence. + </p> + <p> + Having once got this weight of confidence off his mind, Carrington felt + comparatively gay and was ready to make the best of things. He laughed at + himself to drive away the tears of his pretty companion, and obliged her + to take a solemn pledge never to betray him. “Of course your sister knows + it all,” he said; “but she must never know that I told you, and I never + would tell any one but you.” + </p> + <p> + Sybil promised faithfully to keep his confidence to herself, and she went + on to defend her sister. + </p> + <p> + “You must not blame Madeleine,” said she; “if you knew as well as I do + what she has been through, you would not think her cold. You do know how + suddenly her husband died, after only one day's illness, and what a nice + fellow he was. She was very fond of him, and his death seemed to stun her. + We hardly knew what to make of it, she was so quiet and natural. Then just + a week later her little child died of diphtheria, suffering horribly, and + she wild with despair because she could not relieve it. After that, she + was almost insane; indeed, I have always thought she was quite insane for + a time. I know she was excessively violent and wanted to kill herself, and + I never heard any one rave as she did about religion and resignation and + God. After a few weeks she became quiet and stupid and went about like a + machine; and at last she got over it, but has never been what she was + before. You know she was a rather fast New York girl before she married, + and cared no more about politics and philanthropy than I do. It was a very + late thing, all this stuff. But she is not really hard, though she may + seem so. It is all on the surface. I always know when she is thinking + about her husband or child, because her face gets rigid; she looks then as + she used to look after her child died, as though she didn't care what + became of her and she would just as lieve kill herself as not. I don't + think she will ever let herself love any one again. She has a horror of + it. She is much more likely to go in for ambition, or duty, or + self-sacrifice.” + </p> + <p> + They rode on for a while in silence, Carrington perplexed by the problem + how two harmless people such as Madeleine and he could have been made by a + beneficent Providence the sport of such cruel tortures; and Sybil equally + interested in thinking what sort of a brother-in-law Carrington would + make; on the whole, she thought she liked him better as he was. The + silence was only broken by Carrington's bringing the conversation back to + its starting-point: “Something must be done to keep your sister out of + Ratcliffe's power. I have thought about it till I am tired. Can you make + no suggestion?” + </p> + <p> + No! Sybil was helpless and dreadfully alarmed. Mr. Ratcliffe came to the + house as often as he could, and seemed to tell Madeleine everything that + was going on in politics, and ask her advice, and Madeleine did not + discourage him. “I do believe she likes it, and thinks she can do some + good by it. I don't dare speak to her about it. She thinks me a child + still, and treats me as though I were fifteen. What can I do?” + </p> + <p> + Carrington said he had thought of speaking to Mrs. Lee himself, but he did + not know what to say, and if he offended her, he might drive her directly + into Ratcliffe's arms. But Sybil thought she would not be offended if he + went to work in the right way. “She will stand more from you than from any + one else. Tell her openly that you—that you love her,” said Sybil + with a burst of desperate courage; “she can't take offence at that; and + then you can say almost anything.” + </p> + <p> + Carrington looked at Sybil with more admiration than he had ever expected + to feel for her, and began to think that he might do worse than to put + himself under her orders. After all, she had some practical sense, and + what was more to the point, she was handsomer than ever, as she sat erect + on her horse, the rich colour rushing up under the warm skin, at the + impropriety of her speech. “You are certainly right,” said he; “after all, + I have nothing to lose. Whether she marries Ratcliffe or not, she will + never marry me, I suppose.” + </p> + <p> + This speech was a cowardly attempt to beg encouragement from Sybil, and + met with the fate it deserved, for Sybil, highly flattered at Carrington's + implied praise, and bold as a lioness now that it was Carrington's + fingers, and not her own, that were to go into the fire, gave him on the + spot a feminine view of the situation that did not encourage his hopes. + She plainly said that men seemed to take leave of their senses as soon as + women were concerned; for her part, she could not understand what there + was in any woman to make such a fuss about; she thought most women were + horrid; men were ever so much nicer; “and as for Madeleine, whom all of + you are ready to cut each other's throats about, she's a dear, good + sister, as good as gold, and I love her with all my heart, but you + wouldn't like her, any of you, if you married her; she has always had her + own way, and she could not help taking it; she never could learn to take + yours; both of you would be unhappy in a week; and as for that old Mr. + Ratcliffe, she would make his life a burden—and I hope she will,” + concluded Sybil with a spiteful little explosion of hatred. + </p> + <p> + Carrington could not help being amused by Sybil's way of dealing with + affairs of the heart. Emboldened by encouragement, she went on to attack + him pitilessly for going down on his knees before her sister, “just as + though you were not as good as she is,” and openly avowed that, if she + were a man, she would at least have some pride. Men like this kind of + punishment. + </p> + <p> + Carrington did not attempt to defend himself; he even courted Sybil's + attack. They both enjoyed their ride through the bare woods, by the + rippling spring streams, under the languid breath of the moist south wind. + It was a small idyll, all the more pleasant because there was gloom before + and behind it. Sybil's irrepressible gaiety made Carrington doubt whether, + after all, life need be so serious a matter. She had animal spirits in + plenty, and it needed an effort for her to keep them down, while + Carrington's spirits were nearly exhausted after twenty years of strain, + and he required a greater effort to hold himself up. There was every + reason why he should be grateful to Sybil for lending to him from her + superfluity. He enjoyed being laughed at by her. Suppose Madeleine Lee did + refuse to marry him! What of it? + </p> + <p> + “Pooh!” said Sybil; “you men are all just alike. How can you be so silly? + Madeleine and you would be intolerable together. Do find some one who + won't be solemn!” + </p> + <p> + They laid out their little plot against Madeleine and elaborated it + carefully, both as to what Carrington should say and how he should say it, + for Sybil asserted that men were too stupid to be trusted even in making a + declaration of love, and must be taught, like little children to say their + prayers. Carrington enjoyed being taught how to make a declaration of + love. + </p> + <p> + He did not ask where Sybil had learned so much about men's stupidity. He + thought perhaps Schneidekoupon could have thrown light on the subject. At + all events, they were so busily occupied with their schemes and lessons, + that they did not-reach home till Madeleine had become anxious lest they + had met with some accident. The long dusk had become darkness before she + heard the clatter of hoofs on the asphalt pavement, and she went down to + the door to scold them for their delay. Sybil only laughed at her, and + said it was all Mr. Carrington's fault: he had lost his way, and she had + been forced to find it for him. + </p> + <p> + Ten days more passed before their plan was carried into effect. April had + come. Carrington's work was completed and he was ready to start on his + journey. Then at last he appeared one evening at Mrs. Lee's at the very + moment when Sybil, as chance would have it, was going out to pass an hour + or two with her friend Victoria Dare a few doors away. Carrington felt a + little ashamed as she went. This kind of conspiracy behind Mrs. Lee's back + was not to his taste. + </p> + <p> + He resolutely sat down, and plunged at once into his subject. He was + almost ready to go, he said; he had nearly completed his work in the + Department, and he was assured that his instructions and papers would be + ready in two days more; he might not have another chance to see Mrs. Lee + so quietly again, and he wanted to take his leave now, for this was what + lay most heavily on his mind; he should have gone willingly and gladly if + it had not been for uneasiness about her; and yet he had till now been + afraid to speak openly on the subject. Here he paused for a moment as + though to invite some reply. + </p> + <p> + Madeleine laid down her work with a look of regret though not of + annoyance, and said frankly and instantly that he had been too good a + friend to allow of her taking offence at anything he could say; she would + not pretend to misunderstand him. “My affairs,” she added with a shade of + bitterness, “seem to have become public property, and I would rather have + some voice in discussing them myself than to know they are discussed + behind my back.” + </p> + <p> + This was a sharp thrust at the very outset, but Carrington turned it aside + and went quietly on: + </p> + <p> + “You are frank and loyal, as you always are. I will be so too. I can't + help being so. For months I have had no other pleasure than in being near + you. For the first time in my life I have known what it is to forget my + own affairs in loving a woman who seems to me without a fault, and for one + solitary word from whom I would give all I have in life, and perhaps + itself.” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine flushed and bent towards him with an earnestness of manner that + repeated itself in her tone. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Carrington, I am the best friend you have on earth. One of these days + you will thank me with your whole soul for refusing to listen to you now. + You do not know how much misery I am saving you. I have no heart to give. + You want a young, fresh life to help yours; a gay, lively temperament to + enliven your despondency; some one still young enough to absorb herself in + you and make all her existence yours. I could not do it. I can give you + nothing. I have done my best to persuade myself that some day I might + begin life again with the old hopes and feelings, but it is no use. The + fire is burned out. If you married me, you would destroy yourself You + would wake up some day, and find the universe dust and ashes.” + </p> + <p> + Carrington listened in silence. He made no attempt to interrupt or to + contradict her. Only at the end he said with a little bitterness: “My own + life is worth so much to the world and to me, that I suppose it would be + wrong to risk it on such a venture; but I would risk it, nevertheless, if + you gave me the chance. Do you think me wicked for tempting Providence? I + do not mean to annoy you with entreaties. I have a little pride left, and + a great deal of respect for you. Yet I think, in spite of all you have + said or can say, that one disappointed life may be as able to find + happiness and repose in another, as to get them by sucking the young + life-blood of a fresh soul.” + </p> + <p> + To this speech, which was unusually figurative for Carrington, Mrs. Lee + could find no ready answer. She could only reply that Carrington's life + was worth quite as much as his neighbour's, and that it was worth so much + to her, if not to himself, that she would not let him wreck it. + </p> + <p> + Carrington went on: “Forgive my talking in this way. I do not mean to + complain. I shall always love you just as much, whether you care for me or + not, because you are the only woman I have ever met, or am ever likely to + meet, who seems to me perfect.” + </p> + <p> + If this was Sybil's teaching, she had made the best of her time. + </p> + <p> + Carrington's tone and words pierced through all Mrs. Lee's armour as + though they were pointed with the most ingenious cruelty, and designed to + torture her. She felt hard and small before him. Life for life, his had + been, and was now, far less bright than hers, yet he was her superior. He + sat there, a true man, carrying his burden calmly, quietly, without + complaint, ready to face the next shock of life with the same endurance he + had shown against the rest. And he thought her perfect! She felt + humiliated that any brave man should say to her face that he thought her + perfect! She! perfect! In her contrition she was half ready to go down at + his feet and confess her sins; her hysterical dread of sorrow and + suffering, her narrow sympathies, her feeble faith, her miserable + selfishness, her abject cowardice. Every nerve in her body tingled with + shame when she thought what a miserable fraud she was; what a mass of + pretensions unfounded, of deceit ingrained. She was ready to hide her face + in her hands. She was disgusted, outraged with her own image as she saw + it, contrasted with Carrington's single word: Perfect! + </p> + <p> + Nor was this the worst. Carrington was not the first man who had thought + her perfect. To hear this word suddenly used again, which had never been + uttered to her before except by lips now dead and gone, made her brain + reel. She seemed to hear her husband once more telling her that she was + perfect. Yet against this torture, she had a better defence. She had long + since hardened herself to bear these recollections, and they steadied and + strengthened her. + </p> + <p> + She had been called perfect before now, and what had come of it? Two + graves, and a broken life! She drew herself up with a face now grown quite + pale and rigid. In reply to Carrington, she said not a word, but only + shook her head slightly without looking at him. + </p> + <p> + He went on: “After all, it is not my own happiness I am thinking of but + yours. I never was vain enough to think that I was worth your love, or + that I could ever win it. Your happiness is another thing. I care so much + for that as to make me dread going away, for fear that you may yet find + yourself entangled in this wretched political life here, when, perhaps if + I stayed, I might be of some use.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you really think, then, that I am going to fall a victim to Mr. + Ratcliffe?” asked Madeleine, with a cold smile. + </p> + <p> + “Why not?” replied Carrington, in a similar tone. “He can put forward a + strong claim to your sympathy and help, if not to your love. He can offer + you a great field of usefulness which you want. He has been very faithful + to you. Are you quite sure that even now you can refuse him without his + complaining that you have trifled with him?” + </p> + <p> + “And are you quite sure,” added Mrs. Lee, evasively, “that you have not + been judging him much too harshly? I think I know him better than you. He + has many good qualities, and some high ones. What harm can he do me? + Supposing even that he did succeed in persuading me that my life could be + best used in helping his, why should I be afraid of it?” + </p> + <p> + “You and I,” said Carrington, “are wide apart in our estimates of Mr. + Ratcliffe. To you, of course, he shows his best side. He is on his good + behaviour, and knows that any false step will ruin him. I see in him only + a coarse, selfish, unprincipled politician, who would either drag you down + to his own level, or, what is more likely, would very soon disgust you and + make your life a wretched self-immolation before his vulgar ambition, or + compel you to leave him. In either case you would be the victim. You + cannot afford to make another false start in life. Reject me! I have not a + word to say against it. But be on your guard against giving your existence + up to him.” + </p> + <p> + “Why do you think so ill of Mr. Ratcliffe?” asked Madeleine; “he always + speaks highly of you. Do you know anything against him that the world does + not?” + </p> + <p> + “His public acts are enough to satisfy me,” replied Carrington, evading a + part of the question. “You know that I have never had but one opinion + about him.” + </p> + <p> + There was a pause in the conversation. Both parties felt that as yet no + good had come of it. At length Madeleine asked, “What would you have me + do? Is it a pledge you want that I will under no circumstances marry Mr. + Ratcliffe?” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly not,” was the answer; “you know me better than to think I would + ask that. I only want you to take time and keep out of his influence until + your mind is fairly made up. A year hence I feel certain that you will + think of him as I do.” + </p> + <p> + “Then you will allow me to marry him if I find that you are mistaken,” + said Mrs. Lee, with a marked tone of sarcasm. + </p> + <p> + Carrington looked annoyed, but he answered quietly, “What I fear is his + influence here and now. What I would like to see you do is this: go north + a month earlier than you intended, and without giving him time to act. If + I were sure you were safely in Newport, I should feel no anxiety.” + </p> + <p> + “You seem to have as bad an opinion of Washington as Mr. Gore,” said + Madeleine, with a contemptuous smile. “He gave me the same advice, though + he was afraid to tell me why. I am not a child. I am thirty years old, and + have seen something of the world. I am not afraid, like Mr. Gore, of + Washington malaria, or, like you, of Mr. Ratcliffe's influence. If I fall + a victim I shall deserve my fate, and certainly I shall have no cause to + complain of my friends. They have given me advice enough for a lifetime.” + </p> + <p> + Carrington's face darkened with a deeper shade of regret. The turn which + the conversation had taken was precisely what he had expected, and both + Sybil and he had agreed that Madeleine would probably answer just in this + way. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, he could not but feel acutely the harm he was doing to his + own interests, and it was only by a sheer effort of the will that he + forced himself to a last and more earnest attack. + </p> + <p> + “I know it is an impertinence,” he said; “I wish it were in my power to + show how much it costs me to offend you. This is the first time you ever + had occasion to be offended. If I were to yield to the fear of your anger + and were to hold my tongue now, and by any chance you were to wreck your + life on this rock, I should never forgive myself the cowardice. I should + always think I might have done something to prevent it. This is probably + the last time I shall have the chance to talk openly with you, and I + implore you to listen to me. I want nothing for myself If I knew I should + never see you again, I would still say the same thing. Leave Washington! + Leave it now!—at once!—without giving more than twenty-four + hours' notice! Leave it without letting Mr. Ratcliffe see you again in + private! Come back next winter if you please, and then accept him if you + think proper. I only pray you to think long about it and decide when you + are not here.” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine's eyes flashed, and she threw aside her embroidery with an + impatient gesture: “No! Mr. Carrington! I will not be dictated to! I will + carry out my own plans! I do not mean to marry Mr. Ratcliffe. If I had + meant it, I should have done it before now. But I will not run away from + him or from myself. It would be unladylike, undignified, cowardly.” + </p> + <p> + Carrington could say no more. He had come to the end of his lesson. A long + silence ensued and then he rose to go. “Are you angry with me?” said she + in a softer tone. + </p> + <p> + “I ought to ask that question,” said he. “Can you forgive me? I am afraid + not. No man can say to a woman what I have said to you, and be quite + forgiven. You will never think of me again as you would have done if I had + not spoken. I knew that before I did it. As for me, I can only go on with + my old life. It is not gay, and will not be the gayer for our talk + to-night.” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine relented a little: “Friendships like ours are not so easily + broken,” she said. “Do not do me another injustice. You will see me again + before you go?” + </p> + <p> + He assented and bade good-night. Mrs. Lee, weary and disturbed in mind, + hastened to her room. “When Miss Sybil comes in, tell her that I am not + very well, and have gone to bed,” were her instructions to her maid, and + Sybil thought she knew the cause of this headache. + </p> + <p> + But before Carrington's departure he had one more ride with Sybil, and + reported to her the result of the interview, at which both of them + confessed themselves much depressed. Carrington expressed some hope that + Madeleine meant, after a sort, to give a kind of pledge by saying that she + had no intention of marrying Mr. Ratcliffe, but Sybil shook her head + emphatically: + </p> + <p> + “How can a woman tell whether she is going to accept a man until she is + asked?” said she with entire confidence, as though she were stating the + simplest fact in the world. Carrington looked puzzled, and ventured to ask + whether women did not generally make up their minds beforehand on such an + interesting point; but Sybil overwhelmed him with contempt: “What good + will they do by making up their minds, I should like to know? of course + they would go and do the opposite. Sensible women don't pretend to make up + their minds, Mr. Carrington. But you men are so stupid, and you can't + understand in the least.” + </p> + <p> + Carrington gave it up, and went back to his stale question: Could Sybil + suggest any other resource? and Sybil sadly confessed that she could not. + So far as she could see, they must trust to luck, and she thought it was + cruel tor Mr. Carrington to go away and leave her alone without help. He + had promised to prevent the marriage. + </p> + <p> + “One thing more I mean to do,” said Carrington: “and here everything will + depend on your courage and nerve. You may depend upon it that Mr. + Ratcliffe will offer himself before you go north. He does not suspect you + of making trouble, and he will not think about you in any way if you let + him alone and keep quiet. When he does offer himself you will know it; at + least your sister will tell you if she has accepted him. If she refuses + him point blank, you will have nothing to do but to keep her steady. If + you see her hesitating, you must break in at any cost, and use all your + influence to stop her. Be bold, then, and do your best. If everything + fails and she still clings to him, I must play my last card, or rather you + must play it for me. I shall leave with you a sealed letter which you are + to give her if everything else fails. Do it before she sees Ratcliffe a + second time. See that she reads it and, if necessary, make her read it, no + matter when or where. No one else must know that it exists, and you must + take as much care of it as though it were a diamond. You are not to know + what is in it; it must be a complete secret. Do you understand?” + </p> + <p> + Sybil thought she did, but her heart sank. “When shall you give me this + letter?” she asked. + </p> + <p> + “The evening before I start, when I come to bid good-bye; probably next + Sunday. This letter is our last hope. If, after reading that, she does not + give him up, you will have to pack your trunk, my dear Sybil, and find a + new home, for you can never live with them.” + </p> + <p> + He had never before called her by her first name, and it pleased her to + hear it now, though she generally had a strong objection to such + familiarities. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, I wish you were not going!” she exclaimed tearfully. “What shall I do + when you are gone?” + </p> + <p> + At this pitiful appeal, Carrington felt a sudden pang. He found that he + was not so old as he had thought. Certainly he had grown to like her frank + honesty and sound common sense, and he had at length discovered that she + was handsome, with a very pretty figure. Was it not something like a + flirtation he had been carrying on with this young person for the last + month? A glimmering of suspicion crossed his mind, though he got rid of it + as quickly as possible. For a man of his age and sobriety to be in love + with two sisters at once was impossible; still more impossible that Sybil + should care for him. + </p> + <p> + As for her, however, there was no doubt about the matter. She had grown to + depend upon him, and she did it with all the blind confidence of youth. To + lose him was a serious disaster. She had never before felt the sensation, + and she thought it most disagreeable. Her youthful diplomatists and + admirers could not at all fill Carrington's place. They danced and + chirruped cheerfully on the hollow crust of society, but they were wholly + useless when one suddenly fell through and found oneself struggling in the + darkness and dangers beneath. Young women, too, are apt to be flattered by + the confidences of older men; they have a keen palate for whatever savours + of experience and adventure. For the first time in her life, Sybil had + found a man who gave some play to her imagination; one who had been a + rebel, and had grown used to the shocks of fate, so as to walk with + calmness into the face of death, and to command or obey with equal + indifference. She felt that he would tell her what to do when the + earthquake came, and would be at hand to consult, which is in a woman's + eyes the great object of men's existence, when trouble comes. She suddenly + conceived that Washington would be intolerable without him, and that she + should never get the courage to fight Mr. Ratcliffe alone, or, if she did, + she should make some fatal mistake. + </p> + <p> + They finished their ride very soberly. She began to show a new interest in + all that concerned him, and asked many questions about his sisters and + their plantation. She wanted to ask him whether she could not do something + to help them, but this seemed too awkward. On his part he made her promise + to write him faithfully all that took place, and this request pleased her, + though she knew his interest was all on her sister's account. + </p> + <p> + The following Sunday evening when he came to bid good-bye, it was still + worse. There was no chance for private talk. Ratcliffe was there, and + several diplomatists, including old Jacobi, who had eyes like a cat and + saw every motion of one's face. Victoria Dare was on the sofa, chattering + with Lord Dunbeg; Sybil would rather have had any ordinary illness, even + to the extent of a light case of scarlet fever or small-pox than let her + know what was the matter. Carrington found means to get Sybil into another + room for a moment and to give her the letter he had promised. Then he bade + her good-bye, and in doing so he reminded her of her promise to write, + pressing her hand and looking into her eyes with an earnestness that made + her heart beat faster, although she said to herself that his interest was + all about her sister; as it was—mostly. The thought did not raise + her spirits, but she went through with her performance like a heroine. + Perhaps she was a little pleased to see that he parted from Madeleine with + much less apparent feeling. One would have said that they were two good + friends who had no troublesome sentiment to worry them. But then every eye + in the room was watching this farewell, and speculating about it. + Ratcliffe looked on with particular interest and was a little perplexed to + account for this too fraternal cordiality. Could he have made a + miscalculation? or was there something behind? He himself insisted upon + shaking hands genially with Carrington and wished him a pleasant journey + and a successful one. + </p> + <p> + That night, for the first time since she was a child, Sybil actually cried + a little after she went to bed, although it is true that her sentiment did + not keep her awake. She felt lonely and weighed down by a great + responsibility. + </p> + <p> + For a day or two afterwards she was nervous and restless. She would not + ride, or make calls, or see guests. She tried to sing a little, and found + it tiresome. She went out and sat for hours in the Square, where the + spring sun was shining warm and bright on the prancing horse of the great + Andrew Jackson. She was a little cross, too, and absent, and spoke so + often about Carrington that at last Madeleine was struck by sudden + suspicion, and began to watch her with anxious care. + </p> + <p> + Tuesday night, after this had gone on for two days, Sybil was in + Madeleine's room, where she often stayed to talk while her sister was at + her toilet. + </p> + <p> + This evening she threw herself listlessly on the couch, and within five + minutes again quoted Carrington. Madeleine turned from the glass before + which she was sitting, and looked her steadily in the face. + </p> + <p> + “Sybil,” said she, “this is the twenty-fourth time you have mentioned Mr. + Carrington since we sat down to dinner. I have waited for the round number + to decide whether I should take any notice of it or not? what does it + mean, my child? Do you care for Mr. Carrington?” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Maude!” exclaimed Sybil reproachfully, flushing so violently that, + even by that dim light, her sister could not but see it. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee rose and, crossing the room, sat down by Sybil who was lying on + the couch and turned her face away. Madeleine put her arms round her neck + and kissed her. + </p> + <p> + “My poor—poor child!” said she pityingly. “I never dreamed of this! + What a fool I have been! How could I have been so thoughtless! Tell me!” + she added, with a little hesitation; “has he—does he care for you?” + </p> + <p> + “No! no!” cried Sybil, fairly breaking down into a burst of tears; “no! he + loves you! nobody but you! he never gave a thought to me. I don't care for + him so very much,” she continued, drying her tears; “only it seems so + lonely now he is gone.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee remained on the couch, with her arm round her sister's neck, + silent, gazing into vacancy, the picture of perplexity and consternation. + </p> + <p> + The situation was getting beyond her control. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XI + </h2> + <p> + IN the middle of April a sudden social excitement started the indolent + city of Washington to its feet. The Grand-Duke and Duchess of + Saxe-Baden-Hombourg arrived in America on a tour of pleasure, and in due + course came on to pay their respects to the Chief Magistrate of the Union. + The newspapers hastened to inform their readers that the Grand-Duchess was + a royal princess of England, and, in the want of any other social event, + every one who had any sense of what was due to his or her own dignity, + hastened to show this august couple the respect which all republicans who + have a large income derived from business, feel for English royalty. New + York gave a dinner, at which the most insignificant person present was + worth at least a million dollars, and where the gentlemen who sat by the + Princess entertained her for an hour or two by a calculation of the + aggregate capital represented. New York also gave a ball at which the + Princess appeared in an ill-fitting black silk dress with mock lace and + jet ornaments, among several hundred toilets that proclaimed the refined + republican simplicity of their owners at a cost of various hundred + thousand dollars. After these hospitalities the Grand-ducal pair came on + to Washington, where they became guests of Lord Skye, or, more properly, + Lord Skye became their guest, for he seemed to consider that he handed the + Legation over to them, and he told Mrs. Lee, with true British bluntness + of speech, that they were a great bore and he wished they had stayed in + Saxe-Baden-Hombourg, or wherever they belonged, but as they were here, he + must be their lackey. Mrs. Lee was amused and a little astonished at the + candour with which he talked about them, and she was instructed and + improved by his dry account of the Princess, who, it seemed, made herself + disagreeable by her airs of royalty; who had suffered dreadfully from the + voyage; and who detested America and everything American; but who was, not + without some show of reason, jealous of her husband, and endured endless + sufferings, though with a very bad grace, rather than lose sight of him. + </p> + <p> + Not only was Lord Skye obliged to turn the Legation into an hotel, but in + the full enthusiasm of his loyalty he felt himself called upon to give a + ball. It was, he said, the easiest way of paying off all his debts at + once, and if the Princess was good for nothing else, she could be utilized + as a show by way of “promoting the harmony of the two great nations.” In + other words, Lord Skye meant to exhibit the Princess for his own + diplomatic benefit, and he did so. One would have thought that at this + season, when Congress had adjourned, Washington would hardly have afforded + society enough to fill a ball-room, but this, instead of being a drawback, + was an advantage. It permitted the British Minister to issue invitations + without limit. He asked not only the President and his Cabinet, and the + judges, and the army, and the navy, and all the residents of Washington + who had any claim to consideration, but also all the senators, all the + representatives in Congress, all the governors of States with their + staffs, if they had any, all eminent citizens and their families + throughout the Union and Canada, and finally every private individual, + from the North Pole to the Isthmus of Panama, who had ever shown him a + civility or was able to control interest enough to ask for a card. The + result was that Baltimore promised to come in a body, and Philadelphia was + equally well-disposed; New York provided several scores of guests, and + Boston sent the governor and a delegation; even the well-known millionaire + who represented California in the United States Senate was irritated + because, his invitation having been timed to arrive just one day too late, + he was prevented from bringing his family across the continent with a + choice party in a director's car, to enjoy the smiles of royalty in the + halls of the British lion. It is astonishing what efforts freemen will + make in a just cause. + </p> + <p> + Lord Skye himself treated the whole affair with easy contempt. One + afternoon he strolled into Mrs. Lee's parlour and begged her to give him a + cup of tea. + </p> + <p> + He said he had got rid of his menagerie for a few hours by shunting it off + upon the German Legation, and he was by way of wanting a little human + society. Sybil, who was a great favourite with him, entreated to be told + all about the ball, but he insisted that he knew no more than she did. A + man from New York had taken possession of the Legation, but what he would + do with it was not within the foresight of the wisest; trom the talk of + the young members of his Legation, Lord Skye gathered that the entire city + was to be roofed in and forty millions of people expected, but his own + concern in the affair was limited to the flowers he hoped to receive. + </p> + <p> + “All young and beautiful women,” said he to Sybil, “are to send me + flowers. I prefer Jacqueminot roses, but will accept any handsome variety, + provided they are not wired. It is diplomatic etiquette that each lady who + sends me flowers shall reserve at least one dance for me. You will please + inscribe this at once upon your tablets, Miss Ross.” + </p> + <p> + To Madeleine this ball was a godsend, for it came just in time to divert + Sybil's mind from its troubles. A week had now passed since that + revelation of Sybil's heart which had come like an earthquake upon Mrs. + Lee. Since then Sybil had been nervous and irritable, all the more because + she was conscious of being watched. She was in secret ashamed of her own + conduct, and inclined to be angry with Carrington, as though he were + responsible for her foolishness; but she could not talk with Madeleine on + the subject without discussing Mr. Ratcliffe, and Carrington had expressly + forbidden her to attack Mr. Ratcliffe until it was clear that Ratcliffe + had laid himself open to attack. This reticence deceived poor Mrs. Lee, + who saw in her sister's moods only that unrequited attachment for which + she held herself solely to blame. Her gross negligence in allowing Sybil + to be improperly exposed to such a risk weighed heavily on her mind. With + a saint's capacity for self-torment, Madeleine wielded the scourge over + her own back until the blood came. She saw the roses rapidly fading from + Sybil's cheeks, and by the help of an active imagination she discovered a + hectic look and symptoms of a cough. She became fairly morbid on the + subject, and fretted herself into a fever, upon which Sybil sent, on her + own responsibility, for the medical man, and Madeleine was obliged to dose + herself with quinine. In fact, there was much more reason for anxiety + about her than for her anxiety about Sybil, who, barring a little youthful + nervousness in the face of responsibility, was as healthy and comfortable + a young woman as could be shown in America, and whose sentiment never cost + her five minutes' sleep, although her appetite may have become a shade + more exacting than before. Madeleine was quick to notice this, and + surprised her cook by making daily and almost hourly demands for new and + impossible dishes, which she exhausted a library of cookery-books to + discover. + </p> + <p> + Lord Skye's ball and Sybil's interest in it were a great relief to + Madeleine's mind, and she now turned her whole soul to frivolity. Never, + since she was seventeen, had she thought or talked so much about a ball, + as now about this ball to the Grand-Duchess. She wore out her own brain in + the effort to amuse Sybil. She took her to call on the Princess; she would + have taken her to call on the Grand Lama had he come to Washington. She + instigated her to order and send to Lord Skye a mass of the handsomest + roses New York could afford. She set her at work on her dress several days + before there was any occasion for it, and this famous costume had to be + taken out, examined, criticised, and discussed with unending interest. She + talked about the dress, and the Princess, and the ball, till her tongue + clove to the roof of her mouth, and her brain refused to act. From morning + till night, for one entire week, she ate, drank, breathed, and dreamt of + the ball. Everything that love could suggest or labour carry out, she did, + to amuse and occupy her sister. + </p> + <p> + She knew that all this was only temporary and palliative, and that more + radical measures must be taken to secure Sybil's happiness. On this + subject she thought in secret until both head and heart ached. One thing + and one thing only was clear: if Sybil loved Carrington, she should have + him. How Madeleine expected to bring about this change of heart in + Carrington, was known only to herself. She regarded men as creatures made + for women to dispose of, and capable of being transferred like checks, or + baggage-labels, from one woman to another, as desired. The only condition + was that he should first be completely disabused of the notion that he + could dispose of himself. Mrs. Lee never doubted that she could make + Carrington fall in love with Sybil provided she could place herself beyond + his reach. At all events, come what might, even though she had to accept + the desperate alternative offered by Mr. Ratcliffe, nothing should be + allowed to interfere with Sybil's happiness. And thus it was, that, for + the first time, Mrs. Lee began to ask herself whether it was not better to + find the solution of her perplexities in marriage. + </p> + <p> + Would she ever have been brought to this point without the violent + pressure of her sister's supposed interests? This is one of those + questions which wise men will not ask, because it is one which the wisest + man or woman cannot answer. Upon this theme, an army of ingenious authors + have exhausted their ingenuity in entertaining the public, and their works + are to be found at every book-stall. They have decided that any woman + will, under the right conditions, marry any man at any time, provided her + “higher nature” is properly appealed to. Only with regret can a writer + forbear to moralize on this subject. “Beauty and the Beast,” “Bluebeard,” + “Auld Robin Gray,” have the double charm to authors of being very pleasant + to read, and still easier to dilute with sentiment. But at least ten + thousand modern writers, with Lord Macaulay at their head, have so ravaged + and despoiled the region of fairy-stories and fables, that an allusion + even to the “Arabian Nights” is no longer decent. The capacity of women to + make unsuitable marriages must be considered as the corner-stone of + society. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile the ball had, in truth, very nearly driven all thought of + Carrington out of Sybil's mind. The city filled again. The streets swarmed + with fashionable young men and women from the provinces of New York, + Philadelphia, and Boston, who gave Sybil abundance of occupation. She + received bulletins of the progress of affairs. The President and his wife + had consented to be present, out of their high respect for Her Majesty the + Queen and their desire to see and to be seen. All the Cabinet would + accompany the Chief Magistrate. The diplomatic corps would appear in + uniform; so, too, the officers of the army and navy; the Governor-General + of Canada was coming, with a staff. Lord Skye remarked that the + Governor-General was a flat. + </p> + <p> + The day of the ball was a day of anxiety to Sybil, although not on account + of Mr. Ratcliffe or of Mr. Carrington, who were of trifling consequence + compared with the serious problem now before her. The responsibility of + dressing both her sister and herself fell upon Sybil, who was the real + author of all Mrs. Lee's millinery triumphs when they now occurred, except + that Madeleine managed to put character into whatever she wore, which + Sybil repudiated on her own account. On this day Sybil had reasons for + special excitement. All winter two new dresses, one especially a triumph + of Mr. + </p> + <p> + Worth's art, had lain in state upstairs, and Sybil had waited in vain for + an occasion that should warrant the splendour of these garments. + </p> + <p> + One afternoon in early June of the preceding summer, Mr. Worth had + received a letter on the part of the reigning favourite of the King of + Dahomey, directing him to create for her a ball-dress that should + annihilate and utterly destroy with jealousy and despair the hearts of her + seventy-five rivals; she was young and beautiful; expense was not a + consideration. Such were the words of her chamberlain. All that night, the + great genius of the nineteenth century tossed wakefully on his bed + revolving the problem in his mind. Visions of flesh-coloured tints shot + with blood-red perturbed his brain, but he fought against and dismissed + them; that combination would be commonplace in Dahomey. When the first + rays of sunlight showed him the reflection of his careworn face in the + plate-glass mirrored ceiling, he rose and, with an impulse of despair, + flung open the casements. There before his blood-shot eyes lay the pure, + still, new-born, radiant June morning. With a cry of inspiration the great + man leaned out of the casement and rapidly caught the details of his new + conception. Before ten o'clock he was again at his bureau in Paris. An + imperious order brought to his private room every silk, satin, and gauze + within the range of pale pink, pale crocus, pale green, silver and azure. + Then came chromatic scales of colour; combinations meant to vulgarise the + rainbow; sinfonies and fugues; the twittering of birds and the great peace + of dewy nature; maidenhood in her awakening innocence; “The Dawn in June.” + The Master rested content. + </p> + <p> + A week later came an order from Sybil, including “an entirely original + ball-dress,—unlike any other sent to America.” Mr. Worth pondered, + hesitated; recalled Sybil's figure; the original pose of her head; glanced + anxiously at the map, and speculated whether the New York Herald had a + special correspondent at Dahomey; and at last, with a generosity peculiar + to great souls, he duplicated for “Miss S. Ross, New York, U.S. America,” + the order for “L'Aube, Mois de Juin.” + </p> + <p> + The Schneidekoupons and Mr. French, who had reappeared in Washington, came + to dine with Mrs. Lee on the evening of the ball, and Julia Schneidekoupon + sought in vain to discover what Sybil was going to wear. “Be happy, my + dear, in your ignorance!” said Sybil; “the pangs of envy will rankle soon + enough.” + </p> + <p> + An hour later her room, except the fireplace, where a wood fire was gently + smouldering, became an altar of sacrifice to the Deity of Dawn in June. + Her bed, her low couch, her little tables, her chintz arm-chairs, were + covered with portions of the divinity, down to slippers and handkerchief, + gloves and bunches of fresh roses. When at length, after a long effort, + the work was complete, Mrs. Lee took a last critical look at the result, + and enjoyed a glow of satisfaction. Young, happy, sparkling with + consciousness of youth and beauty, Sybil stood, Hebe Anadyomene, rising + from the foam of soft creplisse which swept back beneath the long train of + pale, tender, pink silk, fainting into breadths of delicate primrose, + relieved here and there by facings of June green—or was it the blue + of early morning?—or both? suggesting unutterable freshness. A + modest hint from her maid that “the girls,” as women-servants call each + other in American households, would like to offer their share of incense + at the shrine, was amiably met, and they were allowed a glimpse of the + divinity before she was enveloped in wraps. An admiring group, huddled in + the doorway, murmured approval, from the leading “girl,” who was the cook, + a coloured widow of some sixty winters, whose admiration was + irrepressible, down to a New England spinster whose Anabaptist conscience + wrestled with her instincts, and who, although disapproving of “French + folks,” paid in her heart that secret homage to their gowns and bonnets + which her sterner lips refused. The applause of this audience has, from + generation to generation, cheered the hearts of myriads of young women + starting out on their little adventures, while the domestic laurels + flourish green and fresh for one half hour, until they wither at the + threshold of the ball-room. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee toiled long and earnestly over her sister's toilet, for had not + she herself in her own day been the best-dressed girl in New York?—at + least, she held that opinion, and her old instincts came to life again + whenever Sybil was to be prepared for any great occasion. Madeleine kissed + her sister affectionately, and gave her unusual praise when the “Dawn in + June” was complete. Sybil was at this moment the ideal of blooming youth, + and Mrs. Lee almost dared to hope that her heart was not permanently + broken, and that she might yet survive until Carrington could be brought + back. Her own toilet was a much shorter affair, but Sybil was impatient + long before it was concluded; the carriage was waiting, and she was + obliged to disappoint her household by coming down enveloped in her long + opera-cloak, and hurrying away. + </p> + <p> + When at length the sisters entered the reception-room at the British + Legation, Lord Skye rebuked them for not having come early to receive with + him. His Lordship, with a huge riband across his breast, and a star on his + coat, condescended to express himself vigorously on the subject of the + “Dawn in June.” Schneidekoupon, who was proud of his easy use of the + latest artistic jargon, looked with respect at Mrs. Lee's silver-gray + satin and its Venetian lace, the arrangement of which had been + conscientiously stolen from a picture in the Louvre, and he murmured + audibly, “Nocturne in silver-gray!”—then, turning to Sybil—“and + you? Of course! I see! A song without words!” Mr. French came up and, in + his most fascinating tones, exclaimed, “Why, Mrs. Lee, you look real + handsome to-night!” Jacobi, after a close scrutiny, said that he took the + liberty of an old man in telling them that they were both dressed + absolutely without fault. Even the Grand-Duke was struck by Sybil, and + made Lord Skye introduce him, after which ceremony he terrified her by + asking the pleasure of a waltz. She disappeared from Madeleine's view, not + to be brought back again until Dawn met dawn. + </p> + <p> + The ball was, as the newspapers declared, a brilliant success. Every one + who knows the city of Washington will recollect that, among some scores of + magnificent residences which our own and foreign governments have built + for the comfort of cabinet officers, judges, diplomatists, + vice-presidents, speakers, and senators, the British Legation is by far + the most impressive. + </p> + <p> + Combining in one harmonious whole the proportions of the Pitti Palace with + the decoration of the Casa d'Oro and the dome of an Eastern Mosque, this + architectural triumph offers extraordinary resources for society. Further + description is unnecessary, since anyone may easily refer back to the New + York newspapers of the following morning, where accurate plans of the + house on the ground floor, will be found; while the illustrated newspapers + of the same week contain excellent sketches of the most pleasing scenic + effects, as well as of the ball-room and of the Princess smiling + graciously from her throne. The lady just behind the Princess on her left, + is Mrs. Lee, a poor likeness, but easily distinguishable from the fact + that the artist, for his own objects, has made her rather shorter, and the + Princess rather taller, than was strictly correct, just as he has given + the Princess a gracious smile, which was quite different from her actual + expression. In short, the artist is compelled to exhibit the world rather + as we would wish it to be, than as it was or is, or, indeed, is like + shortly to become. The strangest part of his picture is, however, the fact + that he actually did see Mrs. Lee where he has put her, at the Princess's + elbow, which was almost the last place in the room where any one who knew + Mrs. Lee would have looked for her. + </p> + <p> + The explanation of this curious accident shall be given immediately, since + the facts are not mentioned in the public reports of the ball, which only + said that, “close behind her Royal Highness the Grand-Duchess, stood our + charming and aristocratic countrywoman, Mrs. Lightfoot Lee, who has made + so great a sensation in Washington this winter, and whose name public + rumour has connected with that of the Secretary of the Treasury. To her + the Princess appeared to address most of her conversation.” + </p> + <p> + The show was a very pretty one, and on a pleasant April evening there were + many places less agreeable to be in than this. Much ground outside had + been roofed over, to make a ball-room, large as an opera-house, with a + daïs and a sofa in the centre of one long side, and another daïs with a + second sofa immediately opposite to it in the centre of the other long + side. Each daïs had a canopy of red velvet, one bearing the Lion and the + Unicorn, the other the American Eagle. The Royal Standard was displayed + above the Unicorn; the Stars-and-Stripes, not quite so effectively, waved + above the Eagle. The Princess, being no longer quite a child, found gas + trying to her complexion, and compelled Lord Skye to illuminate her beauty + by one hundred thousand wax candies, more or less, which were arranged to + be becoming about the Grand-ducal throne, and to be showy and unbecoming + about the opposite institution across the way. + </p> + <p> + The exact facts were these. It had happened that the Grand-Duchess, having + been necessarily brought into contact with the President, and particularly + with his wife, during the past week, had conceived for the latter an + antipathy hardly to be expressed in words. Her fixed determination was at + any cost to keep the Presidential party at a distance, and it was only + after a stormy scene that the Grand-Duke and Lord Skye succeeded in + extorting her consent that the President should take her to supper. + Further than this she would not go. She would not speak to “that woman,” + as she called the President's wife, nor be in her neighbourhood. She would + rather stay in her own room all the evening, and she did not care in the + least what the Queen would think of it, for she was no subject of the + Queen's. The case was a hard one for Lord Skye, who was perplexed to know, + from this point of view, why he was entertaining the Princess at all; but, + with the help of the Grand-Duke and Lord Dunbeg, who was very active and + smiled deprecation with some success, he found a way out of it; and this + was the reason why there were two thrones in the ball-room, and why the + British throne was lighted with such careful reference to the Princess's + complexion. Lord Skye immolated himself in the usual effort of British and + American Ministers, to keep the two great powers apart. He and the + Grand-Duke and Lord Dunbeg acted as buffers with watchful diligence, + dexterity, and success. As one resource, Lord Skye had bethought himself + of Mrs. Lee, and he told the Princess the story of Mrs. Lee's relations + with the President's wife, a story which was no secret in Washington, for, + apart from Madeleine's own account, society was left in no doubt of the + light in which Mrs. Lee was regarded by the mistress of the White House, + whom Washington ladles were now in the habit of drawing out on the subject + of Mrs. Lee, and who always rose to the bait with fresh vivacity, to the + amusement and delight of Victoria Dare and other mischief-makers. + </p> + <p> + “She will not trouble you so long as you can keep Mrs. Lee in your + neighbourhood,” said Lord Skye, and the Princess accordingly seized upon + Mrs. Lee and brandished her, as though she were a charm against the evil + eye, in the face of the President's party. She made Mrs. Lee take a place + just behind her as though she were a lady-in-waiting. She even graciously + permitted her to sit down, so near that their chairs touched. Whenever + “that woman” was within sight, which was most of the time, the Princess + directed her conversation entirely to Mrs. Lee and took care to make it + evident. Even before the Presidential party had arrived, Madeleine had + fallen into the Princess's grasp, and when the Princess went forward to + receive the President and his wife, which she did with a bow of stately + and distant dignity, she dragged Madeleine closely by her side. Mrs. Lee + bowed too; she could not well help it; but was cut dead for her pains, + with a glare of contempt and hatred. Lord Skye, who was acting as cavalier + to the President's wife, was panic-stricken, and hastened to march his + democratic potentate away, under pretence of showing her the decorations. + He placed her at last on her own throne, where he and the Grand-Duke + relieved each other in standing guard at intervals throughout the evening. + When the Princess followed with the President, she compelled her husband + to take Mrs. Lee on his arm and conduct her to the British throne, with no + other object than to exasperate the President's wife, who, from her + elevated platform, looked down upon the cortège with a scowl. + </p> + <p> + In all this affair Mrs. Lee was the principal sufferer. No one could + relieve her, and she was literally penned in as she sat. The Princess kept + up an incessant fire of small conversation, principally complaint and + fault-finding, which no one dared to interrupt. Mrs. Lee was painfully + bored, and after a time even the absurdity of the thing ceased to amuse + her. + </p> + <p> + She had, too, the ill-luck to make one or two remarks which appealed to + some hidden sense of humour in the Princess, who laughed and, in the style + of royal personages, gave her to understand that she would like more + amusement of the same sort. Of all things in life, Mrs. Lee held this kind + of court-service in contempt, for she was something more than republican—a + little communistic at heart, and her only serious complaint of the + President and his wife was that they undertook to have a court and to ape + monarchy. + </p> + <p> + She had no notion of admitting social superiority in any one, President or + Prince, and to be suddenly converted into a lady-in-waiting to a small + German Grand-Duchess, was a terrible blow. But what was to be done? Lord + Skye had drafted her into the service and she could not decently refuse to + help him when he came to her side and told her, with his usual calm + directness, what his difficulties were, and how he counted upon her to + help him out. + </p> + <p> + The same play went on at supper, where there was a royal-presidential + table, which held about two dozen guests, and the two great ladies + presiding, as far apart as they could be placed. The Grand-Duke and Lord + Skye, on either side of the President's wife, did their duty like men, and + were rewarded by receiving from her much information about the domestic + arrangements of the White House. The President, however, who sat next the + Princess at the opposite end, was evidently depressed, owing partly to the + fact that the Princess, in defiance of all etiquette, had compelled Lord + Dunbeg to take Mrs. Lee to supper and to place her directly next the + President. Madeleine tried to escape, but was stopped by the Princess, who + addressed her across the President and in a decided tone asked her to sit + precisely there. Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Lee looked timidly at her neighbour, who made no sign, but ate his supper + in silence only broken by an occasional reply to a rare remark. Mrs. Lee + pitied him, and wondered what his wife would say when they reached home. + She caught Ratcliffe's eye down the table, watching her with a smile; she + tried to talk fluently with Dunbeg; but not until supper was long over and + two o'clock was at hand; not until the Presidential party, under all the + proper formalities, had taken their leave of the Grand-ducal party; not + until Lord Skye had escorted them to their carriage and returned to say + that they were gone, did the Princess loose her hold upon Mrs. Lee and + allow her to slip away into obscurity. + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile the ball had gone on after the manner of balls. As Madeleine sat + in her enforced grandeur she could watch all that passed. She had seen + Sybil whirling about with one man after another, amid a swarm of dancers, + enjoying herself to the utmost and occasionally giving a nod and a smile + to her sister as their eyes met. There, too, was Victoria Dare, who never + appeared flurried even when waltzing with Lord Dunbeg, whose education as + a dancer had been neglected. The fact was now fully recognized that + Victoria was carrying on a systematic flirtation with Dunbeg, and had + undertaken as her latest duty the task of teaching him to waltz. His + struggles and her calmness in assisting them commanded respect. On the + opposite side of the room, by the republican throne, Mrs. Lee had watched + Mr. Ratcliffe standing by the President, who appeared unwilling to let him + out of arm's length and who seemed to make to him most of his few remarks. + Schneidekoupon and his sister were mixed in the throng, dancing as though + England had never countenanced the heresy of free-trade. On the whole, + Mrs. Lee was satisfied. + </p> + <p> + If her own sufferings were great, they were not without reward. She + studied all the women in the ball-room, and if there was one prettier than + Sybil, Madeleine's eyes could not discover her. If there was a more + perfect dress, Madeleine knew nothing of dressing. On these points she + felt the confidence of conviction. Her calm would have been complete, had + she felt quite sure that none of Sybil's gaiety was superficial and that + it would not be followed by reaction. She watched nervously to see whether + her face changed its gay expression, and once she thought it became + depressed, but this was when the Grand-Duke came up to claim his waltz, + and the look rapidly passed away when they got upon the floor and his + Highness began to wheel round the room with a precision and momentum that + would have done honour to a regiment of Life Guards. He seemed pleased + with his experiment, for he was seen again and again careering over the + floor with Sybil until Mrs. Lee herself became nervous, for the Princess + frowned. + </p> + <p> + After her release Madeleine lingered awhile in the ball-room to speak with + her sister and to receive congratulations. For half an hour she was a + greater belle than Sybil. A crowd of men clustered about her, amused at + the part she had played in the evening's entertainment and full of + compliments upon her promotion at Court. Lord Skye himself found time to + offer her his thanks in a more serious tone than he generally affected. + “You have suffered much,” said he, “and I am grateful.” Madeleine laughed + as she answered that her sufferings had seemed nothing to her while she + watched his. But at last she became weary of the noise and glare of the + ball-room, and, accepting the arm of her excellent friend Count Popoff, + she strolled with him back to the house. There at last she sat down on a + sofa in a quiet window-recess where the light was less strong and where a + convenient laurel spread its leaves in front so as to make a bower through + which she could see the passers-by without being seen by them except with + an effort. Had she been a younger woman, this would have been the spot for + a flirtation, but Mrs. Lee never flirted, and the idea of her flirting + with Popoff would have seemed ludicrous to all mankind. + </p> + <p> + He did not sit down, but was leaning against the angle of the wall, + talking with her, when suddenly Mr. Ratcliffe appeared and took the seat + by her side with such deliberation and apparent sense of property that + Popoff incontinently turned and fled. No one knew where the Secretary came + from, or how he learned that she was there. He made no explanation and she + took care to ask for none. She gave him a highly-coloured account of her + evening's service as lady-in-waiting, which he matched by that of his own + trials as gentleman-usher to the President, who, it seemed, had clung + desperately to his old enemy in the absence of any other rock to clutch + at. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe looked the character of Prime Minister sufficiently well at this + moment. He would have held his own, at a pinch, in any Court, not merely + in Europe but in India or China, where dignity is still expected of + gentlemen. + </p> + <p> + Excepting for a certain coarse and animal expression about the mouth, and + an indefinable coldness in the eye, he was a handsome man and still in his + prime. Every one remarked how much he was improved since entering the + Cabinet. He had dropped his senatorial manner. His clothes were no longer + congressional, but those of a respectable man, neat and decent. His shirts + no longer protruded in the wrong places, nor were his shirt-collars frayed + or soiled. His hair did not stray over his eyes, ears, and coat, like that + of a Scotch terrier, but had got itself cut. Having overheard Mrs. Lee + express on one occasion her opinion of people who did not take a cold bath + every morning, he had thought it best to adopt this reform, although he + would not have had it generally known, tot it savoured of caste. He made + an effort not to be dictatorial and to forget that he had been the Prairie + Giant, the bully of the Senate. In short, what with Mrs. Lee's influence + and what with his emancipation from the Senate chamber with its code of + bad manners and worse morals, Mr. Ratcliffe was fast becoming a + respectable member of society whom a man who had never been in prison or + in politics might safely acknowledge as a friend. + </p> + <p> + Mr. Ratcliffe was now evidently bent upon being heard. After charting for + a time with some humour on the President's successes as a man of fashion, + he changed the subject to the merits of the President as a statesman, and + little by little as he spoke he became serious and his voice sank into low + and confidential tones. He plainly said that the President's incapacity + had now become notorious among his followers; that it was only with + difficulty his Cabinet and friends could prevent him from making a fool of + himself fifty times a day; that all the party leaders who had occasion to + deal with him were so thoroughly disgusted that the Cabinet had to pass + its time in trying to pacify them; while this state of things lasted, + Ratcliffe's own influence must be paramount; he had good reason to know + that if the Presidential election were to take place this year, nothing + could prevent his nomination and election; even at three years' distance + the chances in his favour were at least two to one; and after this + exordium he went on in a low tone with increasing earnestness, while Mrs. + Lee sat motionless as the statue of Agrippina, her eyes fixed on the + ground: + </p> + <p> + “I am not one of those who are happy in political life. I am a politician + because I cannot help myself; it is the trade I am fittest for, and + ambition is my resource to make it tolerable. In politics we cannot keep + our hands clean. I have done many things in my political career that are + not defensible. To act with entire honesty and self-respect, one should + always live in a pure atmosphere, and the atmosphere of politics is + impure. Domestic life is the salvation of many public men, but I have for + many years been deprived of it. I have now come to that point where + increasing responsibilities and temptations make me require help. I must + have it. You alone can give it to me. You are kind, thoughtful, + conscientious, high-minded, cultivated, fitted better than any woman I + ever saw, for public duties. Your place is there. You belong among those + who exercise an influence beyond their time. I only ask you to take the + place which is yours.” + </p> + <p> + This desperate appeal to Mrs. Lee's ambition was a calculated part of + Ratcliffe's scheme. He was well aware that he had marked high game, and + that in proportion to this height must be the power of his lure. Nor was + he embarrassed because Mrs. Lee sat still and pale with her eyes fixed on + the ground and her hands twisted together in her lap. The eagle that soars + highest must be longer in descending to the ground than the sparrow or the + partridge. Mrs. Lee had a thousand things to think about in this brief + time, and yet she found that she could not think at all; a succession of + mere images and fragments of thought passed rapidly over her mind, and her + will exercised no control upon their order or their nature. One of these + fleeting reflections was that in all the offers of marriage she had ever + heard, this was the most unsentimental and businesslike. As for his appeal + to her ambition, it fell quite dead upon her ear, but a woman must be more + than a heroine who can listen to flattery so evidently sincere, from a man + who is pre-eminent among men, without being affected by it. To her, + however, the great and overpowering fact was that she found herself unable + to retreat or escape; her tactics were disconcerted, her temporary + barriers beaten down. + </p> + <p> + The offer was made. What should she do with it? + </p> + <p> + She had thought for months on this subject without being able to form a + decision; what hope was there that she should be able to decide now, in a + ball-room, at a minute's notice? When, as occasionally happens, the + conflicting sentiments, prejudices, and passions of a lifetime are + compressed into a single instant, they sometimes overcharge the mind and + it refuses to work. Mrs. Lee sat still and let things take their course; a + dangerous expedient, as thousands of women have learned, for it leaves + them at the mercy of the strong will, bent upon mastery. + </p> + <p> + The music from the ball-room did not stop. Crowds of persons passed by + their retreat. Some glanced in, and not one of these felt a doubt what was + going on there. An unmistakeable atmosphere of mystery and intensity + surrounded the pair. Ratcliffe's eyes were fixed upon Mrs. Lee, and hers + on the ground. Neither seemed to speak or to stir. Old Baron Jacobi, who + never failed to see everything, saw this as he went by, and ejaculated a + foreign oath of frightful import. Victoria Dare saw it and was devoured by + curiosity to such a point as to be hardly capable of containing herself. + </p> + <p> + After a silence which seemed interminable, Ratcliffe went on: “I do not + speak of my own feelings because I know that unless compelled by a strong + sense of duty, you will not be decided by any devotion of mine. But I + honestly say that I have learned to depend on you to a degree I can hardly + express; and when I think of what I should be without you, life seems to + me so intolerably dark that I am ready to make any sacrifice, to accept + any conditions that will keep you by my side.” + </p> + <p> + Meanwhile Victoria Dare, although deeply interested in what Dunbeg was + telling her, had met Sybil and had stopped a single second to whisper in + her ear: “You had better look after your sister, in the window, behind the + laurel with Mr. Ratcliffe!” Sybil was on Lord Skye's arm, enjoying herself + amazingly, though the night was far gone, but when she caught Victoria's + words, the expression of her face wholly changed. All the anxieties and + terrors of the last fortnight, came back upon it. She dragged Lord Skye + across the hall and looked in upon her sister. One glance was enough. + </p> + <p> + Desperately frightened but afraid to hesitate, she went directly up to + Madeleine who was still sitting like a statue, listening to Ratcliffe's + last words. As she hurriedly entered, Mrs. Lee, looking up, caught sight + of her pale face, and started from her seat. + </p> + <p> + “Are you ill, Sybil?” she exclaimed; “is anything the matter?” + </p> + <p> + “A little—fatigued,” gasped Sybil; “I thought you might be ready to + go home.” + </p> + <p> + “I am,” cried Madeleine; “I am quite ready. Good evening, Mr. Ratcliffe. I + will see you to-morrow. Lord Skye, shall I take leave of the Princess?” + </p> + <p> + “The Princess retired half an hour ago,” replied Lord Skye, who saw the + situation and was quite ready to help Sybil; “let me take you to the + dressing-room and order your carriage.” Mr. Ratcliffe found himself + suddenly left alone, while Mrs. Lee hurried away, torn by fresh anxieties. + They had reached the dressing-room and were nearly ready to go home, when + Victoria Dare suddenly dashed in upon them, with an animation of manner + very unusual in her, and, seizing Sybil by the hand, drew her into an + adjoining room and shut the door. “Can you keep a secret?” said she + abruptly. + </p> + <p> + “What!” said Sybil, looking at her with open-mouthed interest; “you don't + mean—are you really—tell me, quick!” + </p> + <p> + “Yes!” said Victoria relapsing into composure; “I am engaged!” + </p> + <p> + “To Lord Dunbeg?” + </p> + <p> + Victoria nodded, and Sybil, whose nerves were strung to the highest pitch + by excitement, flattery, fatigue, perplexity, and terror, burst into a + paroxysm of laughter, that startled even the calm Miss Dare. + </p> + <p> + “Poor Lord Dunbeg! don't be hard on him, Victoria!” she gasped when at + last she found breath; “do you really mean to pass the rest of your life + in Ireland? Oh, how much you will teach them!” + </p> + <p> + “You forget, my dear,” said Victoria, who had placidly enthroned herself + on the foot of a bed, “that I am not a pauper. I am told that Dunbeg + Castle is a romantic summer residence, and in the dull season we shall of + course go to London or somewhere. I shall be civil to you when you come + over. Don't you think a coronet will look well on me?” + </p> + <p> + Sybil burst again into laughter so irrepressible and prolonged that it + puzzled even poor Dunbeg, who was impatiently pacing the corridor outside. + </p> + <p> + It alarmed Madeleine, who suddenly opened the door. Sybil recovered + herself, and, her eyes streaming with tears, presented Victoria to her + sister: + </p> + <p> + “Madeleine, allow me to introduce you to the Countess Dunbeg!” + </p> + <p> + But Mrs. Lee was much too anxious to feel any interest in Lady Dunbeg. A + sudden fear struck her that Sybil was going into hysterics because + Victoria's engagement recalled her own disappointment. She hurried her + sister away to the carriage. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XII + </h2> + <p> + THEY drove home in silence, Mrs. Lee disturbed with anxieties and doubts, + partly caused by her sister, partly by Mr. Ratcliffe; Sybil divided + between amusement at Victoria's conquest, and alarm at her own boldness in + meddling with her sister's affairs. Desperation, however, was stronger + than fear. She made up her mind that further suspense was not to be + endured; she would fight her baffle now before another hour was lost; + surely no time could be better. A few moments brought them to their door. + Mrs. Lee had told her maid not to wait for them, and they were alone. The + fire was still alive on Madeleine's hearth, and she threw more wood upon + it. Then she insisted that Sybil must go to bed at once. But Sybil + refused; she felt quite well, she said, and not in the least sleepy; she + had a great deal to talk about, and wanted to get it off her mind. + Nevertheless, her feminine regard for the “Dawn in June” led her to + postpone what she had to say until with Madeleine's help she had laid the + triumph of the ball carefully aside; then, putting on her dressing-gown, + and hastily plunging Carrington's letter into her breast, like a concealed + weapon, she hurried back to Madeleine's room and established herself in a + chair before the fire. There, after a moment's pause, the two women began + their long-deferred trial of strength, in which the match was so nearly + equal as to make the result doubtful; for, if Madeleine were much the + cleverer, Sybil in this case knew much better what she wanted, and had a + clear idea how she meant to gain it, while Madeleine, unsuspicious of + attack, had no plan of defence at all. + </p> + <p> + “Madeleine,” began Sybil, solemnly, and with a violent palpitation of the + heart, “I want you to tell me something.” + </p> + <p> + “What is it, my child?” said Mrs. Lee, puzzled, and yet half ready to see + that there must be some connection between her sister's coming question + and the sudden illness at the ball, which had disappeared as suddenly as + it came. + </p> + <p> + “Do you mean to marry Mr. Ratcliffe?” + </p> + <p> + Poor Mrs. Lee was quite disconcerted by the directness of the attack. This + fatal question met her at every turn. Hardly had she succeeded in escaping + trom it at the ball scarcely an hour ago, by a stroke of good fortune for + which she now began to see she was indebted to Sybil, and here it was + again presented to her face like a pistol. The whole town, then, was + asking it. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe's offer must have been seen by half Washington, and her reply + was awaited by an immense audience, as though she were a political + returning-board. Her disgust was intense, and her first answer to Sybil + was a quick inquiry: + </p> + <p> + “Why do you ask such a question? have you heard anything,—has anyone + talked about it to you?” + </p> + <p> + “No!” replied Sybil; “but I must know; I can see for myself without being + told, that Mr. Racliffe is trying to make you marry him. I don't ask out + of curiosity; this is something that concerns me nearly as much as it does + you yourself. Please tell me! don't treat me like a child any longer! let + me know what you are thinking about! I am so tired of being left in the + dark! You have no idea how much this thing weighs on me. Oh, Maude, I + shall never be happy again until you trust me about this.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee felt a little pang of conscience, and seemed suddenly to become + conscious of a new coil, tightening about her, in this wretched + complication. Unable to see her way, ignorant of her sister's motives, + urged on by the idea that Sybil's happiness was involved, she was now + charged with want of feeling, and called upon for a direct answer to a + plain question. + </p> + <p> + How could she aver that she did not mean to marry Mr. Ratcliffe? to say + this would be to shut the door on all the objects she had at heart. If a + direct answer must be given, it was better to say “Yes!” and have it over; + better to leap blindly and see what came of it. Mrs. Lee, therefore, with + an internal gasp, but with no visible sign of excitement, said, as though + she were in a dream: + </p> + <p> + “Well, Sybil, I will tell you. I would have told you long ago if I had + known myself. Yes! I have made up my mind to marry Mr. Ratcliffe!” + </p> + <p> + Sybil sprang to her feet with a cry: “And have you told him so?” she + asked. + </p> + <p> + “No! you came and interrupted us just as we were speaking. I was glad you + did come, for it gives me a little time to think. But I am decided now. I + shall tell him to-morrow.” + </p> + <p> + This was not said with the air or one whose heart beat warmly at the + thought of confessing her love. Mrs. Lee spoke mechanically, and almost + with an effort. Sybil flung herself with all her energy upon her sister; + violently excited, and eager to make herself heard, without waiting for + arguments, she broke out into a torrent of entreaties: “Oh, don't, don't, + don't! Oh, please, please, don't, my dearest, dearest Maude! unless you + want to break my heart, don't marry that man! You can't love him! You can + never be happy with him! he will take you away to Peonia, and you will die + there! I shall never see you again! He will make you unhappy; he will beat + you, I know he will! Oh, if you care for me at all, don't marry him! Send + him away! don't see him again! let us go ourselves, now, in the morning + train, before he comes back. I'm all ready; I'll pack everything for you; + we'll go to Newport; to Europe—anywhere, to be out of his reach!” + </p> + <p> + With this passionate appeal, Sybil threw herself on her knees by her + sister's side, and, clasping her arms around Madeleine's waist, sobbed as + though her heart were already broken. Had Carrington seen her then he must + have admitted that she had carried out his instructions to the letter. She + was quite honest, too, in it all. She meant what she said, and her tears + were real tears that had been pent up for weeks. Unluckily, her logic was + feeble. Her idea of Mr. Ratcliffe's character was vague, and biased by + mere theories of what a Prairie Giant of Peonia should be in his domestic + relations. Her idea of Peonia, too, was indistinct. She was haunted by a + vision of her sister, sitting on a horse-hair sofa before an air-tight + iron stove in a small room with high, bare white walls, a chromolithograph + on each, and at her side a marble-topped table surmounted by a glass vase + containing funereal dried grasses; the only literature, Frank Leslie's + periodical and the New York Ledger, with a strong smell of cooking + everywhere prevalent. Here she saw Madeleine receiving visitors, the wives + of neighbours and constituents, who told her the Peonia news. + </p> + <p> + Notwithstanding her ignorant and unreasonable prejudice against western + men and women, western towns and prairies, and, in short, everything + western, down to western politics and western politicians, whom she + perversely asserted to be tue lowest ot all western products, there was + still some common sense in Sybil's idea. When that inevitable hour struck + for Mr. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe, which strikes sooner or later for all politicians, and an + ungrateful country permitted him to pine among his friends in Illinois, + what did he propose to do with his wife? Did he seriously suppose that + she, who was bored to death by New York, and had been able to find no + permanent pleasure in Europe, would live quietly in the romantic village + of Peonia? If not, did Mr. Ratcliffe imagine that they could find + happiness in the enjoyment of each other's society, and of Mrs. Lee's + income, in the excitements of Washington? In the ardour of his pursuit, + Mr. Ratcliffe had accepted in advance any conditions which Mrs. Lee might + impose, but if he really imagined that happiness and content lay on the + purple rim of this sunset, he had more confidence in women and in money + than a wider experience was ever likely to justify. + </p> + <p> + Whatever might be Mr. Ratcliffe's schemes for dealing with these obstacles + they could hardly be such as would satisfy Sybil, who, if inaccurate in + her theories about Prairie Giants, yet understood women, and especially + her sister, much better than Mr. Ratcliffe ever could do. Here she was + safe, and it would have been better had she said no more, for Mrs. Lee, + though staggered for a moment by her sister's vehemence, was reassured by + what seemed the absurdity of her fears. Madeleine rebelled against this + hysterical violence of opposition, and became more fixed in her decision. + </p> + <p> + She scolded her sister in good, set terms— + </p> + <p> + “Sybil, Sybil! you must not be so violent. Behave like a woman, and not + like a spoiled child!” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee, like most persons who have to deal with spoiled or unspoiled + children, resorted to severity, not so much because it was the proper way + of dealing with them, as because she knew not what else to do. She was + thoroughly uncomfortable and weary. She was not satisfied with herself or + with her own motives. Doubt encompassed her on all sides, and her worst + opponent was that sister whose happiness had turned the scale against her + own judgment. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless her tactics answered their object of checking Sybil's + vehemence. Her sobs came to an end, and she presently rose with a quieter + air. + </p> + <p> + “Madeleine,” said she, “do you really want to marry Mr. Ratcliffe?” + </p> + <p> + “What else can I do, my dear Sybil? I want to do whatever is for the best. + I thought you might be pleased.” + </p> + <p> + “You thought I might be pleased?” cried Sybil in astonishment. “What a + strange idea! If you had ever spoken to me about it I should have told you + that I hate him, and can't understand how you can abide him. But I would + rather marry him myself than see you marry him. I know that you will kill + yourself with unhappiness when you have done it. Oh, Maude, please tell me + that you won't!” And Sybil began gently sobbing again, while she caressed + her sister. + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee was infinitely distressed. To act against the wishes of her + nearest friends was hard enough, but to appear harsh and unfeeling to the + one being whose happiness she had at heart, was intolerable. Yet no + sensible woman, after saying that she meant to marry a man like Mr. + Ratcliffe, could throw him over merely because another woman chose to + behave like a spoiled child. + </p> + <p> + Sybil was more childish than Madeleine herself had supposed. She could not + even see where her own interest lay. She knew no more about Mr. Ratcliffe + and the West than if he were the giant of a fairy-story, and lived at the + top of a bean-stalk. She must be treated as a child; with gentleness, + affection, forbearance, but with firmness and decision. She must be + refused what she asked, for her own good. + </p> + <p> + Thus it came about that at last Mrs. Lee spoke, with an appearance of + decision far from representing her internal tremor. + </p> + <p> + “Sybil, dear, I have made up my mind to marry Mr. Ratcliffe because there + is no other way of making every one happy. You need not be afraid of him. + He is kind and generous. Besides, I can take care of myself; and I will + take care of you too. Now let us not discuss it any more. It is broad + daylight, and we are both tired out.” + </p> + <p> + Sybil grew at once perfectly calm, and standing before her sister, as + though their rôles were henceforward to be reversed, said: + </p> + <p> + “You have really made up your mind, then? Nothing I can say will change + it?” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee, looking at her with more surprise than ever, could not force + herself to speak; but she shook her head slowly and decidedly. + </p> + <p> + “Then,” said Sybil, “there is only one thing more I can do. You must read + this!” and she drew out Carrington's letter, which she held before + Madeleine's face. + </p> + <p> + “Not now, Sybil!” remonstrated Mrs. Lee, dreading another long struggle. + “I will read it after we have had some rest. Go to bed now!” + </p> + <p> + “I do not leave this room, nor will I ever go to bed until you have read + that letter,” answered Sybil, seating herself again before the fire with + the resolution of Queen Elizabeth; “not if I sit here till you are + married. I promised Mr. Carrington that you should read it instantly; it's + all I can do now.” With a sigh, Mrs. Lee drew up the window-curtain, and + in the gray morning light sat down to break the seal and read the + following letter:— + </p> + <p> + “Washington, 2nd April. + </p> + <p> + “My dear Mrs. Lee, + </p> + <p> + “This letter will only come into your hands in case there should be a + necessity for your knowing its contents. Nothing short of necessity would + excuse my writing it. I have to ask your pardon for intruding again upon + your private affairs. In this case, if I did not intrude, you would have + cause for serious complaint against me. + </p> + <p> + “You asked me the other day whether I knew anything against Mr. Ratcliffe + which the world did not know, to account for my low opinion of his + character. I evaded your question then. I was bound by professional rules + not to disclose facts that came to me under a pledge of confidence. I am + going to violate these rules now, only because I owe you a duty which + seems to me to override all others. + </p> + <p> + “I do know facts in regard to Mr. Ratcliffe, which have seemed to me to + warrant a very low opinion of his character, and to mark him as unfit to + be, I will not say your husband, but even your acquaintance. + </p> + <p> + “You know that I am executor to Samuel Baker's will. You know who Samuel + Baker was. You have seen his wife. She has told you herself that I + assisted her in the examination and destruction of all her husband's + private papers according to his special death-bed request. One of the + first facts I learned from these papers and her explanations, was the + following. + </p> + <p> + “Just eight years ago, the great 'Inter-Oceanic Mail Steamship Company,' + wished to extend its service round the world, and, in order to do so, it + applied to Congress for a heavy subsidy. The management of this affair was + put into the hands of Mr. Baker, and all his private letters to the + President of the Company, in press copies, as well as the President's + replies, came into my possession. Baker's letters were, of course, written + in a sort of cypher, several kinds of which he was in the habit of using. + He left among his papers a key to this cypher, but Mrs. Baker could have + explained it without that help. + </p> + <p> + “It appeared from this correspondence that the bill was carried + successfully through the House, and, on reaching the Senate, was referred + to the appropriate Committee. Its ultimate passage was very doubtful; the + end of the session was close at hand; the Senate was very evenly divided, + and the Chairman of the Committee was decidedly hostile. + </p> + <p> + “The Chairman of that Committee was Senator Ratcliffe, always mentioned by + Mr. Baker in cypher, and with every precaution. If you care, however, to + verify the fact, and to trace the history of the Subsidy Bill through all + its stages, together with Mr. Ratcliffe's report, remarks, and votes upon + it, you have only to look into the journals and debates for that year. + </p> + <p> + “At last Mr. Baker wrote that Senator Ratcliffe had put the bill in his + pocket, and unless some means could be found of overcoming his opposition, + there would be no report, and the bill would never come to a vote. All + ordinary kinds of argument and influence had been employed upon him, and + were exhausted. In this exigency Baker suggested that the Company should + give him authority to see what money would do, but he added that it would + be worse than useless to deal with small sums. Unless at least one hundred + thousand dollars could be employed, it was better to leave the thing + alone. + </p> + <p> + “The next mail authorized him to use any required amount of money not + exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Two days later he wrote + that the bill was reported, and would pass the Senate within forty-eight + hours; and he congratulated the Company on the fact that he had used only + one hundred thousand dollars out of its last credit. + </p> + <p> + “The bill was actually reported, passed, and became law as he foretold, + and the Company has enjoyed its subsidy ever since. Mrs. Baker also + informed me that to her knowledge her husband gave the sum mentioned, in + United States Coupon Bonds, to Senator Ratcliffe. + </p> + <p> + “This transaction, taken in connection with the tortuousness of his public + course, explains the distrust I have always expressed for him. You will, + however, understand that all these papers have been destroyed. Mrs. Baker + could never be induced to hazard her own comfort by revealing the facts to + the public. The officers of the Company in their own interests would never + betray the transaction, and their books were undoubtedly so kept as to + show no trace of it. If I made this charge against Mr. Ratcliffe, I should + be the only sufferer. He would deny and laugh at it. I could prove + nothing. I am therefore more directly interested than he is in keeping + silence. + </p> + <p> + “In trusting this secret to you, I rely firmly upon your mentioning it to + no one else—not even to your sister. You are at liberty, if you + wish, to show this letter to one person only—to Mr. Ratcliffe + himself. That done, you will, I beg, burn it immediately. + </p> + <p> + “With the warmest good wishes, I am, + </p> + <p> + “Ever most truly yours, + </p> + <p> + “John Carrington.” + </p> + <p> + When Mrs. Lee had finished reading this letter, she remained for some time + quite silent, looking out into the square below. The morning had come, and + the sky was bright with the fresh April sunlight. She threw open her + window, and drew in the soft spring air. She needed all the purity and + quiet that nature could give, for her whole soul was in revolt, wounded, + mortified, exasperated. Against the sentiment of all her friends she had + insisted upon believing in this man; she had wrought herself up to the + point of accepting him for her husband; a man who, if law were the same + thing as justice, ought to be in a felon's cell; a man who could take + money to betray his trust. Her anger at first swept away all bounds. She + was impatient for the moment when she should see him again, and tear off + his mask. For once she would express all the loathing she felt for the + whole pack of political hounds. She would see whether the animal was made + like other beings; whether he had a sense of honour; a single clean spot + in his mind. + </p> + <p> + Then it occurred to her that after all there might be a mistake; perhaps + Mr. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe could explain the charge away. But this thought only laid bare + another smarting wound in her pride. Not only did she believe the charge, + but she believed that Mr. Ratcliffe would defend his act. She had been + willing to marry a man whom she thought capable of such a crime, and now + she shuddered at the idea that this charge might have been brought against + her husband, and that she could not dismiss it with instant incredulity, + with indignant contempt. How had this happened? how had she got into so + foul a complication? When she left New York, she had meant to be a mere + spectator in Washington. Had it entered her head that she could be drawn + into any project of a second marriage, she never would have come at all, + for she was proud of her loyalty to her husband's memory, and second + marriages were her abhorrence. In her restlessness and solitude, she had + forgotten this; she had only asked whether any life was worth living for a + woman who had neither husband nor children. Was the family all that life + had to offer? could she find no interest outside the household? And so, + led by this will-of-the-wisp, she had, with her eyes open, walked into the + quagmire of politics, in spite of remonstrance, in spite of conscience. + </p> + <p> + She rose and paced the room, while Sybil lay on the couch, watching her + with eyes half shut. She grew more and more angry with herself, and as her + self-reproach increased, her anger against Ratcliffe faded away. She had + no right to be angry with Ratcliffe. He had never deceived her. He had + always openly enough avowed that he knew no code of morals in politics; + that if virtue did not answer his purpose he used vice. How could she + blame him for acts which he had repeatedly defended in her presence and + with her tacit assent, on principles that warranted this or any other + villainy? + </p> + <p> + The worst was that this discovery had come on her as a blow, not as a + reprieve from execution. At this thought she became furious with herself. + </p> + <p> + She had not known the recesses of her own heart. She had honestly supposed + that Sybil's interests and Sybil's happiness were forcing her to an act of + self-sacrifice; and now she saw that in the depths of her soul very + different motives had been at work: ambition, thirst for power, restless + eagerness to meddle in what did not concern her, blind longing to escape + from the torture of watching other women with full lives and satisfied + instincts, while her own life was hungry and sad. For a time she had + actually, unconscious as she was of the delusion, hugged a hope that a new + field of usefulness was open to her; that great opportunities for doing + good were to supply the aching emptiness of that good which had been taken + away; and that here at last was an object for which there would be almost + a pleasure in squandering the rest of existence even if she knew in + advance that the experiment would fail. Life was emptier than ever now + that this dream was over. Yet the worst was not in that disappointment, + but in the discovery of her own weakness and self-deception. + </p> + <p> + Worn out by long-continued anxiety, excitement and sleeplessness, she was + unfit to struggle with the creatures of her own imagination. Such a strain + could only end in a nervous crisis, and at length it came: + </p> + <p> + “Oh, what a vile thing life is!” she cried, throwing up her arms with a + gesture of helpless rage and despair. “Oh, how I wish I were dead! how I + wish the universe were annihilated!” and she flung herself down by Sybil's + side in a frenzy of tears. + </p> + <p> + Sybil, who had watched all this exhibition in silence, waited quietly for + the excitement to pass. There was little to say. She could only soothe. + </p> + <p> + After the paroxysm had exhausted itself Madeleine lay quiet for a time, + until other thoughts began to disturb her. From reproaching herself about + Ratcliffe she went on to reproach herself about Sybil, who really looked + worn and pale, as though almost overcome by fatigue. + </p> + <p> + “Sybil,” said she, “you must go to bed at once. You are tired out. It was + very wrong in me to let you sit up so late. Go now, and get some sleep.” + </p> + <p> + “I am not going to bed till you do, Maude!” replied Sybil, with quiet + obstinacy. + </p> + <p> + “Go, dear! it is all settled. I shall not marry Mr. Ratcliffe. You need + not be anxious about it any more.” + </p> + <p> + “Are you very unhappy?” + </p> + <p> + “Only very angry with myself. I ought to have taken Mr. Carrington's + advice sooner.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, Maude!” exclaimed Sybil, with a sudden explosion of energy; “I wish + you had taken him!” + </p> + <p> + This remark roused Mrs. Lee to new interest: “Why, Sybil,” said she, + “surely you are not in earnest?” + </p> + <p> + “Indeed, I am,” replied Sybil, very decidedly. “I know you think I am in + love with Mr. Carrington myself, but I'm not. I would a great deal rather + have him for a brother-in-law, and he is so much the nicest man you know, + and you could help his sisters.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee hesitated a moment, for she was not quite certain whether it was + wise to probe a healing wound, but she was anxious to clear this last + weight from her mind, and she dashed recklessly forward: + </p> + <p> + “Are you sure you are telling the truth, Sybil? Why, then, did you say + that you cared for him? and why have you been so miserable ever since he + went away?” + </p> + <p> + “Why? I should think it was plain enough why! Because I thought, as every + one else did, that you were going to marry Mr. Ratcliffe; and because if + you married Mr. Ratcliffe, I must go and live alone; and because you + treated me like a child, and never took me into your confidence at all; + and because Mr. Carrington was the only person I had to advise me, and + after he went away, I was left all alone to fight Mr. Ratcliffe and you + both together, without a human soul to help me in case I made a mistake. + You would have been a great deal more miserable than I if you had been in + my place.” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine looked at her for a moment in doubt. Would this last? did Sybil + herself know the depth of her own wound? But what could Mrs. Lee do now? + </p> + <p> + Perhaps Sybil did deceive herself a little. When this excitement had + passed away, perhaps Carrington's image might recur to her mind a little + too often for her own comfort. The future must take care of itself. Mrs. + Lee drew her sister closer to her, and said: “Sybil, I have made a + horrible mistake, and you must forgive me.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Chapter XIII + </h2> + <p> + NOT until afternoon did Mrs. Lee reappear. How much she had slept she did + not say, and she hardly looked like one whose slumbers had been long or + sweet; but if she had slept little, she had made up for the loss by + thinking much, and, while she thought, the storm which had raged so + fiercely in her breast, more and more subsided into calm. If there was not + sunshine yet, there was at least stillness. As she lay, hour after hour, + waiting for the sleep that did not come, she had at first the keen + mortification of reflecting how easily she had been led by mere vanity + into imagining that she could be of use in the world. She even smiled in + her solitude at the picture she drew of herself, reforming Ratcliffe, and + Krebs, and Schuyler Clinton. The ease with which Ratcliffe alone had + twisted her about his finger, now that she saw it, made her writhe, and + the thought of what he might have done, had she married him, and of the + endless succession of moral somersaults she would have had to turn, + chilled her with mortal terror. She had barely escaped being dragged under + the wheels of the machine, and so coming to an untimely end. When she + thought of this, she felt a mad passion to revenge herself on the whole + race of politicians, with Ratcliffe at their head; she passed hours in + framing bitter speeches to be made to his face. + </p> + <p> + Then as she grew calmer, Ratcliffe's sins took on a milder hue; life, + after all, had not been entirely blackened by his arts; there was even + some good in her experience, sharp though it were. Had she not come to + Washington in search of men who cast a shadow, and was not Ratcliffe's + shadow strong enough to satisfy her? Had she not penetrated the deepest + recesses of politics, and learned how easily the mere possession of power + could convert the shadow of a hobby-horse existing only in the brain of a + foolish country farmer, into a lurid nightmare that convulsed the sleep of + nations? The antics of Presidents and Senators had been amusing—so + amusing that she had nearly been persuaded to take part in them. She had + saved herself in time. + </p> + <p> + She had got to the bottom of this business of democratic government, and + found out that it was nothing more than government of any other kind. She + might have known it by her own common sense, but now that experience had + proved it, she was glad to quit the masquerade; to return to the true + democracy of life, her paupers and her prisons, her schools and her + hospitals. As for Mr. Ratcliffe, she felt no difficulty in dealing with + him. + </p> + <p> + Let Mr. Ratcliffe, and his brother giants, wander on their own political + prairie, and hunt for offices, or other profitable game, as they would. + </p> + <p> + Their objects were not her objects, and to join their company was not her + ambition. She was no longer very angry with Mr. Ratcliffe. She had no wish + to insult him, or to quarrel with him. What he had done as a politician, + he had done according to his own moral code, and it was not her business + to judge him; to protect herself was the only right she claimed. She + thought she could easily hold him at arm's length, and although, if + Carrington had written the truth, they could never again be friends, there + need be no difficulty in their remaining acquaintances. If this view of + her duty was narrow, it was at least proof that she had learned something + from Mr. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe; perhaps it was also proof that she had yet to learn Mr. + Ratcliffe himself. + </p> + <p> + Two o'clock had struck before Mrs. Lee came down from her chamber, and + Sybil had not yet made her appearance. Madeleine rang her bell and gave + orders that, if Mr. Ratcliffe called she would see him, but she was at + home to no one else. Then she sat down to write letters and to prepare for + her journey to New York, for she must now hasten her departure in order to + escape the gossip and criticism which she saw hanging like an avalanche + over her head. + </p> + <p> + When Sybil at length came down, looking much fresher than her sister, they + passed an hour together arranging this and other small matters, so that + both of them were again in the best of spirits, and Sybil's face was + wreathed in smiles. + </p> + <p> + A number of visitors came to the door that day, some of them prompted by + friendliness and some by sheer curiosity, for Mrs. Lee's abrupt + disappearance from the ball had excited remark. Against all these her door + was firmly closed. On the other hand, as the afternoon went on, she sent + Sybil away, so that she might have the field entirely to herself, and + Sybil, relieved of all her alarms, sallied out to interrupt Dunbeg's + latest interview with his Countess, and to amuse herself with Victoria's + last “phase.” + </p> + <p> + Towards four o'clock the tall form of Mr. Ratcliffe was seen to issue from + the Treasury Department and to descend the broad steps of its western + front. + </p> + <p> + Turning deliberately towards the Square, the Secretary of the Treasury + crossed the Avenue and stopping at Mrs. Lee's door, rang the bell. He was + immediately admitted. Mrs. Lee was alone in her parlour and rose rather + gravely as he entered, but welcomed him as cordially as she could. She + wanted to put an end to his hopes at once and to do it decisively, but + without hurting his feelings. + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Ratcliffe,” said she, when he was seated—“I am sure you will be + better pleased by my speaking instantly and frankly. I could not reply to + you last night. I will do so now without delay. What you wish is + impossible. I would rather not even discuss it. Let us leave it here and + return to our old relations.” + </p> + <p> + She could not force herself to express any sense of gratitude for his + affection, or of regret at being obliged to meet it with so little return. + </p> + <p> + To treat him with tolerable civility was all she thought required of her. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe felt the change of manner. He had been prepared for a struggle, + but not to be met with so blunt a rebuff at the start. His look became + serious and he hesitated a moment before speaking, but when he spoke at + last, it was with a manner as firm and decided as that of Mrs. Lee + herself. + </p> + <p> + “I cannot accept such an answer. I will not say that I have a right to + explanation,—I have no rights which you are bound to respect,—but + from you I conceive that I may at least ask the favour of one, and that + you will not refuse it. Are you willing to tell me your reasons for this + abrupt and harsh decision?” + </p> + <p> + “I do not dispute your right of explanation, Mr. Ratcliffe. You have the + right, if you choose to use it, and I am ready to give you every + explanation in my power; but I hope you will not insist on my doing so. If + I seemed to speak abruptly and harshly, it was merely to spare you the + greater annoyance of doubt. Since I am forced to give you pain, was it not + fairer and more respectful to you to speak at once? We have been friends. + I am very soon going away. I sincerely want to avoid saying or doing + anything that would change our relations.” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe, however, paid no attention to these words, and gave them no + answer. He was much too old a debater to be misled by such trifles, when + he needed all his faculties to pin his opponent to the wall. He asked:— + </p> + <p> + “Is your decision a new one?” + </p> + <p> + “It is a very old one, Mr. Ratcliffe, which I had let myself lose sight + of, for a time. A night's reflection has brought me back to it.” + </p> + <p> + “May I ask why you have returned to it? surely you would not have + hesitated without strong reasons.” + </p> + <p> + “I will tell you frankly. If, by appearing to hesitate, I have misled you, + I am honestly sorry for it. I did not mean to do it. My hesitation was + owing to the doubt whether my life might not really be best used in aiding + you. My decision was owing to the certainty that we are not fitted for + each other. Our lives run in separate grooves. We are both too old to + change them.” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe shook his head with an air of relief. “Your reasons, Mrs. Lee, + are not sound. There is no such divergence in our lives. On the contrary I + can give to yours the field it needs, and that it can get in no other way; + while you can give to mine everything it now wants. If these are your only + reasons I am sure of being able to remove them.” + </p> + <p> + Madeleine looked as though she were not altogether pleased at this idea, + and became a little dogmatic. “It is no use our arguing on this subject, + Mr. Ratcliffe. You and I take very different views of life. I cannot + accept yours, and you could not practise on mine.” + </p> + <p> + “Show me,” said Ratcliffe, “a single example of such a divergence, and I + will accept your decision without another word.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee hesitated and looked at him for an instant as though to be quite + sure that he was in earnest. There was an effrontery about this challenge + which surprised her, and if she did not check it on the spot, there was no + saying how much trouble it might give her. Then unlocking the drawer of + the writing-desk at her elbow, she took out Carrington's letter and handed + it to Mr. Ratcliffe. + </p> + <p> + “Here is such an example which has come to my knowledge very lately. I + meant to show it to you in any case, but I would rather have waited.” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe took the letter which she handed to him, opened it deliberately, + looked at the signature, and read. He showed no sign of surprise or + disturbance. No one would have imagined that he had, from the moment he + saw Carrington's name, as precise a knowledge of what was in this letter + as though he had written it himself. His first sensation was only one of + anger that his projects had miscarried. How this had happened he could not + at once understand, for the idea that Sybil could have a hand in it did + not occur to him. He had made up his mind that Sybil was a silly, + frivolous girl, who counted for nothing in her sister's actions. He had + fallen into the usual masculine blunder of mixing up smartness of + intelligence with strength of character. Sybil, without being a + metaphysician, willed anything which she willed at all with more energy + than her sister did, who was worn out with the effort of life. Mr. + Ratcliffe missed this point, and was left to wonder who it was that had + crossed his path, and how Carrington had managed to be present and absent, + to get a good office in Mexico and to baulk his schemes in Washington, at + the same time. He had not given Carrington credit for so much cleverness. + </p> + <p> + He was violently irritated at the check. Another day, he thought, would + have made him safe on this side; and possibly he was right. Had he once + succeeded in getting ever so slight a hold on Mrs. Lee he would have told + her this story with his own colouring, and from his own point of view, and + he fully believed he could do this in such a way as to rouse her sympathy. + Now that her mind was prejudiced, the task would be much more difficult; + yet he did not despair, for it was his theory that Mrs. Lee, in the depths + of her soul, wanted to be at the head of the White House as much as he + wanted to be there himself, and that her apparent coyness was mere + feminine indecision in the face of temptation. His thoughts now turned + upon the best means of giving again the upper hand to her ambition. He + wanted to drive Carrington a second time from the field. + </p> + <p> + Thus it was that, having read the letter once in order to learn what was + in it, he turned back, and slowly read it again in order to gain time. + Then he replaced it in its envelope, and returned it to Mrs. Lee, who, + with equal calmness, as though her interest in it were at an end, tossed + it negligently into the fire, where it was reduced to ashes under + Ratcliffe's eyes. + </p> + <p> + He watched it burn for a moment, and then turning to her, said, with his + usual composure, “I meant to have told you of that affair myself. I am + sorry that Mr. Carrington has thought proper to forestall me. No doubt he + has his own motives for taking my character in charge.” + </p> + <p> + “Then it is true!” said Mrs. Lee, a little more quickly than she had meant + to speak. + </p> + <p> + “True in its leading facts; untrue in some of its details, and in the + impression it creates. During the Presidential election which took place + eight years ago last autumn, there was, as you may remember, a violent + contest and a very close vote. We believed (though I was not so prominent + in the party then as now), that the result of that election would be + almost as important to the nation as the result of the war itself. Our + defeat meant that the government must pass into the blood-stained hands of + rebels, men whose designs were more than doubtful, and who could not, even + if their designs had been good, restrain the violence of their followers. + In consequence we strained every nerve. Money was freely spent, even to an + amount much in excess of our resources. How it was employed, I will not + say. + </p> + <p> + “I do not even know, for I held myself aloof from these details, which + fell to the National Central Committee of which I was not a member. The + great point was that a very large sum had been borrowed on pledged + securities, and must be repaid. The members of the National Committee and + certain senators held discussions on the subject, in which I shared. The + end was that towards the close of the session the head of the committee, + accompanied by two senators, came to me and told me that I must abandon my + opposition to the Steamship Subsidy. They made no open avowal of their + reasons, and I did not press for one. Their declaration, as the + responsible heads of the organization, that certain action on my part was + essential to the interests of the party, satisfied me. I did not consider + myself at liberty to persist in a mere private opinion in regard to a + measure about which I recognized the extreme likelihood of my being in + error. I accordingly reported the bill, and voted for it, as did a large + majority of the party. Mrs. Baker is mistaken in saying that the money was + paid to me. If it was paid at all, of which I have no knowledge except + from this letter, it was paid to the representative of the National + Committee. I received no money. I had nothing to do with the money further + than as I might draw my own conclusions in regard to the subsequent + payment of the campaign debt.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee listened to all this with intense interest. Not until this moment + had she really felt as though she had got to the heart of politics, so + that she could, like a physician with his stethoscope, measure the organic + disease. Now at last she knew why the pulse beat with such unhealthy + irregularity, and why men felt an anxiety which they could not or would + not explain. Her interest in the disease overcame her disgust at the + foulness of the revelation. To say that the discovery gave her actual + pleasure would be doing her injustice; but the excitement of the moment + swept away every other sensation. She did not even think of herself. Not + until afterwards did she fairly grasp the absurdity of Ratcliffe's wish + that in the face of such a story as this, she should still have vanity + enough to undertake the reform of politics. And with his aid too! The + audacity of the man would have seemed sublime if she had felt sure that he + knew the difference between good and evil, between a lie and the truth; + but the more she saw of him, the surer she was that his courage was mere + moral paralysis, and that he talked about virtue and vice as a man who is + colour-blind talks about red and green; he did not see them as she saw + them; if left to choose for himself he would have nothing to guide him. + Was it politics that had caused this atrophy of the moral senses by + disuse? Meanwhile, here she sat face to face with a moral lunatic, who had + not even enough sense of humour to see the absurdity of his own request, + that she should go out to the shore of this ocean of corruption, and + repeat the ancient rôle of King Canute, or Dame Partington with her mop + and her pail. What was to be done with such an animal? + </p> + <p> + The bystander who looked on at this scene with a wider knowledge of facts, + might have found entertainment in another view of the subject, that is to + say, in the guilelessness ot Madeleine Lee. With all her warnings she was + yet a mere baby-in-arms in the face of the great politician. She accepted + his story as true, and she thought it as bad as possible; but had Mr. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe's associates now been present to hear his version of it, they + would have looked at each other with a smile of professional pride, and + would have roundly sworn that he was, beyond a doubt, the ablest man this + country had ever produced, and next to certain of being President. They + would not, however, have told their own side of the story if they could + have helped it, but in talking it over among themselves they might have + assumed the facts to have been nearly as follows: that Ratcliffe had + dragged them into an enormous expenditure to carry his own State, and with + it his own re-election to the Senate; that they had tried to hold him + responsible, and he had tried to shirk the responsibility; that there had + been warm discussions on the subject; that he himself had privately + suggested recourse to Baker, had shaped his conduct accordingly, and had + compelled them, in order to save their own credit, to receive the money. + </p> + <p> + Even if Mrs. Lee had heard this part of the story, though it might have + sharpened her indignation against Mr. Ratcliffe, it would not have altered + her opinions. As it was, she had heard enough, and with a great effort to + control her expression of disgust, she sank back in her chair as Ratcliffe + concluded. Finding that she did not speak, he went on: + </p> + <p> + “I do not undertake to defend this affair. It is the act of my public life + which I most regret—not the doing, but the necessity of doing. I do + not differ from you in opinion on that point. I cannot acknowledge that + there is here any real divergence between us.” + </p> + <p> + “I am afraid,” said Mrs. Lee, “that I cannot agree with you.” + </p> + <p> + This brief remark, the very brevity of which carried a barb of sarcasm, + escaped from Madeleine's lips before she had fairly intended it. Ratcliffe + felt the sting, and it started him from his studied calmness of manner. + </p> + <p> + Rising from his chair he stood on the hearthrug before Mrs. Lee, and broke + out upon her with an oration in that old senatorial voice and style which + was least calculated to enlist her sympathies: + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Lee,” said he, with harsh emphasis and dogmatic tone, “there are + conflicting duties in all the transactions of life, except the simplest. + However we may act, do what we may, we must violate some moral obligation. + All that can be asked of us is that we should guide ourselves by what we + think the highest. At the time this affair occurred, I was a Senator of + the United States. I was also a trusted member of a great political party + which I looked upon as identical with the nation. In both capacities I + owed duties to my constituents, to the government, to the people. I might + interpret these duties narrowly or broadly. I might say: Perish the + government, perish the Union, perish this people, rather than that I + should soil my hands! Or I might say, as I did, and as I would say again: + Be my fate what it may, this glorious Union, the last hope of suffering + humanity, shall be preserved.” + </p> + <p> + Here he paused, and seeing that Mrs. Lee, after looking for a time at him, + was now regarding the fire, lost in meditation over the strange vagaries + of the senatorial mind, he resumed, in another line of argument. He + rightly judged that there must be some moral defect in his last remarks, + although he could not see it, which made persistence in that direction + useless. + </p> + <p> + “You ought not to blame me—you cannot blame me justly. It is to your + sense of justice I appeal. Have I ever concealed from you my opinions on + this subject? Have I not on the contrary always avowed them? Did I not + here, on this very spot, when challenged once before by this same + Carrington, take credit for an act less defensible than this? Did I not + tell you then that I had even violated the sanctity of a great popular + election and reversed its result? That was my sole act! In comparison with + it, this is a trifle! Who is injured by a steamship company subscribing + one or ten hundred thousand dollars to a campaign fund? Whose rights are + affected by it? Perhaps its stock holders receive one dollar a share in + dividends less than they otherwise would. If they do not complain, who + else can do so? But in that election I deprived a million people of rights + which belonged to them as absolutely as their houses! You could not say + that I had done wrong. Not a word of blame or criticism have you ever + uttered to me on that account. If there was an offence, you condoned it! + You certainly led me to suppose that you saw none. Why are you now so + severe upon the smaller crime?” + </p> + <p> + This shot struck hard. Mrs. Lee visibly shrank under it, and lost her + composure. This was the same reproach she had made against herself, and to + which she had been able to find no reply. With some agitation she + exclaimed: + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Ratcliffe, pray do me justice! I have tried not to be severe. I have + said nothing in the way of attack or blame. I acknowledge that it is not + my place to stand in judgment over your acts. I have more reason to blame + myself than you, and God knows I have blamed myself bitterly.” The tears + stood in her eyes as she said these last words, and her voice trembled. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe saw that he had gained an advantage, and, sitting down nearer to + her, he dropped his voice and urged his suit still more energetically: + </p> + <p> + “You did me justice then; why not do it now? You were convinced then that + I did the best I could. I have always done so. On the other hand I have + never pretended that all my acts could be justified by abstract morality. + Where, then, is the divergence between us?” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee did not undertake to answer this last argument: she only returned + to her old ground. “Mr. Ratcliffe,” she said, “I do not want to argue this + question. I have no doubt that you can overcome me in argument. Perhaps on + my side this is a matter of feeling rather than of reason, but the truth + is only too evident to me that I am not fitted for politics. I should be a + drag upon you. Let me be the judge of my own weakness! Do not insist upon + pressing me, further!” + </p> + <p> + She was ashamed of herself for this appeal to a man whom she could not + respect, as though she were a suppliant at his mercy, but she feared the + reproach of having deceived him, and she tried pitiably to escape it. + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe was only encouraged by her weakness. + </p> + <p> + “I must insist upon pressing it, Mrs. Lee,” replied he, and he became yet + more earnest as he went on; “my future is too deeply involved in your + decision to allow of my accepting your answer as final. I need your aid. + There is nothing I will not do to obtain it. Do you require affection? + mine for you is boundless. I am ready to prove it by a life of devotion. + Do you doubt my sincerity? test it in whatever way you please. Do you fear + being dragged down to the level of ordinary politicians? so far as + concerns myself, my great wish is to have your help in purifying politics. + What higher ambition can there be than to serve one's country for such an + end? Your sense of duty is too keen not to feel that the noblest objects + which can inspire any woman, combine to point out your course.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee was excessively uncomfortable, although not in the least shaken. + </p> + <p> + She began to see that she must take a stronger tone if she meant to bring + this importunity to an end, and she answered:— + </p> + <p> + “I do not doubt your affection or your sincerity, Mr. Ratcliffe. It is + myself I doubt. You have been kind enough to give me much of your + confidence this winter, and if I do not yet know about politics all that + is to be known, I have learned enough to prove that I could do nothing + sillier than to suppose myself competent to reform anything. If I + pretended to think so, I should be a mere worldly, ambitious woman, such + as people think me. The idea of my purifying politics is absurd. I am + sorry to speak so strongly, but I mean it. I do not cling very closely to + life, and do not value my own very highly, but I will not tangle it in + such a way; I will not share the profits of vice; I am not willing to be + made a receiver of stolen goods, or to be put in a position where I am + perpetually obliged to maintain that immorality is a virtue!” + </p> + <p> + As she went on she became more and more animated and her words took a + sharper edge than she had intended. Ratcliffe felt it, and showed his + annoyance. His face grew dark and his eyes looked out at her with their + ugliest expression. He even opened his mouth for an angry retort, but + controlled himself with an effort, and presently resumed his argument. + </p> + <p> + “I had hoped,” he began more solemnly than ever, “that I should find in + you a lofty courage which would disregard such risks. If all the men and + women were to take the tone you have taken, our government would soon + perish. If you consent to share my career, I do not deny that you may find + less satisfaction than I hope, but you will lead a mere death in life if + you place yourself like a saint on a solitary column. I plead what I + believe to be your own cause in pleading mine. Do not sacrifice your + life!” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee was in despair. She could not reply what was on her lips, that to + marry a murderer or a thief was not a sure way of diminishing crime. She + had already said something so much like this that she shrank from speaking + more plainly. So she fell back on her old theme. + </p> + <p> + “We must at all events, Mr. Ratcliffe, use our judgments according to our + own consciences. I can only repeat now what I said at first. I am sorry to + seem insensible to your expressions towards me, but I cannot do what you + wish. Let us maintain our old relations if you will, but do not press me + further on this subject.” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe grew more and more sombre as he became aware that defeat was + staring him in the face. He was tenacious of purpose, and he had never in + his life abandoned an object which he had so much at heart as this. He + would not abandon it. For the moment, so completely had the fascination of + Mrs. + </p> + <p> + Lee got the control of him, he would rather have abandoned the Presidency + itself than her. He really loved her as earnestly as it was in his nature + to love anything. To her obstinacy he would oppose an obstinacy greater + still; but in the meanwhile his attack was disconcerted, and he was at a + loss what next to do. Was it not possible to change his ground; to offer + inducements that would appeal even more strongly to feminine ambition and + love of display than the Presidency itself? He began again:— + </p> + <p> + “Is there no form of pledge I can give you? no sacrifice I can make? You + dislike politics. Shall I leave political life? I will do anything rather + than lose you. I can probably control the appointment of Minister to + England. The President would rather have me there than here. Suppose I + were to abandon politics and take the English mission. Would that + sacrifice not affect you? You might pass four years in London where there + would be no politics, and where your social position would be the best in + the world; and this would lead to the Presidency almost as surely as the + other.” Then suddenly, seeing that he was making no headway, he threw off + his studied calmness and broke out in an appeal of almost equally studied + violence. + </p> + <p> + “Mrs. Lee! Madeleine! I cannot live without you. The sound of your voice—the + touch of your hand—even the rustle of your dress—are like wine + to me. For God's sake, do not throw me over!” + </p> + <p> + He meant to crush opposition by force. More and more vehement as he spoke + he actually bent over and tried to seize her hand. She drew it back as + though he were a reptile. She was exasperated by this obstinate disregard + of her forbearance, this gross attempt to bribe her with office, this + flagrant abandonment of even a pretence of public virtue; the mere thought + of his touch on her person was more repulsive than a loathsome disease. + Bent upon teaching him a lesson he would never forget, she spoke out + abruptly, and with evident signs of contempt in her voice and manner: + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Ratcliffe, I am not to be bought. No rank, no dignity, no + consideration, no conceivable expedient would induce me to change my mind. + Let us have no more of this!” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe had already been more than once, during this conversation, on + the verge of losing his temper. Naturally dictatorial and violent, only + long training and severe experience had taught him self-control, and when + he gave way to passion his bursts of fury were still tremendous. Mrs. + Lee's evident personal disgust, even more than her last sharp rebuke, + passed the bounds of his patience. As he stood before her, even she, + high-spirited as she was, and not in a calm frame of mind, felt a + momentary shock at seeing how his face flushed, his eyes gleamed, and his + hands trembled with rage. + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” exclaimed he, turning upon her with a harshness, almost a + savageness, of manner that startled her still more; “I might have known + what to expect! Mrs. Clinton warned me early. She said then that I should + find you a heartless coquette!” + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Ratcliffe!” exclaimed Madeleine, rising from her chair, and speaking + in a warning voice almost as passionate as his own. + </p> + <p> + “A heartless coquette!” he repeated, still more harshly than before; “she + said you would do just this! that you meant to deceive me! that you lived + on flattery! that you could never be anything but a coquette, and that if + you married me, I should repent it all my life. I believe her now!” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee's temper, too, was naturally a high one. At this moment she, too, + was flaming with anger, and wild with a passionate impulse to annihilate + this man. Conscious that the mastery was in her own hands, she could the + more easily control her voice, and with an expression of unutterable + contempt she spoke her last words to him, words which had been ringing all + day in her ears: + </p> + <p> + “Mr. Ratcliffe! I have listened to you with a great deal more patience and + respect than you deserve. For one long hour I have degraded myself by + discussing with you the question whether I should marry a man who by his + own confession has betrayed the highest trusts that could be placed in + him, who has taken money for his votes as a Senator, and who is now in + public office by means of a successful fraud of his own, when in justice + he should be in a State's prison. I will have no more of this. Understand, + once for all, that there is an impassable gulf between your life and mine. + I do not doubt that you will make yourself President, but whatever or + wherever you are, never speak to me or recognize me again!” + </p> + <p> + He glared a moment into her face with a sort of blind rage, and seemed + about to say more, when she swept past him, and before he realized it, he + was alone. + </p> + <p> + Overmastered by passion, but conscious that he was powerless, Ratcliffe, + after a moment's hesitation, left the room and the house. He let himself + out, shutting the front door behind him, and as he stood on the pavement + old Baron Jacobi, who had special reasons for wishing to know how Mrs. Lee + had recovered from the fatigue and excitements of the ball, came up to the + spot. + </p> + <p> + A single glance at Ratcliffe showed him that something had gone wrong in + the career of that great man, whose fortunes he always followed with so + bitter a sneer of contempt. Impelled by the spirit of evil always at his + elbow, the Baron seized this moment to sound the depth of his friend's + wound. They met at the door so closely that recognition was inevitable, + and Jacobi, with his worst smile, held out his hand, saying at the same + moment with diabolic malignity: + </p> + <p> + “I hope I may offer my felicitations to your Excellency!” + </p> + <p> + Ratcliffe was glad to find some victim on whom he could vent his rage. He + had a long score of humiliations to repay this man, whose last insult was + beyond all endurance. With an oath he dashed Jacobi's hand aside, and, + grasping his shoulder, thrust him out of the path. The Baron, among whose + weaknesses the want of high temper and personal courage was not recorded, + had no mind to tolerate such an insult from such a man. Even while + Ratcliffe's hand was still on his shoulder he had raised his cane, and + before the Secretary saw what was coming, the old man had struck him with + all his force full in the face. For a moment Ratcliffe staggered back and + grew pale, but the shock sobered him. He hesitated a single instant + whether to crush his assailant with a blow, but he felt that for one of + his youth and strength, to attack an infirm diplomatist in a public street + would be a fatal blunder, and while Jacobi stood, violently excited, with + his cane raised ready to strike another blow, Mr. Ratcliffe suddenly + turned his back and without a word, hastened away. + </p> + <p> + When Sybil returned, not long afterwards, she found no one in the parlour. + </p> + <p> + On going to her sister's room she discovered Madeleine lying on the couch, + looking worn and pale, but with a slight smile and a peaceful expression + on her face, as though she had done some act which her conscience + approved. She called Sybil to her side, and, taking her hand, said: + </p> + <p> + “Sybil, dearest, will you go abroad with me again?” + </p> + <p> + “Of course I will,” said Sybil; “I will go to the end of the world with + you.” + </p> + <p> + “I want to go to Egypt,” said Madeleine, still smiling faintly; “democracy + has shaken my nerves to pieces. Oh, what rest it would be to live in the + Great Pyramid and look out for ever at the polar star!” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_CONC" id="link2H_CONC"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + Conclusion + </h2> + <p> + SYBIL TO CARRINGTON “May 1st, New York. + </p> + <p> + “My dear Mr. Carrington, + </p> + <p> + “I promised to write you, and so, to keep my promise, and also because my + sister wishes me to tell you about our plans, I send this letter. We have + left Washington—for ever, I am afraid—and are going to Europe + next month. + </p> + <p> + You must know that a fortnight ago, Lord Skye gave a great ball to the + Grand-Duchess of something-or-other quite unspellable. I never can + describe things, but it was all very fine. I wore a lovely new dress, and + was a great success, I assure you. So was Madeleine, though she had to sit + most of the evening by the Princess—such a dowdy! The Duke danced + with me several times; he can't reverse, but that doesn't seem to matter + in a Grand-Duke. + </p> + <p> + Well! things came to a crisis at the end of the evening. I followed your + directions, and after we got home gave your letter to Madeleine. She says + she has burned it. I don't know what happened afterwards—a + tremendous scene, I suspect, but Victoria Dare writes me from Washington + that every one is talking about M.'s refusal of Mr. R., and a dreadful + thing that took place on our very doorstep between Mr. R. and Baron + Jacobi, the day after the ball. She says there was a regular pitched + battle, and the Baron struck him over the face with his cane. You know how + afraid Madeleine was that they would do something of the sort in our + parlour. I'm glad they waited till they were in the street. But isn't it + shocking! They say the Baron is to be sent away, or recalled, or + something. I like the old gentleman, and for his sake am glad duelling is + gone out of fashion, though I don't much believe Mr. Silas P. Ratcliffe + could hit anything. The Baron passed through here three days ago on his + summer trip to Europe. He left his card on us, but we were out, and did + not see him. We are going over in July with the Schneidekoupons, and Mr. + Schneidekoupon has promised to send his yacht to the Mediterranean, so + that we shall sail about there after finishing the Nile, and see Jerusalem + and Gibraltar and Constantinople. I think it will be perfectly lovely. I + hate ruins, but I fancy you can buy delicious things in Constantinople. Of + course, after what has happened, we can never go back to Washington. I + shall miss our rides dreadfully. I read Mr. Browning's 'Last Ride + Together,' as you told me; I think it's beautiful and perfectly easy, all + but a little. I never could understand a word of him before—so I + never tried. Who do you think is engaged? Victoria Dare, to a coronet and + a peat-bog, with Lord Dunbeg attached. Victoria says she is happier than + she ever was before in any of her other engagements, and she is sure this + is the real one. She says she has thirty thousand a year derived from the + poor of America, which may just as well go to relieve one of the poor in + Ireland. + </p> + <p> + You know her father was a claim agent, or some such thing, and is said to + have made his money by cheating his clients out of their claims. She is + perfectly wild to be a countess, and means to make Castle Dunbeg lovely + by-and-by, and entertain us all there. Madeleine says she is just the kind + to be a great success in London. Madeleine is very well, and sends her + kind regards. I believe she is going to add a postscript. I have promised + to let her read this, but I don't think a chaperoned letter is much fun to + write or receive. Hoping to hear from you soon, + </p> + <p> + “Sincerely yours, + </p> + <p> + “Sybil Ross.” + </p> + <p> + Enclosed was a thin strip of paper containing another message from Sybil, + privately inserted at the last moment unknown to Mrs. Lee— + </p> + <p> + “If I were in your place I would try again after she comes home.” + </p> + <p> + Mrs. Lee's P.S. was very short— + </p> + <p> + “The bitterest part of all this horrid story is that nine out of ten of + our countrymen would say I had made a mistake.” + </p> + <p> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Democracy An American Novel, by Henry Adams + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK DEMOCRACY AN AMERICAN NOVEL *** + +***** This file should be named 2815-h.htm or 2815-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/2/8/1/2815/ + +Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer, and David Widger + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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It wasn't until the 1925 edition that Adams +was listed as author. Henry Adams remarked (ironically as usual), +"The wholesale piracy of Democracy was the single real triumph +of my life."--it was very popular, as readers tried to guess who the +author was and who the characters really were. Chapters XII and +XIII were originally misnumbered. + + + +Chapter I + + +FOR reasons which many persons thought ridiculous, Mrs. +Lightfoot Lee decided to pass the winter in Washington. She was +in excellent health, but she said that the climate would do her +good. In New York she had troops of friends, but she suddenly +became eager to see again the very small number of those who +lived on the Potomac. It was only to her closest intimates that she +honestly acknowledged herself to be tortured by ennui. Since her +husband's death, five years before, she had lost her taste for New +York society; she had felt no interest in the price of stocks, and +very little in the men who dealt in them; she had become serious. +What was it all worth, this wilderness of men and women as +monotonous as the brown stone houses they lived in? In her +despair she had resorted to desperate measures. She had read +philosophy in the original German, and the more she read, the +more she was disheartened that so much culture should lead to +nothing--nothing. + +After talking of Herbert Spencer for an entire evening with a very +literary transcendental commission-merchant, she could not see +that her time had been better employed than when in former days +she had passed it in flirting with a very agreeable young +stock-broker; indeed, there was an evident proof to the contrary, +for the flirtation might lead to something--had, in fact, led to +marriage; while the philosophy could lead to nothing, unless it +were perhaps to another evening of the same kind, because +transcendental philosophers are mostly elderly men, usually +married, and, when engaged in business, somewhat apt to be +sleepy towards evening. Nevertheless Mrs. Lee did her best to turn +her study to practical use. She plunged into philanthropy, visited +prisons, inspected hospitals, read the literature of pauperism and +crime, saturated herself with the statistics of vice, until her mind +had nearly lost sight of virtue. At last it rose in rebellion against +her, and she came to the limit of her strength. This path, too, +seemed to lead nowhere. She declared that she had lost the sense +of duty, and that, so far as concerned her, all the paupers and +criminals in New York might henceforward rise in their majesty +and manage every railway on the continent. Why should she care? +What was the city to her? She could find nothing in it that seemed +to demand salvation. What gave peculiar sanctity to numbers? +Why were a million people, who all resembled each other, any way +more interesting than one person? What aspiration could she help +to put into the mind of this great million-armed monster that +would make it worth her love or respect? Religion? A thousand +powerful churches were doing their best, and she could see no +chance for a new faith of which she was to be the inspired prophet. +Ambition? High popular ideals? Passion for whatever is lofty and +pure? The very words irritated her. Was she not herself devoured +by ambition, and was she not now eating her heart out because she +could find no one object worth a sacrifice? + +Was it ambition--real ambition--or was it mere restlessness that +made Mrs. Lightfoot Lee so bitter against New York and +Philadelphia, Baltimore and Boston, American life in general and +all life in particular? What did she want? Not social position, for +she herself was an eminently respectable Philadelphian by birth; +her father a famous clergyman; and her husband had been equally +irreproachable, a descendant of one branch of the Virginia Lees, +which had drifted to New York in search of fortune, and had found +it, or enough of it to keep the young man there. His widow had her +own place in society which no one disputed. Though not brighter +than her neighbours, the world persisted in classing her among +clever women; she had wealth, or at least enough of itto give her +all that money can give by way of pleasure to a sensible woman in +an American city; she had her house and her carriage; she dressed +well; her table was good, and her furniture was never allowed to +fall behind the latest standard of decorative art. She had travelled +in Europe, and after several visits, covering some years of time, +had retumed home, carrying in one hand, as it were, a green-grey +landscape, a remarkably pleasing specimen of Corot, and in the +other some bales of Persian and Syrian rugs and embroideries, +Japanese bronzes and porcelain. With this she declared Europe to +be exhausted, and she frankly avowed that she was American to +the tips of her fingers; she neither knew nor greatly cared whether +America or Europe were best to live in; she had no violent love for +either, and she had no objection to abusing both; but she meant to +get all that American life had to offer, good or bad, and to drink it +down to the dregs, fully determined that whatever there was in it +she would have, and that whatever could be made out of it she +would manufacture. "I know," said she, "that America produces +petroleum and pigs; I have seen both on the steamers; and I am +told it produces silver and gold. There is choice enough for any +woman." + +Yet, as has been already said, Mrs. Lee's first experience was not a +success. She soon declared that New York might represent the +petroleum or the pigs, but the gold of life was not to be discovered +there by her eyes. + +Not but that there was variety enough; a variety of people, +occupations, aims, and thoughts; but that all these, after growing to +a certain height, stopped short. They found nothing to hold them +up. She knew, more or less intimately, a dozen men whose +fortunes ranged between one million and forty millions. What did +they do with their money? What could they do with it that was +different from what other men did? After all, it is absurd to spend +more money than is enough to satisfy all one's wants; it is vulgar to +live in two houses in the same street, and to drive six horses +abreast. Yet, after setting aside a certain income sufficient for all +one's wants, what was to be done with the rest? To let it +accumulate was to own one's failure; Mrs. Lee's great grievance +was that it did accumulate, without changing or improving the +quality of its owners. To spend it in charity and public works was +doubtless praiseworthy, but was it wise? Mrs. Lee had read enough +political economy and pauper reports to be nearly convinced that +public work should be public duty, and that great benefactions do +harm as well as good. + +And even supposing it spent on these objects, how could it do +more than increase and perpetuate that same kind of human nature +which was her great grievance? Her New York friends could not +meet this question except by falling back upon their native +commonplaces, which she recklessly trampled upon, averring that, +much as she admired the genius of the famous traveller, Mr. +Gulliver, she never had been able, since she became a widow, to +accept the Brobdingnagian doctrine that he who made two blades +of grass grow where only one grew before deserved better of +mankind than the whole race of politicians. She would not find +fault with the philosopher had he required that the grass should be +of an improved quality; "but," said she, "I cannot honestly pretend +that I should be pleased to see two New York men where I now see +one; the idea is too ridiculous; more than one and a half would be +fatal to me." + +Then came her Boston friends, who suggested that higher +education was precisely what she wanted; she should throw herself +into a crusade for universities and art-schools. Mrs. Lee turned +upon them with a sweet smile; "Do you know," said she, "that we +have in New York already the richest university in America, and +that its only trouble has always been that it can get no scholars +even by paying for them? Do you want me to go out into the streets +and waylay boys? If the heathen refuse to be converted, can you +give me power over the stake and the sword to compel them to +come in? And suppose you can? Suppose I march all the boys in +Fifth Avenue down to the university and have them all properly +taught Greek and Latin, English literature, ethics, and German +philosophy. What then? You do it in Boston. Now tell me honestly +what comes of it. I suppose you have there a brilliant society; +numbers of poets, scholars, philosophers, statesmen, all up and +down Beacon Street. Your evenings must be sparkling. Your press +must scintillate. How is it that we New Yorkers never hear of it? +We don't go much into your society; but when we do, it doesn't +seem so very much better than our own. You are just like the rest +of us. You grow six inches high, and then you stop. Why will not +somebody grow to be a tree and cast a shadow?" + +The average member of New York society, although not unused to +this contemptuous kind of treatment from his leaders, retaliated in +his blind, common-sense way. "What does the woman want?" he +said. "Is her head turned with the Tulieries and Marlborough +House? Does she think herself made for a throne? Why does she +not lecture for women's rights? Why not go on the stage? If she +cannot be contented like other people, what need is there for +abusing us just because she feels herself no taller than we are? +What does she expect to get from her sharp tongue? What does she +know, any way?" + +Mrs. Lee certainly knew very little. She had read voraciously and +promiscuously one subject after another. Ruskin and Taine had +danced merrily through her mind, hand in hand with Darwin and +Stuart Mill, Gustave Droz and Algernon Swinburne. She had even +laboured over the literature of her own country. She was perhaps, +the only woman in New York who knew something of American +history. Certainly she could not have repeated the list of Presidents +in their order, but she knew that the Constitution divided the +goverument into Executive, Legislative, and Judiciary; she was +aware that the President, the Speaker, and the Chief Justice were +important personages, and instinctively she wondered whether they +might not solve her problem; whether they were the shade trees +which she saw in her dreams. + +Here, then, was the explanation of her restlessness, discontent, +ambition,--call it what you will. It was the feeling of a passenger +on an ocean steamer whose mind will not give him rest until he +has been in the engine-room and talked with the engineer. She +wanted to see with her own eyes the action of primary forces; to +touch with her own hand the massive machinery of society; to +measure with her own mind the capacity of the motive power. She +was bent upon getting to the heart of the great American mystery +of democracy and government. She cared little where her pursuit +might lead her, for she put no extravagant value upon life, having +already, as she said, exhausted at least two lives, and being fairly +hardened to insensibility in the process. "To lose a husband and a +baby," said she, "and keep one's courage and reason, one must +become very hard or very soft. I am now pure steel. You may beat +my heart with a trip-hammer and it will beat the trip-hammer back +again." + +Perhaps after exhausting the political world she might try again +elsewhere; she did not pretend to say where she might then go, or +what she should do; but at present she meant to see what +amusement there might be in politics. + +Her friends asked what kind of amusement she expected to find +among the illiterate swarm of ordinary people who in Washington +represented constituencies so dreary that in comparison New York +was a New Jerusalem, and Broad Street a grove of Academe. She +replied that if Washington society were so bad as this, she should +have gained all she wanted, for it would be a pleasure to +return,--precisely the feeling she longed for. In her own mind, +however, she frowned on the idea of seeking for men. What she +wished to see, she thought, was the clash of interests, the interests +of forty millions of people and a whole continent, centering at +Washington; guided, restrained, controlled, or unrestrained and +uncontrollable, by men of ordinary mould; the tremendous forces +of government, and the machinery of society, at work. What she +wanted, was POWER. + +Perhaps the force of the engine was a little confused in her mind +with that of the engineer, the power with the men who wielded it. +Perhaps the human interest of politics was after all what really +attracted her, and, however strongly she might deny it, the passion +for exercising power, for its own sake, might dazzle and mislead a +woman who had exhausted all the ordinary feminine resources. +But why speculate about her motives? The stage was before her, +the curtain was rising, the actors were ready to enter; she had only +to go quietly on among the supernumeraries and see how the play +was acted and the stage effects were produced; how the great +tragedians mouthed, and the stage-manager swore. + +Chapter II + +ON the first of December, Mrs. Lee took the train for Washington, +and before five o'clock that evening she was entering her newly +hired house on Lafayette Square. She shrugged her shoulders with +a mingled expression of contempt and grief at the curious +barbarism of the curtains and the wall-papers, and her next two +days were occupied with a life-and-death struggle to get the +mastery over her surroundings. In this awful contest the interior of +the doomed house suffered as though a demon were in it; not a +chair, not a mirror, not a carpet, was left untouched, and in the +midst of the worst confusion the new mistress sat, calm as the +statue of Andrew Jackson in the square under her eyes, and issued +her orders with as much decision as that hero had ever shown. +Towards the close of the second day, victory crowned her +forehead. A new era, a nobler conception of duty and existence, +had dawned upon that benighted and heathen residence. The +wealth of Syria and Persia was poured out upon the melancholy +Wilton carpets; embroidered comets and woven gold from Japan +and Teheran depended from and covered over every sad +stuff-curtain; a strange medley of sketches, paintings, fans, +embroideries, and porcelain was hung, nailed, pinned, or stuck +against the wall; finally the domestic altarpiece, the mystical Corot +landscape, was hoisted to its place over the parlour fire, and then +all was over. The setting sun streamed softly in at the windows, +and peace reigned in that redeemed house and in the heart of its +mistress. + +"I think it will do now, Sybil," said she, surveying the scene. + +"It must," replied Sybil. "You haven't a plate or a fan or coloured +scarf left. You must send out and buy some of these old +negro-women's bandannas if you are going to cover anything else. +What is the use? Do you suppose any human being in Washington +will like it? They will think you demented." + +"There is such a thing as self-respect," replied her sister, calmly. + +Sybil--Miss Sybil Ross--was Madeleine Lee's sister. The keenest +psychologist could not have detected a single feature quality which +they had in common, and for that reason they were devoted +friends. Madeleine was thirty, Sybil twenty-four. Madeleine was +indescribable; Sybil was transparent. Madeleine was of medium +height with a graceful figure, a well-set head, and enough +golden-brown hair to frame a face full of varying expression. Her +eyes were never for two consecutive hours of the same shade, but +were more often blue than grey. People who envied her smile said +that she cultivated a sense of humour in order to show her teeth. +Perhaps they were right; but there was no doubt that her habit of +talking with gesticulation would never have grown upon her unless +she had known that her hands were not only beautiful but +expressive. She dressed as skilfully as New York women do, but in +growing older she began to show symptoms of dangerous +unconventionality. She had been heard to express a low opinion of +her countrywomen who blindly fell down before the golden calf of +Mr. Worth, and she had even fought a battle of great severity, +while it lasted, with one of her best-dressed friends who had been +invited--and had gone--to Mr. Worth's afternoon tea-parties. The +secret was that Mrs. Lee had artistic tendencies, and unless they +were checked in time, there was no knowing what might be the +consequence. But as yet they had done no harm; indeed, they +rather helped to give her that sort of atmosphere which belongs +only to certain women; as indescribable as the afterglow; as +impalpable as an Indian summer mist; and non-existent except to +people who feel rather than reason. Sybil had none of it. The +imagination gave up all attempts to soar where she came. A more +straightforward, downright, gay, sympathetic, shallow, +warm-hearted, sternly practical young woman has rarely touched +this planet. Her mind had room for neither grave-stones nor +guide-books; she could not have lived in the past or the future if +she had spent her days in churches and her nights in tombs. "She +was not clever, like Madeleine, thank Heaven." Madeleine was not +an orthodox member of the church; sermons bored her, and +clergymen never failed to irritate every nerve in her excitable +system. Sybil was a simple and devout worshipper at the ritualistic +altar; she bent humbly before the Paulist fathers. When she went to +a ball she always had the best partner in the room, and took it as a +matter of course; but then, she always prayed for one; somehow it +strengthened her faith. Her sister took care never to laugh at her on +this score, or to shock her religious opinions. "Time enough," said +she, "for her to forget religion when religion fails her." As for +regular attendance at church, Madeleine was able to reconcile their +habits without trouble. She herself had not entered a church for +years; she said it gave her unchristian feelings; but Sybil had a +voice of excellent quality, well trained and cultivated: Madeleine +insisted that she should sing in the choir, and by this little +manoeuvre, the divergence of their paths was made less evident. +Madeleine did not sing, and therefore could not go to church with +Sybil. This outrageous fallacy seemed perfectly to answer its +purpose, and Sybil accepted it, in good faith, as a fair working +principle which explained itself. + +Madeleine was sober in her tastes. She wasted no money. She +made no display. + +She walked rather than drove, and wore neither diamonds nor +brocades. But the general impression she made was nevertheless +one of luxury. On the other hand, her sister had her dresses from +Paris, and wore them and her ornaments according to all the +formulas; she was good-naturedly correct, and bent her round +white shoulders to whatever burden the Parisian autocrat chose to +put upon them. Madeleine never interfered, and always paid the +bills. + +Before they had been ten days in Washington, they fell gently into +their place and were carried along without an effort on the stream +of social life. + +Society was kind; there was no reason for its being otherwise. Mrs. +Lee and her sister had no enemies, held no offices, and did their +best to make themselves popular. Sybil had not passed summers at +Newport and winters in New York in vain; and neither her face nor +her figure, her voice nor her dancing, needed apology. Politics +were not her strong point. She was induced to go once to the +Capitol and to sit ten minutes in the gallery of the Senate. No one +ever knew what her impressions were; with feminine tact she +managed not to betray herself But, in truth, her notion of +legislative bodies was vague, floating between her experience at +church and at the opera, so that the idea of a performance of some +kind was never out of her head. To her mind the Senate was a +place where people went to recite speeches, and she naively +assumed that the speeches were useful and had a purpose, but as +they did not interest her she never went again. This is a very +common conception of Congress; many Congressmen share it. + +Her sister was more patient and bolder. She went to the Capitol +nearly every day for at least two weeks. At the end of that time her +interest began to flag, and she thought it better to read the debates +every morning in the Congressional Record. Finding this a +laborious and not always an instructive task, she began to skip the +dull parts; and in the absence of any exciting question, she at last +resigned herself to skipping the whole. Nevertheless she still had +energy to visit the Senate gallery occasionally when she was told +that a splendid orator was about to speak on a question of deep +interest to his country. She listened with a little disposition to +admire, if she could; and, whenever she could, she did admire. She +said nothing, but she listened sharply. She wanted to learn how the +machinery of government worked, and what was the quality of the +men who controlled it. One by one, she passed them through her +crucibles, and tested them by acids and by fire. + +A few survived her tests and came out alive, though more or less +disfigured, where she had found impurities. Of the whole number, +only one retained under this process enough character to interest +her. + +In these early visits to Congress, Mrs. Lee sometimes had the +company of John Carrington, a Washington lawyer about forty +years old, who, by virtue of being a Virginian and a distant +connection of her husband, called himself a cousin, and took a +tone of semi-intimacy, which Mrs. Lee accepted because +Carrington was a man whom she liked, and because he was one +whom life had treated hardly. He was of that unfortunate +generation in the south which began existence with civil war, and +he was perhaps the more unfortunate because, like most educated +Virginians of the old Washington school, he had seen from the +first that, whatever issue the war took, Virginia and he must be +ruined. At twenty-two he had gone into the rebel army as a private +and carried his musket modestly through a campaign or two, after +which he slowly rose to the rank of senior captain in his regiment, +and closed his services on the staff of a major-general, always +doing scrupulously enough what he conceived to be his duty, and +never doing it with enthusiasm. When the rebel armies +surrendered, he rode away to his family plantation--not a difficult +thing to do, for it was only a few miles from Appomatox--and at +once began to study law; then, leaving his mother and sisters to do +what they could with the worn-out plantation, he began the +practice of law in Washington, hoping thus to support himself and +them. He had succeeded after a fashion, and for the first time the +future seemed not absolutely dark. Mrs. Lee's house was an oasis +to him, and he found himself, to his surprise, aimost gay in her +company. The gaiety was of a very qulet kind, and Sybil, while +friendly with him, averred that he was certainly dull; but this +dulness had a fascination for Madeleine, who, having tasted many +more kinds of the wine of life than Sybil, had learned to value +certain delicacies of age and flavour that were lost upon younger +and coarser palates. He talked rather slowly and almost with effort, +but he had something of the dignity--others call it stiffness--of the +old Virginia school, and twenty years of constant responsibility +and deferred hope had added a touch of care that bordered closely +on sadness. His great attraction was that he never talked or seemed +to think of himself. Mrs. Lee trusted in him by instinct. "He is a +type!" said she; "he is my idea of George Washington at thirty." + +One morning in December, Carrington entered Mrs. Lee's parlour +towards noon, and asked if she cared to visit the Capitol. + +"You will have a chance of hearing to-day what may be the last +great speech of our greatest statesman," said he; "you should +come." + +"A splendid sample of our na-tive raw material, sir?" asked she, +fresh from a reading of Dickens, and his famous picture of +American statesmanship. + +"Precisely so," said Carrington; "the Prairie Giant of Peonia, the +Favourite Son of Illinois; the man who came within three votes of +getting the party nomination for the Presidency last spring, and +was only defeated because ten small intriguers are sharper than +one big one. The Honourable Silas P. + +Ratcliffe, Senator from Illinois; he will be run for the Presidency +yet." + +"What does the P. stand for?" asked Sybil. + +"I don't remember ever to have heard his middle name," said +Carrington. + +"Perhaps it is Peonia or Prairie; I can't say." + +"He is the man whose appearance struck me so much when we +were in the Senate last week, is he not? A great, ponderous man, +over six feet high, very senatorial and dignified, with a large head +and rather good features?" inquired Mrs. Lee. + +"The same," replied Carrington. "By all means hear him speak. He +is the stumbling-block of the new President, who is to be allowed +no peace unless he makes terms with Ratcliffe; and so every one +thinks that the Prairie Giant of Peonia will have the choice of the +State or Treasury Department. If he takes either it will be the +Treasury, for he is a desperate political manager, and will want the +patronage for the next national convention." + +Mrs. Lee was delighted to hear the debate, and Carrington was +delighted to sit through it by her side, and to exchange running +comments with her on the speeches and the speakers. + +"Have you ever met the Senator?" asked she. + +"I have acted several times as counsel before his committees. He is +an excellent chairman, always attentive and generally civil." + +"Where was he born?" + +"The family is a New England one, and I believe respectable. He +came, I think, from some place in the Connecticut Valley, but +whether Vermont, New Hampshire, or Massachusetts, I don't +know." + +"Is he an educated man?" + +"He got a kind of classical education at one of the country colleges +there. + +I suspect he has as much education as is good for him. But he went +West very soon after leaving college, and being then young and +fresh from that hot-bed of abolition, he threw himself into the +anti-slavery movement m Illinois, and after a long struggle he rose +with the wave. He would not do the same thing now." + +"Why not?" + +"He is older, more experienced, and not so wise. Besides, he has +no longer the time to wait. Can you see his eyes from here? I call +them Yankee eyes." + +"Don't abuse the Yankees," said Mrs. Lee; "I am half Yankee +myself." + +"Is that abuse? Do you mean to deny that they have eyes?" + +"I concede that there may be eyes among them; but Virginians are +not fair judges of their expression." + +"Cold eyes," he continued; "steel grey, rather small, not unpleasant +in good-humour, diabolic in a passion, but worst when a little +suspicious; then they watch you as though you were a young +rattle-snake, to be killed when convenient." + +"Does he not look you in the face?" + +"Yes; but not as though he liked you. His eyes only seem to ask the +possible uses you might be put to. Ah, the vice-president has given +him the floor; now we shall have it. Hard voice, is it not? like his +eyes. Hard manner, like his voice. Hard all through." + +"What a pity he is so dreadfully senatorial!" said Mrs. Lee; +"otherwise I rather admire him." + +"Now he is settling down to his work," continued Carrington. "See +how he dodges all the sharp issues. What a thing it is to be a +Yankee! What a genius the fellow has for leading a party! Do you +see how well it is all done? The new President flattered and +conciliated, the party united and given a strong lead. And now we +shall see how the President will deal with him. Ten to one on +Ratcliffe. Come, there is that stupid ass from Missouri getting up. +Let us go." + +As they passed down the steps and out into the Avenue, Mrs. Lee +turned to Carrington as though she had been reflecting deeply and +had at length reached a decision. + +"Mr. Carrington," said she, "I want to know Senator Ratcliffe." + +"You will meet him to-morrow evening," replied Carrington, "at +your senatorial dinner." + +The Senator from New York, the Honourable Schuyler Clinton, +was an old admirer of Mrs. Lee, and his wife was a cousin of hers, +more or less distant. They had lost no time in honouring the letter +of credit she thus had upon them, and invited her and her sister to a +solemn dinner, as imposing as political dignity could make it. Mr. +Carrington, as a connection of hers, was one of the party, and +almost the only one among the twenty persons at table who had +neither an office, nor a title, nor a constituency. + +Senator Clinton received Mrs. Lee and her sister with tender +enthusiasm, for they were attractive specimens of his constituents. +He pressed their hands and evidently restrained himself only by an +effort from embracing them, for the Senator had a marked regard +for pretty women, and had made love to every girl with any +pretensions to beauty that had appeared in the State of New York +for fully half a century. At the same time he whispered an apology +in her ear; he regretted so much that he was obliged to forego the +pleasure of taking her to dinner; Washington was the only city in +America where this could have happened, but it was a fact that +ladies here were very great stickiers for etiquette; on the other +hand he had the sad consolation that she would be the gainer, for +he had allotted to her Lord Skye, the British Minister, "a most +agreeable man and not married, as I have the misfortune to be;" +and on the other side "I have ventured to place Senator Ratcliffe, +of Illinois, whose admirable speech I saw you listening to with +such rapt attention yesterday. I thought you might like to know +him. Did I do right?" + +Madeleine assured him that he had divined her inmost wishes, and +he turned with even more warmth of affection to her sister: "As for +you, my dear--dear Sybil, what can I do to make your dinner +agreeable? If I give your sister a coronet, I am only sorry not to +have a diadem for you. But I have done everything in my power. +The first Secretary of the Russian Legation, Count Popoff, will +take you in; a charming young man, my dear Sybil; and on your +other side I have placed the Assistant Secretary of State, whom +you know." + +And so, after the due delay, the party settled themselves at the +dinner-table, and Mrs. Lee found Senator Ratcliffe's grey eyes +resting on her face for a moment as they sat down. + +Lord Skye was very agreeable, and, at almost any other moment of +her life, Mrs. Lee would have liked nothing better than to talk with +him from the beginning to the end of her dinner. Tall, slender, +bald-headed, awkward, and stammering with his elaborate British +stammer whenever it suited his convenience to do so; a sharp +observer who had wit which he commonly concealed; a humourist +who was satisfied to laugh silently at his own humour; a +diplomatist who used the mask of frankness with great effect; Lord +Skye was one of the most popular men in Washington. Every one +knew that he was a ruthless critic of American manners, but he had +the art to combine ridicule with good-humour, and he was all the +more popular accordingly. He was an outspoken admirer of +American women in everything except their voices, and he did not +even shrink from occasionally quizzing a little the national +peculiarities of his own countrywomen; a sure piece of flattery to +their American cousins. He would gladly have devoted himself to +Mrs. Lee, but decent civility required that he should pay some +attention to his hostess, and he was too good a diplomatist not to +be attentive to a hostess who was the wife of a Senator, and that +Senator the chairman of the committee of foreign relations. + +The moment his head was turned, Mrs. Lee dashed at her Peonia +Giant, who was then consuming his fish, and wishing he +understood why the British Minister had worn no gloves, while he +himself had sacrificed his convictions by wearing the largest and +whitest pair of French kids that could be bought for money on +Pennsylvania Avenue. There was a little touch of mortification in +the idea that he was not quite at home among fashionable people, +and at this instant he felt that true happiness was only to be found +among the simple and honest sons and daughters of toil. A certain +secret jealousy of the British Minister is always lurking in the +breast of every American Senator, if he is truly democratic; for +democracy, rightly understood, is the government of the people, by +the people, for the benefit of Senators, and there is always a danger +that the British Minister may not understand this political principle +as he should. Lord Skye had run the risk of making two blunders; +of offending the Senator from New York by neglecting his wife, +and the Senator from Illinois by engrossing the attention of Mrs. +Lee. A young Englishman would have done both, but Lord Skye +had studied the American constitution. The wife of the Senator +from New York now thought him most agreeable, and at the same +moment the Senator from Illinois awoke to the conviction that +after all, even in frivolous and fashionable circles, true dignity is in +no danger of neglect; an American Senator represents a sovereign +state; the great state of Illinois is as big as England--with the +convenient omission of Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, India, +Australia, and a few other continents and islands; and in short, it +was perfectly clear that Lord Skye was not formidable to him, even +in light society; had not Mrs. Lee herself as good as said that no +position equaHed that of an American Senator? + +In ten minutes Mrs. Lee had this devoted statesman at her feet. She +had not studied the Senate without a purpose. She had read with +unerring instinct one general characteristic of all Senators, a +boundless and guileless thirst for flattery, engendered by daily +draughts from political friends or dependents, then becoming a +necessity like a dram, and swallowed with a heavy smile of +ineffable content. A single glance at Mr. Ratcliffe's face showed +Madeleine that she need not be afraid of flattering too grossly; her +own self-respect, not his, was the only restraint upon her use of +this feminine bait. + +She opened upon him with an apparent simplicity and gravity, a +quiet repose of manner, and an evident consciousness of her own +strength, which meant that she was most dangerous. + +"I heard your speech yesterday, Mr. Ratcliffe. I am glad to have a +chance of telling you how much I was impressed by it. It seemed +to me masterly. Do you not find that it has had a great effect?" + +"I thank you, madam. I hope it will help to unite the party, but as +yet we have had no time to measure its results. That will require +several days more." The Senator spoke in his senatorial manner, +elaborate, condescending, and a little on his guard. + +"Do you know," said Mrs. Lee, turning towards him as though he +were a valued friend, and looking deep into his eyes, "Do you +know that every one told me I should be shocked by the falling off +in political ability at Washington? I did not believe them, and since +hearing your speech I am sure they are mistaken. Do you yourself +think there is less ability in Congress than there used to be?" + +"Well, madam, it is difficult to answer that question. Government +is not so easy now as it was formerly. There are different customs. +There are many men of fair abilities in public life; many more than +there used to be; and there is sharper criticism and more of it." + +"Was I right in thinking that you have a strong resemblance to +Daniel Webster in your way of speaking? You come from the same +neighbourhood, do you not?" + +Mrs. Lee here hit on Ratcliffe's weak point; the outline of his head +had, in fact, a certain resemblance to that of Webster, and he +prided himself upon it, and on a distant relationship to the +Expounder of the Constitution; he began to think that Mrs. Lee +was a very intelligent person. His modest admission of the +resemblance gave her the opportunity to talk of Webster 's oratory, +and the conversation soon spread to a discussion of the merits of +Clay and Calhoun. The Senator found that his neighbour--a +fashionable New York woman, exquisitely dressed, and with a +voice and manner seductively soft and gentle--had read the +speeches of Webster and Calhoun. She did not think it necessary to +tell him that she had persuaded the honest Carrington to bring her +the volumes and to mark such passages as were worth her reading; +but she took care to lead the conversation, and she criticised with +some skill and more humour the weak points in Websterian +oratory, saying with a little laugh and a glance into his delighted +eyes: + +"My judgment may not be worth much, Mr. Senator, but it does +seem to me that our fathers thought too much of themselves, and +till you teach me better I shall continue to think that the passage in +your speech of yesterday which began with, 'Our strength lies in +this twisted and tangled mass of isolated principles, the hair of the +half-sleeping giant of Party,' is both for language and imagery +quite equal to anything of Webster's." + +The Senator from Illinois rose to this gaudy fly like a huge, +two-hundred-pound salmon; his white waistcoat gave out a mild +silver reflection as he slowly came to the surface and gorged the +hook. He made not even a plunge, not one perceptible effort to tear +out the barbed weapon, but, floating gently to her feet, allowed +himself to be landed as though it were a pleasure. Only miserable +casuists will ask whether this was fair play on Madeleine's part; +whether flattery so gross cost her conscience no twinge, and +whether any woman can without self-abasement be guilty of such +shameless falsehood. She, however, scorned the idea of falsehood. +She would have defended herself by saying that she had not so +much praised Ratcliffe as depreciated Webster, and that she was +honest in her opinion of the old-fashioned American oratory. But +she could not deny that she had wilfully allowed the Senator to +draw conclusions very different from any she actually held. She +could not deny that she had intended to flatter him to the extent +necessary for her purpose, and that she was pleased at her success. +Before they rose from table the Senator had quite unbent himself; +he was talking naturally, shrewdly, and with some humour; he had +told her Illinois stories; spoken with extraordinary freedom about +his political situation; and expressed the wish to call upon Mrs. +Lee, if he could ever hope to find her at home. + +"I am always at home on Sunday evenings," said she. + +To her eyes he was the high-priest of American politics; he was +charged with the meaning of the mysteries, the clue to political +hieroglyphics. Through him she hoped to sound the depths of +statesmanship and to bring up from its oozy bed that pearl of +which she was in search; the mysterious gem which must lie +hidden somewhere in politics. She wanted to understand this man; +to turn him inside out; to experiment on him and use him as young +physiologists use frogs and kittens. If there was good or bad in +him, she meant to find its meaning. + +And he was a western widower of fifty; his quarters in Washington +were in gaunt boarding-house rooms, furnished only with public +documents and enlivened by western politicians and +office-seekers. In the summer he retired to a solitary, white +framehouse with green blinds, surrounded by a few feet of +uncared-for grass and a white fence; its interior more dreary still, +with iron stoves, oil-cloth carpets, cold white walls, and one large +engraving of Abraham Lincoln in the parlour; all in Peonia, +Illinois! What equality was there between these two combatants? +what hope for him? what risk for her? And yet Madeleine Lee had +fully her match in Mr. Silas P. Ratcliffe. + +Chapter III + +MRS. Lee soon became popular. Her parlour was a favourite haunt +of certain men and women who had the art of finding its mistress +at home; an art which seemed not to be within the powers of +everybody. Carrington was apt to be there more often than any one +else, so that he was looked on as almost a part of the family, and if +Madeleine wanted a book from the library, or an extra man at her +dinner-table, Carrington was pretty certain to help her to the one or +the other. Old Baron Jacobi, the Bulgarian minister, fell madly in +love with both sisters, as he commonly did with every pretty face +and neat figure. He was a witty, cynical, broken-down Parisian +rou, kept in Washington for years past by his debts and his +salary; always grumbling because there was no opera, and +mysteriously disappearing on visits to New York; a voracious +devourer of French and German literature, especially of novels; a +man who seemed to have met every noted or notorious personage +of the century, and whose mmd was a magazine of amusing +information; an excellent musical critic, who was not afraid to +criticise Sybil's singing; a connoisseur in bric--brac, who laughed +at Madeleine's display of odds and ends, and occasionally brought +her a Persian plate or a bit of embroidery, which he said was good +and would do her credit. This old sinner believed in everything +that was perverse and wicked, but he accepted the prejudices of +Anglo-Saxon society, and was too clever to obtrude his opinions +upon others. + +He would have married both sisters at once more willingly than +either alone, but as he feelingly said, "If I were forty years +younger, mademoiselle, you should not sing to me so calmly." His +friend Popoff, an intelligent, vivacious Russian, with very +Calmuck features, susceptible as a girl, and passionately fond of +music, hung over Sybil's piano by the hour; he brought Russian +airs which he taught her to sing, and, if the truth were known, he +bored Madeleine desperately, for she undertook to act the part of +duenna to her younger sister. + +A very different visitor was Mr. C. C. French, a young member of +Congress from Connecticut, who aspired to act the part of the +educated gentleman in politics, and to purify the public tone. He +had reform principles and an unfortunately conceited maimer; he +was rather wealthy, rather clever, rather well-educated, rather +honest, and rather vulgar. His allegiance was divided between Mrs. +Lee and her sister, whom he infuriated by addressing as "Miss +Sybil" with patronising familiarity. He was particularly strong in +what he called "badinaige," and his playful but ungainly attempts +at wit drove Mrs. + +Lee beyond the bounds of patience. When in a solemn mood, he +talked as though he were practising for the ear of a college +debating society, and with a still worse effect on the patience; but +with all this he was useful, always bubbling with the latest +political gossip, and deeply interested in the fate of party stakes. +Quite another sort of person was Mr. Hartbeest Schneidekoupon, a +citizen of Philadelphia, though commonly resident in New York, +where he had fallen a victim to Sybil's charms, and made efforts to +win her young affections by instructing her in the mysteries of +currency and protection, to both which subjects he was devoted. +To forward these two interests and to watch over Miss Ross's +welfare, he made periodical visits to Washington, where he +closeted himself with committee-men and gave expensive dinners +to members of Congress. Mr. Schneidekoupon was rich, and about +thirty years old, tall and thin, with bright eyes and smooth face, +elaborate manners and much loquacity. He had the reputation of +turning rapid intellectual somersaults, partly to amuse himself and +partly to startle society. At one moment he was artistic, and +discoursed scientifically about his own paintings; at another he +was literary, and wrote a book on "Noble Living," with a +humanitarian purpose; at another he was devoted to sport, rode a +steeplechase, played polo, and set up a four-in-hand; his last +occupation was to establish in Philadelphia the Protective Review, +a periodical in the interests of American industry, which he edited +himself, as a stepping-stone to Congress, the Cabinet, and the +Presidency. At about the same time he bought a yacht, and heavy +bets were pending among his sporting friends whether he would +manage to sink first his Review or his yacht. But he was an +amiable and excellent fellow through all his eccentricities, and he +brought to Mrs. Lee the simple outpourings of the amateur +politician. + +A much higher type of character was Mr. Nathan Gore, of +Massachusetts, a handsome man with a grey beard, a straight, +sharply cut nose, and a fine, penetrating eye; in his youth a +successful poet whose satires made a noise in their day, and are +still remembered for the pungency and wit of a few verses; then a +deep student in Europe for many years, until his famous "History +of Spain in America" placed him instantly at the head of American +historians, and made him minister at Madrid, where he remained +four years to his entire satisfaction, this being the nearest approach +to a patent of nobility and a government pension which the +American citizen can attain. A change of administration had +reduced him to private life again, and after some years of +retirement he was now in Washington, willing to be restored to his +old mission. Every President thinks it respectable to have at least +one literary man in his pay, and Mr. Gore's prospects were fair for +obtaining his object, as he had the active support of a majority of +the Massachusetts delegation. He was abominably selfish, +colossally egoistic, and not a little vain; but he was shrewd; he +knew how to hold his tongue; he could flatter dexterously, and he +had learned to eschew satire. Only in confidence and among +friends he would still talk freely, but Mrs. Lee was not yet on those +terms with him. These were all men, and there was no want of +women in Mrs. + +Lee's parlour; but, after all, they are able to describe themselves +better than any poor novelist can describe them. Generally two +currents of conversation ran on together--one round Sybil, the +other about Madeleine. + +"Mees Ross," said Count Popoff, leading in a handsome young +foreigner, "I have your permission to present to you my friend +Count Orsini, Secretary of the Italian Legation. Are you at home +this afternoon? Count Orsini sings also." + +"We are charmed to see Count Orsini. It is well you came so late, +for I have this moment come in from making Cabinet calls. They +were so queer! I have been crying with laughter for an hour past." +"Do you find these calls amusing?" asked Popoff, gravely and +diplomatically. "Indeed I do! I went with Julia Schneidekoupon, +you know, Madeleine; the Schneidekoupons are descended from +all the Kings of Israel, and are prouder than Solomon in his glory. +And when we got into the house of some dreadful woman from +Heaven knows where, imagine my feelings at overhearing this +conversation: 'What may be your family name, ma'am?' +'Schneidekoupon is my name,' replies Julia, very tall and straight. +'Have you any friends whom I should likely know?' 'I think not,' +says Julia, severely. 'Wal! I don't seem to remember of ever having +heerd the name. But I s'pose it's all right. I like to know who calls.' +I almost had hysterics when we got into the street, but Julia could +not see the joke at all." + +Count Orsini was not quite sure that he himself saw the joke, so he +only smiled becomingly and showed his teeth. For simple, +childlike vanity and self-consciousness nothing equals an Italian +Secretary of Legation at twenty-five. Yet conscious that the effect +of his personal beauty would perhaps be diminished by permanent +silence, he ventured to murmur presently: + +"Do you not find it very strange, this society in America?" + +"Society!" laughed Sybil with gay contempt. "There are no snakes +in America, any more than in Norway." + +"Snakes, mademoiselle!" repeated Orsini, with the doubtful +expression of one who is not quite certain whether he shall risk +walking on thin ice, and decides to go softly: "Snakes! Indeed they +would rather be doves I would call them." + +A kind laugh from Sybil strengthened into conviction his hope that +he had made a joke in this unknown tongue. His face brightened, +his confidence returned; once or twice he softly repeated to +himself: "Not snakes; they would be doves!" But Mrs. Lee's +sensitive ear had caught Sybil's remark, and detected in it a certain +tone of condescension which was not to her taste. + +The impassive countenances of these bland young Secretaries of +Legation seemed to acquiesce far too much as a matter of course in +the idea that there was no society except in the old world. She +broke into the conversation with an emphasis that fluttered the +dove-cote: + +"Society in America? Indeed there is society in America, and very +good society too; but it has a code of its own, and new-comers +seldom understand it. I will tell you what it is, Mr. Orsini, and you +will never be in danger of making any mistake. 'Society' in +America means all the honest, kindly-mannered, pleasant-voiced +women, and all the good, brave, unassuming men, between the +Atlantic and the Pacific. Each of these has a free pass in every city +and village, 'good for this generation only,' and it depends on each +to make use of this pass or not as it may happen to suit his or her +fancy. To this rule there are no exceptions, and those who say +'Abraham is our father' will surely furnish food for that humour +which is the staple product of our country." + +The alarmed youths, who did not in the least understand the +meaning of this demonstration, looked on with a feeble attempt at +acquiescence, while Mrs. + +Lee brandished her sugar-tongs in the act of transferring a lump of +sugar to her cup, quite unconscious of the slight absurdity of the +gesture, while Sybil stared in amazement, for it was not often that +her sister waved the stars and stripes so energetically. Whatever +their silent criticisms might be, however, Mrs. Lee was too much +in earnest to be conscious of them, or, indeed, to care for anything +but what she was saying. There was a moment's pause when she +came to the end of her speech, and then the thread of talk was +quietly taken up again where Sybil's incipient sneer had broken it. + +Carrington came in. "What have you been doing at the Capitol?" +asked Madeleine. + +"Lobbying!" was the reply, given in the semi-serious tone of +Carrington's humour. + +"So soon, and Congress only two days old?" exclaimed Mrs. Lee. + +"Madam," rejoined Carrington, with his quietest malice, +"Congressmen are like birds of the air, which are caught only by +the early worm." "Good afternoon, Mrs. Lee. Miss Sybil, how do +you do again? Which of these gentlemen's hearts are you feeding +upon now?" This was the refined style of Mr. French, indulging in +what he was pleased to term "badinaige." He, too, was on his way +from the Capitol, and had come in for a cup of tea and a little +human society. Sybil made a face which plainly expressed a +longing to inflict on Mr. French some grievous personal wrong, but +she pretended not to hear. He sat down by Madeleine, and asked, +"Did you see Ratcliffe yesterday?" + +"Yes," said Madeleine; "he was here last evening with Mr. +Carrington and one or two others." + +"Did he say anything about politics?" + +"Not a word. We talked mostly about books." + +"Books! What does he know about books?" + +"You must ask him." + +"Well, this is the most ridiculous situation we are all in. No one +knows anything about the new President. You could take your oath +that everybody is in the dark. Ratcliffe says he knows as little as +the rest of us, but it can't be true; he is too old a politician not to +have wires in his hand; and only to-day one of the pages of the +Senate told my colleague Cutter that a letter sent off by him +yesterday was directed to Sam Grimes, of North Bend, who, as +every one knows, belongs to the President's particular crowd. +--Why, Mr. Schneidekoupon! How do you do? When did you come +on?" + +"Thank you; this morning," replied Mr. Schneidekoupon, just +entering the room. "So glad to see you again, Mrs. Lee. How do +you and your sister like Washington? Do you know I have brought +Julia on for a visit? I thought I should find her here. + +"She has just gone. She has been all the afternoon with Sybil, +making calls. + +She says you want her here to lobby for you, Mr. Schneidekoupon. +Is it true?" + +"So I did," replied he, with a laugh, "but she is precious little use. +So I've come to draft you into the service." + +"Me!" + +"Yes; you know we all expect Senator Ratcliffe to be Secretary of +the Treasury, and it is very important for us to keep him straight on +the currency and the tariff. So I have come on to establish more +intimate relations with him, as they say in diplomacy. I want to get +him to dine with me at Welckley's, but as I know he keeps very shy +of politics I thought my only chance was to make it a ladies' +dinner, so I brought on Julia. I shall try and get Mrs. Schuyler +Clinton, and I depend upon you and your sister to help Julia out." + +"Me! at a lobby dinner! Is that proper?" + +"Why not? You shall choose the guests." + +"I never heard of such a thing; but it would certainly be amusing. +Sybil must not go, but I might." "Excuse me; Julia depends upon +Miss Ross, and will not go to table without her." + +"Well," assented Mrs. Lee, hesitatingly, "perhaps if you get Mrs. +Clinton, and if your sister is there And who else?" + +"Choose your own company." + +"I know no one." + +"Oh yes; here is French, not quite sound on the tariff, but good for +what we want just now. Then we can get Mr. Gore; he has his little +hatchet to grind too, and will be glad to help grind ours. We only +want two or three more, and I will have an extra man or so to fill +up." + +"Do ask the Speaker. I want to know him." + +"I will, and Carrington, and my Pennsylvania Senator. That will do +nobly. + +Remember, Welckley's, Saturday at seven." + +Meanwhile Sybil had been at the piano, and when she had sung for +a time, Orsini was induced to take her place, and show that it was +possible to sing without injury to one's beauty. Baron Jacobi came +in and found fault with them both. Little Miss Dare--commonly +known among her male friends as little Daredevil--who was +always absorbed in some flirtation with a Secretary of Legation, +came in, quite unaware that Popoff was present, and retired with +him into a corner, while Orsini and Jacobi bullied poor Sybil, and +fought with each other at the piano; everybody was talking with +very little reference to any reply, when at last Mrs. Lee drove them +all out of the room: "We are quiet people," said she, "and we dine +at half-past six." + +Senator Ratcliffe had not failed to make his Sunday evening call +upon Mrs. + +Lee. Perhaps it was not strictly correct to say that they had talked +books all the evening, but whatever the conversation was, it had +only confirmed Mr. Ratcliffe's admiration for Mrs. Lee, who, +without intending to do so, had acted a more dangerous part than if +she had been the most accomplished of coquettes. Nothing could +be more fascinating to the weary politician in his solitude than the +repose of Mrs. Lee's parlour, and when Sybil sang for him one or +two simple airs--she said they were foreign hymns, the Senator +being, or being considered, orthodox--Mr. Ratcliffe's heart yearned +toward the charming girl quite with the sensations of a father, or +even of an elder brother. + +His brother senators very soon began to remark that the Prairie +Giant had acquired a trick of looking up to the ladies' gallery. One +day Mr. Jonathan Andrews, the special correspondent of the New +York Sidereal System, a very friendly organ, approached Senator +Schuyler Clinton with a puzzled look on his face. + +"Can you tell me," said he, "what has happened to Silas P. +Ratcliffe? Only a moment ago I was talking with him at his seat on +a very important subject, about which I must send his opinions off +to New York to-night, when, in the middle of a sentence, he +stopped short, got up without looking at me, and left the Senate +Chamber, and now I see him in the gallery talking with a lady +whose face I don't know." + +Senator Clinton slowly adjusted his gold eye-glasses and looked up +at the place indicated: "Ah! Mrs. Lightfoot Lee! I think I will say a +word to her myself;" and turning his back on the special +correspondent, he skipped away with youthful agility after the +Senator from Illinois. + +"Devil!" muttered Mr. Andrews; "what has got into the old fools?" +and in a still less audible murmur as he looked up to Mrs. Lee, +then in close conversation with Ratcliffe: "Had I better make an +item of that?" + +When young Mr. Schneidekoupon called upon Senator Ratcliffe to +invite him to the dinner at Welckley's, he found that gentleman +overwhelmed with work, as he averred, and very little disposed to +converse. No! he did not now go out to dinner. In the present +condition of the public business he found it impossible to spare the +time for such amusements. He regretted to decline Mr. +Schneidekoupon's civility, but there were imperative reasons why +he should abstain for the present from social entertainments; he +had made but one exception to his rule, and only at the pressing +request of his old friend Senator Clinton, and on a very special +occasion. + +Mr. Schneidekoupon was deeply vexed--the more, he said, because +he had meant to beg Mr. and Mrs. Clinton to be of the party, as +well as a very charming lady who rarely went into society, but who +had almost consented to come. + +"Who is that?" inquired the Senator. + +"A Mrs. Lightfoot Lee, of New York. Probably you do not know +her well enough to admire her as I do; but I think her quite the +most intelligent woman I ever met." + +The Senator's cold eyes rested for a moment on the young man's +open face with a peculiar expression of distrust. Then he solemnly +said, in his deepest senatorial tones: + +"My young friend, at my time of life men have other things to +occupy them than women, however intelligent they may be. Who +else is to be of your party?" + +Mr. Schneidekoupon named his list. + +"And for Saturday evening at seven, did you say?" + +"Saturday at seven." + +"I fear there is little chance of my attending, but I will not +absolutely decline. Perhaps when the moment arrives, I may find +myself able to be there. But do not count upon me--do not count +upon me. Good day, Mr. + +Schneidekoupon." + +Schneidekoupon was rather a simple-minded young man, who saw +no deeper than his neighbours into the secrets of the universe, and +he went off swearing roundly at "the infernal airs these senators +give themselves." He told Mrs. + +Lee all the conversation, as indeed he was compelled to do under +penalty of bringing her to his party under false pretences. + +"Just my luck," said he; "here I am forced to ask no end of people +to meet a man, who at the same time says he shall probably not +come. Why, under the stars, couldn't he say, like other people, +whether he was coming or not? + +I've known dozens of senators, Mrs. Lee, and they're all like that. +They never think of any one but themselves." + +Mrs. Lee smiled rather a forced smile, and soothed his wounded +feelings; she had no doubt the dinner would be very agreeable +whether the Senator were there or not; at any rate she would do all +she could to carry it off well, and Sybil should wear her newest +dress. Still she was a little grave, and Mr. Schneidekoupon could +only declare that she was a trump; that he had told Ratcliffe she +was the cleverest woman he ever met, and he might have added +the most obliging, and Ratcliffe had only looked at him as though +he were a green ape. At all which Mrs. Lee laughed +good-naturedly, and sent him away as soon as she could. + +When he was gone, she walked up and down the room and +thought. She saw the meaning of Ratcliffe's sudden change in tone. +She had no more doubt of his coming to the dinner than she had of +the reason why he came. And was it possible that she was being +drawn into something very near a flirtation with a man twenty +years her senior; a politician from Illinois; a huge, ponderous, +grey-eyed, bald senator, with a Websterian head, who lived in +Peonia? The idea was almost too absurd to be credited; but on the +whole the thing itself was rather amusing. "I suppose senators can +look out for themselves like other men," was her final conclusion. +She thought only of his danger, and she felt a sort of compassion +for him as she reflected on the possible consequences of a great, +absorbing love at his time of life. + +Her conscience was a little uneasy; but of herself she never +thought. Yet it is a historical fact that elderly senators have had a +curious fascination for young and handsome women. Had they +looked out for themselves too? And which parties most needed to +be looked after? + +When Madeleine and her sister arrived at Welckley's 's the next +Saturday evening, they found poor Schneidekoupon in a temper +very unbecoming a host. + +"He won't come! I told you he wouldn't come!" said he to +Madeleine, as he handed her into the house. "If I ever turn +communist, it will be for the fun of murdering a senator." + +Madeleine consoled him gently, but he continued to use, behind +Mr. Clinton's back, language the most offensive and improper +towards the Senate, and at last, ringing the bell, he sharply ordered +the head waiter to serve dinner. + +At that very moment the door opened, and Senator Ratcliffe's +stately figure appeared on the threshold. His eye instantly caught +Madeleine's, and she almost laughed aloud, for she saw that the +Senator was dressed with very unsenatorial neatness; that he had +actually a flower in his burton-hole and no gloves! + +After the enthusiastic description which Schneidekoupon had +given of Mrs. + +Lee's charms, he could do no less than ask Senator Ratcliffe to take +her in to dinner, which he did without delay. Either this, or the +champagne, or some occult influence, had an extraordinary effect +upon him. He appeared ten years younger than usual; his face was +illuminated; his eyes glowed; he seemed bent on proving his +kinship to the immortal Webster by rivalling his convivial powers. +He dashed into the conversation; laughed, jested, and ridiculed; +told stories in Yankee and Western dialect; gave sharp little +sketches of amusing political experiences. + +"Never was more surprised in my life," whispered Senator Krebs, +of Pennsylvania, across the table to Schneidekoupon. "Hadn't an +idea that Ratcliffe was so entertaining." + +And Mr. Clinton, who sat by Madeleine on the other side, +whispered low into her ear: "I am afraid, my dear Mrs. Lee, that +you are responsible for this. + +He never talks so to the Senate." + +Nay, he even rose to a higher flight, and told the story of President +Lincoln's death-bed with a degree of feeling that brought tears into +their eyes. The other guests made no figure at all. The Speaker +consumed his solitary duck and his lonely champagne in a corner +without giving a sign. + +Even Mr. Gore, who was not wont to hide his light under any kind +of extinguisher, made no attempt to claim the floor, and applauded +with enthusiasm the conversation of his opposite neighbour. +Ill-natured people might say that Mr. Gore saw in Senator Ratcliffe +a possible Secretary of State; be this as it may, he certainly said to +Mrs. Clinton, in an aside that was perfectly audible to every one at +the table: "How brilliant! what an original mind! what a sensation +he would make abroad!" And it was quite true, apart from the mere +momentary effect of dinner-table talk, that there was a certain +bigness about the man; a keen practical sagacity; a bold freedom +of self-assertion; a broad way of dealing with what he knew. + +Carrington was the only person at table who looked on with a +perfectly cool head, and who criticised in a hostile spirit. +Carrington's impression of Ratcliffe was perhaps beginning to be +warped by a shade of jealousy, for he was in a peculiarly bad +temper this evening, and his irritation was not wholly concealed. + +"If one only had any confidence in the man!" he muttered to +French, who sat by him. + +This unlucky remark set French to thinking how he could draw +Ratcliffe out, and accordingly, with his usual happy manner, +combining self-conceit and high principles, he began to attack the +Senator with some "badinaige" on the delicate subject of Civil +Service Reform, a subject almost as dangerous in political +conversation at Washington as slavery itself in old days before the +war. French was a reformer, and lost no occasion of impressing his +views; but unluckily he was a very light weight, and his manner +was a little ridiculous, so that even Mrs. Lee, who was herself a +warm reformer, sometimes went over to the other side when he +talked. No sooner had he now shot his little arrow at the Senator, +than that astute man saw his opportunity, and promised himself the +pleasure of administering to Mr. + +French punishment such as he knew would delight the company. +Reformer as Mrs. Lee was, and a little alarmed at the roughness of +Ratcliffe's treatment, she could not blame the Prairie Giant, as she +ought, who, after knocking poor French down, rolled him over and +over in the mud. + +"Are you financier enough, Mr. French, to know what are the most +famous products of Connecticut?" + +Mr. French modestly suggested that he thought its statesmen best +answered that description. + +"No, sir! even there you're wrong. The showmen beat you on your +own ground. + +But every child in the union knows that the most famous products +of Connecticut are Yankee notions, nutmegs made of wood and +clocks that won't go. Now, your Civil Service Reform is just such +another Yankee notion; it's a wooden nutmeg; it's a clock with a +show case and sham works. And you know it! You are precisely +the old-school Connecticut peddler. You have gone about peddling +your wooden nutmegs until you have got yourself into Congress, +and now you pull them out of your pockets and not only want us to +take them at your own price, but you lecture us on our sins if we +don't. + +Well! we don't mind your doing that at home. Abuse us as much as +you like to your constituents. Get as many votes as you can. But +don't electioneer here, because we know you intimately, and we've +all been a little in the wooden nutmeg business ourselves." + +Senator Clinton and Senator Krebs chuckied high approval over +this punishment of poor French, which was on the level of their +idea of wit. They were all in the nutmeg business, as Ratcliffe said. +The victim tried to make head against them; he protested that his +nutmegs were genuine; he sold no goods that he did not guarantee; +and that this particular article was actually guaranteed by the +national conventions of both political parties. + +"Then what you want, Mr. French, is a common school education. +You need a little study of the alphabet. Or if you won't believe me, +ask my brother senators here what chance there is for your +Reforms so long as the American citizen is what he "You'll not get +much comfort in my State, Mr. French," growled the senator from +Pennsylvania, with a sneer; "suppose you come and try." + +"Well, well!" said the benevolent Mr. Schuyler Clinton, gleaming +benignantly through his gold spectacles; "don't be too hard on +French. He means well. + +Perhaps he's not very wise, but he does good. I know more about it +than any of you, and I don't deny that the thing is all bad. Only, as +Mr. Ratcliffe says, the difficulty is in the people, not in us. Go to +work on them, French, and let us alone." + +French repented of his attack, and contented himself by muttering +to Carrington: "What a set of damned old reprobates they are!" + +"They are right, though, in one thing," was Carrington's reply: +"their advice is good. Never ask one of them to reform anything; if +you do, you will be reformed yourself." + +The dinner ended as brilliantly as it began, and Schneidekoupon +was delighted with his success. He had made himself particularly +agreeable to Sybil by confiding in her all his hopes and fears about +the tariff and the finances. When the ladies left the table, Ratcliffe +could not stay for a cigar; he must get back to his rooms, where he +knew several men were waiting for him; he would take his leave of +the ladies and hurry away. But when the gentlemen came up nearly +an hour afterwards they found Ratcliffe still taking his leave of the +ladies, who were delighted at his entertaining conversation; and +when at last he really departed, he said to Mrs. Lee, as though it +were quite a matter of course: "You are at home as usual +to-morrow evening?" Madeleine smiled, bowed, and he went his +way. + +As the two sisters drove home that night, Madeleine was unusually +silent. + +Sybil yawned convulsively and then apologized: + +"Mr. Schneidekoupon is very nice and good-natured, but a whole +evening of him goes a long way; and that horrid Senator Krebs +would not say a word, and drank a great deal too much wine, +though it couldn't make him any more stupid than he is. I don't +think I care for senators." Then, wearily, after a pause: "Well, +Maude, I do hope you've got what you wanted. I'm sure you must +have had politics enough. Haven't you got to the heart of your great +American mystery yet?" + +"Pretty near it, I think," said Madeleine, half to herself. + +Chapter IV + +SUNDAY evening was stormy, and some enthusiasm was required +to make one face its perils for the sake of society. Nevertheless, a +few intimates made their appearance as usual at Mrs. Lee's. The +faithful Popoff was there, and Miss Dare also ran in to pass an +hour with her dear Sybil; but as she passed the whole evening in a +corner with Popoff. she must have been disappointed in her object. +Carrington came, and Baron Jacobi. Schneidekoupon and his sister +dined with Mrs. Lee, and remained after dinner, while Sybil and +Julia Schneidekoupon compared conclusions about Washington +society. The happy idea also occurred to Mr. Gore that, inasmuch +as Mrs. Lee's house was but a step from his hotel, he might as well +take the chance of amusement there as the certainty of solitude in +his rooms. Finally, Senator Ratcliffe duly made his appearance, +and, having established himself with a cup of tea by Madeleine's +side, was soon left to enjoy a quiet talk with her, the rest of the +party by common consent occupying themselves with each other. +Under cover of the murmur of conversation in the room, Mr. +Ratcliffe quickiy became confidential. + +"I came to suggest that, if you want to hear an interesting debate, +you should come up to the Senate to-morrow. I am told that +Garrard, of Louisiana, means to attack my last speech, and I shall +probably in that case have to answer him. With you for a critic I +shall speak better." + +"Am I such an amiable critic?" asked Madeleine. + +"I never heard that amiable critics were the best," said he; "justice +is the soul of good criticism, and it is only justice that I ask and +expect from you." + +"What good does this speaking do?" inquired she. "Are you any +nearer the end of your difficulties by means of your speeches?" + +"I hardly know yet. Just now we are in dead water; but this can't +last long. + +In fact, I am not afraid to tell you, though of course you will not +repeat it to any human being, that we have taken measures to force +an issue. + +Certain gentlemen, myself among the rest, have written letters +meant for the President's eye, though not addressed directly to him, +and intended to draw out an expression of some sort that will show +us what to expect." + +"Oh!" laughed Madeleine, "I knew about that a week ago." + +"About what?" + +"About your letter to Sam Grimes, of North Bend." + +"What have you heard about my letter to Sam Grimes, of North +Bend?" + +ejaculated Ratcliffe, a little abruptly. + +"Oh, you do not know how admirably I have organised my secret +service bureau," said she. "Representative Cutter cross-questioned +one of the Senate pages, and obliged him to confess that he had +received from you a letter to be posted, which letter was addressed +to Mr. Grimes, of North Bend." + +"And, of course, he told this to French, and French told you," said +Ratcliffe; "I see. If I had known this I would not have let French +off so gently last night, for I prefer to tell you my own story +without his embellishments. But it was my fault. I should not have +trusted a page. + +Nothing is a secret here long. But one thing that Mr. Cutter did not +find out was that several other gentlemen wrote letters at the same +time, for the same purpose. Your friend, Mr. Clinton, wrote; Krebs +wrote; and one or two members." + +"I suppose I must not ask what you said?" + +"You may. We agreed that it was best to be very mild and +conciliatory, and to urge the President only to give us some +indication of his intentions, in order that we might not run counter +to them. I drew a strong picture of the effect of the present +situation on the party, and hinted that I had no personal wishes to +gratify." + +"And what do you think will be the result?" + +"I think we shall somehow manage to straighten things out," said +Ratcliffe. + +"The difficulty is only that the new President has little experience, +and is suspicious. He thinks we shall intrigue to tie his hands, and +he means to tie ours in advance. I don't know him personally, but +those who do, and who are fair judges, say that, though rather +narrow and obstinate, he is honest enough, and will come round. I +have no doubt I could settle it all with him in an hour's talk, but it +is out of the question for me to go to him unless I am asked, and to +ask me to come would be itself a settlement." + +"What, then, is the danger you fear?" + +"That he will offend all the important party leaders in order to +conciliate unimportant ones, perhaps sentimental ones, like your +friend French; that he will make foolish appointments without +taking advice. By the way, have you seen French to-day?" + +"No," replied Madeleine; "I think he must be sore at your treatment +of him last evening. You were very rude to him." + +"Not a bit," said Ratcliffe; "these reformers need it. His attack on +me was meant for a challenge. I saw it in his manner. + +"But is reform really so impossible as you describe it? Is it quite +hopeless?" + +"Reform such as he wants is utterly hopeless, and not even +desirable." + +Mrs. Lee, with much earnestness of manner, still pressed her +question: + +"Surely something can be done to check corruption. Are we for +ever to be at the mercy of thieves and ruffians? Is a respectable +government impossible in a democracy?" + +Her warmth attracted Jacobi's attention, and he spoke across the +room. "What is that you say, Mrs. Lee? What is it about +corruption?" + +All the gentlemen began to listen and gather about them. + +"I am asking Senator Ratcliffe," said she, "what is to become of us +if corruption is allowed to go unchecked." + +"And may I venture to ask permission to hear Mr. Ratcliffe's +reply?" asked the baron. + +"My reply," said Ratcliffe, "is that no representative government +can long be much better or much worse than the society it +represents. Purify society and you purify the government. But try +to purify the government artificially and you only aggravate +failure." + +"A very statesmanlike reply," said Baron Jacobi, with a formal +bow, but his tone had a shade of mockery. Carrington, who had +listened with a darkening face, suddenly turned to the baron and +asked him what conclusion he drew from the reply. + +"Ah!" exclaimed the baron, with his wickedest leer, "what for is +my conclusion good? You Americans believe yourselves to be +excepted from the operation of general laws. You care not for +experience. I have lived seventy-five years, and all that time in the +midst of corruption. I am corrupt myself, only I do have courage to +proclaim it, and you others have it not. Rome, Paris, Vienna, +Petersburg, London, all are corrupt; only Washington is pure! +Well, I declare to you that in all my experience I have found no +society which has had elements of corruption like the United +States. The children in the street are corrupt, and know how to +cheat me. + +The cities are all corrupt, and also the towns and the counties and +the States' legislatures and the judges. Everywhere men betray +trusts both public and private, steal money, run away with public +funds. Only in the Senate men take no money. And you gentlemen +in the Senate very well declare that your great United States, +which is the head of the civilized world, can never learn anything +from the example of corrupt Europe. You are right--quite right! +The great United States needs not an example. I do much regret +that I have not yet one hundred years to live. If I could then come +back to this city, I should find myself very content--much more +than now. I am always content where there is much corruption, and +ma parole d'honneur!" + +broke out the old man with fire and gesture, "the United States will +then be more corrupt than Rome under Caligula; more corrupt than +the Church under Leo X.; more corrupt than France under the +Regent!" + +As the baron closed his little harangue, which he delivered directly +at the senator sitting underneath him, he had the satisfaction to see +that every one was silent and listening with deep attention. He +seemed to enjoy annoying the senator, and he had the satisfaction +of seeing that the senator was visibly annoyed. Ratcliffe looked +sternly at the baron and said, with some curtness, that he saw no +reason to accept such conclusions. + +Conversation flagged, and all except the baron were relieved when +Sybil, at Schneidekoupon's request, sat down at the piano to sing +what she called a hymn. So soon as the song was over, Ratcliffe, +who seemed to have been curiously thrown off his balance by +Jacobi's harangue, pleaded urgent duties at his rooms, and retired. +The others soon afterwards went off in a body, leaving only +Carrington and Gore, who had seated himself by Madeleine, and +was at once dragged by her into a discussion of the subject which +perplexed her, and for the moment threw over her mind a net of +irresistible fascination. + +"The baron discomfited the senator," said Gore, with a certain +hesitation. + +"Why did Ratcliffe let himself be trampled upon in that manner?" + +"I wish you would explain why," replied Mrs. Lee; "tell me, Mr. +Gore--you who represent cultivation and literary taste +hereabouts--please tell me what to think about Baron Jacobi's +speech. Who and what is to be believed? Mr. + +Ratcliffe seems honest and wise. Is he a corruptionist? He believes +in the people, or says he does. Is he telling the truth or not?" + +Gore was too experienced in politics to be caught in such a trap as +this. He evaded the question. "Mr. Ratcliffe has a practical piece of +work to do; his business is to make laws and advise the President; +he does it extremely well. We have no other equally good practical +politician; it is unfair to require him to be a crusader besides." + +"No!" interposed Carrington, curtly; "but he need not obstruct +crusades. He need not talk virtue and oppose the punishment of +vice." + +"He is a shrewd practical politician," replied Gore, "and he feels +first the weak side of any proposed political tactics." + +With a sigh of despair Madeleine went on: "Who, then, is right? +How can we all be right? Half of our wise men declare that the +world is going straight to perdition; the other half that it is fast +becoming perfect. Both cannot be right. There is only one thing in +life," she went on, laughing, "that I must and will have before I die. +I must know whether America is right or wrong. Just now this +question is a very practical one, for I really want to know whether +to believe in Mr. Ratcliffe. If I throw him overboard, everything +must go, for he is only a specimen." + +"Why not believe in Mr. Ratcliffe?" said Gore; "I believe in him +myself, and am not afraid to say so." + +Carrington, to whom Ratcliffe now began to represent the spirit of +evil, interposed here, and observed that he imagined Mr. Gore had +other guides besides, and steadier ones than Ratcliffe, to believe +in; while Madeleine, with a certain feminine perspicacity, struck at +a much weaker point in Mr. + +Gore's armour, and asked point-blank whether he believed also in +what Ratcliffe represented: "Do you yourself think democracy the +best government, and universal suffrage a success?" + +Mr. Gore saw himself pinned to the wall, and he turned at bay with +almost the energy of despair: + +"These are matters about which I rarely talk in society; they are +like the doctrine of a personal God; of a future life; of revealed +religion; subjects which one naturally reserves for private +reflection. But since you ask for my political creed, you shall have +it. I only condition that it shall be for you alone, never to be +repeated or quoted as mine. I believe in democracy. I accept it. I +will faithfully serve and defend it. I believe in it because it appears +to me the inevitable consequence of what has gone before it. + +Democracy asserts the fact that the masses are now raised to a +higher intelligence than formerly. All our civilisation aims at this +mark. We want to do what we can to help it. I myself want to see +the result. I grant it is an experiment, but it is the only direction +society can take that is worth its taking; the only conception of its +duty large enough to satisfy its instincts; the only result that is +worth an effort or a risk. Every other possible step is backward, +and I do not care to repeat the past. I am glad to see society +grapple with issues in which no one can afford to be neutral." + +"And supposing your experiment fails," said Mrs. Lee; "suppose +society destroys itself with universal suffrage, corruption, and +communism." + +"I wish, Mrs. Lee, you would visit the Observatory with me some +evening, and look at Sirius. Did you ever make the acquaintance of +a fixed star? I believe astronomers reckon about twenty millions of +them in sight, and an infinite possibility of invisible millions, each +one of which is a sun, like ours, and may have satellites like our +planet. Suppose you see one of these fixed stars suddenly increase +in brightness, and are told that a satellite has fallen into it and is +burning up, its career finished, its capacities exhausted? Curious, +is it not; but what does it matter? Just as much as the burning up of +a moth at your candle." + +Madeleine shuddered a little. "I cannot get to the height of your +philosophy," said she. "You are wandering among the infinites, +and I am finite." + +"Not at all! But I have faith; not perhaps in the old dogmas, but in +the new ones; faith in human nature; faith in science; faith in the +survival of the fittest. Let us be true to our time, Mrs. Lee! If our +age is to be beaten, let us die in the ranks. If it is to be victorious, +let us be first to lead the column. Anyway, let us not be skulkers or +grumblers. There! have I repeated my catechism correctly? You +would have it! Now oblige me by forgetting it. I should lose my +character at home if it got out. Good night!" + +Mrs. Lee duly appeared at the Capitol the next day, as she could +not but do after Senator Ratcliffe's pointed request. She went +alone, for Sybil had positively refused to go near the Capitol again, +and Madeleine thought that on the whole this was not an occasion +for enrolling Carrington in her service. But Ratcliffe did not speak. +The debate was unexpectedly postponed. + +He joined Mrs. Lee in the gallery, however, sat with her as long as +she would allow, and became still more confidential, telling her +that he had received the expected reply from Grimes, of North +Bend, and that it had enclosed a letter written by the +President-elect to Mr. Grimes in regard to the advances made by +Mr. Ratcliffe and his friends. + +"It is not a handsome letter," said he; "indeed, a part of it is +positively insulting. I would like to read you one extract from it, +and hear your opinion as to how it should be treated." Taking the +letter from his pocket, he sought out the passage, and read as +follows: "'I cannot lose sight, too, of the consideration that these +three Senators' (he means Clinton, Krebs, and me) are popularly +considered to be the most influential members of that so-called +senatorial ring, which has acquired such general notoriety. While I +shall always receive their communications with all due respect, I +must continue to exercise complete freedom of action in +consulting other political advisers as well as these, and I must in +all cases make it my first object to follow the wishes of the people, +not always most truly represented by their nominal +representatives.' What say you to that precious piece of +presidential manners?" + +"At least I like his courage," said Mrs. Lee. + +"Courage is one thing; common sense is another. This letter is a +studied insult. He has knocked me off the track once. He means to +do it again. It is a declaration of war. What ought I to do?" + +"Whatever is most for the public good." said Madeleine, gravely. + +Ratcliffe looked into her face with such undisguised delight--there +was so little possibility of mistaking or ignoring the expression of +his eyes, that she shrank back with a certain shock. She was not +prepared for so open a demonstration. He hardened his features at +once, and went on: + +"But what is most for the public good?" + +"That you know better than I," said Madeleine; "only one thing is +clear to me. If you let yourself be ruled by your private feelings, +you will make a greater mistake than he. Now I must go, for I have +visits to make. The next time I come, Mr. Ratcliffe, you must keep +your word better." + +When they next met, Ratcliffe read to her a part of his reply to Mr. +Grimes, which ran thus: "It is the lot of every party leader to suffer +from attacks and to commit errors. It is true, as the President says, +that I have been no exception to this law. Believing as I do that +great results can only be accomplished by great parties, I have +uniformly yielded my own personal opinions where they have +failed to obtain general assent. I shall continue to follow this +course, and the President may with perfect confidence count upon +my disinterested support of all party measures, even though I may +not be consulted in originating them." + +Mrs. Lee listened attentively, and then said: "Have you never +refused to go with your party?" + +"Never!" was Ratcliffe's firm reply. + +Madeleine still more thoughtfully inquired again: "Is nothing more +powerful than party allegiance?" + +"Nothing, except national allegiance," replied Ratcliffe, still more +firmly. + +Chapter V + +TO tie a prominent statesman to her train and to lead him about +like a tame bear, is for a young and vivacious woman a more +certain amusement than to tie herself to him and to be dragged +about like an Indian squaw. This fact was Madeleine Lee's first +great political discovery in Washington, and it was worth to her all +the German philosophy she had ever read, with even a complete +edition of Herbert Spencer's works into the bargain. There could be +no doubt that the honours and dignities of a public career were no +fair consideration for its pains. She made a little daily task for +herself of reading in succession the lives and letters of the +American Presidents, and of their wives, when she could find that +there was a trace of the latter's existence. What a melancholy +spectacle it was, from George Washington down to the last +incumbent; what vexations, what disappointments, what grievous +mistakes, what very objectionable manners! Not one of them, who +had aimed at high purpose, but had been thwarted, beaten, and +habitually insulted! What a gloom lay on the features of those +famous chieftains, Calhoun, Clay, and Webster; what varied +expression of defeat and unsatisfied desire; what a sense of +self-importance and senatorial magniloquence; what a craving for +flattery; what despair at the sentence of fate! And what did they +amount to, after all? + +They were practical men, these! they had no great problems of +thought to settle, no questions that rose above the ordinary rules of +common morals and homely duty. How they had managed to befog +the subject! What elaborate show-structures they had built up, with +no result but to obscure the horizon! Would not the country have +done better without them? Could it have done worse? What deeper +abyss could have opened under the nation's feet, than that to whose +verge they brought it? + +Madeleine's mind wearied with the monotony of the story. She +discussed the subject with Ratcliffe, who told her frankly that the +pleasure of politics lay in the possession of power. He agreed that +the country would do very well without him. "But here I am," said +he, "and here I mean to stay." He had very little sympathy for thin +moralising, and a statesmanlike contempt for philosophical +politics. He loved power, and he meant to be President. + +That was enough. + +Sometimes the tragic and sometimes the comic side was +uppermost in her mind, and sometimes she did not herself know +whether to cry or to laugh. + +Washington more than any other city in the world swarms with +simple-minded exhibitions of human nature; men and women +curiously out of place, whom it would be cruel to ridicule and +ridiculous to weep over. The sadder exhibitions are fortunately +seldom seen by respectable people; only the little social accidents +come under their eyes. One evening Mrs. Lee went to the +President's first evening reception. As Sybil flatly refused to face +the crowd, and Carrington mildly said that he feared he was not +sufficiently reconstructed to appear at home in that august +presence, Mrs. Lee accepted Mr. French for an escort, and walked +across the Square with him to join the throng that was pouring into +the doors of the White House. They took their places in the line of +citizens and were at last able to enter the reception-room. There +Madeleine found herself before two seemingly mechanical figures, +which mlght be wood or wax, for any sign they showed of life. +These two figures were the President and his wife; they stood stiff +and awkward by the door, both their faces stripped of every sign of +intelligence, while the right hands of both extended themselves to +the column of visitors with the mechanical action of toy dolls. +Mrs. Lee for a moment began to laugh, but the laugh died on her +lips. To the President and his wife this was clearly no laughing +matter. There they stood, automata, representatives of the society +which streamed past them. Madeleine seized Mr. French by the +arm. + +"Take me somewhere at once," said she, "where I can look at it. +Here! in the corner. I had no conception how shocking it was!" + +Mr. French supposed she was thinking of the queer-looking men +and women who were swarming through the rooms, and he made, +after his own delicate notion of humour, some uncouth jests on +those who passed by. Mrs. Lee, however, was in no humour to +explain or even to listen. She stopped him short:-- + +"There, Mr. French! Now go away and leave me. I want to be +alone for half an hour. Please come for me then." And there she +stood, with her eyes fixed on the President and his wife, while the +endless stream of humanity passed them, shaking hands. + +What a strange and solemn spectacle it was, and how the deadly +fascination of it burned the image in upon her mind! What a horrid +warning to ambition! + +And in all that crowd there was no one besides herself who felt the +mockery of this exhibition. To all the others this task was a regular +part of the President's duty, and there was nothing ridiculous about +it. They thought it a democratic institution, this droll a ping of +monarchical forms. To them the deadly dulness of the show was as +natural and proper as ever to the courtiers of the Philips and +Charleses seemed the ceremonies of the Escurial. To her it had the +effect of a nightmare, or of an opium-eater's vision, She felt a +sudden conviction that this was to be the end of American society; +its realisation and dream at once. She groaned in spirit. + +"Yes! at last I have reached the end! We shall grow to be wax +images, and our talk will be like the squeaking of toy dolls. We +shall all wander round and round the earth and shake hands. No +one will have any object in this world, and there will be no other. +It is worse than anything in the 'Inferno.' What an awful vision of +eternity!" + +Suddenly, as through a mist, she saw the melancholy face of Lord +Skye approaching. He came to her side, and his voice recalled her +to reality. + +"Does it amuse you, this sort of thing?" he asked in a vague way. + +"We take our amusement sadly, after the manner of our people," +she replied; "but it certainly interests me." + +They stood for a time in silence, watching the slowly eddying +dance of Democracy, until he resumed: + +"Whom do you take that man to be--the long, lean one, with a long +woman on each arm?" + +"That man," she replied, "I take to be a Washington +department-clerk, or perhaps a member of Congress from Iowa, +with a wife and wife's sister. Do they shock your nobility?" + +He looked at her with comical resignation. "You mean to tell me +that they are quite as good as dowager-countesses. I grant it. My +aristocratic spirit is broken, Mrs. Lee. I will even ask them to +dinner if you bid me, and if you will come to meet them. But the +last time I asked a member of Congress to dine, he sent me back a +note in pencil on my own envelope that he would bring two of his +friends with him, very respectable constituents from Yahoo city, or +some such place; nature's noblemen, he said." + +"You should have welcomed them." + +"I did. I wanted to see two of nature's noblemen, and I knew they +would probably be pleasanter company than their representative. +They came; very respectable persons, one with a blue necktie, the +other with a red one: both had diamond pins in their shirts, and +were carefully brushed in respect to their hair. They said nothing, +ate little, drank less, and were much better behaved than I am. +When they went away, they unanimously asked me to stay with +them when I visited Yahoo city." + +"You will not want guests if you always do that." + +"I don't know. I think it was pure ignorance on their part. They +knew no better, and they seemed modest enough. My only +complaint was that I could get nothing out of them. I wonder +whether their wives would have been more amusing." + +"Would they be so in England, Lord Skye?" + +He looked down at her with half-shut eyes, and drawled: "You +know my countrywomen?" + +"Hardly at all." + +"Then let us discuss some less serious subject." + +"Willingly. I have waited for you to explain to me why you have +to-night an expression of such melancholy." + +"Is that quite friendly, Mrs. Lee? Do I really look melancholy?" + +"Unutterably, as I feel. I am consumed with curiosity to know the +reason." + +The British minister coolly took a complete survey of the whole +room, ending with a prolonged stare at the President and his wife, +who were still mechanically shaking hands; then he looked back +into her face, and said never a word. + +She insisted: "I must have this riddle answered. It suffocates me. I +should not be sad at seeing these same people at work or at play, if +they ever do play; or in a church or a lecture-room. Why do they +weigh on me like a horrid phantom here?" + +"I see no riddle, Mrs. Lee. You have answered your own question; +they are neither at work nor at play." + +"Then please take me home at once. I shall have hysterics. The +sight of those two suffering images at the door is too mournful to +be borne. I am dizzy with looking at these stalking figures. I don't +believe they're real. + +I wish the house would take fire. I want an earthquake. I wish +some one would pinch the President, or pull his wife's hair." + +Mrs. Lee did not repeat the experiment of visiting the White +House, and indeed for some time afterwards she spoke with little +enthusiasm of the presidential office. To Senator Ratcliffe she +expressed her opinions strongly. The Senator tried in vain to argue +that the people had a right to call upon their chief magistrate, and +that he was bound to receive them; this being so, there was no less +objectionable way of proceeding than the one which had been +chosen. "Who gave the people any such right?" asked Mrs. + +Lee. "Where does it come from? What do they want it for? You +know better, Mr. Ratcliffe! Our chief magistrate is a citizen like +any one else. What puts it into his foolish head to cease being a +citizen and to ape royalty? + +Our governors never make themselves ridiculous. Why cannot the +wretched being content himself with living like the rest of us, and +minding his own business? Does he know what a figure of fun he +is?" And Mrs. Lee went so far as to declare that she would like to +be the President's wife only to put an end to this folly; nothing +should ever induce her to go through such a performance; and if +the public did not approve of this, Congress might impeach her, +and remove her from office; all she demanded was the right to be +heard before the Senate in her own defence. + +Nevertheless, there was a very general impression in Washington +that Mrs. + +Lee would like nothing better than to be in the White House. +Known to comparatively few people, and rarely discussing even +with them the subjects which deeply interested her, Madeleine +passed for a clever, intriguing woman who had her own objects to +gain. True it is, beyond peradventure, that all residents of +Washington may be assumed to be in office or candidates for +office; unless they avow their object, they are guilty of an +attempt--and a stupid one--to deceive; yet there is a small class of +apparent exceptions destined at last to fall within the rule. Mrs. +Lee was properly assumed to be a candidate for office. To the +Washingtonians it was a matter of course that Mrs. Lee should +marry Silas P. Ratcliffe. That he should be glad to get a +fashionable and intelligent wife, with twenty or thirty thousand +dollars a year, was not surprising. That she should accept the first +public man of the day, with a flattering chance for the +Presidency--a man still comparatively young and not without good +looks--was perfectly natural, and in her undertaking she had the +sympathy of all well-regulated Washington women who were not +possible rivals; for to them the President's wife is of more +consequence than the President; and, indeed, if America only +knew it, they are not very far from the truth. + +Some there were, however, who did not assent to this good-natured +though worldly view of the proposed match. These ladies were +severe in their comments upon Mrs. Lee's conduct, and did not +hesitate to declare their opinion that she was the calmest and most +ambitious minx who had ever come within their observation. +Unfortunately it happened that the respectable and proper Mrs. +Schuyler Clinton took this view of the case, and made little +attempt to conceal her opinion. She was justly indignant at her +cousin's gross worldliness, and possible promotion in rank. + +"If Madeleine Ross marries that coarse, horrid old Illinois +politician," + +said she to her husband, "I never will forgive her so long as I live." + +Mr. Clinton tried to excuse Madeleine, and even went so far as to +suggest that the difference of age was no greater than in their own +case; but his wife trampled ruthlessly on his argument. + +"At any rate," said she, "I never came to Washington as a widow +on purpose to set my cap for the first candidate for the Presidency, +and I never made a public spectacle of my indecent eagerness in +the very galleries of the Senate; and Mrs. Lee ought to be ashamed +of herself. She is a cold-blooded, heartless, unfeminine cat." + +Little Victoria Dare, who babbled like the winds and streams, with +utter indifference as to what she said or whom she addressed, used +to bring choice bits of this gossip to Mrs. Lee. She always affected +a little stammer when she said anything uncommonly impudent, +and put on a manner of languid simplicity. She felt keenly the +satisfaction of seeing Madeleine charged with her own besetting +sins. For years all Washington had agreed that Victoria was little +better than one of the wicked; she had done nothing but violate +every rule of propriety and scandalise every well-regulated family +in the city, and there was no good in her. Yet it could not be +denied that Victoria was amusing, and had a sort of irregular +fascination; consequently she was universally tolerated. To see +Mrs. Lee thrust down to her own level was an unmixed pleasure to +her, and she carefully repeated to Madeleine the choice bits of +dialogue which she picked up in her wanderings. + +"Your cousin, Mrs. Clinton, says you are a ca-ca-cat, Mrs. Lee." + +"I don't believe it, Victoria. Mrs. Clinton never said anything of the +sort." + +"Mrs. Marston says it is because you have caught a ra-ra-rat, and +Senator Clinton was only a m-m-mouse!" + +Naturally all this unexpected publicity irritated Mrs. Lee not a +little, especially when short and vague paragraphs, soon followed +by longer and more positive ones, in regard to Senator Ratcliffe's +matrimonial prospects, began to appear in newspapers, along with +descriptions of herself from the pens of enterprising female +correspondents for the press, who had never so much as seen her. +At the first sight of one of these newspaper articles, Madeleine +fairly cried with mortification and anger. She wanted to leave +Washington the next day, and she hated the very thought of +Ratcliffe. There was something in the newspaper style so +inscrutably vulgar, something so inexplicably revolting to the +sense of feminine decency, that she shrank under it as though it +were a poisonous spider. But after the first acute shame had +passed, her temper was roused, and she vowed that she would +pursue her own path just as she had begun, without regard to all +the malignity and vulgarity in the wide United States. She did not +care to marry Senator Ratcliffe; she liked his society and was +flattered by his confidence; she rather hoped to prevent him from +ever making a formal offer, and if not, she would at least push it +off to the last possible moment; but she was not to be frightened +from marrying him by any amount of spitefulness or gossip, and +she did not mean to refuse him except for stronger reasons than +these. She even went so far in her desperate courage as to laugh at +her cousin, Mrs. + +Clinton, whose venerable husband she allowed and even +encouraged to pay her such public attention and to express +sentiments of such youthful ardour as she well knew would +inflame and exasperate the excellent lady his wife. + +Carrington was the person most unpleasantly affected by the +course which this affair had taken. He could no longer conceal +from himself the fact that he was as much m love as a dignified +Virginian could be. With him, at all events, she had shown no +coquetry, nor had she ever either flattered or encouraged him. But +Carrington, m his solitary struggle against fate, had found her a +warm friend; always ready to assist where assistance was needed, +generous with her money in any cause which he was willing to +vouch for, full of sympathy where sympathy was more than +money, and full of resource and suggestion where money and +sympathy failed. Carrington knew her better than she knew herself. +He selected her books; he brought the last speech or the last report +from the Capitol or the departments; he knew her doubts and her +vagaries, and as far as he understood them at all, helped her to +solve them. + +Carrington was too modest, and perhaps too shy, to act the part of +a declared lover, and he was too proud to let it be thought that he +wanted to exchange his poverty for her wealth. But he was all the +more anxious when he saw the evident attraction which Ratcliffe's +strong will and unscrupulous energy exercised over her. He saw +that Ratcliffe was steadily pushing his advances; that he flattered +all Mrs. Lee's weaknesses by the confidence and deference with +which he treated her; and that in a very short time, Madeleine must +either marry him or find herself looked upon as a heartless +coquette. He had his own reasons for thinking ill of Senator +Ratcliffe, and he meant to prevent a marriage; but he had an +enemy to deal with not easily driven from the path, and quite +capable of routing any number of rivals. + +Ratcliffe was afraid of no one. He had not fought his own way in +life for nothing, and he knew all the value of a cold head and +dogged self-assurance. + +Nothing but this robust Americanism and his strong will carried +him safely through the snares and pitfalls of Mrs. Lee's society, +where rivals and enemies beset him on every hand. He was little +better than a schoolboy, when he ventured on their ground, but +when he could draw them over upon his own territory of practical +life he rarely failed to trample on his assailants. + +It was this practical sense and cool will that won over Mrs. Lee, +who was woman enough to assume that all the graces were well +enough employed in decorating her, and it was enough if the other +sex felt her superiority. Men were valuable only in proportion to +their strength and their appreciation of women. If the senator had +only been strong enough always to control his temper, he would +have done very well, but his temper was under a great strain in +these times, and his incessant effort to control it in politics made +him less watchful in private life. Mrs. Lee's tacit assumption of +superior refinement irritated him, and sometimes made him show +his teeth like a bull-dog, at the cost of receiving from Mrs. Lee a +quick stroke in return such as a well-bred tortoise-shell cat +administers to check over-familiarity; innocent to the eye, but +drawing blood. One evening when he was more than commonly +out of sorts, after sitting some time in moody silence, he roused +himself, and, taking up a book that lay on her table, he glanced at +its title and turned over the leaves. It happened by ill luck to be a +volume of Darwin that Mrs. Lee had just borrowed from the +library of Congress. + +"Do you understand this sort of thing?" asked the Senator abruptly, +in a tone that suggested a sneer. + +"Not very well," replied Mrs. Lee, rather curtly. + +"Why do you want to understand it?" persisted the Senator. "What +good will it do you?" + +"Perhaps it will teach us to be modest," answered Madeleine, quite +equal to the occasion. + +"Because it says we descend from monkeys?" rejoined the Senator, +roughly. + +"Do you think you are descended from monkeys?" + +"Why not?" said Madeleine. + +"Why not?" repeated Ratcliffe, laughing harshly. "I don't like the +connection. Do you mean to introduce your distant relations into +society?" + +"They would bring more amusement into it than most of its present +members," + +rejoined Mrs. Lee, with a gentle smile that threatened mischief. +But Ratcliffe would not be warned; on the contrary, the only effect +of Mrs. + +Lee's defiance was to exasperate his ill-temper, and whenever he +lost his temper he became senatorial and Websterian. "Such +books," he began, "disgrace our civilization; they degrade and +stultify our divine nature; they are only suited for Asiatic +despotisms where men are reduced to the level of brutes; that they +should be accepted by a man like Baron Jacobi, I can understand; +he and his masters have nothing to do in the world but to trample +on human rights. Mr. Carrington, of course, would approve those +ideas; he believes in the divine doctrine of flogging negroes; but +that you, who profess philanthropy and free principles, should go +with them, is astonishing; it is incredible; it is unworthy of you." + +"You are very hard on the monkeys," replied Madeleine, rather +sternly, when the Senator's oration was ended. "The monkeys +never did you any harm; they are not in public life; they are not +even voters; if they were, you would be enthusiastic about their +intelligence and virtue. After all, we ought to be grateful to them, +for what would men do in this melancholy world if they had not +inherited gaiety from the monkeys--as well as oratory." + +Ratcliffe, to do him justice, took punishment well, at least when it +came from Mrs. Lee's hands, and his occasional outbursts of +insubordination were sure to be followed by improved discipline; +but if he allowed Mrs. Lee to correct his faults, he had no notion of +letting himself be instructed by her friends, and he lost no chance +of telling them so. But to do this was not always enough. Whether +it were that he had few ideas outside of his own experience, or that +he would not trust himself on doubtful ground, he seemed +compelled to bring every discussion down to his own level. +Madeleine puzzled herself in vain to find out whether he did this +because he knew no better, or because he meant to cover his own +ignorance. + +"The Baron has amused me very much with his account of +Bucharest society," + +Mrs. Lee would say: "I had no idea it was so gay." + +"I would like to show him our society in Peonia," was Ratcliffe's +reply; "he would find a very brilliant circle there of nature's true +noblemen." + +"The Baron says their politicians are precious sharp chaps," added +Mr. + +French. + +"Oh, there are politicians in Bulgaria, are there?" asked the +Senator, whose ideas of the Roumanian and Bulgarian +neighbourhood were vague, and who had a general notion that all +such people lived in tents, wore sheepskins with the wool inside, +and ate curds: "Oh, they have politicians there! I would like to see +them try their sharpness in the west." + +"Really!" said Mrs. Lee. "Think of Attila and his hordes running an +Indiana caucus?" + +"Anyhow," cried French with a loud laugh, "the Baron said that a +set of bigger political scoundrels than his friends couldn't be found +in all Illinois." + +"Did he say that?" exclaimed Ratcliffe angrily. + +"Didn't he, Mrs. Lee? but I don't believe it; do you? What's your +candid opinion, Ratcliffe? What you don't know about Illinois +politics isn't worth knowing; do you really think those Bulgrascals +couldn't run an Illinois state convention?" + +Ratcliffe did not like to be chaffed, especially on this subject, but +he could not resent French's liberty which was only a moderate +return for the wooden nutmeg. To get the conversation away from +Europe, from literature, from art, was his great object, and chaff +was a way of escape. + +Carrington was very well aware that the weak side of the Senator +lay in his blind ignorance of morals. He flattered himself that Mrs. +Lee must see this and be shocked by it sooner or later, so that +nothing more was necessary than to let Ratcliffe expose himself. +Without talking very much, Carrington always aimed at drawing +him out. He soon found, however, that Ratcliffe understood such +tactics perfectly, and instead of injuring, he rather improved his +position. At times the man's audacity was startling, and even when +Carrington thought him hopelessly entangled, he would sweep +away all the hunter's nets with a sheer effort of strength, and walk +off bolder and more dangerous than ever. + +When Mrs. Lee pressed him too closely, he frankly admitted her +charges. + +"What you say is in great part true. There is much in politics that +disgusts and disheartens; much that is coarse and bad. I grant you +there is dishonesty and corruption. We must try to make the +amount as small as possible." + +"You should be able to tell Mrs. Lee how she must go to work," +said Carrington; "you have had experience. I have heard, it seems +to me, that you were once driven to very hard measures against +corruption." + +Ratcliffe looked ill-pleased at this compliment, and gave +Carrington one of his cold glances that meant mischief. But he +took up the challenge on the spot:-- + +"Yes, I was, and am very sorry for it. The story is this, Mrs. Lee; +and it is well-known to every man, woman, and child in the State +of Illinois, so that I have no reason for softening it. In the worst +days of the war there was almost a certainty that my State would +be carried by the peace party, by fraud, as we thought, although, +fraud or not, we were bound to save it. Had Illinois been lost then, +we should certainly have lost the Presidential election, and with it +probably the Union. At any rate, I believed the fate of the war to +depend on the result. I was then Governor, and upon me the +responsibility rested. We had entire control of the northern +counties and of their returns. We ordered the returning officers in a +certain number of counties to make no returns until they heard +from us, and when we had received the votes of all the southern +counties and learned the precise number of votes we needed to +give us a majority, we telegraphed to our northern returning +officers to make the vote of their districts such and such, thereby +overbalancing the adverse returns and giving the State to us. + +This was done, and as I am now senator I have a right to suppose +that what I did was approved. I am not proud of the transaction, +but I would do it again, and worse than that, if I thought it would +save this country from disunion. But of course I did not expect Mr. +Carrington to approve it. I believe he was then carrying out his +reform principles by bearing arms against the government." + +"Yes!" said Carrington drily; "you got the better of me, too. Like +the old Scotchman, you didn't care who made the people's wars +provided you made its ballots. + +Carrington had missed his point. The man who has committed a +murder for his country, is a patriot and not an assassin, even when +he receives a seat in the Senate as his share of the plunder. Women +cannot be expected to go behind the motives of that patriot who +saves his country and his election in times of revolution. + +Carrington's hostility to Ratcliffe was, however, mild, when +compared with that felt by old Baron Jacobi. Why the baron should +have taken so violent a prejudice it is not easy to explain, but a +diplomatist and a senator are natural enemies, and Jacobi, as an +avowed admirer of Mrs. Lee, found Ratcliffe in his way. This +prejudiced and immoral old diplomatist despised and loathed an +American senator as the type which, to his bleared European eyes, +combined the utmost pragmatical self-assurance and overbearing +temper with the narrowest education and the meanest personal +experience that ever existed in any considerable government. As +Baron Jacobi's country had no special relations with that of the +United States, and its Legation at Washington was a mere job to +create a place for Jacobi to fill, he had no occasion to disguise his +personal antipathies, and he considered himself in some degree as +having a mission to express that diplomatic contempt for the +Senate which his colleagues, if they felt it, were obliged to +conceal. He performed his duties with conscientious precision. He +never missed an opportunity to thrust the sharp point of his +dialectic rapier through the joints of the clumsy and hide-bound +senatorial self-esteem. He delighted in skilfully exposing to +Madeleine's eyes some new side of Ratcliffe's ignorance. His +conversation at such times sparkled with historical allusions, +quotations in half a dozen different languages, references to +well-known facts which an old man's memory could not recall +with precision in all their details, but with which the Honourable +Senator was familiarly acquainted, and which he could readily +supply. And his Voltairian face leered politely as he listened to +Ratcliffe's reply, which showed invariable ignorance of common +literature, art, and history. The climax of his triumph came one +evening when Ratcliffe unluckily, tempted by some allusion to +Molire which he thought he understood, made reference to the +unfortunate influence of that great man on the religious opinions +of his time. Jacobi, by a flash of inspiration, divined that he had +confused Molire with Voltaire, and assuming a manner of +extreme suavity, he put his victim on the rack, and tortured him +with affected explanations and interrogations, until Madeleine was +in a manner forced to interrupt and end the scene. But even when +the senator was not to be lured into a trap, he could not escape +assault. The baron in such a case would cross the lines and attack +him on his own ground, as on one occasion, when Ratcliffe was +defending his doctrine of party allegiance, Jacobi silenced him by +sneering somewhat thus: + +"Your principle is quite correct, Mr. Senator. I, too, like yourself, +was once a good party man: my party was that of the Church; I was +ultramontane. + +Your party system is one of your thefts from our Church; your +National Convention is our OEcumenic Council; you abdicate +reason, as we do, before its decisions; and you yourself, Mr. +Ratcliffe, you are a Cardinal. They are able men, those cardinals; I +have known many; they were our best friends, but they were not +reformers. Are you a reformer, Mr. Senator?" + +Ratcliffe grew to dread and hate the old man, but all his ordinary +tactics were powerless against this impenetrable eighteenth +century cynic. If he resorted to his Congressional practise of +browbeating and dogmatism, the Baron only smiled and turned his +back, or made some remark in French which galled his enemy all +the more, because, while he did not understand it, he knew well +that Madeleine did, and that she tried to repress her smile. + +Ratcliffe's grey eyes grew colder and stonier than ever as he +gradually perceived that Baron Jacobi was carrying on a set +scheme with malignant ingenuity, to drive him out of Madeleine's +house, and he swore a terrible oath that he would not be beaten by +that monkey-faced foreigner. On the other hand Jacobi had little +hope of success: "What can an old man do?" said he with perfect +sincerity to Carrington; "If I were forty years younger, that great +oaf should not have his own way. Ah! I wish I were young again +and we were in Vienna!" From which it was rightly inferred by +Carrington that the venerable diplomatist would, if such acts were +still in fashion, have coolly insulted the Senator, and put a bullet +through his heart. + +Chapter VI + +IN February the weather became warmer and summer-like. In +Virginia there comes often at this season a deceptive gleam of +summer, slipping in between heavy storm-clouds of sleet and +snow; days and sometimes weeks when the temperature is like +June; when the earliest plants begin to show their hardy flowers, +and when the bare branches of the forest trees alone protest against +the conduct of the seasons. Then men and women are languid; life +seems, as in Italy, sensuous and glowing with colour; one is +conscious of walking in an atmosphere that is warm, palpable, +radiant with possibilities; a delicate haze hangs over Arlington, +and softens even the harsh white glare of the Capitol; the struggle +of existence seems to abate; Lent throws its calm shadow over +society; and youthful diplomatists, unconscious of their danger, are +lured into asking foolish girls to marry them; the blood thaws in +the heart and flows out into the veins, like the rills of sparkling +water that trickle from every lump of ice or snow, as though all the +ice and snow on earth, and all the hardness of heart, all the heresy +and schism, all the works of the devil, had yielded to the force of +love and to the fresh warmth of innocent, lamb-like, confiding +virtue. In such a world there should be no guile--but there is a great +deal of it notwithstanding. Indeed, at no other season is there so +much. This is the moment when the two whited sepulchres at +either end of the Avenue reek with the thick atmosphere of bargain +and sale. The old is going; the new is coming. Wealth, office, +power are at auction. Who bids highest? who hates with most +venom? who intrigues with most skill? who has done the dirtiest, +the meanest, the darkest, and the most, political work? He shall +have his reward. + +Senator Ratcliffe was absorbed and ill at ease. A swarm of +applicants for office dogged his steps and beleaguered his rooms in +quest of his endorsement of their paper characters. The new +President was to arrive on Monday. Intrigues and combinations, of +which the Senator was the soul, were all alive, awaiting this +arrival. Newspaper correspondents pestered him with questions. +Brother senators called him to conferences. His mind was +pre-occupied with his own interests. One might have supposed +that, at this instant, nothing could have drawn him away from the +political gaming-table, and yet when Mrs. Lee remarked that she +was going to Mount Vernon on Saturday with a little party, +including the British Minister and an Irish gentleman staying as a +guest at the British Legation, the Senator surprised her by +expressing a strong wish to join them. He explained that, as the +political lead was no longer in his hands, the chances were nine in +ten that if he stirred at all he should make a blunder; that his +friends expected him to do something when, in fact, nothing could +be done; that every preparation had already been made, and that +for him to go on an excursion to Mount Vernon, at this moment, +with the British Minister, was, on the whole, about the best use he +could make of his time, since it would hide him for one day at +least. + +Lord Skye had fallen into the habit of consulting Mrs. Lee when +his own social resources were low, and it was she who had +suggested this party to Mount Vernon, with Carrington for a guide +and Mr. Gore for variety, to occupy the time of the Irish friend +whom Lord Skye was bravely entertaining. + +This gentleman, who bore the title of Dunbeg, was a dilapidated +peer, neither wealthy nor famous. Lord Skye brought him to call +on Mrs. Lee, and in some sort put him under her care. He was +young, not ill-looking, quite intelligent, rather too fond of facts, +and not quick at humour. He was given to smiling in a deprecatory +way, and when he talked, he was either absent or excited; he made +vague blunders, and then smiled in deprecation of offence, or his +words blocked their own path in their rush. Perhaps his manner +was a little ridiculous, but he had a good heart, a good head, and a +title. He found favour in the eyes of Sybil and Victoria Dare, who +declined to admit other women to the party, although they offered +no objection to Mr. + +Ratcliffe's admission. As for Lord Dunbeg, he was an enthusiastic +admirer of General Washington, and, as he privately intimated, +eager to study phases of American society. He was delighted to go +with a small party, and Miss Dare secretly promised herself that +she would show him a phase. + +The morning was warm, the sky soft, the little steamer lay at the +quiet wharf with a few negroes lazily watching her preparations for +departure. + +Carrington, with Mrs. Lee and the young ladies, arrived first, and +stood leaning against the rail, waiting the arrival of their +companions. Then came Mr. Gore, neatly attired and gloved, with +a light spring overcoat; for Mr. + +Gore was very careful of his personal appearance, and not a little +vain of his good looks. Then a pretty woman, with blue eyes and +blonde hair, dressed in black, and leading a little girl by the hand, +came on board, and Carrington went to shake hands with her. On +his return to Mrs. Lee's side, she asked about his new +acquaintance, and he replied with a half-laugh, as though he were +not proud of her, that she was a client, a pretty widow, well known +in Washington. "Any one at the Capitol would tell you all about +her. + +She was the wife of a noted lobbyist, who died about two years +ago. + +Congressmen can refuse nothing to a pretty face, and she was their +idea of feminine perfection. Yet she is a silly little woman, too. +Her husband died after a very short illness, and, to my great +surprise, made me executor under his will. I think he had an idea +that he could trust me with his papers, which were important and +compromising, for he seems to have had no time to go over them +and destroy what were best out of the way. So, you see, I am left +with his widow and child to look after. Luckily, they are well +provided for." + +"Still you have not told me her name." "Her name is Baker--Mrs. +Sam Baker. But they are casting off, and Mr. + +Ratcliffe will be left behind. I'll ask the captain to wait." About a +dozen passengers had arrived, among them the two Earls, with a +footman carrying a promising lunch-basket, and the planks were +actually hauled in when a carriage dashed up to the whatf, and Mr. +Ratcliffe leaped out and hurried on board. "Off with you as quick +as you can!" said he to the negro-hands, and in another moment the +little steamer had begun her journey, pounding the muddy waters +of the Potomac and sending up its small column of smoke as +though it were a newly invented incense-burner approaching the +temple of the national deity. Ratcliffe explained in great glee how +he had barely managed to escape his visitors by telling them that +the British Minister was waiting for him, and that he would be +back again presently. "If they had known where I was going," said +he, "you would have seen the boat swamped with office-seekers. +Illinois alone would have brought you to a watery grave." He was +in high spirits, bent upon enjoying his holiday, and as they passed +the arsenal with its solitary sentry, and the navy-yard, with its one +unseaworthy wooden war-steamer, he pointed out these evidences +of national grandeur to Lord Skye, threatening, as the last terror of +diplomacy, to send him home in an American frigate. They were +thus indulging in senatorial humour on one side of the boat, while +Sybil and Victoria, with the aid of Mr. Gore and Carrington, were +improving Lord Dunbeg's mind on the other. + +Miss Dare, finding for herself at last a convenient seat where she +could repose and be mistress of the situation, put on a more than +usually demure expression and waited with gravity until her noble +neighbour should give her an opportunity to show those powers +which, as she believed, would supply a phase in his existence. +Miss Dare was one of those young persons, sometimes to be found +in America, who seem to have no object in life, and while +apparently devoted to men, care nothing about them, but find +happiness only in violating rules; she made no parade of whatever +virtues she had, and her chief pleasure was to make fun of all the +world and herself. + +"What a noble river!" remarked Lord Dunbeg, as the boat passed +out upon the wide stream; "I suppose you often sail on it?" + +"I never was here in my life till now," replied the untruthful Miss +Dare; "we don't think much of it; it s too small; we're used to so +much larger rivers." + +"I am afraid you would not like our English rivers then; they are +mere brooks compared with this." + +"Are they indeed?" said Victoria, with an appearance of vague +surprise; "how curious! I don't think I care to be an Englishwoman +then. I could not live without big rivers." + +Lord Dunbeg stared, and hinted that this was almost unreasonable. + +"Unless I were a Countess!" continued Victoria, meditatively, +looking at Alexandria, and paying no attention to his lordship; "I +think I could manage if I were a C-c-countess. It is such a pretty +title!" + +"Duchess is commonly thought a prettier one," stammered +Dunbeg, much embarrassed. The young man was not used to chaff +from women. + +"I should be satisfied with Countess. It sounds well. I am surprised +that you don't like it." Dunbeg looked about him uneasily for some +means of escape but he was barred in. "I should think you would +feel an awful responsibility in selecting a Countess. How do you +do it?" + +Lord Dunbeg nervously joined in the general laughter as Sybil +ejaculated: + +"Oh, Victoria!" but Miss Dare continued without a smile or any +elevation of her monotonous voice: + +"Now, Sybil, don't interrupt me, please. I am deeply interested in +Lord Dunbeg's conversation. He understands that my interest is +purely scientific, but my happiness requires that I should know +how Countesses are selected. + +Lord Dunbeg, how would you recommend a friend to choose a +Countess?" + +Lord Dunbeg began to be amused by her impudence, and he even +tried to lay down for her satisfaction one or two rules for selecting +Countesses, but long before he had invented his first rule, Victoria +had darted off to a new subject. + +"Which would you rather be, Lord Dunbeg? an Earl or George +Washington?" + +"George Washington, certainly," was the Earl's courteous though +rather bewildered reply. + +"Really?" she asked with a languid affectation of surprise; "it is +awfully kind of you to say so, but of course you can't mean it. + +"Indeed I do mean it." + +"Is it possible? I never should have thought it." + +"Why not, Miss Dare?" + +"You have not the air of wishing to be George Washington." + +"May I again ask, why not?" + +"Certainly. Did you ever see George Washington?" + +"Of course not. He died fifty years before I was born." + +"I thought so. You see you don't know him. Now, will you give us +an idea of what you imagine General Washington to have looked +like?" + +Dunbeg gave accordingly a flattering description of General +Washington, compounded of Stuart's portrait and Greenough's +statue of Olympian Jove with Washington's features, in the Capitol +Square. Miss Dare listened with an expression of superiority not +unmlxed with patience, and then she enlightened him as follows: + +"All you have been saying is perfect stuff--excuse the vulgarity of +the expression. When I am a Countess I will correct my language. +The truth is that General Washington was a raw-boned country +farmer, very hard-featured, very awkward, very illiterate and very +dull; very bad tempered, very profane, and generally tipsy after +dinner." + +"You shock me, Miss Dare!" exclaimed Dunbeg. + +"Oh! I know all about General Washington. My grandfather knew +him intimately, and often stayed at Mount Vernon for weeks +together. You must not believe what you read, and not a word of +what Mr. Carrington will say. + +He is a Virginian and will tell you no end of fine stories and not a +syllable of truth in one of them. We are all patriotic about +Washington and like to hide his faults. If I weren't quite sure you +would never repeat it, I would not tell you this. The truth is that +even when George Washington was a small boy, his temper was so +violent that no one could do anything with him. He once cut down +all his father's fruit-trees in a fit of passion, and then, just because +they wanted to flog him, he threatened to brain his father with the +hatchet. His aged wife suffered agonies from him. My grandfather +often told me how he had seen the General pinch and swear at her +till the poor creature left the room in tears; and how once at Mount +Vernon he saw Washington, when quite an old man, suddenly rush +at an unoffending visitor, and chase him off the place, beating him +all the time over the head with a great stick with knots in it, and all +just because he heard the poor man stammer; he never could abide +s-s-stammering." + +Carrington and Gore burst into shouts of laughter over this +description of the Father of his country, but Victoria continued in +her gentle drawl to enlighten Lord Dunbeg in regard to other +subjects with information equally mendacious, until he decided +that she was quite the most eccentric person he had ever met. The +boat arrived at Mount Vernon while she was still engaged in a +description of the society and manners of America, and especially +of the rules which made an offer of marriage necessary. According +to her, Lord Dunbeg was in imminent peril; gentlemen, and +especially foreigners, were expected, in all the States south of the +Potomac, to offer themselves to at least one young lady in every +city: "and I had only yesterday," said Victoria, "a letter from a +lovely girl in North Carolina, a dear friend of mine, who wrote me +that she was right put out because her brothers had called on a +young English visitor with shot guns, and she was afraid he +wouldn't recover, and, after all, she says she should have refused +him." + +Meanwhile Madeleine, on the other side of the boat, undisturbed +by the laughter that surrounded Miss Dare, chatted soberly and +seriously with Lord Skye and Senator Ratcliffe. Lord Skye, too, a +little intoxicated by the brilliancy of the morning, broke out into +admiration of the noble river, and accused Americans of not +appreciating the beauties of their own country. + +"Your national mind," said he, "has no eyelids. It requires a broad +glare and a beaten road. It prefers shadows which you can cut out +with a knife. It doesn't know the beauty of this Virginia winter +softness." + +Mrs. Lee resented the charge. America, she maintained, had not +worn her feelings threadbare like Europe. She had still her story to +tell; she was waiting for her Burns and Scott, her Wordsworth and +Byron, her Hogarth and Turner. "You want peaches in spring," said +she. "Give us our thousand years of summer, and then complain, if +you please, that our peach is not as mellow as yours. Even our +voices may be soft then," she added, with a significant look at Lord +Skye. + +"We are at a disadvantage in arguing with Mrs. Lee," said he to +Ratcliffe; "when she ends as counsel, she begins as witness. The +famous Duchess of Devonshire's lips were not half as convincing +as Mrs. Lee's voice." + +Ratcliffe listened carefully, assenting whenever he saw that Mrs. +Lee wished it. He wished he understood precisely what tones and +half-tones, colours and harmonies, were. + +They arrived and strolled up the sunny path. At the tomb they +halted, as all good Americans do, and Mr. Gore, in a tone of +subdued sorrow, delivered a short address-- + +"It might be much worse if they improved it," he said, surveying its +proportions with the sthetic eye of a cultured Bostonian. "As it +stands, this tomb is a simple misfortune which might befall any of +us; we should not grieve over it too much. What would our +feelings be if a Congressional committee reconstructed it of white +marble with Gothic pepper-pots, and gilded it inside on +machine-moulded stucco!" + +Madeleine, however, insisted that the tomb, as it stood, was the +only restless spot about the quiet landscape, and that it +contradicted all her ideas about repose in the grave. Ratcliffe +wondered what she meant. + +They passed on, wandering across the lawn, and through the house. +Their eyes, weary of the harsh colours and forms of the city, took +pleasure in the worn wainscots and the stained walls. Some of the +rooms were still occupied; fires were burning in the wide +fire-places. All were tolerably furnished, and there was no +uncomfortable sense of repair or newness. They mounted the +stairs, and Mrs. Lee fairly laughed when she was shown the room +in which General Washington slept, and where he died. + +Carrington smiled too. "Our old Virginia houses were mostly like +this," said he; "suites of great halls below, and these gaunt barracks +above. The Virginia house was a sort of hotel. When there was a +race or a wedding, or a dance, and the house was full, they thought +nothing of packing half a dozen people in one room, and if the +room was large, they stretched a sheet a cross to separate the men +from the women. As for toilet, those were not the mornings of cold +baths. With our ancestors a little washing went a long way." + +"Do you still live so in Virginia?" asked Madeleine. + +"Oh no, it is quite gone. We live now like other country people, +and try to pay our debts, which that generation never did. They +lived from hand to mouth. They kept a stable-full of horses. The +young men were always riding about the country, betting on +horse-races, gambling, drinking, fighting, and making love. No one +knew exactly what he was worth until the crash came about fifty +years ago, and the whole thing ran out." + +"Just what happened in Ireland!" said Lord Dunbeg, much +interested and full of his article in the Quarterly; "the resemblance +is perfect, even down to the houses." + +Mrs. Lee asked Carrington bluntly whether he regretted the +destruction of this old social arrangement. + +"One can't help regretting," said he, "whatever it was that produced +George Washington, and a crowd of other men like him. But I +think we might produce the men still if we had the same field for +them." + +"And would you bring the old society back again if you could?" +asked she. + +"What for? It could not hold itself up. General Washington himself +could not save it. Before he died he had lost his hold on Virginia, +and his power was gone." + +The party for a while separated, and Mrs. Lee found herself alone +in the great drawing-room. Presently the blonde Mrs. Baker +entered, with her child, who ran about making more noise than +Mrs. Washington would have permitted. + +Madeleine, who had the usual feminine love of children, called the +girl to her and pointed out the shepherds and shepherdesses carved +on the white Italian marble of the fireplace; she invented a little +story about them to amuse the child, while the mother stood by and +at the end thanked the story-teller with more enthusiasm than +seemed called for. Mrs. Lee did not fancy her effusive manner, or +her complexion, and was glad when Dunbeg appeared at the +doorway. + +"How do you like General Washington at home?" asked she. + +"Really, I assure you I feel quite at home myself," replied Dunbeg, +with a more beaming smile than ever. "I am sure General +Washington was an Irishman. + +I know it from the look of the place. I mean to look it up and write +an article about it." + +"Then if you have disposed of him," said Madeleine, "I think we +will have luncheon, and I have taken the liberty to order it to be +served outside." + +There a table had been improvised, and Miss Dare was inspecting +the lunch, and making comments upon Lord Skye's cuisine and +cellar. + +"I hope it is very dry champagne," said she, "the taste for sweet +champagne is quite awfully shocking." + +The young woman knew no more about dry and sweet champagne +than of the wine of Ulysses, except that she drank both with equal +satisfaction, but she was mimicking a Secretary of the British +Legation who had provided her with supper at her last evening +party. Lord Skye begged her to try it, which she did, and with great +gravity remarked that it was about five per cent. she presumed. +This, too, was caught from her Secretary, though she knew no +more what it meant than if she had been a parrot. + +The luncheon was very lively and very good. When it was over, the +gentlemen were allowed to smoke, and conversation fell into a +sober strain, which at last threatened to become serious. + +"You want half-tones!" said Madeleine to Lord Skye: "are there not +half-tones enough to suit you on the walls of this house?" + +Lord Skye suggested that this was probably owing to the fact that +Washington, belonging, as he did, to the universe, was in his taste +an exception to local rules. + +"Is not the sense of rest here captivating?" she continued. "Look at +that quaint garden, and this ragged lawn, and the great river in +front, and the superannuated fort beyond the river! Everything is +peaceful, even down to the poor old General's little bed-room. One +would like to lie down in it and sleep a century or two. And yet +that dreadful Capitol and its office-seekers are only ten miles off." + +"No! that is more than I can bear!" broke in Miss Victoria in a +stage whisper, "that dreadful Capitol! Why, not one of us would be +here without that dreadful Capitol! except, perhaps, myself." + +"You would appear very well as Mrs. Washington, Victoria." + +"Miss Dare has been so very obliging as to give us her views of +General Washington's character this morning," said Dunbeg, "but I +have not yet had time to ask Mr. Carrington for his." + +"Whatever Miss Dare says is valuable," replied Carrington, "but +her strong point is facts." + +"Never flatter! Mr. Carrington," drawled Miss Dare; "I do not need +it, and it does not become your style. Tell me, Lord Dunbeg, is not +Mr. Carrington a little your idea of General Washington restored to +us in his prime?" + +"After your account of General Washington, Miss Dare, how can I +agree with you?" + +"After all," said Lord Skye, "I think we must agree that Miss Dare +is in the main right about the charms of Mount Vernon. Even Mrs. +Lee, on the way up, agreed that the General, who is the only +permanent resident here, has the air of being confoundedly bored +in his tomb. I don't myself love your dreadful Capitol yonder, but I +prefer it to a bucolic life here. And I account in this way for my +want of enthusiasm for your great General. He liked no kind of life +but this. He seems to have been greater in the character of a +home-sick Virginia planter than as General or President. I forgive +him his inordinate dulness, for he was not a diplomatist and it was +not his business to lie, but he might once in a way have forgotten +Mount Vernon." + +Dunbeg here burst in with an excited protest; all his words seemed +to shove each other aside in their haste to escape first. "All our +greatest Englishmen have been home-sick country squires. I am a +home-sick country squire myself." + +"How interesting!" said Miss Dare under her breath. + +Mr. Gore here joined in: "It is all very well for you gentlemen to +measure General Washington according to your own private +twelve-inch carpenter's rule. But what will you say to us New +Englanders who never were country gentlemen at all, and never +had any liking for Virginia? What did Washington ever do for us? +He never even pretended to like us. He never was more than barely +civil to us. I'm not finding fault with him; everybody knows that he +never cared for anything but Mount Vernon. For all that, we +idolize him. To us he is Morality, Justice, Duty, Truth; half a +dozen Roman gods with capital letters. He is austere, solitary, +grand; he ought to be deified. I hardly feel easy, eating, drinking, +smoking here on his portico without his permission, taking +liberties with his house, criticising his bedrooms in his absence. +Suppose I heard his horse now trotting up on the other side, and he +suddenly appeared at this door and looked at us. I should abandon +you to his indignation. I should run away and hide myself on the +steamer. The mere thought unmans me." + +Ratcliffe seemed amused at Gore's half-serious notions. "You +recall to me," + +said he, "my own feelings when I was a boy and was made by my +father to learn the Farewell Address by heart. In those days +General Washington was a sort of American Jehovah. But the +West is a poor school for Reverence. Since coming to Congress I +have learned more about General Washington, and have been +surprised to find what a narrow base his reputation rests on. A fair +military officer, who made many blunders, and who never had +more men than would make a full army-corps under his command, +he got an enormous reputation in Europe because he did not make +himself king, as though he ever had a chance of doing it. A +respectable, painstaking President, he was treated by the +Opposition with an amount of deference that would have made +government easy to a baby, but it worried him to death. His official +papers are fairly done, and contain good average sense such as a +hundred thousand men in the United States would now write. I +suspect that half of his attachment to this spot rose from his +consciousness of inferior powers and his dread of responsibility. +This government can show to-day a dozen men of equal abilities, +but we don't deify them. What I most wonder at in him is not his +military or political genius at all, for I doubt whether he had much, +but a curious Yankee shrewdness in money matters. He thought +himself a very rich man, yet he never spent a dollar foolishly. He +was almost the only Virginian I ever heard of, in public life, who +did not die insolvent." + +During this long speech, Carrington glanced across at Madeleine, +and caught her eye. Ratcliffe's criticism was not to her taste. +Carrington could see that she thought it unworthy of him, and he +knew that it would irritate her. + +"I will lay a little trap for Mr. Ratcliffe," thought he to himself; +"we will see whether he gets out of it." So Carrington began, and +all listened closely, for, as a Virginian, he was supposed to know +much about the subject, and his family had been deep in the +confidence of Washington himself. + +"The neighbours hereabout had for many years, and may have still, +some curious stories about General Washington's closeness in +money matters. They said he never bought anything by weight but +he had it weighed over again, nor by tale but he had it counted, and +if the weight or number were not exact, he sent it back. Once, +during his absence, his steward had a room plastered, and paid the +plasterer's bill. On the General's return, he measured the room, and +found that the plasterer had charged fifteen shillings too much. +Meanwhile the man had died, and the General made a claim of +fifteen shillings on his estate, which was paid. Again, one of his +tenants brought him the rent. The exact change of fourpence was +required. + +The man tendered a dollar, and asked the General to credit him +with the balance against the next year's rent. The General refused +and made him ride nine miles to Alexandria and back for the +fourpence. On the other hand, he sent to a shoemaker in +Alexandria to come and measure him for shoes. The man returned +word that he did not go to any one's house to take measures, and +the General mounted his horse and rode the nine miles to him. One +of his rules was to pay at taverns the same sum for his servants' +meals as for his own. An inn-keeper brought him a bill of +three-and-ninepence for his own breakfast, and three shillings for +his servant. He insisted upon adding the extra ninepence, as he did +not doubt that the servant had eaten as much as he. What do you +say to these anecdotes? Was this meanness or not?" + +Ratcliffe was amused. "The stories are new to me," he said. "It is +just as I thought. These are signs of a man who thinks much of +trifles; one who fusses over small matters. We don't do things in +that way now that we no longer have to get crops from granite, as +they used to do in New Hampshire when I was a boy." + +Carrington replied that it was unlucky for Virginians that they had +not done things in that way then: if they had, they would not have +gone to the dogs. + +Gore shook his head seriously; "Did I not tell you so?" said he. +"Was not this man an abstract virtue? I give you my word I stand in +awe before him, and I feel ashamed to pry into these details of his +life. What is it to us how he thought proper to apply his principles +to nightcaps and feather dusters? We are not his body servants, and +we care nothing about his infirmities. It is enough for us to know +that he carried his rules of virtue down to a pin's point, and that we +ought, one and all, to be on our knees before his tomb." + +Dunbeg, pondering deeply, at length asked Carrington whether all +this did not make rather a clumsy politician of the father of his +country. + +"Mr. Ratcliffe knows more about politics than I. Ask him," said +Carrington. + +"Washington was no politician at all, as we understand the word," +replied Ratcliffe abruptly. "He stood outside of politics. The thing +couldn't be done to-day. The people don't like that sort of royal +airs." + +"I don't understand!" said Mrs. Lee. "Why could you not do it +now?" + +"Because I should make a fool of myself;" replied Ratcliffe, +pleased to think that Mrs. Lee should put him on a level with +Washington. She had only meant to ask why the thing could not be +done, and this little touch of Ratcliffe's vanity was inimitable. + +"Mr. Ratcliffe means that Washington was too respectable for our +time," + +interposed Carrington. + +This was deliberately meant to irritate Ratcliffe, and it did so all +the more because Mrs. Lee turned to Carrington, and said, with +some bitterness: + +"Was he then the only honest public man we ever had?" + +"Oh no!" replied Carrington cheerfully; "there have been one or +two others." + +"If the rest of our Presidents had been like him," said Gore, "we +should have had fewer ugly blots on our short history." + +Ratcliffe was exasperated at Carrington's habit of drawing +discussion to this point. He felt the remark as a personal insult, and +he knew it to be intended. "Public men," he broke out, "cannot be +dressing themselves to-day in Washington's old clothes. If +Washington were President now, he would have to learn our ways +or lose his next election. Only fools and theorists imagine that our +society can be handled with gloves or long poles. One must make +one's self a part of it. If virtue won't answer our purpose, we must +use vice, or our opponents will put us out of office, and this was as +true in Washington's day as it is now, and always will be." + +"Come," said Lord Skye, who was beginning to fear an open +quarrel; "the conversation verges on treason, and I am accredited +to this government. Why not examine the grounds?" + +A kind of natural sympathy led Lord Dunbeg to wander by the side +of Miss Dare through the quaint old garden. His mind being much +occupied by the effort of stowing away the impressions he had just +received, he was more than usually absent in his manner, and this +want of attention irritated the young lady. She made some +comments on flowers; she invented some new species with +startling names; she asked whether these were known in Ireland; +but Lord Dunbeg was for the moment so vague in his answers that +she saw her case was perilous. + +"Here is an old sun-dial. Do you have sun-dials in Ireland, Lord +Dunbeg?" + +"Yes; oh, certainly! What! sun-dials? Oh, yes! I assure you there +are a great many sun-dials in Ireland, Miss Dare." + +"I am so glad. But I suppose they are only for ornament. Here it is +just the other way. Look at this one! they all behave like that. The +wear and tear of our sun is too much for them; they don't last. My +uncle, who has a place at Long Branch, had five sun-dials in ten +years." + +"How very odd! But really now, Miss Dare, I don't see how a +sun--dial could wear out." + +"Don't you? How strange! Don't you see, they get soaked with +sunshine so that they can't hold shadow. It's like me, you know. I +have such a good time all the time that I can't be unhappy. Do you +ever read the Burlington Hawkeye, Lord Dunbeg?" + +"I don't remember; I think not. Is it an American serial?" gasped +Dunbeg, trying hard to keep pace with Miss Dare in her reckless +dashes across country. + +"No, not serial at all!" replied Virginia; "but I am afraid you would +find it very hard reading. I shouldn't try." + +"Do you read it much, Miss Dare?" + +"Oh, always! I am not really as light as I seem. But then I have an +advantage over you because I know the language." + +By this time Dunbeg was awake again, and Miss Dare, satisfied +with her success, allowed herself to become more reasonable, until +a slight shade of sentiment began to flicker about their path. + +The scattered party, however, soon had to unite again. The boat +rang its bell for return, they filed down the paths and settled +themselves in their old places. As they steamed away, Mrs. Lee +watched the sunny hill-side and the peaceful house above, until she +could see them no more, and the longer she looked, the less she +was pleased with herself. Was it true, as Victoria Dare said, that +she could not live in so pure an air? Did she really need the denser +fumes of the city? Was she, unknown to herself; gradually +becoming tainted with the life about her? or was Ratcliffe right in +accepting the good and the bad together, and in being of his time +since he was in it? Why was it, she said bitterly to herself; that +everything Washington touched, he purified, even down to the +associations of his house? + +and why is it that everything we touch seems soiled? Why do I feel +unclean when I look at Mount Vernon? In spite of Mr. Ratcliffe, is +it not better to be a child and to cry for the moon and stars? + +The little Baker girl came up to her where she stood, and began +playing with her parasol. + +"Who is your little friend?" asked Ratcliffe. + +Mrs. Lee rather vaguely replied that she was the daughter of that +pretty woman in black; she believed her name was Baker. + +"Baker, did you say?" repeated Ratcliffe. + +"Baker--Mrs. Sam Baker; at least so Mr. Carrington told me; he +said she was a client of his." + +In fact Ratcliffe soon saw Carrington go up to her and remain by +her side during the rest of the trip. Ratcliffe watched them sharply +and grew more and more absorbed in his own thoughts as the boat +drew nearer and nearer the shore. + +Carrington was in high spirits. He thought he had played his cards +with unusual success. Even Miss Dare deigned to acknowledge his +charms that day. + +She declared herself to be the moral image of Martha Washington, +and she started a discussion whether Carrington or Lord Dunbeg +would best suit her in the rle of the General. + +"Mr. Carrington is exemplary," she said, "but oh, what joy to be +Martha Washington and a Countess too!" + +Chapter VII + +WHEN he reached his rooms that afternoon, Senator Ratcliffe +found there, as he expected, a choice company of friends and +admirers, who had beguiled their leisure hours since noon by +cursing him in every variety of profane language that experience +could suggest and impatience stimulate. On his part, had he +consulted his own feelings only, he would then and there have +turned them out, and locked the doors behind them. So far as silent +maledictions were concerned, no profanity of theirs could hold its +own against the intensity and deliberation with which, as he found +himself approaching his own door, he expressed between his teeth +his views in respect to their eternal interests. Nothing could be less +suited to his present humour than the society which awaited him in +his rooms. He groaned in spirit as he sat down at his writing-table +and looked about him. Dozens of office-seekers were besieging the +house; men whose patriotic services in the last election called +loudly for recognition from a grateful country. + +They brought their applications to the Senator with an entreaty that +he would endorse and take charge of them. Several members and +senators who felt that Ratcliffe had no reason for existence except +to fight their battle for patronage, were lounging about his room, +reading newspapers, or beguiling their time with tobacco in +various forms; at long intervals making dull remarks, as though +they were more weary than their constituents of the atmosphere +that surrounds the grandest government the sun ever shone upon. + +Several newspaper correspondents, eager to barter their news for +Ratcliffe's hints or suggestions, appeared from time to time on the +scene, and, dropping into a chair by Ratcliffe's desk, whispered +with him in mysterious tones. + +Thus the Senator worked on, hour after hour, mechanically doing +what was required of him, signing papers without reading them, +answering remarks without hearing them, hardly looking up from +his desk, and appearing immersed in labour. This was his +protection against curiosity and garrulity. + +The pretence of work was the curtain he drew between himself and +the world. + +Behind this curtain his mental operations went on, undisturbed by +what was about him, while he heard all that was said, and said +little or nothing himself. His followers respected this privacy, and +left him alone. He was their prophet, and had a right to seclusion. +He was their chieftain, and while he sat in his monosyllabic +solitude, his ragged tail reclined in various attitudes about him, +and occasionally one man spoke, or another swore. Newspapers +and tobacco were their resource in periods of absolute silence. + +A shade of depression rested on the faces and the voices of Clan +Ratcliffe that evening, as is not unusual with forces on the eve of +battle. Their remarks came at longer intervals, and were more +pointless and random than usual. There was a want of elasticity in +their bearing and tone, partly coming from sympathy with the +evident depression of their chief; partly from the portents of the +time. The President was to arrive within forty-eight hours, and as +yet there was no sign that he properly appreciated their services; +there were signs only too unmistakeable that he was painfully +misled and deluded, that his countenance was turned wholly in +another direction, and that all their sacrifices were counted as +worthless. There was reason to believe that he came with a +deliberate purpose of making war upon Ratcliffe and breaking him +down; of refusing to bestow patronage on them, and of bestowing +it wherever it would injure them most deeply. At the thought that +their honestly earned harvest of foreign missions and consulates, +department-bureaus, custom-house and revenue offices, +postmasterships, Indian agencies, and army and navy contracts, +might now be wrung from their grasp by the selfish greed of a +mere accidental intruder--a man whom nobody wanted and every +one ridiculed--their natures rebelled, and they felt that such things +must not be; that there could be no more hope for democratic +government if such things were possible. At this point they +invariably became excited, lost their equanimity, and swore. Then +they fell back on their faith in Ratcliffe: if any man could pull +them through, he could; after all, the President must first reckon +with him, and he was an uncommon tough customer to tackle. + +Perhaps, however, even their faith in Ratcliffe might have been +shaken, could they at that moment have looked into his mind and +understood what was passing there. Ratcliffe was a man vastly +their superior, and he knew it. He lived in a world of his own and +had instincts of refinement. Whenever his affairs went +unfavourably, these instincts revived, and for the time swept all his +nature with them. He was now filled with disgust and cynical +contempt for every form of politics. During long years he had done +his best for his party; he had sold himself to the devil, coined his +heart's blood, toiled with a dogged persistence that no day-labourer +ever conceived; and all for what? To be rejected as its candidate; +to be put under the harrow of a small Indiana farmer who made no +secret of the intention to "corral" him, and, as he elegantly +expressed it, to "take his hide and tallow." Ratcliffe had no great +fear of losing his hide, but he felt aggrieved that he should be +called upon to defend it, and that this should be the result of +twenty years' devotion. Like most men in the same place, he did +not stop to cast up both columns of his account with the party, nor +to ask himself the question that lay at the heart of his grievance: +How far had he served his party and how far himself? He was in no +humour for self-analysis: this requires more repose of mind than he +could then command. As for the President, from whom he had not +heard a whisper since the insolent letter to Grimes, which he had +taken care not to show, the Senator felt only a strong impulse to +teach him better sense and better manners. But as for political life, +the events of the last six months were calculated to make any man +doubt its value. He was quite out of sympathy with it. He hated the +sight of his tobacco-chewing, newspaper-reading satellites, with +their hats tipped at every angle except the right one, and their feet +everywhere except on the floor. Their conversation bored him and +their presence was a nuisance. He would not submit to this slavery +longer. He would have given his Senatorship for a civilized house +like Mrs. Lee's, with a woman like Mrs. Lee at its head, and twenty +thousand a year for life. He smiled his only smile that evening +when he thought how rapidly she would rout every man Jack of his +political following out of her parlours, and how meekly they would +submit to banishment into a back-office with an oil-cloth carpet +and two cane chairs. + +He felt that Mrs. Lee was more necessary to him than the +Presidency itself; he could not go on without her; he needed +human companionship; some Christian comfort for his old age; +some avenue of communication with that social world, which +made his present surroundings look cold and foul; some touch of +that refinement of mind and morals beside which his own seemed +coarse. He felt unutterably lonely. He wished Mrs. Lee had asked +him home to dinner; but Mrs. Lee had gone to bed with a +headache. He should not see her again for a week. Then his mind +turned back upon their morning at Mount Vernon, and bethinking +himself of Mrs. Sam Baker, he took a sheet of note-paper, and +wrote a line to Wilson Keen, Esq., at Georgetown, requesting him +to call, if possible, the next morning towards one o'clock at the +Senator's rooms on a matter of business. Wilson Keen was chief of +the Secret Service Bureau in the Treasury Department, and, as the +depositary of all secrets, was often called upon for assistance +which he was very good-natured in furnishing to senators, +especially if they were likely to be Secretaries of the Treasury. + +This note despatched, Mr. Ratcliffe fell back into his reflective +mood, which led him apparently into still lower depths of +discontent until, with a muttered oath, he swore he could "stand no +more of this," and, suddenly rising, he informed his visitors that he +was sorry to leave them, but he felt rather poorly and was going to +bed; and to bed he went, while his guests departed, each as his +business or desires might point him, some to drink whiskey and +some to repose. + +On Sunday morning Mr. Ratcliffe, as usual, went to church. He +always attended morning service--at the Methodist Episcopal +Church--not wholly on the ground of religious conviction, but +because a large number of his constituents were church-going +people and he would not willingly shock their principles so long as +he needed their votes. In church, he kept his eyes closely fixed +upon the clergyman, and at the end of the sermon he could say +with truth that he had not heard a word of it, although the +respectable minister was gratified by the attention his discourse +had received from the Senator from Illinois, an attention all the +more praiseworthy because of the engrossing public cares which +must at that moment have distracted the Senator's mind. In this last +idea, the minister was right. Mr. Ratcliffe's mind was greatly +distracted by public cares, and one of his strongest reasons for +going to church at all was that he might get an hour or two of +undisturbed reflection. During the entire service he was absorbed +in carrying on a series of imaginary conversations with the new +President. He brought up in succession every form of proposition +which the President might make to him; every trap which could be +laid for him; every sort of treatment he might expect, so that he +could not be taken by surprise, and his frank, simple nature could +never be at a loss. One object, however, long escaped him. +Supposing, what was more than probable, that the President's +opposition to Ratcliffe's declared friends made it impossible to +force any of them into office; it would then be necessary to try +some new man, not obnoxious to the President, as a candidate for +the Cabinet. Who should this be? Ratcliffe pondered long and +deeply, searching out a man who combined the most powerful +interests, with the fewest enmities. This subject was still +uppermost at the moment when service ended. Ratcliffe pondered +over it as he walked back to his rooms. Not until he reached his +own door did he come to a conclusion: + +Carson would do; Carson of Pennsylvania; the President had +probably never heard of him. + +Mr. Wilson Keen was waiting the Senator's return, a heavy man +with a square face, and good-natured, active blue eyes; a man of +few words and those well-considered. The interview was brief. +After apologising for breaking in upon Sunday with business, Mr. +Ratcliffe excused himself on the ground that so little time was left +before the close of the session. A bill now before one of his +Committees, on which a report must soon be made, involved +matters to which it was believed that the late Samuel Baker, +formerly a well-known lobby-agent in Washington, held the only +clue. He being dead, Mr. Ratcliffe wished to know whether he had +left any papers behind him, and in whose hands these papers were, +or whether any partner or associate of his was acquainted with his +affairs. + +Mr. Keen made a note of the request, merely remarking that he had +been very well acquainted with Baker, and also a little with his +wife, who was supposed to know his affairs as well as he knew +them himself; and who was still in Washington. He thought he +could bring the information in a day or two. As he then rose to go, +Mr. Ratcliffe added that entire secrecy was necessary, as the +interests involved in obstructing the search were considerable, and +it was not well to wake them up. Mr. Keen assented and went his +way. + +All this was natural enough and entirely proper, at least so far as +appeared on the surface. Had Mr. Keen been so curious in other +people's affairs as to look for the particular legislative measure +which lay at the bottom of Mr. + +Ratcliffe's inquiries, he might have searched among the papers of +Congress a very long time and found himself greatly puzzled at +last. In fact there was no measure of the kind. The whole story was +a fiction. Mr. Ratcliffe had scarcely thought of Baker since his +death, until the day before, when he had seen his widow on the +Mount Vernon steamer and had found her in relations with +Carrington. Something in Carrington's habitual attitude and +manner towards himself had long struck him as peculiar, and this +connection with Mrs. Baker had suggested to the Senator the idea +that it might be well to have an eye on both. Mrs. Baker was a silly +woman, as he knew, and there were old transactions between +Ratcliffe and Baker of which she might be informed, but which +Ratcliffe had no wish to see brought within Mrs. Lee's ken. As for +the fiction invented to set Keen in motion, it was an innocent one. +It harmed nobody. Ratcliffe selected this particular method of +inquiry because it was the easiest, safest, and most effectual. If he +were always to wait until he could afford to tell the precise truth, +business would very soon be at a standstill, and his career at an +end. + +This little matter disposed of; the Senator from Illinois passed his +afternoon in calling upon some of his brother senators, and the +first of those whom he honoured with a visit was Mr. Krebs, of +Pennsylvania. There were many reasons which now made the +co-operation of that high-minded statesman essential to Mr. +Ratcliffe. The strongest of them was that the Pennsylvania +delegation in Congress was well disciplined and could be used +with peculiar advantage for purposes of "pressure." Ratcliffe's +success in his contest with the new President depended on the +amount of "pressure" he could employ. To keep himself in the +background, and to fling over the head of the raw Chief Magistrate +a web of intertwined influences, any one of which alone would be +useless, but which taken together were not to be broken through; to +revive the lost art of the Roman retiarius, who from a safe distance +threw his net over his adversary, before attacking with the dagger; +this was Ratcliffe's intention and towards this he had been +directing all his manipulation for weeks past. How much +bargaining and how many promises he found it necessary to make, +was known to himself alone. About this time Mrs. Lee was a little +surprised to find Mr. Gore speaking with entire confidence of +having Ratcliffe's support in his application for the Spanish +mission, for she had rather imagined that Gore was not a favourite +with Ratcliffe. She noticed too that Schneidekoupon had come +back again and spoke mysteriously of interviews with Ratcliffe; of +attempts to unite the interests of New York and Pennsylvania; and +his countenance took on a dark and dramatic expression as he +proclaimed that no sacrifice of the principle of protection should +be tolerated. Schneidekoupon disappeared as suddenly as he came, +and from Sybil's innocent complaints of his spirits and temper, +Mrs. Lee jumped to the conclusion that Mr. Ratcliffe, Mr. Clinton, +and Mr. + +Krebs had for the moment combined to sit heavily upon poor +Schneidekoupon, and to remove his disturbing influence from the +scene, at least until other men should get what they wanted. These +were merely the trifling incidents that fell within Mrs. Lee's +observation. She felt an atmosphere of bargain and intrigue, but +she could only imagine how far it extended. Even Carrington, +when she spoke to him about it, only laughed and shook his head: + +"Those matters are private, my dear Mrs. Lee; you and I are not +meant to know such things." + +This Sunday afternoon Mr. Ratcliffe's object was to arrange the +little manoeuvre about Carson of Pennsylvania, which had +disturbed him in church. + +His efforts were crowned with success. Krebs accepted Carson and +promised to bring him forward at ten minutes' notice, should the +emergency arise. + +Ratcliffe was a great statesman. The smoothness of his +manipulation was marvellous. No other man in politics, indeed no +other man who had ever been in politics in this country, could--his +admirers said--have brought together so many hostile interests and +made so fantastic a combination. Some men went so far as to +maintain that he would "rope in the President himself before the +old man had time to swap knives with him." The beauty of his +work consisted in the skill with which he evaded questions of +principle. As he wisely said, the issue now involved was not one of +principle but of power. + +The fate of that noble party to which they all belonged, and which +had a record that could never be forgotten, depended on their +letting principle alone. Their principle must be the want of +principles. There were indeed individuals who said in reply that +Ratcliffe had made promises which never could be carried out, and +there were almost superhuman elements of discord in the +combination, but as Ratcliffe shrewdly rejoined, he only wanted it +to last a week, and he guessed his promises would hold it up for +that time. + +Such was the situation when on Monday afternoon the +President-elect arrived in Washington, and the comedy began. The +new President was, almost as much as Abraham Lincoln or +Franklin Pierce, an unknown quantity in political mathematics. In +the national convention of the party, nine months before, after +some dozens of fruitless ballots in which Ratcliffe wanted but +three votes of a majority, his opponents had done what he was now +doing; they had laid aside their principles and set up for their +candidate a plain Indiana farmer, whose political experience was +limited to stump-speaking in his native State, and to one term as +Governor. They had pitched upon him, not because they thought +him competent, but because they hoped by doing so to detach +Indiana from Ratcliffe's following, and they were so successful +that within fifteen minutes Ratcliffe's friends were routed, and the +Presidency had fallen upon this new political Buddha. + +He had begun his career as a stone-cutter in a quarry, and was, not +unreasonably, proud of the fact. During the campaign this incident +had, of course, filled a large space in the public mind, or, more +exactly, in the public eye. "The Stone-cutter of the Wabash," he +was sometimes called; at others "the Hoosier Quarryman," but his +favourite appellation was "Old Granite," although this last +endearing name, owing to an unfortunate similarity of sound, was +seized upon by his opponents, and distorted into "Old Granny." He +had been painted on many thousand yards of cotton sheeting, +either with a terrific sledge-hammer, smashing the skulls (which +figured as paving-stones) of his political opponents, or splitting by +gigantic blows a huge rock typical of the opposing party. His +opponents in their turn had paraded illuminations representing the +Quarryman in the garb of a State's-prison convict breaking the +heads of Ratcliffe and other well-known political leaders with a +very feeble hammer, or as "Old Granny" in pauper's rags, +hopelessly repairing with the same heads the impossible roads +which typified the ill-conditioned and miry ways of his party. But +these violations of decency and good sense were universally +reproved by the virtuous; and it was remarked with satisfaction +that the purest and most highly cultivated newspaper editors on his +side, without excepting those of Boston itself; agreed with one +voice that the Stone-cutter was a noble type of man, perhaps the +very noblest that had appeared to adorn this country since the +incomparable Washington. + +That he was honest, all admitted; that is to say, all who voted for +him. + +This is a general characteristic of all new presidents. He himself +took great pride in his home-spun honesty, which is a quality +peculiar to nature's noblemen. Owing nothing, as he conceived, to +politicians, but sympathising through every fibre of his unselfish +nature with the impulses and aspirations of the people, he affirmed +it to be his first duty to protect the people from those vultures, as +he called them, those wolves in sheep's clothing, those harpies, +those hyenas, the politicians; epithets which, as generally +interpreted, meant Ratcliffe and Ratcliffe's friends. + +His cardinal principle in politics was hostility to Ratcliffe, yet he +was not vindictive. He came to Washington determined to be the +Father of his country; to gain a proud immortality and a +re-election. + +Upon this gentleman Ratcliffe had let loose all the forms of +"pressure" + +which could be set in motion either in or out of Washington. From +the moment when he had left his humble cottage in Southern +Indiana, he had been captured by Ratcliffe's friends, and smothered +in demonstrations of affection. They had never allowed him to +suggest the possibility of ill-feeling. They had assumed as a matter +of course that the most cordial attachment existed between him +and his party. On his arrival in Washington they systematically cut +him off from contact with any influences but their own. This was +not a very difficult thing to do, for great as he was, he liked to be +told of his greatness, and they made him feel himself a colossus. +Even the few personal friends in his company were manipulated +with the utmost care, and their weaknesses put to use before they +had been in Washington a single day. + +Not that Ratcliffe had anything to do with all this underhand and +grovelling intrigue. Mr. Ratcliffe was a man of dignity and +self-respect, who left details to his subordinates. He waited calmly +until the President, recovered from the fatigues of his journey, +should begin to feel the effect of a Washington atmosphere. Then +on Wednesday morning, Mr. Ratcliffe left his rooms an hour +earlier than usual on his way to the Senate, and called at the +President's Hotel: he was ushered into a large apartment in which +the new Chief Magistrate was holding court, although at sight of +Ratcliffe, the other visitors edged away or took their hats and left +the room. The President proved to be a hard-featured man of sixty, +with a hooked nose and thin, straight, iron-gray hair. His voice was +rougher than his features and he received Ratcliffe awkwardly. He +had suffered since his departure from Indiana. Out there it had +seemed a mere flea-bite, as he expressed it, to brush Ratcliffe +aside, but in Washington the thing was somehow different. + +Even his own Indiana friends looked grave when he talked of it, +and shook their heads. They advised him to be cautious and gain +time; to lead Ratcliffe on, and if possible to throw on him the +responsibility of a quarrel. He was, therefore, like a brown bear +undergoing the process of taming; very ill-tempered, very rough, +and at the same time very much bewildered and a little frightened. +Ratcliffe sat ten minutes with him, and obtained information in +regard to pains which the President had suffered during the +previous night, in consequence, as he believed, of an +over-indulgence in fresh lobster, a luxury in which he had found a +diversion from the cares of state. So soon as this matter was +explained and condoled upon, Ratcliffe rose and took leave. + +Every device known to politicians was now in full play against the +Hoosier Quarryman. State delegations with contradictory requests +were poured in upon him, among which that of Massachusetts +presented as its only prayer the appointment of Mr. Gore to the +Spanish mission. Difficulties were invented to embarrass and +worry him. False leads were suggested, and false information +carefully mingled with true. A wild dance was kept up under his +eyes from daylight to midnight, until his brain reeled with the +effort to follow it. Means were also found to convert one of his +personal, confidential friends, who had come with him from +Indiana and who had more brains or less principle than the others; +from him every word of the President was brought directly to +Ratcliffe's ear. + +Early on Friday morning, Mr. Thomas Lord, a rival of the late +Samuel Baker, and heir to his triumphs, appeared in Ratcliffe's +rooms while the Senator was consuming his lonely egg and chop. +Mr. Lord had been chosen to take general charge of the +presidential party and to direct all matters connected with +Ratcliffe's interests. Some people might consider this the work of a +spy; he looked on it as a public duty. He reported that "Old +Granny" had at last shown signs of weakness. Late the previous +evening when, according to his custom, he was smoking his pipe +in company with his kitchen-cabinet of followers, he had again +fallen upon the subject of Ratcliffe, and with a volley of oaths had +sworn that he would show him his place yet, and that he meant to +offer him a seat in the Cabinet that would make him "sicker than a +stuck hog." From this remark and some explanatory hints that +followed, it seemed that the Quarryman had abandoned his scheme +of putting Ratcliffe to immediate political death, and had now +undertaken to invite him into a Cabinet which was to be specially +constructed to thwart and humiliate him. + +The President, it appeared, warmly applauded the remark of one +counsellor, that Ratcliffe was safer in the Cabinet than in the +Senate, and that it would be easy to kick him out when the time +came. + +Ratcliffe smiled grimly as Mr. Lord, with much clever mimicry, +described the President's peculiarities of language and manner, but +he said nothing and waited for the event. The same evening came a +note from the President's private secretary requesting his +attendance, if possible, to-morrow, Saturday morning, at ten +o'clock. The note was curt and cool. Ratcliffe merely sent back +word that he would come, and felt a little regret that the President +should not know enough etiquette to understand that this verbal +answer was intended as a hint to improve his manners. He did +come accordingly, and found the President looking blacker than +before. This time there was no avoiding of tender subjects. The +President meant to show Ratcliffe by the decision of his course, +that he was master of the situation. He broke at once into the +middle of the matter: "I sent for you," + +said he, "to consult with you about my Cabinet. Here is a list of the +gentlemen I intend to invite into it. You will see that I have got +you down for the Treasury. Will you look at the list and say what +you think of it?" + +Ratcliffe took the paper, but laid it at once on the table without +looking at it. "I can have no objection," said he, "to any Cabinet +you may appoint, provided I am not included in it. My wish is to +remain where I am. There I can serve your administration better +than in the Cabinet." + +"Then you refuse?" growled the President. + +"By no means. I only decline to offer any advice or even to hear +the names of my proposed colleagues until it is decided that my +services are necessary. If they are, I shall accept without caring +with whom I serve." + +The President glared at him with an uneasy look. What was to be +done next? + +He wanted time to think, but Ratcliffe was there and must be +disposed of. He involuntarily became more civil: "Mr. Ratcliffe, +your refusal would knock everything on the head. I thought that +matter was all fixed. What more can I do?" + +But Ratcliffe had no mind to let the President out of his clutches +so easily, and a long conversation followed, during which he +forced his antagonist into the position of urging him to take the +Treasury in order to prevent some undefined but portentous +mischief in the Senate. All that could be agreed upon was that +Ratcliffe should give a positive answer within two days, and on +that agreement he took his leave. + +As he passed through the corridor, a number of gentlemen were +waiting for interviews with the President, and among them was the +whole Pennsylvania delegation, "ready for biz," as Mr. Tom Lord +remarked, with a wink. + +Ratcliffe drew Krebs aside and they exchanged a few words as he +passed out. + +Ten minutes afterwards the delegation was admitted, and some of +its members were a little surprised to hear their spokesman, +Senator Krebs, press with extreme earnestness and in their names, +the appointment of Josiah B. Carson to a place in the Cabinet, +when they had been given to understand that they came to +recommend Jared Caldwell as postmaster of Philadelphia. But +Pennsylvania is a great and virtuous State, whose representatives +have entire confidence in their chief. Not one of them so much as +winked. + +The dance of democracy round the President now began again with +wilder energy. Ratcliffe launched his last bolts. His two-days' delay +was a mere cover for bringing new influences to bear. He needed +no delay. He wanted no time for reflection. The President had +undertaken to put him on the horns of a dilemma; either to force +him into a hostile and treacherous Cabinet, or to throw on him the +blame of a refusal and a quarrel. He meant to embrace one of the +horns and to impale the President on it, and he felt perfect +confidence in his own success. He meant to accept the Treasury +and he was ready to back himself with a heavy wager to get the +government entirely into his own hands within six weeks. His +contempt for the Hoosier Stone-cutter was unbounded, and his +confidence in himself more absolute than ever. + +Busy as he was, the Senator made his appearance the next evening +at Mrs. + +Lee's, and finding her alone with Sybil, who was occupied with her +own little devices, Ratcliffe told Madeleine the story of his week's +experience. + +He did not dwell on his exploits. On the contrary he quite ignored +those elaborate arrangements which had taken from the President +his power of volition. His picture presented himself; solitary and +unprotected, in the character of that honest beast who was invited +to dine with the lion and saw that all the footmarks of his +predecessors led into the lion's cave, and none away from it. He +described in humorous detail his interviews with the Indiana lion, +and the particulars of the surfeit of lobster as given in the +President's dialect; he even repeated to her the story told him by +Mr. Tom Lord, without omitting oaths or gestures; he told her how +matters stood at the moment, and how the President had laid a trap +for him which he could not escape; he must either enter a Cabinet +constructed on purpose to thwart him and with the certainty of +ignominious dismissal at the first opportunity, or he must refuse an +offer of friendship which would throw on him the blame of a +quarrel, and enable the President to charge all future difficulties to +the account of Ratcliffe's "insatiable ambition." "And now, Mrs. +Lee," he continued, with increasing seriousness of tone; "I want +your advice; what shall I do?" + +Even this half revelation of the meanness which distorted politics; +this one-sided view of human nature in its naked deformity playing +pranks with the interests of forty million people, disgusted and +depressed Madeleine's mind. Ratclife spared her nothing except +the exposure of his own moral sores. He carefully called her +attention to every leprous taint upon his neighbours' persons, to +every rag in their foul clothing, to every slimy and fetid pool that +lay beside their path. It was his way of bringing his own qualities +into relief. He meant that she should go hand in hand with him +through the brimstone lake, and the more repulsive it seemed to +her, the more overwhelming would his superiority become. He +meant to destroy those doubts of his character which Carrington +was so carefully fostering, to rouse her sympathy, to stimulate her +feminine sense of self-sacrifice. + +When he asked this question she looked up at him with an +expression of indignant pride, as she spoke: + +"I say again, Mr. Ratcliffe, what I said once before. Do whatever is +most for the public good." + +"And what is most for the public good?" + +Madeleine half opened her mouth to reply, then hesitated, and +stared silently into the fire before her. What was indeed most for +the public good? + +Where did the public good enter at all into this maze of personal +intrigue, this wilderness of stunted natures where no straight road +was to be found, but only the tortuous and aimless tracks of beasts +and things that crawl? + +Where was she to look for a principle to guide, an ideal to set up +and to point at? + +Ratcliffe resumed his appeal, and his manner was more serious +than ever. + +"I am hard pressed, Mrs. Lee. My enemies encompass me about. +They mean to ruin me. I honestly wish to do my duty. You once +said that personal considerations should have no weight. Very +well! throw them away! And now tell me what I should do." + +For the first time, Mrs. Lee began to feel his power. He was +simple, straightforward, earnest. His words moved her. How +should she imagine that he was playing upon her sensitive nature +precisely as he played upon the President's coarse one, and that this +heavy western politician had the instincts of a wild Indian in their +sharpness and quickness of perception; that he divined her +character and read it as he read the faces and tones of thousands +from day to day? She was uneasy under his eye. She began a +sentence, hesitated in the middle, and broke down. She lost her +command of thought, and sat dumb-founded. He had to draw her +out of the confusion he had himself made. + +"I see your meaning in your face. You say that I should accept the +duty and disregard the consequences." + +"I don't know," said Madeleine, hesitatingly; "Yes, I think that +would be my feeling." + +"And when I fall a sacrifice to that man's envy and intrigue, what +will you think then, Mrs. Lee? Will you not join the rest of the +world and say that I overreached myself; and walked into this trap +with my eyes open, and for my own objects? Do you think I shall +ever be thought better of; for getting caught here? I don't parade +high moral views like our friend French. I won't cant about virtue. +But I do claim that in my public life I have tried to do right. Will +you do me the justice to think so?" + +Madeleine still struggled to prevent herself from being drawn into +indefinite promises of sympathy with this man. She would keep +him at arm's length whatever her sympathies might be. She would +not pledge herself to espouse his cause. She turned upon him with +an effort, and said that her thoughts, now or at any time, were folly +and nonsense, and that the consciousness of right-doing was the +only reward any public man had a right to expect. + +"And yet you are a hard critic, Mrs. Lee. If your thoughts are what +you say, your words are not. You judge with the judgment of +abstract principles, and you wield the bolts of divine justice. You +look on and condemn, but you refuse to acquit. When I come to +you on the verge of what is likely to be the fatal plunge of my life, +and ask you only for some clue to the moral principle that ought to +guide me, you look on and say that virtue is its own reward. And +you do not even say where virtue lies." + +"I confess my sins," said Madeleine, meekly and despondently; +"life is more complicated than I thought." + +"I shall be guided by your advice," said Ratcliffe; "I shall walk into +that den of wild beasts, since you think I ought. But I shall hold +you to your responsibility. You cannot refuse to see me through +dangers you have helped to bring me into." + +"No, no!" cried Madeleine, earnestly; "no responsibility. You ask +more than I can give." + +Ratcliffe looked at her a moment with a troubled and careworn +face. His eyes seemed deep sunk in their dark circles, and his voice +was pathetic in its intensity. "Duty is duty, for you as well as for +me. I have a right to the help of all pure minds. You have no right +to refuse it. How can you reject your own responsibility and hold +me to mine?" + +Almost as he spoke, he rose and took his departure, leaving her no +time to do more than murmur again her ineffectual protest. After +he was gone, Mrs. + +Lee sat long, with her eyes fixed on the fire, reflecting upon what +he had said. Her mind was bewildered by the new suggestions +which Ratcliffe had thrown out. What woman of thirty, with +aspirations for the infinite, could resist an attack like this? What +woman with a soul could see before her the most powerful public +man of her time, appealing--with a face furrowed by anxieties, and +a voice vibrating with only half-suppressed affection--to her for +counsel and sympathy, without yielding some response? and what +woman could have helped bowing her head to that rebuke of her +over-confident judgment, coming as it did from one who in the +same breath appealed to that judgment as final? Ratcliffe, too, had +a curious instinct for human weaknesses. No magnetic needle was +ever truer than his finger when he touched the vulnerable spot in +an opponent's mind. Mrs. Lee was not to be reached by an appeal +to religious sentiment, to ambition, or to affection. + +Any such appeal would have fallen flat on her ears and destroyed +its own hopes. But she was a woman to the very last drop of her +blood. She could not be induced to love Ratcliffe, but she might be +deluded into sacrificing herself for him. She atoned for want of +devotion to God, by devotion to man. + +She had a woman's natural tendency towards asceticism, +self-extinction, self-abnegation. All through life she had made +painful efforts to understand and follow out her duty. Ratcliffe +knew her weak point when he attacked her from this side. Like all +great orators and advocates, he was an actor; the more effective +because of a certain dignified air that forbade familiarity. + +He had appealed to her sympathy, her sense of right and of duty, to +her courage, her loyalty, her whole higher nature; and while he +made this appeal he felt more than half convinced that he was all +he pretended to be, and that he really had a right to her devotion. +What wonder that she in her turn was more than half inclined to +admit that right. She knew him now better than Carrington or +Jacobi knew him. Surely a man who spoke as he spoke, had noble +instincts and lofty aims? Was not his career a thousand times more +important than hers? If he, in his isolation and his cares, needed +her assistance, had she an excuse for refusing it? What was there +in her aimless and useless life which made it so precious that she +could not afford to fling it into the gutter, if need be, on the bare +chance of enriching some fuller existence? + +Chapter VIII + +OF all titles ever assumed by prince or potentate, the proudest is +that of the Roman pontiffs: "Servus servorum Dei"--"Servant of the +servants of God." + +In former days it was not admitted that the devil's servants could +by right have any share in government. They were to be shut out, +punished, exiled, maimed, and burned. The devil has no servants +now; only the people have servants. There may be some mistake +about a doctrine which makes the wicked, when a majority, the +mouthpiece of God against the virtuous, but the hopes of mankind +are staked on it; and if the weak in faith sometimes quail when +they see humanity floating in a shoreless ocean, on this plank, +which experience and religion long since condemned as rotten, +mistake or not, men have thus far floated better by its aid, than the +popes ever did with their prettier principle; so that it will be a long +time yet before society repents. + +Whether the new President and his chief rival, Mr. Silas P. +Ratcliffe, were or were not servants of the servants of God, is not +material here. Servants they were to some one. No doubt many of +those who call themselves servants of the people are no better than +wolves in sheep's clothing, or asses in lions' skins. One may see +scores of them any day in the Capitol when Congress is in session, +making noisy demonstrations, or more usefully doing nothing. A +wiser generation will employ them in manual labour; as it is, they +serve only themselves. But there are two officers, at least, whose +service is real--the President and his Secretary of the Treasury. The +Hoosier Quarryman had not been a week in Washington before he +was heartily home-sick for Indiana. No maid-of-all-work in a +cheap boarding-house was ever more harassed. Everyone +conspired against him. His enemies gave him no peace. All +Washington was laughing at his blunders, and ribald sheets, +published on a Sunday, took delight in printing the new Chief +Magistrate's sayings and doings, chronicled with outrageous +humour, and placed by malicious hands where the President could +not but see them. He was sensitive to ridicule, and it mortified him +to the heart to find that remarks and acts, which to him seemed +sensible enough, should be capable of such perversion. Then he +was overwhelmed with public business. It came upon him in a +deluge, and he now, in his despair, no longer tried to control it. He +let it pass over him like a wave. His mind was muddied by the +innumerable visitors to whom he had to listen. But his greatest +anxiety was the Inaugural Address which, distracted as he was, he +could not finish, although in another week it must be delivered. He +was nervous about his Cabinet; it seemed to him that he could do +nothing until he had disposed of Ratcliffe. + +Already, thanks to the President's friends, Ratcliffe had become +indispensable; still an enemy, of course, but one whose hands must +be tied; a sort of Sampson, to be kept in bonds until the time came +for putting him out of the way, but in the meanwhile, to be +utilized. This point being settled, the President had in imagination +begun to lean upon him; for the last few days he had postponed +everything till next week, "when I get my Cabinet arranged;" +which meant, when he got Ratcliffe's assistance; and he fell into a +panic whenever he thought of the chance that Ratcliffe might +refuse. + +He was pacing his room impatiently on Monday mormng, an hour +before the time fixed for Ratcliffe's visit. His feelings still +fluctuated violently, and if he recognized the necessity of using +Ratcliffe, he was not the less determined to tie Ratcliffe's hands. +He must be made to come into a Cabinet where every other voice +would be against him. He must be prevented from having any +patronage to dispose of. He must be induced to accept these +conditions at the start. How present this to him in such a way as +not to repel him at once? All this was needless, if the President had +only known it, but he thought himself a profound statesman, and +that his hand was guiding the destinies of America to his own +re-election. When at length, on the stroke of ten o'clock, Ratcliffe +entered the room, the President turned to him with nervous +eagerness, and almost before offering his hand, said that he hoped +Mr. Ratcliffe had come prepared to begin work at once. The +Senator replied that, if such was the President's decided wish, he +would offer no further opposition. Then the President drew himself +up in the attitude of an American Cato, and delivered a prepared +address, in which he said that he had chosen the members ot his +Cabinet with a careful regard to the public interests; that Mr. +Ratcliffe was essential to the combination; that he expected no +disagreement on principles, for there was but one principle which +he should consider fundamental, namely, that there should be no +removals from office except for cause; and that under these +circumstances he counted upon Mr. Ratcliffe's assistance as a +matter of patriotic duty. + +To all this Ratcliffe assented without a word of objection, and the +President, more convinced than ever of his own masterly +statesmanship, breathed more freely than for a week past. Within +ten minutes they were actively at work together, clearing away the +mass of accumulated business. + +The relief of the Quarryman surprised himself. Ratcliffe lifted the +weight of affairs from his shoulders with hardly an effort. He knew +everybody and everything. He took most of the President's visitors +at once into his own hands and dismissed them with great rapidity. +He knew what they wanted; he knew what recommendations were +strong and what were weak; who was to be treated with deference +and who was to be sent away abruptly; where a blunt refusal was +safe, and where a pledge was allowable. The President even +trusted him with the unfinished manuscript of the Inaugural +Address, which Ratcliffe returned to him the next day with such +notes and suggestions as left nothing to be done beyond copying +them out in a fair hand. With all this, he proved himself a very +agreeable companion. He talked well and enlivened the work; he +was not a hard taskmaster, and when he saw that the President was +tired, he boldly asserted that there was no more business that could +not as well wait a day, and so took the weary Stone-cutter out to +drive for a couple of hours, and let him go peacefully to sleep in +the carriage. They dined together and Ratcliffe took care to send +for Tom Lord to amuse them, for Tom was a wit and a humourist, +and kept the President in a laugh. Mr. Lord ordered the dinner and +chose the wines. He could be coarse enough to suit even the +President's palate, and Ratcliffe was not behindhand. When the +new Secretary went away at ten o'clock that night, his chief; who +was in high good humour with his dinner, his champagne, and his +conversation, swore with some unnecessary granite oaths, that +Ratcliffe was "a clever fellow anyhow," and he was glad "that job +was fixed." + +The truth was that Ratcliffe had now precisely ten days before the +new Cabinet could be set in motion, and in these ten days he must +establish his authority over the President so firmly that nothing +could shake it. He was diligent in good works. Very soon the court +began to feel his hand. If a business letter or a written memorial +came in, the President found it easy to endorse: "Referred to the +Secretary of the Treasury." If a visitor wanted anything for himself +or another, the invariable reply came to be: "Just mention it to Mr. +Ratcliffe;" or, "I guess Ratcliffe will see to that." + +Before long he even made jokes in a Catonian manner; jokes that +were not peculiarly witty, but somewhat gruff and boorish, yet +significant of a resigned and self-contented mind. One morning he +ordered Ratcliffe to take an iron-clad ship of war and attack the +Sioux in Montana, seeing that he was in charge of the army and +navy and Indians at once, and Jack of all trades; and again he told +a naval officer who wanted a court-martial that he had better get +Ratcliffe to sit on him for he was a whole court-martial by himself. +That Ratcliffe held his chief in no less contempt than before, was +probable but not certain, for he kept silence on the subject before +the world, and looked solemn whenever the President was +mentioned. + +Before three days were over, the President, with a little more than +his usual abruptness, suddenly asked him what he knew about this +fellow Carson, whom the Pennsylvanians were bothering him to +put in his Cabinet. Ratcliffe was guarded: he scarcely knew the +man; Mr. Carson was not in politics, he believed, but was pretty +respectable--for a Pennsylvanian. The President returned to the +subject several times; got out his list of Cabinet officers and +figured industriously upon it with a rather perplexed face; called +Ratcliffe to help him; and at last the "slate" was fairly broken, and +Ratcliffe's eyes gleamed when the President caused his list of +nominations to be sent to the Senate on the 5th March, and Josiah +B. Carson, of Pennsylvania, was promptly confirmed as Secretary +of the Interior. + +But his eyes gleamed still more humorously when, a few days +afterwards, the President gave him a long list of some two score +names, and asked him to find places for them. He assented +good-naturedly, with a remark that it might be necessary to make a +few removals to provide for these cases. + +"Oh, well," said the President, "I guess there's just about as many +as that had ought to go out anyway. These are friends of mine; got +to be looked after. Just stuff 'em in somewhere." + +Even he felt a little awkward about it, and, to do him justice, this +was the last that was heard about the fundamental rule of his +administration. + +Removals were fast and furious, until all Indiana became easy in +circumstances. And it was not to be denied that, by one means or +another, Ratcliffe's friends did come into their fair share of the +public money. + +Perhaps the President thought it best to wink at such use of the +Treasury patronage for the present, or was already a little +overawed by his Secretary. + +Ratcliffe's work was done. The public had, with the help of some +clever intrigue, driven its servants into the traces. Even an Indiana +stone-cutter could be taught that his personal prejudices must yield +to the public service. What mischief the selfishness, the ambition, +or the ignorance of these men might do, was another matter. As the +affair stood, the President was the victim of his own schemes. It +remained to be seen whether, at some future day, Mr. Ratcliffe +would think it worth his while to strangle his chief by some quiet +Eastern intrigue, but the time had gone by when the President +could make use of either the bow-string or the axe upon him. + +All this passed while Mrs. Lee was quietly puzzling her poor little +brain about her duty and her responsibility to Ratcliffe, who, +meanwhile, rarely failed to find himself on Sunday evenings by her +side in her parlour, where his rights were now so well established +that no one presumed to contest his seat, unless it were old Jacobi, +who from time to time reminded him that he was fallible and +mortal. Occasionally, though not often, Mr. Ratcliffe came at other +times, as when he persuaded Mrs. Lee to be present at the +Inauguration, and to call on the President's wife. Madeleine and +Sybil went to the Capitol and had the best places to see and hear +the Inauguration, as well as a cold March wind would allow. Mrs. +Lee found fault with the ceremony; it was of the earth, earthy, she +said. An elderly western farmer, with silver spectacles, new and +glossy evening clothes, bony features, and stiff; thin, gray hair, +trying to address a large crowd of people, under the drawbacks of a +piercing wind and a cold in his head, was not a hero. Sybil's mind +was lost in wondering whether the President would not soon die of +pneumonia. Even this experience, however, was happy when +compared with that of the call upon the President's wife, after +which Madeleine decided to leave the new dynasty alone in future. +The lady, who was somewhat stout and coarse-featured, and whom +Mrs. Lee declared she wouldn't engage as a cook, showed qualities +which, seen under that fierce light which beats upon a throne, +seemed ungracious. Her antipathy to Ratcliffe was more violent +than her husband's, and was even more openly expressed, until the +President was quite put out of countenance by it. She extended her +hostility to every one who could be supposed to be Ratcliffe's +friend, and the newspapers, as well as private gossip, had marked +out Mrs. Lee as one who, by an alliance with Ratcliffe, was aiming +at supplanting her own rule over the White House. + +Hence, when Mrs. Lightfoot Lee was announced, and the two +sisters were ushered into the presidential parlour, she put on a +coldly patronizing air, and in reply to Madeleine's hope that she +found Washington agreeable, she intimated that there was much in +Washington which struck her as awful wicked, especially the +women; and, looking at Sybil, she spoke of the style of dress in +this city which she said she meant to do what she could to put a +stop to. She'd heard tell that people sent to Paris for their gowns, +just as though America wasn't good enough to make one's clothes! +Jacob (all Presidents' wives speak of their husbands by their first +names) had promised her to get a law passed against it. In her town +in Indiana, a young woman who was seen on the street in such +clothes wouldn't be spoken to. At these remarks, made with an air +and in a temper quite unmistakable, Madeleine became +exasperated beyond measure, and said that "Washington would be +pleased to see the President do something in regard to +dress-reform--or any other reform;" and with this allusion to the +President's ante-election reform speeches, Mrs. Lee turned her +back and left the room, followed by Sybil in convulsions of +suppressed laughter, which would not have been suppressed had +she seen the face of their hostess as the door shut behind them, and +the energy with which she shook her head and said: "See if I don't +reform you yet, you--jade!" + +Mrs. Lee gave Ratcliffe a lively account of this interview, and he +laughed nearly as convulsively as Sybil over it, though he tried to +pacify her by saying that the President's most intimate friends +openly declared his wife to be insane, and that he himself was the +person most afraid of her. But Mrs. Lee declared that the President +was as bad as his wife; that an equally good President and +President's wife could be picked up in any corner-grocery between +the Lakes and the Ohio; and that no inducement should ever make +her go near that coarse washerwoman again. + +Ratcliffe did not attempt to change Mrs. Lee's opinion. Indeed he +knew better than any man how Presidents were made, and he had +his own opinions in regard to the process as well as the fabric +produced. Nothing Mrs. Lee could say now affected him. He threw +off his responsibility and she found it suddenly resting on her own +shoulders. When she spoke with indignation of the wholesale +removals from office with which the new administration marked +its advent to power, he told her the story of the President's +fundamental principle, and asked her what she would have him do. +"He meant to tie my hands," said Ratcliffe, "and to leave his own +free, and I accepted the condition. Can I resign now on such a +ground as this?" And Madeleine was obliged to agree that he could +not. She had no means of knowing how many removals he made in +his own interest, or how far he had outwitted the President at his +own game. He stood before her a victim and a patriot. Every step +he had taken had been taken with her approval. He was now in +office to prevent what evil he could, not to be responsible for the +evil that was done; and he honestly assured her that much worse +men would come in when he went out, as the President would +certainly take good care that he did go out when the moment +arrived. + +Mrs. Lee had the chance now to carry out her scheme in coming to +Washington, for she was already deep in the mire of politics and +could see with every advantage how the great machine floundered +about, bespattering with mud even her own pure garments. +Ratcliffe himself, since entering the Treasury, had begun to talk +with a sneer of the way in which laws were made, and openly said +that he wondered how government got on at all. Yet he declared +still that this particular government was the highest expression of +political thought. Mrs. Lee stared at him and wondered whether he +knew what thought was. To her the government seemed to have +less thought in it than one of Sybil's gowns, for if they, like the +government, were monstrously costly, they were at least adapted to +their purpose, the parts fitted together, and they were neither +awkward nor unwieldy. + +There was nothing very encouraging in all this, but it was better +than New York. At least it gave her something to look at, and to +think about. Even Lord Dunbeg preached practical philanthropy to +her by the hour. Ratcliffe, too, was compelled to drag himself out +of the rut of machine politics, and to justify his right of admission +to her house. There Mr. French discoursed at great length, until the +fourth of March sent him home to Connecticut; and he brought +more than one intelligent member of Congress to Mrs. Lee's +parlour. Underneath the scum floating on the surface of politics, +Madeleine felt that there was a sort of healthy ocean current of +honest purpose, which swept the scum before it, and kept the mass +pure. + +This was enough to draw her on. She reconciled herself to +accepting the Ratcliffian morals, for she could see no choice. She +herself had approved every step she had seen him take. She could +not deny that there must be something wrong in a double standard +of morality, but where was it? Mr. + +Ratcliffe seemed to her to be doing good work with as pure means +as he had at hand. He ought to be encouraged, not reviled. What +was she that she should stand in judgment? + +Others watched her progress with less satisfaction. Mr. Nathan +Gore was one of these, for he came in one evening, looking much +out of temper, and, sitting down by her side he said he had come to +bid good-bye and to thank her for the kindness she had shown him; +he was to leave Washington the next morning. She too expressed +her warm regret, but added that she hoped he was only going in +order to take his passage to Madrid. + +He shook his head. "I am going to take my passage," said he, "but +not to Madrid. The fates have cut that thread. The President does +not want my services, and I can't blame him, for if our situations +were reversed, I should certainly not want his. He has an Indiana +friend, who, I am told, wanted to be postmaster at Indianapolis, but +as this did not suit the politicians, he was bought off at the +exorbitant price of the Spanish mission. But I should have no +chance even if he were out of the way. The President does not +approve of me. He objects to the cut of my overcoat which is +unfortunately an English one. He also objects to the cut of my hair. +I am afraid that his wife objects to me because I am so happy as to +be thought a friend of yours." + +Madeleine could only acknowledge that Mr. Gore's case was a bad +one. "But after all," said she, "why should politicians be expected +to love you literary gentlemen who write history. Other criminal +classes are not expected to love their judges." + +"No, but they have sense enough to fear them," replied Gore +vindictively; "not one politician living has the brains or the art to +defend his own cause. The ocean of history is foul with the +carcases of such statesmen, dead and forgotten except when some +historian fishes one of them up to gibbet it." + +Mr. Gore was so much out of temper that after this piece of +extravagance he was forced to pause a moment to recover himself. +Then he went on:-- "You are perfectly right, and so is the +President. I have no business to be meddling in politics. It is not +my place. The next time you hear of me, I promise it shall not be +as an office-seeker." + +Then he rapidly changed the subject, saying that he hoped Mrs. +Lee was soon going northward again, and that they might meet at +Newport. + +"I don't know," replied Madeleine; "the spring is pleasant here, and +we shall stay till the warm weather, I think." + +Mr. Gore looked grave. "And your politics!" said he; "are you +satisfied with what you have seen?" + +"I have got so far as to lose the distinction between right and +wrong. Isn't that the first step in politics?" + +Mr. Gore had no mind even for serious jesting. He broke out into a +long lecture which sounded like a chapter of some future history: +"But Mrs. Lee, is it possible that you don't see what a wrong path +you are on. If you want to know what the world is really doing to +any good purpose, pass a winter at Samarcand, at Timbuctoo, but +not at Washington. Be a bank-clerk, or a journeyman printer, but +not a Congressman. Here you will find nothing but wasted effort +and clumsy intrigue." + +"Do you think it a pity for me to learn that?" asked Madeleine +when his long essay was ended. + +"No!" replied Gore, hesitating; "not if you do learn it. But many +people never get so far, or only when too late. I shall be glad to +hear that you are mistress of it and have given up reforming +politics. The Spaniards have a proverb that smells of the stable, but +applies to people like you and me: + +The man who washes his donkey's head, loses time and soap." + +Gore took his leave before Madeleine had time to grasp all the +impudence of this last speech. Not until she was fairly in bed that +night did it suddenly flash on her mind that Mr. Gore had dared to +caricature her as wasting time and soap on Mr. Ratcliffe. At first +she was violently angry and then she laughed in spite of herself; +there was truth in the portrait. In secret, too, she was the less +offended because she half thought that it had depended only on +herself to make of Mr. Gore something more than a friend. If she +had overheard his parting words to Carrington, she would have had +still more reason to think that a little jealousy of Ratcliffe's success +sharpened the barb of Gore's enmity. + +"Take care of Ratcliffe!" was his farewell; "he is a clever dog. He +has set his mark on Mrs. Lee. Look out that he doesn't walk off +with her!" + +A little startled by this sudden confidence, Carrington could only +ask what he could do to prevent it. + +"Cats that go ratting, don't wear gloves," replied Gore, who always +carried a Spanish proverb in his pocket. Carrington, after painful +reflection, could only guess that he wanted Ratcliffe's enemies to +show their claws. But how? + +Mrs. Lee not long afterwards spoke to Ratcliffe of her regret at +Gore's disappointment and hinted at his disgust. Ratcliffe replied +that he had done what he could for Gore, and had introduced him +to the President, who, after seeing him, had sworn his usual +granitic oath that he would sooner send his nigger farm-hand Jake +to Spain than that man-milliner. "You know how I stand;" added +Ratcliffe; "what more could I do?" And Mrs. Lee's implied +reproach was silenced. + +If Gore was little pleased with Ratcliffe's conduct, poor +Schneidekoupon was still less so. He turned up again at +Washington not long after the Inauguration and had a private +interview with the Secretary of the Treasury. + +What passed at it was known only to themselves, but, whatever it +was, Schneidekoupon's temper was none the better for it. From his +conversations with Sybil, it seemed that there was some question +about appointments in which his protectionist friends were +interested, and he talked very openly about Ratcliffe's want of +good faith, and how he had promised everything to everybody and +had failed to keep a single pledge; if Schneidekoupon's advice had +been taken, this wouldn't have happened. Mrs. Lee told Ratcliffe +that Schneidekoupon seemed out of temper, and asked the reason. +He only laughed and evaded the question, remarking that cattle of +this kind were always complaining unless they were allowed to run +the whole government; Schneidekoupon had nothing to grumble +about; no one had ever made any promises to him. But +nevertheless Schneidekoupon confided to Sybil his antipathy to +Ratcliffe and solemnly begged her not to let Mrs. Lee fall into his +hands, to which Sybil answered tartly that she only wished Mr. + +Schneidekoupon would tell her how to help it. + +The reformer French had also been one of Ratcliffe's backers in +the fight over the Treasury. He remained in Washington a few days +after the Inauguration, and then disappeared, leaving cards with +P.P.C. in the corner, at Mrs. Lee's door. Rumour said that he too +was disappointed, but he kept his own counsel, and, if he really +wanted the mission to Belgium, he contented himself with waiting +for it. A respectable stage-coach proprietor from Oregon got the +place. + +As for Jacobi, who was not disappointed, and who had nothing to +ask for, he was bitterest of all. He formally offered his +congratulations to Ratcliffe on his appointment. This little scene +occurred in Mrs. Lee's parlour. The old Baron, with his most suave +manner, and his most Voltairean leer, said that in all his +experience, and he had seen a great many court intrigues, he had +never seen anything better managed than that about the Treasury. + +Ratcliffe was furiously angry, and told the Baron outright that +foreign ministers who insulted the governments to which they +were accredited ran a risk of being sent home. + +"Ce serait toujours un pis aller," said Jacobi, seating himself with +calmness in Ratcliffe's favourite chair by Mrs. Lee's side. + +Madeleine, alarmed as she was, could not help interposing, and +hastily asked whether that remark was translatable. + +"Ah!" said the Baron; "I can do nothing with your language. You +would only say that it was a choice of evils, to go, or to stay." + +"We might translate it by saying: 'One may go farther and fare +worse,'" + +rejoined Madeleine; and so the storm blew over for the time, and +Ratcliffe sulkily let the subject drop. Nevertheless the two men +never met in Mrs. + +Lee's parlour without her dreading a personal altercation. Little by +little, what with Jacobi's sarcasms and Ratcliffe's roughness, they +nearly ceased to speak, and glared at each other like quarrelsome +dogs. Madeleine was driven to all kinds of expedients to keep the +peace, yet at the same time she could not but be greatly amused by +their behaviour, and as their hatred of each other only stimulated +their devotion to her, she was content to hold an even balance +between them. + +Nor were these all the awkward consequences of Ratcliffe's +attentions. Now that he was distinctly recognized as an intimate +friend of Mrs. Lee's, and possibly her future husband, no one +ventured any longer to attack him in her presence, but nevertheless +she was conscious in a thousand ways that the atmosphere became +more and more dense under the shadow of the Secretary of the +Treasury. In spite of herself she sometimes felt uneasy, as though +there were conspiracy in the air. One March afternoon she was +sitting by her fire, with an English Review in her hand, trying to +read the last Symposium on the sympathies of Eternal Punishment, +when her servant brought in a card, and Mrs. Lee had barely time +to read the name of Mrs. Samuel Baker when that lady followed +the servant into the room, forcing the countersign in so effective +style that for once Madeleine was fairly disconcerted. Her manner +when thus intruded upon, was cool, but in this case, on +Carrington's account, she tried to smile courteously and asked her +visitor to sit down, which Mrs. Baker was doing without an +invitation, very soon putting her hostess entirely at her ease. She +was, when seen without her veil, a showy woman verging on forty, +decidedly large, tall, over-dressed even in mourning, and with a +complexion rather fresher than nature had made it. + +There was a geniality in her address, savouring of easy Washington +ways, a fruitiness of smile, and a rich southern accent, that +explained on the spot her success in the lobby. She looked about +her with fine self-possession, and approved Mrs. Lee's +surroundings with a cordiality so different from the northern +stinginess of praise, that Madeleine was rather pleased than +offended. Yet when her eye rested on the Corot, Madeleine's only +pride, she was evidently perplexed, and resorted to eye-glasses, in +order, as it seemed, to gain time for reflection. But she was not to +be disconcerted even by Corot's masterpiece: + +"How pretty! Japanese, isn't it? Sea-weeds seen through a fog. I +went to an auction yesterday, and do you know I bought a tea-pot +with a picture just like that." + +Madeleine inquired with extreme interest about the auction, but +after learning all that Mrs. Baker had to tell, she was on the point +of being reduced to silence, when she bethought herself to mention +Carrington. Mrs. + +Baker brightened up at once, if she could be said to brighten where +there was no sign of dimness: + +"Dear Mr. Carrington! Isn't he sweet? I think he's a delicious man. +I don't know what I should do without him. Since poor Mr. Baker +left me, we have been together all the time. You know my poor +husband left directions that all his papers should be burned, and +though I would not say so unless you were such a friend of Mr. +Carrington's, I reckon it's just as well for some people that he did. I +never could tell you what quantities of papers Mr. + +Carrington and I have put in the fire; and we read them all too." + +Madeleine asked whether this was not dull work. + +"Oh, dear, no! You see I know all about it, and told Mr. Carrington +the story of every paper as we went on. It was quite amusing, I +assure you." + +Mrs. Lee then boldly said she had got from Mr. Carrington an idea +that Mrs. + +Baker was a very skilful diplomatist. + +"Diplomatist!" echoed the widow with her genial laugh; "Well! it +was as much that as anything, but there's not many diplomatists' +wives in this city ever did as much work as I used to do. Why, I +knew half the members of Congress intimately, and all of them by +sight. I knew where they came from and what they liked best. I +could get round the greater part of them, sooner or later." + +Mrs. Lee asked what she did with all this knowledge. Mrs. Baker +shook her pink-and-white countenance, and almost paralysed her +opposite neighbour by a sort of Grande Duchesse wink: + +"Oh, my dear! you are new here. If you had seen Washington in +war-times and for a few years afterwards, you wouldn't ask that. +We had more congressional business than all the other agents put +together. Every one came to us then, to get his bill through, or his +appropriation watched. We were hard at work all the time. You +see, one can't keep the run of three hundred men without some +trouble. My husband used to make lists of them in books with a +history of each man and all he could learn about him, but I carried +it all in my head." + +"Do you mean that you could get them all to vote as you pleased?" +asked Madeleine. + +"Well! we got our bills through," replied Mrs. Baker. + +"But how did you do it? did they take bribes?" + +"Some of them did. Some of them liked suppers and cards and +theatres and all sorts of things. Some of them could be led, and +some had to be driven like Paddy's pig who thought he was going +the other way. Some of them had wives who could talk to them, +and some--hadn't," said Mrs. Baker, with a queer intonation in her +abrupt ending. + +"But surely," said Mrs. Lee, "many of them must have been +above--I mean, they must have had nothing to get hold of; so that +you could manage them." + +Mrs. Baker laughed cheerfully and remarked that they were very +much of a muchness. + +"But I can't understand how you did it," urged Madeleine; "now, +how would you have gone to work to get a respectable senator's +vote--a man like Mr. + +Ratcliffe, for instance?" + +"Ratcliffe!" repeated Mrs. Baker with a slight elevation of voice +that gave way to a patronising laugh. "Oh, my dear! don't mention +names. I should get into trouble. Senator Ratcliffe was a good +friend of my husband's. I guess Mr. Carrington could have told you +that. But you see, what we generally wanted was all right enough. +We had to know where our bills were, and jog people's elbows to +get them reported in time. Sometimes we had to convince them +that our bill was a proper one, and they ought to vote for it. Only +now and then, when there was a great deal of money and the vote +was close, we had to find out what votes were worth. It was mostly +dining and talking, calling them out into the lobby or asking them +to supper. I wish I could tell you things I have seen, but I don't +dare. It wouldn't be safe. I've told you already more than I ever said +to any one else; but then you are so intimate with Mr. Carrington, +that I always think of you as an old friend." + +Thus Mrs. Baker rippled on, while Mrs. Lee listened with more +and more doubt and disgust. The woman was showy, handsome in +a coarse style, and perfectly presentable. Mrs. Lee had seen +Duchesses as vulgar. She knew more about the practical working +of government than Mrs. Lee could ever expect or hope to know. +Why then draw back from this interesting lobbyist with such +babyish repulsion? + +When, after a long, and, as she declared, a most charming call, +Mrs. Baker wended her way elsewhere and Madeleine had given +the strictest order that she should never be admitted again, +Carrington entered, and Madeleine showed him Mrs. Baker's card +and gave a lively account of the interview. + +"What shall I do with the woman?" she asked; "must I return her +card?" But Carrington declined to offer advice on this interesting +point. "And she says that Mr. Ratcliffe was a friend of her +husband's and that you could tell me about that." + +"Did she say so?" remarked Carrington vaguely. + +"Yes! and that she knew every one's weak points and could get all +their votes." + +Carrington expressed no surprise, and so evidently preferred to +change the subject, that Mrs. Lee desisted and said no more. + +But she determined to try the same experiment on Mr. Ratcliffe, +and chose the very next chance that offered. In her most indifferent +manner she remarked that Mrs. Sam Baker had called upon her +and had initiated her into the mysteries of the lobby till she had +become quite ambitious to start on that career. + +"She said you were a friend of her husband's," added Madeleine +softly. + +Ratcliffe's face betrayed no sign. + +"If you believe what those people tell you," said he drily, "you will +be wiser than the Queen of Sheba." + +Chapter IX + +WHENEVER a man reaches the top of the political ladder, his +enemies unite to pull him down. His friends become critical and +exacting. Among the many dangers of this sort which now +threatened Ratcliffe, there was one that, had he known it, might +have made him more uneasy than any of those which were the +work of senators and congressmen. Carrington entered into an +alliance, offensive and defensive, with Sybil. It came about in this +wise. Sybil was fond of riding. and occasionally, when Carrington +could spare the time, he went as her guide and protector in these +country excursions; for every Virginian, however out at elbows, +has a horse, as he has shoes or a shirt. + +In a thoughtless moment Carrington had been drawn into a +promise that he would take Sybil to Arlington. The promise was +one that he did not hurry to keep, for there were reasons which +made a visit to Arlington anything but a pleasure to him; but Sybil +would listen to no excuses, and so it came about that, one lovely +March morning, when the shrubs and the trees in the square before +the house were just beginning, under the warmer sun, to show +signs of their coming wantonness, Sybil stood at the open window +waiting for him, while her new Kentucky horse before the door +showed what he thought of the delay by curving his neck, tossing +his head, and pawing the pavement. + +Carrington was late and kept her waiting so long, that the +mignonette and geraniums, which adorned the window, suffered +for his slowness, and the curtain tassels showed signs of wilful +damage. Nevertheless he arrived at length, and they set out +together, choosing the streets least enlivened by horse-cars and +provision-carts, until they had crept through the great metropolis +of Georgetown and come upon the bridge which crosses the noble +river just where its bold banks open out to clasp the city of +Washington in their easy embrace. Then reaching the Virginia side +they cantered gaily up the laurel-margined road, with glimpses of +woody defiles, each carrying its trickling stream and rich in +promise of summer flowers, while from point to point they caught +glorious glimpses of the distant city and river. They passed the +small military station on the heights, still dignified by the name of +fort, though Sybil silently wondered how a fort was possible +without fortifications, and complained that there was nothing more +warlike than a "nursery of telegraph poles." The day was blue and +gold; everything smiled and sparkled in the crisp freshness of the +morning. Sybil was in bounding spirits. and not at all pleased to +find that her companion became moody and abstracted as they +went on. "Poor Mr. Carrington!" thought she to herself, "he is so +nice; but when he puts on that solemn air, one might as well go to +sleep. I am quite certain no nice woman will ever marry him if he +looks like that;" and her practical mind ran off among all the girls +of her acquaintance, in search of one who would put up with +Carrington's melancholy face. She knew his devotion to her sister, +but had long ago rejected this as a hopeless chance. There was a +simplicity about Sybil's way of dealing with life, which had its own +charm. She never troubled herself about the impossible or the +unthinkable. She had feelings, and was rather quick in her +sympathies and sorrows, but she was equally quick in getting over +them, and she expected other people to do likewise. Madeleine +dissected her own feelings and was always wondering whether +they were real or not; she had a habit of taking off her mental +clothing, as she might take off a dress, and looking at it as though +it belonged to some one else, and as though sensations were +manufactured like clothes. This seems to be one of the easier ways +of deadening sorrow, as though the mind could teach itself to lop +off its feelers. Sybil particularly disliked this self-inspection. In the +first place she did not understand it, and in the second her mind +was all feelers, and amputation was death. She could no more +analyse a feeling than doubt its existence, both which were habits +of her sister. + +How was Sybil to know what was passing in Carrington's mind? +He was thinking of nothing in which she supposed herself +interested. He was troubled with memories of civil war and of +associations still earlier, belonging to an age already vanishing or +vanished; but what could she know about civil war who had been +almost an infant at the time? At this moment, she happened to be +interested in the baffle of Waterloo, for she was reading "Vanity +Fair," and had cried as she ought for poor little Emmy, when her +husband, George Osborne, lay dead on the field there, with a bullet +through his heart. But how was she to know that here, only a few +rods before her, lay scores and hundreds of George Osbornes, or +his betters, and in their graves the love and hope of many Emmys, +not creatures of the imagination, but flesh and blood, like herself? +To her, there was no more in those associations which made +Carrington groan in the silence of his thoughts, than if he had been +old Kaspar, and she the little Wilhelmine. What was a skull more +or less to her? What concern had she in the famous victory? + +Yet even Sybil was startled as she rode through the gate and found +herself suddenly met by the long white ranks of head-stones, +stretching up and down the hill-sides by thousands, in order of +baffle; as though Cadmus had reversed his myth, and had sown +living men, to come up dragons' teeth. She drew in her horse with +a shiver and a sudden impulse to cry. Here was something new to +her. This was war--wounds, disease, death. She dropped her voice +and with a look almost as serious as Carrington's, asked what all +these graves meant. When Carrington told her, she began for the +first time to catch some dim notion why his face was not quite as +gay as her own. Even now this idea was not very precise, for he +said little about himself, but at least she grappled with the fact that +he had actually, year after year, carried arms against these men +who lay at her feet and who had given their lives for her cause. It +suddenly occurred to her as a new thought that perhaps he himself +might have killed one of them with his own hand. There was a +strange shock in this idea. She felt that Carrington was further +from her. He gained dignity in his rebel isolation. She wanted to +ask him how he could have been a traitor, and she did not dare. +Carrington a traitor! + +Carrington killing her friends! The idea was too large to grasp. She +fell back on the simpler task of wondering how he had looked in +his rebel uniform. + +They rode slowly round to the door of the house and dismounted, +after he had with some difficulty found a man to hold their horses. +From the heavy brick porch they looked across the superb river to +the raw and incoherent ugliness of the city, idealised into dreamy +beauty by the atmosphere, and the soft background of purple hills +behind. Opposite them, with its crude "thus saith the law" stamped +on white dome and fortress-like walls, rose the Capitol. + +Carrington stood with her a short time while they looked at the +view; then said he would rather not go into the house himself, and +sat down on the steps while she strolled alone through the rooms. +These were bare and gaunt, so that she, with her feminine sense of +fitness, of course considered what she would do to make them +habitable. She had a neat fancy for furniture, and distributed her +tones and half tones and bits of colour freely about the walls and +ceilings, with a high-backed chair here, a spindle-legged sofa +there, and a claw-footed table in the centre, until her eye was +caught by a very dirty deal desk, on which stood an open book, +with an inkstand and some pens. On the leaf she read the last +entry: "Eli M. Grow and lady, Thermopyle Centre." Not even the +graves outside had brought the horrors of war so near. + +What a scourge it was! This respectable family turned out of such +a lovely house, and all the pretty old furniture swept away before a +horde of coarse invaders "with ladies." Did the hosts of Attila write +their names on visiting books in the temple of Vesta and the house +of Sallust? What a new terror they would have added to the name +of the scourge of God! Sybil returned to the portico and sat down +by Carrington on the steps. + +"How awfully sad it is!" said she; "I suppose the house was prettily +furnished when the Lees lived here? Did you ever see it then?" + +Sybil was not very profound, but she had sympathy, and at this +moment Carrington felt sorely in need of comfort. He wanted +some one to share his feelings, and he turned towards her hungry +for companionship. + +"The Lees were old family friends of mine," said he. "I used to stay +here when I was a boy, even as late as the spring of 1861. The last +time I sat here, it was with them. We were wild about disunion and +talked of nothing else. I have been trying to recall what was said +then. We never thought there would be war, and as for coercion, it +was nonsense. Coercion, indeed! + +The idea was ridiculous. I thought so, too, though I was a Union +man and did not want the State to go out. But though I felt sure +that Virginia must suffer, I never thought we could be beaten. Yet +now I am sitting here a pardoned rebel, and the poor Lees are +driven away and their place is a grave-yard." + +Sybil became at once absorbed in the Lees and asked many +questions, all which Carrington gladly answered. He told her how +he had admired and followed General Lee through the war. "We +thought he was to be our Washington, you know; and perhaps he +had some such idea himself;" and then, when Sybil wanted to hear +about the baffles and the fighting, he drew a rough map on the +gravel path to show her how the two lines had run, only a few +miles away; then he told her how he had carried his musket day +after day over all this country, and where he had seen his battles. +Sybil had everything to learn; the story came to her with all the +animation of real life, for here under her eyes were the graves of +her own champions, and by her side was a rebel who had stood +under our fire at Malvern Hill and at South Mountain, and who +was telling her how men looked and what they thought in face of +death. She listened with breathless interest, and at last summoned +courage to ask in an awestruck tone whether Carrington had ever +killed any one himself. She was relieved, although a little +disappointed, when he said that he believed not; he hoped not; +though no private who has discharged a musket in baffle can be +quite sure where the bullet went. "I never tried to kill any one," +said he, "though they tried to kill me incessantly." Then Sybil +begged to know how they had tried to kill him, and he told her one +or two of those experiences, such as most soldiers have had, when +he had been fired upon and the balls had torn his clothes or drawn +blood. Poor Sybil was quite overcome, and found a deadly +fascination in the horror. As they sat together on the steps with the +glorious view spread before them, her attention was so closely +fixed on his story that she saw neither the view nor even the +carriages of tourists who drove up, looked about, and departed, +envying Carrington his occupation with the lovely girl. + +She was in imagination rushing with him down the valley of +Virginia on the heels of our flying army, or gloomily toiling back +to the Potomac after the bloody days at Gettysburg, or watching +the last grand debcle on the road from Richmond to Appomattox. +They would have sat there till sunset if Carrington had not at +length insisted that they must go, and then she rose slowly with a +deep sigh and undisguised regret. + +As they rode away, Carrington, whose thoughts were not devoted +to his companion so entirely as they should have been, ventured to +say that he wished her sister had come with them, but he found +that his hint was not well received. + +Sybil emphatically rejected the idea: "I'm very glad she didn't +come. If she had, you would have talked with her all the time, and +I should have been left to amuse myself. You would have been +discussing things, and I hate discussions. She would have been +hunting for first principles, and you would have been running +about, trying to catch some for her. Besides, she is coming herself +some Sunday with that tiresome Mr. Ratcliffe. I don't see what she +finds in that man to amuse her. Her taste is getting to be +demoralised in Washington. Do you know, Mr. Carrington, I'm not +clever or serious, like Madeleine, and I can't read laws, and hate +politics, but I've more common sense than she has, and she makes +me cross with her. I understand now why young widows are +dangerous, and why they're bumed at their husband's funerals in +India. Not that I want to have Madeleine burned, for she's a dear, +good creature, and I love her better than anything in the world; but +she will certainly do herself some dreadful mischief one of these +days; she has the most extravagant notions about self-sacrifice and +duty; if she hadn't luckily thought of taking charge of me, she +would have done some awful thing long ago, and if I could only be +a little wicked, she would be quite happy all the rest of her life in +reforming me; but now she has got hold of that Mr. Ratcliffe, and +he is trying to make her think she can reform him, and if he does, +it's all up with us. Madeleine will just go and break her heart over +that odious, great, coarse brute, who only wants her money." + +Sybil delivered this little oration with a degree of energy that went +to Carrington's heart. She did not often make such sustained +efforts, and it was clear that on this subject she had exhausted her +whole mind. Carrington was delighted, and urged her on. "I dislike +Mr. Ratcliffe as much as you do;--more perhaps. So does every +one who knows much about him. But we shall only make the +matter worse if we interfere. What can we do?" + +"That is just what I tell everybody," resumed Sybil. "There is +Victoria Dare always telling me I ought to do something; and Mr. +Schneidekoupon too; just as though I could do anything. +Madeleine has done nothing but get into mischief here. Half the +people think her worldly and ambitious. Only last night that +spiteful old woman, Mrs. Clinton, said to me: 'Your sister is quite +spoiled by Washington. She is more wild for power than any +human being I ever saw.' I was dreadfully angry and told her she +was quite mistaken--Madeleine was not the least spoiled. But I +couldn't say that she was not fond of power, for she is; but not in +the way Mrs. Clinton meant. + +You should have seen her the other evening when Mr. Ratcliffe +said about some matter of public business that he would do +whatever she thought right; she spoke up quite sharply for her, +with a scornful little laugh, and said that he had better do what he +thought right. He looked for a moment almost angry, and muttered +something about women's being incomprehensible. He is always +trying to tempt her with power. She might have had long ago all +the power he could give her, but I can see, and he sees too, that she +always keeps him at arm's length. He doesn't like it, but he expects +one of these days to find a bribe that will answer. I wish we had +never come to Washington. New York is so much nicer and the +people there are much more amusing; they dance ever so much +better and send one flowers all the time, and then they never talk +about first principles. Maude had her hospitals and paupers and +training school, and got along very well. It was so safe. But when I +say so to her, she only smiles in a patronising kind of way, and +tells me that I shall have as much of Newport as I want; just as +though I were a child, and not a woman of twenty-five. Poor +Maude! I can't stay with her if she marries Mr. Ratcliffe, and it +would break my heart to leave her with that man. Do you think he +would beat her? Does he drink? I would almost rather be beaten a +little, if I cared for a man, than be taken out to Peonia. Oh, Mr. +Carrington! you are our only hope. She will listen to you. + +Don't let her marry that dreadful politician." + +To all this pathetic appeal, some parts of which were as liffle +calculated to please Carrington as Ratcliffe himself, Carrington +answered that he was ready to do all in his power but that Sybil +must tell him when and how to act. + +"Then, it's a bargain," said she; "whenever I want you, I shall call +on you for help, and you shall prevent the marriage." + +"Alliance offensive and defensive," said he, laughing; "war to the +knife on Ratcliffe. We will have his scalp if necessary, but I rather +think he will soon commit hari-kari himself if we leave him +alone." + +"Madeleine will like him all the better if he does anything +Japanese," + +replied Sybil, with great seriousness; "I wish there was more +Japanese bric--brac here, or any kind of old pots and pans to talk +about. A little art would be good for her. What a strange place this +is, and how people do stand on their heads in it! Nobody thinks +like anyone else. Victoria Dare says she is trying on principle not +to be good, because she wants to keep some new excitements for +the next world. I'm sure she practices as she preaches. Did you see +her at Mrs. Clinton's last night. She behaved more outrageously +than ever. She sat on the stairs all through supper, looking like a +demure yellow cat with two bouquets in her paws--and I know +Lord Dunbeg sent one of them;--and she actually let Mr. French +feed her with ice-cream from a spoon. She says she was showing +Lord Dunbeg a phase, and that he is going to put it into his article +on American Manners and Customs in the Quarterly, but I don't +think it's nice, do you, Mr. Carrington? I wish Madeleine had her +to take care of. She would have enough to do then, I can tell her." + +And so, gently prattling, Miss Sybil returned to the city, her +alliance with Carrington completed; and it was a singular fact that +she never again called him dull. There was henceforward a look of +more positive pleasure and cordiality on her face when he made +his appearance wherever she might be; and the next time he +suggested a horseback excursion she instantly agreed to go, +although aware that she had promised a younger gentleman of the +diplomatic body to be at home that same afternoon, and the good +fellow swore polyglot oaths on being turned away from her door. + +Mr. Ratcliffe knew nothing of this conspiracy against his peace +and prospects. Even if he had known it, he might only have +laughed, and pursued his own path without a second thought. Yet +it was certain that he did not think Carrington's enmity a thing to +be overlooked, and from the moment of his obtaining a clue to its +cause, he had begun to take precautions against it. Even in the +middle of the contest for the Treasury, he had found time to listen +to Mr. Wilson Keens report on the affairs of the late Samuel +Baker. + +Mr. Keen came to him with a copy of Baker's will and with +memoranda of remarks made by the unsuspecting Mrs. Baker; +"from which it appears," said he, "that Baker, having no time to +put his affairs in order, left special directions that his executors +should carefully destroy all papers that might be likely to +compromise individuals." + +"What is the executor's name?" interrupted Ratcliffe. + +"The executor's name is--John Carrington," said Keen, +methodically referring to his copy of the will. + +Ratcliffe's face was impassive, but the inevitable, "I knew it," +almost sprang to his lips. He was rather pleased at the instinct +which had led him so directly to the right trail. + +Keen went on to say that from Mrs. Baker's conversation it was +certain that the testator's directions had been carried out, and that +the great bulk of these papers had been burned. + +"Then it will be useless to press the inquiry further," said Ratcliffe; +"I am much obliged to you for your assistance," and he turned the +conversation to the condition of Mr. Keen's bureau in the Treasury +department. + +The next time Ratcliffe saw Mrs. Lee, after his appointment to the +Treasury was confirmed, he asked her whether she did not think +Carrington very well suited for public service, and when she +warmly assented, he said it had occurred to him to offer the place +of Solicitor of the Treasury to Mr. + +Carrington, for although the actual salary might not be very much +more than he earned by his private practice, the incidental +advantages to a Washington lawyer were considerable; and to the +Secretary it was especially necessary to have a solicitor in whom +he could place entire confidence. Mrs. Lee was pleased by this +motion of Ratcliffe's, the more because she had supposed that +Ratcliffe had no liking for Carrington. She doubted whether +Carrington would accept the place, but she hoped that it might +modify his dislike for Ratcliffe, and she agreed to sound him on +the subject. There was something a little compromising in thus +allowing herself to appear as the dispenser of Mr. Ratcliffe's +patronage, but she dismissed this objection on the ground that +Carrington's interests were involved, and that it was for him to +judge whether he should take the place or not. Perhaps the world +would not be so charitable if the appointment were made. What +then? Mrs. Lee asked herself the question and did not feel quite at +ease. + +So far as Carrington was concerned, she might have dismissed her +doubts. + +There was not a chance of his taking the place, as very soon +appeared. When she spoke to him on the subject, and repeated +what Ratcliffe had said, his face flushed, and he sat for some +moments in silence. He never thought very rapidly, but now the +ideas seemed to come so fast as to bewilder his mind. + +The situation flashed before his eyes like electric sparks. His first +impression was that Ratcliffe wanted to buy him; to tie his tongue; +to make him run, like a fastened dog, under the waggon of the +Secretary of the Treasury. His second notion was that Ratcliffe +wanted to put Mrs. Lee under obligations, in order to win her +regard; and, again, that he wanted to raise himself in her esteem by +posing as a friend of honest administration and unassisted virtue. +Then suddenly it occurred to him that the scheme was to make him +appear jealous and vindictive; to put him in an attitude where any +reason he might give for declining would bear a look of meanness, +and tend to separate him from Mrs. Lee. Carrington was so +absorbed by these thoughts, and his mind worked so slowly, that +he failed to hear one or two remarks addressed to him by Mrs. Lee, +who became a little alarmed, under the impression that he was +unexpectedly paralyzed. + +When at length he heard her and attempted to frame an answer, his +embarrassment increased. He could only stammer that he was +sorry to be obliged to decline, but this office was one he could not +undertake. + +If Madeleine felt a little relieved by this decision, she did not show +it. + +From her manner one might have supposed it to be her fondest +wish that Carrington should be Solicitor of the Treasury. She +cross-questioned him with obstinacy. Was not the offer a good +one? --and he was obliged to confess that it was. Were the duties +such as he could not perform? Not at all! there was nothing in the +duties which alarmed him. Did he object to it because of his +southern prejudices against the administration? Oh, no! he had no +political feeling to stand in his way. What, then, could be his +reason for refusing? + +Carrington resorted again to silence, until Mrs. Lee, a little +impatiently, asked whether it was possible that his personal dislike +to Racliffe could blind him so far as to make him reject so fair a +proposal. Carrington, finding himself more and more +uncomfortable, rose restlessly from his chair and paced the room. +He felt that Ratclife had fairly out-generaled him, and he was at +his wits' end to know what card he could play that would not lead +directly into Ratcliffe's trump suit. To refuse such an offer was +hard enough at best, for a man who wanted money and +professional advancement as he did, but to injure himself and help +Ratcliffe by this refusal, was abominably hard. Nevertheless, he +was obliged to admit that he would rather not take a position so +directly under Ratcliffe's control. Madeleine said no more, but he +thought she looked annoyed, and he felt himself in an intolerably +painful situation. He was not certain that she herself might not +have had some share in proposing the plan, and that his refusal +might not have some mortifying consequences for her. What must +she think of him, then? + +At this very moment he would have given his right arm for a word +of real affection from Mrs. Lee. He adored her. He would willingly +enough have damned himself for her. There was no sacrifice he +would not have made to bring her nearer to him. In his upright, +quiet, simple kind of way, he immolated himself before her. For +months his heart had ached with this hopeless passion. He +recognized that it was hopeless. He knew that she would never +love him, and, to do her justice, she never had given him reason to +suppose that it was in her power to love him, r any man. And here +he stood, obliged to appear ungrateful and prejudiced, mean and +vindictive, in her eyes. He took his seat again, looking so +unutterably dejected, his patient face so tragically mournful, that +Madeleine, after a while, began to see the absurd side of the +matter, and presently burst into a laugh "Please do not look so +frightfully miserable!" said she; "I did not mean to make you +unhappy. After all, what does it matter? You have a perfect right to +refuse, and, for my part, I have not the least wish to see you +accept." + +On this, Carrington brightened, and declared that if she thought +him right in declining, he cared for nothing else. It was only the +idea of hurting her feelings that weighed on his mind. But in +saying this, he spoke in a tone that implied a deeper feeling, and +made Mrs. Lee again look grave and sigh. + +"Ah, Mr. Carrington," she said, "this world will not run as we +want. Do you suppose the time will ever come when every one will +be good and happy and do just what they ought? I thought this +offer might possibly take one anxiety off your shoulders. I am +sorry now that I let myself be led into making it." + +Carrington could not answer her. He dared not trust his voice. He +rose to go, and as she held out her hand, he suddenly raised it to +his lips, and so left her. She sat for a moment with tears in her eyes +after he was gone. She thought she knew all that was in his mind, +and with a woman's readiness to explain every act of men by their +consuming passions for her own sex, she took it as a matter of +course that jealousy was the whole cause of Carrington's hostility +to Ratcliffe, and she pardoned it with charming alacrity. "Ten +years ago, I could have loved him," she thought to herself, and +then, while she was half smiling at the idea, suddenly another +thought flashed upon her, and she threw her hand up before her +face as though some one had struck her a blow. Carrington had +reopened the old wound. + +When Ratcliffe came to see her again, which he did very shortly +afterwards, glad of so good an excuse, she told him of Carrington's +refusal, adding only that he seemed unwilling to accept any +position that had a political character. Ratcliffe showed no sign of +displeasure; he only said, in a benignant tone, that he was sorry to +be unable to do something for so good a friend of hers; thus +establishing, at all events, his claim on her gratitude. As for +Carrington, the offer which Ratcliffe had made was not intended to +be accepted, and Carrington could not have more embarrassed the +secretary than by closing with it. Ratcliffe's object had been to +settle for his own satisfaction the question of Carrington's hostility, +for he knew the man well enough to feel sure that in any event he +would act a perfectly straightforward part. If he accepted, he +would at least be true to his chief. If he refused, as Ratcliffe +expected, it would be a proof that some means must be found of +getting him out of the way. In any case the offer was a new thread +in the net that Mr. Ratcliffe flattered himself he was rapidly +winding about the affections and ambitions of Mrs. Lee. Yet he +had reasons of his own for thinking that Carrington, more easily +than any other man, could cut the meshes of this net if he chose to +do so, and therefore that it would be wiser to postpone action until +Carrington were disposed of. + +Without a moment's delay he made inquiries as to all the vacant or +eligible offices in the gift of the government outside his own +department. Very few of these would answer his purpose. He +wanted some temporary law business that would for a time take its +holder away to a distance, say to Australia or Central Asia, the +further the better; it must be highly paid, and it must be given in +such a way as not to excite suspicion that Ratcliffe was concerned +in the matter. Such an office was not easily found. There is little +law business in Central Asia, and at this moment there was not +enough to require a special agent in Australia. Carrington could +hardly be induced to lead an expedition to the sources of the Nile +in search of business merely to please Mr. Ratcliffe, nor could the +State Department offer encouragement to a hope that government +would pay the expenses of such an expedition. The best that +Ratcliffe could do was to select the place of counsel to the +Mexican claims-commission which was soon to meet in the city of +Mexico, and which would require about six months' absence. By a +little management he could contrive to get the counsel sent away +in advance of the commission, in order to work up a part of the +case on the spot. Ratcliffe acknowledged that Mexico was too +near, but he drily remarked to himself that if Carrington could get +back in time to dislodge him after he had once got a firm hold on +Mrs. Lee, he would never try to run another caucus. + +The point once settled in his own mind, Ratcliffe, with his usual +rapidity of action, carried his scheme into effect. In this there was +little difficulty. He dropped in at the office of the Secretary of +State within eight-and-forty hours after his last conversation with +Mrs. Lee. During these early days of every new administration, the +absorbing business of government relates principally to +appointments. The Secretary of the Treasury was always ready to +oblige his colleagues in the Cabinet by taking care of their friends +to any reasonable extent. The Secretary of State was not less +courteous. The moment he understood that Mr. Ratcliffe had a +strong wish to secure the appointment of a certain person as +counsel to the Mexican claims-commission, the Secretary of State +professed readiness to gratify him, and when he heard who the +proposed person was, the suggestion was hailed with pleasure, for +Carrington was well known and much liked at the Department, and +was indeed an excellent man for the place. Ratcliffe hardly needed +to promise an equivalent. The business was arranged in ten +minutes. + +"I only need say," added Ratcliffe, "that if my agency in the affair +is known, Mr. Carrington will certainly refuse the place, for he is +one of your old-fashioned Virginia planters, proud as Lucifer, and +willing to accept nothing by way of favour. I will speak to your +Assistant Secretary about it, and the recommendation shall appear +to come from him." + +The very next day Carrington received a private note from his old +friend, the Assistant Secretary of State, who was overjoyed to do +him a kindness. + +The note asked him to call at the Department at his earliest +convenience. He went, and the Assistant Secretary announced that +he had recommended Carrington's appointment as counsel to the +Mexican claims-commission, and that the Secretary had approved +the recommendation. "We want a Southern man, a lawyer with a +little knowledge of international law, one who can go at once, and, +above all, an honest man. You fit the description to a hair; so pack +your trunk as soon as you like." + +Carrington was startled. Coming as it did, this offer was not only +unobjectionable, but tempting. It was hard for him even to imagine +a reason for hesitation. From the first he felt that he must go, and +yet to go was the very last thing he wanted to do. That he should +suspect Ratcliffe to be at the bottom of this scheme of banishment +was a matter of course, and he instantly asked whether any +influence had been used in his favour; but the Assistant Secretary +so stoutly averred that the appointment was made on his +recommendation alone, as to block all further inquiry. Technically +this assertion was exact, and it made Carrington feel that it would +be base ingratitude on his part not to accept a favour so +handsomely offered. + +Yet he could not make up his mind to acceptance. He begged four +and twenty hours' delay, in order, as he said, to see whether he +could arrange his affairs for a six months' absence, although he +knew there would be no difficulty in his doing so. He went away +and sat in his office alone, gloomily wondering what he could do, +although from the first he saw that the situation was only too clear, +and there could not be the least dark corner of a doubt to crawl +into. Six months ago he would have jumped at this offer. + +What had happened within six months to make it seem a disaster? + +Mrs. Lee! There was the whole story. To go away now was to give +up Mrs. Lee, and probably to give her up to Ratcliffe. Carrington +gnashed his teeth when he thought how skilfully Ratcliffe was +playing his cards. The longer he reflected, the more certain he felt +that Ratcliffe was at the bottom of this scheme to get rid of him; +and yet, as he studied the situation, it occurred to him that after all +it was possible for Ratcliffe to make a blunder. This Illinois +politician was clever, and understood men; but a knowledge of +men is a very different thing from a knowledge of women. +Carrington himself had no great experience in the article of +women, but he thought he knew more than Ratcliffe, who was +evidently relying most on his usual theory of political corruption as +applied to feminine weaknesses, and who was only puzzled at +finding how high a price Mrs. Lee set on herself. If Ratcliffe were +really at the bottom of the scheme for separating Carrington from +her, it could only be because he thought that six months, or even +six weeks, would be enough to answer his purpose. And on +reaching this point in his reflections, Carrington suddenly rose, lit +a cigar, and walked up and down his room steadily for the next +hour, with the air of a general arranging a plan of campaign, or a +lawyer anticipating his opponent's line of argument. + +On one point his mind was made up. He would accept. If Ratcliffe +really had a hand in this move, he should be gratified. If he had +laid a trap, he should be caught in it. And when the evening came, +Carrington took his hat and walked off to call upon Mrs. Lee. + +He found the sisters alone and quietly engaged in their +occupations. + +Madeleine was dramatically mending an open-work silk stocking, +a delicate and difficult task which required her whole mind. Sybil +was at the piano as usual, and for the first time since he had known +her, she rose when he came in, and, taking her work-basket, sat +down to share in the conversation. She meant to take her place as a +woman, henceforward. She was tired of playing girl. Mr. +Carrington should see that she was not a fool. + +Carrington plunged at once into his subject, and announced the +offer made to him, at which Madeleine expressed delight, and +asked many questions. What was the pay? How soon must he go? +How long should he be away? Was there danger from the climate? +and finally she added, with a smile, "What am I to say to Mr. +Ratcliffe if you accept this offer after refusing his?" As for Sybil, +she made one reproachful exclamation: "Oh, Mr. Carrington!" and +sank back into silence and consternation. Her first experiment at +taking a stand of her own in the world was not encouraging. She +felt betrayed. + +Nor was Carrington gay. However modest a man may be, only an +idiot can forget himself entirely in pursuing the moon and the +stars. In the bottom of his soul, he had a lingering hope that when +he told his story, Madeleine might look up with a change of +expression, a glance of unpremeditated regard, a little suffusion of +the eyes, a little trembling of the voice. To see himself relegated to +Mexico with such cheerful alacrity by the woman he loved was not +the experience he would have chosen. He could not help feeling +that his hopes were disposed of, and he watched her with a painful +sinking of the heart, which did not lead to lightness of +conversation. Madeleine herself felt that her expressions needed to +be qualified, and she tried to correct her mistake. What should she +do without a tutor? she said. He must let her have a list of books to +read while he was away: they were themselves going north in the +middle of May, and Carrington would be back by the time they +returned in December. After all, they should see as little of him +during the summer if he were in Virginia as if he were in Mexico. + +Carrington gloomily confessed that he was very unwilling to go; +that he wished the idea had never been suggested; that he should +be perfectly happy if for any reason the scheme broke down; but +he gave no explanation of his feeling, and Madeleine had too much +tact to press for one. She contented herself by arguing against it, +and talking as vivaciously as she could. Her heart really bled for +him as she saw his face grow more and more pathetic in its quiet +expression of disappointment. But what could she say or do? He +sat till after ten o'clock; he could not tear himself away. He felt +that this was the end of his pleasure in life; he dreaded the solitude +of his thoughts. Mrs. Lee's resources began to show signs of +exhaustion. Long pauses intervened between her remarks; and at +length Carrington, with a superhuman effort, apologized for +inflicting himself upon her so unmercifully. If she knew, he said, +how he dreaded being alone, she would forgive him. Then he rose +to go, and, in taking leave, asked Sybil if she was inclined to ride +the next day; if so, he was at her service. Sybil's face brightened as +she accepted the invitation. + +Mrs. Lee, a day or two afterwards, did mention Carrington's +appointment to Mr. Ratcliffe, and she told Carrington that the +Secretary certainly looked hurt and mortified, but showed it only +by almost instantly changing the subject. + +Chapter X + +THE next morning Carrington called at the Department and +announced his acceptance of the post. He was told that his +instructions would be ready in about a fortnight, and that he would +be expected to start as soon as he received them; in the meanwhile, +he must devote himself to the study of a mass of papers in the +Department. There was no trifling allowable here. + +Carrington had to set himself vigorously to work. This did not, +however, prevent him from keeping his appointment with Sybil, +and at four o'clock they started together, passing out into the quiet +shadows of Rock Creek, and seeking still lanes through the woods +where their horses walked side by side, and they themselves could +talk without the risk of criticism from curious eyes. It was the +afternoon of one of those sultry and lowering spring days when life +germinates rapidly, but as yet gives no sign, except perhaps some +new leaf or flower pushing its soft head up against the dead leaves +that have sheltered it. The two riders had something of the same +sensation, as though the leafless woods and the laurel thickets, the +warm, moist air and the low clouds, were a protection and a soft +shelter. Somewhat to Carrington's surprise, he found that it was +pleasant to have Sybil's company. He felt towards her as to a +sister--a favourite sister. + +She at once attacked him for abandoning her and breaking his +treaty so lately made, and he tried to gain her sympathy by saying +that if she knew how much he was troubled, she would forgive +him. Then when Sybil asked whether he really must go and leave +her without any friend whom she could speak to, his feelings got +the better of him: he could not resist the temptation to confide all +his troubles in her, since there was no one else in whom he could +confide. He told her plainly that he was in love with her sister. + +"You say that love is nonsense, Miss Ross. I tell you it is no such +thing. + +For weeks and months it is a steady physical pain, an ache about +the heart, never leaving one, by night or by day; a long strain on +one's nerves like toothache or rheumatism, not intolerable at any +one instant, but exhausting by its steady drain on the strength. It is +a disease to be borne with patience, like any other nervous +complaint, and to be treated with counter-irritants. My trip to +Mexico will be good for it, but that is not the reason why I must +go." + +Then he told her all his private circumstances; the ruin which the +war had brought on him and his family; how, of his two brothers, +one had survived the war only to die at home, a mere wreck of +disease, privation, and wounds; the other had been shot by his side, +and bled slowly to death in his arms during the awful carnage in +the Wilderness; how his mother and two sisters were struggling for +a bare subsistence on a wretched Virginian farm, and how all his +exertions barely kept them from beggary. + +"You have no conception of the poverty to which our southern +women are reduced since the war," said he; "they are many of +them literally without clothes or bread." The fee he should earn by +going to Mexico would double his income this year. Could he +refuse? Had he a right to refuse? And poor Carrington added, with +a groan, that if he alone were in question, he would sooner be shot +than go. + +Sybil listened with tears in her eyes. She never before had seen a +man show suffering. The misery she had known in life had been +more or less veiled to her and softened by falling on older and +friendly shoulders. She now got for the first time a clear view of +Carrington, apart from the quiet exterior in which the man was +hidden. She felt quite sure, by a sudden flash of feminine +inspiration, that the curious look of patient endurance on his face +was the work of a single night when he had held his brother in his +arms, and knew that the blood was draining drop by drop from his +side, in the dense, tangled woods, beyond the reach of help, hour +after hour, till the voice failed and the limbs grew stiff and cold. +When he had finished his story, she was afraid to speak. She did +not know how to show her sympathy, and she could not bear to +seem unsympathetic. In her embarrassment she fairly broke down +and could only dry her eyes in silence. + +Having once got this weight of confidence off his mind, +Carrington felt comparatively gay and was ready to make the best +of things. He laughed at himself to drive away the tears of his +pretty companion, and obliged her to take a solemn pledge never +to betray him. "Of course your sister knows it all," he said; "but +she must never know that I told you, and I never would tell any one +but you." + +Sybil promised faithfully to keep his confidence to herself, and she +went on to defend her sister. + +"You must not blame Madeleine," said she; "if you knew as well as +I do what she has been through, you would not think her cold. You +do know how suddenly her husband died, after only one day's +illness, and what a nice fellow he was. She was very fond of him, +and his death seemed to stun her. We hardly knew what to make of +it, she was so quiet and natural. Then just a week later her little +child died of diphtheria, suffering horribly, and she wild with +despair because she could not relieve it. After that, she was almost +insane; indeed, I have always thought she was quite insane for a +time. I know she was excessively violent and wanted to kill +herself, and I never heard any one rave as she did about religion +and resignation and God. After a few weeks she became quiet and +stupid and went about like a machine; and at last she got over it, +but has never been what she was before. You know she was a +rather fast New York girl before she married, and cared no more +about politics and philanthropy than I do. It was a very late thing, +all this stuff. But she is not really hard, though she may seem so. It +is all on the surface. I always know when she is thinking about her +husband or child, because her face gets rigid; she looks then as she +used to look after her child died, as though she didn't care what +became of her and she would just as lieve kill herself as not. I don't +think she will ever let herself love any one again. She has a horror +of it. She is much more likely to go in for ambition, or duty, or +self-sacrifice." + +They rode on for a while in silence, Carrington perplexed by the +problem how two harmless people such as Madeleine and he could +have been made by a beneficent Providence the sport of such cruel +tortures; and Sybil equally interested in thinking what sort of a +brother-in-law Carrington would make; on the whole, she thought +she liked him better as he was. The silence was only broken by +Carrington's bringing the conversation back to its starting-point: +"Something must be done to keep your sister out of Ratcliffe's +power. I have thought about it till I am tired. Can you make no +suggestion?" + +No! Sybil was helpless and dreadfully alarmed. Mr. Ratcliffe came +to the house as often as he could, and seemed to tell Madeleine +everything that was going on in politics, and ask her advice, and +Madeleine did not discourage him. "I do believe she likes it, and +thinks she can do some good by it. I don't dare speak to her about +it. She thinks me a child still, and treats me as though I were +fifteen. What can I do?" + +Carrington said he had thought of speaking to Mrs. Lee himself, +but he did not know what to say, and if he offended her, he might +drive her directly into Ratcliffe's arms. But Sybil thought she +would not be offended if he went to work in the right way. "She +will stand more from you than from any one else. Tell her openly +that you--that you love her," said Sybil with a burst of desperate +courage; "she can't take offence at that; and then you can say +almost anything." + +Carrington looked at Sybil with more admiration than he had ever +expected to feel for her, and began to think that he might do worse +than to put himself under her orders. After all, she had some +practical sense, and what was more to the point, she was +handsomer than ever, as she sat erect on her horse, the rich colour +rushing up under the warm skin, at the impropriety of her speech. +"You are certainly right," said he; "after all, I have nothing to lose. +Whether she marries Ratcliffe or not, she will never marry me, I +suppose." + +This speech was a cowardly attempt to beg encouragement from +Sybil, and met with the fate it deserved, for Sybil, highly flattered +at Carrington's implied praise, and bold as a lioness now that it +was Carrington's fingers, and not her own, that were to go into the +fire, gave him on the spot a feminine view of the situation that did +not encourage his hopes. She plainly said that men seemed to take +leave of their senses as soon as women were concerned; for her +part, she could not understand what there was in any woman to +make such a fuss about; she thought most women were horrid; +men were ever so much nicer; "and as for Madeleine, whom all of +you are ready to cut each other's throats about, she's a dear, good +sister, as good as gold, and I love her with all my heart, but you +wouldn't like her, any of you, if you married her; she has always +had her own way, and she could not help taking it; she never could +learn to take yours; both of you would be unhappy in a week; and +as for that old Mr. Ratcliffe, she would make his life a burden--and +I hope she will," concluded Sybil with a spiteful little explosion of +hatred. + +Carrington could not help being amused by Sybil's way of dealing +with affairs of the heart. Emboldened by encouragement, she went +on to attack him pitilessly for going down on his knees before her +sister, "just as though you were not as good as she is," and openly +avowed that, if she were a man, she would at least have some +pride. Men like this kind of punishment. + +Carrington did not attempt to defend himself; he even courted +Sybil's attack. They both enjoyed their ride through the bare +woods, by the rippling spring streams, under the languid breath of +the moist south wind. It was a small idyll, all the more pleasant +because there was gloom before and behind it. Sybil's irrepressible +gaiety made Carrington doubt whether, after all, life need be so +serious a matter. She had animal spirits in plenty, and it needed an +effort for her to keep them down, while Carrington's spirits were +nearly exhausted after twenty years of strain, and he required a +greater effort to hold himself up. There was every reason why he +should be grateful to Sybil for lending to him from her superfluity. +He enjoyed being laughed at by her. Suppose Madeleine Lee did +refuse to marry him! What of it? + +"Pooh!" said Sybil; "you men are all just alike. How can you be so +silly? + +Madeleine and you would be intolerable together. Do find some +one who won't be solemn!" + +They laid out their little plot against Madeleine and elaborated it +carefully, both as to what Carrington should say and how he +should say it, for Sybil asserted that men were too stupid to be +trusted even in making a declaration of love, and must be taught, +like little children to say their prayers. Carrington enjoyed being +taught how to make a declaration of love. + +He did not ask where Sybil had learned so much about men's +stupidity. He thought perhaps Schneidekoupon could have thrown +light on the subject. At all events, they were so busily occupied +with their schemes and lessons, that they did not-reach home till +Madeleine had become anxious lest they had met with some +accident. The long dusk had become darkness before she heard the +clatter of hoofs on the asphalt pavement, and she went down to the +door to scold them for their delay. Sybil only laughed at her, and +said it was all Mr. Carrington's fault: he had lost his way, and she +had been forced to find it for him. + +Ten days more passed before their plan was carried into effect. +April had come. Carrington's work was completed and he was +ready to start on his journey. Then at last he appeared one evening +at Mrs. Lee's at the very moment when Sybil, as chance would +have it, was going out to pass an hour or two with her friend +Victoria Dare a few doors away. Carrington felt a little ashamed as +she went. This kind of conspiracy behind Mrs. Lee's back was not +to his taste. + +He resolutely sat down, and plunged at once into his subject. He +was almost ready to go, he said; he had nearly completed his work +in the Department, and he was assured that his instructions and +papers would be ready in two days more; he might not have +another chance to see Mrs. Lee so quietly again, and he wanted to +take his leave now, for this was what lay most heavily on his mind; +he should have gone willingly and gladly if it had not been for +uneasiness about her; and yet he had till now been afraid to speak +openly on the subject. Here he paused for a moment as though to +invite some reply. + +Madeleine laid down her work with a look of regret though not of +annoyance, and said frankly and instantly that he had been too +good a friend to allow of her taking offence at anything he could +say; she would not pretend to misunderstand him. "My affairs," she +added with a shade of bitterness, "seem to have become public +property, and I would rather have some voice in discussing them +myself than to know they are discussed behind my back." + +This was a sharp thrust at the very outset, but Carrington turned it +aside and went quietly on: + +"You are frank and loyal, as you always are. I will be so too. I can't +help being so. For months I have had no other pleasure than in +being near you. + +For the first time in my life I have known what it is to forget my +own affairs in loving a woman who seems to me without a fault, +and for one solitary word from whom I would give all I have in +life, and perhaps itself." + +Madeleine flushed and bent towards him with an earnestness of +manner that repeated itself in her tone. + +"Mr. Carrington, I am the best friend you have on earth. One of +these days you will thank me with your whole soul for refusing to +listen to you now. + +You do not know how much misery I am saving you. I have no +heart to give. + +You want a young, fresh life to help yours; a gay, lively +temperament to enliven your despondency; some one still young +enough to absorb herself in you and make all her existence yours. I +could not do it. I can give you nothing. I have done my best to +persuade myself that some day I might begin life again with the +old hopes and feelings, but it is no use. The fire is burned out. If +you married me, you would destroy yourself You would wake up +some day, and find the universe dust and ashes." + +Carrington listened in silence. He made no attempt to interrupt or +to contradict her. Only at the end he said with a little bitterness: +"My own life is worth so much to the world and to me, that I +suppose it would be wrong to risk it on such a venture; but I would +risk it, nevertheless, if you gave me the chance. Do you think me +wicked for tempting Providence? I do not mean to annoy you with +entreaties. I have a little pride left, and a great deal of respect for +you. Yet I think, in spite of all you have said or can say, that one +disappointed life may be as able to find happiness and repose in +another, as to get them by sucking the young life-blood of a fresh +soul." + +To this speech, which was unusually figurative for Carrington, +Mrs. Lee could find no ready answer. She could only reply that +Carrington's life was worth quite as much as his neighbour's, and +that it was worth so much to her, if not to himself, that she would +not let him wreck it. + +Carrington went on: "Forgive my talking in this way. I do not mean +to complain. I shall always love you just as much, whether you +care for me or not, because you are the only woman I have ever +met, or am ever likely to meet, who seems to me perfect." + +If this was Sybil's teaching, she had made the best of her time. + +Carrington's tone and words pierced through all Mrs. Lee's armour +as though they were pointed with the most ingenious cruelty, and +designed to torture her. She felt hard and small before him. Life +for life, his had been, and was now, far less bright than hers, yet he +was her superior. He sat there, a true man, carrying his burden +calmly, quietly, without complaint, ready to face the next shock of +life with the same endurance he had shown against the rest. And +he thought her perfect! She felt humiliated that any brave man +should say to her face that he thought her perfect! She! perfect! In +her contrition she was half ready to go down at his feet and confess +her sins; her hysterical dread of sorrow and suffering, her narrow +sympathies, her feeble faith, her miserable selfishness, her abject +cowardice. Every nerve in her body tingled with shame when she +thought what a miserable fraud she was; what a mass of +pretensions unfounded, of deceit ingrained. She was ready to hide +her face in her hands. She was disgusted, outraged with her own +image as she saw it, contrasted with Carrington's single word: +Perfect! + +Nor was this the worst. Carrington was not the first man who had +thought her perfect. To hear this word suddenly used again, which +had never been uttered to her before except by lips now dead and +gone, made her brain reel. She seemed to hear her husband once +more telling her that she was perfect. Yet against this torture, she +had a better defence. She had long since hardened herself to bear +these recollections, and they steadied and strengthened her. + +She had been called perfect before now, and what had come of it? +Two graves, and a broken life! She drew herself up with a face +now grown quite pale and rigid. In reply to Carrington, she said +not a word, but only shook her head slightly without looking at +him. + +He went on: "After all, it is not my own happiness I am thinking of +but yours. I never was vain enough to think that I was worth your +love, or that I could ever win it. Your happiness is another thing. I +care so much for that as to make me dread going away, for fear +that you may yet find yourself entangled in this wretched political +life here, when, perhaps if I stayed, I might be of some use." + +"Do you really think, then, that I am going to fall a victim to Mr. + +Ratcliffe?" asked Madeleine, with a cold smile. + +"Why not?" replied Carrington, in a similar tone. "He can put +forward a strong claim to your sympathy and help, if not to your +love. He can offer you a great field of usefulness which you want. +He has been very faithful to you. Are you quite sure that even now +you can refuse him without his complaining that you have trifled +with him?" + +"And are you quite sure," added Mrs. Lee, evasively, "that you +have not been judging him much too harshly? I think I know him +better than you. He has many good qualities, and some high ones. +What harm can he do me? Supposing even that he did succeed in +persuading me that my life could be best used in helping his, why +should I be afraid of it?" + +"You and I," said Carrington, "are wide apart in our estimates of +Mr. + +Ratcliffe. To you, of course, he shows his best side. He is on his +good behaviour, and knows that any false step will ruin him. I see +in him only a coarse, selfish, unprincipled politician, who would +either drag you down to his own level, or, what is more likely, +would very soon disgust you and make your life a wretched +self-immolation before his vulgar ambition, or compel you to leave +him. In either case you would be the victim. You cannot afford to +make another false start in life. Reject me! I have not a word to say +against it. But be on your guard against giving your existence up to +him." + +"Why do you think so ill of Mr. Ratcliffe?" asked Madeleine; "he +always speaks highly of you. Do you know anything against him +that the world does not?" + +"His public acts are enough to satisfy me," replied Carrington, +evading a part of the question. "You know that I have never had +but one opinion about him." + +There was a pause in the conversation. Both parties felt that as yet +no good had come of it. At length Madeleine asked, "What would +you have me do? Is it a pledge you want that I will under no +circumstances marry Mr. Ratcliffe?" + +"Certainly not," was the answer; "you know me better than to think +I would ask that. I only want you to take time and keep out of his +influence until your mind is fairly made up. A year hence I feel +certain that you will think of him as I do." + +"Then you will allow me to marry him if I find that you are +mistaken," said Mrs. Lee, with a marked tone of sarcasm. + +Carrington looked annoyed, but he answered quietly, "What I fear +is his influence here and now. What I would like to see you do is +this: go north a month earlier than you intended, and without +giving him time to act. If I were sure you were safely in Newport, I +should feel no anxiety." + +"You seem to have as bad an opinion of Washington as Mr. Gore," +said Madeleine, with a contemptuous smile. "He gave me the same +advice, though he was afraid to tell me why. I am not a child. I am +thirty years old, and have seen something of the world. I am not +afraid, like Mr. Gore, of Washington malaria, or, like you, of Mr. +Ratcliffe's influence. If I fall a victim I shall deserve my fate, and +certainly I shall have no cause to complain of my friends. They +have given me advice enough for a lifetime." + +Carrington's face darkened with a deeper shade of regret. The turn +which the conversation had taken was precisely what he had +expected, and both Sybil and he had agreed that Madeleine would +probably answer just in this way. + +Nevertheless, he could not but feel acutely the harm he was doing +to his own interests, and it was only by a sheer effort of the will +that he forced himself to a last and more earnest attack. + +"I know it is an impertinence," he said; "I wish it were in my +power to show how much it costs me to offend you. This is the +first time you ever had occasion to be offended. If I were to yield +to the fear of your anger and were to hold my tongue now, and by +any chance you were to wreck your life on this rock, I should never +forgive myself the cowardice. I should always think I might have +done something to prevent it. This is probably the last time I shall +have the chance to talk openly with you, and I implore you to +listen to me. I want nothing for myself If I knew I should never see +you again, I would still say the same thing. Leave Washington! +Leave it now! + +--at once! --without giving more than twenty-four hours' notice! +Leave it without letting Mr. Ratcliffe see you again in private! +Come back next winter if you please, and then accept him if you +think proper. I only pray you to think long about it and decide +when you are not here." + +Madeleine's eyes flashed, and she threw aside her embroidery with +an impatient gesture: "No! Mr. Carrington! I will not be dictated +to! I will carry out my own plans! I do not mean to marry Mr. +Ratcliffe. If I had meant it, I should have done it before now. But I +will not run away from him or from myself. It would be +unladylike, undignified, cowardly." + +Carrington could say no more. He had come to the end of his +lesson. A long silence ensued and then he rose to go. "Are you +angry with me?" said she in a softer tone. + +"I ought to ask that question," said he. "Can you forgive me? I am +afraid not. No man can say to a woman what I have said to you, +and be quite forgiven. You will never think of me again as you +would have done if I had not spoken. I knew that before I did it. As +for me, I can only go on with my old life. It is not gay, and will not +be the gayer for our talk to-night." + +Madeleine relented a little: "Friendships like ours are not so easily +broken," she said. "Do not do me another injustice. You will see +me again before you go?" + +He assented and bade good-night. Mrs. Lee, weary and disturbed in +mind, hastened to her room. "When Miss Sybil comes in, tell her +that I am not very well, and have gone to bed," were her +instructions to her maid, and Sybil thought she knew the cause of +this headache. + +But before Carrington's departure he had one more ride with Sybil, +and reported to her the result of the interview, at which both of +them confessed themselves much depressed. Carrington expressed +some hope that Madeleine meant, after a sort, to give a kind of +pledge by saying that she had no intention of marrying Mr. +Ratcliffe, but Sybil shook her head emphatically: + +"How can a woman tell whether she is going to accept a man until +she is asked?" said she with entire confidence, as though she were +stating the simplest fact in the world. Carrington looked puzzled, +and ventured to ask whether women did not generally make up +their minds beforehand on such an interesting point; but Sybil +overwhelmed him with contempt: "What good will they do by +making up their minds, I should like to know? of course they +would go and do the opposite. Sensible women don't pretend to +make up their minds, Mr. Carrington. But you men are so stupid, +and you can't understand in the least." + +Carrington gave it up, and went back to his stale question: Could +Sybil suggest any other resource? and Sybil sadly confessed that +she could not. So far as she could see, they must trust to luck, and +she thought it was cruel tor Mr. Carrington to go away and leave +her alone without help. He had promised to prevent the marriage. + +"One thing more I mean to do," said Carrington: "and here +everything will depend on your courage and nerve. You may +depend upon it that Mr. Ratcliffe will offer himself before you go +north. He does not suspect you of making trouble, and he will not +think about you in any way if you let him alone and keep quiet. +When he does offer himself you will know it; at least your sister +will tell you if she has accepted him. If she refuses him point +blank, you will have nothing to do but to keep her steady. If you +see her hesitating, you must break in at any cost, and use all your +influence to stop her. Be bold, then, and do your best. If everything +fails and she still clings to him, I must play my last card, or rather +you must play it for me. + +I shall leave with you a sealed letter which you are to give her if +everything else fails. Do it before she sees Ratcliffe a second time. +See that she reads it and, if necessary, make her read it, no matter +when or where. No one else must know that it exists, and you must +take as much care of it as though it were a diamond. You are not to +know what is in it; it must be a complete secret. Do you +understand?" + +Sybil thought she did, but her heart sank. "When shall you give me +this letter?" she asked. + +"The evening before I start, when I come to bid good-bye; probably +next Sunday. This letter is our last hope. If, after reading that, she +does not give him up, you will have to pack your trunk, my dear +Sybil, and find a new home, for you can never live with them." + +He had never before called her by her first name, and it pleased her +to hear it now, though she generally had a strong objection to such +familiarities. + +"Oh, I wish you were not going!" she exclaimed tearfully. "What +shall I do when you are gone?" + +At this pitiful appeal, Carrington felt a sudden pang. He found that +he was not so old as he had thought. Certainly he had grown to like +her frank honesty and sound common sense, and he had at length +discovered that she was handsome, with a very pretty figure. Was +it not something like a flirtation he had been carrying on with this +young person for the last month? A glimmering of suspicion +crossed his mind, though he got rid of it as quickly as possible. For +a man of his age and sobriety to be in love with two sisters at once +was impossible; still more impossible that Sybil should care for +him. + +As for her, however, there was no doubt about the matter. She had +grown to depend upon him, and she did it with all the blind +confidence of youth. To lose him was a serious disaster. She had +never before felt the sensation, and she thought it most +disagreeable. Her youthful diplomatists and admirers could not at +all fill Carrington's place. They danced and chirruped cheerfully on +the hollow crust of society, but they were wholly useless when one +suddenly fell through and found oneself struggling in the darkness +and dangers beneath. Young women, too, are apt to be flattered by +the confidences of older men; they have a keen palate for whatever +savours of experience and adventure. For the first time in her life, +Sybil had found a man who gave some play to her imagination; +one who had been a rebel, and had grown used to the shocks of +fate, so as to walk with calmness into the face of death, and to +command or obey with equal indifference. She felt that he would +tell her what to do when the earthquake came, and would be at +hand to consult, which is in a woman's eyes the great object of +men's existence, when trouble comes. She suddenly conceived that +Washington would be intolerable without him, and that she should +never get the courage to fight Mr. Ratcliffe alone, or, if she did, +she should make some fatal mistake. + +They finished their ride very soberly. She began to show a new +interest in all that concerned him, and asked many questions about +his sisters and their plantation. She wanted to ask him whether she +could not do something to help them, but this seemed too +awkward. On his part he made her promise to write him faithfully +all that took place, and this request pleased her, though she knew +his interest was all on her sister's account. + +The following Sunday evening when he came to bid good-bye, it +was still worse. There was no chance for private talk. Ratcliffe was +there, and several diplomatists, including old Jacobi, who had eyes +like a cat and saw every motion of one's face. Victoria Dare was +on the sofa, chattering with Lord Dunbeg; Sybil would rather have +had any ordinary illness, even to the extent of a light case of +scarlet fever or small-pox than let her know what was the matter. +Carrington found means to get Sybil into another room for a +moment and to give her the letter he had promised. Then he bade +her good-bye, and in doing so he reminded her of her promise to +write, pressing her hand and looking into her eyes with an +earnestness that made her heart beat faster, although she said to +herself that his interest was all about her sister; as it was--mostly. +The thought did not raise her spirits, but she went through with her +performance like a heroine. Perhaps she was a little pleased to see +that he parted from Madeleine with much less apparent feeling. +One would have said that they were two good friends who had no +troublesome sentiment to worry them. But then every eye in the +room was watching this farewell, and speculating about it. +Ratcliffe looked on with particular interest and was a little +perplexed to account for this too fraternal cordiality. Could he +have made a miscalculation? or was there something behind? He +himself insisted upon shaking hands genially with Carrington and +wished him a pleasant journey and a successful one. + +That night, for the first time since she was a child, Sybil actually +cried a little after she went to bed, although it is true that her +sentiment did not keep her awake. She felt lonely and weighed +down by a great responsibility. + +For a day or two afterwards she was nervous and restless. She +would not ride, or make calls, or see guests. She tried to sing a +little, and found it tiresome. She went out and sat for hours in the +Square, where the spring sun was shining warm and bright on the +prancing horse of the great Andrew Jackson. She was a little cross, +too, and absent, and spoke so often about Carrington that at last +Madeleine was struck by sudden suspicion, and began to watch her +with anxious care. + +Tuesday night, after this had gone on for two days, Sybil was in +Madeleine's room, where she often stayed to talk while her sister +was at her toilet. + +This evening she threw herself listlessly on the couch, and within +five minutes again quoted Carrington. Madeleine turned from the +glass before which she was sitting, and looked her steadily in the +face. + +"Sybil," said she, "this is the twenty-fourth time you have +mentioned Mr. + +Carrington since we sat down to dinner. I have waited for the +round number to decide whether I should take any notice of it or +not? what does it mean, my child? Do you care for Mr. +Carrington?" + +"Oh, Maude!" exclaimed Sybil reproachfully, flushing so violently +that, even by that dim light, her sister could not but see it. + +Mrs. Lee rose and, crossing the room, sat down by Sybil who was +lying on the couch and turned her face away. Madeleine put her +arms round her neck and kissed her. + +"My poor--poor child!" said she pityingly. "I never dreamed of +this! What a fool I have been! How could I have been so +thoughtless! Tell me!" she added, with a little hesitation; "has +he--does he care for you?" + +"No! no!" cried Sybil, fairly breaking down into a burst of tears; +"no! he loves you! nobody but you! he never gave a thought to me. +I don't care for him so very much," she continued, drying her tears; +"only it seems so lonely now he is gone." + +Mrs. Lee remained on the couch, with her arm round her sister's +neck, silent, gazing into vacancy, the picture of perplexity and +consternation. + +The situation was getting beyond her control. + +Chapter XI + +IN the middle of April a sudden social excitement started the +indolent city of Washington to its feet. The Grand-Duke and +Duchess of Saxe-Baden-Hombourg arrived in America on a tour of +pleasure, and in due course came on to pay their respects to the +Chief Magistrate of the Union. The newspapers hastened to inform +their readers that the Grand-Duchess was a royal princess of +England, and, in the want of any other social event, every one who +had any sense of what was due to his or her own dignity, hastened +to show this august couple the respect which all republicans who +have a large income derived from business, feel for English +royalty. New York gave a dinner, at which the most insignificant +person present was worth at least a million dollars, and where the +gentlemen who sat by the Princess entertained her for an hour or +two by a calculation of the aggregate capital represented. New +York also gave a ball at which the Princess appeared in an +ill-fitting black silk dress with mock lace and jet ornaments, +among several hundred toilets that proclaimed the refined +republican simplicity of their owners at a cost of various hundred +thousand dollars. After these hospitalities the Grand-ducal pair +came on to Washington, where they became guests of Lord Skye, +or, more properly, Lord Skye became their guest, for he seemed to +consider that he handed the Legation over to them, and he told +Mrs. Lee, with true British bluntness of speech, that they were a +great bore and he wished they had stayed in +Saxe-Baden-Hombourg, or wherever they belonged, but as they +were here, he must be their lackey. Mrs. Lee was amused and a +little astonished at the candour with which he talked about them, +and she was instructed and improved by his dry account of the +Princess, who, it seemed, made herself disagreeable by her airs of +royalty; who had suffered dreadfully from the voyage; and who +detested America and everything American; but who was, not +without some show of reason, jealous of her husband, and endured +endless sufferings, though with a very bad grace, rather than lose +sight of him. + +Not only was Lord Skye obliged to turn the Legation into an hotel, +but in the full enthusiasm of his loyalty he felt himself called upon +to give a ball. It was, he said, the easiest way of paying off all his +debts at once, and if the Princess was good for nothing else, she +could be utilized as a show by way of "promoting the harmony of +the two great nations." In other words, Lord Skye meant to exhibit +the Princess for his own diplomatic benefit, and he did so. One +would have thought that at this season, when Congress had +adjourned, Washington would hardly have afforded society enough +to fill a ball-room, but this, instead of being a drawback, was an +advantage. It permitted the British Minister to issue invitations +without limit. He asked not only the President and his Cabinet, and +the judges, and the army, and the navy, and all the residents of +Washington who had any claim to consideration, but also all the +senators, all the representatives in Congress, all the governors of +States with their staffs, if they had any, all eminent citizens and +their families throughout the Union and Canada, and finally every +private individual, from the North Pole to the Isthmus of Panama, +who had ever shown him a civility or was able to control interest +enough to ask for a card. The result was that Baltimore promised +to come in a body, and Philadelphia was equally well-disposed; +New York provided several scores of guests, and Boston sent the +governor and a delegation; even the well-known millionaire who +represented California in the United States Senate was irritated +because, his invitation having been timed to arrive just one day too +late, he was prevented from bringing his family across the +continent with a choice party in a director's car, to enjoy the smiles +of royalty in the halls of the British lion. It is astonishing what +efforts freemen will make in a just cause. + +Lord Skye himself treated the whole affair with easy contempt. +One afternoon he strolled into Mrs. Lee's parlour and begged her to +give him a cup of tea. + +He said he had got rid of his menagerie for a few hours by shunting +it off upon the German Legation, and he was by way of wanting a +little human society. Sybil, who was a great favourite with him, +entreated to be told all about the ball, but he insisted that he knew +no more than she did. A man from New York had taken possession +of the Legation, but what he would do with it was not within the +foresight of the wisest; trom the talk of the young members of his +Legation, Lord Skye gathered that the entire city was to be roofed +in and forty millions of people expected, but his own concern in +the affair was limited to the flowers he hoped to receive. + +"All young and beautiful women," said he to Sybil, "are to send me +flowers. + +I prefer Jacqueminot roses, but will accept any handsome variety, +provided they are not wired. It is diplomatic etiquette that each +lady who sends me flowers shall reserve at least one dance for me. +You will please inscribe this at once upon your tablets, Miss +Ross." + +To Madeleine this ball was a godsend, for it came just in time to +divert Sybil's mind from its troubles. A week had now passed since +that revelation of Sybil's heart which had come like an earthquake +upon Mrs. Lee. Since then Sybil had been nervous and irritable, all +the more because she was conscious of being watched. She was in +secret ashamed of her own conduct, and inclined to be angry with +Carrington, as though he were responsible for her foolishness; but +she could not talk with Madeleine on the subject without +discussing Mr. Ratcliffe, and Carrington had expressly forbidden +her to attack Mr. Ratcliffe until it was clear that Ratcliffe had laid +himself open to attack. This reticence deceived poor Mrs. Lee, +who saw in her sister's moods only that unrequited attachment for +which she held herself solely to blame. Her gross negligence in +allowing Sybil to be improperly exposed to such a risk weighed +heavily on her mind. With a saint's capacity for self-torment, +Madeleine wielded the scourge over her own back until the blood +came. She saw the roses rapidly fading from Sybil's cheeks, and by +the help of an active imagination she discovered a hectic look and +symptoms of a cough. She became fairly morbid on the subject, +and fretted herself into a fever, upon which Sybil sent, on her own +responsibility, for the medical man, and Madeleine was obliged to +dose herself with quinine. In fact, there was much more reason for +anxiety about her than for her anxiety about Sybil, who, barring a +little youthful nervousness in the face of responsibility, was as +healthy and comfortable a young woman as could be shown in +America, and whose sentiment never cost her five minutes' sleep, +although her appetite may have become a shade more exacting +than before. Madeleine was quick to notice this, and surprised her +cook by making daily and almost hourly demands for new and +impossible dishes, which she exhausted a library of cookery-books +to discover. + +Lord Skye's ball and Sybil's interest in it were a great relief to +Madeleine's mind, and she now turned her whole soul to frivolity. +Never, since she was seventeen, had she thought or talked so much +about a ball, as now about this ball to the Grand-Duchess. She +wore out her own brain in the effort to amuse Sybil. She took her +to call on the Princess; she would have taken her to call on the +Grand Lama had he come to Washington. She instigated her to +order and send to Lord Skye a mass of the handsomest roses New +York could afford. She set her at work on her dress several days +before there was any occasion for it, and this famous costume had +to be taken out, examined, criticised, and discussed with unending +interest. She talked about the dress, and the Princess, and the ball, +till her tongue clove to the roof of her mouth, and her brain refused +to act. From morning till night, for one entire week, she ate, drank, +breathed, and dreamt of the ball. Everything that love could +suggest or labour carry out, she did, to amuse and occupy her +sister. + +She knew that all this was only temporary and palliative, and that +more radical measures must be taken to secure Sybil's happiness. +On this subject she thought in secret until both head and heart +ached. One thing and one thing only was clear: if Sybil loved +Carrington, she should have him. How Madeleine expected to +bring about this change of heart in Carrington, was known only to +herself. She regarded men as creatures made for women to dispose +of, and capable of being transferred like checks, or baggage-labels, +from one woman to another, as desired. The only condition was +that he should first be completely disabused of the notion that he +could dispose of himself. Mrs. Lee never doubted that she could +make Carrington fall in love with Sybil provided she could place +herself beyond his reach. At all events, come what might, even +though she had to accept the desperate alternative offered by Mr. +Ratcliffe, nothing should be allowed to interfere with Sybil's +happiness. And thus it was, that, for the first time, Mrs. Lee began +to ask herself whether it was not better to find the solution of her +perplexities in marriage. + +Would she ever have been brought to this point without the violent +pressure of her sister's supposed interests? This is one of those +questions which wise men will not ask, because it is one which the +wisest man or woman cannot answer. Upon this theme, an army of +ingenious authors have exhausted their ingenuity in entertaining +the public, and their works are to be found at every book-stall. +They have decided that any woman will, under the right +conditions, marry any man at any time, provided her "higher +nature" is properly appealed to. Only with regret can a writer +forbear to moralize on this subject. "Beauty and the Beast," +"Bluebeard," "Auld Robin Gray," have the double charm to authors +of being very pleasant to read, and still easier to dilute with +sentiment. But at least ten thousand modern writers, with Lord +Macaulay at their head, have so ravaged and despoiled the region +of fairy-stories and fables, that an allusion even to the "Arabian +Nights" is no longer decent. The capacity of women to make +unsuitable marriages must be considered as the corner-stone of +society. + +Meanwhile the ball had, in truth, very nearly driven all thought of +Carrington out of Sybil's mind. The city filled again. The streets +swarmed with fashionable young men and women from the +provinces of New York, Philadelphia, and Boston, who gave Sybil +abundance of occupation. She received bulletins of the progress of +affairs. The President and his wife had consented to be present, out +of their high respect for Her Majesty the Queen and their desire to +see and to be seen. All the Cabinet would accompany the Chief +Magistrate. The diplomatic corps would appear in uniform; so, +too, the officers of the army and navy; the Governor-General of +Canada was coming, with a staff. Lord Skye remarked that the +Governor-General was a flat. + +The day of the ball was a day of anxiety to Sybil, although not on +account of Mr. Ratcliffe or of Mr. Carrington, who were of trifling +consequence compared with the serious problem now before her. +The responsibility of dressing both her sister and herself fell upon +Sybil, who was the real author of all Mrs. Lee's millinery triumphs +when they now occurred, except that Madeleine managed to put +character into whatever she wore, which Sybil repudiated on her +own account. On this day Sybil had reasons for special excitement. +All winter two new dresses, one especially a triumph of Mr. + +Worth's art, had lain in state upstairs, and Sybil had waited in vain +for an occasion that should warrant the splendour of these +garments. + +One afternoon in early June of the preceding summer, Mr. Worth +had received a letter on the part of the reigning favourite of the +King of Dahomey, directing him to create for her a ball-dress that +should annihilate and utterly destroy with jealousy and despair the +hearts of her seventy-five rivals; she was young and beautiful; +expense was not a consideration. Such were the words of her +chamberlain. All that night, the great genius of the nineteenth +century tossed wakefully on his bed revolving the problem in his +mind. Visions of flesh-coloured tints shot with blood-red perturbed +his brain, but he fought against and dismissed them; that +combination would be commonplace in Dahomey. When the first +rays of sunlight showed him the reflection of his careworn face in +the plate-glass mirrored ceiling, he rose and, with an impulse of +despair, flung open the casements. There before his blood-shot +eyes lay the pure, still, new-born, radiant June morning. With a cry +of inspiration the great man leaned out of the casement and rapidly +caught the details of his new conception. Before ten o'clock he was +again at his bureau in Paris. An imperious order brought to his +private room every silk, satin, and gauze within the range of pale +pink, pale crocus, pale green, silver and azure. Then came +chromatic scales of colour; combinations meant to vulgarise the +rainbow; sinfonies and fugues; the twittering of birds and the great +peace of dewy nature; maidenhood in her awakening innocence; +"The Dawn in June." The Master rested content. + +A week later came an order from Sybil, including "an entirely +original ball-dress,--unlike any other sent to America." Mr. Worth +pondered, hesitated; recalled Sybil's figure; the original pose of her +head; glanced anxiously at the map, and speculated whether the +New York Herald had a special correspondent at Dahomey; and at +last, with a generosity peculiar to great souls, he duplicated for +"Miss S. Ross, New York, U.S. America," the order for "L'Aube, +Mois de Juin." + +The Schneidekoupons and Mr. French, who had reappeared in +Washington, came to dine with Mrs. Lee on the evening of the +ball, and Julia Schneidekoupon sought in vain to discover what +Sybil was going to wear. "Be happy, my dear, in your ignorance!" +said Sybil; "the pangs of envy will rankle soon enough." + +An hour later her room, except the fireplace, where a wood fire +was gently smouldering, became an altar of sacrifice to the Deity +of Dawn in June. Her bed, her low couch, her little tables, her +chintz arm-chairs, were covered with portions of the divinity, +down to slippers and handkerchief, gloves and bunches of fresh +roses. When at length, after a long effort, the work was complete, +Mrs. Lee took a last critical look at the result, and enjoyed a glow +of satisfaction. Young, happy, sparkling with consciousness of +youth and beauty, Sybil stood, Hebe Anadyomene, rising from the +foam of soft creplisse which swept back beneath the long train of +pale, tender, pink silk, fainting into breadths of delicate primrose, +relieved here and there by facings of June green--or was it the blue +of early morning? --or both? + +suggesting unutterable freshness. A modest hint from her maid that +"the girls," as women-servants call each other in American +households, would like to offer their share of incense at the shrine, +was amiably met, and they were allowed a glimpse of the divinity +before she was enveloped in wraps. An admiring group, huddled in +the doorway, murmured approval, from the leading "girl," who was +the cook, a coloured widow of some sixty winters, whose +admiration was irrepressible, down to a New England spinster +whose Anabaptist conscience wrestled with her instincts, and who, +although disapproving of "French folks," paid in her heart that +secret homage to their gowns and bonnets which her sterner lips +refused. The applause of this audience has, from generation to +generation, cheered the hearts of myriads of young women starting +out on their little adventures, while the domestic laurels flourish +green and fresh for one half hour, until they wither at the threshold +of the ball-room. + +Mrs. Lee toiled long and earnestly over her sister's toilet, for had +not she herself in her own day been the best-dressed girl in New +York?--at least, she held that opinion, and her old instincts came to +life again whenever Sybil was to be prepared for any great +occasion. Madeleine kissed her sister affectionately, and gave her +unusual praise when the "Dawn in June" was complete. Sybil was +at this moment the ideal of blooming youth, and Mrs. Lee almost +dared to hope that her heart was not permanently broken, and that +she might yet survive until Carrington could be brought back. Her +own toilet was a much shorter affair, but Sybil was impatient long +before it was concluded; the carriage was waiting, and she was +obliged to disappoint her household by coming down enveloped in +her long opera-cloak, and hurrying away. + +When at length the sisters entered the reception-room at the British +Legation, Lord Skye rebuked them for not having come early to +receive with him. His Lordship, with a huge riband across his +breast, and a star on his coat, condescended to express himself +vigorously on the subject of the "Dawn in June." Schneidekoupon, +who was proud of his easy use of the latest artistic jargon, looked +with respect at Mrs. Lee's silver-gray satin and its Venetian lace, +the arrangement of which had been conscientiously stolen from a +picture in the Louvre, and he murmured audibly, "Nocturne in +silver-gray!"--then, turning to Sybil--"and you? Of course! I see! A +song without words!" Mr. French came up and, in his most +fascinating tones, exclaimed, "Why, Mrs. Lee, you look real +handsome to-night!" Jacobi, after a close scrutiny, said that he took +the liberty of an old man in telling them that they were both +dressed absolutely without fault. Even the Grand-Duke was struck +by Sybil, and made Lord Skye introduce him, after which +ceremony he terrified her by asking the pleasure of a waltz. She +disappeared from Madeleine's view, not to be brought back again +until Dawn met dawn. + +The ball was, as the newspapers declared, a brilliant success. +Every one who knows the city of Washington will recollect that, +among some scores of magnificent residences which our own and +foreign governments have built for the comfort of cabinet officers, +judges, diplomatists, vice-presidents, speakers, and senators, the +British Legation is by far the most impressive. + +Combining in one harmonious whole the proportions of the Pitti +Palace with the decoration of the Casa d'Oro and the dome of an +Eastern Mosque, this architectural triumph offers extraordinary +resources for society. Further description is unnecessary, since +anyone may easily refer back to the New York newspapers of the +following morning, where accurate plans of the house on the +ground floor, will be found; while the illustrated newspapers of the +same week contain excellent sketches of the most pleasing scenic +effects, as well as of the ball-room and of the Princess smiling +graciously from her throne. The lady just behind the Princess on +her left, is Mrs. Lee, a poor likeness, but easily distinguishable +from the fact that the artist, for his own objects, has made her +rather shorter, and the Princess rather taller, than was strictly +correct, just as he has given the Princess a gracious smile, which +was quite different from her actual expression. In short, the artist is +compelled to exhibit the world rather as we would wish it to be, +than as it was or is, or, indeed, is like shortly to become. The +strangest part of his picture is, however, the fact that he actually +did see Mrs. Lee where he has put her, at the Princess's elbow, +which was almost the last place in the room where any one who +knew Mrs. Lee would have looked for her. + +The explanation of this curious accident shall be given +immediately, since the facts are not mentioned in the public +reports of the ball, which only said that, "close behind her Royal +Highness the Grand-Duchess, stood our charming and aristocratic +countrywoman, Mrs. Lightfoot Lee, who has made so great a +sensation in Washington this winter, and whose name public +rumour has connected with that of the Secretary of the Treasury. +To her the Princess appeared to address most of her conversation." + +The show was a very pretty one, and on a pleasant April evening +there were many places less agreeable to be in than this. Much +ground outside had been roofed over, to make a ball-room, large as +an opera-house, with a das and a sofa in the centre of one long +side, and another das with a second sofa immediately opposite to +it in the centre of the other long side. Each das had a canopy of +red velvet, one bearing the Lion and the Unicorn, the other the +American Eagle. The Royal Standard was displayed above the +Unicorn; the Stars-and-Stripes, not quite so effectively, waved +above the Eagle. The Princess, being no longer quite a child, found +gas trying to her complexion, and compelled Lord Skye to +illuminate her beauty by one hundred thousand wax candies, more +or less, which were arranged to be becoming about the +Grand-ducal throne, and to be showy and unbecoming about the +opposite institution across the way. + +The exact facts were these. It had happened that the +Grand-Duchess, having been necessarily brought into contact with +the President, and particularly with his wife, during the past week, +had conceived for the latter an antipathy hardly to be expressed in +words. Her fixed determination was at any cost to keep the +Presidential party at a distance, and it was only after a stormy +scene that the Grand-Duke and Lord Skye succeeded in extorting +her consent that the President should take her to supper. Further +than this she would not go. She would not speak to "that woman," +as she called the President's wife, nor be in her neighbourhood. +She would rather stay in her own room all the evening, and she did +not care in the least what the Queen would think of it, for she was +no subject of the Queen's. The case was a hard one for Lord Skye, +who was perplexed to know, from this point of view, why he was +entertaining the Princess at all; but, with the help of the +Grand-Duke and Lord Dunbeg, who was very active and smiled +deprecation with some success, he found a way out of it; and this +was the reason why there were two thrones in the ball-room, and +why the British throne was lighted with such careful reference to +the Princess's complexion. Lord Skye immolated himself in the +usual effort of British and American Ministers, to keep the two +great powers apart. He and the Grand-Duke and Lord Dunbeg +acted as buffers with watchful diligence, dexterity, and success. As +one resource, Lord Skye had bethought himself of Mrs. Lee, and +he told the Princess the story of Mrs. Lee's relations with the +President's wife, a story which was no secret in Washington, for, +apart from Madeleine's own account, society was left in no doubt +of the light in which Mrs. Lee was regarded by the mistress of the +White House, whom Washington ladles were now in the habit of +drawing out on the subject of Mrs. Lee, and who always rose to the +bait with fresh vivacity, to the amusement and delight of Victoria +Dare and other mischief-makers. + +"She will not trouble you so long as you can keep Mrs. Lee in your +neighbourhood," said Lord Skye, and the Princess accordingly +seized upon Mrs. Lee and brandished her, as though she were a +charm against the evil eye, in the face of the President's party. She +made Mrs. Lee take a place just behind her as though she were a +lady-in-waiting. She even graciously permitted her to sit down, so +near that their chairs touched. Whenever "that woman" was within +sight, which was most of the time, the Princess directed her +conversation entirely to Mrs. Lee and took care to make it evident. +Even before the Presidential party had arrived, Madeleine had +fallen into the Princess's grasp, and when the Princess went +forward to receive the President and his wife, which she did with a +bow of stately and distant dignity, she dragged Madeleine closely +by her side. Mrs. Lee bowed too; she could not well help it; but +was cut dead for her pains, with a glare of contempt and hatred. +Lord Skye, who was acting as cavalier to the President's wife, was +panic-stricken, and hastened to march his democratic potentate +away, under pretence of showing her the decorations. He placed +her at last on her own throne, where he and the Grand-Duke +relieved each other in standing guard at intervals throughout the +evening. When the Princess followed with the President, she +compelled her husband to take Mrs. Lee on his arm and conduct +her to the British throne, with no other object than to exasperate +the President's wife, who, from her elevated platform, looked +down upon the cortge with a scowl. + +In all this affair Mrs. Lee was the principal sufferer. No one could +relieve her, and she was literally penned in as she sat. The Princess +kept up an incessant fire of small conversation, principally +complaint and fault-finding, which no one dared to interrupt. Mrs. +Lee was painfully bored, and after a time even the absurdity of the +thing ceased to amuse her. + +She had, too, the ill-luck to make one or two remarks which +appealed to some hidden sense of humour in the Princess, who +laughed and, in the style of royal personages, gave her to +understand that she would like more amusement of the same sort. +Of all things in life, Mrs. Lee held this kind of court-service in +contempt, for she was something more than republican--a little +communistic at heart, and her only serious complaint of the +President and his wife was that they undertook to have a court and +to ape monarchy. + +She had no notion of admitting social superiority in any one, +President or Prince, and to be suddenly converted into a +lady-in-waiting to a small German Grand-Duchess, was a terrible +blow. But what was to be done? Lord Skye had drafted her into the +service and she could not decently refuse to help him when he +came to her side and told her, with his usual calm directness, what +his difficulties were, and how he counted upon her to help him out. + +The same play went on at supper, where there was a +royal-presidential table, which held about two dozen guests, and +the two great ladies presiding, as far apart as they could be placed. +The Grand-Duke and Lord Skye, on either side of the President's +wife, did their duty like men, and were rewarded by receiving from +her much information about the domestic arrangements of the +White House. The President, however, who sat next the Princess at +the opposite end, was evidently depressed, owing partly to the fact +that the Princess, in defiance of all etiquette, had compelled Lord +Dunbeg to take Mrs. Lee to supper and to place her directly next +the President. Madeleine tried to escape, but was stopped by the +Princess, who addressed her across the President and in a decided +tone asked her to sit precisely there. Mrs. + +Lee looked timidly at her neighbour, who made no sign, but ate his +supper in silence only broken by an occasional reply to a rare +remark. Mrs. Lee pitied him, and wondered what his wife would +say when they reached home. She caught Ratcliffe's eye down the +table, watching her with a smile; she tried to talk fluently with +Dunbeg; but not until supper was long over and two o'clock was at +hand; not until the Presidential party, under all the proper +formalities, had taken their leave of the Grand-ducal party; not +until Lord Skye had escorted them to their carriage and returned to +say that they were gone, did the Princess loose her hold upon Mrs. +Lee and allow her to slip away into obscurity. + +Meanwhile the ball had gone on after the manner of balls. As +Madeleine sat in her enforced grandeur she could watch all that +passed. She had seen Sybil whirling about with one man after +another, amid a swarm of dancers, enjoying herself to the utmost +and occasionally giving a nod and a smile to her sister as their eyes +met. There, too, was Victoria Dare, who never appeared flurried +even when waltzing with Lord Dunbeg, whose education as a +dancer had been neglected. The fact was now fully recognized that +Victoria was carrying on a systematic flirtation with Dunbeg, and +had undertaken as her latest duty the task of teaching him to waltz. +His struggles and her calmness in assisting them commanded +respect. On the opposite side of the room, by the republican +throne, Mrs. Lee had watched Mr. Ratcliffe standing by the +President, who appeared unwilling to let him out of arm's length +and who seemed to make to him most of his few remarks. +Schneidekoupon and his sister were mixed in the throng, dancing +as though England had never countenanced the heresy of +free-trade. On the whole, Mrs. Lee was satisfied. + +If her own sufferings were great, they were not without reward. +She studied all the women in the ball-room, and if there was one +prettier than Sybil, Madeleine's eyes could not discover her. If +there was a more perfect dress, Madeleine knew nothing of +dressing. On these points she felt the confidence of conviction. Her +calm would have been complete, had she felt quite sure that none +of Sybil's gaiety was superficial and that it would not be followed +by reaction. She watched nervously to see whether her face +changed its gay expression, and once she thought it became +depressed, but this was when the Grand-Duke came up to claim his +waltz, and the look rapidly passed away when they got upon the +floor and his Highness began to wheel round the room with a +precision and momentum that would have done honour to a +regiment of Life Guards. He seemed pleased with his experiment, +for he was seen again and again careering over the floor with Sybil +until Mrs. Lee herself became nervous, for the Princess frowned. + +After her release Madeleine lingered awhile in the ball-room to +speak with her sister and to receive congratulations. For half an +hour she was a greater belle than Sybil. A crowd of men clustered +about her, amused at the part she had played in the evening's +entertainment and full of compliments upon her promotion at +Court. Lord Skye himself found time to offer her his thanks in a +more serious tone than he generally affected. "You have suffered +much," said he, "and I am grateful." Madeleine laughed as she +answered that her sufferings had seemed nothing to her while she +watched his. But at last she became weary of the noise and glare of +the ball-room, and, accepting the arm of her excellent friend Count +Popoff, she strolled with him back to the house. There at last she +sat down on a sofa in a quiet window-recess where the light was +less strong and where a convenient laurel spread its leaves in front +so as to make a bower through which she could see the passers-by +without being seen by them except with an effort. Had she been a +younger woman, this would have been the spot for a flirtation, but +Mrs. Lee never flirted, and the idea of her flirting with Popoff +would have seemed ludicrous to all mankind. + +He did not sit down, but was leaning against the angle of the wall, +talking with her, when suddenly Mr. Ratcliffe appeared and took +the seat by her side with such deliberation and apparent sense of +property that Popoff incontinently turned and fled. No one knew +where the Secretary came from, or how he learned that she was +there. He made no explanation and she took care to ask for none. +She gave him a highly-coloured account of her evening's service as +lady-in-waiting, which he matched by that of his own trials as +gentleman-usher to the President, who, it seemed, had clung +desperately to his old enemy in the absence of any other rock to +clutch at. + +Ratcliffe looked the character of Prime Minister sufficiently well +at this moment. He would have held his own, at a pinch, in any +Court, not merely in Europe but in India or China, where dignity is +still expected of gentlemen. + +Excepting for a certain coarse and animal expression about the +mouth, and an indefinable coldness in the eye, he was a handsome +man and still in his prime. Every one remarked how much he was +improved since entering the Cabinet. He had dropped his +senatorial manner. His clothes were no longer congressional, but +those of a respectable man, neat and decent. His shirts no longer +protruded in the wrong places, nor were his shirt-collars frayed or +soiled. His hair did not stray over his eyes, ears, and coat, like that +of a Scotch terrier, but had got itself cut. Having overheard Mrs. +Lee express on one occasion her opinion of people who did not +take a cold bath every morning, he had thought it best to adopt this +reform, although he would not have had it generally known, tot it +savoured ot caste. He made an effort not to be dictatorial and to +forget that he had been the Prairie Giant, the bully of the Senate. In +short, what with Mrs. Lee's influence and what with his +emancipation from the Senate chamber with its code of bad +manners and worse morals, Mr. Ratcliffe was fast becoming a +respectable member of society whom a man who had never been +in prison or in politics might safely acknowledge as a friend. + +Mr. Ratcliffe was now evidently bent upon being heard. After +charting for a time with some humour on the President's successes +as a man of fashion, he changed the subject to the merits of the +President as a statesman, and little by little as he spoke he became +serious and his voice sank into low and confidential tones. He +plainly said that the President's incapacity had now become +notorious among his followers; that it was only with difficulty his +Cabinet and friends could prevent him from making a fool of +himself fifty times a day; that all the party leaders who had +occasion to deal with him were so thoroughly disgusted that the +Cabinet had to pass its time in trying to pacify them; while this +state of things lasted, Ratcliffe's own influence must be +paramount; he had good reason to know that if the Presidential +election were to take place this year, nothing could prevent his +nomination and election; even at three years' distance the chances +in his favour were at least two to one; and after this exordium he +went on in a low tone with increasing earnestness, while Mrs. Lee +sat motionless as the statue of Agrippina, her eyes fixed on the +ground: + +"I am not one of those who are happy in political life. I am a +politician because I cannot help myself; it is the trade I am fittest +for, and ambition is my resource to make it tolerable. In politics +we cannot keep our hands clean. I have done many things in my +political career that are not defensible. To act with entire honesty +and self-respect, one should always live in a pure atmosphere, and +the atmosphere of politics is impure. + +Domestic life is the salvation of many public men, but I have for +many years been deprived of it. I have now come to that point +where increasing responsibilities and temptations make me require +help. I must have it. You alone can give it to me. You are kind, +thoughtful, conscientious, high-minded, cultivated, fitted better +than any woman I ever saw, for public duties. Your place is there. +You belong among those who exercise an influence beyond their +time. I only ask you to take the place which is yours." + +This desperate appeal to Mrs. Lee's ambition was a calculated part +of Ratcliffe's scheme. He was well aware that he had marked high +game, and that in proportion to this height must be the power of +his lure. Nor was he embarrassed because Mrs. Lee sat still and +pale with her eyes fixed on the ground and her hands twisted +together in her lap. The eagle that soars highest must be longer in +descending to the ground than the sparrow or the partridge. Mrs. +Lee had a thousand things to think about in this brief time, and yet +she found that she could not think at all; a succession of mere +images and fragments of thought passed rapidly over her mind, +and her will exercised no control upon their order or their nature. +One of these fleeting reflections was that in all the offers of +marriage she had ever heard, this was the most unsentimental and +businesslike. As for his appeal to her ambition, it fell quite dead +upon her ear, but a woman must be more than a heroine who can +listen to flattery so evidently sincere, from a man who is +pre-eminent among men, without being affected by it. To her, +however, the great and overpowering fact was that she found +herself unable to retreat or escape; her tactics were disconcerted, +her temporary barriers beaten down. + +The offer was made. What should she do with it? + +She had thought for months on this subject without being able to +form a decision; what hope was there that she should be able to +decide now, in a ball-room, at a minute's notice? When, as +occasionally happens, the conflicting sentiments, prejudices, and +passions of a lifetime are compressed into a single instant, they +sometimes overcharge the mind and it refuses to work. Mrs. Lee +sat still and let things take their course; a dangerous expedient, as +thousands of women have learned, for it leaves them at the mercy +of the strong will, bent upon mastery. + +The music from the ball-room did not stop. Crowds of persons +passed by their retreat. Some glanced in, and not one of these felt a +doubt what was going on there. An unmistakeable atmosphere of +mystery and intensity surrounded tfle pair. Ratcliffe's eyes were +fixed upon Mrs. Lee, and hers on the ground. Neither seemed to +speak or to stir. Old Baron Jacobi, who never failed to see +everything, saw this as he went by, and ejaculated a foreign oath of +frightful import. Victoria Dare saw it and was devoured by +curiosity to such a point as to be hardly capable of containing +herself. + +After a silence which seemed interminable, Ratcliffe went on: "I +do not speak of my own feelings because I know that unless +compelled by a strong sense of duty, you will not be decided by +any devotion of mine. But I honestly say that I have learned to +depend on you to a degree I can hardly express; and when I think +of what I should be without you, life seems to me so intolerably +dark that I am ready to make any sacrifice, to accept any +conditions that will keep you by my side." + +Meanwhile Victoria Dare, although deeply interested in what +Dunbeg was telling her, had met Sybil and had stopped a single +second to whisper in her ear: "You had better look after your sister, +in the window, behind the laurel with Mr. Ratcliffe!" Sybil was on +Lord Skye's arm, enjoying herself amazingly, though the night was +far gone, but when she caught Victoria's words, the expression of +her face wholly changed. All the anxieties and terrors of the last +fortnight, came back upon it. She dragged Lord Skye across the +hall and looked in upon her sister. One glance was enough. + +Desperately frightened but afraid to hesitate, she went directly up +to Madeleine who was still sitting like a statue, listening to +Ratcliffe's last words. As she hurriedly entered, Mrs. Lee, looking +up, caught sight of her pale face, and started from her seat. + +"Are you ill, Sybil?" she exclaimed; "is anything the matter?" + +"A little--fatigued," gasped Sybil; "I thought you might be ready to +go home." + +"I am," cried Madeleine; "I am quite ready. Good evening, Mr. +Ratcliffe. I will see you to-morrow. Lord Skye, shall I take leave of +the Princess?" + +"The Princess retired half an hour ago," replied Lord Skye, who +saw the situation and was quite ready to help Sybil; "let me take +you to the dressing-room and order your carriage." Mr. Ratcliffe +found himself suddenly left alone, while Mrs. Lee hurried away, +torn by fresh anxieties. They had reached the dressing-room and +were nearly ready to go home, when Victora Dare suddenly dashed +in upon them, with an animation of manner very unusual in her, +and, seizing Sybil by the hand, drew her into an adjoining room +and shut the door. "Can you keep a secret?" said she abruptly. + +"What!" said Sybil, looking at her with open-mouthed interest; +"you don't mean--are you really--tell me, quick!" + +"Yes!" said Victoria relapsing into composure; "I am engaged!" + +"To Lord Dunbeg?" + +Victoria nodded, and Sybil, whose nerves were strung to the +highest pitch by excitement, flattery, fatigue, perplexity, and terror, +burst into a paroxysm of laughter, that startled even the calm Miss +Dare. + +"Poor Lord Dunbeg! don't be hard on him, Victoria!" she gasped +when at last she found breath; "do you really mean to pass the rest +of your life in Ireland? Oh, how much you will teach them!" + +"You forget, my dear," said Victoria, who had placidly enthroned +herself on the foot of a bed, "that I am not a pauper. I am told that +Dunbeg Castle is a romantic summer residence, and in the dull +season we shall of course go to London or somewhere. I shall be +civil to you when you come over. Don't you think a coronet will +look well on me?" + +Sybil burst again into laughter so irrepressible and prolonged that +it puzzled even poor Dunbeg, who was impatiently pacing the +corridor outside. + +It alarmed Madeleine, who suddenly opened the door. Sybil +recovered herself, and, her eyes streaming with tears, presented +Victoria to her sister: + +"Madeleine, allow me to introduce you to the Countess Dunbeg!" + +But Mrs. Lee was much too anxious to feel any interest in Lady +Dunbeg. A sudden fear struck her that Sybil was going into +hysterics because Victoria's engagement recalled her own +disappointment. She hurried her sister away to the carriage. + +Chapter XII + +THEY drove home in silence, Mrs. Lee disturbed with anxieties +and doubts, partly caused by her sister, partly by Mr. Ratcliffe; +Sybil divided between amusement at Victoria's conquest, and +alarm at her own boldness in meddling with her sister's affairs. +Desperation, however, was stronger than fear. She made up her +mind that further suspense was not to be endured; she would fight +her baffle now before another hour was lost; surely no time could +be better. A few moments brought them to their door. Mrs. Lee +had told her maid not to wait for them, and they were alone. The +fire was still alive on Madeleine's hearth, and she threw more +wood upon it. Then she insisted that Sybil must go to bed at once. +But Sybil refused; she felt quite well, she said, and not in the least +sleepy; she had a great deal to talk about, and wanted to get it off +her mind. Nevertheless, her feminine regard for the "Dawn in +June" led her to postpone what she had to say until with +Madeleine's help she had laid the triumph of the ball carefully +aside; then, putting on her dressing-gown, and hastily plunging +Carrington's letter into her breast, like a concealed weapon, she +hurried back to Madeleine's room and established herself in a chair +before the fire. There, after a moment's pause, the two women +began their long-deferred trial of strength, in which the match was +so nearly equal as to make the result doubtful; for, if Madeleine +were much the cleverer, Sybil in this case knew much better what +she wanted, and had a clear idea how she meant to gain it, while +Madeleine, unsuspicious of attack, had no plan of defence at all. + +"Madeleine," began Sybil, solemnly, and with a violent palpitation +of the heart, "I want you to tell me something." + +"What is it, my child?" said Mrs. Lee, puzzled, and yet half ready +to see that there must be some connection between her sister's +coming question and the sudden illness at the ball, which had +disappeared as suddenly as it came. + +"Do you mean to marry Mr. Ratcliffe?" + +Poor Mrs. Lee was quite disconcerted by the directness of the +attack. This fatal question met her at every turn. Hardly had she +succeeded in escaping trom it at the ball scarcely an hour ago, by a +stroke of good fortune for which she now began to see she was +indebted to Sybil, and here it was again presented to her face like a +pistol. The whole town, then, was asking it. + +Ratcliffe's offer must have been seen by half Washington, and her +reply was awaited by an immense audience, as though she were a +political returning-board. Her disgust was intense, and her first +answer to Sybil was a quick inquiry: + +"Why do you ask such a question? have you heard anything,--has +anyone talked about it to you?" + +"No!" replied Sybil; "but I must know; I can see for myself without +being told, that Mr. Racliffe is trying to make you marry him. I +don't ask out of curiosity; this is something that concerns me +nearly as much as it does you yourself. Please tell me! don't treat +me like a child any longer! let me know what you are thinking +about! I am so tired of being left in the dark! + +You have no idea how much this thing weighs on me. Oh, Maude, +I shall never be happy again until you trust me about this." + +Mrs. Lee felt a little pang of conscience, and seemed suddenly to +become conscious of a new coil, tightening about her, in this +wretched complication. Unable to see her way, ignorant of her +sister's motives, urged on by the idea that Sybil's happiness was +involved, she was now charged with want of feeling, and called +upon for a direct answer to a plain question. + +How could she aver that she did not mean to marry Mr. Ratcliffe? +to say this would be to shut the door on all the objects she had at +heart. If a direct answer must be given, it was better to say "Yes!" +and have it over; better to leap blindly and see what came of it. +Mrs. Lee, therefore, with an internal gasp, but with no visible sign +of excitement, said, as though she were in a dream: + +"Well, Sybil, I will tell you. I would have told you long ago if I had +known myself. Yes! I have made up my mind to marry Mr. +Ratcliffe!" + +Sybil sprang to her feet with a cry: "And have you told him so?" +she asked. + +"No! you came and interrupted us just as we were speaking. I was +glad you did come, for it gives me a little time to think. But I am +decided now. I shall tell him to-morrow." + +This was not said with the air or one wnose heart beat warmly at +the thought of confessing her love. Mrs. Lee spoke mechanically, +and almost with an effort. Sybil flung herself with all her energy +upon her sister; violently excited, and eager to make herself heard, +without waiting for arguments, she broke out into a torrent of +entreaties: "Oh, don't, don't, don't! Oh, please, please, don't, my +dearest, dearest Maude! unless you want to break my heart, don't +marry that man! You can't love him! You can never be happy with +him! he will take you away to Peonia, and you will die there! I +shall never see you again! He will make you unhappy; he will beat +you, I know he will! Oh, if you care for me at all, don't marry him! +Send him away! don't see him again! let us go ourselves, now, in +the morning train, before he comes back. I'm all ready; I'll pack +everything for you; we'll go to Newport; to Europe--anywhere, to +be out of his reach!" + +With this passionate appeal, Sybil threw herself on her knees by +her sister's side, and, clasping her arms around Madeleine's waist, +sobbed as though her heart were already broken. Had Carrington +seen her then he must have admitted that she had carried out his +instructions to the letter. She was quite honest, too, in it all. She +meant what she said, and her tears were real tears that had been +pent up for weeks. Unluckily, her logic was feeble. Her idea of Mr. +Ratcliffe's character was vague, and biased by mere theories of +what a Prairie Giant of Peonia should be in his domestic relations. +Her idea of Peonia, too, was indistinct. She was haunted by a +vision of her sister, sitting on a horse-hair sofa before an air-tight +iron stove in a small room with high, bare white walls, a +chromolithograph on each, and at her side a marble-topped table +surmounted by a glass vase containing funereal dried grasses; the +only literature, Frank Leslie's periodical and the New York Ledger, +with a strong smell of cooking everywhere prevalent. Here she saw +Madeleine receiving visitors, the wives of neighbours and +constituents, who told her the Peonia news. + +Notwithstanding her ignorant and unreasonable prejudice against +western men and women, western towns and prairies, and, in short, +everything western, down to western politics and western +politicians, whom she perversely asserted to be tue lowest ot all +western products, there was still some common sense in Sybil's +idea. When that inevitable hour struck for Mr. + +Ratcliffe, which strikes sooner or later for all politicians, and an +ungrateful country permitted him to pine among his friends in +Illinois, what did he propose to do with his wife? Did he seriously +suppose that she, who was bored to death by New York, and had +been able to find no permanent pleasure in Europe, would live +quietly in the romantic village of Peonia? If not, did Mr. Ratcliffe +imagine that they could find happiness in the enjoyment of each +other's society, and of Mrs. Lee's income, in the excitements of +Washington? In the ardour of his pursuit, Mr. Ratcliffe had +accepted in advance any conditions which Mrs. Lee might impose, +but if he really imagined that happiness and content lay on the +purple rim of this sunset, he had more confidence in women and in +money than a wider experience was ever likely to justify. + +Whatever might be Mr. Ratcliffe's schemes for dealing with these +obstacles they could hardly be such as would satisfy Sybil, who, if +inaccurate in her theories about Prairie Giants, yet understood +women, and especially her sister, much better than Mr. Ratcliffe +ever could do. Here she was safe, and it would have been better +had she said no more, for Mrs. Lee, though staggered for a moment +by her sister's vehemence, was reassured by what seemed the +absurdity of her fears. Madeleine rebelled against this hysterical +violence of opposition, and became more fixed in her decision. + +She scolded her sister in good, set terms-- + +"Sybil, Sybil! you must not be so violent. Behave like a woman, +and not like a spoiled child!" + +Mrs. Lee, like most persons who have to deal with spoiled or +unspoiled children, resorted to severity, not so much because it +was the proper way of dealing with them, as because she knew not +what else to do. She was thoroughly uncomfortable and weary. She +was not satisfied with herself or with her own motives. Doubt +encompassed her on all sides, and her worst opponent was that +sister whose happiness had turned the scale against her own +judgment. + +Nevertheless her tactics answered their object of checking Sybil's +vehemence. Her sobs came to an end, and she presently rose with a +quieter air. + +"Madeleine," said she, "do you really want to marry Mr. +Ratcliffe?" + +"What else can I do, my dear Sybil? I want to do whatever is for +the best. I thought you might be pleased." + +"You thought I might be pleased?" cried Sybil in astonishment. +"What a strange idea! If you had ever spoken to me about it I +should have told you that I hate him, and can't understand how you +can abide him. But I would rather marry him myself than see you +marry him. I know that you will kill yourself with unhappiness +when you have done it. Oh, Maude, please tell me that you won't!" +And Sybil began gently sobbing again, while she caressed her +sister. + +Mrs. Lee was infinitely distressed. To act against the wishes of her +nearest friends was hard enough, but to appear harsh and unfeeling +to the one being whose happiness she had at heart, was intolerable. +Yet no sensible woman, after saying that she meant to marry a man +like Mr. Ratcliffe, could throw him over merely because another +woman chose to behave like a spoiled child. + +Sybil was more childish than Madeleine herself had supposed. She +could not even see where her own interest lay. She knew no more +about Mr. Ratcliffe and the West than if he were the giant of a +fairy-story, and lived at the top of a bean-stalk. She must be treated +as a child; with gentleness, affection, forbearance, but with +firmness and decision. She must be refused what she asked, for her +own good. + +Thus it came about that at last Mrs. Lee spoke, with an appearance +of decision far from representing her internal tremor. + +"Sybil, dear, I have made up my mind to marry Mr. Ratcliffe +because there is no other way of making every one happy. You +need not be afraid of him. He is kind and generous. Besides, I can +take care of myself; and I will take care of you too. Now let us not +discuss it any more. It is broad daylight, and we are both tired out." + +Sybil grew at once perfectly calm, and standing before her sister, +as though their rles were henceforward to be reversed, said: + +"You have really made up your mind, then? Nothing I can say will +change it?" + +Mrs. Lee, looking at her with more surprise than ever, could not +force herself to speak; but she shook her head slowly and +decidedly. + +"Then," said Sybil, "there is only one thing more I can do. You +must read this!" and she drew out Carrington's letter, which she +held before Madeleine's face. + +"Not now, Sybil!" remonstrated Mrs. Lee, dreading another long +struggle. "I will read it after we have had some rest. Go to bed +now!" + +"I do not leave this room, nor will I ever go to bed until you have +read that letter," answered Sybil, seating herself again before the +fire with the resolution of Queen Elizabeth; "not if I sit here till +you are married. I promised Mr. Carrington that you should read it +instantly; it's all I can do now." With a sigh, Mrs. Lee drew up the +window-curtain, and in the gray morning light sat down to break +the seal and read the following letter:-- + +"Washington, 2nd April. + +"My dear Mrs. Lee, "This letter will only come into your hands in +case there should be a necessity for your knowing its contents. +Nothing short of necessity would excuse my writing it. I have to +ask your pardon for intruding again upon your private affairs. In +this case, if I did not intrude, you would have cause for serious +complaint against me. + +"You asked me the other day whether I knew anything against Mr. +Ratcliffe which the world did not know, to account for my low +opinion of his character. I evaded your question then. I was bound +by professional rules not to disclose facts that came to me under a +pledge of confidence. I am going to violate these rules now, only +because I owe you a duty which seems to me to override all others. + +"I do know facts in regard to Mr. Ratcliffe, which have seemed to +me to warrant a very low opinion of his character, and to mark him +as unfit to be, I will not say your husband, but even your +acquaintance. + +"You know that I am executor to Samuel Baker's will. You know +who Samuel Baker was. You have seen his wife. She has told you +herself that I assisted her in the examination and destruction of all +her husband's private papers according to his special death-bed +request. One of the first facts I learned from these papers and her +explanations, was the following. + +"Just eight years ago, the great 'Inter-Oceanic Mail Steamship +Company,' wished to extend its service round the world, and, in +order to do so, it applied to Congress for a heavy subsidy. The +management of this affair was put into the hands of Mr. Baker, and +all his private letters to the President of the Company, in press +copies, as well as the President's replies, came into my possession. +Baker's letters were, of course, written in a sort of cypher, several +kinds of which he was in the habit of using. He left among his +papers a key to this cypher, but Mrs. Baker could have explained it +without that help. + +"It appeared from this correspondence that the bill was carried +successfully through the House, and, on reaching the Senate, was +referred to the appropriate Committee. Its ultimate passage was +very doubtful; the end of the session was close at hand; the Senate +was very evenly divided, and the Chairman of the Committee was +decidedly hostile. + +"The Chairman of that Committee was Senator Ratcliffe, always +mentioned by Mr. Baker in cypher, and with every precaution. If +you care, however, to verify the fact, and to trace the history of the +Subsidy Bill through all its stages, together with Mr. Ratcliffe's +report, remarks, and votes upon it, you have only to look into the +journals and debates for that year. + +"At last Mr. Baker wrote that Senator Ratcliffe had put the bill in +his pocket, and unless some means could be found of overcoming +his opposition, there would be no report, and the bill would never +come to a vote. All ordinary kinds of argument and influence had +been employed upon him, and were exhausted. In this exigency +Baker suggested that the Company should give him authority to +see what money would do, but he added that it would be worse +than useless to deal with small sums. Unless at least one hundred +thousand dollars could be employed, it was better to leave the +thing alone. + +"The next mail authorized him to use any required amount of +money not exceeding one hundred and fifty thousand dollars. Two +days later he wrote that the bill was reported, and would pass the +Senate within forty-eight hours; and he congratulated the Company +on the fact that he had used only one hundred thousand dollars out +of its last credit. + +"The bill was actually reported, passed, and became law as he +foretold, and the Company has enjoyed its subsidy ever since. Mrs. +Baker also informed me that to her knowledge her husband gave +the sum mentioned, in United States Coupon Bonds, to Senator +Ratcliffe. + +"This transaction, taken in connection with the tortuousness of his +public course, explains the distrust I have always expressed for +him. You will, however, understand that all these papers have been +destroyed. Mrs. Baker could never be induced to hazard her own +comfort by revealing the facts to the public. The officers of the +Company in their own interests would never betray the transaction, +and their books were undoubtedly so kept as to show no trace of it. +If I made this charge against Mr. Ratcliffe, I should be the only +sufferer. He would deny and laugh at it. I could prove nothing. I +am therefore more directly interested than he is in keeping silence. + +"In trusting this secret to you, I rely firmly upon your mentioning it +to no one else--not even to your sister. You are at liberty, if you +wish, to show this letter to one person only-- to Mr. Ratcliffe +himself. That done, you will, I beg, burn it immediately. + +"With the warmest good wishes, I am, "Ever most truly yours, +"John Carrington." + +When Mrs. Lee had finished reading this letter, she remained for +some time quite silent, looking out into the square below. The +morning had come, and the sky was bright with the fresh April +sunlight. She threw open her window, and drew in the soft spring +air. She needed all the purity and quiet that nature could give, for +her whole soul was in revolt, wounded, mortified, exasperated. +Against the sentiment of all her friends she had insisted upon +believing in this man; she had wrought herself up to the point of +accepting him for her husband; a man who, if law were the same +thing as justice, ought to be in a felon's cell; a man who could take +money to betray his trust. Her anger at first swept away all bounds. +She was impatient for the moment when she should see him again, +and tear off his mask. For once she would express all the loathing +she felt for the whole pack of political hounds. She would see +whether the animal was made like other beings; whether he had a +sense of honour; a single clean spot in his mind. + +Then it occurred to her that after all there might be a mistake; +perhaps Mr. + +Ratcliffe could explain the charge away. But this thought only laid +bare another smarting wound in her pride. Not only did she believe +the charge, but she believed that Mr. Ratcliffe would defend his +act. She had been willing to marry a man whom she thought +capable of such a crime, and now she shuddered at the idea that +this charge might have been brought against her husband, and that +she could not dismiss it with instant incredulity, with indignant +contempt. How had this happened? how had she got into so foul a +complication? When she left New York, she had meant to be a +mere spectator in Washington. Had it entered her head that she +could be drawn into any project of a second marriage, she never +would have come at all, for she was proud of her loyalty to her +husband's memory, and second marriages were her abhorrence. In +her restlessness and solitude, she had forgotten this; she had only +asked whether any life was worth living for a woman who had +neither husband nor children. Was the family all that life had to +offer? could she find no interest outside the household? And so, +led by this will-of-the-wisp, she had, with her eyes open, walked +into the quagmire of politics, in spite of remonstrance, in spite of +conscience. + +She rose and paced the room, while Sybil lay on the couch, +watching her with eyes half shut. She grew more and more angry +with herself, and as her self-reproach increased, her anger against +Ratcliffe faded away. She had no right to be angry with Ratcliffe. +He had never deceived her. He had always openly enough avowed +that he knew no code of morals in politics; that if virtue did not +answer his purpose he used vice. How could she blame him for +acts which he had repeatedly defended in her presence and with +her tacit assent, on principles that warranted this or any other +villainy? + +The worst was that this discovery had come on her as a blow, not +as a reprieve from execution. At this thought she became furious +with herself. + +She had not known the recesses of her own heart. She had honestly +supposed that Sybil's interests and Sybil's happiness were forcing +her to an act of self-sacrifice; and now she saw that in the depths +of her soul very different motives had been at work: ambition, +thirst for power, restless eagerness to meddle in what did not +concern her, blind longing to escape from the torture of watching +other women with full lives and satisfied instincts, while her own +life was hungry and sad. For a time she had actually, unconscious +as she was of the delusion, hugged a hope that a new field of +usefulness was open to her; that great opportunities for doing good +were to supply the aching emptiness of that good which had been +taken away; and that here at last was an object for which there +would be almost a pleasure in squandering the rest of existence +even if she knew in advance that the experiment would fail. Life +was emptier than ever now that this dream was over. Yet the worst +was not in that disappointment, but in the discovery of her own +weakness and self-deception. + +Worn out by long-continued anxiety, excitement and sleeplessness, +she was unfit to struggle with the creatures of her own +imagination. Such a strain could only end in a nervous crisis, and +at length it came: + +"Oh, what a vile thing life is!" she cried, throwing up her arms +with a gesture of helpless rage and despair. "Oh, how I wish I were +dead! how I wish the universe were annihilated!" and she flung +herself down by Sybil's side in a frenzy of tears. + +Sybil, who had watched all this exhibition in silence, waited +quietly for the excitement to pass. There was little to say. She +could only soothe. + +After the paroxysm had exhausted itself Madeleine lay quiet for a +time, until other thoughts began to disturb her. From reproaching +herself about Ratcliffe she went on to reproach herself about Sybil, +who really looked worn and pale, as though almost overcome by +fatigue. + +"Sybil," said she, "you must go to bed at once. You are tired out. It +was very wrong in me to let you sit up so late. Go now, and get +some sleep." + +"I am not going to bed till you do, Maude!" replied Sybil, with +quiet obstinacy. + +"Go, dear! it is all settled. I shall not marry Mr. Ratcliffe. You +need not be anxious about it any more." + +"Are you very unhappy?" + +"Only very angry with myself. I ought to have taken Mr. +Carrington's advice sooner." + +"Oh, Maude!" exclaimed Sybil, with a sudden explosion of energy; +"I wish you had taken him!" + +This remark roused Mrs. Lee to new interest: "Why, Sybil," said +she, "surely you are not in earnest?" + +"Indeed, I am," replied Sybil, very decidedly. "I know you think I +am in love with Mr. Carrington myself, but I'm not. I would a great +deal rather have him for a brother-in-law, and he is so much the +nicest man you know, and you could help his sisters." + +Mrs. Lee hesitated a moment, for she was not quite certain +whether it was wise to probe a healing wound, but she was anxious +to clear this last weight from her mind, and she dashed recklessly +forward: + +"Are you sure you are telling the truth, Sybil? Why, then, did you +say that you cared for him? and why have you been so miserable +ever since he went away?" + +"Why? I should think it was plain enough why! Because I thought, +as every one else did, that you were going to marry Mr. Ratcliffe; +and because if you married Mr. Ratcliffe, I must go and live alone; +and because you treated me like a child, and never took me into +your confidence at all; and because Mr. + +Carrington was the only person I had to advise me, and after he +went away, I was left all alone to fight Mr. Ratcliffe and you both +together, without a human soul to help me in case I made a +mistake. You would have been a great deal more miserable than I +if you had been in my place." + +Madeleine looked at her for a moment in doubt. Would this last? +did Sybil herself know the depth of her own wound? But what +could Mrs. Lee do now? + +Perhaps Sybil did deceive herself a little. When this excitement +had passed away, perhaps Carrington's image might recur to her +mind a little too often for her own comfort. The future must take +care of itself. Mrs. Lee drew her sister closer to her, and said: +"Sybil, I have made a horrible mistake, and you must forgive me." + +Chapter XIII + +NOT until afternoon did Mrs. Lee reappear. How much she had +slept she did not say, and she hardly looked like one whose +slumbers had been long or sweet; but if she had slept little, she had +made up for the loss by thinking much, and, while she thought, the +storm which had raged so fiercely in her breast, more and more +subsided into calm. If there was not sunshine yet, there was at least +stillness. As she lay, hour after hour, waiting for the sleep that did +not come, she had at first the keen mortification of reflecting how +easily she had been led by mere vanity into imagining that she +could be of use in the world. She even smiled in her solitude at the +picture she drew of herself, reforming Ratcliffe, and Krebs, and +Schuyler Clinton. The ease with which Ratcliffe alone had twisted +her about his finger, now that she saw it, made her writhe, and the +thought of what he might have done, had she married him, and of +the endless succession of moral somersaults she would have had to +turn, chilled her with mortal terror. She had barely escaped being +dragged under the wheels of the machine, and so coming to an +untimely end. When she thought of this, she felt a mad passion to +revenge herself on the whole race of politicians, with Ratcliffe at +their head; she passed hours in framing bitter speeches to be made +to his face. + +Then as she grew calmer, Ratcliffe's sins took on a milder hue; +life, after all, had not been entirely blackened by his arts; there was +even some good in her experience, sharp though it were. Had she +not come to Washington in search of men who cast a shadow, and +was not Ratcliffe's shadow strong enough to satisfy her? Had she +not penetrated the deepest recesses of politics, and learned how +easily the mere possession of power could convert the shadow of a +hobby-horse existing only in the brain of a foolish country farmer, +into a lurid nightmare that convulsed the sleep of nations? The +antics of Presidents and Senators had been amusing--so amusing +that she had nearly been persuaded to take part in them. She had +saved herself in time. + +She had got to the bottom of this business of democratic +government, and found out that it was nothing more than +government of any other kind. She might have known it by her +own common sense, but now that experience had proved it, she +was glad to quit the masquerade; to return to the true democracy of +life, her paupers and her prisons, her schools and her hospitals. As +for Mr. Ratcliffe, she felt no difficulty in dealing with him. + +Let Mr. Ratcliffe, and his brother giants, wander on their own +political prairie, and hunt for offices, or other profitable game, as +they would. + +Their objects were not her objects, and to join their company was +not her ambition. She was no longer very angry with Mr. Ratcliffe. +She had no wish to insult him, or to quarrel with him. What he had +done as a politician, he had done according to his own moral code, +and it was not her business to judge him; to protect herself was the +only right she claimed. She thought she could easily hold him at +arm's length, and although, if Carrington had written the truth, they +could never again be friends, there need be no difficulty in their +remaining acquaintances. If this view of her duty was narrow, it +was at least proof that she had learned something from Mr. + +Ratcliffe; perhaps it was also proof that she had yet to learn Mr. +Ratcliffe himself. + +Two o'clock had struck before Mrs. Lee came down from her +chamber, and Sybil had not yet made her appearance. Madeleine +rang her bell and gave orders that, if Mr. Ratcliffe called she +would see him, but she was at home to no one else. Then she sat +down to write letters and to prepare for her journey to New York, +for she must now hasten her departure in order to escape the gossip +and criticism which she saw hanging like an avalanche over her +head. + +When Sybil at length came down, looking much fresher than her +sister, they passed an hour together arranging this and other small +matters, so that both of them were again in the best of spirits, and +Sybil's face was wreathed in smiles. + +A number of visitors came to the door that day, some of them +prompted by friendliness and some by sheer curiosity, for Mrs. +Lee's abrupt disappearance from the ball had excited remark. +Against all these her door was firmly closed. On the other hand, as +the afternoon went on, she sent Sybil away, so that she might have +the field entirely to herself, and Sybil, relieved of all her alarms, +sallied out to interrupt Dunbeg's latest interview with his Countess, +and to amuse herself with Victoria's last "phase." + +Towards four o'clock the tall form of Mr. Ratcliffe was seen to +issue from the Treasury Department and to descend the broad steps +of its western front. + +Turning deliberately towards the Square, the Secretary of the +Treasury crossed the Avenue and stopping at Mrs. Lee's door, rang +the bell. He was immediately admitted. Mrs. Lee was alone in her +parlour and rose rather gravely as he entered, but welcomed him as +cordially as she could. She wanted to put an end to his hopes at +once and to do it decisively, but without hurting his feelings. + +"Mr. Ratcliffe," said she, when he was seated- "I am sure you will +be better pleased by my speaking instantly and frankly. I could not +reply to you last night. I will do so now without delay. What you +wish is impossible. I would rather not even discuss it. Let us leave +it here and return to our old relations." + +She could not force herself to express any sense of gratitude for his +affection, or of regret at being obliged to meet it with so little +return. + +To treat him with tolerable civility was all she thought required of +her. + +Ratcliffe felt the change of manner. He had been prepared for a +struggle, but not to be met with so blunt a rebuff at the start. His +look became serious and he hesitated a moment before speaking, +but when he spoke at last, it was with a manner as firm and +decided as that of Mrs. Lee herself. + +"I cannot accept such an answer. I will not say that I have a right to +explanation,--I have no rights which you are bound to respect,--but +from you I conceive that I may at least ask the favour of one, and +that you will not refuse it. Are you willing to tell me your reasons +for this abrupt and harsh decision?" + +"I do not dispute your right of explanation, Mr. Ratcliffe. You have +the right, if you choose to use it, and I am ready to give you every +explanation in my power; but I hope you will not insist on my +doing so. If I seemed to speak abruptly and harshly, it was merely +to spare you the greater annoyance of doubt. Since I am forced to +give you pain, was it not fairer and more respectful to you to speak +at once? We have been friends. I am very soon going away. I +sincerely want to avoid saying or doing anything that would +change our relations." + +Ratcliffe, however, paid no attention to these words, and gave +them no answer. He was much too old a debater to be misled by +such trifles, when he needed all his faculties to pin his opponent to +the wall. He asked:-- + +"Is your decision a new one?" + +"It is a very old one, Mr. Ratcliffe, which I had let myself lose +sight of, for a time. A night's reflection has brought me back to it." + +"May I ask why you have returned to it? surely you would not have +hesitated without strong reasons." + +"I will tell you frankly. If, by appearing to hesitate, I have misled +you, I am honestly sorry for it. I did not mean to do it. My +hesitation was owing to the doubt whether my life might not really +be best used in aiding you. My decision was owing to the certainty +that we are not fitted for each other. + +Our lives run in separate grooves. We are both too old to change +them." + +Ratcliffe shook his head with an air of relief. "Your reasons, Mrs. +Lee, are not sound. There is no such divergence in our lives. On +the contrary I can give to yours the field it needs, and that it can +get in no other way; while you can give to mine everything it now +wants. If these are your only reasons I am sure of being able to +remove them." + +Madeleine looked as though she were not altogether pleased at this +idea, and became a little dogmatic. "It is no use our arguing on this +subject, Mr. + +Ratcliffe. You and I take very different views of life. I cannot +accept yours, and you could not practise on mine." + +"Show me," said Ratcliffe, "a single example of such a divergence, +and I will accept your decision without another word." + +Mrs. Lee hesitated and looked at him for an instant as though to be +quite sure that he was in earnest. There was an effrontery about +this challenge which surprised her, and if she did not check it on +the spot, there was no saying how much trouble it might give her. +Then unlocking the drawer of the writing-desk at her elbow, she +took out Carrington's letter and handed it to Mr. Ratcliffe. + +"Here is such an example which has come to my knowledge very +lately. I meant to show it to you in any case, but I would rather +have waited." + +Ratcliffe took the letter which she handed to him, opened it +deliberately, looked at the signature, and read. He showed no sign +of surprise or disturbance. No one would have imagined that he +had, from the moment he saw Carrington's name, as precise a +knowledge of what was in this letter as though he had written it +himself. His first sensation was only one of anger that his projects +had miscarried. How this had happened he could not at once +understand, for the idea that Sybil could have a hand in it did not +occur to him. He had made up his mind that Sybil was a silly, +frivolous girl, who counted for nothing in her sister's actions. He +had fallen into the usual masculine blunder of mixing up smartness +of intelligence with strength of character. Sybil, without being a +metaphysician, willed anything which she willed at all with more +energy than her sister did, who was worn out with the effort of life. +Mr. Ratcliffe missed this point, and was left to wonder who it was +that had crossed his path, and how Carrington had managed to be +present and absent, to get a good office in Mexico and to baulk his +schemes in Washington, at the same time. He had not given +Carrington credit for so much cleverness. + +He was violently irritated at the check. Another day, he thought, +would have made him safe on this side; and possibly he was right. +Had he once succeeded in getting ever so slight a hold on Mrs. Lee +he would have told her this story with his own colouring, and from +his own point of view, and he fully believed he could do this in +such a way as to rouse her sympathy. Now that her mind was +prejudiced, the task would be much more difficult; yet he did not +despair, for it was his theory that Mrs. Lee, in the depths of her +soul, wanted to be at the head of the White House as much as he +wanted to be there himself, and that her apparent coyness was +mere feminine indecision in the face of temptation. His thoughts +now turned upon the best means of giving again the upper hand to +her ambition. He wanted to drive Carrington a second time from +the field. + +Thus it was that, having read the letter once in order to learn what +was in it, he turned back, and slowly read it again in order to gain +time. Then he replaced it in its envelope, and returned it to Mrs. +Lee, who, with equal calmness, as though her interest in it were at +an end, tossed it negligently into the fire, where it was reduced to +ashes under Ratcliffe's eyes. + +He watched it burn for a moment, and then turning to her, said, +with his usual composure, "I meant to have told you of that affair +myself. I am sorry that Mr. Carrington has thought proper to +forestall me. No doubt he has his own motives for taking my +character in charge." + +"Then it is true!" said Mrs. Lee, a little more quickly than she had +meant to speak. + +"True in its leading facts; untrue in some of its details, and in the +impression it creates. During the Presidential election which took +place eight years ago last autumn, there was, as you may +remember, a violent contest and a very close vote. We believed +(though I was not so prominent in the party then as now), that the +result of that election would be almost as important to the nation +as the result of the war itself. Our defeat meant that the +government must pass into the blood-stained hands of rebels, men +whose designs were more than doubtful, and who could not, even +if their designs had been good, restrain the violence of their +followers. In consequence we strained every nerve. Money was +freely spent, even to an amount much in excess of our resources. +How it was employed, I will not say. + +I do not even know, for I held myself aloof from these details, +which fell to the National Central Committee of which I was not a +member. The great point was that a very large sum had been +borrowed on pledged securities, and must be repaid. The members +of the National Committee and certain senators held discussions +on the subject, in which I shared. The end was that towards the +close of the session the head of the committee, accompanied by +two senators, came to me and told me that I must abandon my +opposition to the Steamship Subsidy. They made no open avowal +of their reasons, and I did not press for one. Their declaration, as +the responsible heads of the organization, that certain action on my +part was essential to the interests of the party, satisfied me. I did +not consider myself at liberty to persist in a mere private opinion +in regard to a measure about which I recognized the extreme +likelihood of my being in error. I accordingly reported the bill, and +voted for it, as did a large majority of the party. Mrs. Baker is +mistaken in saying that the money was paid to me. If it was paid at +all, of which I have no knowledge except from this letter, it was +paid to the representative of the National Committee. I received no +money. I had nothing to do with the money further than as I might +draw my own conclusions in regard to the subsequent payment of +the campaign debt." + +Mrs. Lee listened to all this with intense interest. Not until this +moment had she really felt as though she had got to the heart of +politics, so that she could, like a physician with his stethoscope, +measure the organic disease. Now at last she knew why the pulse +beat with such unhealthy irregularity, and why men felt an anxiety +which they could not or would not explain. Her interest in the +disease overcame her disgust at the foulness of the revelation. To +say that the discovery gave her actual pleasure would be doing her +injustice; but the excitement of the moment swept away every +other sensation. She did not even think of herself. Not until +afterwards did she fairly grasp the absurdity of Ratcliffe's wish that +in the face of such a story as this, she should still have vanity +enough to undertake the reform of politics. And with his aid too! +The audacity of the man would have seemed sublime if she had +felt sure that he knew the difference between good and evil, +between a lie and the truth; but the more she saw of him, the surer +she was that his courage was mere moral paralysis, and that he +talked about virtue and vice as a man who is colour-blind talks +about red and green; he did not see them as she saw them; if left to +choose for himself he would have nothing to guide him. Was it +politics that had caused this atrophy of the moral senses by disuse? +Meanwhile, here she sat face to face with a moral lunatic, who had +not even enough sense of humour to see the absurdity of his own +request, that she should go out to the shore of this ocean of +corruption, and repeat the ancient rle of King Canute, or Dame +Partington with her mop and her pail. What was to be done with +such an animal? + +The bystander who looked on at this scene with a wider knowledge +of facts, might have found entertainment in another view of the +subject, that is to say, in the guilelessness ot Madeleine Lee. With +all her warnings she was yet a mere baby-in-arms in the face of the +great politician. She accepted his story as true, and she thought it +as bad as possible; but had Mr. + +Ratcliffe's associates now been present to hear his version of it, +they would have looked at each other with a smile of professional +pride, and would have roundly sworn that he was, beyond a doubt, +the ablest man this country had ever produced, and next to certain +of being President. They would not, however, have told their own +side of the story if they could have helped it, but in talking it over +among themselves they might have assumed the facts to have been +nearly as follows: that Ratcliffe had dragged them into an +enormous expenditure to carry his own State, and with it his own +re-election to the Senate; that they had tried to hold him +responsible, and he had tried to shirk the responsibility; that there +had been warm discussions on the subject; that he himself had +privately suggested recourse to Baker, had shaped his conduct +accordingly, and had compelled them, in order to save their own +credit, to receive the money. + +Even if Mrs. Lee had heard this part of the story, though it might +have sharpened her indignation against Mr. Ratcliffe, it would not +have altered her opinions. As it was, she had heard enough, and +with a great effort to control her expression of disgust, she sank +back in her chair as Ratcliffe concluded. Finding that she did not +speak, he went on: + +"I do not undertake to defend this affair. It is the act of my public +life which I most regret--not the doing, but the necessity of doing. I +do not differ from you in opinion on that point. I cannot +acknowledge that there is here any real divergence between us." + +"I am afraid," said Mrs. Lee, "that I cannot agree with you." + +This brief remark, the very brevity of which carried a barb of +sarcasm, escaped from Madeleine's lips before she had fairly +intended it. Ratcliffe felt the sting, and it started him from his +studied calmness of manner. + +Rising from his chair he stood on the hearthrug before Mrs. Lee, +and broke out upon her with an oration in that old senatorial voice +and style which was least calculated to enlist her sympathies: + +"Mrs. Lee," said he, with harsh emphasis and dogmatic tone, "there +are conflicting duties in all the transactions of life, except the +simplest. + +However we may act, do what we may, we must violate some +moral obligation. + +All that can be asked of us is that we should guide ourselves by +what we think the highest. At the time this affair occurred, I was a +Senator of the United States. I was also a trusted member of a +great political party which I looked upon as identical with the +nation. In both capacities I owed duties to my constituents, to the +government, to the people. I might interpret these duties narrowly +or broadly. I might say: Perish the government, perish the Union, +perish this people, rather than that I should soil my hands! Or I +might say, as I did, and as I would say again: Be my fate what it +may, this glorious Union, the last hope of suffering humanity, shall +be preserved." + +Here he paused, and seeing that Mrs. Lee, after looking for a time +at him, was now regarding the fire, lost in meditation over the +strange vagaries of the senatorial mind, he resumed, in another line +of argument. He rightly judged that there must be some moral +defect in his last remarks, although he could not see it, which +made persistence in that direction useless. + +"You ought not to blame me--you cannot blame me justly. It is to +your sense of justice I appeal. Have I ever concealed from you my +opinions on this subject? Have I not on the contrary always +avowed them? Did I not here, on this very spot, when challenged +once before by this same Carrington, take credit for an act less +defensible than this? Did I not tell you then that I had even +violated the sanctity of a great popular election and reversed its +result? That was my sole act! In comparison with it, this is a trifle! +Who is injured by a steamship company subscribing one or ten +hundred thousand dollars to a campaign fund? Whose rights are +affected by it? Perhaps its stock holders receive one dollar a share +in dividends less than they otherwise would. If they do not +complain, who else can do so? But in that election I deprived a +million people of rights which belonged to them as absolutely as +their houses! You could not say that I had done wrong. Not a word +of blame or criticism have you ever uttered to me on that account. +If there was an offence, you condoned it! You certainly led me to +suppose that you saw none. Why are you now so severe upon the +smaller crime?" + +This shot struck hard. Mrs. Lee visibly shrank under it, and lost her +composure. This was the same reproach she had made against +herself, and to which she had been able to find no reply. With +some agitation she exclaimed: + +"Mr. Ratcliffe, pray do me justice! I have tried not to be severe. I +have said nothing in the way of attack or blame. I acknowledge +that it is not my place to stand in judgment over your acts. I have +more reason to blame myself than you, and God knows I have +blamed myself bitterly." The tears stood in her eyes as she said +these last words, and her voice trembled. + +Ratcliffe saw that he had gained an advantage, and, sitting down +nearer to her, he dropped his voice and urged his suit still more +energetically: + +"You did me justice then; why not do it now? You were convinced +then that I did the best I could. I have always done so. On the other +hand I have never pretended that all my acts could be justified by +abstract morality. Where, then, is the divergence between us?" + +Mrs. Lee did not undertake to answer this last argument: she only +returned to her old ground. "Mr. Ratcliffe," she said, "I do not want +to argue this question. I have no doubt that you can overcome me +in argument. Perhaps on my side this is a matter of feeling rather +than of reason, but the truth is only too evident to me that I am not +fitted for politics. I should be a drag upon you. Let me be the judge +of my own weakness! Do not insist upon pressing me, further!" + +She was ashamed of herself for this appeal to a man whom she +could not respect, as though she were a suppliant at his mercy, but +she feared the reproach of having deceived him, and she tried +pitiably to escape it. + +Ratcliffe was only encouraged by her weakness. + +"I must insist upon pressing it, Mrs. Lee," replied he, and he +became yet more earnest as he went on; "my future is too deeply +involved in your decision to allow of my accepting your answer as +final. I need your aid. + +There is nothing I will not do to obtain it. Do you require +affection? mine for you is boundless. I am ready to prove it by a +life of devotion. Do you doubt my sincerity? test it in whatever +way you please. Do you fear being dragged down to the level of +ordinary politicians? so far as concerns myself, my great wish is to +have your help in purifying politics. What higher ambition can +there be than to serve one's country for such an end? + +Your sense of duty is too keen not to feel that the noblest objects +which can inspire any woman, combine to point out your course." + +Mrs. Lee was excessively uncomfortable, although not in the least +shaken. + +She began to see that she must take a stronger tone if she meant to +bring this importunity to an end, and she answered:-- + +"I do not doubt your affection or your sincerity, Mr. Ratcliffe. It is +myself I doubt. You have been kind enough to give me much of +your confidence this winter, and if I do not yet know about politics +all that is to be known, I have learned enough to prove that I could +do nothing sillier than to suppose myself competent to reform +anything. If I pretended to think so, I should be a mere worldly, +ambitious woman, such as people think me. The idea of my +purifying politics is absurd. I am sorry to speak so strongly, but I +mean it. I do not cling very closely to life, and do not value my +own very highly, but I will not tangle it in such a way; I will not +share the profits of vice; I am not willing to be made a receiver of +stolen goods, or to be put in a position where I am perpetually +obliged to maintain that immorality is a virtue!" + +As she went on she became more and more animated and her +words took a sharper edge than she had intended. Ratcliffe felt it, +and showed his annoyance. His face grew dark and his eyes looked +out at her with their ugliest expression. He even opened his mouth +for an angry retort, but controlled himself with an effort, and +presently resumed his argument. + +"I had hoped," he began more solemnly than ever, "that I should +find in you a lofty courage which would disregard such risks. If all +tme men and women were to take the tone you have taken, our +government would soon perish. If you consent to share my career, I +do not deny that you may find less satisfaction than I hope, but you +will lead a mere death in life if you place yourself like a saint on a +solitary column. I plead what I believe to be your own cause in +pleading mine. Do not sacrifice your life!" + +Mrs. Lee was in despair. She could not reply what was on her lips, +that to marry a murderer or a thief was not a sure way of +diminishing crime. She had already said something so much like +this that she shrank from speaking more plainly. So she fell back +on her old theme. + +"We must at all events, Mr. Ratcliffe, use our judgments according +to our own consciences. I can only repeat now what I said at first. I +am sorry to seem insensible to your expressions towards me, but I +cannot do what you wish. Let us maintain our old relations if you +will, but do not press me further on this subject." + +Ratcliffe grew more and more sombre as he became aware that +defeat was staring him in the face. He was tenacious of purpose, +and he had never in his life abandoned an object which he had so +much at heart as this. He would not abandon it. For the moment, so +completely had the fascination of Mrs. + +Lee got the control of him, he would rather have abandoned the +Presidency itself than her. He really loved her as earnestly as it was +in his nature to love anything. To her obstinacy he would oppose +an obstinacy greater still; but in the meanwhile his attack was +disconcerted, and he was at a loss what next to do. Was it not +possible to change his ground; to offer inducements that would +appeal even more strongly to feminine ambition and love of +display than the Presidency itself? He began again:-- + +"Is there no form of pledge I can give you? no sacrifice I can +make? You dislike politics. Shall I leave political life? I will do +anything rather than lose you. I can probably control the +appointment of Minister to England. The President would rather +have me there than here. Suppose I were to abandon politics and +take the English mission. Would that sacrifice not affect you? You +might pass four years in London where there would be no politics, +and where your social position would be the best in the world; and +this would lead to the Presidency almost as surely as the other." +Then suddenly, seeing that he was making no headway, he threw +off his studied calmness and broke out in an appeal of almost +equally studied violence. + +"Mrs. Lee! Madeleine! I cannot live without you. The sound of +your voice--the touch of your hand--even the rustle of your +dress--are like wine to me. For God's sake, do not throw me over!" + +He meant to crush opposition by force. More and more vehement +as he spoke he actually bent over and tried to seize her hand. She +drew it back as though he were a reptile. She was exasperated by +this obstinate disregard of her forbearance, this gross attempt to +bribe her with office, this flagrant abandonment of even a pretence +of public virtue; the mere thought of his touch on her person was +more repulsive than a loathsome disease. Bent upon teaching him +a lesson he would never forget, she spoke out abruptly, and with +evident signs of contempt in her voice and manner: + +"Mr. Ratcliffe, I am not to be bought. No rank, no dignity, no +consideration, no conceivable expedient would induce me to +change my mind. + +Let us have no more of this!" + +Ratcliffe had already been more than once, during this +conversation, on the verge of losing his temper. Naturally +dictatorial and violent, only long training and severe experience +had taught him self-control, and when he gave way to passion his +bursts of fury were still tremendous. Mrs. Lee's evident personal +disgust, even more than her last sharp rebuke, passed the bounds of +his patience. As he stood before her, even she, high-spirited as she +was, and not in a calm frame of mind, felt a momentary shock at +seeing how his face flushed, his eyes gleamed, and his hands +trembled with rage. + +"Ah!" exclaimed he, turning upon her with a harshness, almost a +savageness, of manner that startled her still more; "I might have +known what to expect! + +Mrs. Clinton warned me early. She said then that I should find you +a heartless coquette!" + +"Mr. Ratcliffe!" exclaimed Madeleine, rising from her chair, and +speaking in a warning voice almost as passionate as his own. + +"A heartless coquette!" he repeated, still more harshly than before; +"she said you would do just this! that you meant to deceive me! +that you lived on flattery! that you could never be anything but a +coquette, and that if you married me, I should repent it all my life. +I believe her now!" + +Mrs. Lee's temper, too, was naturally a high one. At this moment +she, too, was flaming with anger, and wild with a passionate +impulse to annihilate this man. Conscious that the mastery was in +her own hands, she could the more easily control her voice, and +with an expression of unutterable contempt she spoke her last +words to him, words which had been ringing all day in her ears: + +"Mr. Ratcliffe! I have listened to you with a great deal more +patience and respect than you deserve. For one long hour I have +degraded myself by discussing with you the question whether I +should marry a man who by his own confession has betrayed the +highest trusts that could be placed in him, who has taken money +for his votes as a Senator, and who is now in public office by +means of a successful fraud of his own, when in justice he should +be in a State's prison. I will have no more of this. Understand, once +for all, that there is an impassable gulf between your life and mine. +I do not doubt that you will make yourself President, but whatever +or wherever you are, never speak to me or recognize me again!" + +He glared a moment into her face with a sort of blind rage, and +seemed about to say more, when she swept past him, and before he +realized it, he was alone. + +Overmastered by passion, but conscious that he was powerless, +Ratcliffe, after a moment's hesitation, left the room and the house. +He let himself out, shutting the front door behind him, and as he +stood on the pavement old Baron Jacobi, who had special reasons +for wishing to know how Mrs. Lee had recovered from the fatigue +and excitements of the ball, came up to the spot. + +A single glance at Ratcliffe showed him that something had gone +wrong in the career of that great man, whose fortunes he always +followed with so bitter a sneer of contempt. Impelled by the spirit +of evil always at his elbow, the Baron seized this moment to sound +the depth of his friend's wound. They met at the door so closely +that recognition was inevitable, and Jacobi, with his worst smile, +held out his hand, saying at the same moment with diabolic +malignity: + +"I hope I may offer my felicitations to your Excellency!" + +Ratcliffe was glad to find some victim on whom he could vent his +rage. He had a long score of humiliations to repay this man, whose +last insult was beyond all endurance. With an oath he dashed +Jacobi's hand aside, and, grasping his shoulder, thrust him out of +the path. The Baron, among whose weaknesses the want of high +temper and personal courage was not recorded, had no mind to +tolerate such an insult from such a man. Even while Ratcliffe's +hand was still on his shoulder he had raised his cane, and before +the Secretary saw what was coming, the old man had struck him +with all his force full in the face. For a moment Ratcliffe staggered +back and grew pale, but the shock sobered him. He hesitated a +single instant whether to crush his assailant with a blow, but he felt +that for one of his youth and strength, to attack an infirm +diplomatist in a public street would be a fatal blunder, and while +Jacobi stood, violently excited, with his cane raised ready to strike +another blow, Mr. Ratcliffe suddenly turned his back and without a +word, hastened away. + +When Sybil returned, not long afterwards, she found no one in the +parlour. + +On going to her sister's room she discovered Madeleine lying on +the couch, looking worn and pale, but with a slight smile and a +peaceful expression on her face, as though she had done some act +which her conscience approved. She called Sybil to her side, and, +taking her hand, said: + +"Sybil, dearest, will you go abroad with me again?" + +"Of course I will," said Sybil; "I will go to the end of the world +with you." + +"I want to go to Egypt," said Madeleine, still smiling faintly; +"democracy has shaken my nerves to pieces. Oh, what rest it would +be to live in the Great Pyramid and look out for ever at the polar +star!" + +Conclusion + +SYBIL TO CARRINGTON "May 1st, New York. + +"My dear Mr. Carrington, "I promised to write you, and so, to keep +my promise, and also because my sister wishes me to tell you +about our plans, I send this letter. We have left Washington--for +ever, I am afraid--and are going to Europe next month. + +You must know that a fortnight ago, Lord Skye gave a great ball to +the Grand-Duchess of something-or-other quite unspellable. I +never can describe things, but it was all very fine. I wore a lovely +new dress, and was a great success, I assure you. So was +Madeleine, though she had to sit most of the evening by the +Princess--such a dowdy! The Duke danced with me several times; +he can't reverse, but that doesn't seem to matter in a Grand-Duke. + +Well! things came to a crisis at the end of the evening. I followed +your directions, and after we got home gave your letter to +Madeleine. She says she has burned it. I don't know what happened +afterwards--a tremendous scene, I suspect, but Victoria Dare +writes me from Washington that every one is talking about M.'s +refusal of Mr. R., and a dreadful thing that took place on our very +doorstep between Mr. R. and Baron Jacobi, the day after the ball. +She says there was a regular pitched battle, and the Baron struck +him over the face with his cane. You know how afraid Madeleine +was that they would do something of the sort in our parlour. I'm +glad they waited till they were in the street. But isn't it shocking! +They say the Baron is to be sent away, or recalled, or something. I +like the old gentleman, and for his sake am glad duelling is gone +out of fashion, though I don't much believe Mr. Silas P. Ratcliffe +could hit anything. The Baron passed through here three days ago +on his summer trip to Europe. He left his card on us, but we were +out, and did not see him. We are going over in July with the +Schneidekoupons, and Mr. Schneidekoupon has promised to send +his yacht to the Mediterranean, so that we shall sail about there +after finishing the Nile, and see Jerusalem and Gibraltar and +Constantinople. I think it will be perfectly lovely. I hate ruins, but I +fancy you can buy delicious things in Constantinople. Of course, +after what has happened, we can never go back to Washington. I +shall miss our rides dreadfully. I read Mr. Browning's 'Last Ride +Together,' as you told me; I think it's beautiful and perfectly easy, +all but a little. I never could understand a word of him before--so I +never tried. Who do you think is engaged? Victoria Dare, to a +coronet and a peat-bog, with Lord Dunbeg attached. Victoria says +she is happier than she ever was before in any of her other +engagements, and she is sure this is the real one. She says she has +thirty thousand a year derived from the poor of America, which +may just as well go to relieve one of the poor in Ireland. + +You know her father was a claim agent, or some such thing, and is +said to have made his money by cheating his clients out of their +claims. She is perfectly wild to be a countess, and means to make +Castle Dunbeg lovely by-and-by, and entertain us all there. +Madeleine says she is just the kind to be a great success in London. +Madeleine is very well, and sends her kind regards. I believe she is +going to add a postscript. I have promised to let her read this, but I +don't think a chaperoned letter is much fun to write or receive. +Hoping to hear from you soon, "Sincerely yours, "Sybil Ross." + +Enclosed was a thin strip of paper containing another message +from Sybil, privately inserted at the last moment unknown to Mrs. +Lee-- + +"If I were in your place I would try again after she comes home." + +Mrs. Lee's P.S. was very short-- + +"The bitterest part of all this horrid story is that nine out of ten of +our countrymen would say I had made a mistake." + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Democracy An American Novel, by Henry Adams + diff --git a/old/demam10.zip b/old/demam10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a235193 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/demam10.zip |